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Book Review: Reading Romans in Context

Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, and Jason Maston in “Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism” explain Paul’s letters to the Romans in the context of the Second Temple Jewish literature. They move away from the conventional understanding of Paul’s epistles within the Roman context, thereby giving the letters an extended worldview. Notably, the book narrates Roman’s progression through Paul’s view in which each epistle is thematically connected to Jewish texts. As such, readers get introduced to all the theological nuances within Paul’s comparative texts to the Jewish literature in a way that explores and brings out succinct comprehension of the book of Romans within the context of the Second Temple Judaism. The book’s central thesis is to examine the relationship of Paul with the Second Temple Judaism by comparing hermeneutical practices and perspectives of Paul and that of his close associates.

The authors of the “Reading Romans in Context” are all Pauline scholars. In specific, they have varying academic backgrounds but seem to have a deep, laying interest in Paul’s works. For instance, Ben C. Blackwell holds a Ph.D. from the University of Durham. He is also the associate professor at Houston Baptist University in the area of early Christianity. His notable works are mainly focused on the New Testament and historical theology. Often, if not explaining Paul’s work, Blackwell duels on the subject of second Temple Judaism. Similarly, John K. Goodrich is an assistant professor at Moody Bible Institute, where his focus is the Bible. His sole authorship was on Paul, where he held him as God’s administrator. Francis Watson is also a scholar of the New Testament. His notable engagements include serving at the University of Aberdeen as a New Testament Exegesis Kirby Laing Chair after moving from King’s College in London. Lastly, Jason Maston also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Durham and serves as a New Testament Lecturer at the Highland Theological College in the UK. His authorship has mainly been in works focusing on Paul and the Second Temple Judaism.

The authors’ high academic qualification and their extensive integration with religious matters indicate that their contribution to the “Reading Romans in Context” is based on historical facts and valid observations. Their extensive focus on Paul and the Second Temple Judaism is primarily vital as it enables them to capture any information that connects the two regardless of how infinite it is. Despite this, the authors’ significant connection to Paul and the Second Temple Judaism is a source of possible bias as they only relate the two. They seek to find a connection between Paul and the Second Temple Judaism in all the epistles. Even though this is right, it may lead to the formation of interrelationships that may not have existed or been intended by Paul. Another misconception by the authors is the focus on “living the Godly way,” as detailed in Paul’s letters. Notably, most of the essays in the book focuses on influencing the Romans to live the Godly way or face the wrath of God. By insisting on this, the authors may have missed out on other essential practices during the Second Temple Judaism periods as traditions and Christianity seemed to interact constructively at the time. For instance, even at the time of Jesus, He was frequently asked about the place of Old Testament laws in contemporary Christian values (Mathew5:17). Thus, there is more literature that connects the two periods apart from Paul’s letters.

The manner in which the authors have written and structured the “Reading Romans in Context” indicates that their target audience is modern Christians. Notably, they seek to enlighten contemporary Christians about the relationship between Paul’s letters to the Romans and the Second Temple Judaism. In this regard, the authors aim to make today’s Christians desist from only interpreting Paul’s letters in the contexts of Jewish. Instead, they wish to give a historical attachment to all sentiments of Paul and his kinsmen to the Romans.

The authors’ focus is to examine Paul’s relationship with the Second Temple Judaism by comparing hermeneutical practices, and Paul’s perspectives have been well met by the authors. The collected essays in the book focus on a specific epistle and evaluate it keenly. As such, all relationships between Paul’s views in the letters are linked to the Second Temple Judaism. Consequently, readers of the book can see Paul’s letters in the context of the Second Temple Judaism. Principally, the main variation of the book with others related to it such as “Reading Romans after supersessionism: the continuation of Jewish covenantal identity” by Tucker(2018) is that “Reading Romans in Context” focuses on associating Paul’s perspective with the Second Temple Judaism while others evaluate the position of Paul’s letters in the historical progression of Judaism. For instance, Tucker (2018) evaluates how Paul’s letters indicated the progression of Judaism into the Messianic Era and the relevancy of the Torah laws.

Conclusively, I feel that the “Reading Romans in Context” book by Blackwell, Goodrich, and Jason benefits the focus area of study as it establishes a relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In this regard, Paul’s epistles represent the new testament, while the Second Temple Judaism is an aspect of the Old Testament. Contemporary Christians who are the target audience can, therefore, read the book to have an enhanced understanding and contextualization of Paul’s letters to the Romans.