Expanded version of a collection of essays published elsewhere previously between 2005 and 2008, plus one new essay published here for the first time.

In this book, the author claims that modern western biblical scholarship, greatly influenced by extreme individualism, has not paid due attention to the corporate dimension of Pauline anthropoiogy. It investigates the following elements in Paul's letters in the light of his usage and background: (1) Paul's in Christ formula, (2) his comparison and contrast of Adam and Christ, (3) his concept of the church as the body of Christ and (4) as the temple, house, and building of God, and (5) his understanding of the sexual union as one flesh. The author insists that these elements, closely interwoven in concept and realistic in expression, indicate that Paul understands the risen Christ as a corporate person in whom all believers are included and the church as a corporate solidarity inclusive of both Christ and believers. Underlying this concept is, the author argues, Paul's assumption of the corporate solidarity of human existence. Paul views man not only as an individual but also as a corporate person whose existence extends in certain respects beyond his individual being to form corporate solidarity with others. This view of man both as an individual and corporate person, the author concludes, has significant implications for the rest of Pauline theology, particularly for his Christology, ecclesiology, and eschatology.

In this study, Sarah Harding examines Paul’s anthropology from the perspective of eschatology, concluding that the apostle’s view of humans is a function of his belief that the cosmos evolves through distinct aeons in progress toward its telos. Although scholars have frequently assumed that Paul’s anthropological utterances are arbitrary, inconsistent, or dependent upon parallel views extant in the first-century world, Harding shows that these assumptions only arise when Paul’s anthropology is considered apart from its eschatological context. That context includes the temporal distinction of the old aeon, the new aeon, and the significant overlap of aeons in which those “in Christ” dwell, as well as a spatial dimension that comprises the cosmos and the powers that dominate it (especially sin and the Holy Spirit). These eschatological dimensions determine the value Paul attaches to any particular anthropological “aspect.” Harding examines the cosmological power dominant in each aeon and the structures through which, in Paul’s view, these influence human beings, examining texts in which Paul discusses nous, kardia, and sōma in each aeon.

La 4e de couverture indique : "For the Apostle Paul, humans do not identify and act on their own but are constituted, in part, by relationships. Samuel D. Ferguson shows that, according to Paul, the work of the Holy Spirit further attests to this, as Christians realize their new life through Spirit-created relationships of sonship and communal interdependence"

This dynamic new consideration of Paul addresses the three basic subjects that make up Pauline studies, Paul's life, letters, and theology, and argues that these elements must be treated together since to do otherwise risks distorting one or more of the arguments. +