Ole Jakob Løland – författare

In recent decades Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, and Slavoj Žižek have shown the centrality of Paul to western political and philosophical thought and made the Apostle a central figure in left-wing discourses far removed from traditional theological circles. Yet the recovery of Paul beyond Christian theology owes a great deal to the writings of the Jewish rabbi and philosopher Jacob Taubes (1923–1987). Pauline Ugliness shows how Paul became an effective tool for Taubes to position himself within European philosophical debates of the twentieth century. Drawing on Nietzsche's polemical readings of the ancient apostle as well as Freud's psychoanalysis, Taubes developed an imaginative and distinct account of political theology in confrontations with Carl Schmitt, Theodor Adorno, Hans Blumenberg, and others. In a powerful reconsideration of the apostle, Taubes contested the conventional understanding of Paul as the first Christian who broke definitively with Judaism and drained Christianity of its political potential. As a Jewish rabbi steeped in a philosophical tradition marked by European Christianity, Taubes was, on the contrary, able to emphasize Paul's Jewishness as well as the political explosiveness of his revolutionary doctrine of the cross.This book establishes Taubes's account of Paul as a turning point in the development of political theology. Løland shows how Taubes identified the Pauline movement as the birth of a politics of ugliness, the invention of a revolutionary criticism of the 'beautiful' culture of the powerful that sides instead with the oppressed.

In recent decades Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, and Slavoj Žižek have shown the centrality of Paul to western political and philosophical thought and made the Apostle a central figure in left-wing discourses far removed from traditional theological circles. Yet the recovery of Paul beyond Christian theology owes a great deal to the writings of the Jewish rabbi and philosopher Jacob Taubes (1923–1987). Pauline Ugliness shows how Paul became an effective tool for Taubes to position himself within European philosophical debates of the twentieth century. Drawing on Nietzsche's polemical readings of the ancient apostle as well as Freud's psychoanalysis, Taubes developed an imaginative and distinct account of political theology in confrontations with Carl Schmitt, Theodor Adorno, Hans Blumenberg, and others. In a powerful reconsideration of the apostle, Taubes contested the conventional understanding of Paul as the first Christian who broke definitively with Judaism and drained Christianity of its political potential. As a Jewish rabbi steeped in a philosophical tradition marked by European Christianity, Taubes was, on the contrary, able to emphasize Paul's Jewishness as well as the political explosiveness of his revolutionary doctrine of the cross.This book establishes Taubes's account of Paul as a turning point in the development of political theology. Løland shows how Taubes identified the Pauline movement as the birth of a politics of ugliness, the invention of a revolutionary criticism of the 'beautiful' culture of the powerful that sides instead with the oppressed.

This book explores the political dimension of Pope Francis’ theology from a variety of perspectives and makes a unique contribution to the ongoing historiography of his pontificate. It defines the concept of political theology when applied to Pope Francis’ discourse and reflects on the portrayal of him as the voice of Latin America, a great reformer and a revolutionary. The chapters offer a thorough investigation of core texts and key moments in Pope Francis’ papacy (2013-), focusing in particular on their relation to canon theory, liberation theology, the rise of populism, and gender issues. As well as documenting some of the continuities between the ideas of Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI, the author asks what the Argentinian pontiff has brought from Latin America and considers the Latin American dimension to what has become known as the ‘Francis effect’. Overall, the book demonstrates how the Pope’s words and actions constitute a powerful political theology disseminated from a unique religious and institutional position. It will be of interest to scholars of theology, religion, and politics, particularly those with a focus on world Catholicism, political theology, and church history.

This book explores the political dimension of Pope Francis’ theology from a variety of perspectives and makes a unique contribution to the ongoing historiography of his pontificate. It defines the concept of political theology when applied to Pope Francis’ discourse and reflects on the portrayal of him as the voice of Latin America, a great reformer and a revolutionary. The chapters offer a thorough investigation of core texts and key moments in Pope Francis’ papacy (2013-), focusing in particular on their relation to canon theory, liberation theology, the rise of populism, and gender issues. As well as documenting some of the continuities between the ideas of Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI, the author asks what the Argentinian pontiff has brought from Latin America and considers the Latin American dimension to what has become known as the ‘Francis effect’. Overall, the book demonstrates how the Pope’s words and actions constitute a powerful political theology disseminated from a unique religious and institutional position. It will be of interest to scholars of theology, religion, and politics, particularly those with a focus on world Catholicism, political theology, and church history.

