"TheyExchangedheGloryof God

for theLikenessfanImage

IdolatrousAdamandIsraelasRepresentativesnPaul'sLettertotheRomans

A.B. GanedaysProfessorfNewTestamenttudiesnd ibllcalheologyatNorthwesternollegenSaintaul,Minnesota,nadditno numerousjournalrticles,e she oauthor(withhomasSchreiner)lThe aceSetBefores;A BibllcalhealogyfPerseveranceAsslrancelnterVarsity,2001)DrCanedaysrequenton-tributoro The outhernaptistournalofThealogy.IntroductionIn Rom 3:19-20,auldeliversthe coupdegrdce fthe closingargumentofhis indict-ment of humanity.Andwe knowthatwhatevertheLaw savst savso thosen theLaw'sjurisdiction,in orderthateverymouth maybe stoppedandall theworld may beliableto God.For onthebasis of deedsequiredby thelawno flesh shallbe declaredrigh-teous,forthroughthe lawcomesknowledgeof sin.Of thevarious significantissueshatexegetesddress,n thistext, onethatreceivestoo littleattentionis theinnerlogic ofverse19.GivenPaul'sclaim-"thatwhatevertheLawsaystsayso thosenthe Law'sjurisdiction"-fis'147does theLaw's condemnationofJewsstop"everymouth" andhold"alltheworld.. .liableto God"?Expresseddifferently,how doesthe Law'sindictment of]ewsstopthemouths ofGentilesalsoandholdlewsandGentiles,ogether,iable beforeGod?There is no questionthat,in the tra-dition ofIsrael'sprophets,the apostlePaulindicts GentilesandJewsalike.He expresslysays asmuch(Rom3:9).Hisindictment of Gentiless clear.Hegroundshisindictment ofGentilesinA.B. CanedayGod'suniversalself-revelation,"eventhoughtheyknew God,they didnot glo-rify himas God or offerthanks,buttheybecameutilein their thinkingandtheirfoolishheartwas darkened"(Rom1:21).Yet, ashe closeshis universalindictmentofhumans,Paul claimsthatthe MosaicLaw hasa functionthat somehowextendsbeyondits evident,restrictedcovenantjurisdiction-/l1vsknowthatwhatevertheLaw sayst sayso thosewho are inthe Law'siurisdiction'(3:19).he Lawcondemnsews,but the sameLaw silencesthe wholeworld of Gentilesalso beforeGod'sudgmentbar.How doesPaulreach he conclusionthat theLaw'sindictment ofJewsspillsovertohold'hlltheworld . . .liable toGod"?Generally,commentatorsproposethatPaul uses anafortiori(fromthegreatero thelesser) rgument:"ifJews,God'schosenpeople,cannotbe excludedfrom the scopeof sinstyranny,then itsurelyfollowsthat Gentiles,whohave noclaimon God'savor, arealso guilty."1nPaul's prosecutionofjewsand Gentilesalike(Rom3:9),doeshis argumentdrawa tighterrelationship betweenthe twothanthe passingobservationexegetestend tomake whenthev identifvthe a

;-,rtiorinature ofhis closingargument?rr'hileafortioriexplainstherhetorical,:aturefPaul'sassertion,s this sufficient:oexplainthenner logichat allowshim:ur€;lsofifrom theLaw's indictmentof.:scovenantubjects,helsraelites,o therndictment ofthe wholeworld?I will arguethatPaul'ssummary.:ssertionn Rom3:19-20s fitting,not:rincipallybecausehefunctions ofTorah-ind ofNaturalLaw coalesceo indictiveryone,but because,ike Adam,Israelillstherepresentativeole ofhumanity.2Soth AdamandIsrael cameunderGod's:ommandment.Bothbecamedolaters.\sAdam,soalso sraelservedas areP-:esentativeypefor allhumanity.Itisfor thisreasorLhen,that Paul says"thatrr'hateverheLaw sayst sayso thosen:he Law'surisdictioryin orderthat everymouthmay be stoppedand allthe worldmay beliableto God."Echoes ofAdamandIsraelinRomans1z2L-25Longago scholarscommentedonechoesofAdamand ofIsraelthattheyheardin Rom1:23.3akingcuesfromHyldahl'sshortstudy,MornaHookerofferedaninsightfuland suggestivessaythat hasreceivednadequateattentiooespeciallygiventhesurginginterestinintertextuality.Hookerfocusesheressayuponechoesfthe Genesisarrativecon-cerningAdam.a ShesuggestsnumerousOldTestamentpassageshat surfaceinRomans1 asPaulndictsAdam'sdescen-dants.sn alater essay,Hookerteasesreaderswith anintriguinglinkageofAdamandIsrael,butleavesdevelopmentof theassociationor others.6A.I.M.WedderburnexaminesHooker'shesisn his ownessayon'AdaminRomans."7IeengagesHooker'sProvoca-tiveessay,buthe doesnot addresshowPaulintegrateshis allusionto IsraelandtoAdam into hisargumentin Romans.Wedderburndevoteshis essayohow thestory ofAdam shapedPaul'sargumentnRom1:18ffandZ:7ff.His discussioryhow-ever, doesnot addressPaul's nterlacingof the storyofAdam'sidolatrywith thestory ofIsrael'sidolatry. Consequently,Wedderburnoffersno integrativesenseconcerninghowPaul's subtleallusionsto Israeland toAdamin Rom1':21'25figure in theLetterto theRomans,par-ticularlyPaul's concludingstatementofhis universalindictmentofhumanityinRom 3:19-20.Inhis recent commentary,Ben With-eringtonseemso overreactagainstHyl-dahl's andHooker'sinsightsasif theyforced"thestoryofAdaminto Rom.1:18-32."8OfferinglittlereflectionuponanyOldTestamentllusionsn Paul'saccount,Witheringtonasserts,thereal echoesareofWisdomof Solomon10-14.'tRegrettably,exegeteso notadequatelyeaseouthowPaul's subtlebut sureevocativeinkageofIsraeland AdaminRom 1:21-25stab-lishes theapostle'sallusiveandexpressuse ofIsraeland ofAdamin hisLettertothe Romansasplayingrepresentativeroleswithreferenceohumanity'scorrup-tionandplight.Thiss not to suggesthatno essayistemonstratesherole ofAdamandIsraeln Paul'sheology.loNorisit toimplythat allcommentatorshavefailedtodrawlinks forwardin Romansfrom1,:21,-25.11Whats lackingis anadequateunravelingofPaul'sallusiveentanglingofAdam and ofIsrael astypologicalrepresentativesofhumanityashe pros-ecutes God'sindictmentofunrighteoushumanitywithinRom1:18-3:20.hatliesbeyondthis essays the programmatictheologicalsignificancethatthisdouble

