Paul Among The Postliberals

"This book is changing my mind on more themes...than any publication since Hans Frei's The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative." -George LIndbeck, Yale University "Harink brings several postliberal theologians - mainly Yoder and Hauerwas - into genuine conversation with the church's original apocalyptic theologian, the Apostle Paul. The engaging result is a call for the church to return to its true vocation as an uncompromising critic of the state's omnivorous appetite for our loayalties. But that is the vocation found in the politics of the cross, in which the suffering and victorious God has redemptively invaded the captive world, thus calling into being the community that Paul speaks of as 'the new creation.'... The attentive reader of Harink's book will come away, then, with an energized hope for the whole of humanity, a hope focused on the corporate, political nature of God's apocalyptic invasion in Christ." -J. Louis Martyn, Union Theological Seminary "Sets new standards for all who dare to aspire to theological engagement with Scripture." -Michael Cartwright, University of Indianapolis "Doug Harink has knocked a hole in the artificial wall separating the theological disciplines and has established a working coalition between two scholarly enterprises--the various 'new perspectives' that seek to supplant older reformational models of interpreting Paul, and the work of various theologians who seek to subvert the established theological strategy of accommodating the gospel to the canons and criteria of modernity...A unique and highly significant contribution." -Terence L. Donaldson, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto "One of the most creative and exciting books that I have read in years. Instead of decrying the gap between theology and biblical studies, ...Harink simply closes the gap by bringing together the best in recent biblical and theological studies. In its direct reading of the biblical text, this book represents a new stage in the development of postliberal theology." -Jonathan R. Wilson, Westmont College

The apostle Paul was a man of many journeys. We are usually familiar with the geographical ones he made in his own time. This volume traces others--Paul's journeys in our time, as he is co-opted or invited to travel (sometimes as abused slave, sometimes as trusted guide) with modern and recent Continental philosophers and political theorists. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Benjamin; Taubes, Badiou, Zizek, and Agamben--Paul journeys here among the philosophers. In these essays you are invited to travel with them into the regions of philosophy, hermeneutics, political theory, and theology. You will certainly hear the philosophers speak. But Paul will not remain silent. Above the sounds of the journey his voice comes through, loud and clear.

A vibrant and growing field of discussion in contemporary New Testament studies is the question of 'apocalyptic' thought in Paul. What is often lacking in this discussion, however, is a close comparison of Paul's would-be apocalyptic theology with the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature of his time, and the worldview that literature expresses. This book addresses that challenge. Covering four key theological themes (epistemology, eschatology, cosmology and soteriology), J. P. Davies places Paul 'among the apocalypses' in order to evaluate recent attempts at outlining an 'apocalyptic' approach to his letters. While affirming much of what those approaches have argued, and agreeing that 'apocalyptic' is a crucial category for an understanding of the apostle, Davies also raises some important questions about the dichotomies which lie at the heart of the 'apocalyptic Paul' movement.

The Christ's Faith coheres with orthodox Christology and Reformation soteriology, and needs to be affirmed to properly confirm the true humanity of the incarnate Son. Without addressing the interpretation of the Pauline phrase pistis christou, this study offers a theological rationale for an exegetical possibility and enriches a dogmatic account of the humanity of the Christ. The coherence of the Christ's faith is shown in two ways. First, the objection of Thomas Aquinas is refuted by demonstrating that faith is fitting for the incarnate Son. Second, a theological ontology is offered which affirms divine perfection and transcendence in qualitative fashion, undergirding a Chalcedonian and Reformed Christology. Thus, the humanity of the Christ may be construed as a fallen human nature assumed by the person of the Word and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The dogmatic location of The Christ's Faith is sketched by suggesting its (potential) function within three influential theological systems: Thomas Aquinas, federal theology, and Karl Barth. Furthermore, the soteriological role of the doctrine is demonstrated by showing the theological necessity of faith for valid obedience before God.

Examines the Roman Catholic roots of postliberal theology via conversations with three seminal postliberal theologians: George Lindbeck, David Burrell, and Stanley Hauerwas.

Misunderstanding of Paul had started already in his lifetime, and his letters offer many examples of this. Throughout the centuries, Paul has continued to be misunderstood by both Jews and Gentiles, especially in relation to his view of the law and the covenant. Paul has often been misunderstood because his form of argument, his use of Scripture, his view of Jews and Gentiles in Christ (especially of those Jews who were not convinced that Jesus was Messiah), and his view of what constitutes true Judaism do not seem to conform to our expectations and perceptions of the apostle. We have been accustomed to read his letters as of one who was emancipating people from Judaism, as one who sought to obliterate all ethnic and other distinctions rather than maintaining the identity of Jews and Gentiles even in Christ. By building on some of the insights of the New Perspective, and developing other more recent insights as well, a more consistent and credible Paul as a first-century Diaspora Jew organizing a mission to Gentiles will be presented.

While all have reason to celebrate the greening of Christian-Jewish relations since the Shoah and the promulgation of Nostra Aetate (4), few will deny that much work remains to be done by Christians and Jews seeking the best way forward that they might best serve God's purposes in the world, the mission of God. This book addresses that need by first surveying how each community has historically conceived of its own mission and from that stance assigned an identity to the other. The text illuminates how such construals have often impeded progress and therefore need to be upgraded and supplemented. But how shall this be done? Converging Destinies proposes an eschatological vision and practical suggestions to summon Jews and Christians to prepare for that day when each will be both commended and reproved by the judge of all, sounding a call for more determined action, greater humility, and cooperative effort as together Jews and Christians serve the mission of God, accountable to him for how they have served him and each other in the world that he has created according to his will.