This book report summarizes Alfred Aguila's reading of the textbook Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo for his Romans course. Aguila appreciated the organized presentation of ideas and ease of reading, but had questions about the concept of Jesus undergoing "stages of existence" after his resurrection. He found justification by faith to be the most impactful lesson, giving him deep gratitude to God for salvation not being based on works. However, he seeks more clarity on the idea of Jesus entering a new stage, which seems to imply a loss of his divine essence.
This book report summarizes Alfred Aguila's reading of the textbook Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo for his Romans course. Aguila appreciated the organized presentation of ideas and ease of reading, but had questions about the concept of Jesus undergoing "stages of existence" after his resurrection. He found justification by faith to be the most impactful lesson, giving him deep gratitude to God for salvation not being based on works. However, he seeks more clarity on the idea of Jesus entering a new stage, which seems to imply a loss of his divine essence.
This book report summarizes Alfred Aguila's reading of the textbook Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo for his Romans course. Aguila appreciated the organized presentation of ideas and ease of reading, but had questions about the concept of Jesus undergoing "stages of existence" after his resurrection. He found justification by faith to be the most impactful lesson, giving him deep gratitude to God for salvation not being based on works. However, he seeks more clarity on the idea of Jesus entering a new stage, which seems to imply a loss of his divine essence.
This book report summarizes Alfred Aguila's reading of the textbook Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo for his Romans course. Aguila appreciated the organized presentation of ideas and ease of reading, but had questions about the concept of Jesus undergoing "stages of existence" after his resurrection. He found justification by faith to be the most impactful lesson, giving him deep gratitude to God for salvation not being based on works. However, he seeks more clarity on the idea of Jesus entering a new stage, which seems to imply a loss of his divine essence.
This is to report on the textbook Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo as
per the reading requirement for the Romans course. In this report we will first discuss the things
that I appreciate about the book, and then the lessons that stand out and speak to me the most —
both things I agree with and things I would not approbate too quickly. Finally, I will try to relate
these lessons to my current situation in life and how it will affect my relationship with God and
with other people.
The book is a comfortable size to hold and easy to read. It opens up nicely and stays in
place, making for a pleasant reading experience. The two-column format is a good touch but the
font size can be a little bigger for my preference. However, the content of the book is really
dense and a treasure trove. The author used words that are easy to understand for my level of
reading and the ideas are presented in an organized way. You can go with the flow of the
discussion without getting lost, so to speak. Chapter seven for example, which is my favourite
chapter of the textbook, develops the idea of justification by faith in a very fluid manner. The
author shells the passage and explains key words such as faith and propitiation which deepens
your knowledge of the meaning of the passage. And as faith comes from hearing and hearing by
the word of God, our “theology should lead to doxology”.1
That does not mean, however, that there was a point which the author tried to make that
did not go across. Although the structure of the ideas being presented is well organized, there is
one particular idea I need clarification on. In his introduction to The Gospel of God, in the third
chapter of part one, the author mentions the “two stages in Christ’s existence”. He explains then,
that Jesus entered a new stage of existence after His resurrection. This is confusing for me
because in John 17:5 Jesus mentions of His glory in the presence of the Father which He had 1 Baker Academic. (2014). 7. In Encountering the book of romans: A theological survey (p. 66). essay. before the world began. Implying, at least to me, that He did not enter a new stage of existence,
but returned to His divine glory in the heavenly realm without the limitation of human flesh
(because His body is now glorified) and without losing any of His deity. The word ὁρισθέντος in
Romans 1:4, the verse the author is using for his discussion, implies that Jesus’ resurrection
vindicates all His claims during His earthly life — that He is divine. The NLT translation and the
Tagalog translation capture what I am pointing out here.2 What I am trying to say is that I am not
comfortable with the idea that Jesus Christ underwent “stages of existence”. It sounds like there
is a hint of modalism at the very least, or maybe it is my hearing or understanding that is at fault.
The concept of entering a new stage seems to imply that something inferior was replaced by
something superior, and it is my firm belief that God incarnate did not lose any of His divine
essence. In any case, I will need to dig more into this idea to find clarity.
Reading through the book of Romans in both English and Tagalog and having read the
textbook alongside, has given me a greater appreciation of the doctrine of justification by faith.
Every time I pray and work in the ministry, I feel a deep sense of gratitude that God, in His
righteousness, made a way for a sinner like myself to come to His presence by faith through
Jesus Christ. Without question, if salvation is based on keeping the law or by good works, all of
us would fall into an endless abyss and never reach God’s standards. As Trevor Anderson from
the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth, or the demi-god Maui from the Disney movie
Moana screamed (depending on which reference we pick) “We’re still falling!” or “I am still
falling!”. Praise God it does not have to be that way.
