Ed Parish Sanders  (April 18, 1937 – November 21, 2022) was an American New Testament scholar and a principal proponent of the "New Perspective on Paul". He was a major scholar in the scholarship on the historical Jesus and contributed to the view that Jesus was part of a renewal movement within Judaism. Sanders identified himself as a "liberal, modern, secularized Protestant" in his book Jesus and Judaism; fellow scholar John P. Meier called him a postliberal Protestant. He was Arts and Sciences Professor of Religion at Duke University, North Carolina from 1990 until his retirement in 2005.

Sanders was a Fellow of the British Academy. In 1966, he received a Doctor of Theology degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 1990, he received a Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Oxford and a Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Helsinki. He authored, co-authored, or edited 13 books and numerous articles. He received a number of prizes, including the 1990 University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Grawemeyer Award for the best book on religion, Jesus and Judaism (Fortress Press, 1985).

Biography 
Sanders was born on April 18, 1937, in Grand Prairie, Texas. He attended Texas Wesleyan College (now Texas Wesleyan University) (1955–1959) and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (1959–1962). He spent a year (1962–1963) studying at Göttingen, the University of Oxford, and in Jerusalem.

Between September 1963 and May 1966, Sanders studied at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, for his Doctor of Theology degree. His thesis was titled The Tendencies of the Synoptic Tradition (published in 1969 by Cambridge University Press; reprinted by Wipf & Stock in 2000), which used form criticism to examine whether the Gospel tradition changed in consistent ways. The thesis was supervised by W. D. Davies.

Sanders taught at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) from 1966 to 1984. In 1968 he won a fellowship from the Canada Council and spent a year in Israel, studying Rabbinic Judaism.

In 1984, he became Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Queen's College, positions he kept until his move to Duke University in 1990. He also held visiting professorships and lectureships at Trinity College, Dublin, and the University of Cambridge. Sanders identified himself as a "liberal, modern, secularized Protestant" in his book Jesus and Judaism; fellow scholar John P. Meier called him a postliberal Protestant. In any case, he was cognizant of Albert Schweitzer's indictment of liberal theology's attempt to make Jesus in its own image, and sought to keep his religious convictions out of his scholarship.

Thought and writings 
Sanders was known for his New Testament scholarship. His field of special interest was Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman world. He was one of the leading scholars in contemporary historical Jesus research, the so-called "Third Quest," which places Jesus firmly in the context of Judaism. In contemporary scholarship, Jesus is seen as the founder of a "renewal movement within Judaism," to use Sanders' phrase. He promotes the  predominant view that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet.

Sanders' first major book was Paul and Palestinian Judaism, which was published in 1977. He had written the book by 1975, but had difficulty in having it published.

Sanders argued that the traditional Christian interpretation that Paul was condemning Rabbinic legalism was a misunderstanding of both Judaism and Paul's thought, especially since it assumed a level of individualism in these doctrines that was not present, and disregarded notions of group benefit or collective privilege. Rather, Sanders argued, the key difference between pre-Christian Judaism and Pauline teaching was to be found in ideas of how a person becomes one of the People of God. Sanders termed the Jewish belief "covenantal nomism": one was a member of the people by virtue of God's covenant with Abraham, and one stayed in it by keeping the Law.

Sanders claimed that Paul's belief was one of participationist eschatology: the only way to become one of the People of God was through faith in Christ ("dying with Christ") and the Old Covenant was no longer sufficient. But, once inside, appropriate behavior was required of the Christian, behavior based on the Jewish Scriptures, but not embracing all aspects of it. Both patterns required the grace of God for election (admission), and the behavior of the individual, supported by God's grace. The dividing line, therefore, was Paul's insistence on faith in Christ as the only way to election. However, Sanders stressed that Paul also "loved good deeds"  and that when his words are taken in context, it emerges that Paul advocates good works in addition to faith in Christ.

Sanders' next major book was Jesus and Judaism, published in 1985. In this work he argued that Jesus began as a follower of John the Baptist and was a prophet of the restoration of Israel. Sanders saw Jesus as creating an eschatological Jewish movement through his appointment of the Apostles and through his preaching and actions. After his execution (the trigger for which was Jesus overthrowing the tables in the temple court of Herod's Temple, thereby antagonizing the political authorities) his followers continued the movement, expecting his return to restore Israel. One consequence of this return would involve Gentiles worshiping the God of Israel. Sanders could find no substantial points of opposition between Jesus and the Pharisees, and he viewed Jesus as abiding by Jewish law and the disciples as continuing to keep it (cf. e.g., Acts 3:1; 21:23–26, for their worship in the Temple). Sanders also argued that Jesus' sayings did not entirely determine Early Christian behavior and attitudes, as is shown by Paul's discussion of divorce (1 Cor. 7:10–16) where the latter quotes Jesus' sayings and then gives his own independent ruling. In one interview, Sanders stated that Paul felt that "he was the model to his churches."

