Paul enigmatically describes humanity’s universal sinfulness in Rom. 3.23 as a lack of ‘the glory of God’. Interpreters have tried to situate the lack of this glory in various contexts: ancient honour discourse, ancient Jewish Adam traditions, and Paul’s ethical discourse. To interpret this passage, this article utilizes the literary context of glory language throughout the letter. From this we find that glory denotes not only elevated honour, but also incorruption. Thus, the lack of glory in 3.23 refers to mortality and shame as the result of sin. In addition, this study of glory has implications for the burgeoning interest into the question of theosis with regard to Pauline theology.
Anderson, Gary A. and Michael E. Stone (eds.) 1994A Synopsis of the Books of Adam and Eve ( Atlanta: Scholars Press).
2.
Barr, James1961The Semantics of Biblical Language ( London: Oxford University Press).
3.
Barrett, C.K.1991The Epistle to the Romans (2nd edn; BNTC, 45; London: A. & C. Black).
4.
Berquist, Millard J.1941‘The Meaning of Doxa in the Epistles of Paul’ (PhD dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ).
5.
Braaten, Carl E. and Robert W. Jenson (eds.) 1998Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther (Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans).
6.
Brockington, L.H.1955‘The Septuagintal Background to the New Testament use of Δοξα’, in D.E. Nineham (ed.), Studies in the Gospels ( Oxford: Blackwell): 1-8.
7.
Byrne, Brendan1979‘Sons of God’ - ‘Seed of Abraham’ (AnBib, 83;Rome: Biblical Institute Press). 1996 Romans (Sacra Pagina, 6; Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press).
8.
Calvin, John2003Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans (trans. John Owen; Calvin’s Commentaries, 19;Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
9.
Campbell, Douglas A.1992The Rhetoric of Righteousness in Romans 3.21-26 ( JSNTSup, 65; Sheffield: JSOT Press).
10.
Carrez, Maurice1964De la souffrance à la gloire: De la Δοξα dans la pensée paulienne (Neuchâtel: Delachaux & Niestlé).
11.
Charlesworth, James H.1985‘History of the Rechabites’, in James H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols.; Garden City, NY: Doubleday): 443-49.
12.
Coppens, J.1970‘La gloire des croyants d’après les lettres pauliniennes’, ETL46: 389-92.
Davila, J.R.2005The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other? (JSJSup, 105;Leiden: Brill).
15.
de Jonge, M.2003Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament as Part of Christian Literature: The Case of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve (SVTP, 18; Leiden: Brill).
16.
DeSilva, DavidArthur 1999 The Hope of Glory: Honor Discourse and New Testament Interpretation ( Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press).
17.
Dodd, C.H.1932The Epistle of Paul to the Romans ( London: Hodder & Stoughton).
18.
Dunn, James D.G.1988Romans (2 vols.; WBC, 38A-B; Dallas: Word).
19.
1989Christology in the Making (2nd edn; London: SCM Press).
20.
2008 ‘Adam in Paul’, in Gerbern S. Oegema and James H. Charlesworth (eds.), The Pseudepigrapha and Christian Origins ( London: T&T Clark): 120-35.
21.
Finlan, Stephen2008‘Can we Speak of Theosis in Paul?’, in Michael J. Christensen and Jeffery A. Wittung (eds.), Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and Development of Deification in the Christian Traditions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker ): 68-80.
22.
Fletcher-Louis, Crispin H.T.2002All the Glory of Adam: Liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leiden: Brill).
23.
Gorman, Michael J.2009Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul’s Narrative Soteriology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
24.
Gross, Jules2002[1938] The Divinization of the Christian According to the Greek Fathers (Anaheim, CA: A&C Press).
25.
Harrison, James R.forthcoming Paul and the Imperial Authorities at Thessalonica and Rome: A Study in the Conflict of the Ideology of Rule (Tübingen : Mohr Siebeck).
26.
Jervell, Jacob1960Imago Dei: Gen. 1.26f. im Spätjudentum, in der Gnosis und in den paulinischen Briefen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).
