Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul's Message and Mission

Appreciated this perspective on Romans. Helped me see God differently and expanded my relationship with him through a better understanding of what sin and honor are. If you love the book of the Romans, then it's definitely worth the read.

It will open your eyes to another culture

Excellent MUST READ book! SO HELPFUL and UNDERSTANDABLE! I’m thankful for the reformation but it steered us away from the cultural (Honor/Shame) context of Romans and the theology within. Opened my eyes and understanding of salvation and ‘lordship.’ Thanks!

Wonderful book used for a bible study with my church. It was great to see Romans from a different perspective than a North American one, helped me see the book in a different way, and see my own culture differently as well!

This book will deepen your understanding of Romans in powerful ways and leave you with even greater respect for the substance and significance of Paul's opus to the church at Rome. A truly excellent study.

Since we live in our own social and communal fishbowls we can't often see the glass surrounding us. We may bump into the hard, transparent walls, but because we have grown up in that bowl with others, then it all feels normal, typical, even catholic/universal. Sometimes it is helpful to hear from someone who has been in different cultural aquariums, to come back to try and tell us how others have experienced life. Jackson W. (pseudonym), has lived and worked in East Asia for almost two decades as well as serving on the Asian/Asian-American Theology steering committee of the Evangelical Theological Society, has "jumped back" into our bowl to guide us in reading Romans with the eyes, experience, and imagery from another vivarium. "Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul's Message and Mission" is a 208 page education on one aspect of Asian perspectives. And it is a scholarly paperback that functions like a mini-commentary on a momentous biblical book!Jackson W. wants to aid readers so that by "reading Romans with Eastern eyes, we can discern key ideas and applications often overlooked or underemphasized by Western interpreters" and especially the significance of honor and shame in Paul's writing, as well as his mission and message (2). The author explains what an "Eastern" perspective is, generally, and especially the roles of tradition, relations, hierarchy, and the varied dimensions of honor and shame. He further examines honor and shame in Scripture, and how the word "glory" plays into this; "Paul in Romans demonstrates how humanity's honor is inextricably interwoven with God's glory" (22). For those who have read her work, the author draws extensively from Haley Goranson Jacob's "Conformed to the Image of His Son"."Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes" wades into every chapter of Romans, and almost verse-by-verse. The author teases out nuances and differences such as the pairings of Jews and Greeks, Greeks and Barbarians, and what Paul was up to by this. He gives insight into the social and cultural notions that divided people around ethnicity, and how in Paul's Gospel-schema, the "church's missional ambition is undermined when believers use culture to define insiders and outsiders" (36). The author paddles through the deeps of justification, sanctification, creation, and re-creation. And he regularly comes back around to this kind of thinking, "Justification concerns social identity just as much it does salvation. If believers' fundamental group identity centers on anything other than those who have faith in Christ's resurrection, they effectively divide his kingdom" (95). This leads him to rightly break out Romans in this way, "Romans 1-11 largely focus on historical and theological convictions uniting Christ's followers. Beginning in Romans 12, Paul shifts his attention to how God transforms the church's practice" (161).Page after Page in "Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes" honor and shame bob and weave their way through. Shame has to do with losing face before another - especially God; whereas justification "in Romans is a way of recognizing a person's honorable status, that is, one's identity as Abraham's offspring...Justification by faith creates a new community whose ascribed honor does not stem from standard social distinctions" (85). The author goes on to affirms that justification is the gracious ascription of Christ's honor to Christ's people. This book gave me much to reflect on, especially in the ways shame and honor play out in Romans and the rest of Scripture. It is well worth a second and third read! I highly recommend this volume, and would encourage pastors, seminary professors, and theology students to grab a copy quickly and pour over it keenly!My thanks to IVP Academic for responding to my request for a review copy of this book, which I used to make my assessments. They neither demurred, nor demanded anything of me other than that I complete a written examination. Forthwith I have accomplished my task, and freely.

Very helpful understanding of the book of Romans from an Eastern perspective.

As a third-generation Asian American, I have learned to see how my family values have shaped who I am today. I do not speak any Chinese and I never practiced any Eastern religion, but the concepts of honor and shame are still strong in my mind. Undoubtedly, this mindset has influenced how I read the Bible.Reading RomansIn Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes – Christianity Today’s 2020 Book of the Year Award of Merit - Biblical Studies – we are shown how honor and shame play an integral role in Paul’s message and mission. The author of this book, using the pseudonym “Jackson W.,” lives and works in East Asia and must write under a pseudonym for security reasons as he teaches theology and missiology for Chinese pastors at a seminary in Asia. Although Jackson W. is not Chinese, I resonated deeply with the way he explained Chinese culture.The book begins with the claim that an honor-shame perspective has at least three distinguishing emphases: tradition, relationship, and hierarchy. This is how a person’s social status or “face” is shaped.Eastern EyesIn an interesting example, we are shown the way people seek attention is how honor-shame can work in the West. For instance, people seek face/honor on social media by receiving likes on their Facebook posts or by posting videos on YouTube. Making good grades or wearing stylish clothing are other examples.This book is not a cultural study or commentary. It is an exegetical book that looks closely at key texts in the book of Romans while tracing the themes of honor and shame. And it is not always the same way we think of honor and shame as Westerners. The theological terms of sin, works, and glory are not redefined, but reexamined. Other topics include loyalty, honor, and insiders versus outsiders. At just over 200 pages, there is a lot to cover and explore.Honor and ShameThis book will reward a slow, careful read for those who want to look closely at the Biblical text. To help, the author often uses Western examples to show how we perpetuate the same Eastern values in our own context. Kapernick, Obama, and even the movie Inception are mentioned as illustrations. And examples that hit closer to home include the culture of honor/shame in middle school and our need to be validated via social media.In many ways, I am still steeped in Eastern values. I attend a church of predominantly Asian Americans. I work with a ministry that platforms Asian Americans. So this book was a warning and exhortation to remember that I belong to a global and historical church, yet I can still value the uniqueness of my culture.Message and MissionWith our adopted son Linus, I am still learning how we need to look at our different cultures and celebrate their beauty. As a husband and father, I am encouraged to not cling to our culture too closely, but to help my family stay close to Christ and his kingdom. And as a member of the body of Christ, I am thankful for Jesus’ global reign.I was provided a free copy of Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes but was not required to write a positive review.