The last post was spent examining the main underlying narrative in the book of Romans. That narrative is the storyline of the Bible, concisely seen as a drama with four acts—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. However, there is much more under the surface of the book of Romans than simply the main storyline of the Bible. There are sub-narratives that reinforce and help to explain the big narrative. Those smaller stories will now be examined in order to enrich my examination of the main underlying narrative in Romans.
Sub-Narratives in Romans
The sub-narratives in Romans can be divided into two categories: Old Testament stories, and the personal stories (which include two sub-categories, the stories of Paul and of the Roman community of faith). These two categories can be observed even in the first 8 verses of the letter. I will be examining the beginning of the book in my next post, but suffice it to note here several features. One, Paul relates part of his own narrative, how he was called by Christ to be an apostle to be a witness to the nations (a typical epistolary feature for Paul’s writing). Two, he relates some of the big-picture story of the Bible, that Jesus came in the flesh, but was the Son of God, and died and rose from the dead. Three, the Trinity is interwoven throughout the verses, referring to God who sent His Son, and the Spirit of holiness. Four, the narrative of Paul’s witness to the Roman believers is assumed as he refers to their community of faith. Because Paul is writing a letter to the Romans, there is a great deal of narrative background that must be assumed in order to understand what he is talking about. Indeed, the full impact of the letter on the Roman community of believers can only be felt when one realizes that Paul is writing to them with the story that changed their lives in mind, and he is writing to them as their friend, brother, and spiritual mentor, because of the story played out in history in which God used Paul as his witness to those people who are now formed into a community of faith that is called to be like Christ.
Old Testament Stories that Support the Main Underlying Narrative
In this section I am simply going to catalogue the OT stories that jump out from the text when one reads it with narrative in mind. The references cited are not meant to indicate that it is simply the one verse that suggests an underlying OT story, for often Paul goes on extended discourses that require understanding of a particular OT narrative. I will include the mainline narrative that was already discussed in the last post. This list is not exhaustive. Paul is so thoroughly biblical—meaning that he is grounded in the stories and teaching of the Old Testament—that his letters ooze with the Old Testament (the 16 uses of “it is written” alone would be enough to indicate this).
- 1.3 David and his royal line leading to Christ
- 1.20 The creation narrative in Genesis 1-2
- 2.12 The law given to the Jews in the Old Testament (especially through Moses)
- 2.25 Circumcision, especially the narrative of God’s covenant of circumcision with Abraham in Genesis 17
- 3.23 The Fall narrative of Genesis 3
- 3.24 The redemption narrative that starts at Genesis 3:15
- 4 The faith of Abraham narrative in Genesis 12-22
- 5 The Fall narrative of Genesis 3 (and correlation with the redemption narrative that starts in Genesis 3 by interrelating the first and last Adam)
- 7 Law narrative (provides background for Paul’s discussion of the struggle with doing right when one’s heart is evil)
- 8:19 Creation and Fall narrative of Genesis 1-3
- 8:23 Restoration narrative that is a theme throughout the OT
- 8.26-30 Pre-creation narrative of Triune intention to save
- 9:1 The narrative of the Israelites leading to the birth of Christ
- 9:6 Abraham and Isaac narrative from Genesis 17, 21 and following
- 9:10 Jacob and Esau narrative from Genesis 25 and following
- 10:21 The recurring theme in the OT of the Israelites breaking covenant with God
- 11.1-4 The Elijah narrative
- 11:17 The narrative of God’s building of his covenant people through the symbol of an olive tree
- 15:8 The expectation of the OT regarding the salvation of the Gentiles (expected narrative in promise/shadow form)
- 16:25 Reflects the big narrative of promising Christ, who finally came
It is important to not simply view the underlying sub-narratives as background information. They are more than that—they are the acts of God in history that reveal Himself to His people. Thus the sub-narratives give the divine context of the big narrative. The biblical story—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—was (and is) acted out in space and time, through the covenants with Adam, with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob, with Moses, with the nation of Israel, with David, and through the deliverance God provided for his people continually. This then further reinforces the understanding that the truth of the book of Romans is rooted not in timeless propositional statements, but rather in the reality of God’s revealing of himself in history through the biblical narrative.
Personal Narratives in the Book of Romans
What I am calling the “personal narratives” in the book of Romans includes both the story of Paul’s conversion and ministry and the conversion and life of the community of faith in Rome. The first 8 verses contain the underlying conversion and call narrative of Paul, as well as the calling of the Roman believers. However, this continues throughout the book. What follows is another listing of these personal sub-narratives, though again, it is not an exhaustive list.
- 1.1 Paul’s conversion and calling to apostleship
- 1.5 Paul’s call to preach the gospel to the nations
- 1.6 The Roman believers were called to be God’s people
- 1.8f Paul’s desire to travel to see the Roman community
- 12.3-13 Narrative of life in the community
- 13.1 Representation of how the Christian community’s story should play out in relation to government
- 15.22 Paul’s personal travel narrative, with his desire to travel by Rome on the way to Spain
- 16.3-16 So many stories of individuals who came into contact with Paul (by name)
- 16.17 Stories of division in the body by divisive people
- 16.21-23 More stories relating to individual people
So not only is there a host of OT allusions that enrich our understanding of the biblical story, but there are personal stories that shed light on how the biblical story crashed into the stories of individual people and communities. To know the stories of every person mentioned in chapter 16 would be a wonderful testimony of the working of the grace of God in history. The biblical story is not something that relates only to “biblical” figures (which for the NT believers would have been the OT saints). The biblical story includes the present aspect of the story, which is the building of the church of Jesus Christ. And the biblical story is truly experienced when the old man is put to death, and the new man in the image of Christ is built up in one who has trusted in Jesus.
