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[JGRChJ 11 (2015) R63-R68]
BOOK REVIEW
Wolter, Michael, Paul: An Outline of his Theology (trans. Robert L.
Brawley; Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2015). xvi + 476. Hbk.
USD79.95.
Pauline theology is all too often the subject of partisan arguments tied
to deeply entrenched positions. Not so for this translation of Wolter’s
overview of Pauline theology, however. Although the book’s thesis is
difficult to pinpoint, as the topic is so broad, at its core, the book is an
account of how and why Christianity reflects reality specifically for
Christians. I appreciated that this book does not seem to simply rehash
old debates on proposed ‘doctrinal centers’. While aimed at the
graduate-school level, scholars and pastors will find this work insightful
for its sociological perspective and its focus on recent discussion in
German scholarship.
In discussing the antecedents to Pauline theology, Wolter offers a
cursory overview of Paul’s biography. His discussion of much-debated
topics, such as Paul’s education and occupation reflects a grasp of the
issues but avoids premature conclusions. He presents pre-conversion
Paul as a Pharisee, who is zealous for preserving Israel’s ‘sanctity as
the people of God’ (p. 18) by promoting the Torah. The Damascus
Road experience was both a conversion to ‘a new certainty of
existence’ (p. 27) centered upon Jesus Christ and a call to proclaim the
gospel to the nations. This event also raises important questions: what
now is the Torah’s status, and what will happen to those Jews who ‘still
wish to embody and preserve their sanctity by the law alone?’ (p. 30).
Unfortunately, I will have to point out that this book has several typos
(e.g. ‘although Paul was a Jew from “Cicilia” [p. 11]...he was a very
different man after his “conversation” on the road to Damascus’ [p.
23]).
After discussing the controversies Paul was involved in, Wolter
claims that the term ‘gospel’ never refers to the content of Paul’s
proclamation, but always to the act of proclaiming itself. Theological
R64 Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 11
claims discuss the meaning and implications of the proclamation, but
the gospel always precedes theology. The term ‘gospel’ is not primarily
related to the Septuagint or to Hellenism, but it gives simply the general
sense of ‘good news’. Paul uses three modifiers for the word, calling it
God’s, Christ’s and my gospel, all referring to the same proclamation.
The content of the original proclamation ‘contained the summons to
turn to Israel’s God and to the exclusive orientation toward the
expectation of salvation at the parousia of God’s Son’ (p. 62).
Wolter then identifies faith as fundamentally a matter of acceptance.
Thus, regarding the πίστις Χριστοῦ debate—a construction he takes to
be a genitive of quality—he points out that faith is actually the
disposition that makes it possible to attribute faithfulness to Christ in
the first place. Faith, for Wolter, is also interchangeable with the gospel
as far as content is concerned. This is because, as Wolter would argue,
Paul presents the gospel as the object of faith. Wolter also points out
that the source of faith’s realization, for Paul, is distinctly divine and
human. Faith is not only an event of conversion, but also a ‘permanent
orientation of life’ (p. 81) both for individuals and for the group, a
community-constituting ethos.
While this is an insightful reading, it is not without problems. He
claims that Paul uses the phrase ‘in Christ’ to describe a new reality: ‘a
symbolic universe that is differentiated from other symbolic universes’
(p. 87) by faith. However, I would note that whatever Paul is doing, he
is not consciously contrasting ‘symbolic universes’ per se. In a similar
passage, Wolter describes how Onesimus is a slave in ‘the everyday
symbolic universe’, but a beloved brother in ‘the symbolic universe of
faith’ (p. 87). The use of the term ‘symbolic universe’ is crucial to
Wolter’s section on faith as assurance of reality, but it would have been
helpful for him to explain why this concept is utilized. Why not simply
say, for example, that, in light of Philemon’s former relationship with
God, Onesimus was nothing but a slave to him; but now, in light of
Philemon’s new relationship with God, Onesimus became a beloved
brother—why introduce a modern sociological explanation without
explaining why it is actually necessary? Paul talked about relationships,
but he did not talk about symbolic universes.
