Nietzsche, Nishitani, and Laruelle on the Apostle Paul: tradition and the affirmation of life

ABSTRACT

This article offers two further philosophical engagements with the writings of the Apostle Paul. The recent work of Francois Laruelle on Paul in his turn to Christian non-theology is placed in dialogue with Nishitani Keiji’s account. This effort is accomplished by briefly grounding the discussion in Friedrich Nietzsche’s interpretation, where Paul is cast as the inventor of Christianity and the primary influence in the religion’s turn to a doctrinal and world-denying form of existence. As described here, Laruelle follows the broad outline of Nietzsche’s interpretation, where Paul once more deviates from the example of Christ and is guilty of encouraging a turn away from the world towards concepts of transcendence and life after death. Nishitani, on the other hand, and despite his affection for Nietzsche’s thought, sees in Paul’s life and writings a turn towards immanence, and offers a heavily contrasting read of Paul, one which deserves greater attention.

KEYWORDS:

• Laruelle
• Nishitani
• Nietzsche
• Immanence
• St. Paul
• Tradition

Notes

1 Paul in the grip of the philosophers : the apostle and contemporary Continental philosophy Peter Frick; Benjamin D. Crowe 1976-; Roland Boer 1961-;L. L. Welborn 1953-; Hans Ruin; Anthony C. Sciglitano Jr; Frederiek Depoortere; Alain Gignac 1964-; Ward Blanton; Neil Elliott 1956- Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press. c2013. Nietzsche versus Paul. Abed Azzam. New York : Columbia University Press. [2015]. Nietzsche, psychohistory, and the birth of Christianity. Morgan Rempel 1964- Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. 2002. “Der Anti-Philosoph. Nietzsches Paulusdeutung” / Daniel Havemann in Paulus unter den Philosophen. Christian Strecker editor;Joachim Valentin 1965- editor;Micha Brumlik contributor Stuttgart : Kohlhammer. c2013

2 There is very little scholarship on Nishitani’s interpretation of the Apostle Paul. Works from Waldenfels, Thelle, Parkes and Aihara, as well as from Parkes separately, all describe instances (with some overlap) where Nishitani employs the passage from Gal. 2:20 in conversation. Waldenfels, Hans. Absolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue. Paulist: New York. 1980. 157. Thelle, Notto. “The flower blooms on the cliff’s edge.” The Eastern Buddhist. 25.1: 1992. Pp. 130-137. Parkes, Grahm. “A citizen of the cosmos?—Ridiculous!” The Eastern Buddhist. 25.1: 1992. pp. 105-109. Parkes, Graham and Setsuko Aihara. “Introduction.” Published in The self-overcoming of nihilism. Trans. Graham Parkes with Setsuko Aihara. SUNY: Albany. 1990. P. xxvi. Brief discussions of Paul in the thought of Nishitani Keiji can also be found in Roy, Louis. Mystical Consciousness: Western Perspectives and Dialogue with Japanese Thinkers. SUNY: Albany. 2003. P. 216, footnotes 15 and 20.

Finally, there is a brief discussion in Söderman, Niklas. “Critique of modernity in the philosophy of Nishitani Keiji.” Asian Philosophy. 28:3: 2018. 224-240.

3 Ward Blanton has put forth considerable effort towards redirecting the interpretation of Paul, and notes that recent works by numerous contemporary philosophers, from Agamben to Zizek remain stuck in an overly metaphysical reading of Paul, one which he traces back to both Nietszche and Freud (Blanton 2014, 4).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew C. Kruger

Matthew Kruger is Associate Professor of the Practice in the Theology Department at Boston College. He completed his PhD at BC in 2014, his MDiv at Harvard Divinity School in 2009, and his BA at Tufts University in Comparative Religion in 2006. He is the author of three books and works at the intersection between Christian, Continental, and Japanese philosophy.