Ruether Vs. Gager

7 Pages 1828 Words

mystery that he does not want the Jews to be ignorant about. Ruether believes Paul is saying in verse 25 that God has hardened the hearts of the Jewish people for a time, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come. In other words, once the Gentiles are gathered into the kingdom of God, the Jews’ hearts will be unhardened and they too will gather into the kingdom of God.
Ruether makes it very clear that God has an “elect” people in Israel. These are the people God has chosen to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Ruether says that as soon as the Gentiles have been gathered in, God will “mysteriously” unharden the hearts of the Jews. This is where Ruether draws out the “mystery” Paul is referring to in verse 25. Ruether believes that the “conversion of the Jews” becomes the last event in the historical economy of salvation. The conversion shows that God did not abandon his people but reserved those till the right moment came to bring in the “elect” of Israel.
Many will read Ruether’s interpretation and say that in verse 26, it says all of Israel will be saved. Ruether does not believe this t...