Review By: Yoon, David I. A Discourse Analysis of Galatians and the New Perspective on Paul. Linguistic Biblical Studies, 17. Leiden: Brill 2019. Pp. XIV + 312. ISBN 978-90-04-39445-2

Abstract

In the monograph under review, David I. Yoon attempts to analyze St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians using the method of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), specifically the concept of register inherent in this approach. The main question the author poses is: Does the Epistle to the Galatians reflect the soteriology of early Judaism in a legal sense, or in the sense of “covenantal nomism,” as understood by proponents of the “New Perspective on Paul”?¹ From this vantage point, Yoon examines an extremely controversial issue in recent studies of the Apostle to the Gentiles, namely: should St. Paul’s theology be understood as a radical counterpoint to the prevailing Jewish beliefs and piety of his time?