Paul's letter to the church in Rome

On Sundays we take a break from working our way through the New Testament and instead do some type of overview of a New Testament book or passage.  Today I want to look at Paul's letter to the church (or churches) in Rome.

Of the letters of Paul that have survived, the letter to the churches in Galatia is probably the earliest. It has a raw, unorganized intensity that reflects Paul's personal involvement with the new believers in those churches.  The letter to the church in Rome is very different.  It is more objective and much less personal (with the exception of the last chapter.)  At the time the letter was written, Paul has not yet gone to Rome and so the people of that assembly are unknown to him.  His goal in the letter is to describe, in a more organized way, his earlier arguments about God, salvation, and this Jewish Messiah, Jesus.  His letter follows a more systematic, logical form that the letter to the Galatians.

The very last portion of the letter (chapter 16) gives personal greetings from others in his party and from that we learn that Paul is surely writing from Corinth. The people mentioned are either leaders in the church in Corinth or the nearby port city of Cenchrea.  The letter was most likely written about 56 CE when Paul was in Corinth (recorded by Luke at the beginning of Acts 20.)  Possibly during that time, traveling with Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul had stayed at Gaius's home in Corinth; this is mentioned at the end of the letter to the Romans.

In Acts 20, Paul clearly expects to travel to Rome.  The letter mentions Phoebe who was a deacon in the Cencheae, a port town near Corinth.  Erastus, also mentioned, lived in Corinth.

At the beginning of Acts 20, Paul is collecting aid for the church in Jerusalem.  He intends to deliver that aid to Jerusalem and then travel back through Asia Minor, Greece and Italy to Rome and then maybe eventually to Spain.  How Paul actually gets to Rome is the subject of Acts 21-28.

There are some good internet sources on the epistle to the Romans. Here are some:

1. As always, there is a Wikipedia article on Romans.
2. I recommend the Blue Letter Bible article on Romans.
3. There is a nice Catholic commentary on Romans.
4. And a thorough view from Theopedia (a Protestant site).

Tomorrow we will return to reading through Paul's epistle.