Posts
I'm still reading N.T. Wright's The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology.
I've had a slightly difficult time getting Wright's take on whether the law (according to Paul) was for Israel alone, or for the Gentiles as well. Wright says on a number of occasions in this book that only Israel was under the law, and yet he also holds that the law was somehow relevant to Christians, even Gentile ones: their flesh was too weak to keep the law, but the Spirit has adapted them to it (Romans 8). On page 195, Wright asks why Paul is discussing the law to a predominantly Gentile audience, and his answer is that Paul is writing to a lot of ex-proselytes to Judaism, who are happy to be relieved of the law's burden. According to Wright, Paul does not want these Roman Christians to look on the Jews with contempt, to embrace a proto-Marcionism, or to "topple back into the philoJudaism of the Galatians." Another point that Wright makes is that sin was concentrated into Israel, which was especially sinful because she had the law pointing out her sins and condemning her for them. That opened the door for the Messiah, as representative of Israel, to deal with sin. Wright's scenario tries to maintain the notion that God gave the Torah to Israel alone, while also holding on to some sort of universalism.
Another item that interested me was that Wright defined justification in this 1991 book, which stood out to me because of the controversy Wright has endured for his recent book on justification. On page 214, Wright defines justification as "God declares that those who believe the gospel are his covenant people."
