Pistis and the Righteous One

Many regard Rom 1:17, which contains Paul's own declarative statement and its scriptural proof from Hab 2:4, as the thesis of Romans. How the passage is read therefore determines how the whole letter is interpreted. The traditional Lutheran understanding is that the passage introduces and provides a framework for the doctrine of justification by faith, where the 'righteous one' in the Habakkuk citation (Rom 1:17b) represents a person who was ungodly but is now justified or declared righteous through his or her own faith. This understanding has been challenged by some who have offered a christological reading where the person of the citation is taken to be Christ, hence one's justification depends chiefly on Christ's faithfulness. The study in this book adjudicates mainly between these two interpretative categories through thorough and comprehensive exegetical considerations of internal texts and comparative analyses of scriptural and Second Temple Jewish backgrounds. The result shows the internal coherence and cogency of the christological interpretation while acknowledging the validity of the traditional-Lutheran understanding of the passage.

Auteur
Born 1964; studied at London School of Theology and Kings' College London, UK; currently lecturer at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Texte du rabat

Desta Heliso's study examines and adjudicates between the traditional Lutheran reading of Rom 1:17, in which the passage is taken to introduce and provide a framework for the doctrine of justification by faith, and the christological reading, in which the passage is understood to reflect Christ's faithfulness on which one's justification depends. Through an exegetical consideration of internal texts and a comparative analysis of scriptural and Second Temple Jewish backgrounds, this study shows the cogency and internal coherence of the christological interpretation while acknowledging the validity of the traditional Lutheran understanding.