Integrity.— There has been much discus sion as to whether we now have the Epistle to the Romans in the form in which it was sent to them by the Apostle, or whether it now con tains material which has been added to its orig inal form. This question relates mainly to the last two chapters. It is known that Mercian in the 2d century rejected these chapters, and there seems to be some evidence that such a shorter edition was in circulation in other cir cles of Christians. The doxology which in the Greek Textus Receptus, the Vulgate and the English translations stands at the end of the present Epistle (xvi, 25-27), is found in a con siderable number of manuscripts, some ver sions and the works of several Fathers at the end of chapter xiv, while in a very few au thorities it stands in both places. Also a sys tem of notation for reading in church seems to have ignored all which comes after the end of the fourteenth chapter except the doxology. These facts may, however, be explained on either of two hypotheses, either that the section from xv, 1, to xvi, 24, was passed over in select ing Scripture readings for public use, and that this influenced copyists to drop it out, or that a shortened form of the Epistle was circulated for a time, possibly with Paul's own authority, as a sort of treatise or circular letter. The latter hypothesis would also furnish an expla nation of the omission in two manuscripts of the words gin Rome" (i, 7, 15). A strong argument in addition to the overwhelming ex ternal evidence in favor of the text as it stands is the unity of the section xv, 1-13 with chapter sly, which seems to show decisively that this was part of the original letter, and conse quently that it could not have ended with xiv, 23. It is also held by some critics that the many salutations of xvi, 1-16, could not have been intended for the Christians in a city which Paul had never visited, and, therefore, that a letter of recommendation for Phoebe addressed to some other church, most probably Ephesus, has in transmission become combined with the letter to the Romans. There is, how ever, no real impossibility in the view that those whom Paul saluted may have been resid ing in Rome at the time. Some are known to have had a connection with Rome, as Prisca and Aquila, who may well be presumed to have returned from. Ephesus to their old home as soon as practicable; many of the names fit quite as well in Rome as in Ephesus, especially the mention of the households of Narcissus and Aristobulus; and it has also been noted that the salutations ate always more numerous in letters to churches where Paul had not worked than where he had, and he might well have desired to strengthen his hold in Rome by every pos sible appeal. Finally, it has been doubted that the closing doxololgy (xvi, 25-27), could have been penned- by the Apostle, but against its gen uineness can be urged only subjective impres sions, the weight of which is fully neutralized by the equally trustworthy feeling of a much greater number of critics who find the doxology to be alike in sentiment and in expression clearly Pauline. On the whole, the conserva tive position, that we have the letter in the form in which Paul wrote it, has been by no means overthrown and is held by the majority of scholars with as much confidence as ever.
Occasion and Purpose.— It has sometimes been said that this Epistle is really a• treatise rather than a letter, that Paul deliberately set about giving a systematic exposition of his the ology. But it is to be noted that the exposition is far from being a complete statement of Paul's doctrinal views, while on the other hand there is much in the book which is truly episto lary in character, so that this view cannot sat isfy. Others have held that it was purely a controversial and polemic document, an en deavor to counteract the work of Judaizers at Rome as he had met them elsewhere. But while the arguments used are doubtless those which Paul had often used in controversy with his antagonists, yet the controversial note is much subdued, as will be seen if Romans is compared with Galatians, and there are no tokens that the Judaizers had already begun work at Rome, at least so far as Paul knew, though it may be that the v4or and sternness of the warning in xvi, 17-M, is due to news that the danger was less remote than he had hoped. The real purpose of the letter is best seen in connection with its occasion. Paul,
who since leaving Antioch had worked only among churches of his own founding and had made them in turn in some sense a basis for his further work, now hopes to go to Rome where there are already numerous Christians, and after working there for a time to go on to Spain in further missionary endeavor. It is important, in order that his work among them may be successful, that they should have a clear idea of the way in which he presented his (Gospel.' Accordingly he makes a some what full and systematic statement of the truths which he chiefly presented in his preach ing, man's sin and God's grace of salvation through Christ. Necessarily reviewing to a great extent the various arguments used to con troversy with the Judaizers, he makes a clear and well-reasoned statement in a form as con ciliatory as possible, in order that so far as it could be secured in this way he might find a welcome and help in his work when he reached Rome.
Contents.— The epistle naturally falls into four main divisions, the first two of which are doctrinal, the third relates to the problem of the unbelief of Paul's own nation, and the fourth is ethical. After an epistolary address, expanded beyond parallel (i, 1-7), and some pleasant words about his desire to visit the Roman Christians (i, 8-15), he states in i, 16, 17 the theme with which fie is to deal, viz., that the Gospel is the divine power to save. The truths in regard to this salvation he develops first in relation to forgiveness of sin (i, 18-v, 21), and then in relation to the spiritual consequences of this salvation as shown in the life of faith and goodness (vi, 1 viii, 39). It may be remarked that the signifi cance and importance of the truths brought out in this section have been too much ignored both by friends and opponents of Paul's doc trine, and that men have too much failed to see that to him salvation was not a mere matter of release from the penalties of sin, but was also an inward and spiritual fact, that the right character and life by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is an essential part of the salvation which he preached. In chapters ix-xi the author deals with the problem how it was that the Jews as a nation did not accept Christianity. The concluding section (xii, 1-xvi, 27) is devoted to injunctions to live rightly in all the relations in which the Christian binds himself. The whole book is dominated by an unparalleled note of catho licity and universality. All men are sinners and need a Saviour: salvation through Christ is for all men: even the unbelief of the Jews was in order that God might have mercy on all.
Value.— The epistle to the Romans has proved itself one of the greatest ((books of power* which the world has ever seen. It is a masterful, though of course unconscious, revelation of what the great Apostle himself was. As Julicher says: In chaps. i-iv we have the Rabbinical schoolman, in viii and xi the inspired poet, in xiii and xiv the sober, careful director of conduct and in ix the bold thinker who follows out to its logical conclusion the argument which makes all things begin and end in God. The 'Romans would not be able to disregard such a man or to lock their hearts against him, unless they had previously deter mined to make no terms with him whatever.* The influence of the thought it contains has been immeasurably vast and farreaching. While it was somewhat overlooked for centuries, its influence on the spiritual life of Protestantism due to its rediscovery by Luther has been in calculable and this influence in varying meas sure continues to this day among the most pro found Christian thinkers. Luther styled it *the chief book of the New Testament and the purest Gospel.* Godet said: °M. de Pres sense has called the great dogmatic works of the Middle Ages 'the cathedrals of The Epistle to the Romans is the cathedral of the Christian faith,* and the philosopher Cole ridge called it *the profoundest book in exist ence.* Denney, Jas.,' tary on Romans> (Expositor's Greek Testa ment, 1897) ; Lake, K., The Earlier Epistles of Paul) (1911) ; Moffatt, James, (Introduction to the Literature of the New (1911) ; Sanday, Win., and Headlam, A. C., tary on the Epistle to the Romans> (Inter national Critical Commentary, 1895) ; Zahn, Theodor, to the New (Eng. trans., Vol. I, 1909).