Religion and Theology

Brown, Raymond Edward and Meier, John P. Antioch and Rome. New Testament Cradles of Christianity. Mahwah, New Jersey Paulist Press, 1983.

This is considered an enjoyable read of the history of the early Christian Church which is informative, lucid, concise, authoritative, and impartial.  One would expect no less from a collaboration between two prominent Biblical scholars. The authors look into the growth and development of Christianity not only as a faith but as an institution.  As opposed to other similar books, this book takes a historical approach rather than a theological one in discussing Pauls mission to Rome.  It is pointed out here that as Paul was writing his epistles to the Romans, he had not been to Rome yet and was therefore unaware of the current situation there yet through his correspondence, Paul would admonish the Romans for trying to stick to their old worldly ways rather than utilize faith as the way to salvation.
Bruce, Frederick Fyvie. The Letter of Paul to the Romans An Introduction and Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.

In this book, Bruce explains with authority and in scholarly fashion where Paul stood with regard to righteousness, faith, and its relvance and applicability to the Church of God at present.  In Bruces analysis, Pauls letter to the Romans is very close to his letter to the Galatians although his letter to the Romans is less polemic. Bruce shows that Paul was able to make a discernment between the natural Jews, and the Spiritual Jews.  Like in other similar works, Bruce shows how the Christian Church had distanced itself from the  mother  religion owing to the new testament made by Jesus which the  traditional  Jews failed to grasp to the point that Stephen, the first Christian martyr called them  stiff-necked people  in Acts 751.

Shedd, William Greenborough Thayer. A Critical and Doctrinal Commentary Upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. Bibliobazaar, LLC, 2009.

In this digitally-scanned book, Shedd takes a scholarly as he discusses the letter of Paul to the Romans where Shedd used (translated) Greek manuscripts for primary sources. In his discussion of chapters 5 to 8, Shedd states that Paul emphasized the necessity of righteousness and faith.  Faith is the watchword here as Paul strongly emphasized this abstract term which the Romas had yet to fully comprehend as they made their transition from paganism to Christianity.  As a reading material, the book is highly recommended for scholars or those majoring in theology or Bible studies.
Wright, Nathan Thomas. Paul for Everyone Romans Chapters 1-8. London Westminister John Knox Press, 2004.

An Anglican bishop, Wright wrote his book in anecdotal style yet with authority that comes with his vocation which gives it more appeal to the readers compared to reading the letter of Paul to the Romans directly from the Bible.  In the Table of Contents, one can see how Wright  cuts up  the chapters and verses according to theme.  In essence Pauls letter (or epistle) to the Romans is mainly about the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and the Romans back then felt this was rather too profound to comprehend and probably is now.  Through the book Wright helps spell out Pauls mesasge to the Romans who were then rather  new  to the Christian faith as they made that shaky transition from paganism and show them that the road to salvation was the other direction through faith in Christ as Paul explained it in Chapters 3 to 5 and that this salvation was not exclusive to the Jews but to them as well. Besides just telling stories, Wright provides helpful guides as well as explanations, suggestions, and thoughts for how the biblical text can be relevant to our lives today.  Even though this was addressed to the Romans then, this portion of the epistles still hold relevance at present.   Overall, the book is easy to read and a good supplment to the Bible in any activity which is spiritual or inspirational.