Apocalyptic Paul: Cosmos and Anthropos in Romans 5-8

Preface

vii 2 Preface No syllable in Paul’s letter to the Romans could be termed “neglected,” but recent decades have witnessed something of a shift in scholarly interest away from chapters 5–8. Chapters 1–4 have generated debate regarding Paul’s use of the diatribe and speech-in-character, not to mention heated discussion of the “faith of Christ” and the place of justi fication in Paul’s thought. The long history of treating chapters 9–11 as an afterthought or an illustration has given way to intense industry in an effort to account more adequately both for the content of Paul’s argument and for its place in the letter as a whole. Chapters 12–16 have come to the foreground as well, particularly as scholars labor to catch a glimpse of the composition of the Roman congregations and the character of Paul’s mission. This volume invites readers of Paul to consider again the large questions raised by Romans 5–8, questions of the gospel’s implications both cosmological and anthropological. The approaches and conclusions are by no means monochrome, but they converge around the effort to understand the relationship between divine activity and its human reception in a cosmos that remains contested territory. Martinus C. de Boer opens the volume exploring Paul’s argument about the Law in relationship to the mythologizing language of chapters 5–8. In “Righteousness, Cosmic and Microcosmic,” Stephen Westerholm takes up 5:1 as evidence of the ethical and 5:19 as evidence of cosmic interpretations of righteousness. Questions about the individual come to the fore also in Benjamin Myers’ study of Romans 5 in Augustine’s interpretation of the self’s existence within viii Preface the intersecting narratives of Christ and Adam. John M. G. Barclay explores the relationship between grace and obedience, focusing particularly on Romans 6 and in conversation with Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of the habitus. Drawing on linguistic theory about the peculiarities of personal pronouns, Beverly Gaventa considers how the “I” of Romans 7 both reflects and distorts important features of the “I” of the lament psalms. Susan Eastman also looks at the singular “I” in Romans 7, here with a view to undermining the conventional scholarly dichotomy between the individual and corporate identities. The liberating role of Jesus Christ is brought to bear also in Philip G. Ziegler’s exploration of Romans 8 and the royal office of Jesus Christ in “The Love of God Is a Sovereign Thing.” And Neil Elliott, in “Creation, Cosmos, and Conflict in Romans 8–9,” resists any suggestion that what Paul has to say about creation in Romans 8 can be understood apart from what is said about Israel in Romans 9–11. He finds in the larger argument of Romans important claims contrary to Roman imperial ideology. In the afterword, J. Louis Martyn takes Raphael’s painting of Paul preaching at Athens as a starting point for reflection on the human moral drama in conversation with other contributions to the volume. His image of the circle of discussion aptly draws the volume to a close, but it also rightly anticipates further conversation about anthropology and cosmology in Paul’s apocalyptic interpretation of the gospel. Initial versions of these chapters were given as plenary papers at a conference held at Princeton Theological Seminary in May 2012 as part of the seminary’s bicentennial celebration. I am indebted to then-President Iain Torrance for the invitation to host that conference , where participants included a lively international array of systematicians , biblical scholars, pastors, and students. I am also indebted to Professors Shane Berg, Jacqueline E. Lapsley, Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, and J. Ross Wagner for their advice, suggestions, and support throughout the planning of the conference. Able administrators Mary Marcus and Amy Ehlin not only thought of a thousand details but dispatched each and every one with grace. From a conference—even a highly successful conference—to a book, the journey is arduous. Taking valuable time and attention away from her own dissertation, Mary K. Schmitt worked meticulously to bring the essays into stylistic conformity, and I deeply appreciate her Preface ix careful labor. Last and far from least, I am grateful to Dr. Carey C. Newman for his enthusiastic acceptance of this book and his patient (well, nearly patient) endurance even to the end. Benjamin Myers observes that Augustine began a commentary on Romans but...