Moore Perspective: Introducing the Letter to the Romans (Part 2 of 2)

Audience

The church was potentially started in Rome by Jews and proselytes who had been converted to Christianity in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost or not long thereafter (cf. Acts 2:10–8:4).¹ Archaeological evidence and other historical data confirm the presence of small Greek-speaking Jewish synagogues in Rome, the probable centers of the earliest churches.² Some try to establish a definitive case for a Pentecost-day or Jerusalem connection, seeing that Rom. 12:6 speaks of at least one supernatural gift (prophecy) given to “us” (members of the body), presumably by the hands of Jerusalem apostles (cf. Acts 8:14-23). However, Paul’s statement could be intended generally or even prospectively since he hoped to visit Rome that he “may impart to you some spiritual gift …” (1:11), written nearly three decades after the events of Acts 2.

Seutonius reported that around 49 Claudius “expelled from Rome the Jews who were constantly stirring up a tumult under the leadership of Chrestus” (Life of Claudius 25.2).³If the Latin name Chrestus is a distorted version of the Greek Χριστός (“Christ”), Seutonius may have been alluding to heated debates between Jews and Jewish Christians, who would have mutually been affected by this edict, including Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:2). As a result of the expulsion of Jewish Christians, the Lord’s church at Rome would have consisted of and been led by Gentile believers for a time (note Claudius died in 54). When the Jews were allowed to return to Rome, the typical socioethnic barriers that characterized most of Greco-Roman society at the time may have caused the reception of the Jewish Christians by their Gentile brethren to have been less than cordial.

About eight years after Claudius’ edict, Aquila and Priscilla were back in Rome (Rom. 16:3), and the long list of names in Rom. 16 of those already known by Paul may suggest that he encountered at least some of them as exiles during his travels. When Paul arrived in Rome in the spring of 60 (six years after Claudius’ death), the Jewish leaders were familiar with the Christian movement but apparently had not had recent encounters with it (Acts 28:21-22).

The letter to the Romans is not addressed to the “church” [ἐκκλησία] at Rome, but to the “saints” or “sanctified ones” [ἅγιοι] in Rome.⁴ Greetings are then sent to what appears to be three or more separate house churches (cf. Rom. 16:5, 14, 15).⁵ The audience to which Romans is addressed would have been comprised of both Gentile and Jewish believers.⁶ Note the apparent focus on Gentile readers (1:5-6, 13; 11:13-24; 15:14-21), and the apparent focus on Jewish readers (2:17; 6:14-15; 7:4; 16:3, 7, 11).

Forty-five Christians who had been to Rome or lived in Rome are explicitly named in the NT:

· Paul (Acts 28:14-31; 2 Tim. 1:17)

· Peter (1 Pet. 5:13a)⁷

· Silvanus (1 Pet. 5:12)

· Tychicus (Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:12)

· Onesimus (Col. 4:9; Philem. 10)

· Aristarchus (Col. 4:10a; Philem. 24)

· John Mark (Col. 4:10b; Philem. 24; 1 Pet. 5:13b)

· Jesus Justus (Col. 4:11)

· Epaphras (Col. 4:12; Philem. 23)

· Luke (Col. 4:14a; Philem. 24; 2 Tim. 4:11)

· Demas (Col. 4:14b; Philem. 24)

· Timothy (Phil. 1:1; 2:19; Col. 1:1; Philem. 1; 2 Tim. 4:9, 13, 21)

· Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25; 2 Tim. 4:18)

· Eubulus (2 Tim. 4:21)

· Pudens, Linus, Claudia (2 Tim. 4:21)

· Phoebe (Rom. 16:1)

· Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:2; Rom. 16:3)

· Epaenetus (Rom. 16:5)

· Mary (Rom. 16:6)

· Andronicus and Junia/s (Rom. 16:7)

· Ampliatus (Rom. 16:8)

· Urbanus and Stachys (Rom. 16:9)

· Apelles and Aristobulus’ family (Rom. 16:10)

· Herodion and Narcissus’ family (Rom. 16:11)

· Tryphaena and Tryphosa, Persis (Rom. 16:12)

· Rufus and his mother (Rom. 16:13), and Alexander (Mark 15:21)⁸

· Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas (Rom. 16:14)

· Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his siter, Olympas (Rom. 16:15)

