Charles Explorer logo
🇬🇧

The formation of spirituality in the letter to the Romans

Publication |
2023

Abstract

The presented monograph is not a commentary, but an attempt at a certain approach, preview and way of reading the letter to the Romans, which is to show both the image of Paul's spirituality and the stimuli for the reader's personal spirituality (spiritual renewal). We will follow the dynamics of the spiritual life exclusively in the letter to the Romans, ie with respect to the arrangement of matter in this letter. Thus, four facts stand out more clearly: (a) Paul's intention; (b) the well-thought-out process of the individual lessons by which Paul shapes the spiritual lives of his readers; (c) the basis of Paul's spirituality in the Old Testament; (d) continuity of partial messages and whole lessons. A number of quotations from secondary literature are intended to demonstrate how strongly this perspective resonates in the professional literature and how aptly the spiritual starting points are formulated especially in the Czech theological (interpretive) tradition of XX. century. In the monograph, the quotations not only confirm the direction of the interpretation, but also make the publication a spiritual reading.

The process of spirituality lessons is well thought out. The basis is based on the hidden work of God, which Paul proves both the Old Testament and his own experience. In many places, Paul describes the various stages of spiritual growth. His accounts of spirituality are characterized by mystical terminology, and as a result, some researchers do not hesitate to label Paul as a mystic. Albert Schweitzer is prominent in this respect. In the letter to the Romans, the basic message from which Paul will build his spiritual will is the Old Christian creed called the formula of the covenant.