Engaging Agamben on the Time that Remains

Abstract

Giorgio Agamben's work at the intersection of political theology, biblical exegesis, and culture criticism is taken up appreciatively. In an argument framed by Paul's Damascus Road experience, key texts such as 1 Corinthians 7 and Romans 9–11 are explored with Agamben, new proposals being made, to set the stage for a discussion of 2 Thessalonians 2. Successful treatment of this last text, and of the dialectic of law and lawlessness as it appears there, requires more attention to context than Agamben affords. That includes the Thessalonian correspondence as a whole, the teaching of Jesus, and the book of Daniel that underlies both. It also includes an appreciation of the narrative and liturgical framing of Pauline eschatology. While Agamben is questioned on this score, and his reading of 2 Thessalonians 2 challenged, common cause is made in critique of church/state alliances around pandemic policy, alliances based on a lawless use of law.