Religious Studies

What did Paul find wrong with the Jewish Law? A. Andrew Das returns to E. P. Sanders and argues that both the New Perspective and Paul-within-Judaism overreach: Paul's objection is not to the Law itself but to trusting it for salvation apart from Christ. The grace-works contrast stands, nuanced by the Law's ethnic implications for gentiles.

The consensus view in New Testament studies holds that Luke admired Paul but did not understand his theology. Jimmy Myers argues that this view is mistaken. When the whole of each figure's theology is examined and compared with the other's alongside other early Christians, it becomes clear that Luke and Paul belong together theologically.

If 1 Peter calls its readers »a holy nation,« what does that imply about their relationship to Israel? Exploring the letter's ethnic language, Noel Cheong shows how Gentile Christians have joined Israel, echoing Old Testament patterns of incorporating resident foreigners.

All political action is influenced by political dreams and nightmares, by norms, beliefs and imaginations - in short, by something that transcends a given order. In continuation and critique of relevant debates, this volume's authors ask how references to transcendence contribute to the constitution, stabilization and transformation of political order.