Dr. Lynne Moss Bahr discusses her analysis of the influence that messianism and the apocalyptic content of the New Testament has had on continental philosophy, in the recently published Library of New Testament Studies work, “The Time Is Fulfilled” Jesus’s Apocalypticism in the Context of Continental Philosophy.
How would you describe your book in one sentence?
This book interprets time and temporality in the Jesus tradition by situating four apocalyptic sayings of Jesus in their sociohistorical and literary context and also with respect to time and temporality in modern philosophical writings on the messianic.
What drew to you writing about this subject?
I was first exposed to Continental philosophers as interlocutors with early Christian studies in my doctoral course work, and I found that the engagement with these thinkers posed new lines of questioning for my work in the New Testament. I was very interested in understanding messianism as a social and political movement and also as a theological position. Given that Walter Benjamin, Giorgio Agamben, and Jacques Derrida have all used the messianic as a concept for their own work, I thought they each might be able to illuminate the messianic in early Christianity by helping me identify the contours of messianism in the New Testament by way of the contours of philosophical messianisms. The shared theme of time and temporality links them, but the uses of the messianic are vastly different and thus create a productive tension when read alongside each other.
How long have you been researching it? How did you come to study it?
I began the research specifically for this topic in 2014 but my questions were shaped by my years of graduate study, which began in 2008. I finished the writing when I held a fellowship in 2017.
What does your book focus on that hasn’t been explored elsewhere?
Most of the work with Continental philosophy and early Christian studies has focused on the apostle Paul. My work looks to the Jesus tradition, and specifically apocalypticism, to examine how the messianic concept develops in the Gospels. Using the writings of Benjamin, Agamben, and Derrida as analytical resources advances my interpretation of the Jesus sayings beyond their sociohistorical and literary contexts, and suggests that the philosophical structures of messianism in the New Testament have a wide-ranging resonance.
What do you think this book might mean for religious and contemporary views of the apocalyptic content of Jesus tradition?
I hope that the book contributes to a conversation about the meaning of time and temporality in the study of apocalypticism and religious discourse in general. I also hope the book shows that the messianic identity of Jesus carries with it a host of historical, religious, social, and political claims that merit deep consideration for their relevance in a variety of contexts.
“The Time Is Fulfilled”: Jesus’s Apocalypticism in the Context of Continental Philosophy is available for purchase now!
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