Romans: A Theological and Pastoral Commentary
Pages
350
Publisher
Eerdmans
Published
3/3/2022
ISBN-13
9780802877628
This commentary engages the letter to the Romans as Christian scripture and highlights the Pauline themes for which Michael Gorman is best known—participation and transformation, cruciformity and new life, peace and justice, community and mission. With extensive introductions both to the apostle Paul and to the letter itself, Gorman provides the needed background on Paul’s first-century context before proceeding into the rich theological landscape of the biblical text.
In line with Paul’s focus on Christian living, Gorman interprets Romans at a consistently practical level, highlighting the letter’s significance for Christian theology, for daily life, and for pastoral ministry. Questions for reflection and sidebars on important concepts make this especially useful for those preparing to preach or teach from Romans—the “epistle of life,” as Gorman calls it, for its extraordinary promise that, through faith, we “might walk in newness of life” with Christ.
Reviews
Review of Biblical Literature (RBL) (Mark Reasoner)
September 1, 2023
September 1, 2023
This commentary explicitly treats Paul’s letter to the Romans as Scripture, and it would work well
in Romans classes on the undergraduate and seminary levels that are not based on the Greek text.
Each section of the commentary, including the “Introducing Paul” and “Introducing Romans”
halves of the introduction, concludes with “Spiritual, Pastoral, and Theological Reflections” and
then “Questions for Those Who Read, Teach, and Preach.” Gorman has thus been very intentional
in providing traction for his commentary in the lives of those who seek to live by this letter’s claims.
At the same time, Gorman is thoroughly conversant with all the trends in the academic study of
Romans and elegantly and understandably navigates his way through the sticky wickets in the letter
with clear signals of his own exegetical path...
Phillip J. Long
June 28, 2022
June 28, 2022
Gorman explains in his preface that the subtitle to his new Romans commentary, “a theological and pastoral commentary,” means he engages Romans as Christian Scripture. His goal is to consider the spiritual and practical application of Paul’s theology as presented in Romans in a contemporary Christian context. This does not imply Gorman ignores Paul’s message to the original audience because Paul is a pastoral theologian. In fact, he states several times in the book, “if John is the Gospel of Life, Romans is the epistle of life” (50)... Unlike many recent commentaries on Romans, Gorman does not interact much with other scholarship. As he explains, “this commentary comments on the text, not on other commentaries” (xviii). He intentionally treats the English text using the NRSV (although with comparison to other modern translations and occasionally his own)... Conclusion: Gorman’s commentary on Romans is a pleasure to read and will serve pastors and teachers well as they prepare to present Paul’s dense theology to their congregations. If you are planning to preach through the book of Romans, buy this commentary.
[Full Review]