God and the world in the epistles of Paul

Copyright: © 2013. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Paul is not interested in cosmological thinking in the proper sense of the word. This article starts by questioning the cosmological language of biblical writings. The authors of the books of the New Testament mostly use terms they found in the Septuagint – with a few remarkable exceptions. This article described how the specific term κόσμος has been used by the New Testament authors. There are two main usages of κόσμος: (1) as an anthropological term to describes mankind in its entirety; and (2) as an ecclesiological term to describes ‘the others’, that is the non-believers or the people outside the church. This is the reason why God is never called ‘the king of the world’; he is only its judge.

In the New Testament, it is not only the Book of Revelation in which this cosmological dimension comes into view, but also within Jesus' farewell discourse.We read in Mark 13 that before the future coming of the Son of Man 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken' (Mk 13:24-25, ESV).It is remarkable, and of course an established fact, that the cosmological texts of the New Testament do not use the Greek term κόσμος to denote the 'world' or the 'universe'.This draws a sharp distinction between the New Testament and the Greek philosophical tradition − beginning with the Ionian natural philosophers in the 6th century BCE − in which the term κόσμος had been used to denote 'the entirety of the Universe'. 1In the New Testament, there are only God en die wêreld in die briewe van Paulus.Paulus was nie sodanig in kosmologiese denke geïnteresseerd nie.Hierdie artikel begin met 'n vraag na die kosmologiese taalgebruik van Bybelse geskrifte.Die skrywers van die Nuwe Testamentiese boeke het meestal die terme gebruik wat hulle in die Septuaginta gevind het − met 'n paar merkwaardige uitsonderings.Hierdie artikel verduidelik hoe die term κόσμος deur Nuwe Testamentiese skrywers gebruik is.Twee hoofgebruike van κόσμος word genoem: (1) as 'n antropologiese term om die totale mensdom te beskryf; en (2) as 'n ekklesiologiese term om 'die ander', naamlik die niegelowiges of die buitekerklikes, te beskryf.Dit is die rede waarom God nooit 'die koning van die wêreld' genoem word nie; Hy is slegs die regter daarvan.
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However, the New Testament's cosmological language depends on the Old Testament and is a Septuagintal manner of speaking.In Hebrew, there is no terminological equivalent to the Greek word κόσμος.The entirety of the universe is mostly circumscribed by the conceptual pair 'heaven and earth'. 2 Sometimes 'the sea' is added to a tripartite complementarity as in Exodus 20:11: '[I]n six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them' (cf.Ps 96:11, 146:6; Am 9:6).Occasionally, the determined singular noun ‫ה‬ ַ ‫ּכ‬ ֹ ‫,ל‬ meaning 'all [things]', finds a use with the same reference as 'heaven and earth', for example in Jeremiah 10:16: '[H]e is the one who formed all things' (cf.Jr [28] 51, 19; Is 44:24; Ps 103:19).In the Septuagint, it is always translated by the plural (τὰ) πάντα.
Viewed from a reversed perspective, that is if we ask how those writings of the Septuagint that are translated from Hebrew use the noun κόσμος, we mostly find ‫די‬ ִ ‫ע‬ ֲ [ornament] in the Hebrew pretext. 3Sometimes κόσμος is also used to translate ‫בא‬ ָ ‫צ‬ ָ [army or host] (Dt 4:19, 17:3; Is 24:21, 40:26; cf.Gn 2:1; Is 13:10) as part of the expressions ‫ִים‬ ַ ‫ׁמ‬ ָ ‫הּש‬ ַ ‫צ‬ ָ ‫ב‬ ָ ‫א‬ [host of heavens] and ‫ּמהֹום‬ ָ ‫ַר‬ ‫בא‬ ָ ‫צ‬ ְ [host of heights] which is mostly translated by ὁ κόσμος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ in the Septuagint.This usage is based on the very basic Greek meaning of κόσμος as 'order'.It refers to the multitude of the stars as a wellordered arrangement.
In each of them, the statement about the 'heaven and earth' and 'all things' is part of a title, a restrictive participle or a relative clause with the function of defining God's 'being-God'. 7Theologically speaking, cosmology here has become a part of 'theo-logy' in the proper sense: these texts are not interested in developing an independent concept of cosmology, but cosmology is rather conceived as part of the doctrine about God.

