Paul and Judaism Revisited

Preaching's Preacher's Guide to the Best Bible Reference for 2014 (Pauline Studies)Ever since E. P. Sanders published Paul and Palestinian Judaism in 1977, students of Paul have been probing, weighing and debating the similarities and dissimilarities between the understandings of salvation in Judaism and in Paul. Do they really share a common notion of divine and human agency? Or do they differ at a deep level? And if so, how? Broadly speaking, the answers have lined up on either side of the old perspective and new perspective divide. But can we move beyond this impasse?Preston Sprinkle reviews the state of the question and then tackles the problem. Buried in the Old Testament's Deuteronomic and prophetic perspectives on divine and human agency, he finds a key that starts to turn the rusted lock on Paul's critique of Judaism. Here is a proposal that offers a new line of investigation and thinking about a crucial issue in Pauline theology.

Preface1. Paul and Judaism Revisited2. Deuteronomic and Prophetic Restoration3. Restoration from the Curse of the Law4. The Eschatological Spirit5. Anthropological Pessimism in Paul and Qumran6. Justification in Paul and Qumran7. Judgment According to Works8. Divine and Human Agency in Early Judaism: A Survey9. Paul and Judaism: Soteriology Revisited