RBL 03/2018

Siu Fung Wu

Suffering in Romans

Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2015. Pp. xx + 288. Paper.

$34.00. ISBN 9781498208734.

Michael E. Peach
Gateway Seminary

Siu Fung Wu has written a fine monograph, a slightly revised edition of his doctoral
dissertation, on a topic that up until now has seen little light in terms of publications: the
theme of suffering in Romans. Wu focuses on Rom 5–8, more specifically 5:1–11, 8:14–
17, and 8:18–39, which he contends is the main section where the theme of suffering in
Romans is located. Wu does a masterful job handling the exegesis of one of the most
difficult sections in Romans.

All in all, he argues that believers have been given a vocation to participate in the
sufferings of Christ. The purpose of these sufferings is to glorify God and to be glorified
in him. As believers identify with Christ and his sufferings they participate in the larger
project of God’s transforming of his people and his creation. In fact, as Wu maintains,
one cannot happen without the other. When believers share and are identified with
Christ’s suffering, they participate in God’s triumph over the evil cosmic powers.
Ultimately, there is a great ironic drama being played out. That is, through suffering the
believers in Rome become partakers in God’s cosmic victory over evil. In essence, the
believers “win by losing” (222).

Wu organizes his monograph into eight exegetically and theologically packed chapters.
Chapter 1, “Aim and Approach of Study,” lays out Wu’s plan of attack for the rest of the

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monograph. He avoid the approach in which the reader determines the author’s intention
for the piece and adopts, rather, an “audience-focused” approach. Wu defines his approach
as a method that centers on “how the audience [would] hear and understand what they
heard based on their context” (2). Using the audience-focused approach, Wu centers his
discussion on “how a first-century audience in Rome might have interacted with the
rhetorical strategy, the literary construct, and the use of Israel’s Scripture in the letter” (1).

In constructing this method, Wu lays out six reasons why he believes an audience-
focused approach is best: it is more sensitive to the nature of suffering; it focuses more on
how the audience would read the letter based on their circumstances and less on the main
themes that run through the letter as a whole; it limits the scope of the inquiry to only
Romans, rather than an investigation of the entire corpus of the Pauline literature; Paul’s
acute suffering would not cloud the suffering of his audience, so their situation would be
front and center; and it has been attested by other scholars in the field, such as Stanley
Stowers, John Paul Heil, Christopher Stanley, Peter Oakes, and others. The most
important question Wu wants to answer in the chapter (and the book as a whole) is,
“How might the audience, [that is, anyone who comes into contact with the letter in first-
century imperial Rome who experienced affliction] have heard the letter?” (11).

Chapter 2 surveys the socioeconomic and religio-political systems of first-century Rome,

illustrating the type of environment in which the believers in Rome suffered. Arguing for
a Christian body who mostly lived with substandard means, Wu suggests that the Roman
Christians would have experienced a wide range of afflictions and suffering at the hands
of the Romans. However, Wu wants to make the important point that the focus ought to
be on the power and influence that are pulling the strings behind the explicit afflictions
put on the believers at Rome. Behind the scenes were cosmic powers whose job it was to
keep the status quo at all costs. As Wu proposes, “suffering is an integral part of a web of
interlocked cosmic powers, socioeconomic and religion-political systems” (49). In
essence, suffering at its most basic level is cosmic in scope and nature.

Having established his modus operandi for the monograph and the audience’s situation,
Wu begins to move toward the heart of the argument of his work, which occurs over the
next few chapters. Chapter 3, “From Adamic Humanity to a New Humanity in Christ,”
covers Rom 5. Wu argues with great insight that through the Christ-event believers have
been liberated from the cosmic powers into a new humanity in Christ where they have
hope to be and are reconciled to Christ. Wu explains, “this message of hope and
reconciliation, in turn, provides an alternative narrative to Rome’s propaganda of the pax
Romana” (52).

