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The new perspective critique of Luther : a response

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.

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Other Authors: Van Eck, Ernest
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Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2019
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author2 Van Eck, Ernest
author_browse Van Eck, Ernest
author_facet Van Eck, Ernest
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/71769 The new perspective critique of Luther : a response Van Eck, Ernest barteriksson@gmail.com Eriksson, Bart Anders UCTD New perspective on Paul Paulinetheology New Testament theology Luther and the New Perspective Luther's Theology Lutheran Theology Martin Luther (1483–1546) Theology theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Theology theses SDG-05 SDG-05: Gender equality Theology theses SDG-10 SDG-10: Reduced inequalities Theology theses SDG-16 SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. The New Perspective is a modern movement in New Testament scholarship which challenges Protestant interpretations of Paul’s writings. However, since the New Perspective refers to schools of thought present in other time periods and since it also repeats some ideas regarding Pauline interpretation found in the early church period or the Middle Ages it needs first to be viewed within the overall context of Christian interpretation of Paul throughout the ages. It used to be the case, state New Perspective scholars, that Protestants assumed that Paul was to Judaism as Luther was to Medieval Catholicism. Both men supposedly reacted against legalistic religions and championed grace-based faiths. However, now that E. P. Sanders in Paul and Palestinian Judaism, has demonstrated that Judaism is not a legalistic but a grace-based faith, New Perspectivists claim that Paul’s and Luther’s theologies and experiences were thus not parallel. Hence, supposedly Luther misunderstood Paul. Additionally, building on the work of Schweitzer, Wrede and others New Perspectivists challenge Protestant understandings of “justification.” In New Perspective thought, Paul uses the term “justification” primarily to describe how people, particularly Gentiles, join the church Christians without following Jewish ritual laws. “Justification,” then, does not describe how people “stay in” the covenant and receive salvation, as Protestants think. However, this study maintains that while New Perspectivists have some knowledge of Paul and Judaism, they are much less knowledgeable regarding Luther, Medieval Catholicism, and Luther’s reaction to it. Greater scrutiny of these latter areas reveals large difficulties with New Perspective arguments. In addition, a review of relevant passages from Paul’s letters demonstrates that Protestants have not misunderstood Paul’s use of the term “justification.” Many Pauline passages show that when Paul discusses justification he is also thinking about “staying in,” not just “getting in” the covenant. Furthermore, many scholars have now challenged Sanders’ interpretations of first-century Judaism. While Sanders has no doubt done a tremendous service to New Testament scholarship by demonstrating that there is more grace in Judaism than F. Weber, Bultmann, F. C. Baur and others had presumed, some scholars now state that Sanders has overstated the elements of grace in some facets of first-century Judaism. In addition, many scholars now agree that first-century Judaism was a diverse movement and cannot be accurately depicted by general descriptions. Sanders’ understanding of a “common Judaism,” present up until 70 AD have now been challenged. All of this, however, effects our interpretation of Paul. If first-century Judaism was diverse, then one would expect that Paul, in responding to Judaism would respond to both legalistic and grace-based interpretations of the Torah covenant. When examining Paul’s letters one sees that this is exactly what Paul does. His critique of Judaism is more multi-facetted than many people have understood. Although the New Perspective critique of Luther is not accurate and although most of its other key ideas can be challenged, the New Perspective has not been a wasted effort. mi2025 New Testament Studies PhD Unrestricted SDG-04: Quality education SDG-05: Gender equality SDG-10: Reduced inequalities SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions 2019-10-09T14:30:16Z 2019-10-09T14:30:16Z 2019-04-03 2018 Thesis Eriksson, BA 2018, The New Perspective Critique of Luther : a Response, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71769> A2019 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71769 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
New perspective on Paul
Paulinetheology
New Testament theology
Luther and the New Perspective
Luther's Theology
Lutheran Theology
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Theology theses SDG-04
SDG-04: Quality education
Theology theses SDG-05
SDG-05: Gender equality
Theology theses SDG-10
SDG-10: Reduced inequalities
Theology theses SDG-16
SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
The new perspective critique of Luther : a response
title The new perspective critique of Luther : a response
title_full The new perspective critique of Luther : a response
title_fullStr The new perspective critique of Luther : a response
title_full_unstemmed The new perspective critique of Luther : a response
title_short The new perspective critique of Luther : a response
title_sort new perspective critique of luther a response
topic UCTD
New perspective on Paul
Paulinetheology
New Testament theology
Luther and the New Perspective
Luther's Theology
Lutheran Theology
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Theology theses SDG-04
SDG-04: Quality education
Theology theses SDG-05
SDG-05: Gender equality
Theology theses SDG-10
SDG-10: Reduced inequalities
Theology theses SDG-16
SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71769