January 19, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS – Why did Paul address a long discussion of Jewish themes to a gentile audience? Scholars have long debated the "double character" of Romans.

Andrew Das promises to resolve the debate through a fresh understanding of the identity and attitudes of the gentile Christians in Rome and of the expulsion of Jews from Rome under the emperor Claudius.

Solving the Romans Debate offers new insight into Paul's concern for the Jewish roots of the Christ movement.

"Andrew Das' Solving the Romans Debate powerfully and cogently argues a solution ... that makes perennial problems vanish and that produces a credible coherence that has been lacking in the Romans debate. All of those who are serious about that debate must read this book." – Stanley Stowers, Professor of Religious Studies, Brown University.

"Das makes a strong case that in Romans Paul was writing to an exclusively gentile audience. Using both evidence from the letter and from historical sources, Das demonstrates his conviction that gentiles are the focus of Paul's concern and proposes that this makes sense of the letter's focus on the Jewish heritage that accompanies faith in Christ. The gentiles to whom Paul was writing were facing an identity crisis and Paul is seeking to incorporate them into the rich heritage that accompanies faith in Christ. This book is an important and stimulating contribution to the ongoing Romans debate." – L. Ann Jervis, Professor of New Testament, Trinity College, University of Toronto.

Features

• A fresh and thorough new reading of the situation prompting Paul's most important and puzzling letter

• Offers new insight into potential anti-Judaism in interpretation

Contents
1. The Enigma of Romans
2. The Ethnic Composition of the Roman Congregations
3. Who Were the Gentiles in the Roman Church?
4. Claudius's Edict of Expulsion
5. Gentile Anti-Judaism and the Purpose of Romans

A. Andrew Das holds the Niebuhr Distinguished Chair in the Department of Theology and Religion at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois. He is the author of three books, including Paul and the Jews (2004, Hendrickson).

Solving the Romans Debate, By Andrew Das, Format: 6" x 9," paperback, 248 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0-8006-3860-3, Price: $24.00 / CAN $29.00, Publisher: Fortress Press.

To order Solving the Romans Debate please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.augsburgfortress.org/.

Fortress Press