Table of Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1
§ 1 Theodicy and Predestination in New Testament Exegesis 1
1.1 Occasion and purpose of the study 1
1.2 How to define predestination: on methodology 3
1.3 Presestination in the context of the problem of theodicy 6
§ 2 Different 'History-of-Religions' Approaches and the Context of Paul's Soteriology 8
2.1 The traditional 'history-of-religions' approach W. Bousset A. Deissmann 8
2.2 Paul the mystic A. Schweitzer 11
2.3 The gnostic hypothesis R. Bultmann 12
2.4 New emphasis on Paul's Jewish background W.D. Davies H.-J. Schoeps P. Stuhlmacher 15
2.5 Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: a new pattern E.P. Sanders 18
2.6 Locating Paul in the diversity of Second Temple Jewish theology J. Chr. Beker B.W. Longenecker Seifrid, et al. 22
Chapter I God's Chosen People in Crisis 27
§ 3 The Problem of Theodicy in Second Temple Sapiential Theology 28
3.1 A theology of crisis 29
3.2 Soteriological dualism 41
3.3 An era of synergistic nomism 44
Excursus: The Theory of Covenantal Nomisn 52
§ 4 The Solution of Apochalyptic: The Judgment of God 61
4.1 The desecration of the Temple 63
4.2 The decline of the Hasmoneans 65
4.3 The destruction of Jerusalem 69
4.4 Judgment and the Day of Wrath 74
§ 5 The Ambivalent Concept of Predestination at Qumran 79
5.1 Cosmic predestination 79
5.2 The call to repentance 84
5.3 Atonement by obedience 87
Summary 93
Chapter II The Problem of Theodicy and Predestination in Paul's Soteriology 95
§ 6 Will God Still Help His People? 95
6.1 The faithfulness of God has not failed (Rom. 3:3-4) 96
6.2 The righteous shall live by faith (Rom. 1:16-17) 101
6.3 The Day of Wrath will come (Rom. 1:18) 116
6.4 God's judgment will bring justice 122
§ 7 The Radical Anthropology of Paul's Soteriology 125
7.1 The total domination of sin 125
7.2 The dynamics of Adam typology 129
7.3 The principle of paradoxical polarization in soteriology 137
§ 8 Mankind Imprisoned Under the Power of Sin 143
8.1 Sold into slavery 143
8.2 The hardening of Israel 149
8.3 The predestination of judgment 160
§ 9 Predetermination and Election 165
9.1 Calling and election 166
9.2 Christocentric predestination 177
9.3 The problem of double predestination 180
Summary 186
Chapter III Predestiantion, Law and Justification 189
§ 10 The Paradoxical Function of the Law 190
10.1 The Law which brings death 191
10.2 Does the law produce sin? 201
10.3 Avodat Israel and the "works of the law" 208
§ 11 The Principle of "Counting as Loss" in Paul 221
11.1 Abandoning the old religious identity (Gal. 2:15-16) 221
11.2 Denying human efforts (Phil. 3:4-8) 225
11.3 Denying religious achievements (Rom. 3:27-28) 230
§ 12 Two Kinds of Righteousness 235
12.1 Submitting to God's righteousness (Rom. 10:2-3) 235
12.2 "As if based on works" (Rom. 9:31-32) 241
12.3 The righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:21-26) 246
Summary 250
Chapter IV Paul's Universalist Soteriology 252
§ 13 The Christological Argument in Soteriology 252
13.1 Paul and his Jewish heritage 253
13.2 The centre of salvation history 259
13.3 The principle of contemporary application 262
§ 14 A Solution Before the Plight? 267
14.1 Paul and the alleged "covenantal nomism" 267
14.2 Paul's consistency questioned 275
14.3 What is the "plight" of man? 282
Excursus: A Hermeneutical Problem - Lutherans, Calvinists, and Dispensationalists study Jewish Christianity 287
§ 15 The Principles of Predestinarian Soteriology 293
15.1 Providing a solution to the problem of theodicy 293
15.2 Paul's apocalyptic eschatology 299
15.3 Divine coercion and Christocentric universalism 302
Conclusion 307
Bibliography 315
Index of Passages 333
Index of Authors 343
Index of Subjects 348
