Why does Paul say he is not ashamed of the gospel?

Explanation:

Paul opens Romans 1:16 with for, which connects the verse with what precedes, and what precedes is Paul expressing his eagerness to preach the gospel in Rome (Romans 1:15).⁴ Paul then says in Romans 1:16 that he is not ashamed of the gospel. So why does he say he is eager to preach the gospel in Rome, and then specifically point out that he is not ashamed of it? Likely he says this because Rome was the capital city of the Roman Empire, and the Romans were particularly concerned with high status and social position. As such, they would generally find the idea of Christianity shameful, given the fact that Jesus Christ, the Lord, was crucified by the Romans on a cross.⁵ That Jesus was shamefully crucified for the forgiveness of sins would likely be embarrassing to the average Roman, but Paul specifically notes that he is both eager to preach in Rome and not ashamed of the gospel.

Counterargument:

Paul’s letter to the Romans was written to Christians in Rome, so there is no need to point out to them that he is not ashamed of the gospel. For presumably his recipients had already considered the fact that Christianity entailed believing in a Lord who had been crucified, but understood that by doing so, Christ delivered salvation to humanity. Thus, they had already come to recognize that their former Roman-inspired view of valuing social status and position was deficient. So, Paul does not need to tell them that he is not ashamed of the gospel.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument overlooks the fact that Paul opens Romans 1:16 with for. The conjunction can be used to mark a cause or a note of clarification.⁶ When we combine the use of for with what precedes, we notice that Paul connects his statement that he is not ashamed of the gospel with his eagerness to preach in Rome. And when he says that he is eager to preach in Rome, he does not say that he is only eager to preach to the Christian church in Rome, but that he is under obligation to Barbarians and Greeks, the wise and the foolish. In other words, Paul is obliged to preach the gospel to everyone, and he is not ashamed of it.

Explanation:

We know that Paul encountered opposition to the gospel in that the recipients of his preaching thought that the gospel was embarrassing. For example, Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the content of the gospel, which has to do with Christ’s crucifixion, was a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23), while for those who are called, the gospel is the power and wisdom of God. Likewise, in Romans 1:16, Paul writes that he is not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for both Jews and Greeks.⁷ Relatedly, Luke records an event in the book of Acts where Paul explains the gospel to a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (Acts 17:18). When Paul finishes explaining the resurrection and crucifixion, Luke says that some mocked Paul.⁸ Still, Paul understands that the gospel is God’s deliverance of salvation, of which he is not ashamed.

Counterargument:

While it might be that Paul encountered opposition to the gospel according to some who found it embarrassing, it is important to notice that Paul’s letter is written to the Christians in Rome. Paul says that he had been trying to visit Rome but had thus far been prevented (Romans 1:13), which suggests that Paul had not yet met the Roman Christians in person. Still, Paul is writing them this letter as an authoritative apostle, so he wants to establish rapport with his audience. We notice Paul doing this in Romans 1:12 when he says he wants to meet them so they can mutually encourage each other. Now, we know that Jesus taught that he would be ashamed of anyone who was ashamed of him. Likely, Paul wanted to continue building rapport, so he says he is not ashamed of the gospel in order to affirm that like the Romans, he was directly aware of Jesus’ teachings.

Response to counterargument:

The problem here is that Paul specifically says that he is not ashamed of the gospel after making the general statement that he was eager to preach in Rome. By saying he was eager to preach in Rome, Paul has moved beyond building rapport with his audience to making a general statement about his desires as an apostle. As such, Paul includes the general remark that he is not ashamed of the gospel.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. We know that Paul encountered opposition to the preaching of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Sometimes, he was mocked, other times he was arrested. So it makes sense that he would state that he is not ashamed of the gospel.

