‘Abraham Did not “Doubt” in Unbelief’ (rom. 4:20): Faith, Doubt, and Dispute in Paul’s Letter to the Romans
This article offers an exegetical-theological analysis of Rom. 4:20: ‘No distrust made him waver (διακρίνεσθαι) concerning the promise of God’ (NRSV). It challenges the common assumption that our customary descriptions and definitions of ‘doubt’ may be applied—via negativa—to the attitude or disposi...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2012
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2012, Volume: 63, Issue: 2, Pages: 492-522 |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article offers an exegetical-theological analysis of Rom. 4:20: ‘No distrust made him waver (διακρίνεσθαι) concerning the promise of God’ (NRSV). It challenges the common assumption that our customary descriptions and definitions of ‘doubt’ may be applied—via negativa—to the attitude or disposition of Abraham. When Paul uses the word διακρίνεσθαι in this context, he does not intend to say that Abraham’s disposition was free from doubt, uncertainty, or hesitation. Rather, Paul had in mind that Abraham did not oppose God in a presumptuous attitude, offend him through conceited enquiries, or question him in order to overturn his word. This interpretation counters the exegetical communis opinio, but has veritable precursors—John Chrysostom, John Calvin, and Markus Barth—and, at the same time, conforms well to the line of thought of Paul’s letter. The object of Paul’s accusation against Greeks and Jews (Romans 1–3) is less an intrapersonal contradiction or inconsistency rather than an interpersonal conflict between God and human being. Significantly, the contextual argument is supported by a lexicographical fact: The meaning ‘to doubt’ for διακρίνεσθαι is unattested prior to the New Testament; in classical/Hellenistic Greek the verb comprises, inter alia, the notions of ‘separation’ and ‘dispute’. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/fls130 |