| In spite of the fact that, according to R. Bultmann, Paul put the concept of "faith" at the very center of theology, there are remarkably few studies dealing with this significant topic. The present work seeks to help closing this gap by investigating the Wirkungsgeschichte of Genesis 15:6.;It takes this momentuous verse from the Abraham narratives and attempts to detect and describe trajectories of the faith-theme from the Old Testament through Second Temple Judaism to Paul.;After a discussion of major monographs and essays on the Pauline concept of faith, a presentation of the literary, tradition-historical and structural questions of Genesis 15 is offered, followed by a detailed exegesis of verse 6, which elucidates the theological-historical import of the fundamental terms "count," "righteousness," and "believe.".;The reception history of Genesis 15:6 presents itself at first as an innerbiblical development, materializing in the historical Psalm 106 and the pentitential prayer Nehemiah 9. Then, throughout the intertestamental period, a multifaceted and nuanced reception comes into sight in the Septuagint, Sirach 44, Jubilees 14, 4QPseudo Jubilees, 4QMMT, 1Maccabees, and Philo. All these texts illuminate the practice of the relecture of a biblical text and witness to the hermeneutical effort to adapt an authoritative text to the present time and its needs.;Paul's use of Genesis 15:6 demonstrates what hermeneutical and theological impact the Christ-event had on his existence and thinking and how it transformed and put him in contrast to his former convictions. Starting from the formula "from faith to faith" (Romans 1:17), this study seeks to underline Bultmann's dictum of the centrality of "faith" in Paul, as well to establish the following thesis: "From faith" denotes the divine causality of faith in terms of a salvation-historical, powerful reality manifested in and through the Christ-event---Paul elaborates this aspect in Romans 3:21-31. "To faith" implies the teleological notion, according to which the salvation-historical possibility for the individual to participate in that reality as part of the community of believers is disclosed---this is Paul's concern in Romans 4; there he portrays Abraham as "the father of all who believe.". |
