# Introduction to Romans > [!abstract] Sources in this note > 1. **N. T. Wright & Michael F. Bird, *The New Testament in Its World* (Zondervan, 2019)**: ch. 22 "Romans", plus the Romans paragraphs in the chapter on Paul's life. Cited as **NTIIW**. > 2. **N. T. Wright, *The New Testament for Everyone*, 3rd ed. (2023)**: his introduction to Romans, pp. 282–83. Cited as **NTE Intro**. Quoted in full below. > 3. **N. T. Wright, *Into the Heart of Romans* (2023)**, ch. 1. Cited as **IHR**. Full notes in [[Wright on Romans]]. > 4. **N. T. Wright, *Paul: A Biography* (2018)**: ch. 12 "Corinth II" (the Romans section), plus passages from chs. 14–15 on Paul's arrival in Rome and his death. Cited as **Bio**. Summarized under "Appended sources" below, and chapter by chapter in [[Wright on Romans]]. > 5. **N. T. Wright, *Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 2 (chs. 9–16)* (2004)**: the passages bearing on setting, purpose and structure. Cited as **PfE**. The full passage-by-passage notes are in [[Wright on Romans]]. > 6. **N. T. Wright, *Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 1 (chs. 1–8)* (2004)**: setting, purpose and structure material. Also cited as **PfE**. Passage-by-passage notes are in [[Wright on Romans]]. > 7. *(Sources to be appended: three more of Paul's books. See "Appended sources" at the end.)* --- ## 1. What kind of letter is Romans? - **"Paul's masterpiece."** Romans is "by common consent not only Paul's masterpiece but one of the most astonishing pieces of writing on any subject from any time or culture… dense, fast-paced, combative and lyrical by turns." It "ranks with anything Plato or Aristotle ever wrote – except that it is much shorter, covers more ground, and draws together the traditions of Israel while taking on the traditions of Greece. And also Rome!" (NTE Intro) - **A counter-imperial gospel.** Writing "to a small, disjointed group in Caesar's capital," Paul presents "Jesus as the true 'son of God,' the world's rightful Lord, summoning all people to believing allegiance because the 'good news' of his reign brings 'salvation,' 'justice' and 'peace.'" *"In every element of that sequence Paul is claiming that in Jesus you can see the truth of which Caesar and his rhetoric were a mere parody."* (NTE Intro) - **What it is about.** "It is about God and the world; about what it means… to be truly human; about the complex and contested place of Israel… about how to bring together and hold together a whole new way of being human" – because "it is about Jesus, Israel's Messiah and the world's true lord; about the holy spirit, at work to bring all creation to new birth." (NTIIW ch. 22) - **Not a systematic theology.** Romans offers "vast resources" for one, but it is "more of an **apostolic testament**": in explaining the gospel, Paul leaves "almost a formal record of how he had come to understand his own vocation." It is "theology in the service of mission." Against the "theological treatise" reading: (1) it says little about the spirit, the church or the second coming as topics; (2) like all Paul's letters it is **situational**. The opening, the ending, and chs. 14–15 are aimed at Rome in particular. - **Its influence.** "No other book of the Bible has so shaped and renewed the church": Augustine, Luther, Wesley, Barth. Fitzmyer: "one can almost write the history of Christian theology by surveying the ways in which Romans has been interpreted." - **A letter about God.** *Theos* appears "significantly more often in this letter than in any other" (NTIIW; also IHR). - **The long arc of the letter** (NTIIW): "the just shall live by faith" (1.17) → "justified by faith, we have peace with God" (5.1) → nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God" (8.39) → "no distinction between Jew and Greek… the same Lord is Lord of all" (10.12) → *"Welcome one another, therefore, as the Messiah has welcomed you"* (15.7). - **If Romans were a banner at the front of the church:** *"God demonstrates his own love for us: the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners"* (5.8). - **A "syllabus of topics"** (NTIIW): God's righteousness, God's love for sinners, super-abounding grace, the hope of glory, adoption to sonship, the indwelling spirit, victory through suffering, a foreign people made God's people, love over law, Torah affirmed and Israel saved, and the Messiah fulfilling the promises to the patriarchs by calling gentiles into Abraham's family. --- ## 2. The Roman setting ### Jews in Rome - There were Jews in Rome by at least the **mid-second century BC**, when the Maccabees allied with Rome. - More arrived after **Pompey's conquest of Palestine (63 BC)**. Thousands were brought as slaves, and many were later freed and became citizens. - Archaeology shows **several synagogues** and many funeral inscriptions, "a vibrant Jewish community." - **Julius Caesar and Augustus** granted Jews special rights: exemption from Roman religion and from military service, and respect for their customs. Relations worsened under **Tiberius and Caligula**. (Caligula nearly had a statue of himself set up in the Jerusalem Temple; IHR.) - **Claudius** expelled many Jews (AD 49; NTE Intro says "in the late 40s") over disputes involving "Chrestus", probably a Latin slip for *Christos* (Suetonius, *Claudius* 25.2; Acts 18.2). After Claudius died in **AD 54**, **Nero** cancelled the edicts and many Jews, including Jewish Christians, returned. ### Origins of the Roman church - It probably began with **Roman Jews who heard about Jesus while visiting Jerusalem for the feasts** (compare Acts 2.10–11), and with travelling tradespeople like **Priscilla and Aquila**. - Peter's role in founding it, "though strongly affirmed in later legends, is impossible to assess with any accuracy." - Paul **did not found** the Roman churches. They "emerged independently of him, probably through Jewish-Christian migrants in the 30s and 40s" (NTIIW, Paul's-life chapter). - It was "several house-churches with significantly different viewpoints," some of which "might well be suspicious of him." Chapter 16's long list of greetings may be Paul greeting **all the different house-churches**. - *Size:* Wright estimates "perhaps a couple of hundred Jesus-followers" in a city of around a million (IHR). PfE is lower: "probably no more than a hundred or so," counting **five house-churches** in Romans 16 at "a maximum of twenty for each group… It may well have been fewer." They met in tenement attics and back rooms, and were already known as "trouble-makers" (IHR). ### When, where and how it was written - It was written from **Corinth / Cenchreae** (Corinth's eastern port) during Paul's **three months in Greece** (Acts 20.2–3). - *Date:* **c. AD 56/7** (NTIIW ch. 22); **"probably in the spring or summer of 57"** (Bio). **⚠ The same book's chapter on Paul's life says "around AD 55/6".