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allusion-Adamand Israel-in1':21'25bearsthroughout theapostle'sustifica-tion ofGod'srighteousness nhis Letterto theRomans.12AsPaul begins prosecutinghis chargeagainstthe Gentiles,he argues God'slawsuit againstthe Gentilesfirst, buthedoesso with strongechoesofOld Testa-mentnarratives concerningbothAdamandIsrael.In particular, inRom 1:21-25Pauladeptly, houghin a veiledmanner,linksIsrael'sexchangeofthe glory of Godfor theimageofa grass-eatingbullwithAdam'sexchangeof thetruth of Godforfalsehood.l3srael, God's"firstbornson"(Exod4:2223), raded away"theirglory;"they swappedtheirglory, Yahwehwhohasno form, for the form ofa bull thathasnoglorybut eatsgrass.The apostlesynthesizessrael'sradingawaytheir glory,Yahweh, and Adam'ssubstitutingfalsehood for thetruth ofGodinto a representativeportrayal ofthe primal sin ofall humanity thatincursthe plightof God'swrath. This suggeststhat Paul understandsIsrael,ike Adam,tohave a representativeand typologicalrole. Adam,who was a"typeofthe onewho was tocome"(Rom5:14),was alsorepresentativeof all humanity.ThoughPaul does not expresslyidentifyIsraelasfilling thisrole,sufficientindicatorsin the text ofRomans suggesthat heviewedIsrael asrecapitulatingAdam'srepresentativeand typologicalrole. BothAdam andIsrael,stoodrepresentativelyfor all humanitywhile they also presagedMessiahwho would comeas the faithfuland obedient oneto take uponhimselfGod'swratlu thus revealingthat Godisrighteous,keeping his covenant.Paul'sveiled interlacing ofIsrael's dolatrywithAdam'sidolatry in Rom'J.:27-25anchorshis use of bothin his letter asrepresenta-tively and typologicallysetorth by God.Theapostle's allusionin'J.:23o Israel'sidolatry groundshis presentationofIsraelas representativeof"thewholeworld"as he closeshisindictment ofhumanityin3:19-'Andwe know thatwhatever theLaw saystsayso thosewho arein theLaw'sjurisdictioryin orderthat everymouthmay be stoppedand allthe worldmay beliable to God."r4Followingin the tradition oftheprophets,Paul prosecutesGod'slawsuitagainsthumanity by defendingGod'srighteousnessand by indictinghuman-ity as unrighteousness.As he beginshis arraignment ofhumanity beforeGod'sudgmentbar,Paul punctuateshisprosecutorialchargeswith reverberat-ing echoes rom the OldTestament hateventuallyconverge uponthe Genesisnarrative of creationand fall.ThoughPaul makesnoexplicitmen-tion of eitherAdamorIsraefhis allusionsare tooevident to dismissthe roles bothAdam andIsraelplay nhis prosecutionofhumanity.lsPaulweavessrael'sexchangeof the glory of Godfor theimageofabeasttogether withAdam's exchangeofthetruth of Godfor falsehood as repre-sentativeof humanity'srejection of Godfor idols.Humanity's fundamental sinisidolatry,orsakingworship of the Creator,the onerue Go4 to worshipthe creature.Paul expresseshumanity's primal sin:"eventhough theyknewGod,they didnot glorifyhim asGod or offerthanks, butthey becameutile in their thinkingandtheir foolishheart was darkened."16Echoes oflsrael's lilolatryinRomans 7:23-24Itis notsurprisingthat the toneandvocabulary ofPaul's prosecution ofhumanity for idolatry bearsresemblance