W.D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism (Fortress Press 1980 
[first edition 1948; 2nd ed 1955]). 

Reviewed by Scott Erick Allen for R.Kraft's RelSt 436 course 
at UPenn (Spring 1999) 

This work was first published by W.D. Davies in 1948 and has 
undergone three revisions since. The central thesis of the work 
is two-fold. First, one cannot make a sharp distinction between a 
supposed "orthodox" Judaism of Palestine and a Hellenized, 
syncretistic variety in the Diaspora. Judaism of the first 
century was much more variegated than is often thought. Second, 
Paul's beliefs are not a rejection of Judaism, but have many 
points of contact with its various first-century expressions. "We 
shall merely attempt to prove that Paul belonged to the main 
stream of first-century Judaism, and that elements in his 
thought, which are often labeled as Hellenistic, might well be 
derived from Judaism" (1). 

It should be noted that Davies seems to use "Rabbinic" broadly to 
signify any documented aspect of post-exilic to first-century  
Jewish thought whose ideology seems similar to something we can 
find in Paul's writing. However, there seems to be an inherent 
tension in Davies' use of the material. On occasion he uses terms 
like mainstream, while in his more careful moments (which 
dominate the book), he is very aware of the variety of ideas in 
the first century Jewish world(s). 

Prior to the work of Davies, it was assumed that many elements of 
Paul's thinking (e.g., his notions of forgiveness and grace) were 
not present in early Judaism but were the result of Hellenistic 
influence. Davies' analysis is part of an important development 
in the first half of this century which began to recognize the 
more complex relationship and interaction between so-called 
"Hellenistic" thought and "Jewish" thought, and therefore, 
between first-century "Judaism" and "Christianity."  "It is 
possible to make too much of the contrast between Pauline 
Christianity as a religion of liberty and Judaism as a religion 
of obedience" (145). 

According to Davies, there are several features of first-century 
Judaism which inform Paul's thinking. For example, there was a 
significant amount of apocalyptic thinking in early Judaism. 
Literary examples include the book of Enoch, the Apocalypse of 
Baruch and the Apocalypse of Ezra. Davies urges against the error 
of assuming that apocalypticism was the sole property of 
sectarians. There were probably those who utterly rejected such 
thinking (e.g., the Sadducees) and others who are best defined by 
it (e.g., the Zealots). Nonetheless, Pharisaic Judaism was 
certainly influenced by apocalyptic ideas (e.g., the idea of 
resurrection). Through detailed interaction with numerous early 
(3rd BCE - 2nd CE) texts, Davies points out that Paul's negative 
view of the Law, his "mysticism," his distinction between "flesh" 
(Gk: sarx) and spirit (Gk: pneuma), his two-age eschatology (Age 
of Adam and Messianic Age), and his inclusion of Gentiles in the 
Messianic community, are not exclusively Hellenistic in origin 
but also have roots in Judaism. Without denying Hellenistic 
influences on Paul's thinking, this book is a very convincing 
argument that Paul's beliefs are very much at home in a Jewish 
context. 

Davies ably demonstrates that early Christianity is not a 
rejection, per se, of first-century Judaism. Nor is the 
uniqueness of Pauline Christianity to be viewed as an 
appropriation of Hellenized Jewish thinking. Rather, its 
uniqueness is to be found in the "Christifying" of the Judaism 
Paul shared with his Palestinian contemporaries. 

Sources used for this review in addition to the book itself: 
IVP's Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (esp. the article "Law" 
by Frank Thielma, 529-42) and reviews by H.E. Hosch (HS, 1982), 
S.E. Johnson (ATR, 1951) and T.W. Manson (JTS 1950). 

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