Purpose

The purpose of Romans is one of the most heavily debated questions about the letter. One purpose may relate to Paul’s own circumstances and needs: he plans to travel to Spain and he wants to secure the support of the Roman Christians (15:24-29). Another purpose may relate to the circumstances of the Christian community at Rome: the division between non-Jewish and Jewish or non-traditionalist and traditionalist believers (14:1–15:13). It has also been suggested that Romans may be a summary of Paul’s convictions that developed through recent confrontations with Judaizers in Galatia and Corinth, or a rehearsal of the speech he was planning to make in Jerusalem. But if this were his main purpose, it is hard to explain why the document was particularly directed to Rome. More likely, just as he had to defend his apostleship and teaching in other places due to false accusations and suspicions, he would need to set the record straight before journeying to Rome.

It may be better to speak of Paul’s several purposes in Romans…. The past battles in Galatia and Corinth, the coming crisis in Jerusalem, the need to secure a missionary base for the work in Spain, the importance of unifying the divided Christian community in Rome around the gospel – these circumstances led Paul to write a letter in which he carefully set forth his understanding of the gospel, particularly as it related to the salvation-historical question of Jew and Gentile, law and gospel, continuity and discontinuity between the old and the new.⁹

Despite its appearance as a theological treatise, Romans is a dialogue between Paul and a specific reading audience in a particular setting dealing with real circumstances. It is addressed to a community of Christians Paul had not founded and is written near the end of the major phase of his missionary career during a relatively peaceful time conducive to careful reflection. It explains and defends his mature understanding of the message he preached and intended to continue preaching across the Roman Empire from Jerusalem to Spain. “In short, Romans is still far removed from a dogmatic or systematic treatise on theology, but it nevertheless is the most sustained and reflective statement of Paul’s own theology by Paul himself.”¹⁰

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

¹ “It may be significant that these Roman visitors are the only contingent from the continent of Europe to receive express mention among the pilgrims” (F. F. Bruce, Romans 15).

² R. Jewett, Romans 10.

³ The dating of this edict is primarily based on the testimony of the 5th-century writer Paulus Orosius (Hist. Adv. Pag. 7.6.15-16), and even though there is a degree of uncertainty as to the exactness of this date, it is consistent with other chronological data.

⁴ The description is: “among whom you also are called of Jesus Christ, all the ones beloved of God in Rome, called sanctified [ones] …” (author’s own translation). As noted in the previous post, the omission of ἐν Ῥώμῃ (“in Rome”) at 1:7 and 15 has scant manuscript support.

⁵ L. M. White suggests five to eight house churches in Rome at the time (From Jesus to Christianity 211).

⁶ After introducing the section of chaps. 9–11 with allusions to physical Israel (9:1-5), Paul plainly states: “for not all those of Israel are [truly] Israel” (9:6b), and “the children of the flesh, these are not children of God, but the children of the promise are considered a posterity” (9:8; cf. 10:12). This follows the previous affirmations that Abraham is the father of all the Roman believers, both Jewish and Gentile (4:12, 16). Paul seems to be addressing the problem of unwarranted pride on the part of both those with Jewish and those with non-Jewish ancestry (2:1; 3:27; 11:18). He is writing as an evangelist to those who have already been evangelized.

⁷ Peter sends greetings from “she who is in Babylon, chosen together with you,” presumably a metaphoric allusion to the collective members of the church (KJV),consistent with other occurrences of the word ἐκλεκτός (“chosen”) in 1 Peter (1:1-2; 2:9). In late Judaism “Rome began to take on the name and many of the characteristics of Babylon as a world-power hostile to God …” (BAGD 129), and the book of Revelation indicates that first-century Christians understood “Babylon” as a symbolic reference to Rome (cf. 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21). Mark had been summoned to Rome by Paul (2 Tim. 4:11) and was with Peter at the time of writing (1 Pet. 5:13).

⁸ Why would Mark mention Rufus and Alexander by name unless they were known to his reading audience? On the Roman provenance of Mark’s Gospel, see K. L. Moore, A Critical Introduction to the NT 67, 70-71.

⁹ D. A. Carson and D. J. Moo, An Introduction to the NT 407; see also D. J. Moo, Romans 16-22.

¹⁰ J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Paul the Apostle 25.