SUBSIDIA BIBLICA - 37

ALETTI Jean-Noël, S.J.

God’s Justice in Romans.
Keys for Interpreting the Epistle to the Romans

2010, pp. VIII+334

 The work relies on the history of exegesis that for Romans is more or less stagnant, despite indisputable progress on the question of the connection between Paul and Judaism. But independent of circumstances, this work is the result of a slow process of sedimentation: research, teaching, and numerous contacts have convinces me of the usefulness of a publication. Taking the initial steps alerted me to the difficulty of undertaking a truly theological exegesis. There is a twofold tendency: to go no further that the exact meaning of the text, following diverse approaches – linguistic, historic, semiotic, post-structuralist, and others – to the point of becoming bogged down and making it purely a mind game, or on the contrary, wanting to rush through to steps to get directly to the theological ideas without going through the necessary procedures to cover the material and thereby profit from the work. Commentaries may by partly responsible for these difficulties: literary approaches and theological analyses come close to each other without their connection appearing, as if it were only necessary to present the patterns in order to obey to the laws of the genre. May this work show how relevant it is to pay attention to the literal meaning of a text.

     Jean-Noël ALETTI, S.J., is professor of new Testament Exegesis at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome). He is known for his monographs and articles on Saint Paul and the Synoptic Gospels.