Kevin B. McCruden, «Judgment and Life for the Lord: Occasion and Theology of Romans 14,1–15,13», Vol. 86 (2005) 229-244
This article explores Paul’s discussion
concerning the strong and the weak in Rom 14,1–15,13. My thesis is that Paul’s
comments in this section of the letter function neither completely as a response
to an actual problem in Rome, nor as entirely general paraenesis. Rather, Paul’s
comments function simultaneously on both a situational and non-situational level.
Considering that specific concerns over food were likely operative in the Roman
congregation, Paul employs non-specific language in this section in order to espouse
a larger theological vision of the essential unity of Jew and Gentile under God’s
salvation in Christ.
Judgment and Life for the Lord 241
Perhaps we might argue, then, that in both 1 Cor 11,27-32 and
Rom 14,1–15,13 the eschatological reality of God’s power or blessing
is the pervasive background for much of Paul’s thinking dealing with
the inner life of the community. The faithful community now lives in
the unique sphere of divine power that on the one hand imparts the
blessing of God’s righteousness, but also demands a response of
obedience on the other: “But since you were set free from sin, you
have become slaves to righteousness†(Rom 6,18). Therefore, what
takes place in the community can have divine implications as well as
merely communal ones. Indeed, what is so interesting to observe here
is that according to Paul such eschatological blessing is never so
complete that it cannot be transformed into something negative by
unworthy or inappropriate behavior.
How do these reflections help in clarifying both the occasion of
Rom 14,1–15,13 as well as the theology of Romans as a whole? The
profound eschatological perspective that I have just ascribed to Paul
would seem to point to a dire situation in the Roman community that
Paul seeks to address. Yet if it is true that Romans functions more as an
instructional argument rather than as a response to a communal
situation of discord, then the question of what Paul wants his Roman
audience to come away with from his argument becomes significant.
On one level, if the Roman audience was genuinely suspicious of
Paul’s ethical integrity due to his law free stance as espoused in
Galatians (see esp. Gal 3,10), then such a radically eschatological
appraisal of inappropriate judgment against fellow Christians would
serve to engender among Paul’s audience a renewed vision of the
apostle. From this angle, the occasion of the strong and the weak points
less to any discord in the Roman community and more to Paul’s keen
awareness of his renegade reputation (see Rom 6,15 and 15,30-31).
Still, there may yet be another way to conceive of the occasion of
these chapters which takes into account the central theological theme
of Romans as a whole, namely: the relationship between Jew and
Gentile. In the context of his discussion of the strong and the weak
might Paul be attempting to illustrate a vivid application of this
relationship in the context of God’s salvific activity in Christ? I shall
explore this question in the final section of this article.
3. The Work of God for Both Jew and Gentile
One of the central themes in Romans is Paul’s conviction that Jew
and Gentile alike share a similar status under God’s judgment and