Session 6 – Romans; The Flow of Paul’s Logic: Mark Lanier, 05/11/25

Project Title: Romans Session 6: The Flow of Paul’s Logic

Duration: 58 minutes 7 seconds

Speaker: Mark Lanier

Summary

This is a teaching session on Paul’s Letter to the Romans, focusing on the logical flow of Paul’s argument. Mark Lanier, a lawyer and Bible teacher, uses his expertise in rhetoric and persuasion to analyze how Paul structures his theological argument.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction
   • Mother’s Day greeting and overview of Lanier’s lawyer seminar on communication and persuasion
2. Aristotle’s Three Pillars of Persuasion
   • Ethos (speaker credibility), Pathos (audience), and Logos (logical message). Lanier explains how these ancient principles apply to Paul’s writing
3. Paul’s Rhetorical Structure
   • Romans 1:16-17 serves as Paul’s thesis statement (partio), presenting the gospel as the power of God for salvation
4. God’s Principles of Judgment
   • Paul establishes that God judges righteously according to works, with no partiality between Jews and Gentiles
5. Gentiles Without the Law
   • Those without the Mosaic Law still have God’s moral law written on their hearts through conscience
6. Jews and Their Hypocrisy
   • Despite having the Law, Jews are condemned for not living according to it. Lanier uses Bruegel’s painting “The Blind Leading the Blind” as an illustration
7. Universal Condemnation
   • All people—both Jews and Gentiles—are under sin and fall short of God’s glory
8. The Pivot Point
   • Romans 3:21 introduces righteousness apart from the Law, pointing to salvation through Christ
9. Takeaways
   • No one is good enough to save themselves, but no one is so bad that God’s saving power through Christ cannot reach them

The post Session 6 – Romans; The Flow of Paul’s Logic: Mark Lanier, 05/11/25 appeared first on Biblical Literacy.