Paul among the Philosophers: The Case of Sin in Romans 6–8

Against the prevailing view that Paul is (at most) marginally influenced by Greek intellectual traditions, this article argues that Romans 6…8 manifests certain Platonic traditions about the soul. Following a consideration of scholarship on Pauline anthropology and a critical definition of discourse, Paul's appropriation of Greek philosophy is recast as the adaptation of a Platonic discourse about extreme immorality or the death of the soul. This discourse explains the language about sin, death, flesh, passions and the body; the metaphors of enslavement, imprisonment and rule that predominate in these chapters; and the inciting role of law in Rom. 7.7-13.