Posted by Jeff Short on March 22, 2021 · Leave a Comment
Romans by Douglas J. Moo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I thought going in this was just an abridged version of Moo’s longer commentary, but was pleasantly surprised that was not the case. There are certainly times where the text commentary reads similarly, but it is usually in a shorter, summary form that can actually be helpful. The Bridging Contexts and Contemporary Significance sections add excellent practical applications that go beyond the longer commentary. If you were to only have one, I would suggest the longer commentary though it is more technical. However, it is worth having both as this volume is an excellent complement to the longer commentary.
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Posted by Jeff Short on March 22, 2021 · Leave a Comment
The Epistle to the Romans by Douglas J. Moo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a really good commentary on Romans. Moo gives a good balance of exegetical and theological work. For various passages, he interacts with different views and generally explains why he adopts the view he does. There were different places where I disagreed with Moo, some of those quite minor and some less so, but this is the kind of commentary that is helpful even when you disagree. He gives enough explanation for his view that it is helpful to work through it. This is a must have commentary for studying and preaching Romans.
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Posted by Jeff Short on March 7, 2021 · Leave a Comment
Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism by Ben C. Blackwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book compiles articles from several scholars going chapter by chapter through Paul’s letter to the Romans in light of the literature and historical context of second temple Judaism. The authors compare and contrast the letter with writings from the Qumran community and the Apocryphal books, etc. to see what influence they may have had on Paul’s thinking.
Overall it was a good read. The book is insightful at times and also conjecturing and speculative at others. I don’t agree with the views of some that we have to read Paul through this particular lens in order to rightly understand him. However, this setting was a part of his milieu and does inform our understanding of the socio-historical setting of the New Testament.
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Posted by Jeff Short on January 14, 2021 · Leave a Comment
Reading Romans after Supersessionism: The Continuation of Jewish Covenantal Identity by J Brian Tucker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m not thrilled with the term post-supersessionism as it could be construed that the non-supersessionist reading of the New Testament is new or more recent. The author acknowledges that supersessionist hermeneutics dominate contemporary scholarship, and I suppose that does give the appearance of being the traditional view. It would have been good to have had some treatment of the historicity of continuist, non-supersessionist hermeneutics.
Tucker focuses on Romans 9-11 and interacts with both the text and scholarship on different sides of this discussion. By the end of the book, he did a good job of bringing out the plural nature of the promises to the fathers, so fulfillment necessarily includes aspects of descendants of Abraham (Israel), land, and Gentiles inclusion.
I’m not entirely convinced by his arguments in Romans 14. He is influenced by the “spheres of influence” view of the continuing relevance of Torah. I personally need to do more work in this area, but it seems that view falls short in its assessment of the old covenant relationship to the new covenant and the extent of old covenant fulfillment. Further, it seems to divide the old covenant law into divisions nowhere made in scripture and doesn’t account for the all-or-nothing view in epistles such as Galatians or James, not to mention the book of Hebrews and the covenants discussion there. However, the continuing relevance of Torah is not entirely germane to his argument for non-supersessionist readings.
I appreciate the book and recommend it for study.
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Posted by Jeff Short on December 26, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Glory in Romans and the Unified Purpose of God in Redemptive History by Donald L Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This study takes up the motif of glory in Paul’s letter to the Romans, which is an under explored area of scholarship. Glory in Romans has to do with God’s glory and the display of his glory by human beings. Obviously, humans rejected that glory and fell short of it, beginning in Adam. But, in Christ, the second Adam, sons of Adam are justified and giving sure hope of future glory.
This is a helpful study. The author goes through the entire letter, focusing on Paul’s use of the doxa word group and relevant passages that may not necessarily use the word group. The study does suffer somewhat from over realized eschatology and supersessionism.
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Book Review: Romans
Posted by Jeff Short on March 22, 2021 · Leave a Comment
Romans by Douglas J. Moo
I thought going in this was just an abridged version of Moo’s longer commentary, but was pleasantly surprised that was not the case. There are certainly times where the text commentary reads similarly, but it is usually in a shorter, summary form that can actually be helpful. The Bridging Contexts and Contemporary Significance sections add excellent practical applications that go beyond the longer commentary. If you were to only have one, I would suggest the longer commentary though it is more technical. However, it is worth having both as this volume is an excellent complement to the longer commentary.My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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