** Either way it is the mid-50s, early in Nero's reign. - Paul **dictated** it to **Tertius** (16.22). **Phoebe** carried it: a deacon of the church at Cenchreae and Paul's benefactor (16.1–2). She was sent "to spearhead his charm-offensive." Katherine Grieb suggests she "probably… expounded its theology on behalf of Paul." - Paul was at "a point of transition." His eastern work was done, "from Jerusalem to Illyricum." Next he meant to go **to Jerusalem with the Collection**, then **to Rome**, then **on to Spain**. (He did reach Rome, but "as a prisoner awaiting trial, rather than as a missionary.") - **Why Spain?** Paul wanted new ground where no one else had laid the foundation, and Spain was "one of the main outposts of Caesar's empire." Rome would be his western base, as Antioch had been in the east. - **The coming storm (IHR):** "Within ten years… Nero was making them scapegoats for the great fire of AD 64." Wright reads Romans 8 as "almost like a prophetic warning, coupled with the assurance." ### Rome's imperial story (IHR) - Augustus was "son of the deified Julius." Emperors were **adopted heirs** who inherited the empire. - *Euangelion* ("good news") was a word used for Caesar's victories. - Virgil (*Eclogue* 4, *Aeneid* 6), the *Ara Pacis* (Altar of Peace) and Nero's court poets announced a **returned golden age** of peace and plenty. - Paul answers with a gospel about the true son of God, true *kyrios* (Lord), true justice, salvation and peace: "*euangelion* is an Isaiah-word that confronts a Caesar-word." - A possible wordplay: Rome's reputed **secret name was *Roma* backwards, *Amor* ("love")**, and the first half of the letter climaxes in the unbreakable love of God (8.35–39). --- ## 3. Why Paul wrote: the "Romans debate" **Traditional view: a summary of doctrine.** The Muratorian canon described Romans as written "concerning the plan of the Scriptures, showing that their foundation is Christ." Luther saw it as a summary of the gospel, and Melanchthon as a "compendium of Christian doctrine." Others call it Paul's testament, or a "dress rehearsal" for defending himself in Jerusalem. Dunn says Paul used "the calm of Corinth" to set out his gospel in full. NTIIW: there is "a grain of truth in all this," but Romans is **not a treatise** (see §1). **Two situational options** (NTIIW): 1. **Paul's own situation: support for the Spain mission** (15.24–28). Luke Timothy Johnson calls it essentially "a fundraising letter." But this can't account for the whole letter, especially the second half. 2. **Problems in Rome: the Claudius reconstruction.** With Jewish Christians expelled in AD 49, the house-churches became almost entirely gentile. Some gentile believers, like much of Rome, were prejudiced against Jews, and may have concluded "this new Jesus-movement was now for gentiles only," anticipating Marcion. When the Jews returned after AD 54, they may have found the gentiles running things and following policies on food and days that excluded them. On this reading Romans reconciles the **"strong"** (gentiles) and the **"weak"** (Jewish Christians). **Cautions** (NTIIW): - Paul **never mentions** the expulsion. It may have been too obvious to mention, or less important, or Paul may have been deliberately avoiding naming it "lest it stir up existing prejudice." - Don't simply equate "strong" with gentiles and "weak" with Jews. Paul was a Jew who counted himself "strong" (14.14; 15.1). Some gentiles, former God-fearers or proselytes, may have loved the Torah they had kept. **NTIIW's conclusion: several converging purposes.** The church was probably mostly gentile (1.13; 11.13), but Paul includes Jewish Christians ("those who know the law", 7.1). He is heading first to Jerusalem, then to Spain. 1. **To win the Roman church to his account of the gospel.** It is rooted in Israel yet centred on the crucified and risen Messiah. Those "in the Messiah" are "not under the law", but this is not "a proto-Marcionite rejection of Israel… and the God-givenness of Torah." Since he can't come yet, he gives them "the blessing of his gospel instruction" (1.9–13). 2. **"Preventive pastoral care"** against: - anti-Pauline teachers arriving (16.17–18) - fragmentation over Torah-observance - the perils of pagan society (chs. 12–13) - gentile Christians copying "the vehement anti-Judaism of Roman cultural elites" (chs. 9–11) - misunderstanding how the Jewish and gentile missions interlock (1.16; 10.14–21; 11.13–33; 15.8–9, 27) - the certainty of suffering (8.18–39; 16.20) > *"Romans is a gospel-based exposition and exhortation; a masterpiece of missionary theology, christological exegesis, pastoral care, and artful rhetoric… all woven together into a powerful symphonic form, whose fast pace cannot hide its theological depth and power."