Ole Jakob Loland Books

Exploring Zizek's unique interpretation of Paul, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the Marxist philosopher's readings and their implications for contemporary thought. It critically engages with Zizek's radical leftist perspectives, examining how he reinterprets the legacy of the apostle Paul. By utilizing reception history, the work highlights the interplay between historical and philosophical concepts, revealing how Zizek's approach reshapes our understanding of these ideas in a modern context.

"This is the first book devoted entirely to exploring Žižek's peculiar kind of Paulinism. It seeks to provide a full map of the Marxist philosopher's interpretations of Paul and critically engage with it. As one of several radical leftists of European critical thought, Žižek embraces the legacy of an ancient apostle in fascinating ways. This work considers Žižek's philosophical and political readings of Paul through the lens of reception history, and argues that through this recent philosophical turn to Paul, notions of the historical and philosophical are reproduced and negotiated anew"--Back cover

Jacob Taubes radically changed our conceptions of Paul the apostle. Loland shows how we can approach Paul's letters with the distinctive perspective of this Jewish rabbi steeped in continental philosophy. The book emphasizes Paul's Jewishness as well as the political explosiveness of the apostle's revolutionary doctrine of the cross, which the author terms Pauline Ugliness.