Imaging Christ Through the Cruciform Life (Galatians 2:19-20) (original) (raw)

The truth of the Gospel : a study in Galatians 2.15-21

1993

This is a sustained detailed study of one central Pauline text Gal 2.15-21. The passage contains several key Pauline terms and motifs which require interpretation, such as 'sinners', works of law and Law, faith of/in Christ, justification/righteousness, dying to law and living to God, co-crucifixion with Christ, several of which have become issues of considerable dispute in recent years. In order to prepare the ground for the main study on 2.15-21, Chapter 2 deals with three preliminary issues: what is the relationship between the Antioch episode and 2.15-21; what was the fundamental crisis at Antioch that called for Paul's theological response; and what is the more recent crisis in the Galatian churches, and how does this passage relate to the problem of Gentile Christians. Chapters 3-7 then deal with Paul's argumentation in 2.15-21. Since the flow of argument and the inter-relationship between individual phrases and sentences is complex and difficult to determine, ...

The Crucified Christ Seen by the Galatians: A Literal Context for ΠΡΟΕΓΡΑΦΗ (Galatians 3.1)

www.shroud.com, 2020

Galatians 3:1 is likely the earliest reference in existence bearing witness to the striking image on what we know today as the Shroud of Turin. Scholars have failed to identify a literal object for the eyes of Paul’s Gentile converts in Galatia that would have made it possible for them to have seen Christ crucified nearly twenty years earlier in Jerusalem. Therefore, this verse has been understood as a metaphor for Paul’s “public preaching.” This paper develops the thesis that the prevalent “preaching metaphor” should be rejected because the literal object his converts saw was the crucified image of Jesus on His burial cloth!

Common Ground? The Role of Galatians 2.16 in Paul's Argument

New Testament Studies, 2007

Several scholars have argued that Paul's statements about ‘justification’ in Gal 2.16 are intended to serve as common ground with his Galatian opponents. Yet Paul seems to argue polemically for the same idea in 2.21. Moreover, the structure of Paul's diatribal rhetoric in 2.16–21 suggests that Paul thought his statements in 2.16 would be controversial. When we observe that Paul continues to argue through chapters 3 and 4 for this same understanding of ‘justification’, it becomes clear that the Apostle expected his views in 2.16 to meet stiff resistance in Galatia.

The Faithfulness of Jesus Christ as a Theme in Paul's Theology in Galatians

The Faith of Jesus Christ: Exegetical, Biblical, and Theological Studies, 2009

This essay analyses the theme of Christ’s faithfulness in the theology of Galatians as indicative of Paul’s theology as a whole. It sees ἔργα νόμου (‘works of the law’) and πίστις Χριστοῦ as reflecting Paul’s antithetical pairing of Torah and Christ. This polarity means that the contrast is between two distinct covenants, one bounded by law the other bounded by Christ. According to Caneday the source of this polarity is a narrative of Israel incurring the curse of the law for its unfaithfulness to the covenant and those who belong to the ‘works of the law’ are under the curse of Torah. In contrast, Christ’s faithfulness through his curse-bearing death serves to redeem others from the curse of the Torah. The coming of πίστις is the restating of the coming of Abraham's seed, the coming of Christ’s faithfulness to fulfill God's promise covenant made with Abraham and his seed (the Christ) and to undo the curse of the law covenant.

The Ego and “ I ” : Galatians 2 : 19 in New Perspective

2005

ECENT STUDY OF GALATIANS HAS HAD A MASSIVE IMPACT ON THE FAMOUS “I have been crucified with Christ” statement of Paul (Gal 2:19), a comment taken by many scholars as a self-evident process of Christian faith. I was nurtured in a comfortable blend of Calvinism, Arminianism, and Lutheranism, and so the “I” of Gal 2:19 was easy to understand: we are all selfish and depraved and in need of God’s grace. Paul’s “Ego” here is the self, the unredeemed person, the depraved will, the flesh of our old humanity. This “Ego” expresses selfishness, especially in the attempt to earn favor, acceptance, and salvation on the basis of good works. And every person in the world finds himself or herself in this very “Ego” who needs co-crucifixion. This is how we heard the gospel, and this statement of Paul’s expressed clearly the contents of our socialization into that gospel. If recent New Testament study of Paul has not overturned the fundamental tenets of theological

AN EXEGETICAL PAPER: AN OBSERVATION OF ALLEGORY IN GALATIANS 4:21-25

AN EXEGETICAL PAPER: AN OBSERVATION OF ALLEGORY IN GALATIANS 4:21-25 The text in Gal. 4:21-25 contains the comparison between two women in the Hebrew Scripture. One is slave and the other is free (v.22). Further, the text makes a comparison between the sons of these woman, where Paul mentions that the son of the slave woman is through the flesh, but the son of the free woman is through the promise (v.22-23). Paul points to the events of birth of the two sons as two covenants (v.24). However, the problematic text is “ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα” (v.24), for which several interpretations have been offered by various commentators. We shall look into the allegory presented by Paul to make an attempt to understand the text. However, since this is an allegorical text, it is difficult to make plain the meaning of the text written by Paul. Moreover, we see that Paul is trying to confront the agitators, who were trying to impose the observance of the law (Gal 4:21), onto the Galatian churches for justification; it makes the understanding of the text mysterious as the allegory used by Paul relates to Abraham, who lived long before the Mosaic Law was given. Since Paul has made comparisons of the present Jerusalem with the Hebrew Scripture, we shall also look in the allegorical markers in the Hebrew Scripture for better understanding (v.24). Finally we shall look into Paul’s comparison of “Mount Sinai in Arabia” to the “present Jerusalem” in his time (v.25).

‘Christ-Faith’ as an Eschatological Event (Galatians 3.23-26): A ‘Third View’ on Πίστις Χριστοῦ

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 39 (2016): 277–300

The meaning of πίστις Χριστοῦ in Paul (Gal. 2.16, 20; 3.22; Rom. 3.22, 26; Phil. 3.9) continues to be the subject of controversial debate in Pauline scholarship. Should the genitive construction be understood objectively as ‘faith in Christ’ or subjectively as ‘the faith(fulness) of Christ’? The prevalent either/or character of the discussion is increasingly proving to be an impediment to finding a solution to this issue. A minority view, the so-called ‘third view’, seeks to move beyond the subjective-objective dichotomy by accounting for the intrinsic complexity of the Greek genitive and pointing to the event-character of πίστις in Paul. The primary reference text for this ‘third view’ is Gal. 3.23- 26, which exhibits an altogether remarkable language of faith and envisages πίστις as ‘coming’ (ἔρχεσθαι) and as ‘being revealed’ (ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι). This article reviews the exegetical status quaestionis and argues that Paul does not regard πίστις Χριστοῦ as an individual disposition or character (either Christ’s or that of the believer), but rather as an eschatological event. The aim is not to offer a comprehensive analysis of the verses in question, but to advance exegetical and theological support for the ‘third view’ and to point to its considerable explanatory power in our effort for a more nuanced appreciation of Paul’s language of faith.