I'm in the process of reviewing Ben Witherington's The Problem with Evangelical Theology for his class on NT theology. In his critique of Reformed theology, he discusses the various possibilities of who could be meant when Paul speaks in the first person in Rom. 7:7-25 (pp. 21-37). The average reader today would probably assume these comments are simply autobiographical statements Paul is making about himself ("I didn't know sin except through the Law...I was living without the Law once...I myself died..."). Reformed theologians, following Augustine, see the "I" as referring to Christian experience generally. Witherington, however, draws on Quintilian to suggest Paul is using the rhetorical technique of "impersonation" to speak in the voice of Adam in vv. 7-13, and those "in Adam" in vv. 14-25. In other words, "it is about Gentiles and Jews outside of Christ" (p. 23). He cites Chrysostom in support of this reading. I am eager to investigate whether there was any diversity of opinion on this chapter's interpretation among the Greek Fathers.
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