The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters (New Testament Theology)

Rating:
Summary: Terrific overview and engagement with modern issues
Review: Unlike other books in this series which cover more than one NT book, this book has a cohesive unity to it and can be rated as a whole as opposed to treating different sections differently. Much of that probably owes to the obvious relationship between Colossians and Ephesians, but the authors make their fair share of the contribution.

Wedderburn begins by covering Colossians and sees in its polemic against the heresies of heavenly powers both a move away from the authentic Pauline dialectic concerning the Jewish law and Gentiles to a more thoroughly Hellenistic setting concerned with spiritual entities and realities. The author of Colossians (whom he maintains is probably not Paul, though not with absolute certainty) utilizes the opening christological hymn displaying the cosmic nature of its subject to explain the exalted Lord of Christian faith as the cosmic Christ, to whom all things are in subjagation. This theme, along with the household code found at the end of the letter, dominates the discussion throughout.

Through it, Wedderburn produces a thought provoking discussion of Colossians' theology. Two aspects in particular I enjoyed. First, he contrasts Colossians reinterpretation of the Pauline message afresh for the issues of his day with the almost reactionary character found in the Pastoral letters (and even suggests that the Pastorals could have been written against such a view). This, he says, should challenge us to not merely protect and defend tradition as received but to revision it so that it stays alive in our day. Secondly, the discussion of the cosmic Christ has implications for our lives as well. It means that, although a certain anthrocentricity can exist, the effect of Christ's exaltation includes all of creation and this should affect our attitudes towards the environment, social settings and politics.

Wedderburn's treatment of Colossians is more than good but Lincoln's survey of Ephesians is great. At the outset he does something no other author so far has done that I find both admirable and helpful - he explains his own background, beliefs and presuppositions as succinctly as possible and this already enables me to interact with him differently than every other author so far.

Beyond that, the way he works with Ephesians is solid. Detecting how Ephesians is a general letter that utilizes the thought of Colossians for its own end, he identifies the unifying character within the text as one of identity of the believer and all the discussion is made to relate to this center (who are we? how did we become? where are we going? how should we act?). Building on the idea of the cosmic Christ the author of Ephesians envisions the cosmic Church, the great community of believers that has its identity in Christ, and discussions on the universal Church and its relation to believers, world, and God dominate the text.

The end is one of the best discussions on the relevance of a NT text for today as has been given so far in this series. Lincoln engages well with the issues germane to churches today, being specific enough to be helpful but general enough to relate to everyone. His discussion on the modern need for identity and how Ephesians' thought relates to that is very valuable.

On a side note, upon finishing this volume I wondered if Ephesians is so made to be so relevant because it is the NT book that probably reflects most of Protestant churches, esp. evangelical ones. I speculate that if any evangelical church had to to choose only one book out of the NT to keep as its own if might not Ephesians be the one chosen, given its Pauline nature, its generality, its extensive digression on Church, its focus on identity and its exhortation towards a transformed ethics?

Regardless, this volume was great and it comes highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific overview and engagement with modern issues
Review: Unlike other books in this series which cover more than one NT book, this book has a cohesive unity to it and can be rated as a whole as opposed to treating different sections differently. Much of that probably owes to the obvious relationship between Colossians and Ephesians, but the authors make their fair share of the contribution.

Wedderburn begins by covering Colossians and sees in its polemic against the heresies of heavenly powers both a move away from the authentic Pauline dialectic concerning the Jewish law and Gentiles to a more thoroughly Hellenistic setting concerned with spiritual entities and realities. The author of Colossians (whom he maintains is probably not Paul, though not with absolute certainty) utilizes the opening christological hymn displaying the cosmic nature of its subject to explain the exalted Lord of Christian faith as the cosmic Christ, to whom all things are in subjagation. This theme, along with the household code found at the end of the letter, dominates the discussion throughout.

Through it, Wedderburn produces a thought provoking discussion of Colossians' theology. Two aspects in particular I enjoyed. First, he contrasts Colossians reinterpretation of the Pauline message afresh for the issues of his day with the almost reactionary character found in the Pastoral letters (and even suggests that the Pastorals could have been written against such a view). This, he says, should challenge us to not merely protect and defend tradition as received but to revision it so that it stays alive in our day. Secondly, the discussion of the cosmic Christ has implications for our lives as well. It means that, although a certain anthrocentricity can exist, the effect of Christ's exaltation includes all of creation and this should affect our attitudes towards the environment, social settings and politics.

Wedderburn's treatment of Colossians is more than good but Lincoln's survey of Ephesians is great. At the outset he does something no other author so far has done that I find both admirable and helpful - he explains his own background, beliefs and presuppositions as succinctly as possible and this already enables me to interact with him differently than every other author so far.

Beyond that, the way he works with Ephesians is solid. Detecting how Ephesians is a general letter that utilizes the thought of Colossians for its own end, he identifies the unifying character within the text as one of identity of the believer and all the discussion is made to relate to this center (who are we? how did we become? where are we going? how should we act?). Building on the idea of the cosmic Christ the author of Ephesians envisions the cosmic Church, the great community of believers that has its identity in Christ, and discussions on the universal Church and its relation to believers, world, and God dominate the text.

The end is one of the best discussions on the relevance of a NT text for today as has been given so far in this series. Lincoln engages well with the issues germane to churches today, being specific enough to be helpful but general enough to relate to everyone. His discussion on the modern need for identity and how Ephesians' thought relates to that is very valuable.

On a side note, upon finishing this volume I wondered if Ephesians is so made to be so relevant because it is the NT book that probably reflects most of Protestant churches, esp. evangelical ones. I speculate that if any evangelical church had to to choose only one book out of the NT to keep as its own if might not Ephesians be the one chosen, given its Pauline nature, its generality, its extensive digression on Church, its focus on identity and its exhortation towards a transformed ethics?

Regardless, this volume was great and it comes highly recommended.