* (NTIIW) The NTE introduction makes the same point: the letter is "from one point of view… a general letter setting out Paul's mature view of 'the gospel'," and "from another point of view… sharply focused on the need for Gentile Christians to understand the strange dynamic of God's dealings with Israel, and on the need for unity." The house-churches probably differed "on such matters as food laws, keeping of holy days, and the like." **What Paul was *not* doing** (NTIIW): he was not "an itinerant philosopher out to make a quick profit," not selling "Judaism-lite" to gentiles, and not adding a god to Rome's pantheon. His vocation was "a very Jewish vocation": to announce that Israel's God had fulfilled his promises, "overcoming the dark powers of evil," so that gentiles could come into "the obedience of faith" (1.5; 16.26), and "the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy" (15.9). --- ## 4. The four-part structure ### The four movements > *"The four 'movements' of this letter (chapters 1–4, 5–8, 9–11 and 12–16) form a symphonic whole."* (NTE Intro) Romans "quite unlike any of Paul's other letters, falls into four clear sections." Wright uses musical images in both books: a **symphony in four movements** (IHR), and **Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto**, where the first two movements run into each other (NTIIW). ### Wright's own summary of the four movements (NTE Intro, pp. 282–83) This is the shortest statement of the structure, in Wright's words: > The four "movements" of this letter (chapters 1—4, 5—8, 9—11 and 12—16) form a symphonic whole. The overarching theme is the covenant faithfulness of the one God: Paul draws on the Old Testament to stress that the one God has been faithful to his promises to, and through, Abraham, by creating from the wreck of idolatrous and sinful humankind a single forgiven family marked out by the same "faith" or "faithfulness" that Jesus embodied in going to his saving death. This is set out briefly in the first section (1—4), providing a platform from which Paul can survey the entire narrative of creation and humankind, from the failed vocation of the first human to the glorious promise of resurrected humankind in a newborn created order (8.18–30). > > This, however, only heightens the tension left unresolved in chapters 1—4: what has God been doing with Israel? Chapters 9—11 answer the question in terms of the Messiah himself and his inauguration of the covenant renewal promised in Deuteronomy. Those who believe in his resurrection and confess him as Lord are the new covenant people. God will save "all Israel," but only "if they do not remain in unbelief" (11.23). His main message in chapter 11 is a sharp warning to Gentile Christians not to suppose that God has finished with his ancient people. > > This then opens the way for the appeal of chapters 12—16, which is general in chapters 12 and 13 and specific in 14.1—15.13. Underlying it all is the true worship, which means being transformed by the renewal of the mind and the offering of one's whole self to God (12.1–2). This leads to a bracing and outward-facing ethic, and particularly to patterns of reconciliation, and ultimately shared worship, among Jesus-followers of all backgrounds. Paul's travel plans round off chapter 15, and chapter 16 provides a long list of greetings to Paul's many friends, and some relatives, in the different Roman house-churches. **In brief:** | Movement | Wright's gist (NTE Intro) | |---|---| | **1–4** | The one God has kept his promises to and through Abraham, creating one forgiven family marked out by the faith/faithfulness Jesus embodied. This is the "platform". | | **5–8** | *(Not named explicitly; implied by "platform…" and the 8.18–30 reference.)* From that platform, the whole story from "the failed vocation of the first human" to "resurrected humankind in a newborn created order" (8.18–30). | | **9–11** | The unresolved tension: "what has God been doing with Israel?" The answer is the Messiah and the Deuteronomic covenant renewal, with a warning to gentile Christians. | | **12–16** | The appeal. It is general in 12–13 and specific in 14.1–15.13, grounded in true worship (12.1–2), leading to reconciliation and shared worship. Then come travel plans and greetings. | *Note the section boundary:* NTE Intro ends the specific appeal at **15.13**, while the NTIIW outline ends "Growing towards unity" at **15.12** and starts the closing section at 15.13. ### Detailed outline (NTIIW) **1. Unveiling God's righteousness (1–4)** - a. Introductions, greetings, and defence of Paul's travel plans (1.1–15) - b. **Thesis statement (1.16–17)** - c. Gentiles and Jews condemned, God's purposes remaining (1.18–3.20) - d. Covenant fulfilled through faith for faith (3.21–4.25) **2. From new covenant to new creation (5–8)** - a. Assurance based on cross and spirit (5.1–11) - b. Launching the new humanity (5.12–21) - c. The new exodus: baptism and freedom (6.1–23) - d. The law and the spirit (7.1–8.11) - e. Spirit and new creation (8.12–30) - f. Nothing shall separate us from God's love (8.31–39) **3. God's faithfulness and Israel's unbelief (9–11)** - a. Paul's grief (9.1–5) - b. God's plan in Israel's history (9.6–29) - c. God's covenant-faithfulness in the gospel (9.30–10.21) - d. God's abiding faithfulness (11.1–36) **4. Faithfulness and fellowship in the wider world (12–16)** - a. The transformed mind and its effects (12.1–21) - b. Living between the times (13.1–14) - c. Growing towards unity (14.1–15.12) - d. Missionary plans and closing greetings (15.13–16.27) ### How the movements interlock - **The old popular scheme is "too shallow by half":** 1–4 as "justification," 5–8 as "sanctification," 9–11 as "a detached treatise on the Jews," and 12–16 as "practical conclusion." - **The seam between 1–4 and 5–8 is the one debated point.** 5.1–11, or all of ch. 5, both sums up 1–4 and introduces 5–8. - **God's righteousness (1–4), with the Abraham story, continues in 9–11, not in 5–8.** So 5–8 does three things at once: - it is "a triumphant conclusion to one strand of argument" in 1–4 - it heightens the problem of 9–11 (what about Israel?) - it provides "the tools by which that problem can be addressed" - **The first and last movements are linked:** *"'justification by faith' in chapters 3 and 4 must issue in 'fellowship by faith' as in chapters 14 and 15."