What was Paul’s view of God?

1. Introduction
2. God as One

    2.1. Affirmations of the Oneness of God
        2.1.1. Gal 3:20
        2.1.2. Rom 3:29-30
        2.1.3. 1 Cor 8:6

        2.1.4. Eph 4:6

        2.1.5. 1 Tim 2:5

    2.2. God as Creator
3. Attributes of God

    3.1. Invisibility

    3.2. Dwelling in Unapproachable Light

    3.3. Imperishability

    3.4. Blessedness

    3.5. Having Power

    3.6. As Living

    3.7. As Having Glory

        3.7.1. Rom 1:23

        3.7.2. Rom 6:4

        3.7.3. 2 Cor 4:4, 6

        3.7.4. Gal 1:4b-5

        3.7.5. Eph 1:17

        3.7.6. Col 1:11

    3.8. Wise or as Having Wisdom

4. Trinitarian Formulae

    4.1. Three Explicit Trinitarian Passages

        4.1.1. 1 Cor 12:4-6

        4.1.2. 2 Cor 13:13

        4.1.3. Eph 4:4-6

    4.2. Other Trinitarian Statements

SEE Rom 16:26

1. Introduction

That Yahweh alone is God is a fundamental assertion about God in the Old Testament. The textus classicus for God’s oneness in the sense of uniqueness is the Shema: “Hear, O Israel. Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one” (Deut 6:4). There are different translations suggested for the six Hebrew words that make up this sentence, but the most likely is the one offered above, which is the interpretation adopted by the LXX and then the New Testament. Israel is to confess that Yahweh is numerically one, which means there is no other god but Yahweh or that Yahweh as God is unique. There are numerous other places in the Torah as well as the prophets and writings that state that Yahweh is the one God.(1)

Many more Jews lived outside of Palestine than inside, and had no choice but to interact with their non-Jewish neighbors.(2) Strabo, as quoted by Josephus, describes how the Jewish nation "has already made its way into every city, and it is not easy to find any place in the habitable world that has not received this nation and in which it has not made its power felt" (Ant. 14.115.) In order to maintain their religious and cultural identity and not be assimilated diasporan or Hellenistic Jews had no choice but to define themselves in opposition to their non-Jewish neighbors. In agreement with their scriptures, they confessed themselves to be monotheists who rejected idolatry as incompatible with the nature of the one true God (see 2 Macc 27:37; Sib. Or. 3.11-12, 545-61, 629; 4.24-30; 5.172-76, 493-500; Ep. Arist. 132-38; Wis. 13-15; Philo, Dec. 52-81; Vit. Mos. 1.75; Spec. Leg. 1.1-52, 67; 4.159; Leg. All. 2.1; 3.97-99; Virt. 7.35; Josephus, Ant. 2.275-76; 5.97; 8.343; Apion 2.190-198; 2 Bar 48. 23-24; 85.14). Non-Jews were aware of the unique religious perspective of the Jews, as is evident from Tacitus’ comment on Jewish beliefs:

The Egyptians worship many animals and images of monstrous form; the Jews have purely mental conceptions of Deity, as one in essence (Judaei mente sola unumque numen intellegunt). They call those profane who make representations of God in human shape out of perishable materials. They believe that Being to be supreme and eternal, neither capable of representation, nor of decay. They therefore do not allow any images to stand in their cities, much less in their temples. (Hist. 5.5)

This is the social and religious context in which Paul teaches and writes his letters. Some of his converts are Hellenistic Jews, while others are God-fearing gentiles who have by their loose association with the synagogue have rejected idolatry and adopted Jewish monotheism. Even those gentiles who abandoned idolatry no doubt already had some idea of the Jewish understanding of God.

ADD 1QH 1 = God as creator

1QH 15.12-20

1QS 3.15

ADD God as creator Eupolemus frag 2 hos ton ouranon kai tên gên ektisen and God as great tou theou tou megistou (33.1)

2. God as One

A few times in his extant letters Paul confesses the oneness of God, in agreement with the Jewish scriptures.He does not so much argue for the oneness of God as presuppose it, which account for the passing nature of such references. (That God was the creator was an undisputed teaching among Jews.) To semantic field of the oneness of God belongs the phrase "true God." Paul calls the one God "the true God" (alêthinos) in 1 Thess 1:9 to distinguish God from the false gods which his Thessalonian converts abandoned when they turned to "the living and true God." By the term "true God" Paul means that there is only one genuine God; whatever the other so-called gods are they are not God, for by definition there cannot be more than one God. The phrase "true God" occurs in polemical contexts in the Old Testament and 3 Maccabees, where false, idolatrous gods are set in contrast to the true God ('lhy 'mt in 2 Chron 15:3; 'lhym 'mt in Jer 10:10; alêthinos theos in 3 Macc 6:18; see 2:11).

