This longest letter is undisputedly by Paulus of Tarsus. With the letter to the
Galatians,
this letter sharply defines his theological beliefs. The letter was probably written sometime circa
55 CE, while Paulus was still free to travel about. Within the framework of Acts, the letter was
most likely written after the meeting in Jerusalem (ch. 15) and Paulus' first meeting with
Timotheos (ch. 16), but before Paulus' trip to Makedonia (ch. 20). I place the writing near the
end of this span. Paulus was in the process of gathering up a gift of relief for the Christians in
Jerusalem (15:31), but the situation between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians was very
tense at best.
By this time, the process of "Judaizing" was in full swing. The Judaizers may have been
circulating documents (such as the letter of Jacob) to support their view that people are justified
by deeds and therefore must obey the Torah. Whereas earlier letters addressed part of the
problem, this one tackles the issue head on. Paulus explains in detail just how and why Jews and
Gentiles should view one another as equals. He also tries to put to rest the notion that adherence
to a code (i.e., the Torah) has any direct connection to salvation. Salvation is a gift of generosity
from God. The flow of the letter is as follows:
| Chs. 1-3: | Jews and Gentiles, with or without any code, are equal in God's eyes. |
| Chs. 4-5: | Justification by trust vs. Justification by a code of actions |
| Chs. 6-8: | Freedom in Jesus vs. slavery to a code |
| Chs. 9-11: | Explaining God's generosity to Gentiles |
| Ch. 12: | Unity of the body |
| Ch. 13: | More about appropriate conduct |
| Chs. 14-15: | Accepting one another's different ways and beliefs |
| Ch. 16: | Closing |
The only problematic portion of Romans, textually, is the final chapter. In the second century, Markion (c.140) truncated the letter, which caused confusion. Some scholars believe that the ending which now exist comes from combining the endings of two of Paul's letters. The portion usually called 16:25-27 exists in several places in the manuscripts. A portion called 16:24 was added to later manuscripts, apparently copied there from 2 Thess 3:18. That addition does not appear in this translation but does appear in some earlier translations.
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© 1998 Frank Daniels