Scandal of Community

Using the thought of Italian philosopher Robert Esposito, Taylor M. Weaver provides a new reading of Pauline community.

The Scandal of Community is an Espositoian reading of Paul through which one learns much about this continental philosopher and his interlocutors and how they are reading Paul. Along the way, Weaver has some great turns of phrase (e.g. "playing with Paul's cadaver" [3]) and the book holds up well alongside other critical philosophical readings of Paul and should be read by those whose interests and research areas find their focus there.-- "Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses", Taylor M. Weaver's new book marks an important moment in biblical studies. Readings of Paul in critical theory and philosophy have typically come from outside the field but Taylor belongs to an innovative and growing tradition of New Testament scholars who are now able to make serious contributions to these high-profile cross-disciplinary debates. Anyone interested in the philosophical Paul, as well as political readings of biblical texts and Pauline studies generally, will have to engage seriously and carefully with this impressive contribution.--James Crossley, St Mary's University, London, In this elegantly written volume Taylor M. Weaver develops a critical engagement with Paul's notion of community, specifically with 2 Corinthians 8 and the Collection, which is as richly philosophical as it is rooted in the field of Pauline studies. Weaver's wider challenge to the field of New Testament studies is to embrace and engage with contemporary philosophical discourse, just as some of the early pioneers of New Testament studies did. Rather than be suspicious of its potentially "distorting" effects on exegesis, such engagement, Weaver strongly argues, is key to allowing the New Testament to inform critical thinking about community today.--David G. Horrell, University of Exeter, UK

Taylor M. Weaver (PhD, University of Kent, UK) is a Pauline scholar who has published in the areas of New Testament, political theology, the reception of Paul, and continental philosophy.