Romans: 11:25-32
So that you may not claim to be wiser than your are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a harden has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,
Our of Zion will come the Deliverer;he will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.
As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
So what is the New Perspective on Paul that has stirred the waters of Catholic-Jewish relations? Again, as Jesuit Father Byrne writes in the article cited earlier, it is "basically a revolt against (this) long-standing caricature of Judaism purportedly based on Paul. The great apostle had to deal with a "legalistic pattern of religious behavior where one attempted to gain salvation through 'doing the work of the Law' rather than relying, in faith solely on the grace of God."
Dr. Sander (initiator of the New Perspective") demonstrated that legalism was not the basis of Judaism. That it is a religion based on covenant and its response to grace. The earlier interpretation of Paul's feelings of dissatisfaction toward Judaism was not the cause of the great conversion on the Damascus road. Rather it was Paul's personal discovery of Jesus Christ.
What bothered Paul, as other scholars teach, was not the problem with "the works of the Law ... per se" but with particular aspects of Judaic religion such as circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath, and dietary regulations. Fr. Byrne sees Paul's writings and sentiments as opposition to "an inflated sense of Jewish identity" and an effort to force Jewish ritual requirements on the people who converted from the Gentile world."
Scholars see the New Perspective as a charge against the core of the Reformation (the Pauline charism). Byrne describes it as "Gospel over against law, faith in God's grace against reliance upon human works. What the work and subsequent discussions and writings make clear is this: "we can never invoke the name of Paul in support of the old caricature of Judaism" (again salvation through work of the Law rather than relying on God's graces).
"Justification by faith alone" has lost much of its thrust as the central point of Paul's teaching. Now there is the opportunity to understand Paul in a way that "is congenial to Catholic tradition" says Fr. Byre.
On Monday, a look at Peter's charism ... so we can further understand St. Paul
