The Old Testament is all about the Law; the New Testament is all about Grace. That statement over-simplifies the relationship of the Law in the Christian life. If you have questions that need answering, I have a book for you.

Hi, my name is Terence, and I’m your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Today I review “40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law” by Thomas Schreiner. 256 pages, published by Kregel Academic in October 2010. Available in Amazon Kindle for USD 12.48 and in Logos for USD 17.09. But I got it for free in the Logos Free Book of the Month Deal for January.

Questions About Biblical Law Answered

Once you have been a Christian for a while, you will invariably ask the question, why the Old Testament? Why read it? The Old Testament seems to be a book about the giving of the Law, disobeying the Law, and being punished for disobeying the Law. While the Christian life, in contrast, is grace, grace and more grace.

So is the Law something Christians read to be thankful: “Thank God I don’t have do all these to be saved!”? If only it was that simple! When we read the New Testament, the Law is a present and ongoing part of Christian life, just understood differently.

Confused? Do you have questions? Here to answer your questions is a book from the 40 Questions Series published by Kregel Academic. On their website, there are 30 books in the series ranging from “40 Questions about the Atonement” to “40 Questions about the End Times”. Today, we look at “40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law” by Thomas Schreiner.

Thomas Schreiner is a Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Professor of Biblical Theology. He has written many books and is considered an expert on Paul. If I have my way, he would be the brain model of the Christian scholar’s A.I.

Not So Easy Questions

To be honest, when I picked up this book for free, I thought it would be easy to read and review. In the past, I have struggled with Old Testament Law and New Testament Grace. I read books, listened to sermons and wrestled with fellow students of the Bible. After many years, I finally got a handle on this problem and have helped young believers navigate it. So, I came to this book, thinking it would be a quick check and confirmation of everything I already know. After all, it’s in a questions and answers format, so how difficult can it be?

Well, have you sat for a test thinking it would be easy? You expect the questions to be past-paper questions. You just need to spit out the same answers given before. Then you sit down. You open the test paper, and the questions are hard. Even the easy ones demand more of you than before. More detail, more precision.

When I open the book, the 40 questions are divided into five parts.

Part 1 has three questions, and it’s about the Old Testament. For example, Question 3 reads, “Does the Old Testament Teach that Salvation is by Works?”

Part 2 is the Law in Paul. This is the bulk of the book covering questions 4 to 25 and divided into three sections.

Section A: Questions Related to the New Perspective. If you don’t know what the New Perspective is, this tells you all about the bombshell that shook the world’s scholars on Paul. If you didn’t feel the ground shake, that means you don’t have a Pauline scholar standing next to you.

Section B: Questions Related to the Role of the Law in the Christian Life. There are a few good questions here, like Question 11, “Are Gentiles under the Law?”, Question 16 “, What is the ‘Law of Christ’?”, and Question 17 “, Is the Law Fulfilled through Love?”

Section C: Questions Related to Justification. There are eight questions in this section, for example, Question 20 “What does Paul mean by the ‘Righteousness of God’?”, Question 23 “Does Justification by Faith Alone Lead to Moral Laxity?”, Question 25 “Do James and Paul Contradict One Another on Justification?”

Some are familiar questions, asked by anyone who reads the Bible for the first time. But some questions are only asked by serious students of the Bible, who are aware of developments in interpretation, for example, the New Perspective of Paul.

Part 3 is the Law in the Gospels and Acts. Part 4 is the Law in the General Epistles. The questions here reveal the approach taken in this book. Biblical Theology is a study of what this particular book contributes to the theology in question. For example, we have Question 26, “What is the Role of the Law in the Gospel of Mark?” and Question 34 “, What does John mean by Keeping God’s Commands in 1 and 2 John?” I love these questions because while I must be aware of what is said in other parts of the Bible, I am really asking what is being said here, in this book, in this small chunk of text.

Part 5 is The Law and Contemporary Issues. There are only four questions, so I will read all of them.

“Is the Sabbath Still Required for Christians?”, “Should Christians Tithe?”, “What is Theonomy, or Christian Reconstructionism, and How Should It Be Evaluated?” and lastly, “What Role Does the Law Have in Preaching?”

