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Who Gets Paul?

Posted Oct 21, 08:19 AM | 3 comments | by Steve Knight | Link

By Tony Jones, cross-posted from ReclaimingPaul.org:

A couple years ago, I was in a discussion about Dietrich Bonhoeffer when someone made the interesting comment, “Bonhoeffer bends a lot of different ways.” When I asked her to elucidate, she said, “Everyone reads Bonhoeffer, everyone claims him, and everyone quotes him approvingly: mainliners, evangelicals, Catholics.”

That got me to thinking about how rare it is that a theological figure is embraced by various ecclesiological factions. In the 20th century, I could really only think of two others: C.S. Lewis and Henri Nouwen. Go back further, and there’s a long gap, maybe all the way until Augustine.

But, of course, Paul is the ultimate bendable theologian. That’s one of the elements that makes studying Paul fun … and maddening.

I grew up in American mainline Protestantism. Sure we read Paul, but we weren’t obsessed with him by any means. (I didn’t even hear of the “Romans Road” until I was in my 30s.) So I was honestly surprised when my work in emergent church circles brought me into contact with many people who were reared in evangelical homes and churches. Many of them, it seemed to me, had been taught that they got Paul, and that no one else really did.

What that has led to, as earlier posts on this site have mentioned, is a struggle among some emergents in their relationship with Paul. He’s a bit like the crazy uncle at Thanksgiving dinner: You know you’re required to love him, but there are times you’d just as soon disown him because he’s a little frightening.

It’s the love-hate relationship with Paul that led to my suggestion for the title of this event: “Beyond Paulophilia and Paulophobia.” Alas, my recommendation was rejected, but the notion stands. Paul needs to be reclaimed, both by those who seem to love him more than Jesus, and by those who’d just as soon ignore him.
A few years ago, at his first Resurgence conference, emergent whipping boy Mark Driscoll advertised that his event would tackle the four biggest threats to the church, one of which was the “new perspective on Paul.” Although some might have chuckled that this was really not such a huge threat, it again goes to show how high the stakes really are for us as we talk about Paul.

Honestly, I’m not really a Paulophobic, but I will confess that it’s far more likely that I’ll turn to Phillipians than Romans. I need to and want to reclaim Paul. I’ll continue to put Jesus first, and to preach that we should read Paul through the lens of Jesus and not Jesus through the lens of Paul, but Paul, as ornery as he is, is a hugely important part of our family. The challenge is to embrace him for what he is, and, let me add, to develop a truly ecumenical reading of the ultimate bendable theologian.

Learn more about the Reclaiming Paul event in Kansas City, October 22-24.

Also, Jake Bouma will be liveblogging from the Reclaiming Paul event starting on Wednesday (#evpaul08). If you’re blogging from the conference, drop Jake a comment on his blog and let him know so he can link to you.

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Tony Jones is the national coordinator for Emergent Village. He is the author of a number of books, including The New Christians.

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