Our Mother St. Paul
by Beverly Roberts Gaventa   Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.  Pp. 218

Reviewed by Dr. Susan K. Hedahl

Dr. Gaventa is the Helen H. P. Manson Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary.  This work is characteristic of her probing and thoughtful theology.  Divided into two major sections, Gaventa covers a wealth of materials:  Part I.  Maternal Imagery in the Letters of Paul and Part II:  Maternal Imagery in its Cosmic and Apocalyptic Context.

The chapters in Part I are indicative of some of the traditional and ground-breaking work on which she embarks: Apostles as Infants and Nurses; The Maternity of Paul; Mother’s Milk and Ministry; The Birthing of Creation and Is Pauline Theology Just a “Guy Thing?”  Gaventa’s overall intention is to focus on the varieties of Paul’s maternal imagery in order to see how they connect and strengthen Paul’s theological perspectives generally.  Gaventa honors Paul by not following some traditional biblical scholarship which radically separates the “personal” from the “theological.”  Instead, she argues for the connections of both via Paul’s use of metaphor. 

Her reasoning is supported by an initial look at the different uses of metaphor brought forward by such authors as I. A. Richards, Philip Wainwright, Wayne Booth.  Other voices on this topic are also part of the conversation:  Samuel Levin, Eva Fedder Kittay and Ted Cohen.  The latter offers this provocative definition of metaphor:  “Ted Cohen has proposed that a metaphor is an invitation to intimacy.” (11) This certainly undergirds some of Paul’s maternal imagery in its intentionality towards building Christian community through a relationship with Christ.

By drawing on both classical authors’ writings on topics Paul addresses as well as utilizing metaphor as an entrée into Paul’s thinking, Gaventa’s case is a strongly-built one.  In fact, her ongoing commitment to drawing out the true radicality of Paul speaking in female terms is one startling and key element of the entire work.

Part II makes the case for placing Paul’s work within the theological category of “apocalyptic.”   Her summary of Paul as such a theologian notes, in part, “I describe Paul as an apocalyptic theologian… [since] Paul’s apocalyptic theology has to do with the conviction that in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has invaded the world…revealing the world’s utter distortion and foolishness, reclaiming the world, an inaugurating a battle that will doubtless culminate in the triumph of God over all God’s enemies including the captors Sin and Death.  This means that the gospel is first, last and always about God’s powerful and gracious initiative.” (81) She mines this category through her analysis of key Pauline texts.

This work definitely deserves a reading!  It is argued well, the resources and theological background of the author are extensive and the work restores to a more visible place key theological realities in Paul’s writings which are often trivialized or simply ignored.