Roman citizenship was important at the time of Paul when
there were over 5 million Roman citizens (Tacitus, Ann. 11.25). Roman citizenship had certain
advantages:
· The right of protection from being tortured or
whipped. Claiming citizenship called for an immediate cessation of punishment
until legal status of citizenship could be proven. Citizenship could be proven by
having in a diploma civiitatis Romane
or a copy of one’s first registration. The text does not indicate Paul used
such documents, but it is a possibility.
·
The right to a legal trial in a proper court to
defend oneself.
·
The right to appeal the decisions of
magistrates.
Paul in Acts claims a number of times to be a Roman
citizen (Acts 16:37-38; Acts 22:25-28), which was bestowed by birth (Acts 22:28). The claim of the Acts record is consistent with what we
know about Roman citizenship. In the providence of God the Roman citizenship
helped Paul spread the gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment