Romans Disarmed - by Sylvia C Keesmaat & Brian J Walsh (Paperback)

About the Book

Helps readers enter the world of ancient Rome and see how Paul's most radical letter transforms the lives of the most marginalized then and now.

Book Synopsis

Globalization. Homelessness. Ecological and economic crisis. Conflicts over sexuality. Violence. These crisis-level issues may seem unique to our times, but Paul's Letter to the Romans has something to say to all of them.

Following their successful Colossians Remixed, Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh unpack the meaning of Romans for its original context and for today. The authors demonstrate how Romans disarms the political, economic, and cultural power of the Roman Empire and how this ancient letter offers hope in today's crisis-laden world.

Romans Disarmed helps readers enter the world of ancient Rome and see how Paul's most radical letter transforms the lives of the marginalized then and now. Intentionally avoiding abstract debates about Paul's theology, Keesmaat and Walsh move back and forth between the present and the past as they explore themes of home, economic justice, creation care, the violence of the state, sexuality, and Indigenous reconciliation. They show how Romans engages with the lived reality of those who suffer from injustice, both in the first century and in the midst of our own imperial realities.

From the Back Cover

Reading the Bible from the Underside of Empire

"Sylvia and Brian are two of my favorite Bible scholars. Whether you're over-churched or under-churched, they stir in you a fresh curiosity for the Bible. This new book is perfect for scholars and new Bible readers alike, and for everyone in between."
--Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and cofounder of Red Letter Christians

"If you want to hear--and experience--Paul's letter to the Jewish and gentile Christ-followers in Rome as you never have, read this book. And re-read it. Keesmaat and Walsh bring the message of Romans into dialogue with our lives today, as we struggle to be faithful to the good news of Messiah Jesus in our own imperial context."
--J. Richard Middleton, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College

"Keesmaat and Walsh write into the headwinds of Trumpism, deepening social disparity, ecological crisis, and endless war. Building on recent scholarship, this brilliant study engages the original audience, who labored under the shadow of empire, in a way that brings its message to life for similarly struggling North American Christians. The result is a fresh and committed reading by two of our generation's best interpreters of Word and world."
--Ched Myers, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries

"You (and I!) have never read Romans like this before. It has been weaponized by some and reduced to abstraction by others as has perhaps no other biblical book. Keesmaat and Walsh have disarmed such uses and returned it to the real, flesh-and-blood world."
--Greg Paul, Sanctuary Toronto community member and author of God in the Alley and Resurrecting Religion

"Keesmaat and Walsh use an artistic mix of story, poetry, imaginative discourse, and solid biblical and social-cultural-historical background that allows the reader to understand the book of Romans from an alternative, and I believe more accurate, point of view."
--Randy S. Woodley, author of Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision

About the Author

Sylvia C. Keesmaat (DPhil, University of Oxford) is adjunct professor of biblical studies at Trinity College and Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ontario, and biblical scholar in residence at St. James Anglican Church in Fenelon Falls. She is the author of Paul and His Story: (Re)Interpreting the Exodus Tradition and editor of The Advent of Justice.

Brian J. Walsh (PhD, McGill University) serves as a Christian Reformed campus minister at the University of Toronto and is an adjunct professor of theology at Trinity College and Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ontario. He has written numerous books, including Kicking at the Darkness: Bruce Cockburn and the Christian Imagination.

Keesmaat and Walsh are coauthors of Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. They live on a solar-powered permaculture farm in Cameron, Ontario.