Regarding the atonement, Wolter frames the salvific significance of
Jesus’ death in terms of the faith of those who are saved. In other
words, Jesus’ death can only be understood as ‘the revelation of God’s
universal salvation’ by faith (p. 96). Only faith, explains Wolter,
Review: WISHART Paul R65
actually assigns salvific efficacy to Jesus’ death. To have ‘Christ-faith’
is ‘to understand Jesus’ death as a ἱλαστήριον’ (p. 98) or that which
effects the removal of sins. This is evident in Paul’s claim that Christ is
a ἱλαστήριον by faith through his blood. This faith in Christ, Wolter
claims, subordinates all other identities.
It would have been useful for Wolter to explain, however, just what
he means by the term ‘identity’. The language of identity subordination
presents Christian faith as a replacement for other identities. However,
Wolter does not offer a nuanced explanation for why Paul’s identity in
Christ is compatible with his identity as a Jew. While Wolter does
explain the pre-eminence of Christian identity for Paul, his explanation
nevertheless reflects too many assumptions, such as his notions of what
racial, religious or social identities actually were in the first century.
This topic is highly debated and would no doubt have been argued more
strongly had Wolter included recent research into social identity in
Paul’s letters.
Wolter then elaborates on the theological meaning of baptism in
regard to the discussion about faith mentioned above. Baptism, he
claims, is only meaningful in the context of faith; apart from this, it is
meaningless. Baptism can never be discussed in Paul’s writings apart
from Christ-faith, while Christ-faith can be discussed apart from
baptism. However, he does not conclude that infant baptism is
inappropriate; in cultures that are shaped by Christian heritage, baptism
can no longer be a conversion rite, but is rather a rite of tradition. Either
way, nevertheless, he claims that baptism is a signifier of the new
identity and reality in which Christians exist.
On a more critical note, I would point out that throughout the book
Wolter enhances his discussion of theological concepts with close
readings of biblical passages in Greek. However, some of his arguments
rest upon questionable assumptions about certain Greek grammatical
concepts. For example, the aorist tense is assumed to have a strictly
past-referring meaning, whereas the absence of it is evidence of a
strictly present temporal reference (see pp. 138-40, 404). Wolter’s
arguments would have been strengthened by a more carefully nuanced
reference to the presumed tense reference of verbs, identifying why
specific clauses are taken to have a given tense reference.
‘Hope’, Wolter argues, is another distinguishing feature of
Christianity, along with Christ-faith, baptism and the Spirit. ‘Hope’ is a
‘constituent of Christian existence’, and as such, shares ‘paradigmatic
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interchangeability’ (p. 180) with faith. Under the heading, ‘Hope’,
Wolter develops the topic of eschatology. He helpfully describes
eschatology as a semantic field that can be divided into three domains:
individual, universal and cosmic eschatology. The present ‘eschatic
salvific’ reality is described by Paul in different, ‘semantically isotopic’
(pp. 181, 186) ways.
Again, Wolter’s use of linguistic terminology is helpful in drawing
specific connections between the varying aspects of Paul’s language
and thought that have all too often been pitted against one another.
However, a clearer methodological discussion would have enhanced
this work. Nevertheless, the utilization of linguistic concepts is a
strength of Wolter’s work. Paul’s eschatology, according to Wolter, is
‘already’ and ‘not yet’ because of the ‘simultaneity of the two aeons’
(p. 186)—the present evil world and the world to come. Wolter’s
discussion of the resurrection is nuanced, and his interaction with
different texts on the final judgment likewise avoids simplistic
generalizations.
