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29 Chapter 3 The“Glory of God” in Paul’s Letter to the Romans Beverly Roberts Gaventa In view of the immense scholarly attention devoted to the letters of Paul, few phrases in them could accurately be characterized as neglected, but “glory of God” may well qualify for that designation. Such major treatments of Paul’s letters as Udo Schnelle’s important Apostle Paul1 and James D. G. Dunn’s substantial Theology of Paul the Apostle2 devote little or no attention to the topic of God’s glory. In addition, contemporary discussions of Romans in particular give no more than passing reference to the “glory of God.” To be sure, there have been in recent years several discussions of “glory” in Romans focused on eschatological glory or the restoration of Adamic glory to human beings, but little attention has been expended on divine glory as such.3 Even Robert Jewett’s massive commentary on Romans has little to say about the phrase, apart from associating it with ancient concerns for accruing honor and avoiding shame.4 Indeed, to the best of my knowledge, the most recent extensive discussion of “glory” in the Pauline letters appeared in Carey Newman’s 1992 study of Paul’s Christology, and when Newman surveyed earlier scholarly discussions , the most recent work he was able to include was published in 1964.5 In this article I hope to show that the “glory of God” is actually an important motif in Romans, that it draws on earlier Jewish associations connecting God’s glory with God’s salvific presence, and that it plays a role in Paul’s apocalyptic interpretation of the gospel.6 30 Beverly Roberts Gaventa The “Glory of God” in Romans: A Survey of the Language The noun δόξα first appears at Romans 1:23, with the assertion that “they changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the mere likeness of an image of a corruptible human and of birds and four-footed animals and reptiles .”7 This statement is crucial for the argument of the passage as a whole. Humanity has attempted to suppress the truth about God (v. 18), which Paul equates with failing to acknowledge God’s glory. As verse 21 puts it, “they did not glorify God or give God thanks.” This withholding of worship , this refusal to acknowledge that God is God, is the problem that generates all the other symptoms Paul so relentlessly adduces in the remainder of the chapter. Here, as is widely acknowledged, Paul is making use of a traditional Jewish portrayal of Gentiles, such as is found in Wisdom of Solomon 13–14.8 There are some notable differences, however, and these are not always acknowledged. Wisdom of Solomon does not attribute to God a direct role in the “handing over” of human beings, as does Paul in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28.9 In addition, Wisdom of Solomon does not include in its polemic the charge that Gentiles denied or rejected the glory of God. The same is to be said of other texts adduced as parallels to this characterization of Gentiles (including Let. Aris. 132-138; Sib. Or. 3.8-45; T. Naph. 3.3; Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.236-254; Philo, Spec. Laws 1.13-31). Although in Romans 1 Paul makes use of this conventional characterization of Gentiles, in the first half of Romans 3 it emerges that Gentiles are not alone in their failure to acknowledge God’s glory rightly.10 After the assertion in 3:2 that Jews have been “entrusted with God’s oracles,” Paul contends that God continues to be faithful, that God is true, even if some or even all human beings have been faithless (3:3-4). In fact, so great is God’s truth that in 3:7 Paul claims that the human lie paradoxically results in the enlargement of God’s glory. Although the catena in 3:10-18 does not draw on the δόξα word group, it nevertheless implicitly reinforces the charge that humanity failed to acknowledge God’s glory, particularly with the statements that “there is no one who seeks God,” and “there is no fear of God before their eyes.”11 As in 1:18-32, the problem here is one of refusing to acknowledge God. The only exception to this generalization about human failure appears in 4:20, with the comment that Abraham “gave glory to God.” The phrase “glory of God” returns importantly in 3:23, with the statement...

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