Commentators have long argued about whether to read Paul's personification of Sin in Romans literally or figuratively. Matthew Croasmun suggests both that the cosmic power Sin is nothing more than an emergent feature of a vast network of human transgression and that this power is nevertheless a real person.

Introduction Chapter 1. s/Sin: The Genealogy of a Person(ification) Chapter 2. Emergence Chapter 3. The Emergence of Persons Great and Small Chapter 4. An Emergent Account of Sin in Romans Chapter 5. Sin, Gender, and Empire Chapter 6. Conclusions

"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 sin--on 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

Selling point: Unique use of contemporary philosophy of science to solve an age-old problem in biblical scholarship Selling point: Controversial proposal that we ought to take seriously the idea not just that we sin (make mistakes) but that we are subject to Sin's rule Selling point: Novel suggestion that the idea of a suprahuman tyrant not anti-scientific but, in fact, takes contemporary scientific reflection seriously

Matthew Croasmun is Associate Research Scholar and Director of the Life Worth Living Program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and Lecturer of Divinity and Humanities at Yale University. He completed his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (New Testament) at Yale in 2014 and was a recipient of the 2015 Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise for his dissertation, "The Body of Sin: An Emergent Account of Sin as a Cosmic Power in Romans 5-8."

Selling point: Unique use of contemporary philosophy of science to solve an age-old problem in biblical scholarship Selling point: Controversial proposal that we ought to take seriously the idea not just that we sin (make mistakes) but that we are subject to Sin's rule Selling point: Novel suggestion that the idea of a suprahuman tyrant not anti-scientific but, in fact, takes contemporary scientific reflection seriously