The four books of the New Testament known as the Letters
to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians, are allowed by
practically all critics, including some of the most
"destructive," to be genuine productions of the Apostle Paul.
Opinions vary as to the order of their composition. The latest
research tends to put 'Galatians' first, and 'Romans' last, in
the period between 53 and 58 A. D. The date generally assigned to
the Roman Letter is 58 A.D., but recently Harnack, McGiffert,
Clemen and others have shown cause for putting it some four years
earlier. The chronology of the period is necessarily very
complicated. It must suffice, therefore, to regard this Letter as
having been written, at either of these dates, from Corinth,
where Paul was staying in the course of his third missionary
tour. He was hoping to go to Rome, by way of Jerusalem, and then
proceed to Spain (15:24; Ac 24:21).
The object of this Letter was to prepare the Christians
in Rome for his visit, and make a clear statement of the new
doctrines which he taught. It is probable that the crisis in
Galatia, to which the Letter sent thither bears witness, had
driven the Apostle's thoughts in the direction of the subject of
Justification, and he was apparently much troubled by the
persistence of Jewish unbelief. Hence the present Letter has been
well termed "the Gospel according to Paul."
We know really nothing about the Christians then in Rome
beyond what we find here. It is, however, fairly certain that
reports concerning the Saviour would be taken to that city by
proselytes, both before and after the events described in Acts 2,
and we know that there was a large Jewish population there
amongst whom the seed would be sown. Some critics have thought
"that a note addressed to Ephesus lies embedded in the 16th
chapter," because, they say, it is "inconceivable that Paul could
have intimately known so many individuals in a Church like that
in Rome to which he was personally a stranger." But this is by no
means demonstrated, nor is there evidence that the Church there
was founded by any other Apostle.