The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

5 why the study of the law in the New Testament can only be understood in light of the progress of revelation and with an appreciation for the differing relationships which Jews and Gentiles had toward the law. Limits of the Study Although this thesis has implications for the entire Pauline corpus, a study of it all is much too broad. Given the methodology described above of expounding individual books as a unit, we have chosen to support this thesis by describing and defending three key books in the argument: Galatians, Hebrews, and Acts. Hebrews is chosen because it so powerfully communicates that the end of Moses has come, particularly for Jews. Acts demon– strates that Paul was a careful practitioner of the Law in the period under discussion. Galatians is chosen because this is admittedly Paul's most forceful and some would say hostile treatment of the law and is thus the best test case. We assume the inerrancy and historicity of the Epistles and Acts and hold to an early date for the writing of Galatians, around A.D. 49, before the Jerusalem Council. We also hold that the book of Hebrews was written shortly before the destruction of the second Temple, approximately A.D. 64. All scripture quotations, unless otherwi e noted are from th New American Standard Version.