Romans bible study

[Odell]

I want to start a study for my self and others of what I think is one of the books that on how one interprets it is pretty much what makes you catholic or protestant they are two very different ways of interpreting this book. And I would like to have a study that others and I can come back to and reference the different interpretations of this book.

please tell me what and how you interpret the particular chapter we are on, how a protestant should or a catholic should interpret it.

please no debating I just want to compare and contrast the different views. I want it to be a real bible study

But I will start a thred in apologetics where we can debate the differences. And link it here for us to turn to

If that thred is getting off the topic of a particular chapter you want to debate start a thred in the apologetics page and link it to the study for people that are anxious to debate someone elses interpretation I may be one of those

im going to try to keep this at a week per chapter

thanks and im sure we all can learn from this

**Chapter 1

1
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,
2
which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
3
the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh,
4
but established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
5
Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,
6
among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7
to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8
First, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is heralded throughout the world.
9
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in proclaiming the gospel of his Son, that I remember you constantly,
10
always asking in my prayers that somehow by God’s will I may at last find my way clear to come to you.
11
For I long to see you, that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened,
12
that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith, yours and mine.
13
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, though I was prevented until now, that I might harvest some fruit among you, too, as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14
To Greeks and non-Greeks alike, to the wise and the ignorant, I am under obligation;
15
that is why I am eager to preach the gospel also to you in Rome.
16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek.
17
For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous by faith will live.”
18
The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
19
For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.
20
Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse;
21
for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.
22
While claiming to be wise, they became fools
23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.
24
Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies.
25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26
Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
27
and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.
28
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.
29
They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips
30
and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents.
31
They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32
Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. **

 

[Odell]

Catholics I don’t want to inconvenience our protestant brothers and sisters. But I want to be able to know who’s interpretation is catholic or protestant so could we use a different font than protestants so we know for sure who’s who and what is what?

how is this font Book Antigua?

And really we can use what ever you personally want as long as it is not the origianl font that Protestants will be using thanks

 

[mikeledes]

**Chapter 1

1Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,
2
which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
3
the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh**,
4
but established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
5
Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,

Already within the first five verses, Paul hints at the reason why he’s writing this epistle. He first establishes the continuity between the Old and New Testaments (v. 2) by establishing the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the prophecies regarding the promised Messiah. However, this Messiah is not for ethnic Israel alone, though they were the ones to whom these prophecies were given, but for the Gentiles as well. This is the point of contention. What role did Gentiles play in God’s plan of salvation and how were they incorporated into the people of God? For historical background, read chapters 10, 11, and 15 of the Book of Acts. There you will find the difficulties Jewish Christians had accepting those “unclean” Gentiles as co-partakers of God’s promise of salvation. And we already see in verse 5 the fundamental principle by which Gentiles and Jew are saved, namely, faith, which the Catholic Church calls the beginning, foundation, and root of justification.

God bless,
Michael

 

[COPLAND_3]

which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Protestants can vary as we know, but this I can see how some Protetants are debunked by St. Paul’s reference to the Old Testament as holy/sacred. Some Protestants follow the same error as Marcion and deny the inspiration of the OT. We as Catholics believe that it is the inspired word of God.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Cool thread. I will try to add some stuff later on, I’m kind of in a time crunch tonight.

 

[Pax]

Paul makes a significant point in verse 5 when he states that it is his “apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,…” Just prior to this, Paul refers to the “gospel of God” which is the “gospel of his Son.”

The obedience of faith which will be mentioned again later in the book of Romans refers to our belief in and obedience to the gospel of Jesus. The gospel and grace are mentioned within the first five verses along with the obedience of faith. These are crucial to understanding and appreciating the entire letter. Paul is introducing us to the gospel religion of Jesus as opposed to the OT religion of the Jewish Law and as opposed to the gentile pagan religious systems. All of what follows must be understood in those terms.

( a Catholic view)

 

[Chancellor]

Odell;

This is a serious question regarding identity.

Are you a Nun?

Chancellor

 

[Mea_Culpa]

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever.

