Would Paul Have Written Something Like This? The Justification Clause of Philippians 3:12 and the Last Judgment

Abstract

A reading that has Paul claiming he has not already been justified (οὐχ … ἢ ἤδη δεδικαίωμαι) appears in some important witnesses to the text of Phil 3:12 (e.g., P46, 06, Irenaeus [Latin translation], Ambrosiaster). Known as “the justification clause,” this variant reading is often dismissed as spurious based (in part) on the assumption that Paul would not have written any such thing. In this article the author challenges this assumption. Included is an overview of Paul’s wider theology of justification, an examination of the four texts in the Pauline Letters in which verbal forms of justification terminology appear in the future tense, and a discussion of three additional Pauline texts in which future justification is implied. These analyses clarify that the reading is compatible with Paul’s use of justification language elsewhere and is coherent as a reference to final justification at the last judgment.