ABSTRACT
Both in Judaism in the New Testament 1 and in The Intellectual Foundations of Christian and Jewish Discourse, 2 we have focused attention on the radical creativity of Paul. Paul proffered a definition of Israel that was framed in the midst of deep controversy and conflict in Antioch and was both simple and revolutionary. As his letter to the Galatians (written around 53 CE) makes unmistakably plain, baptism is the moment at which one can address God as Abba, “Father,” because the spirit of God’s own Son flows into one’s heart (Galatians 4:6). By this point in the letter, it is clear that Paul conceives the spirit received in baptism as the spirit of God himself (so 3:2, 3, 5, 14), which is here identified with the spirit of Jesus.
