James D. G. Dunn - Colossians Commentary

[scleaver]

"The surprising feature is rather that forgiveness of sins seems to be a very minor element in Paul's theology and gospel (only in a quotation in Rom. 4:7 in the undisputed Pauline’s). The related theme of repentance fares only a litter better."

James D. G. Dunn. NIGTC: The Epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon, p. 81.

Is it "surprising", because Dunn sees the theme as being necessarily essential? Is he discounting all the references to what he would see as disputed Pauline epistles? He goes on to say that a great many other scholars grapple with this issue. I opt for Paul's use of "justification" and/or "in Christ" to encompass the theme of sins being forgiven.

For those who know Dunn, how would you explain this and what is your response to the issue that Paul is not concerned with "forgiveness of sin"?

(Though this is not explicitly Greek it is out of a Greek commentary, so if need be advise on its placement.)

[Jaltus]

It has to do with his understanding of the new perspective on Paul.

They are trying to say that sin itself is only a minor element (somehow missing Romans 1-3) and that the forgiveness of sins is what is needed for salvation (also missing Romans 3).

Dunn wants to stress the communal understanding and interpretation of law and righteousness, he aslso wants to put Paul into a very Jewish position, almost taking away Paul's distinctivly Christian emphasis (see E. Earle Ellis in that regard). While the new perspective as a whole does not necessarily overlook sin (contra some claims), it does tend to be an element eliminated by Dunn.

I'll let you know more of my thoughts as I read more of Dunn's work (I am currently reading his book on Paul and the introduction to his WBC commentary on Romans).

[TheAnalogman]

:bump: :smile:

[Arminian]

"The surprising feature is rather that forgiveness of sins seems to be a very minor element in Paul's theology and gospel (only in a quotation in Rom. 4:7 in the undisputed Pauline’s). The related theme of repentance fares only a litter better."

James D. G. Dunn. NIGTC: The Epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon, p. 81.

Is it "surprising", because Dunn sees the theme as being necessarily essential? Is he discounting all the references to what he would see as disputed Pauline epistles? He goes on to say that a great many other scholars grapple with this issue. I opt for Paul's use of "justification" and/or "in Christ" to encompass the theme of sins being forgiven.

For those who know Dunn, how would you explain this and what is your response to the issue that Paul is not concerned with "forgiveness of sin"?

(Though this is not explicitly Greek it is out of a Greek commentary, so if need be advise on its placement.)


A couple of things are involved here, but one that is important is that Dunn is speaking from a position that has as its alternative the Lutheran perspective of a person needing to work his way to heaven and finding the solution in Paul's writings.

Paul's oppisition appears not to have shared Luther's angst that God would forgive them (i.e., Jews) -- at least, not to that degree. In fact, we find Paul everywhere arguing that Jews need to consider themselves sinners, members of the first Adam's race, and this is not without reason. Hence, given the alternative Lutheran perspective, the lack of needing to convince people that they actually can be forgiven, rather than the idea that they actually are sinners (i.e., outside the covenant), is very explainable. Also, we can understand why the emphasis that Gentiles can be forgiven is so pronounced.

Sin is a very serious thing, as the early chapters of Romans indicate. Some people needed to be convinced that they were sinners, but not that they could be forgiven. So the emphasis is pretty much what I would expect:relatively little.