SEE Sib. Or. Klumbies 76ff. for one God references

ADD SEE Ps. Hecataios = monotheism goes back to Abraham; Josephus, Ant. 1.154-68; God as creator; other fragment = from Clement of Alexandria, Strom 5.113-1-2 = one true God

Josephus, Ant 1.15-24; 4.180-201; Apion 2.190-98

2.1. Affirmations of the Oneness of God

2.1.1. Gal 3:20

Paul writes “Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is one.” The meaning of the clause has been disputed and many interpretations of Paul's statement have been proposed. From the context, the mediator to whom he refers must be Moses, who gave the Law to the Israelites after receiving it from angels (3:19b: "It [the Law] was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator") (see Exod 20:19; Deut 5:5, 23-27). There are two leading interpretations of this verse. The construction "not...of one" may be intended to communicate that the party for whom a mediator acts is a plurality and not one. The fact that a mediator was required means that the Law did not come directly from God, who is one, but from angels. For this reason, the Law is inferior to the promise, which comes directly from God. Or Paul's point may be the inferiority of something that is given to the people subsequently and indirectly. In this case, the Law comes after the promise and is presented to the people by the hand of Moses, its mediator, and does not come directly from God. In this case "not...of one" refers to the duality of the parties. In contrast to God, who is one, the Law, because it presupposes plurality—Moses the mediator and the Israelites—must be salvation-historically inferior to "the seed, " Christ, to whom the promise had been made (3:19c). Regardless of Paul's ultimate theological purposes, the clause verse “God is one” is clear enough, being allusive of Deut 6:4 and other scriptures. What he writes would be accepted without unquestion by his readers, who accepted the Jewish scriptures as authoritative.(3)

2.1.2. Rom 3:29-30

Paul asks rhetorically in Rom. 3.29: "Or is God the God of the Jews alone and not also [the God] of gentiles."(4) He expects the reader to answer that God is the God of both Jews and gentiles. His purpose in asking this question is to have his readers deny a conclusion. If being declared righteous is on the principle of works, then God can only be the God of those to whom he gives the opportunity to be declared righteous, namely those to whom he has given the Law. But since they would not deny that God is also the God of gentiles also, Jews are forced to deny the major premise of this syllogism: that being declared righteous is on the principle of works. Paul concludes, "If indeed God who will declare righteous the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. The conjunction eiper (if, indeed) has the sense of "if, indeed, as it is true that" or "since it is true that". He is really making the statement that the one God relates to Jews and gentiles in the same way. Paul’s statement ‘If indeed God... is one’ is a cornerstone of Jewish belief, based on the Shema: ‘Hear, O Israel, Yahweh your God is one’ [Deut. 6.4] and other scriptures. Thus, implicit in Paul’s statement is a rejection of the particularism of Judaism as incompatible with its belief in one God and the adoption of a type of universalism.

2.1.3. 1 Cor 8:6

Because of the rhythmic nature and existence of parallels, it is possible that 1 Cor 8:6 is a pre-Pauline formula having its origin in Hellenistic Jewish Christianity.(5) But, even if he has borrowed it, Paul obviously agrees with the confession. When answering the Corinthians' question about the nature of idols and idolatry, he explains to the Corinthians that, whereas for their pagan neighbors there are many (so-called) gods, "For us there is one God, the Father (heis theos ho patêr)" (1 Cor 8:6). Since in the next clause he writes "and one Lord Jesus Christ," Paul's confession is reminiscent of Deut 10:17 "For Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords." His point is that whatever the pagan gods actually are, there is only one true God, whom he calls by the relational term "father" (patêr). When Yahweh is called "father" in the Old Testament what is meant is that he is the founder of the nation Israel. But, since he says that all things are from God (ex hou ta panta), Paul seems to using the term father differently, to denote God as creator, in the same way that the term is used in the writings of Josephus and Philo (see Eph 4:6 "one God and father of all").

2.1.4. Eph 4:6

In Eph 4:4-5, Paul provides of list of things of there is one only: one body and one Spirit...one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism. In the next verse, he climactically concludes that there is "one God and Father of all." The combination of "God" and "Father" occurs twelve times in Paul's letters, but only in Eph 4:6 is the phrase "God and Father" modified by the adjective "one" (Rom 15:6; 1 Cor 15:24; 2 Cor 1:3; 11:31; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:3; 4:6; 5:20; Phil 4:20; 1 Thess 1:3; 3:11, 13) (see also Jas 1:27; 1 Pet 1:3; Rev 1:6). Paul is reiterating the position of Jewish monotheism for his mostly gentile readers, but a uniquely Christian version of it. The one God and Father is said to be father of "all" (pantôn); the question that requires answering is what is meant by "all." If interpreted in light of his statement in Eph 3:14-15 "I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every (pasa) family in heaven and on earth derives its name" then "of all" is synonymous with "every family in heaven and on earth," in which case then all refers to every type of created, sentient being: human beings and angels.(6) But Paul more probably could also mean by "Father of all" a reference to God as creator, in which case "all" (pantôn) means "all things." (It seems that he does not mean to restrict his mean simply all believers, so that the designation is soteriological in intention, in spite of the context in which the unity of the church is in view.) This interpretation is consistent with Paul's use of "all" elsewhere in Ephesians (1:10, 11, 22, 23; 3:9) and his other letters (1 Cor 8:6; Rom 11:36; Col 1:16), where "all" (panta) refers to all things and so functions to denote created reality. The phrase "father of all" with the meaning of creator occurs in Jos. Ant. 1.230 (tô pantôn patri); 2.152 (tou pantôn patros) and Philo, Opif. mund. 74 (tô...pantôn patri theô); Cher. 49 (tôn sumpantôn patêr). Paul's further statement that God is "is over all and through all and in all" intends to remove all limits on God with respect to creation. God is "over all" (ho epi pantôn) in the sense that God rules universally, thereby indicating his supremacy over all things. God is "through all and in all" (kai dia pantôn kai en pasin) in the sense that God is imminent to and in his creation, that he is not a being among other beings, like the pagan gods, far removed from all things. This latter designation has a Stoic-ring to it. In fact, Paul quotes from a similar-sounding quatrain of the Stoic philosopher Epimendies to make the point of God's imminence to his creation: "He is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and are, as even some of your own poets have said" (Acts 17:27-28) (see Diogenes Laertius, Lives, 1.112). Paul's statement is also similar to what the Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius writes about God: "All things are from you, all things are in you, all things are to you" (ek sou panta, en soi panta, eis se panta) (Medit. 4.23); with some Jewish modification, Paul could probably have agreed with this expression of God's imminence. The difference between the two statements is that, whereas for Marcus Aurelius all things are in God, for Paul God is in all things. The two statements, however, intend the same thing: God's imminence to all things.(7)

