The Upper Register

ETS Far West Region Meeting, April 8

I’ll be in Escondido tomorrow at Westminster Seminary California for the Far West Region Meeting of ETS. At 5:00pm, I will be reading a paper in which I summarize the chapter of my dissertation where I analyze the language of righteousness (and the righteousness of God) in the Old Testament.

Which reminds me — both of my mentors (Drs. Hagner and Kim) and the external reader have examined my dissertation, “ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ ΘΕΟΥ: A Lexical Examination of the Covenant-Faithfulness Interpretation.” The first two passed it as superior and the third passed it as adequate. Part of the third reader's concern with my dissertation flows from the fact that, although he is a fellow critic of the New Perspective on Paul, he questions the Reformed interpretation of righteousness as a gift from God, isolated from Christ, and wishes to recover Luther’s own view of Christ himself as our righteousness, which (he argues) does not rely on the concept of imputation. Nevertheless, he had some very helpful and detailed criticisms that I will need to ponder more carefully. In any event, it is a relief to know that I have passed. So, it looks like I will be graduating this June. 

ETS Annual Meeting this week

I'll be at the ETS Annual Meeting in Atlanta this week, traveling with my friend, the Rev. Bob Bjerkaas. I'm presenting a paper on Friday afternoon. Here's the abstract:

Δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ: A Cipher for “God’s Covenant Faithfulness”?

Advocates of the New Perspective on Paul appeal to the view that “righteousness” in biblical theology is a Verhältnisbegriff (relational concept). This is the view that “righteousness” does not mean conformity to a norm, nor is it an essentially legal concept; rather, “righteousness” denotes the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship, since the relationship itself is the norm. This relational interpretation of “righteousness” was first put forward by Hermann Cremer in 1899 and exercised a profound influence in biblical scholarship throughout the 20th century. It lies at the root of the New Perspective claim that δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ in Paul is a cipher for God’s saving faithfulness to his covenant. In this paper, I critically examine Cremer’s chief arguments for the relational interpretation. The paper summarizes the fruits of an exhaustive lexical study of tsedeq and tsedaqah in the Hebrew Bible and their translational equivalents in the Septuagint.

It should be an interesting meeting. It will be helpful to hear N. T. Wright, Frank Thielman, and Tom Schreiner speaking individually and then interacting together as a panel on Friday morning. One's understanding of a scholar's position is deepened by the combination of reading what they have published and then hearing them explain their ideas orally in person. It's even better if you get a chance to ask them questions.