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  • From: "Mark Given" <mdg421f AT smsu.edu>
  • To: "'Corpus-Paul'" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Corpus-Paul] size of the Roman congregation
  • Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:50:36 -0600

That's an interesting question. I don't know of any, but it would seem
unlikely given the small but significant evidence that "Christians" were
fairly numerous in Rome at that time, as, e.g., Dunn presents in his Romans,
I:li-lii. His discussion makes reference to Lampe, by the way. I pulled
out my copy of Lampe and he points out that, "The events under Nero
presuppose that the Christians already existed in a considerable number,
that they were publicly known, and in general made a bad impression" (p.
84). Also, he thinks that Paul must be presuming he's writing to at least
seven "islands" of Christians in Rom 16, and would seem to assume that there
must have to be more islands beyond these (p. 359). I wonder if Minear took
a position on your question in his Obedience. I don't have a copy at hand.

While there does appear to be good evidence that "Christians" were more
numerous than just those of Romans 16, I don't know of any evidence that
would allow us to make a safe guesstimate about what "a considerable number"
would be in real terms. Does anyone else?

Regards,
Mark

Mark D. Given
Associate Professor
Department of Religious Studies
Southwest Missouri State University
901 S. National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65804


> -----Original Message-----
> From: corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
> Jeffrey B. Gibson
> Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 11:55 AM
> To: Corpus-Paulinum
> Subject: [Corpus-Paul] size of the Roman congregation
>
>
> Has anyone done any work (comparable to what Murphy O'Connor
> has done on the size of the congregation of Christ believers
> in Corinth) on the number of Christ believers in Rome at the
> time Paul wrote Romans?
>
> Does anyone argue that those whom Paul sends greetings to in
> Rom 16 (assuming that chapter to be an integral part of the
> letter) are **all** the Roman Christians that there were in
> Rome when Paul wrote?
>
> Yours,
>
> Jeffrey
> --
>
> Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon.)
>
> 1500 W. Pratt Blvd. #1
> Chicago, IL 60626
>
> jgibson000 AT comcast.net
>
>
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