As the Apostle Paul concludes his letter to the early Christians living in ancient Rome, we learn a lot about these people.
For starters, it seems that a lady named Phoebe was the one who delivered this letter to these people.
In Romans 16:1-2 Paul states: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.”
Obviously, the Christians in ancient Rome had never met Phoebe before. Obviously, she had just arrived. And obviously she was the bearer of this letter from Paul, written to them.
Where was Cenchrea – this city where Phoebe was from?
Here you can see a screen shot of my map app … and you can see the modern city of Kechries (which in ancient times was called Cenchrea).
Cenchrea was located near the city of Corinth, as you can tell.
Zooming out a little on my map app, you can see that both the cities of Cenchrea and Corinth were located at an isthmus, a narrow strip of land … with the Gulf of Corinth on the western side, and the Kenchreon Gulf on the eastern side.
Zooming out a little further on my map app, you can see that the cities of Cenchrea and Corinth were located just south of the city of Athens. They both sat at the gateway for accessing the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
And zooming out even further, you can see the location of Cenchrea in relation to the city of Rome. Corinth (on the western side of the isthmus) is where the Apostle Paul was living when he wrote the letter to the Christians living in Rome. And Cenchrea (on the eastern side of the isthmus) is where Phoebe was from. Phoebe, on her journey to Rome, probably boarded a ship in the Gulf of Corinth and sailed across the Ionian Sea to Italy.
What else do we know about the Christians living in ancient Rome?
In Romans 16:3-5 Paul says: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. … Greet also the church that meets in their house.”
Whoa!! These are key people when it comes to the early Christian movement!
We first see Aquila and Priscilla mentioned in Acts 18:1-3: “Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.”
First off – we learn that Aquila and Priscilla were Jews.
Secondly – we learn that they were originally from the region of Pontus (a region located in northeastern Türkiye, on the southern coast of the Black Sea). Here you can see a screen shot of my map app …
Thirdly – we learn that Aquila and Priscilla had just recently come from Italy, because Claudius the Emperor had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. So, their home was Rome. But they had temporarily relocated to Corinth.
In Acts 18:18-19 we see Aquila and Priscilla mentioned again: “Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquilla.”
Here we see the city of Cenchrea mentioned again.
Also, we learn that Aquila and Priscilla left Corinth, and lived for a time in Ephesus.
In Acts 18:24-26 we learn that Aquila and Priscilla were very knowledgeable in the Scriptures, and they had great wisdom in explaining matters of doctrine.
“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.”
Priscilla and Aquila didn’t confront Apollos publicly to correct him.
They invited him to their home. They were gracious. They extended hospitality to him. They corrected him graciously, in private. They were very good at leading Bible study in their home!
We do not know how long Aquila and Priscilla lived in Ephesus. However, we do know that about 5 or 6 years later, in AD 57 when Paul wrote the letter to the Romans, Aquila and Priscilla had already moved back to Rome by then.
In the opening of his letter to the Romans Paul states: “… your faith is being reported all over the world.” (Romans 1:8)
How did these Christians living in ancient Rome have such a strong faith that the news of their faith had spread all over the world??
Probably because Aquila and Priscilla had taught these people the ways of God and instructed them in matters of the faith.
As Paul concludes his letter to the Romans he states: “I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” (Romans 15:14)
Whoa! That’s quite a statement!
Full of goodness.
Complete in knowledge.
Competent to instruct one another.
How did these Christians living in ancient Rome have such complete knowledge in the Scriptures?? How did they know how to live righteously and in a holy way … so that Paul commended them as being full of goodness? How did these people have such a thorough understanding of doctrine … so that Paul commended them as being competent to instruct one another??
Probably because of the teaching of Aquila and Priscilla.
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets in their house.” – Romans 16:3-5
The early Church in ancient Rome met in the home of Aquila and Priscilla.
Here you can see a diagram (from the brochure I picked up at Pompeii) of what a typical Roman home would have been like.
The larger home in the diagram would be representative of where the wealthy lived. The entrance to the home is at the top of the drawing. Coming in the entrance, there was a covered atrium with a square opening in the roof. Rainwater would drain down through this opening into a shallow reflecting pool in the middle of the atrium.
Off to either side of the atrium were bedrooms and private living quarters. Further past the atrium were gardens, the kitchen, and servants’ quarters.
Did Aquila and Priscilla have a home in Rome this grand? Maybe. But I doubt it. The home where the early Church met was probably a lot more like the small home in the diagram.
There probably would have been an atrium at the entrance (though much smaller). And probably a small garden, where the early Christians of Rome probably met to learn the Scriptures.
This was the early Church in Rome.
These were the recipients of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
