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Beverley Roberts Gaventa , When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul (Grand Rapids, MI : Baker Academic , 2016), pp. xix + 140, $22.99
Gaventa describes her work as a book for people who wouldn't normally read a book on Romans; this is a work aimed at the gap between popular Christian literature and academic theology, a discussion for the Christian of the aspects of Romans Gaventa considers crucial both for its own time and ours.
The introduction sets out the thread running through the book: we miss the vastness of the gospel, which is the liberation of the whole of creation from the power of sin and death. The chapter does the usual things one expects, such as surveying the possible reasons for Paul's writing the letter, but it also discusses the nature of ancient letter-writing and focuses in particular on the possible role of Phoebe, the probable letter-carrier, as its first interpreter. Chapter 1, 'Watch the Horizon', takes forward Gaventa's theme on the vastness of the gospel by discussing the treatment of salvation in Romans, and arguing less for a corporate over individual understanding than for a cosmic one. She points out that Paul...