Copyright © 2012 Subhro Sekhar Sircar All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. THE PREACHING OF “THE GOSPEL OF GOD”: PAUL’S MISSION TO THE NATIONS IN ROMANS ___________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________________ by Subhro Sekhar Sircar March 2012 APPROVAL SHEET THE PREACHING OF “THE GOSPEL OF GOD”: PAUL’S MISSION TO THE NATIONS IN ROMANS Subhro Sekhar Sircar Read and Approved by: ________________________________________ Mark A. Seifrid (Chair) ________________________________________ William F. Cook ________________________________________ John B. Polhill Date ______________________________ To my beloved wife Susanna Sircar and our dearly loved children, Gracia Shobhana and Jonathan Shobhan, gifts from God and sources of overwhelming joy TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . viii LIST OF TABLES . xii PREFACE . xiii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 The Statement of the Problem . 3 Background . 5 History of Research . 7 The Problem of the Purpose of Romans . 7 Mission to the Jews, or Gentile Christians, or Gentiles (Nations)? . 11 ‘Mission’ to the Nations as Paul’s Purpose in Romans . 12 Reasons for, and Significance of, the Study . 20 Method and Scope . 22 Summary . 23 2. THE PURPOSE OF ROMANS: THE EVIDENCE OF MISSION FROM AN EPISTOLARY FRAMEWORK . 25 Introduction . 25 Justification of the Approach . 26 A Brief Historical Development of Letter Structure . 28 The Integrity of Romans . 34 iv Chapter Page The Epistolary Frame . 41 The Letter Opening (1:1-17) . 42 The Epistolary Prescript (1:1-7) . 43 Paul's Call for Preaching the Gospel (v. 1) . 45 The OT Affirmation of the Gospel (v. 2) . 50 God's Son as the Content of the Gospel (vv. 3-4) . 51 The Scope of the Gospel: All Nations (vv. 5-7) . 54 Summary . 60 The Thanksgiving and Prayer (1:8-17) . 61 Paul Thanks God for the Faith of the Romans Known throughout the World (v. 8) . 62 Paul Prays for the Service of the Gospel to the Romans and the Gentiles (vv. 9-13) . 65 Paul's Obligation and Readiness to Preach the Gospel to All the Nations and Rome (vv. 14-15) . 70 The Gospel Is the Power of God for the Salvation to All (vv. 16-17) . 72 Summary . 80 The Letter Closing (15:14-16:27) . 81 Paul's Mission of Preaching the Gospel to the Nations (15:14-33) . 83 Paul's Apostolic Commission and the Service of the Gospel to the Nation (15:14-21) . 84 Paul's Future Plans for His Mission to the Nations (15:22-33) . 99 Summary . 106 Paul's Co-workers in the Gospel of His Mission (16:1-24) . 107 v Chapter Page Doxology: The Summary of Paul's Gospel to the Nations (16:25-27) . 116 Summary . 121 Conclusion . 121 3. THE IDENTITY OF GOD: THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF PAUL'S MISSION . 123 Introduction . 123 The Theme of God in the Pauline Letters . 126 The Identity of God in Romans . 130 God as the One Who Promised the Gospel Beforehand (1:2; 16:26) . 132 God as the One Who Reveals Himself in His Creation (1:19-20) . 138 God as the One Who Judges Impartially (2:11-16) . 149 God as the One Who Manifests His Righteousness in Christ's Work (1:16-17; 3:21-26) . 157 God as the One True God Who Justifies Both the Jews and the Gentiles (3:29-30) . 168 God as the one Who Justifies the Ungodly (4:5; 3:26) . 175 God as the One Who Gives Life to Dead (4:16-17) . 182 God as the One Who Raised Jesus from Death (4:24-25; 10:9) . 185 Summary . 189 4. THE MISSIONARY TASK: PAUL'S MISSION AS PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF GOD TO ALL THE NATIONS . 193 Introduction . 193 Paul's Mission as Preaching 'the Gospel of God' . 194 The Theme of the Gospel and Its Origin . 195 vi Chapter Page Called to Preach the Gospel of God . 201 The Gospel Foretold in the Scripture and Fulfilled in Christ . 205 The Message and Content of the Gospel: God's Son . 209 Paul's Mission to Reach All the Nations . 218 The Use of the Term ἔθνη . 218 The Commission to Preach to All the Nations, Including the Jews . 221 The Inclusion of the Gentiles and Witness of the Scripture . 228 The Goal of Paul's Mission: Salvation for All . 236 Summary . 239 5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION . 242 Summary . 242 Conclusion and Relevance of Paul's Mission to the Contemporary Churches . 248 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 252 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AB Anchor Bible ABD D. N. Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary ABR Australian Biblical Review AnBib Analecta biblica ANF The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (Buffalo: Christian Literature, 1885-96; reprint, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975. ANTC Abingdon New Testament Commentaries APJ American Journal of Philosophy ATR Anglican Theological Review BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research BDAG W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Literature, ed. and trans. William F. Arndt and F. Wilber Gingrich, 1979; 3rd ed., rev. and ed. Frederick W. Danker, 2000. BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, trans. E. Robinson. BDF F. Blass, A Debrunner, and R. W. Funk, A Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. BHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia a Bib Biblica BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentaries BR Biblical Research viii BSac Bibliotheca Sacra BST Bible Speaks Today BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin BZ Biblische Zeitschrift BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly Chm Churchman DJG Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels DPL Dictionary of Paul and His Letters EBC Everyman’s Bible Commentary EDNT H. Blaz and G. Schneider (eds.), Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. ExAud Ex Auditu ExpTim Expository Times Exp The Expositor EvT Evangelische Theologie GCG Global Church Growth GNT4 Greek New Testament, 4th rev. edition HBT Horizon in Biblical Theology HNTC Harper’s New Testament Commentaries HTR Havard Theological Review ICC International Critical Commentaries ISBE G. W. Bromiley (ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Int Interpretation IVPNTC The IVP New Testament Commentary Series JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society JR Journal of Religion ix JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series JSS Journal of Semitic Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies KEK Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar über das Neue Testament LSJ H. G. Liddell and R. Scott (eds.), Greek-English Lexicon, rev. H. S. Jones Moffatt The New Testament: A New Translation by James Moffatt MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources MNTC Moffatt New Testament Commentary NAC The New American Commentary NCBC New Century Biblical Commentary NIBC New International Biblical Commentary NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament NIDNTT L. Coenen, E. Beyreuther, and H. Bietenhard (eds.), The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, trans. and ed. C. Brown. NorTT Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift NovT Novum Testamentum NovTSup Supplements to Novum Testamentum NPNF A Selected Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, ed. Phillip Schaff, et al. (New York: Christian Literature, 1887-94; reprint, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975. NSBT New Studies on Biblical Theology NTC New Testament Commentaries NTS New Testament Studies NTSup New Testament Supplement Series PNTC The Pillar New Testament Commentary 1QH Hôdāyôt (Thanksgiving Hymns) from Qumran Cave 1 1QS Serek hayyahad (Rule of the Community, Manual of Discipline) x 1QSa Appendix A (Rule of the Congregation) to 1QS 4QFlor Florilegium (or Eschatological Midrashim) from Qumran Cave 4 RB Revue biblique RevExp Review & Expositor RQ Restoration Quarterly SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series SBT Studies in Biblical Theology SE Studia Evangelica SEA Svensk Exegetisk Årsbok SJT Scottish Journal of Theology SNT Studien zum Neuen Testament SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series TynBul Tyndale Bulletin TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich (eds.), Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, trans. and ed. G. W. Bromiley. TDOT G. J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren, and H. –J. Fabry (eds.), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, trans. J. T. Willis, G. W. Bromiley TNTC Tyndale New Testament Commentaries TJ Trinity Journal Th Theology TPINTC TPI New Testament Commentaries TS Theological Studies TToday Theology Today WBC Word Biblical Commentary WTJ Westminster Theological Journal WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament ZNW Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft xi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. The epistolary framework of Romans . 20 2. List of manuscript tradition of Romans . ..