Bøker av Dr Don Garlington

The present commentary seeks to be a kind of halfway house between highly technical and popular treatments of Galatians. Its purpose is to make the exposition as user-friendly as possible with only as many technicalities as necessary to accomplish that end. The emphasis of the work is decidedly theological, with attention focused on the salvation historical argument of Paul''s letter. Its main target audience includes pastors, students, and Pauline scholars.The exposition assumes a modified form of the ""New Perspective"" on Paul and Second Temple Judaism as its framework of interpretation, and for this reason a premium has been placed on the letter''s historical context as attested by the literature of Second Temple Judaism as well as the Greco-Roman environment. However, far from being inimical to the foundational concerns of the Reformation, this reading of the Galatian letter is fully supportive of the great mottoes of the Reformers themselves: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, and especially Solus Christus, and all the more as the present work endeavors to honor an oft-neglected slogan of the Reformation, Ad Fontes (to the sources). The previous subtitle, A New Perspective/Reformational Reading, has now been changed to A Reading from the New Perspective in order to underscore the author''s appreciation of what has been learned from such scholars as J. D. G. Dunn, N. T. Wright, and numerous others.

The following book is comprised of a series of essays and reviews that have been produced over the past several years, all related, in one way or the other, to the New Perspective on Paul (NPP). This "defense" of the NPP takes the form of a combination of exegesis and extended book reviews. In endeavoring to "defend" the NPP, the eight chapters of this book contain a common thread, namely, that the movement generically bearing this moniker is not inimical to most historical/traditional systems of soteriology. Yet because of the rather volatile reaction of many, the volume seeks to redress the balance in favor of a more tempered approach to a highly controversial topic.

This collection of essays follows upon its predecessor, originally entitled In Defense of the New Perspective on Paul: Essays and Reviews (Wipf and Stock, 2005). This second edition differs from the first in that five new chapters have been added and one review article has been deleted. The change of the main title to Studies in the New Perspective on Paul is due to the conviction that the "New Perspective on Paul" actually represents a return to the original context in which Paul proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Therefore, it is not something to be "defended," but propounded in the most positive terms possible.

Intended as sequel to the author's early study 'The Obedience of Faith': A Pauline Phrase in Historical Context, this book explores the interlocking themes of faith, obedience, and perseverance in the letter to the Romans.Don Garlington argues that Paul's phrase ""the obedience of faith"" is designed to say two things at the same time, that is, an obedience which consists in faith and which is the outgrowth of faith's commitment to Jesus Christ. ""The obedience of faith"" thus articulates both the inception of Christian existence and its continuation in the perseverance of the believer.The author reflects on Romans 2:22's allegation of disobedience (""sacrilege"") on the part of Israel. Since Paul's conception of (faith's) obedience stands in stark relief to the (unbelieving) disobedience of his Jewish contemporaries, it is only against the backdrop of his indictment of Israel that aspects of his teaching emerge with tolerable clarity. Garlington also examines Romans 2:13: only ""the doers of the law"" will be justified in eschatological judgment. Thus, there is in Paul's theology the idea of a future justification of the people of God, which forms an analogue to their present justification. And it is none other than ""the obedience of faith"" which provides the link between the two moments of justification.Romans 5 is focused on its portrayal of Christ as the obedient last Adam, who ensures ""the obedience of faith"" of his people. An exegesis of Romans 7:14-25 approaches ""the obedience of faith"" from the angle of the Christian's experience of the onslaught of the powers of this ""present evil age"". The ideals of ""the age to come"", as set out before, are seen to be tempered by the realism of this period of overlapping aeons.Finally the author reflects on the theological and practical significance of the exegetical materials, including a discussion of ""justification"" and ""sanctification"" in Christian thought.