Ap. Paul’s idea about the “new creation” (καινὴ κτίσις) in Christ in the epistle to the Galatians

Abstract

After explaining the understanding of the apostolic concept of “new creation” in the tradition of the Holy Fathers and in our own biblical researchers, the author returns to the understanding of this idea among Western researchers. A few instances of apostolic interpretation of the phrase καινὴ κτίσις are examined, which appeared in the works of the main Western exegesis, which offered their own view on the understanding of this phrase. The first interpretation – an anthropological one, which was common among foreign biblical scholars and is in accordance with the Early Christian tradition of the Holy Fathers, comes down to interpreting the new creation as a “new being”, when in Christ the grace filled condition of the new creation becomes an immutable reality. The second interpretation sees in καινὴ κτίσις (new creation) a return of all creation to a original blessed state, to a new heaven and new earth, which were described by the Prophet Isiah. The third regards καινὴ κτίσις as “new community”, a new church community, which consists of both Jews and gentiles, a resurrection and a transfiguration of the righteous. Finally, the author concludes, that these interpretations do not contradict the commentaries of the Holy Fathers, and there is no need to choose only one, having excluded the rest, because they can be seen as individual aspects of St. Paul’s theology.