Paul’s Interlocutor in Romans 2

I’ve been running a little experiment: Working on Romans 2, I’m trying to determine who Paul’s interlocutor is, whether that can even be determined at all. Is he addressing a Jew or a Gentile or a colorless hypothetical human-in-general? My suspicion is that it’s a Jew, and one hint of that is the “we” of verse 2: “We know that the judgment of God according to truth is on those who practice such things.”

That led to the experiment: What if every time Paul uses “we” in Romans, it refers to Jews? That seems to work in Galatians, but does it in Romans? At some point (around chapters 5-6) there is a shift, and “we” begins to clearly mean “we who are the true Israel in Jesus.” But until then, it all seems to work, and clarifies a LOT of things to my mind. It changes the whole course of Paul’s argument; it makes all the more clear that he’s not introducing faith in competition with Torah, but showing that anyone who reads Torah will agree that one is reckoned righteous by faith.

Here are some of the results, which I think are pretty striking:

“But if our (Jews’) unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we Jews say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He?”

“For we Jews maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law . . . .Do we Jews then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we Jews establish the Law. ”

“What then shall we Jews say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”

“Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we Jews say, ‘FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS’”

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we Jews have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we Jews have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we Jews also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance . . . For while we Jews were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. .. But God demonstrates His own love toward us Jews, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we Jews shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we Jews were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we Jews shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”