2.1.5. 1 Tim 2:5

Paul writes “For there is one God” (heis...theos). His statement affirms the biblical view that Yahweh alone is God. He adds, however, that there is one mediator between God and human beings, the man Jesus Christ.

2.2. God as Creator

Included in his confession of on God is Paul's belief that God is the creator of all things. He writes that God is he "from whom are all things and we exist for him" (1 Cor 8:6). He means that God is the source of all things that are not God and everything that God creates ultimately is for his glorify. Similarly, Paul writes in 1 Cor 11:12 that "all things are from God" (ta panta ek tou theou), meaning that all things owe their existence to God, and in Eph 4:6 he calls God "Father of all" (patêr pantôn), in the sense that God is is the creator of all things. His references to God as Father in his letters likewise probably implies God as the originator of all things, except those in which he refers to God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Rom 1:7; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 3:17; 1 Thess 1:3; 3.11; 2 Thess 1.1, 2; 2.16-17; 1 Tim 1.2; 2 Tim 1.2; Titus 1.4; Phlm 3). In his speech to the Athenians, Paul adapts a quotation from the Stoic poet Arastus: "We are his offspring" (Phaenomena, line. 5). Paul viewed Stoic pantheism as conceptually close to the Judaism, insofar as both agree that all things have their origin in one divine source (Acts 17:28).

ADD see Jos. As. 12.1-2; see descriptions in DSS; see Klumbies, 54ff. 1QM 10.8-16; 1QH 1.1-20

ADD See Sib. Or. Klumbies 76ff.

3. Attributes of God

In his letters Paul assigns several attributes to the one God, many of these, however, only in passing. He refers to what he calls the divine nature (theiotês) (Rom 1.20), by which he seems to mean what God is as opposed to created reality that testifies to it. Although he does not do so, it is useful to organize Paul's list of divine attributes according to the twofold division of absolute or non-relational attiributes and relational attributes. The former describe what God is in himself and can be called primary, internal, or passive, whereas the latter describe how God relates to what is not-God, and can be described as secondary, external and active. In this section, only the absolute attributes will be discussed, since the relational attributes emerge in different contexts where God is described as relating to human beings and are better discussed in those contexts.

3.1. Invisibility

In Rom 1:20, Paul refers to how the invisible things about God or God's invisible attributes (ta aorata) are seen in or known from the visible or sensible world. What he means when he refers the "invisible things" about God is that, contrary to the assumption of idolatry, God cannot be depicted as a sensible object, one known through the five senses, especially the eyes, as in the case of idols; the implication is that God is beyond all such depiction. Although what can be known about God is an inference from experience, God is invisible in the sense of being not a possible sensible object. This one could call God's transcendence, which means that God is nothing like any created thing. The apparent contradiction of speaking about "seeing" "the invisible things" of God is resolved by understanding "seeing" as a seeing with the mind or understanding.(8) Likewise, in Col 1:15 Paul refers to Christ, God's "beloved son," as the image of the "invisible God" (ho theou ho aoratos), and assigns the attribute of being invisible (aoratos) to God in 1 Tim 1:17. In both cases, as in Rom 1:20, he means that God is not a possible object of sensible experience, but transcends all such categories. Along the same lines, Paul asserts in 1 Tim 6:16 that no one has seen or can see God, by he means physical sight; God cannot be seen because God is not an sensible object among other sensible objects. Paul's agreement with the Stoic understanding of God as not a being, but that in which beings are, supports his conclusion that idolatry is absurd, for God cannot be depicted as one or more of those things that find their being in him (Acts 17:27-29).