* - **The end of ch. 4 raises two questions**, which the next two movements answer. How does the news that sinners are justified by grace through faith work out? (**5–8**) And what about Abraham's physical family, Israel, which has not believed in its own Messiah? (**9–11**) - **Romans 8 (IHR)** concludes both the second movement and the whole first half (1–8), and is "the platform for the second half." - **Each paragraph in 5–8 ends with a statement about Christ** ("through Jesus the Messiah" / "in Messiah Jesus"): 5.11, 5.21, 6.11, 6.23, 7.25a, 8.39. This is Paul underlining that everything rests on God's love in action in Jesus (both books). - **Christ-centred signposts across the whole letter (IHR):** - 1.3–5 (the gospel of God's son) - 9.5 (introducing 9–11) - 12.5 (introducing 12–16) - **15.12**, where Isaiah 11.10 ("the root of Jesse… who rises to rule the nations") "makes a full circle with 1.1–5" ### Movement by movement (NTIIW, with IHR where it adds) **1–4: Unveiling God's righteousness** - **Background.** "God's righteousness" was a burning question in Paul's Jewish world. *Why the exile? Because God was in the right and Israel sinned. Why will God still rescue? Because he is in the right* (Daniel 9; Deuteronomy 27–32; 4 Ezra after AD 70). - For Paul the problem of sin, central at the Reformation, "is framed within the even more important question: what is happening to the creator's plans for his creation, and how is his covenant with Israel… going to address that problem at last?" - **1.16–17 is the *propositio*, the thesis.** *Dikaiosynē theou* is **not** the righteous status God gives people. That follows from it, but the phrase means "God's own in-the-right-ness, his faithfulness to both covenant and creation." Every time the message about Jesus is announced, "the apocalypse happens again." "From faith to faith": God's faithfulness is answered by human faith (the same Greek word). Habakkuk 2.4 comes from a book about disaster falling on Israel. - **1.18–3.20.** The root problem is **failed worship, idolatry**, echoing Genesis 1–3. Moralists, pagan and Jewish, would agree, but Paul "turns the tables" on them: judgment is coming with the Messiah as judge (2.1–16). Israel was called to put the world right (2.17–20) but failed, and is in ongoing "exile" (Daniel 9). A new-covenant people with softened hearts (Deuteronomy 30; Jeremiah 4.4) would even redefine "Jew" (2.25–29). God will be faithful anyway (3.1–8), which leaves everyone in the dock (3.9–20). - **3.21–4.25.** - The Messiah is "the place where the faithfulness of God at last meets the answering faithfulness of the human race." - Jesus is the **"mercy seat"** (3.24–26), the lid of the ark and meeting place of God and people. This joins what later theology calls incarnation and atonement. Levitical blood was "never a sign of an animal being punished vicariously." It was a *cleansing agent* so God could dwell with his people. (Paul does teach vicarious punishment, but in 8.3–4, not here.) - **One God, one people** (3.29–30): Jews and gentiles are a single family marked only by Messiah-faith. - The law is "simultaneously set aside and fulfilled," a paradox that runs through the letter. - In ch. 4, Abraham's faith (Genesis 15) is the pattern. **5–8: From new covenant to new creation** - "Redemption" to Israel meant the exodus, and these chapters **retell the exodus**: - **ch. 6**: through the water of baptism (the Red Sea) - **ch. 7**: Torah given at Sinai, yet "serving only to increase the grip of sin" - **ch. 8**: God's people, like Israel in the desert, "led through trials and tribulations to their final 'inheritance', which turns out to be the entire renewed creation" - It is all "based on the unbreakable 'love' of God." - 5.1–11 names the **spirit** as the key factor, with "glory" meaning both the divine glory in the Temple and the human glory of Psalm 8. - 5.12–21: Abraham's call was designed "to reverse and undo the sin of Adam." Torah "accentuated and focused" the problem. - For the full detail see [[Wright on Romans]]. **9–11: God's faithfulness and Israel's unbelief** - **A chiasm** (NTIIW's diagram), drawing the eye to the centre at **10.5–13, focused on 10.9** ("Jesus is Lord… God raised him from the dead"): ``` 9.1–5 11.33–36 9.6–29 11.1–32 9.30–33 10.18–21 10.1–4 10.14–17 10.5–13 (focused on 10.9) ``` - **It is shaped like a psalm:** it opens with lament (9.1–5, echoing Moses in Exodus 32.32) and ends in praise (11.33–36), and retells Israel's story. - **Its theological purpose:** can God be trusted if he seems to have broken his word? - **Its practical purpose in Rome:** gentile Christians must not suppose God has abandoned the Jews. - **Not an excursus.** Treating 9–11 as a detour between chs. 8 and 12 "merely shows the shocking extent to which many generations of readers ignored what Paul had been saying in the first eight chapters." Nor is it abstract "predestination." - The whole section turns on Paul's prayer in 10.1 and its answer in 10.13. **10.4**: the Messiah is the *goal* of the law. Israel's story has passed through Deuteronomy 27–29 (curse and exile) to Deuteronomy 30 (renewal). - In ch. 11 the **remnant** can grow (11.1–24). "All Israel" (11.26) is "the 'Israel' of promise… radically expanded" to all believers. The olive tree image is here. **12–16: Faithfulness and fellowship in the wider world** - **12.1–21: true worship reverses the idolatry of 1.18–32.** The darkened mind (1.21) is healed by the **renewed mind** (12.2). This shows in humble use of gifts (12.3–8) and in refusing revenge (12.14–21). - **13.1–14: governing authorities have a God-given role**, which Jesus' universal lordship does not cancel (compare John 19.11). Paul wants to avoid another round of the civil disturbances that led to Claudius's expulsion. He may also be aware of the worsening situation in Judea. The day has dawned, so live accordingly (13.11–14). - **14.1–15.12: unity across differences over food, drink and holy days.** Paul deliberately doesn't name the groups as Jew and gentile. "Not pleasing oneself" is the messianic rule, and the goal is to "worship with one heart and voice" (15.6). **15.8–9 is "a short summary of Paul's whole argument."