Overview of this series
- First post, background issues
- Example passages (This post)
- Reductionism in Wright
- Conclusion
At this point, it might be helpful to see some of Wright’s interpretation at work.
Passage 1:
Romans 3:20-22a: For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it–the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
This becomes, roughly:
By covenant markers such as circumcision, no one will be justified in his sight. Through faith in God’s covenant faithfulness demonstrated in Christ, the faithful can become members of the covenant and reckoned righteous by God as a result of being covenant members, but independent of covenant markers such as circumcision. The true covenant marker is faith in the covenant faithfulness of God
Passage 2:
Romans 10:3-4: For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes
This becomes, roughly:
Israel tried to establish its own righteousness by insisting on covenant markers such as circumcision, and did not submit to God’s covenant faithfulness, which included his fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant promise by including the Gentiles into the covenant. But Israel resisted this plan of God’s and wanted to hold on to its exclusive status, asserting its righteousness in terms of possession of Jewish covenant markers.
What Wright has done here is very interesting because it has brought back the importance of questions of Jewish identity and Jew/Gentile conflict when Paul speaks of justification. (And these issues are clearly present and highly important in both Galatians and Romans).