Epistle to the Romans

What it is

This is a letter written by Paul the Apostle, probably from Corinth around AD 57, and likely dictated to a scribe named Tertius. It is the sixth book of the New Testament and the longest of Paul's surviving letters. The image shown is a later manuscript page, not the original, which has not survived.

Why it matters

Romans lays out Paul's ideas about faith, Jewish and Gentile believers, and salvation in more detail than any of his other letters. It became hugely important centuries later to thinkers such as Augustine and Martin Luther, who used it to argue for salvation by faith alone. It shows Paul working out how his message could unite very different groups of early Christians in the capital of the Roman Empire.

Look closer

• Why might Paul want to explain his beliefs so carefully to a community he had not founded himself?
• What does the care taken in copying this text over centuries tell us about its importance to later readers?
• What questions might remain unanswered since we only have Paul's side of the correspondence?