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The Birth of an Empire

By on in Theology

The primary reasons for Apostle Paul’s writing to the Romans are diverse and numerous. There are four that appear to carry the most widespread recognition. The main proposals are as follows:

a. Theological Treatise – A theological book recognizing that it is a letter as there is a depth concerning the efficacy of the gospel and its corresponding redemptive path. The letter’s theological meaning is underdeveloped due to the absence of ecclesiological and Christology doctrines. Romans was written predicated upon existing knowledge. This is an occasional letter to work through the implications of justification, sanctification, etc.

b. Missiological Concerns – Centered around the gospel’s progress and its support within the Church. Paul probably wants to make Rome the center of Western Christianity as Antioch is to the Eastern part of the Roman empire. Consequently, some might conclude that Romans is an exhaustive missional support letter.

c. Apologetical – The position that Christianity is a defense at the heart of the Roman empire. As it is said that the book of Romans is principally apologetical, it does not specifically address disputes as such. It has functional elements that are apologetical, but as an occasional letter, the book itself is not principally centered toward that purpose.

d. Pastoral – Conflict in the church is addressed as an occasional matter between the Jew and Gentile. There is a need for healing where the Gentiles and Jews are urged to be messengers of reconciliation within the Church. Paul’s efforts toward the development of unity concerning one people of God by the gospel is the apex of the book of Romans.

In all of Paul’s writing, there are social and cultural concerns about the nature of his work with the gospel of Christ crucified and risen. The assertion Paul makes about “not being ashamed of the gospel” corresponds to his confidence that there was no loss of status, experience, or undue strain due to the gospel’s relevance, necessity, and power. Negativity, opposition, or disputes Paul encountered during his missional pursuits through the gospel had no bearing upon him personally. He didn’t internalize ridicule or slander, nor did he yield to hard or soft persecution when he set himself in association to Christ’s death and resurrection. Any humiliation he may have been expected to endure from socio-cultural pressures didn’t weigh upon Paul to negatively affect what Christ set him apart to do. The development of the church and the discipleship of numerous Gentile believers throughout the Greco-Roman empire was the fruit of his efforts regardless of what cultural conditions were in place about a disgraced messiah perceived by society or the populace.

Paul boasted in the gospel. He proclaimed that “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” Namely, to both the Jew and the Gentile, God’s righteousness is revealed through the faith of those who believe the gospel. As the righteous were to live by faith according to the gospel, the power of God is made evident and salvific toward those who believe. Moreover, the righteousness of God applied to believers who would mock or despise Paul, and followers of Christ were poignantly unwise by comparison as they would remain captive to sin while in a condemned state subject to cumulative wrath of God without mercy. The mercy of God available to those who would accept Christ and His gospel would be the kind of power needed for salvation.

Apostle Paul’s background and conversion had pressing implications about Israel’s election, their rejection, and eventual restoration. Paul wrote in distress about the loss of Israel’s estate (Rom 9:1-3). While it is evident through Scripture that Israel was YHWH’s portion (Deut 32:8-9). They were to become a Kingdom of Priests under the Old Covenant (Ex 19:6), their unbelief about God’s redemptive plan was foretold as a matter of prophetic certainty (Isa. 10:22-23, Hos 1:10, Rom 9:30-33), they would become a people who would become sidelined. The election of YHWH’s people Israel remains an eschatological certainty while their ultimate rejection of the Son of Man revealed as Jesus the Messiah was intentional. To harden the Jews, make them jealous (Rom 11:14),  and soften the Gentiles where the Kingdom of God would become filled until the fulness of Gentiles would enter through the gospel (Rom 11:25), the sovereign plan of God was made evident.

While Israel’s unbelief was prophesied, it was ongoing too (Isa. 65:2, Rom 10:21). In paradoxical contrast to Jewish responsibility and the lost condition of Gentiles, the sovereignty of God was at work to produce salvation history. From the fall of humanity and the series of covenants to follow, Jesus the Messiah would shepherd his people, the spiritual seed of Abraham, to the Kingdom of God. In this way, the book of Romans is pastoral as it concerns the redemption of believers, both Jew and Gentile, who represent humanity restored. Most especially the Jews as they are to be saved as a matter of prophetic fulfillment (Isa. 59:21, Jer. 31:33-34, Rom 11:25-32). The pastoral work of God is a celebration of God’s sovereignty as His wisdom and abundant mercy is made clear.

As Paul’s work further made a lasting impact, the biblical world of the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia included coastal cities that emerged as places of incubation in support of early Christianity. The Kingdom of God on Earth was to begin from Jerusalem for the Jew first and then into Samaria, Antioch, throughout Asia Minor and Rome. While Antioch of Syria was the traditional birthplace of Christianity, it was the point of initial operations of Paul, Barnabas, and others to advance the Kingdom from the East. Paul had a base of support to commence his missionary efforts throughout Asia Minor and into Europe, including Macedonia, Achaia, and Rome of Italia.  

To achieve Paul’s objectives to reach Spain, a grounding of the Church in Rome was necessary for monetary and resourced support toward the ongoing development of churches in Europe. As Paul exhausted his efforts to plan and develop churches and build a network of support for Christianity present with Jerusalem, Antioch, and smaller communities, he sought to extend his efforts. With an established base in Rome, it was to be a base of operations from the West to reach deeper into Europe. Especially into Spain, the outermost territory of Europe for Paul to complete his appointed work. Antioch from the East, Rome from the West, and Jerusalem to the South were geographical centers of outreach and discipleship to grow the Church. The gospel made its way throughout the biblical world to build momentum by the work of the Spirit and His apostles, where kingdoms of humanity became overlapped of far greater significance by a spiritual empire of Christendom.