There is so much in this first section of Romans - one thing is how the Israelites fell into idolatry, and that led to moral depravity. We can see this in our own times - how much has our culture “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” - making idols out of money, cars, etc.

Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
27
and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.
28
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.

The idolatry of the Israelites led to depravity. Again, the link to our own times is clear. Being God-less, worshipping only physical pleasure, how many people today have fallen into the trap of sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc? We all know people who are trapped in cycles of sin. Because we have exchanged the truth of God for a lie - that this world is all there is, that feeling good is the greatest good we can aspire to, that material possessions and money will make us happy, will fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts.

It’s a lie, perpetrated by the father of lies.

They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips
30
and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents.
31
They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

TV and movies are full of characters just like this - they have become the norm today. Charlie Sheen as a father is what a lot of children these days are actually growing up with, and it’s not funny in real life. When we exchange God for a lie, our lives become a lie, we live a lie and pass a lie on to our children. The lie is empty, devoid of meaning, devoid of truth.

A previously CDC survey of youth in grades 9 to 12 in public and private schools in the United States found that 17 percent reported “seriously considering” suicide, 13 percent reported creating a plan and 8 percent reported trying to take their own life in the 12 months preceding the survey.

Paul in Romans is speaking to us.

 

[Odell]

Odell;

This is a serious question regarding identity.

Are you a Nun?

Chancellor

No

lol

I have to ask why the question? :nun1:

 

[Chancellor]

Odell,

I am relatively new to CAF and this is this first thread where the questioner has told people where to line up, which cross to wear and how to behave in class.It reminded me of old Sister Robert Ann who was not going to tolerate hooligans in her class.

It’s actually very refreshing. On the one hand I think it is fully right and proper for both Catholics and Protestants to have a wide spectrum of thought on scripture, especially a book like Romans which is so rich and complex. On the other hand it seems like status quo on CAF is for any question to be received with everything from prayerful consideration to tirades accusing the questioner of everything from heresy to mental retardation.

I am going to remain subscribed to this thread with the prayer that the Lord of us all will bless this thread with clarity and openness.

I am Roman Catholic, having swum the Tiber in 1983. Before that I was a Protestant seminarian. The first chapter of Romans has been continuously used out of context as a weapon to condemn everything and everybody that a commentator doesn’t agree with. It is a big open bear trap. In response to reading the text we are almost forced to say, “yeah, those people are really bad, look at all that depravity, look at all that sin”. And doesn’t it say right there that the wrath of God is revealed against all those nasty sinners and all that degrading. I’m goin to play by the rules and not look ahead. Romans Chapter One is a proof-texters garden of earthly delights. It’s a trap, but who cares? If you like to whip out those proof-texts you won’t read past the end of this chapter anyway. Paul is a rhetorical genius in this Chapter, but many will miss the point.

The Chancellor

 

[Odell]

Odell,

I am relatively new to CAF and this is this first thread where the questioner has told people where to line up, which cross to wear and how to behave in class.It reminded me of old Sister Robert Ann who was not going to tolerate hooligans in her class.

It’s actually very refreshing. On the one hand I think it is fully right and proper for both Catholics and Protestants to have a wide spectrum of thought on scripture, especially a book like Romans which is so rich and complex. On the other hand it seems like status quo on CAF is for any question to be received with everything from prayerful consideration to tirades accusing the questioner of everything from heresy to mental retardation.

I am going to remain subscribed to this thread with the prayer that the Lord of us all will bless this thread with clarity and openness.

I am Roman Catholic, having swum the Tiber in 1983. Before that I was a Protestant seminarian. The first chapter of Romans has been continuously used out of context as a weapon to condemn everything and everybody that a commentator doesn’t agree with. It is a big open bear trap. In response to reading the text we are almost forced to say, “yeah, those people are really bad, look at all that depravity, look at all that sin”. And doesn’t it say right there that the wrath of God is revealed against all those nasty sinners and all that degrading. I’m goin to play by the rules and not look ahead. Romans Chapter One is a proof-texters garden of earthly delights. It’s a trap, but who cares? If you like to whip out those proof-texts you won’t read past the end of this chapter anyway. Paul is a rhetorical genius in this Chapter, but many will miss the point.

