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Paul among the Postliberals illuminates Paul's thought by creating links between contemporary Pauline scholarship and the writings of postliberals such as Karl Barth, Stanley Hauerwas, and John Howard Yoder. Douglas Harink argues that the quintessentially Pauline doctrine of 'justification by faith' has been widely mistranslated and misunderstood; instead, he emphasizes that 'human faithfulness is action patterned after Christ's faithfulness' and the goal of the gospel is to free Christians-and the church-for faithful action. Reading Paul's ecclesiology in dialogue with Yoder's The Politics of Jesus, and his letter to the Galatians in dialogue with Hauerwas's apocalyptic Christology, Harink fills in the political contours of Paul's writings, identifying the church as a socio-political reality. Finally, bringing attention to an issue too often neglected or misread, Harink reviews several recent proposals for a Christian theology of Israel and Judaism (including those of Kendall Soulen, Scott Bader-Saye, and Bruce Marshall) arguing that more weight should be given to the Pauline doctrine of God's election of Israel. Clergy, professors, seminarians, and theology students will take a keen interest in this important new presentation of Pauline thought. Paul among the Postliberals will also provide a fascinating, unique, and timely text for college courses on Paul, the church, and contemporary theology.
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