Traces of a Saint

By on in Theology

The NT epistles are authoritative by their substance, purpose, and structure. The character of NT letters is personal, not private. They’re not secret and intended to be shared even if directed to a church or individual. The NT letters are also occasional and not theoretical compositions. That is to say, they are situational and not tractates, treatises, or always discourses of abstract and concrete meaning. The letters address known problems, and they’re written in response to the development needs of the church and individuals. The Bible wasn’t written to us. It was written for us. That is, the content and canon of codices were formed historically for us.  

The NT letters are unofficial in style. They are not official as correspondence from governments or agencies in an official capacity to inform or direct affairs. NT letters and the apocalyptic account of John in Revelation are sealed to reveal events and judgments that bear a resemblance to official status in an authoritative capacity. Still, the book of Revelation is personally directed to the churches in Asia-minor. By comparison, the epistles themselves are not otherwise sealed for security purposes as authentication intended for official or formal correspondence. Whether circulated widely or not, the authoritative weight of the letters originated from authors who write from the context of personal authority. As witnesses of Christ and apostolic activity or teaching. For example, Apostle Peter himself referred to Paul’s writings as scripture (2 Pet 3:16).

There is evidence that the book of Acts is written largely as a defense of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. Luke authors the book of Acts to “most excellent Theophilus.” As Theophilus was a common Gentile name within the Greek world, the Acts text serves as a narrative historical account of what occurred to a non-Jewish reader. To serve as an explanatory instrument of historical bearing, the message of Acts involved a sovereign plan of necessity concerning Gentile peoples around the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian world. Western and Eastern nations populated at the edges of Africa, Europe, and Asia were the intended recipients of the gospel as a message of redemption to the Gentiles.

The book of Acts is not merely a history of the early church. The continuity of the early gospel ministry extends from Jesus in the book of Luke to Peter for the Jews in Acts, then finally to Paul in Acts. As Jesus instructed that the gospel was to go out from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the world, the Kingdom imperative reached Gentiles through Paul’s ministry. Peter’s presence in the gospels and Acts faded into redemptive history as the development of the Gentile church from Antioch to Asia-minor permeated the Greco-Roman empire. There is a distinct transition of overlapping significance between the Jews and Gentiles within the book of Acts. Moreover, the manner of development among churches and believers as chronologically traced from canonical correspondence gives further evidence of sovereign advancement of the Kingdom through Paul’s ministry as intended. As it is written, Paul introduces himself as an apostle (Rom 1:1, 1 Cor 1:1). Not an apostle of the original twelve, but an apostle of a distinct mission to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13).

Paul was born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:27), but it is not known how his parents had acquired such a status. While citizenship could have been attained by military involvement or by rendering some service to Rome, it is speculated that perhaps a family tent-making business that supported the Roman military could have earned Paul’s family Roman citizenship. It appears divinely providential that Paul was given birth in such a familial state as having Roman citizenship was considered a privilege among the social elite. It was uncommon for a Jew living in the Diaspora to have Roman citizenship, whether by birth, monetary payment, or other means. As the Diaspora was distributed across the Roman empire, there was likely a practical or logistical matter of concern with attaining such a status. Given the epistolary record to the Philippians, Paul was a “Hebrew born of Hebrews” (Phil 3:5), and among the intellectual elite of Jews, Paul’s status as a Roman is remarkable. As indicated in F.F. Bruce’s Apostle of the Free Spirit, Paul must have been registered as a Roman within 30-days of his birth to initiate valid citizenship status (Bruce, 39). His father would have made a declaration (professio) before a provincial governor (praeses prouinciae) at a public record-office (tabularium publicum) to set in effect his status as a Roman citizen. As certified by witnesses, registration within an album professionum would have authenticated Paul as a child by a pronouncement ciuem Romanum esse professus est. That is, the name of the father or agent as a Roman citizen declared Paul to be a Roman citizen by birth.

While an apostle to the Gentiles, Paul concentrated much of his mission work among synagogues throughout Diaspora within the Greco-Roman world. The synagogue as a “gathering” or “assembly” by definition became a place for people groups within the Diaspora to join together in prayer and study. Specifically, towards the early development of the church in Asia-minor and Palestine, synagogue participants included Hebraists, Hellenists, Proselytes, and God Fearers who were both Jew and Gentile. While it isn’t definitively known where or how synagogues originated in support of prayer and study, it is recognized that there were some meeting places where ritual and liturgical traditions arose to involve prayer, study, fellowship, and worship. Whether in residences or other structures, most scholars have concluded that synagogues originated during or just after the Babylonian exile between about 586BC and late 6th century BC as compared to earlier periods (such as the times of the Egyptian and Assyrian captivity). After Solomon’s temple was destroyed, there was no longer a gathering place to support the functions of prayer and study. In the absence of a centralized area of worship, a distributed model of congregating among synagogues took shape as the glory of the LORD was removed from the Jerusalem temple. From the time of Ezekiel, when he witnessed the departure of God’s glory from the Jerusalem temple, the ancient synagogue increasingly became the prototype ecclesia of the new covenant at a time distant from the second temple period and first-century Christianity. Even before the second temple, the synagogues situated throughout the Diaspora served as centers of fellowship around the life of Judaism. Synagogues from their infancy developed into “Beth Midrash” sites of learning. It was also known in Hebrew as “Beth Knesset,” locations or facilities as translated in Greek by the term “synagogue.” The apostle Paul and his disciples began much of his work to build the kingdom of God on Earth from among synagogues until he branched out to other places where people gathered.