Obviously the question is of the utmost practical importance. The Epistle to the Romans is absolutely fundamental for the establishment of Christian faith. This estimate, which was formerly a matter of course, has in recent years unfortunately fallen into disrepute. The Epistle to the Romans, after all, it is said, is concerned with theology, whereas what we need is simple faith. We must return from Romans to the Gospels, from Paul to Christ. The words of Jesus, recorded in the Gospels, are thus emphasized to the prejudice of the teaching of the apostle.
This tendency should be resisted with the utmost firmness. It is striking at the very vitals of the Church's life. After all, Jesus came, as has been well said, not to say something, but to do something. His words are very precious, we could never do without them; but after all they are subsidiary to his deeds. His life and death and resurrection--these are the things that wrought salvation for men. And these great saving acts could not be fully explained till after they had been done. For an explanation of them, therefore, we must turn not only to the Gospels but also to the epistles, not only to Jesus but also to Paul. Paul was in a special sense our apostle; like us, he had never known the earthly Jesus. Just for that reason, through the divine revelation that was granted him, he could guide all subsequent generations to the risen Christ. The Epistle to the Romans, more fully perhaps than any other book, points out the meaning of the death and resurrection of Christ. It does not, indeed, solve all mysteries; but it reveals enough to enable us to believe.
The edict of Claudius which expelled the Jews from Rome was certainly not permanently effective; indeed there are some indications that it was modified almost as soon as it was issued. But although it did not keep the Jews out of Rome, it may at least have hastened the separation between Judaism and Christianity. If the conflict between the two, as a conflict within Judaism, had given rise to the hostile edict, then, as has plausibly been suggested, the separation might be in the interests of both parties. If the church were kept separate from the synagogue, the Jews would be protected from dangerous disorders and from the opposition which would be encountered by a new and illegal religion, and the Christians, on the other hand, would be protected from the Claudian edict against the Jews.