The religious-historical background to Paul's assertion of the invisibility of God is probably Exod 33:18-23 and Jesus' teaching in John 6:46. Described in anthropomorphic terms, Moses is forbidden to look at Yahweh's face but is only allowed to see his back: "You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live" (33:20). Not being allowed to see Yahweh's "face" symbolizes the impossibility of God's being a sensible object; likewise, only seeing God's "back" symbolizes God's transcendence. Similarly, Jesus explains, "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father" (see 1:18). (Yahweh's invisibility is also implied in Deut 4:12 Then Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice." This is why the Israelites are forbidden from idolatry.) Although it is often not explained what it means the idea that God is invisible is firmly rooted in Hellenistic expressions of Judaism, which may have exercised an influence on Paul. In the Sibyline Oracles, God is described as "invisible, who himself sees all things" (3.12). Philo likewise says that God is invsible (Abr. 75-76 "though invisible (adeiês), yet brings all things to light"; Vit. Mos. 2.65: "invisible" (aoratos); Spec. leg. 1.20: the immaterial, the invisible, apprehended by the understanding alone (tou aeidous kai aoratou kai monê dianoia katalêmptou). He interprets God in Stoic terms as the "mind of the whole" or "mind of the all," on analogy with the human mind which rules over the body, seeing but not being seen. He writes, For after the pattern of a single mind, the mind of the whole as an archetype....It is invisible while itself seeing all things" (Op. mund. 69; see Spec. leg. 1.18). (Even though he quotes from the Stoic philosopher Epimendies in Acts 17:28, Paul, however, unlike Philo, does not interpret God's invisibility in a such a consistently Stoic manner.) Finally, Josephus compares God to the human soul insofar as both are invisible: "like God himself, invisible (aoratos) to human eyes.

ADD 1QM 10.8 Who is like you...= not God's essence but his acts

1QH 1.20

3.2. Dwelling in Unapproachable Light

In 1 Tim 6.16, Paul asserts that God "dwells in unapproachable light," which is why no one has seen or can see him. By saying that God dwells in light, Paul is not thinking that God is somewhere, in particular in a light-filled place; rather, insofar as God is nowhere in particular, his meaning is that God himself is light, i.e. the mode of God's existence is light-like (see the parallel in 1 John 1:5: "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all"). God is sometimes associated with light in the Old Testament. In Ps 104:2, Yahweh is described as covering himself "with light as with a cloak" ('th 'wr kslmh) in a theophanic self-manifestation; it is as if God puts on a garment of light when he appears to human beings. In both cases, the manifestation of Yahweh to human beings is light-like. Likewise, the prophet Habakkuk describes the theophanic appearance of Yahweh at Mt. Sinai as blazing sunlight: "His radiance is like light; he has rays flashing from his hand" (wngh k'wr thhyh qrnym mydw lw) (3:4). This is consistent with Exod 24:17, which describes Yahweh's appearance to the Israelites as a fire: "And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the mountain top." A common idiom in the Old Testament is the light of Yahweh's face. In Ps 4:6; 44:3 there is a reference to "the light of your face" ('wr pnyk), which is symbolic of God's lovingkindness or saving intention. Related to this is the idea of Yahweh making his face to shine upon human beings (Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80; 119:135). In these cases, the manifestation of Yahweh's favor to human beings is expressed as being light-like. Also light is central but very diffuse metaphor in the Qumran sectarian writings, used to describe realities closely associated with God, such as the ruling angel (prince of light), salvation and judgment, revelation, proper understanding and obedience to the Law.

Paul's statement that God metaphorically dwells in the light, or is light, probably means that God is the source of all existence. The metaphor of God as light derives from human experience of the effects of the sun's light, which, apart from much inferior moonlight, is the only real source of light in the ancient world. Sunlight is energy and gives life; without the sun's light nothing living would exist on the earth. So God's life-giving power is like the light of the sun, insofar as God gives existence to all things. Paul adds that the light in which God dwells is unapproachable (aprositos), which is a metaphorical way of describing God as invisible, or describable: what cannot be approached cannot ever be seen. So likewise, no human being can ever understand God. (Appropriately, Josephus and Philo use the term unapproachable [aprositos] to describe Mt. Sinai at the time of the giving of Law [Ant. 3.76; Vit. Mos. 2.70].)

