Same Old Paul

In his introduction to Paul in the Grip of the Philosophers, Peter Frick cleverly observes that contemporary philosophers who have chosen Paul as their dialogue partner end up violating their own stated principles: “Continental philosophy uses the voice of Paul, but does not always give him his own voice. Continental philosophy changes the voice of Paul to say things that Paul may not have been willing to say” (8).

For all their talk of the other, they don’t let Paul really be other. They force him into their own mold, incorporating the other into the Same.