Paul and the Mosaic Law (PDF)

The authors of the papers presented in this conference volume aim to engage in as complete as possible a study of the key passages in the letters of Paul which deal with or have a bearing on his understanding of and attitude to the Mosaic Law. They draw together a representative sample of the range of current scholarly opinion on these passages. The conference participants searched as far as possible for common ground on a wide range of exegetical and theological disputes and wanted to encourage and help facilitate disputants to take fuller account of the strength of the positions they disagree with. 'As this volume illustrates so well, the historical and theological issues surrounding Paul's view of the Law are notoriously complex. But it also demonstrates that the 'assured conclusions' of a previous generation have been destroyed without any new 'scholarly consensus' in sight. In doing so, this volume raises afresh the fundamental question of what, for Paul, the significance of the death and resurrection of the Messiah 'under the Law' actually was for the role of the Law itself, not only in the justification and reconciliation of Jews and Gentile in Christ, but also in their continuing life 'in Christ' as believers. May [...] such a volume [...] lead [...] to a renewed dedication to resolve this all-important issue for the meaning of Paul's thought and for the history of Jewish-Christian dialogue.' Scott Hafemann in Shofar 16 (1998), p. 125.