Romans: Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, Vol. I by St. Theophan the Recluse

“…do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”    —Rom. 6:3 This complete, verse-by-verse commentary presents in a single volume the Orthodox Church’s understanding of one of the most significant and foundational New Testament writings, St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. The tone of the work is both approachable and profound, drawing from the fullness of the Church’s patristic legacy, including Saints John Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact, John Damascene, and Augustine of Hippo, among many others. St Theophan the Recluse stands out among exegetes of recent times in the scope of his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures. Here, he skillfully weaves disparate early Church Fathers commentaries into a single tapestry, with an aim that is above all pastoral and devotional, focused on the Christian’s moral and spiritual life.The work is also deeply theological, presenting the Orthodox understanding of St Paul’s words without diverging into polemics or giving way to passing academic fads. This first volume in a series of commentaries on the Pauline Epistles will be as valuable to devoted students of Holy Scripture as to the lay reader seeking to acquire the mind of the Church.