3.3. Imperishability

Twice in his letters Paul affirms that God is incorruptible (aphthartos): Rom 1:23 "And exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures"; 1 Tim 1:17 "Now to the king eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the only God." Paul also attributes immortality (athanasia) to God: "who alone has immortality" (1 Tim 6:16). These two terms—incorruptible and having immortality—are synonyms: both express the idea that God is imperishable. In other words, it is impossible for God ever to cease to exist; the implication is that God is necessary, so that he cannot ever not be. Neither the word incorruptible (aphthartos) nor immortality (athanasia) is used in the LXX in order to translate a corresponding Hebrew word. They both occur, however, in Greek texts in the LXX (aphthartos in Wis 12:1; 18:4 and athanasia in Wis 3:4; 15:3; 4 Macc 14:5-6; 18:23; see also its use in Sib. Or. 2.41, 150; Jos., War 6.46; 7.348; Ant. 17.354; 18.14, 18), but neither term is not applied to God in these passage. The two adjectives used in the Hebrew Bible to describe God as imperishable are positive terms, rather than negations. The term eternal ('wlm) is predicated of God in different ways: Gen 21:33 "eternal God" ('l 'wlm); Isa 40:28 "eternal God" ('lhy 'wlm); Deut 32:40 "I live eternally" (chy 'nky l'wlm); Dan 12:7 "swore by him who lives eternally" (wyshb' bchy h'wlm); Exod 3:15 "This is my name eternally" (zh shmy l'wlm). Likewise the term "everlasting" ('d) is sometimes predicated of God in order to communicate his imperishability: Isa 57:15 "Who abides forever" (shkn 'd); Ps 111:3; 112:3, 9 "His righteousness endures forever" (tzdqthw 'mdth l'd); Ps 111:10 "His praise endures forever" (thhlthw 'mdth l'd). predicated and everlasting. In order to express the idea of God's imperishability, Paul chooses to use the term "incorruptible" (aphthartos), a Greek word that was already being used for that purpose. He also adopts the idea of immortality (athanasia), attributing this characteristic to God, even though it usually used in reference to human beings (souls, in particular).

3.4. Blessedness

There are two uses of the term blessed as applied to God found in Paul's letters. Paul can say that God is to be blessed, by which he means that, as the object of the verb "to bless," God is to be blessed by human beings. This is an idiomatic way of saying that God is to be thanked by human beings, to be an object of human gratitude: "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercy and God of all comfort" (2 Cor 1:3); "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings etc." (Eph 1:3). In these two passages, the word that Paul uses that is translated as is eulogêtos, past participle of the verb eulogeo. This usage corresponds to common idiom in the Old: Blessed be Yahweh (see Gen 9:26) or Blessed be God (Ps 66:20). Several times in his letters, however, Paul calls God blessed. Twice he assigns the attribute "blessed" to God: "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim 1:11); "he who is the blessed and only sovereign" (1 Tim 6:15). The word for "blessed" that he uses in both passages in 1 Timothy is makarios, which is consistent with standard Greek usage. It was commonly thought that the gods were blessed (theoi makares) and Hellenistic Jewish writers attribute this state of blessedness to the biblical God. (The LXX uses the word makarios to translated 'shr, which is not applied to God, but to human beings.) Three other times Paul qualifies God's state of blessedness as being "forever": "the creator, who is blessed forever" (Rom 1:25); "God blessed forever" (in reference to Christ) (Rom 9:5); "The God and father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever" (2 Cor 11:31). In these three passages the word for "blessed" that Paul uses is eulogêtos, which is the word that the LXX uses to translate brwk, the past participle of brk, used with God as its object. In these five passage where God is said to be in a state of blessedness the words eulogêtos and makarios are functional equivalents, although the latter would be perceived as more Hellenistic. To say that God's state of blessedness is "forever" (eis tous aiônas) is to say that God is permanently in a state of blessedness. In other words, God's blessedness is a way of describing God's perfection in which God exists in a state above the possibility of lack and its resullting suffering.

3.5. Having Power

By the term "power" of God Paul means generally the capacity by which God as an agent produces intentional effects. He refers to the "eternal power of God" that is evident in creation in Rom 1:20. In so doing, he conceives the cosmos, or created reality, as an effect, and postulates that there must a cause sufficiently powerful enough to produce such an effect, which he calls God. In Paul's view, God, the one who possesses the "power" to produce the effect consisting of the world, must also pre-exist the creation of the cosmos and so be eternal; the assumption is that the cause of an effect cannot be both cause and its own effect, but must pre-exist its effect. It should be noted that Paul's view is not unique to him. The idea that creation is the effect of the power of God and is a testimony to it occurs in the Old Testament (Job 26:12; Pss 50:1; 65:6; 78:26; Isa 40:26; Jer 10:12; 27:5; 32:17; 51:15). Similar sounding arguments occur in two Jewish Hellenistic texts that antedate him: Wis 13:4: "But if they were astonished at their [pagan gods'] power and virtue, let them understand by them, how much mightier he [God] is who made them and Arist. 132 "(Eleazar) began first of all by demonstrating that God is one, that his power is manifested througout the world." Similarly, later than Paul, Josephus explains about God has "made known to us his power, although the nature of his real being surpasses knowledge" (Apion 2.167).

3.6. As Living

A few times in his letters, Paul refers to God as the "living God" (theos zôn). He says that the Thessalonians have "turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God" (1 Thess 1.9-10). Similarly, in 2 Cor 3:3, he refers to "the Spirit of the living God," and later in 2 Cor 6:16 he says that the Corinthians are "the temple of the living God" and therefore should have no involvement with idols. In 1 Timothy, Paul uses the phrase "church of the living God" (1 Tim 3:15), and says that believers are those who have fixed our hope on the living God (1 Tim 4:10). By calling God, the "living" Paul means to affirm that God is the true God, as opposed to idols, and, because of this, is active and effective in the world. This is how the term "living God" (Heb. 'l chy, 'lhym chyym or 'lhym chy; Aram. 'lhy chy') is used when it occurs in the Old Testament (Deut 5:26; Josh 3:10; 1 Sam 17:26, 36; 2 Kgs 19:4, 16; Ps 42:2; 84:2; Isa 37:4, 17; Jer 10:10; 23:36; Dan 6:20, 26; Hos 1:10; see Jub. 1.25; 21:4).

