This chapter situates the study's approach to Paul first, in relation to contemporary readings from continental philosophy and political theology (especially Badiou and Caputo). Next, it draws upon a late ancient compilation of Origen's works, the Philocalia, that functioned, in part, as a handbook on the exercise of reading and the hermeneutics of the wisdom of the cross. Finally, Dickinson highlights the ecologically oriented voice of the prophets that echoes throughout 1 Corinthians.