22;
(2) the epistles to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Romans,
written during his _third_ missionary journey, Acts 18:23-21:15;
(3) the epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and
Philippians, written during Paul's imprisonment in Rome, Acts
28:16-31 (some suppose the first three to have been written
during his imprisonment at Cesarea, Acts 23:35-26:32); (4) the
pastoral epistles, the first and third probably written after
his recorded imprisonment in Rome, and the second during a
second imprisonment after the publication of the Acts of the
Apostles, and which ended in his martyrdom A.D. 67 or 68.

The epistles of Paul will now be considered in the usual order, except
that the three to the Ephesians, Colossians. and Philemon, which are
contemporaneous, will be taken together.

I. EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

7. The _date_ of the epistle to the Romans, as well as the _place_ where
it was written, can be gathered with much certainty from the epistle
itself, taken in connection with other notices respecting Paul found in
the Acts of the Apostles. He was about to bear alms to his brethren in
Judea from Macedonia and Achaia. Chap. 15:25, 26. He had previously
exhorted the church of Corinth in Achaia to make this very collection,
which he was to receive of them when he came to them through Macedonia.
1 Cor. 16:1-6. That he was also to bring with him a collection from the
Macedonian churches is manifest from 2 Cor. 8:1-4; 9:1-4. He wrote,
moreover, from Corinth; for among the greetings at the close of the
epistle is one from "Gaius mine host" (chap. 16:23), a Corinthian whom
he had baptized (1 Cor. 1:14); he commends to them Phebe, a deaconess of
the church at Cenchrea, the eastern port of Corinth, chap. 16:1; and he
speaks of "the city" where he is as well known (chap. 16:23), which can
be no other than Corinth. Now by comparing Acts 19:21; 20:1-3; 24:17, we
find that he was then on his way to Jerusalem through Macedonia and
Greece, for the last time recorded in the New Testament. The epistle to
the Romans, then, was written from Corinth during the apostle's third
missionary tour and second abode in that city, about A.D. 58. It is the
sixth of his epistles in the order of time, and stands in near
connection with those to the Galatians and Corinthians, which were
apparently written during the previous year.

8. Concerning the founding of the church at Rome we have no informati