The spirit and the letter
Subtitle: a tradition and a reversal
By: edited by Paul S. Fiddes with Günter Bader
Series: T & T Clark theology
Publisher: Bloomsbury T & T Clark
Published: 2013
Place of publication: London, UK
Language: eng
Number of pages: 266
ISBN-13: 9780567272898; 9780567252197; 9780567218858
Subjects: Letter and spirit antithesis (Pauline doctrine); Exegese; Geist und Buchstabe; Rezeption
Description: Paul's statement that 'letter kills but the spirit gives life' [2 Corinthians 3.6] has had an extraordinary impact on Christian thought through the ages. It has been read both as affirming the saving power of the new covenant in comparison to the old, and as a key to hidden, spiritual meanings in the text of scripture. It is, however, an ambiguous phrase, followed by a tangled story. This book explores the Pauline distinction both in its original context and in its aftermath in the early church, the Reformation and modern Biblical Studies. It then considers a postmodern reversal, where ideas of 'Spirit' are often seen as 'deadly' and the openness of the 'letter' or text as life-affirming, and it draws conclusions for spirit in the world.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-258) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Part 1. The project. Whatever happened to a Pauline text? : 2 Cor. 3.6 and its afterlife / Paul Fiddes and Günter Bader; title: Part 2. Spirit and letter : a tradition. 'Spirit' and 'letter' in the New Testament / Michael Wolter; title: Spirit and letter : mapping modern biblical interpretation / Robert Morgan; title: From the letter to the spirit to the letter : the faith as written creed / Wolfram Kinzig; title: Spirit and letter in Origen and Augustine / Morwenna Ludlow; title: Part 3. Letter and spirit : a reversal. The late-modern reversal of spirit and letter : Derrida, Augustine and film / Paul S. Fiddes; title: Spirit and letter : letter and spirit in Schleiermacher's speeches 'On religion' / Günter Bader; title: Inspired reading, speaking and listening : letter and spirit in preaching / Michael Meyer-Blanck; title: Letter and spirit adrift : Kafka, Scholem, and the late-modern crisis of hermeneutics / Jochen Schmidt; title: Part 4. Conclusion : spirit in the world. Spirit, letter and body / Oliver Davies.