A term coined by American author E. P. Sanders to describe the religious pattern (i.e., the means by which followers of a particular religion understand "getting in" and "staying in" their religion) of Judaism during the four centuries from about 200 BC to 200 AD; this pattern is "the view that one's place in God's plan is established on the basis of the covenant and that the covenant requires as the proper response of man his obedience to its commandments, while providing means of atonement for transgression" (Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977) 75). In Judaism of the period, entering into the covenant people was, Sanders argues, a matter of divine grace while staying in involved obedience to the terms of the covenant, which required the means of atonement and opportunity for repentance through means of dealing with transgressions which only God can provide and, therefore, also dependent on grace. Thus "election and ultimately salvation are considered to be by God's mercy rather than human achievement" (p 422).
Sanders's work sought to provide a corrective to the distorted view Protestant scholars have of Judaism as a religion of burdensome and blind obedience to the law as the means of salvation through works of the law, which since the days of the Reformers (and as a result of their influence) have also been equated with Roman Catholicism.
Sanders's concept of covenantal nomism naturally raises the question if, this was what NT Judaism really represented, then why did, and how could, Paul speak of Israel's failure in such terms as we find especially in his letter to the Romans, and has led to the rise of a whole 'movement,' known as the New Perspective on Paul, which has been seen by many NT scholars as a "Copernican revolution" in Pauline scholarship.
Resources:
☰ D. A. Carson, "The New Perspective on Paul, Part 1," lecture delivered on 1 Jan 2000. The Gospel Coalition. audio 45 mins.
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