The Unfolding of Romans Author:Wayne Olson, Wayne Olson The Apostle Paul wrote in Greek, therefore his writings have been regarded as Greek literature. In the Greek culture, to be a writer you conformed to one of the many Greek forms of writing. Scholars have had difficulty saying that any one of Paul's writing is written in any one of these forms. Not knowing the form means that we do not know how ... more »parts relate to one an-other. This results in many unanswered questions, for example: 1. Is Romans nine through eleven parenthetical or are they a part of Paul's in-tended presentation? 2. Is the good of Romans 8:28 a general good or one particular good? 3. When Paul struggled with sin in chapter seven, was it as a believer or as an unbeliever? 4. Who was Paul referring to, when in chapter two he speaks of Gentiles who by nature keep the law? The Unfolding of Romans maintains that Romans is written in chiasmus, a literary form that is common in the Old Testament. Previously a few examples of chiasmus have been found in Romans. In The Unfolding of Romans it is demonstrated that the whole of Romans is written in this format. Large chiastic systems are sometimes found in the Old Testament, but these have been difficult to demonstrate in the New Testament. In The Unfolding of Romans three types of large systems are defined, and then it is demonstrated that Paul uses them repeatedly in Romans. For those not familiar with chiasmus an introductory text is incorporated into the introduction. This text starts with the smallest and most basic examples and works gradually up to the largest and most complex. A person does not need to know anything concerning chiasmus to read this book.« less