Paul's Critique of Theocracy offers an interpretation of select texts in Corinthians and Galatians concerned with the establishment of legitimate authority in the Christian community. Odell-Scott argues that for Paul, no one may boast that they are selected by God, and no one has the authority to rule as God's representative.


Paul also criticizes those who exhibit a superior "sacredness" over other community members. Contrary to most scholarly views, Odell-Scott argues that Paul is not taking sides in a debate about the proper authority structure. Rather, he criticizes any...

Compiled from papers delivered at the third annual Kent State University Symposium on Democracy held in spring 2002, Democracy and Religion: Free Exercise and Diverse Visions explores the interrelations of politics and religion. The work is divided into four main sections: the constitutional debate regarding the establishment and free exercise of religion clause, the themes of violence and nonviolence as they relate to religion, the free exercise of religion and the rise of fundamentalism, and the challenges to the free exercise of diverse religious practices in a democratic society....

This book offers deconstructive readings of classical texts from the Christian tradition. Working within a Heideggerian model of the "end of metaphysics," David Odell-Scott offers readings that radically alter the conventional understanding of the Chalcedonian Creed and of portions of I and II Corinthians. His deconstruction of metaphysical theology both clarifies the logical impasse of the incarnation expressed in the Creed and sets Pauline thought against not only metaphysical thought but monotheism and a patriarchal church as well.