Doctrine Analysis

Romans — Full Doctrine Analysis Matrix

TRI Phase 1 · Step 4 — Doctrine-by-Chapter Coverage for twi (Baseline)

This document is the working doctrine matrix underlying assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json. It uses the same ten doctrines, same doctrine IDs, and same risk tiers as the registry (binding baseline — no divergence permitted). This file adds the full-book, chapter-by-chapter accounting required by the PRD Phase 1 mandate: every chapter of Romans (1–16) is explicitly reviewed, whether it introduces new doctrinal weight, reinforces an already-registered doctrine, or contributes no new translation-risk material.

Review routing follows the fixed rule set:

Critical / High → Human theologian
Medium → Native speaker
Low → Automated

Part A — Doctrine Matrix (canonical, matches doctrine_risk_registry.json)

D01 — Justification by Faith

Supporting passages: Rom. 1:17; 3:21–26; 3:28; 4:1–8; 4:22–25; 5:1; 5:18–19; 9:30–10:4
Risk level: Critical
Translation risk description: δικαιόω → bu bem; δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ → Onyankopɔn trenee. The Akan customary-court acquittal idiom underlying “bu bem” naturally suggests a judge declaring someone already innocent, not a judge crediting the guilty with another’s righteousness (imputation). Left unqualified, this risks collapsing justification into “God finds the sincere person righteous” — a moralistic reading that erodes sola fide. Compounded by “trenee” defaulting in ordinary usage to God’s own moral uprightness rather than a granted righteous status.
Review routing: Human theologian

D02 — Original Sin and Universal Guilt

Supporting passages: Rom. 1:18–32; 3:9–20; 3:23; 5:12–19; 7:14–25
Risk level: Critical
Translation risk description: ἁμαρτία → Bɔne, which in Akan traditional thought denotes a discrete act or taboo-breach ordinarily resolved by confession, restitution, or ritual cleansing. There is no indigenous doctrine of a single ancestral fall corrupting all humanity’s nature, so Rom. 5:12–19’s federal-headship argument is culturally unprecedented and at high risk of being flattened into “everyone commits their own individual sins” rather than “all are born guilty and corrupted in Adam.”
Review routing: Human theologian

D03 — Grace and Salvation by Faith Alone

Supporting passages: Rom. 1:16–17; 3:24; 3:27–28; 4:4–5; 4:16; 5:1–2; 5:15–21; 11:5–6
Risk level: Critical
Translation risk description: Adom (grace) is well embedded in Twi Christian speech but remains ordinary secular vocabulary for favor/kindness, risking a “reward for likeable/deserving people” reading. Compounded by ἱλαστήριον → mpata, the exact term for human-to-deity appeasement offerings in Akan traditional religion — inverting the gospel’s direction (God himself initiates and provides the mpata) unless corrected every use.
Review routing: Human theologian

D04 — Union with Christ

Supporting passages: Rom. 6:1–11; 6:22; 7:4; 8:1; 8:9–11; 12:5
Risk level: High
Translation risk description: σῶμα Χριστοῦ → Kristo nipadua resonates with Akan corporate/lineage (abusua) identity — a genuine asset — but risks being read through an ethnically bounded kinship lens rather than the trans-ethnic, faith-based incorporation of Ch. 9–11. Baptism language (bɔ asu), shared across denominational practice, does not by itself convey union with Christ’s death/resurrection (6:3–5) without explicit teaching, risking a merely ritual-washing reading akin to traditional purification rites.
Review routing: Human theologian

D05 — The Law and Its Purpose

Supporting passages: Rom. 2:12–29; 3:19–20; 3:31; 4:13–15; 5:13; 5:20; 7:1–25; 8:3–4; 10:4–5; 13:8–10
Risk level: High
Translation risk description: νόμος is rendered uniformly as Mmara across at least three distinct senses — Mosaic code, moral law on the heart (2:14–15), and “law” as governing principle (3:27; 7:23). Twi has no lexical mechanism to distinguish these the way Greek context or English capitalization can, so each occurrence requires deliberate contextual disambiguation or the doctrine’s several roles collapse into one undifferentiated “Mmara.”
Review routing: Human theologian

D06 — Election and the Sovereignty of God

Supporting passages: Rom. 8:28–30; 8:33; 9:6–24; 11:2; 11:5–7; 11:28–29
Risk level: Critical
Translation risk description: Akan cosmology holds a fixed pre-birth personal life-destiny (nkrabea) that functions fatalistically, apart from moral responsibility. Although “paw” (choose) / “nhyehyɛe” (plan) are used to deliberately avoid “nkrabea,” the underlying cultural category of unalterable pre-assigned fate is pervasive enough that hearers are highly likely to import it onto Paul’s election language — either collapsing election into impersonal fatalism (contradicting 10:9–13) or rejecting the doctrine outright as indistinguishable from a belief Christians are taught to reject.
Review routing: Human theologian

