Texts in Conversation
In Romans, Paul echoes the Wisdom of Solomon, saying God’s power can be seen in the world and that idol worship leaves people without excuse. Wisdom makes a similar point, saying those who ignore the creator lack wisdom and have no excuse.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 13:1
Deuterocanon
1 For truly all men who had no perception of God were foolish by nature, and didn’t gain power to know him who exists from the good things that are seen. They didn’t recognize the architect from his works. 2 But they thought that either fire, or wind, or swift air, or circling stars, or raging water, or luminaries of heaven were gods that rule the world. 3 If it was through delight in their beauty that they took them to be gods, let them know how much better their Sovereign Lord is than these, for the first author of beauty created them. 4 But if it was through astonishment at their power and influence, then let them understand from them how much more powerful he who formed them is. 5 For from the greatness of the beauty of created things, mankind forms the corresponding perception of their Maker. 6 But yet for these men there is but small blame, for they too perhaps go astray while they are seeking God and desiring to find him. 7 For they diligently search while living among his works, and they trust their sight that the things that they look at are beautiful. 8 But again even they are not to be excused. 9 For if they had power to know so much, that they should be able to explore the world, how is it that they didn’t find the Sovereign Lord sooner? 10 But they were miserable, and their hopes were in dead things, who called them gods which are works of men’s hands, gold and silver, skillfully made, and likenesses of animals, or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Romans 1:20
New Testament
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Romans 1:18–2:5 is the first step in Paul's rhetorical revelation of the common condition of all human beings: homo est peccator (the human is a sinner). This is a revolutionary revelation. The language Paul employs, however, in terms of vocabulary, theme, and argumentative structure, has deep parallels in the early Jewish textual tradition. This is especially true of Wisdom of Solomon 13–15, which, like Romans 1:18–2:5, considers the relationship of Jews and Gentiles before God within the human history of idolatry. The parallels between Wisdom of Solomon and Romans make them readily comparable, but, as we shall see, the differences are even more significant ..."
Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, and Jason Maston, eds., Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 38–45.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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