Romans and the Mission of God
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Romans is a missional document. Yet, strangely, while many recognize the missional aspects of Romans, few monographs are totally devoted to unpacking Romans from a missional perspective. Romans and the Mission of God does this very thing. Part one explores the background of the letter with an eye to positioning Romans in the story of the mission of God, the apostle, the Roman world, and the early church. Part two considers how Romans is a contextually shaped presentation of the gospel. A range of other aspects of the way in which Paul shapes his message for the Romans are explored including salvation history, metaphors and rhetorical techniques, and aspects of the letter including elements opposed to God, salvation ideas, human response, ethics and Christian living, and the eschaton. Part three delves into issues that arise in Romans that are important for contemporary mission. These include such things as the cosmic scope of the mission, the gospel as the power of salvation, who does evangelism, the miraculous, social justice, ecology, social transformation, generosity and hospitality, God's sovereignty and human volition, prayer, the State, culture, Israel, apologetics, and theological thinking. This is a must-read for those serious about Paul, Romans, and God's mission.
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- Considers the proclamation of the gospel
- Focuses on the usual background matters such as the Roman world, the development of the Roman church, authorship, date, provenance, and the integrity of the letter
- Contains themes like patronage and hospitality, the sovereignty of God and mission, prayer, the State and mission, culture, Israel, ethics, and doing theology and mission
Background Matters
- Rome and the Roman Empire
- The Initial Development of the Roman Church
- Authorship, Date, Provenance, Integrity, and Genre
- The Purposes of Romans
Romans and the Content of the Gospel
- Romans as a Gospel Presentation
- Romans, Missional Fulfillment, and Salvation History
- Aspects of Paul’s “Gospel” Presentation to the Romans
- Underlying Aspects of the Gospel in Romans
- Elements Inimical to God
- Salvation Ideas
- Human Response
- Ethics and Christian Living
- The Eschaton
Romans and Tile Proclamation of the Gospel
- The Cosmic Scope of Mission and Its Completion
- The Power of Salvation
- Agents of Evangelism
- The Miraculous
- Social Justice
- Ecological Mission
- Social Transformation
- Patronage and Hospitality
- The Sovereignty of God, Human Volition, and Mission
- Missional Prayer
- The State and Mission
- Culture and Cross-Cultural Mission
- Israel in God’s Mission
- Romans, Mission, Theology, and Apologetics
Romans is probably the most influential of Paul’s letters. It is an epistle dripping with deep theological perspective. Romans and the Mission of God gives us a solid biblical-theological look at its many themes tied to the church’s mission. There is much to appreciate and ponder in this important study of the many angles this precious epistle gives to the church.
—Darrell Bock, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
It is gratifying to see biblical scholars who have a love for the church and a commitment to its mission deploy their academic gifts in service of God’s people. Mark Keown is one of a growing number of biblical scholars who demonstrate how a missional hermeneutic can open up fresh insight into the biblical text. I have been looking for a good missional reading on Romans and so am personally grateful for this book. Keown exhibits fine biblical scholarship connected with a sensitivity to mission that will surely equip the church for its missional vocation.
—Michael W. Goheen, Professor of Missional Theology, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis
In this engaging book, Mark Keown explores Romans from a missional perspective. He discusses the many facets and dimensions of mission in Romans, Paul’s mission manifesto par excellence. The result is a book that helps us to see both mission and Romans with new eyes, and to gain many new insights. But as well as much learning, Mark Keown has a heart for God’s mission in today’s world, and that heart shines through this book. He has given us a study of Romans that will be greatly valued by all those who want to think more deeply about mission in our world today.
—Paul Trebilco, Professor of New Testament Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand