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The now familiar “new perspective” asserts that the “covenantal nomism” characteristic of second-temple Judaism softened the Mosaic law’s requirement of perfect obedience. Because of God’s gracious covenant with Israel, manifested in election and the provision of atoning sacrifices, one could be righteous under the law despite occasional failures to obey the law perfectly. This view concludes that Paul, as a first-century Jew, could not have been troubled by the law’s stringent demands, because it was generally understood that the gracious framework of the covenant provided a way of dealing with occasional lapses. Consequently, it is claimed, Paul’s problem with the law must have to do with its misuse as a means of enforcing ethnic boundaries and excluding Gentile believers.

However, as Das demonstrates in this book, whenever the gracious framework of covenantal nomism is called into question, the law’s demands take on central importance. Das traces this development in a number of second-temple Jewish works and especially in the writings of Paul. “Covenantal nomism” is probably an apt characterization of Paul’s opponents, and indeed of Paul’s past life; thus he can assert that formerly he was “blameless” under the law. But now Paul sees God’s grace as active only in Christ. He emphatically denies that God will show special grace in his judgment of Jews; to do so would be favoritism. Similarly, Paul sees no atoning benefit to the sacrificial system. In effect, Paul is no longer a “covenantal nomist.” Since the gracious framework of the covenant has collapsed, all that remains for Paul is the law, with its oppressive requirement of perfect obedience and ethnic exclusivism. Contra the "new perspective," the "works of the law" should not be construed so narrowly as only the law's ethnic exclusivity. Christ is "the end" of the law in general, both in the sense that he is the goal to which the law always pointed, and in that he is the sole agent of God's grace apart from which the law's demands would be impossible.

“This is a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion of the place of the Jewish law in the theology of the Apostle Paul. Aware of the ‘new look’ in Pauline studies, and of the view of ‘works-righteousness’ to which it is opposed, Dr. Das offers observations on a third way to view the law from the Pauline perspective. The argument is presented in a measured and judicious manner, and will repay careful reading.”
—Paul J. Achtemeier, Union Theological Seminary

“This book is an important exploration of the current debate about Paul’s understanding of the Jewish Law in the light of the reevaluation of the issue connected especially with the scholarship of E. P. Sanders. Andrew Das reexamines the Jewish and Pauline texts and explores the nooks and crannies of the recent debates with a sharp eye for dubious arguments. He makes a good case that it is time to move beyond the ‘covenantal nomism’ theory and combine Sanders’s new perspective with a realization that Paul, after all, was concerned about self-righteousness.”
—David M. Hay, Coe College

“Andrew Das has written an ambitious and wide-ranging study that offers a serious sustained critique of the ‘new perspective’ on Paul’s teaching about the Law. He joins Schreiner and Westerholm in challenging the currently popular view of Dunn, Wright, and others that Paul’s critique of Law is aimed primarily at Jewish particularistic nationalism. Das has done an impressive job of sifting through the voluminous secondary literature on Paul and the Law, forming intelligent critical judgments, and maintaining a consistent position of his own while engaging most of the key passages in Paul’s letters. This book is a solid and professional piece of work that needs to be heeded in contemporary debates about Paul and the Law. I have certainly learned in reading it to be more nuanced in some of my own formulations.”
—Richard B. Hays, Duke University

Reviews

“The work offers a sustained critique of the so-called ‘new perspective’ on Paul’s teaching about the Law. Das joins Thomas Schreiner and Stephen Westerholm in challenging the currently popular view of James Dunn, N. T. Wright, and others that Paul’s critique of the Law is aimed primarily at Jewish particularistic nationalism. That conclusion is that, after all, traditional scholarship and theology were not far off the mark in their assertion that Paul’s new faith led him to a fundamental critique of the Law.”
—International Review of Biblical Studies

“This is a contribution to the debate inaugurated by E.P. Sanders on the so-called ‘new perspective’ on Paul. Das’s thesis, contrary to Sanders, is that Jews of Paul’s time did maintain that the law enjoins perfect obedience. Although first-century Judaism had a framework of grace and was not legalistic, Paul did think of the works of the Mosaic law as a merely human endeavor, in contrast to God’s own saving work in Christ. In a word, Paul abandoned ‘covenantal nomism’ in favor of a ‘christological nomism.’

“. . . [T]he volume provides a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate on Paul and the law and will repay careful study.”
—Interpretation

"Anyone interested in Pauline studies, and in the New Testament texts examined by Das, will find his study both stimulating and beneficial and might breathe a sigh of relief that a "newer perspective" on Paul has dawned.
—Southwestern Journal of Theology

“This significant work by Andrew Das is the published form of a dissertation written at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, under the supervision of Paul Achtemeier. The inquiry both challenges major portions of the work of E.P. Sander’s Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977) and makes a fresh and important contribution to the study of Paul and the Law by taking into account certain texts, particularly apocalyptic writings, that are roughly contemporary to the time of Paul. The work comprises an introduction, ten chapters of analysis and argumentation, and a conclusion. A copious bibliography and indexes of both modern authors and ancient sources round off the book. . . . This is a major work in NT studies. D.’s focus on texts from apocalyptic Judaism brings an important nuance to the study of Paul’s letters and theology. His critique of Sanders’s work is significant, as it is sustained and multifaceted. . . .”
—Theological Studies

“This book is an important response to Sanders and to those influenced by him. It is based on a doctoral thesis and the prospective reader may be daunted by the mass of footnotes. It is however a model in the presentation of an important and complex subject. Its main text is very clearly written, with comparatively short sentences and lucidly presented arguments.”
—Themelios

“[Paul, the Law and the Covenant] promises to join those of Westerholm and Schreiner as a standard alternative to the ‘new perspective’ on Paul’s view of the law.”
—Religious Studies Review

“This book is a detailed and careful study that takes into consideration the main line of thought in recent Pauline scholarship. However, it refuses to be ‘uncritical,’ accepting its findings as final. For that reason, Das offers a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate [about the limits and extent of E.P. Sander’s thesis as proposed in his monumental Paul and Palestinian Judaism and the New Perspective on Paul that has emerged from it]. However, while reading this book we are reminded that Sander’s Covenantal Nomism is still waiting for a ‘newer perspective,’ that will look at the ‘patterns of religion of both Judaism and Paul from thirty years of distance. Whoever will have the depth and breadth to under take that project would be well served by consulting Paul, the Law, and the Covenant.”
—Ashland Theological Journal

A. Andrew Das is Niebuhr Distinguished Chair and Associate Professor of Theology and Religion, Elmhurst College, Illinois, and is the author of Paul, the Law and the Covenant.

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