Monthly Archives: March 2019

Na’aman-lost northern stories

Posted on March 29, 2019 by theoutwardquest

I read an intriguing short article by Nadav Na’aman called “Discovering the Lost North Israelite Conquest Story”. (See here).  It was part of a festschrift (honorary collection of articles) Rethinking Israel dedicated to Israel Finkelstein. Na’amen has worked with Finkelstein … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen-wrap up about Christian and Jewish messianism

Posted on March 27, 2019 by theoutwardquest

David Novak is a Jewish scholar who has long been a dialogue partner with Catholic theologians. He had an article in First Things a couple of months ago about the difference between hard and soft supersessionism. In the current First … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen and possible ways to understand the failure of Paul’s eschatology

Posted on March 22, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Paula Fredriksen, in Paul, the Pagan’s Apostle, holds that Paul expected the return of Christ in his generation. If Paul (and Jesus) thought the apocalyptic coming of the kingdom of God would happen in the first century, how are we … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen and my thoughts on Purim

Posted on March 21, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Today is Purim on the Jewish calendar. This holiday has the Book of Esther at its center. Haman hated the Jews and wanted to eliminate them. The Book of Esther tells how they were saved–not how God saved them, since … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen-the apocalyptic Paul and his non-apocalyptic afterlifes

Posted on March 19, 2019 by theoutwardquest

According to Paula Fredriksen, the Apostle Paul had taught that the current age was about to end and the God of Israel was about to inaugurate a new age with the risen Jesus as the royal messiah. His coming from … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen-the triumph of God for Gentiles and Jews

Posted on March 18, 2019 by theoutwardquest

In Romans 13:11 Paul wrote that salvation was now nearer than when he and his readers had first become convinced about Jesus. Paul had become convinced in Damascus twenty some years before. From the beginning he believed that Jesus would … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen-Paul’s imaginary Gentile who identifies as Jewish

Posted on March 14, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Paula Fredriksen’s interpretation of Romans in Paul, the Pagan’s Apostle sees the letter as addressed to Gentiles. Several times Paul says he is writing to the ethne, the Gentiles. Her interpretation does not depend on the composition of the Roman … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen-Paul’s holy people as pagans who turned around

Posted on March 8, 2019 by theoutwardquest

I am around a lot of mainline Protestants and one of the things that bugs me is the frequent attempt to pit Jesus and Christianity against a supposed Jewish exclusionary purity policy. Jewish rules about purity get construed as misogynistic, … Continue reading →

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Fredriksen-kneeling gods and others

Posted on March 5, 2019 by theoutwardquest

At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Thus, Philippians 2:10. Paula Fredriksen in Paul, the Pagan’s Apostle asks about the ontological status of these “knees”. Knees in heaven”? Knees … Continue reading →

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Metallica and the apocalypse

Posted on March 4, 2019 by theoutwardquest

This post is an aside. But it connects with the Paula Fredriksen posts that see Paul as shaped by an apocalyptic world-view. Wednesday evening I will go to the Metallica concert in Kansas City. It is part of a year-long … Continue reading →

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