Into the heart of romans, p.1
Into the Heart of Romans, page 1
Romans is a mystery. Wright leads us on an exciting journey beyond the veil, into its inner sanctum. Discover how humans are being renewed in glory, creation refreshed, and God honored. As we gaze upon Jesus, our King and High Priest, we discover our true mission and human purposes.
MATTHEW W. BATES, professor of theology, Quincy University
Like a falcon in a dive, Tom Wright takes readers on a majestic and soaring flight through Romans 8, the heart of Paul’s letter to the Roman house churches. There’s so much to see on atonement, spirit versus flesh, adoption, love, and hope, and Tom does not disappoint with his amazing mix of explanatory insights and easy readability. For many readers, reading this book will be the first time Romans actually makes sense to them.
REV. DR. MICHAEL F. BIRD, deputy principal at Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia
The greatest biblical theologian of our day offers his mature reflections on arguably the greatest chapter that the apostle Paul ever wrote—what more could we possibly ask for? This book is characteristically brilliant, its vision for the Christian life thoroughly compelling. Yet what sets Into the Heart of Romans apart is the care Wright takes, at every turn in his exposition of Paul’s argument, to invite readers into the interpretive process. His is truly a summons to a better “Romans Road” than the parody of Paul with which many of us will be familiar. Read and be transformed!
MAX BOTNER, associate professor of biblical studies, Jessup University
Written in a similar tone as his For Everyone series, N. T. Wright’s Into the Heart of Romans provides a commentary on Romans 8 that can function both as a hermeneutical primer and as an introduction to Paul’s theology. From the vantage point of Romans 8, Wright invites readers to see that Paul’s letter to the Romans is like a complex city, with intricate networks of districts and streets, being much more elaborate than a short commute down “Romans Road” can convey.
JOHN ANTHONY DUNNE, associate professor of New Testament, Bethel Seminary
In his engaging, inimitable style, Tom Wright leads us into a profound encounter with one of the most profound chapters of Scripture. Challenging typical interpretations and offering new ones, he helps us see Romans 8 as a call for the church to enter the world’s polyvalent pain in sync with the triune God. A much-needed challenge.
MICHAEL J. GORMAN, Raymond E. Brown Chair in Biblical and Theological Studies, St. Mary’s Seminary & University
Tom Wright models the Christian principle: “there’s always more to learn from the Bible.” Wright has written extensively on Romans, but now offers fresh insight by focusing on chapter 8, a central text bringing together key themes like new covenant, new creation, the love of God, and restored humanity. At first, you’ll think you were studying Romans 8, but you’ll end up better understanding the whole Bible. This is vintage Wright and will undoubtedly generate robust conversation about the heart of Romans.
NIJAY K. GUPTA, professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary
In Into the Heart of Romans, Tom Wright provides a master class in close reading of Scripture. In his fine-grained exposition, Romans 8 becomes a lens through which we can more clearly perceive the larger biblical story of God’s design to overcome the power of death and redeem the broken world in and through a transformed people of God; conversely, Wright also shows how that larger story illuminates the logic of Paul’s various affirmations within Romans 8. For those who assume that Romans is all about how individuals can have their sins forgiven and go to heaven, this book will come as a shock—and as a stimulus to a richer understanding of the gospel that Paul proclaimed.
RICHARD B. HAYS, George Washington Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Duke University
Vintage Tom Wright! Readers are enabled by Wright’s careful guidance to glimpse both a compelling bird’s-eye view of Romans 8 and to follow him in a deep dive that illumines the entire story of creation and salvation, highlighting key themes such as justification, glorification, fruitful suffering, and Christology. Especially helpful is Wright’s newfound concentration on humanity as “image-bearers” (in continuity with the ancient fathers) and “temple-people” (in continuity with St. Paul himself!). Wright sings in harmony with St. Irenaeus, who also learned from the apostle Paul that “the glory of God is man fully alive.”
EDITH HUMPHREY, William F. Orr Professor Emerita of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
This work is Paul’s greatest living interpreter on the greatest chapter of Paul’s greatest letter. Here Wright deftly elucidates Paul’s grand biblical vision—creation, election, exile, new exodus, and new creation—all reworked around the Messiah and the Spirit. Paul’s children (interpreters) are hereby liberated from venerable false antitheses and downright misunderstandings into the glory of the macro-theological vision of earliest Christianity’s profoundest theologian.
