Synopsis of the of Romans in the Bible - Book Report/Review Example

BOOK OF ROMANS: SYNOPSIS Number and August 7, Book of Romans: Synopsis The Book of Romans, also known as The Epistle to the Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament, and contains 16 verses or chapters. Romans is often understood to be the place where Paul lays out the essential parts of his theology. However, as seen from a scholarly look at when and where it was likely written, and to whom it was likely addressed, there is a compelling argument to be made that it is not only an explanation of salvation through the gospel of Jesus, but that it is also an attempt to make the empire of Rome fully accepting of Christianity, and to convert to it.

The authorship of Romans is generally attributed to the Apostle Paul, to such a degree that there is almost no disagreement that Paul did indeed write the epistle it contains. In fact, this is clear from the epistle itself, which is set up as being a letter from Paul to the church in Rome. Sumney puts the date of the letter at “around the year 57” while Paul was visiting the Greek city of Corinth (Sumney 324) and this seems to be roughly the date generally accepted. This date gives us an important bit of context for why Paul wrote the letter in the first place.

As Keesmaat points out, just three years earlier, Jews had been allowed to return to Rome after being expelled almost a decade before (Keesmaat 48), and the various non-Jewish Christian churches in Rome were attempting to distance themselves from those returning Jewish Christians whom they thought might “draw negative attention” from the Roman authorities (Keesmaat 48).The reason for Pauls letter, and his audience, were a little more complex than just the Jewish Christian churches in Rome, however.

As Sumney argues, Paul sought support for a mission to Spain, as well as influence over how the Roman churches were run (Sumney 324-325), so his letter serves multiple purposes. Not only does he want to use his teaching to “recommend him” to the church in Rome, but he wants to be accepted as the representative of all Gentile churches when he visits Jerusalem later (Sumney 325). As Paul was a “controversial figure” in the early church because he did not think all worshipers of God had to be Jewish, his letter also addresses that issue strongly throughout (Sumney 326).

The end result, as shown by Keesmaat, is a letter which attempts to accomplish all of these varied goals at once by convincing the Roman churches to welcome the Jewish exiles back into the Church (Keesmaat 49), which will not only make him more acceptable to the Jewish church, but will also attempt to explain his position clearly to what he considers his own Gentile church.Romans 1 serves as the introduction to the letter, claiming Paul as the author and making a strong claim that he is intended by Jesus Christ to be an apostle.

Much of this chapter serves as what Sumney calls the "presentations of his teaching," intended to "set up" his instructions in later chapters (Sumney 325). Romans 2 and 3 continue this, going into more detail with regards to how Gentiles and Jews alike are both saved by God, and helping to establish Pauls claim to be the representative of the Gentile church while at the same time not discounting the Jews. Romans 5 through 8 explore how, under the new church, acceptance of Christ is the only thing required for salvation.

Romans 9 through 11 deal specifically with Israel, showing what Sumney calls "Irsaels priority," something which was important to Paul gaining acceptance amongst both Christians and Jews (Sumney 326). Chapter 12 through 14 are more general than other chapters, and focus on acts of love outside of any particular Gentile/Jew divide. Finally the last two chapters of the Epistle are more direct addresses from Paul to his audience, showing that he intends to visit the church in Rome on his route to Spain and that he is directly connected with many people of the Church in that city.

BibliographySumney, Jerry L. The Bible: An Introduction. Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2009.Keesmaat, Sylvia. "Reading Romans in the Capital of the Empire." in Resources for biblical study, Volume 73 : Reading Pauls Letter to the Romans, edited by Jerry L. Sumney, 47-64. Williston, VT: Society of Biblical Literature., 2012.