** It ends with quotations from **Torah, Prophets and Writings** (Deuteronomy 32.43; Isaiah 11.10; Psalms 18.49 and 117.1), returning to 1.3–5. - **15.13–16.27: plans for Jerusalem and Spain, and greetings.** 15.24 hints at money. There is a warning against divisive teachers (16.17–20). The closing doxology "threaten[s] to collapse grammatically under its own weight." - **Women named in Romans 16** (NTIIW sidebar): - Phoebe: deacon, benefactor - Priscilla: co-worker, church-planter - Mary - Junia: "missionary-apostle"; Chrysostom praised her as "worthy of the appellation of apostle" - Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis - the mother of Rufus --- ## 5. Big-picture themes (NTIIW) 1. **The letter is gospel-centred.** - *Euangelion* and *euangelizō* occur about a dozen times. - Summary of the gospel: 1.2–4. The gospel unveils God's righteousness in both judgment (2.16) and justification (3.21–26), and it is the content of mission (10.15; 15.16–20). - *"A superficial gospel will produce superficial discipleship."* Churches should be **"gospelized"** the way magnets are magnetized. 2. **Welcome one another** (15.7). - "No distinction" in sin (3.22) means "no distinction" in justification (10.12). - *"Justification by faith means fellowship by the same faith."* The real "Roman road" also teaches that forgiveness "was always intended to draw people of all sorts into a single family." - "Multi-ethnic churches should be the norm, not the exception." - "Unity and holiness both matter vitally. Either is comparatively easy without the other; the trick is to hold them together." Also quoted in NTIIW: Beverly Gaventa. Paul challenges us "to hear the gospel in its vastness… the gospel encompasses the cosmos, the whole of creation – all the way out and all the way down in human life." **IHR's framing corrections** (details in [[Wright on Romans]]): - The "Romans Road" is too small. - Israel's story is essential, not a failed first plan. - The hope is resurrection and new creation, not "going to heaven." "We are saved, not from the world but for the world." --- ## 6. Other resources to consult **For a Bible study leader** (my picks, drawing on NTIIW's further-reading list and works Wright cites): *Accessible, good for weekly prep* - **N. T. Wright, *Paul for Everyone: Romans*** (2 vols). Short sections with Wright's own translation, made for group study. - **Michael F. Bird, *Romans*** (Story of God Bible Commentary, 2016). Each passage runs "Listen to the story → Explain → Live," which suits a study group. - **Craig Keener, *Romans*** (New Covenant Commentary Series, 2009). Brief, with strong historical background. *Introductions and the "why did Paul write?" debate* - **Richard Longenecker, *Introducing Romans: Critical Issues in Paul's Most Famous Letter*** (2011). - **A. Andrew Das, *Solving the Romans Debate*** (2006), and **Karl Donfried (ed.), *The Romans Debate*** (1991). The classic collection of essays on purpose. *The Roman setting* - **Peter Oakes, *Reading Romans in Pompeii: Paul's Letter at Ground Level*** (2009). Imagines how a craftworker, a slave or an immigrant in a house-church would hear it. Excellent for bringing the setting alive in a group. - **Peter Lampe, *From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries***. The standard social history of the Roman house-churches. - **Blackwell, Goodrich & Maston (eds.), *Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism*** (2015). Pairs each section of Romans with a Jewish text. *Reading Romans as a whole story* - **Beverly Gaventa, *When in Romans*** (2016). Short and reflective. - **A. Katherine Grieb, *The Story of Romans: A Narrative Defense of God's Righteousness*** (2002). *Full commentaries for when you get stuck* - **N. T. Wright, "The Letter to the Romans," *New Interpreter's Bible* vol. 10** (2002). Wright's full commentary, and what IHR builds on. - **Douglas Moo, *The Epistle to the Romans*** (NICNT, 2nd ed. 2018). A careful "Reformation" reading, useful as a counterweight to Wright on justification and "righteousness of God." - **James D. G. Dunn, *Romans*** (Word, 2 vols) and **Thomas Schreiner, *Romans*** (BECNT). Dunn represents the "New Perspective"; Schreiner is Reformed. - **Robert Jewett, *Romans*** (Hermeneia). Massive, and strongest on the imperial and rhetorical context. *History of interpretation* - **Mark Reasoner, *Romans in Full Circle*** (2005). How Augustine, Luther and others read the key passages. *Going deeper with Wright* - ***Paul and the Faithfulness of God*** (2013). NTIIW cites its pp. 1156–258 for the 9–11 chiasm. - ***The Day the Revolution Began*** (2016), on the cross. - ***Surprised by Hope*** (2007), on resurrection versus "heaven." - Wright's online course on Romans 8 at ntwrightonline.org (mentioned in IHR's preface). > [!tip] A suggested pairing for the study > Wright's *Paul for Everyone* for the weekly text, with Moo or Schreiner beside it for the traditional Protestant reading. Wright's reading differs from it on "righteousness of God", Romans 7 and 8.28–30. Seeing both helps you anticipate questions from the group. --- ## 7. Open threads for synthesis - **The date:** NTIIW gives both AD 55/6 and AD 56/7. The biography says spring or summer of 57. **Two of three point to 57.