The Old Testament in Romans

Rom 12:9-21

This just arrived for me, it’s a multi-contributor book about the Old Testament in Romans edited by A. Andrew Das and Linda L. Belleville.

Here’s the TOC:

Introduction: Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in Romans
— A. Andrew Das

1.Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans: Echoes, Allusions, and Rewriting
— Roy E. Ciampa

2.Paul’s Use of Deutero-Isaiah in Romans 2:24 and in the Gospel of Romans
— B. J. Oropeza

3.To David? Paul's Use of Composite Quotations in Romans 3:10–18: Taking the Context into Account
— Michael Graham

4.Περὶ Ἁμαρτίας As the Sin-Offering in Romans 8:3: A Critique
— A. Andrew Das

5.The Interceding Spirit: Reevaluating the Background of Rom 8:26-27
— Joseph R. Dodson

6.The Isaianic New Exodus Wisdom Polemic in Romans 9–11
— Steven P. Sullivan

7.Who Do You Think You Are? Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:20-21
— Brian Abasciano

8.Righteousness by Faith, Not by the Law: Paul's Argument from Scripture in Romans 10:1-8
— Harry Alan Hahne

9.Agency and Obduracy: A Comparison of Romans 11:8 And 1QIsa 6:9–10
— Stuart B. Langley

10.Echoes and Allusions to the Jewish Scriptures in Paul’s Ethical Discourse in Romans 12:9-21
— Michael F. Bird

11.Christ as Messiah in Romans
— A. Andrew Das

12.Text and Topos: Intertextuality in Romans and the Question of Paul’s Politics
— Neil Elliott

Afterword
— Craig S. Keener

My contribution is: Michael F. Bird, “Echoes and Allusions to the Jewish Scriptures in Paul’s Ethical Discourse in Romans 12:9-21,” in Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in Romans, eds. A. Andrew Das and Linda L. Belleville (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2021), 171-84.

Sadly, Rom 12-16 gets very neglected, but I think it contains some of the most important parts of the letter. Paul’s remarks in 12:9-21 are not some random tweets about ethics but represent something of a Pauline riff on scriptural and stoic themes. Paul is very clear that Christian existence and mission in Rome requires love for each other and love for their neighbor.

Here is how I conclude my essay:

If one were to engage in some contemporary reflections on such a passage as Rom 12:9-21, then I cannot help but notice a certain utility of this text for addressing the current socio-political climate. Parts of both Australia and American – my primary places of residence and travel – look as if they are marked by religious divides, racial injustice, tensions over migration, economic inequalities, ubiquitous sexual harassment and sexual violence, political sectarianism, intensely bitter cultural wars, as well as conspiracy theories and fake news. Parts of America look as if they are already engaged in an (un)civil political war on social media and in the tribalism of the political class. In such a fragmented and divided environment, I can’t help but think that Rom 12:9-21 with the call to overcome evil by doing good, to be a very timely bit of moral advice.