The last post dealt with the basic starting point for reading the book of Romans. I suggested that it is impossible to come to the text without presuppositions, and that we should come to Scripture as the community of God’s people that follows the Triune God through Christ by the power of the Spirit. So I am there referring to our starting point as followers of Jesus.
But what was Paul’s starting point?
Perhaps this question will shove us further in the right direction as we read the book of Romans. What did Paul presuppose or assume as he wrote the letter to the Romans? What guided his thinking? Was it a set of orthodox propositions? Paul obviously makes clear propositional claims about theological matters. For example, “the just shall live by faith,” and “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” He rationally explains justification, sanctification, and many other doctrines. What lies underneath all of this? How can we discover the answer to this question?
The way that I will attempt to answer this question is to read Romans in one sitting, and observe what underlies all of his teaching in the book. If I was a non-Christian, with no conception of Christian orthodoxy, would a certain narrative or worldview become clear in Paul’s letter? This is what I will try to observe: is there an underlying narrative or worldview in the book of Romans. Once this has been done, an expanded answer can be given as to what our starting point is as we read Romans.
I think this is the right question to ask. At the least we would have to say that Paul wrote Romans in light of his experience of the resurrected Christ (his Emmaus road experience), and all that followed that in the reorientation of this thinking, especially about the OT. He surely reflected on the basic claims of the apostolic gospel. I will be interested to see what you find by reading for the underlying worldview plot line of Romans.