The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 20

tude before Goo. For not to be oonvinoed this ia not ao. The degradntlon spoken of of Bin i" t,-, belie the true ideal of our con- WRB long anterior to them, nor is t.hie chnrge, eoien()e. Rnd implies acqnfoecence in a moral RB formulated, applicable to thorn. Tho l!land&rd below that of the Divine righteous• idea ia, genernlly, that boasted human in- nel!f' t.o whioh we are able t.o aspire. telleot has not preserved men from folly; Ver. 21.-:&e.use that, knowing God, the:, not oven " the wisdom of the Egyptians,'' or @'lorifled bim not u God, neitber were thank- the intolleotmil oulture of the Greeks ( of, flll (l'ftther, ~"" thanh); but beoame vain I Oor. i. 19, eto.; iii. 19, eto.), in their imaginations (31C1Ao')'11Tµois, else- Ver. 2-l.-Wherefore God (rta.l, here in the where more oorreotly rendered " thoughts" Toxtus Receptus, is ill supported) gave them or "reasoninge;" of. I Oor. iii. 20, "The up in the lusts of their hearts unto unolean- Lord knoweth the thought" of the wise, that ness, to diahonour their own bodies between they &re vain "-µd.,-..;o., as here, /µa.Tar (rather, among) themselves. So -roil u.-,µd- '-"""1-), and their foolish heart WU dark- (Etr9"', eto., ie rendered in the Authorized ened. Version. The verb, however, is probably Vers. 22, 2S.-Professing themselvea to be p88Sive, a middle use of l:t not being else- wille, tbey ~ e fools, and changed the where found. In either oase the general glory of the inoorT11ptible God into the meaning is the same. The genitive, .,-oi, ,h,- similitude (literally, in similitude; of. Ps. µd(,.,.aa.,, seems most naturally taken ae de- c,·i. 20, whence idea and words are taken) notingwhat the ir.1ta.Ba.p1Tla. consisted in, rather of an image of OOrTllptible man, and of birds, than either the purpose or the Tesults of and fourfooted beasts, and oreeping things. their being given over to it (cf. ver. 26, The expression, "Y"&,,.,.a- .-lav e,lav, refers to where .,,a.pllio,1tev Els ...&e11 ;..,-,µfas is followed what has been said of .-la ")'J'O,IT'fOI' 'TOV a,ov, by a description of what these were). Here having been "manifest in them." It im- is noticed a further stage of judicial degra- plies actue.l knowledge, not mere capacity dation; the µa..,.,a.&'l"lls of idolatry, itself judi- of knowledge. Ma.n.kind is regarded as cial, had its further judicial consequence hanng lost a truer perception of God once in the li.1ta.Ba.p1T(a. of abominable sensuaJity. possessed, idols.try being a sign of culpable Similarly, in Eph. iv., the <p"fa.<Tla. arta.9a.pulas d~tion of the human race-not, as some ..-ciU7Js /11 ,../1.,ov,{l'f, prevalent among the wonld ha'l"e us now believe, a stage in man's nations, is traced to their µa.-ra.1&.,-71s, in that emergence from brutality. Scriptme ever they he.d become "alienated from the life of represents the human race ae having fallen God." It ie not.orioUB that idolatrous wor- and become de,,,"tlldcd; not as having risen ship was not uncommonly accompanied by gradually to any intelligent couceptiorui of debauchery; notably that of the Phamician God at &11. And it may well be asked Astarte, and of Aphrodite e.nd Dionysus (see whether modern anthropological science has Livy, xxxix. 8, for an account of the Diony- really discovered anything t.o discredit the sie. at one time in Rome; and A then., xiii. scriptoral view of the ori.,<>inal. condition pp. 574,579, and xiv. p. 659, for the Aphrodi- and capacity of man. The view here pre- sie. at Athena and Corinth); cf. Numb. xxv., 11ented is that obfoscation of the nnder- etc., "The people joined themselves unto etanding ( ITWE<Tts) ensued from refusal to Baal-peor," and the allusion to it, 1 Cor. l[. glorify and gi'De thanl:a to known Deity. 8. On that occasion no more is intimated " (kaJ,ias assere debemus ob beneficia; glori,. than promiscuous intercourse between the Ji=re ob ipsas virtntes divinas" (Bengel). two sexes, sinking men in that regard to Hence came µa.-ra.,,/,r,,s, a word, with its cor- the level of the brutes ; but still worse " un- relati 'l"es, constantly used with reference to cleanneas" ie in the apostle's view, such as idolatr'I"; ef. Acts riv. 15 ; I Cor. iii. 20; sinks them even below that level ; e.nd how Eph. iv. 17; I Pet. i. 18; a1Bo in the Old common such unnatural vices had become, •restament. I Kings xvi 26 ( .,, 'TOI$ µ,a,Talo,s and how lightly thought of, no one conver• ,d,rii,11, LXX.); 2 Kings xvii. 15 (,.,,op,6- eant with classical literature needs to be 9,i.,.,.,, l,,r,.,..,, .,.;;,,, µa.-ralo,.,, LXX..); Jer. ii. 5; reminded. Jonah ii 8 (tpuM.1T1Topso1 p.d,ra.u,. ,ea.I lj,o5;i). Ver. 25.-Who (rather, being such as, the Two forms of idolatry-both involving word ie of.-wu, equivalent to q11ippequ1') mnrorthy conceptions of the Divine Being oh&nged the truth of God into a. lie, and . - &lloded to, Bllggeated, we may suppose, wonhipped. and served the oreature more by w e.ntluopomorphism of the Greeks than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. r.nd ih.e crea.tore-worship of Egypt. which Amell. This verse repeats the source and were the two notr,.l,le and representative cause of the moral degradation spoken of, developments of heathen religion. The which ie described without reserve in whe.t expression, 4'U1'0l'1"fS d.,,,.. uo4>ol, with the follows. "In peccatis arguendis B1Bpe soapha previous b, .-o'is 3U1.A0')'•1TJLO'is, have lea some debct l!Copha dici. Gravitll8 et ardor stili to suppose in this who).-, pa.8111igo & special j udiciali.s proprietate verborum no11 viola& reft:lt:1100 to tbe i,cliools of i,hilosophy. Dut verecundiwn" (Dengel).  on. 1. 1-32.] THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 'fO THE ROMANS. 13