[CS-FSLUG] TD: CS-BibleStudy: Romans 1

[Don Parris]

On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 01:34:48 -0800, David Aikema <daikema at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 23:44:15 -0600, Timothy Butler
> <tbutler at uninetsolutions.com> wrote:
> > Here we have not Paul's first epistle, but his longest. Oddly or not,
> > it is written to people he has never met. After a brief introduction,
> > he talks about wanting to do things for the Roman Church and then dives
> > right into a talk on the Wrath of God. That's a bit different way of
> > starting out than I might think of if I was going to introduce *myself*
> > to a new group, even if it was a group of fellow believers.
> 
> As far as introductions go,
> I have no actual figures to work with, but I expect there was a
> significantly higher cost to communication than this email I write
> today.  Additionally, I wouldn't find it particularly surprising to
> hear that they already knew of him by reputation
> 
We have to remember that the Church in Rome was essentially started by
"regular" followers of Jesus - not one of the apostles.  That said,
"The Way" had grown from Jerusalem to Rome, so people surely had some
knowledge of Who's who.

> Paul was the messanger - not the message.  In 2 Corinthians 12:11 he
> states that he himself is as nothing ... he also writes in Philippians
> 2 of the need for humility in needs with Christ's example.
> 
> How much need he talk about himself?
> 
> > 1.) Why do you suppose Paul was so anxious to go see a church that was
> > already established by someone else?
> 
> I suspect that this may be partially due to Rome being the center of
> the empire, and therefore a place in which he could bring the message
> to those at the center of things.  Also I would expect to see in Rome
> people from all corners of the empire, or who might soon be headed for
> them.
> 
I would add to this that Paul would surely be eager to see the
progress of the Church at Rome.  The need for an Apostolic visit would
have weighed heavily on his mind.  Perhaps, too, they desired his
visit.  (I'm shooting from the hip on that one.)  I'll comment on #3
later.

> > 3.) There is some language in verses 18-32 that appears to deal with
> > the issue of homosexuality. In fact, this is one of the proof texts
> > used to point out the sinfulness of homosexuality. But ignoring that
> > for a moment, and looking at the bigger picture, what do you suppose
> > was the reason for Paul to start with a virtual catalog of sins?
> 
> If you are not made conscious of your sin, what then do you think that
> you need to be saved from?
> Similar to the old testament ... before God's plan of salvation is
> fully spelled out, we first must see the need for it.  That said, this
> letter was written to a preexisting church, so I'm not totally sure.
> 
> David
> 
> _______________________________________________

Don
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