No. 4. >> Hello Professor Lewis. My name is Eric and I have a question about time. When did Paul write the epistle to the Romans? Was this the first epistle to be written following the crucifixion and resurrection? Is that why Romans is the first epistle we find in the New Testament? >>PROFESSOR DAVID I. M. LEWIS: Hello, Eric. And welcome to the study on the book of Romans. When I was a young boy I used to believe that the epistles were ordered by the time that they were written. So therefore, I assumed that Romans was written first and that Philemon was written last. I remember when my dad bought me my first Bible in the third grade and I began to read through the New Testament I was reading thinking that Romans was first then I Corinthians, II Corinthians and so on. And then I kind of noticed a pattern that Romans and I and II Corinthians were very lengthy. While Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians were a little bit more reasonable in length. And then as I kept reading, the epistles got shorter and shorter until finally Philemon has only one chapter. So when I was a boy I thought that the Apostle Paul as he got older must have just gotten less wordy and thought that he had less to say. Maybe he didn't like to write so much. Then later of course I found out that that was a misconception. The epistles of Paul are not ordered by earliest to latest. In fact, when you look at the whole body of the 13 letters that Paul wrote, there will sometimes be a lot of debate on which epistle was written first and when they were written. On the other hand, Eric, the epistles are ordered by length. From longest to shortest. So when we consider the 13 letters of Paul, Romans comes first not because Romans was the earliest but because it was the longest letter that Paul wrote. Then I and II Corinthians come because I Corinthians was the second longest. II Corinthians the third longest and those two go together. Then we get Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, each ordered by length. And then finally I and II Thessalonians which would be the shortest of the epistles that Paul wrote to churches. Then after that we get the four letters that Paul wrote to individuals. I and II Timothy. Titus and Philemon. And notice again that those four personal epistles are again ordered by length, longest to shortest. And so this is the -- this is the principle when we look at the New Testament Canon as we're reading through Paul's epistles we're going from the longest written epistle to the shortest epistle. In fact, Eric, I and II Thessalonians were written before Romans was written. So now Eric, you ask then about the date of the book of Romans. Well, for this I would like for us to actually turn into Romans itself and see from the context what in the book of Romans would help us date this letter. And so if you would, open up your Bibles to Romans 15 Verse 22. I'm using the ESV. And here Paul writes: This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now since I no longer have any room for work in these regions and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain. And to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. We can pause right there. Eric, when Paul writes this epistle, he's telling the Romans three things. His travel plans. He plans 1, to go to Jerusalem and deliver this contribution that the Gentile Christians in Asia have raised for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. 2, Paul plans to come to Rome. And he plans to use Rome as a stopping point for further travel plans to Spain. And notice here that Paul says that he's pretty much concluded his missionary activity in that region, namely, in Asia Minor, Greece and Macedonia. This helps us to date the epistle to the Romans. This letter was written toward the end of what we call Paul's third missionary journey. At the end of Paul's third missionary journey we know in the Book of Acts that he does come to Jerusalem with a contribution for the poor. And then what happens of course is that he is arrested in Jerusalem. He appeals to Caesar. And then so under arrest, Paul eventually comes to Rome. But all that took place after Paul wrote the book of Romans. When Paul wrote this epistle, from his perspective he is planning to go to Jerusalem. Planning to go to Rome. And then planning to go to Spain. This helps us fix the date of Romans at the end of the third missionary journey in the year 57 AD. Now, we know that then Paul went to Jerusalem and he was arrested and held under arrest in the town of Caesarea in Palestine around 58 to 60 AD and then he traveled from Caesarea Rome. And he was there two years under arrest. Probably 60 to 62 AD. And so then this places Romans at about 57 AD at the conclusion of Paul's missionary journey. Now, just to make note again, I and II Thessalonians had already been written at this point. And probably I and II Corinthians had already been written at this point. And then there's some debate about when the book of Galatians was written. Some argue that it was written about the same time that Paul wrote the book of Romans. And therefore they would say this is why Romans and Galatians are so similar in their outline and in their argumentation. Now, where did Paul write the book of Romans? We don't know exactly. But usually it's surmised that he wrote Romans from the city of Corinth. So we can sort of put the history together this way: Paul on his third missionary journey spent a long time in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor, present day Turkey. From Ephesus Paul wrote I and II Corinthians. Then Paul went personally to Corinth himself to settle matters there. And while he was in Corinth in 57 AD he wrote the letter to the Romans as he was intending to return to Jerusalem and then journey to Rome.