Christ-faith and Abraham in Galatians 3–4

Johnathan F. Harris, Ph.D. (2021), Wheaton College, is an independent scholar who has published on christological interpretation (BBR, 2021), edited A Scripture Index to Rabbinic Literature (Hendrickson, 2021), and is completing a project on justification and metaphor (IVP Academic, forthcoming).

AcknowledgementsI


List of TablesI


AbbreviationsV





Introduction





Part 1: Event


1 “Through Christ-Faith”


 1.1 Revising Πίστις Χριστοῦ


 1.2 Revisiting Abraham: Exigence and Aim





2 “Not Torah-Works”


 2.1 The Situation in Galatia


 2.2 Works of the Law


 2.3 Christ-Faith and Torah-Works: Instruments in the Hands of the Justifying God





3 “Justified”


 3.1 Δικαιοῦν outside of Galatians


 3.2 Δικαιοῦν in Galatians: Unveiling Paul’s Prophetic Metaphors


 3.3 Part 1 Summary: Justified through Christ-Faith Not Torah-Works





Part 2: History


4 Christ-Faith and Abraham’s Faith


 4.1 The Hearing Enabled by Christ-Faith (Gal 3:1–5)


 4.2 Paul’s Reading of Genesis 15:6 (Gal 3:5–7)


 4.3 Christ-Faith and Abraham’s Faith





5 The Best of Times, the Worst of Times


 5.1 The Age of Blessing, the Age of Curse (Gal 3:7–14)


 5.2. The Epoch of Promise-Spoken, the Epoch of Promise-Given (Gal 3:15–22, 29)


 5.3 The Season of Law, the Season of Faith (Gal 3:19–26)


 5.4 The Spring of Sonship, the Winter of Slavery (Gal 4:1–11)


 5.5 Summary





6 A Tale of Two Siblings


 6.1 Paul’s Allegorical Argument in 4:21–5:1: Introductory Matters


 6.2 “Abraham Had Two Sons …” (Gal 4:21–23)


 6.3 Two Mothers: Covenants and Cities (Gal 4:24–28)


 6.4 Two (Kinds of) Children: Ishmael(s) and Isaac(s) (Gal 4:28–5:1)


 6.5 Summary





7 Conclusion


 7.1 Summary


 7.2 Eschatological Christ-Faith: Benefits and Difficulties


 7.3 Eschatological Christ-Faith and the Traditional “Faith in Christ”


 7.4 Christ-Faith and Abraham: Paul’s Reading and Use of the Abraham Narrative


Appendix: But What about Romans? Towards a Rereading of Abraham and Righteousness in Romans


 8.1 Righteousness Language in Romans


 8.2 Christ-Faith, Abraham, and Righteousness in Romans 4


Bibliography


Index