Passage

Romans 16

• Doctrine

  Christian Fellowship

  In contemporary English, 'a fellowship' is more likely encountered as an academic or professional grant/appointment (e.g.

  ROM.16.3-16

• Glossary Term

  Church

  CRITICAL: in the contemporary post-Christian West, 'church' increasingly carries negative or purely institutional connotations — declining attendance, high-profile clergy-abuse scandals, and a large and growing share of the population identifying as religiously unaffiliated ('nones') mean many readers' primary association with 'church' is an institution in decline or under scrutiny, not Romans' living, Spirit-indwelt people of God.

  ROM.16.1-16

• Doctrine

  Church as God's People

  CRITICAL: in the contemporary post-Christian West, 'church' increasingly carries negative or purely institutional connotations given declining attendance, high-profile clergy-abuse scandals, and a large and growing religiously-unaffiliated population; 'going to church' is often understood as a passive cultural habit rather than active participation in Christ's body.

  ROM.16.1-16

• Glossary Term

  Fellowship

  In contemporary English, 'a fellowship' is more likely to be encountered as an academic or professional grant/appointment than as shared Christian communal life, which can flatten Romans' relational, participatory sense into something closer to institutional membership or a funded program.

  ROM.16.3-16

• Doctrine

  Obedience of Faith

  Contemporary Western culture's high value on individual autonomy makes it broadly suspicious of 'obedience' as a virtue, often associating it with servility or historical complicity ('just following orders'); Romans' obedience flowing freely from faith must be distinguished from this negative cultural default.

  ROM.16.26

• Glossary Term

  Obedience Of Faith

  Contemporary Western culture places very high value on individual autonomy and is broadly suspicious of 'obedience' as a virtue, often associating it with servility, lack of critical thinking, or even historical complicity in wrongdoing ('just following orders').

  ROM.16.26

• Doctrine

  Thanksgiving

  Minor risk: the capitalized national holiday 'Thanksgiving' could crowd out the general theological sense of giving thanks to God; context usually disambiguates.

  ROM.16.4

• Glossary Term

  Thanksgiving

  Minor risk: capitalized 'Thanksgiving' names a major secular/cultural American national holiday (turkey, family gatherings, football), which could crowd out the general theological sense of giving thanks to God found throughout Romans; context (lowercase, general usage) usually disambiguates.

  ROM.16.4