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

[David Aikema]

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

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.

> 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