ADD Jos. As. 8.5 and 8.9 = in opposition to idols

ADD Jos As. 11 = God as highest; see 8.2-9

3.7. As Having Glory

Paul uses the word "glory" (doxa) in different senses in his letters, but one use is in relation to God's mode of being, which is described as having glory: Rom 1:23; 6:4; 2 Cor 4:4, 6; 3:18a; Gal 1:4b-5; Eph 1:17; Col 1:11. He is dependent upon the Old Testament and second-Temple Judaism. The Hebrew word for "glory" is kbwd, which is translated in the LXX as doxa, and this fixes its meaning for Paul in some of its uses in his letters.In Old Testament, the glory of Yahweh is the revelation of Yahweh in nature and history; it is his intrinsic greatness known to or experienced by human beings. Similarly, for Paul God's glory is God's greatness as it is manifested to his creation.

3.7.1. Rom 1:23

In Rom 1:23, Paul says that idolaters "exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of the image of corruptible human beings, birds, four-footed animals and reptiles" (see Deut 4:15-20). In this context, the phrase "the glory of God" is a subjective genitive, referring to God's own manifested greatness. God's glory consists in the fact that he is invisible in the sense of being transcendent and so is unrepresentable by visible and corruptible things. To attempt to represent God by a visible and corruptible thing is to dishonor God by thinking of God as a created thing and not as the creator ("worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator" [1:25]). This process Paul expresses idiomatically as exchanging the glory of God for an idol. In this passage, Paul probably is alluding to Ps 106:20 (LXX 105:20): "They exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass."In this context "glory" (kbwd; LXX; doxa) represents God as glorious. Likewise, he may be thinking of Jer 2:11, where the prophet condemns his people for "exchanging its glory" for idols. As in Ps 106:20, in this passage "glory" means God as glorious.

3.7.2. Rom 6:4

In Rom 6:4, Paul writes that "Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father" (dia tês doxas to patros). What he means by "the glory of the Father" is God's greatness, which was the power behind the resurrection, and conversely the resurrection was a manifestation of that greatness. (At other times, Paul identifies the Spirit [Rom 8:11] and the power of God [1 Cor 6:14] as the agency by which Christ was raised from the dead.) There is obviously a close assocation between God's glory and power: God has power because he has glory (see Exod 15:6; 1 Chron 16:28; Ps 145:11). (In Col 1:11 Paul refers to "the strength of his power" [to kratos tês doxês], referring to God.)

3.7.3. 2 Cor 4:4, 6

Paul writes to the Corinthians about how to believers has been given "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). Although it is not completely certain, probably the phrase "in the face of Christ" is the equivalent of "in Christ" understood instrumentally: by means of Christ. The reason that he uses "in the face of Christ" and not simply "in Christ" is perhaps in order to allude to what he wrote in 2 Cor 3:13-18 concerning the two ministries, "the ministry that condemns" and "the ministry of the Spirit" (3:8-9). (He wrote about how Moses' face shined but nevertheless faded etc.) It is possible that he is implicitly contrasting Moses and Christ as founders of the two ministries. (The use of the phrase "in the face of Christ" in 2 Cor 2:10 has a different meaning, "in the presence of Christ," the en being used locatively.) Given their proximity and similarity of structure, the phrases "the light of knowledge of the glory of God" (4:6) should be understood as synonymous with "the light of the good news of the glory of Christ" (4:4).(9) If so, then Paul seems to mean that God manifests his glory or greatness to human being by providing the possibility of salvation through Christ, which is the good news; moreover, the glory of God is equated with the glory of Christ: it is the same divine greatness manifesting itself in the possibility of salvation. The proximity of the concepts of greatness and salvation results in the de facto merging of the glory or greatness of God or Christ merges into the idea of glory as salvation. See 2 Cor 3:18.

3.7.4. Gal 1:4b-5

In a doxology found in the end of the salutation in Galatians, Paul writes "our God and Father, to whom is glory for ever and ever." By glory he is referring to God's greatness, which human beings should acknowledge and ascribe to God. God's glory is forever and ever, which means that it is etenal, a permanent possession, enduring through endless generations. The phrase eis tous aiônas tôn aiônôn ("unto the ages of all ages") is more emphatic than the phrase that often occurs in the LXX, eis ton aiôn tou aiônos ("unto the age of age").(10)

3.7.5. Eph 1:17

In his prayer for his readers in the introduction, Paul requests "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit etc." The phrases "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ" and "the Father of glory" are in apposition, so that they are two different divine titles. The genitive construction "father of glory" is a genitive of description, which means that it is adjectival: the glorious father. What father of glory means is the father who has glory or is glorious, or in other words the father who has greatness or is great. The title "father of glory" is unique in the sources, but near parallels in the Old Testament and second-Temple Jewish sources do occur: "God of glory" in Ps 29:3 ('l hkbwd); see 1 En. 25:7; Acts 7:2 (ho theos tês doxês); "king of glory" in Ps 24:7, 10 (mlk hkbwd); see 1QM 12.8; 19.1; 4Q403 1 1.3, 31; 2.25; 4Q405 15 1.7; 4Q501 1 1.1; 4Q511 52+ 1.4; "Lord of glory" in 1 En. 22:14 [mr' rbwth']; see 25:3, 7.(11)

