First Glance

Aside from Jesus himself, no New Testament figure speaks his mind to us as voluminously as Paul. Despite this written record, however, many uncertainties remain regarding Paul’s views on Judaism and the Law. How did Paul and others see the relationship of Christianity to Judaism? What was the place of the Law, for Jews and for gentiles, in Paul’s conception of Christianity? Why do Paul’s views sometimes seem inconsistent? Daniel J. Harrington looks at recent scholarly discussions of these and other questions in “Paul and Judaism: Five Puzzles.”

Harrington is professor of New Testament at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received his doctorate in biblical languages from Harvard University in 1970, and he was ordained a priest in 1971. He has been general editor of New Testament Abstracts since 1972 and is a past president of the Catholic Biblical Association. The most recent of his 15 books is Paul on the Mystery of Israel (Liturgical Press, 1992).