According to Douglas Moo, the theological or conceptual “framework within which Paul expresses his key ideas in Romans can be called salvation history” (D. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, 1996, 25). What he means by this is that “God has accomplished redemption as part of a historical process. God’s work in Christ is the center of history, the point from which both past and future must be understood” (26). So the cross and resurrection of Jesus are, on the one hand, the fulfilment of the Old Testament, and on the other, they anticipate the “final glory”.

I have been reading Tom Wright’s Into the Heart of Romans: A Deep Dive Into Paul’s Greatest Letter (2023), wondering whether I should make it recommended reading for a course on Romans. I probably will but with caveats.

My view is that Wright’s assessment of the traditional Protestant reading as narrowly individualistic is correct but he overshoots the heart of Paul’s thought when he says that Romans is about God’s plan to restore creation.

Nothing much to see here, just a footnote to my argument about Jesus being “in the form of a god,” but some people may find it interesting.

From my limited perspective (other limited perspectives are available), it appears that the church in the West is changing or being changed quite dramatically. It is adapting to a marginalised and diminished presence by re-imagining the manner of its engagement with the world around it. We are concerned less with the quantity of church community than with its quality. Boundaries have become more porous. There is more going out than coming in. We have rediscovered a preference for the poor and dysfunctional, in their various guises.

Under what circumstances did Paul imagine that “all Israel” would be saved? How did he think it would come about? I want to look at two passages here that point to national disaster as the circumstances and means by which such a reversal might happen. The second is the obvious one:

Paul makes reference in Romans 2:7 to people who “by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality” (ESV). Who are they, what are they seeking, and what do they get on the day of God’s wrath? I ask because the question came up in an X/Twitter exchange, and I want to take the opportunity to clarify how I think this passage needs to be read.

Here’s my translation of the passage. I have translated aphtharsian “imperishability” rather than  “immortality” for reasons which I will get to.