The human world as κόσμος: Cosmology as anthropology
Where is the use of the term κόσμος in the New Testament taken from?
We now change our perspective and question where the usage of the term κόσμος, which is typical for Paul in

The New Testament usage
If we now switch to the New Testament, we can easily identify these two aspects of the colloquial use of the term κόσμος in its Hellenistic environment in the early Christian writings.A few examples may suffice.

Paul's epistle to the Romans
Let us now focus on two texts in Paul's epistle to the Romans: Romans 3:19-20 and 5:12-14.
οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὅσα ὁ νόμος λέγει τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ λαλεῖ, ἵνα πᾶν στόμα φραγῇ καὶ ὑπόδικος γένηται πᾶς ὁ κόσμος τῷ θεῷ• διότι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτου [Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight.](Rm 3:19-20; [author's own translation]) In Romans 3:19-20, the κόσμος is depicted as a human being standing before his or her judge, unable to answer the accusations made against him or her.Correspondingly, the expression πᾶς ὁ κόσμος can be replaced by πᾶν στόμα (Rom 3:19) and πᾶσα σάρξ (v.20).All three are not synonyms, but they are semantically isotopic since they refer to one and the same subject matter − mankind in its entirety: Διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρ τία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνα τος, καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον• ἄχρι γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία ἦν ἐν κόσμῳ, ἁμαρτία δὲ οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται μὴ ὄντος νόμου, 14 ἀλλὰ ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μὴ ἁμαρτήσαντας ἐπὶ τῷ ὁμοιώματι τῆς παραβάσεως Ἀδὰμ ὅς ἐστιν τύπος τοῦ μέλλοντος.[Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned − for sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not counted where there is no law.Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.](Rm 5:12-14, [author's own translation]) In Romans 5:12-14, εἰς τὸν κόσμον is equivalent to εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους or simply to πάντες.When the text reads 'sin came into the world', it denotes the very beginning of the history of sin and its proliferation amongst Adam's offspring. 10When Paul writes in Romans 5:13 that 'sin was in the world before the law', nothing else is implied except that human beings, who lived in the period between Adam and Moses, were sinning.
These two texts apparently refer to each other insofar as Paul uses it to characterise the nature of mankind.It frames the history of mankind as a history of sinfulness where Romans 5:12 denote the protological beginning with Adam's fall and Romans 3:19 denote the eschatological end with the last judgment.From this, we may draw the conclusion that, for Paul, human beings are not involuntarily bound into a κόσμος that has to be distinguished from them, but rather that they are the κόσμος which is constituted by their sinning.In these texts, cosmology is conceived as anthropology.
If we go a step further and ask how this concept is embedded in the broader context of Paul's theology as it is developed in Romans, the answer is at hand.What Paul is saying about mankind forming one uniform κόσμος determined by sin, is the complementary counterpart of the inclusive character of his soteriology.As God justifies every human being, whether a Jew or a Gentile, only through faith; all human beings, whether a Jew or a Gentile, are under the dominion of sin.In Romans there are two statements where the first words are almost identical (not in the hand-out): 'There is no distinction' (οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή).In Romans 3:23 it is followed by the words: '[A]ll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God', whereas in Romans 10:11-12, Paul starts with the quotation of Isaiah 28:16: '[N]o one who believes in him will be put to shame.'He then continues: 'For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same one is Lord of all, rich to all who call upon him.'From this it becomes clear that Paul's anthropological cosmology is an integral part of his doctrine of justification.Within this theological framework, Paul's cosmology functions as an antithesis to the Jewish theology of election as it was advocated by himself prior to his conversion.
However, there is yet another theologically important aspect of Paul's concept of κόσμος.

