James D. G. Dunn, professor na Universidade de Durham, Reino Unido, é o primeiro a fazer um tratamento completo da teologia de Paulo, à luz da
Nova Perspectiva, por meio da obra A teologia do apóstolo
Paulo. A Nova Perspectiva, linha de estudos inaugurada por E.
P. Sanders, defende que a questão central para Paulo não é graça cristã versus legalismo judaico, mas o status dos gentios na Igreja. O enfoque de Dunn não se restringe a um relato do passado. Seu método analisa a teologia de Paulo partindo dos próprios escritos paulinos.
Ele se preocupa em desenvolver e enriquecer os temas dos textos, abordando os três níveis da teologia de Paulo: as convicções de sua herança judaica (Saulo, o fariseu); as transformações por que passou - sua conversão e a experiência inicial com o senhor Jesus Cristo (Paulo, o cristão); e, finalmente, as reflexões que se aplicam à atualidade, evidenciadas nas cartas paulinas (Paulo, o apóstolo). O ponto de partida do autor é a carta de Paulo aos Romanos. Os temas dessa carta são ampliados e compreendidos à luz das outras cartas. Dessa forma, Romanos tornou-se o pivô para o desenvolvimento dos temas fundamentais para a compreensão da teologia paulina. A teologia do Apóstolo Paulo é uma obra atual, que toca todos os temas fortes da teologia paulina. Quem a ler, certamente não ficará indiferente diante da riqueza teológica apresentada pelo apóstolo Paulo.
Este livro está
indicado, nesta mesma página, no original inglês.
Por séculos Paulo foi usado, especialmente por intérpretes
conservadores, para legitimar estruturas humanas de dominação e opressão. É
justamente contra esse tipo de leitura de Paulo e de seus escritos que se dirige
o presente livro. O autor propõe uma análise da ação apostólica de Paulo de
"evangelizar" e de guiar as comunidades cristãs (práxis apostólica),
de modo que ele seja libertado das amarras que o mantinham ligado a sistemas
opressores e de morte.
Já há quase dois mil anos se vê e se lê Paulo como
alguém que não ousou discordar de todo o aparato ideológico, econômico
e político do Império Romano. Esse tipo de leitura só serviu para
justificar os imperialismos do passado e só servirá para conservar os do
presente. Um grupo de estudiosos aceitou o desafio de ver e de ler Paulo
no contexto do imperialismo romano e, o que é mais significativo, como
alguém que ousou caminhar contra a corrente e com propostas alternativas.
Este livro é fruto desse esforço e, sem dúvida, será um divisor de
águas nos estudos do Novo Testamento em geral e de Paulo em particular.
Usando a abordagem do funcionalismo estrutural, Meeks
estuda a origem, posse e status social dos indivíduos das comunidades paulinas,
e também os programas, a organização e o comportamento dos grupos mencionados
no conjunto dos textos paulinos, para chegar à conclusão de que o típico
cristão paulino era o artesão livre e o pequeno comerciante, gente dotada de
alta mobilidade social nas grandes cidades do Império Romano.
A pregação de Paulo se desenvolve em duas fases: a primeira
consiste no anúncio e se conclui com a fundação de uma comunidade. A segunda
consiste na guia da comunidade já fundada. As cartas que possuímos são fruto
da segunda fase, a da guia das Igrejas já constituídas, e são endereçadas a
pessoas já evangelizadas. Embora o querigma nunca tenha sido escrito por Paulo,
o autor busca, neste livro, elaborar elementos de um método para a
reconstrução do evangelho paulino através de suas cartas.
SANDERS, E.
P. Paulo,
a Lei e o Povo Judeu. Traduzido do inglês por José Raimundo Vidigal.
São Paulo: Paulus, 1990, 247 p.
O autor pesquisa o caráter judaico de Paulo, enfocando sua
relação global com a tradição e o pensamento judaicos. As idéias de Paulo
sobre a Lei e sobre seu próprio povo são reexaminadas com nova consciência e
grande perspicácia.
This book presents a series of studies on contentious aspects of Paul's doctrine of justification including the meaning of "righteousness," the question of imputation, the role of resurrection in justification, an evaluation of the New Perspective, the soteriological and ecclesiological significance of justification, justification by faith with judgment according to works, and debates over the orthodoxy of N. T. Wright. The burden of this volume is to demonstrate that reformed and "new" readings of Paul are indispensable to attaining a full understanding of Paul's soteriology. An analysis of Galatians and Romans demonstrates that the covenantal and forensic dimensions of justification go hand in glove.
More at Euangelion.
Daniel Boyarin turns to the Epistles of Paul as the spiritual
autobiography of a first-century Jewish cultural critic. What led Paul--in his
dramatic conversion to Christianity--to such a radical critique of Jewish
culture? Daniel Boyarin is Professor of Talmudic Culture at the University of
California. This book can be read
online.
