To Veil or Not to Veil

[robrecht]

Hi, Jason. I'm certainly not saying that Paul's attitude toward 'works of the law' was the same as that of the sectarian group at Qumran. Quite the contrary. Merely that it would not have been all that unusual for some specific 'works of the law' to be discussed in relation to justification, which is what Paul seems to be doing elsewhere.

Paul is speaking in his letter to the Galatians about gentiles who were being encouraged/constrained to become Jews by circumcision, which he did not think was necessary for his gentile communities. He also highlights there a disagreement he had with other Jewish 'Christian' leaders about whether or not they can eat with gentiles when they are visiting and ministering to gentile or mixed communities.

To get a fuller appreciation of Paul's generally positive attitude toward the Law, consider several of his statements:

• “… the doers of the law … will be justified” (Rom 2,13)
  
• “… the righteousness of God … is attested by the law and the prophets” (3,21)
  
• “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (3,31).
  
• “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good” (7,12).
  
• “For we know that the law is spiritual” (7,14)
  
• “I agree that the law is good” (7,16)
  
• “For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self” (7,22)
  
• “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (13,8)
  
• “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law” (13,10)
  
• “Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not!” (Gal 3,21)
  
• “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (5,14)