The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ: Pistis and the Exalted Lord in the Pauline Letters by David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ: Pistis and the Exalted Lord in the Pauline Letters by David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga Julien Smith david j. downs and benjamin j. lappenga, The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ: Pistis and the Exalted Lord in the Pauline Letters (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019). Pp. xvii + 163. $39.95. Nearly forty years after Richard B. Hays's seminal monograph The Faith of Jesus Christ: An Investigation of the Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1–4:11 (SBLDS 56; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983; 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), the meaning and significance of the Pauline phrase pistis Christou continue to be debated. David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga make a novel contribution to this conversation by illuminating the way in which the faithfulness of the risen and exalted Christ coheres within the framework of Paul's participationist soteriology. They argue that "the Pauline expression pistis Christou and related variants refer primarily to the faithfulness of the risen Christ Jesus who will remain faithful to those who, in their own faith, are justified through union with Christ, raised and exalted" (p. 3). Taking the subjective genitival reading of pistis Christou as their starting point, the authors argue against the majority of scholars who see in the phrase a reference primarily (if not exclusively) to Christ's faithful and obedient death. Without discounting the importance of Christ's death within Pauline soteriology, D. and L. insist that salvation for Paul entails participation in the life of the risen Christ. Pistis Christou, therefore, denotes the risen Christ's faithfulness toward those who share in his pistis, thereby empowering them to live faithfully. This thorough exegetical study of pistis Christou in six Pauline epistles (Philippians, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, and Ephesians) approaches the meaning of pistis within the linguistic framework of relevance theory. The authors reject as problematic the assumption of polysemy—that the context of a given text leads the reader to disambiguate among multiple, distinct senses of a word—because it "prematurely imposes restrictions on word usage" (p. 28). D. and L. instead opt for the "monosemic bias" of relevance theory, which contends that discourse shapes both the meaning of words and the expectations of readers. The utility of this approach is evident throughout the study, perhaps most prominently in their examination of pist- language in Philippians 1–2, which demonstrates that the "sense" of obedience is nowhere activated by pist- terminology. Although the obedience of Christ unto death is clearly in view in Phil 2:8, there is no reason to single out this verse as comprising the full extent of Christ's pistis. Reading Phil 3:9 in light of Rom 1:1-4, 16-17, the authors argue that the faithfulness of Christ, whereby God's dikaiosynē is revealed through the gospel, includes not only Jesus's death but his resurrection (pp. 58, 62). The importance of the resurrection in Paul's participationist soteriology is emphasized throughout. The authors' claim with respect to Galatians is echoed frequently: "participation in Christ is inconceivable without the risen Jesus" (p. 95; emphasis original). Examination of pistis in the Corinthian correspondence (in which the phrase pistis Christou does not occur) demonstrates that the nature of pistis is participatory, reciprocal, and relational; importantly, this relationship, within which individuals experience the faithfulness of God, is maintained by the faithfulness of the risen Christ (p. 66). In Romans, Paul's "in Christ" language, collocated with references to pistis, places "clear emphasis on the resurrection and the ongoing advocacy and intercession of the risen Christ" (p. 110). The life of Christ, no less than his death, is central to Paul's articulation of the gospel; this claim is reinforced by the authors' argument that Paul's reference to Christ's blood in Rom 3:25 connotes [End Page 705] Christ's life rather than his death. Pistis Christou in Rom 3:21-26 therefore "indicates that the faithful Christ is the risen and ascended Jesus who offers his atoning sacrificial life to God in the heavenly realm" (p. 124, emphasis original). The argument of this book provides a convincing response to a challenge...