Abraham's Faith in Romans 4: Paul's Concept of Faith in Light of the History of Reception of Genesis 15:6

The concept of faith is at the core of Paul's theology, and the classic 'Old Testament' passage for his understanding of pistis is Genesis 15:6. Benjamin Schließer explores the literary, tradition-historical and structural questions of Genesis 15 and offers a detailed exegesis of verse 6. He then points to the theological significance of this testimony on Abraham for the Jewish identity; it comes into sight in a multifaceted and nuanced process of reception, from later Old Testament texts to a broad array of literature from Second Temple Judaism. In the final and most substantial step, the author asks about Paul's 'hermeneutics of faith': How does Paul, in his exegesis of the Genesis quote in Romans 4, come to view Abraham as the father of all believers? What is the concept of faith that he develops on the basis of Genesis 15:6? Taking into account the manifold textual and thematic links between Romans 4, Romans 3:21-31, and Romans 1:16-17, a unique, twofold structure of 'faith' discloses itself: Pistis designates first a divinely established sphere of power, and second human participation in this reality.