Pauline Resonances in Luther, Derrida, and Kierkegaard

Abstract

This chapter situates the trajectory of thinkers engaged in the second part. First, Dickinson considers the ambivalent legacy of Luther, whose interpretation of Paul often sets faith apart from creation and formative activity, but which is also marked by the recessive strand of his theology of the cross. Second, Dickinson turns to Derrida, who serves as a challenging interlocutor that can transform some of the tendencies of the wisdom of the cross for domination and escape. Next, Kierkegaard, more of an insider to this trajectory, opens a positive role for works. Finally, the chapter concludes by underlining how this approach goes against the dominant, abstract interpretation that usually marks all of these writers.