Righteousness of God and Man in the Prophets

""""'\e righteousness of God" is an ..I. important theme in the Old and New Testaments about which there is great debate. l It is concerned with the way lost men and women can be right with God (Cars on 1992).2 Throughout the history of the church scholars have articulated various positions of the righteousness of God or justification. The topic is related to the law, Jewish and Christian relations, the relationship· between the testaments and other crucial issues. The debate has been most intense in the New Testament and particularly the Pauline epistles (Thielman 1994; Cranfield 1975; Dunn 1992; Kaseman 1980; Longnecker 1976; Sanders 1983). This paper proposes to explore the concept of "righteousness" and "the righteousness of God" in the prophets from the eighth to the fifth century B.c. At least three reasons could be cited for engaging in this study. One, the Apostle Paul states that the law and the prophets bear witness to the righteousness of God as he expounds it (Rom. 3:21). Two, a re-examination of the prophets' view on the issue ought to contribute to the ongoing debate in New Testament and Church History scholarship on the righteousness of God. Three, it is possible that· righteous ~nd the righteousness of God in the two testaments is multifaceted and the failure to recognize the legitimacy of each element has contributed to the impasse.