What does Paul mean by “the creation”?

Explanation:

We can deduce that by the creation Paul means sub-personal creation, that is, anything other than humans, by reflecting on what Paul leaves out of the phrase the creation. First, he writes in Romans 8:20 that the creation was subject to frustration. That suggests that Paul excludes the good angels, for these were never subject to any frustration. Second, evil angels are not eagerly waiting for the revealing of the sons of God, nor are non-believers.⁴ Third, Paul treats believers as separate from creation in Romans 8:23 when he says that not only creation, but also we who have the first fruits groan as we wait for the adoption as sons.⁵ So, when Paul refers to all creation this excludes the fallen and good angels, non-believers and believers, leaving only sub-personal creation. Thus, the creation refers to sub-personal creation.

Counterargument:

Based on the way that Paul characterizes the creation, it is hard to see how this could refer to sub-personal creation. For Paul explains in Romans 8:20 that this creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, in hope that the creation itself would be set free from bondage. Now, if Paul has in mind sub-personal creation, it is hard to see how he could characterize it as being subjected to futility against its will, because sub-personal creation has no will. Further, sub-personal creation cannot hope to be set free from corruption, because sub-personal creation does not have the capacity to hope. Finally, in Romans 8:19 Paul says that the creation waits eagerly. Of course, sub-personal creation does not wait for anything, because sub-personal creation is not personal. Thus, since Paul characterizes all creation as having a will, as well as the capacity to hope and wait, he has more than sub-personal creation in mind.

Response to counterargument:

By noting that the creation was subject to futility against its will, Paul implies that he has sub-personal creation in mind. For sub-personal creation had no choice in being cursed when Adam sinned in the garden (Genesis 3:17–18). Rather, Adam committed the sin, and because of Adam’s sin, the creation was subjected to futility. Further, the notion here is not that creation hopes to be set free from bondage, but that there is hope in general, whether that means human and angelic hope, that creation will be set free. Finally, while it is true that Paul says in Romans 8:19 that the creation waits eagerly, he is simply personifying creation. Paul is not the only biblical author to personify creation. For example, in Psalm 65:12–13 the psalmist describes the wilderness jumping for joy, and the valleys shout and sing.⁶ Likewise, in Isaiah 24:4 we read that the earth mourns, and the world languishes. Clearly these authors personify creation, and Paul does the same in Romans 8:19.

Explanation:

We can understand what Paul means when he writes that creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God, by remembering the Adam motif that he introduced in Romans 5:1–21. In Romans 5:12 Paul explains that through Adam death spread to all men, because all sinned. In other words, Paul reflects on the fall into sin, and the results that follow. One important element in the story of the fall is that because of Adam’s sin, God curses the ground, proclaiming that it will grow thorns and be tough to work (Genesis 3:17–19). Thus, God subjected the creation to futility because of Adam’s sin. Now, Paul is explaining that through Christ, not only is man redeemed, but the effects of the fall will be reversed in their entirety, so that even the creation longs for the revealing of the sons of God.⁷

Counterargument:

While it is true that Paul has in mind the Adam motif, there is no reason to conclude that the creation has to do with the fact that the ground was cursed. For we know from Romans 5:12 that because of Adam, death spread to all men. Further, Paul writes that the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God after being subjected to futility against its will. Now, given that Adam’s sin caused death to spread to all men, we can see that the aspect of creation that was subjected to futility against its will are the humans to whom death spread because of Adam. Thus, given that Adam’s sin spread death to all humans, and that the creation waits eagerly, it is likely that the creation refers to all humans.

Response to counterargument:

There are two reasons to reject this counterargument. First, there is little reason to think that unbelievers eagerly anticipate the revealing of the sons of God (interpretation 1, argument 1). Rather, unbelievers are presumably buried in sin and not interested in whether there are sons of God or when they might be revealed. Further, Paul cannot be referring to believers in Romans 8:19 because in Romans 8:23 he says that not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits groan as we wait (interpretation 1, argument 1). Of course, if Paul does not have unbelievers or believers in mind when he refers to the creation, and the creation was subject to futility because of Adam’s sin, he likely has in mind the fact that God cursed the ground because of Adam’s sin.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. One possible weakness is that we should not rule out including non-believers in the creation. For although non-believers may not consciously wait for the revealing of the sons of God, they may wait subconsciously. In other words, Paul may have in mind the longing of every human heart, including those who do not know precisely that what they long for is the revealing of the sons of God.

Explanation:

That creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God means that all humans everywhere inherently long for something more than this created reality, recognizing that something is not quite right.⁸ We can detect this is the case by observing human behaviour in modern times. We know that modern humans are generally unsatisfied with the seemingly meaninglessness of existence, so modern humans have gone in search of understanding creation. This they have done through scientific investigations of glaciers, deserts, and the bottom of the ocean. Still, for all of their searching and ingenuity humans remain filled with an unsatisfied longing for more.⁹ This is what Paul describes in Romans 8:19 when he says that the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. That is, humans, along with the rest of creation, eagerly wait for something that will satisfy.

Counterargument:

This view assumes that because Paul refers to the creation eagerly waiting, he must have in mind that the creation is a conscious being with the capacity to wait. Of course, we know from Old Testament passages that authors sometimes personify creation; that is, they characterize creation as though it were a conscious being, not because they actually perceive creation as a conscious being, but as a rhetorical device Psalm 65:12–13; Isaiah 24:4) (interpretation 1, argument 2). Now, if this is what Paul does in Romans 8:19, then it is not the case that he has in mind humans eagerly waiting for something to fill their longing; rather, he has in mind that Christ reverses the effects of the fall so that eventually, all of creation will be redeemed.

Response to counterargument:

The contention here is not that because Paul refers to creation as waiting eagerly, he must have a conscious being in mind. Rather, the contention is that there is a universal longing in the heart of every human that can only be satisfied by God. Evidence of this longing is in the fact that humans concoct elaborate research projects that never bring satisfaction. Thus, every human, whether they recognize it or not, long for the revealing of the sons of God.

The weakness of this view is that Paul does not say that every human subconsciously waits for the revealing of the sons of God, but that all creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. In other words, this view only works if we take eagerly waiting to mean subconsciously waiting, which is not what Paul writes.