Plhroma Tou Nomou in Paul and Philo

John Martens in his dissertation called, “The Superfluity of the Law in Philo and Paul: A Study in the History of Religions” points out that Philonic and Pauline ideas of the Law must be understood in light of the Greco-Roman discussions of the ‘higher law’—the Law of Nature (nomos physeos), the Unwritten Law (agraphos nomos), and the Living Law (nomos empsychos). For Martens, “these forms of Greco-Roman Law implied a depreciation of the written or civil law” (Martens, iii). Martens suggests that Philo though adopting these concepts does not depreciate the Mosaic Law. However, he says, “Paul rejects the Law, because of his experience of Jesus Christ and the present eschatological reality in which he lived” (Martens, iv).

Interestingly, for Martens, in light of Greco-Roman view of the Law, where the Living Law, the King could trump the written Law, Paul held the view that Christ is enthroned as the King (293-296) and that he is the Living Law, then the Christian need not follow the Written Law. Martens seems to concentrate more on Rom 10:4, which says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” He seems to avoid the verses where Paul talks about the fulfillment of the Law with the Spirit and Love.

In Rom 8:4, Paul says, one will fulfill the Law by walking “according to the Spirit.” Interestingly, Paul exhorts the people with ‘imperatival descriptives’ saying they must fulfill the Law through the help of the Spirit. This goes against the interpretation of Martens. For him, Paul “rejected” the Law because of the Living Law, Christ the King. However, According to Paul, in Rom 8:4, people must fulfill the Law through the Spirit.

Not only this, Paul says, in Rom 13:8-10, “For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.” Added to this he says, “For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Therefore, Paul stresses that “Love is the fulfillment of the Law.” Loving one another is the fulfillment of the Law. It means, Christ did not fulfill the Law once and for all but exhorts his people to fulfill the Law by love. Therefore, Love becomes the means by which one fulfills the Law and the Spirit becomes the Agent for one to fulfill the Law. Paul reiterates these ideas in Galatians as follows: “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (5:14) and “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (6:2). By sharing one another’s burden with love one fulfills the Law of Christ. Therefore, Paul still exhorts his people to fulfill the Law, exemplified by Jesus Christ by the means of love and by the help of the Spirit.

Like Philo, Paul also reconceptualizes the concept of the obedience of the written Law. However, he also talks about Halakah similar to Philo and like any other rabbi for that matter, but obedience of the Law (or fulfillment of the Law) in a different way, i.e., with the help of the Spirit, with the means of Love, and with the goal to fulfill Law taught by Christ.

Therefore, Philo must be studied again in light of the Graeco-Roman concepts of the ‘higher law’ so that their differences and similarities will be brought out in a goal to understand Pauline idea of the fulfillment of the Law better.