Saint Paul and Contemporary European Philosophy: The Outcast and the Spirit

The re-examination of Saint Paul's letters in contemporary European philosophy is one of the most important developments at the crossroads of philosophy and theology today. In this book, Gert-Jan van der Heiden offers a new and systematic account of the philosophical potential of these letters, focusing on the ontological implications of Paul's notions of the outcast and the spirit. He shows how this dialectic implies a new understanding of being and thinking and gives rise to a new art of living, both ethically and politically.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 31 July 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

The re-examination of Saint Paul's letters in contemporary European philosophy is one of the most important developments at the crossroads of philosophy and theology today.

In discussion with a range of authors contributing to this movement, including Heidegger, Badiou, Agamben, and Taubes, Gert-Jan van der Heiden offers a new and systematic account of the philosophical potential of these letters.

He does so by uncovering a dialectic of exception, which revolves around the Pauline notions of the outcast and the spirit.

Against a general tendency to understand the significance of Paul in politico-theological terms alone, van der Heiden focuses on the ontological potential of Saint Paul's letters by elucidating what they imply for our thinking about (non-)beings, world, event, time, exception, and spirit.

Ultimately, he shows how this dialectic implies a new understanding of being and thinking and gives rise to a new art of living, both ethically and politically.

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the philosophical significance of Saint Paul's letters and the ongoing dialogue between philosophy and theology in contemporary Europe.

Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399521727