CHRIS KUGLER, research associate, Keble College, Oxford
N. T. Wright has long made it clear that Romans 8 is a text that is dear to his own heart and understanding of Paul. In this book, we encounter Wright as pastor, professor, and scholar. He teaches us how to read a text (as professor), what he discovers in the text (as scholar), and why Paul’s message in one of his most significant passages still matters for the church today (as pastor). It was also refreshing to witness Wright model the ability to grow as an exegete revising one’s opinion when better readings present themselves. This book is an exemplar of a pastorally and exegetically rich analysis of a dense but rewarding section of Paul’s most famous letter.
ESAU MCCAULLEY, associate professor of New Testament, Wheaton College
Having spent his life studying and living the writings of Paul, N. T. Wright offers Into the Heart of Romans with his hallmark exultant themes and dense yet conversational prose. With this fresh foray, he teaches readers not only how to understand this chapter but how to read Paul. Excellent for personal study, group discussion, or congregational preaching, he allows those who might feel nervous around such a vital theological chapter to gain their bearings. This book offers not just a detailed map but a personal guide through the intricate pathways of Paul’s proclamation. I was led to gratitude for the clarity I gained, wonder at the brilliance of Paul, and praise for the grace of God in the victory of Jesus Christ.
AMY PEELER, Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies, Wheaton College
Within the field of Pauline scholarship, one would be hard-pressed to name an interpreter more insightful, biblically integrative, or significant than Tom Wright. At the same time, he is also among the most prolific—a sometimes daunting reality for those unfamiliar with Wright and just don’t know where to start. But now with this newest book, it’s like having Wright as your own driver-guide, leading us through the heart of Paul’s thought one manageable block at a time.
NICHOLAS PERRIN, president, Trinity International University
The so-called “Father of Pietism,” Philipp Jakob Spener, is often credited for suggesting that if the Bible were a ring and Romans its precious stone, then Romans 8 would be the sparkling point of the jewel. This statement is on clear and brilliant display in this volume as Tom Wright treats Romans 8 with painstaking care and uncommon insight. In Into the Heart of Romans, you have a premier Pauline interpreter probing and plumbing the depths of one of the most meaningful and memorable passages the apostle ever composed. “What shall we say then to these things?”
TODD D. STILL, Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean & William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures, Baylor University, Truett Seminary
Tom Wright’s new book Into the Heart of Romans is an exemplary display of scholarly rigor and Christian passion. Tom opens Romans 8 in a way that’s both exhilarating and challenging. He shows us that Romans 8 is not a summary of how individuals get to heaven but is a stunning story of how the Father reconciles all creation to himself through the resurrection of His Son and by the power of His Spirit. Both the scholar and lay reader will find this book hard to put down.
PRESTON SPRINKLE, speaker, podcaster, and New York Times bestselling author
Very few biblical scholars have the ability to distill the complex thought of Paul to any level of discourse so that all of us, including the novice, can begin to grasp the height and depth of Paul’s rhetoric. But Tom Wright is that rare scholar who can do so, and in this little book that focuses on perhaps Paul’s most moving and eloquent argument found in Romans 8, Tom is able to shed not merely fresh light but surprising light on this chapter. He argues that Paul is referring to the renewal of creation that will transpire at the same time the dead in Christ are raised, and that the believers will play a role when Christ returns in the restoration of all things—not somewhere out there in heaven, but right here on earth. In other words, God the environmentalist is not interested in letting his whole creation go to blazes (literally) in exchange for having some scrawny souls in heaven. No, God the creator wants it all renewed, restored, so there will be a new earth as well as a new heaven. The final destiny of faithful earthlings is not heaven but—wait for it—earth. This is must reading for all those who would know more about Paul’s vision of the human future.
BEN WITHERINGTON III, Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary
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Into the Heart of Romans
Copyright © 2023 by The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Text by Tom Wright.
Original edition published in English under the title Into the Heart of Roman s: A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter by:
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ePub Edition © August 2023: ISBN 978-0-310-15781-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wright, N. T. (Nicholas Thomas), author.
Title: Into the heart of Romans : a deep dive into Paul’s greatest letter / N. T. Wright.
Description: Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023015847 (print) | LCCN 2023015848 (ebook) | ISBN 9780310157748 (paperback) | ISBN 9780310157816 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Romans VIII—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Bible. Romans—Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Classification: LCC BS2665.52 .W74 2023 (print) | LCC BS2665.52 (ebook) | DDC 227/.106—dc23/eng/20230516
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023015847
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023015848
Scripture quotations from the New Testament are the author’s own translation unless otherwise indicated.
