I was excited yesterday to receive word that an article Kevin Wright and I worked on quite extensively has been accepted by the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, which in my mind is one of the top three English speaking scholarly journals in biblical studies. The current form has benefited much from earlier critiques by helpful reviewers.
I don't know that I ever blogged it, but I was quite happy in my own mind to feel some resolution to the "faith of Jesus Christ" debate. The issue centers on the fact that the phrase typically rendered "faith in Christ" in Romans 3 and Galatians 2 might also be translated as the "faithfulness of Christ." James Dunn has become the poster proponent of the traditional faith in Christ reading, while Richard Hays of Duke has led the charge for the faithfulness of Christ interpretation.
The difference is largely one of focus. Is Christian faith most properly placed in God, as Abraham's in Romans 4, while our faith is more in what God did through Christ? Is the expression "believing on Christ" better understood as "exercising faith into Christ," becoming "in Christ" by our faith in what God has done through him? Of course all this implies a trust in Christ as well, but the focus comes to be more on God (the Father).
I have largely become convinced that this interpretation is the more accurate rendition of Paul's prioritization. My article largely proceeds from 2 Corinthians 4:13, where I argue Paul takes Psalm 116:10 to be a reflection of Christ's faith as he faced his own death. Just as Christ exercised faith in the "one who could save him out of death" (Heb. 5:7), Paul also trusts in God to raise him from the dead.
With concrete evidence in hand that Paul could think of a progression of faith from the faith of Christ to our faith, I suggest a model of intepretation "from Hays to Dunn," that combines what I see as the best features of both their arguments. While I sketch what this might look like in my article, CBQ will now have the dubious pleasure of a follow up submission that will work out my "from Hays to Dunn" conception in greater detail. To the laptop, Robin...
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5 comments:
Fun!
Great job, Ken. This is outstanding news. Kudos for Kevin as well -- what a great start for his own writing career!
How's that Paul article coming? haha just kidding. Did we ever get anywhere on that?
I'm backlogged on article writing. I'm drafting one on Hebrews now that I think is really significant. Then there's another one on Hebrews that I've had on the backburner for about five years. Then I had another one on Philippians in mind... But I should go back to yours so you can use it for applications this Fall, yes?
Um, it's up to you. You are a busy man, with lots of knowledge to share with the world. I'm a recent college grad, working at a summer camp, who is once again trying to figure out "what's next."
If you do get back to it, I'd like to dialogue more on it, so I can feel like I did more to help. My brain needs to stay sharp if I am going to reapply to places next year. Blogging has been good for me though, and I'm ready for camp to be over so I can go back to being a nerd.
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