3.7.6. Col 1:11

Paul prays that the Colossians would be "strengthened with all strength, according to the power of his [God's] glory." The phrase "power of his glory" is probably a genitive of origin, so that Paul is describing the power that originates with God's glory or greatness. In other words, God's glory or greatness is the basis of a power that is available to human beings, which is not natural to them. Other references to God's power in Paul's letters include Eph 1:19; 6:10; 1 Tim 6:16.

3.8. Wise or as Having Wisdom

Paul calls God wise and refers to the wisdom of God. In his doxology in Rom 16:25-27, he affirms either that God is "the only wise God" or "the only and wise God," depending on whether "only" (monô) is intended to modify "wise" (sophô) or "God" (theô). In either case, however, God is said to be wise. If the meaning is "only wise God" then parallels to this idea occur only in Hellenistic sources: Plato says that the epithet "wise" is only proper to God (or a god) (Phdr 278d) and Philo refers to "the unchangeable and unhestitating service of the only wise God" (Fug. 47). Similarly, in Pseudo-Phocylides it is said, "The only God is wise and mighty and at the same time rich in blessings" (54). Paul also refers to the wisdom of God as a possession (1 Cor 1:21, 24; 2:7; Eph 3:10). In these passages, God's wisdom relates to his plan of salvation for human beings. In 1 Cor 1-2, Paul calls "the word of the cross" (1:18), his message about the crucified Christ, the wisdom of God, which is destined to destroy human wisdom. Similarly, in Eph 3:10, Paul calls his teaching about the church "the manifold wisdom of God." The religious-historical background to Paul's relatively few affirmations about God as wise or a having wisdom is the Old Testament, where wisdom is sometimes ascribed to God or God is said to be wise (but more rarely than with human beings). When it is ascribed to God, wisdom sometimes in is reference to God as creator: only a wise God would know how to create such a complicated and diverse universe. In other passages, God is said to be wise or have wisdom insofar as he directs history according to his own purposes.

The idea of God as wise or having wisdom continues into the second-Temple period, but, as in the Old Testament, although it is not a major theme in the sources. Statements to the effect that God is wise or has wisdom occur in both Palestinian and Hellenistic Jewish sources. In some of these passages it is not stated why God is thought to be wise (1 En. 63:2; 4 Macc. 1:12; Philo, Fug. 47; Ps.-Phoc. 54). In other passages, however God's wisdom relates to his creation of the world (11QtJob 33.7-8a; Sib Or. 5.360), while in Similitudes of Enoch (1 En. 48:7) and the Qumran sectarian texts (1QS 4.18; 1QH 17.23; CD 2.3), parallel to Paul, God's wisdom has a salvation historical context.

4. Trinitarian Formulae

Paul includes several formulae in his letters that could be described as proto-trinitarian. In such statements, God (the Father), the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are mentioned together, exclusive of all others, which suggests that in his view there is a unique relationship among the three. Sometimes also a unity among them is implied. In fact, it would seem that Paul intentionally includes God (the Father), the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit into this type of theological statement, in order to make the point that the three belong together in some way. But exactly why these three belong together—what relationship exists between them—he never explains in his letters.

4.1. Three Explicit Trinitarian Passages

4.1.1. 1 Cor 12:4-6

In the context of discussing spiritual (gifts) (pneumatika), Paul implicitly identifies the Spirit (pneuma), the Lord (Jesus) (ho kurios) and God (ho theos). Paul's point in this passage is to demonstrate that there is a hidden unity behind all the manifestations of the spiritual (gifts), insofar as they all originate in one source; in other words, there is a unity in diversity. Unexpectedly, he makes this point three times, each time using a different term to express what is diverse that is unified and a different term for the source of the unity: distributions of gifts (diaireseis charismata), but the same same Spirit (auto pneuma); distributions of ministries (diaireseis diakoniôn), but the same Lord (ho autos kurios); distributions of effects (diaireseis energêmatôn), but the same God (ho autos theos). (By pneuma Paul means the pneuma theou [12:3].) The three clauses are balanced and parallel constructions, so that it is clear that the different elements in each are intended to be understood as parallel to one another. In so doing Paul is implicitly identifying the Spirit, the Lord (Jesus) and God as a unity. The reader will easily understand the terms "gifts," "ministries" and "effects" as being synonyms for the spiritual gifts experienced in the community, and will then be led to conclude that the sources of unity are also synonyms for the same reality: Spirit, the Lord and God.(12)

