Whatever happened to poetry? many wonder. Those who wonder probably don’t realize that a lot of poetry continues to be written. On the other hand, they may be perfectly aware that a lot of what’s written passes itself off as poetry, but they deny that it qualifies. And they have a . . . . Continue Reading »
In ancient Greek, dunamis was potentiality, energeia was power in act. Agamben ( The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans ) thinks that Paul is perfectly aware of the distinction, and actually employs it in Ephesians 3:7 and Philippians 3:21. Faith is the principle of . . . . Continue Reading »
Alain Badiou has made much of Paul’s contribution to Western universalism, which expresses an “indifference with regard to customs and traditions” and “an indifference that tolerates difference” ( Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism , 98-99). Agamben is rightly . . . . Continue Reading »
Agamben ( The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans ) makes an intriguing connection between the Pauline notion of calling and the Marxist theory of class. He takes a clue from the improbable etymology that links the Greek klesis to the Latin classis . Whether that etymology . . . . Continue Reading »
Giorgio Agamben offers an intriguing discussion of the Pauline concept of calling in his The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans . For Paul, calling is always linked with the arrival of the messianic age in Jesus. But this does not, contra Weber, imply an indifference to . . . . Continue Reading »
Gerald Hiestand of the Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology examines Paul’s teaching on sexual idolatry at the Trinity House site. . . . . Continue Reading »
I examine Paul’s warnings against greed and discontentment at the Trinity House site today. . . . . Continue Reading »
The story of Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus is recounted several times in Acts: First when the event happens (ch. 9), and then twice retold by Paul, once before Jews and once before Agrippa and Festus (chs. 22, 26). In the final retelling, Paul quotes Jesus’ words: . . . . Continue Reading »
NT Wright, following a long tradition, explains that justification is a declaratory act. It is a verdict of acquitted, cleared, vindicated in the view of the court. There is an immediate communal dimension to this: The acquitted person is “in good standing in the community as the result of . . . . Continue Reading »
The Greek word hilaterion has been one of the most disputed Pauline terms in the past century. Traditionally translate as “propitiation” or “propitiatory sacrifice,” many recent scholars have disputed the notion that Jesus died to appease an angry Father. In a 2000 article . . . . Continue Reading »
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