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Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology (1948) is a book by William D. Davies.

Abstract

According to Davies, Paul viewed Christianity as the fulfillment, not the antithesis of (rabbinic) Judaism.

Like Schweitzer and others who rejected Hellenism as a major factor in Paul's theology, Davies places Paul in a Jewish context, arguing that Paul’s theology was Palestinian and Pharisaic, or rabbinic, in orientation. Paul was essentially a rabbi who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. In this way Davies avoids the difficulty of pitting Christianity against Judaism. Davies rejected New Testament scholars such as Montefiore, Thackeray and Bultmann who argued that Paul was not a rabbinic Jew. Instead, Davies embraces the influence of the Pharisees on Paul and views it favorably. According to Davies, Paul’s messianic Judaism is a final and purest form of Judaism and not an anti-Judaism. Davies argued that several Pauline emphases – his Christology, his rejection of much of the law, his eschatology – were firmly grounded in first century Jewish thought. Davies does not bifurcate sharply between Hellenism and Judaism; Judaism, even Palestinian Judaism, was strongly Hellenistic in character. - Ronald Ruark, University of Michigan

Editions

Published in London, England: SPCK, 1948. 2nd edition, with additional notes, London: SPCK, 1955, and New York: Harper, 1955. 3rd ed. 1970. 4th ed. 1980. Reissued ("Fiftieth Anniversary Edition") in Mifflintown, PA: Sigler, 1998, with a foreword by Ed Parish Sanders.

Contents

• 1. Introduction: Palestinian and Diaspora Judaism
• 2. The Old Enemy: The Flesh and Sin
• 3. The Old and the New Humanity: The First and Second Adam
• 4. The Old and the New Israel: ‘Nationalism’
• 5. The old and the New Man: I. Paul as Preacher to the Individual
• 6. The Old and the New Man: II. Paul as Teacher of the Individual
• 7. The Old and the New Torah: Christ the Wisdom of God
• 8. The Old and the New Obedience: I. The Lord the Spirit
• 9. The Old and the New Obedience: II. The Death of Jesus
• 10. The Old and the New Hope: Resurrection
• App. A: Dr. Karl Barth’s Interpretation of Romans I.2
• App. B: The Imperative Participle in Tannaitic Hebrew
• App. C: Passages referred to in the Text, outside Talmudic Sources and the Midrash Rabbah, in the Order of their Occurrence
• App. D: A Review of H. J. Schoeps, Paulus

External links

• Google Books