Looking beyond Shadows

At a glance

Relevant Scripture

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Romans 1:18–21 KJV

UECF.NET summary

The 1998 edition of the book adds this chapter, and its title hints at Plato’s cave: people staring at shadows and calling them the world. Paul does not need Plato to make the point. Romans 1 says that God has already shown himself in the created order. Eternal power and deity are not hidden from the honest eye. The problem is not lack of evidence. The problem is suppression. We hold down the truth because the holy God it reveals is not the god we wanted.

Shadows, in this sense, are good things used as substitutes: nature without the Creator, reason without worship, art without adoration, religion without repentance. None of these gifts is evil. They become shadows when we stop at them. Thanklessness is the hinge. Paul says that knowing God, people did not glorify him or give thanks. Ingratitude is not a manners problem. It is a holiness problem. A creature who will not thank the Holy One will soon invent a more convenient deity.

This companion therefore reads the chapter as both apologetic and pastoral. It is apologetic because it denies that unbelief is a neutral lack of information. It is pastoral because Christians also live among shadows — career, family, even ministry — and can forget to look through them to the One they reflect. Looking beyond shadows is not contempt for the world. It is the recovery of the world as creation.

Main theological themes

• General revelation: God shown in what he has made
• Suppression of the truth as the root of unbelief
• Created goods as either windows onto God or substitutes for him

Key ideas

• No one is a blank slate before God. The question is what we have done with what we already know.
• Idolatry is not only bowing to statues. It is treating the gift as if it were the Giver.
• Darkened hearts are not always unintelligent hearts. They are ungrateful ones.
• The holy God is not found by climbing out of the world, but by receiving the world as his.

Important concepts

• General revelation — The knowledge of God available through creation and conscience, sufficient to leave us without excuse.
• Suppression — Paul’s verb: the truth is not missing; it is held down.
• Shadows — Created things that hint at glory when received with thanks, and hide God when they are made ultimate.

Related Bible references

• Psalm 19:1–4
• Acts 14:15–17
• Acts 17:24–28
• Romans 1:22–25
• 2 Corinthians 4:6

Practical Christian application

• Take a short walk this week with only one assignment: thank God for what you see, by name.
• Name one good thing you have treated as ultimate, and deliberately put it back in second place.
• When you talk with a sceptical friend, begin with what they already know of glory, not with what they have never read.

Questions for study