Israel’s Scriptures in Paul’s narrative theology

Abstract

Study of Paul’s use of Scripture has searched for ‘allusions’ and ‘echoes’, generating a reaction which claims that Paul could not have intended such detailed reference because his hearers would not have understood it. This article develops the former quest, and answers the latter objection, with the suggestion that Paul saw the larger story of Israel coming to fruition in the gospel: his allusions and echoes are to earlier moments in the single narrative in which Jesus’ death and resurrection were decisive moments and which Paul believes himself to be carrying forward in its new phase.