Revisiting Paul's Doctrine of Justification: A Challenge to the New Perspective

by Peter Stuhlmacher

Since 1963, substantial objections have been raised against the traditional view of the Pauline doctrine of justification, mainly by New Testament scholars such as Krister Stendahl, E. P. Sanders and James D. G. Dunn. This book evaluates the "New Perspective on Paul" and finds it wanting. With appreciation for the important critique already offered by Donald Hagner, which is included in this volume, Peter Stuhlmacher mounts a forthright and well-supported challenge based on established and more recent scholarship concerning Paul's understanding of justification. In particular he argues that the forensic and mystical elements of Paul's doctrine of justification should not be played off against one another. Rather Paul's understanding can be faithfully rendered only within the context of his apostolic mission to Jews and Gentiles and the expectation of the coming kingdom of God. This book will be of interest to students and teachers of biblical studies, biblical theology and systematic theology, and to those engaged in Jewish-Christian dialogue, Protestant-Roman Catholic conversation about the doctrine of justification, or discussions of rival views of justification within Protestantism.

Genres: Theology, New Testament, Religion

108 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2001

About the author

Peter Stuhlmacher was a German Protestant theologian, professor emeritus of New Testament studies at the University of Tübingen.

Reviews

[Timothy Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hagner's article was better than Stuhlmacher. It came off with an air of German scholarship impressed with itself and being unimpressive in my estimation. And I broadly agreed with the views of the authors!

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Stuhlmacher and Hagner address Paul's doctrine of justification and respond to the views of the 'New Perspective' as presented by writers such as Stendahl, Sanders, and Dunn. These New Perspective authors criticize the interpretation of Pauline justification distorted by Martin Luther and propagated by the Protestant movement. 

    The argument of the New Perspective scholars centers around two main points, which then give rise to several corollaries. Their first main point is that first-century Judaism was not a religion where righteousness is earned through works, in particular, 'works of the law'. They argue that early Judaism, like Christianity, was a grace-based religion. From this platform, they move their focus to Paul and assert that justification is not Paul's central theological tenant. Instead, they see Paul's emphasis on justification as a strategy that arose to ease the spread of the gospel to gentiles. 

    Hagner states that these assertions lead to several questions about the nature of first-century Judaism and the core of Paul's message. Eloquently, Hagner reduces these questions to a single one, "What was the difference between Saul the Pharisee and Paul the Christian?" The New Perspective scholars argue that the only difference was one of mission. Paul did not convert to a new faith but received a commission to bring the salvation of God to a new audience, the gentiles. 

    It is against these and other claims by those holding to the New Perspective view of the 1960s that Stuhlmacher and Hagner rally. In the process, they provide a fantastic overview of Paul's doctrine while providing a balanced interpretation that honors Martin Luther's revolutionary exegesis, without accepting it uncritically. 

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book may not be for everybody. This book was written as more as a thesis or like a college paper. Basically what this talks about is an argument against the ideas of Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation that came about in 1983 by a man named James D. G. Dunn. The new perspective held out a couple things: 1.) It's that justification by faith was not the central message in the Gospel. 2.) Ancient Judaism is not a religion of works righteousness. and 3.) That the Apostle Paul's teaching on justification is about equality with the Jews. It's more of a political statement than a belief.

That is the basis for the whole argument; arguing against that. The basic belief of this book is that Martin Luther did not deceive us. That justification by faith is indeed the central Gospel message of Jesus Christ, the Lord. This is another book that is well-written, but it is dry, and it is hard to understand at points. When I got to the end of the book, I questioned what the point of every chapter was, or how the book fit together. The ending of it did do a very nice job of summing it up to where every other chapter made sense together. I found the argument a little hard to follow, but that is probably more because they do not go into the new perspective very much. It is hard to see what Peter Stuhlmacher and Donald A. Hagner are arguing against sometimes.

I don't wanna take away from the book. It's a good book; I enjoyed it, but because I found it hard to follow, I give it 3 stars.

[Werner Fourie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A master level view of understanding what Paul's doctrine of justification means, and what it does not.

[Dmcconkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Stuhlmacher is Professor Emeritus of University of Tubingen, Germany wrote 3 chapters & Donald Hagner the George Eldon Ladd Professor of NT at Fuller wrote one chapter. They take on the New Perspective of Paul school head on in examining the Biblical Basis for Paul's understanding of the doctrine of Justification. It is a short little book of 105 pgs but is an excellent examination of this key Christian doctrine. Stuhlmacher addresses the topics of the Gospel of God's righteousness: God's righteousness & God's kingdom: and the process of justification. Hagner writes the closing article on Paul & Judaism - testing the new perspective. It is a well reasoned book based on solid exegesis of the Biblical text from season Biblical theologian & NT scholar. Highly recommend this book as a good intro & foundation for understanding the issues of the New Perspectives of Paul. Well documented with excellent footnotes for further study.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good.