Paul Among the Gentiles A 'Radical' Reading of Romans (NET - Neutestamentliche Entwürfe Zur Theologie)

Back cover: This exciting new interpretation of Paul's Letter to the Romans approaches Paul's most famous letter from one of the newest scholarly positions within Pauline Studies: The Radical New Perspective on Paul (also known as Paul within Judaism). As a point of departure, the author takes Paul's self-designation in 11:13 as apostle to the Gentiles as so determining for Paul's mission that the audience of the letter is perceived to be exclusively Gentile. The study finds confirmation of this reading-strategy in the letters construction of the interlocutor from chapter 2 onwards. Even in 2:17, where Paul describes the interlocutor as someone who calls himself a Jew, it requests to perceive this person as a gentile who presents himself as a Jew and not an ethnic Jew. If the interlocutor is perceived in this way throughout the letter, the dialogue between Paul and the interlocutor can be perceived as a continuous, unified and developing dialogue. In this way, this interpretation of Romans sketches out a position against a more disparate and fragmentary interpretation of Romans U1 Contents Geleitwort aus dem Kreis der Herausgeberinnen und Herausgeber Preface Introduction 1 The State of the Research – the radical new perspective Introduction History of research Scholarly predecessors to the radical perspective Franz Mussner, Krister Stendahl, John Gager Lloyd Gaston Stanley Stowers The ‘actual’ radicals Mark Nanos Paula Fredriksen Runar Thorsteinsson Caroline Johnson Hodge Pamela Eisenbaum Critical evaluation of the radical perspective: T.L. Donaldson and A. Wedderburn Evaluation and task 2 Terminology: Jews, Gentiles, Christians, or something else? Introduction Caroline Johnson Hodge Joshua Garroway Paula Fredriksen Mark D. Nanos Paul’s (and Peter’s) identity Concluding remarks and evaluation 3 Introductory Questions – Gentile addressees A real letter (epistolography) The integrity of the letter A 14-, 15-, or 16-chapter version of Romans Place of writing Addressees, audience, recipients: external versus internal evidence A Gentile audience Some Jews after all...? The Gentile identity of ‘the strong’ and ‘the weak’ Jews in chapter 16 The occasion and purpose of Romans – some preliminary insights 4 A fictive Gentile interlocutor – προσωποποιία Paul’s educational background Προσωποποιία Προσωποποιία continued The significance of προσωποποιία – literature and life, or rhetoric and realism 5 Romans 1:18–32 Introduction Ethnic Stereotypes – a modern perspective Stereotyping in Antiquity Stereotyping in Paul’s practices ‘Us’ – the Jews ‘Them’ – the Gentiles Continuity from chapter 1 to chapter 2 6 Romans 2:1–29 Romans 2:1–5 Judgement and justification – justice and mercy Linguistic, stylistic, structural, and grammatical continuity in 2:1–16 Romans 2:17–24 Rom 2:25–29 Continuity from chapter 2 to chapter 3 7 Romans 3:1–31 Rhetorical strategy of chapter 3 Romans 3:1–8 Romans 3:9–20 Romans 3:21–26 Romans 3:27–31 Continuity from chapter 3 to chapter 4 8 Romans 4:1–25 Romans 4:1–12 Romans 4:13–25 9 Romans 5:1–21 Adam, but not anthropology Romans 5:1–11 The qal wa-chomer reasoning Continuity between 5:1–11 and 5:12–21 Genesis 2–3 in Old Testament exegesis Second Temple parallels: Adam’s actions are not considered in a negative way Sin and evil Sin and Gentiles First probing – the limitations of the analogy: Romans 5:12–14 The perception of Adam in Second Temple Jewish literature is specifically positive God’s benevolence is greater than his punishment Romans 5:14c–17 Adam and Christ compared Romans 5:12–21 in a broader perspective Continuity between Romans 5 and 6–7 10 Romans 6:1–7:6 Gentiles in chapter 6 Already walking in the newness of life, but also not yet The question, meaning, and function of baptism in 6:1–14 Romans 6:1–14 Romans 6:15–7:6 11 Romans 7:7–25 Romans 7:7–25 Sin, the (Mosaic) law, and another law Romans 2 and 7 – an inversion Recapitulating the interpretation of 7:7–25 Continuity between chapter 7 and chapter 8 12 Romans 8:1–39 Romans 8:1–17 Roman socio-legal practices concerning adoption (of ex-slaves) Adrogatio and adoptio Social distinctions and status-consciousness within the Roman family and society The adoption metaphor in Romans 8:15 The relation of υἱοθεσία in 8:15 to υἱοθεσία in 9:4 The relation of 8:12–17 to 8:18–30 and the question of continuity Romans 8:18–30 Romans 8:31–39 Continuity from chapters 6–8 to 9–11 13 Romans 9–11 Introduction Rhetorical strategy Authorial voice and the ‘I’ of chapters 9–11 Romans 9:6–29 – God has not rejected Israel Romans 9:30-10:21 - Christ is the goal of the law for Gentiles Works-righteousness or a righteous law – the problem of νόμος δικαιοσύνης The stumbling stone Christ as τέλος of the law for Gentiles Christ fulfils the law Romans 11:1–10 – God’s unbroken fidelity to Israel Romans 11:11–24 Romans 11:17–24 – the olive tree metaphor Romans 11:25–32 – the ‘mystery’ and the Sonderweg interpretation in 11:25–26 The problem of οὕτως Romans 11:25–32 resumed 14 Romans 12–15 and the relationship between theology and paraenesis Introduction Romans 12:1–2 Romans 12:3–21 Romans 13:1–7 Romans 13:8–14 The ‘strong’ and the ‘weak’ in 14:1–15:6 The (Mosaic) law in 14:1–15:6 A perspective on the (Mosaic) law from inside and outside the covenant Could ‘the strong’ and ‘the weak’ be proselytes and/or God-fearers? Why does Paul’s position vacillate with regard to the ‘strong’ and the ‘weak’? Romans 15:7–13 – Christ as servant of the circumcision to the Gentiles Conclusion Recapitulation of interpretative findings The achievements and limitations of my interpretation Bibliography Sources Secondary Literature U4