Outlaw justice : the Messianic politics of Paul

257 Pages·2013·9.91 MB·English

by  the Apostle Saint. Paul

outlaw justice

Cultural Memory
in
the
Present
Hent de Vries, Editor

OUTLAW JUSTICE
The Messianic Politics of Paul
Theodore W. Jennings, Jr.
stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission
of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jennings, Theodore W., author.
Outlaw justice : the Messianic politics of Paul / Theodore W. Jennings, Jr.
pages cm. — (Cultural memory in the present)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8047-8516-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8047-8517-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Bible. N.T. Romans—Philosophy. 2. Paul, the Apostle, Saint—Political and
social views. 3. Justice—Biblical teaching. 4. Justice (Philosophy) I. Title.
II. Series: Cultural memory in the present.
BS2665.6.J8J456 2013
227’.106—dc23
2012033120
ISBN 978-0-8047-8599-0 (electronic)
Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Getting Ready to Read Romans 1
First Part of Romans 13
1. Making Connections (1:1–17), 13
First Phase: The Unjust Social Order (1:18–3:20) 30
2. The Critique of Pagan Injustice (1:18–2:5), 30—
3. Transition: The Impartiality of Divine Justice
(2:6–16), 44—4. The Critique of the Polity of
Israel (2:17–3:20), 50
Second Phase: The Coming of Messianic Justice
(3:21–5:21) 59
5. Justice Outside the Law (3:21–31), 60—6. The Justice
of Abraham (4:1–25), 70—7. Messianic Justice (4:25–5:11),
80—8. How Much More: The Adamic and the
Messianic (5:12–21), 88
Third Phase A: Before and After (6:1–7:6) 99
9. Living After Dying (6:2–11), 100—10. Partial Analogies
(6:12–7:6), 105
Third Phase B: The Great Transition (7:7–8:39) 111
11. Death and the Law (7:7–25), 111—12. The Spirit
and Life (8:1–17), 121—13. Affliction and Solidarity
(8:18–39), 130
viii Contents
Fourth Phase: Divine Promise and Improvisation
(9:1–11:36) 139
14. Has the Promise Failed? (9:1–29), 140—15. The
History of Justice (9:30–10:4), 152—16. Speaking and
Hearing: How Justice Comes (10:5–21), 155—17. The
Redemption of (All) Israel (11:1–12), 161—18. Warning
to the Nations (11:12–24), 166—19. Eucatastrophe
(11:25–36), 172
Fifth Phase: The Corporate Improvisation of Justice
in the Now-Time (12:1–15:13) 176
20. The Messianic Body (12:1–13), 178—21. Overcome
Evil with Good (12:14–13:7), 186—22. After the Law
(13:8–14), 194—23. Welcome: The Messianic Sociality
(14:1–15:13), 200
Coda 215
24. Paul’s Messianic Mission (15:14–33), 215—25. Traces
of the New Sociality (16:1–27), 222
Bibliography 233
Index 239
Acknowledgments
I was initiated into the complexities and pleasures of reading Paul
by Hendrikus Boers, with whom over the course of forty years I had the
pleasure of long-night conversations about Paul, and Romans in particu-
lar. It was with him that I learned the challenges of a “humanistic” inter-
pretation of the New Testament (even though our theological perspectives
were quite different). The first fruit of that interest was my book Reading
Derrida / Thinking Paul: On Justice, which interrupted work on the cur-
rent project and also reoriented it. The former book was published before
Hendrik’s untimely death.
This book could not have been written without the critical and
enthusiastic engagement of many students in seminars on Romans begin-
ning in Mexico in 1984 and continuing for many years at the Chicago
Theological Seminary. In addition, students in my seminars that engaged
contemporary continental philosophy have made many important contri-
butions. I am as always grateful to them and for them.
I am grateful to Adam Kotsko, who graciously agreed to cast his
expert eye over the manuscript, to the anonymous readers for the Press
who made several helpful suggestions, and to the editors at Stanford,
Emily-Jane Cohen and Hent de Vries, who encouraged the publication
of this book. Tim Roberts and the editorial team have made invaluable
contributions to the readability of this book.
The book is dedicated to all those I have been privileged to meet in
many parts of the world who are engaged in the struggle for a new society,
a democracy to come perhaps, in which exclusion and exploitation are
ended and all enter into the messianic radiance.