A Call to All Nations: The Epistle to the Romans

Today we began by discussing an alternative theory on the authorship of Romans (i.e. that it was written not by Paul himself, but by his disciple, Luke). Father stressed that, ultimately, the authorship is not of as much importance as the substance of the epistle. It can be helpful, however, to view Luke’s Gospel, the book of Acts, and Romans as a trilogy. Through this lens we can plainly see the progression in Jesus’ life and teaching, culminating in an invitation to all people and all nations to accept the Gospel message. We then turned to the tension between the Law and faith. Father Aaron explained that tension exists only because some place the Law as being equal to or higher than faith. But Paul’s teaching is explicit: that faith as the means towards righteousness both precedes the Law and is greater than the Law. Ultimately, Paul shows that even as early as Abraham the Scriptural message conveyed that the path to salvation is provided only by God’s mercy, which He in turn requires us to extend to others.