If you do read this book, I suggest reading it from cover to cover because by the time you reach Part 5 on contemporary issues, you will know Schreiner’s methods and can answer any application questions, even future questions that never occurred to Schreiner’s or anyone’s minds today. And that’s what we should look for: a way to think through problems rather than just getting answers in a 40-questions book. What happens if your question is question number 41 and nobody has written an answer anywhere? Schreiner shows his method so that anyone can answer Question 41.

So, that’s the five-part overview of the book. Let’s now zoom in. I will pick one question as an example of how Schreiner answers questions.

One Question to Know Them All

I chose Question 5, “What Does the Expression ‘Works of the Law’ Mean in Paul?” This is a question I never gave much thought of, and Schreiner’s answer here showcases his method.

“So, Tom, tell us what does Paul mean by ‘Works of the Law?’”

Schreiner starts his answer, I quote:

Paul uses the phrase “works of law” (erga nomou) eight times in his letters (Rom. 3:20, 28; Gal. 2:16 [3 times]; 3:2, 5, 10). The term does not occur in the Old Testament, though it is found in some Jewish literature that is roughly contemporary with the New Testament. A number of different interpretations of the phrase have been proposed.

Then, Schreiner goes on to tell us the four different interpretations. Can you think of four different interpretations of “works of law”?

First interpretation: “Works of law” are works produced by the law, works that are evil, as Schreiner describes it:

Paul thinks along the line of Romans 7, where sin takes the law hostage and produces evil.

Then Schreiner goes on to show that this cannot be what Paul means because it doesn’t fit Romans 3:20 and Galatians 3:10. In these texts, Paul writes that the works of the law do not justify, and all who rely on works of the law are under a curse. If works of law are already understood by readers as evil, Paul would not need to explain that evil does not justify.

The second interpretation is “works of the Law” refers to legalism. But Schreiner writes:

It is one thing to say Paul criticizes legalism; it is quite another to say that the specific phrase “works of law” should be defined as legalism. It is unlikely that Paul intends to say that no one is justified by legalism.

I love the precision. When you read Schreiner’s answers to other questions, we know that he is convinced that Paul, in his letters, criticises legalism.

However, Schreiner does not force every verse to support his point.

This is a scholar’s integrity. And it’s things like this that add to his credibility.

The third interpretation is “works of law” refer to the boundary markers that separate Jews and Gentiles: circumcision, no pork, no touching dead people, etc… This interpretation can fit Romans 3:20 and Galatians 3:10. So, in this interpretation, Paul would be saying, “being a ‘pure’ Jew will not justify”.

But Schreiner thinks the fourth interpretation fits better, namely “works of law”, I quote:

refers to the entire law and the actions that are required by the law.

As Schreiner points out:

the fundamental issue did not center on exclusivism but the role of the Mosaic law and the Mosaic covenant with respect to salvation

We can all learn from how Schreiner makes his case. He lists all the references to the law in Romans and Galatians. After listing them all, he concludes:

The texts in this figure demonstrate that Paul speaks of the law as a whole and show that the focus is not on what is sometimes called the “ceremonial” law or laws that divide Jews from Gentiles.

For additional support, he also asks, “Does other Jewish literature support this reading of ‘works of law’?”

Not in the Septuagint. But yes, in others. And he unpacks the Jewish sources for us.

The Perfect A.I. Model Does Not Exist…

The way Schreiner answers all these questions in the book is just an example of meticulous scholarship. Open and transparent. I don’t ever feel that he abuses the text to make his point. He doesn’t just assert, he doesn’t just say, “Oh, this interpretation does not work, and you have to trust me because I am a professor of x number of years and here is a bunch of jargon you need to understand to even know my point.”
In every instance, he gives me the references to check for myself. He reasons out why.

This is why I think Schreiner is the perfect model for a reasoning A.I. model. I know A.I. is scaring everybody now. And there is a valid concern that we will lean on A.I., not realising its starting worldview clashes with our biblical worldview.

Here is where Schreiner’s approach can help. Schreiner’s approach helps people see the dots and how the dots connect. By revealing the reasoning, it shows us whether the conclusions depend on philosophical, extra-biblical, sources or is solely dependent on Scripture to interpret Scripture.

