Books by Volker Rabens
Among the different understandings of the Spirit in the New Testament, Paul's Spirit language sta... more Among the different understandings of the Spirit in the New Testament, Paul's Spirit language stands out for being at once dynamic and sometimes impersonal—inviting comparison with the Stoic notion of spirit (pneuma) as a substance. Volker Rabens re-examines Paul’s statements about the Spirit in the widest possible contexts and argues that the alleged parallels with Stoic conceptions are at best ambiguous. Paul understands the work of the Spirit relationally, Rabens argues, and it is through intimate relationships that the Spirit transforms and empowers people's lives.
The purpose of “Key Approaches to Biblical Ethics” is to address fundamental as well as practical... more The purpose of “Key Approaches to Biblical Ethics” is to address fundamental as well as practical questions of methodology in examining the ethical material of the Bible. Sixteen scholars of international reputation, most of them leaders in the field of biblical ethics, discuss questions of biblical interpretation from the perspectives of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament ethics in close dialogue with one another. In the present volume both established and new approaches to biblical ethics are presented and discussed. The result is a volume of unprecedented scholarly interaction that provides key insights into issues of biblical ethics that play a significant role both for biblical interpretation as well as for methodological questions in Jewish and Christian ethics today.
In Religions and Trade a number of international scholars investigate the ways in which eastern a... more In Religions and Trade a number of international scholars investigate the ways in which eastern and western religions were formed and transformed from the perspective of “trade.” Trade changes religions. Religions expand through the help of trade infrastructures, and religions extend and enrich the trade relations with cultural and religious “commodities” which they contribute to the “market place” of human culture and religion. This leads to the inclusion, demarcation and densification as well as the amalgamation of religious traditions.
In an attempt to find new pathways into the world of religious dynamics, this collection of essays focuses on four elements or “commodities” of religious interchange: topologies of religious space, religious symbol systems, religious knowledge, and religious-ethical ways of life.
This volume gathers writings about the Spirit and Christ by notable scholars including Richard Ba... more This volume gathers writings about the Spirit and Christ by notable scholars including Richard Bauckham, D. A. Carson, James Dunn, and many others. Covering topics that are relevant for the worldwide church today — the life-giving work of the Spirit, the Spirit in Luke and Acts, the giving of the Spirit in John 19–20, pneumatology and justification, community life through the Spirit, and more — the twenty essays included will be a welcome resource for scholars and ministers. The Spirit and Christ in the New Testament and Christian Theology is also a fitting tribute to honoree Max Turner, whose outstanding scholarship has focused on pneumatology and Christology.
Articles by Volker Rabens
Philo of Alexandria has enjoyed great popularity in recent discussions of New Testament theology,... more Philo of Alexandria has enjoyed great popularity in recent discussions of New Testament theology, cosmology, and pneumatology. Particularly Philo and Paul share a long tradition of being read alongside each other in comparative studies of early Judaism, Greco-Roman literature, and early Christianity.
This comparison of Philo and Paul draws the following conclusions:
1. The fact that we see Philo wrestle with the Stoic materiality of πνεῦμα should make us wary of simply assuming that Paul of course had a material concept of the (divine) Spirit. The fact that Paul does not address this question or overtly presuppose such a materialist pneumatology allows for speculation. However, we should be frank that it is just that: speculation. It can be useful to analyze a certain (enigmatic) Pauline passage against the background of this hylozoistic hypothesis. Nevertheless, while it is possible that Paul and his companions held to a stofflich πνεῦμα-concept, we should not make our interpretation of the work of the Spirit or his theology in general depend on this hypothesis.
2. On the other hand, one also needs to avoid a false ‘physical-versus-mystical’ antithesis. Accordingly, one should steer clear of interpreting Paul and particularly his pneumatology with a Platonic framework. As I have argued elsewhere at greater length, there are no passages in Paul that suggest that he thought of πνεῦμα as being immaterial. Philo does define πνεῦμα as immaterial, but the distinction between immaterial and material is ambiguous (see, e.g., Aristotle, De anima I 405 a 7, and the discussion in section 1.1.).
