Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, usually referred to simply
as Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical
scholars agree that it was written by the Apostle Paul to
explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. It is by far the longest of the Pauline epistles, and
is considered his "most important theological legacy"...
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Ro...
LITERATURE
This is the greatest, in every sense, of the apostolic
letters of Paul; in scale, in scope, and in its wonderful
combination of doctrinal, ethical and administrative wisdom
and power. In some respects the later Epistles, Ephesians
and Colossians, lead us to even higher and deeper arcana of
revelation, and they, like Romans, combine with the
exposition of truth a luminous doctrine of duty. But the
range of Roman is larger in both directions, and presents us
also with noble and far-reaching discussions of Christian
polity, instructions in spiritual utterance and the like, to
which those Epistles present no parallel, and which only the
Corinthian Epistles rival.
1. Its Genuineness:
No suspicion on the head of the genuineness of the Epistle
exists which needs serious consideration. Signs of the
influence of the Epistle can be traced, at least very
probably, in the New Testament itself; in 1 Peter, and, as
some think, in James. But in our opinion Jas was the earlier
writing, and Lightfoot has given strong grounds for the
belief that the paragraph on faith and justification (Jas 2)
has no reference to perversions of Pauline teaching, but
deals with rabbinism. Clement of Rome repeatedly quotes
Romans, and so do Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin. Marcion
includes it in his list of Pauline Epistles, and it is safe
to say in general Romans "has been recognized in the
Christian church as long as any collection of Paul's
Epistles has been extant" (A. Robertson, in HDB, under the
word). But above all other evidences it testifies to itself.
The fabrication of such a writing, with its close and
complex thought, its power and marked originality of
treatment, its noble morale, and its spiritual elevation and
ardor, is nothing short of a moral impossibility. A mighty
mind and equally great heart live in every page, and a soul
exquisitely sensitive and always intent upon truth and
holiness. Literary personation is an art which has come to
anything like maturity only in modern times, certainly not
before the Renaissance. In a fully developed form it is
hardly earlier than the 19th century. And even now who can
point to a consciously personated authorship going along
with high moral principle and purpose?...
Link: https://bible-history.com/isbe/R/ROMANS,...
1. The date of this epistle is fixed at the time of the
visit recorded in Acts 20:3 during the winter and spring
following the apostle's long residence at Ephesus A.D. 58.
On this visit he remained in Greece three months.
2. The place of writing was Corinth.
3. The occasion which prompted it,,and the
circumstances attending its writing, were as follows:--St.
Paul had long purposed visiting Rome, and still retained
this purpose, wishing also to extend his journey to Spain.
Etom. 1:9-13; 15:22-29. For the time, however, he was
prevented from carrying out his design, as he was bound for
Jerusalem with the alms of the Gentile Christians, and
meanwhile he addressed this letter to the Romans, to supply
the lack of his personal teaching. Phoebe, a deaconess of
the neighboring church of Cenchreae, was on the point of
starting for Rome, ch. Ro 16:1,2 and probably conveyed the
letter. The body of the epistle was written at the apostle's
dictation by Tertius, ch. Ro 16:22 but perhaps we may infer,
from the abruptness of the final doxology, that it was added
by the apostle himself.
4. The origin of the Roman church is involved in
obscurity. If it had been founded by St. Peter according to
a later tradition, the absence of any allusion to him both
in this epistle and in the letters written by St. Paul from
Rome would admit of no explanation. It is equally clear that
no other apostle was like founder. The statement in the
Clementines --that the first tidings of the gospel reached
Rome during the lifetime of our Lord is evidently a fiction
for the purposes of the romance. On the other hand, it is
clear that the foundation of this church dates very far
back. It may be that some of these Romans, "both Jews and
proselytes," present. On the day of Pentecost Ac 2:10
carried back the earliest tidings of the new doctrine; or
the gospel may have first reached the imperial city through
those who were scattered abroad to escape the persecution
which followed on the death of Stephen. Ac 8:4; 11:10 At
first we may suppose that the gospel had preached there in a
confused and imperfect form, scarcely more than a phase of
Judaism, as in the case of Apollos at Corinth, Ac 18:25 or
the disciples at Ephesus. Ac 19:1-3 As time advanced and
better-instructed teachers arrived the clouds would
gradually clear away, fill at length the presence of the
great apostle himself at Rome dispersed the mists of Judaism
which still hung about the Roman church.
5. A question next arises as to the composition of
the Roman church at the time when St. Paul wrote. It is more
probable that St. Paul addressed a mixed church of Jews and
Gentiles, the latter perhaps being the more numerous. These
Gentile converts, however, were not for the most part native
Romans. Strange as the: paradox appears, nothing is more
certain than that the church of Rome was at this time a
Greek and not a Latin church. All the literature of the
early Roman church was written in the Greek tongue.
6. The heterogeneous composition of this church
explains the general character of the Epistle to the Romans.
In an assemblage so various we should expect to find, not
the exclusive predominance of a single form of error, but
the coincidence of different and opposing forms. It was:
therefore the business of the Christian teacher to reconcile
the opposing difficulties and to hold out a meeting-point in
the gospel. This is exactly what St. Paul does in the
Epistle to the Romans.
7. In describing the purport of this epistle we may
start from St. Paul's own words, which, standing at the
beginning of the doctrinal portion, may be taken as giving a
summary of the contents. ch. Ro 1:16,17 Accordingly the
epistle has been described as comprising "the religious
philosophy of the world's history "The atonement of Christ
is the centre of religious history. The epistle, from its
general character, lends itself more readily to an analysis
than is often the case with St. Paul's epistles. While this
epistle contains the fullest and most systematic exposition
of the apostle's teaching, it is at the same time a very
striking expression of his character. Nowhere do his earnest
and affectionate nature and his tact and delicacy in
handling unwelcome topics appear more strongly than when he
is dealing with the rejection of his fellow country men the
Jews. Internal evidence is so strongly in favor of the
genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans that it has never
been seriously questioned.
