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Topic:
The Book Of Romans -- A Brief Overview, Part 1 Of 2
In regard to the book of Romans, the date of this epistle is fixed at
the time of the visit recorded in Acts 20:3 during the winter and spring
following the apostle's long residence at Ephesus A.D. 58. On this visit
he remained in Greece three months.
The place of writing was Corinth.
The occasion which prompted it, and the circumstances attending its
writing, were as follows:--St. Paul had long purposed visiting Rome, and
still retained this purpose, wishing also to extend his journey to
Spain. Etom. 1:9-13; 15:22-29. For the time, however, he was prevented
from carrying out his design, as he was bound for Jerusalem with the
alms of the Gentile Christians, and meanwhile he addressed this letter
to the Romans, to supply the lack of his personal teaching. Phoebe, a
deaconess of the neighboring church of Cenchreae, was on the point of
starting for Rome, ch. (Romans 16:1,2) and probably conveyed the letter.
The body of the epistle was written at the apostle's dictation by
Tertius, ch. (Romans 16:22) but perhaps we may infer, from the
abruptness of the final doxology, that it was added by the apostle
himself.
The origin of the Roman church is involved in obscurity. If it had
been founded by St. Peter according to a later tradition, the absence of
any allusion to him both in this epistle and in the letters written by
St. Paul from Rome would admit of no explanation. It is equally clear
that no other apostle was like founder. The statement in the Clementines--that
the first tidings of the gospel reached Rome during the lifetime of our
Lord is evidently a fiction for the purposes of the romance. On the
other hand, it is clear that the foundation of this church dates very
far back. It may be that some of these Romans, "both Jews and
proselytes," present. On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10) carried
back the earliest tidings of the new doctrine; or the gospel may have
first reached the imperial city through those who were scattered abroad
to escape the persecution which followed on the death of Stephen. (Acts
8:4; 11:10) At first we may suppose that the gospel had preached there
in a confused and imperfect form, scarcely more than a phase of Judaism,
as in the case of Apollos at Corinth, (Acts 18:25) or the disciples at
Ephesus. (Acts 19:1-3) As time advanced and better-instructed teachers
arrived the clouds would gradually clear away, fill at length the
presence of the great apostle himself at Rome dispersed the mists of
Judaism which still hung about the Roman church.
From: Easton's Bible Dictionary. Fair Use. Presented for educational
purposes only.
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