Me, My Sin, and I

This article seeks to situate Paul’s Sin in Rom 7 within the context of Second Temple exegetical practices concerning sources of evil. Drawing on the work of Carol Newsom and Ishay Rosen-Zvi, the author argues that Paul’s discourse on Sin in Rom 7 marks an instance of self-alienation in which the “I” distances itself from Sin which is objectified as an evil power within the self. While Sin is certainly distinguishable from the self, the author here contends that Sin is not ontologically distinct from the self. Accordingly, Sin is not an external, cosmic power but, rather, envisioned as an internal, evil entity that is inherent to and arises from the self.