Gravity Commons Podcast Jon DePue: Liberating the Gospel from Mere Justification
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May 7, 2024 Jon DePue, co-author of a book on Paul's Gospel, discusses the disjunction in Paul's thought, proposing a unifying way forward. They explore liberation beyond justification by faith, critique atonement theories, and challenge traditional views of God's love. The conversation delves into Paul's Jewishness, gospel in Romans and Galatians, and how a transformative participatory gospel offers freedom.
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Retribution vs. Covenantal Love
- Justification theory makes God's disposition fundamentally retributive and conditional, which conflicts with the biblical claim that God is love.
- DePue insists Paul's revelation centers on familial, covenantal love rather than punitive transaction.
Paul, Judaism, And Covenantal Nomism
- E.P. Sanders' covenantal nomism shows Second Temple Jews were covenant-attuned, not legalistic earners of salvation.
- Paul remains a Jew and never abandons Torah practices; opponents preaching 'works of law' were a particular group, not Judaism as a whole.
Targeted Polemic, Not Universal Judaism
- When Paul attacks 'works of the law' (Galatians, Romans, Philippians) he targets a specific rival missionary group, not Judaism broadly.
- Historical misreading universalized a narrow polemic into a sweeping judgment on Jewish practice.