God and Grace in Philo and Paul

289 Pages·2016·1.367 MB·English

by  Orrey McFarland

God and Grace in Philo and Paul
Supplements to Novum
Testamentum
Executive Editors
M.M. Mitchell (Chicago)
D.P. Moessner (Fort Worth)
Editorial Board
H.W. Attridge (New Haven) – C. Breytenbach (Berlin)
C. Gerber (Hamburg) – J.K. Elliott (Leeds)
C.R. Holladay (Atlanta) – D. Marguerat (Lausanne)
M.J.J. Menken (Tilburg) – J.C. Thom (Stellenbosch)
P. Trebilco (Dunedin) – C.M. Tuckett (Oxford)
Volume 164
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/nts
God and Grace
in Philo and Paul
By
Orrey McFarland
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McFarland, Orrey.
 God and grace in Philo and Paul / by Orrey McFarland.
  pages cm. — (Supplements to Novum Testamentum, ISSN 0167-9732 ; Volume 164)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-30781-0 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-30858-9 (e-book) 1. Grace
(Theology)—History of doctrines. 2. Philo, of Alexandria. 3. Bible. Epistles of Paul—Criticism,
interpretation, etc. I. Title.
 BT761.3.M34 2015
 234—dc23
2015035251
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issn 0167-9732
isbn 978-90-04-30781-0 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30858-9 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 The Aim of this Study 1
2 Two Paradigms: Grace (or not) in Judaism and Christianity 2
2.1 Paul and Grace, Judaism and not Grace 2
2.2 Paul and Grace, Judaism and the Same Grace 5
2.3 Conclusion: The Assumed Quantity and Missing Particularity 8
3 A Brief History of Scholarship 9
3.1 “The Gift” 9
3.2 Philo and Paul 12
3.3 Summary and Prospect 19
4 Methodological Issues 20
5 Overview of the Study 23
1 The Perfect God Who Gives 25
1 Introduction 25
2 God as Cause and Creator of All Things 26
2.1 Piety and Proper Understanding of God’s Causation 26
2.2 God’s Goodness and the Origin of Creation 28
2.3 What “All Things” Come From God? 34
2.4 Conclusion: God’s Gracious Creative Work 37
3 God’s Hyper-Generous Nature 37
3.1 God as Sole Owner of All Reality 37
3.2 The Overflowing Perfection of God 41
3.3 A Bountiful God 45
3.4 Conclusion 48
4 God’s Perfect and Incommensurate Giving 49
4.1 “And Noah Found Grace Before the Lord God” 49
4.2 God’s Overflowing and Orderly Giving: A Preliminary Sketch 56
5 Conclusion 62
vi contents
2 Cosmological Ethics, Gifted Virtue, and Worth 64
1 Introduction: Locating Human Agency and Constructing Worth 64
2 Generously Ordering the World: Nature, Logos, and Law 67
2.1 Nature as Gift-Giver 68
2.2 The Logos in the Cosmos and the Individual 71
2.3 Philo’s Threefold Form of Law 76
2.4 Conclusion: The Moral Fabric of the Cosmos 80
3 Virtue and the Constitution of Human Worth 82
3.1 God as Creator of the Virtues 82
3.2 Virtue and the Defeat of Vice 86
3.3 Moses, the Patriarchs, and the Road to Perfection 88
3.4 Conclusion: The Gift of Virtue 93
4 God’s Generosity to the Worthy 93
4.1 Gifts to the Virtuous and the Constitution of Worth 94
4.2 God’s Gifts to the Worthy 97
4.3 Faith and Thanksgiving 100
5 Conclusion 101
3 The Christ-Event Within the Divine Gift-Economy 103
1 Introduction 103
2 On Not Rejecting God’s Gift: The Christ-Gift in Galatians 104
3 The Gift of God in Romans 112
3.1 Romans 3.21–26: The Christ-Gift Within the Theatre of Sin 112
3.2 Romans 5.1–11: The Gift and Christian Hope 116
3.3 Romans 5.12–21: The Macro-Structure of Paul’s Theology 124
3.4 Rom 4.1–25: Abraham’s Faith and the Christ-Gift 131
3.5 Romans 9–11: The Christ-Gift and the History of Israel 139
3.6 Conclusion to Romans 146
4 Paul, Philo, Christ and Cosmos 147
4.1 God as Generous Giver 147
4.2 God’s Fundamental Gift 148
4.3 The Gift as Giver 149
5 Conclusion 152
4 Proclaiming and Receiving the Incongruous Gift 154
1 Introduction: The Root of Human Unworthiness 154
2 Paul and the Unfitting Gift 156
2.1 Paul’s Apostleship as Grace 156
2.2 Unfitting Grace and Apostleship: Galatians 1–2 161
2.3 Grace and Unfitting Apostleship: 1 Corinthians 15.1–11 171
Contents vii
2.4 Conclusion: Gift and Apostleship, Paul as Paradigm and
Proclaimer 175
3 Apostolic Proclamation and Reconciliation 176
4 Paul and Philo 183
4.1 Paul and Philo, Unfitting and Fitting Grace 183
4.2 Mediation and the Structure of the Gift 189
5 Conclusion 191
5 The Gift and the Creation of Gift-Communities 192
1 Introduction 192
2 Gifts and Community 193
2.1 Gifts According to the Gift: Romans 12.3–8 194
2.2 The Solidarity of Gifts: 1 Corinthians 12.3–31 199
2.3 Conclusion 201
3 God’s Grace and Human Giving 202
3.1 How Can Humans Give? 203
3.2 In What Way are Humans to Give? 207
3.3 What Does Human Giving Accomplish? 209
3.4 Giving as/and Thanksgiving 211
3.5 Conclusion 212
4 Philo and Paul 213
4.1 Human Giving 213
4.2 Thanksgiving 219
4.3 Gifts and Community 221
5 Conclusion 224
Conclusion 225
1 Conversing on Grace 225
2 Summary of the Study 225
3 Comparative Questions and Answers 228
3.1 Who is God and What has God Given? 228
3.2 To Whom has God Given? 229
3.3 What do God’s Gifts do? 230
4 In Conclusion: Philo and Paul Within and Against Paradigms 231
Bibliography 233
Index of Modern Authors 258
Index of Ancient Sources 263

