Paul and the Stories of Israel: Grand Thematic Narratives in Galatians

by A. Andrew Das

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2016

Overview

Much recent scholarship on Paul has searched for implicit narratives behind Paul’s scriptural allusions, especially in the wake of Richard B. Hays’ groundbreaking work on the apostle’s appropriation of Scripture. A. Andrew Das reviews six proposals for “grand thematic narratives” behind the logic of Galatians—potentially, six explanations for the fabric of Paul’s theology: the covenant (N. T. Wright); the influx of nations to Zion (Terence Donaldson); Isaac’s near sacrifice (Scott Hahn, Alan Segal); the Spirit as cloud in the wilderness (William Wilder); the Exodus (James Scott, Sylvia Keesmaat); and the imperial cult (Bruce Winter et al.). Das weighs each of these proposals exegetically and finds them wanting—more examples of what Samuel Sandmel famously labeled “parallelomania” than of sound exegetical method. He turns at last to reflect on the risks of (admittedly alluring) totalizing methods and lifts up a seventh proposal with greater claim to evidence in the text of Galatians: Paul’s allusions to Isaiah’s servant passages.

Contents

Top Highlights

“the original problem of an abrupt change of referent in the first-person plural pronouns and verbs remains.” (Page 39)

“certain foundational stories or overarching traditions” (Pages 13–14)

“Also, rather crucially for the argument in 3:15–20, the Hebrew Bible never describes a covenant instrument as an individual’s ‘covenant’” (Page 81)

“Paul is not using such poor texts for his position by choice. He is reinterpreting another of the rivals’ key passages.” (Page 24)

“Galatians occupies a middle ground between Romans on the one hand and the Thessalonian correspondence on the other” (Page 221)

Product Details

• Title: Paul and the Stories of Israel: Grand Thematic Narratives in Galatians
• Author: A. Andrew Das
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2016
• Logos Release Date: 2017
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Galatians › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9781451490091, 9781506413785, 1451490097, 1506413781
• Resource ID: LLS:PLSTRSSRL
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:15:46Z

About A. Andrew Das

A. Andrew Das is the Niebuhr Distinguished Chair and professor of religious studies at Elmhurst College in Illinois. He is the author of several books, including Paul, the Law, and the Covenant.