Book Synopsis
Paul composed much of his epistle to the Roman Christians using poetic parallelisms of several kinds. These poetic devices are often seen in ancient Jewish writings and Bible students will be familiar with them. Members of the LDS church see them scattered throughout the Book of Mormon. They consist of chiasms, twin verses, multiple parallel verses, contrasting verses, lists, progressive lists, and so on. Besides adding aesthetic value to the writing, like any other form of poetry, these structures are used by Paul to add emphasis, say things in multiple ways to aid in understanding, and to examine specific issues from multiple viewpoints. Many of Paul’s poetic verses are very clever and demonstrate that the letter to the Romans was not casually dictated to Tertius. This book reformats Romans into its poetic verses and includes a poetic commentary.
About The Author
Rodney L. Williamson is a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He holds a BS degree from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, both in chemistry. He is retired from Sandia National Laboratories. He and his wife, Barbara, have been married for forty-eight years and are both practicing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a long time student of the history of Christian doctrine, and is the author of Reflections on the Work of Christ: A Mormon Viewpoint and Atonement Studies in the New Testament and Book of Mormon.