THE

ARROGANCE

OF

NATIONS

READING ROMANS

IN THE

SHADOW OF EMPIRE

NEIL ELLIOTT

Fortress Press

Minneapolis

THE ARROGANCE OF NATIONS

Reading Romans in the Shadow of Empire

Copyright © 2008 Fortress Press, an imprint of Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Visit http://www.augsburgfortress.org/copyrights/contact.asp or write to Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440.

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations are the author’s own translation. Scripture passages from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Elliott, Neil, 1956–

The arrogance of nations: reading Romans in the shadow of empire / Neil Elliott.

p. cm.—(Paul in critical contexts)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 978-0-8006-3844-3 (alk. paper)

1. Bible. N.T. Romans—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

BS2665.52.E45 2008

227′.106—dc22 2007044118

If we rightly understand ourselves, our problems are the problems of Paul: and if we be enlightened by the brightness of his answers, those answers must be ours.… In the past [those] who hungered and thirsted after righteousness naturally recognized that they were bound to labor with Paul. They could not remain unmoved spectators in his presence. Perhaps we too are entering upon such a time.

—Karl Barth

Only a genuine philosophy of history is capable of respecting the specificity and radical difference of the social and cultural past while disclosing the solidarity of its polemics and passions, its forms, structures, experiences, and struggles, with those of the present day.… Only Marxism can give us an adequate account of the essential mystery of the cultural past, which, like Tiresias drinking the blood, is momentarily returned to life and warmth and allowed once more to speak, and to deliver its long-forgotten message in surroundings utterly alien to it. This mystery can be reenacted only if the human adventure is one.…

—Fredric Jameson

Our nation’s move toward empire is an issue for us not only as citizens of the United States but also as Christian theologians. Christian faith must articulate itself in the context of the dominance of a civil religion that is also apolitical theology. This political theology is remarkably similar to the political theology of Rome in the first century of the Christian era.… The situation for Americans today is remarkably like that of Paul.… Even in the churches, it is risky to state clearly that loyalty to Christ requires Christians to stand against the goal of worldly empire.

—John B. Cobb Jr. and David J. Lull