Paul's Interlocutor in Romans 2: Function and Identity in the Context of Ancient Epistolography

Thorsteinssons study of Romans poses a thoroughly argued challenge to Pauline scholarship. His argument has the potential of invalidating the reading of Romans 2 hat has contributed to a perception of Paul as utterly negative towards his fellow Jews and first-century Judaism. Among matters of scholarly dispute is the function and identity of Pauls interlocutor(s) in chapter 2 of Romans. Scholars agree universally that the individual addressed in 2:17-29 is a Jew but with respect to the identity of the interlocutor of 2:1-5 there is no consensus. The majority of scholars hold that the interlocutor is a Jew throughout the chapter. A weighty minority argues that the individual addressed in 2:1-5 is a Gentile and that there is a shift of interlocutor in 2:17. In his investigation into the pros and cons of these positions Thorsteinsson endeavors to challenge both majority and minority. Basic to his approach is to allow the larger context and framework of the letter to be of help in assessing the function and identity of Pauls partner(s) in dialogue. Thus the epistolary structure and setting of Romans the relationship between Paul and his audience the identity of the audience and the dialogical style of the letter are used to ascertain the function and identity of Pauls interlocutor(s) in Romans 2. By engaging an imaginary interlocutor Paul utilizes a well-established epistolary technique in Greco-Roman antiquity. Thorsteinsson concludes that Paul wrote Romans to a particular group of people in a specific contemporaneous situation. The letters message arose out of Pauls missionary obligation to proclaim Gods good news to Gentiles in Rome. The minority view that Pauls interlocutor in 2:1-5 is a Gentile is combined with the majority opinion that there is but one interlocutor throughout the chapter. In sum the common opinion that Romans 2 contains Pauls piercing critique of his fellow Jew should be rejected. The individual censured in the chapter is not a Jew . . . but a Gentile who claims to be a Jew. Thorsteinsson has produced a thoroughly readable monograph that not only attempts to answer an age-old problem but along the way gives reasoned exegesis to many of the difficult questions in Romans. This monograph should be essential reading for anyone interacting with the argument and audience of Pauls letter to the Romans. --Bryan D. Lee University of Sheffield in Review of Biblical Literature (May 2005) Runar M. Thorsteinsson is Professor of New Testament Studies at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Iceland. He is the author of Roman Christianity and Roman Stoicism: A Comparative Study of Ancient Morality (2010).