Acknowledgments
This book is a slightly revised version of my doctoral thesis completed at
Durham University in 2013. I am glad to have the opportunity now to thank the
many people who supported me and contributed to this project in different
ways.
Professor John Barclay supervised my Ph.D. from beginning to end and was
always generous with his time and attentive in his reading of my work. I could
not have hoped for a better experience with a supervisor, and I am grateful that
I had the opportunity to watch and learn from his example. Professor Francis
Watson supervised my MA thesis at Durham and then became my secondary
supervisor during my Ph.D., and I am thankful for his help with a number of
projects completed during that time. My examiners, Dr Simon Gathercole and
Professor Robert Hayward, read the thesis closely, and their kind interaction
with me and their helpful comments on this work are most appreciated.
Two of my undergraduate professors at Oklahoma Baptist University,
Dr Bobby Kelly and Dr Justin Hardin, are the reason I first became interested
in academic biblical studies, and it was their confidence in me and encourage-
ment that led me to Durham. Without their teaching and friendship I would
not have gone down this road.
Durham was a great place both to study and to live, and this is, in large part,
because of the many fellow students who became close friends during my time
there. Wesley Hill and Jonathan Linebaugh read large portions of my thesis
and were willing to offer help whenever I needed it; even better, they, along
with Jon Parker, Paul Jones, Todd Brewer, and Adam Powell, were always ready
to grab a coffee or pint, talk about life and theology, and have fun. Dave Briones
and John Goodrich made the transition to Durham very smooth and have been
good friends ever since. Finally, all of my colleagues at the study room in 37a
N. Bailey made the four years in Durham far more enjoyable than I could have
imagined.
My family has been unfailing in their encouragement. From Day One of my
studies, no voice was more reassuring than my mom’s. Her love has sustained
me through many trying times in life and enabled me to undertake adven-
tures like this. My dad has been a pillar for me: his constant encouragement,
prayers, and also his timely and important reminders that there are things in
life more essential than a monograph have been valued beyond measure. My
grandparents, Bill and Christine Henson, have never shown me anything other
than unconditional love, and that love has manifested itself in numerous ways
that made this book possible. My stepdad, David Grice, kindly gave up a lot of