3. Since the nature of the Spirit in Philo and Paul remains elusive, my concern is that the focus of certain strands of Pauline scholarship on the potentially physical mechanics of human transformation obstructs our view of the relational-mystical dynamics of transformation that are more explicitly at work in Paul. For this reason, the focus of the majority of my work on Philonic and Pauline pneumatology has been on how the Spirit functions rather than on its ontology.
4. While the mystical does not exclude the physical, it seems that the mystical-relational dynamics discussed in the second part of this chapter provide a better account of the various dimensions of human transformation that we find below the surface of the Philonic and Pauline texts.
5. Many of the key features that Philo and Paul ascribe to the work of the Spirit in the context of these dynamics can be classified as ‘mystical.’ In particular, we find in both authors the thematic connection of the work of the Spirit as enabling an intimate beholding of God that leads to a transformed, virtuous life. These significant parallels between the views on the work of the Spirit of the Hellenistic-Jewish philosopher from Alexandria and those of the Jewish-Christian apostle to the Gentiles do not require literary dependence of the latter on the former. Nor do they line up the apostle with a particular strand of cosmological reflection on ontology – be it Hellenistic-Jewish, Graeco-Roman or both – because we have seen that Paul does not explicitly clarify where he stands with regard to the supposed material substance monism of antiquity. However, the fact that these convergences between Philo and Paul exist suggests that both were part of a religious milieu which held similar outlooks on the activity of the divine Spirit. Like Paul, Philo interprets the Pentateuchal narrative of Moses’ meeting with God on Mount Horeb as transformation through contemplation. Strikingly, Philo uses the same key term for the beholding (as in a mirror) as employed by Paul, κατοπτρίζω, which is a biblical hapax legomenon.
6. For Philo and Paul, the relational dynamics of an intimate encounter with the divine are the secret of mystical transformation. For both, it is the Spirit that is the facilitator of this relational dynamic.
7. In contrast to Philo, Paul does not ascribe this ‘ministry of the Spirit’ (ἡ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος, 2 Cor. 3:8) to Moses. It is only in turning to Christ (3:16) that the ‘veil’ is lifted by the Spirit in the context of the missional ministry of Paul and the apostles. The Spirit thus has a Christological focus in Paul – also because the Spirit makes believers behold Christ and take on in his character.
8. While only Philo produces some abstract formulations on anthropology and pneumatology from a substance-perspective, neither Philo nor Paul provides us with a conclusive analysis of the potentially physical dimensions of human transformation. Both, rather, give room to the mysterious and mystical work of the πνεῦμα.
The Gospel of John presents us with a complex picture of the role of human agency in religious-et... more The Gospel of John presents us with a complex picture of the role of human agency in religious-ethical life. On the one hand, human beings are described as being incapable of understanding Jesus, his ways, and following his commandments (e. g. John 8:34; 12:40). This dilemma has been labeled by Don Carson as "negative universalism." On the other hand, religious-ethical life is depicted as a feasible option for followers of Jesus. As believers "abide in Jesus" they can "bear much fruit" (15:5). In this contribution, I want to investigate the reasons behind both the ability and the inability to act as religious-ethical agents. The first part of the study is devoted to an analysis of the dynamics of ethical enabling and their implicit anthropology. In this part, I will propose that in John, religiousethical life is made possible through the experience of divine love in an intimate, imitative relationship with Jesus the Messiah, the Father, and with the aid of the Spirit-Paraclete. I will argue that the implicit anthropology of this mode of ethical enabling is relational. In the second part, I will turn to some of the explicit (and partly "negative") anthropological statements of the Fourth Gospel and ask how these relate to the implicit anthropology of ethical enabling that was discussed in the first section.
