A Study Quide To. St. Paul's Letter to the Romans

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3 A Study Quide To St. Paul's Letter to the Romans

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7 A Study Quide To St. Paul's Letter To the Romans A Section-by-Section Commentary on Romans With Questions for Reflection by Scott Qambrill Sinclair BIBAL Press North Richland Hills, Texas

8 Bm BIBAL Press An imprint of D. 8c F. Scott Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box N. Richland Hills, TX ww'w.dfscott.com info(a dfscort.com Copyright 2000 by Scott Gambrill Sinclair All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Printed in the United States of America GO Library of Congress Cataloging-ln-Publrcatlon Data Sinclair, Scott Gambrill. A study guide to St. Paul's letter to the Romans : a section by section commentary on Romans with questions for reflection / by Scott Gambrill Sinclair, p. cm. ISBN (alk. paper) 1. Bible. N.T. Romans Commentaries. I-Title.-Study guide to Saint Paul's letter to the Romans. II. Title. BS S '.107-dc

9 hi thanksgiving for the love and support of my brother Winfield & his wife Julie

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11 Contents Preface ix Lessons Lessons 1 Romans 1: Romans 9: Romans : Romans 9: Romans 1: Romans 9:30-10: Romans 1:7a Romans 10: Romans 1:7b Romans 10: Romans 1: Romans 11 :l-24.., Romans 1: Romans 11: Romans 1: Romans 11: Romans 2: Romans 11: Romans 2: Romans 12: Romans 3: Romans 12: Romans 3:9-:' Romans 12: Romans 3: Romans 12: Romans 3: Romans 13: Romans 4: Romans 13: Romans 5: Romans 13: Romans 5: Romans 14: Romans 5: Romans 14: Romans 6: Romans 15: Romans 6: Romans 15: Romans 6: Romans 15: Romans 7: Romans 15: Romans 7: Romans 15: Romans 8: Romans 15: Romans 8: Romans 15: Romans 8: Romans 15: Romans 8: Romans 16: Romans 8: Romans 16:17-20a Romans 8: Romans 16:20b Romans 9: Romans 16: Romans 16: Appendix: An Outline of Romans 165 Vll

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13 Preface I first immersed myself in Romans when I was an undergrad uate student. During that period of my life, I had very high standards for myself which I was attempting to keep by my own efforts, and these efforts were not successful. Conse quently, I was keenly aware of my spiritual and psychological brokenness and was burdened with guilt. In my frustration with my life, I was drawn to the proclamation in Romans that we must trust in God's forgiveness and cannot be saved by try ing to live up to the law. 1 read and reread Romans and found new peace and hope. Subsequently, as a doctoral student, I engaged in a more "scholarly" study of Romans. I wrote my dissertation on one aspect of Paul's presentation of Jesus. Naturally, I worked inten sively on Romans and read many of the great commentaries. Although I learned an enormous amount from the schol ars who had preceded me, I also came to the conclusion that they had overlooked a fundamental aspect of the basic struc ture and purpose of Romans. I gained much insight from many books on Paul in general and on Romans in particular. Here I must especially acknowledge my debt to the work of J.C. Beker, E.P. Sanders, and Richard Hays on Paul's theology. Nevertheless, my studies convinced me that a new approach to Romans was needed. I concluded that in Romans Paul presents his gospel in such a way that it will appeal both to Jews and Gentiles in the Roman church (and elsewhere). This presenta tion shapes both the structure of the letter and much of its thought and makes Romans especially relevant today as we attempt to deal with pluralism. I have also concluded that there is a shortage of good biblical study guides. Most genuinely informed and creative books on the IX

14 Preface Bible are written primarily for scholars and are too technical and, often, too long to be accessible to general readers. The following book is the result. Here I have tried to pres ent my own understanding of the structure and purpose of Romans and, at the same time, honor the fundamental insights I have received from other scholars. In addition, I have tried to produce a volume which any educated reader can follow and which will be useful for group Bible study. To make my work more accessible, I have avoided technical vocabulary and restricted my discussion to essential points. With some hesita tion, I have even omitted all footnotes. On a couple of occa sions, I have merely mentioned the names of scholars to whom I am especially indebted. In line with the pals of a "study guide," I have included a great deal of reflection on the general theology of Romans and the relevance of that theology to con temporary concerns. To aid general readers, I have also in cluded questions for reflection at the end of each section of the commentary. It is hoped that these questions will be especial] helpful for group discussion. As a courtesy to readers who are particularly concerned with my conclusions about the basic structure of the letter, I have included a detailed outline of Romans in an appendix. The rise of gender-inclusive language poses special chal lenges for the biblical interpreter. To make the language inclu sive, I have consistently added a female term next to a male one whenever Paul uses a male term inclusively, or else I have resorted to a genderless plural. Thus, for example, when Paul is speaking inclusively and writes the Greek word for "brothers " I have rendered this as "brothers and sisters." When Paul 'is speaking inclusively and writes "he," I have translated this as "they." I have also adopted the colloquial usage of "they" for the indefinite singular (i.e., anyone) which earlier would have been "he." In addition, following Old Testament usage, I have employed feminine pronouns for the Holy Spirit. Paul knew Hebrew and was familiar with Old Testament usage and surely regarded it as inspired. Hence, he would have been comfort able with calling the Spirit "she." In Greek, the pronoun for the

15 Preface Spirit is "it," since the word for "spirit" is neuter. In English where we have natural (rather than grammatical) gender, the use of "it" implies that something is less than human and is inappropriate for the Spirit. It remains to express many thanks. Hirst, I must acknowl edge the books I especially used as I was writing. I began by going over the classic, C.H. Dobb, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (London: Hodder S: Stoughton, 1932). Then for a more modern perspective I read, John Ziesler, Paul's Letter to the Romans (London: SCM, 1989). To brush up on the innu merable details of Romans, I went through the magisterial work, Joseph A. Hitzmyer, S.J., Romans: A New Translatioji with Introduction and Commentaiy^ Anchor Bible volume 33 (New York: Doubleday, 1993). As I was revising my own book, I consulted a work which commented on Romans as briefly as I was trying to, namely Paul W. Meyer's notes in the Harper's Bible Commentaiy (San Francisco, c. 1988) pp Then as I was finalizing my typescript I carefully studied Brendan Byrne, S.J.'s excellent Romans (Collegeville, MN: A Michael Glazier Book published by The Liturgical Press, 1996) and incorporated a number of major and minor insights. In many places, however, I elected to follow my own judgment rather than defer to the wisdom of these authors. I must also thank all who read drafts of this book and made helpful suggestions. The Rev. Lin Ludy read a prelimi nary sketch and, as always, was supportive. Donald Gelpi, S.J. read my initial draft and gave me important new perspectives. Dr. Dorothy Sinclair read a subsequent draft and helped me improve the style. Ms. Helen Knapp, Mr. Gregory Clark, Mr. John Leech, Mrs. Barbara Lifter, Fr. Robert Haberman, and Brother Martin of the New Camaldoli Hermitage, BigSur read later revisions, and their enthusiastic reactions assured me that what I had written would be helpful to intelligent Christian readers who had no expertise in Pauline scholarship. Fr. Haberman also made valuable suggestions. Ms. Andrea Baker proofread a late draft and corrected many minor errors and recommended many improvements. XI

16 Preface I am grateful to many students, friends, and relatives who encouraged me to persevere with this book. I remain indebted to the professors I had in graduate school, especially to L. William Countryman, John R. Keating, and Wilhelm H. Wuellner. Countryman's more recent re search has also continued to stimulate me. The translation of Romans given here is my own. Xll