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Learning to Read Romans: A Book Review Essay
Review by W. Christopher King
In this ambitious work, “Reading Romans in Context; Paul and Second Temple Judaism
editors Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, and Jason Maston attempt to compile separate
essays that were written in order to assemble one centralized location for the information as a
reference for students. The editors’ thesis is clearly stated on page 15. “Fascinated by what our
peers at Durham and other institutions were investigating, we eventually caught a vision for
bringing together these and few other scholarly contributions into a single volume that would
allow us to distill our technical research for a student audience and thus demonstrate for non-
specialists the benefit of studying Scripture alongside extra-biblical texts.” Throughout the book,
this thesis developed by showing scholarly information throughout each individual essay that
relates to Romans set in framework of other ancient texts. The intended audience is student
audience as stated in their thesis. The editors accomplished their task using Paul’s letter to the
Romans alongside Jewish writings such as: Psalms of Solomon, Epistle of Enoch, the Dead Sea
Scrolls, Life of Adam and Eve, Josephus, Tobit, and Synagogue Inscriptions among others. In
reading some of these books mentioned earlier, it sparked questions in my mind and even
answered curiosity questions of others I had thought about before. I was particularly intrigued by
the readings of The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men both of which are
included in the additions to the Book of Daniel.
In this paragraph, we will discuss the editors of the book. The back cover of the text
details the credentials of each one of the editors. Dr. Ben C. Blackwell completed his Doctorate’s
Degree of Philosophy at the University of Durham in England. He is the assistant professor of
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Christianity at Houston Baptist University. Master’s Degree in Historical Theology and Pastoral
Ministries from Dallas Theological Seminary, Master of Business Administration, Henderson
State University, Bachelor’s Degree in Arts focused on Biblical Languages from Ouachita
Baptist University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts focused on Accounting from Ouachita
Baptist University. He was also a former research assistant for N.T. Wright and John Barclay. He
is the author of “Christosis: Pauline Soteriology in Light of Deification of Irenaeus and Cyril.”
Dr. John K. Goodrich completed his Doctorate’s Degree of Philosophy at the University
of Durham as well. Furthermore, he has a Master’s Degree in Divinity from Talbot School of
Theology, a Master’s in Theology from Talbot School of Theology, and finally a Bachelor’s
Degree in Arts from Moody Bible Institute. He is the chair and assistant professor at Bible at
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He is the author of “Paul as an Administrator of God in 1
Corinthians.”
Finally, the third editor, Dr. Jason Maston, received his Doctorate’s Degree of Philosophy at
the University of Durham, Master’s in Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary, and finally a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts focused on Biblical Studies from Southwest
Baptist University. He is the assistant professor of theology. He is also the chair of the
department of theology at Houston Baptist University. He is the author of “Divine and Human
Agency in the Second Temple Judaism and Paul: A Comparative Approach” as well as
contributor to and co-editor of “Earliest Christian History: History, Literature, and Theology;
Essays from the Tyndale Fellowship in Honor of Martin Hengel.” When it comes to each of their
diverse backgrounds, according to their previous writings, there is considered somewhat of a
bias. Each of their previous writings are along these same lines as this book.
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The editor fulfilled the purpose of the book by providing specific basic elements to better
understand Jewish history and literature. The very depths of the book are based on literature that
is often overlooked or not referenced/ studied due to the fact they are not included in the canon
of the Bible.
This is the only book that I have read that utilizes different types of extra biblical
literature, so I can’t compare it to reference studies. I have read many commentaries, teacher
study guides from the church, and numerous self- help labelled books and I have never come
across one that uses extra biblical context.
Overall I enjoyed reading the book. For the most part it was a pretty enjoyable read. There
were parts that were a little dry but I believe that is because it is so in depth. I am majoring in
Bible Studies and Theology so I do think it’s important to have a deeper understanding and
knowledge of the Bible. I can’t preach the Bible if I don’t understand it. Since this will be such a
critical part of my future ministries, I believe it would be very detrimental to not understand the
context of this book.
