Cruciform Scripture: Interviews With Contributors—Ben Blackwell On Galatians

This is a blog series featuring contributors to the new book, Cruciform Scripture. Today we have Ben Blackwell. Cruciform Scripture is a book in the field of New Testament theology, the work is written in honor of the scholarship of Dr. Michael J. Gorman.

Ben Blackwell

Chapter Eight: “The Holy Spirit, Justification, and Participation in the Divine Life in Galatians”

Tell us about your connection to the honoree, Michael Gorman.

I met Mike Gorman when I was starting my PhD work on theosis in Paul. We happened to come to the topic independently, and he was gracious enough to serve as a dialogue partner during my studies. As time has gone on, I’m glad to count Mike as a friend and a continuing dialogue partner. I find his commitment to excellence in scholarship and his desire to engage the biblical text theologically and missionally refreshing.

How did you choose your topic for the book?

I’m working on a book on justification (Participating in the Righteousness of God), which tries to take the best of the major approaches to the topic–justification as acquittal, justification as covenant membership, and justification as rectification. Mike Gorman has argued a position close to mine using Gal 2:15-21. As a result, I decided to explore the subsequent chapter, Galatians 3, to demonstrate how a participationist approach modeled by Mike draws the best of these reading strategies together.

Can you share more about your essay on justification?

Among scholarship over the last century, three approaches to justification have vied for attention–justification as acquittal, justification as covenant membership, and justification as rectification. Recent work by Jim Prothro helps open up these discussions by exploring the nature of the justification metaphor as it arises from Jewish texts. I take the fruit of Prothro’s analysis and return to Galatians, which has been central disputed territory. Extending Mike Gorman’s analysis of 2:15-21, I argue that Galatians 2-3 presents a model of justification that is both a new status (acquittal) and new life (rectification) as a fulfillment of the new covenant. Perhaps the unique takeaways from the essay is to show how justification is primarily identified with (the blessing of) life (rather than the curse of death) in these two chapters and that justification is not just grounded in the Christ-event but also mediated by the life-giving Spirit.