05 — Pauline Theology
The theological core of the collection: Paul’s gospel of grace and righteousness read with the Greek Fathers and set honestly beside later Western framings and the modern “New Perspective”; and his vision of union with the risen Christ — the body of Christ, the indwelling Spirit, the new creation — which the Orthodox tradition reads as opening onto theosis. This section presents the Orthodox patristic reading, notes where it differs from other framings without polemic, and grounds Paul’s soteriology in deification rather than in a forensic transaction alone.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle)
Paul’s theology is not a system but a gospel pressed into the service of particular crises, yet it has a discernible center: the saving act of God in the death and resurrection of Christ, received by faith, transforming the believer through union with Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit. Two themes organize this section. The first is grace and righteousness — justification by grace through faith apart from works of the Law (Rom. 3–4; Gal. 2–3), read by the Greek Fathers as God’s gift of his own righteousness drawing the sinner into a real, transforming participation, and set beside the later Western juridical framing and the “New Perspective on Paul.” The second is the body of Christ and new creation — incorporation into Christ, the Church as his body, the indwelling Spirit, and the new creation (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 6, 8; 2 Cor. 5:17) — the participatory and deifying heart of Pauline soteriology in the Orthodox reading.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Grace and Righteousness | Justification by grace through faith (Rom. 3–4; Gal. 2–3) in the patristic reading; grace as the indwelling life of Christ; where the Orthodox reading differs from later Western juridical framings; and the “New Perspective on Paul” (Sanders, Dunn, Wright) set beside the Fathers — without polemic. |
| The Body of Christ and New Creation | Union with the risen Christ, the Church as his body (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12), dying and rising with Christ in baptism (Rom. 6), life in the Spirit (Rom. 8), the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), and the deifying trajectory of Pauline soteriology toward theosis. |
See Also
- Persecutor to Apostle — the experience of grace that grounds the doctrine
- Chrysostom and the Apostle — the patristic exegesis of Paul’s theology
- Soteriology — the Orthodox doctrine of salvation
- Theosis — deification as the goal of Pauline soteriology
References
- The Holy Bible, King James Version. The Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, First and Second Corinthians.
- John Chrysostom. Homilies on Romans. Trans. in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 11.
- Sanders, E. P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977.
- Wright, N. T. Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. Downers Grove: IVP, 2009.