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  • From: Lee Dahn <lee_dahn AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] The audience of Romans
  • Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:27:58 -0700 (PDT)

Antti,
 
I, too, have struggled with the issue of Paul's assumed audience in Rome.  I have been persuaded, particularly by the work of Stanley Stowers (A Rereading of Romans), that they are Gentile Jesus-believers.  From my point of view, those passages which seemingly address Jewish Jesus-believers ought to be understood as addressing Gentile Jesus-believers who have been persuaded (or are soon to be, Paul perhaps hoping to prevent such a move) to take up the Law as a means to inclusion.  For example, those "brethren" of 7.1 who "know the law" are those Gentiles who have taken up the Law under Jewish influence.  And the struggle depicted in 7.7ff. is not autobigraphical, but an example of "speech-in-character" (see Stowers), where Paul plays the role of the Gentile Jesus-believer who has taken up the Law for the sake of argument and illustration.  So, in when in 7.9 the individual says "I was once alive apart from the Law", he is referring to life in Christ without need of the Law - identical to Paul's gospel as found in most of his writings.  That individual "died" when he took up the Law (7.9-11).  So, with rhetorical skill, Paul is teaching what happens to those Gentiles Jesus-believers when they take up the Law under influence of Jewish teachers.
 
And I think that most every other passage which seems to address "Jewish Christians" can be understood in this way.  Of course, there are some passages which might seem to address Jewish non-Jesus-believers,such as 2.17ff.  But, given Paul's rhetoric, it is most likely that he is presenting the opposition by way of imaginary address.  (I may not be explaining that as best as I should.  Please read Stowers on this, or perhaps there is someone else on the list more knowledgeable and capable of explaining such rhetorical devices.)  This is why he can move from what seems to be an address to a Jew in 2.17 to a comment about a Jew as though the Jew was not expected to be present in 3.1.
 
You stated:
"I think that it would have been wise that Paul would have expressed interest towards his Christ-believing kinsmen and kinswomen at the beginning of the letter. But precisely this cannot be found there!"
 
My suggested reading explains why this is so.  As well as...
 
[You comment] "Paul associates himself strongly with Gentiles and seems to address Gentile believers (esp. 1:13-15). If the letter was really addressed to Jewish Christians too, that kind of rhetorical strategy seems irrational: it would be a rhetorical suicide!"
 
Whether or not you are compelled to understand Paul's audience to be wholly Gentile, please give Stowers' book a read (and reread) if you have not already, especially given your interest in Paul's rhetoric and the rhetorical situation of Romans.
 
Lee Dahn
Houston, Tx



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