The Book of Romans

While Romans is by far Paul’s most systematic letter, it was written to the Roman church in order to address specific concerns such as who founded the church in Rome. Douglas Woo states that although the book of Acts gives no indication of the founding of the church at Rome, Luke gives the impression that it may have been some of the three thousand who experienced the out pour of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.[1] 

Some would have us believe that Peter founded the Church at Rome at around 42 BC, but this has since been refuted. Irenaeus touted Peter and Paul side by side as the founders of the early Church, but Paul’s ministry came much later in Rome. Greg Magee says, “More likely, relatively obscure Christians made contributions to the church’s establishment, leading to a vital and growing community.”[2]

Also, what was the situation like in Rome during this time? During the time of Paul’s composing Romans, the scene was one of discord between the Roman leaders and Jewish Christians. Claudius was Emperor 41 – 54 CE and because of the Jews connection with Jesus, there were “disturbances that broke out” due to the claims of Christ being Messiah.[3] These disturbances were causing the expulsion of Jews. This in turn led to a great number of Gentile Christians assuming leadership roles otherwise held by Jewish Christians.

Then there is the question of who wrote Romans?  The epistle to the Romans was one of Paul’s many letters. D.J. Woo tells us that letters from Paul’s day would have customarily begun with an identification of its sender, its recipients and a greeting; Paul does this very thing to begin Romans. [4] Woo also reminds us that it is more accurate to note that Paul actually composed the letter and Tertius wrote it out for him as his scribe.[5]  

And finally, from where was it written? Calvin L. Porter tells us that “Romans was written in Corinth as Paul prepared for this final journey to Jerusalem.”[6] Porter goes on to say that Gaius was the person he stayed with and that because gave great credence to Phoebe, a deacon, she may have held the letter, giving evidence of Corinth as from where it was written. He does not mention why or for how long Phoebe may have had the letter.

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[1] Douglas J. Woo. The NIV Application Commentary: Romans (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 17.

[2] Greg Magee. The Origins of the Church at Rome. s.v. bible.org, http://bible.org/article/origins-church-rome (accessed October 26, 2012).

[3] Calvin L. Porter. 2004. Paul as Theologian: Romans. Encounter 65, no. 2:109-136, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/religion/docview/216766323/abstract?accountid=12085 (accessed October 26, 2012).

[4] Woo, 35.

[5] Woo, 16.

[6] Porter, Paul as Theologian: Romans.