This chapter provides practical guidance for moving from the Bible to ethics. The Bible is often ... more This chapter provides practical guidance for moving from the Bible to ethics. The Bible is often used and misused in the context of Christian ethics. For this reason, Volker Rabens’ programmatic chapter “Inspiring Ethics: A Hermeneutical Model for the Dialogue between Biblical Texts and Contemporary Ethics” starts with a number of critical reflections on why and how the Bible may nonetheless inspire ethics today. The main part of the chapter is then devoted to presenting and illustrating four dynamic perspectives for the dialogue between biblical texts and contemporary concerns of religious-ethical life. The four dynamic perspectives of his hermeneutical model – the Organon 2.0 – invite discussion of the potential interplay of (1) cultural differences and transcultural analogies, (2) cultural limitations and countercultural inclinations, (3) canonical diversity and canonical consistency, and (4) canonical diversity and canonical centrality. From the perspective of the parameter of canonical centrality, for example, it is argued that the biblical narrative of love as it culminates in the gospel of Jesus Christ may function as a primus inter pares reference point for the dialogue between biblical ethics and ethics today. In the course of a detailed discussion and practical illustration of these hermeneutical perspectives, Rabens also provides a critical review of a number of alternative proposals regarding the relation of the Bible and ethics.
(From the introduction by the editors:) Transformation, so Volker Rabens, stellt ein zentrales Th... more (From the introduction by the editors:) Transformation, so Volker Rabens, stellt ein zentrales Thema des Neuen Testaments dar. Um diese These zu untermauern, widmet sich Rabens der Thematik innerer und äußerer Transformation aus theologischer Sicht anhand der neutestamentlichen Erzählungen und stellt dabei zwei zentrale Ausgangsfragen: Transformation: Wovon? Und Transformation: Wohin? Nach der Klärung in welche Richtung Transformation theologisch zu verstehen ist und dass diese sowohl individuell als auch strukturell verstanden wird, beschreibt Rabens dies beispielhaft an der paulinischen Formulierung der »Metamorphose«. Zum Abschluss fragt Rabens konkret und herausfordernd nach: Wie funktioniert Transformation? Dann gibt er drei zentrale Antworten, die sein aus dem Neuen Testament entwickeltes theologisches Transformationsverständnis beschreiben: a) Gott initiiert Transformation, b) Menschen lassen sich auf die Transformationsinitiative Gottes ein, und c) Gott bringt die von ihm initiierten Transformationsprozesse zu einem konstruktiven Ende.
The history of Pauline research has uncovered, as well as created, several dualisms, false dichot... more The history of Pauline research has uncovered, as well as created, several dualisms, false dichotomies and cul-de-sacs that have played and still play a role in various interpretations of Paul. Susan Eastman's Paul and the Person (2017) sets out to reframe Paul's anthropology by opening a discursive window between Pauline scholarship and recent work in developmental psychology and neuroscience. In this article I discuss how Eastman manages to achieve this goal – by looking at her monograph from the perspective of five interpretative dichotomies: individual vs communal, Stoic vs Platonic and material vs immaterial, cognition vs emotion, relational vs ontological transformation, and human vs divine agency.
(From the introduction by the editors:) Volker Rabens untersucht in seinem Beitrag „Sein und Werd... more (From the introduction by the editors:) Volker Rabens untersucht in seinem Beitrag „Sein und Werden in Beziehungen. Grundzüge relationaler Theologie bei Paulus und Johannes“, wie in diesen Textcorpora Relationen beschrieben werden, die Sein und (Verändert-)Werden des Menschen bestimmen. Rabens arbeitet heraus, „dass Relationalität in der paulinischen und johanneischen Literatur jeweils eigene Metaphorik und Ausdrucksformen gefunden hat, aber dass selbst auf der sprachlichen Ebene eine große Konvergenz festzustellen ist (z.B. in der Familien-Metaphorik).“ In seinem Aufsatz geht er im Anschluss an den Beitrag von Wilfried Härle auch ausführlich auf mögliche Missverständnisse gegenüber relationalen Ansätzen ein und profiliert diese so in Auseinandersetzung mit ihrer Kritik.
(From the introduction by the editors:) Volker Rabens considers how Paul approached his mission, ... more (From the introduction by the editors:) Volker Rabens considers how Paul approached his mission, to make Christ known, in the urban settings of the first-century Roman Empire, analyzing how Paul chose the cities he visited and how he acted once he arrived in a city. Rabens argues that Paul was no mere pragmatist, but that his highly flexible practice and missiological principles were closely interlocked.