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For the Revd Peter R. Rodgers
Contents
Preface
1 Romans 8 in Context
2 Romans 8.1–4: No Condemnation
3 Romans 8.5–11: The Spirit Gives Life
4 Romans 8.12–17: Led by the Spirit
5 Romans 8.17–21: The Liberation of Creation
6 Romans 8.22–7: The Groaning of the Spirit
7 Romans 8.28–30: Justified and Glorified
8 Romans 8.31–4: If God Is for Us
9 Romans 8.34–9: Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
Appendix 1: Roman-Inaugurated Eschatology: The Return of the Golden Age (the Age of Saturn)
Appendix 2: Hebrew Eschatology: The Messianic Age and/or the Coming of God’s Glory
Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources and Biblical References
N. T. Wright is Research Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Prior to that, he was Bishop of Durham (2003–10), Canon Theologian of Westminster (2000–3), Dean of Lichfield (1994–9), Fellow, Tutor and Chaplain of Worcester College, Oxford (1986–93), Assistant Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, McGill University, Montreal, and Honorary Professor, Montreal Diocesan Theological College (1981–6), Fellow and Chaplain of Downing College, Cambridge (1978–81), and Junior Research Fellow, Merton College, Oxford (1975–8).
Professor Wright is the author of more than eighty books, including The New Testament and the People of God (1992), Jesus and the Victory of God (1994), The Challenge of Jesus (2000, 2015), The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Library (18 volumes, 2002–14), The Resurrection of the Son of God (2003), Paul: Fresh Perspectives (2005), Scripture and the Authority of God (2005, 2013), Evil and the Justice of God (2006), Simply Christian (2006), Surprised by Hope (2007), Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision (2009), Virtue Reborn (2010), Simply Jesus (2011), The New Testament for Everyone (2011), How God Became King (2012), Creation, Power and Truth (2013), Paul and the Faithfulness of God (2013), Pauline Perspectives (2013), Surprised by Scripture (2014), Paul and His Recent Interpreters (2015), The Paul Debate (2015), God in Public (2016), The Day the Revolution Began (2016), Spiritual and Religious (2017), Paul: A Biography (2018), The New Testament in Its World (with Michael F. Bird, 2019), History and Eschatology (2019), Broken Signposts (2020), On Earth as in Heaven (2022), and The New Testament for Everyone (3rd edition, 2023).
Preface
The present book offers an in-depth study of what is arguably the greatest chapter in Paul’s greatest letter. Romans chapter 8 is exciting and dramatic, but it is also dense and sometimes, to our minds at least, elusive. Some things that were obvious to his first audience are likely to be opaque to us. That is partly because we live a long time later in a different culture. But it’s also because our various Christian traditions have conditioned us to expect Paul to say some things which he actually doesn’t, and to screen out other themes which were vital for him but which haven’t played much of a role in modern Christian thought. The only solution is to take a deeper dive into the detail of the chapter: to take the text apart piece by piece, study each element, and then put it back together again so that we are coming much closer, at least, to hearing what Paul was actually saying. That is what I have tried to do here.
This book owes its longer origin to my lifelong fascination with Romans, from my doctoral studies in the 1970s to several books and articles, notably my commentary in the New Interpreter’s Bible (2003) and my popular account in Paul for Everyone: Romans (2004), and then to several substantial discussions in Paul and the Faithfulness of God and its companion volume Pauline Perspectives (both 2013). (A complete list of my relevant publications can be found at the back of the book.) But between 2010 and 2020, I found myself working on biblical themes I had not previously thought through, particularly to do with the Temple-theme and its retrieval by the early Christians, and also the early Christian emphasis on Jesus as the image-bearing human being, as in Genesis 1 and Psalm 8. In this, I was spurred on by some of my doctoral students, two of whom, Chris Kugler and Haley Goranson Jacob, worked specifically in these areas and challenged me to rethink some of my previous readings. So, too, did my old friends Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat, in private conversations and in their book Romans Disarmed (2019). All this, to my surprise, has nudged me into quite a different reading of Romans 8 from the one I grew up with, which is still reflected in the commentaries from twenty years or so ago. I hope the new points of view will commend themselves to readers, however much of a shift in mindset this may require for some.