** - **The size and makeup of the Roman church:** "a couple of hundred" (IHR) versus "no more than a hundred or so," in five named house-churches (PfE). NTIIW says "predominantly gentile." Wright's estimates vary across his books, so "one to two hundred" is a safe range to give the group. - **"Strong" and "weak":** ethnic groups, or mixed? - **Where the first two movements divide:** does 5.1–11 belong to 1–4 or to 5–8? - **"All Israel":** NTIIW reads 11.26 as the Israel of promise "radically expanded" to all believers. NTE Intro stresses the condition "if they do not remain in unbelief" (11.23). The two fit together, but it's worth deciding how to present this to the group. - **Section boundary:** does the appeal on unity end at 15.12 or 15.13? NTE Intro, PfE and the biography all put it at **15.13**, with **15.14–16.27** as the personal conclusion. Only the NTIIW outline differs. - **Peter and the founding of the church:** PfE Part 1 reports "early memories recorded in the second century" that Peter came to Rome after Acts 12 and was the first to announce the gospel there. The biography says "there is no first-century evidence for that," and NTIIW calls it "impossible to assess." **Safe to tell the group:** it is an ancient tradition, but unproven. - **Wright changed his mind on 8.28–30** between PfE (2004: "all things together for good *to* those who love him"; election as God's mysterious choice) and IHR (2023: "*with* those who love him"; vocation, not predestination to salvation). See [[Wright on Romans]]. - **"All Israel" (11.26):** PfE settles Wright's own view. It means "all the family of Abraham – and that includes believing Gentiles as well as believing Jews." "That is how" means *by this process*, not a later event. Present this carefully, since many commentators, including Moo and Schreiner, read it as a future mass turning of ethnic Israel. --- ## Appended sources ### Wright, *Paul: A Biography* (2018) **Where Paul was when he wrote** - Paul wrote after the turbulent Corinth and Ephesus years recorded in 2 Corinthians. Through them "something had been stirring in Paul's mind and heart." When doubts about his vocation came, he "played it through the mental loop of Isaiah 49," the Servant asking whether his labour had been in vain. - So as he "settled down to plan and then to dictate his great letter to Rome, he was not… thinking things through for the first time. Romans itself was new, but every idea it expounded had been tried, tested, and worked out in detail." **The reasons for writing** 1. **A western base for the Spain mission.** Paul's aim was not just "more 'souls' to 'save'" but "to plant the flag of the messianic gospel in key points where another 'gospel' was being flaunted." Spain was "the western edge of the world" and "a major center of Roman culture": home of Seneca, governed by Galba from **Tarragona**, which "boasted a large temple to Caesar." For this Paul needed a base, for money and practical help and for *koinōnia* (partnership) in prayer. That required "deep mutual understanding." Some in Rome might distrust him "either because he was too Jewish or because he treated elements of Jewish practice too loosely." 2. **"A more pressing need": the danger of a gentile-only church.** - Claudius banished the Jews "after riots in their community," probably in the late 40s. (Not all would have left, but the community "would have been decimated." Priscilla and Aquila went to Corinth, arriving probably in 49.) Nero revoked the edict in 54, and Jews were "if not exactly welcome, at least permitted back." - **Anti-Jewish sentiment in Rome:** there were ethnic prejudice and theological suspicion that Jews didn't worship the gods, "so if bad things happened, people knew who to blame." Compare Philippi, the theatre at Ephesus, and Gallio's Corinth. Wright uses "anti-Jewish" rather than "anti-Semitic," since the latter implies a racial theory unknown until the nineteenth century. - **The danger:** a new generation of Roman believers, grown up "in the absence of Jews between 49 and 54," might be "proud of the fact that this new cult, though 'accidentally' having begun in the Jewish world, had now become a completely Gentile phenomenon." Then "Messiah" "would just become a proper name." The movement would become "a kind of private spirituality… a private religion that would no longer pose much of a threat to the principalities and powers." - **This actually happened a century later.** **Marcion** of Sinope came to Rome teaching that the God of Jesus was a different God from the God of the Jews, with a truncated New Testament. Then **Gnosticism** followed, "a religion of inner self-discovery rather than of rescue, of private devotion rather than public witness." Marcion claimed Paul as his hero, but "Paul himself, and especially Romans, stands firmly in the way of his entire scheme." - Jewish Christians "fed up with their recalcitrant unbelieving fellow Jews" might have been tempted the same way. 3. **Separate house-churches that could not worship together (chs. 14–15).** - Rome was a city where ethnic groups clustered "in their own parts of town." So there were likely "many different groups in Rome all worshipping Jesus but not really in contact with one another," with customs owing "more than a little to the culture from which they had come." - Unlike Corinth, where one church held differing opinions, in Rome "the groups were already separate." They had different codes of practice, different songs, and "Greek with very different accents." (Latin was the elite language; many in Rome were basically Greek-speaking.) - Unity was "not just a pleasant ideal. It was vital for the coherence of his own mission." A church "all differentiation and no unity" would leave Caesar unbothered: "just a few more peculiar eastern cults come to town." **How the gospel reached Rome and the size of the churches** - The message arrived "sometime in the 40s." "Tradition says that Peter brought it, but there is no first-century evidence for that." - Paul's own churches were usually small, "perhaps only ever a few dozen, or in Corinth conceivably a hundred or two." Rome was different in kind: a huge, multi-ethnic city with several separate groups. - *(Compare IHR's "perhaps a couple of hundred Jesus-followers" in Rome.)* **The underlying message** (Bio's summary) - *"The lordship of Jesus as Israel's Messiah and hence the world's rightful sovereign."* - Caesar's accession and birthday were *euangelia*, with Caesar as *Kyrios* and *Sōtēr*, bringing *dikaiosynē*, *sōtēria* and *eirēnē* by his *dynamis* and demanding *pistis*. **Paul uses exactly these terms in 1.16–17, "but meant something quite different."