Introduction: Lived Theology Part One: A Community Needing Peace Romans 12–16
1. Phoebe—The Face of Romans
2. The Greetings and the House Churches of Rome
3. Strong and Weak
4. Zealotry
5. Christoformity—Paul’s Vision for a Lived Theology of Peace
6. Christoformity Is Embodied God Orientation
7. Christoformity Is Embodied Body-of-Christ Orientation
8. Christoformity Is Public Orientation
9. Know the Time Is Now Part Two: A Narrative Leading to Peace Romans 9–11
10. Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, Where We’re Headed
11. To the Weak
12. To the Strong Part Three: A Torah That Disrupts Peace Romans 1–4
13. The Opening to the Letter
14. The Rhetoric of Romans 1–2
15. Reading Romans 2 after Romans 1
16. The First Question—Advantage
17. The Second Question—Boasting in Advantage
18. The Third Question—Abraham, Faith, and Advantage Part Four: A Spirit Creating Peace Romans 5–8
19. All
20. You and We
21. I Conclusion: Reading Romans Forwards, in Brief
To read Romans from beginning to end, from letter opening to final doxology, is to retrace the steps of Paul. To read Romans front to back was what Paul certainly intended. But to read Romans forward may have kept the full message of Romans from being perceived. Reading forward has led readers to classify Romans as abstract and systematic theology, as a letter unstained by real pastoral concerns. But what if a different strategy were adopted? Could it be that the secret to understanding the relationship between theology and life, the key to unlocking Romans, is to begin at the letter’s end? Scot McKnight does exactly this in Reading Romans Backwards. McKnight begins with Romans 12–16, foregrounding the problems that beleaguered the house churches in Rome. Beginning with the end places readers right in the middle of a community deeply divided between the strong and the weak, each side dug in on their position. The strong assert social power and privilege, while the weak claim an elected advantage in Israel’s history. Continuing to work in reverse, McKnight unpacks the big themes of Romans 9–11—God’s unfailing, but always surprising, purposes and the future of Israel—to reveal Paul’s specific and pastoral message for both the weak and the strong in Rome. Finally, McKnight shows how the widely regarded "universal" sinfulness of Romans 1–4, which is so often read as simply an abstract soteriological scheme, applies to a particular rhetorical character’s sinfulness and has a polemical challenge. Romans 5–8 equally levels the ground with the assertion that both groups, once trapped in a world controlled by sin, flesh, and systemic evil, can now live a life in the Spirit. In Paul’s letter, no one gets off the hook but everyone is offered God’s grace. Reading Romans Backwards places lived theology in the front room of every Roman house church. It focuses all of Romans—Paul’s apostleship, God’s faithfulness, and Christ’s transformation of humanity—on achieving grace and peace among all people, both strong and weak. McKnight shows that Paul’s letter to the Romans offers a sustained lesson on peace, teaching applicable to all divided churches, ancient or modern.
Scot McKnight is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, where he directs both a master's and doctor of ministry program in using context to interpret the New Testament. He is the author of more than eighty books, including commentaries on Colossians and Philemon and a book on Paul as Pastor. He has been married to Kris for more than forty-five years and has two children and two grandchildren.
