"Schiavi o liberi. Politica e trasformazione del mondo in Paolo di Tarso"

Abstract: The Author’s starting point is the recognition that often some of Paul’s texts are taken out of context and interpreted ideologically; Jacob Taubes offers an example of this kind of operation. Despite the theoretical value of these operations, the fact remains that Paul’s philosophy is altered. Rather, it is necessary to go back to a thorough exegesis of the texts, respecting the idea Paul expressed explicitly. Thus it is possible to grasp the Christian “specificity” Paul identified and highlighted. Actually, he adopts “Christ’s Cross” as the central paradigm of his thought: the cross becomes the hermeneutic criteria for both the philosophy and the concrete actions required to transform the world. This article analyses the Pauline paradigm and opens it to some of its consequences. This analysis shows that Paul uses the Cross as a starting point to develop a new relational model that characterises citizenship (politeuma), according it a new relational dimension: that is, for a Christian, the one originating from the “logic” of God-Trinity’s life itself; a logic highlighted by Paul and whose thinking is impregnated with. According to Paul, the logic of Trinitarian relationships is not kept “inside” God, on the contrary it is disclosed by the Risen Christ in his embrace of human kind. The method for putting such perspective into effect, mediating the transition from a religious language to the common, political and social one, is to create the contents of universal fraternity in history.