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{"id":16773,"date":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","slug":"when-faith-comes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/10\/when-faith-comes\/","title":{"rendered":"When Faith Comes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

Douglas Campbell argues convincingly that pistis <\/em>in Galatians 3 has a christological sense (Deliverance of God<\/a>, 867-75). It seems an irrefutable point.<\/p>\n

In an extended footnote, Campbell deals with Moises Silva\u2019s interpretation of the term in Galatians 3, which wobbles between christological interpretation and something else. Silva says that \u201cthe use of the verb elthein <\/em>. . \u00a0. suggests strongly that Paul must be referring to Christ,\u201d but then adds that it is not \u201ctrue in a literal, absolute sense\u201d that faith only came with the coming of Christ. Silva thus takes pistis <\/em>as a \u201cmetonymy\u201d for the object of faith or for the \u201cdispensation of faith\u201d (quoted in Campbell, 1160).\u00a0<\/p>\n

I agree with Campbell that Silva\u2019s argument is unconvincing, but Campbell\u2019s refutation displays both the brilliance and the flaws of his massive book. He says that Silva has no grounds for claiming that pistis <\/em>is a metonymy for the object of faith (true enough), then adds that Silva \u201cgoes on to suggest that what Paul states here is not really true!\u201d (1161).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, sort of. What Silva says is that Paul\u2019s claim is relatively true; faith wasn\u2019t\u00a0completely <\/em>absent before Christ, but it came into its own with Christ\u2019s arrival. Again, I don\u2019t buy that as an interpretation of Galatians 3, but Campbell has made Silva\u2019s argument seem weaker than it is by not acknowledging that Silva makes a distinction between an absolute and relative contrast (something Campbell himself does in another context, 885, admittedly with exegetical support). If asked why the contrast is relative rather than absolute, Silva would no doubt point to other passages in Paul, or elsewhere in Scripture, for support.<\/p>\n

In any case, the brilliance of Campbell\u2019s rebuttal is in recognizing how Silva (along with much of the Reformed tradition) softens Paul\u2019s stark polarities into relative contrasts, and thus loses the \u201capocalyptic\u201d character of Paul\u2019s gospel. One doesn\u2019t have to agree with Campbell\u2019s entire argument to recognize that this softening is a problem for classic Protestant soteriology, leaving open a potential for \u201cjudaizing\u201d moves that Paul relentlessly shuts off.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"