In rereading Stephen Westerholm's essay 'Paul and the Law in Romans 9-11,' first delivered orally at the Durham-Tubingen symposium of 1994, the papers of which have been published in a volume edited by James Dunn (Eerdmans 2001), it's confirmed to me that this is the best article- or chapter- length treatment of Rom 9-11 I've yet come across in my research of the past two years on a portion of Scripture that rivals any other for amount of 'scholarly' literature devoted to it.
I don't agree with everything--he reserves too much, I think, for ethnic Israel that is in fact taken up in true Israel (which includes with open arms any ethnic Israelite who simply believes!)--but it is clear, profound, God-besotted, persuasive, courageous. Simply magnificent.
Dane, whenever you make comments like this, I write down the piece of literature: next summer I'll make it the NT reading summer, and this will definitely get read. I really appreciate the guidance on what is good to read in the gazillions of pages printed on the NT.
ReplyDeleteDane, I SO very much agree. I read this article 4 or 5 years ago and have re-read it many times. Unbelievable that it is not more widely known, and not more widely cited and interacted with in the scholarly community. Bar none, the best single resource on Romans 9-11 out there. What a fantastic job he does showing connnections within these three chapters, and to Paul's overall argument in Romans.
ReplyDeleteAs a sidenote, I think Westerholm's essay might also be the best "one stop shopping" blow of defeat to the heart of the NPP that is out there. Which makes the scholarly ignoring of it all the more astounding...
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