Badiou’s Reading of Saint Paul

Abstract

There has been a renewed interest in reading Saint Paul from different aspects by contemporary political theology and philosophy. However, being encountered with the sickness of contemporary philosophy and regarding it as sophistry, Badiou turns to Paul as an anti-philosopher, model, and someone who answers the question of ‘conditions of universal singularity’. In this article, the underlying reasons for the importance of Paul for Badiou will be discussed. By reflecting on the intricacies of Badiou’s reading( reactivation of Paul), his approach to problems and goals of event philosophy will be revealed. Therefore, paying attention to Paul’s interpretation as a part of Badiou’s event philosophy project will pave the way for the understanding of Badiou’s thought. On the other hand, by studying this exemplification of Christian history, a light will be shed on how Badiou relates politics to truth and recreates the political figure of the event. In the end, the criticism of his reading of Saint Paul mostly by theologians will be examined and responded.

Keywords

• anti-philosophy
• badiou
• event
• political theology
• saint paul
• truth
• universal singularity