'We' and the κόσμος: Cosmology as ecclesiology
This article intends to display the interrelatedness between cosmology and ecclesiology in Paul's theology in two different factual connections.Both have two aspects in common: Firstly, the Church, or rather, the 'we' or 'you' of the Christian community, on one side and the κόσμος on the other -these are dualistically opposed to each other; and secondly, in the same context, the term κόσμος has an anthropological meaning.
If we connect these two aspects, we are able to describe a rather detailed semantic profile of Paul's ecclesiological understanding of this term − he uses κόσμος as an umbrella term to embrace all human beings who do not believe in Jesus Christ.In contrast to the usage in Romans 3:19 and 5:12-14, the term κόσμος refers to mankind in its entirety -excluding the Christians.
Philippians 2:14-15 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world (ἐν οἷς φαίνεσθε ὡς φωστῆρες ἐν κόσμῳ).
If we want to understand this text properly, we have to draw our attention to the fact that the 'you' of verse 15, the second plural, is an ecclesial 'you'.As both John 1:5 and 12:35 use the soteriological symbolism of light and darkness, Philippians 2:15 implicitly does so too, because stars only shine during the night and in the darkness.Furthermore, in the background of Philippians 2:15, two Old Testament texts are discernable: Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6.In these two texts, God assigned the task to his servant Israel to become a light to the Gentiles.Accordingly, the Christian community's relation to the κόσμος corresponds with Israel's relation to the Gentiles.
In Galatians 6:14, Paul characterises it as the content of his boasting.2. The cross marks the distinction between the Christian believer and the κόσμος.

The pair 'Jews and Gentiles' (respectively 'Jews and
Greeks ' and 'circumcision and foreskin')  Galatians against the nomists (cf.Käsemann 1964:265) − it can be shown, however, that both texts deal with the same conflict and the same concept of κόσμος.

19
For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart'. 20ποῦ σοφός; ποῦ γραμματεύς; ποῦ συζητητὴς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου; οὐχὶ ἐμώρανεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου; 20 Where is the one who is wise?Where is the scribe?Where is the debater of this age?Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔγνω ὁ κόσμος διὰ τῆς σοφίας τὸν θεόν, εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τῆς μωρίας τοῦ κηρύγματος σῶσαι τοὺς πιστεύοντας• 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of the message to save those who believe.one group imported the prevalent social structures into the church and created the factions described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10ff.
In Galatians, Paul is engaged with Jewish Christians who emphasise the distinction between Jews and non-Jews, and conclude baptised Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ can only belong to God's chosen people and Abraham's offspring by becoming Jews and being circumcised.

