The Church's Bible series serves to bring the rich classical tradition of biblical interpretation to life. Compiled, translated, and edited by leading scholars, these volumes draw extensively from early and medieval commentators, illuminating Holy Scripture as it was understood during the first millennium of Christian history. Designed for clergy, Bible teachers, men and women in religious communities, and all serious students of Scripture, The Church's Bible will lead contemporary readers into the inexhaustible spiritual and theological world of the early church and hence of the Bible itself.

This Church's Bible volume brings together select lengthy excerpts from early Christian writings on Romans, Paul's most comprehensive statement of Christian teaching. J. Patout Burns Jr. has judiciously chosen extended passages from such church fathers as Origen, Rufinus, Pelagius, Chrysostom, Ambrosiaster, Augustine, and Theodoret, enabling readers today to benefit from the church's rich treasure trove of commentary on Paul's Letter to the Romans. Covering the first five hundred years of Christian history, this volume incorporates new translations made from the best texts currently available.

Both Burns's pastoral sensitivity and his extensive study of patristics shine through his selection of ancient passages, which run the full gamut of perspectives on Romans. Each passage is relevant and applicable to our current understanding and living of the Christian life, not just historically valuable. This volume -- and the entire Church's Bible series -- will be welcomed by preachers, teachers, students, and general readers alike.

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Reviews

"The Church's Bible has already distinguished itself as the preeminent place to find the riches of patristic exegesis made available in a reliable and accessible form. J. Patout Burns's volume, Romans: Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators, is a welcome addition to this series. It provides a wide range of commentary on Romans from such ancient masters as Origen, John Chrysostom, Pelagius, Ambrosiaster, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Cyril of Alexandria, and, of course, Augustine. Burns's judicious selections reveal the Church Fathers to be careful readers of the biblical text, striving to recover its meaning for their own time and place. This is an invaluable resource for a contemporary reading and recovery of Paul's Letter to the Romans." — David G. Hunter, University of Kentucky

"The Church's Bible, a new commentary series on books of the Bible composed of quotations from patristic and medieval commentators, bears witness to the long, rich tradition of biblical interpretation within the church catholic. Such a series has always been badly needed. It also provides a welcome corrective to current fringe modes of interpretation that are more interested in rhetoric, style, or sociology than in the substance and content of the written Word of God. Recommended heartily to all pastors, preachers, and professors and students of theology." — Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., Catholic University of America

"For biblical scholars, reading this volume might be threatening. After all, whether they are conservative, liberal, or agnostic, they have well-established views of what Paul's theological teaching in Romans "is" — and often, if they are Christians, their lives are much invested in these views. But such certitudes are now challenged and relativized. Reading Romans with the ancient commentators opens for us unexpected theological vistas. But to those patient enough to engage in a meditative rereading of Romans side by side with the ancient commentaries so clearly presented by Burns in this volume, I can promise that transformative theological insights will spring forth from Paul's letter." — Review of Biblical Literature

"The care taken with all the volumes in this series is a credit to the learning and the industry of the editors/translations. The monumental project is a valuable resource not only for preachers and scholars but also for anyone who wants to practice lectio divina." — Commonweal

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J. Patout Burns Jr. is the Edward A. Malloy Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. His other books include Cyprian the Bishop.