Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 68:2 (NA 2017)
Article: Diagnosing Religious Experience In Romans 8
Author: Mark Wreford

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Diagnosing Religious Experience In Romans 81

Mark Wreford

([email protected])

Summary

In this article, I consider Paul’s use of adoption language in Romans 8 and argue that religious experience played an important role in its development. By looking closely at what Paul says about adoption and life in the Spirit, I try to identify what kind of experience this language might be articulating. Further, I suggest that it is necessary to consider how biblical scholars can best ensure they take account of religious experience when performing exegesis, offering a heuristic definition of religious experience which moves beyond the language of the NT itself, but is not conceptually anachronistic, to address a lack in the literature.

1. Introduction

As the first section of Romans 8 reaches its climax in verses 15–16, Paul reminds his readers, ‘you did not receive a spirit of slavery again to fear (πνεῦμα δουλείας πάλιν εἰς φόβον), but you have received a spirit of adoption (πνεῦμα ὑιοθεσίας), by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” This same Spirit (αὐτὸ τὸ πνεῦμα) bears witness with our spirit (συμμαρτυρεῖ τῷ πνεύματι ἡμῶν) that we are children of God.’ This metaphor2 powerfully depicts the theological reality of the

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believer’s change of status before God – from slave under a cruel master to adopted child. However, Paul also presents the believers’ cry of ‘Abba! Father!’ as the expressed evidence of the Spirit of adoption’s internal ‘witness’ with their own spirit. This suggests that the Spirit of adoption communicates something which impacts the believers’ understanding of their status, and which manifests itself in the cry of ‘Abba! Father!’ This article will explore this possibility, arguing that the language of adoption in Romans 8 is best understood as an attempt to articulate the impact of a particular religious experience (RE)3 which Paul believes he and his addressees have both had, and would recognise from this description.

In suggesting that Paul’s language of adoption attempts to give expression to a prior experiential reality, I...

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