Judaism: Practice and Belief was published in 1992 and tested Sanders' thesis in the light of concrete Jewish practices. Sanders argued that there was a "Common Judaism", that is, beliefs and practices common to all Jews, regardless of which religious party they belonged to. After the reign of Salome Alexandra, the Pharisees were a small but very respected party which had a varying amount of influence within Judaism. The main source of power, however, was with the rulers and especially the aristocratic priesthood (Sadducees). Sanders argued that the evidence indicates that the Pharisees did not dictate policy to any of these groups or individuals.

In general, Sanders stressed the importance of historical context for a proper understanding of first century religion. He attempted to approach Judaism on its own terms, not in the context of the Protestant–Catholic debates of the sixteenth century in order to redefine views on Judaism, Paul, and Christianity as a whole. As Sanders said, he read Paul in his context, which is "Palestine in the first century and especially first century Judaism."  In this spirit, one of Sanders' articles is titled "Jesus in Historical Context". In a 2000 encyclopedia entry on Jesus, whom Sanders called an 'eschatological prophet', the subject avoids the word 'angel' although mention is made of the two men 'in dazzling clothes' at the empty tomb.

Sanders argued that more comparative studies are needed, with wider examinations conducted between New Testament texts and the other available historical sources of the period. Speaking at a conference organized in his honor, he described the attractiveness of these types of comparative studies: "They are not all that easy, but they are an awful lot of fun."

Sanders died on November 21, 2022, at the age of 85.

Selected works

Books

Articles and chapters

Festschrift

References

Further reading

External links 
E. P. Sanders, "Intellectual Autobiography"
E. P. Sanders, "Jesus in Historical Context" 
E. P. Sanders, "The Question of Uniqueness in the Teaching of Jesus" 
The New Perspective on Paul

1937 births
2022 deaths
People from Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie High School alumni
Academics from Texas
20th-century American theologians
American biblical scholars
Critics of the Christ myth theory
New Testament scholars
Jewish–Christian debate
Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni
Southern Methodist University alumni
Academics of the University of Oxford
Academic staff of McMaster University
Duke University faculty
Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Dean Ireland's Professors of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture
21st-century American theologians
American Protestants
에드 패리시 샌더스 혹은 E.P. 샌더스(Ed Parish Sanders, 1937년 4월 18일 ~ 2022년 11월 21일)는 신약성서 학자이며 바울에 대한 새 관점의 주창자들 가운데 한 사람이다. 그는 역사적 예수에 관한 연구의 주된 학자이다. 그는 예수는 유대주의 안에서 회복운동을 한 인물로 주장한 것에 공헌하였다. 듀크 대학에서 1990년부터 교수로 있다가 2005년에 은퇴하였다.

사상 
16세기 종교 개혁 이래, 바울 신학연구에 ‘새 관점’ (제임스 던의 용어)만큼 큰 영향을 미친 것은 없다. 그리고 맥코비(H. Maccoby , 1991: Paul and Hellenism)는 E.P. 샌더스의 새 관점을 위한 길을 닦은 사람이다. 이들은 개신교 학자들이 기독교가 유대교보다 우월함을 증명할 때, 바울이 율법주의적 유대교를 비판했다고 본 마틴 루터의 방식을 따라 바울 당시의 유대교에 대해 오해했다고 본다. 이들 중 일부는 바울이 反 유대교적인 성향을 보이고, 유대교를 율법종교 (legalistic religion)로 간주하는 것은 그가 (헬라 사상과 영지주의에 영향을 받은) 헬라파 유대인이었기 때문에 정통 (orthodox) 유대교를 오해하고 무시해 버린 결과라고 본다.

샌더스의 새 관점과 언약적 율법주의 
특별히 W. Davies의 영향을 받은 E.P. Sanders는 1977년 Paul and Palestinian Judaism이라는 책으로 논쟁에 불을 붙였다. 이 책은 샌더스가 듀크대학교 교수로 있을 때인 1977년에 출판되었다. 그러나 이 저서는 샌더스가 1962-3년 옥스퍼드와 예루살렘에서 시행한 고대 및 현대 히브리어 자료 연구와, 1966년 집중한 굿이너프의 유대교 이론에 대한 탐구, 그리고 유대교 1차 저작을 바탕으로 팔레스타인 유대교 자체를 바울과 비교하는 집중적인 비교 연구가 한데 모여 태어난 작품이다.

그는 주전 200-주후 200년경의 팔레스틴 유대교의 패턴 (pattern)을 연구하여 기독교의 패턴과 비교했다. 그는 바울이 유대교를 행위구원의 율법종교로 이해했다고 보는 특별히 독일의 (루터파) 학자들 (F. Weber, E. Schürer, W. Bousset, R. Bultmann, , H. Hübner 등)에게서 反 셈족주의 (Anti-Semitism)의 경향을 발견했다.

샌더스는 바울 신학의 틀에서 유대교를 바라보지 않고 유대교를 바라본 결과, 바울 당시의 팔레스틴 유대교는 ‘언약적 율법주의’ (covenantal nomism)라고 정의내렸다.

‘언약적 율법주의’가 내포하고 있는 바 그 구조 혹은 패턴

 하나님이 이스라엘을 은혜로 선택했고,

 이스라엘이 구원의 언약에 들어가기 위해서가 아니라 머물기 위해서 율법을 주셨고,

 이 율법은 하나님의 선택을 지탱하겠다는 약속을 담고,

 이스라엘은 이 율법에 순종해야 했고,

 하나님은 순종에는 상 (reward)을 불순종에는 벌을 주시고,

 율법을 지키지 못할 때 임하는 벌을 면하기 위해서 율법은 속죄 (atonement)의 제사와 희생이라는 수단을 제공하고,

 속죄 (atonement)는 언약 관계를 지속-회복하는 결과를 가져오고,

 순종과 자비에 의해서 언약관계 속에 있는 사람은 종국에 구원을 얻게 된다.

그리고 오직 유대교와 이스라엘을 선택하신 하나님을 부인할 경우에만 언약 공동체에서 제외된다. 그러므로 샌더스에 의하면, 바울은 이런 (올바른) 유대교를 오해하여 율법을 지켜서 공로를 쌓고 결국 의롭게 되는 율법종교로 잘못 묘사하고 있다는 것이다.

샌더스가 붙인 ‘언약적 율법주의’ (혹은 언약적 신율주의, covenantal nomism)에서 ‘nomism’이라는 말에서 ‘legalism’의 부정적인 뉘앙스를 조금이나마 극복하려는 노력을 볼 수 있다. 샌더스는 이 언약적 율법주의와 개신교 학자들이 묘사하는 유대주의의 구원론 사이에 거의 유사한 것이 없다고 말한다. 샌더스에 의하면, 바울이 유대주의를 포기한 것은, 새로운 구원의 길인 예수 그리스도 안에서 더 나은 무언가 (something better)를 발견했기 때문이지, 율법주의적 경건 (nomistic piety)의 열등함 때문은 아니었다. 바울이 거부하면서 공격한 ‘율법의 행위’ (works of law)는 구원과 의를 획득하기 위한 인간의 공로가 아니라, ‘할례와 음식법’과 같은 것으로서 이방인 선교시에 기독교가 유대교적 특성을 가지고 있다는 부정적인 영향을 미칠 수 있는 것들이었다. 바울의 유대주의 비판은 유대주의의 율법주의를 비판한 것이 아니라, 단지 그의 이전 종교에 대한 종막이었다. 바울이 유대교를 바라 볼 때 가장 큰 문제는 그 속에 예수 그리스도가 없었다는 점이다. 바울이 율법의 행위 (works of law)를 비판한 것은 율법주의를 비판한 것이 아니라, 하나님의 백성에 대한 잘못된 정의였다. 즉 율법이 아니라 믿음이 하나님의 백성을 정의하는 표시 (defining mark)이다.

작품

번역서 
 《바울, 율법, 유대인》(Paul, the Law and the Jewish People) - 1995년
 《공관복음서 연구》(Studying the Synoptic Gospels) - 1999년
 《예수와 유대교》 (Jesus and Judaism) - 2008.
 《사도 바오로:그리스도교의 설계자》(Paul: A Very Short Introduction) 2016.
 《바울과 팔레스타인 유대교》 (Paul and Palestinian Judaism), 박규태, 알맹e, 2018.

원서

Articles and Chapters

같이 보기 
 바울에 대한 새 관점
 제임스 던
 톰 라이트

각주 

1937년 출생
2022년 사망
미국의 신학자
미국의 저술가
듀크 대학교 교수
미국의 번역가
영국 학사원 석학회원
서던메소디스트 대학교 동문
뉴욕 유니언 신학교 동문
옥스퍼드 대학교 퀸스 칼리지 교수