Lesson Nineteen & Twenty Update

When I got home and checked my email, I decided to do a quick search on some specifics about Romans that we discussed before we finished up today. I got a few things right, but messed up on a few, too. Paul was in Corinth, not Ephesus, when he wrote Romans. As far as taking a guess at Paul's age at the time he wrote this letter, we can only do just that--make a guess. The first scriptural reference to Paul (Saul) in the NT appears in the Acts of the Apostles when he is mentioned as a witness to the martyrdom of St. Stephen, which took place in Jerusalem sometime around 34-35. By using references in the letter, it is widely believed that Romans was written in 58. There is no historical record of Paul's birth date, but let's assume he was in his 20's-30's when he was first mentioned in Acts. That would put him in the mid-40 to mid-50 year range by the year 58, and I would err on the older end of that spectrum, since Paul had already received his training by that time. Paul died sometime around the years 64-67. Just the facts, ma'am.

If you take my advice and decide to try and write your own brief summary of the theme of the Letter to the Romans, you may want to review the verses that many consider to be Paul's thesis for his letter where he wrote, "The gospel...is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jews first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith." (Romans 1:16-17)

Finally, I thought I'd check on the painting we were wondering about--one that will no doubt be familiar to you now that you've seen it. It is called "L'Angelus" and was created by the French painter, Jean Francois Millet (1814-1875). It's always been a favorite of mine, and I'm happy to say, it is housed in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, which is a museum we are scheduled to visit on our trip in June, so maybe I'll get to see it. The Angelus is a devotion in memory of the Incarnation and is said at 6am, Noon, and 6pm while the bells toll. By the light in this painting, I always assumed that this devout couple was finished with their work for the day, and ready to go home for dinner.

Great job on getting through another year of Bible Study. We will treat ourselves to a nice breakfast in a couple of weeks. Now I need lunch!

Lesson Nineteen and Twenty Notes