Abstract: The Jewish philosopher Jacob Taubes (1923-1987) is rightly considered the father of an influential post-War neo-Pauline movement, not only in Jewish thought. Taubes published a few weeks before his death one of his major works “The Political Theology of Paul” (English: Stanford 2004), based on his lectures about Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. In this book Taubes combined his affinity for Carl Schmitt with a rebellious reading of Romans, portraying Paul as an antinomian revolutionary, who anticipated the radical anti-liberal tendencies in the religious thought of Taubes’ own times. Rooted in a nihilistic admiration for Paul that can also be found in Gershon Scholem’s view of Paul as a “revolutionary mystic”, with Taubes Paul turns into a Ur-Anarchist fighting a war of liberation at two fronts: Against the political rule of imperial Rome and against the theological legalism of the Pharisees.

The planned one-day workshop will re-visit modern readings of Paul, also in the light of the events of the 21^st century, put his reception of Paul as a revolutionary into its historical context, explore its sources, motivations and radical consequences – both in terms of religious ethics, the role of law in Judaism, and in terms of rising political nationalism.

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Program

Session 1: 9.30 - 11.00

Christoph Schmidt (Jerusalem) “Taubes' Political Theology of St. Paul: Between Carl Schmitt and Erik Peterson”

Elettra Stimilli: (Rome) "Jacob Taubes, Paul of Tarsus and the Price of Messianism"

Thomas Meyer (Munich) “Jacob Taubes and Hans Urs von Balthasar - or: Two different Pauls in dangerous times”

Session 2: 11.30 - 12.30

Claude B. Stuczynski (Bar Ilan) "A Marrano Paulinian Moment: Saul/Paul of Tarsus and the Iberian Conversos"

Yael Sela (Potsdam) “Historical Consciousness, Theology, and Spirituality in Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Paulus”

(Lunch)

Session 3: 13.30 - 15.00

Christoph Schulte (Potsdam, zoom): “Taubes’ Unknown Lecture on Corinthians from 1981”

Gershon Greenberg (Washington) "Jakob Taubes as 'Doktorvater'"

Ethan Taubes (NY, zoom) “Jakob Taubes Spiritual Identification with the Figure of Paul”

Session 3: 15.30 - 16.30

Elias Sacks (JPS, zoom) “Imperialism, Liberalism, and Jewish Studies: Jacob Taubes and the Jewish Paul"

Randi Rashkover (William & Mary, zoom) – Response

Closing reflections: Paul Mendes-Flohr (Chicago/Jerusalem)

Keynote 17.00-18.00

Eveline Goodman-Thau (Jerusalem):  “SAULUS, PAULUS, TAUBES - Wrestling with God and Man for Israel”