- Includes discussion of scholars such as Tom Wright, Rodney Stark, Thomas Robinson, Robert Sack, Ksenija Magda, Rainer Riesner -
[See also the more recent and more comprehensive "Inspiring Ethics" article from 2021, also here ... more [See also the more recent and more comprehensive "Inspiring Ethics" article from 2021, also here on my academia website.] The potential relevance of biblical ethics for today is a contested issue. What is the significance of individual ethical texts of the Bible, and how – if at all – can they be dialogue partners for the ethical discourses of the 21st century? This article suggests and discusses a number of interpretative steps on the way towards a fruitful dialogue between the biblical text and contemporary concerns of religious-ethical life. After some introductory remarks on the use of the Bible in a Christian context, the article submits six different parameters of practical hermeneutics in two sections (1. Text and culture, and 2. Text and canon). From the perspective of the parameter of canonical centrality, for example, it is argued that the biblical narrative of love as it culminates in the gospel of Jesus Christ stands out as a primus inter pares reference point for the dialogue between biblical ethics and ethics today. In the course of a nuanced discussion of these hermeneutical parameters the article also provides a critical review of a number of alternative proposals on the relationship of the Bible and ethics.
This chapter investigates Tom Wright’s portrayal of Paul’s ethics. As the ethical quality of fait... more This chapter investigates Tom Wright’s portrayal of Paul’s ethics. As the ethical quality of faithfulness is such a central theme in PFG, I raise the question whether Wright also attributes a central role to divine faithfulness in shaping and enabling human faithfulness (i.e. ethical life). In the first part (“What Wright Thinks is Wrong”), I maintain that Wright’s thinking on what is wrong with this world is not wrong, but that the emphasis is in the wrong place. Paul’s personal focus is on the solution, not on the plight. And with regard to the plight, his emphasis is on human enslavement to the external powers of Sin, Flesh, etc., and less so on internal incapacities. In the second part (“From Wrong to [W]Right: How Change is Possible”), I argue that Wright’s model of cognitive change through the “renewal of the mind” presents only one of several aspects of moral transformation in Paul, and that it puts too little trust in the empowering dynamics of Spirit-shaped intimate relationships. In the third part, I largely agree with Wright’s presentation of Paul’s ethical aims and aspirations (focusing on reconciliation, virtues, and fulfilment of the Torah), but I criticize that when it comes to questions of practical morality, Wright’s highflying study fails to touch ground. I finally conclude that faithfulness plays a central role in Wright’s soteriology but only a marginal role in his ethics. I draw attention to the transforming experience of love as the link between divine and human faithfulness that any exposition of Paul’s theology-and-ethics that wants to be faithful to the apostle needs to appreciate.
The Holy Spirit is the driving force of the life of Paul's churches. Paul's letters provide ample... more The Holy Spirit is the driving force of the life of Paul's churches. Paul's letters provide ample evidence for this thesis. In order to illustrate this perspective on Paul's pneumatology and ecclesiology, we could, for example, turn to 1 Thessalonians and find out about the work of the Spirit in initiating and sanctifying Christian life. Or we could walk through 1 Corinthians and study the vitalizing and community-building effects of the Spirit and spiritual gifts in Paul's assemblies. Or we could look at the epistle to the Galatians and explore the significant role of the Spirit in Paul's response to his opponents who insisted on the works of the law as essential for those who follow Jesus the Messiah. 1 This list could easily be continued, and most students of Paul's epistles will find this broad perspective on the intimate relationship between the work of the Spirit and the spirituality of Paul's congregations uncontroversial. 2 For this reason, I want to use this contribution to focus on one of the 1 On the role of the Spirit in these three epistles, see, e.g., V. RABENS, "1 Thessalonians," in
Philo and Paul enjoy a tradition of being read alongside each other in comparative studies of ear... more Philo and Paul enjoy a tradition of being read alongside each other in comparative studies of early Judaism and early Christianity.² One of the areas of recent investigation of the work of both authors has focused on the similarities (and differences) between their respective writings from the perspective of "mysticism."³ As we will see in more detail, both Philo and Paul share "a form of religiosity which has the immediate experience of divine reality as its center. This experience, which transcends everyday consciousness and cognition based on reason, is at the same time the experience of an intimate closeness to the divine reality."⁴
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Books by Volker Rabens
In an attempt to find new pathways into the world of religious dynamics, this collection of essays focuses on four elements or “commodities” of religious interchange: topologies of religious space, religious symbol systems, religious knowledge, and religious-ethical ways of life.
