Purpose and Cause in Pauline Exegesis
Romans 1.16-4.25 and a New Approach to the Letters

This book is about how to read Paul's letters as first-century epistles by studying Romans 1.16-4.25.

Wendy Dabourne (Author)

9780521640039, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 January 1999

270 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.6 cm, 0.46 kg

'… one can only commend this provocative work.' Irish Theological Quarterly

Three factors prompt this re-examination of the underlying questions that shape mainstream exegesis of Paul's letters. Hermeneutical studies have destabilized assumptions about the nature of meaning in texts; the letters are usually characterized as pastoral but explicated as expressions of Paul's thought; and the impact of E. P. Sanders' work on Paul has sharpened exegetical problems in Romans 1.16-4.25. The outcome is a two-step method of exegesis that considers a letter first in the light of the author's purpose in creating it and second as evidence for the patterns of thought from which it sprang. The passage appears as pastoral preaching, helping the Romans to deal with the implications of the fact that the God of Israel is now accepting believing Gentiles on the same basis as believing Jews. Justification by grace through faith emerges as the theological understanding of God's action in Christ that grounds pastoral speech.

Abbreviations
1. Asking new exegetical questions
2. Exegesis of Romans 1.16-4.25: The basic conception and its problems
3. Romans 1.16-4.25: what do we want to know?
4. The basis for separating presuppositions from intended address
5. How to trace what Paul was intending to say to the Romans
6. Working from the problems of interpretation within the justification framework
7. Paul's purpose in creating the text
8. The nature of the text
9. Hypothesis describing Romans 1.16-4.25
10. The teleological exposition of Romans 1.16-4.25
11. Testing the teleological reading
12. The causal exposition of Romans 1.16-4.25
13. Review and conclusion
Select bibliography
General index
Index of biblical and other ancient literature.

Subject Areas: Biblical studies & exegesis [HRCG]