The Chancellor

well im not telling people where to line up and or how to behave

and im not prohibiting people asking questions I probably will be asking alot

but I want this to be a study and it is primarily for my personal study and I want other to join and learn as well.

stick around the forums for a while and you will notice many threads get overthrown and it would be very easy for this study to get into a once saved always saved debate or faith alone debate and ultimately would overthrow the OP a bible study. Next thing you know we have 1000 post (forum limit) and we wouldn’t be but on Chapter 9

But I don’t want people to be discouraged I love debating too but start another thred and even link it here I would be happy to participate

thanks

 

[COPLAND_3]

Odell

There is indeed a problem with having too many unrelated posts that derail the original post. You are more than welcome to use my site and the forum, or I can even set up a webpage designed for a Romans study where we can have each passage with a thread underneath for people to contribute. I have a large supply of commentaries and resources on every book of the Bible.

It would separate those who are interested in the study verses those who are not. Just a thought, my site is below.

 

[D_M]

Hi,

I’m not sure what was meant by font… was it the catholics or the protestants who were supposed to use book antiqua?.. I’m guessing it’s the catholics, but I’m not really sure, in any even I am a catholic and this is an interpretation from a catholic.

This is very much a book that has been interpreted differently by catholics and protestants, and especially with the parts where it talks about justification by faith. This book was very important to Luther and the reformers who doctored the heresy of sola fide.

The book begins in much the same way as Paul’s other letters do in that he introduces himself and reminds them of the incredible mission he has been tasked to complete in bringing the gospel throughout the gentile nations. I think sometimes we tend to forget how much hard work or struggle the apostles went through in order to do these things described in the new testament. They were encountering enemies who maligned, attacked, or otherwise sought their harm at every step of the way, and yet whom the apostles attempted to treat with good will. They had to endure toil and hard work day by day, night by night, and yet they nevertheless continued on with their mission to evangelize which in their own time was bearing much fruit.

We call the bishops the successors of the apostles but I think this is more correct to say they have this office that the apostles occupied than to say that they necessarily possess the kind of zeal and incredible example we find when reading about men such as St Paul…

I love the way that Paul writes in how he incorporates such deep religious themes within otherwise seemingly formal language, like in the opening of a letter he addresses his correspondants ‘To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

He is not ashamed of the gospel, as none of us should be, even when we face persecution, and he reminds us that we are the witnesses of this mystery of our faith to the whole world.

On verse 17 he cites that first example of what makes this book partly controversial in that he writes that righteousness of God comes through faith and that through faith we shall live. He is contrasting this with what he then describes about the faithlessness of pagan Rome in how they arrogantly turned from the true God and worshipped gods of their own making.

The basic truth about God’s existence is revealed to us in our reason in this world, and is revealed even to those who do not even know His name. False wisdom that turns from the true God, in Paul’s time the idolatry or polytheism, and in our own time these as well but also atheism and agnosticicism, or whatever other false teaching we could name that places something more important than God, are living in a lie in the lack of recognition of the One True God whose existence is seen through reason in the universe by whomever sincerely seeks Him. Hence Paul writes, ‘they have no excuse’ and he then documents all number of corruptions that existed in the Roman world as a charge against the prevailing culture.

As another poster stated, we live in this world and it has not yet eclipsed. If you go through this list, which of these things that Paul mentions could not easily be found in our modern world of money and greed?

I think it is also good when reading this to examine ourselves and think if we are in fact guilty of any of the things that Paul is naming.

God Bless,

Verses of potential interest

Justification by faith:

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

God is perceived in the things that have been made

Psalms 19:1-4 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,

Paul coming to Rome

Acts 19:21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

Grace and apostleship through Jesus:

Acts 26:16-18 But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you fo this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul’s apostleship

Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

 

[Odell]

Odell

There is indeed a problem with having too many unrelated posts that derail the original post. You are more than welcome to use my site and the forum, or I can even set up a webpage designed for a Romans study where we can have each passage with a thread underneath for people to contribute. I have a large supply of commentaries and resources on every book of the Bible.