D07 — Sanctification and Life in the Spirit

Supporting passages: Rom. 6:1–14; 6:19–22; 8:1–17; 8:26–27; 12:1–2
Risk level: High
Translation risk description: πνεῦμα → Honhom (Kronkron), deliberately avoiding sunsum to prevent conflation with Akan personality-spirit/possessory spiritual forces, but “Honhom” alone is thinner and risks sounding impersonal if the mandatory “Kronkron” qualifier is dropped in casual teaching. ἁγιασμός → kronkronyɛ also risks assimilation to traditional ritual-purity categories (guare, taboo observance) rather than Spirit-wrought, progressive moral transformation flowing from union with Christ.
Review routing: Human theologian

D08 — The Future of Israel

Supporting passages: Rom. 9:1–5; 9:27–29; 10:1; 10:19–21; 11:1–2; 11:11–32
Risk level: High
Translation risk description: “Israel” is transliterated and lexically low-risk, but the doctrine’s hermeneutical stakes are high: Ghanaian teaching traditions vary widely on whether ethnic/national Israel retains a future distinct from the Church, and an uncritical rendering could silently equate “Israel” with “the Church” or vice versa. The olive-tree grafting metaphor (11:17–24), rendered with the vivid and familiar “ka bata ho,” could be over-applied by teachers to implicitly settle this contested debate through translation choice rather than explicit exposition.
Review routing: Human theologian

D09 — The Gospel as the Power of God for Salvation

Supporting passages: Rom. 1:1; 1:9; 1:16–17; 15:19
Risk level: High
Translation risk description: δύναμις → tumi, the same word used for chiefly authority, political power, and — critically — the supernatural power attributed to abosom and asuman (charms/amulets). Without explicit teaching that the gospel’s power is uniquely saving and resurrection-grounded, hearers risk placing it in the same conceptual category as one more spiritual force competing alongside others, rather than the singular, sufficient power of God unto salvation.
Review routing: Human theologian

D10 — Christian Living and Unity in the Church

Supporting passages: Rom. 12:1–21; 13:8–10; 14:1–23; 15:1–7; 16:17–20
Risk level: High
Translation risk description: “Living sacrifice” (θυσία → afɔrebɔ) uses the exact vocabulary of literal cultic sacrifice to abosom/ancestors; without explicit teaching that this is a decisive ethical metaphor (whole-life devotion in grateful response to grace already secured), hearers may read 12:1 as literal ritual practice or appeasement Paul has already ruled out. Compounded by “kingdom of God” (βασιλεία θεοῦ → Onyankopɔn Ahenni), drawing on Akan chieftaincy (territorial, hereditary, ethnic) rather than the Spirit’s trans-ethnic, already/not-yet reign grounding unity in Ch. 14–15.
Review routing: Human theologian

Part B — Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Coverage (full-book mandate)

Every chapter of Romans is accounted for below. “Primary” marks a chapter’s chief doctrinal load; “Reinforces” marks continuation of a doctrine already anchored elsewhere; “No new risk material” is used only where a chapter’s translation-risk content is fully covered by prior chapters’ entries.

