What Saint Paul Really Didn't Say

I’m in a Pauline theology class this first half of the semester, which has been a lot work, so I have no time to actually blog about it!! But diving in to all the scholarly literature on Paul has been an eye-opener.

One of the first articles we read was Ernst Käsemann’s “God’s Righteousness in Paul.” Käsemann believes that Paul’s view of God’s righteousness is better understood as a righteousness that is part of his divine character and as God’s salvation-creating power—the righteousness “of God.” This is in opposition to the righteousness “from God,” which is given by God or recognized by God to human beings.

Basically, since I know how confusing the above was for me, the issue boils down to the Greek translation of “dikaiosune theou.” It is not clear whether that phrase means “righteousness of God” or “righteousness from God.” As we have seen throughout the class, the theological implications for how we choose to translate the phrase can be great.

Käsemann’s rendering of “dikaiosune theou” means that righteousness is a power that is given to us as a gift which, when we accept it, takes hold of us and changes our lives. This power is living inside of us, and we cannot help but be changed. The emphasis on God as gift-giver puts more focus on God’s action and presence in the act of justification. It is not enough, however, to think of God’s righteousness only as a gift. We do not passively receive it, but rather it is intrinsically linked to the giver, which is God. It is henceforth actively effective in and through us Christians, taking possession of us. Käsemann points out:

“The gift which is here given is not and never will be severed from its giver. It participates in the character of power, in that in it God himself enters the scene and with it remains on the scene.”

Christians are always to authenticate this righteousness from God in practice. This does not mean that we have to constantly earn the gift of righteousness, but rather that we have to accept the gift each day. And although it is a one-time gift, it is not complete until we reach heaven.

Käsemann seems to place a higher premium on the Christian’s salvation. FREE gift is an overtranslation—Paul never used that phrase. Many evangelicals sure like to use it, though! Käsemann, on the other hand, wants to use the word “costly” to describe the gift of righteousness. Salvation is still a gift, of course, but it costs our entire lives to receive it.

Understanding a little bit of Käsemann’s background may shed some light on why he has formulated these ideas. A German, he was involved in the Confessing Church’s struggle against Hitler in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. He was even briefly imprisoned by the Gestapo. It makes me wonder if a theology that puts too much weight on the overtranslation of “free gift” results in the German Christian church situation. We end up viewing salvation as a work done transactionally—we give our faith to Jesus and get back salvation in return. Käsemann’s view, with the continual emphasis on God as gift-giver and our authenticating that gift—is a more relational view of salvation. So it seems that Käsemann is fighting against, to use fellow German Bonhoeffer’s words, cheap grace. He is asking what the object of our faith is: are we relating to Christ relationally, or simply to his work transactionally? If we are declared righteous, but feel no compulsion to submit to and serve God, we are involved in what Käsemann calls “an abused and detrimental grace.”

Comments

[jvpastor]

As far as I understand Wright says something similiar, the righteousness we recieve from God is not His righteousnesss. It is a declaration. God is Righteous in his handling of the covenant, he cannot give that righteousness to us. If there is a law court setting and God is the judge and the law is in play we stand before Him condemned, but because of Jesus He can declare us in "right standing" (righteous), however that "right standing" is not God's righteousness being imparted or imputed to us. God's righteousness is his possession, and cannot be given to us. What we recieve according to Wright is a different righteousness.

I know I have read somethings by Kasemann, but it has been awhile. Sounds like its worth checking out. Surely you will be reading some NT Wright in this course?

[Natalie]

Who is NT Wright?? :)

Yep his What Saint Paul Really Said is one of our primary texts...my prof calls it a quirky little gem of a book!!

[Wasp Jerky]

Short answer: he's a bishop and has written over 30 books, including at least one on Paul. The longer answer is here.

[jvpastor]

I was a big fan of "What St. Paul...", I am struggling through "The New Testament and the People of God" right now. He has some excellent lecutures on "Creation and New Creation" and we have them here at the church if you want to check them out next time your in town.

[Mojo]

nice site

http://theway.blog.com

[Mark]

FYI, I'm not quite on board with "salvation-creating power" but I do think Wright is right on this issue (which is similar) and I am grateful. FWIW, here is a blog post with links to my reflections and studies on these issues:

http://markhorne.blogspot.com/2005/10/righteousness-of-god.html

[Toasty Moe]

If "free gift" is an "over translation" then how else should it be translated? If it is a costly gift then why does Paul call it a gift at all?

Please accept my questions as an honest inquiry and not a challenge.

[Natalie]

Someone in class gave a great example of the nuanced way to think about free vs. costly gifts. Think of the (usually expensive) wedding ring that a husband gives his wife. Sure, it was a gift to her, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t value the gift and think of it as costly.

Like Kasemann says: salvation is still a gift, but it costs our entire lives to receive it. It's supposed to be translated as just "gift," not "free gift." Perhaps we’ve taken the "free" part to a level at which it shouldn’t be. It wasn’t free for Jesus—it cost him a horrible amount of suffering and his life to give us the gift. And it’s not free for us—it costs us our lives, too (and also a horrible amount of suffering??).

Then again I'm not a Greek scholar, so I'm not much help!