New Testament Letters Part 2

Brief Recap

Introduced 4 types of context that need to be kept in mind as we read NT letters

Biblical Narrative Context

Historical/Cultural Context

Situational Context

Literary Context

Narrative Context

Where do the New Testament letters fit within the narrative context of the larger biblical story? Can a better understanding of that context help us in ‘translating’ their message into our own day?

Let’s look at the summary of the biblical story up to this point:

• Creation and Image of God

• Rebellion, the fallout, and Babylon

• God’s mission through Israel

• Israel’s exile and the hope for God’s kingdom

• Jesus: the true royal-priestly image and the Kingdom for Israel

• Jesus’ kingdom for the nations through the apostles

• Consummation of the kingdom in new creation

Within the storyline of the Hebrew Bible, three important themes are developed that set the context for the international spread of the Jesus movement and the movement of the letters.

1. The Image of God

2. The Family of Abraham

3. The Messiah

Historical/Cultural Context

What is happening in world history and in specific areas to which the letters are being written? These will likely have significant impact on the assumptions made, or what is taken for granted in the writing of the author. Without understanding the culture to which a letter goes we can’t understand how to translate it to today’s culture.

Greco-Roman culture

Honor-shame

Patriarchy

Context particular to the city (Revelation is a masterclass on this)

Situational Context

This is the situation that the letter addresses. Sometimes it is one broad or specific issue that is being addressed (Romans or Philemon) or it could be a bunch of things, a hodgepodge of questions or concerns being addressed (1 Corinthians).

Problems with figuring out situational context?

We’re reading someone else’s mail

We don’t have the situation clearly spelled out in a corresponding letter

we only have half of the information (maybe even less!)

We are invited to develop skills to read the letters that help fill in the gaps.

Skill 1: Read Letters as a Whole The baseline skill in reading the epistles is to read them as a unified whole. While reading, look for any explicit statements about the purpose of the letter or the situation that motivated the author to write the letter.

Skill 2: Mirror Reading An important contribution to this discussion was by two scholars John Barclay and Nijay Gupta, who honed a method called “mirror reading” for using information in the New Testament letters to reconstruct the situation out of and into which the apostle is speaking. The metaphor goes like this: we have only the reflection, not the actual situation that the reflection represents. We only get one angle on the objects in the mirror, so we need to “gap fill.”

On your handout you have 5 things to pay attention to in mirror reading.

We’re going to work through all of the contextual concerns and use these to pay attention to as we search for the situational context as we look at the book of Romans.

Applying Narrative, Cultural, and Situational Context to Romans

Let’s look at an example of how the first three contexts work in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Biblical Narrative Context (Each table takes a passage to determine the biblical narrative context)

Romans 1:2-6 Paul is an emissary of the risen Jesus, who has been exalted as the Messiah of Israel and the Lord of the nations. So his job is to summon the nations to belief in and loyalty to Jesus.

Romans 1:2–6 ESV

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:1-39: Followers of Jesus are the new temple indwelt by the Spirit of the Messiah who marks us as adopted children of God. As such, we inhabit the current age as those who groan along with creation, suffering death and decay, but not overcome by it. Rather, we anticipate the liberation of creation when we are resurrected to become the cosmic rulers of the new creation alongside the Messiah.

Romans 8:1–39 (ESV)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 15:14-21 : Paul is enacting the script from the Torah and Prophets, especially Isaiah, to announce Yahweh’s rule to the nations and bring in the nations as an offering.

Romans 15:14–21 ESV

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

2. Cultural Context

Rome is the capital city of the whole empire, and as such is saturated with royal-religious propaganda about the superiority of Rome and the divine authority of the emperor.

Jewish resistance against Rome is growing by the mid-50s A.D., we are within 20yrs of the Jewish war against Rome that will result in Jerusalem’s destruction. The anti-Jewish sentiments in Rome would have been noticeable and difficult.

The expulsion of the Jews in Rome and subsequent return was also mentioned by a Roman historian Orosius: “Suetonius [an earlier Roman historian] said, ‘Claudius expelled from Rome the Jews constantly making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus.’ It cannot be determined whether he ordered only the Jews agitating against Christ to be restrained and suppressed, or whether he also wanted to expel Christians as being men of a related faith.” OROSIUS, HIST. 7:6, 15–16

3. Situational Context

Chapter 16 gives us an enormous amount of insight into the demographic realities of the churches in Rome. Take note of all the names.

1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; 2 that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the holy ones, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

4 who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;

5 also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits to Christ from Asia.

6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.

7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.

10 Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.

11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, a choice one in the Lord, also his mother and mine.

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them.

15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. 19 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

21 Timothy my fellow worker greets you, also Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.

24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Phoebe: Letter Bearer Who is Phoebe?

Abraham Malherbe notes “the forthrightness of Paul’s commendation [of Phoebe] is striking. It has been frequently noted that this formula of recommendation implies that Phoebe was in fact the bearer of the letter to the Romans. The likelihood of this assertion is sustained and illustrated by Pseudo-Demetrius’s example of a typical letter of recommendation:

“The one who is conveying this letter to you, has been tested by us and is loved on account of his trustworthiness. You will do well if you deem him worthy of approval both for my sake and his, and indeed for your own. For you will not be sorry if you entrust to him, in any manner you wish, either confidential words or matters. Indeed, you will also praise him to others when you notice how useful he can be in everything.” ABRAHAM MALHERBE, ANCIENT EPISTOLARY THEORISTS, 30-31

House Churches

From the text, we can gather there were a half dozen house churches of 20-30 people each in Rome. This means there were a couple hundred Christians in Rome, all meeting in different household groups. Paul names a few.