This volume explores the perennial debate over Paul’s
understanding of and attitude toward the Mosaic Law. Sixteen outstanding
international scholars examine the key passages in the letters of Paul that deal
with the Jewish law. Their work not only provides a clearer view of the issues
involved but also shows the range of interpretive approaches now being used in
this important area of study.
The collection of essays highlights a dimension of Paul’s theology of justification which has been rather neglected: that his teaching emerged as an integral part of his
understanding of his commission to preach the gospel to non-Jews; and that his dismissal of justification ‘by works of the law’ was directed not so much against
Jewish ‘legalism’ but rather against his fellow Jews’ assumption that the law remained a dividing wall separating Christian Jews from Christian gentiles. The long
opening essay interacts with critiques of this ‘new perspective on Paul’ and seeks to carry forward the debate on Jewish soteriology, on the relation of justification by
faith to judgment ‘according to works,’ on Christian ‘fulfillment’ of the law, and on the crucial role of Christ, his death and resurrection.
James Dunn is in the English-speaking world the author
better equipped to compose a theology of Paul. As the author of major
commentaries on virtually all the letters, James Dunn brings to the task
not only comprehensive knowledge of Paul but also an encyclopedic grasp of
the secondary literature and the flow of Pauline studies. Dunn defends
"The New Perspective on Paul", inaugurated by E. P. Sanders. The
New Perspective says that Paul's argument with the Judaizers was not about Christian grace
versus Jewish legalism. His argument was rather about the status of
Gentiles in the church. Paul's doctrine of justification, therefore, had
far more to do with Jewish-Gentile issues than with questions of the
individual's status before God.
This study introduces its readers to the differing positions and methods developed by contemporary scholars in Pauline studies. By setting out these views, and the evidence on which they are based, it equips the reader to approach the study of Paul with an awareness of the range of current debate and a knowledge of the evidence and arguments they will encounter. After considering Paul's importance and influence, and the important sources for the study of Paul, the book examines: the earliest period of Christianity - from Jesus to Paul; Paul's life before and after his 'conversion'; his individual letters; the major elements of his theology; his attitude to Israel and the Jewish law; new approaches to the study of Paul, including social-scientific and feminist approaches; and Paul's legacy in the New Testament and beyond. This volume now includes study questions at the end of each chapter as well as updated reading lists.
Reviewed by Christopher Stanley, and Stephen Westerholm, RBL,
6/30/2007.
JEWETT, R.
Romans: A Commentary. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006, lxx + 1140 p. ISBN 978-0800660840.
Deeply conversant in the full range of questions and interpretations of the letter, Jewett's commentary explores the crucial and controverted passages that have always animated studies of Romans. Jewett also incorporates the exciting new insights from archaeology of the city of Rome, social history of early Christianity, social-scientific work on early Christianity, and the interpretation and reception of Paul's letter through the ages. Breaking free from abstract approaches that defend traditional theologies, Jewett shows that the entire letter aims to elicit support for Paul's forthcoming mission to the "barbarians" in Spain. His work specifically focuses on Paul's missionary plans and how they figure in the letter, on Paul's critical and constructive tack with the Roman community, and finally and especially on how Paul's letter reframes the entire system of honor and shame as it informed life in the Roman Empire at the time. The latter remains a pertinent message today. The first commentary to interpret Romans within the imperial context as well as in the light of the situation in Spain, this landmark commentary, twenty-five years in the making, will set the standard for interpretation of Romans for the next generation.
Review by Friedrich W. Horn, and by James D. G. Dunn - RBL:
June 2, 2007.
In this revisionist account of Paul's work, Alan Segal argues
that Paul's life can be better understood by taking his Jewishness seriously,
and that Jewish history can be illuminated greatly by examining Paul's writings.
By reading Paul from the viewpoint of the religion he left behind, Segal sheds
new light on the man who played a critical role in both Judaism and Christianity.
WRIGHT, N. T.
Paul. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005, 176 p. ISBN 9780800637668.
Wright's accessible volume, built on his Cambridge University Hulsean Lectures of 2004, takes a fresh look at Paul in light of recent understandings of his Jewish roots, his attitude toward the Roman Empire, and his unique reframing of Jewish symbols after his experience of the risen Christ. Wright includes a short systematic account of the main theological contours of Paul's thought and its pertinence for the church today.
Press, 1997, 400
p.
encyclopedic grasp of
the secondary literature and the flow of Pauline studies. Dunn defends
"The New Perspective on Paul", inaugurated by E. P. Sanders. The
New Perspective says that Paul's argument with the Judaizers was not about Christian grace
versus Jewish legalism. His argument was rather about the status of
Gentiles in the church. Paul's doctrine of justification, therefore, had
far more to do with Jewish-Gentile issues than with questions of the
individual's status before God.