ROMANS,
EPISTLE
TO
THE
love,
which
alone
fulfils
the
Law;
to
put
off
all
sloth
and
vice,
since
the
day
is
at
hand
(ch.
13)
.
The
duties
of
strong
and
weak
towards
each
other
will
call
for
brotherly
love.
We
must
not
surrender
the
principle
of
individual
responsi-bility.
Each
standeth
and
f
alleth
to
the
Lord.
We
have
no
right
to
judge,
and
we
must
not
force
our
practices
on
our
fellows.
On
the
other
hand,
we
must
not
push
our
in-dividual
liberty
so
far
as
to
offend
our
brothera.
Let
us
give
up
things
we
feel
to
be
righjt,
if
we
cause
strife
and
doubt
oy
asserting
our
liberty.
The
strong
must
bear
the
infirmities
of
the
weak.
Even
Christ
pleased
not
Himself.
May
we
find
our
joy
and
peace
in
following
HimI
(14-16'^).
St.
Paul
then
concludes
by
explaining
why
he
was
so
bold
as
to
write
to
them
at
all,
and
by
unfolding
his
plans
and
hopes
for
the
future
(15^=*-").
The
last
chapter
contains
a
recommendation
of
Phoebe
who
brings
the
letter,
and
a
number
of
detailed
salutations
to
individual
members
of
the
Church,
and
to
some
house-churches.
A
brief
warning
against
teachers
who
cause
division,
greetings
from
St,
Paul's
companions,
and
an
elaborate
doxology
bring
the
letter
to
a
close
(ch.
16).
The
theology
and
leading
ideas
of
the
letter
cannot
be
treated
here.
In
a
sense,
however,
the
importance
of
Romans
lies
rather
in
Us
religious
power
than
in
its
theological
ideas.
The
letter
is
bound
together
by
St.
Paul's
central
experience
of
the
mercy
of
God.
In
God's
grace
he
has
found
the
strength
which
can
arrest
the
decay
of
a
sinful,
careless
world.
In
God's
grace
he
has
found
also
the
secret
of
overcoming
tor
the
man
who
is
conscious
of
the
awfulness
of
sin,
and
of
his
own
inability
to
save
his
life
from
destruction.
The
problem
of
the
rejection
of
the
Jews
is
really
raised,
not
so
much
by
their
previous
privileges
as
by
God's
present
mercy.
St.
Paul
cannot
be
satisfied
till
he
has
grasped
the
love
of
God,
which
he
feels
must
be
at
the
heart
of
the
mystery.
The
reality
and
nearness
of
God's
mercy
determine
the
Christian
character
and
render
it
possible.
It
is
note-worthy
that,
though
St.
Paul
seldom
refers
to
the
sayings
of
Jesus,
he
arrives
at
the
mind
of
Christ
through
the
gospel
of
the
grace
of
God.
A
comparison
of
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount
with
Ro
12-14
makes
the
antithesis,
'Jesus
or
Paul,'
appear
ridiculous.
Above
all,
the
glowing
earnestness
with
which
in
chs.
4-8
he
seeks
to
share
with
the
Roman
Christians
—
(note
the
use
of
'
we
'
throughout
that
section)
—
the
highest
and
holiest
inspirations
he
has
learnt
from
Christ,
reveals
a
heart
in
which
the
love
of
God
is
shed
abroad.
As
Deissmann
suggests,
we
do
not
recognize
the
special
characteristic
of
St.
Paul
if
we
regard
him
as
first
and
foremost
the
theo-logian
of
primitive
Christianity.
Romans
is
the
passionate
outpouring
of
one
who
has
come
Into
living
touch
with
his
heavenly
Father.
3
.
Some
textual
points
:
integrity
and
genuineness
.
—
The
omission
in
manuscript
G
of
the
words
en
RBmi
in
1'-
's
is
an
interesting
indication
of
the
probability
that
a
shortened
edition
of
Romans,
with
the
local
references
suppressed,
may
have
been
circulated
in
quite
early
times.
The
letter
to
the
Ephesians
seems
to
have
been
treated
in
the
same
way.
This
shorter
edition
may
have
concluded
at
l^,
where
the
final
doxology
(16»-")
is
placed
in
several
MSS
(ALP,
etc.).
But
theshif
ting
position
of
this
doxology
in
our
authorities
perhaps
indicates
that
it
is
not
part
of
the
original
letter
at
all
(see
Denney,
in
the
EGT).
But
there
is
further
evidence
to
show
that
some
early
editions
of
the
letter
omitted
chs.
15
and
16.
Marcion
apparently
omitted
these
chapters.
Tertullian,
Ireneeus,
and
Cyprian
do
not
quote
them.
There
is
also
some
internal
evidence
for
thinking
that
ch.
16
at
least
may
be
part
of
a
letter
to
Ephesus.
The
reference
to
Epaenetus
in
16«
would
be
more
natural
in
a
letter
to
Ephesus
than
in
a
letter
to
Rome.
In
view
of
Ac
18^
it
is
diflScult
to
suppose
that
Aquila
and
Priscilla
had
returned
from
Ephesus
to
Rome.
Moreover,
it
is
not
likely
that
St.
Paul
would
have
so
many
acquaintances
in
a
church
he
had
not
visited.