27.
Jewett, Robert2007Romans: A Commentary (Hermeneia;Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press).
28.
Käsemann, Ernst1980Commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
29.
Kittel, Helmut1934Die Herrlichkeit Gottes: Studien zu Geschichte und Wesen eines neutestamentlichen Begriffs (Gießen: Alfred Töpelmann).
30.
Kuss, Otto1963-1978Der Römerbrief (3 vols.; Regensburg: F. Pustet).
31.
Lange, A.1995Weisheit und Prädestination: Weisheitliche Urordnung und Prädestination in den Textfunden von Qumran (STDJ, 18;Leiden: Brill).
32.
Lendon, Jon E.1997Empire of Honor: The Art of Government in Ancient Rome ( Oxford: Oxford University Press).
33.
Levison, John R.1988Portraits of Adam in Early Judaism: From Sirach to 2 Baruch (JSPSup, 1; Sheffield: JSOT Press).
34.
2004 ‘Adam and Eve in Romans 1.18-25 and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve’, NTS50: 519-34.
35.
Litwa, M. David2008‘2 Corinthians 3.18 and its Implications for Theosis’ , JTI2: 117-33.
36.
Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene A. Nida (eds.) 1989Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (2nd edn; New York: United Bible Societies ).
37.
Malina, Bruce J.1993The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology (rev. edn; Louisville: Westminster /John Knox).
38.
Meeks, W.A.2003The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul (2nd edn; New Haven: Yale University Press).
39.
Michel, Otto1966Der Brief an die Römer (KEK, 4;Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).
40.
Moo, Douglas J.1996The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT; Cambridge : Eerdmans).
41.
Morris, Leon1988The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
42.
Moxnes, Halvor1988‘Honour and Righteousness in Romans’, JSNT32: 61-77.
Nickelsburg, George W.E.2006Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism and Early Christianity (expanded edn; HTS, 56; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
45.
Nida, Eugene A.1972‘Implications of Contemporary Linguistics for Biblical Scholarship’, JBL91: 73-89.
46.
Odell, M.S. and J.T. Strong (eds.) 2000The Book of Ezekiel: Theological and Anthropological Perspectives (Atlanta: SBL ).
47.
Oekpe, Albrecht1964‘απωλεια’, TDNT, I: 396-97.
48.
Pate, C. Marvin1991Adam Christology as the Exegetical and Theological Substructure of 2 Corinthians 4.7-5.21 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America).
49.
Ramsey, A.M.1967The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ (London : Libra).
50.
Russell, Norman2004The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford Early Christian Studies; Oxford : Oxfoed University Press).
51.
Sanday, William and Arthur C. Headlam1902Romans (ICC, 45; Edinburgh: T&T Clark).
52.
Schlatter, Adolf von1995Romans: The Righteousness of God (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson).
53.
Schlier, Heinrich1963‘Doxa bei Paulus als heilsgeschichtlicher Begriff’, in Studiorum Paulinorum Congressus Internationalis Catholicus 1961 ( Chicago: Loyola University Press): 45-56.
54.
Schneider, Johannes1932Doxa: Eine bedeutungsgeschichtliche Studie ( Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann).
55.
Schreiner, Thomas R.1998Romans (BECNT, 45; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
56.
Scroggs, Robin1966The Last Adam: A Study in Pauline Anthropology ( Oxford: Blackwell).
57.
Silva, Moisés1983Biblical Words and their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics (Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books).
58.
Sprinkle, Preston2007‘The Afterlife in Romans: Understanding Paul’s Glory Motif in Light of the Apocalypse of Moses and 2 Baruch’, in Michael Labahn and Manfred Lang (eds.), Lebendige Hoffnung - ewiger Tod?!: Jenseitsvorstellungen im Hellenismus, Judentum, und Christentum ( Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt): 201-33.
59.
Stuhlmacher, Peter1994Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary ( Louisville, KY: Westminster/ John Knox).
