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Paul and the Construction of Early Christian Identity

Zetterholm, Magnus LU (2022) In Oxford Handbooks p.162-179
Abstract
E. P. Sanders’ reconstruction of ancient Judaism resulted in an increasing interest in Paul’s relation to Judaism. While scholars before Sanders commonly assumed that Paul converted to Christianity and thus developed a religious identity separate from Judaism, Sanders’ view of Judaism as a religion of grace forced scholars to problematize Paul’s relation to his religious identity. Three major scholarly trends can be distinguished. Some scholars maintain, in spite of Sanders, that Paul rejected Judaism and developed a ‘Christian’ identity of sorts. Others take an intermediate position, arguing that Paul only repudiated those parts of Jewish tradition that separated Jews from non-Jews while otherwise being basically faithful to his religious... (More)
E. P. Sanders’ reconstruction of ancient Judaism resulted in an increasing interest in Paul’s relation to Judaism. While scholars before Sanders commonly assumed that Paul converted to Christianity and thus developed a religious identity separate from Judaism, Sanders’ view of Judaism as a religion of grace forced scholars to problematize Paul’s relation to his religious identity. Three major scholarly trends can be distinguished. Some scholars maintain, in spite of Sanders, that Paul rejected Judaism and developed a ‘Christian’ identity of sorts. Others take an intermediate position, arguing that Paul only repudiated those parts of Jewish tradition that separated Jews from non-Jews while otherwise being basically faithful to his religious heritage. Finally and most recently, still other scholars argue that Paul remained fully Jewish after becoming a follower of Jesus and that, consequently, he never developed a religious identity separated from Judaism (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Judaism, Christianity, religion, identity, New Perspective, Paul within Judaism, Judaism, Christianity, religion, identity, New Perspective, Paul within Judaism
host publication
The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies
series title
Oxford Handbooks
editor
Novenson, Matthew V. and Matlock, R. Barry
pages
19 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
ISBN
9780191756573
9780199600489
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199600489.013.29
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a8bfa88d-e24b-496b-93f4-327fb7be896f
date added to LUP
2020-07-12 10:15:57
date last changed
2022-10-26 16:22:53
@inbook{a8bfa88d-e24b-496b-93f4-327fb7be896f,
  abstract     = {{E. P. Sanders’ reconstruction of ancient Judaism resulted in an increasing interest in Paul’s relation to Judaism. While scholars before Sanders commonly assumed that Paul converted to Christianity and thus developed a religious identity separate from Judaism, Sanders’ view of Judaism as a religion of grace forced scholars to problematize Paul’s relation to his religious identity. Three major scholarly trends can be distinguished. Some scholars maintain, in spite of Sanders, that Paul rejected Judaism and developed a ‘Christian’ identity of sorts. Others take an intermediate position, arguing that Paul only repudiated those parts of Jewish tradition that separated Jews from non-Jews while otherwise being basically faithful to his religious heritage. Finally and most recently, still other scholars argue that Paul remained fully Jewish after becoming a follower of Jesus and that, consequently, he never developed a religious identity separated from Judaism}},
  author       = {{Zetterholm, Magnus}},
  booktitle    = {{The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies}},
  editor       = {{Novenson, Matthew V. and Matlock, R. Barry}},
  isbn         = {{9780191756573}},
  keywords     = {{Judaism; Christianity; religion; identity; New Perspective; Paul within Judaism; Judaism; Christianity; religion; identity; New Perspective; Paul within Judaism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{162--179}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Oxford Handbooks}},
  title        = {{Paul and the Construction of Early Christian Identity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199600489.013.29}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199600489.013.29}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}