Articles by Volker Rabens
This comparison of Philo and Paul draws the following conclusions:
1. The fact that we see Philo wrestle with the Stoic materiality of πνεῦμα should make us wary of simply assuming that Paul of course had a material concept of the (divine) Spirit. The fact that Paul does not address this question or overtly presuppose such a materialist pneumatology allows for speculation. However, we should be frank that it is just that: speculation. It can be useful to analyze a certain (enigmatic) Pauline passage against the background of this hylozoistic hypothesis. Nevertheless, while it is possible that Paul and his companions held to a stofflich πνεῦμα-concept, we should not make our interpretation of the work of the Spirit or his theology in general depend on this hypothesis.
2. On the other hand, one also needs to avoid a false ‘physical-versus-mystical’ antithesis. Accordingly, one should steer clear of interpreting Paul and particularly his pneumatology with a Platonic framework. As I have argued elsewhere at greater length, there are no passages in Paul that suggest that he thought of πνεῦμα as being immaterial. Philo does define πνεῦμα as immaterial, but the distinction between immaterial and material is ambiguous (see, e.g., Aristotle, De anima I 405 a 7, and the discussion in section 1.1.).
3. Since the nature of the Spirit in Philo and Paul remains elusive, my concern is that the focus of certain strands of Pauline scholarship on the potentially physical mechanics of human transformation obstructs our view of the relational-mystical dynamics of transformation that are more explicitly at work in Paul. For this reason, the focus of the majority of my work on Philonic and Pauline pneumatology has been on how the Spirit functions rather than on its ontology.
4. While the mystical does not exclude the physical, it seems that the mystical-relational dynamics discussed in the second part of this chapter provide a better account of the various dimensions of human transformation that we find below the surface of the Philonic and Pauline texts.
5. Many of the key features that Philo and Paul ascribe to the work of the Spirit in the context of these dynamics can be classified as ‘mystical.’ In particular, we find in both authors the thematic connection of the work of the Spirit as enabling an intimate beholding of God that leads to a transformed, virtuous life. These significant parallels between the views on the work of the Spirit of the Hellenistic-Jewish philosopher from Alexandria and those of the Jewish-Christian apostle to the Gentiles do not require literary dependence of the latter on the former. Nor do they line up the apostle with a particular strand of cosmological reflection on ontology – be it Hellenistic-Jewish, Graeco-Roman or both – because we have seen that Paul does not explicitly clarify where he stands with regard to the supposed material substance monism of antiquity. However, the fact that these convergences between Philo and Paul exist suggests that both were part of a religious milieu which held similar outlooks on the activity of the divine Spirit. Like Paul, Philo interprets the Pentateuchal narrative of Moses’ meeting with God on Mount Horeb as transformation through contemplation. Strikingly, Philo uses the same key term for the beholding (as in a mirror) as employed by Paul, κατοπτρίζω, which is a biblical hapax legomenon.
6. For Philo and Paul, the relational dynamics of an intimate encounter with the divine are the secret of mystical transformation. For both, it is the Spirit that is the facilitator of this relational dynamic.
7. In contrast to Philo, Paul does not ascribe this ‘ministry of the Spirit’ (ἡ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος, 2 Cor. 3:8) to Moses. It is only in turning to Christ (3:16) that the ‘veil’ is lifted by the Spirit in the context of the missional ministry of Paul and the apostles. The Spirit thus has a Christological focus in Paul – also because the Spirit makes believers behold Christ and take on in his character.
8. While only Philo produces some abstract formulations on anthropology and pneumatology from a substance-perspective, neither Philo nor Paul provides us with a conclusive analysis of the potentially physical dimensions of human transformation. Both, rather, give room to the mysterious and mystical work of the πνεῦμα.
- Includes discussion of scholars such as Tom Wright, Rodney Stark, Thomas Robinson, Robert Sack, Ksenija Magda, Rainer Riesner -