Romans

By Theophan the Recluse

Translated by Holy Trinity Monastery

Biblical Studies, Theology

“…do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”    —Rom. 6:3

This complete, verse-by-verse commentary presents in a single volume the Orthodox Church’s understanding of one of the most significant and foundational New Testament writings, St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. The tone of the work is both approachable and profound, drawing from the fullness of the Church’s patristic legacy, including Saints John Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact, John Damascene, and Augustine of Hippo, among many others.

St Theophan the Recluse stands out among exegetes of recent times in the scope of his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures. Here, he skillfully weaves disparate early Church Fathers commentaries into a single tapestry, with an aim that is above all pastoral and devotional, focused on the Christian’s moral and spiritual life.The work is also deeply theological, presenting the Orthodox understanding of St Paul’s words without diverging into polemics or giving way to passing academic fads. This first volume in a series of commentaries on the Pauline Epistles will be as valuable to devoted students of Holy Scripture as to the lay reader seeking to acquire the mind of the Church.

St Theophan the Recluse (1815–1894) was a profound Church scholar and a true ascetic. He graduated from the Kiev Theological Academy, went on to receive a Master of Divinity from the Novgorod Theological Seminary, and later taught moral and pastoral theology at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. During his time in the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, he studied iconography as well as Arabic, French, Greek, and Hebrew, and translated the Philokalia into Russian. He served the Church as a bishop in both Tambov and Vladimir. Seeking the life of a recluse, he requested early retirement from episcopal service in 1866, and devoted himself to writing and translating spiritual books. He is known for communicating the teaching of the early Christian Fathers in a clear and approachable manner. His works include The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to It, The Path to Salvation, and Letters on the Spiritual Life. His legacy is a spiritual benefit for all Christians.