Ch.	Key passages in chapter	Doctrine(s) engaged	Role	Risk (per doctrine)
1	1:1–7 (gospel, apostleship); 1:16–17 (power, righteousness by faith); 1:18–32 (universal ungodliness, idolatry)	D09 (primary), D01 (primary, thesis statement), D02 (primary, opens the indictment)	Primary — anchors D01, D02, D09 for the whole letter; this is the core passage (1:1–17) plus its immediate extension into universal guilt (1:18–32)	D09 High, D01 Critical, D02 Critical
2	2:1–16 (impartial judgment, conscience, “doers of the Law”); 2:12–29 (Jew/Gentile, circumcision)	D02 (reinforces — universal accountability extended to the moralist and the Jew), D05 (primary — first extended treatment of νόμος’s varied senses)	Reinforces D02; Primary for D05	D02 Critical, D05 High
3	3:9–20 (none righteous); 3:21–26 (righteousness/propitiation revealed); 3:27–28 (justified by faith apart from works); 3:31 (law upheld)	D01 (primary — δικαιόω/δικαιοσύνη cluster concentrated here), D02 (primary — 3:9–20, 3:23 climax of universal guilt), D03 (primary — ἱλαστήριον/mpata introduced), D05 (reinforces)	Primary for D01, D02, D03; reinforces D05	D01 Critical, D02 Critical, D03 Critical, D05 High
4	4:1–8 (Abraham justified by faith, λογίζομαι); 4:13–15 (promise vs. law); 4:16 (grace); 4:22–25 (imputation and resurrection)	D01 (primary — imputation/λογίζομαι concentrated here), D03 (reinforces), D05 (reinforces — promise/law contrast)	Primary for D01; reinforces D03, D05	D01 Critical, D03 Critical, D05 High
5	5:1–2 (peace, grace); 5:12–19 (Adam/Christ, universal sin transmitted); 5:13, 5:20 (law’s role); 5:18–19 (justification consequence)	D02 (primary — the federal-headship argument itself), D01 (reinforces), D03 (reinforces), D05 (reinforces)	Primary for D02; reinforces D01, D03, D05	D02 Critical, D01 Critical, D03 Critical, D05 High
6	6:1–11 (union in death/resurrection, baptism); 6:19–22 (sanctification, slavery to righteousness)	D04 (primary — union with Christ imagery concentrated here), D07 (primary — sanctification introduced)	Primary for D04, D07	D04 High, D07 High
7	7:1–6 (freed from the law through union); 7:7–13 (law reveals sin); 7:14–25 (inner conflict, flesh vs. law of God)	D05 (primary — law’s role as sin-revealer, most extended treatment), D02 (reinforces — indwelling sin as ongoing condition, not discrete acts)	Primary for D05; reinforces D02	D05 High, D02 Critical
8	8:1–4 (law fulfilled, life in the Spirit); 8:9–17 (Spirit indwelling, adoption); 8:26–30 (Spirit’s help, foreknowledge/predestination); 8:33 (elect)	D07 (primary — Spirit-life fully developed), D04 (reinforces — “in Christ,” no condemnation), D06 (primary — predestination/election vocabulary introduced)	Primary for D06, D07; reinforces D04	D06 Critical, D07 High, D04 High
9	9:1–5 (Paul’s anguish for Israel); 9:6–24 (election, Jacob/Esau, potter and clay); 9:27–29 (remnant)	D06 (primary — sovereignty/election argument at its densest), D08 (primary — Israel’s status first raised)	Primary for D06, D08	D06 Critical, D08 High
10	10:1 (Paul’s desire for Israel’s salvation); 10:9–13 (confession/calling on the Lord); 10:19–21 (Israel’s rejection foretold); 9:30–10:4 (righteousness by faith vs. law-righteousness)	D01 (reinforces — culminates the 9:30–10:4 unit), D08 (primary — continues Israel argument), D09 (reinforces — proclamation/calling)	Reinforces D01, D09; Primary continuation of D08	D01 Critical, D08 High, D09 High
11	11:1–2 (remnant); 11:5–7 (grace/election); 11:11–32 (grafting, hardening, restoration, “all Israel”)	D08 (primary — the chapter’s central argument), D06 (primary — election vocabulary continues), D03 (reinforces — grace/works contrast at 11:5–6)	Primary for D06, D08; reinforces D03	D08 High, D06 Critical, D03 Critical
12	12:1–2 (living sacrifice, renewed mind); 12:3–8 (body of Christ, gifts); 12:9–21 (love in community)	D10 (primary — ethical section opens here), D04 (reinforces — body of Christ image at 12:5), D07 (reinforces — transformation/renewal)	Primary for D10; reinforces D04, D07	D10 High, D04 High, D07 High
13	13:1–7 (submission to governing authority); 13:8–10 (love fulfills the law)	D10 (reinforces — continues ethical instruction), D05 (reinforces — law summarized as love)	Reinforces D10, D05; no new doctrine introduced	D10 High, D05 High
14	14:1–12 (disputable matters, not judging); 14:13–23 (not causing a brother to stumble, kingdom of God)	D10 (primary — the weak/strong controversy is this doctrine’s central case study)	Primary continuation of D10	D10 High
15	15:1–7 (bearing with the weak, unity); 15:8–13 (Christ for Jew and Gentile); 15:19 (power of signs)	D10 (reinforces), D09 (reinforces — δύναμις at 15:19), D08 (reinforces — Jew/Gentile unity in view)	Reinforces D08, D09, D10; no new doctrine introduced	D10 High, D09 High, D08 High
16	16:1–16 (greetings, commendation of Phoebe and coworkers); 16:17–20 (warning against divisive teachers); 16:25–27 (closing doxology, mystery revealed)	D10 (reinforces — schisma/division warning is this doctrine’s closing instance)	Reinforces D10; no new doctrine introduced	D10 High

Part C — Explicit “No New Doctrinal Risk” Notes (full-book mandate compliance)

Per the full-book coverage rule, the following chapters are explicitly confirmed as reviewed even though they introduce no doctrine beyond what is already registered in Part A:

Chapter 13: Reviewed. Governing-authority instruction (13:1–7) engages no doctrine in this curriculum’s list beyond reinforcing D10 (Christian living) and D05 (law summarized as love, 13:8–10). No new risk tier or term introduced beyond Mmara (#37) and ɔdɔ/agapē (#82), both already Medium-risk in the glossary.
Chapter 16: Reviewed. Personal greetings and the closing warning against divisive teachers (16:17–20) reinforce D10 only (schisma/mpaepaemu, #94), already catalogued. The closing doxology reuses mystērion/ahintasɛm (#77, Medium) established in Ch. 11; no new doctrine or risk escalation results.
Chapter 15 (15:14–33, non-doctrinal travel/greeting material): Reviewed. Beyond the doctrinal content already logged (15:1–13, 15:19), Paul’s travel plans and personal requests contain no doctrinally load-bearing vocabulary requiring registry entries.

No chapter of Romans (1–16) is silently omitted; every chapter is represented in Part B with an explicit doctrine role, and any chapter contributing no new doctrinal risk is explicitly noted here rather than left unaddressed.