Last month, September, I compelled myself to
read the book of Romans, apostle Paul’s
longest epistle and magnum opus. It was
arguably the best book of the Bible I ever
read. I came off it with a considerably enlightened
understanding of what Christ did for humankind
via His death on the Cross and consequent
resurrection. And this understanding I gained, as I
proceeded in my daily study, kept me urging the
brothers in the house I was staying to study
Romans. But then, a day came in which, as I
skimmed over the final verses of the last chapter,
my eyes fell on a pronouncement that got me
wondering whether or not Paul was the actual
writer of Romans. It said:
‘I Tertius, who wrote this epistle , salute you in the
Lord.’
I read that verse in a mix of surprise, confusion
and shock. For a long moment I mulled over this
obvious contradiction. The Introduction to Romans
printed in my Preacher’s Bible claimed that Paul
wrote the epistle. And, from the first verse of
Romans, one could almost hear Paul’s familiar
voice as words poured out (of his mouth and onto
the pages of the Scripture) in first person pronoun
‘I’. So I was left pondering: Paul I knew, but who
was this Tertius?
Tertius, I would later find out, was an editor
employed to write Romans as Paul dictated the
words. People like Tertius, in those days, were
called amanuenses or scribes (γραφέας in Greek).
Amanuenses could be likened to modern day copy
editors. They were employed for two major
reasons: (i) they were good editors; and (ii) their
handwritings were small and legible, which
reduced the cost of having to purchase several
rolls of expensive parchments—animal skins
flattened out to the thickness of some modern
papers.
‘St. John the Evangelist’, a painting by Andrei Rublev, depicts
St. John dictating to a scribe.
Now, we should understand something crucial
about amanuenses. In the case of people like
Tertius, amanuenses had no right to infringe the
content of an epistle. They could make
grammatical corrections and help in arranging a
letter, but they cannot add anything of theirs such
as content, perception, interpretation, idea or
name. They wrote only what they were told; they
wrote another person’s words. Of the four
amanuenses that Paul employed in writing some of
his epistles (I Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, II
Thessalonians), only Tertius was permitted to
include his name. Why? Probably because he was
a disciple of Christ.
In modern times, amanuenses of Christian writing,
like Tertius, could be likened to copy editors.
Using epistles such as Romans as a yardstick for
their writing prowess, one would see that
amanuenses are far behind and grossly incapable.
They are people who write books today but lack
the spiritual insight needed in writing something
as noteworthy as Romans. They are mental
writers: they write from their heads, from their
knowledge of grammar, literature and theology.
They write out of intuition, not out of revelation.
To them is not the gift of revelation given.
Amanuenses are ardent readers. They read almost
everything that comes their way. They memorise
long passages and are capable of quoting from
head. They glory in their ability to retain what
they’ve read, in their ability to be theologically
sound and correct. They are people who find it
difficult to read spiritual books. Any book that
focuses on spiritual living is useless to them. Yes,
they could spend their time reading and
deciphering philosophy, a soulical exercise. But to
withdraw into the spiritual, a world wherein they
have to wait before a God Who speaks only when
He wants to, is difficult for them to do.
Any book that is not theologically and
grammatically sound is not on the reading list of
amanuenses. They look down on books whose
vocabulary and sentence structures are ‘too’
simple. They are after eloquent, scholarly and
high-sounding writing. When they enter a
bookstore, they go for books published by big
names, books with flashy, embossed covers and
prim designs. Any book that is not fat-spine and
does not have a blurb or commentary from
another big name/writer does not worth their time.
Needless to say, amanuenses characteristically
wear glasses. They could otherwise be called
intellectuals, or nerds.
Yes, they could possess some knowledge of the
Scripture, and might be capable of expounding
Biblical matters in their writings. They could write
Bible Study outlines, articles of faith, and Christian
books (mostly monographs and commentaries). In
fact they could write popular Christian books and
bestsellers by virtue of their gifts, talents and
writing prowess. They could, like most Nobel
laureates, make a household name of themselves.
But the major characteristic of their writing is lack
of life. Their writings lack life. You cannot return
to them again and again and always come off with
fresh encounters. God cannot speak to your spirit
or grant you deliverance through their writings.
No matter how good, well-crafted and
grammatically sound whatever they write are, no
matter how entertaining their writings are, they
fail to transform lives. Their writings are not, for
the most part, inspired and effected by God. They
may get published by the biggest publishers in
town, yes. But since they’re not written, proofread,
edited and sealed (published) by the Holy Spirit of
promise, they are just mere books and will always
be.
One blogger noted that, when Paul dictated the
book of Romans to Tertius (c. 7,000+ words),
Tertius was bound to make a few scribal errors
even though he was a professional scribe because
he was not inspired by God nor moved along by
the Holy Spirit. So an amanuensis is an
intermediary between the God-ordained, God-
inspired writer and the writing page. Such a
person lack a direct connection to God.
The Scribal Process: From God, to an author, to a scribe, to the
page.
It is true that most men who turned out to become
the greatest Christian writers also started this way,
writing another person’s words at the start of their
careers. But they did not stop there. They sought
God in prayer, with tears and groanings, for the
release of divine inspiration. These were men who
said: ‘I will never write a single book unless it is
God initiating it, unless He himself is ready to
write it.’ They were not men who wrote books
because a crucial social issue was ongoing and a
book was needed to be written to address the
matter. They did not write because they needed
money, or for fame, or because they had talent, or
because, as pastors or theologians or evangelists,
they just had to write. They were men who waited
for the voice of God to say: ‘Write the vision, make
it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it!’
Besides being recognized as the amanuensis of
Romans, historical findings claim that Tertius was
among the Seventy disciples Jesus sent out in Luke
10 to preach the gospel. He was also, at a time,
Bishop of Iconium. But all we know is that his
name only appears once in the Scripture, in
Romans 16:22, where, under the guise of greeting
the disciples at Rome, he boldly asserts himself to
be the writer of the voluminous and deeply
spiritual Epistle to the Romans.
‘I Tertius … edited this epistle,’ he supposed to
have written to us. ♦
63 copied from the medium.com

Hmmm...very interesting indeed.

Gointo:

‘I Tertius, who wrote this epistle , salute you in the
Lord.’

He was believed to be Paul's secretary. Wherever Paul wrote, "I am writing this with my hand" etc, then Paul wrote it directly himself. Sometimes, Paul dictated his letters.

You wrote ten pages above and expect us to read it without pointing out the exact verse that you claimed Paul copied. You only said you saw a verse where he copied . Why not post the verse for us to confirm?. So that we will confirm if you were actually reading a Bible or romance book .

It also worthy to note that while Paul was in prison,he most time dictate his letters to those attending to him Who then write down what he was dictating.