Renaming Abraham’s Children

Election, Ethnicity, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Romans 9

by Robert B. Foster

Book cover: Renaming Abraham’s Children

Extent: 327 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Biblical Studies

Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.Reihe

Series volume number: 421

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(July 2016)

ISBN: 9783161544835

Price: $130.00

In stock

In this study, Robert B. Foster explores the intersection between the interpretation of Scripture and the construction of communal identities. He argues that in Rom 9, Paul applies prophetic texts from Malachi, Hosea, and Isaiah to the story of Abraham’s children in Genesis. These interpretive maneuvers enable Paul to extrapolate from the patriarchal narratives a specific construal of election: it is the ironic privilege of being simultaneously God’s chosen and rejected people. This understanding of election he in turn applies to Gentile Christ-followers, the remnant, and all Israel in order to build for them an all-encompassing yet differentiated Abrahamic identity for the messianic age.

  • By (author) Robert B Foster