Romans 4:13-25

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Chapter VI, On Patience, Tertullian (c. 202)
  • II.2, On The Apparel of Women, Tertullian (c. 202)
  • Chapter VII, Scorpiace,  Tertullian (c. 213)
  • From Martin Luther's Bible Commentary (1545).
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "...the condition of faith would be joined in vain to the promise if it could be apprehended by works."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "God honours faith; and great faith honours God."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "Against all probability, believed and hoped in the promise. The same thing is apprehended both by faith and hope; by faith, as a thing which God has spoken; by hope, as a good thing which God has promised to us."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "These things were not recorded as mere historical facts, but as illustrations for all time of God's method of justification by faith."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • "The same God who quickened Abraham's body, as good as dead, raised up our Lord."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Romans 4:13-25 (Pentecost 4), David Bartlett, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
    • "To this day, any time we are tempted to limit God to the size of our purposes or to doubt the breadth of God's generosity or the surprising power of God's activity we can return to Romans 4 as an astonishing elaboration of the familiar but life-changing claim: God is great; God is good."
  • Commentary, Romans 4:13-25 (Lent 2), Richard Carlson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
    • "The overarching focus of Paul's letter to Christian communities in Rome is the multifaceted nature of faith."
  • "First Thoughts on Passages on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary: Lent 2," William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Similar struggles emerge today when people ponder whether there can be such faith in God without the culturally specific reference to Christianity."
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • Third Sunday after Pentecost, God's Saving Work in the Letter to the Romans: Lectionary Texts for the Pentecost Season, Arland J. Hurtgren, Word & World Texts in Context, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1993.
  • "God's Promise Received by Faith," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • "Abraham: The Faith of our Father (Romans 3:27 - 4:25)," by Robert Deffinbaugh at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "Abraham’s name is mentioned many other times in the Old Testament. Most often in the books of Israel’s history God’s name is mentioned to demonstrate that God’s actions were in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham."
  • "The Eschatological Aspect of Justification," James T. Dennison, Jr., in Kerux: The Online Journal of Biblical Theology (Reformed).
    • "It is precisely at this point—the eschatological character of justification that neither broad evangelicals, Roman Catholics or radicals like Sanders and Dunn grasp the unique character of the Pauline theology."
  • "First Thoughts on Year A Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 4, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "What is it we acknowledge in Christ which remains 'non-negotiable'? Is any of that so culturally specific as to exclude others?"
• Articles & Background:
  • "Abraham and the Righteousness of God," Lloyd Gaston, at the Jewish-Christian Relations site.
    • "The displacement theory, which says that the church has effectively displaced Israel as God's people, goes back to the earliest days of the emerging church and is still the pervasive Christian presupposition for doing theology or Biblical study. Not only does this theory cut off all possibility of theological cooperation between Christians and Jews, but it introduced an unbridgeable chasm into Scripture itself."
  • "Incorporated Righteousness: A Response to Recent Evangelical Discussion Concerning the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness in Justification," Michael F. Bird, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2004.
    • "To be sure, union with Christ is not something that is entirely synonymous with justification. Yet neither is union with Christ an ancillary concept subsumed under justification or vice versa. Rather, union with Christ comprises Paul's prime way of talking about the reception of the believer's new status through incorporation into the risen Christ by faith."
  • "The Right to Hope," Paul Tillich, at Religion OnLine.
    • "But these hopes, in both Testaments, have to struggle with continuous attacks of hopelessness, attacks against the faith in a meaning of life and against the hope for life's fulfillment."
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  • Baird, William, "Abraham in the New Testament: Tradition and the New Identity," Interpretation, 1988.
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  • Bartlett, David, "Preaching for Ordinary Time," Journal for Preachers, 2008. (Section on this text begins on page 45.)
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  • Bell, Daniel M., "Jesus, The Jews, and the Politics of God's Justice," Ex Auditu, 2006.
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  • Bird, Michael F., "Incorporated Righteousness: A Response to Recent Evangelical Discussion Concerning the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness in Justification," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2004.
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  • Boers, Henrikus, "Polarities at the Roots of New Testament Thought: Methodological Considerations," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 1984.
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  • Cosgrove, Charles H., "Justification in Paul: A Linguistic and Theological Reflection," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1987.
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  • DeGraaf, David, "Some Doubts about Doubt: The New Testament Use of DIAKRINW," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2005.
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  • Eisenbaum, Pamela, "A Remedy for Having Been Born of Woman: Jesus, Gentiles, and Genealogy in Romans," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2004.
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  • Gathercole, Simon, "After the New Perspective: Works, Justification and Boasting in Early Judaism and Romans 1-5," Tyndale Bulletin, 2001.
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  • Goppelt, Leonhard, translated by Mathias Rissi, "Paul and Heilgeschichte: Conclusions from Romans 4 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13," Interpretation, 1967.
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  • Hays, Richard B., "'Have We Found Abraham to Be Our Forefather according to the Flesh?' A Reconsideration of Romans 4:1," Richard B. Hays, Novum Testamentum, 1985.
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  • Hultgren, Arland J., "God's Saving Work in the Letter to the Romans: Lectionary Texts for the Pentecost Season," Word & World, 1993.
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  • Leithart, Peter J., "Justification as Verdict and Deliverance: A Biblical Perspective," Pro Ecclesia, 2007.
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  • Schumacher, William W., "Homiletical Helps on LSB Series A - Epistles," (Romans 4:13-25 begins on page 104), Concordia Journal, 2008.
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  • Snodgrass, Klyne, "Spheres of Influence: A Possible Solution to the Problem of Paul and the Law," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1988.
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  • Spitaler, Peter, "DIAKRINESTHAI in Mt. 21:21, Mk. 11:23, Acts 10:20, Rom. 4:20, 14:23, Jas. 1:6, and Jude 22 -- the 'Semantic Shift' That Went Unnoticed by Patristic Authors," Novum Testamentum, 2007.
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  • Steinmetz, David C., "Calvin and Abraham: The Interpretation of Romans 4 in the Sixteenth Century, Church History, 1988.
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  • Tobin, Thomas H., S.J., "What Shall We Say that Abraham Found? The Controversy behind Romans 4," Harvard Theological Review, 1995.
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• Reviews:
  • Simon J. Gathercole Where Is Boasting?: Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5. Eerdmans, 2002.
    • Review by James P. Sweeney in SBL's Review of Biblical Literature.
    • Review by Jouette M Bassler in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2003.
    • Review by Sigurd Grindheim in The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2004.
    • Review by Douglas Moo, Trinity Journal, 2004.
• Sermons:
  • "The Center: Faith in Christ," from a series of sermons on the book of Romans by Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church in Des Moines, Washington.
  • "Promises, Promises," John Jewell, 2000.
• With Children:
  • "Paul Writes About Faith," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
• Drama:
  • "The Captain's Promise," Michele Pitman, dramatix.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
• Hymns and Music:
  • Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Romans 4:16, 25. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • Hymnal Scripture References, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
  • "These Thousand Hills," Brenton Prigge, NewHymn, a new, relevant hymn set to traditional tunes.
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Abraham
• Movies Linked at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • Abraham
  • Covenant
  • Faith
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Romans