F. Doxology (16:25–27)
F. Doxology (16:25–27)
The varying positions of the doxology in our witnesses to the text of Romans have been discussed in the Introduction (pp. 33–35). But its original position is not the only question which has been raised regarding it. Harnack argued that, as it now stands, it represents an orthodox expansion of a shorter Marcionite doxology:
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages, but is now disclosed to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith; to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.25
This, he supposed (and others have followed him),26 was a paragraph added by the followers of Marcion as a conclusion to their master’s truncated text of the letter.
We have, indeed, no MS or other objective evidence for such a shorter text of the doxology. It has been argued, however, that those phrases which, on Harnack’s hypothesis, are orthodox additions to the original wording are awkwardly attached,27 especially the reference to the ‘prophetic writings’ in verse 26. This reference would certainly have to be recognized as an orthodox addition, if the doxology were originally Marcionite; the ‘prophetic writings’ played no part in the Marcionite scheme of things. But in the absence of independent evidence for a shorter text of the doxology, the burden of proof rests on Harnack’s hypothesis. If the doxology were originally Marcionite, it could not be ascribed to Marcion himself; Origen, as we have seen (p. 34), says explicitly that Marcion’s edition of the letter lacked the doxology (together with everything else that comes after 14:23).
The doxology was most probably orthodox from the start. It may have been composed as a suitable conclusion for the letter in the truncated form which the western editors took over (in their innocence) from Marcion: it is based to some extent on the wording of the opening salutation. The mention of the ‘prophetic writings’ echoes ‘which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures’ (1:2) and ‘made known to all nations … to bring about the obedience of faith’ is practically a repetition of ‘to bring about the obedience of faith … among all the nations’ (1:5). Cranfield, while noting that ‘16:25–27 makes … a rather un-Pauline impression’, considers the passage ‘to form a not unworthy, even if non-Pauline, doxological appendix to Paul’s most weighty epistle’ (Romans, pp. 7, 809).
25. According to my gospel. Cf. 2:16 (and 2 Tim. 2:8).
And the preaching of Jesus Christ. This phrase is essentially synonymous with ‘my gospel’: ‘preaching’ represents kērygma, the message proclaimed (as in 1 Cor. 1:21), and Jesus Christ is its subject-matter and substance.
According to the revelation of the mystery. For ‘mystery’ (a secret once kept dark but now divulged) cf. 11:25 (with comment); here the ‘mystery’ is the gospel, made known to Paul himself (at least in nuce) on the Damascus road for proclamation to the Gentiles (Gal. 1:12, 15–16)—the ‘mystery of Christ’, on account of which he was shortly to be imprisoned (Col. 4:3).
Kept secret for long ages. Cf. Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26.
26. Is now disclosed and … made known to all nations. Better, ‘to all the nations’ (the article is expressed, as in 1:5). The ‘mystery’ of Ephesians 3:3–11 and Colossians 1:26–27 has special reference to Paul’s apostleship to the Gentiles, through which Gentile believers (as joint-heirs of the divine promises with Jewish believers) have been incorporated into Christ—an outpouring of blessing on a scale not contemplated in the Old Testament.
Through the prophetic writings. Harnack regarded this phrase as an orthodox addition to a Marcionite doxology, and an inept addition at that, for if the mystery was ‘kept secret for long ages’ and manifested only now, how could it be known through the prophetic writings? Harnack was not the only one to recognize this problem, but his solution is not the only possible one. ‘Although the prophets had formerly taught all that Christ and the apostles have explained, yet they taught with so much obscurity, when compared with the shining clarity of the light of the gospel, that we need not be surprised if these things which are now revealed are said to have been hidden’ (Calvin, ad loc.). Paul and his fellow-apostles used the ‘prophetic writings’ copiously in their gospel preaching; but it was only in the light of the new revelation in Christ that they were able to understand and expound those writings (cf. 1 Pet. 1:10–12).
27. To the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. This rendering is smoother than the Greek text which, by inserting ‘to whom’ before ‘be glory’, presents the doxology without a principal clause. The awkwardness of the construction is reproduced in RV. ‘… to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever. Amen.’
William Tyndale’s prologue to Romans ends with this admonition:
Now go to, reader, and according to the order of Paul’s writing, even so do thou. First behold thyself diligently in the law of God, and see there thy just damnation. Secondarily turn thine eyes to Christ, and see there the exceeding mercy of thy most kind and loving Father. Thirdly remember that Christ made not this atonement that thou shouldest anger God again: neither cleansed he thee, that thou shouldest return (as a swine) unto thine old puddle again: but that thou shouldest be a new creature and live a new life after the will of God and not of the flesh. And be diligent lest through thine own negligence and unthankfulness thou lose this favour and mercy again.