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According to Wu, suffering is discipline for believers that sifts and sands their character,
but this reality also requires the God of comfort and love and the power of his Spirit to
overcome the situation. While suffering is cosmic in dimension (Rom 5:12–21), Christ
has overcome the dominion of death and sin, so, as Wu maintains, the ultimate cause of
suffering has been defeated. God through Christ and his Spirit is not simply bringing
hope to those who are suffering but, more importantly, transforming them into a new
humanity so that they, in turn, can display his glory through Christ and his Spirit.

Chapter 4, “The Work of Christ and the Eschatological Spirit,” which primarily covers
Rom 8:1–13, continues where Rom 5:1–21 left off. God has formed a new humanity that
has been reconciled to himself. This has been accomplished by Christ’s identifying with
humanity and suffering and dying for them. As Wu correctly argues, it is the Spirit who
plays an important role in defeating the principalities and powers, especially death and
sin. Furthermore, the Spirit empowers believers to live a life of transformation. In fact,
Wu proposes that the Spirit is actually God’s cosmic power who triumphs over “the
cosmic forces against him and [restores] the disorder of the cosmos to wholeness” (84).
Because the power of death and sin have been broken, humanity can “live a Spirit-
empowered life (which in turn) fulfill[s] the law” (87).

Chapter 5, “The Vocation to Participate in Christ’s Suffering,” centers around Wu’s

painstaking exegesis of Rom 8:14–17. Here Wu reiterates that “participating in Christ’s
suffering is the vocation of believers and the purpose of that vocation is that they may
participate in his glory” (98). Their new identity in Christ means that they are no longer
under the power of the cosmic forces. The fact that the Spirit indwells them is proof that
they are a part of this new transformed community in Christ. Because they have been
adopted and are joint heirs with Christ by the Spirit, they are assured that they will suffer
in Christ, which will lead to their glorification. As Wu states, “The believers’ life pattern
of right living, perseverance in afflictions and faithfully sharing in Christ’s suffering is an
exhibition of what it is like to be the true humanity that God desires” (123–24).

Chapters 6 (“Cosmic Renewal and the Purpose of Suffering”) and 7 (“Participating in the
Triumph of God”) go together and nicely sum up Wu’s argument; they are the heart of
the book. These two chapters lead readers on an exegetical adventure through the heart of
Rom 8. According to Wu, Rom 8:18–30 shows how “the vocation of believers to suffer
with Christ is an integral part of God’s purpose in bringing about the renewal of creation”
(130). The believers’ sufferings are a part of what it means to share and participate in
Christ’s suffering. These sufferings in the midst of the overlap of the ages do not thwart
the glory of God. Wu maintains that the freedom creation will experience is tied to and
dependent on the glorification of the people of God. Ultimately, as Wu argues, God’s plan

This review was published by RBL ã2018 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
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to call a people to participate in his process of transformation is actualized by their union
with Christ in his sufferings and death.

Transitioning to the final section of Rom 8, Wu proposes that 8:31–39 culminates the
argument Paul makes in 5:1–8:39. In fact, Rom 5–8 is about “God’s restorative plan for
humanity and the cosmos” (181). Wu highlights the insightful point that, at the end of the
day, suffering is the pathway to triumph for a believer. Wu also points out correctly that
Paul’s use of Ps 44 does not appear as a prooftext to the audience at Rome. Rather, it must
be read eschatologically. Overall the psalm provides resources to the audience to help
them understand why they are suffering.

Wu concludes with a short conclusion chapter and eight appendices that further discuss
topics in chapters 1–7. In the concluding chapter Wu, lays out his theology of suffering
into five points, highlighted around the main idea that the “story of Christ and that of his
followers involve a call to faithful suffering to fulfill God’s purpose” (225).

Overall, Wu has done those in the academy and even more so those experiencing
suffering a great service. He has filled a hole with a fine, well-written work on the theme
of suffering in Romans. Suffering in Romans can be overly repetitive at times, and Wu
could have incorporated more material from his appendices into the body of his
monograph. However, anyone looking to understand the theme of suffering and how
believers in the midst of that suffering glorify God in Christ through their identification
with Christ’s suffering need to begin their investigation into this theme with Wu’s
monograph.

This review was published by RBL ã2018 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.