CHAPTER 3: ROMANS 12-16 CONFLICT EXEGETICAL STUDY
3.2 Presuppositions (stipulations)
3.2.8 Intent of Romans – multiple
Gaventa (2016:16-17) explains the “Roman debate” via the three locations mentioned in Romans 15:22-29. The Jerusalem selection advocates for the book of Romans as a trial run for Paul’s visit to the believers there. Spain’s selection portrays the book of Romans as support-raising for his
68 While there are many opinions about the meaning of the phrase, the simplest is a reference to the obedient response of faith by the Gentiles to the gospel message (a right response to the conflict) – they believed it, especially since the Jews (as seen in Jonah’s narrative) refused to obey in sharing that message. However, as indicated by the content of Romans, it also involves the continued life of obedience that springs from faith. Lopez (2005:34) notes that “obedience to believe consists of faith and obedience to follow is produced by faith”.
69 The purpose of seeing Rome become a hub for activity in the East could be a part of Paul’s overall plan, but in this letter itself, there is no indication of this. In the letter Paul states that he desires to see the
“obedience of faith”. In some ways that could be construed better with the more specific aims presented earlier but those aims do not reflect accurately the text of Romans for this researcher.
potential ministry there. And the popular selection of Rome makes the book of Romans affect the influence of Judaism.70 And, while that provides a great mental visual of Paul’s intent, it is by no means representative of all the possibilities. As one considers these options, it is important to remember this insightful statement from Wu (2019:26):
Though Romans is a letter, not a narrative, it has a similar shape. Paul presents multiple problems at once, and his approach is so integrated that quick readings cause us to miss Paul’s subtlety. His missionary agenda is embedded within a pastoral concern71 for the Romans, which is couched in the larger narrative of Israel’s history.72 This observation is important to notice concerning the plethora of possible intents for Romans (see Table 3-1). Why so many possibilities? As Wu mentions above, this is because “Paul presents multiple problems at once, and his approach is so integrated”. However, as Moo (2018:15) notes, these possibilities can basically be narrowed down to two groupings: “those that stress Paul’s own situation and circumstances as the occasion for Romans; and (2) those that focus on problems within the Roman community as the occasion for the letter”.73 He goes on to observe that “the purpose of Paul in Romans, then, cannot be confined to any one of these suggestions; Romans has several purposes. But the various purposes share a common denominator: Paul’s missionary situation” (2018:19). Staats (2010:16) provides, for this researcher the best synopsis of Paul’s intention for writing this letter to the Romans:
Having completed his ministry in the east, he was then to undertake a ministry in the west following his visit to Jerusalem. How good it would be to prepare the believers at Rome for his work in the west so that the believers at Rome could have a full presentation of Christianity and its practical application from the apostle himself. It may have been Paul’s objective then to make Rome a missionary center in the west as Antioch had been in the east.
70 Others follow that simple format in explaining their views, but Gaventa’s is very concise.
71 Johnson (2020:61) views all of Paul’s correspondence as arising from his pastoral heart and practice.
And, in addressing the rhetorical nature of this book, Johnson (2020:127) writes that “Paul is not a systematic thinker but a pastoral theologian, whose thought is directed not to the adjudication of religious systems but to the survival and integrity of fragile intentional communities under stress”. This connection between stress and shepherding is especially germane to this study.
72 While not agreeing with all the conclusions, that statement is a great reflection of the power and diversity of a narrative consideration – there is a multiplicity of things going on. Therefore, the text is the only standard used to accept or reject conclusions.
73 Osborne (2017:loc. 359) has a similar pair: 1) “to address certain issues in the church at Rome”, and 2)
“to present his gospel to them and convince them of his orthodoxy”.
Because Paul could not go at that time to visit, he wrote this letter instead to prepare the way for the visit74 that he hoped would open for him, by God’s grace. So, it is accepted that there are multiple intentions that Paul had for writing Romans (some more clearly seen than others), but all under the rubric of Paul’s missionary heart to reach the lost and develop spiritual maturity in their lives, so that the process can begin anew through others (2 Tim 2:2). Table 3-1 below summarises many of these intentions.
Table 3-1: Paul’s intentions for writing Romans
Name Reasons
Witmer (1985:436-437)
1 “announce his plans to visit Rome after his return to Jerusalem”
2 “present a complete and detailed statement of the gospel message”
3 respond to the conflict between the Jews and Gentiles in the Roman church Dunn
(1988a:lv-lviii)
1 “a missionary purpose”
2 “an apologetic purpose”
3 “a pastoral purpose”
Grieb (2002:14-16)
1 “to introduce himself and his theology, especially his controversial law-free gospel for Gentile converts,
2 “to correct false impressions and misunderstandings about what he taught”
3 “to reassure the Jewish Christians at Rome of the priority of Israel and the irrevocability of God’s covenant with Israel”
4
“to reassure the Gentile Christians at Rome of God’s impartiality and of the fact that they, too, were included in God’s covenant promises to the patriarchs of Israel, even though their males were not circumcised”
5 “to urge the Roman Christians to quit fighting over nonessential matters and live together as a unity with diversity”
6 “to recommend Phoebe, his coworker who probably had carried his letter to Rome”
7 “to start building the Roman house churches into the base of operations he would need for his mission to Spain”
8 “to proclaim the gospel of God to them”
Toews
(2004:28) 1 “remind the churches of the purpose of God for both Jew and Gentile … the nature of the people of God – its continuity or discontinuity with the Jewish people”
Jewett and Kotansky (2006:80-89)
1 “theological apology, last will and testament”
2 “a circular letter to Ephesus and Rome”
3 “providing an apostolic foundation for Roman churches”
4 “seeking support for the Jerusalem offering”
5 “preparation for a mission”
a “urge coexistence of the Weak and the Strong in Rome”
b “convert the weak into Paulinists”
c “include the Gentiles as legitimate believers”
d “convert nonbelieving Jews in Rome”
e “to the Barbarians in Spain”
Staats (2010:17)
1 “teaching these believers the fundamental doctrine of justification by faith (chapters 1–5)”
2 “obtain a knowledge of sanctification and to understand the basis of a spiritually dynamic life after salvation (chapters 6–8)”
3 “explain to these believers concerning the unbelief in Israel, indicating its extent and duration (chapters 9–11)”
4 “apply their salvation in daily living within the various areas and relationships of life … exhorting them to enter experimentally into the Christian life (chapters 12–16)”
74 Johnson (2020:65) notes that “this sense of the other’s presence would be enhanced by an oral delivery of the letter”.
Bird (2016:5-10)
1 “a theological treatise”
2 “a summary of Pauline teaching”
3 “a letter soliciting support for the Pauline mission”
4 “a letter to bring unity to the Roman churches”
5 “an eclectic proposal”
With the disclosure of these presuppositions, the study now moves into the exegetical aspect.
That task, as Schreiner (1998:1-2) notes, is a balance between being distracted by the past from hearing the text, and benefiting from the past while listening to God’s Word anew in order to apply it to the present generation. In this study, it is about learning what God is communicating about conflict from His perspective and seeing how to apply that to today in order to join those who have gone before us in living out the gospel in a way that both accurately reflects God’s Word and makes an eternal impact in the lives of those with whom we come into contact.