Introduction
Of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament, fourteenhave traditionally been attributed to the great missionary Paulof Tarsus. These fourteen books all take the form of letters addressedto a given individual or community. In the traditional canonicalordering of the New Testament, these fourteen books are arrangedin a block following Acts, and separated into three groups: thenine letters addressed to communities, the four letters addressedto individuals, and Hebrews. Within each grouping, the traditionalcanonical system orders the books according to length. Thus, a traditionalNew Testament arrangement will list the books as follows: Romans,
During the winter of
Summary
Because he is not personally familiar with the Roman church,Paul begins his letter by introducing himself. He has been “calledto be an apostle,” and his mission is “to bring about the obedienceof faith among all the Gentiles” (
Paul begins with a discussion of the state of humanitybefore the possibility of salvation through faith in Jesus. He tellshow Gentiles worshipped idols, disdaining devotion to God, and howJews failed to follow the law properly, acting hypocritically byproclaiming allegiance to Jewish law while surreptitiously sinning.Paul says that God’s ancestral promise to the Jews, symbolized bycircumcision, does not bring automatic salvation: “A person is aJew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of theheart—it is spiritual” (
Paul teaches that salvation from sin is only possiblethrough faith. Paul cites the example of the biblical patriarchAbraham, who received God’s blessing and passed it on to his descendentsthrough “the righteousness of faith” (
Paul’s next topic is the problem of reconciling the doctrineof salvation through faith in Christ with the Old Testament promiseof the salvation of the Jewish people. This section begins witha lamentation, as Paul, who was himself born a Jew, expresses hiswish to help the Israelites, the supposed firstborn children ofGod. But he goes on to explain that the Christian covenant of graceis by no means a betrayal of Abraham’s covenant with God. Thosewho have faith in Jesus, who believe “with the heart,” are “childrenof the promise,” the spiritual children of Israel (
Finished with his exposition of Christian doctrine, Paulembarks upon a lengthy exhortation to the Romans, advising themon the proper means of living a Christian life. Harmony, humility,and love are his main concerns. He urges charity, forbearance, andsubmission. Paul returns to the apocalyptic theme on which he dwellsin his other letters. He says that it is doubly important to actrighteously in an apocalyptic age. In a long segment, Paul mandatestolerance and freedom of religious conscience within the church.The strong in faith are not to judge and reject the weak in faith—thatis, those who have given up Jewish law are to accept the observancesof those who continue to practice Jewish law. Paul finishes thissection with a set of Old Testament quotations about the worshipof God spreading among all nations. Paul concludes his letter witha section in which he discusses his own ministry, proving his authoritythrough a discussion of his credentials: “I have reason to boastof my work for God” (
Analysis
The period during which Paul wrote his letters was traumaticfor the new church. Christianity had not yet evolved into a distinctreligion with a hierarchy of authority and a defined dogma. Christianity,in its earliest years, was an offshoot of Judaism. Believers inJesus, including all of the Twelve Apostles, were generally bornJewish and identified themselves as Jews who believed that the OldTestament prophecies had reached their fulfillment in Jesus.Indeed, the term “Christians” did not appear until Paul’s ministryat Antioch, decades after Jesus’s crucifixion. The church was nota single, unified body governed by a central authority, but, rather,a conglomeration of individual communities, often separated by largedistances, which depended for spiritual authority on local preachersor traveling missionaries, like Paul. Christians in the decadesafter Jesus lived in constant fear of persecution and constant expectationof the second coming, Jesus’s triumphant return to Earth during whichhe would save the faithful.
The letters that Paul wrote respond to these conditionsof the early church. He addresses them to specific communities,most of which had been established by Paul himself. In an era whentravel was slow and long-distance communication was difficult, Paul’sletters were a means of preserving his spirit in a community oncehe had left, or of instructing a community from a distance. Theaim of the letters was to inspire unity among believers and to instructthe faithful on difficult points of doctrine. The letters are highlyindividualized, responding to the specific problems of the communityto which they are addressed. By and large, with the possible exception ofthe letter to the Romans, Paul’s letters show little evidence that theywere intended to endure as permanent documents. Paul, like otherearly Christians, expected an imminent Second Coming, and he wrotehis letters to address immediate problems rather than to establisha lasting apparatus to perpetuate the church.
The four Gospels can be viewed as a history of the birthof faith. The Gospels all follow a similar pattern. They describeJesus working miracles and preaching, but failing to convince manypeople of his divinity until his resurrection. The triumphant momentin the Gospels comes when the apostles witness the reborn Jesusand have their faith confirmed. The entire story of the Gospelsis designed to stress the importance of faith for the Christian.Indeed, practically the only factor that separated these early Christiansfrom the nonbelieving Jews was faith in Jesus. Nowhere in the Gospels,however, is the opposition between faith and law made so clear asin Romans. Paul elevates the role of faith, describing it as thesole means by which people can attain salvation. Through Jesus’sself-sacrifice, Paul teaches, God gave men the free gift of a covenantof salvation. It is only by faith in Jesus that one attains salvation.