Link: https://bible-history.com/smiths/R/Roman...
This epistle was probably written at Corinth. Phoebe (Rom.
16:1)
of Cenchrea conveyed it to Rome, and Gaius of
Corinth
entertained the apostle at the time of his writing
it (16:23; 1
Cor. 1:14), and Erastus was chamberlain of the city,
i.e., of
Corinth (2 Tim. 4:20).
The precise time at which it was written is not
mentioned in
the epistle, but it was obviously written when the
apostle was
about to "go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the
saints", i.e.,
at the close of his second visit to Greece, during
the winter
preceding his last visit to that city (Rom. 15:25;
comp. Acts
19:21; 20:2, 3, 16; 1 Cor. 16:1-4), early in A.D.
58.
It is highly probable that Christianity was planted
in Rome by
some of those who had been at Jerusalem on the day
of Pentecost
(Acts 2:10). At this time the Jews were very
numerous in Rome,
and their synagogues were probably resorted to by
Romans also,
who in this way became acquainted with the great
facts regarding
Jesus as these were reported among the Jews. Thus a
church
composed of both Jews and Gentiles was formed at
Rome. Many of
the brethren went out to meet Paul on his approach
to Rome.
There are evidences that Christians were then in
Rome in
considerable numbers, and had probably more than one
place of
meeting (Rom. 16:14, 15).
The object of the apostle in writing to this church
was to
explain to them the great doctrines of the gospel.
His epistle
was a "word in season." Himself deeply impressed
with a sense of
the value of the doctrines of salvation, he opens up
in a clear
and connected form the whole system of the gospel in
its
relation both to Jew and Gentile. This epistle is
peculiar in
this, that it is a systematic exposition of the
gospel of
universal application. The subject is here treated
argumentatively, and is a plea for Gentiles
addressed to Jews.
In the Epistle to the Galatians, the same subject is
discussed,
but there the apostle pleads his own authority,
because the
church in Galatia had been founded by him.
After the introduction (1:1-15), the apostle
presents in it
divers aspects and relations the doctrine of
justification by
faith (1:16-11:36) on the ground of the imputed
righteousness of
Christ. He shows that salvation is all of grace, and
only of
grace. This main section of his letter is followed
by various
practical exhortations (12:1-15:13), which are
followed by a
conclusion containing personal explanations and
salutations,
which contain the names of twenty-four Christians at
Rome, a
benediction, and a doxology (Rom. 15:14-ch. 16).
Link: https://bible-history.com/eastons/R/Roma...
AUTHENTICITY, GENUINENESS. Peter (2 Peter 3:15-16) quotes
Romans 2:4, calling it "Scripture." The epistles of Clement
(Cor. 35) and Polycarp (ad Philippians 6) quote respectively
Romans 1:29-32 and Romans 14:10-12. Irenaeus (iv. 27,
section 2) quotes it as Paul's (Romans 4:10-11). Melito's
"Hearing of Faith" is entitled from Romans 10 or Galatians
3:2-3. The Muratorian Canon, Syriac and Old Latin versions,
have it. Heretics admitted its canonicity; so the Ophites
(Hippol. Haer. 99; Romans 1:20-26); Basilides (238, Romans
8:19-22; Romans 5:13-14); Valentinus (195, Romans 8:11); the
Valentinians Heracleon and Ptolemaeus; Tatian (Orat. 4,
Romans 1:20), and Marcion's canon. The epistle of the
churches of Vienne and Lyons (Eusebius, H. E. v. 1; Romans
8:18); Athenagoras (13, Romans 12:1; Romans 12:37; Romans
1:24); Theophilus of Antioch (Autol. 79, Romans 2:6; Romans
2:126; Romans 13:7-8). Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of
Alexandria often quote it.
DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING. Paul wrote while at
Corinth, for he commends to the Romans Phoebe, deaconess of
Cenchreae, the port of Corinth (Romans 16:1-2). He was
lodging at Gaius' house (Romans 16:23), a chief member of
the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 1:14). Erastus,
"treasurer" ("chamberlain", KJV), belonged to Corinth (2
Timothy 4:20; Acts 19:22). The time was during his visit in
the winter and spring following his long stay at Ephesus
(Romans 20:3); for he was just about to carry the
contributions of Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem (Romans
15:25-27; compare Acts 20:22), just after his stay at
Corinth at this time (Acts 24:17; 1 Corinthians 16:4; 2
Corinthians 8:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:1, etc.). His design of
visiting Rome after Jerusalem (Romans 15:23-25) at this
particular time appears incidentally from Acts 19:21. Thus,
Paul wrote it in his third missionary journey, at the second
of the two visas to Corinth recorded in Acts. He remained
then three months in Greece.
He was on the point of sailing to Jerusalem when
obliged to alter his purpose; the sea therefore was by this
time navigable. It was not late in the spring, for, after
passing through Macedon and visiting the coast of Asia
Minor, he still expected to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost
(Acts 20:16). He must therefore have written the epistle to
the Romans early in spring, A.D. 58. Thus, it is logically
connected with the epistles to the Galatians and
Corinthians. He wrote 1 Corinthians before leaving Ephesus;
2 Corinthians on his way to Corinth; and Galatians at
Corinth, where also he wrote Romans. Hence, the resemblance
of these two epistles in style and substance. The epistle to
the Galatians and the two almost contemporaneous epistles to
the Corinthians are the most intense in feeling and varied
in expression of Paul's epistles...
Link: https://bible-history.com/faussets/R/Rom...
