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Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans

Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans. Synthesis and Further Clarification:. Paul is not retelling Genesis 1-3, so the reader is not to look for statements on the conditions “before” and “after” the Fall of the human characters in the Genesis story. .

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Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans

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  1. Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans Synthesis and Further Clarification: • Paul is not retelling Genesis 1-3, so the reader is not • to look for statements on the conditions “before” and “after” • the Fall of the human characters in the Genesis story. • It is Augustine, not Paul, who focuses on the origin of sin, • in an effort to combat the Pelagian heresy (5th century). • Paul alludes to and echoes images found in Genesis 1-3 • to signal that he is reinterpreting the story in the light • of Jesus Christ (hermeneutical lens).

  2. Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans Synthesis and Further Clarification: • Paul’s overriding concern is to demonstrate what God • has done in and through Jesus Christ. This is his point • of departure in his reflection. • The contrast Paul draws is between the human situation • “without Christ” and “with Christ.” • He uses the figure of Adam from the Genesis narrative • to symbolize old humanity “without Christ.”

  3. Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans Synthesis and Further Clarification: • What he wants to stress in using the figure of Adam • is corporate solidarity, because he offers a reflection from • a “macro perspective.” (consider the whole forest and • do not focus on individual trees) • Paul is not describing how single individuals are saved. But that was how Luther and the Reformation movement • interpreted him (16th century).

  4. Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans Synthesis and Further Clarification: • Since Paul is drawing a contrast, he has to present the situation of the old Adamic humanity as dark, desperate, • a “dead end” point (Romans 7). I am of the flesh, sold into slavery to sin… • Paul’s presentation climaxes with God flooding • the darkness with light and offering a way out of • the desperate situation, not by excluding human beings, • but acting through a human being—his Son “in flesh”

  5. Paul’s Articulation of the Gospel In the Letter to the Romans Synthesis and Further Clarification: • Jesus Christ is the prototype of the human being totally • “in the image and likeness of God.” • When human beings are “in Christ” through baptism, • they, too, are being transformed into the “image and • likeness of God” • Baptism, for Paul, is the initiation into a pattern of life characterized by “dying and rising” with Christ. • If the notion of “flesh” is best captured by the expression, “egoism,” then living the meaning of our baptism entails • a moment-by-moment dying to our egoistic tendencies.

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