Romans 1:18-2:2 like Nathan's Parable to David

[mikewhitney]

[alaskazimm]

Steve Gregg of The Narrow Path has a similar take on the first few chapters of Romans. He expounds on that in his lectures - Romans.

I think it makes more sense of Romans overall to see those chapters in that way. Rather than in one chapter indicting the Gentiles, the next indicting the Jews, then everybody it seems to make more sense that in the first chapters Paul is teaching against the racial superiority the Jews thought they had - because they were Jews. Most of the rest of Romans then is seen as Paul explaining the Gentiles are as much a part of the church as the Jews culminating in chapters 9-11 and the olive tree image.

[mikewhitney]

I didn't expect that anyone had recognized Rom 1:18-32 to be about Jews. No scholarly writing that I have seen propose this. Many scholars have said 1:18-32 is about all of humanity. But none have seen the text as primarily describing Jews. (But I place many caveats on this application to Jews.)

Kudos to Steve Gregg for his discernment.

I had analyzed 1:18-32 phrase by phrase to see which ideas best represented Jews and those representing Gentiles. I don't have the results with me but it was like 80% favored Jews as the people described. This conclusion still had to be modified to recognize 1:18-32 in a generalized sense -- as describing people of the Bible. Then the text can describe Gentile Christians who also have messed up their walk.

In reality, the text does not speak explicitly of any group of people. Paul just was describing the sort of people subject to the wrath of God. In this approach, no one can use this text to denigrate any specific group of people.

I differ from Steve by noting that the audience consisted solely Gentiles who despised Jews. The audience then heard Rom 1:18-32 as being about Jews who fell but Paul applies this text to the Gentile audience in 2:1-2. It was the Gentile audience who thought Paul was agreeing about the state of the Jews.

[Geert van den Bos]

It is about Sparko and his likes, who made their god out of a man,

Romans 1:23, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of a mortal man

[mikewhitney]

Romans 1:23, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of a mortal man

Geert van den Bos, do not post in my thread. This thread is not for your personal attacks.