Matthew and Paul Agreements # 3 – The Torah?

Last updated on: September 27, 2020 at 6:02 pm by Michael F. Bird

Matthew and Paul Agreements # 3 – The Torah? 2020-09-27T18:02:09-04:00 Michael F. Bird

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.

It is no exaggeration to say that Matthew and Paul vis-à-vis the Torah is something of the main event in a comparison of these two figures. Commentators are quick to find in the Matthean Jesus’s words a denunciation of Paul’s so-called liberal or antinomian approach to the Torah:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:17-19 NRSV)

Such words, so it goes, are a stinging denunciation of Paul’s law-free gospel by the law-abiding Jew who penned Matthew’s Gospel. But I am not convinced. For a start, the Matthean Jesus still sets himself against the halakhah of the Pharisees and their precise way of obeying the Torah on multiple occasions throughout the Gospel. Jesus can override or overrule certain commands as a new David and a new Temple, resulting in a charge that what he does is unlawful or departs from legal norms (Matt 12:1-8). If Jewish contemporaries of either Jesus or Matthew did not neatly distinguish Torah from its interpretation, then Jesus and Matthew’s refusal to go along with the resident legal judgments of the day may have led them and their followers or networkers to be regarded as law-breakers. Added to that, Paul can also declare that faith upholds the Torah (Rom 3:30) and can affirm parts of the decalogue (13:9-10) and acknowledge the very fulfilling the Torah by Christ-followers (Rom 8:4; Gal 6:2).

Concerning Gentiles, Paul certainly resists with the ferocity of a zealot that Gentile Christ-followers should be compelled to be circumcised or urged to embrace the Torah as their source of their salvation, identity, or grounds for belonging to the Messiah – those things are supplanted by Jesus the Messiah and the faith that is of, through, and in him! However, Paul does bring his Gentile converts into a Jewish constituency by migrating them from idolatry to monotheism, telling them not to intermarry pagans, urging them to respect Jewish customs and those persons sensitive to Jewish scruples, and he frequently uses the Torah as part of his moral reasoning. Thus, Paul’s Gentile converts do in a sense judaize, just not to the point of circumcision. Similar, Matthew’s affirmation of the Torah, keeping old and new together, never transgresses the integrity of Gentile faith. The faith of Gentile supplicants is constantly affirmed and lauded. Besides that, none of the missionary commands imply imposing Jewish customs or obligations to keep the Torah upon Gentile persons.

In sum, perhaps the alleged disparity between Matthew and Paul on the Torah in Christ-following assemblies is more real than imagined. Matthew is far more liberal or flexible on the Torah with his priority to keeping Jesus’s words, while Paul is far more Jewish and conservative than commentators often realize. Less conflict to see here than many researchers imagine.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 24, 2020

Matthew and Paul Agreements # 2 - The Jewish Way of Life in Christ

Next Post

September 30, 2020 The Psalms as Christian Praise

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Lands Blogosphere Book Review Calvinism Colleges & Universities Ecclesiology Emerging Adulthood Evangelicalism Foreign Affairs Gospel of John Greco-Roman World Humor Just War N. T. Wright Old Testament Resurrection Terrorism Theological Education Travel Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month September 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 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am the root of all kinds of evil when loved. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Pride Power Money Greed

Books by This Author Books by Mike Bird

See All Titles »