Taxonomy%20of%20Responses

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Romans 213 Is Paul Coherent?
SBL 2007 San Diego
Lee Irons New Testament Ph.D. student at Fuller
Theological Seminary (Pasadena,
California) Mentor Dr. Donald A. Hagner
The Apparent Contradiction Rom 213 For it is
not the hearers of the Law who are just before
God, but the doers of the Law will be justified
(?? ??? ?? ????ata? ??µ?? d??a??? pa?? t? ?e?,
??? ?? p???ta? ??µ?? d??a????s??ta?) Rom 320
by the works of the Law no flesh will be
justified in his sight (?? ????? ??µ?? ??
d??a????seta? p?sa s??? ???p??? a?t??)
Judgment according to Works Paul does not
discard the principle of final judgment He
re-appropriates it within a new framework of
grace (e.g., Rom 1410-12 1 Cor 310-15
41-5 2 Cor 510 and Col 323-24) Not quite the
same as the final judgment expected in
post-biblical Jewish literature In Paul,
judgment of believers has taken on a
Christological coloring Purpose of
judgment of believers according to works
- Not to determine whether Christians will be
delivered from wrath and enter the
eschatological kingdom - But to publicly
vindicate their profession of faith (good works
as the evidence of faith) However, I
argue that, except for the very brief hint in v
16 (as my gospel declares), Paul isnt engaging
in this Christological re-appropriation of the
doctrine of final judgment here in Rom 26-16.
Rom 212-16 (my translation) 12For all who have
sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart
from the Law, and all who have sinned under the
Law will be condemned by the Law (13for it is not
the hearers of the Law who are just before God,
but the doers of the Law will be justified 14for
whenever Gentiles who do not have the Law by
nature do what the Law requires, these, though
not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15in
that they show the function of the Law written in
their hearts, as their conscience bears witness
and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even
defend themselves) 16on the day when God judges
the secrets of humans through Christ Jesus as
my gospel declares.
Taxonomy of Responses A. Paul isnt coherent B.
Paul is coherent B1. Rom 213 is hypothetical
(an empty set) B2. Doers of the Law (positive)
? works of the Law (negative) B2a. Gentile
Christians B2b. Non-Christian Gentiles
Objections to Hypothetical View with my
responses (1) No hypothetical markers But
Rom 213 is hypothetical in sense of if-then
Paraphrase If a person does the Law,
they will be justified The problem is, no
one does the Law (39-10, 23)

(2) Judgment according to works in
Paul (e.g., 2 Cor 510) But Rom 213 is
part of diatribe with unbelieving Jew Not
addressed to Christians (see green box ? top
right)
(3) The uncircumcised
Law-keeper (vv 25-29) This is the
toughest argument against my view vv 25-27
Paul nowhere says Christians keep the Law
vv 28-29 alludes to Christians only in
abstract sense
(4) In accordance with my
gospel (v 16) NIV as my gospel
declares judgment part of message Paul
will re-appropriate principle of judgment
Christologically But not here in this
passage
(5) Symmetry between
condemnation and justification But there
is none righteous (310), all have sinned
(323) Therefore, all stand condemned
apart from gospel assymetry Paul writing
from a pre-evangelical point of view
(Lietzmann)
(6) Allusion to Jeremiah 3133 (work
of Law written on heart) In full paper,
I argue against an allusion to Jer 3133
3 significant grammatical differences between Jer
and Rom 215 Paul relying here on Stoic
concept of unwritten law
(7)
Alleged impossibility of justification by works
But Paul only denies it to fallen Adamic
humans (flesh) (Rom 320) Gal 321 (If
a law had been given which was able to impart
life, then righteousness would
indeed have been based on Law)
Thesis In this paper, I critique B2a (Gentile
Christians) and defend B1 (the hypothetical or
empty-set view). Paul is coherent because Rom
213 must be read in light of his larger argument
in Rom 1-4, esp. 39-10 (There is none
righteous, no not one), 323 (for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God).
Thus, 213 states a hypothetical principle (if a
person keeps the Law, they will be justified).
But no one in fact keeps the Law. Ergo, by the
works of the Law no flesh will be justified
(320).
Critique of Gentile Christian View (1) Meaning
of ???? The word means Gentiles not
Gentile Christians In context, Paul
divides humanity into Jews (those who have the
Law) and Gentiles (those who do
not have the Law)

(2) The universal
impartiality of God Pauls argument for
the universal impartiality of God
would have a gaping hole if he only had
Christians in view See Jouette Bassler,
Divine Impartiality (SBLDS 59, 1982), 143-44

(3) A law to themselves
(v 14) Inappropriate as a descriptor of
Christians
(4)
Accusing thoughts (v 15) Why would
Christians have accusing thoughts? N. T.
Wrights view they lack assurance due to their
status of being Gentiles outside the
Torah But Paul never describes Gentile
Christians as lacking assurance

(5) The lead sentence (v 12)
All who have sinned apart from Law will
also perish apart from Law Only envisions
Gentiles who sin and perish No mention of
Gentiles who are sufficiently obedient (6) The
Achilles heel of the Gentile Christian view
How reconcile the apparent contradiction
between 213 and 320? New Perspective
says works of Law Jewish badges of
exclusivism On this view, doers of Law
(positive) ? works of Law (negative) But
p???ta? ???a are too closely related to allow
this disjunction Hypothetical view
does better job of showing Pauls rhetorical
coherence
Representative Scholars Representative Scholars
View A Paul isnt Coherent Räisänen, Heikki Sanders, E. P. View B2b Non-Christian Gentiles Dunn, James (Romans WBC) Snodgrass, Klyne
View B1 Hypothetical Alletti, Jean-Noël Bassler, Jouette Bell, Richard Best, Ernest Black, Matthew Fitzmyer, Joseph Lietzmann, Hans Moo, Douglas Watson, Francis (2004) Westerholm, Stephen Wilckens, Ulrich  View B2a Gentile Christians Augustine Barth, Karl Bird, Michael Cranfield, C. E. B. Garlington, Don Gathercole, Simon Jewett, Robert VanLandingham, Chris Watson, Francis (1986) Wright, N. T. Yinger, Kent
Full paper (69 pages) available
online www.upper-register.com/papers/Rom213.pdf