Date

5-20-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (PhD)

Chair

Denise Pass

Keywords

Pauline studies, Second Temple Judaism, New Perspective on Paul, soteriology, transformation

Disciplines

Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the nature of divine and human agency in the Apostle Paul’s theology of transformation, with particular attention to how Paul’s participatory soteriology is shaped by and diverges from Second Temple Jewish understandings of covenantal life. Situated within the broader interpretive context of the New Perspective on Paul (NPP), this study introduces the theological logic of transformation in Paul’s letters, with the aim of constructing a coherent understanding of synergistic agency that remains faithful to both the Pauline corpus and Paul’s Jewish context. Paul’s theology of transformation is best understood as a covenantal-participatory model of synergistic agency, wherein believers are spiritually renewed through a dynamic process of participation in Christ and the Holy Spirit. This process draws deeply on Second Temple Jewish conceptions of divine empowerment and covenantal responsibility, which Paul reconfigures in light of the reality of the crucified and risen Christ. While the New Perspective on Paul has successfully reframed Pauline theology around covenantal nomism rather than legalistic works-righteousness, it has largely focused on issues of identity, inclusion, and ecclesiology. Far less attention has been given to Paul’s moral and spiritual transformation of believers and how this transformation occurs in light of divine grace and human responsibility. This neglect leaves a crucial gap in the theological interpretation of Paul’s letters, particularly in understanding how Paul envisions the believer's transformation as both a divine work and a human calling. This dissertation argues that Paul’s theology of transformation is best understood as Spirit-enabled participation in God’s righteousness, involving both divine empowerment and human covenantal faithfulness, a model not sufficiently captured within the New Perspective framework. Paul’s vision of salvation entails not merely forensic justification or eschatological inclusion, but a transformative process whereby believers, through union with Christ and empowerment by the Spirit, are conformed to the image of the crucified and risen Lord. This study contributes to ongoing debates about justification and sanctification, monergism and synergism, grace and obedience. It challenges binary frameworks that separate initial justification from subsequent sanctification and proposes a more holistic account of Paul’s soteriology. This model reaffirms the centrality of grace while affirming the ethical demands of covenant participation. By integrating insights from the New Perspective with a broader theology of transformation, this dissertation provides a constructive way forward for Pauline studies, biblical theology, and theological ethics. It also invites the contemporary church to rediscover Paul’s vision of Christian formation not as moral striving in human strength, but as Spirit-enabled participation in the righteousness of God.

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