Romans 1:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What, then, does the Apostle's statement mean? God implanted the knowledge of Himself in men from the beginning. But the Gentiles applied their knowledge of God to trees and stones.

Thus they insulted the truth through their own fault, since the truth itself remains unchanged and has unshaken glory.

But how is it evident, Paul, that God gave this knowledge even to the Gentiles? From the fact, answers the Apostle, that "what may be known of God is manifest in them."

But this is an explanation, not a proof. Prove it to me and persuade me that the knowledge of God was revealed to the Gentiles, but that they voluntarily turned away from it.

How, then, was it revealed to them? Did a voice sound to them from heaven? No. God did what could attract their attention more than a voice.

He placed before them His creation. Through the mere contemplation of the beauty of all that is visible, it taught the wise man, the uneducated man, the Scythian, and the barbarian to lift the mind to God.

Therefore the Apostle says: Rom 1:20. "For His invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made."

Thus the Apostle showed the Gentiles what can be known about God, that is, everything concerning His essence which is invisible to the bodily eyes, but can be known by the mind from the good order of creation.

Some understand the invisible things here as angels. In my opinion, this understanding is incorrect. One of the Fathers said that the eternal power is the Son, and the Godhead is the Holy Spirit.

Let us consider, then, what precisely can be known about God. Although we have believed that God exists, exact knowledge of what He is by nature is not permitted, or rather is impossible.

To investigate this is not without danger. Yet from what we believe belongs to Him by nature, as the excellence and dignity proper to Him, we are directed even to our participation in His ineffable nature.

Therefore what can be known about God is manifest to them, that is, what precisely they were able to think about Him, insofar as this is accessible to man.

It consists, as I have said, in knowing that God exists, but not in inquiring further how or in what manner He exists.

Here there is an obvious indication of every form of idolatry, beginning with the Egyptian and ending with the Greco-Roman.

The essential inner character of idolatrous worship in all of them consisted in this: as the Apostle expressed it in verses 18 and 25, truth, the correct thought about God, was not only replaced by falsehood.

It was also suppressed by false representations of it, under the image of the heavenly luminaries, earthly creatures, and man himself.

Only by corrupting his natural senses could man reach such idolatrous worship. According to St. John Chrysostom, "God implanted in men the knowledge of Himself at their very birth."

Moreover, Scripture assures us that in Paradise God Himself taught man. Later He sent Angels and holy men to them, revealing His will and, in general, everything that man ought to know about God.

Finally, so that everything communicated would not be lost in the course of generations and ages, "He opened before all men the book of nature."

In this book every breath and every living thing praises God. Before all rational beings it clearly bears witness to the ever-living and transcendent power of the Godhead.

It also bears witness to His wisdom, goodness, omniscience, omnipresence, and many other divine properties, invisible yet intelligible to the human mind.

One may say that the very first impression from contemplating the world is the irresistible consciousness of its Creator and Provider.

This is why the Angels praised God when only the stars had yet been created (Job 38:7).

"Wondrous are Thy works, O Lord; Thou hast made all things in wisdom," King David cried to the Lord as he contemplated all earthly beauty (Ps 103).

God is great in the heavens and in the blades of grass upon the earth. There is no man who, being in full possession of mind and sound memory, would not confess His majesty.

He sees the whole wondrous world of God and imagines all its beauty. Only those who have become vain in their thoughts can fail to see God in His creations.

That is, those who have turned away from God, immersed themselves in empty and base interests of life, and surrendered themselves to pleasure of the flesh and pride.

For this they fall down to the worship of creatures instead of the Creator. Truly, only darkened minds and corrupted hearts can remain in this pitiable error.

When something is before the eyes, it is irresistibly seen as long as the eye is open. So God is irresistibly seen by the soul.

The bodily eye can be closed, but the eye of the soul cannot be closed. It looks continually.

Such is the soul's knowledge that God exists, that He created all things and sustains all things, and that one must fulfill His will, which is spoken in the conscience.

"God implanted the knowledge of Himself in men at their very birth" (St. Chrysostom). This is what it means: "for God has shown it to them."

Moreover, Scripture assures us that in the beginning, in Paradise, God taught man understanding. Then, after the fall and expulsion from Paradise, He repeatedly appeared Himself and sent Angels to proclaim true knowledge to him.

This was so before the flood and after the flood, until the building of the tower and the confusion of tongues.

When, as a result of this confusion, men settled in different places, each language separately, they carried with them everything that had until then been revealed by God and His Angels to the human race.

Thus the nations knew about God and divine things not only from what was imprinted in their souls, but also from what God later specially revealed and what passed by tradition from generation to generation.

Over time, the source of tradition was forgotten, and these forms of knowledge merged with natural knowledge. The Apostle indicates all this together in the words: "for God has shown it to them."

But this is not yet all. What the soul says about God could go unheard because of the noise of human cares and concerns.

What came by way of tradition from the face of God Himself could somehow be interrupted or covered by doubt.

Therefore, so that what may be known of God would not become obscure among the nations, God opened before them the book of nature. It cannot fail to be read, for it is always before the eyes.

In it He inscribed Himself beforehand and made Himself manifest to the gaze of all. "He set before us His creation, which, through the mere contemplation of the beauty of all that is visible, taught both the sage and the ignorant man, both Scythian and barbarian, to lift the mind to God" (St. Chrysostom).