# Romans 1:13 Gentile church?



## baron (Jan 18, 2012)

Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

Was the letter to the Romans written to a gentile church? Since there is no Wikipedia I can not find the info. I'm looking for.

Paul wrote Romans while at Cornith and Claudius expiled the Jews before 54 AD and Romans was written between 56-57 AD.


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## Mathetes (Jan 18, 2012)

From Doug Moo's commentary:



> As we have seen, Christianity in Rome began among Jews. And, although the expulsion under Claudius eliminated the Jewish element in the church for a time, we can be certain that by the date of Romans at least some Jewish Christians (like Priscilla and Aquila) would have returned. We have no direct knowledge of the origins of Gentile Christianity in Rome; but, if the pattern of the Pauline mission was followed, we can surmise that "God fearers," Gentiles who were interested in Judaism and attended synagogue without becoming Jews, were the first to be attracted to the new faith. Certainly by the date of Romans Gentiles made up a significant portion of the church in Rome (cf. 11:13 - 32 and 15:7 - 12). We may, then, be fairly certain that when Paul wrote Romans the Christian community in Rome was made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. This does not necessarily mean, however, that Paul had both groups in mind as he wrote his letter. It is to the evidence of the letter that we must turn to determine the audience.
> 
> Unfortunately, the letter appears to send out mixed signals on this issue. On the one hand, there is evidence to suggest that Paul had Jewish Christians in mind as he wrote: (1) he greets the Jewish-Christians Priscilla and Aquila and his "kinfolk" (syngenesis) Andronicus, Junia, and Herodion in chap. 16 (vv. 3, 7, 11); (2) he directly addresses "the Jew" in chap. 2 (cf. cf. v. 17); (3) he associates his readers closely with the Mosaic law (6:14: "you are no longer under the law"; 7:1: "I am speaking to those who know the law"; 7:4: "you have died to the law"); (4) he calls Abraham "our forefather according to the flesh" (4:1); and (5) he spends much of the letter on issues of special interest to the Jewish people: their sin and presumption of divine favor (2:1 - 3:8), the failure of their law (3:19 - 20, 27 - 31; 4:12 - 15; 5:13 - 14. 20; 6:14; 7; 8:2 - 4, 9:30 - 10:8), the significance of Abraham their "forefather" (chap. 4) and their place in the unfolding plan of God (chaps. 9 - 11)
> 
> ...



(Douglas J. Moo, "The Epistle to the Romans", 1996)


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## Contra_Mundum (Jan 19, 2012)

Like most of the churches in the Gentile world, the church almost certainly had a *mixture* of Gentiles and Jews.

The various demographics of different places, including historic shifts, and the Providences of different places all make the _initial_ makeup and trends _different from_ the look of those places in later moments, sometimes in a relatively short period of time. In many (if not most cases) Paul followed a very reasonable practice of appealing first to the Jewish population of a place (if there was one) to take from and build upon. Even at Philippi, Paul's first opening for the gospel came when he found some women, including Lydia who was already a God-fearer (Act.16:14), that is, someone whom God had already influenced by the Jewish faith to some degree. The synagogue provided people who were already OT saints, or prepped for the gospel by OT ministry; and often ready-made elders, for the church's early development. So, the church in most places began as a Jewish-majority site.

Rome was the city at the hub of the Empire. It had a church there, in the form of Christians and some organization before the first Apostle even arrived (probably Paul). But by the time he arrived, there had already been some "interesting" activity, to say the least.

The church in the earliest phases was almost certainly Jewish-dominant, with precious few Gentiles--much like the church in Judea and other Jewish-dominant territory. Why? Because in a real sense the infant church was "simply" another Jewish sect. Paul wasn't yet on the move--or at least not far beyond Cyprus, Phrygia, and Galatia--when the church gets a foothold in Rome, with the likes of Priscilla and Aquilla.

But as the secular historian notes, in a short time such a hubbub arose among the Jews (including public disturbances) over some dude named "Chrestus," that the current Emperor, Claudius, tosses the whole Jewish population out of Rome. This, Scripture notes (Act.18:2), is when Priscilla and Aquilla end up in Corinth, in time to meet Paul, lately arrived.

So, the Jewish population began to filter back to Rome once Claudius was dead, but the church didn't die out while they were gone. It went from Jewish-majority to Gentile-majority practically over night. And then, the Jewish segment of the population began to reenter life in Rome.

So, the Roman church to which Paul writes is probably Jewish-minority by severe attrition of one group (without time for much redevelopment) and growth of the other (and we know there were Jews back in the synagogue in Rome at the end of Acts). But, henceforth, the Roman church would almost certainly be Gentile-majority, and that for good. Because this was the trend all over the world. Jewish-population within Christianity was now a "permanent" minority, considered as a distinct "grouping" of people. And frankly, the longer time went on and certain families composed the church (and intermarried) for generations, the less a nationalistic identity for Jews would be made much of, or soon be remembered.

But at the time of writing the letter, the distinctions within the church would still be felt. And yet, the point is not to divide the Christians, but to unite them in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the whole and unified church.


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## baron (Jan 19, 2012)

Thank you both for your imput. You have answered my question for me.


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