Reading Romans as a Diatribe

Reading Romans as a Diatribe PDF Author: Changwon Song
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9780820468174
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
This book illustrates how the macro-structure of the «body» of Romans essentially follows that of the diatribes in Epictetus's Discourses. As in Discourses, the diatribe in Romans begins with the thesis (1.16-17), then follows an indictment (1.18-32) and dialogues with a fictitious second-person singular in chapter two. Arguments with the mē genoito formula dominate the middle part of the diatribe. In the middle of chapter eleven, the phase changes back to dialogues with the second-person singular. The ending of the diatribe Romans also, like Discourses, includes cynic and hyperbolic statements (14.21 and 14.23). Thus, the «body» of Romans should not be read as a real letter, but as a diatribe that was distributed in Paul's schoolroom and later appropriated as a letter. This teaching was not directed to a specific group of people, viz., the Christians in Rome, but rather intrinsically universalized. Therefore, its message is intrinsically more powerful for us.

Reading Romans as a Diatribe

Reading Romans as a Diatribe PDF Author: Changwon Song
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9780820468174
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
This book illustrates how the macro-structure of the «body» of Romans essentially follows that of the diatribes in Epictetus's Discourses. As in Discourses, the diatribe in Romans begins with the thesis (1.16-17), then follows an indictment (1.18-32) and dialogues with a fictitious second-person singular in chapter two. Arguments with the mē genoito formula dominate the middle part of the diatribe. In the middle of chapter eleven, the phase changes back to dialogues with the second-person singular. The ending of the diatribe Romans also, like Discourses, includes cynic and hyperbolic statements (14.21 and 14.23). Thus, the «body» of Romans should not be read as a real letter, but as a diatribe that was distributed in Paul's schoolroom and later appropriated as a letter. This teaching was not directed to a specific group of people, viz., the Christians in Rome, but rather intrinsically universalized. Therefore, its message is intrinsically more powerful for us.

The Structure of Romans

The Structure of Romans PDF Author: Paul B. Fowler
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506416195
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
We increasingly recognize that Paul did not write his letter to the Romans primarily out of doctrinal concerns. Paul B. Fowler presses that insight home in this attentive, yet eminently readable, study of the letter’s structure. The principles of Fowler’s reading are that rhetorical questions in Romans 3‒11 structure the argument, not as responses to criticism but as Paul’s careful guiding of the reader, and that these chapters, like the paraenesis in Romans 12‒15, address specific circumstances in Rome. Careful attention to the rhetorical structure of the letter points to tensions between Jew and Gentile that aggravate the already precarious situation of the Roman congregation. In the course of his argument, Fowler explodes the common conceptions that Paul employs diatribal technique to answer objections and that he is primarily engaged in a debate with Jews. In short, Fowler demonstrates that the apostle is not writing defensively, but responding with sensitivity to the volatile atmosphere caused by Claudius’s expulsion of some Jews from Rome. The book includes an appendix on rhetorical devices and another on epistolary formulas in Paul’s letters.

Speech-in-Character, Diatribe, and Romans 3:1-9

Speech-in-Character, Diatribe, and Romans 3:1-9 PDF Author: Justin King
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004373292
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
In Speech-in-Character, Diatribe, and Romans 3:1-9, Justin King argues that the rhetorical skill of speech-in-character (prosopopoiia, sermocinatio, conformatio) offers a methodologically sound foundation for understanding the script of Paul’s imaginary dialogue with an interlocutor in Romans 3:1-9. King focuses on speech-in-character’s stable criterion that attributed speech should be appropriate to the characterization of the speaker. Here, speech-in-character helps to inform which voice in the dialogue speaks which lines, and the general goals of diatribe help shape how an “appropriate” understanding of the script is best interpreted. King’s analyses of speech-in-character, diatribe, and Romans, therefore, make independent contributions while simultaneously working together to advance scholarship on a much debated passage in one of history’s most important texts.

The Deliverance of God

The Deliverance of God PDF Author: Douglas A. Campbell
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802831265
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1250

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Book Description
This book breaks a significant impasse in much Pauline interpretation, pushing beyond both " Lutheran" and "New" perspectives on Paul to a non-contractual , "apocalyptic" reading of many of the apostle's most famous, and most troublesome, texts. His strongly antithetical vision identifies "participation in Christ" as the sole core of Pauline theology and produces the most radical rereading of Romans 1-4 for more than a generation. Even those who disagree will be forced to clarify their views as never before.

Paul's Letter to the Romans

Paul's Letter to the Romans PDF Author: Ben Witherington
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467429600
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
While Paul’s letter to the Romans is the most studied and commented-on document from the biblical period, the major exegetical books on Romans from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been overwhelmingly shaped by the Reformed tradition. Through a careful survey of work on Romans by both ancient Church Fathers and modern exegetical scholars, Ben Witherington III here argues that the interpretation of Romans since the Reformation has been far too indebted to — and at key points led astray by — Augustinian readings of the text as filtered through Luther, Calvin, and others. In this first full-scale socio-rhetorical commentary on Romans, Witherington gleans fresh insights from reading the text of Paul’s epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of the first century A.D., and Paul’s own rhetorical concerns. Giving serious consideration to the social and rhetorical background of Romans allows readers to hear Paul on his own terms, not just through the various voices of his later interpreters. Witherington’s groundbreaking work also features a new, clear translation of the Greek text, and each section of the commentary ends with a brief discussion titled “Bridging the Horizons,” which suggests how the ancient text of Romans may speak to us today.

