“The Gospel According To Paul: A Plain Man’s Guide To Romans” by Per Bolling, Autumn House, 2009. This book was a gift some months old, which I picked up to read recently when I found myself reading Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (Just click the forward arrow on the above link to go through Paul’s Letter to the Romans online from chapter 1.) I read through Romans recently (again) in the Gideon’s Bible in a hospital waiting room. Bolling’s book goes well with reading Romans - not a heavy commentary and is now one of my books that has become heavily pencilled, so it is not going to be given away. Needless to say it is a book I have enjoyed reading and an easy reference book to go back to. It is an 8″ x 5″ pocket size 168-page paperback - easy to carry for those wanting more than light (but not heavy) reading on their rail or air travels, or for giving more serious attention to Paul’s gospel to the Romans. The author has included a short 11-page chapter that summarises the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans, “giving the reader a bird’s-eye view of how Paul thought when he wrote it.”
At the beginning of each chapter there is the author’s summary of what Paul is saying in the chapter. Each section being discussed is preceded by the biblical text in the NIV, all in short easy to read ‘essays’, so the book includes the whole text of Romans. The author draws the reader into the atmosphere and environment in which the letter would have been read to its original listeners - no ‘Staples’ around then to do any photocopying - but not avoiding those difficult bits - like Romans chapters 7 and 9-11. While there is no deep study into Greek terminology for the reader one gets the feeling of getting the benefits of the author’s own wide reading on Romans. It is as it says, “A Plain Man’s Guide To Romans“. On the rear cover there are statements by those in the past who have been challenged by Paul’s Letter to the Romans that are intended to challenge the reader:
“William Tyndale said that Romans lit the way to the whole Bible. “If you don’t understand Romans,” he wrote, “you really don’t understand the Bible.”
“Martin Luther said that Romans was the only book in Scripture that explained in full how God made possible humanity’s salvation. He called it ‘the purest gospel.’
“F. F. Bruce said, ‘Beware when you begin to study Romans. Anything can happen!’
“Per Bolling has discovered that all that is true. In this book he uncovers the purest gospel and gives it the clearest explanation. This book lights up the book that lights up the way into the whole Bible. No one will read it and remain unchanged. Anything can happen . . .”
