In my retirement years I continue my quest as a life-long leaner. While I do not need nor do I desire another academic degree, I do create self-learning projects, write essays for my blog, maintain a stronger focus in my readings, view selected YouTube videos, and even requested and received a post-doctoral fellowship in creative leadership at a nearby seminary. Much of my learning efforts in this regard have centered on New Testament studies and the philosophy of history (including historical imagination).
In my theological readings I have
gravitated towards Scot McKnight and N.T, Wright. Through them I discovered a
theological school of thought called the New Perspective on Paul (NPP)/. If I
understand NPP correctly it is an attempt to put Second Temple Judaism in its
rightful place, not as a proverbial “straw man” or punching bag, but as a
strong vibrant faith which lacked one essential element according to Paul- the
recognition and acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as the long-expected Messiah.
According to NPP both Second Temple
Judaism and Paul’s Mission to the Gentiles were essentially congruent on the vertical
axis of faith. For Jews they merely had to recognize that they were born into a
covenantal relationship with God and that they were a “cut above” those outside
the covenant, using McKnight’s humor in reference to male circumcision. Gentiles, in contrast, had to accept the
divine invitation to enter into the conventual relationship and thus join the
Jews who indeed accepted Jesus as the Messiah as the first Christians.
It
is on the horizontal axis of faith that the real problems emerge
according to NPP. How does one stay in
fellowship with others within the conventual faith? This is where Second Temple
Jews part company with the Christians and even cause problems between the Gentile
believers and the “Jews for Jesus.” I believe that it was this rift that caused
the creation of the Judaziers who was a problem for the Pauline Mission to the
Gentiles.
Second Temple Jews and many Jewish
Christians were aghast that Gentile Christians did not keep Sabbath, adhere to
Kosher, or practice male circumcision. Together with their problem with the
Messiahship of Jesus, these practices (or lack thereof) were the final straws (pun
intended- see above) for Second Temple Jews. Henceforth, they viewed Christians as the
enemy of the biblical faith and eventually
caused the Gentile Mission to engulf nearly the entire Church. Even the
remaining Jews for Jesus had problems relating with Gentile believers even as
their numbers and influence waned in the coming decades.
I have found NPP to be a useful
tool in my enlarged understanding of the New Testament, especially in the power
relationships present in Paul’s Letter to the Romans between the Strong (Gentile
Christians) and the Weak (Jewish Christians). Nevertheless, any theological
school of thought, even NPP, has its
critics and I wanted to find those persons and listen to their “voices.” I
found such a voice, albeit in an unlikely source. And this where the story gets
exciting.
John M.G. Barclay is, like both McKnight
and Wright, an Anglican and a New Testament scholar but that is where their
triad similarities end, While McKnight
is an American, Barclay is a Brit like Wright. But unlike Wright who is also a
Church of England bishop, Barclay has spent the entirety of his career in
academia where he is currently the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham
University in northeast England. Ironically, Barclay’s predecessor as Lightfoot
Professor was James Dunn, a founder of NPP and the doctoral supervisor of
McKnight.
And unlike McKnight who has a deep
loud voice and Wright who talks fast, Barclay speaks in quiet measured tomes that
could put a listener asleep. Thus, Barclay seems an unlikely opponent of NPP
who has publicly debated Weight several times regarding Paul,, but without rancor and hostility as reported by one
commentator. If I interpret Barclay correctly his chief criticism of NPP is
over the nature of grace or gift, which he thinks NPP neglects.
Barclay’s Paul and the Gift was
considered by many critics to be a groundbreaking volume on Paul’s theology as it
pertains to gift and grace, and how gifts functioned in ancient societies. His
next volume, Paul and the Power of Grace, summarized the first book and
added some application for Christian communities today. It is not my purpose here
to review Barclay’s scholarship. Suffice to say is that while salvation is God’s
free gift to us, given unconditionally, the gift of salvation is conditional in
that it necessitates a reciprocal ethical response to God with our righteous living.
Barclay offers his readers a sample illustrative of such living-
·
The forgiven are expected to forgive (Matthew 6:12)
·
The fig tree is expected to bear fruit (Luke 13:6-9)
·
The disciples are called to serve (Mark 10:41-45)
·
The wealthy are expected to give (Luke 19:1-10)
·
The loved are commanded to love (John 13:34-35)
No cheap grace here neither for all
Christ followers in general nor for Barclay personally. He as a prominent theologian
would be welcomed in any congregation. And yet, he deliberately chooses to worship
regularly in a church composed of poor and marginalized folks, many with disabilities
and some who are homeless.
I am a simple man and therefore, I propose
a simple solution- let’s fuse together the New Perspective on Paul with Barclay’s
Gift Perspective to create a powerful tool to interpret the New Testament and
live our lives worthy of God’s gift of salvation.
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