★★★★★ 5
Fresh, exciting, energizing insights on Romans
I was delightfully surprised by the fresh insights of deep significance that Gaventa uncovers in the book of Romans, of all things--that book about which so, so much has already been written. She helps the reader approach the letter's themes as if one were reading it for the first time with 1st-century lenses, and in the process expands and reorients the reader's understanding of salvation, and the question of why Paul is even writing in the first place. The 21st-century repercussions of what Gaventa presents here would take another volume, but she does at points connect some of these dots herself. One notable reason why Gaventa's reading seems so fresh is that while it touches on them very briefly, but doesn't dwell on so many of the recurrent topics in recent discussions on Paul, such as "faith/fulness of Christ" or "works of the law" or "righteousness/justice of God." She simply helps focus attention on what to keep in mind when reading Romans in order to understand what is happening in and through its complex arguments. And I couldn't put it down until I finished. Although I would otherwise say we need another Romans commentary like we need rocks in our shoes, it offers much promise that Gaventa's big commentary which she is producing might very well revolutionize our understanding of aspects of Romans, and perhaps even Paul in general. At the very least, if it expands on what she has already given us in this slim volume, it will absolutely reenergize our engagement with this part of the New Testament.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2016
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