Unfortunately, the meaning of "works of the law" is such a crucial area to understanding both St. Paul and the Catholic teaching on Justification, that I feel compelled to reiterate more forcefully what I have already written in my 1997 book, Not By Faith Alone.

Various Catholic apologists today, when teaching on the meaning of the "works of the law," will often explain it as referring to the ceremonial law of Israel, to the exclusion, or the virtual exclusion, of the remaining law in Israel. (The ceremonial law refers to all the ritual religious practices, such as circumcision, eating kosher foods, priestly sacrifices, seventh-day sabbath observance, etc).

Sad to say, that answer is at best a half-truth, and at worst, it is a distortion of the Catholic teaching on Justification.

One of the reasons these apologists categorize "works of the law" as referring to the ceremonial law is that they have found it to be an easy polemical tool against Protestants. Protestants say that St. Paul condemns ALL work as having any part in Justification. The Catholic apologist counters by saying that when Paul uses the phrase "works of the law" he does not mean ALL works; he only means the works of the ceremonial law of Israel.

The Catholic will then add that in Paul's confining "works of the law" to the ceremonial law, he specifically meant to exclude the moral law, such as those we find in the Commandments. Therefore, in Romans 3:28, Paul really means: "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Ceremonial Law," (but all other "good" works can, and do, justify a man).

In giving this kind of answer, the Catholic thinks he has satisfactorily defended the Catholic faith and silenced the Protestant. To bolster his case, he may enlist the help of Romans 3:29 as proof that his answer is correct: "Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also." He then explains that since Paul speaks of "Jews only," then the "works of the law" mentioned in the previous verse (3:28) must be something that identifies only with the Jews but not with the Gentiles. In that he is correct, but as we will see later, the answer he gives as to the distinguishing characteristic (the ceremonial law) is only partially correct, and in being such, it is the wrong answer to this most crucial question.

The "New Perspective on Paul"

In a similar vein, there are also a few Catholic apologists who have sided with the views of a new breed of Protestant exegetes. These Protestants have advanced what they call "The New Perspective on Paul." Current proponents of this new perspective are such Protestant names as James D. G. Dunn, E. P. Sanders, Alan Suggate, N. T. Wright and R. B. Hays, among others. Dunn's first attempt at advancing this theory came in the article "The New Perspective on Paul" (1983) and the book: The Justice of God: A Fresh Look at the Old Doctrine of Justification by Faith (1993), while E. P. Sanders wrote Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977). N. T. Wright expressed his view in the article "Romans and the Theology of Paul" (1995); while Hays wrote "Three Dramatic Roles: The Law in Romans 3-4."

Although it is often touted as a "new" theory, in reality it stems from the views of Protestant William Werde in his 1897 German publication, which has since been translated into English under the title: The Task and Methods of New Testament Theology. The theory was also advocated by Protestant Kristar Stendahl in his 1970 work The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West, and now reprinted under the title: Paul Among the Jews and Gentiles.

The theory claims that the traditional interpretation which views St. Paul's writings as portraying a contest between "grace versus works" is not the main issue, and perhaps not even correct. Dunn hypothesizes that the emphasis on "grace versus works" is merely a product of the polemics circulating during the Reformation period between Luther and the Catholic Church. Rather, Dunn, et al, say that the Jew of the first century AD believed he was within the grace of God, and thus a struggle between grace and works was not the Jew's concern.

Consequently, Dunn claims that the central issue concerning the Justification controversy portrayed by the New Testament is sociological rather than soteriological; a matter of "Jew versus Gentile," not "grace versus works." The main challenge for the Jew is said not to be one of relinquishing his dependence on works and resigning himself to God's grace, but of accepting Gentiles as part of the covenant community, and letting them share in the graces of God that the Jew already has. In short, Dunn's thesis is that the Jew was not so much proud of his works as he was proud of his grace; whereas the traditional view says that, except for a remnant, the Jew was eliminated from the grace of God due to his obstinate reliance on works.

Following Kristar Stendahl, other Protestants such as Lloyd Gaston (Paul and the Torah, 1987) and Stanley Stowers (A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews and Gentiles, 1994) have taken the theory so far as to say that Jews and Gentiles have "separate but related ways" to salvation, with Israel continuing to live by the law as its accompaniment to salvation.

Dunn also seeks to apply his interpretation to our current day, teaching that mankind's real challenge is that he must learn to accept everyone regardless of race or ethnic background, since we are all God's children. Dunn and Suggate also postulate, for example, that Adolph Hitler's main problem was not one of intrinsic evil or hatred against God but merely a superiority attitude against people of other ethnic backgrounds.

On the surface, some parts of Dunn's view may sound logical, at least to some extent. The big question is, however: does the New Testament portray the Jews in the way Dunn suggests? Quite simply, the answer is NO; the New Testament does not focus on the ethnic paradigm Dunn is suggesting. If the New Testament hints at it in any way, it is only as a tangent to the bigger story of man's individual responsibility to reject his own self-righteousness and self-reliance so that he can receive the grace of God, which is his only means of salvation.

Breaking the ranks, Brendan Byrne, S.J. has issued a critique of Dunn's thesis in the piece: The Problem of NovmoV and the Relationship with Judaism in Romans. Among other things, Byrne points out that "works of the law" refers to "the Jewish law in toto"; and that the famous Qumran document 4QMMT, which has been touted by followers of Dunn, turns out to be a Hebrew phrase meaning simply "some precepts of the Law" without the connotation of performance (See M. Bachmann's "4QMMT und Galaterbrief, und hrwth yv[m ERGA NOMOU" in ZNW 89 [1998] 91-113).

Paul is clear, for example, in Romans 9:31-32 that, regardless of how the Jews may have thought of themselves as being in God's graces, the fact is that Scripture portrays them as pursuing righteousness by works, not of being overly proud of grace. Paul writes: 31 "...but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works." It is only the "remnant" of Jews that remained in the grace of God, and the rest in Israel were hardened in their sin; and according to Paul, this occurred in the eighth century BC before the Gentiles ever became a concern (Romans 11:1-10). We will say more about this in the analysis below.

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