Todd Wilson examines the rationale for Paul's four references to the Law in 5:13-6.10 in light of a fresh appraisal of the Galatian crisis. He contributes to the continuing debate over the relevance of this section of the letter for the rest of Galatians and for the situation in Galatia. In addition, his study offers a refined understanding of how Galatians functioned in its original setting: he argues that with the letter Paul confronts his apostatising converts with the stark choice between blessing and curse. The author's thesis is that Paul intended his four references to the Law in 5:13-6.10, not as a way of underscoring the superfluity of the Law for Christian living, but as an affirmation of the sufficiency of the Spirit to enable the Galatians to fulfil the Law and thereby avoid the Law's curse. Several notable conclusions are reached. First, the curse of the Law is important not only earlier in the letter (3:10-14; 3:23-29; 4:1-7; 4:21-31), but it also continues to be a central concern for Paul in 5:13-6:10. Secondly, for Paul redemption from the curse of the Law is not a fait accompli the cursing voice of the Law will only be silenced if the Galatians walk by the Spirit and resist the 'desire of the flesh' (5:16-18). Thirdly, in Galatians Paul places less emphasis upon the superfluity of the Law than is often assumed; rather, he focuses upon the Law's inability to mediate righteousness (2:15-21; 3:21; 5:5-6), its contrast with 'faith' (3:11-12), and its power to curse (1:8-9; 3:10, 13). This observation, in turn, may have far-reaching implications for the question of Christian supersessionism: the idea that the church has displaced the Jews as the elect people of God.

Todd Wilson assesses Paul’s references to the Law in the so-called “ethical” section of Galatians in light of a fresh appraisal of the Galatian crisis. He contributes to the continuing debate over the relevance of this section of the letter for the rest of Galatians and for the situation in Galatia.

Todd Wilson examines the rationale for Paul's four references to the Law in 5:13-6.10 in light of a fresh appraisal of the Galatian crisis. He contributes to the continuing debate over the relevance of this section of the letter for the rest of Galatians and for the situation in Galatia. In addition, his study offers a refined understanding of how Galatians functioned in its original setting: he argues that with the letter Paul confronts his apostatising converts with the stark choice between blessing and curse. The author's thesis is that Paul intended his four references to the Law in 5:13-6.10, not as a way of underscoring the superfluity of the Law for Christian living, but as an affirmation of the sufficiency of the Spirit to enable the Galatians to fulfil the Law and thereby avoid the Law's curse. Several notable conclusions are reached. First, the curse of the Law is important not only earlier in the letter (3:10-14; 3:23-29; 4:1-7; 4:21-31), but it also continues to be a central concern for Paul in 5:13-6:10. Secondly, for Paul redemption from the curse of the Law is not a fait accompli: the cursing voice of the Law will only be silenced if the Galatians walk by the Spirit and resist the 'desire of the flesh' (5:16-18). Thirdly, in Galatians Paul places less emphasis upon the superfluity of the Law than is often assumed; rather, he focuses upon the Law's inability to mediate righteousness (2:15-21; 3:21; 5:5-6), its contrast with 'faith' (3:11-12), and its power to curse (1:8-9; 3:10, 13). This observation, in turn, may have far-reaching implications for the question of Christian supersessionism: the idea that the church has displaced the Jews as the elect people of God.

Jarvis J. Williams argues that the Jewish martyrological ideas, codified in 2 and 4 Maccabees and in selected texts in LXX Daniel 3, provide an important background to understanding Paul's statements about the cursed Christ in Gal. 3.13, and the soteriological benefits that his death achieves for Jews and Gentiles in Galatians. Williams further argues that Paul modifies Jewish martyrology to fit his exegetical, polemical, and theological purposes, in order to persuade the Galatians not to embrace the 'other' gospel of their opponents. In addition to providing a detailed and up to date history of research on the scholarship of Gal. 3.13, Williams provides five arguments throughout this volume related to the scriptural, theological and conceptual, lexical, grammatical and polemical points of contact, and finally the discontinuities between Galatians and Jewish martyrological ideas. Drawing on literature from Second Temple traditions to directly compare with Gal. 3.13, Williams adds new insights to Paul's defense of his Torah-free-gentile-inclusive gospel, and his rhetoric against his opponents.

