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.

Teaching Romans Backwards is a study guide to Scot McKnight's Reading Romans Backwards that helps teachers and students work through the McKnight's text in an engaging and interactive way. Becky Castle Miller has carefully created and designed a range of learning activities, from simple to complex, for all levels of students and all learning styles. Originally designed for a fifteen-week course, the guide can be easily condensed or expanded. Each lesson includes tasks and readings for the students to complete before class, in class instructions and lesson plans, and a peek into the lesson for the following week. The appendices contain additional materials, including quiz and essay questions, that help instructors turn their exploration of Reading Romans Backwards from a discussion to a more standard course. Available for order in paperback and free download on the Baylor University Press website, this guide allows readers to experience Romans in a whole new light. Teaching Romans Backwards seeks to bring Romans to life in all contexts and for all people.

What does it mean to be saved? Did God choose who would be his followers, or was it a personal choice? These are just some of the questions Paul addresses in the sixteen challenging chapters of his letter to the Romans. Reading Romans shows how some of the greatest minds in the history of the church have wrestled with, and even been changed by, Paul's words. For example, God used a passage from Romans to speak to the untamed heart of Augustine, and John Wesley said that after hearing Martin Luther's comments on Romans, he felt his heart "strangely warmed." This book will show why, in many ways, Christian theology begins and ends with Romans.

According to Brad Vaughn, some traditional East Asian cultural values are closer to those of the first-century biblical world than common Western cultural values. In this work Vaughn demonstrates how paying attention to East Asian culture provides a helpful lens for interpreting Paul's most complex letter, and we see how honor and shame shape so much of Paul's message and mission.

Christians often say, "In Jesus' name" to close their prayers. But is this truly a desire of the heart or a perfunctory "Yours Truly" to God? Bryan Chapell says we should begin our prayers in Jesus' name-we should be Praying Backwards. In this practical and inspiring book, he shows readers that to truly pray in Jesus' name is to reorder one's priorities in prayer-and in life-away from oneself and towards Jesus and his kingdom. It is to pray believing in the power and the goodness of the One who hears, and thus to pray boldly, expectantly, and persistently. Readers seeking to transform their prayer lives will find wonderful direction in Praying Backwards.

Globalization. Homelessness. Ecological and economic crisis. Conflicts over sexuality. Violence. These crisis-level issues may seem unique to our times, but Paul's Letter to the Romans has something to say to all of them. Following their successful Colossians Remixed, Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh unpack the meaning of Romans for its original context and for today. The authors demonstrate how Romans disarms the political, economic, and cultural power of the Roman Empire and how this ancient letter offers hope in today's crisis-laden world. Romans Disarmed helps readers enter the world of ancient Rome and see how Paul's most radical letter transforms the lives of the marginalized then and now. Intentionally avoiding abstract debates about Paul's theology, Keesmaat and Walsh move back and forth between the present and the past as they explore themes of home, economic justice, creation care, the violence of the state, sexuality, and Indigenous reconciliation. They show how Romans engages with the lived reality of those who suffer from injustice, both in the first century and in the midst of our own imperial realities.

This volume brings together respected biblical scholars to evaluate the turn toward "empire criticism" in recent New Testament scholarship. While praising the movement for its deconstruction of Roman statecraft and ideology, the contributors also provide a salient critique of the anti-imperialist rhetoric pervading much of the current literature.

Emphasizing theological rather than historical questions, Kasemann divides Romans into sections according to what he sees as the key theological concept of the letter--the righteousness of God. Detailed bibliographies are provided for each section of the text.

Being a pastor is a complicated calling. Pastors are often pulled in multiple directions and must "become all things to all people" (1 Cor. 9:22). What does the New Testament say (or not say) about the pastoral calling? And what can we learn about it from the apostle Paul? According to popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight, pastoring must begin first and foremost with spiritual formation, which plays a vital role in the life and ministry of the pastor. As leaders, pastors both create and nurture culture in a church. The biblical vision for that culture is Christoformity, or Christlikeness. Grounding pastoral ministry in the pastoral praxis of the apostle Paul, McKnight shows that nurturing Christoformity was at the heart of the Pauline mission. The pastor's central calling, then, is to mediate Christ in everything. McKnight explores seven dimensions that illustrate this concept--friendship, siblings, generosity, storytelling, witness, subverting the world, and wisdom--as he calls pastors to be conformed to Christ and to nurture a culture of Christoformity in their churches.

First-rate scholars and preachers on four interpretive approaches to Paul and Romans Pauline scholarship is a minefield of differing schools of thought. Those who teach or preach on Paul can quickly get lost in the weeds of the various perspectives. How, then, can pastors today best preach Paul’s message? Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica have assembled this stellar one-stop guide exploring four major interpretive perspectives on the apostle Paul: Reformational, New, Apocalyptic, and Participationist. First elucidated by a scholarly essay, each perspective is then illuminated by three sermons expositing various passages from Paul’s magisterial letter to the Romans. Coming from such leading figures as Richard Hays, James Dunn, Fleming Rutledge, and Tom Schreiner, these essays and sermons splendidly demonstrate how each perspective on Paul brings valuable insights for preaching on Romans. [Table of Contents] Introduction Interpretive Perspectives on the Apostle Paul 1. Romans and the “Lutheran” Paul: Stephen Westerholm 2. Romans and the New Perspective: Scot McKnight 3. Romans and the Apocalyptic Reading of Paul: Douglas A. Campbell 4. Romans and the Participationist Perspective: Michael J. Gorman Preaching Romans: Sermons Reformational Perspective 5. Romans as Ecclesial Theology: Building Multiethnic Missional Churches: Michael F. Bird 6. God Justifies the Ungodly: Romans 4:1–8: Thomas R. Schreiner 7. The Transforming Reality of Justification by Faith: Romans 5:1–5: Carl R. Trueman New Perspective 8. The Balance of Already/Not Yet: Romans 8:1–17: James D. G. Dunn 9. This Changes Everything: Romans 5:12–21: Tara Beth Leach 10. Pass the Peace by Faith: Romans 4:1–4, 13–17: Scot McKnight Apocalyptic Perspective 11. Immortal Combat: Romans 1:16–17 and 5:12–14: Jason Micheli 12. In Celebration of Full Communion: Romans 3:21–24: Fleming Rutledge 13. Old Adam, New Adam; Old World, New World; Old You, New You: Romans 5:12–21: William H. Willimon Participationist Perspective 14. Death Becomes Her: Romans 6:1–14: Timothy G. Gombis 15. Made New by One Man’s Obedience: Romans 5:12–19: Richard B. Hays 16. Breathing Well: Romans 8:12–30: Suzanne Watts Henderson Conclusion 17. Implications: Joseph B. Modica