In a blog posting, Dr. James F. McGrath argues that in Romans, Paul was "advocating the inclusion of uncircumcised Gentiles in Judaism, the elimination for all intents and purposes of the Jew/Gentile distinction, to be replaced simply by a multi-ethnic Israel on the one hand, and those who refused to be a part of it on the other." It's a worthwhile read.
Was Paul’s real goal to expand the definition of “Jew”?
Comments
One response to “Was Paul’s real goal to expand the definition of “Jew”?”
-
If all worldviews are partial and distorted, Paul’s cannot be excluded. He admits his limited perception of reality when he writes that “now we see through a dark mirror” (1 Cor. 13:12). Even though his vision opens to the possibility of greater inclusion of those “in Christ” than his theological training would normally allow, he still thought in terms of “us” vs. “them”. Unfortunately, by codifying Paul’s writings, the evolution of theology was stalled and the fracturing of God’s Body into many fragments rather than one All-Inclusive Whole has continued to the present time.
Leave a Reply