Pauline Theology as a Way of Life
A Vision of Human Flourishing in Life
By Joshua W. Jipp
Baker Academic, 288 pages, $26.59
Emily Dickinson’s famous aphorism captures the spirit of this book perfectly: “Tell the truth but tell it slant, / Success in circuit lies.” Joshua Jipp is clear that almost all commentators on Paul’s theology have felt compelled to make it fit the matrices of systematic theology. In doing so, Jipp argues, they fail to grasp the aim of Paul’s writings and the richness of their application to human life lived within the atmosphere of the Christian faith. He applies this analysis to those whom he describes as the “ancient philosophers” (both Greek and Latin) and our contemporary world, a selection of “positive psychologists.”
Following an introductory chapter on “Pauline Theology as a Quest for Living a Good Human Life,” the book divides into two parts. The shorter first part focuses on the vision of the ancient philosophers and then the contribution of positive psychology.The second part describes “A Pauline Theology of the Good Life.” The thinking behind this methodology is made clear, early on, when Jipp notes: “While he does not use the language of eudaimonia, Paul’s letters bear the hallmarks of those ancient eudaimonistic moral philosophers who posited a singular supreme good for humanity’s life orientation.”
Hence, the second main chapter offers a useful survey of ancient philosophy, including Socrates, the Stoics, Epicureans, and Cynics, Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca. There are three indices — a table of the ancient philosophical writers, the usual table of biblical references, and a list of contemporary scholars. The third chapter offers a similar analysis of writers from the positive psychology school.Throughout the book, the argument is set out under a number of main theses. Although these are helpful, on one level, charting the course of Jipp’s argument, on another level, they present a certain irony inasmuch as they offer a new set of matrices replacing those of systematic theology.
Throughout this analysis, there are broad references to the similarities but also the contrasts between the ancient and contemporary witnesses. This process is continued at a more detailed level as Jipp describes what he believes to be Paul’s parallel but contrasting eudaimonistic account of human flourishing. Here, Paul’s theology is described under four generous headings — transcendence, moral agency, love, and spiritual practices.
At the start, Jipp sets out his stall: “In what follows, I make the case that Paul’s letters make excellent sense as offering robust profile of the story and goal of human existence as being orbited toward sharing in the life of God through the person of Christas humanity’s supreme good.” The analysis of the early philosophers makes good sense in capturing the eudaimonistic thread in Paul. The contemporary witnesses feel to be a rather more eccentric choice for contrast.
This is an invigorating account, since in relation to many other Pauline studies, Jipp’s analysis does effectively “tell it slant” — it is a refreshing contrast to most traditional approaches. Indeed, it is also a clear and attractive introduction to a eudaimonistic moral theology, which feels to have fallen out of fashion of late, and is an approach to some extent almost “endemic” in Anglican moral theology. There are afew quibbles. It is odd that Jipp doesnot include a more significant analysis of Romans 12:1-15, which could be seen as a Pauline manifesto for a eudaimonistic moral theology. The reversion to theses feels repetitive, but these are small complaints about what is otherwise a refreshingly different approach to Pauline theology.