4.1.2. 2 Cor 13:13

At the conclusion of 2 Corinthians, Paul includes a benedictory prayer. He identifies three blessings in which he wants his readers to participate: "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit." As a benediction, 2 Cor 13:13 is unique in form and structure as compared to other of Paul's final greetings, in which only the grace of the Lord Jesus (Christ) is mentioned (see Rom 16:20b; 1 Cor 16:23; Gal 6:18; Phil 4:23; 1 Thess 5:28; 2 Thesss 3:18; Phlm 25). The sentence in 2 Cor 13:13 is verbless, and has three nouns in the nominative case joined by "and" (kai), which function as subjects; these nouns express the content of the blessing. In addition, each of the nouns is connected to a genitive; these are probably subjective genitives, thereby indicating the source of the three blessings. The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of grace, in the sense of unmerited mercy and favor, since it is because of Christ that human beings have the blessing of salvation. God is the source of love, defined as his unconditional good intention towards human beings, which the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ presupposes. Finally, the Holy Spirit is the source of fellowship among believers, insofar as each is indwelt by the Spirit.(13) The order in which the triad is mentioned reflects the salvation-historical, or economic order, of the appearance of grace, love and fellowship in historical experience. The parallel construction of the three subjects implies that there is a unity among them: Lord Jesus Christ, God and Holy Spirit; but the fact that each contributes something different implies a separation between them.(14)

4.1.3. Eph 4:4-6

In Eph 4:4-6, Paul makes seven acclamations of oneness, which fall into two groups of three, plus a concluding affirmation of oneness of God. The movement is from the oneness of the church to the oneness of God the Father. What is significant is that Paul includes the one Spirit, the Lord (Jesus Christ) and the one God and Father of all together in a unique and exclusive relationship.(15)

4.2. Other Trinitarian Statements

There are other trinitatian passages in Paul's letters, but these appear less intentional and more in passing. In these passages, Paul mentions together God (or the Father), the Lord Jesus Christ (or Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Christ or the Son of God) and the Spirit (or Holy Spirit); the impression left on the reader or hearer is that these three belong together in an exclusive way.

• Rom 15:16: To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
  
• Rom 15:30: Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.
  
• 1 Cor 6:11: Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
  
• 2 Cor 1:21-22: Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
  
• Gal 4:6: Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father."
  
• Eph 1:13-14: In him [Christ], you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in him [Christ] with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.
  
• Eph 2:18: For through him [Christ] we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
  
• Eph 2:19-22: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
  
• 2 Thess 2:13-14: But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this he called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  
• Titus 3:5-6: He [God our savior] saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our savior.

Footnotes

(1) See E. Baasland, "Cogitio Dei im Römerbrief," SNTU 14 (1989) 185-218; P.-G. Klumbies, Die Rede von Gott bei Paulus in ihrem zeitgeschichtlichen Kontext, 1992; A. Lindemann, "Die Rede von Gott in der paulinische Theologie," Theologie und Glaube 69 (1979) 357-76.

(2) See E.P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief, 241-51; E. Lohse, The New Testament Environment, 120-45.

(3) R.N. Longenecker, Galatians, 141-43; R. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, 161-62

(4) S. Gathercole, Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul’s Response in Romans 1-5, 222-32.

(5) H. Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians, 144.

(6) P.T. O'Brien, Ephesians, 284-85; A.T. Lincoln, Ephesians, 240-41; see Meeks, First Urban Christians, 165-70.

(7) M. Barth, Ephesians, 471; R.P Martin, 2 Corinthians, 240.

(8) B.D. Smith, What Must I Do to Be Saved. Paul Parts Company with his Jewish Heritage, 162-67; D.M. Coffey, "Natural Knowledge of God: Reflection on Romans 1.18-32," TS 31 (1970), 674-91; A. Feuillet, ‘La connaissance naturelle de Dieu par les hommes, d’après Rom. 1,18-23’, LumVie 14 (1954), 63-80; H. Bietenhard, ‘Natürliche Gotteserkenntnis bei der Heiden?’, TZ 12 (1956) 275-88.

(9) L. Belleville, 2 Corinthians, 118-19

(10) Longenecker, Galatians, 9.

(11) O'Brien, Ephesians, 131.

(12) See J. Maleparampil, The "Trinitarian Formulae" in St. Paul, 17-49; M. Fatehi, The Spirit's Relation to the Risen Lord in Paul, 174-76; G. Fee, 1 Corinthians, 582-89; id., God's Empowering Presence, 161-63; A.W. Gabriel, "Pauline Pneumatology and the Question of Trinitarian Presuppositions," in S. Porter, ed., Paul and His Theology, 347-62.

(13) Some argue that the third genitive phrase is an objective genitive, in which case fellowship of the Holy Spirit the parallelism between the three subjects and would mean that the readers have fellowship or participation in the Holy Spirit. But given that the first two genitive phrases are subjective and the parallelism between the three subjects, it is probable that the phrase "fellowship of the Holy Spirit" is a subjective genitive. See the discussion in Martin, 2 Corinthians, 495-96.

(14 )V.P. Furnish, II Corinthians, 587-88; Maleparampil, The "Trinitarian Formulae" in St. Paul, 79-112; Martin, 2 Corinthians, 490-507

(15) Lincoln, Ephesians, 237-42.

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