Incongruous Conciliation: A Constructive Critique of John Barclay’s Paul and the Gift

Abstract

John Barclay has recently argued that for Paul God’s grace, χάρις, in Christ is, almost without precedent, maximally ‘incongruous’, given to unfitting recipients. In fact, however, there are at least six further contemporary non-Christian examples, mostly Jewish, of incongruous grace in conciliation, some using καταλλαγή, ‘(re-)conciliation’, others not. Further, betokening change, from discord to harmony, καταλλαγή never on its own conveys (in)congruent ‘restoration’ of anything. This, of course, affects our interpretation of Paul in Rom. 5.10-11, 11.15 and 2 Cor. 5.17-20 (where perhaps the ‘re-’ in ‘re-conciliation’ misleads).