What is The Roman Road?

The Roman Road: Only Part of The Story

As Christians, we know that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It has been revealed to us, His Apostles and His Church through His Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed for his followers to be one unified body; and yet, nowadays there are literally thousands of denominations with hundreds of scriptural interpretations. There can only be one truth; alas, many people manipulate scripture to justify their particular thoughts, feelings and ideals.

One particularly large Christian denomination does this by using a tactic called the “Roman Road to Salvation.” The theory here is that one can use the Book of Romans as a quick and easy guide to salvation. Do not get me wrong here; the passages found in Romans are all true. The problem with this is that the Book of Romans is NOT the whole story. We must interpret scripture in the context of the entire Word of God. Furthermore, we must realize that each “reader” of the Bible (you and I) will have a different interpretation - based on our own life experiences, understandings and limitations. This means that we are inclined, by our human-nature, to be subjective while reading the objective Word of God. God alone has the authority of interpretation. He used his Holy Spirit to guide His Church, The Catholic Church, to come to know his objective Word.

Here or the scripture passages from the Book of Romans used in “The Roman Road”:
Begin with Romans 3:3, then Romans 5:12, then Romans 6:23, next Romans 5:8, next Romans 10:9-10 and finally Romans 10:13. Are we to think that entering the Kingdom of Heaven is this simple? Why would God provide us with the rest of the Bible if this were the only scriptures pointing us towards salvation?

Notice how the evangelizer will jump around and going back and forth picking and choosing text, in order to get his or her point across. They do this while avoiding other relevant and important scripture, such as:
Read Romans 2:6, then Romans 8:14-17, Hebrews 6:4-6, 1 Timothy 3:14-15 and Ephesians 4:1-6.

For a complete explanation of the “Roman Road to Salvation,” read Marcus Grodi’s book “What Must I Do to be SAVED?”  Marcus Grodi is a Presbyterian convert to the Catholic Church.

​KT