The law of nature and the Letter to the Romans : rethinking Paul's descriptions of the Gentiles in Romans 2:14-15

Abstract

In contemporary scholarship on Rom 2:14-15, there is a divide between those who find language associated with natural law and those who understand the Gentiles to be believers in Christ. This study aims to help bridge this interpretative gap. Through an examination of key expressions of natural law in the years prior to and contemporaneous with Paul and an exegesis of Rom 1:18-2:16, we shall contend that Paul applies language and tropes associated with natural law to Christ-believing Gentiles in Rom 2:14-15. In doing so, he is not endorsing a strain of natural law reasoning circulating in his day; rather, he applies the concept to a group of Christ-believing Gentiles to emphasize their moral quality and eschatological security for his Roman audience.