When Faith Comes

Douglas Campbell argues convincingly that pistis in Galatians 3 has a christological sense (Deliverance of God, 867-75). It seems an irrefutable point.

In an extended footnote, Campbell deals with Moises Silva’s interpretation of the term in Galatians 3, which wobbles between christological interpretation and something else. Silva says that “the use of the verb elthein . .  . suggests strongly that Paul must be referring to Christ,” but then adds that it is not “true in a literal, absolute sense” that faith only came with the coming of Christ. Silva thus takes pistis as a “metonymy” for the object of faith or for the “dispensation of faith” (quoted in Campbell, 1160). 

I agree with Campbell that Silva’s argument is unconvincing, but Campbell’s refutation displays both the brilliance and the flaws of his massive book. He says that Silva has no grounds for claiming that pistis is a metonymy for the object of faith (true enough), then adds that Silva “goes on to suggest that what Paul states here is not really true!” (1161). 

Well, sort of. What Silva says is that Paul’s claim is relatively true; faith wasn’t completely absent before Christ, but it came into its own with Christ’s arrival. Again, I don’t buy that as an interpretation of Galatians 3, but Campbell has made Silva’s argument seem weaker than it is by not acknowledging that Silva makes a distinction between an absolute and relative contrast (something Campbell himself does in another context, 885, admittedly with exegetical support). If asked why the contrast is relative rather than absolute, Silva would no doubt point to other passages in Paul, or elsewhere in Scripture, for support.

In any case, the brilliance of Campbell’s rebuttal is in recognizing how Silva (along with much of the Reformed tradition) softens Paul’s stark polarities into relative contrasts, and thus loses the “apocalyptic” character of Paul’s gospel. One doesn’t have to agree with Campbell’s entire argument to recognize that this softening is a problem for classic Protestant soteriology, leaving open a potential for “judaizing” moves that Paul relentlessly shuts off.