It would separate those who are interested in the study verses those who are not. Just a thought, my site is below.

thanks copland I will take a look at your site

 

[Odell]

Hi,

I’m not sure what was meant by font… was it the catholics or the protestants who were supposed to use book antiqua?.. I’m guessing it’s the catholics, but I’m not really sure, in any even I am a catholic and this is an interpretation from a catholic.
]

You know D M this probably was not a good idea sorry you where right I just wanted a way to differentiate a protestant interpretation and catholic

Do you know of an easier way? This font is going to kill me

maybe I should just scratch that idea

 

[D_M]

You know D M this probably was not a good idea sorry you where right I just wanted a way to differentiate a protestant interpretation and catholic

Do you know of an easier way? This font is going to kill me

maybe I should just scratch that idea

Hi Odell,

I don’t know… I suppose we could just declare who we are at the beginning, but then again I don’t know if that would work either…

God Bless,

 

[SyCarl]

In the first few verses of Romans 1, Paul establishes his own authority and that of his message. He is a servant of Christ who has been called for a purpose. This shows that he did not take his mission by his one authority but was called by God. As an Apostle he is an ambassador and a messenger of Jesus. While his message might be new, it is not his own and is something that was long expected. The church in Rome was composed of both Jew and Gentile believers who were familiar with the writings of the Old Testament. His message was promised by God through the prophets and he shows how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. He establishes the Jesus is the God-man by writing that He is both God’s Son and a descendant of David. The fulfillment of prophecy is shown by the resurrection. Jesus gave him a specific mission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, including those in Rome. His message is to all in the Roman church, both Jews and Gentiles.

Paul goes on to greet the church and assure them that he wants to visit them but God has had other plans for him. The purpose of visiting would be to teach them but also for him to be strengthened through their communion in faith.

The gospel is then briefly stated. It is that through God’s power, all those who believe the message are saved. The same message applies to both Jews and Greeks. Quoting from the prophet Habakkuk, Paul stresses that God shows His righteousness and gives life to those who have faith. By saying it is from faith to faith Paul indicates that salvation starts from faith and continues to be received by faith throughout.

Most of the last half of the epistle shows why men deserve God’s wrath and that it is even now being carried out. Men have no excuse since God has revealed Himself to everyone through His creation. This is important as it means that not only the Jews, who had the Old Testament writings, were guilty but the Gentiles also were guilty as they knew God. It is not that they should have known God, but that they did know Him and rejected Him. Ignoring the true God, they made for themselves gods of their own. God’s wrath is revealed through the three passages which speak of God turning men over impurity, degrading passions and a depraved mind. This is a permissive wrath in that God does not create the evils committed by men. Instead, by turning them over, it is meant that He leaves men in their sinful state as inherited from the fall. This carries them into the evils enumerated by Paul. Before each section Paul shows that God was right in allowing this because men had made their own gods, exchanged the truth they knew for a lie and did not acknowledge God. Men knew that what they were doing was wrong and worthy of death but they did it anyway and even encouraged each other in doing it. By this Paul establishes the premise that he will draw on further that all men, Jews and Gentiles are under sin.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Some people actually say the second half of Rom 1 is talking about the Jews, not the Gentiles (exclusively, if at all). I’m starting to lean this way myself.
Here are some examples:
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
The idea of “were darkened” implies going from light to darkness. This would fit with the notion of the Jews who were originally enlightened but turned to sin.
22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

[Compare Ps 106: 19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20 They exchanged their Glory
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt, ]
It is amazing how close these passages are, so close I doubt it could be denied Paul had Ps 106 in mind. In fact, if Paul was talking to a group who was well versed in the OT, and there is no doubt he was, then this passage would have made them think of Ps 106.
The “claimed to be wise” is another dominate theme in the OT with the Jews always becoming prideful and turning to lives of sin.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

The idea of being “given over to” implies it was not always that way. Again, this would be more likely talking about the Jews who were enlightened and turned to darkness, rather than a description of the state of the gentiles.

