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Sunday, 6 December 2015

Where did it come from?

Unity and Diversity in Christ: Interpreting Paul in Context: Collected Essays,
Willian S. Campbell, Cascade Books, 2013, page 4

Campbell's answer to this question is straightforward:

The Scriptures of Israel were the most probable source of Paul's understanding of the Christ-event as "the kerygmatic story of God's action through Jesus Christ." These constituted the record of how God's actions in relation to Israel in the past had been interpreted, and as such could be related afresh to contemporary events as a means of illumination and explanation.

Campbell claims that, "Like many Jews of his time, Paul was an interpreter and re-interpeter of the Scriptures", and gives Paul's use of Hosea 2:23 in Romans 9:25 as an example. While accepting that Paul's theology could be radical and transformational, Campbell's next thought is critical:

It was in interaction with these Scriptures that Paul was able to slowly conceive a theological explanation of how and why God had acted in the Christ-event, and thus to interpret the gospel. Hence his understanding of the new events that had recently taken place was unlikely to be one that rejected or depreciated God's prior revelation to Israel.

Posted By Jonathan, 9:00am Comment Comments: