Provenance And Date
PROVENANCE AND DATE
If there is little debate about whether Paul wrote Romans, neither is there about the general situation in which he wrote. According to Rom. 15:22-29, three localities figure in Paul’s travel plans: Jerusalem, Rome, and Spain. Paul’s immediate destination is Jerusalem. As his prayer in 15:30-33 reveals, Paul looks upon this trip to Jerusalem with considerable trepidation. Paul is bringing to the impoverished Jewish Christians in Jerusalem an offering gathered from the Gentile-Christian churches he has planted (15:25-27), and he is uncertain how the offering will be received. It is his hope that the offering will be acceptable to the Jewish believers and that this will help to cement relations between Jewish and Gentile Christians. But Paul is unsure about this and requests the Roman Christians to pray for this outcome.
The second stop Paul plans to make is in Rome, but only as a stopping-off point on his way to Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28). This is not to minimize the strategic importance of Rome but reflects Paul’s sense of calling to "preach the gospel where Christ [is] not known” (15:20). Paul’s gaze is fixed on faraway Spain because the task of initial church planting in the eastern Mediterranean has been completed: "From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ” (15:19). As a result of his first three missionary journeys, thriving churches have been planted in major metropolitan centers throughout this region. These churches can carry on the task of evangelism in their respective areas while Paul pursues his calling in virgin territory.
When we compare these indications with the details of Paul’s career from Acts, it is clear that Paul must be near the end of his third missionary journey as he writes Romans. It was then that Paul was preparing to return to Jerusalem, with Rome as his next destination (see Acts 19:21; 20:16). Corinth is the most likely place of writing.
When Luke tells us that Paul spent three months in Greece (Acts 20:3), it was most likely Corinth where Paul stayed (see 2 Cor. 13:1, 10). Confirmation that Corinth was the place of composition comes from Paul’s commendation of a woman who lived in Cenchrea, a neighboring city to Corinth (Rom. 16:1-2); and the Gaius who sends greetings in 16:23 may be the same Gaius whom Paul baptized in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:14). Some have also thought that the city treasurer Erastus (Rom. 16:23) can be identified with the Erastus mentioned on an inscription found at Corinth. 1
The date at which Paul wrote Romans will accordingly depend on the date of Paul’s three-month stay in Greece; fixing this date depends, in turn, on the chronology of Paul’s life and ministry as a whole. While we cannot be certain within a year or two, A.D. 57 is the best alternative (see table 6 in chap.7).2