The "New Perspective on Paul" is a movement within the field of biblical studies concerned with the understanding of the writings of the Apostle Paul. The "new perspective" was started with liberal scholar E. P. Sanders' 1977 work Paul and Palestinian Judaism. The old Protestant perspective claims that Paul advocates justification through faith in Jesus Christ over justification through works of the Law. After the Reformation, this perspective was known as sola fide; this was traditionally understood as Paul arguing that Christians' good works would not factor into their salvation – only their faith would count. In this perspective, first-century Second Temple Judaism is dismissed as sterile and legalistic.
According to Sanders, Paul's letters do not address general good works, but instead question observances such as circumcision, dietary laws, and Sabbath laws, which were the "boundary markers" that set the Jews apart from the other ethnic groups. According to Sanders, first-century Palestinian Judaism was not a "legalistic community," nor was it oriented to "salvation by works." As God's chosen people, they were under his covenant. Contrary to Protestant belief, following the Law was not a way of entering the covenant, but of staying within it.
Development
Since the Protestant Reformation (), studies of Paul's writings have been heavily influenced by reformers' views that are said to ascribe the negative attributes that they associated with sixteenth-century Catholicism to Second Temple Judaism. These historic Protestant views on Paul's writings are called "the old perspective" by adherents of the "new perspective on Paul". The "new perspective" is an attempt to reanalyze Paul's letters and interpret them based on an understanding of first-century Judaism, taken on its own terms.
In 1963 Krister Stendahl, who is considered by modern scholarship to have been as influential as E. P. Sanders in the development of the "new perspective on Paul", published a paper arguing that the typical Lutheran view of Paul's theology did not align with statements in Paul's writings, and in fact was based on mistaken assumptions about Paul's beliefs rather than careful interpretation of his writings. Stendahl warned against imposing modern Western ideas on the Bible, and especially on the works of Paul. In 1977 E. P. Sanders, a liberal theologian and scholar, published Paul and Palestinian Judaism. In this work he studies Jewish literature and Paul's writings, arguing that the traditional Protestant understanding of the theology of Judaism and Paul was fundamentally incorrect.
Sanders continued to publish books and articles in this field, and was soon joined by the Wesleyan scholar James D. G. Dunn. Dunn reports that Anglican theologian N. T. Wright was the first to use the term "new perspective on Paul" in his 1978 Tyndale Lecture. The term became more widely known after being used by Dunn as the title of his 1982 Manson Memorial Lecture where he summarized and affirmed the movement. The work of these writers inspired a large number of scholars to study, discuss, and debate the relevant issues. Many books and articles dealing with the issues raised have since been published. N.T. Wright has written a large number of works aimed at popularising the "new perspective" outside of academia.
The "new-perspective" movement is closely connected with a surge of recent scholarly interest in studying the Bible in the context of other ancient texts, and the use of social-scientific methods to understand ancient culture. Scholars affiliated with The Context Group have called for various reinterpretations of biblical texts based on studies of the ancient world.
Main ideas
It is often noted that the singular title "the new perspective" gives an unjustified impression of unity. It is a field of study in which many scholars are actively pursuing research and continuously revising their own theories in light of new evidence, and who do not necessarily agree with each other on any given issue. It has been suggested by many that a plural title of "new perspectives" may therefore be more accurate. In 2003, N. T. Wright, distancing himself from both Sanders and Dunn, commented that "there are probably almost as many 'new' perspective positions as there are writers espousing it – and I disagree with most of them". There are certain trends and commonalities within the movement, but what is held in common is the belief that the historic Lutheran and Reformed perspectives of Paul the Apostle and Judaism are fundamentally incorrect. The following are some of the issues being widely discussed.