Dealing with the situations in a similar way
In 1 Corinthians 1-4, Paul's line of argument is twofold.On the one hand, he deals with the position of the 'knowledge and wisdom' faction and on the other hand, he criticises the actual formation of factions as such.In 1 Corinthians 1:18-29, he uses semantic oppositions he sets against each other.He begins with two fundamental oppositions: God-world and wisdom-foolishness.
On both sides diametrically opposite concepts of wisdom and foolishness exist.What God regards as 'wisdom', is estimated by the world as 'foolishness', and vice versa: in God's judgment, the 'wisdom of the world' is nothing but 'foolishness'.
Within the context of these oppositions, Paul then introduces his 'message of the cross' (1 Cor 1:18), and he does this in such a way that even the representatives of the Corinthian wisdom and knowledge party must agree with him − no Christian can deny that God has brought salvation through death on a cross.It is precisely this claim that salvation comes from such a despicable event like a death on a cross that, according to the standards of the 'world', must necessarily be 'foolishness'.Two dualistically opposed cognitive positions meet each other here.Those who believe that God has brought salvation through death on a cross are compelled to thoroughly revise their previous perception of reality in which such assurance has no place whatsoever.Thus, what is considered 'wisdom' outside the context of faith, no longer applies.those who cannot grasp that Jesus' death on the cross is the saving event, Paul's message necessarily must remain foolishness.This is substantiated in the second dualistic passage of 1 Corinthians (author has to confirm 1 Corinthians) which is as follows (see Box 4).
Although the terms on each side that comprise the passages have different meanings, their reference remains the same: they represent the distinction between the κόσμος and the church.
If we now relate these two comparisons, it is clear what belongs together and what does not.On the one side is 'God', 'wisdom' and the ensuing passage, and on the other side is the 'world', 'foolishness' and the ensuing passage.Thus, the counterparts God and κόσμος are projected onto the counterparts Christians and non-Christians.It is by the message of the cross where they coincide.It is of great significance, though not surprising, that the polarity of Jews and Gentiles appears in both comparisons.
Within the context of Paul's debate with the factions in Corinth, it means that those who favour wisdom and knowledge can only do so as believers if they understand the cross as the saving event.From the side of the κόσμος and its values respectively, 'wisdom' is utterly excluded.This makes it impossible for some Christians to claim superiority over others by allowing paradigms which are only valid outside the Christian community and which Paul can only label as τοῦ κόσμου ('of the world'; cf. 1 Cor 1:20), to dominate.No one can understand the cross as saving event without having crossed the border from 'foolishness' to 'wisdom', from the κόσμος to 'God', and from unbelief to faith in Jesus Christ.
In Galatians 6:14-15, Paul argues against the position of his opponents by setting two sets of ideas in contrast to each other.On the one side, he has κόσμος as well as the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and on the other side he has 'boasting in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ' and the 'new creation' which had substituted the distinction between Jews and Gentiles.It is the mentioning of the καινὴ κτίσις that brings God into play.This is so, because creations always need a creator, and the creator of the 'new creation' is certainly the same as he who created the old.
Paul's argument gains its specific profile from the way he relates the two sets of ideas to each other and thus attempts to create a paradigm shift.He identifies the distinction between Jews and Gentiles as an element of the κόσμος separated from God.The cross forms an irreversible breach with the κόσμος.It is therefore not only the boundary between Jews and Gentiles, but also the impossibility of being able to boast about a cross that are identified as specific characteristics of the κόσμος reality.'Boasting in the cross' is only possible under the conditions of a new creation which God alone can bring into being.The opposite is also true: God has opened up a way of salvation through a despicable cross, and thereby has made a 'boasting in the cross' possible.This can only be correctly understood as the establishment of a new creation.It is impossible for the κόσμος to boast in the cross, Therefore, Paul can say that the κόσμος has been crucified to him and he to the κόσμος.

The same use of the term κόσμος in both situations
Although the positions of the opponents Paul is arguing against in Galatians and 1 Corinthians are quite different.He makes the same use of the term κόσμος.In both situations, struggles against Christian opponents who allowed distinctions between Christians, taken from outside the Christian belief and community, to become predominant over the common Christian identity.In Galatia it is the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and in Corinth it is the distinction between different social statuses and levels of education.Paul stymies these distinctions by giving them a common denominator: they are not only taken from, but also belong to the κόσμος.This is what these distinctions have in common, and this is what separates them fundamentally from God and the Christian identity according to Paul.Paul tears down boundaries by erecting one new and fundamental boundary: the boundary between those who believe in Jesus Christ and the κόσμος.

