Abraham’s Faith in Romans 4
Paul's Concept of Faith in Light of the History of Reception of Genesis 15:6
By (author) Benjamin Schliesser
Paperback (Published)
(May 2007)
ISBN: 9783161491979
6.02 x 9.13 inches
Price: $149.00
In stock
How does Paul understand faith? Benjamin Schließer seeks to answer this question by scrutinizing Paul’s exegesis of Genesis 15:6 in Romans 4, taking into account the chapter’s textual and thematic links to Romans 3:21-31 and Romans 1:16-17. Compared to his Jewish contemporaries, Paul develops a unique, twofold structure of ‘faith’ ( Pistis): It designates first a divinely established sphere of power, and second human participation in this reality.
The concept of faith is at the core of Paul’s theology, and the classic assage for his understanding of pistis is Genesis 15:6. After discussing the history of scholarship on the Pauline concept of faith, Benjamin Schliesser explores the literary, tradition-historical and structural questions of Genesis 15 and offers a detailed exegesis of verse 6 with its fundamental terms count, righteousness, and believe. He then points to the theological significance of this testimony on Abraham for the Jewish identity; it comes into sight in a multifaceted and nuanced process of reception, from later Old Testament texts (Psalm 106; Nehemiah 9) to a broad array of literature from Second Temple Judaism (Septuagint, Sirach 44, Jubilees 14, 4QPseudo-Jubilees, 4QMMT, 1Maccabees, Philo). In the final and most substantial step, he asks about Paul’s hermeneutics of faith: How does Paul, in his exegesis of the Genesis quote in Romans 4, come to view Abraham as the father of all believers? What is the concept of faith that he develops on the basis of Genesis 15:6? Taking into account the manifold textual and thematic links between Romans 4, Romans 3:21-31, and Romans 1:16-17, a unique, twofold structure of faith discloses itself: Pistis designates first a divinely established sphere of power, i.e., a new, christologically determined salvation-historical reality, and second human participation in this reality, i.e., individual believing in the community of believers. Particularly the first aspect is generally overlooked in modern scholarship.
- By (author) Benjamin Schliesser
Other Titles in this Series
John among the Other Gospels
The Reception of the Fourth Gospel in the Extra-Canonical Gospels
Volume 347
Spirits and the Proclamation of Christ
1 Peter 3:18-22 in Light of Sin and Punishment Traditions in Early Jewish and Christian Literature
Volume 305
Rediscovering Righteousness in Romans
Personified dikaiosyne within Metaphoric and Narratorial Settings
Volume 240
Der Kolosserbrief im Kontext des paulinischen Erbes
Eine intertextuelle Studie zur Auslegung und Fortschreibung der Paulustradition
Volume 271
Jesus’ Death and the Gathering of True Israel
The Johannine Appropriation of Restoration Theology in the Light of John 11.47-52
Volume 217
The Formative Stratum of the Sayings Gospel Q
Reconsidering Its Extent, Message, and Unity
Volume 545
Renaming Abraham’s Children
Election, Ethnicity, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Romans 9
Volume 421
Fruhchristliche Mahlfeiern
Ihre Gestalt und Bedeutung nach der neutestamentlichen Briefliteratur und der Johannesoffenbarung
Volume 255
Oral Tradition and Literary Dependency
Variability and Stability in the Synoptic Tradition and Q
Volume 195
L’accueil de l’autre dans sa diversite
La strategie de mediation de Paul a l'egard des faibles et des forts a Rome (Romains 14,1-15,13)
Volume 572
Second Corinthians and Paul’s Gospel of Human Mortality
How Paul's Experience of Death Authorizes His Apostolic Authority in Corinth
Volume 430
Jesaja 53 als theologische Mitte der Apostelgeschichte
Studien zu ihrer Christologie und Ekklesiologie im Anschluss an Apg 8,26-40
Volume 398
Similar Books
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
Shame in the Worlds of the Hebrew Bible and Akkadian Texts
A Linguistic Study and Its Implications
Volume 33
The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life
A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa
Parola di Dio, di uomo e di Re
L'assoluta verità della Bibbia nella dottrina cattolica di Bacchisio Raimondo Motzo
Wie JHWH spricht
Die temporelle Steuerung von Verbalaussagen in den Reden nach den Gottesspruchformeln
Breaking New Ground in John
Imagery, Parables, Characters, Christology, and Ethics in the Fourth Gospel
Volume 531
But the Wise Shall Understand
Reuse of Prophecies, Chronotope, and Merging of Eschatological Horizons in Daniel 10-12
Creation Concepts and Creation Care
Perspectives from Early Judaism, Early Christianity, and Beyond. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics XVII
De-colonising the Biblical Narrative. Volume 4
The Colonial Worldview of the Book of Joshua
Volume 4
Paul and Sacrifice in Corinth
Rethinking Paul's Views on Gentile Cults in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10
Volume 623
The Characterisation of Jesus the Davidic Shepherd in Mark’s Gospel
A Narrative Analysis through the Lens of Metalepsis
Volume 626
