If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul's Letter to the Romans

If You Call Yourself a Jew reads Romans as a dialogue between Paul and a Gentile proselyte to Judaism. This fresh reading brings Romans into focus as Pauls exposition of the revelation of Gods righteousness--his faithfulness to his covenant promises to Abraham which climaxed in the announcement that in you all the tribes of the earth will be blessed (Gen 12:3). Paul insists that the righteousness of God is revealed for the Jew first as well as for the Greek not through Torah but through the faith(fullness) of Jesus. Torah and the prophets provide corroborating witness for Gods righteousness but Gentiles who bend their necks to Torahs yoke miss the actual mechanism for finding peace with God. Paul found in the story of Jesus the image of complete faith in/faithfulness to God; in Jesus resurrection he found the image of Gods complete faithfulness for the Jew first as well as for the Greek. Whereas Torah resulted in curse and death it also anticipated the unconditional faithfulness of God for both Jew and Gentile. For Paul the gospel of Jesus Christ is the account of the outworking of Gods faithfulness: the end of Torahs curses and the fulfillment of its blessings. Rodriguez presents a fresh challenge to many stale assumptions about reading Romans. He provides a cogent case that Paul is writing to Gentile Christians and what is more that Pauls imaginary opponent who appears throughout the letter is not a Jew but is in fact a Gentile convert to Judaism. . . . It makes for a stimulating volume on Pauls most famous letter. --Michael F. Bird Ridley Melbourne Mission and Ministry College Melbourne Australia Building upon the work of Stanley Stowers and Runar Thorsteinsson Rafael Rodriguez provides a novel reading of Romans: throughout this letter Paul addresses a judaizing Gentile interlocutor. Those looking to move beyond Lutheran and New Perspective readings of Paul will find in If You Call Yourself a Jew a more historically plausible and theologically fruitful reading of Romans. --Matthew Thiessen Saint Louis University St. Louis MO Rodriguez joins those Pauline interpreters who have taken seriously Pauls assertion that he writes specifically to Gentiles. What is significant about his approach is that he provides a careful analysis of the diatribe style questions that feature in significant sections of the letter. His radical thesis that the interlocutor is of Gentile ethnicity but views himself as a Jew and teaches Gentiles is provocative and challenging but illustrated with sustained argument. A fine volume to spark interest in Pauls skillful rhetoric. --William S. Campbell University of Wales Trinity St. David Lampeter UK Rafael Rodriguez is Professor of New Testament at Johnson University Knoxville Tennessee. He is the author of Structuring Early Christian Memory: Jesus in Tradition Performance and Text (2010) and Oral Tradition and the New Testament: A Guide for the Perplexed (2014).