Required Texts:

This reading must be completed prior to the beginning of classroom instruction in the March Blitz Week.

**Read the introductory sections on the book of Romans in:
Guthrie, Donald.
New Testament Introduction. Downers Grove, ILL: InterVarsity Press, 1974.

Cranfield, C.E.B.
Epistle to the Romans. International Critical Commentary.
Emerton, J.A. &
Cranfield, C.E.B., eds. Edinburg: T & T Clark. 1975.

Carson, D.A., Moo, D.J. and Morris, L.
An Introduction to the New Testament.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.

Kummel, W.G.
Introduction to the New Testament.
Translated by Howard C. Kee. Nashville,
TN: Abington Press, 1975.

Chapter 19 in
Conybeare, W.J. & Howson, J.S. The Life and Epistle of Saint Paul.
Grand Rapids, Mich: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1962.

Wiefel, W.
“The Jewish Community in Ancient Rome and the Origins of Roman Christianity.”
In Karl P. Donfried, ed. The Romans Debate, 7:101-19. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg
Press, 1977.

Also read the book of Romans in your own Bible several times before you come to class.

Additional Book Sources:
www.bibliofind.com
www.abebooks.com
www.21northmain.com

Course #503
Advanced Textual Studies in Romans

Instructor: Dan Owen, Ph.D.

Course Description:
This course will be an exercise in exegetical method in which Paul’s Epistle to the Romans will be examined. The text of Romans will be examined using specified exegetical processes, so that the student become familiar with the processes by which to approach any other book of Scripture. This course is presently a “Blitz-week” course, offered every March. You should check with the office to get the exact dates.

Objectives of the Course:
Students will become familiar with basic introductory issues which have surfaced in past discussions of Romans and will demonstrate their ability to describe those issues. Particular attention will be given to the unity of the epistle and the occasion for its writing.

Students will participate in the exploration of Romans using specified exegetical methods. They will demonstrate their grasp of these methods by:
a) their performance on course examinations
b) their discussions in an exegetical paper.

Course Requirements:
NOTE: Papers will be constructed using MLA style according to Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 4th edition (or later). New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.

  1. The student will compose a paper of not more than 15 pages of text in which the major introductory issues of the book of Romans are discussed. Included should be discussions regarding the authorship of Romans, the date of Romans, the unity of the epistle, and the occasion or purpose of the writing of the epistle. The student should use at least eight sources, including those which are listed under required reading for this course. This paper will be due the first day of Blitz Week.
  2. The student will do an exegetical paper on one of the following passages in Romans. In the course of this paper the student should relate his/her chosen passage to the larger context of the book of Romans, demonstrating how the passage fits into the major flow of thought and contributes to the major concepts in the book. The student should present his/her ideas in dialogue with Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids: Kregel Pub., 1977), and K.C. Moser, The Gist of Romans (Delight, Ark: Gospel Light Pub., 1958).
    This should be done only in the concluding section of your paper.
    This paper will be due May 31.
    Possible Passages:
    Romans 2:1-16
    Romans 3:21-3
    Romans 4:1-12
    Romans 5:12-21
    Romans 7:7-14
    Romans 7:14-25
    Romans 10:1-13
    Romans 11:25-36
    Romans 15:1-13
    Romans 16:16-27