This current aim on this blog is to write a blog post of 400+ words about every chapter in the New Testament. I’ve got through quite a number of books, especially the shorter ones! It’s now time for me to address a toughie: the book of Romans.

The first time I read Romans, when I was about 13 or 14, I found it a bit of a disappointment. I’d just finished Luke’s exciting, fast-paced, missional book of Acts, and now I was wading through something more theologically dense. I dare say that as a teenager, even one who had religiously attended Sunday School, I had little idea about the debates on integrating gentiles with Israel or talk of the elect.

And yet, as an adult, I can see that there’s a richness that’s worth digging into and also issues where people can go awry in their understanding.

Joseph A. Fitzmyer in his Anchor Yale Bible Commentary on Romans notes: “This is the book in which each one seeks his own dogmas, and likewise finds each his own.”

So obviously I start this study with theological leanings – I am more enthusiastic about Arminian or Corporate Election views of salvation than New Calvinist ones, for example. But there are a whole pile of debates where I do not have fully formed views.

Last year, I read N.T. Wright’s Into the Heart of Romans, which focused on chapter 8 and – from memory – was really good at discussing God’s plan for a restored creation in and around verse 20.

Getting ready for this series, I’ve started with the following books:

• Reading Romans Backwards: A Gospel of Peace in the Midst of Empire by Scot McKnight (Anglican, Arminian)
• Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Socio-Rhetorical Commentary) by Ben Witherington III (Methodist, Wesleyan)
• Word Biblical Commentary: Romans by James D. G. Dunn (New Perspective on Paul)
• Romans: A New Convenant Commentary by Craig S. Keener (Pentecostal)
• The Anchor Yale Bible: Romans by Joseph A. Fitzmyer (Roman Catholic)
• The Message of Romans by John Stott (Anglican, Calvinist)
• Romans (The Story of God Bible Commentary) by Michael F. Bird (Anglican, Calvinist)

I’ve also been watching the Bible Society’s excellent video series on Romans with Dr Andrew Ollerton.

So there’s quite a bit of reading for me to be getting on with! Although in general I’ve been writing an article per chapter of other New Testament letters, Romans has enough ideas that I don’t think I’ll limit this series to 16 instalments. And I’ll certainly be writing about other topics on this blog, too, during the series.