Booklist 10.

Romans 95

award in 2008 (Dr Leopold-Lucas-Nachwuchswissenschaftlerpreis 2008). The study

focuses on Romans, but it begins with a review of scholarship on universal salvation in
general, as a topic of biblical theology and only then in Paul. The second part examines
the concept of universal salvation in Paul and particularly the ‘Christo-logic’ of Romans,
emphasizing the link between faith in Christ and the salvation offered to everyone.
Judgment in Rom. 4 refers to everyone, including condemnation and acquittal. Faith in
Rom. 5 is the creature’s response to this situation. The third part focuses on relevant
concepts in specific passages, ending each exegesis with a summary and translation of
the passage: the power of God in Rom. 1.16-17, justification o f the sinner in Rom. 3.21-
26, promising faith in Rom. 4.1-25, Adam and Christ in Rom. 5.12-21, the divine coun-
sei in Rom. 8.28-30 and finally Rom. 11.25-32. Adam arrives at two conclusions: Paul’s
differentiation between the universal salvation promised in principle and its actual real-
ization expected for the future, and the emphasis on the inseparable link of the concept
of universal salvation with Christ.
The book is a painstaking and precise examination of the concept of universal salva-
tion in Romans. Its close interaction with the text, attention to scholarship, clear struc-
ture and readable style make it a contribution to this ancient debate which deserves
attention.
Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer

The Social Significance o f Reconciliation in Paul’s Theology: Narrative Readings in Romans

Corneliu Constantineanu
LNTS 421; London: T&T Clark, 2010, 978-0-567-58198-3, £65.00, xvi + 254 hb

Paul’s notion of reconciliation is both vertical and horizontal. Recent narrative approaches
provide a challenge to the dominant (until recently) idea of individual reconciliation to
God. Chapters 1 and 2 survey scholarly approaches and argue that individualistic approaches
ignore the social and political dimension of Paul’s thought, and lead to misappropriation by
the powerful. Chapters 3 to 6 are the heart of Constantineanu’s work, showing that God’s
people must be involved in social realities of life, including the political. Most attention is
given to Rom. 5-8 and 12-15, where the social meaning of reconciliation is uncovered.
Chapter 7 applies these findings in a general way to Constantineanu’s contemporary
Romanian context before a brief concluding chapter.
This is an excellent book. First, while the importance of reconciliation has long been
noted, Constantineanu shows that it must be seen in social terms as well. He grounds this
in a careful reading of Romans in which Paul re-casts his own grand narrative in the light
of his radical reconciliation with God through the faithfulness of Christ. God’s people are
to participate in God’s project of reconciling all things. Second, it concludes with a sug-
gestive and thoughtful earthing in Constantineanu’s modem Romanian context, offering
both positive and negative assessments of the role of the Romanian Orthodox Church
(risk of nationalism) and the evangelical churches (risk of isolationism). Two areas might
have been explored more fully. First, Rom. 9-11 is given only brief (albeit effective)
treatment. Second, nothing is said about the reconciliation within the wider created order.
96 Journal for the Study o f the New Testament 33(5)

Paul offers just enough for that to be on the agenda of reconciliation as well. But these
are minor cavils about a very useful study.
Kent E. Brower

*L,agir puissant du Christ parmi les chrétiens Une étude exégético-théologique 97

de 2C0 13,1-4 et Rm 14,1-4, Kimesa
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