The Emergence of Sin

A striking study, then, and well worth reading for an original and stimulating exposition of Romans. Those interested in the philosophical questions of emergentism will find it fascinating and provocative and themselves, on closing the book, with many more questions that they wish to ask. * Euan Alexander Grant, The Emergence of Sin *
...highly theoretical... * Jeffrey S. Siker, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly *
In one of the most innovative and compelling books on Paul to be published in years, The Emergence of Sin: The Cosmic Tyrant in Romans, Croasmun zeroes in on one of Paul's most puzzling and alienating concepts: his portrayal of sin-or, perhaps better, "Sin"-as a kind of mythic god, a personal force or energy that nefariously thwarts divine purposes and enslaves unsuspecting humans. * Wesley Hill , associate professor of New Testament at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Marginalia Review of Books *
[A] fantastic new book The singular contribution of The Emergence of Sin is Croasmun's lengthy, accessible and paradigm-altering proposal that sin by the individual, Sin as a cosmological presence and Sin as a systemic can be explained best by emergence theory."-Scot McKnight, Patheos
The book is replete with his assiduous engagements with several important figures in modern emergentism, including Philip Clayton and Andy Clark. The natural corollary to this is that Christian theological discourse (in this case what he calls 'an emergent hamartiology') can be a potentially fruitful interlocutor for many non-theological disciplines I have benefited much from Croasmun's work, and suspect that many others will find this book helpful as well."-Sang-il Kim, Reading Religion
'Sin emerges' * both scripture and experience attest to it. Yet no scholar has yet worked out an emergent hamartiology in so rigorous and convincing a fashion. Croasmun brilliantly summarizes recent theories of emergent selves and systems, drawing on science, anthropology, and political theory. Drawing then on a close reading of Paul on sin and justification, he offers a compelling account of the effects of sinon individuals, relations, and social structures.Philip Clayton, author of Mind and Emergence *
Written with verve, clarity, and erudition, this book is a breath of fresh air for the guild of Pauline studies. Arguing that a fresh engagement with Paul's language about sin requires an interdisciplinary approach, Croasmun points the way to urgently needed new ways of reading Paul's letters in a twenty-first century context. Required reading for serious interpreters of Paul. * Susan Eastman, Associate Research Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School *