Conclusion
Cosmology in the proper sense is not an issue Paul is interested in.For him the κόσμος has a human face and speaks with a human voice.If we consider this matter, it might perhaps be the reason for two further issues.The New Testament scriptures repeatedly mention an 'age to come' (αἰὼν μέλλων; Mt 12:32; Mk 10:30par.;Lk 20:35; Heb 6:5) or announce 'a new heaven and a new earth' (2 Pt 3:13; Rv 21:1, 21:5), but it never expects something like a 'new world' (in Greek perhaps a 'κόσμος καινός').The only event expected with regard to the κόσμος is its 'passing away' (1 Jn 2:17; cf. 1 Cor 7:31; Heb 9:26).God is called 'Lord of heaven and earth' (οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς […] κύριος; Ac 17:24; cf.Mt 11:25; Lk 10:21), but never 'father' or 'lord' of the κόσμος.This corresponds to Revelation 11:15, where it is said that heavenly voices proclaim '[t]he kingdom of the world has become belonging to our Lord and his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever' (ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων).God's reign over the κόσμος will be enforced through a universal judgment that will do away with those who presently rule over the inhabited world.The same holds true for Paul: God is not the king of the world, but − according to Romans 3:6 − its judge.
In Acts there is rather remarkable evidence.Twice the cosmic universe is referred to as 'heaven and earth' in relation to God -once in the prayer of the Jerusalem congregation: δέσποτα, σὺ ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς [Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them] (Ac 4:24, ESV), and another time in Paul's speech given in Lystra.Here, Paul summons the inhabitants of Lystra to ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ματαίων ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπὶ θεὸν ζῶντα, ὃς ἐποίησεν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς [turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them] (Ac 14:15, ESV).
That κόσμος could be used as a designation of the entire inhabited world, becomes clear if we compare Matthew 4:8 with Luke 4:5.In the story of Jesus' temptation, Luke tells his readers that the devil showed Jesus πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς οἰκουμένης [all the kingdoms of the inhabited world].Instead, Matthews reads πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου [all the kingdoms of the κόσμος].8.From Wisdom 14:14 it becomes sufficiently clear that it would be a severe fault if Romans 5:12 (δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν) is interpreted as characterising sin coming from outside into the 'world'.Sin originates nowhere else but from the very midst of mankind.'Althoughthere are numerous early Jewish texts that have broadened the biblical promise from Canaan to encompass the whole earth (e.g.Sir 44:21; Jub 17:3; 22:14; 32:19; äthHen 5:7; Philo's Somn.1:175;Vit.Mos.1:155), 9 in Paul, the expansion from the 'land' to the 'world' is triggered by the universal perspective of Paul's soteriology.Paul not only let the promise refer to Abraham's physical descendants, but 'to all who believe without being circumcised'.Abraham received the promise to become their 'father', as Paul writes in Romans 4:11 (εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πατέρα πάντων τῶν πιστευόντων δι᾽ ἀκροβυστίας).Paul gives the promise an 'a-territorial' interpretation(Davies 1974:179).Its 'cosmic' dimension is part of Paul's inclusive soteriology − it is through faith in Jesus Christ that people become Abraham's offspring.Here, κόσμος reflects Paul's claim that the message of the Gospel transcends the borders of Judaism and brings good news to all human beings, wherever they may live.'Everybody and everywhere' − this is the meaning of the Greek word κόσμος which corresponds rather closely to the Christian concept of faith.It is not limited to a distinct territory or to a distinct nation.Accordingly, the Gospel 'is proclaimed εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον' (Mk 14:9), Jesus 'was believed in the κόσμος' (1 Tm 3:16), and the κόσμος is the 'field' in which the 'children of the kingdom' were sowed as 'good seed'(Mt 13:38).In this respect, New Testament cosmology could perhaps be considered an integral part of early Christian missiology.9.The two texts from Philo of Alexandria are of special interest, because the Pauline universalism is anticipated.In Vit.Mos.1:155,Philowrites about Moses that God 'gave him the whole world as a possession suitable for his heir' (πάντα τὸν κόσμον ὡς κληρονόμῳ κτῆσιν ἁρμόζουσαν).In Somn.1:175Philo mentions the promise given to Abraham according to Genesis 28:14: 'But the race of wisdom is likened to the sand of the sea', and he who is in possession of wisdom 'is the inheritor of all the parts of the world' (τῶν τοῦ κόσμου κληρονόμος μερῶν).It is the possession of 'wisdom' that universalises the inheritance of the 'land' to the inheritance of the 'world'; in Paul it is 'faith'.BOX 1:• LXX), although Paul turns the meaning of the Old Testament text to the contrary.He changes a word of condemnation against Israel into a paraenetic word directed at the Christian community.It is the task of the Christian community to display God's salvation to the κόσμος, that is amongst the non-Christian majority of their social environment.Matthew 5:14 is not far removed from this admonition.John 1:5 12 and 12:35 13 use the same imagery and have to be understood ecclesiologically too.