Wolter’s analysis of the phrase ‘in Christ’ is focused on identifying
the semantic fields within which the phrase occurs; however, actual
semantic field analysis is not included explicitly, except in the form of
conclusions: ‘“In Christ” serves as a designation for the leading
paradigm of that symbolic universe, which for “Christ-faith” is God’s
“new creation”’ (p. 234). Participation in Christ, claims Wolter, does
not derive from the body metaphor: ‘When Paul speaks of being “in
Christ” as a characteristic of those who believe and are baptized, he
intends thereby to express an existential belonging and dependence that
cannot be imagined as closer and nearer...spatial concepts are either not
present or at best metaphorically so’ (p. 239). Participation is construed
as soteriological, claims Wolter, only at the high price of generalizing
soteriology, so that ‘the concept of soteriology thereby loses all
semantic contours and becomes quite useless’ (p. 249).
Coming to ecclesiology, Wolter identifies ‘the church’ as a group
that worships together and whose communion is made real in the
symbol of the Lord’s Supper. The people who partake in this supper
constitute a group describable in body, family and temple metaphors,
and who also participate in the identity of Israel—without replacing
Israel. Wolter offers a nominalist conception of ecclesiology—the
church is not a thing that has members; rather, it is its members,
constituted by the people who belong to the group.
Review: WISHART Paul R67
Devoting a chapter to Pauline paraenesis or ethics, Wolter addresses
the classic distinction between ‘indicatives’ and ‘imperatives’. He
argues for an insightful conceptual parallelism, saying, ‘the connection
of indicative and imperative in Paul functions just like the connection
of election and Torah in Judaism’ (p. 305). Moreover, he claims that
Paul’s ethics are correlated with justification by faith, resulting in an
‘egalitarian reciprocity’ (p. 314) that demands that both sides of a
conflict relate to one another properly, as Christians. His claims are
generally accommodating to a number of different approaches to
Pauline studies, although his attempt to situate Paul’s commands about
immorality and idolatry within a set of three ‘Noahide laws’ comes
across as merely an afterthought, and seems out of place compared to
his treatment of the law in the next chapter, where he delineates four
different uses of the law—none of which correspond to the Noahide
laws of the rabbinic period.
In the book’s longest chapter, Wolter outlines an intriguing account
of justification by faith. While deeper discussion of the role of
metaphorical constructs would have been fitting given the tenor of the
entire work, Wolter nevertheless usefully interacts with a number of
different issues. The issue of justification, embedded ‘in the question of
Israel’ (p. 345), is an issue of identity, not just status. Paul’s theology is
universalistic in that all are subject to the anthropological reality of sin,
which in turn provides the necessary context within which justification
can take place. Justification involves freedom from the law, but not
antinomianism, because God himself justifies people, declaring and
making it a reality. This act, moreover, involves various characteristics
of God, such as his justice, grace and glory. What I found intriguing
was the generally traditional positions Wolter take that are nevertheless
coupled with an ecclesiological framework for justification—rather
than simply a soteriological one—which has ecumenical implications.
In the final chapter, Wolter attempts to account for the aporia, or
dilemma, at the heart of a Pauline theology that is fundamentally
concerned with communal identity: what is the identity of Israel? In his
discussion of three key passages (1 Thess. 2.14-16; Gal. 4.21-31;
Romans 9–11), Wolter offers a descriptive account of Paul’s apparent
theology of Israel. In the end, he claims that the aporia remains
unresolved for Paul: Israel’s hardening is temporary, and they will be
saved in Christ, but this does not negate their election by God. The
aporia, Wolter notes, is rooted in Paul’s own paradoxical identity—a
R68 Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 11
thoroughly Jewish identity, and an identity fundamentally defined by
Christ-faith.
Several points should be made in summary. First, Wolter’s catalogue
of Pauline theology should be taken as a whole; it is not a reference
book. Secondly, Wolter primarily interacts with German scholarship,
though not neglecting some of the most important discussions of
scholars from North America and the United Kingdom. Thirdly, he
offers an account of Pauline theology that is refreshing in that it is
strikingly different from much discussion on the use of sociological
concepts gleaned from the Pauline epistles, without necessarily having
particular sociological theories at its core. For all of these reasons,
Wolter’s book would serve as a useful introductory textbook for
graduate students, pastors or others who are interested in Pauline
theology.
Ryder Wishart
McMaster Divinity College
Hamilton, ON