Invitation to Romans: Participant Book: A Short-Term Disciple Bible Study

by Pamela Michelle Eisenbaum

Book Overview

Exploring how people have interpreted Romans through the ages is a good lens to view the history of Christianity itself. Compare what Paul writes in Romans to what theologians like Augustine, Luther and Calvin say in trying to understand Paul in their time. At the end of this study your group will have a more informed commitment to Paul's radical vision of God's relationship to both Christians and Jews and to their relationship to each other, thanks...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0687496497
• ISBN13: 9780687496495
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Length: 101 Pages
• Weight: 4.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

History of a Biblical letter

In a departure from the normal presentation of a Disciple Bible Study, the Invitation to Romans spends much of its effort understanding the history of interpretation of the letter of Romans rather than in an exegetical study of the intent of the author to convey meaning to the letters recipients. Since Romans has had such an important impact on the history of the church, this is a reasonable approach. In fact, it would be impossible to have any meaningful discussion of the core ideas of the letter without touching on the history of interpretation, since disparate readings of Romans have been key to the establishment of denominational identities. I wish the focus was a bit more on the meaning of Romans for contemporary life and culture and less on Origen and Martin Luther. Also new to this study is the emphasis on dramatic readings of the text on the accompanying DVD/video tape. This helps us to empathize with the early recipients of the letter who for the most part would have heard the letter read when the church gathered for worship. Another change for the video material is that preacher/story teller Michael Williams, playing the part of your favorite, funky professor, provides the part two videos for each session in dramatic fashion. Williams tells the story of Romans but isn't really convincing as the venerable scholar meeting us, surrounded by books and papers, in his study. This is a good effort to spice up the series but it falls short in some significant ways.