Giorgio Agamben's Analysis

In Giorgio Agamben’s The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans, he evaluates Paul’s letter by taking a close reading of the opening of Romans and then claims that within these treasured words ultimately lies Paul’s messianic philosophy. Each chapter, interestingly, lays out the context and content that each word of the opening means and what Paul was hoping to convey to the Romans. Agamben also presents Benjamin’s Theory on the Philosophy of History side-by-side Paul’s letter, developing their shared characteristics.
Agamben talks about Paul not exactly as a believer in Christ the person, but more so Christ the apostle and the event, specifically Christ’s death and resurrection. Moreover, he discusses this event in order …show more content…
The Romans, as Agamben notes, where people that were very concerned with the law of works, which they feel they must defend. However, Paul enters the scene with his messianic theory and argues that this process would not abolish the law of works, but rather preserve and bring it to fulfillment through faith, giving them a reason more than harm to do the works. Agamben uses many international references to qualify his extensive commentary, which proves difficult at times to strain out the content that really comments on the Letter to the Romans. However, the context delivers a context about Paul which distinguishes him in his efforts to persuade the Romans to question their own standards and relation with the law. By the end of the essay, and the end of Romans, it becomes clear that Paul is holding the people to a higher law, the messianic law--the law of Christ manifested by grace. With this understanding, I felt like I could finally connect to the texts discussed and felt as though the perspective of the Romans and Paul, given by Agamben, was very enriching in feeling ethos towards his people, even though Agamben had an aversive way of getting his point