In the Pauline section of the British New Testament Society Annual Meeting next week, there will be a discussion about the question, “Does Romans Need Addressees?”
I’m planning to read the papers that relate to this question on the train on the way to the conference, but I imagine there’ll be two main answers:
- Of course it needs addressees – part of the historical critical method is being attentive to the letter’s setting – and this includes its occasion.
- But on the other hand, it is Christian Scripture, and its interpretation depends not so much on its original setting or intention as its reception by the church as Scripture – a reception that goes back to the late first century when it was first included in a corpus for believers.
I’m guessing there will then be some sort of agreement on a middle way of sorts – valuing both original setting and reception history.
On the other hand, I might be completely wrong, and if so, I reserve the right to delete this post and pretend I was never this dumb.
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