On
the
other
hand,
none
of
these
considerations
affects
or
explains
ch.
15,
and
the
two
chapters
cannot
be
separated
very
easily.
Further,
Sanday
and
Headlam
have
collected
an
imposing
array
of
evidence
to
prove
the
ROME
presence
at
Rome
of
persons
with
such
names
as
are
mentioned
in
ch.
16
('Romans'
in
ICC
xxxiv
f.).
The
question
must
stlil
be
regarded
as
open.
But
while
there
is
some
probability
that
ch.
16
is
part
of
a
distinct
letter,
the
theories
of
dismemberment,
or
rather
the
proofs
of
the
composite
character
of
Romans
advanced
by
some
Dutch
scholars,
cannot
be
considered
convincing.
The
views
of
the
late
Prot^
W.
C.
van
Manen
have
received
perhaps
undue
attention,
owing
to
the
fact
that
the
art.
on
'Romans'
in
the
EBi
is
from
his
pen.
His
criticism
was
certainly
arbitrary,
and
his
premises
frequently
inaccurate.
Thus
he
quotes
with
approval
Evanson's
statement
that
there
is
no
reference
in
Acts
to
any
project
of
St.
Paul's
to
visit
Rome
—
a
statement
made
in
direct
contradiction
of
Ac
IQ^'
(.EBi,
vol.
iv.
col.
4137).
The
year
a.d.
120
is
regarded
as
the
probable
date
of
Romans,
in
face
of
the
external
evidence
of
1
Clement
(i6.
col.
4143).
The
general
argument
against
the
genuineness
of
Romans,
which
weighs
most
with
van
Manen,
lies
in
the
fact
that
'
it
has
learned
to
break
with
Judaism,
and
to
regard
the
stand-point
of
the
law
as
once
for
all
past
and
done
with.'
This
is
'a
remarkable
forward
step,
a
rich
and
far-
reaching
reform
of
the
most
ancient
type
of
Christianity;
now,
a
man
does
not
become
at
one
and
the
same
moment
the
adherent
of
a
new
religion
and
its
great
reformer'
(i6.
col.
4138).
Of
this
disproof
of
Pauline
authorship
it
is
quite
sufficient
to
say
with
Prof.
Schmiedel,
'
Perhaps
St.
Paul
was
not
an
ordinary
man.'
Indeed,
Prof.
Schmiedel's
article
on
'Galatians'
(i6.
vol.
ii.
col.
1620f.)
is
a
final
refutation
of
the
Dutch
school
represented
by
van
Manen.
They
have
advanced
as
yet
no
solid
reason
for
doubting
the
genuineness
of
Romans.
H.
G.
Wood.
ROME.
—
The
beginnings
of
Rome
are
shrouded
in
obscurity.
The
city
was
situated
on
the
left
bank
of
the
Tiber,
about
18
miles
from
its
mouth.
The
original
Rome
was
built
on
one
hill
only,
the
Palatine,
but
the
neighbouring
hills
were
successively
included,
and
about
the
middleof
the
sixth
century
b.c,
according
to
tradition,
a
wall
was
built
to
enclose
the
enlarged
city.
The
whole
circuit
of
this
wall
was
about
5
miles,
and
it
was
pierced
by
nineteen
gates.
Within
these
was
a
large
area
of
vacant
spaces,
which
were
gradually
built
on
later,
and
at
the
beginning
of
the
Empire
(roughly
middle
of
1st
cent.
B.C.)
not
only
was
the
city
congested
with
buildings,
but
large
areas
without
the
wall
were
also
covered
with
houses.
The
Roman
Forum,
an
open
space
measuring
over
300
ft.
in
length,
and
about
160
ft.
in
breadth,
was
the
centre
of
political,
legal,
and
commercial
life.
At
one
end
was
the
rostra
or
platform,
from
which
speeches
were
delivered
to
the
public;
at
the
other
end
were
shops.
It
was
flanked
by
the
senate-house
and
law-courts.
On
the
top
of
the
Capitoline
Hill
was
the
Capitolium,
or
great
temple
dedicated
to
Jupiter,
Juno,
and
Minerva,
and
on
the
Palatine
Hill
the
principal
residence
of
the
Emperor,
and
the
Temple
of
Apollo,
containing
the
public
libraries,
Greek
and
Latin.
In
the
Imperial
period
four
additional
fora
were
built,
devoted
entirely
to
legal,
literary,
and
religious
purposes
—
the
Forum
lulium
begun
by
Julius
Caesar,
the
Forum
Augustum
built
by
Augustus,
the
Forum
Transitarium
completed
by
Nerva,
and
the
Forum
Traiani
built
by
Trajan
—
the
most
splendid
work
of
Imperial
times.
Various
estimates
of
the
population
of
Rome
in
the
time
of
Christ
have
been
given:
2,000,000
seems
not
unlikely.
All
nationalities
in
the
Empire
were
represented
—
among
them
many
Jews,
who
were
expelled
by
Claudius
in
a.d.
SO,
but
returned
at
his
death
four
years
later.
The
slave
population
was
very
large.
The
Romans
began
as
one
of
the
members
of
the
Latin
league,
of
which,
having
become
presidents,
they
eventually
became
masters.
After
conquering
Latium
they
were
inevitably
brought
into
conflict
with
the
other
