Together For The Harvest
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Week of Prayer 2009
Book Review
Paul For Everyone: Romans Parts 1 & 2
by Tom Wright
Reviewer: John Cavanagh
For many people Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome has always been a bit of a mystery. If you fall into that category you will welcome Tom Wright’s fresh look at the letter. He has an understandable style that makes use of illustrations from his own experience to illustrate many of the issues in the book. As one critic said, “Wright writes wonderfully, accessibly and as smooth as chocolate.”
Romans has often been viewed as the place where above all Paul sets out the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and for that reason many commentators start with the doctrine and make everything else fit into that framework. Wright approaches it from the opposite, historical, truths of God at work rescuing a broken world, and he explores the doctrine in the light of that. He gives the reader a sense of the great sweep of the letter, and not only of the letter, but of biblical truth as well. His exposition uncovers the role of Israel in the drama of salvation, and he cleverly shows how chapters nine to eleven fit in as a natural development of Paul’s argument.
One drawback is that the commentary is split into two parts. Part one covers chapters
one
to eight, and part two chapters nine to sixteen: that makes it quite expensive,
working out at around twenty pounds for both volumes in paperback. But it is well
worth the money. It is great to use, as it divides the comments into short passages,
each passage introduced by
a story and containing a highly readable discussion with
background information. It is very suitable for daily study, and doing one passage
a day the study would last just over two months.
SPCK
ISBN numbers: Part 1 9 780281 057368 Part 2 9 780281 057375
