I've been working recently through The Apostle Paul and the Christian Life (Baker, eds. Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica). I've really enjoyed the essays so far and highly recommend the volume for those interested in Paul, the New Perspective, or Christian spirituality. This is a great example of how New Testament scholarship can bring significant insights to the everyday concerns and needs of Christians everywhere. Thus far I've especially enjoyed the essays by Cohick and Longenecker, and thought I'd share some of the key insights from both. First, from Lynn Cohick. Cohick's essay deals with the Christian life in Ephesians. She is largely focused upon the communal concerns of the letter, particularly as it relates to Christian unity and transformation.
First, on summarizing the NPP: "In sum, the NPP argues that Second Temple Judaism did not present "works righteousness" or a position that encouraged "earning" one's salvation. Rather, Second Temple Judaism emphasized the importance of ethnic identity based on God's election and expressed in key ways, especially through circumcision, Sabbath rest, and food laws. These rites distinguished Jews as God's people who followed the one true God by his law and who worshiped in his one temple in Jerusalem" (22). On the Jew/Gentile distinction in Ephesians: "A careful reading of Ephesians suggests that Paul was aware he addressed two different groups, "we" Jews and "you" gentiles" (24). [On a side note, I think this is crucial for getting Ephesians right. Cohick notes in her essay the common tendency for us to read ourselves into the "we" of the New Testament, when often, if not always, that is not simply the case]. "Paul sees Jewish practices as unnecessary for gentiles within the body of Christ, and thus as unnecessary in the pursuit of holiness within the wider fellowship" (25). "The Jewish believers continue to practice their heritage but must refrain from insisting that gentile believers within the same community embrace Jewish cultural practices" (27). On implications for the Church today: "Today's church should not be organized on the basis of who got here first, or who has been Christian the longest, or who has tradition on their side. Christ's character is not defined by the believing community; rather, the believing community takes its character from Christ's disposition" (35). "Today in most US churches, it takes daily diligence to resist the siren call of consumerism, nationalism, and individualism and to embrace fewer material goods and more global church identity. Paul's kinship language would be a good place to start in renewing our minds and thus our practices and pocketbooks. A goal would be an ethnically and racially integrated local church experience, one that does not privilege one ethnic or racial approach over another" (40).
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