32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Who best fits this description? The Jews. They knew such acts required the death penalty, but they did not obey and even encouraged such acts. That is the end of ch1, but notice how well this fits with what is said in chapter 2:
17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; 18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
This describes the very same attitudes Paul condemned in Ch1, and the Jew (in my opinion) fits the evidence the best from ch1 regarding the comments about knowing God’s will, becoming darkened, etc, etc.

Further, the very first verses of chapter 2 (there was no such chapter division in the original text) says:
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
The first verse only makes sense if it is talking about the same group in chapter 1. Who best fits this description? The Jews/Judaizers. They were looking down upon the Gentiles as inferior “trailer trash” group who were not “enlightened” about the True God and His ways. St Paul stops these Judaizers dead in their tracks showing how even after all they were given they themselves were hypocrits and sinners, if not worse.

What most interpretations (especially Protestant) of chapter 1 would say is that Paul was talking to the Gentiles in chapter 1 and the Jews in chapter 2. The Reformed (Calvinist) camp looks to places like Chapter 1 as proof of “total depravity,” but I don’t think that fits the evidence and flow of ch1. But not all interpret it that way, and I believe they have a good case in place.

I’m convinced that chapter 1 is not talking about the Gentiles, at least not exclusively or primarily. Rather, chapter 1 and 2 are talking primarily to the Judaizers (radical Jewish Christian converts). Whether it is the Judaizers and Gentile-Christians together, I’m not sure.

 

[SyCarl]

I think that much of the purpose of the whole of Romans is to show that Jews and Gentiles are in the same position. Therefore in Chapter 1 Paul does not rely on the revelation of God being through Scripture. Instead it is because of what is seen in creation and is evident within men.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
(Romans 1:18-20 NASB)

The observation of what God made is available to all men and not just Jews. Also God held guilty those prior to His selection of Israel as is made clear by the destruction through the flood.

Later Paul also states that he has shown that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin.

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
(Romans 3:9 NASB)

I believe that he starts showing this in Chapter 1 and then goes on in Chapters 2 and 3 to show that the Jews were in no better position that the Gentiles just because they had the Law.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

I think that much of the purpose of the whole of Romans is to show that Jews and Gentiles are in the same position.

The “whole” of Romans? I wouldn’t go that far, the first 1/3 maybe.

Therefore in Chapter 1 Paul does not rely on the revelation of God being through Scripture. Instead it is because of what is seen in creation and is evident within men.

But you cannot deny what is virtually a direct quote/allusion of Ps 106:20 in Rm 1:23, and I’m sure there are other examples as well.

Whether Rom 1 is devoted entirely to the Jews or to both Jews and Gentiles, I’m not sure, but I don’t believe a good case can be made it is directed at Gentiles only.

The observation of what God made is available to all men and not just Jews. Also God held guilty those prior to His selection of Israel as is made clear by the destruction through the flood.

This is a fair claim, which is why I havn’t fully excluded the Gentiles as the main audience of Rom 1.

Later Paul also states that he has shown that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin.
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
I believe that he starts showing this in Chapter 1 and then goes on in Chapters 2 and 3 to show that the Jews were in no better position that the Gentiles just because they had the Law.

This is also a fair claim.
Now that I have gone back to re-read, I think I found something that fits. Mankind as a whole is the subject of Rom 1:18-2:16 (esp 2:9-11). Then - on top of what was said - from 2:19-3:8 the Jews have an added rebuke. So when Paul says in 3:9b “already charged that both Jews and Greeks” he is looking back to 1:18-2:16.
2:9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
This conclusion only makes sense if both Jews and Gentiles were the subject of the previous discussion. If the Gentiles were the only people from 1:18-2:8 then to say “FIRST Jew, THEN Gentile” is out of place.

Then 3:9a makes more sense, because the question of 3:9a was dealing with the question of 3:1 (What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.). Yet before the Judaizer can try to find a foothold for some superiority Paul comes back in 3:9b saying both Jews and Gentiles are in the same boat as 1:18-2:16 already showed.

Given this, I think my original assessment should be tweaked.
My newest position is: Ch1b-Ch2a is not talking about one or the other, but both. Ch2b-Ch3a is an added rebuke, talking specifically about the Judaizers.