Theology of the Soul: A Pauline Perspective on Cultural, Philosophical, and Traditional Concepts [Hardcover]

Theology of the Soulengages with a thoroughly theological and philosophical subject in fresh and profound ways: the soul. The author examines the possibility of a concept of the soul in modern, Western theology. In the second part of the 20th century speaking about the soul was strongly criticized in Theology and Philosophy. Consequently, many academic theologians consider the word soul problematic. Remarkably, the word soul is very much present in contemporary culture. This book takes cultural notions of the soul as employed by, for example, Marilynne Robinson and Oprah Winfrey, as a point of departure. The author then investigates the functions of the soul in classical theologies and provides elucidating overviews of the ways in which the soul is discussed and problematized in contemporary Philosophy and Biblical Studies. After introducing the apostle Paul as conversation partner, she reconsiders various contemporary concepts from a Pauline perspective, and offers a constructive systematic theological proposal to speak of the soul in todays modern theological and cultural contexts. This interdisciplinary study integrates continental and analytic methods and discussions on the soul in Philosophy and Theology, providing a very comprehensive study of the soul.Martine C. L. Oldhoff, PhD, is pastor in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and an independent scholar.We need this important book. It provides an impressively clear and carefully detailed overview of the concept of the soul in the history of ideas, philosophy, theology and biblical studies. As such it gives us the most comprehensive study of the soul that I am aware of in the literature on the subject. This study combines careful theological philosophical analysis with an informative and inspiring study of what it means to live and to die in Christ. The necessary technical philosophical discussions are followed by biblical studies that provide guidance for those serving practical conlÓ)