Abstract
Four features mark Campbell’s argument. First, he locates his interpretation of Paul within that of Karl Barth. This factor surfaces initially in that like Barth, he claims knowledge of God can be found only through the divine revelation that Jesus Christ is Lord. For Campbell as for Barth, this truth anchors all else. Second, he starkly and at times caustically contrasts this approach to knowledge of God with all other paths towards that end. He collectively lumps all such alternative approaches under the category of “foundationalism.” Readers familiar with Campbell’s previous work will recognize this theme. Third, Campbell applies what is known as Sachkritik (German for, literally, “subject criticism”) to Paul. This approach discerns Paul’s primary subject matter (Sache), then assesses his statements regarding other issues in light of that central one. For Rudolf Bultmann, the chief practitioner of Sachkritik, die Sache for Paul concerned the question of individual human existence. Everything else in Paul was read in that light. For Campbell, the revelation of God in Christ becomes the starting point for his assessment of Paul’s theology. Thus, as his subtitle indicates, Paul’s core understanding of God can be summarized as “the triumph of God’s love” as revealed in Jesus Christ. Finally, in order to think through the implications of Paul’s thought for modern readers, Campbell makes use of modern science as he sees necessary. So, for example, he draws upon Einstein’s conception of time in order to answer the problem of a so-called “intermediate state” between human death and resurrection.
Given the expansive nature of the book’s argument, any attempt at a full summary will fail to do it justice. In what follows I trace the overall logic of Campbell’s presentation in order to provide a flavor of his work. Campbell assembles his argument in twenty-nine readable and reasonably brief chapters gathered into four major parts: Resurrection, Formation, Mission, and Navigation. The section on Resurrection consists of eight chapters that define the contours and initial implications of God’s revelation in Christ. These form the key insights that Campbell unpacks in the rest of the book. He begins with his Barthian take on the revelation and then sets it in opposition to “foundationalism.” This revelation reveals God to be Trinitarian, living in loving relationship. Furthermore, God creates humanity to live in loving relationship with God and with one another in community. But sin has contaminated God’s purpose and these relationships have gone awry, with death as the result. God’s solution through Jesus’s death and resurrection provides us with a vantage point from which to look back with Paul and understand what went wrong. In the customary terminology of Pauline studies, Campbell sees a movement from solution to plight. Humans may now enjoy proper relationship with God, even if not yet in full, through participation in Jesus’s death and resurrection. In particular, those so united with Christ experience a renewed, peaceful mind—an experience Campbell sees encompassed in Paul’s “in Christ” language. Finally, Campbell understands election in covenantal terms as an expression of God’s love established before creation in order to transform and bring humans into this loving relationship with God. As such, election is universal, unconditional, and irrevocable. But the key for Campbell, die Sache, resides in God’s loving Being, purpose, and activities.
If Part One constructs this “big picture” understanding of God, God’s purpose, humanity’s plight, and God’s act to restore the divine purpose, the remaining three parts describe how God intends humans to embody that purpose. Campbell reasons that if the pursuit of communion with God and others is our ultimate destination, then we must work toward that communion now. He sees two dimensions to this activity: nurturing existing communities and founding new communities. Part Two on Formation (chs. 9–15) deals with nurturing communities now. Part Three on Mission (chs. 16–19) treats the project of new communities. Part Four on Navigation (chs. 20–29) extends the latter discussion by considering potential conflicts encountered as new communities confront matters of diversity.
If God’s purpose consists in the “communion” of God and humans in loving community, then relationships are central. As Campbell states, “A community of Jesus followers is therefore primarily a relational entity. Everything else is secondary” (p. 216). But such communities require formation, hence the subject of Part Two. God communicates God’s character through teachers, those most adept at walking in the ways of the Lord. As a result, Pauline communities necessarily bear a hierarchical structure, where leaders model the loving, sacrificial, faithful way of Jesus for everyone else. Thus, God’s people learn faithful following of Jesus, as born out in their relationships with one another, primarily through imitation. Such relationships resemble those of the Triune God.
Yet God’s love is “extrinsic,” seeking to draw in those outside existing communities of God’s people. In Part Three (Mission), the shortest of his major divisions, Campbell tackles this matter in four chapters. Mission takes place primarily through apostles, as modeled by Paul in Gal 1:15–16. Campbell explains proper mission as defining the outsider rightly, operating with an appropriate motive, and using the right method in an apt manner. For many readers, Campbell’s most controversial conclusions may be found in this discussion. For example, Campbell argues for a soft boundary between Christians and non-Christians, a difference asserted but only opaquely defined. Furthermore, he sees universalism as “implicit” in Paul, a reading consistent with his prioritizing of the “triumph” of God’s love. What is required on the church’s part is a mission of friendship whereby Christians meet the Other face to face, while seeking to discover where Christ is already involved in the Other’s life. He finds models of such friendship evangelism in the New Testament examples of Philemon and Lydia.
In the book’s longest major section (Navigation, chs. 20–29), Campbell identifies and addresses multiple potential conflicts that can arise as Christians follow Jesus, engaging conflicts with fellow Christians as well as with those outside the movement. He moves from broad principles of cross-cultural engagement toward their application to contemporary hot button issues such as sex and marriage, gender, colonialism, and supersessionism. Here as throughout the book, the governing principle features loving relationships modeled on the Trinity as revealed in Jesus Christ.
One final feature of note concerns the format of each chapter. Each concludes with multiple lists: a (sometimes lengthy) bullet point summary of the chapter’s arguments, comments on central biblical texts used in the chapter, a catalog of key secondary readings with annotations, suggestions for additional reading, and a bibliography. These sections make his primary arguments readily accessible and assist the reader who wants to pursue issues further.
What is one to make of all this? The book’s genuine strengths also contain within them its potential weaknesses. Campbell forces us to think carefully about a wide range of subjects both ancient and modern. But that breadth of content plus the manner in which he argues his case means the reader will oscillate between delight over new insights and bewilderment over what seem to be puzzling conclusions. The nature of Campbell’s project will inevitably evoke widespread responses.
Campbell’s deployment of Sachkritik should hardly prove controversial. Any attempt to grapple with Paul’s thought in big picture form necessitates a judgment regarding central and peripheral matters. Campbell argues for his manner of reading Paul, then meticulously develops its implications for the modern church. But does his lens for understanding Paul preclude the Apostle’s statements about possible condemnation at final judgment? Or would a reader from regions where Christians endure brutal persecution, such as northern India or Afghanistan, take exception to his depiction of soft boundaries between believers and non-believers?
None of these considerations take away from the fact that Campbell has penned a detailed, carefully reasoned, and thought-provoking interpretation of Paul for our present day. The result is a rich resource for fruitful engagement with Paul, as well as with the welter of controversial issues facing the contemporary church.