Reading Romans with Dio Chrysostom and Aelius Aristides: Preliminary Remarks on the Epistle’s Rhetorical Genus

Abstract

The present study argues that the main content of Paul’s letter to the Romans is a deliberative argument based on appeals to honor, which aimed at promoting mutual tolerance among Roman believers. Providing both a corroboration of, and a minor corrective to, Robert Jewett’s monumental reading of Romans, this article reads Romans against the background of symbouleutic rhetoric, as attested in the orations of Dio Chrysostom and Aelius Aristides, and it seeks to shed light on the argumentative functions and nuances of each ‘theological’ unit for the overall flow of the argumentation in Romans. Paul elaborates upon the particular ramifications of his gospel most pertinent for addressing communal problems in the Roman congregations, namely, the transformative potential of the gospel to create a newly enabled moral agency through the indwelling spirit. Paul tries to cultivate an ‘analytical stance’ among the Roman believers so that they could deliberate about the best course of action with regard to the Jewish law concerning food and Sabbath.