Book Review Monday
Perspectives on Paul by Ernst Käsemann
Ernst Käsemann’s Perspectives on Paul is a landmark contribution to 20th-century New Testament scholarship and Pauline theology. First published in German in the 1960s and translated into English in 1971, the volume collects a series of essays that fundamentally reshaped scholarly understandings of Paul. Käsemann, a student of Rudolf Bultmann, both extended and critiqued his teacher’s existentialist framework, offering a more historically rooted and theologically robust interpretation of Paul’s letters, particularly in relation to themes of apocalyptic, anthropology, and the meaning of Jesus’s death.
Key Themes and Contributions
At the heart of Käsemann’s interpretation is his insistence that apocalyptic is the mother of Christian theology. For Käsemann, Paul’s thought is best understood not through individual existential experience alone but through the lens of cosmic conflict and divine intervention. His essay “The Saving Significance of the Death of Jesus” contends that the crucifixion is not merely an ethical example or symbolic event but the definitive act in which God breaks the power of sin and death. The cross, for Käsemann, is an apocalyptic event—an unveiling of divine action that realigns the entire cosmos.
In “Paul’s Anthropology,” Käsemann focuses on the human person as understood within Paul’s theological vision. He critiques overly spiritualized or dualistic interpretations, emphasizing that Paul understands the human being in totality—as an embodied, historical, and communal being caught in the tension between the old aeon and the new creation inaugurated in Christ. Sin, in this framework, is not just moral failure but a cosmic power that enslaves humanity, and only God’s apocalyptic act in Christ can deliver us.
These two essays together illustrate Käsemann’s core convictions: that theology must be eschatological, that salvation is God’s action, not human ascent, and that Pauline theology remains deeply relevant for both ecclesial and ethical reflection.
Methodological Approach
Käsemann employs a historical-critical method, deeply informed by his training under Bultmann, but diverges from existentialism by insisting on Paul's message's historical and cosmic dimensions. He reads Paul with theological urgency, convinced that the apostle’s letters are not merely ancient texts but a witness to the radical intrusion of God’s justice into history.
His tone is sometimes polemical, aimed at theological complacency and scholarly reductionism. Käsemann’s work reflects his experience of resisting National Socialism and his conviction that theology must speak to the world's real political and spiritual crises.
Impact and Legacy
Perspectives on Pauline's life have had a profound influence on Pauline studies. Käsemann’s emphasis on the apocalyptic and the liberating power of Christ’s death shaped a generation of New Testament scholars. J. Louis Martyn, Susan Eastman, Beverly Gaventa, Douglas Campbell, and many more carried his insights forward.
Moreover, his insistence that theology must remain accountable to Scripture and historical reality offers an enduring challenge. Käsemann refuses a domesticated Paul and a faith that flees from the world’s suffering. He demands that readers take seriously the power of sin and the necessity of divine intervention.
Conclusion
Perspectives on Paul remains a vital resource for anyone serious about Pauline theology. Käsemann does not offer a systematic theology of Paul but a collection of theological provocations—essays that push us to see Paul not as a domesticated moralist but as a witness to the God who acts in radical grace. His vision of a crucified and risen Messiah who breaks the power of sin continues to resonate, calling readers to confront both the personal and political dimensions of redemption.