Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 50:2 (NA 1999)
Article: Paul, The Devil And ‘Unbelief’ In Israel (With Particular Reference To 2 Corinthians 3-4 And Romans 9-11)
Author: Mohan Uddin

TynBul 50:2 (1999) p. 265

Paul, The Devil And ‘Unbelief’ In Israel
(With Particular Reference To
2 Corinthians 3-4 And Romans 9-11)

Mohan Uddin

Summary

The theme of this article is a consideration of Paul’s theological understanding of the underlying causes of Israel’s ‘unbelief’ with reference to the message of his gospel. An examination of 2 Corinthians 3:1-4:6 and Romans 9-11 indicates that Paul attributed the cause(s) of Jewish ‘unbelief’ not only to God and Israel itself but also to the ‘Satan’ figure. This raises the question of the coherence of a particular aspect of Paul’s theology; in other words, does his thinking about this matter really make sense? The influence of intertestamental Jewish apocalypticism upon Paul as a former Pharisee and then Christian apostle provides a useful (and, arguably, necessary) tool in the task of evaluating the apostle’s theological coherence concerning Israel’s large-scale (but certainly not total) rejection of his gospel. While the major aim of the article is a consideration of Paul’s coherence concerning this issue within his own time-frame, one cannot entirely lose sight of the hermeneutical problem for readers today when faced with this challenging aspect of Paul’s outlook.

I. Introduction

The question of coherence in Paul’s thinking is no small issue for New Testament scholars, especially (need one say) for Pauline specialists. A central problematic theme is Paul’s understanding of torah and its place in Christian life (is he for, against or perhaps [intentionally] ambivalent?), but other themes in his ‘occasional’ writings call for examination with respect to coherence. One such theme is his view of Israel, the larger part of which was—at least for him—‘unbelieving’. In this article, I focus upon the question of the

TynBul 50:2 (1999) p. 266

coherence of Paul’s views of causal agency behind Jewish refusal of the gospel with reference to his statements in 2 Corinthians 3-4 (in particular 3:14f. and 4:4) and in Romans 9-11 (in particular 11:7-10, 25), which must be seen against the background of the wider issue of the apostle’s understanding of evil within the context of his Jewish (and now Christian) monotheism. The suitability of Jewish apocalypticism for ‘framing’ Paul will be examined first and then the significance of Jewish understanding of...