N.T. Wright’s Galatians– Part Eleven

Last updated on: July 16, 2021 at 1:03 am by Ben Witherington

N.T. Wright’s Galatians– Part Eleven 2021-06-20T17:08:09-04:00 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.

Q. While I take your point about Christos being a title, not really just a name for Jesus, in Paul’s writings, when you go on to say not merely that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah or representative, but in some sense Jesus is Israel, and if you are ‘in Him’ you are in Israel, this seems a leap. The problem with Jesus=Israel, is, so far as I can see, Paul uses the term Israel, for example in Rom. 9-11 to mean non-Christian Jews temporarily broken off from the people of God until Christ returns ‘and turns away the impiety of Jacob’ at the future resurrection. In other words, not only is Christ not Israel, neither does Paul call ‘the ‘ekklesia tou theou’ Israel. The issue is not that Gentiles need to become part of Israel to be part of the people of God, no, they need to be ‘in Christ’ and that is not the same thing, for as Gal. 3.28 says there is neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ. I’ve changed my mind about what Israel means in Gal. 6 over time, though I suppose it is just barely possible that the term there refers to Jewish Christians with whom Paul disagrees like the agitators. Can you explain your view briefly about the term Israel and its relationship to Messiah Jesus, and perhaps answer why you think various persons have accused you of supersessionism?

A. The ‘s’ word gets thrown around unfortunately in today’s climate of low-grade ‘moral’ discourse where there are only a few fixed points and if you can associate someone you don’t like with one of the standard negative ideas then you can dismiss them with a sense of moral superiority. I have written about supersessionism in Paul and the Faithfulness of God, ch 15, and that would bear re-reading – including the long and careful discussion of ‘Israel’, ‘the Jew’ in Paul, etc. You need Rom 2.25-29 on the table, as also Philippians 3, and also a very careful reading of Romans 9-11, where Paul distinguishes the two meanings of ‘Israel’ in 9.6 and then returns to this towards the end of ch 11. Note that my reading of Rom 11 has at least convinced Richard Hays which is a good start! I do not think that Paul there refers to a last-minute large-scale conversion of presently unbelieving Jews, though for a while I did think that until a more careful reading of the passage . . . but Paul clearly sees all Jesus-following, spirit-led people as ‘Jew’ in Rom 2.25-29; and as I’ve argued in Gal 3 the word Christos, while definitely messianic, is also incorporative, as also in several passages in e.g. 1 Cor and Philemon. A long argument is needed of course to make all this clear but this is a start!

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 15, 2021

N.T. Wright's Galatians-- Part Ten

Next Post

July 17, 2021 N.T Wright's Galatians-- Part Twelve

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