Abstract
Christian scholars (not to mention secular philosophers) today regularly take the Apostle Paul to be a political thinker and conscript him for shaping contemporary political theory and theology. Among them are John Howard Yoder and Oliver O’Donovan. In this book, Bertschmann asks whether they are on solid Pauline ground.
Bertschmann provides helpful brief summaries of the political theologies of the Anglican O’Donovan (ch. 2) and the Mennonite Yoder (ch. 3). O’Donovan develops a critical yet sympathetic account of the legitimacy of Christian political rule (a chastened Christendom) and a positive role for the state in God’s historical purposes—purposes that are nevertheless in the present time embodied most concretely in the church. The Pauline centerpiece here is Romans 13:1–7. Yoder, by contrast, considers worldly political rule by Christians to be a contradiction of the gospel of the crucified Messiah. The state, particularly in its use of the ‘sword,’ is at best a power used by God to restrain chaos and disorder. It is not the bearer of God’s historical purposes. That belongs to the church. Yoder’s political vision is rooted in the Christ hymn of Philippians 2:6–11.
Bertschmann carries out detailed exegesis of Philippians 2 & 3 (ch. 5) and Rom 13 (ch. 6) in view of their use in political theology, and brings them again into critical relation to O’Donovan and Yoder (ch. 7). Her thesis for each of the Pauline texts is summed up nicely in the chapter titles. In Chapter 5, ‘Bowing before Christ’, she argues that Philippians 2–3 offers very little by way of a political vision that might guide the church in its thinking about political authority and the role of the state (as Yoder does). Those who in the present time ‘bow before Christ,’ the cosmic Lord of lords, are believers in the church. How the cosmic rule of Christ applies to worldly rulers in the present is beyond the scope of Paul’s letter. In Chapter 6, ‘Nodding to the State’, Bertschmann argues that Paul puts forward a relatively positive view of worldly rulers (primarily to enact ‘judgment’), who are worthy of ‘support’ by Christians. But again, Paul provides no guidance on how Christians might relate Christ to worldly rule. His primary interest is in the church as a ‘community under authority’ in relation to Christ the Ruler.
Overall, this is an illuminating work on O’Donovan, Yoder, and Paul around questions of political theology. I would ask, critically, whether Bertschmann’s exegesis of Romans 13 really leads to the conclusion that Paul thought Christians should ‘support’ the ruling authorities; and whether Philippians ‘puts up a barrier to’ or ‘blocks’ Christian efforts toward political change.