If A.I. models can give us the various interpretations, and show us why they are flawed or give us the data and show us how it reasons from the data to the conclusion, I think we have enough to decide if the conclusion is valid or not. What we don’t want to do is blindly trust the A.I., just like we don’t want to blindly trust a preacher or teacher.

I Actually Understand The Hard Stuff

Each chapter ends with a summary and reflection questions. The reflection questions are really more like comprehension questions. Question 1 for this chapter is: “What are the interpretations of ‘works of law’ proposed by scholars today?”

In my mind, I go: “There are four: works of evil, legalism, boundary markers and the entire law.”

As I read and answer each question, I find them to be a great reinforcement of what I just read. And also a confidence booster. Some of these questions and answers are hard, so being able to answer all these questions tells me at least I understood something!

When the chapter is hard, the summary becomes ever so helpful. In other books, the summary can be a long section in itself, as the author tries very hard to summarise all the important points he was trying to make without repeating them.

In this little book of 256 pages, each chapter summary is concise and to the point. Let me read the summary for Question 5.

Different interpretations for “works of law” are proposed today. I have argued both from the Pauline literature and the Second Temple Jewish literature that “works of law” refers to the entire law. The term should not be defined in terms of legalism, nor does it focus on the boundary markers that separate Jews from Gentiles. “Works of law” refers to the entire law.

ChatGPT could not do any better summarising that chapter.

Let me read another summary. This is could be a question where you smack yourself and say, “I never saw this before!”

Question 32: “Why Did Paul Circumcise Timothy When He Refused to Circumcise Titus?”

It’s a good question, right? Schreiner writes a whole chapter explaining his answer, but let us just read the summary.

It is no accident that Paul circumcised Timothy after the council reached the decision that circumcision was unnecessary for salvation. If the gospel was at stake (as in the case of Titus), Paul was completely inflexible and adamant: no circumcision. But if the matter was cultural and circumcision was not required for salvation, then Paul was willing to be perceived as inconsistent. In every instance the highest priority for Paul was the gospel, and he acted to promote its advance. Paul had no animus against circumcision per se. He stood firmly against it only if it was perceived as a requirement for salvation.

Expanding Horizons and Synergy

At this point, you could think to yourself, “Hmm… I could just read the summaries to get the answers I want, right?”

Yeah, you could. But you would rob yourself of the opportunity to know how Schreiner explores other interpretations and how he reaches his final conclusion.

I think if you are just looking for a quick answer, you would have found it with a quick Google search.

This book is more for the serious student of the Bible, Christians who may find themselves in a situation of explaining how they come to a particular position. Schreiner’s methods give us a clear and imitable example.

And as opposed to a Google search or ChatGPT, where you ask a question and get an answer, reading a “40 Questions” book expands your horizons. If not for this book, you might never have heard of the New Perspective on Paul and how it affects what is taught, or you might never have considered the Timothy and Titus circumcision question.

Lastly, although the answers to the 40 Questions stand alone, it is also clear that reading this book cover to cover builds the reader up. Question after question, you see how Schreiner works and, unlike ChatGPT where it is by nature, unstructured, ChatGPT is not writing its answers in anticipation of what you will ask next, whereas Schreiner has already structured these 40 Questions and can build on them, pointing to the reader to previous or future questions, producing a synergy.

Synergy is where 1+1=3; the sum is greater than the parts. While the book advertises itself as answering 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law, it is also answering the following questions:

“How to interpret the Bible?”
“How to present a clear and well-reasoned interpretation?”
and “How to invite readers to enjoy the depths and riches of the Bible through questions and answers?”

Outro

This is a Reading and Readers review of “40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law” by Thomas Schreiner. Just so you know, I enjoyed the series so much, I went and bought “40 Questions about Elders and Deacons”, cause I have questions in need of answering.

And I enjoyed Thomas Schreiner so much, I used my precious book voucher, to get his commentary on Romans, from the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series, cause many questions in the Christian life come back to Romans, and I am sure Schreiner will be a good guide.

Thanks for listening. Bye bye.