David Odell-Scott - Böcker

Reading Romans with Contemporary Philosophers and Theologians explores the recent works by philosophers and theologians who engage Paul's letter to the Romans by scholars in the fields of New Testament studies, theology and philosophy from North America and Europe. The first part of the volume is an engaging discussion of the recently published commentary Romans (Chalice Press, 2005) by co-authors John Cobb and David Lull with Jouette Bassler and David Odell-Scott. The second part of the volume offers engaging articles by Valérie Nicolet Anderson, Alain Gignac, Theodore Jennings and Ola Sigurdson which discuss recent works on Romans by continental philosophers Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, Jacob Taubes and Slovoj Zizek, and which explore the influences of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Levinas, Benjamin, and Derrida on the recent interest in Saint Paul. The final chapter by Kathy Ehrensperger is an exploration of the possibility of a dialogue between Paul of Tarsus and Emmanuel Levinas.

Paul's Critique of Theocracy offers an interpretation of select texts in Corinthians and Galatians concerned with the establishment of legitimate authority in the Christian community. Odell-Scott argues that for Paul, no one may boast that they are selected by God, and no one has the authority to rule as God's representative. Paul also criticizes those who exhibit a superior "sacredness" over other community members. Contrary to most scholarly views, Odell-Scott argues that Paul is not taking sides in a debate about the proper authority structure. Rather, he criticizes any notion of such a structure, opposing it with his metaphor of the Church as the body of Christ and the "sacred family" of God. The exegesis is also sketched out in a postmodern framework criticizing hierarchy through differentiation.