** - Yet Jesus is "not only the true Lord, but also a different kind of Lord." Not a Caesar-scale with Jesus at the top, which could lead Christians to disobey rulers on principle (13.1–7). **The four sections** (Bio) - "It comes in four sections, each of which has its own integrity, underlying argument, and inner movement. Together these four sections form a single line of thought." - Four "jars" placed "in a row where together they will say more than the sum of their parts." "Listened to in the way one might listen to a symphony." - **1–4**: God has kept his covenant with Abraham by "putting forth" Jesus to create "a single family whose sins are forgiven, a Jew-plus-Gentile covenant family." Abraham's faith, not Phinehas's zeal, is the covenant badge. - **5–8**: the human story from Adam to the Messiah to new creation, told as a new exodus. Romans 8 is "the richest, deepest, and most powerfully sustained climax anywhere in the literature of the early Christian movement." - **9–11**: "the third and in many ways decisive section." Framed in prayer like a psalm, centred on Deuteronomy's closing chapters and 10.4, 10.9. - **12–16**: worship with the whole self, love, civic authority, and then the "central point," **the appeal for unity (14.1–15.13)**. - **1–8 are "foundations for a building of a very different sort"**: "Unless we see the ultimate goal, we will not fully appreciate those sections for what they truly are." **What happened next** - Phoebe travelled west with the letter while Paul went east with the Collection. - Paul reached Rome as a prisoner **"early in AD 60, nearly three years since he had sent Phoebe to Rome."** Believers walked out to meet him at the **Forum of Appius** (40 miles out) and **Three Taverns** (10 miles), an honour normally given to "nobility or returning generals" (Acts 28.15). This was a sign the letter had been well received. "Like an artist sending his greatest-ever painting to a far-off gallery… he must have wondered a thousand times how it had been received." - **After the fire of AD 64:** most Christians lived on the poor south-west bank of the Tiber, and the fire was on the wealthier north-east side. That made them "an easy target… they must have started it." Paul may have died in this persecution, beheaded as a citizen. **Wright's reading advice for the group** - Read it *straight through*, as the Romans first heard it from Phoebe, and then study it section by section, "all bathed in the praying and worshipping life of the community." ### Wright, *Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 1* (chs. 1–8) (2004) **Why read Romans afresh** (on 1.1–7) - *"To many Christians in the Western world Romans remains as much of a mystery as Mars."* - The Reformation tradition "has only colonized certain parts of the great planet called Romans… But there are other parts which have remained a mystery – not least the parts about the coming together of Jews and Gentiles, which Paul comes back to again and again throughout the letter. It is time for a fresh probe." - "We still need the old maps and roads… we shall find that we get more out of them by seeing and using them within… Paul's own larger picture." **The Roman setting** (on 1.1–17) - **Writing to Caesar's city.** Caesar's titles included "son of god," his birthday was "good news," and he claimed the world's allegiance. "Fancy writing like this to Rome of all places… But Paul knows exactly what he is doing." Romans 1.3–4 "seems almost designed to stake a claim which puts that of Caesar in the shade": a royal house (David's) "far older than anything Rome can claim." - **Where the Christians lived.** The rich lived on the seven hills (Augustus's palace on one; Nero's across the Forum). "Most of the first Roman Christians lived" in the low-lying, flood-prone districts **"just across the river from the seat of power."** The letter was probably first read "in a crowded room in someone's house in the low-lying poorer district." - **Numbers.** "Forget St Peter's and the Vatican!… probably not many more than a hundred Christians in all, in a city of at least a million… It may have been even less." They met in houses that were "quite likely… groupings of Christians from different backgrounds." - **The Claudius story, told for ordinary readers:** - Trouble among Rome's Jews "six or eight years before," possibly caused "by the coming of the Christian gospel to the Jewish groups," led Claudius to expel them. - Romans saw Christianity as "doubly strange and unwelcome: a kind of Jewish religion that made other Jews angry!" - The all-gentile church could easily conclude that "Israel may have been the place where it all began, but now that had been left behind. All those rules and regulations… all of it was gone." - Then the Jews returned in AD 54. Some Jewish Christians shared Paul's view; others were "deeply suspicious," and "suspicion… might easily turn to hostility." - **Wright's instruction to readers:** "Hold in our minds a historical picture of the Romans' church and its questions, rather than imagining that it was a church just like one of ours." - **Language.** Rome "had a large number of Greek-speakers, including most of the early Christians." "Greeks and barbarians" (1.14) may be Paul "gently teasing the pride of Rome," since to a Greek the Latin-speaking Romans were barbarians. - **Spain.** Rome was to be "the base for a new phase of mission, going around the western Mediterranean all the way to Spain." **The structure** (scattered through PfE Part 1) - *"Romans is like a great symphony."* 3.1–8 is "a little flash of music which looks ahead to a much fuller statement" in chs. 9–11. - **The launching pad:** 1.1–7 is "the carefully, deliberately constructed launching pad" for the rocket of the letter. - **The first movement ends at 4.25.