One Or Two Views Of Judaism -- By: Kenneth D. Litwak

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 57:2 (NA 2006)
Article: One Or Two Views Of Judaism
Author: Kenneth D. Litwak


One Or Two Views Of Judaism

Paul In Acts 28 And Romans 11 On Jewish Unbelief

Kenneth Litwak

Summary

Many scholars since Vielhauer have viewed the Lukan Paul as standing in contradiction to the epistolary Paul. This essay contends that a proper assessment of the genre, audience, and function of Romans 11 and Acts 28:16-31 enables readers to see that both Pauls agree on several points regarding Jewish response to the gospel. Where there are differences, these are complementary. Both Pauls see a mixed response among Jews, the developing of a faithful remnant, and in both texts ‘provoking to jealousy’ is a critical element.

1. Introduction

Ever since Vielhauer’s essay, ‘The Paulinism of Acts’, in which he sought to contrast the views of Paul’s letters to those of Paul in Acts, it has been common in Lukan and Pauline studies to contrast these two ‘Pauls’.1 One can readily find reference to two separate ‘Pauline theologies’, or ‘two Pauls’. In order to determine how closely the Paul of Acts and the Paul of the Letters correspond to or complement each other, it is necessary to examine what each Paul has to say on specific topics. When doing so, it is essential to ask several questions. Is the statement by one of the Pauls exhaustive or complete – is there enough said by Paul on a given topic to say that we know what Paul thinks in Acts or his letters on a given subject? How do the contexts differ? Is one evangelistic, addressed to Jews, while the other is expository and addressed primarily to Gentiles? What is the function of Paul’s

statements in given contexts? – since a statement by Paul on some topic, such as christology, must be evaluated in light of its function before we can simply create two parallel columns and claim that ‘these two texts have different theologies’.2 We also need to ask when a difference is incompatible with – or complementary to, but not the same as – what Paul has said elsewhere. I contend that insufficient attention has been paid to these questions in comparing the Lukan Paul to the letter-writing Paul. Certainly, Vielhauer has been critiqued for failing to ask them. The views of Vielhauer and his critics need not be rehearsed here.3 In this essay, I am going to examine Luke’s presentation of Paul’s statements regarding Jewish unbelief in Acts 28...

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