Solidarity and Difference: A Contemporary Reading of Paul's Ethics

(Paperback, 2nd edition)

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David G. Horrell presents a study of Pauline ethics, examining how Paul's moral discourse envisages and constructs communities in which there is a strong sense of solidarity but also legitimate difference in various aspects of ethical practice. Horrell reads New Testament texts with an explicit awareness of contemporary ethical theory, and assesses Paul's contribution as a moral thinker in the context of modern debate. Using a framework indebted to the social sciences, as well as to contemporary ethical theory, Horrell examines the construction of community in Paul's letters, the notions of purity, boundaries and identity, Paul's attempts to deal with diversity in his churches, the role of imitating Christ in Paul's ethics, and the ethic Paul develops for interaction with 'outsiders'. Finally, the pattern of Paul's moral thinking is considered in relation to the liberal-communitarian debate, with explicit consideration given to the central moral norms of Pauline thought, and the prospects for, and problems with, appropriating these in the contemporary world. This Cornerstones edition includes an extended reflective introduction and a substantial foreword from N.T. Wright.

Reviews

One of the most creative and innovative books about Paul I have ever read. * N. T. Wright, Paul and His Recent Interpreters, 2015 *
In a global, pluralist, fractured world, may Christians hope to find a healing and hopeful word in - of all places - the letters of Paul, themselves centers of controversy and division from the beginning Horrell answers with a resounding "Yes", After a penetrating analysis and critique of the polarized conversation among ethicists in recent decades, he proposes a new, "third way" to find a model in Paul for communities that embrace the other without losing their identity. * Wayne A. Meeks, Yale University, USA *
This is a bold and highly stimulating intellectual experiment...Through close study of key texts and carefully reasoned debates across multiple disciplines, Horrell reconfigures the Pauline ethic and opens it up to dialogue with public morality as never before. Both New Testament scholars and ethicists will welcome this ground-breaking work. * John Barclay, Durham University, UK *
There is much exegetical and moral wisdom in this lucidly written book, a wisdom which avoids simplifications and the peril of modernizing Paul. The Paul we encounter in this book is no eccentric, but a serious moral thinker of Early Christian wrestling with problems which are not out of date, but which recur again and again in this life. * Gerd Theissen, University of Heidelberg, Germany *
David Horrell's nuanced study significantly advances the conversation about Pauline ethics...Horrell's reading of Paul offers a mediating voice that suggests a way beyond certain impasses in contemporary ethical debate...Anyone who reads Horrell's richly synthetic work, therefore, will be challenged to think more precisely about matters of central importance. * Richard B. Hays, Duke Divinity School, USA *

Author Bio

David G. Horrell is Professor of New Testament at the University of Exeter UK, and author of Becoming Christian (T&T Clark 2013).