Early Patristic Readings of Romans

Description

This volume traces the earliest receptions of Paul's Letter to the Romans, seeking to elucidate their hermeneutical strategies as they endorse, explain, construct, and rework Romans as a normative authority. These early patristic readings of Romans by Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Origen, and others are pivotal. Long before Augustine and Luther they set formative interpretive principles upon which is built the imposing yet diverse edifice of subsequent interpretations and uses of Romans. By the end of the second century CE, the letters of Paul had established themselves as authoritative bearers of divine revelation. Yet, the task of tracing the earliest receptions of Paul's Letter to the Romans is challenging, because the thought world of the early Christians is remote, molten, largely oral, and as such hard to trace. The essays in this volume rise to the challenge by explicating significant aspects of Paul's reception among early Christian readers. They ask: How did these readers construct Paul's view of pagan and Christian relations? of the Gentiles? Of Jewish salvation? Of faith? Of resurrection? Of Christian Platonist principles? Contributors to this volume demonstrate specific ways in which Romans was appropriated to define the philosophy of Christian Platonism, a development which has had an enduring impact upon the creation of a Christian paideia.

Kathy L. Gaca is Associate Professor of Classics at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and the author of The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity. L. L. Welborn is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Fordham University, New York, USA. He is the author of Politics and Rhetoric in the Corinthian Epistles (1997) and editor (with Cilliers Breytenbach) of Encounters with Hellenism: Studies in First Clement (2003) and Paul, the Fool of Christ (2005).

"The book is a welcome addition to the Romans through History and Culture series and ably demonstrates the impact of Paul's letter to the Romans upon the theology and culture of certain strains of Christianity in the early patristic period...Each of the essays in the collection and their responses heavily engage both primary and secondary sources. They are intelligent and informed, and as good academic pieces they will surely provoke deep thought and debate. Of particular value is the inclusion of responses to the essays by eminent historians and theologians...the responses in general offer insightful critique, move the discussion forward, and suggest new avenues of research. For those newer to the field, the responses also aid in identifying the leading edges of the arguments." -David A. Creech, Review of Biblical Literature, 4/2008 -- David A. Creech "Early Patristic Readings of Romans builds upon and contributes to a growing recognition that the Pauline corpus proved important to the early church before Augustine. The seven essays virtually confine attention to Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen; and they tend to focus upon the ways these church fathers employed their interpretations of Romans to locate their own views over against Judaism and the dominant Graeco-Roman culture, as well as what they regarded as the erroneous views of Christianity... These conversations are open-ended and will serve to provoke those interested in studying the early church to further reflection." --Rowan A. Greer, Professor of Anglican Studies Emeritus, Yale Divinity School -- Rowan A. Greer * Blurb from reviewer *