Paul and the Person: Reframing Paul's Anthropology

by Susan Eastman

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2017

Overview

In this book Susan Grove Eastman presents a fresh and innovative exploration of Paul's participatory theology in conversation with both ancient and contemporary conceptions of the self. Juxtaposing Paul, ancient philosophers, and modern theorists of the person, Eastman opens up a conversation that illuminates Paul's thought in new ways and brings his voice into current debates about personhood.

Eastman devotes close attention to the Pauline letters within their first-century context, particularly the Greco-Roman fascination with questions of performance and identity. At the same time, she draws out connections to recent trends in psychology and neurobiology in order to situate Paul's insights in deep dialogue with contemporary understandings of human identity.

Key Features

• Explores different approaches to anthrophology and Paul's thought
• Takes seriously contemporary understandings of neurobiology and cognitive science
• Places contemporary science in dialogue with ancient views of identity and humanity

Contents

• Introduction: The Puzzle of Pauline Anthropology
• Part One: A Three-Way Conversation
  • The Way to Freedom: Epictetus on the Person
  • “Who Are You?”: Contemporary Perspectives on the Person
  • Embodied and Embedded: The Corporeal Reality of Pauline Participation
• Part Two: Participation and the Self
  • Relationality Gone Bad: The Evacuation of the Self in Romans 7
  • Divine Participation: The New Christological Agent in Philippians 2
  • The Saving Relation: Union with Christ in Galatians 2
• Conclusion: Pushing the Reset Button on Paul’s Anthropology

Top Highlights

“Taken together, they suggest a pattern of talking about persons in which the self is never on its own but always socially and cosmically constructed in relationship to external realities that operate internally as well.” (Page 8)

“The claim that for Paul the self is always a self-in-relation-to-others raises further questions: what kind of agency is implied and exercised by a self that is not solely self-determining?” (Page 9)

“Rather, he displays a functional understanding of human beings as relationally constituted agents who are both embodied and embedded in their world. Exploring that understanding is basic to the purpose of this book.” (Page 2)

“These two actors could not be more opposed to one another. Yet the structure of these opposing constructions of the self is remarkably similar. In both cases the self is a self-in-relation-to-another, suggesting that it is not only ‘in Christ,’ but also in the realm of sin and death, that the person is shaped in relationship to a separate entity that is both external and indwelling.” (Page 7)

“If the self is structured in other-relationship, then its liberation and health require a radically new relational matrix.³⁹ Paul finds that new relationship in Christ’s mimetic assimilation to the situation of Adamic humanity to the point of crucifixion, and his subsequent victory over condemnation and death.” (Page 125)

Praise for the Print Edition

This book does give us rich new insight into Paul and well-conceived language with which to communicate his theology effectively today. That is a precious gift indeed.

—John Barclay, Lightfoot Professor of Divinity Durham University

Product Details

• Title: Paul and the Person: Reframing Paul’s Anthropology
• Author: Susan Eastman
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 223
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Theological anthropology › Christianity; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Theology; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9780802868961, 0802868967
• Resource ID: LLS:PLPRSNPNTHRPLGY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:15:18Z

About Susan Eastman

Professor Eastman teaches in the biblical and ministerial divisions, teaching both New Testament and Christian Education courses. Her scholarly focus is on Paul’s letters in relationship to the formation of Christian identity through the life of the local church. She has written on Paul’s use of relational imagery to proclaim the gospel’s power to transform and sustain Christian communities over time. Her current project is “Teaching at the End of the World: Apocalyptic Education in the New Testament,” which explores the correlation between message and method in New Testament texts. Her most recent publication is “The Foolish Father and the Economics of Grace,” in The Expository Times.