Jacob Taubes

Jacob Taubes (1923-87) was one of the most important Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century, but until recently there has been little academic writing about him. Here, in its first English translation, Elettra Stimilli has written the only monograph on Taubes, whose work has proved so essential to philosophical and theological studies. Stimilli’s work will hold considerable interest for those students and scholars specialising in Saint Paul’s writings.

Taubes brilliantly deconstructed these texts to reveal their more subversive and heterodox implications and through his interlocutions with Carl Schmitt, identified the apostle as a heretical Jew, who decided to follow Jesus. Such original thought ushered in a new realm of political theology that has been crucial to thinkers who work with Pauline thought today, such as Slavoj Zizek and Alain Badiou. Stimilli’s work has grown increasingly significant and her incisive treatment of Taubes’ writings will bring him to the attention of an even wider audience.