Gaventa describes her work as a book for people who wouldn't normally read a book on Romans; this is a work aimed at the gap between popular Christian literature and academic theology, a discussion for the Christian of the aspects of Romans Gaventa considers crucial both for its own time and ours.
The introduction sets out the thread running through the book: we miss the vastness of the gospel, which is the liberation of the whole of creation from the power of sin and death. The chapter does the usual things one expects, such as surveying the possible reasons for Paul's writing the letter, but it also discusses the nature of ancient letter-writing and focuses in particular on the possible role of Phoebe, the probable letter-carrier, as its first interpreter. Chapter 1, ‘Watch the Horizon’, takes forward Gaventa's theme on the vastness of the gospel by discussing the treatment of salvation in Romans, and arguing less for a corporate over individual understanding than for a cosmic one. She points out that Paul does not talk of repentance and forgiveness of the individual: salvation is a delivery from slavery to the powers of sin and death, and one cannot repent from slavery, only be rescued from it. In this context Gaventa cites the modern examples of those addicted to alcohol or drugs.
Chapter 2 ‘Consider Abraham’ addresses the question of Israel's place in God's redemptive plan. Gaventa begins with the references to Abraham in chapter 4, noting that his usual key attribute of obedience is never mentioned and that he is used as an example of what God has done in the past. All, Jew and Gentile, are under the power of sin and death; Paul seeks to counter the opinion of those gentile Christians who think they have displaced Israel or that unbelieving Israel has been rejected. Israel ‘has always existed only out of God's own creative and sustaining action’ (p. 73), and Gaventa makes the point that this should stand against anti-Judaism in the church today.
Chapter 3 ‘Give Glory to God’ moves on to the question of Pauline ethics. Gaventa briefly surveys the common questions which arise in this context – the role of the law, the difficulty of establishing a context for some of Paul's instructions – but argues that these are too narrow a perspective. Paul's underlying concerns when addressing ethical issues are to do with the worship of God: it is refusal to worship God that leads to the range of behaviours cited in the first chapter of Romans. The chapter ends with a discussion of Donna Johnson's autobiography, Holy Ghost Girl. In this memoir of life with a travelling faith healer, David Terrell, Gaventa observes that it is the transcendent experience of worship within the tent, where all races (at Terrell's insistence) worshipped together unsegregated, that overcomes the racism and corruption he exhibits in other contexts.
Chapter 4 ‘Welcome One Another’ deals with Paul's representation of the Christian community. Gaventa surveys the language used to characterise the ‘you’ of the letter's recipients – those who believe, who have peace with God, who are now adopted into the household of God. The community's relationship in Christ means that they are responsible to and for each other. She discusses the particular problems around table fellowship in chapter 14, noting that Paul first addresses ‘the theological problem that is at stake before turning to the embodiment of that problem in the community's life’ (p. 113). She finishes with thoughts for the church of today: challenges to the community ‘prompt Paul to seek upbuilding, but they do not prompt him to anxious monitoring of the community's border’ (p. 115).
Gaventa's conclusion uses Bruce Springsteen's ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ to reintroduce her discussion of the ‘all’ of Romans first touched on in her discussion of the salvation of all Israel in chapter 2; she hears Romans as an elaboration of Philippians’ promise that ‘every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord’ (Phil 2:10), and surveys some of the difficult questions that might arise from this belief (what about faith? the fate of bad people? the impetus to mission? the ethical imperative?). Her reason for pressing this issue (which she recognises will be controversial for some) is, as she says in chapter 1, to reintroduce the reader to the ‘vastness of the gospel’ (p. 127).
This is an important and all too rare example of a serious work, by a respected biblical scholar, addressed to the intellectually curious non-academic Christian. In an engaging style Gaventa addresses difficult questions with reference to a broad range of modern scholarship; New Testament scholars can also find fresh insights here.
