ans also has the Judaising Controversy as it's main theme, but when was it written? To resolve this, we have to go forward in time to his third evangelistic journey.
Acts 18:22 describes how Paul went to Jerusalem and then to Antioch at end of his second journey. This was in 52AD, which is one of our key dates mentioned earlier. Acts 18:23 says he spent "some time" in Antioch and then went off on his third journey. He went to Galatia and then to Ephesus. He spent a total of three years in Ephesus, as he recounts in Acts 20:31. This includes three months in a synagogue (Acts 19:8) and two years in the house of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9-10). Then there was the opposition from the silversmiths and the riot that followed. (Acts 19:24-41).
He went to Macedonia and then Greece (which means Corinth) and stayed there three months, which would have been long enough to put together the detailed arguments given in Romans, and then he went back through Macedonia. (Acts 20:1-3). We know that the book of Romans was written in Corinth because of certain people he mentions:
Paul's letter to the Romans was to a church he had never visited, although he always wanted to go there. (Rom. 1:8-15). He hoped to visit them on a future journey to Spain (Rom. 15:22-24) but his immediate plan was to go to Jerusalem with a contribution for the Believers who were in need (Rom. 15:25-27).
The remainder of Acts 20, from verse 3 onwards, tells us how he travelled to Phillipi where he celebrated Passover, then he sailed along the coast of Asia Minor, stopping at a number of places along the way, but missing out Ephesus because he wanted to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost. He was warned by the Holy Spirit in every city that trouble awaited him in Jerusalem but it didn't bother him because the knew the Lord wanted him to go there.
Paul arrived in Tyre (Acts 21:3), where there were further prophetic warnings, but he carried on and went to Jerusalem where the brethren received him gladly. (Acts 21:4-17). The remainder of Acts 21 tells us how he went into the Temple for a ritual of purification which resulted in a riot because some of the Jews mistakenly thought that he had taken Gentiles into the Temple. The crowd is restrained by a group of soldiers (Acts 21:31-40), and then Paul was given an opportunity to speak to them. (Acts 22:1-23). They wouldn't listen, and the soldiers were about to scourge him to try and extract a confession of some sort, but Paul declared that he was a Roman citizen and he was given an opportunity to talk to the Sanhedrin. (Acts 22:24-30). They wouldn't listen, but he managed to get the Pharisees and Sadducees arguing with each other about the resurrection of the dead. (Acts 23:1-9). The Romans continued to protect Paul from their violence. Some Jews made a plot to kill him, but the plot was discovered and Paul was safely escorted to Felix, the governor of Judea. (Acts 23:10-35). He was given some opportunities to testify to Felix (Acts 24:1-26), but was kept in prison for two years until Felix was replaced by Festus. (Acts 24:27-25:1).
This brings us to our fourth key date, 59AD, and it means Paul's arrival in Jerusalem and the events that led to his imprisonment occurred in 57AD. He had been in Corinth and quickly made his way to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, so the book of Romans was probably written early in 57AD.
Unlike the book of Galatians, the book of Romans does not mention any dissention with Peter or any of the other Apostles and Elders, about circumcision of the Gentiles, because by that time the problem had been resolved. However, it was still a hot enough issue to warrant considerable debate. Only 27 years had passed since the day of Pentecost, and for the first 20 of those years the problem had not been resolved. They had enjoyed only 7 years of liberty since the Jerusalem Council in 50AD and there were still many questions to be answered about observance of the Torah and justification by faith.
Paul eventually managed to meet the Roman Believers when he was despatched to Rome as a prisoner, having appealed to Caesar. (Ac