(The Apostle Paul and the Introspective

Conscience of the West)

(introspective conscience)
(hero)1
Where Paul was concerned about the possibility for Gentiles to be included in
the messianic community, his statements are now read as answers to the the quest
for assurance about mans salvation out of a common human predicament.2

34
5
(Penance and Indulgence)

6

( 15)

(tutor)7

8
1

9
10
We should not
read a trembling and introspective conscience into a text which is so anxious to
put the blame on sin, and that in such a way that not only the Law but the will
and mind of man are declared good and are found to be on the side of God.11
If now God was so good and powerful that he could justify weak and sinful and
rebellious men, how much easier must it not be for him to give in due time the

1 Krister Stendahl, The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West, The Harvard
Theological Review 56, no. 3 (1963): 199.
2 Ibid., 206.
3 Ibid., 200.
4 Ibid., 203-204.
5 Ibid., 200.
6 Ibid., 203, 205.
7 Ibid., 206.
8 Ibid., 200201.
9 Ibid., 212.
10 Ibid., 208, 209.
11 Ibid., 213214.
 ultimate salvation to those whom he already has justified. Hence, the words
about the sinful , the weak and the rebellious have not present-tense meaning, but
refer to the past, which is gloriously and gracefully blotted out, as was Pauls
enmity to Jesus Christ and his Church.12


13

Covenantal Nomism
1. God has chosen Israel and
2. Given the law. The law implies both
3. Gods promise to maintain the election and
4. The requirement to obey.
5. God rewards obedience and punishes transgression.
6. The law provides for means of atonement, and atonement results in
7. Mainaenace or re-establishment of the covenantal relationship.
8. All those who are maintained in the covenant by obedience, atonement and Gods
mercy belong to the group which will be saved. An important interpretation of the
first and last points is that election and ultimately salvation are considered to be by
Gods rather than human achievement.14

12 Ibid., 209.
13 Ibid., 204205.
14 E. P Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (London: SCM
Press, 1977), 422.