Body, Mind, and Passions in Romans: Paul’s Alternative View within His Philosophical and Religious Context

Abstract

Most ancient thinkers believed that passions corrupted rational thinking, and that reason should control passions; Jewish apologists, however, often chided Gentiles for being ruled by passion, and sometimes offered Jewish law as a way to achieve genuine mastery over passion. Using language familiar to his contemporaries, Paul argues that human passions have corrupted reason’s ability to control them, and even right knowledge of God’s law cannot deliver one from this enslavement. For Paul, however, Christ by the Spirit liberates from bondage to passion, enabling a relationship with and life pleasing to God.