Who’s really influenced by their cultural situation? A deep irony in the New Perspective on Paul

Jul 19, 2016 by Andrew Symes

By Michael Kruger, Cannon Fodder.

[…] In other words…there is a deep and biting irony in the NPP [New Perspective on Paul]. While chiding reformed folks for being culturally bound, the NPP folks themselves seem influenced by their own cultural and theological climate. Here I highlight several examples offered by Matlock:

* The NPP focus on community. If Luther was influenced by an overly introspective culture, Matlock argues that NPP may be influenced by the opposite. He states, “We moderns are not typically concerned so much about sin and guilt and forgiveness as we are about notions of community” (439). Anecdotally, I see this play out all the time in the seminary world. Millennials are less concerned about personal piety and much more concerned about community, their place in it, and making sure others are included. This is why many modern Christians are less concerned about their personal sin and more concerned about corporatesin–and thus want to see more Christian social action, racial reconciliation, etc…

* The NPP focus on Judaism as a grace-oriented religion. One of the hallmarks of the NPP is the insistence that first-century Judaism was not legalistic but was grace-oriented. While that sounds charitable and agreeable on the surface, Matlock points out that reading first-century Judaism this way reveals a commitment to “a certain covert Protestantism” (444). Put differently, NPP advocates are basically working on the (unacknowledged) assumption that any religion worth its salt has to be grace-driven. But, he argues, this is a Protestant concern. Thus, NPP folks are reading Judaism through the lens of their own Protestant understanding of grace. In fact, in another irony, Matlock points out how some Jewish scholars view this aspect of the NPP not as an olive branch but instead as condescending and offensive. They view it as an attempt to make Judaism more like Christianity!

In sum, Matlock is arguing that NPP has (possibly) reinterpreted Paul in such a way that he seems to reflect the concerns of our modern cultural moment.

Read here