 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Adherents to some form of the New Perspective on Paul are notorious for saying that the Catholic opponents of the Reformers were significantly different from the Jewish opponents of Paul, and that the issues Paul dealt with were not those of the Protestant Reformation. Reformers, on this view, addressed works righteousness, while Paul dealt with Jew-Gentile issues and the sin of Jewish exclusivism and national pride.
Suppose the NPP is right about Paul's obsessions. If so, perhaps a "new perspective on the Reformation" will bring Paul and Luther back into amicable communion. A lot of recent social history on the Reformation takes the focus off the doctrinal disputes of the Reformation and examines how the Reformers dealt with the Roman hierarchy, practices of piety, structures and symbols that formed the "symbolic universe" of late medieval Catholicism. The doctrinal disputes are not ignored, but they are put into a setting where the Reformers are seen as challengers to a whole religious-political system, centering on the Mass and the Papacy. The stripping of the idols and all that. Now, if this is the model we use for the Reformation, then the similarities between the "NPP" Paul and Luther are much more apparent. In short, the NPP sees a disjunction between Paul and Luther because they are operating with an "old" perspective on the Reformation.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, January 27, 2005 at 07:12 PM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
