Philip Esler on Romans

Just announced by Fortress:

Philip Esler Provides Fresh Analysis of Paul’s Most Important Letter

MINNEAPOLIS (October 23, 2003)— What is the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Romans? In Conflict and Identity in Romans: The Social Setting of Paul’s Letter Philip F. Esler provides an illuminating analysis of this epistle, employing various social-scientific methods, along with epigraphy and archaeology. His conclusion is that the apostle Paul was attempting: (a) to facilitate the resolution of intergroup conflict among the Christ-followers of Rome, especially as between Judeans and non-Judeans; and (b) to establish a new identity for them by developing a form of group categorization which subsumes the various groups into a new entity.

“This is an important study of Paul’s letter to Rome that breaks out of the traditional boundaries of doctrine interpretation. Employing insights from recent social science, Esler argues that Paul offers the diverse churches in Rome a common ingroup identity that could overcome their ethnic conflicts and make cooperation possible. They need to understand that every ethnic group stands equally under sin and under grace. This innovative book makes Romans more important than ever for a world still torn by ethnic conflict.”

—Robert Jewett
Harry R. Kendall Professor of New Testament Emeritus
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

“Esler provides his readers with a discerning, exciting, and masterful reading of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. He hones his exegetical lenses with the full range of tools available to the modern interpreter: ancient Mediterranean history and archaeology, philology, patristics, historical and literary criticism, history of interpretation, and social science criticism. He defines terms that most interpreters leave at the intuitive level, such as ethnic and ethnicity, Greeks, Judeans, righteousness. He clearly articulates the societal processes by which groups maintain their distinctiveness and identity over against others groups (Christ-movement groups and Israel, Israelites and ‘Gentiles’). He dialogues with modern commentators from Bultmann and Käsemann to Dunn and Moo. For an incisive, penetrating, and sensible grasp of Romans, there is nothing better than Esler’s work. The unassuming and unostentatious style in which the book is written belies the freshness of insight and brilliance of perception that the author offers his readers.”

—Bruce J. Malina, author of The Social Gospel of Jesus

“Noted for his insightful use of social-scientific methods of studying various portions of the New Testament, Esler applies his considerable skills to Paul’s most famous letter. The results are both stimulating and insightful. This is perhaps the most skillful and helpful social scientific treatment of Romans thus far rendered by any one to date. Highly recommended.”

—Ben Witherington III, author of Jesus the Sage

Contents
- Romans and Christian Identity
- Explaining Social Identity
- Ethnicity, Ethnic Conflict, and the Ancient Mediterranean World
- The Context: Rome in the 50s CE
- The Letter’s Purpose in the Light of Romans 1:1-15 and 15:14-16:27
- Common Ingroup Identity and Romans 1:1-3:20
- The Foundations of the New Identity (Romans 3:21-31)
- Abraham as a Prototype of Group Identity (Romans 4)
- The New Identity in Christ: Origin and Entry (Romans 5-6)
- Pauline Leadership and Group Exemplification in Romans 7
- The Exalted Character of the New Identity (Romans 8)
- Israel and the Christ-Movement (Romans 9-11)
- Descriptors of the New Identity (Romans 12-13)
- The Weak and the Strong (Romans 14:1-15:13)

Key Features
- A completely fresh analysis of Paul’s most important letter
- Integrates anthropology, epigraphy, and archaeology
- Diagrams and charts

Philip F. Esler is Professor of Biblical Criticism at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Among his publications are Community and Gospel in Luke-Acts (1987), The First Christians in Their Social Worlds (1994), and Galatians (1998). He is also the editor of three major works: Modeling Early Christianity (1995), Christianity for the Twenty-First Century (1998), and The Early Christian World (2000).

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Format: 384 pp; 6 x 9"; ; -c cover; sewn
ISBN: 0-8006-3435-7
Price: $29.00
Publication: October 2003


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