Romans 1–8 (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 38a | WBC)

by James D. G. Dunn

Publisher:

Word

, 1988

Overview

See Romans in the light of modern historical and cultural studies with this commentary from ground breaking scholar James D. G. Dunn. Dunn maintains that it is imperative to grasp the coherence of Paul’s thought as it moves with sustained logic and consistent rigor from the opening announcement of God’s righteousness revealed in Christ and the gospel through each interlocking section of this epistle. He insists that the letter must be read and understood within a specific historical and cultural context. Paul’s background in Judaism, his perception of the role of the law as a marker of national Jewish identity, God’s saving actions in Christ both in continuity with the past and as a decisive new chapter in salvation and world history, and the ongoing eschatological tension between the “already” and the “not yet”–clues that inform a penetrating and moving piece of commentary writing.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Paul has in view the eschatological tension of the present stage of salvation history, with both the ‘I’ and the ‘law’ divided between the two ages of Adam and Christ in a period when these two ages overlap. Hence the cry of 7:24 is one of frustration (not of despair) that the process of salvation still has to work through the body of death, and the concluding v 25 is a statement of calm realism that in this interim period the believer’s loyalties are bound to be torn between the demands of the two ages to which he belongs.” (Page 377)

“The significance presumably is that in such passages he wishes to focus not solely on the initial act of faith but on faith as a continuing orientation and motivation for life.” (Page 40)

“One is the fact that Paul is clearly writing to Gentiles” (Page xlv)

“It is God’s righteousness which enables and in fact achieves man’s righteousness.” (Page 42)

“On the contrary, however, as Sanders demonstrated clearly enough, Judaism’s whole religious self-understanding was based on the premise of grace—that God had freely chosen Israel and made his covenant with Israel, to be their God and they his people. This covenant relationship was regulated by the law, not as a way of entering the covenant, or of gaining merit, but as the way of living within the covenant; and that included the provision of sacrifice and atonement for those who confessed their sins and thus repented.” (Page lxv)

Product Details

• Title: Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 38A: Romans 1–8
• Author: James D. G. Dunn
• Series: Word Biblical Commentary
• Volume: 38A
• Publisher: Word
• Print Publication Date: 1988
• Logos Release Date: 2002
• Pages: 513
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible › Commentaries--Collected works; Bible. N.T. Romans › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9781418503895, 1418503894
• Resource ID: LLS:29.50.6
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-08-13T23:10:01Z

About James D. G. Dunn

James D. G. Dunn (1939–) is emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham and is a leading British New Testament scholar. Dunn is a significant proponent of the New Perspective on Paul, and coined the term in a 1982 lecture. He received a PhD and DD from the University of Cambridge, and a MA and BD from the University of Glasgow. In 2002 he became only the third British scholar to be made the president of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.

His recent works include Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? The New Testament Evidence, A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed, the volumes Romans 1–8 and Romans 9–16 of the Word Biblical Commentary, and The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon in The New International Greek Testament Commentary (12 vols.).