Grace, the Law and Justification in 4 Ezra and the Pauline Letters: A Dialogue
In E.P. Sanders’s generally positive re-examination of the religion reflected in Second Temple Jewish texts, 4 Ezra still fares badly as the ‘closest approach to legalistic works-righteousness which can be found in the Jewish literature of the period’ (Sanders 1977: 418). Bruce Longenecker criticizes...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2014
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| In: |
Journal for the study of the New Testament
Year: 2014, Volume: 37, Issue: 1, Pages: 25-49 |
| Further subjects: | B
Gratitude
B 4 Ezra B Grace B justification B Paul |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | In E.P. Sanders’s generally positive re-examination of the religion reflected in Second Temple Jewish texts, 4 Ezra still fares badly as the ‘closest approach to legalistic works-righteousness which can be found in the Jewish literature of the period’ (Sanders 1977: 418). Bruce Longenecker criticizes 4 Ezra even more sharply as articulating a religion in which divine grace is ‘removed from the scene altogether’. This article seeks to correct such misperceptions of the place of grace in the theology and ethical imperative of 4 Ezra and of the author’s conceptions of Torah-observance as earning merit as opposed to responding to God’s grace gratefully. This leads, in turn, to a greater appreciation for the connection between receiving (and continuing in) God’s favor and making an appropriate response to God in Paul’s thought than is typically acknowledged. |
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| ISSN: | 1745-5294 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the New Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0142064X14545915 |