CHAPTER 1
What Kind of Jew Was Paul?
Paul was and remained a Jew.
âE. P. Sanders1
Christianity rapidly became a new covenantal nomism.
âE. P. Sanders2
Over the course of the last century, New Testament scholars have come to a consensus about the historical fact that Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew, and that he cannot be properly understood apart from first-century Judaism.3 The same conclusion has been reached by scholars who study the apostle Paul. No serious exegete disputes the notion that Paul was profoundly formed by the Judaism of his day, the period in Jewish history typically referred to as the âSecond Templeâ era.4 Paul himself makes his Jewish heritage clear. For example, in Galatians, Paul writes, âWe ourselves are Jews [Ioudaioi] by birthâ (Gal 2:15). Yet when it comes to Paulâs relationship with Judaism after his transformation from persecutor of the church to apostle of Christ, things are not so simple. What kind of Jew was the apostle Paul? On this point, scholars are divided. As Douglas Campbell rightly notes, âDebate over Paulâs relationship with Judaism, and especially over his view of the law, has dominated discussion of the apostle for the last quarter century.â5
In this chapter, we will begin our study of Pauline theology by attempting to situate it within the context of first-century Judaism. As we will see, when it comes to the question of how best to describe Paulâs relationship to Judaism, contemporary scholarship can be broadly categorized according to three major approaches: (1) Paul the âformer Jewâ; (2) Paul the âeschatological Jewâ; and (3) Paul the âtorah-observant Jew.â To these we will propose a fourth option: (4) Paul the ânew covenant Jew.â We will make the case that this category of ânew covenant Jewâ is the most helpful way to locate Paul within the wider and complex world of first-century Judaism.6 As we hope to show, exploring the question âWhat kind of Jew was Paul?â is extremely important for understanding his overall theology. How one thinks about the apostleâs relationship to Judaism will have a direct impact on how one answers other questions about his eschatology, Christology, soteriology, and so on.
A couple of caveats before we begin. First, this chapter is by no means a comprehensive account of contemporary Pauline scholarship. Nor should the various views discussed be read in terms of a chronological progression. Rather, what we offer here is a brief taxonomy of perspectives that will introduce the reader to a representative sampling of recent scholarly assessments of Paul and Judaism. It will also help us identify some of the fundamental difficulties involved in interpreting Paulâs overall theology. We must insist, though, that the different perspectives outlined here should not be seen as hermetically sealed categories.7 Even though some scholars may be listed as major representatives of one approach, aspects of their thought may cohere well or overlap with certain features of the other general outlooks mentioned.8 For this reason, the reader should keep in mind that the taxonomy is intended for heuristic purposes and should not be understood in an overly rigid fashion. With this in mind, we begin our overview with three different common approaches to explaining Paulâs relationship to Judaism. After this we will offer our own proposal, which will set the stage for our discussion of the apostle in the rest of this book.
A Former Jew
The first major approach to the question of Paulâs Jewishness is one that many readers are probably familiar with: Paul as a âformerâ Jew. This approach tends to emphasize the discontinuity between the practices and beliefs of Paul the Christian apostle and the practices and beliefs of Saul the Jewish Pharisee. It can be associated to varying degrees with the work of scholars such as Rudolf Bultmann,9 Ernst KĂ€semann,10 Stephen Westerholm,11 and Love Sechrest.12 In order to clarify the basic contours of this perspective, it is helpful to focus on three aspects of Paulâs relationship with Judaism: (1) his âconversionâ; (2) his relationship with the Jewish âlawâ or âtorahâ;13 and (3) his views on the salvation of Israel.
Paul as a Convert from Judaism to Christianity
First, according to the portrait of Paul as a âformer Jew,â Paul is best seen as having experienced a conversionâa radical âturningâ (Lat. conversio)âfrom the religion known as âJudaismâ to the religion that would come to be known as âChristianity.â In support of this perspective, scholars of this persuasion point to several important texts in Paulâs letters in which he speaks of no longer being âunderâ the Jewish law and of his âearlier life in Judaism.â These writers interpret the latter expression as indicating that Judaism was part of his âpastâ and not his present identity:
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. (1 Cor 9:20)
You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. (Gal 1:13â14)
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. (Phil 3:4â9)
Paulâs declaration that he is not himself âunder the law [hypo nomon]â (1 Cor 9:20) is especially important for the âformer Jewâ approach. The statement suggests that he does not consider himself subject to the torah of Moses. Although first-century Judaism was extremely diverse, a solid case can be made that one thing that virtually all Jews held in common was the belief that they were bound to obey the law of Moses as contained in the Pentateuch.14 It is hard to imagine any ordinary first-century Jew ever declaring, as Paul does, that he or she is not âunder the lawâ (1 Cor 9:20). Notice also that Paul twice uses the language of âJudaismâ (Ioudaismos) to refer to his earlier religious life (Gal 1:13, 14). This could be taken as implying that he no longer sees himself as living within Judaism. To be sure, Paul acknowledges and even boasts about the fact that he is âof the people of Israel [ek genous IsraÄl]â and âa Hebrew [Hebraios]â (Phil 3:5). Nevertheless, he appears to turn this immediately on its head by declaring that he has not only suffered the âloss of all thingsââthat is, what he had gained through righteousness under the torahâbut counts them as ârubbishâ (Phil 3:8). This translation dramatically softens the original (and quite crude) Greek word Paul uses, skybala, which literally means âcrudâ or âexcrement.â15 One could hardly think of a more vivid way (and one could easily think of several less offensive ways) of describing a radical break with his earlier life.
Pointing to these and other such passages, various scholars do not hesitate to speak of Paulâs âconversionâ from Judaism to Christianity.16 For example, the famous twentieth-century scholar Rudolf Bultmann describes Paul as having experienced a âconversionâ that âbroughtâ Paul âinto the Hellenistic Churchâ and situated him âwithin Hellenistic Christianity.â17 Along similar lines, Ernst KĂ€semann places Paulâs Jewish identity in his past: âPaul is here [in Philippians 3:4â9] setting a boundary between himself and his own pastâas the past of a devout Jew.â18 More recently, certain Protestant scholars have made similar comments. For example, Stephen Westerholm argues that Paul may correctly be described as âa Christianâ who had âabandonedâ his Jewish way of life.19 Likewise, Love Sechrest writes that Paul âdoes not see himself as a Jew in the first placeâ but believes instead that he and his fellow Christians âhad become members of a new racial identity.â20 Put differently, in the words of Rudolf Bultmann, Paul represented âa Torah-free Gentile Christianity.â21
Paul and the TorahâJustification by Faith versus Works-Righteousness
Second, scholars who depict Paul as a âformer Jewâ also tend to regard Paulâs doctrine of justification by faith apart from works of the law as a, if not the, central feature of his theology. According to this point of view, Paulâs doctrine of justification is directed against Jewish âlegalism,â which saw the performance of the works commanded in the Jewish torah as a means of acquiring righteousness through oneâs own efforts. As Ernst KĂ€semann once put it, âThe apostleâs message of justification is a fighting doctrine, directed against Judaism.â22
In support of this view, scholars cite, for example, Paulâs famous statements in Romans about justification by faith apart from works of the law:
For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. . . . For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? âAbraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.â Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. (Rom 3:28; 4:2â5)
Brothers and sisters, my heartâs desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to Godâs righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Rom 10:1â4)
In these texts Paul articulates his doctrine that a person is âjustified [dikaiousthai...