Chapter 19 Summary and Analysis

This chapter examines the role of Paul in shaping Christianity's attitude on freedom. Two questions arise from Paul's theology: "what are we saved from? The answer is clear and repeatedly given: we are saved from the spiritual slavery of sin. But to whom or what are we enslaved? ...The second point to note is that in Romans Paul speaks not of being enslaved in sin to some other force but of being 'enslaved to sin' and of being 'freed from sin,' in this way obviating the problem by making sin both condition and master." (p. 326) This leads to the other question - by what method are people saved and redeemed, and how does this function? People suffer because of their sins, and they are freed of suffering when they die and experience salvation. Sin is considered to be a form...