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Romans is a missional document. Yet, strangely, while many recognize the missional aspects of Romans, few monographs are totally devoted to unpacking Romans from a missional perspective. Romans and the Mission of God does this very thing. Part one explores the background of the letter with an eye to positioning Romans in the story of the mission of God, the apostle, the Roman world, and the early church. Part two considers how Romans is a contextually shaped presentation of the gospel. A range of other aspects of the way in which Paul shapes his message for the Romans are explored including salvation history, metaphors and rhetorical techniques, and aspects of the letter including elements opposed to God, salvation ideas, human response, ethics and Christian living, and the eschaton. Part three delves into issues that arise in Romans that are important for contemporary mission. These include such things as the cosmic scope of the mission, the gospel as the power of salvation, who does evangelism, the miraculous, social justice, ecology, social transformation, generosity and hospitality, God's sovereignty and human volition, prayer, the State, culture, Israel, apologetics, and theological thinking. This is a must-read for those serious about Paul, Romans, and God's mission.
About the author
Mark J. Keown is a Presbyterian minister, biblical scholar, and the Director of Evangelistic Leadership at Laidlaw College, New Zealand. Other writings include Congregational Evangelism in Philippians (2008), What's God Up to on Planet Earth? (2010), Jesus in a World of Colliding Empires (2018), Discovering the New Testament (2018-2022), Romans and the Mission of God (2021), Understanding Mark's Gospel (2022), and Galatians (2024).
