Jesus And The Repentance Of E. P. Sanders -- By: Bruce D. Chilton

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 39:1 (NA 1988)
Article: Jesus And The Repentance Of E. P. Sanders
Author: Bruce D. Chilton


Jesus And The Repentance Of E. P. Sanders1

Bruce D. Chilton

Is ‘the repentance of E. P. Sanders’ the repentance he refers to or the repentance he might undergo? ‘Of’ in my title can represent a subjective genitive, in which case the views which belong to Sanders would be at issue. But the preposition might also represent an objective genitive, in which case Sanders would be portrayed as influenced by repentance (at least potentially). The distinction between the subjective and the objective genitive, although frequently important, can be difficult to draw. Paul is notoriously vague in this regard, as when he speaks of ‘the gospel of Christ’ (and similar phrases): is it Jesus’ preaching or an account concerning Jesus he has in mind? To exclude either meaning from Paul’s mind would be a distortion, but the particular context of a usage permits the reader to judge which emphasis is paramount in a given case. My title indulges a Pauline ambiguity, but I intend to be more predictable than Paul was.

Essentially, my concern is to describe Sanders’s views in respect of Jesus and repentance, and that description will lead to the identification of a problem within them (‘1. Description’). In order to understand the genesis of that problem, I propose to analyze how it arose, and where a perfectly sound argument began to go astray (‘2. Analysis’). To that extent, the bulk of my remarks would correspond to a reading of my title as a subjective genitive. The fact is, however, that the description and analysis of Sanders’s views has brought me to suggest that he and his readers might reasonably alter them. To that degree, my concluding section is styled as paraenetic (‘3. Paraenesis’), and the genitive of my title has a double edge. I should say from the outset, however, that I regard Sanders’s contribution as seminal. An unashamedly historical approach to Jesus is today again being

explored, and early Judaism is seen as Jesus’ natural milieu; in both these aspects, Sanders has helped shape the present state of the discipline. Precisely in view of his influence, a critique of a problematic feature within his thought appears appropriate.

1. Description

Among the theses presented in his recent book, Jesus and Judaism, none is more controversial than Sanders’s notion that Jesus did not preach repentance. He defends his approach by means of the argument that the evidence of passages which have Jesus refer to repentance is ‘relatively speaking, slight’, by which he means that they may have been subjected to a degree of Christian interpretation.2...

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