Roman House Churches for Today


Book Description

Placing the biblical book of Romans in its historical and cultural context, Reta Halteman Finger here creates a simulation of the Roman house churches that first heard Paul's Romans letter and its call for inclusiveness among the people of God. Finger guides readers in small groups to re-create house churches as in first-century Rome. Based on the text of Romans, participants play various roles and converse, even debate, with other characters from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. This experiential approach makes Romans come alive in new, concrete ways and applies Romans theology to current issues that often still divide groups of Christians. Roman House Churches for Today includes aids and suggestions for simulation leaders, sample character sketches, and website links with resources for further, deeper study. Not only small groups but also individuals will profit from this unique Bible study.




Paul and the Roman House Churches


Book Description

In AD 57 or 58, the apostle Paul sent his faithful coworker and patron Phoebe on an eight-hundred-mile journey to deliver a letter to all the Christians in Rome. He was concerned about racial, lifestyle, and political tensions in the house-church groups there. Some believers were more conservative, some more liberal. How could they live in unity and help Paul in his mission? Today we have Paul's letter but know little about its historical context. Yet similar tensions still trouble churches. Too often Romans has been misused to divide Christians from Jews, or Christians from each other. Finger claims we cannot understand Romans for our day unless we grasp its original setting. She guides users of the book to re-create house churches as in first-century Rome. Participants assume various roles and hear Phoebe proclaim Paul's message afresh. They will not all agree on what Paul means. Where they do catch his meaning, they may not accept it. How does Jesus' gospel teach them to get along together when they can't agree? This book will also benefit individual readers, and the learning through simulation is adaptable to groups of many ages and levels of education, biblical awareness, and spiritual maturity. Diversity stimulates and enhances discussion! The goal is to hear and apply the message of Romans to our lives today -- and have fun in the process!




Pauline Theology


Book Description

The book should provide a lively counterpoint to both the standard liberal and conservative treatments in courses on Paul's view of ministry. - Theology Today Ellis' judicious treatment and penetrating analysis of the relevant biblical material will force many of us...to think more precisely about the concept of ministry in Paul's writings, how ministry manifested itself in the churches of his day, and what are its implications for us today. - Westminster Theological Journal Ellis gives a sound critique of liberation theology and sociopolitical action as ministry. He gives a balanced view of the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit and, on biblical grounds, he defends the ordination of single and, with qualifications, married women. Challenging, but meant for the intelligent church member. -Librarian's World It's a gem. It is a delightful summary in popular form of themes that Ellis has been at work on throughout his years of productive scholarship. It is 'copiously footnoted...with concise bibliographies on the points at hand...Hence, this short book becomes encyclopedic. - Calvin Theological Journal A splendid tour de force in the best sense. - James G. D. Dunn These essays...represent in many respects a valuable corrective to much of what passes for biblical theology in our times. - Paul J. Achtemeier




Romans


Book Description

A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike. Each volume employs three main, easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story: LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story. EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting. LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students. —Romans— Romans is a letter that has had monumental impact in the history of Christian thought. Delving into Romans helps us see more clearly the biblical story of how God reveals his salvation to both Israel and the nations and compels us to read the Old Testament with a hermeneutical lens which identifies Jesus as the centerpiece of Israel's redemptive history. Edited by Scot McKnight and Tremper Longman III, and written by a number of top-notch theologians, The Story of God Bible Commentary series will bring relevant, balanced, and clear-minded theological insight to any biblical education or ministry.




Roman Pilgrimage


Book Description

The annual Lenten pilgrimage to dozens of Rome’s most striking churches is a sacred tradition dating back almost two millennia, to the earliest days of Christianity. Along this historic spiritual pathway, today’s pilgrims confront the mysteries of the Christian faith through a program of biblical and early Christian readings amplified by some of the greatest art and architecture of western civilization. In Roman Pilgrimage, bestselling theologian and papal biographer George Weigel, art historian Elizabeth Lev, and photographer Stephen Weigel lead readers through this unique religious and aesthetic journey with magnificent photographs and revealing commentaries on the pilgrimage’s liturgies, art, and architecture. Through reflections on each day’s readings about faith and doubt, heroism and weakness, self-examination and conversion, sin and grace, Rome’s familiar sites take on a new resonance. And along that same historical path, typically unexplored treasures—artifacts of ancient history and hidden artistic wonders—appear in their original luster, revealing new dimensions of one of the world’s most intriguing and multi-layered cities. A compelling guide to the Eternal City, the Lenten Season, and the itinerary of conversion that is Christian life throughout the year, Roman Pilgrimage reminds readers that the imitation of Christ through faith, hope, and love is the template of all true discipleship, as the exquisite beauty of the Roman station churches invites reflection on the deepest truths of Christianity.




Families in the New Testament World


Book Description

What was the family like for the first Christians? Informed by archaeological work and illustrated by figures, this work is a remarkable window into the past, one that both informs and illuminates our current condition. The Family, Culture, and Religion series offers informed and responsible analyses of the state of the American family from a religious perspective and provides practical assistance for the family's revitalization.




Reading Paul's Letter to the Romans


Book Description

In this volume, leading scholars in the study of Romans invite students and nonspecialists to engage this text and thus come to a more complete understanding of both the letter and Paul’s theology. The contributors include interpreters with different understandings of Romans so that readers see a range of interpretations of central issues in the study of the text. Each essay includes a short review of different positions on a topic and an argument for the author’s position, set out in clear, nontechnical terms, making the volume an ideal classroom tool. The contributors are A. Andrew Das, James D. G. Dunn, Victor Paul Furnish, Joel B. Green, A. Katherine Grieb, Caroline Johnson Hodge, L. Ann Jervis, E. Elizabeth Johnson, Sylvia C. Keesmaat, Rodrigo J. Morales, Mark D. Nanos, Jerry L. Sumney, and Francis Watson.




The Mystery of Romans


Book Description

Paul's letter to the Romans, says Nanos, is an example of Jewish correspondence, addressing believers in Jesus who are steeped in Jewish ways-whether of Jewish or gentile origin. Arguing against those who think Paul was an apostate from Judaism, Nanos maintains Paul's continuity with his Jewish heritage. Several key arguments here are: Those addressed in Paul's letter were still an integral part of the Roman synagogue communities. The "weak" are non- Christian Jews, while the "strong" included both Jewish and gentile converts to belief in Jesus. Paul as a practicing devout Jew insists on the rules of behavior for "the righteous gentiles." Christian subordination to authorities (Romans 13:1-7) is intended to enforce submission to leaders of the synagogues, not Roman government officials. Paul behaves in a way to confirm the very Jewish portrait of him in Acts: going first to the synagogues.




Romans


Book Description

With a scholar's mind and a pastor's heart, Tom Wright walks you through Romans in this guide designed especially with everyday readers in mind. Perfect for group use or daily personal reflection, this study uses the popular inductive method combined with Wright's thoughtful insights to bring contemporary application of Scripture to life.




Roman Domestic Art and Early House Churches


Book Description

Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Rome have yielded hundreds of wall paintings from domestic buildings. Greek myths and tragedies, especial by Euripides were visually represented. Balch presents an interdisciplinary study inquiring what earliest Jews and Christian in such houses might have been seeing as they read and interpreted scripture and performed core rituals, especially the Eucharist. This recent study of Roman domestic architecture suggests new perspectives on the social history of early Christianity.--Publisher.