Here is the next
summary in our series on the book of Romans.
We have been using
The Deliverance of God. An Apocalyptic
Re-reading of Justification in Paul by Douglas Campbell (2009) as a
background text in this study.
Romans #2 8/3/12
Paul was the first to formulate a systematic Christian theology. It
may not be systematically presented but it's clear he is connecting a
global set of topics, attempting to articulate the radicalism of the gospel. He
was confronting powerful obstacles – the greatest of which was the attempt to
keep Christianity as a Jewish sect under Jewish Law. Within 15 years
Christianity had become established in the non-Jewish world, all the way to
Rome. It had broken from the temple but many Christians were still living under
the Jewish Law. The new movement needed to stay connected to the person of
Jesus and the community of original disciples in Judea to maintain its
authority – however, Paul recognized the need to break free from the
constraints of the Law. At times he was a lone voice facing the opposition of
the most powerful figures in the movement.
Romans, Paul’s key text, has inspired numerous commentaries
and is used by theologians to underpin their understanding of the meaning of
Christ’s death and to develop their theology of justification. One of these is
Douglas Campbell, whose recent book interpreting Paul’s theology around the
topic of justification, we are using in this study. Another example of note is
Ernst Kasemann who was a disciple of Rudolph Bultmann. Bultmann had a huge
impact on the 20th century, and was himself a disciple of Heidegger. Bultmann
demythologized the New Testament. He removed what he identified as the mythological
or miraculous elements of the Gospels. Following in his footsteps the Jesus
Seminar determined that about over 80%
of the Gospel words attributed to Jesus were generated by the early Church. They
were stories written to help address Church needs.
Kasemann was a German theologian in the 1960s who took a differnet approach to that of his teacher. He was trying
to make sense of the failure of the Church (with a few exceptions) to stand up
to Hitler. Kasemann believed that the evangelical theology of his day, Luther’s
contractual, individualist understanding
of justification by faith, was inadequate. Something more incisive was needed. Kasemann turned to
an apocalyptic theology of God's power – that God is taking a hand in things,
making a move to change history. In a world of conflict, in which evil powers
and principalities dominate, God chooses not to leave the world untouched.
Other theologians have carried the argument about Romans in other areas. For
example, Krister Stendahl argued against the strict contractual,
substitutionary interpretation of Romans and the rampant individualism on which
it was based .
Campbell says that there is something deeply implausible
about justification theory. That is, because it depends upon a decision that I
make, a contract I accept, it becomes something that I do – another form of
works. It is contingent, i.e. continuous with the world in which we already
exist and think. Campbell does not think that this was Paul’s meaning. That in
fact Romans has been misread and misunderstood. Paul had an apocalyptic not a
contractual understanding of Christ’s death. Something radically new is in the
world.
Campbell argues that
chapters 1-4 of Romans – the chapters that focus on the judgment/wrath of God –
are not really presenting Paul’s theology. Instead Paul is quoting somebody
else. This person is an anonymous figure, a leader in the Roman Church, whom Campbell names "The Teacher”. This
Teacher says that God is coming to judge us all punitively, a God of wrath. He
advocates the need for Christians to live under the Jewish Law. Campbell says
that these chapters of Romans are written
in a technical form common at that time called a “diatribe”. In this style of
writing one argument is presented and then the counter-argument follows. It is
a method by which a particular individual’s thought is first presented--often
by speech-in-person--then crushed.
Chapters 1-4 are the diatribe. Chapters 5-8 are
Paul’s authentic theology, without this
kind of back-and-forth. These chapters describe a breaking in, a revelation of
God’s loving move in history. This is Paul’s apocalyptic, redemptive gospel.
The person carrying the letter from Paul would have been expected to read it
aloud, probably with "stage directions" in mind. People at that time
would have been familiar with this style of writing. Over time the text has
been misinterpreted – understood as a single voice.
Campbell renders the
word “justification” as “deliverance”. The word “flesh” (sarx) can be understood as the human worldly systems
of generative violence rather than the way it has often been understood in the
past as “body” (and often sexuality). For Paul the human body is important and
will be transformed. In fact, Galatians 5:16-21 lists the works of the flesh,
and these are mostly forms of violence. This generative violence is revealed to
us by Christ – that we are enslaved and unable to free ourselves from our
state. We think that this is normal but only by becoming free of it can we see
it. Any knowledge of the problem is grounded in the revelation of the solution.
The crucifixion is a revelation of love and the means of
our deliverance. The old Adam, the old way of being human, is terminated –
Jesus is the template of a new humanity. Incredible divine love from outside
our human system, breaks in, terminates the old order, and we are reconstituted
through love. This is fundamentally a transformational not a legal action. An
apocalyptic intervention that shakes the foundation. Baptism is a sign of this
new thing. Contractual justification does not work – we need deliverance or
rescue. And this deliverance is pure grace.
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