\u00a0<\/p>\n
Romans 16:22\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
ANSWER:<\/strong>
The opening verse of Romans clearly tells us who the author is: Paul. In the original greeting, Paul identifies himself as the one sent to share the gospel and writes to the believers in Rome:<\/p>\n\n\u201cPaul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God\u2026 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em> (Romans 1:1, 7, ESV)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Paul\u2019s name and authority start the letter<\/strong>, and the whole theological argument of the book reflects his teaching.<\/p>\n
You might wonder why someone else\u2019s name appears near the end of the letter. In Romans 16:22, Tertius writes:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.\u201d<\/em> (Romans 16:22, ESV\/NRSV)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Here, Tertius is not claiming to be the author<\/strong> of the message. He is identifying himself as the scribe<\/strong> or amanuensis<\/strong>\u2014the person who physically wrote the letter as Paul dictated it. That was a normal practice in the first century; authors would speak or dictate their letters, and trained scribes would write them down on papyrus.<\/p>\n
This explains how Paul could still be the real author even though Tertius wrote the words on the page. The content, theology, and authority all come from Paul, and Tertius simply transcribed or assisted in producing the text.<\/p>\n
In other places Paul mentions writing parts of his letters \u201cwith my own hand\u201d (for example, 2 Thessalonians 3:17<\/em>), which scholars often interpret as a personal signature added after the main body was written by a scribe.<\/p>\n
So the best explanation is:<\/p>\n
\n
- Paul is the author of Romans<\/strong>\u2014he composed its message and theological content.<\/li>\n
- Tertius was Paul\u2019s scribe<\/strong> who wrote the letter under Paul\u2019s direction and added his own greeting at the end.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This shows that even in Bible times, believers worked together to accomplish God\u2019s work. Paul provided the message, and Tertius helped put it into writing. May the Lord bless your study!<\/p>\n