- A Christianity Today 1999 Book of the Year

St. Paul's Letter to the Romans has long been considered the theological high-water mark of the New Testament. It was no less regarded by the ancient church, and patristic interpreters have left us an abundance of valuable comment on Romans.This Ancient Christian Commentary on Romans collects the best and most representative of patristic commentary and homily on Romans, and it brings to the public some valuable material that has hitherto been unavailable in English translation.Outstanding among these commentators is "Ambrosiaster," the name given to the unknown Latin commentator of the late fourth century, whose enduring worth is evident to all who read him. And the extensive commentary by Origen, largely inaccessible to modern readers, is frequently and extensively presented here in English for the first time. These commentators are joined by great figures such as John Chrysostom of Constantinople, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Augustine of Hippo, Theodoret of Cyrus, and several lesser commentators such as Diodore of Tarsus and Didymus the Blind of Alexandria.This commentary on Romans provides a rare opportunity to encounter the familiar Pauline exposition of the righteousness of God as it echoes in the great Christian minds and communities of the early church.



Gerald L. Bray (PhD, La Sorbonne) is a professor at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and director of research for the Latimer Trust. He has written and edited a number of books on different theological subjects,including Galatians, Ephesians in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series, Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present, The Doctrine of God, and Romans in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. A priestof the Church of England, Bray has also edited the post-Reformation Anglican canons.



Thomas C. Oden (1931–2016), was the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Ancient Christian Doctrine series as well as the author of Classic Christianity, a revision of his three-volume systematic theology. His books also include The African Memory of Mark, Early Libyan Christianity, and How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind. He was the director of the Center for Early African Christianity at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and he also served as the Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology at the Graduate School and The Theological School of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.



General Introduction



A Guide to Using This Commentary



Abbreviations



Introduction to Romans



Commentary



Appendix



Chronology



Authors/Writings Index



Subject Index



Scripture Index



"There is no shortage of new books on the market and it may be a surprise to some to see IVP producing the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. But, bearing in mind C. S. Lewis's admonition, 'It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between,' this series will fill a great need that many of us may not even be aware of--the need to read those who have gone before us."



"A 'must' for all theological libraries."



"Contemporary Christians would do well to draw the hermeneutical circle broadly enough to include not only cross-cultural voices from around the world but also the voices to be found in the Ancient Christian Commentary series. This is an excellent sermon-preparation resource for pastors."



"A wealth of information for the classic Bible scholar."



"We speak abstractly in scholarly circles of the need to transcend looking at Christianity through the spectrum of modern presuppositions. This series, based on the commentaries of early Christians, gives us a concrete way to do this. It's a great idea."



"This volume continues the valuable exploration of patristic interpretation."



"For those who think that church history began around 1941, when their pastor was born, this commentary will be a great surprise. Christians throughout the centuries have read the biblical text and nursed their spirits with it and then applied it to their lives. These commentaries reflect that the witness of the Holy Spirit was present in his church throughout the centuries. As a result, we can profit by allowing the ancient Christians to speak to us today."



"All who are interested in the interpretation of the Bible will welcome the forthcoming multivolume series Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Here the insights of scores of early church fathers will be assembled and made readily available for significant passages throughout the Bible and the Apocrypha. It is hard to think of a more worthy ecumenical project to be undertaken by InterVarsity Press."



"Composed in the style of the great medieval catenae, this new anthology of patristic commentary on Holy Scripture, conveniently arranged by chapter and verse, will be a valuable resource for prayer, study and proclamation. By calling attention to the rich Christian heritage preceding the separations between East and West and between Protestant and Catholic, this series will perform a major service to the cause of ecumenism."



"Chronological snobbery--the assumption that our ancestors working without benefit of computers have nothing to teach us--is exposed as nonsense by this magnificent new series. Surfeited with knowledge but starved of wisdom, many of us are more than ready to sit at table with our ancestors and listen to their holy conversations on Scripture. I know I am."