If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul’s Letter to - download pdf or read online

If You name your self a Jew reads Romans as a discussion among Paul and a Gentile proselyte to Judaism. This clean analyzing brings Romans into concentration as Paul's exposition of the revelation of God's righteousness--his faithfulness to his covenant offers to Abraham, which climaxed within the declaration that "in you all of the tribes of the earth should be blessed" (Gen 12:3). Paul insists that the righteousness of God is printed, "for the Jew first in addition to for the Greek," now not via Torah yet in the course of the faith(fullness) of Jesus. Torah and the prophets offer corroborating witness for God's righteousness, yet Gentiles who bend their necks to Torah's yoke omit the particular mechanism for locating peace with God. Paul present in the tale of Jesus clone of whole religion in/faithfulness to God; in Jesus' resurrection he chanced on identical to God's entire faithfulness, "for the Jew first in addition to for the Greek." while Torah ended in curse and loss of life, it additionally expected the unconditional faithfulness of God for either Jew and Gentile. For Paul, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the account of the outworking of God's faithfulness: the top of Torah's curses and the success of its blessings.

"Rodríguez provides a clean problem to many stale assumptions approximately interpreting Romans. He offers a cogent case that Paul is writing to Gentile Christians, and what's extra, that Paul's imaginary opponent who appears to be like through the letter isn't really a Jew yet is in reality a Gentile convert to Judaism. . . . It makes for a stimulating quantity on Paul's most renowned letter."
--Michael F. poultry, Ridley Melbourne challenge and Ministry university, Melbourne, Australia

"Building upon the paintings of Stanley Stowers and Runar Thorsteinsson, Rafael Rodríguez presents a unique analyzing of Romans: all through this letter Paul addresses a judaizing Gentile interlocutor. these trying to movement past 'Lutheran' and 'New point of view' readings of Paul will locate in If You name your self a Jew a extra traditionally believable and theologically fruitful examining of Romans."
--Matthew Thiessen, Saint Louis college, St. Louis, MO

"Rodríguez joins these Pauline interpreters who've taken heavily Paul's statement that he writes particularly to Gentiles. what's major approximately his procedure is that he presents a cautious research of the diatribe variety questions that characteristic in major sections of the letter. His radical thesis that the interlocutor is of Gentile ethnicity yet perspectives himself as a Jew, and teaches Gentiles, is provocative and tough yet illustrated with sustained argument. an exceptional quantity to spark curiosity in Paul's skillful rhetoric."
--William S. Campbell, collage of Wales Trinity St. David, Lampeter, UK

Rafael Rodríguez is Professor of latest testomony at Johnson college, Knoxville, Tennessee. he's the writer of Structuring Early Christian reminiscence: Jesus in culture, functionality, and Text (2010) and Oral culture and the recent testomony: A advisor for the Perplexed (2014).