Romans: God's Good News for the World

Stott, Rector Emeritus of All Souls' Church in London and revered figure in evangelicalism, is the author of many prior books, and little new ground is broken in this study as a result. But the freshness of Stott's style and the comprehensiveness of his work in this volume suggest that it may well become a standard anyway. Stott distills the many themes of Romans into two main ideas: the mercy of God as displayed in the cross of Christ and in the Calvinistic doctrine of election; and the essential unity of all Christian believers. He engages evenhandedly many respected commentators whose positions are both to the left and the right of his own. Just as importantly, he makes St. Paul's diatribic form of argumentation come alive in very human and understandable form. Readers can almost hear the give-and-take of ferocious disputation; and scholars and students alike will find the writing congenial and challenging. (Dec.)