Overview

The Pauline Epistles have been claimed as a useful ally by parties across the political spectrum. Neoconservatives claim that Paul and his coworkers were law-abiding, authority-honoring, devoutly religious people oriented around their respect for hard work, private property, and family values. Liberals claim that the Pauline faction was devoted to the celebration of diversity, internally transcending social markers of status, and the embrace of peace. Radicals claim that Paul was a leader within an anti-imperial revolutionary movement sweeping across the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. However, it is rare for these (and still other!) parties to engage in dialogue with each other because each party tends to operate with presuppositions that make open engagement difficult. Pauline Politics examines the main positions taken in relation to Paul and politics and then engages in a thorough examination of the underlying arguments used to argue that this-or-that position is more or less plausible. Underlying arguments tend to relate to two things: first, positions on the socioeconomic status of Paul, his coworkers, and other early Jesus loyalists; and second, positions on Pauline eschatology. This volume will comprehensively explore these matters.

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9781532675218

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Reviews

"""The scope of the work is breathtaking--embracing eschatology and ethics, honor and shame, patronage and mutualism, lawlessness and loyalty. Oudshoorn is thoroughly conversant with contemporary scholarship on Paul and Paulinism, fairly representing and adjudicating the perspectives of conservative and liberal scholars, as well as radical interpreters. But Oudshoorn's work is also informed by conversations with homeless youth, drug dealers, and sex workers--the contemporary 'nothings and nobodies' who have been chosen by God, according to Paul. Oudshoorn argues that interpreters of Paul must be rooted in communities of the oppressed, among those who are committed to the 'uprising of life, ' precisely in order to understand Paul."" --Larry L. Welborn, Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, Fordham University ""This work is a tour deforce. . . . Repeatedly, the reader has the impression of someone who has read widely and deeply, thought and evaluated carefully, always with an eye fixed on current socio-economic realities and the experience of the most marginalized and oppressed today. . . . It's splendid work and deserves highest marks."" --Neil Elliott, Episcopal priest, author of Liberating Paul and The Rhetoric of Romans ""A magnificent book it is. . . . this is a truly amazing achievement. Preach it, D."" --W. Ward Blanton, Reader in Biblical Cultures and European Thought, University of Kent, author of Paul and the Philosophers"

The scope of the work is breathtaking--embracing eschatology and ethics, honor and shame, patronage and mutualism, lawlessness and loyalty. Oudshoorn is thoroughly conversant with contemporary scholarship on Paul and Paulinism, fairly representing and adjudicating the perspectives of conservative and liberal scholars, as well as radical interpreters. But Oudshoorn's work is also informed by conversations with homeless youth, drug dealers, and sex workers--the contemporary 'nothings and nobodies' who have been chosen by God, according to Paul. Oudshoorn argues that interpreters of Paul must be rooted in communities of the oppressed, among those who are committed to the 'uprising of life, ' precisely in order to understand Paul. --Larry L. Welborn, Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, Fordham University This work is a tour deforce. . . . Repeatedly, the reader has the impression of someone who has read widely and deeply, thought and evaluated carefully, always with an eye fixed on current socio-economic realities and the experience of the most marginalized and oppressed today. . . . It's splendid work and deserves highest marks. --Neil Elliott, Episcopal priest, author of Liberating Paul and The Rhetoric of Romans A magnificent book it is. . . . this is a truly amazing achievement. Preach it, D. --W. Ward Blanton, Reader in Biblical Cultures and European Thought, University of Kent, author of Paul and the Philosophers

Author Information

Daniel Oudshoorn is a father, lover, fighter, friend, and failure. He has spent more than twenty years actively pursuing life and mutually liberating solidarity in the company of the oppressed, abandoned, dispossessed, colonized, and left for dead. Neil Elliott is an Episcopal priest and a New Testament scholar (PhD Princeton Theological Seminary) ) who has taught biblical studies, early Christian history, world religions, and American civil religion at the College of St. Catherine and Metropolitan State University. He is the author of The Rhetoric of Romans (1990), Liberating Paul (1994), The Arrogance of Nations (2008), and, with Mark Reasoner, Documents and Images for the Study of Paul (2010).

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