Oneself in Another

“These superb essays form a rich, interconnected exploration of the relational and participatory dynamics of Paul’s theology. Working at the cutting edge of scholarship, and with multiple connections to the anxieties of our age, Susan Eastman’s insights are persuasive and profound. This book is a treat, and I shall return to it often.”


—John M. G. Barclay, professor of divinity, Durham University





“Susan Eastman is that rare commentator whose readings of Paul are both provocative and persuasive, rigorous and humane, and as relevant to the present day as they are historically grounded and theologically subtle. Developing further some of the themes of her groundbreaking Paul and the Person and drawing on theoretical approaches from developmental psychology to theater studies, these penetrating and compassionate essays challenge us to see Paul and ourselves with new eyes.”


—Teresa Morgan, professor in New Testament and early Christianity, Yale Divinity School





“This collection of Susan Eastman’s recent work is to be treasured. No one has thought as deeply and as carefully as has Eastman about the manifold consequences of Paul’s apocalyptic gospel for theological anthropology and so also for our contemporary self-understanding. These fine essays—at once exegetical, theological, and pastoral in force— open up invaluable new perspectives upon how we may faithfully inhabit our beleaguered humanity today.”


—Philip G. Ziegler, chair in Christian dogmatics, University of Aberdeen





“With her signature clarity and pastoral insight, Susan Eastman unfolds, chapter by chapter, Paul’s conviction that communal solidarity in Christ is the heart of the good news he proclaims. As Paul’s relational plural ‘you’ answers the divided ‘I’ of Romans 7, so does Eastman’s own deft tuning of second-person discourse invite her reader into the healing mystery of Christ’s saving alliance with human beings and the whole creation.”


—Alexandra R. Brown, professor of Bible, Washington and Lee University