•Steeped in Old Testament teachings; Pharisee of Pharisees (Phil 3:5).
• Logical thought; from age 13 trained by Gamaliel according to law (Ac 22:3).
• Both parents were Jews and yet were Roman citizens (Acts 22:25-29).
• Born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in Jerusalem (Ac 22:3).
• Highly committed and motivated: Dramatic conversion (Ac 22:5-10).
• Suffered intensely (II Co 11:23-27).

The Church at Rome: the addressee

• ' Beloved of God' indicates their confession of Christ (Ro 1:7).
• They lived in Rome.
• The church was known for its strength and influence throughout the world (Ro 1:8).
• Composed of Jews (Ro 2:17, 4:12) and Gentiles (Ro 11, 15:15-16).
• Possessed characteristics of an urban setting (Gromacki, p. 179).
• They lived in a heathen, idolatrous, lust-oriented society.

The Time and Place of Writing Romans

• Paul wrote Romans after he wrote the 2 Corinthian epistles (Ro 15:26).
• Paul wrote it during his brief stay at Corinth around 55-56 AD (Gromacki, p. 180).
• Phoebe probably carried it there.

Short History of Rome

That Rome was founded in 753 BC is a fanciful legend more than objective history. Rome was located on the Tiber river 15 miles in from the sea. Over time the swamps and mounds gradually were built up and so known as 'The City of Seven Hills.' In NT times the population hovered over a million with some placing it about 4 million. There were about 420 temples to Roman gods and gods of conquered people. A good-sized colony of Jews lived there.

Relationship between Rome & the Jews

Three hostile rulings against the Jews in Paul' s life:
1) The expulsion of Jews under Tiberius in 19;
2) the withdrawal of the rights of assemble by Claudius in 41; and
3) the expulsion of Jews by Claudius in 54 AD..

Each time the rulings seem to lose effect with time. Claudius died in 54 AD. Nero followed. " ... Only in the latter years of Nero' s reign (AD 64) can we detect an awareness that Christians had become a distinct entity. In fact, in the 30' s they returned as well as after Claudius' death in 54. So the Jewish Christians, Priscila and Aquila, came back with many others. Besides direct taxes, there were many indirect taxes (Tacitus reports that the year 58 was marked by persistent public complaints regarding indirect taxes) which probably affected the Jews.

The Jews & the Church in Rome

Significantly Paul doesn't mention Rome as a church because it had not fully come out of the synagogue at that point. Christianity in Rome emerged from the Jewish community in Rome and therefore had passed on numerous teachings of the law along with the gospel. " ... The best estimate of the number of Jews in Rome in the middle of the first century AD is about 40,000-50,000, most of them slaves and freedmen."

"An increasingly popular view in the second half of the twentieth century is that Paul wrote to counter (potential) divisions within Rome among the Christian house churches, particularly the danger of gentile believers despising less liberated Jewish believers." (Rom 16:17-19)

The Christians in Rome

"The Christians must have been well established and fairly numerous by the middle of the 50s. Paul had wanted to visit them " for many years (1:10, 15:23). They had been sufficiently strong (or provocative) by AD 49 to provide the occasion for the " constant disturbances" with the Jewish community which resulted in the expulsion of (most? many of?) the Jews. And in 64 they could be described as a new " sect" with a " a great multitude" , " vast numbers" indicted by confessed Christians to provide many hours of " entertainment" by the varied deaths they suffered. The widespread use of such punishments suggests that few of the Christians had citizens' rights."

From Romans 16 it can be deduced that a large proportion of the Christians in Rome were slaves or freedmen/women (at least 14 out of 24 names were commonly used slave names). 8 out of 14 seem to be fairly well-to-do. The Christians met in house churches.

Two Outlines of Romans

Two Roman outlines are included here. Achtemeir's outline from John Knox Press is good but not included here.

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