This book is an accessible overview of the Bible’s complex and evolving reception in popular culture. Drawing on biblical interpretations in TV, film, and music, it demonstrates the enduring diversity of the Bible’s reception history.Ranging from Genesis and Exodus of the Hebrew Bible to the Gospels and Revelation of the New Testament, its biblical chronology takes a book-by-book format that locates and examines various examples of how these texts have been read, received, and interpreted. Case studies include The Handmaid's Tale, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Da Vinci Code, and Family Guy. Woven within these chapters is fresh analysis of how themes of parody, satire, sex, and conspiracy appear in these biblical interpretations.This book is an engaging resource for students encountering biblical reception history in popular culture for the first time, and it will also be of wider interest to those intrigued by the interplay between religion, culture, and media.

This book is an accessible overview of the Bible’s complex and evolving reception in popular culture. Drawing on biblical interpretations in TV, film, and music, it demonstrates the enduring diversity of the Bible’s reception history.Ranging from Genesis and Exodus of the Hebrew Bible to the Gospels and Revelation of the New Testament, its biblical chronology takes a book-by-book format that locates and examines various examples of how these texts have been read, received, and interpreted. Case studies include The Handmaid's Tale, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Da Vinci Code, and Family Guy. Woven within these chapters is fresh analysis of how themes of parody, satire, sex, and conspiracy appear in these biblical interpretations.This book is an engaging resource for students encountering biblical reception history in popular culture for the first time, and it will also be of wider interest to those intrigued by the interplay between religion, culture, and media.

What is a modern philosopher to make of Paul, the apostle? What do non-Christian philosophers in Europe gain from reading ancient letters from Christianity’s first great ideologue, and letters addressed to groups of people lost to time? To ask this question is to acknowledge that despite religious faith being regarded by many as a stage that our modern societies have left behind, contemporary philosophers are confronted with questions such as multiculturalism and religious fundamentalism in the wake of immigration and the increasing presence of religious minorities.The Letters of Paul have gained the interest of several philosophers, and the interpretations of the apostle have taken many forms. Looking closely at Paul’s letters which have gained most interest from atheist philosophers, The First Letter to the Corinthians and the Letter to the Romans, this book offers an overview of the various ways they have been understood. It pays close attention also to the readings of Paul in the three thinkers, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud – canonized as two of the great pillars of the modern critique of religion – with Spinoza as one of their important predecessors. Confronting these readings with insights not only from the more recent philosophical readings of the apostle but also from historical-critical scholarship on the Bible, this book lifts the veil over a new picture of the apostle as a figure with potential value for non-Christians and atheists.An Apostle for Atheists leaves us with ideas that compel us to reconsider Paul’s negative reputation for secular modernity and appreciate him as a figure of a radically new politics as well as a renewed psychoanalysis.

What is a modern philosopher to make of Paul, the apostle? What do non-Christian philosophers in Europe gain from reading ancient letters from Christianity’s first great ideologue, and letters addressed to groups of people lost to time? To ask this question is to acknowledge that despite religious faith being regarded by many as a stage that our modern societies have left behind, contemporary philosophers are confronted with questions such as multiculturalism and religious fundamentalism in the wake of immigration and the increasing presence of religious minorities.The Letters of Paul have gained the interest of several philosophers, and the interpretations of the apostle have taken many forms. Looking closely at Paul’s letters which have gained most interest from atheist philosophers, The First Letter to the Corinthians and the Letter to the Romans, this book offers an overview of the various ways they have been understood. It pays close attention also to the readings of Paul in the three thinkers, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud – canonized as two of the great pillars of the modern critique of religion – with Spinoza as one of their important predecessors. Confronting these readings with insights not only from the more recent philosophical readings of the apostle but also from historical-critical scholarship on the Bible, this book lifts the veil over a new picture of the apostle as a figure with potential value for non-Christians and atheists.An Apostle for Atheists leaves us with ideas that compel us to reconsider Paul’s negative reputation for secular modernity and appreciate him as a figure of a radically new politics as well as a renewed psychoanalysis.

This work considers Žižek's philosophical and political readings of Paul through the lens of reception history, and argues that through this recent philosophical turn to Paul, notions of the historical and philosophical are reproduced and negotiated anew.