** "The prophetic promises have come true; Abraham's faith is at last vindicated; the law has been fulfilled; human idolatry, sin and death have been decisively challenged… the single worldwide family promised to Abraham." - **Chapters 5–8 retell the Exodus:** Red Sea (ch. 6), Sinai (ch. 7), and being led to the inheritance, which is the whole creation (ch. 8). Paul does this for three reasons: 1. It is what God promised Abraham in Genesis 15, the chapter expounded in Romans 4. 2. Many Jews expected a "new Exodus," and Paul widens it to "the liberation of the whole cosmos." 3. It shows the gospel is the goal of Israel's hope, which forces the question of ch. 9. - **Almost every paragraph of 5–8 ends with Jesus:** 5.11; 5.21; 6.11; 6.23; 7.25; 8.11; 8.39. - **Symphonic cross-links:** - **Romans 7** is "a longer version of 2.17–24." - **Romans 8** is "a greatly expanded version of 2.28–29." - So **Romans 9** asks "the same questions as he asked at the beginning of chapter 3." - **Romans 1 and 4 are mirror images:** Abraham's faith (4.17–22) deliberately reverses humanity's failure in 1.20–27. - **"One of the central challenges of reading Romans is to hold the whole argument in your head… Paul is not writing simply a few short essays… Learn to follow the sweep of thought, and it will leave you breathless."** **Key terms as PfE explains them** (useful for a group) - **"God's covenant justice"** (righteousness): God's faithfulness to the covenant with Abraham, "the way God has chosen to bring his rescuing justice to the world." - **"Justified" = "declared to be in the right."** It is lawcourt language, and the declaration "creates a new status," like "I pronounce you husband and wife." It is about the *present*, anticipating the *future* judgment, which will be "on the basis of the entire life a person has led." - **"Salvation"** is not "'going to heaven when we die'… the New Testament… ha[s] almost nothing to say about that." It is past, present and future: "They were saved; they are being saved; they will be saved." - **"Faith"** is "the opposite of doubt, not just of sight!", "a settled conviction that God has raised Jesus, and that he is indeed Lord of the world." - **"The life of the age to come"** replaces "eternal life," which misleads readers into imagining "a world beyond space, time and matter." - **"The law"** always means the Jewish Torah, "Israel-specific," never "a general moral law." ### Wright, *Paul for Everyone: Romans Part 2* (chs. 9–16) (2004) **Wright's own introduction to the book** - *"Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome is his masterpiece… Reading it sometimes feels like being swept along in a small boat on a swirling, bubbling river. We need to hold on tight if we're going to stay on board."* - The series is written for "people who wouldn't normally read a book with footnotes and Greek words in it," which makes it well suited to a study group. **The structure: the Sibelius Seventh image** (on 15.7–13) - Romans is like **Sibelius's Seventh Symphony**: the traditional four movements are traceable, but they are "woven… together into a single great movement." It ends in the same "home key" it began in. - "Chapters 1–4, 5–8 and 9–11 each form a single section with its own integrity, its own argument, its own great themes… So, too, does the section which runs from the beginning of chapter 12 to [15.13]." **15.14 to the end is "a kind of personal conclusion."** - The four sections are "stitched together with so many criss-crossing themes, so many tunes that echo previous material or anticipate what is to come." - **The home key is 1.1–5** (Jesus, son of David and son of God, risen, Lord of the world), and it returns in **15.12**, "the root of Jesse… who rises up to rule the nations." Here "rises" is a resurrection word. - Readers who stop at the early chapters are "like someone listening only to the first ten minutes… having heard a favourite tune, walking out of the concert." - **"It isn't theology, then practice."** "People sometimes suppose that the 'theological' part of Romans is finished with chapter 11… Paul is seldom as unsubtle as that." Chapters 9–11 are not an appendix either: "that only shows how badly Romans as a whole has been misread." **Setting and purpose details** - **Rome as a new home base.** Antioch had been Paul's "home church," but it was the scene of the Jew–gentile clash (Galatians 2.11–14). Paul may be sketching "the big picture… to bring the Roman Christians on board as his mission partners, perhaps even as his new home church." - **Peter:** "Tradition says Peter, though we have no firm evidence on the point," but Paul may be tactfully aware of others' work. (15.18 is a cryptic double negative.) - **Nero and taxes.** Indirect taxation "led to riots about this time," and Nero promised to cancel it (and didn't). This helps explain 13.6–7. - **Christians' reputation:** "regarded as the scum of the earth in Rome," so Paul urges them not to add a reputation as "crazy dissidents." - **Jewish Christians returning after AD 54** might see gentile believers doing things "associated with paganism… call down curses on this new movement… and give up the faith altogether" (on 14.13–23). - **The "weak/strong" setting.** Some Jewish believers went vegetarian because they couldn't be sure of kosher meat "in their part of the city." Paul refuses to label the groups by ethnicity "because he is precisely trying to break down the walls." The Roman groups may not even have been meeting together, unlike Antioch. - **Romans 16 as evidence:** - five house-churches - households of Aristobulus and Narcissus. Narcissus was Claudius's favourite, who killed himself in AD 54, and his household "had not dispersed" - Phoebe as a public **benefactor** (the emperor claimed that title too) - **Junia** as an apostle - **Erastus** attested by an inscription - **Tertius** the only named scribe in Paul's letters - **Did Paul reach Spain?** "There is no evidence whatever that he did." But "as part of his plan to go to Spain, he wrote Romans." - **The collection as theology in action:** it "does in severely practical terms what the doctrine of justification by faith does in theological terms." *(Remaining sources to be appended here.)* [[ministry-of-paul]]