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The Philosophers’ Paul: A Radically Subversive Thinker

  • Ezra Delahaye
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Saint Paul and Philosophy
This chapter is in the book Saint Paul and Philosophy

Abstract

This article examines the so-called “turn to Paul” in contemporary, continental philosophy: Why do continental philosophers read Paul? After dividing the philosophers who deal with Paul into groups which have similar philosophical motives, the author argues that there are two main approaches to Paul in contemporary philosophy, the universalist approach and the ontological approach. Delahaye, then, argues that the main difference between these groups can be understood through the Pauline text which serves a reading key for the members of these groups, these texts being Gal. 3:28 and 1 Cor. 7:29-31. Delahaye elaborates on the differences in these groups by taking the most well-known philosopher of each group and analyzing how they start from the above-mentioned Pauline texts in their analysis of Paul. Delahaye shows how Badiou-the representative of the universalist approach-reads Paul as a political thinker based on Gal. 3:28. Badiou, then, develops this towards an ontology of the event. The representative of the ontological approach-Agamben-centers his reading of Paul on 1 Cor. 7:29-31 and the ontological interpretation of this text. Agamben, then, develops this ontology into political ontology in his reading of Paul. Both approaches, then, ultimately read Paul as a political ontological thinker. A thinker who tries to reground the political order in a renewed ontology. Delahaye’s conclusion is that the main philosophical reason these philosophers read Paul is that Paul allows them to overcome contemporary, political problems by renewing and re-grounding ontology.

Abstract

This article examines the so-called “turn to Paul” in contemporary, continental philosophy: Why do continental philosophers read Paul? After dividing the philosophers who deal with Paul into groups which have similar philosophical motives, the author argues that there are two main approaches to Paul in contemporary philosophy, the universalist approach and the ontological approach. Delahaye, then, argues that the main difference between these groups can be understood through the Pauline text which serves a reading key for the members of these groups, these texts being Gal. 3:28 and 1 Cor. 7:29-31. Delahaye elaborates on the differences in these groups by taking the most well-known philosopher of each group and analyzing how they start from the above-mentioned Pauline texts in their analysis of Paul. Delahaye shows how Badiou-the representative of the universalist approach-reads Paul as a political thinker based on Gal. 3:28. Badiou, then, develops this towards an ontology of the event. The representative of the ontological approach-Agamben-centers his reading of Paul on 1 Cor. 7:29-31 and the ontological interpretation of this text. Agamben, then, develops this ontology into political ontology in his reading of Paul. Both approaches, then, ultimately read Paul as a political ontological thinker. A thinker who tries to reground the political order in a renewed ontology. Delahaye’s conclusion is that the main philosophical reason these philosophers read Paul is that Paul allows them to overcome contemporary, political problems by renewing and re-grounding ontology.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgments V
  3. Table of Contents VII
  4. List of Abbreviations 1
  5. Introduction: On the Philosophical Affiliations of Paul and Πίστις 3
  6. Part I. Philosophical Portraits of Paul and Πίστις
  7. Reading, Seeing and the Logic of Abandonment: Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul 21
  8. The Invention of Christianity: Preambles to a Philosophical Reading of Paul 47
  9. Heidegger’s Hermeneutics of Paul 67
  10. The Philosophers’ Paul: A Radically Subversive Thinker 81
  11. Disillusioning Reason—Rethinking Faith: Paul, Performative Speech Acts and the Political History of the Occident in Agamben and Foucault 95
  12. On What Remains: Paul’s Proclamation of Contingency 115
  13. Part II. Paul and Πίστις in the Greco-Roman World
  14. Paul’s Stoic Onto-Theology and Ethics of Good, Evil and “Indifferents”: A Response to Anti-Metaphysical and Nihilistic Readings of Paul in Modern Philosophy 133
  15. Narratives of Πίστις in Paul and Deutero-Paul 165
  16. Returning to “Religious” Πίστις: Platonism and Piety in Plutarch and Neoplatonism 189
  17. The Metahistory of Δίκη and Πίστις: A Greco-Roman Reading of Paul’s “Justification by Faith” Axiom 209
  18. Paul’s Use of Πίστις/Πιστεύειν as Epitome of Axial Age Religion 231
  19. Part III. The Political Theologies of Paul
  20. The Management of Distinctions: Jacob Taubes on Paul’s Political Theology 251
  21. Paul as Political Theologian: How the “New Perspective” Is Reshaping Philosophical and Theological Discourse 269
  22. Church, Commonwealth, and Toleration: John Locke as a Reader of Paul 283
  23. Europe and Paul of Tarsus: Giorgio Agamben on the Overcoming of Europe’s Crisis 297
  24. The Invisible Committee as a Pauline Gesture: Anarchic Politics from Tiqqun to Tarnac 309
  25. Epilogue: Saint Paul and Philosophy—The Consonance of Ancient and Modern Thought 325
  26. Index of Ancient Sources 351
  27. Index of Names and Subjects 361
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110547467-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgments V
  3. Table of Contents VII
  4. List of Abbreviations 1
  5. Introduction: On the Philosophical Affiliations of Paul and Πίστις 3
  6. Part I. Philosophical Portraits of Paul and Πίστις
  7. Reading, Seeing and the Logic of Abandonment: Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul 21
  8. The Invention of Christianity: Preambles to a Philosophical Reading of Paul 47
  9. Heidegger’s Hermeneutics of Paul 67
  10. The Philosophers’ Paul: A Radically Subversive Thinker 81
  11. Disillusioning Reason—Rethinking Faith: Paul, Performative Speech Acts and the Political History of the Occident in Agamben and Foucault 95
  12. On What Remains: Paul’s Proclamation of Contingency 115
  13. Part II. Paul and Πίστις in the Greco-Roman World
  14. Paul’s Stoic Onto-Theology and Ethics of Good, Evil and “Indifferents”: A Response to Anti-Metaphysical and Nihilistic Readings of Paul in Modern Philosophy 133
  15. Narratives of Πίστις in Paul and Deutero-Paul 165
  16. Returning to “Religious” Πίστις: Platonism and Piety in Plutarch and Neoplatonism 189
  17. The Metahistory of Δίκη and Πίστις: A Greco-Roman Reading of Paul’s “Justification by Faith” Axiom 209
  18. Paul’s Use of Πίστις/Πιστεύειν as Epitome of Axial Age Religion 231
  19. Part III. The Political Theologies of Paul
  20. The Management of Distinctions: Jacob Taubes on Paul’s Political Theology 251
  21. Paul as Political Theologian: How the “New Perspective” Is Reshaping Philosophical and Theological Discourse 269
  22. Church, Commonwealth, and Toleration: John Locke as a Reader of Paul 283
  23. Europe and Paul of Tarsus: Giorgio Agamben on the Overcoming of Europe’s Crisis 297
  24. The Invisible Committee as a Pauline Gesture: Anarchic Politics from Tiqqun to Tarnac 309
  25. Epilogue: Saint Paul and Philosophy—The Consonance of Ancient and Modern Thought 325
  26. Index of Ancient Sources 351
  27. Index of Names and Subjects 361
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