Sunday, 22 February 2015

Exclusion and Embrace: Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation,
Miroslav Volf, Abingdon Press, 1996, page 47

After suggesting that Daniel Boyarin's "A Radical Jew" overplays the parallels between Paul and some cultural themes from Platonism, Volf writes:

The single personal will and the single impersonal principle or law - two variations of the transcendant 'One' - enforce unity by supressing and subsuming the difference; the crucified Messiah creates unity by giving his own self. Far from being the assertion of the one against many, the cross is the self-giving of the one for many.

As many receive the One, become one in Him; not compelled by force but drawn by that act of self-giving.