Resources On Romans

The most important thing to know about the book of Romans is that it was inspired by God the Spirit and given to the church through the Apostle Paul. It is God’s holy, infallible and inerrant Word. Another very important thing (but often neglected) to know is that the book of Romans is in three parts, sin (1:18–3:20); salvation (3:21–11:36); and service (12:1–16:27). The historic Protestant way of putting this is to say that after the prologue (Rom 1:1–17), the book is structured by two principles, law (“do this and live”) and gospel (“for God so loved the world”), which leads to progressive sanctification. We might also say that it is in two parts insofar as salvation leads to service, but the Reformed traditionally understood Romans to be in three parts and thus the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) is in three parts following the pattern of Romans.

Below is an archive of the Heidelcast series on Romans and other resources to help you study and understand Romans.

Heidelcast Series
Bibliography
HB Resources Arranged According To Romans

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This bibliography is intentionally selective. There are a great number of commentaries on Romans from a variety of perspectives and traditions. There are modern Roman Catholic scholars who have done good work on the history of interpretation and even on the interpretation of Romans whose work is not listed here. That would be true of writers from the Lutheran tradition too. The Modern broadly evangelical reading of Romans is mostly disappointing (and some of it, e.g., the so-called New Perspective on Paul, can be even destructive) and even some of them are helpful but they are omitted here to focus on Reformation-era commentaries and on classic and contemporary Reformed readings (with the obvious exception of Luther and Melanchthon, whose work heavily influenced the Reformed reading of Romans).

1. - Adams, Gwenfair Walters, ed. Romans 1–8. Reformation Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, 7. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.
  - Augustine. 1982. Augustine on Romans: Propositions from the Epistle to the Romans, Unfinished Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Trans. Paula Fredriksen. Texts and Translations, Early Christian Literature Series, 23. 6. Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1982.
  - Baugh, Steven M. 1995. “The Meaning of Foreknowledge.” In The Grace of God, the Bondage of the Will, Vol 1: Biblical and Practical Perspectives on Calvinism, 183–200. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.
  - Boice, James Montgomery. Romans. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1991.
  - Bray, Gerald Lewis. Romans. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, 6. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1998.
  - Bucer, Martin. Metaphrases Et Enarrationes Perpetuae Epistolarum D. Pauli Apostoli. Tomus Primus. Strasbourg, 1536.
  - Calvin, Jean. The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians. Ed. David W Torrance. Trans. Thomas F Torrance and Ross Mackenzie. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960.
  - Clark, R. Scott. “Election and Predestination: Sovereign Expressions of God,” in David Hall and Peter Lillback, ed. A Theological Guide to Calvin’s Institutes: Essays and Analysis (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008), 90–122.
  - Clark, R. Scott. “Law and Gospel in Early Reformed Orthodoxy: Hermeneutical Conservatism in Olevianus’ Commentary on Romans,” in Jordan J. Ballor, David S. Sytsma and Jason Zuidema editors, Church and School in Early Modern Protestantism: Studies in Honor of Richard A. Muller on the Maturation of a Theological Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 2013).
  - Clark, R. Scott. “Olevianus and the Old Perspective on Paul: A Preliminary Report,” The Confessional Presbyterian 4 (2008): 15–26.
  - Clark, R. Scott. “The Reception of Paul in Heidelberg: The Pauline Commentaries of Caspar Olevianus”in ed. R. Ward Holder, A Companion to Paul in the Reformation (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 297–318.
  - Ehrensperger, Kathy, and R. Ward Holder. Reformation Readings of Romans. Romans Through History and Cultures Series, No. 8. London: T & T Clark, 2008.
  - Fesko, J. V. Romans. The Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2018.
  - Haldane, Robert. Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. Reprinted edition. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1996.
  - Hodge, Charles. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950.
  - Kim, Joel E. “History and Exegesis: the interpretation of Romans 7:14–25 from Erasmus to Arminius” in R. Scott Clark and Joel E Kim, ed. Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey. Escondido, CA: Westminster Seminary California, 2010.
  - Krey, Philip D, ed. Romans 9–16. Reformation Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, Viii. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2016.
  - Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, Vol. 25: Lectures on Romans. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999.
  - Melanchthon, Philip. Commentary on Romans. Trans. Fred Kramer. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1992.
  - Metzger, Bruce M, David Allan Hubbard, and Glenn W Barker. Romans. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982.
  - Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1988.
  - Murray, John. The Epistle to the Romans. Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018. [NB: Mr. Murray’s commentary on Romans, especially ch. 5, has much to commend it but his postmillennial turn, reflected in the later part of the commentary is to be regretted] For more on this see the HB archive on postmillennialism.
  - Olevianus, Caspar. In Epistolam D. Pavli Apostoli Ad Romanos Notae. Geneva: 1579.
  - Parker, T. H. L. Commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans 1532–1542. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1986.
  - Sproul, R. C. Romans. St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2009.
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “The Alleged Legalism in Paul’s Doctrine of Justification” in The Princeton Theological Review 2 (1903) repr. in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus, “The Pauline Conception of Reconciliation” in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “The Pauline Conception of Redemption” in The Bible Student 5:51–58. (1902) repr. in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “The Theology of Paul” in The Bible Student 7:332–340 (1903) repr. The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “The Pauline Eschatology and Chiliasm” repr. in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “The Eschatological Aspect of the Pauline Conception of the Spirit” repr. in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerdus. “The Pauline Doctrine of the Resurrection,” The Princeton Theological Review (1929) repr. in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “Alleged Development in Paul’s Teaching on the Resurrection” in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
  - Vos, Geerhardus. “The Structure of the Pauline Eschatology” in The Collected Articles of Geerhardus Vos (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Heidelcast Series

Select Bibliography

HB Resources (Arranged According to Romans)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Heidelcast Series

Select Bibliography

HB Resources (Arranged According to Romans)

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