The Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Romans (New Testament Theology)
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Klaus Haacker, a respected expert on Paul’s writings, presents a compelling introduction to the theology of the Letter to the Romans. This volume completes Cambridge’s successful New Testament Theology series. In keeping with the series, it explores the distinctive ideas and issues of the Epistle at greater length than is possible in commentaries or theological dictionaries. Professor Haacker focuses on themes such as righteousness, suffering and hope and the mystery of Israel in the age of the gospel. Engaging with Paul’s rhetoric strategy, he shows how both ancient Rome and the spiritual heritage of Israel provide contexts for the Letter and help us to understand its message to the original readers and its abiding impact on Christianity. The book will be of interest to teachers, pastors, and students of theology and the New Testament.
- Rejects of the idea that Romans is a timeless “theological compendium” or a dry system of dogmatics.
- Moves beyond traditional “dogmatic” readings to offer a more historically situated and pastorally sensitive interpretation.
- Breaks down the traditional scholarly divide between the “theological” section (Romans 1–11) and the "practical" section (Romans 12–16).
- Introduction
- Theology in a nutshell: The opening of the letter as a foretaste of what follows
- Theology in process: An outline of the argument of the letter-body
- Major Concerns
- Sorting the Sources
- To the Romans a Roman? The rhetoric of Romans as a model for preaching the Gospel in Rome
- Romans in its canonical context
- The impact of Romans and interactions with Romans in Church history
- The relevance of Romans reconsidered
- Further reading
Haacker, building on the work of his earlier commentary on Romans, rises to this challenge in an admirable manner … Haacker's study of the theology of Romans is an extremely rich and helpful treatment.
—The Expository Times
Students will benefit from its clarity and its comprehensiveness within manageable proportions, while scholars will appreciate the maturity of its analysis. It is thus a fitting culmination to a distinguished series.
—Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Many readers of Churchman will doubtless wonder if it is worth adding another book on Romans to the commentaries of their shelves: in this case, it is. Klaus Haacker, Professor of New Testament Studies at the Barmen School of Theology has completed Cambridge's New Testament Theology series with a concise and illuminating introduction to Paul's mighty manifesto. … Professor Haacket's book is clear and easy to read: a considerable achievement given that he is not writing in his native language. …this is a valuable study in how Romans might have been read by its intended audience.
—Churchman