Romans 2, Introduction
May 29th, 2009 by Micah Tillman | Start the Discussion |
[ Romans 1 | 2: Intro, 1-16, 17-29, Summary | 3 | 4 | 5 ]
There are two things to note, before doing a closer analysis of Romans 2:
First
I have to admit I was a bit taken aback by the way Romans 2 begins. After railing against the Evil Oppressors in the third person, Paul suddenly starts railing against his own audience (switching to the second person).
Then I realized what he was doing.
After drawing in his audience in chapter 1 — condemning people they would also condemn — he then turns their own judgment against them.
He pulls a Nathan-vs-David.
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The Wife, who minored in Bible, tells me this is a typical move the Prophets would make.
Start out by prophecying against your audience’s enemies; make them feel safe (he’s not going to criticize us! he’s focusing on the evil Gentiles!); get them to recognize the problems you’re condemning; then point out to them how they’re just as guilty. (Note, she says, the progression of the first three chapters of Amos.)
And it’s a smart move. It makes your audience their own accusers, since they had already admitted that the deeds they are committing are wrong (by condemning the same deeds in their enemies).
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Therefore, my thesis that Paul is imitating the Prophets (specifically Habakkuk) in chapter 1 gains further confirmation.
Second
Paul’s mission in chapters 1 and 2 is to begin to create unity in the Roman church, between its Jewish and Gentile members.
Evidently, his Jewish brothers in the church were having a hard time seeing their Gentile brothers as equals, and this created problems of disunity. After all, God gave the Law to the Jews, not the Gentiles. They had the special inheritance.
Paul is arguing, in chapters 1 and 2, however, that the Gentiles — even the most evil among them — know full well what God demands. They “have the Law” too (they know God’s requirements) even if they have it in a different sense than the Jews.
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Therefore, Paul is arguing that the Jewish brethren are no more special than the Gentile brethren, since both groups in fact have/know the Law. What’s important is not having/knowing the Law (even the Evil Gentile Oppressors do that!) but living the Law.
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In chapters 1 and 2, Paul is trying to kill two of the birds he hates most with one stone: pride and disunity.
By breaking down the pride of (some of) his Jewish brethren, he’s trying to make it easier for them to accept their Gentile brothers, and thus he’s trying to get the Roman church to be unified.
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