Paul's New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology [Paperback]

Are there moments in Christian history when non-Christians in some ways understand Christianity better than Christians? The church fathers and mothers often did especially acute theology because they could remember well what it meant to inhabit non-Christian philosophies and religions. The Hindu Gandhi saw and acted on something in Christ's witness that many confessing Christians overlooked. Today some leading secular thinkers have turned to a surprising source: the apostle Paul. The rediscovery of Paul by atheistic or agnostic European philosophers is one of the most striking recent developments in philosophy--and certainly one of keen interest to the church.

Bringing together Radical Orthodox theologian John Milbank, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, and Creston Davis, who has been a student of both, this book reflects on Paul's new moment in secular philosophy. In a debate format, Žižek brings Marxist and post-Marxist ideas into a discussion with Milbank about the influence of Paul. The book also includes a contribution from Catherine Pickstock.

"What are we to make of continental philosophy's surprising turn to the figure of the apostle Paul? In Paul's New Moment, Žižek and Milbank are at it again assessing this very question. Together with Creston Davis and Catherine Pickstock, they engage the implications of Pauline theology for the furtherance of social thought today. What is at stake is nothing less than our escape from the ubiquity of multitudinous fundamentalisms, bourgeois liberalism, and the late capitalism that has captured the West today. For those navigating theology and the political, this collection of essays is timely, riveting, and well worth our focus and attention."--David Fitch, B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology, Northern Seminary, Chicago

John Milbank (PhD, University of Birmingham) is professor of religion, politics, and ethics at the University of Nottingham and director of the Centre for Philosophy and Theology. He previously taught at the University of Virginia and the University of Cambridge and is the author of numerous books, including the acclaimed Theology and Social Theory. Slavoj Žižek (PhD, University of Ljubljana) is a professor at the Institute for Sociology in Slovenia and professor of philosophy and psychoanalysis at the European Graduate School in Switzerland. He has published over fifty books and lectured at universities around the world. Creston Davis (PhD, University of Virginia) is assistant professor of religion at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He studied with both Milbank and Žižek and coedited Theology and the Political: The New Debate with them.