Justification and Variegated Nomism. Vol. 1: The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism

(Proquest Information and Learning: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)

Justification and Variegated Nomism. Vol. 1: The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism. Edited by D. A. Carson, Peter T. O'Brien, and Mark Seifrid. WUNT 140. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001, xiii + 613 pp., $44.99 paper.

This hefty volume stands as volume one of a two-volume set on the relationship of Paul to Second Temple Judaism. The focus is particularly on the validity of "covenantal nomism," the term popularized by E. P. Sanders in his 1977 work Paul and Palestinian Judaism. The validity of Sanders's watchword is assessed by surveying the literature and thought of the Second Temple period. There are sixteen contributors to this volume, which serves as background for the projected second volume, Paradoxes of Paul, which will deal specifically with Paul. The term "paradoxes" in the title of the projected volume may bring qualms to the minds of those who understand the term to entail a formal contradicton.

The sixteen contributors to this volume comprise an international team of fine scholars who have specialized in the literature of the Second Temple period. Scholars of this stature are generally not plagued by such common foibles as anachronism, reductionism, and parallelomania as they present their findings. Their awareness of the distance between their modern agenda and that of the ancient texts they examine is well expressed by P. Alexander, who contributes a study of the Tannaitic literature: "I have tried to survey in this essay an extensive and complex body of rabbinic literature, posing to it an agenda which has essentially been framed elsewhere (in the study of Paul and of post-Reformation Christian theology), and asking of it questions which it is reluctant to answer. I have been constantly troubled by the feeling that I have, to some degree, been forcing the sources-reading them somewhat against their grain, and imposing upon them a consistency which they do not possess" (p. 298).

The essays all examine specific themes in their respective corpora related to covenantal nomism. They vary in length from approximately fifteen to fifty pages. Most of the chapters address a type of literature (e.g. Apocalypses, Testaments), while two handle Philo and Josephus, and two others present topical summaries of righteousness language and the Pharisees. Editor Carson contributes both a brief introduction and a lengthy summary and conclusion. This conclusion is an especially helpful synthesis for non-specialists who are looking for the gist of the book's insights.

Sanders's "covenantal nomism" may be described simply (or simplistically) as the view that Israel's covenantal status originated in divine grace and was perpetuated by obedience to Torah. Thus "getting in," or more accurately "being in" by birth as Enns puts it (p. 510), is a matter of God's initiative and "staying in" is a matter of Israel's response. For Sanders and others who advocate the new perspective on Paul, this notion wholly supplants the reformational perspective that Paul polemicized against a merit theology of salvation by works. The contributors to this volume present a mixed response as to the propriety and clarity of Sanders's thesis when support for it is sought in Second Temple literature. Some find the thesis to be more or less amenable to their portion of the literature, while others pose questions and doubts. The complexity of this variegated literature militates against the likelihood of any single slogan being the key which unlocks every door. Thus the titles of this volume and of the set as a whole amount to an implicit warning against any reductionistic theory, whether it be traditional merit theology or the new perspective of Sanders.

Those who still find merit in the traditional approach will likely be most interested in portions of the book which plausibly support items (3)-(9) in Carson's concluding reflections, which raise serious questions about the usefulness and validity of covenantal nomism (pp. 543-48). There are several sections of the book which are especially significant for those whose minds are not made up and who still wish to examine the central question. C. Evans's survey of Scripture-based stories in the pseudepigrapha concludes that certain elements in these stories reflect a works-based view of salvation with which Paul would have sharply disagreed (p. 72). R. Bauckham's discussion of 2 Enoch, especially its recurring imagery of deeds being weighed on the scale of justice (44:5; 49:2; 52:15), is also especially relevant to the central question of the book (pp. 151-56). Bauckham's ensuing discussion of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch also appears to be provocative (pp. 161-82). P. Spilsbury's handling of Josephus argues that the concept of covenant is supplanted by a patron/client relationship between God and Israel. Therefore covenantal nomism is singularly inappropriate in a description of the thought of Josephus (p. 252). P. Alexander's discussion of salvation in the Tannaim concludes that this literature does not attempt a coherent systematic theology and can speak of salvation by grace in one place and of salvation by works in another. Yet in Alexander's view Tannaitic Judaism is fundamentally a religion of works righteousness (p. 300).