Paul's Letter to the Romans

Paul's Letter to the Romans PDF Author: Ben Witherington III
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802845047
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Witherington gleans fresh insights from reading the text of Paul's epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of first century A.D., and Paul's own rhetorical concerns.

Romans

Romans PDF Author: Michael J. Gorman
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467464007
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
“Above all, Romans is a letter about Spirit-enabled participation and transformation in Christ and his story, and thus in the mission of God in the world.” This commentary engages the letter to the Romans as Christian scripture and highlights the Pauline themes for which Michael Gorman is best known—participation and transformation, cruciformity and new life, peace and justice, community and mission. With extensive introductions both to the apostle Paul and to the letter itself, Gorman offers background information on Paul’s first-century context before proceeding into the rich theological landscape of the biblical text. In line with Paul’s focus on Christian living, Gorman interprets Romans at a consistently practical level, highlighting the letter’s significance for Christian theology, daily life, and pastoral ministry. Questions for reflection and sidebars on important concepts make this especially useful for those preparing to preach or teach from Romans—the “epistle of life,” as Gorman calls it, for its extraordinary promise that, through faith, we might walk in newness of life with Christ.

Reading Romans

Reading Romans PDF Author: Luke Timothy Johnson
Publisher: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 9781573122764
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Paul wrote this letter to the Roman Christians to win their financial support for a new stage in his mission. How could an Apostle--unknown by sight to the Roman believers--recommend himself, except by sharing his understanding of how God was at work through the Good News that Paul proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles? Romans starts with a practical goal and becomes a theological masterpiece of great historical importance and of enduring significance to all believers in the One God. The fresh reading of Romans by a Catholic scholar pays close attention to Paul's theological argument as it unfolds. The commentary includes several distinctive features. Johnson shows how Paul understands "righteousness by faith" as the faith of the human person Jesus, how "salvation" means inclusion in God's people, and how the work of the Holy Spirit transforms human conciousness so that believers can share with each other the faith and the love shown them by Jesus--from back cover.

The So-Called Jew in Paul's Letter to the Romans

The So-Called Jew in Paul's Letter to the Romans PDF Author: Rafael Rodriguez
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506401996
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Decades ago, Werner G. Kummel described the historical problem of Romans as its “double character”: concerned with issues of Torah and the destiny of Israel, the letter is explicitly addressed not to Jews but to Gentiles. At stake in the numerous answers given to that question is nothing less than the purpose of Paul’s most important letter. In The So-Called Jew in Romans, nine Pauline scholars focus their attention on the rhetoric of diatribe and characterization in the opening argumentation that figure appears or is implied. Each component of Paul’s argument is closely examined with particular attention to the theological problems that arise in each. In addition to the editors, chapters of the letter, asking what Paul means by the “so-called Jew” in Romans 2 and where else in the letter’s contributors are Runar M. Thorsteinsson, Magnus Zetterholm, Joshua D. Garroway, Matthew V. Novenson, and Michele Murraywith a response by Joshua W. Jipp.

Paul's Interlocutor in Romans 2

Paul's Interlocutor in Romans 2 PDF Author: Runar Thorsteinsson
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498239986
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Thorsteinsson's study of Romans poses a thoroughly argued challenge to Pauline scholarship. His argument has the potential of invalidating the reading of Romans 2 hat has contributed to a perception of Paul as utterly negative towards his fellow Jews and first-century Judaism. Among matters of scholarly dispute is the function and identity of Paul's interlocutor(s) in chapter 2 of Romans. Scholars agree universally that the individual addressed in 2:17-29 is a Jew, but with respect to the identity of the interlocutor of 2:1-5, there is no consensus. The majority of scholars hold that the interlocutor is a Jew throughout the chapter. A weighty minority argues that the individual addressed in 2:1-5 is a Gentile and that there is a shift of interlocutor in 2:17. In his investigation into the pros and cons of these positions, Thorsteinsson endeavors to challenge both majority and minority. Basic to his approach is to allow the larger context and framework of the letter to be of help in assessing the function and identity of Paul's partner(s) in dialogue. Thus the epistolary structure and setting of Romans, the relationship between Paul and his audience, the identity of the audience, and the dialogical style of the letter are used to ascertain the function and identity of Paul's interlocutor(s) in Romans 2. By engaging an imaginary interlocutor, Paul utilizes a well-established epistolary technique in Greco-Roman antiquity. Thorsteinsson concludes that Paul wrote Romans to a particular group of people in a specific, contemporaneous situation. The letter's message arose out of Paul's missionary obligation to proclaim God's "good news" to Gentiles in Rome. The minority view that Paul's interlocutor in 2:1-5 is a Gentile is combined with the majority opinion that there is but one interlocutor throughout the chapter. In sum, "the common opinion that Romans 2 contains Paul's piercing critique of his fellow Jew should be rejected. The individual censured in the chapter is not a Jew . . . " but a Gentile who claims to be a Jew.