The Barclay-Wright Dialogue

Last updated on: July 28, 2016 at 1:28 am by Ben Witherington

The Barclay-Wright Dialogue 2016-06-16T10:29:40-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here’s another helpful post by my friend Larry Hurtado…… See what you think— BW3

“The Paul Dialogue”: Barclay & Wright

Yesterday was the day-long dialogue on the Apostle Paul between John Barclay (Durham) and N. T. Wright (St. Andrews) held under the auspices of our Centre for the Study of Christian Origins. Both of these scholars have recently published major works on Paul’s thought, and each has reviewed the other’s work in journals: John Barclay, Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans, 2015); N. T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God (SPCK, 2013).

Each was given time to offer a critical assessment of the other’s work, followed by responses and dialogue between them, and then questions from those who attended (heavily made up of PhD students). It was a great opportunity to see major scholars exploring areas of agreement, and clarifying areas of disagreement candidly and yet without rancour or hostility. Along with their agreement on some major matters, they each posed matters of difference, and contended that the other had missed some important dimensions of Paul’s thought. It was an instructive event especially for students, not only in content but in style.

In the discussion it became clear that both scholars are seriously concerned to probe particularly Paul as a theological thinker, and that they seek to promote the study of Paul as a resource for Christian theological thinking today. They both displayed an impressive familiarity with the history of Pauline scholarship as well as the details of Paul’s letters. Moreover, for both scholars, Paul’s epistles to the Galatians and to the Romans were central, and particular passages such as Galatians 3 and Romans 4 received repeated attention.

For my own part, I was left with a few questions about how they went about the task of engaging Paul. I wonder in particular if the historical context of Paul’s letters and thinking was sufficiently considered. After all, Paul does not refer to himself as called to be a theologian, but instead called to a unique missionary role to secure “the obedience of the Gentiles” (Romans 15:18). And he seems to have operated with a very strong sense of eschatological urgency and his own place in that eschatological drama.

Granted, he was a pretty bright fellow, and his letters “weighty” (as his contemporaries recognized, 2 Cor 10:10; cf. 2 Pet 3:16). But it seems to me that his thinking was generated in the context of, and in defence of, his distinctive “Gentile mission.” To be sure, Paul’s thoughts and arguments may well be instructive also for Christian thought today, but I think that we also need to attend closely to the originating context in which Paul’s affirmations arose, and not too quickly lose sight of that context.

So, for example, it seems to me that in Paul’s mind the only potential problems with the Torah (Law) were these: (1) If it were used as a basis for misjudging and rejecting Jesus as God’s Messiah and Son (as Paul had done prior to what he calls the divine revelation of “God’s Son” to him), and (2) if it were laid upon Gentile believers as a requirement additional to their faith in Christ, which would have the effect of relativizing Christ.

In Paul’s own experience, his zeal for Torah (as devout Pharisee) ironically had led him to what he subsequently saw as a misguided disobedient response to God’s eschatological action of revelation and redemption in Jesus. So he knew personally that his former kind of Torah-zeal could even produce this kind of “sin,” and that he had to “die to the Law” (in the sense of recognizing that it is not God’s final revelation of his purposes but is now relativized by God’s Son, Jesus), so that Paul could “live to God” (Gal. 2:19).

But, provided that the Torah wasn’t played off against Jesus and the gospel, or imposed improperly on Gentiles, the continued practice of Torah (including, e.g., male circumcision) was fine for Jewish believers, as I read Paul. For if Torah-observant Jews put faith in Christ that meant their acceptance that Christ was now the “telos” of the Law (Romans 10:5), and that Torah was relativized, continuing as a way of life for Jewish believers, but not a salvific requirement for them or Gentiles.

I also wonder how much Paul saw himself as a radical and innovative thinker/theologian, and how much he sought to reflect and develop beliefs and practices that he shared with much wider circles of the young Jesus-movement of his time. Here’s a statement from Wayne Meeks (Yale) that will state my point eloquently:

“Perhaps the most significant discovery about Paul in this [20th] century’s scholarship has been the recognition of his Christian precedents. Paul cannot be called the ‘second founder of Christianity,’ as Wrede named him . . . Christianity in the ‘Pauline’ form–with sacraments, cultic worship of Jesus as Lord, Gentile members, and the doctrines of pre-existence and atoning death of Christ–had already been ‘founded’ before Paul became first its persecutor and then its missionary.” (The Writings of St. Paul, Norton & Co., 1972, p. 440).

To be sure, Paul was involved in controversy, especially with some other Jewish believers. But it seems to me that the controversy was basically over the terms on which his Gentile (pagan) converts could be accepted as full co-religionists with Jewish believers, what was required of them to make them fully fellow members of the family of Abraham. There are, no doubt, larger and wider implications that can be drawn from Paul’s vigorous defences of his “gospel” and mission. Certainly, Paul again and again bases his defences of his mission on what he posits are the work and will of God and the cruciality of Jesus. So I urge the importance of the context of Paul’s thought, not to minimize its significance, but rather with the conviction that it may help us to see it more clearly and so be able to reflect upon it more productively, perhaps with some appropriate modesty about our own theological constructions.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 27, 2016

Coins and Early Christianity....

Next Post

July 29, 2016 This One Takes the Cake---- The Story of the Probable Forgery of the Jesus' Wife Papyrus

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz