Romans

            Once again, many similar topics span the various readings that we have done, and Romans is full of them. The philosophy contained in Plato’s work is one that I was reminded of often in Romans. While Plato was not referring to God for the most part, he did include some general morals and ideas that are also addressed in Romans. The idea of an overarching “ideal” is not exclusive to Plato. To Plato, there exists an unchanging, perfect state that everyone should strive for, and this is a basis for many morals included in his works. As Christians, this ideal is becoming as Christ-like as possible, striving to be righteous and serve God with our entire lives. In Romans 8, it says that sin was condemned so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us”. While this is not exactly the same as the point that Plato was making, it describes a righteous lifestyle that everyone should seek to fulfill. Much like Plato’s ideal, we are always to be looking up to Christ as an example for a life full of love and void of sin. Although Plato may not have been talking about God or trying to describe a righteous life, there is an ideal that we are held to as Christians, and it is explained in Romans.

            Unsurprisingly, similarities are easily drawn between Romans and Exodus as well. One thing that I was quickly reminded of is the question of free will. This was something that stuck out to me a lot in Exodus, and the topic returned in Romans as well. In Exodus, this was easily seen through Pharoah’s seemingly forced refusal of the truth by God. In Romans, there was a portion in chapter 9 that I was caught up on. It brings up that God chooses how he treats each person, regardless of human actions. In my mind, this sounds like all effort on our side to become more righteous is futile, and this sounds very wrong immediately. However, after some thought, this actually makes sense. As humans, we have no power over God’s actions and, without his help, we are not able to reach anything near Christ-likeness. Even this sounds bad, but the flipside is that we know that God is loving, just, and merciful. This section of Romans built on the questions that Exodus posed to me in regards to the choices that we have, and it further expands upon the topic of free will.

            In contrast to some of our previous readings, Romans sheds some light on how God views each of us. In some of the other works, such as Plato’s or Aristotle’s, a goal to become a superior human was often brought up. This idea, however, is in direct contrast with what Romans says. It repeatedly states that we are all equal in God’s eyes, and that none of us is able to live a perfect life. We are all loved by God and, unlike according to some of the other philosophies that we have read, there is no perfect human.