Purpose and Cause in Pauline Exegesis: Romans 1.16-4.25 and a New Approach to the Letters

Three factors prompt this re-examination of the underlying questions that shape mainstream exegesis of Paul's letters. Hermeneutical studies have destabilized assumptions about the nature of meaning in texts; the letters are usually characterized as pastoral but explicated as expressions of Paul's thought; and the impact of E. P. Sanders' work on Paul has sharpened exegetical problems in Romans 1.16-4.25. The outcome is a two-step method of exegesis that considers a letter first in the ligh...