In light of new studies on early Judaism, an international group of New Testament scholars reexamines Paul's understanding of the Old Testament law.

Top scholars illumine the complexities of the Judaism of Jesus' day.

Top scholars illumine the complexities of the Judaism of Jesus' day.

In light of new studies on early Judaism, an international group of New Testament scholars reexamines Paul's understanding of the Old Testament law.

Since 1977, the lines of inquiry developed by P.E. Sanders, James D.G. Dunn, N.T. Wright and others, have generated the 'New Perspective' on Paul. This perspective is profoundly tied to a certain reading of the literature of second temple Judaism which then in turn shapes what is now the dominant reading of Paul. This volume brings together an array of specialists to examine afresh the various corpora of the period. The authors analyze the highly diverse literature to determine to what extent 'covenantal nomism' is a suitable way for its categorization. The way this literature speaks of the relationship between God and Israel, election, sacrifice, the manner in which God's people are said to be rightly related to him, are all studied closely, within the genre distinctions and theological priorities of each corpus. Careful study is also devoted to 'righteousness' language. Volume 2 will apply the findings to Paul.

This volume is the second part of a comprehensive evaluation of the "new perspective" that has dominated much Anglo-American thought, amongst biblical specialists, for a quarter of a century. The first volume grappled with and evaluated the new perspective's understanding of Palestinian Judaism; this volume evaluates the appropriateness of new perspective categories to the principal writings of Paul, including technical discussion of justification and other crucial words and expressions - all set within the context of the current debates.