Explanation:

Jesus taught that whoever is ashamed of him and his teaching, of that person Jesus will be ashamed when he comes in glory (Mark 8:38). Likely, early Christian communities affirmed that they were not ashamed of the gospel as a way to confess their allegiance to Jesus. Paul was aware of this teaching from Jesus, and likewise confesses that he is not ashamed of the gospel. By doing so, Paul demonstrates that he and the believers in Rome are both committed to Jesus’ teachings.¹²

Counterargument:

This view contends that when Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel, the statement is a confession. That is, Paul is not saying, from a psychological perspective, that he is not embarrassed of the gospel. Rather, this view holds that Paul makes the same confession as the early church in that he affirms the teachings of Christ, which include not being ashamed of the gospel. The problem with this argument is that we know from Paul’s letter to Timothy that he was aware of the psychological notion of shame in relation to the gospel, and he warns Timothy against it. Specifically, in 2 Timothy 1:8, Paul exhorts Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel, nor of Paul, who was at that time in prison for his preaching. Now, we know Paul is writing to those who live in the capital city of Rome, and Romans emphasized honour and status.¹³ Thus, we can understand that Romans would be tempted to be ashamed of the gospel, which has it that the Lord was crucified. Since Paul understands the psychological temptation to be embarrassed over Christ’s work, he states that he is not ashamed.

Response to counterargument:

To determine what Paul means, we need to consider the context. When it comes to 2 Timothy 1:8, we know that Paul is in prison, and he wants to encourage Timothy not to give up his psychological confidence in the gospel, so he exhorts Timothy not to be ashamed. On the other hand, Romans 1:16 is found near the beginning of Paul’s epistle to the Romans, and he has already stated that he has not met the members of this church personally (Romans 1:9–13). Likely, Paul is keen to demonstrate that he and the Romans share in the same faith, which he does by confessing that he is not ashamed of the gospel, which is to affirm a common Christian teaching.

If Paul was going to align himself with the teachings of Jesus in order to build rapport with the Romans, one would think he would choose a more obvious teaching. That is, when Paul writes that he is not ashamed of the gospel our first thought may not be to connect this statement with Jesus’ teaching. Of course, things may be different for the early church.

Explanation:

When we read the letter of the Romans carefully, we notice a subtle apologetic undertone, which suggests that the recipients of Paul’s letter were Christians who were critical of Paul’s teachings.¹⁴ It is not clear which aspect of Paul’s teachings the Roman Christians might have found wanting, whether Paul’s view on the righteousness of God or his inclusion of pagan Gentiles who had no previous knowledge of Judaism.¹⁵ Still, that Paul takes a defensive posture at times suggests that he wanted the Romans to understand that he stands by the message that he preaches. And in fact, Romans 1:16 is the first of all such instances where Paul states at the outset that whatever the Roman Christians think of the content of the gospel he preaches, he is not ashamed of it. For it is the power of God unto salvation. And Paul will spend much of the remainder of this letter defending why he is not ashamed.

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. First, if it is the case that Paul takes a defensive stance against his critics in Rome, it is hard to see why he would choose the term ashamed to convey this. We know from Romans 1:8–15 that Paul is thankful to God for the faith of the Romans, and he longs to be with them so that they can mutually encourage each other in the faith. Thus, Paul thinks highly of the faith and theology of his audience. Now, even if Paul and the Romans thought highly of each other, Paul may still have to defend certain aspects of his teaching, but it seems unlikely that he would preface this defence by saying he is not ashamed. For how could Paul think highly of the Romans’ faith if their faith somehow implied that Paul ought to be ashamed of his own? Second, Paul speaks about being ashamed of the gospel in other contexts, and when he does so, he has in mind not apologetic, but a general notion of shame as it relates to those who are offended by the gospel (see interpretation 1). Likely Paul uses the term in a similar way here.

The weakness of this view is that there is no clear indication that Paul faces strong opposition in Rome. We know that Paul sometimes does face opposition, as he does in Galatia, and this opposition is clearly presented in his letter to the Galatians. We also know that there was some confrontation with the Corinthian church. But when it comes to the church at Rome, there is no indication of strong opposition.