vrijheid, dictatuur of anarchie: wie van de drie?



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~*~ freedom or anarchy? ~*~

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in order
to understand paul
surely one of the key texts
is galatians 5:14


paul's rhetoric
in THIS passage
is apparently confusing
and has led interpreters
to directly opposing
conclusions


in verse 14
- 'for the whole law is fulfilled
in ONE word,
'you shall love your neighbor
as yourself' -
he seems to be upholding
the law


but just a few verses later
in verse 19
he seems to speak of the law
as irrelevant:
'but if you are led by the spirit
you are not under
the law'


some have seen here
[in verse 14]
an apparent contradiction
to his view that the law is abrogated
after all
he cites the law here
and ordains that it be kept in some sense or other
while others with equal justice
see this passage
as the center of paul's 'attack'
on the law


some of these interpreters have gone so far as to regard 5:14 as 'ironic'


a third view
sees paul as contradicting himself
within the space of
three verses


'eps'
contributed a searching discussion
of these passages in paul:
he has well demonstrated the inadequacy
of all earlier interpretations:
he shows
that the distinction between
'the whole law' [5:3]
as the jewish law
and 'all the law' [5:14]
as a law which has nothing to do with the jewish torah
is impossible


he moreover shows
that the notion
that paul distinguishes between the law perverted [by jews]
and the law as it was intended
does not hold
because paul never refers to jewish practice of the law
as perverted


there is
moreover
as 'eps' demonstrates
little in paul
to commend the view
that paul condemns the law pursued for salvation
while he upholds the [same] law
pursued for fulfilling of g*d's will
that it is the inner disposition
of the person that
counts


on the other hand
as in other cases I find 'eps's' objections to the current interpretations stronger than his own exegetical suggestions -
his analysis of the plight is better
than his solution


in this case
I think he starts off very well
by observing that for paul the observance of loving one's neighbor [galatians 5:14]
[and particularly in its concrete manifestation of bearing her burdens
[6:2]]
constitutes
'the REAL way
to fulfill the law


moreover
even though pharisaic/rabbinic teachers also cite leviticus 19:18 as a summary of the law
none other than paul
[or such as philo's extreme allegorizers]
advocated that its observance
REPLACED circumcision
and the rest of the
concrete law


'eps's' summary
of the problem is exemplary:
'there is, then, appreciable tension
between the view that christians are not under the law at all -
they have died to the law, not just to part of it and not just to the law as perverted by pride, but to the law as such -
and the view that those in christ fulfill the law -
not just aspects of it,
and not just the law
when pursued in
the right spirit'


'eps', however,
comes to the conclusion
'that both positions cannot be maintained
in detail'


obviously
an interpretation which makes sense of both of paul's statements
would be superior to one
that cannot


I think
that galatians 5:14
[and its associated texts]
can be strongly read
in the context of the general interpretation of pauline thought
that these mydiljstories
propose

~verliefd~

17 jun 2005 - meld ongepast verhaal
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