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The Justification of the Ungodly: An Interpretation of Romans
A commentary on the epistle to the Romans featuring a fresh translation, textual notes, and exposition.
729 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 18, 2014
I seldom read commentaries from cover to cover (let alone 700 page ones) but Dr. Jonathan Grothe's commentary on Romans was well worth the effort. Dr. Grothe is President Emeritus of Concordia Seminary in St-Catherines Ontario. He tells us in the Preface that the Commentary was originally intended to be included in the Concordia Commentary Series but "for reasons not worth rehearsing here" (iii), the manuscript was not accepted. Having found another avenue for publication, the Commentary is now in it's second edition.
The commentary offers a fresh new translation of the Greek text followed by philological notes and commentary. What may be perceived as a weakness to some was particularly refreshing to me. Grothe does not focus on an exhaustive interaction with the many theological interpretations and perspectives on Paul's letter. In fact Grothe relies on a select bibliography (mostly Käsemann, Franzmann, Stuhlmacher, Lenski, Cranfield, Nygren and of course, Luther). The so-called New Perspective on Paul is given almost no attention. Instead, Grothe offers "an apologia for the 'Lutheran' interpretation… a philologically sound and theologically coherent exposition of the epistle within the biblical context" (vi). His aim is to develop Luther's statement that Romans is "Paul's introduction to the entire Old Testament" rather than a systematic theology. Grothe seeks to "interpret Romans as a response to separatistic Jewish Christian views held by opponents and gainsayers of the Gospel as Paul preached it" (4). Grothe emphasizes that one of the main themes of Paul's letter is that "Christ is the goal of Torah, the target at which the OT points (10:4), and the Torah is a Torah of faith (3:27), in which the Gospel of the Son of God and the righteousness which is by faith were promised beforehand (1:2) and testified to (3:21)" (9) The two other main themes are worship and fellowship. Romans 6 is not Paul's transition to the theme of Christian ethics but to the change in Lordship effected in baptism and to the struggle which the Christian faces as simultaneously saint and sinner, declared righteous but still struggling. The highest form of worship is faith and faith lives in repentance. This worship is not an individual matter but it is done in concert with all the members of the body of Christ (11).
There are far too many insights in this commentary to mention in this short review but suffice it to say that Grothe's commentary deserves a wider audience and is a faithful exposition of Paul's letter to the Romans that Pastors and laymen will find rewarding.
The commentary offers a fresh new translation of the Greek text followed by philological notes and commentary. What may be perceived as a weakness to some was particularly refreshing to me. Grothe does not focus on an exhaustive interaction with the many theological interpretations and perspectives on Paul's letter. In fact Grothe relies on a select bibliography (mostly Käsemann, Franzmann, Stuhlmacher, Lenski, Cranfield, Nygren and of course, Luther). The so-called New Perspective on Paul is given almost no attention. Instead, Grothe offers "an apologia for the 'Lutheran' interpretation… a philologically sound and theologically coherent exposition of the epistle within the biblical context" (vi). His aim is to develop Luther's statement that Romans is "Paul's introduction to the entire Old Testament" rather than a systematic theology. Grothe seeks to "interpret Romans as a response to separatistic Jewish Christian views held by opponents and gainsayers of the Gospel as Paul preached it" (4). Grothe emphasizes that one of the main themes of Paul's letter is that "Christ is the goal of Torah, the target at which the OT points (10:4), and the Torah is a Torah of faith (3:27), in which the Gospel of the Son of God and the righteousness which is by faith were promised beforehand (1:2) and testified to (3:21)" (9) The two other main themes are worship and fellowship. Romans 6 is not Paul's transition to the theme of Christian ethics but to the change in Lordship effected in baptism and to the struggle which the Christian faces as simultaneously saint and sinner, declared righteous but still struggling. The highest form of worship is faith and faith lives in repentance. This worship is not an individual matter but it is done in concert with all the members of the body of Christ (11).
There are far too many insights in this commentary to mention in this short review but suffice it to say that Grothe's commentary deserves a wider audience and is a faithful exposition of Paul's letter to the Romans that Pastors and laymen will find rewarding.
July 8, 2024
The best commentary on Romans that I've ever encountered. Read it from cover to cover and used it for a Bible study.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews