If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul's Letter to the Romans

by Rafael Rodríguez

Overview

If You Call Yourself a Jew reads Romans as a dialogue between Paul and a Gentile proselyte to Judaism. This fresh reading brings Romans into focus as Paul's exposition of the revelation of God's righteousness--his faithfulness to his covenant promises to Abraham, which climaxed in the announcement that "in you all the tribes of the earth will be blessed" (Gen 12:3). Paul insists that the righteousness of God is revealed, "for the Jew first as well as for the Greek," not through Torah but through the faith(fullness) of Jesus. Torah and the prophets provide corroborating witness for God's righteousness, but Gentiles who bend their necks to Torah's yoke miss the actual mechanism for finding peace with God. Paul found in the story of Jesus the image of complete faith in/faithfulness to God; in Jesus' resurrection he found the image of God's complete faithfulness, "for the Jew first as well as for the Greek." Whereas Torah resulted in curse and death, it also anticipated the unconditional faithfulness of God for both Jew and Gentile. For Paul, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the account of the outworking of God's faithfulness: the end of Torah's curses and the fulfillment of its blessings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630875763
Publisher:	Cascade Books
Publication date:	10/29/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	338
File size:	996 KB

About the Author

Rafael Rodriguez is Professor of New Testament at Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the author of Structuring Early Christian Memory: Jesus in Tradition, Performance, and Text (2010) and Oral Tradition and the New Testament: A Guide for the Perplexed (2014).
Rafael Rodriguez is professor of New Testament at Johnson University (Knoxville, Tennessee). He is the author If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul's Letter to the Romans (2014), and co-editor of The So-Called Jew in Paul's Letter to the Romans (with Matthew Thiessen; 2016).

Table of Contents

Preface Abbreviations 1 Introduction: Paul the Apostle, to the Beloved Gentiles in Rome 2 The Gospel, the Power of God: Paul Begins to Write 3 The Wrath and Impartial Judgment of God: Gentiles in Pauline Perspective 4 Introducing the Gentile Proselyte: a Gentile Who Calls Himself a Jew 5 The Righteousness of God apart from Torah: Or, Not a Law-Free Gospel 6 Christ, the New Adam: Undoing the Curse of Death 7 Baptized, Buried, Raised: Freed from Sin, Enslaved to Righteousness 8 Nomos, Flesh, Spirit: The War Waging Within 9 Creation Renewed by the Spirit: Security in the Presence of God 10 Israel and Christ: Paul's Pathos for the People of God 11 Israel and Christ, Pt. II: Torah's Telos 12 [Re-]Grafted Olive Branches: The Persistence of Hope 13 Living Sacrifices: One Body, Many Members 14 The offering of the weak: Paul and the Particular assemblies in Rome 15 In sum . . . : The end of Paul's rhetoric and of His letter Bibliography Index of Names Index of Ancient Documents for the Jew first as well as for the Greek

Editorial Reviews

The book is a fine read , clearly set out and engagingly written. There are some sections where Rodríguez's reading works particularly well - for example, the section on Rom. 7. I also found his take on Rom. 11 well argued and helpful.

Volume 38.5, August 2016 - Gary W. Burnett