Sacra Pagina

This is a lucid, major commentary on Romans.America

Brendan Byrne, SJ, is a professor of New Testament at Jesuit Theological College, within the United Faculty of Theology, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Romans (1996) in the Sacra Pagina series, Lifting the Burden: Reading Matthew's Gospel in the Church Today (2004), A Costly Freedom: A Theological Reading of Mark's Gospel (2008), Life Abounding: A Reading of John's Gospel (2014), and The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel (2015), published by Liturgical Press.

CONTENTS Editor's Preface ix Preface xi Note on References xiii Abbreviations xv Introduction A. Recent Interpretation of Romans 2 1. History as Paradigm 2 2. New Approaches to the Interpretation of Romans 3 3. The Approach Taken by This Commentary 8 B. Why Paul Wrote to Rome 8 1. The Historical Circumstances 8 a) Paul's Own Situation 8 b) The Christians in Rome 10 2. Romans as a Letter and Instrument of Persuasion 13 a) Letter Form 13 b) Instrument of Persuasion 16 3. Why Paul Wrote to Rome: Conclusion 18 C. Paul's Rhetorical Task 19 1. "Knowledge" Paul Has in Common with the Christians of Rome 20 a) The Heritage from Judaism 20 b) The Shared Christian Pattern of Belief 21 2. "Knowledge" More Particularly Distinctive of Paul 22 D. The Structure of the Letter 26 Outline of the Structure of the Letter 27 E. Two Further Issues 29 1. The Integrity of the Letter 29 2. Paul and Israel 29 General Bibliography 31 A. The Socio-Rhetorical Approach 31 B. Christianity in Rome 32 C. Occasion and Purpose of Romans 33 D. Commentaries 33 E. General 34 Translation, Interpretation, Notes Introduction (1:1-17) 37 a) Address and Greeting (1:1-7) 37 b) Thanksgiving and Theme (1:8-17) 47 Body of the Letter (1:18-15:13) 62 I. THE INCLUSIVE SAVING POWER OF THE GOSPEL (1:18-11:36) 62 A. The Inclusion of the Gentiles on the Basis of Righteousness by Faith (1:18-4:25) 62 i. No Other Righteousness (1:18-3:20) 63 a) The Revelation of God's Wrath Against the Gentile World (1:18-32) 63 b) Those Who "judge" Are Not Immune from the Wrath (2:1-11) 79 c) Possession of the Law Makes No Difference (2:12-29) 87 1. The Law and the Gentiles (2:12-16) 87 2. The Law and the Jews (2:17-24) 95 3. The "Real Jew" (2:25-29) 101 d) God's Faithfulness to Israel Stands (3:1-8) 106 e) Scripture's Witness to Universal Lack of Righteousness (3:9-20) 115 ii. The "Righteousness of God" Now Available to All Believers (3:21-26) 122 iii. Faith, the Sole Basis Upon Which the One God Justifies All (3:27-31) 135 iv. Scripture's Witness to Righteousness by Faith (4:1-25) 141 a) Abraham, Justified on the Basis of Faith (4:1-12) 144 b) Abraham, Paradigm Receiver of the Promise on the Basis of Faith (4:13-25) 151 B. The Sure Hope of Salvation Springing from Righteousness by Faith (5:1-8:39) 162 i. The Hope That Springs from God's Love (5:1-11) 164 ii. The Legacy of Christ (Righteousness and Life) Outweighs the Legacy of Adam (Sin and Death) (5:12-21) 173 iii. The Freedom to Live Out the Righteousness of God (6:1-8:13) 187 a) Dead to Sin/Alive to God in Christ (6:1-14) 188 b) The New Obedience (6:15-23) 199 c) Free in Christ from the Law (7:1-6) 208 d) The Fatal Encounter with the Law (7:7-13) 216 e) Life Under the Law-Ethical "Impossibility'' (7:14-25) 224 f) Life in the Spirit-Ethical "Possibility" (8:1-13) 234 iv. Hope of Glory for God's Children (8:14-30) 247 a) Children and Heirs of God (8:14-17) 247 b) The "Groaning'' of Creation (8:18-22) 254 c) The "Groaning" of "Ourselves" (8:23-25) 262 d) The "Groaning" of the Spirit (8:26-28) and God's Eternal Plan (8:29-30) 266 v. The Coming Victory of God's Love (8:31-39) 274