Paul the Apostle: truth-seeker or cunning deceiver?

The startling title of An Apostle for Atheists reflects Norwegian author and theologian Ole Jakob Løland’s unique approach to Saul of Tarsus, who later became Paul the Apostle after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Many regard Paul as the second founder of Christianity and its first theologian. While theologians have written extensively about the man and his epistles that dominate the New Testament, philosophers have recently started applying a different lens to his writings. Løland’s book thoroughly analyzes the modern and contemporary philosophical perspective on Paul, while noting that the philosophers’ interest in Paul does not imply a return to traditional faith or institutionalized religion.

Paul is the biblical author who has attracted the most interest from philosophers, both past and present. In the 17th century, Baruch Spinoza regarded him as the epitome of an apostle-philosopher, a credible biblical eyewitness, and a rational exception in a sea of irrational characters. Almost two centuries later, Friedrich Nietzsche saw him as a “dysangelist” — a bearer of bad news — and an imposter who distorted history. A few years after Nietzsche, Max Weber noted Paul’s callous indifference towards the world, while Martin Heidegger chose Paul’s epistles to establish central tenets in his existential philosophy. Contemporary philosophers such as Agamben, Badiou, Zizek, Chritchley, Derrida, Kristeva, Taubes, Dawkins, and Onfray find Paul to be equally significant.

Neoatheists Richard Dawkins and Michel Onfray align with Nietzsche and view Paul as an example of the most irrational and destructive aspects of the Christian Bible, because of his belief that God required the sacrifice of his son to atone for the sins of humanity. Meanwhile, Slavoj Žižek dismisses people who hold such views as “vulgar atheists and humanists.”

Some philosophers reject Nietzsche, but see Paul as an “integral part of the genealogy of modern criticism of religion.” They view him as a thinker with strong philosophical convictions in pursuit of truth and with significant potential to secularize. Badiou highlights Paul’s militant position in favor of universalism, which promotes equality among all individuals, countering the current trend of politics being driven by individual interests and the globalization of capitalism. Žižek also shares this perspective, as he believes Paul breaks away from all forms of communitarianism and advocates for unconditional universalism.

Agamben and Taubes analyze Paul’s writings in relation to Walter Benjamin’s messianism. Agamben criticizes the exclusive authority of the church in interpreting the Pauline epistles, and its suppression of Jewish messianism. He highlights the powerful messianic power in Paul’s letters, which can be interpreted as a form of resistance against the existing world order. Taubes views Paul as the originator of the theology of the cross, which challenges societal values. He notes that God’s chosen people are often the weakest and lowliest members of society, while the wise and powerful are subject to divine judgment.

In his book, Løland examines the viewpoints of these philosophers regarding two of Paul’s epistles: 1 Corinthians and Romans 1. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians critiques ancient hierarchies and views life from the perspective of lower levels of society. Romans offers a criticism of Old Testament law, which philosophers interpret as a critique of ideology. It presents a tragic, introspective depiction of human existence. Romans also acknowledges the priority given to “justice” as a “horizon outside the law and independent of the logic of law.”

An Apostle for Atheists demonstrates that Paul was not a conservative political theologian, but rather an anti-establishment thinker. Løland and many modern philosophers largely concur with Richard Horsley, a Pauline scholar, who portrays him as a radical theologian opposed to imperialism and the prevailing world view.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition