Preaching Romans: Four Perspectives

by Scot McKnight; Joseph B. Modica

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2019

Overview

First-rate scholars and preachers on four interpretive approaches to Paul and Romans

Pauline scholarship is a minefield of differing schools of thought. Those who teach or preach on Paul can quickly get lost in the weeds of the various perspectives. How, then, can pastors today best preach Paul’s message?

Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica have assembled this stellar one-stop guide exploring four major interpretive perspectives on the apostle Paul: Reformational, New, Apocalyptic, and Participationist. First elucidated by a scholarly essay, each perspective is then illuminated by three sermons expositing various passages from Paul’s magisterial letter to the Romans.

Coming from such leading figures as Richard Hays, James Dunn, Fleming Rutledge, and Tom Schreiner, these essays and sermons splendidly demonstrate how each perspective on Paul brings valuable insights for preaching on Romans.

Key Features

• Presents major interpretive perspectives on Paul
• Offers insights into how interpretive perspectives influence the preaching of Paul’s letters
• Provides example expositions from Romans

Contents

Interpretive Perspectives on the Apostle Paul

• Romans and the “Lutheran” Paul
• Romans and the New Perspective
• Romans and the Apocalyptic Reading of Paul
• Romans and the Participationist Perspective

Preaching Romans: Sermons

• Reformational Perspective
• Romans as Ecclesial Theology: Building Multiethnic Missional Churches
• God Justifies the Ungodly: Romans 4:1–8
• The Transforming Reality of Justification by Faith: Romans 5:1–5
• New Perspective
• The Balance of Already/Not Yet: Romans 8:1–17
• This Changes Everything: Romans 5:12–21
• Pass the Peace by Faith: Romans 4:1–4, 13–17
• Apocalyptic Perspective
• Immortal Combat: Romans 1:16–17 and 5:12–14
• In Celebration of Full Communion: Romans 3:21–24
• Old Adam, New Adam; Old World, New World; Old You, New You: Romans 5:12–21
• Participationist Perspective
• Death Becomes Her: Romans 6:1–14
• Made New by One Man’s Obedience: Romans 5:12–19
• Breathing Well: Romans 8:12–30

Conclusion

• Implications

Top Highlights

“Protestant talk of sola scriptura has always been accompanied by a conviction about Scripture’s perspicuity: the belief that, in all that is essential, the meaning of Scripture is clear to humble believers who approach God’s word with a prayer for the illumination of God’s Spirit and a willingness to obey the message they receive.” (Pages 3–4)

“In reading Romans I suggest that if we begin with the context in Romans 12–16 and let those categories shape our reading of the rest of the letter we see that Romans 5–8 is the solution to the Strong-Weak divide: the solution is not torah observance nor reckless freedom but life in the Spirit. But Romans 1–8 is not abstract theology that is then applied in Romans 12–16 but the reverse: Romans 12–16 is the ‘lived theology’ that is propped up by the more abstract theology of both Romans 1–8 and 9–11. The people of God can be transformed into a unity only if they learn life in the Spirit.” (Page 37)

“If the question is raised why God bothered giving a law as a purported path to righteousness and life when in fact no human being attains righteousness or life by its means, the answer—based on what we have already seen—should be obvious. The law simply ‘tells it like it is.’ It did not make murder, or adultery, or theft wrong. With or without the law, murder, adultery, and theft are wrong—and they are wrong whether no human being murders, commits adultery, or steals, or whether everyone does so. The law merely spells out what is inherently right and wrong, good and evil, in the world as created by God’s wisdom.” (Pages 13–14)

Contributors

• Michael F. Bird
• Douglas A. Campbell
• James D. G. Dunn
• Timothy G. Gombis
• Michael J. Gorman
• Richard B. Hays
• Suzanne Watts Henderson
• Tara Beth Leach

• Scot McKnight
• Jason Micheli
• Joseph B. Modica
• Fleming Rutledge
• Thomas R. Schreiner
• Carl R. Trueman
• Stephen Westerholm
• William H. Willimon

Product Details

• Title: Preaching Romans: Four Perspectives
• Authors: Scot McKnight, Joseph B. Modica
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 160
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Romans › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. N.T. Romans › Sermons
• ISBNs: 9780802875457, 0802875459
• Resource ID: LLS:PRCHNGRPRSPCTVS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:21:05Z