Encouragement to read Romans with Eastern eyes does not mean that the Eastern way of reading is inherently better than the Western. Any monocultural lens of reading scripture is “myopic”. However post-enlightenment, most Christians limit themselves to a monocultural western perspective when reading Scripture, especially Paul’s letters. “This book considers how Paul’s gospel exposed cultural blind spots and challenged many problems confronting the Roman church” (p. 16).
Honor-shame cultures are built on 3 emphases: tradition, relationship and hierarchy, all of which make up one’s “face” or social status. One’s face is correlated with his or her worth among the community.
Honor and shame can be either achieved or ascribed. Eastern cultures most often value ascribed honor more than achieved honor, but the two are complementary. This is in contrast to the West where achieved honor is held in higher regard and ascribed honor can ironically be antagonistic to achieved honor (eg trust fund babies vs “started from the bottom”).
Eastern cultures hold high insistence on group loytalty, as well as constancy, uniformity, order, and balance to their world.
The word for glory in the Bible most often refers to status rather than a splendor. Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8 teach that humanity is given governing authority over creation. This exalted status is referred to as their glory.
Those who are united with Christ have glory in their new identity as adopted children, heirs, and servant rulers. Therefore, they are responsible to glorify God among all nations (p. 44)
What was Paul’s purpose in writing his letter to the Greco-Roman church? To teach doctrine and respond to issues in the church? Or something more? Most authors especially in the first century, would begin and end their letters with mention of their purpose of writing. Paul writes his thematic verses in Romans 1:16-17 and Romans 15:8-9, highlighting God’s power and His promises regarding both the Jews (the circumcised) and the Gentiles and Greeks.
Paul’s overarching aim is pragmatic. As apostle to the Gentiles, he seeks the Roman Christians’ assistance on his way to Spain (Romans 1:5, 13-14; 15:18-28; 16:26). Jackson. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes. InterVarsity Press, 2019, p. 50.
Paul was writing to Greco-Roman christians in the city of Rome. This community was heavily influenced by its surrounding culture which viewed non-Greeks as less-than, inferior in intellect and immature in practices, referred to commonly in that day as “barbarians” which was essentially the “N-word” for that day and time. This ethnocentric attitude would obviously be an impediment to Paul’s mission to go to Spain with their support. So how can Paul critique and rebuke this anathema for the sake of his mission, the gospel, and this church? By implanting it within the gospel story.
The culture of communication at the time is a “high-context culture”, in which authors typically assumed the readers to have some level of insight which would allow them to read in between the lines and understand what the author intended. Part of this may have been born out of necessity given that they had limited “real estate” to write on with small parchment that could be expensive for lower class individuals.
Indirect communication was a common way to communicate in these high context cultures. More importantly, indirect communication was (and is) commonly used today when confronting an individual with an issue with hopes of allowing them to “save face.” In other words, to directly communicate his displeasure with the Greco-Roman christians, whom he has never met, may be too confrontational and in order to “save face” they would reject his message and Paul’s plans for Spain would be thwarted. Instead, Paul chooses an indirect communication pattern, placing the Romans back into the Gospel story of Israel, Gentiles, Christ and his new kingdom. The Romans are invited to remember their place, once as Gentiles, determined to be “left-out” of the kingdom by the Jews but now who are exalted and honored as they have been grafted in. This all with the end goal that the Romans would themselves realize that they are now acting in the same way towards the barbarians, a way that dishonors God and his will for all nations to be saved.
Social divisions are an inhibition to the gospel. Culture should not define who is in or out in the kingdom of God. Paul rightly condemns their collective identity being built around their ethnicity and offers them the alternative of finding unity in their new identities as slaves of righteousness or slaves of sin. He is not simply correcting doctrine, but seeking to shift their entire worldview of salvation. *Note: Ironically, many use Romans to teach that some people are “in” and some are “out” (eg. pre-determinism).
Paul does not write to individuals but to groups. His readers see themselves not as individuals but as people in a community. The entire letter is highly contextualized for people sensitive to collective identity. Jackson. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes. InterVarsity Press, 2019, p. 64.