Romans New Testament

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Authorship

There is little doubt—even among critical scholars—that Paul wrote Romans. D.A. Carson and Douglas Moo write, “There is little debate about whether Paul wrote Romans.” Thomas Schreiner concurs, “No serious scholar today doubts that Paul wrote Romans.”

Paul used a scribe to write the letter for him. At the end of the book of Romans, the scribe takes control of the pen and writes, “I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord” (Rom. 16:22). This might be why Romans almost sounds like a live teaching. Paul preached this letter out loud, and Tertius wrote his words, as he spoke them.

Date of Romans

When we compare Paul’s missionary plans in Romans 15 with the book of Acts, we discover that Paul wrote the book of Romans at the end of his third missionary journey. Paul wrote the letter before he made his trip to Jerusalem (Rom. 15:24-32; Acts 21). It seems most likely that Paul wrote Romans while in Corinth, Greece:

  • Paul mentions Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2) who was from Cenchrea (one of the port-cities of Corinth).

  • In Romans 16:23, Paul mentions writing in the house of Gaius. In 1 Corinthians 1:14, Paul mentions baptizing “Gaius” in Corinth.

  • Paul writes, “Erastus, the city treasurer greets you” (Rom. 16:23). In 1929, a piece of pavement from the first century uncovered the inscription: “Erastus, Procurator and Aedile, laid this pavement at his own expense.” At the end of his life, Paul again mentions that Erastus “stayed in Corinth” (2 Tim. 4:20).

When we flip over to the book of Acts, we see that Paul stayed in Corinth for “three months” at the end of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:3). Blomberg, Bruce, Moo, and Mounce date the letter to the winter of AD 56-57, while Paul was on a three-month sabbatical in Corinth, Greece. Making a more conservative estimate, Schreiner states that we can “safely locate the letter between AD 55 and 58.”

  1. ^

    D.A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), p.393.

  2. ^

    Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 2.

  3. ^

    Craig Blomberg, From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts through Revelation (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2006), 234.

  4. ^

    F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 19-20.

  5. ^

    Of course, Moos states that “leeway of a year or two either way must be allowed.” Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 3.

  6. ^

    Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 26.

  7. ^

    Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 3.

About The Author
James Rochford

James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.

Difficulties
1:5 - Does this passage support Lordship Theology? 1:5 - Does this passage support Lordship Theology? 1:8 - What does Paul mean when he says that their faith reached the “whole world”? 1:24, 26, 28 - Why does it say three times that God “gave them over” to their sin, if God loves people? 2:7 - Does this verse teach that good works can get us into heaven? 2:22 - What does it mean to “rob temples”? 2:24 - Why does Paul cite Isaiah 52:5 and/or Ezekiel 36:20ff? 2:28-29 - Does this passage teach that Christians inherit the Jewish promises of the Old Testament? (c.f. Phil. 3:3; Gal. 6:16) 3:11 - Do humans seek for God or not? 3:22 - Is this verse about the “faithfulness OF Jesus” or is it about “our faith IN Jesus”? 3:25 - What does “propitiation” mean? 4:9-12 - Is Paul teaching that the church has fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant? 5:1 - Do we have justification in the past tense, or are we supposed to seek justification in the future tense? 5:12, 14 - How can God judge all men for Adam’s sin, when it wasn’t their fault? 5:13 - Did God not judge people before the time of the Law? 5:15-19 - Is Paul saying that everyone will be forgiven in the end? 7:8-13 - Is Paul describing himself here, or something (or someone) else? 8:1 - Is there condemnation or not? 8:26-27 - Does this refer to speaking in tongues? 8:29-30 - Is this passage teaching predestination? 8:36 - Why does Paul quote Psalm 44:22? 9:3 - Does Paul really want to go to hell, so that his Jewish friends could go to heaven? 9:13 - Does God “hate” unborn babies? 10:6-7 - What does Paul mean, when he writes about “ascending into heaven” and “descending into the abyss”? 10:14 - Does this verse teach that we need to hear Jesus’ name to be saved? 11:1-21 - Why did the Jews reject Jesus, if he was their Promised Messiah? 11:22 - Does this passage threaten the idea of eternal security? 12:3 - Does God give us our faith—or do we produce faith? 12:20 - What does Paul mean by “burning coals on his head”? 15:15 - If Paul had never been to Rome, then why does he say “remind you again”? 16 - Was this chapter added to the book of Romans?