Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Paperback)

~ Ben Witherington III (Author), Darlene Hyatt (Author) "The prescript to Romans is more expansive than those of some of Paul's other letters, which may reflect the fact that here he is not..." (more)
Key Phrases: diatribe format, kai houtós, first chosen people, Jewish Christians, Grand Rapids, Mosaic Law (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Continuing his series of highly regarded and innovative socio-rhetorical commentaries on the New Testament, Ben Witherington now tackles Romans, perhaps the most profound — and difficult — book of the New Testament.

Interacting with recent treatments of this Pauline letter and with ancient Christian commentators, Witherington shows that the interpretation of Romans since the Reformation has been far too indebted to Augustinian readings of the text as filtered through Luther, Calvin, and others. Instead, Witherington urges a reading of the text in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome, and Paul's own rhetorical concerns.

Offering a new translation of the Greek text and new insights into Paul and his world, this commentary sheds fresh light on the meaning of Romans for its original audience and for Christian readers today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 421 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802845045
• ISBN-13: 978-0802845047
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #144,614 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've waited a long time for a book like this!, April 4, 2004

By A Customer

Centuries ago Luther wrote in his preface to his translation of Romans that one can not understand this book unless he first understands what the words law, grace, righteousness, flesh and spirit mean. I'll give him that, but trying to make sense out of Romans using his definitions of these words is an effort in futility! One can only make it work if he isolates his readings to a few select verses, or at most, a chapter here and there; taken beyond that point, Paul will appear very confused indeed! Unfortunately, his dubious interpretations have been the foundation of much of Protestant theology.

Only recently have Protestant scholars decided to take a fresh look at Romans and break out of the mold of Luther and Augustine. To do just that (with the help of this book) is a glorious experience--one can actually understand the letters of Paul. You will see that they are in harmony with the rest of the New Testament, no longer is there the apparent contrast between the gospel of discipleship/holiness/works in the Gospels & non-Pauline letters and the gospel of "grace" found in Paul's letters.

Witherington does a masterful job of breaking down the last vestiges of the stranglehold of Augustine/Luther, but he does much more than that. His insights on ancient rhetoric are invaluable because Paul uses rhetorical devices over and over in this letter; to not understand them can (and has in the past) lead to seriously flawed conclusions about what Paul is saying here. Witherington's historical insights of the Jewish and Gentile understanding of key theological concepts during the apostolic age gave me a fresh look at the text. And as those who have read his other commentaries already know, his "Closer Look" sections are interesting and often helpful. He brings to the fore the work of other scholars and gives solid, exegetical reasons why or why not their work is useful to interpret the text at hand. I even found his many footnotes interesting (conveniently located at the bottom of each page)! As a whole the book is VERY readable considering the subject matter, even when extremely technical matters are discussed, he keeps your attention!

The only caveat I have with this book is when he goes off the deep end when discussing baptism and women in the church; here he departs from his usual logical reasoning and lets his Methodist biases show. However, this only accounts for maybe a half-dozen pages.

I have found commentaries from other authors, such as N.T. Wright useful, but not totally convincing. By the time you finish this commmentary, however, you will have a solid understanding of Romans without a lot of lingering doubts. Excellent commentary for the layman, scholar or preacher!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Panic!, December 28, 2005

By	PhilThreeten "philthreeten.blogspot.com" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

On the front of this book in large, friendly letters, should be the words, `Don't Panic.' Anytime someone sees scholarly words like `socio' and `rhetorical,' especially when they are combined with a hyphen, I've found that they will normally go into a catatonic state that can only be broken by a beer or two.

All kidding aside, this is a great book about Romans. I appreciate Ben Witherington's writing style and so, for me, this was an easy book to slide into. Unlike many commentaries, Witherington presents his material in the same blocks of thought as the original writer rather than dissecting every single verse into individual components. That's not to say that he doesn't give information critical to individual verses. But, refreshingly, he does this in a manner which maintains the overall thought structure of the material.

Witherington's main proposition is that Romans was written to Gentile Christians who were having a hard time recognizing the value of their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters and thus causing disunity within the church in Rome. Witherington maintains that the book is written in a rhetorical format that was designed to prove a point - namely that the wonder of the new covenant is that it equally includes both Jew and Gentile.

His explanation of the place of Romans 9-11 in the total context of Romans is the best argument to date that I've seen. Also, his explanation of how the original listeners would have understood Romans 7 is quite intriguing and has many positive impacts upon the Christian life. Contrary to some of the other comments, it is critical for us to understand what the original listeners would have understood this letter to be saying (which may require an understanding of language and rhetoric) first, prior to applying the material. Though this is an oft-held hermenuetical principle, Witherington actually attempts to stick to it.

Like most of Witherington's other material, I still have not been convinced by him that a person is able to lose their salvation, which is a topic that comes up periodically in this commentary. However, it is not so imbued into the material that one cannot still attain great insights and gems of truth.

I would highly recommend this commentary to any student of Romans.

For a longer review, go to the blog listed in my nickname and click on the 'Readings' category.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Arminian Commentary on Romans, June 29, 2006

By	Marc Axelrod (Potter, Wi USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This was a very interesting commentary. He wrestles with the text in the body of the book, and concludes each section with thoughts toward how the text applies to our lives.

He says that Paul is responding to the fact that the Jewish believers are returning to Rome and how he is trying to get the Gentile believers to accept their Jewish brothers and sisters in the faith (Romans 15:7).

He has some interesting readings of the text that part company with some of the more recent (and retro) Calvinist interpretations. He rejects the notion that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us through faith. He also sees Romans 7:7-13 as Paul personifying the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, and he sees Romans 7:14-25 as the unsaved Jewish person (or unconverted person) struggling with their inability to live up to the good that they desire to do.

He also rejects the Calvinist reading of Romans 9, saying that it has nothing to do with election to salvation, but that it is dealing with how God has chosen individuals to play certain roles in salvation history (whether we're talking about protagonists like Jacob or antagonists like Esau and Pharoah).

He also interprets the 'all Israel' of Romans 11:25 as all the Jewish people alive at the time of Christ's return.

Though I might wonder about the interpretation of controverted texts such as Romans 8:29 and Romans 9:22, I thought that Ben's work was very solid, and he did a nice job of showing how this epistle works as a piece of Greco-Roman rhetoric. With the plethora of Calvinist commentaries on Romans that are available, it is refreshing to see another take. Get this commentary and use it along side the larger work of Douglas Moo and the equally impressive application commentary in the BST series by John R.W Stott.