Barclay’s claim is that different theologians are all theologians of grace, but that they all perfect grace in different ways. This list of names highlights both the ambition and importance of Barclay’s work, and it is here that his sixfold taxonomy relating to the perfections of grace come into their own. Sanders and the “New Perspective.” He finishes by analysing various proposals that have developed after the New Perspective, as well as the philosophical reading proffered by Badiou. Without focusing on all relevant figures (some will be disappointed that there is no engagement with Aquinas, for example), Barclay expertly engages the theologies of Marcion, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, then fast forwards to the modern period, examining Barth, Bultmann, Käsemann, Lou Martyn, then E. P. The first and second sections of part 1 facilitate an examination of the deployment of the language of gift/grace throughout church history, a task Barclay undertakes in the third and final section. Does a gift imply rules of return, come with certain expectations of reciprocity? The perfection of non-circularity, which came to prominence in the modern era, identified gift in terms of altruism or disinterest, such that the gift came with no strings attached, and with no expectations of return.
This perfection emphasises the effect of the gift such that it “fully achieves what it was designed to do” (73). A gift perfected in terms of incongruity is a gift given “without regard to the worth of the recipient” (73 this phrase is found in multiple other places). This, as we shall see, will be the perfection Barclay finds most prominently in Paul. It emphasises the initiative of the giver as prior to any reciprocation. This perfection involves chronology or timing. Where notions of justice and punishment play a part in the textual data, this is taken to undercut the presence of the perfection of singularity. This involves “the spirit in which the gift is given,” such that the perfection of singularity emphasises benevolence as the “ sole and exclusive mode of operation” (71). Grace or gift as “lavish and unceasing” (to borrow the language of Seneca, cited on p. To speak of one perfection of grace is not necessarily to imply another. They are, crucially, not to be understood as a “package deal,” nor is Barclay suggesting that the addition of more perfections make grace more complete or superior. Drawing on Kenneth Burke’s notion of “perfection” (drawing out a concept to its logical and extreme conclusion), Barclay proposes six potential “perfections” of grace. The second section of part 1 offers a taxonomy for understanding the way gift/grace can be conceptualised.
Rather, up until the modern period, gifts were given in order to create social bonds, such that certain rules of reciprocity implied the expectation of a return.
SPECTRE CYNDICATE FREE
3 One of the most important upshots of this section is the call for renewed sensitivity to appreciating the development of notions of “the gift.” In particular, Barclay wants to make clear that contemporary notions of an “absolutely free gift,” that is to say, a gift with no strings attached, is a relatively modern development and should not be projected across all times and cultures. The first examines the notion of “the gift,” building on Marcel Mauss’s famous Essai sur le Don. Part 1 (“The Multiple Meanings of Gift and Grace”) contains three sections. These are elucidated in the first part, to which we now turn. Indeed, part of Barclay’s project aims to resolve some of those complexities by presenting future scholarly work with a number of crucial taxonomies and distinctions. To locate Barclay’s proposal in terms of current discussion is no easy matter given the complexity of the issues involved. 2 I am particularly delighted, therefore, to introduce this symposium in which a variety of leading scholars reflect on Barclay’s work, many of whom are critically engaged in the various related subject areas. 1 In the short time since its publication this important monograph has widely been recognised as one of the most important works on the Apostle Paul since E. P. A friend of mine, an acquisitions editor at a prominent publishing house, recently polled his acquaintances on Facebook asking “What are the best books in Pauline studies written in the last five years?” It was no surprise to me that the most popular answer given was Barclay’s Paul and the Gift.
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