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Universality In Paul's Letter To The Romans

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Paul’s spirituality is reflected in each of the seven uncontested letters. The themes of cruciformity, community, and universality are woven throughout his letters and they shape the messages and advice he gives to each city. The cruciform and communal aspects of Paul’s message are clearly seen in his letter to the Romans. Throughout Romans, Paul addresses what it means to live a cruciform life within Christ, as well as the importance of establishing and maintaining community among all believers. Romans is a unique letter that was written under different circumstances that most of the other uncontested letters. Unlike other letters, Paul never visited Romans and was not their ‘spiritual father’. The occasion behind why this letter is written …show more content…

Part of this strife came from differences in practices. There were believers, perceived to be mostly Jewish Christians, who would not eat certain foods and observed special days while there were other, mostly gentile, Christians who did not restrict themselves in the same manner. One way that Paul addressed this issue is to encourage acceptance and minimize the judgment of fellow believers. Paul says, “Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them,” (Romans 14:15). Another way that Paul attempts to relieve some tension is to use the analogy of an olive tree. The gentile believers have been grafted onto the tree that represents the Jewish believers. Some of the old branches have been broken off (Jews who don’t accept Jesus as the messiah), and this allows other branches to be grafted on, (the gentile believers), but just as the old branches were broken off, the new branches can also be broken off; just as the new branches were grafted on, so can the old branches be grafted back on. The purpose of this analogy was to remind the gentile believers that they shouldn’t feel superior to the Jewish believers because they felt enlightened, but should instead be grateful to be a part of the new community within Jesus (Romans 11). Paul describes how important it is to live in community together because the church is one body that only functions because of its many parts, “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another,” (Romans 12:4-5). Cruciformity and community combine in Romans as Paul urges the Roman believers to live a cruciform life, in order to live in better community together. An example of

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DA Carson is a very good speaker and his sermon was very enlightened. Carson suggests Paul was very unique and he became all things to all people. Carson talked about Paul’s yes but argument. He was effective in considering both sides of an argument which essentially brought both sides together. Paul was concerned about one’s conscience

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In directly comparing himself to the Apostle Paul, King attempts to add to his own reputation and further persuade his audience. Using religiously connotative words, such as “gospel” and “apostle”, and direct mentions of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, King appeals to christian members of his audience. In this way, the reader is inclined to adopt the attitudes of King due to their clerical

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In this paper I will argue that the text was intended for Christians instead of the Romans based on the way Perpetua is praised in the text and how Perpetua’s disobedience towards her father who was the paterfamilias was most shocking to the Romans. Essentially this autobiography was written for Christian’s, particularly for those who were or later

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During the decline of the Roman Republic , the Senate became the effective governing body of the Roman State. A certain circle of powerful or wealthy families, which consisted of patricians and plebeians, controlled the Senate. The patricians were a group of people who were known to be the wealthiest and most favored by the kings. The plebeians, on the other hand, were people who were typically poorer, but in some cases gained more wealth than the patricians.

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Romans 12 and the Sermon on the Mount Comparison The Sermon on the Mount was preached by Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years ago. It was recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 5 through 7 and became the core elements of Christianity. These teachings can be found in chapter 12 of the book of Romans written by the Apostle Paul and in other religion’s basis in the world. The most significant principles are “love your neighbor as yourself,” “do not repay evil for evil,” “and live in harmony with one another.”

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It is evident that Paul wrote the letter to the city of Philippi while he was in prison. Paul’s main reason for writing this letter was to thank Philippi for the gift they sent him when they learned he was in prison. He uses this letter to tell the Philippians of his own circumstances, to encourage the Philippians to stand firm in persecution and to rejoice regardless of their circumstances. He also uses this letter to commend Timothy and Epaphroditus to the Philippian church and to warn the Philippians against the Judaizers and Antinomians among them. The city of Philippi was named after King Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander of Great.

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In order to have a glimpse on the society in which the Apostle Paul lived, one may find it interesting to study the followings found in Romans 1—8. Perhaps, in Paul’s writings one can identify the major themes in the ancient culture’s philosophy as well as human relationships and human identity and most of all, the natural world. Furthermore, Paul saw within the culture a trend or perhaps a tendency in the society in which he himself was a part of. A troublesome propensity, in which God was not a part of, and most of all, a continuous and on-going drift away from a good moral sense. Experts have commented on the book of Romans, one in particular has called it “The book of Romans, the letter that changed the world.

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Many people, both scholars and the average citizen, read the whole Bible several times throughout their life. People read the same verses over and over, but still manage to reap a different meaning each time. Despite being written by men, the Bible is God’s inspired Word and is our best way to get to know Him. One of God’s chosen authors, Paul, wrote the book of Romans as a letter to believers, Jewish and Gentiles alike, in Rome towards the end of his third missionary journey (Cartwright and Hulshof). As Paul teaches the Gospel in Romans 1-8, he begins to shape a theistic worldview that relates to the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and culture.

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