A participationist eschatological account of justification: Further reflections

This essay first affirms Tatum's account of the center of Paul's Gospel interms of participationist eschatology. It then briefly assesses Paul's "justification" motifs in the light of this center, suggesting liberational translations, principally of dikaiosunê Theou as "the deliverance of God, " and of dikaioô as "release" or "deliver." These translations also accord with the way baptism enacts the Christian's death and resurrection in Christ (see Romans 6). The centrality to Paul of a Gospel understood in these terms is confirmed by its cogent explanation of Paul's mission to the pagans and the consequent ethical diversity of the early church.

Duke Scholars

Author Douglas Campbell Divinity School