Rome In the first century AD Rome was both a cosmopolitan city and a mighty empire that had brought peace and stability to the Mediterranean world. The Founding and Early Growth of Rome Rome was founded, according to tradition, in 753 BC on the Tiber River in Italy by a Latin-speaking agricultural tribe. A loose association of chieftains comprised the earliest Senate. Around 600 BC the Etruscans from central Italy invaded the territory of Rome and became its rulers. They constructed numerous works, including the forum, which became the social, commercial, and political center for the city, and a temple for Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Rome was now linked by roads to the Etruscans in the north, to the Greek trading cities in the south, to the sea to the west, and to the inland highlands to the east. The Roman Republic When Rome’s kings became autocratic, the Latin population rebelled. In 509 BC, Rome established a “republic,” an oligarchy of the powerful families who controlled the Senate. The small city-state steadily gained control of the region, expanding their influence across the Mediterranean. In 273 BC they made a treaty with the Ptolemies of Egypt. They expa...

Natural Revelation When God speaks to people directly through his word, we call it special revelation. God also speaks to all people indirectly in natural revelation (also called general revelation because it is given generally, i.e., to everyone), through the world of nature he has created. Psalm 19, for example, proclaims that knowledge of God in creation is universal (see Ps 19:1-4). Sadly, however, a saving response to God is anything but universal. Paul teaches in Romans 1–3 that as a result of Adam’s sin, all people turn away from the knowledge of God that they find in the created world. Apart from God’s grace, natural revelation only condemns people; as Paul states in 1:20, “They have no excuse for not knowing God.” God can still use natural revelation to awaken people to the reality of himself, the one true God. When accompanied and empowered by the grace of God, the beauty and intricacy of the world can stimulate a search for the Creator. Paul appealed to natural revelation in Athens (Acts 17:16-31) as a bridge to preaching the Good News. God’s revelation in the natural world and in human nature can stimulate people to search for him. And then, through the special...