• Priscilla and Aquilas (16:5, “of their house”)

• Aristobulus (16:10 “those who are of…”)

• Narcissus (16:11, “those who are of…”)

• Asyncritus and company (16:14, “and those with them”)

• Philologus, Julia (16:15, “and those with them”)

Ethnic Diversity

We can also derive that there were diverse ethnic and socio-economic groups through the use of Jewish, Latin, and Greek names.

• Jewish names: Mary, Andronicus, Junia, Aquila, Prisca, Herodian, Rufus and his mother

• Latin names: Ampliatus, Julia, Urbanus

• Greek names: the rest

Divisions and Schism

From 16:17, we can gather there were divisions and schism within the Church. What’s behind this? This can be traced back to Claudius’ expulsion of Jews and Jewish-Christians from Rome in 49 A.D. This is mentioned in Acts 18: After these things [Paul] left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. ACTS 18:1–3.

Robert Jewett brings clarity to why this historical fact brought about division within the Roman church: “There is also solid evidence that conflicts within Rome’s synagogues had repeatedly come to the attention of the Roman authorities, in 41 and 49 c.e. … related to Christian agitation… that led to the expulsion of Jewish and Jewish Christian leaders… With the banning of Jewish and Jewish Christian leaders in 49, a dramatic development of house and tenement churches ensued. This explains why the majority of converts were Gentiles by the time of Paul’s letter, less than a decade after these events. It explains how Paul could have become acquainted with so many Roman church leaders mentioned in chap. 16, and also why he urges that they be greeted and welcomed by all of the Roman congregations. After the Edict of Claudius was no longer enforced following the emperor’s death in 54, the banned leaders apparently began moving back to Rome, but they soon found that they were no longer welcome as leaders in the congregations that had found new meeting places after 49.

Powerful and Non-Powerful

If we take a step back to chapters 14-15, we’ll notice Paul reference two types of people:

Now we who are powerful (dunatos) ought to bear the weaknesses of those without power (adunatos) and not just please ourselves… Therefore welcome one another, just as the Messiah welcomed you to the glory of God. ROMANS 15:1, 7

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to offer judgment the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. ROMANS 14:1-5.

Scot McKnight provides more details on strong/weak dynamic found in Romans: “The ‘weak’ are Jewish believers who are in the stream of God’s elect people, who know and practice the Torah, and still probably attend synagogue, but who sit in judgment on gentiles, especially the ‘strong’ in the Christian community of Rome, even though they have no status or power… The ‘strong’ are predominantly gentiles who believe in Jesus as Messiah, who do not observe Torah as God’s will for them, and who have condescending and despising attitudes towards Jews and especially to Jewish believers in Rome, over whom they have superior high social status in Rome… The tension between these is not just a matter of theological differences… “powerful” and “non-powerful” from Romans 15:1 are status terms in the Roman world.”

With this in mind, Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt make a profound observation in regards to Paul’s greeting in Romans 16: “Notice that Paul does not directly greet his friends and coworkers and relatives in Rome. He has the dominantly Gentile audience do it for him as part of his rhetorical strategy to help effect some sort of reconciliation or unity among the Christians in Rome before he arrives there. In particular, he wants the marginalized Jewish Christians, many of them newly back in Rome from exile, to be embraced. It is not at all an accident that Paul again and again in this passage uses the verb aspazomai (translated “greet”). This verb does not merely mean “greet” in some perfunctory way. It literally means to wrap one’s arms around and embrace someone, and when coupled with the command to offer the holy kiss as well (v. 16), it amounts to a command to treat those named as family, to welcome them into one’s own home and circle. Paul is going all out to create a new social situation in Rome, overcoming the obstacles to unity and concord dealt with in chs. 14–15.

Gift to Jerusalem

In Chapter 15, Paul talks about an offering he is bringing to the suffering church in Jerusalem. In light of the divisions in the Roman church, Paul is creating a common, unifying project through the gift to the Jerusalem Christians.

Ruling Authorities

Chapter 13 contains the often quoted verse in relationship to ruling authorities: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ROMANS 13:1-2.

Here are some situational context points for you to consider as you interpret this passage today:

• Vengeance, being subject to authorities, and paying taxes would be especially relevant for Jewish Christians who don’t recognize the Roman emperor as their true king.

• Claudius’ expulsion in the past, Nero’s tax burdens and Christian scapegoating in the present.

• Jewish resistance to Roman occupation was already boiling in Judea.

“To read Romans well, we must read it as a pastoral, ecclesial theology for a specific church in a specific time. To be sure, Romans fares well in other contexts, but until we profile [its original context]...we won’t know what to make of it for those other contexts. Romans, like no other book in the entire Bible...is more relevant for the churches of the United States than any book of Bible. The message is about a lived theology of Christoformity, manifested in peace among siblings, all siblings, not just siblings like myself. The message shouts to the American church that its classism, its racism, its sexism, and its materialism are just like the “powerful’s” social status claims and the ‘non-powerful’s’ boundaried behaviors. These things divide us, and they have conquered us. The message of Romans is that the weak and the strong of our day...must surrender their claims to privilege and hand them over to transformation by Christ.”

By paying attention to the situational clues that Paul has left us, we are able to better understand the theology behind the letter. While Romans is the most theologically oriented letter that we have, it is theological in a pastoral way, not a systematic way. All the theology that he expounds in the letter has to do with his pastoral purpose in the letter, just as it does for all of his letters. If you can find out the situational context, the theology is informed by the situation. The theology is Paul’s way of addressing the situation at hand.