Romans 3:21-26—A Translation for Pagans

Romans 3:21-26—A Translation for Pagans

[Phoebe indicates now with a gesture that three points are to be made:]

[1] 21 But now, independently of the Teachings of Moses, although attested to by Moses’s Writings, as well as by the Teachings of the Prophets, God’s deliverance has been set forth. 22 This great deliverance by God has been disclosed ‘through the faith’ of our Messiah, Jesus [see Habakkuk 2:4], and is understood by everyone who believes in him.

Romans 3:1-20—A Translation for Pagans

Romans 3:1-20—A Translation for Pagans

3

1 Speaker 1: “What then is the actual advantage of the Judean, and what do Judeans gain from removing their foreskins?”

2 Speaker 2: “Many things in many respects, but first of all that they have been entrusted with the deity’s very utterances.”

3 Speaker 1: “But so what? If some don’t actually trust in them, then won’t their distrust nullify the trust the deity has placed in them?”

4 Speaker 2: “Absolutely not. Let the deity be true to himself even if every single human being is false, as it is written in those Scriptures: ‘That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest be vindicated when thou art judged.’”

5 Speaker 1: “But if my injustice thereby actually highlights the justice of the deity then we can say something more, correct? Doesn’t it seem rather unfair of the deity to still pour out his judgmental anger? (Note I’m only suggesting this for the sake of the argument).”

Romans 2:1-29—A Translation for Pagans

Romans 2:1-29—A Translation for Pagans

2

1 [Normal voice and delivery are to resume.] It follows from this directly, however, that all of you who judge others in this way lack any excuse as well. For by means of the very judgment by which you condemn others you condemn yourself, because you who judge others practice the same things. 2 Now we know that the deity’s judgment on those doing these acts is an unwavering judgment, consistent and true. 3 So are you seriously thinking that you, the one judging those practicing these things and yet also doing them yourself, will escape the divine judgment? 4 “Or despiseth thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Romans 1:18-32—A Translation for Pagans

Romans 1:18-32—A Translation for Pagans

[Stage directions given by Paul to Phoebe in Corinth, suitably updated: "To be performed with the voice and posture of a pious, highly educated, and extremely wealthy aristocrat—perhaps an Oxford-educated peer or bishop, or some similar high-ranking person. The delivery should be pompous, intellectual, and entitled.”]

 

18 Now [someone says]:

‘The Deity’s anger will most certainly be unleashed from the heavens

on all the rank godlessness and criminality of people

who are suppressing the truth through their criminality.’

Romans 1:1-15—A Translation for Pagans

Romans 1:1-15—A Translation for Pagans

1 [A letter from] Paul

[known to his pagan friends as “Tiny”]:

who is in devoted lifelong service to the Messiah, Jesus,

and has been called to be his diplomatic envoy,

appointed to make a declaration—the declaration—

that comes ultimately from the Divine One; 2

this declaration was promised beforehand through the Divine One’s prophets,

whose words are preserved in the holy Scriptures, 3

and concerns his son,

the one who was born as a human being like us, from the seed of David, 4

but who was appointed the son of the Divine in power

by his resurrection from the dead,

 and who is now a cleansing spirit:

Jesus, the Messiah and divine ruler.

5 It was from him that I received the gift of being an envoy on his behalf

to the pagan nations,

 seeking the obedience that springs from a mind with a new, transformed, understanding; 

6 and you are numbered among them as those who have been called

by the long-awaited King of Israel who now rules on high, Jesus the Messiah.   

My Approach to the Translation of Romans

My Approach to the Translation of Romans

I’ve been offline for a while for one reason and another. But I’m back now, at least for a bit. My plan for the next several months is to publish here the Romans translation I prepared for a commentary that I subsequently withdrew from writing. (It wasn’t the right season for me to be attempting a Romans commentary, and I also discovered, while translating and working up the introduction, that I didn’t like the genre at all; it eliminates the most exciting part of the entire process of composition for me which is the discovery and articulation of the book’s internal argumentative structure.) Perhaps I will, Deus vult, write a book one day on Romans, and I certainly have enough material stored up to offer some suggestions about its interpretation, but I’m pretty sure that those won’t appear in a classical commentary form. I was left, however, after this difficult decision, with a Romans translation, attempted in very particular terms, moldering on my computer, along with 170 pages or so of introductory and architectonic material. What to do? And the answer in the digital age is, clearly, “to publish them bit by bit on the currently moribund website.” So here we go. I will be honored by any feedback offered here although, with my current energy pressures, I am unable to promise to respond. I do nevertheless hope you enjoy my “Romans for Pagans,” and find there what might turn out to be a rather different road through Romans…

The Future of New Testament Theology

My apologies for the long absence.

I am rebooting my web presence here, partly because I have renounced Facebook. (See this!)

A few months ago Joel Green--a scholar I much respect--invited me to contribute to a curated volume of Religions dedicated to "The Future of New Testament Theology." This is a subject I care about and have given some thought to, but I have never strung these thoughts together as yet in a single place (although I have thought about a short book on the subject). So my inclination was to accept his invitation, not anticipating the extreme difficulty of actually stringing those thoughts together when the moment arrived!

Nevertheless here we are. I am doubly pleased with the result because I now have something to point students to when they are reading Pauline Dogmatics and ask me, after reading chapter 1, what role I accord to Scripture. My previous answer was "please wait." I still give that answer, admittedly, but I do have something additional to offer while my students patiently hold their (dogmatic) scriptural questions until Chapter 23.

I am not so pleased with the compression in the argument forced by an article-length account of Scripture, but in the end of the day you just have to do your best with the opportunity in front of you. (You might be able to infer from this comment that I have been following the current World Chess Championship quite closely.)

What account should we give of Scripture if we are starting our account of the truth about God with the truth that God has revealed to us concerning "himself" definitively through the person of Jesus Christ, known now amongst us also through the presence of the Holy Spirit? Moreover, if we can follow this particular line of theological reflection through, journeying through the church, what do we do when we end up in a university, as a professor, teaching about the Bible? What should that work look like?

Click here for the answers I try to give here in nuce to these critical but difficult questions.