Who subjected the creation to futility?

Explanation:

Paul explains that the sub-personal creation was subjected to frustration because of the one who subjected it. We can deduce that it is God who subjected the creation to frustration, because he says that the created was subjected. Paul uses a verb that implies authority.² In other words, whoever subjected creation to frustration had the authority to do so, and only God has authority over creation. Thus, it was God who subjected creation to futility.

Counterargument:

We know from Genesis 1:28 that after creating humans, God commanded them to subdue the earth and have dominion over it, including over all the animals. In other words, because Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, they were given authority over the earth, which allowed them to fulfill the command to subdue it. This implies that Adam had the authority to subject creation to futility.

Response to counterargument:

While God did give humans the command to subdue the earth, the story of the fall teaches us that Adam lost this dominion. In other words, Adam was given the authority to subject the world but when he fell into sin, not only was he cursed by God but he lost his authority to master the world.³ Since Adam lost has authority to master the world, we should not conclude that it was Adam who subjected creation to frustration.

Explanation:

We know who subjected the creation to frustration by reflecting on what the author of Genesis explains to us about the fall into sin.⁴ That is, in Genesis 3:1–24 we learn that Adam was commanded not to eat from the tree of knowledge, but through the prerogative of Eve he does so anyway. This leads God to pronounce a curse on the serpent, Eve, Adam, and more importantly for our purposes, the creation itself. For in Genesis 3:17–19 we read that because Adam disobeyed God the ground is cursed, which means it will grow thorns and thistles, and man will sweat as he works to produce food.⁵ In other words, after Adam disobeyed, God subjects creation to frustration, which makes it difficult for the man to subdue and work the land.

Counterargument:

This view confuses God’s punishing Adam with God’s cursing the creation. For Genesis 3:17–19 has to do not with God's subjecting the creation to frustration, but with God's punishing Adam. That is, the theme of Genesis 3:17–19 is that because Adam sinned, Adam is punished, not creation. We know this because God first punishes the serpent in Genesis 3:14–15, then he punishes Eve in Genesis 3:16, and finally Adam from Genesis 3:17–19, explaining that Adam will toil to work the land and produce food. Of course, if the theme of Genesis 3:17–19 has to do with punishing Adam, then there is no clear support that God subjected creation to frustration. Rather, it makes more sense to take it that because Adam sinned, the creation was subject to frustration. So it was Adam who subjected creation to frustration.

Response to counterargument:

This argument overlooks the fact that the way God punishes Adam is by cursing the ground. Specifically, we read in Genesis 3:17, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; In other words, the way that God punishes Adam is by cursing the ground, that is, subjecting the ground to futility, so that Adam is forced to work the land in sweat to produce food. So although the action is in service of punishing Adam, after the fall into sin God subjects creation to frustration.

One weakness is that the verb to subject not only has to do with authority. Something can be subjected to something else, not due to authority but due to process. For example, by drinking too much the man subjected his family to poverty. In this case, while the man subjected his family to poverty, it is not because the man has authority over his family, but because the man made bad choices that affected his family. If we take the verb to subject in this sense, it could be Adam and not God that subjects creation to futility.

Explanation:

In order to understand who subjected creation to futility, we need to remember that in Jewish writings, creation was subjected to Adam. We know this from at least two Old Testament passages, including Genesis 1:26–28 and Psalm 8:6. First, in Genesis 1:26–28, we learn that God creates humans after his image, blesses them, commands them to subdue the earth, and gives them dominion over what he made.⁶ Thus, God made humans to subdue the earth, so the earth is subject to humanity.

That the earth is subject to humanity is affirmed elsewhere in the Old Testament. For example, Psalm 8:6 reflects on the fact that God gave humans dominion over the works of God’s hand and put everything under his feet. In other words, creation is subject to humanity. With the fact that creation is subject to humanity in mind, we can see what Paul means when he says that creation was subject to frustration, because of him who subjected it (Romans 8:20). That is, we can see that the one who subjected creation to frustration was Adam. For Adam had dominion over creation, but because of his sin, he subjected creation to frustration.⁷

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it misunderstands the meaning of the verb to subject in this context. The verb has to do with subjecting creation to frustration in the sense of having control and authority over creation.⁸ That is, creation was subjected to frustration by the one who subjected it, in the sense that whoever subjected creation to frustration has power and control over creation. We know that Adam was given dominion over creation, but he did not have the power to subject creation to frustration. On the other hand, God has the power to subject creation to frustration, so we ought to take it that God is the one who subjected creation to frustration.⁹

Response to counterargument:

The argument here is not that Adam had the authoritative power to subject creation to frustration. Rather, we contend, on the principle of common fate, that because the one who was supposed to subdue creation lapsed by sinning, so creation lapsed into futility. In fact, Paul goes on to explain that the creation itself, which is subject to futility, hopes that it will be set free from its bondage of corruption. That the creation hopes to be set free from bondage suggests the principle of common fate, for it seems that as the creation lapsed into futility because of the sin of Adam, so it hopes to be restored when humanity is finally restored.¹⁰

Explanation:

The grammar of Romans 8:20 suggests that Adam is the one who subjected creation to futility. For Paul writes that creation was subjected to futility because of the subduer.¹¹ Now we know that Adam was the subduer in the sense that God gave Adam the command to subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28). So Paul seems to be saying that the creation was subjected to frustration because of the subduer, that is, because of the actions of the subduer, who is Adam. So because of the actions of Adam, the creation was subject to frustration.

Counterargument:

If Paul had Adam in mind, it is unlikely he would say that creation was subject to frustration on account of the subduer. Rather, he would say that creation was subjected to frustration on account of Adam’s transgression. Relatedly, if Paul wanted to say that Adam subjected creation to frustration, he would have used a more complex phrase such as, because of the one to whom creation was subjected. On the other hand, the phrase can easily refer to God, because we can translate it the one who subjected.¹² So like Paul is saying that creation was subjected to frustration because of God, who subjected it.

The weakness of this view is that we know from Genesis 3:1–24 that God cursed the ground after Adam sinned. That suggests that creation was deliberately subject to frustration by God.