Christ without Adam : subjectivity and sexual difference in the philosophers' Paul /

Dunning (Fordham Univ.; Aliens and Sojourners, CH, Jan'10, 47-2503) here critiques the ways Continental philosophers such as Stanislas Breton, Slavoj Zizek, and Alain Badiou used the thought of Paul of Tarsus, an early Christian thinker. For these philosophers, Paul's writings provided an argument for a "universal subject" or a notion of "event" that they then used for the purposes of political philosophy. Dunning argues that Paul's thought about Christian subjectivity, especially in the biblical book of Romans, was intricately tied to two physical bodies--the body of Adam in the book of Genesis and the body of the living Jesus and risen Christ. As a result, it is necessarily sexed and gendered. Dunning's exegetical sophistication is evident as he questions the accuracy and care with which Continental philosophy interprets Pauline thought. The book concludes by urging thoughtful reflection in working with sources of Christian tradition that can be problematic for current understandings of gender, bodies, and philosophy. An important book for advanced students of theology and philosophy. --Aaron Wesley Klink, Duke University