Gorman - Romans

This commentary has been prepared especially for pastors, students, and laypeople who want a careful exposition of Paul’s letter to the Romans that stresses its theological content and considers its spiritual and pastoral implications for today. (Of course, I hope that biblical scholars and theologians will benefit from it as well.) This focus does not mean we will ignore the original message of Paul to his first audience. It simply means that I engage Romans as Christian Scripture.

 

“These things were written also for our sake” is Paul’s basic principle for interpreting Scripture, and he would expect us to follow it in reading his own letters now that they are part of the Christian Bible.11 read, teach, and write about Romans as a Protestant Christian who has spent the last thirty years in a Catholic seminary that also has an ecumenical graduate school, in an ecumenical home Bible study, and in Methodist churches as a teacher of adults. In each place, we have studied Romans as a letter to and for us.

 

Furthermore, designating this commentary as “theological and pastoral” means, for me, that these two aspects are inextricably related, even hyphenated (theological-pastoral), because Paul is a pastoral theologian. Romans is a project of what Scot McKnight calls “lived theology.”2 Paul writes not merely about thinking Christianly but about living Christianly.

 

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2022. - 516 pp.

ISBN 978-0-8028-7762-8

 

Preface

Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations

Introductions

Introducing Paul

Approaching Paul

Paul’s Life and Ministry

Sources for Pauls Life and Theology

A General Chronology

From Persecutor to Apostle

Paul the Letter-Writer

Paul’s Theology and Spirituality

Human Condition, Divine Response

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Jesus as Lord and the Gift of the Spirit

Human Response to the Gospel

Paul's Spirituality

Conclusion

Reflections and Questions for the Introduction to Paul

Spiritual, Pastoral, and Theological Reflections

Questions for Those Who Read, Teach, and Preach

For Further Reading

Highly Accessible Books

Midlevel Books

More Technical Works

Introducing Romans

The Story behind the Letter

Reasons for Romans

This Commentary’s Approach

The Shape of the Letter

Themes in Romans

The Gospels Challenge to Imperial Values

The Genre of Romans

The Letters Structure

The Story within the Letter

The Story as a Whole

Participation in Christ in Romans

Gods Peace, Gods Justice

The Story in Front of the Letter

Romans and the Mission of the Church

Romans and Ecumenical Relations

Romans and Interfaith Relations: The Two-Ways Interpretation

A Note about Two Key Terms: Church and Believers Summary

Reflections and Questions for the Introduction to Romans

Spiritual, Pastoral, and Theological Reflections

Questions for Those Who Read, Teach, and Preach

For Further Reading and Study

Highly Accessible Commentaries and Books

Midlevel Commentaries and Books

Technical Commentaries and Books

Commentary with Reflections and Questions

1:1-17 Opening and Theme: The Gospel of God’s Son, Power, and Justice for the Salvation of All

1:18-4:25 God’s Faithful, Merciful, and Just Response to Human Sin

5:1-8:39 The Character of Justification by Faith: Righteousness and Reconciliation; Liberation and Life

9:1 -11:36 God’s Faithfulness and Mercy and the Future of Israel

12:1-15:13 Faithful Living before the Faithful God: Cruciform Holiness and Hospitality

15:14-33 Paul’s Mission and God’s Plan

16:1-27 Closing