Romans 15

NOTES AND Romans 15:14 to Romans 16:27 Where Did Romans Originally End? Ancient Greek handwritten copies of this letter, still in exis­tence, do not agree about the arrangement of the doxology now found at the very end. That is, of course, the best place for it; but the majority of old copies have it at the end of chapter 14. One has it after 15, some have it twice— once after 14, once after 16— and a few leave it out entirely. Add to this the fact that the earliest “table of contents” we have (in Latin) of Paul’s letters, omits chapters 15 and 16 entirely. All this has led most scholars to agree that this Letter to the Romans circulated in two or three editions, as we would say; one ended with chapter 14, one with 16, and (perhaps) one with 15. Without going into the discus­sion, it seems likely that Paul wrote the letter as we have it, and that someone (perhaps Paul himself?) who wanted to circulate the letter among other churches, cut off these last two chapters because they were personal to the Romans.

We have mentioned this not because it is very important in itself either way, but to illustrate a kind of problem which has no absolutely certain answer and yet does not affect anything funda­mental. There are many variations in the thousands of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, and it is seldom possible to say with one hundred per cent certainty, for half a page together, what the original copy contained. And yet in all these variant readings, as they are technically called, there are no differences so great as to affect a single Christian doctrine in a serious way.

Romans 15:14-33

Hopes, Prayers, and Realities (15:14-33) Paul has hardly been personal since chapter 1, but now the man himself speaks some final words about himself, his plans, and the Roman Christians. Again we reach a section which mostly speaks for itself, without needing a commentary. Paul emphasizes his place as “minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles” as if the Roman church were all Gentile. He speaks of his ambition to be a mis­sionary in the pioneering sense, preaching to people who never heard so much as the name of Christ. His plan for his next months and years sounded far more daring— and was— than a similar travel plan would sound today. Remember he was in Corinth when he wrote.

His next main destination was Jerusalem, then Rome, then Spain. Jerusalem and Rome of course were not virgin territory for Christianity or for Paul. But he had special reasons for visiting each: Jerusalem first, because for some time Paul had been gathering an offering of money from the churches of Asia, to send to the now poor and hungry Christians in the mother-city of Judea. It was typical of Paul to wish to go to Jerusalem per­sonally with this gift. We read more about it in Second Corin­thians. The point here is that Paul was so intent on taking this gift personally that he entirely overlooked the grave danger of such a trip.

It was as much as his life was worth to go to Jerusa­lem; his enemies there were more numerous, more bitter than any­where else.

Then he was going to Rome, not to “evangelize” the city— others were doing that— but to be “refreshed in your company” (15:32). Perhaps he was intending to make Rome the base of his future operations. Paul was not a rich man. To travel and work as far away as Spain would cost money, and Paul had no mission­ary society to supply what he needed. He may have hoped that Roman Christians would be that society, at least for his work. He had made it plain enough in this letter that the whole Church should be missionary.

A church that is not missionary-minded is hardly a true church. But particular projects need particular sponsors, and Paul evidently was “cultivating” the interest of Ro­man Christians in the far horizons. Spain, though about as far away as a man could travel in the Roman Empire, was still a vig­orous part of the Empire. Some of the most distinguished persons in Roman life at that time were from Spain.

Jerusalem— Rome–Spain. As travel was then, it was like say­ing, “Moscow— Johannesburg— Spitzbergen.” Only a wide-hori­zoned man, and a brave one, could have had such a hope.