New Paul Perspective
The New Paul Perspective (NPP) is a "New" way of reading Paul. So when I first heard about the NPP in the footnotes of a book it said that Paul was read as applying to the religious situation that existed in the 1500. The protestants read Paul as if Paul were them and the Judaizers, and the Jews were the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and Pal was protesting against the Jews as they were protesting against the RCC. That sounded very interesting so I went and read some more writers that were talking about this and I must say that I like it even more now.
First I read a book by E.P. Sanders called Paul and Palistinian Judaism. OK I didn't finish that book because it was a very hard read and it was more of a technical book for theologian types. First he pointed out that the Jews themselvs have always said that they never believed that "works" saved them. They always believed that they were saved by "grace". What they believed was that they were the chosen race because of Gods grace, and that they kept the laws because they were thankful to God, and it was what was expected of them. So E.P. Sanders went to a ton of sources to show that the Jews of that time believed that they were saved because of the grace of God and not because of anything that they did themselves. Not keeping the laws was turning away from God.
N.T. Wright is an Anglican Bishop who also writes about the NPP. He points out that Paul was talking to the Jews and that he was pointing out to them that they had become enamored with the thought that they were the chosen race and that none other could or would be saved, however, when God spoke to Abraham he said that through Abraham the entire world, or all the families of the Earth were to be blessed, and not just the Jews. Pauls message was to show how Jesus fulfilled that promise and how the gentiles were to become part of the "righteousness" of God and be saved with the Jews.
Anyway as I've been reading the NT, especially Paul, through the filter of the NPP and I've had some real insights. First I realized that Paul always thought of himself as a Jew. In Acts 21 Paul arrives in Jersalem and reports to James. James realizes the touchy situation that they're in and tells Paul to purify himself and go to the temple with 4 others who have taken a vow. Why would Paul do this if he didn't think that he was still a Jew? I'd always thought of Paul as rebelling against being a Jew and no longer thought of himself as one. I don't think that that's true now.
Second Paul's message to the gentiles is how they are to be included as part of the chosen people. This is the "mystery" that Paul repeatedly mentions, how through Christ the whole world can be saved, Jews and Gentiles.
There is one other thing that is interesting aout this. When I first heard about N.T.Wright as being a major writer about NPP I did some research on on him. It turns out that he is not very popular among many Evangelical Christians, but he used to be. He first made his reputation among the Evangelicals when he was part of the Third Wave of the Historical Jesus. The first wave was the original conception of Jesus as being devine as described in the Bible. The second wave was when people tried to discover the real Jesus by treating him as any historical figure. Of course to do this most people who did the wrting discounted all the miracles that Jesus did as acreations to explain why people accepted Jesus as being divine. These are the same people who try to explain Jesus and the Christian movement as something that happened almost by accident. They show how each Gospel slowly shows Jesus doing more and more and becoming more divine. Of course to do that they have to say that Mark was the first gospel written, while historically Matthew has always been considered the first gospel written. You know by people from the first century and stuff, but what would they know? That is why Matthew is first in the new testamenst because it was considered the oldest. So N.T. Wright took it upon himself to show how Jesus was a historical figure and how that historical figure could have been and was accepted by the Jews as being divine. I thought what he said was very interesting. Anyway anyone that makes evangelicals as upset as Dr. Wright does is someone that I like to read just to find out what is making them so upset.
The New Paul Perspective (NPP) is a "New" way of reading Paul. So when I first heard about the NPP in the footnotes of a book it said that Paul was read as applying to the religious situation that existed in the 1500. The protestants read Paul as if Paul were them and the Judaizers, and the Jews were the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and Pal was protesting against the Jews as they were protesting against the RCC. That sounded very interesting so I went and read some more writers that were talking about this and I must say that I like it even more now.
First I read a book by E.P. Sanders called Paul and Palistinian Judaism. OK I didn't finish that book because it was a very hard read and it was more of a technical book for theologian types. First he pointed out that the Jews themselvs have always said that they never believed that "works" saved them. They always believed that they were saved by "grace". What they believed was that they were the chosen race because of Gods grace, and that they kept the laws because they were thankful to God, and it was what was expected of them. So E.P. Sanders went to a ton of sources to show that the Jews of that time believed that they were saved because of the grace of God and not because of anything that they did themselves. Not keeping the laws was turning away from God.
N.T. Wright is an Anglican Bishop who also writes about the NPP. He points out that Paul was talking to the Jews and that he was pointing out to them that they had become enamored with the thought that they were the chosen race and that none other could or would be saved, however, when God spoke to Abraham he said that through Abraham the entire world, or all the families of the Earth were to be blessed, and not just the Jews. Pauls message was to show how Jesus fulfilled that promise and how the gentiles were to become part of the "righteousness" of God and be saved with the Jews.
Anyway as I've been reading the NT, especially Paul, through the filter of the NPP and I've had some real insights. First I realized that Paul always thought of himself as a Jew. In Acts 21 Paul arrives in Jersalem and reports to James. James realizes the touchy situation that they're in and tells Paul to purify himself and go to the temple with 4 others who have taken a vow. Why would Paul do this if he didn't think that he was still a Jew? I'd always thought of Paul as rebelling against being a Jew and no longer thought of himself as one. I don't think that that's true now.
Second Paul's message to the gentiles is how they are to be included as part of the chosen people. This is the "mystery" that Paul repeatedly mentions, how through Christ the whole world can be saved, Jews and Gentiles.
There is one other thing that is interesting aout this. When I first heard about N.T.Wright as being a major writer about NPP I did some research on on him. It turns out that he is not very popular among many Evangelical Christians, but he used to be. He first made his reputation among the Evangelicals when he was part of the Third Wave of the Historical Jesus. The first wave was the original conception of Jesus as being devine as described in the Bible. The second wave was when people tried to discover the real Jesus by treating him as any historical figure. Of course to do this most people who did the wrting discounted all the miracles that Jesus did as acreations to explain why people accepted Jesus as being divine. These are the same people who try to explain Jesus and the Christian movement as something that happened almost by accident. They show how each Gospel slowly shows Jesus doing more and more and becoming more divine. Of course to do that they have to say that Mark was the first gospel written, while historically Matthew has always been considered the first gospel written. You know by people from the first century and stuff, but what would they know? That is why Matthew is first in the new testamenst because it was considered the oldest. So N.T. Wright took it upon himself to show how Jesus was a historical figure and how that historical figure could have been and was accepted by the Jews as being divine. I thought what he said was very interesting. Anyway anyone that makes evangelicals as upset as Dr. Wright does is someone that I like to read just to find out what is making them so upset.
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