Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? Quotes

“All our readings of the Bible are deeply wedded to both cultural and theological commitments.”
― J.R. Daniel Kirk, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?: A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity

“deconstruction is an attempt to break through hardened structures and traditions for the purpose of reengaging the stimulating, life-giving substance that gave rise to the now-encrusted traditions.[3]”
― J. R. Daniel Kirk, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?: A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity

“In Romans 1:3–4 Paul says something so surprising that most of our Bible translations refuse to print it. A literal translation reads as follows: the gospel promised by God “concerns his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was appointed Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from among the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” When Paul says Jesus “was appointed Son of God,” he means to say that Jesus became something that he was not before. Without denying Christ’s preexistence, this passage asserts that something happens to the human Jesus when he is raised from the dead. Like the kings of Israel, Jesus becomes a son of God when he is enthroned to rule the world on God’s behalf (see Ps. 2 and 2 Sam. 7). Jesus’s adoption and enthronement come at his resurrection.”
― J.R. Daniel Kirk, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?: A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity

“Simply being human is not enough to claim membership in the family of God.”
― J.R. Daniel Kirk, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?: A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity

“If we are not imitating the heavenly Father, then we are not his children:”
― J.R. Daniel Kirk, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?: A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity