Why did Andrew Ollerton create The Romans Course?

The Bible changes lives. One particular book with a great record for this is Paul’s letter to the Romans. Dr Andrew Ollerton, author of The Bible Course, is someone who’s been transformed by this standout book. ‘Romans taught me how to think,’ he says. 

‘In my late teenage years, when I’d come to understand the Christian faith for myself, a friend gave me a copy of John Stott’s commentary on Romans. It gave me an altered vision of what I thought life was about.’

Romans isn’t just for academics

Andrew worked with Bible Society to create The Romans Course as an invitation to explore Romans and experience that transformative power. He’s calling Romans the most influential letter ever written, and even a short list of people powerfully impact by it spans centuries to include Augustine, Wesley and the actor Sir David Suchet.

Andrew admits that Romans gets ‘knotty and complex’. When Martin Luther said in his preface to the letter (translated from the German by Br Andrew Thornton, OSB), ‘It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well,’ it might be the ‘impossible’ and ‘too much’ that stand out for you. Is that how you’d describe Romans?

Slaves were members of the Roman Church

‘At the end of the letter,’ Andrew says, ‘Paul greets 27 people by name, and among those people would’ve been slaves, who were not given dignity at all, let alone literacy.

‘The Letter to the Romans was for slaves and masters, women and men, Gentiles and Jews – real human people, wanting to know God’s truth – so I have a burden that everyone should be able to have a go at this. I often think of my friend Danny who studied Romans when he came to faith, having struggled with drugs and dropped out of school very young. I’d meet up with him and the things he was getting out of Romans, I was just like, “Wow!”’

Christians are naturally overawed by Romans, but it does us no good to dodge it. The Romans Course represents an ambitious but inclusive raising of the bar.

Romans is for everyone

‘We, as church leaders, thought that it would help people come into church if we kept lowering the bar until it’s almost on the floor,’ Andrew says. ‘But no sports club, no cooking class, no music teacher does that. If you want to go somewhere, you’ve got to take something on. So this set of Romans resources Bible Society has created is a challenge. And I think people want a challenge. They don’t just want it to be easy.

‘When I was leading churches, I never had the confidence to preach on Romans. I thought, “How can I do it justice without losing the congregation?” What I did instead was a series of lectures on Friday night, and I was amazed how many people turned up. We weren’t a big church, but we had over a hundred people for those Romans lectures.’

In his letter, the Apostle Paul spoke to Rome as an evangelist, not an admiring tourist. ‘It doesn’t matter how many servants, theatres, hot tubs they’ve got,’ Andrew says, ‘Rome needs Jesus. I’d not seen it like that before – Paul’s confidence in the gospel. This is the great city he’s writing to, but he has no hesitation.

Romans transforms prisoners

‘Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel. It’s the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1.6, ESV) Romans is thoroughly spiritual, powerful, life-giving.’ Andrew is looking forward to seeing prisoners engage with The Romans Course, just as with The Bible Course. ‘The emails I’ve had from the prison context have been the most moving for me. I’ve been into prisons to meet guys who have gone through The Bible Course. When you know that you need to change, you reach out for help more immediately. People in these settings are more willing to be honest about where they are and what they need.

‘I’ve seen The Bible Course provide inmates with a fresh vision. They can see that there is a meaningful story to life. They can say, “I’m not an accident. I’m not a hopeless case. I can reach forwards to God, who reaches out to me in Jesus Christ.” That absolutely is my hope for The Romans Course, that it will not only be something that well-read people will find helpful, but that people who struggle educationally will also say, “Romans has given me hope”.

‘Paul says this Romans 15.13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace so that as you trust in him you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” That image of someone overflowing with hope – that’s my prayer.’ 

The Romans Course consists of ten video-based sessions. Each of these sessions has resources for both a small group and church-service setting. Preview session one for free right now.

Discovery Central Church in Swindon took The Romans Course recently and made full use of the resources. Find out what they thought of it.