Introduction to Romans

Rome was the capital of a great empire which extended all around the Mediterranean Sea. At the time of Paul, it exercised great military power, built roads to maintain communication, and developed a system of government aimed at keeping the peace throughout. The Romans spoke Latin, but the educated also knew Greek and were familiar with the literature and philosophy for which Greece was famous. The Romans were great engineers, and along with the roads built bridges, aqueducts and viaducts, many of which are still standing today.

There had been Jews from Rome in Jerusalem at the first Christian Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit had been poured out on all Christians (Acts 2). It is reasonable to suppose that when they returned they took the gospel with them and founded the fledgling church in Rome.

No wonder Paul longed to go there. His dream was to bring the news of Jesus Christ to the Emperor and his court. But first, he needed to take to Jerusalem the money he had collected to support the church in a time of famine. Things didn't work out the way he had expected. He was arrested in Jerusalem and after two years in prison, exercised his rights as a Roman citizen, and appealed to be tried in Rome. He arrived there in 60 A.D. as a prisoner in chains.

This letter was written from Corinth in 57, and carried to Rome by a Christian leader named Phoebe, who probably went from one house church to another, reading the letter aloud. (Romans 16:1-2)

"Romans" sets out what it means to be a Christian. People think of it as a theological treatise, but really it's a letter, just like all of Paul's writings. It was written to address a serious problem in the Roman church, conflict between Jews and Gentiles. Paul, himself a Jew, grasped how the gospel had its roots in Abraham, whom God had chosen before the Jews had assumed a national identity. From the very beginning, it had been God's plan to form a people of his own from every nation on earth.

In 49 Claudius had banished the Jews from Rome, but after his death in 54, they had been allowed to return. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how difficult it was for the early church to understand where the Gentiles fit into the covenant which God had made with the Jews. There were practical problems, too. The Jews with their dietary regulations understood themselves to be set apart from the uncircumcised Gentiles. How would they live together in fellowship in the church?

Paul uses long sentences and difficult words. And his sentences are dense, and packed with meaning. (In fact, most English translations break the long sentences into shorter ones.) It’s not just that the words are difficult, but they are ambiguous and slippery, with a range of meanings. Maybe Paul intends the whole range of meanings all at once. Some things that are confusing early in the letter become clearer as he explains them in more detail later on.

If reading Romans is difficult, it's correspondingly rewarding. You might want to keep a list of questions about any bits you don't understand. Find an older Christian to ask about them.

Annabel Robinson