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2. ETHNO-RELIGIOUS TENSIONS IN THE ROMAN CHURCH

by Ong Kok Bin

The church in Rome at the time of Paul’s writing of the epistle was composed of Jews and Gentiles, most probably with Gentiles in the majority. James C. Walters in his helpful work, Ethnic Issues in Paul’s Letter to the Romans (1993), has constructed a model on the ethno-religious development of the Roman church, viz:

49 C.E.	55-58 C.E.	64 C.E.
CHRISTIANS ARE:	PAUL’S LETTER ARRIVES	CHRISTIANS ARE:
Synagogue based		No longer synagogue based; meeting in house-churches of their own
Predominantly Jews and Gentiles who live like Jews		Mostly Gentiles
Jewish in their socialization		Distinct from Jews in pronounced ways

The Claudian edict circa 49 C.E. driving out Jews from Rome may have a profound effect on the composition of the Roman church and consequently on its internal ethno-religious relationships. Prior to the edict, the church was likely to be almost uniformly Jewish (or, Jewish-Christian) in character and composition and centred around the synagogue. But with the departure of the Jews following the edict, the church underwent a ‘forced’ transformation: new converts were more likely to be Gentiles with non-Jewish influences and thus, more distinct in their Christian development and outlook. The meeting places shifted from the synagogues to the houses of individual believers (see, e.g., Rom. 16:5). By the time of Nero’s persecution (ca. 64 C.E.), the church and Christians were recognised as distinct and separate; and not as a sect within Judaism.

When the exiled Jewish Christians returned to Rome after the death of Claudius (54 C.E.), they returned to a church much different from the one they had left earlier. The present church was less Jewish in its faith praxis as well as in its composition. Needless to say, there was dissonance between the returning Jewish Christians and the resident Christians. Paul’s letter came in the midst of this dissonance.

The dissonance is strictly and in reality not a racial one, though it pits Gentiles against Jews. Rather it is a conflict along social and religious lines, with both sides trying to assert their religious superiority and perceived rights within the Christian faith.

In all probability, the returning Jewish Christians were trying to re-assert their religious Jewishness on what was now a dominant Gentile church. They could have perceived themselves as having inalienable rights on the control of the church, both as founding leaders of the church and as the special chosen people of God. Thus, they boasted about their religious superiority and priority as ones who had the law, the covenant relationship with God marked by their circumcision, the temple worship and a grand history of patriarchs going all the way to Abraham and the promises that God gave to them through these patriarchs (see 2:17ff.; 3:1-2; 9:1-5).

The Gentiles, in return, (yet, it could be them who instigated the conflict) hit back by arguing that the Jews, who, because of their history of disobedience and rebellion against God, had lost the confidence of God and therefore their privileged position. It was them, the Gentiles, who now had the favour of God. They sneered at the Jews’ slavery to the dictates of their dietary laws, of what was clean and unclean; and to their fetish observances of holy days. They considered this display of religiosity as being ‘weak’. At the same time, they thought of themselves as being ‘strong’ (see chps. 9-11; and 14-15).

Paul, in his effort to mediate and bring about peace between the two warring parties, tears through the arguments of both sides. None, be it the Jew with the law, or the Gentile without the law, can claim any credit of righteousness up to and until their faith in Jesus Christ. ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (3:23). Jew and Gentile alike are both ‘under sin’ (3:9) and both need the justification that comes through faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, which is, his blood (3:25). Gentiles, though now under God’s favour of grace, are only the ‘grafted branches’ on the ‘olive root’ and it must be recognised that the root supports the branches and not the other way round. In giving this metaphor, Paul emphasises that the ‘olive root’ is Israel and Gentiles cannot be overly arrogant. Otherwise, God will do to the Gentiles what he has done to the Jews; i.e., cut them off (11:11-24). And if the Gentiles think that they are ‘strong’, then they ‘ought to bear with the failings of the weak’ (15:1). In this manner, ‘the spirit of unity’ (15:5) will flourish among the Romans as they ‘accept one another’ (15:7) as truly who they are: the community of God’s people.

Archive
The Romans Series
1. Being the Community of God’s People
2. Ethno-Religious Tensions
3. The Power and the Wrath of God
4. Justification by Faith
5. Justification Brings Blessings
6. While We Were Still Sinners
7. Died to Sin
8. Slaves to Righteousness
9. The Difference of the Spirit
10. The Israel Problem
11. The Gentile Problem
12. Community Living
13. Community Unity
14. Community Ethics
15. Loving the Enemy Ethic
16. Extra-Community Ethics
17. The Weak and the Strong
18. Community Formation
19. Paul, the Minister
20. Gems in Greetings

Articles on The Da Vinci Code, Gnosticism and
the Gospel of Judas
1. The Da Vinci Code: A Christian Response
2. The Nag Hammadi Documents and Gnosticism
3. The Gospel of Judas
4. The Gospel of Judas - A Retake
5. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 1)
6. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 2)
7. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 3)
8. Canonicity and the Gospel of Judas

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