{"id":6380,"date":"2010-06-09T05:31:31","date_gmt":"2010-06-09T05:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/deliverance-of-god-4-matt-edwa.html"},"modified":"2010-06-09T05:31:31","modified_gmt":"2010-06-09T05:31:31","slug":"deliverance-of-god-4-matt-edwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/deliverance-of-god-4-matt-edwa.html","title":{"rendered":"Deliverance of God 4 (Matt Edwards)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an incredible series being offered to us by Matt Edwards: a nine part summary and response to Douglas Campbell’s mega-book, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>. Thanks to Matt Edwards.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Deliverance of God<\/span><\/i><\/b> 4–Inconsistent
\nAnthropology in Justification Theory<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

We are evaluating Douglas
\nCampbell’s rereading of Romans 1-4 as presented in The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in
\nPaul<\/i>. In the book, Campbell rejects “justification theory” (JT), the
\ntraditional way of understanding Romans 1-4. He describes JT as having two
\nphases–“the rigorous contract” (in which God’s ethical demands are made clear
\nto all people, all people are found to have fallen short of these demands, and
\nall people are declared worthy of God’s retributive justice) and “the appropriation
\nof salvation” (in which God, in his grace, offers a more manageable criterion
\nfor salvation, “faith”). Most western Christians interpret Romans 1-4 according
\nto JT.<\/p>\n

Campbell has suggested three steps
\nthat JT advocates need to take in response to his rereading: (1) demonstrate
\nthat JT is a valid option for Paul, (2) answer his critique, and (3) show how
\nJT is a better interpretive option than his rereading. We have undertaken step
\n(1) in a previous post, and over the next few posts we will be undertaking step
\n(2). When we are finished, I will suggest an approach to step (3).<\/p>\n

Campbell argues that the
\nanthropology of JT is inconsistent. He summarizes, “Justification theory
\npresupposes in humans an inherent ability to deduce and appropriately fulfill
\nthe truth of certain axioms and, at the same time, a profound universal
\nsinfulness–that is, fundamental and simultaneous capacity and incapacity.” (44)<\/p>\n

Campbell suggests that Luther’s
\nbrilliance was in his ability to merge two divergent themes in Christian
\nthought–the optimistic anthropology of Pelagius and the pessimistic
\nanthropology of post-396 CE Augustine. Like Pelagius, Luther argued that human
\nbeings have the ability to understand God’s ethical demands and that they would
\nbe rewarded for doing so. However, he also argued, like post-396 CE Augustine,
\nthat human beings are deeply sinful and thus unable to obey God’s commands.
\nWhile clever, Luther’s synthesis is fundamentally contradictory. Campbell
\nwrites:<\/p>\n

“Can we posit significantly
\nseparate ethical thought processes within the same basic human faculty, one
\npure and uncorrupted, the other impure and corrupted? Can we claim that one
\npart of the is faculty, along with its activity, is pristine but one part
\ndeeply flawed? This seems incoherent and consequently unsustainable.<\/p>\n

Hence the claim that in the first
\nphase of Justification individuals possess both capacity and incapacity seems
\nfundamentally incoherent. The model’s all-important anthropology is essentially
\ngarbled. (It is also worth emphasizing that this conundrum will be the deeper,
\nthe more any ‘depravity’ or ‘original sin’ is emphasized within the ontology of
\nthe non-Christian.)” (45)<\/p>\n

What do you think about this argument? How strong is it? If human beings
\nare depraved in their reasoning, how can they discern God and his laws so as to
\nbe “without excuse” (Romans 1:20)? On the other hand, if human beings have the
\ncapacity to understand and obey, why did Jesus die (Galatians 2:21)? Does JT
\nneed both capacity and incapacity? Is this incoherent?<\/span><\/b>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an incredible series being offered to us by Matt Edwards: a nine part summary and response to Douglas Campbell’s mega-book, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul . Thanks to Matt Edwards. The Deliverance of God 4–Inconsistent Anthropology in Justification Theory We are evaluating Douglas Campbell’s rereading of Romans…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\nDeliverance of God 4 (Matt Edwards) - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/deliverance-of-god-4-matt-edwa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deliverance of God 4 (Matt Edwards) - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is an incredible series being offered to us by Matt Edwards: a nine part summary and response to Douglas Campbell’s mega-book, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul . Thanks to Matt Edwards. The Deliverance of God 4–Inconsistent Anthropology in Justification Theory We are evaluating Douglas Campbell’s rereading of Romans…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/deliverance-of-god-4-matt-edwa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-09T05:31:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0802831265\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Deliverance of God 4 (Matt Edwards) - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/deliverance-of-god-4-matt-edwa.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Deliverance of God 4 (Matt Edwards) - Jesus Creed","og_description":"This is an incredible series being offered to us by Matt Edwards: a nine part summary and response to Douglas Campbell’s mega-book, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul . 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