Geloof as antwoord op versoening � �n Pauliniese perspektief

The aim of this article is to critically assess Friedrich Nietzsche�s accusation of Paul that he replaced the �gentle gospel� of Jesus with an ideology of punishment, forgiveness, and reward. The article argues that the Pauline perspective on reconciliation has not the purport to satisfy either divine wrath or human needs � whether born from particularistic ethnocentrism or liberal globalism. Besides a siscussion of the expressions used by Paul to articulate his kerygma about redemption the article demonstrates that for Paul, faith functions as <br />response to God�s act of reconciliation. God�s righteousness is the most prominent result of being reconciled. Faith as response to God�s salvation implies therefore that transformation and ethics are two sides of a responsive conduct which follows when God, as a gift, expiates the inequities of human beings