Open AccessChristian Experience and Paul’s Logic of Solidarity: the Spiral Structure of Romans 5–8
Author(s) -
Susan Eastman
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
the biblical annals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.101
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 2451-2168
pISSN - 2083-2222
DOI - 10.31743/biban.13513
Subject(s) - rhetorical question , solidarity , depiction , blueprint , theology , literature , philosophy , sociology , aesthetics , art , political science , law , visual arts , politics
This essay investigates key aspects of the rhetorical structure of Romans 5–8 in relationship to Paul’s depictions of Christian experience. Taking Romans 5:1–5 as a blueprint for a trajectory of hope in chapters 5–8, I discuss three textual “detours” where Paul interrupts that trajectory: a rhetorical performance of life under sin (7:7–25), a depiction of union with all creation in suffering and hope (8:18–27), and a cry of lament (8:26). These rhetorical interruptions evoke Christian experience in solidarity with all creation - a solidarity that in turn displays Christ’s redemptive participation in the depths of all human dereliction, and thereby evokes hope.