Biblical Theme Map
Biblical Theme Map
Romans develops a small number of major themes across its sixteen chapters. Mapping where each theme appears helps keep terminology consistent across a curriculum that will be taught and translated lesson by lesson rather than as one continuous document.
Theme progression
- Universal need (1:18–3:20) — every person, Jew and Gentile alike, stands guilty before God. Key terms: sin (ପାପ), universal accountability — with the genuine, partial convergence around Puri’s Ananda Bazaar caste-crossing mahaprasad tradition worth naming explicitly before drawing out how much further Romans’ universality goes.
- Justification by faith (3:21–4:25) — righteousness credited through faith, grounded in Abraham. Key terms: righteousness (ଧାର୍ମିକତା), justification (ଧାର୍ମିକ ବୋଲି ଗଣା ଯିବା), grace (କୃପା), faith (ବିଶ୍ୱାସ).
- New life in Christ (5:1–8:39) — peace with God, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, adoption, assurance. Key terms: peace (ଶାନ୍ତି), sanctification (ପବିତ୍ରୀକରଣ), adoption (ପୋଷ୍ୟ ପୁତ୍ରତ୍ୱ), Abba (ଆବ୍ବା) — with the ଠାକୁର naming-collision warning especially load-bearing for the Lordship material in this block.
- Israel and the nations (9:1–11:36) — God’s faithfulness to his promises, the place of Israel and the Gentiles. Key terms: election (ପରମେଶ୍ୱରଙ୍କ ମନୋନୟନ), covenant (ନିୟମ), unity of Jew and Gentile.
- Transformed living (12:1–15:13) — practical outworking of the gospel in the church and society. Key terms: church (ମଣ୍ଡଳୀ), spiritual gifts (ଆତ୍ମିକ ଦାନ), kingdom of God (ପରମେଶ୍ୱରଙ୍କ ରାଜ୍ୟ) — with Rath Yatra procession imagery flagged for careful, deliberate handling rather than casual illustrative use.
- Closing and mission (15:14–16:27) — Paul’s mission to the nations and personal greetings. Key terms: mission (ମିଶନ / ସୁସମାଚାର ପ୍ରଚାର), fellowship (ସହଭାଗିତା).
Use in this curriculum
Each lesson in the Romans curriculum should be tagged with which theme-block it falls under, so terminology introduced in an earlier block (e.g. “justification” in block 2) is reinforced rather than re-explained from scratch when it recurs in a later block (e.g. block 3’s “assurance of salvation”).