In this book, John Morgan-Wynne carefully examines the pivotal figure of Abraham in the Old Testament and Early Judaism. Our earliest literary evidence concerning Abraham is the stream of tradition known as J, the so-called Yahwist source (ca tenth century BCE), and also the Elohist stream of tradition (ninth to eighth century, or perhaps earlier). The subsequent eclipse of the Abrahamic tradition in the south is probably accounted for by the stress on the Davidic monarchy. However, Abraham's profile begins to rise again during and after the Babylonian exile when Jewish theologians had to come to terms with the traumatic events of the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms. He is frequently discussed in many non-canonical, early Jewish writings as he became a figure of identification, a pre-eminently righteous man, and an example to imitate, as Jews came to terms with being a subject people and with persecution.

In this book, John Morgan-Wynne examines the very different ways in which Paul’s epistles, Hebrews, James, Luke-Acts, John’s Gospel, and Matthew’s Gospel utitiize the critical figure of Abraham, the father of the people of Israel. He explores the question of the extent to which various New Testament authors developed something already present in the tradition and the extent to which they molded their depiction of Abraham to suit their own purposes in novel and creative ways. The book also considers how the diverse New Testament depictions and interpretations of the patriarch affect the preaching of the Abrahamic tradition today.

In this addition to the award-winning BECNT series, highly regarded New Testament scholar Douglas Moo offers a substantive yet accessible commentary on Galatians. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Moo leads readers through all aspects of the book of Galatians--sociological, historical, and theological--to help them better understand its meaning and relevance. As with all BECNT volumes, this commentary features the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text and an acclaimed, user-friendly design. It admirably achieves the dual aims of the series--academic sophistication with pastoral sensitivity and accessibility--making it a useful tool for pastors, church leaders, students, and teachers.

Early Christianity did not originate in a vacuum but in a world of linguistic, social, religious, and cultural richness and diversity. The twenty-two seminal essays in this volume - some previously published, some newly written - represent almost three decades of research by Troy W. Martin to understand how early Christianity developed in the ancient world. The broad-ranging investigations in these essays give attention not only to the linguistic and rhetorical features of early Christian texts, but also to the social, philosophical, physiological, and medical contexts in which these texts were written. The essays provide new understandings of early Christian conceptions of salvation and of the virtues of faith, hope and love that characterized early Christian communities. They include new medical and physiological explanations of early Christian sacraments, pneumatology, and eschatology and furthermore investigate early Christian communal life and practice, including the veiling of women, male/female relationships, and time-keeping. The essays include reception histories that describe their influence on subsequent research and place them within the context of contemporary research and scholarship. Those familiar with the well-trodden ground of New Testament studies will find in these essays new insights and previously unexplored comparative material for understanding early Christianity and the world in which it originated.

The letter to the Galatians is a key source for Pauline theology as it presents Paul's understanding of justification, the gospel, and many topics of keen contemporary interest. In this volume, some of the world's top Christian scholars offer cutting-edge scholarship on how Galatians relates to theology and ethics. The stellar list of contributors includes John Barclay, Beverly Gaventa, Richard Hays, Bruce McCormack, and Oliver O'Donovan. As they emphasize the contribution of Galatians to Christian theology and ethics, the contributors explore how exegesis and theology meet, critique, and inform each other.

What has the Spirit to do with the blessing of Abraham and justification? This book challenges the common assumption that the Abrahamic blessing and the Spirit are equated in Gal 3:14 and points out how an accurate understanding of the relationship between these two motifs contributes significantly to appreciating Paul's overall argument in Galatians and his theology of justification. Even though Paul does not cite Old Testament passages on the promise of the Spirit in Gal 3:1-14, his arguments are nonetheless deeply influenced by the whole prophetic tradition about the Spirit. Most current discussions on the present and future aspects of justification have yet to consider the Spirit's role in the latter. Given the renewed interest in Pauline justification, this book contributes to this important aspect of the Spirit's role in future justification, which needs to be developed further in Pauline and New Testament theology.