Introduction

Paul uses the noun ἁμαϱτία in the singular 45 times in Romans, and 41 of these references are concentrated in chapters 5–8. These chapters therefore hold the key to our understanding the symbolism of sin as a power. Traditionally, these chapters have often been read as a doctrinal exposition of the new life available to those who are saved by the gospel. Such an approach insulates one's understanding of the power of sin from the socio-historical situation in which these chapters were written. If Paul wrote Romans with a view to reconciling the strong and weak factions referred to in Romans 14–16, that raises the question as to how his emphasis on the power of sin at this point in the letter relates to his overall aim in addressing this particular social situation.

Using Douglas' matrix, it will be shown how the symbolism of the power of sin in Romans is grounded in the socio-cultural context of the letter. In keeping with the cosmology of the small bounded group, Paul sees sin as an external danger that threatens the boundaries protecting the good inside of the physical and social body. His letter reflects the characteristic high group/low grid concern with boundary definition, as he responds to the question of whether Gentile believers should have to keep the Jewish law by redrawing the boundaries around the community of the righteous along eschatological, rather than ethnic, lines.