The Narrow Path Ministries

To the admins: I would like to request a level of restricted access on a discussion on Romans. Maybe it would be okay if the discussion could be restricted only to members who are logged in -- but it may be better to have access restricted to a smaller group. If we could plan for restricted access for maybe 3 years, it could be interesting to 'reveal' the discussions after I have made my proposal public.

To members/users: I am interested in presenting details of a proposal regarding the purpose, flow and context of Romans. My goal here would be to present the ideas for discussion and feedback. However, for the time being, I would prefer not to have my proposal presented over the internet in a fashion that prematurely disseminates my analysis. My goal would be the testing of and development of arguments in support of my theory. The discussion in theos.org would mainly be for the discovery of weaknesses in my proposal or in the arguments in support of such proposal.

For this to work, I would need at least a few people to be interested in the discussion -- and maybe that such people would be willing to pay more attention to my theory rather than doing a full debate of opposing theories. Also, I would need the admins' cooperation for some privacy.

Essentially I have pretty much formulated an overall explanation of the flow and context of Romans. Many of the points are recorded in my own notes. I have done research on Romans to consider how various other theories (on sections of Romans) match or diverge from my proposal. (Yet I get some surprise insights regarding the viewpoints of commentators -- I find reasons why some passages were found to be difficult. One thing I would like to incorporate somewhere, in my writings, is that of documenting the patterns of thought which led to the existing theories on Romans.)

Part of the reason I do not wish for the discussion to be publicly disseminated is that the arguments behind the proposal require so much time. If the material is only read by a few people, the investment of time is a bit unreasonable. However, if the preparation is made for publishing the material, then the use of the time is better justified.

The proposal (if made in its entirety) will include:
recognition that there were many problems in Rome that the letter addressed
analysis in light of idea that audience was only gentiles -- focusing letter on problem group
evidence of insecurity of Paul's (anticipated) audience
probable narrowing of the audience to further detail
division between Jew and gentile
realization of the rhetorical nature of the letter
reassessment of topic of wrath
reassessment of the basis for talking about Jewish topics
evaluation of the meaning of 'works' in 'works of the law'
analysis of role of Rom 16 to the whole letter
analysis of similarity of Rom 1:18 to 2:1-2 with the technique of 2Sam12:1-9

Many conventional themes are recognized in my theory -- but usually have to be viewed from a new angle:
inadequacy of the law (and circumcision) in Rom 2
inclusion of gentiles (Rom 3)
the boasting issue(Rom 3)
the remnant (Rom 9 and 11)
God's faithfulness
Tobin's and Das' proposals on use of Prosopopoeia in Rom 7:7-25

I would describe myself as being conservative. However, this conservatism is not so much with a certain denominational view -- but is in my seeking of the ideas revealed in scripture -- and for this analysis on Romans my interest is primarily in the flow and context rather than in the application to our daily lives.

It may help to note some sense of position among some known scholars. I pretty much disagree with Sanders, though he has helped scholars achieve a balanced discussion about Jews. And I do not tend to follow the ideas of Dunn and Wright. I find most comport with Jewett and Das.

Hi Mike,

Though I am one of the admin guys, I know nothing about how things work here. I would not object to such a private discussion, though I do not know how to set one up. If it can be done, I think Jarrod would know.

Mike,

I believe everything you are asking for is very possible. If you want to gather a few users for the discussion, I can setup a separate forum topic that is viewable only by that group while they are logged on. I can try to fulfill any other requests you have as well.

Jarrod

Mike,

Ok, when you login you'll see the Private Groups forum at the top of the index page with your group. As it stands you're the only one in this group. Let me know others you want added and they will be able to see it as well.

Jarrod

Thanks Steve and Jarrod.

I found the forum area okay. So I will figure out something worthwhile for the initial posting and then see if there are any members who want to join.

Jarrod wrote:Ok, when you login you'll see the Private Groups forum at the top of the index page with your group. As it stands you're the only one in this group. Let me know others you want added and they will be able to see it as well.

Mike wrote:I found the forum area okay. So I will figure out something worthwhile for the initial posting and then see if there are any members who want to join.

I am confused, Mike. Suppose you "figure out something worthwhile for the initial posting." How will other members know what that "something" is to assess whether they want to join, if they cannot see the Private Groups forum until they DO join?

Paidion wrote: I am confused, Mike. Suppose you "figure out something worthwhile for the initial posting." How will other members know what that "something" is to assess whether they want to join, if they cannot see the Private Groups forum until they DO join?

It is free if you join now. So there is no risk. I am certainly the beggar here. People are not clamoring to hear a new theory on Romans. However some people have not settled on a theory for Romans. And there may be other people willing to consider an alternative theory.
Now I tried to give a few point regarding my proposal both to indicate the direction I was heading as well as to assuage fears that such proposal might be completely freakish.

That being said, it does sound like a good idea to prepare something in the NT section. It would also be reasonable to keep discussions within the public area as much as possible -- since this is where most people can gain a benefit.

mike, you could start a public discussion in a standard forum and we could move all of the posts to something private down the road if you wanted to once it gained momentum.