Pagan idolatry. Paul is not addressing atheism or humanism here. He is writing in the context of a world that is very much religious. When he mentions God, he is speaking about the one God whom Israel worships as the only God. Israel’s God is repudiated in a world filled with idols and images. Paul takes aim at these distorted forms of worship, which darken the view of the reality of the one exalted God. Not only have people changed their understanding of God, but they also changed their attitude from respect to pride, from thanksgiving to fear. It becomes dark in hearts that should be characterized by awe and thanksgiving (Romans 1:21b), through futile thought (denial of God’s existence) and through lack of knowledge (the heart does not want to listen). People greatly praise the wisdom
of the world outside Israel, but in fact it is foolish,
because it covers over and suppresses knowledge of Israel’s God (Romans 1:22). For the glory of the immortal God disappears behind a multitude of images of mortal creatures, human beings, birds, animals, and creeping things (Romans 1:23). These images lie about God and draw attention to what is below, from the Creator to the creature (Romans 1:25). Paul calls this an error. Humanity has lost its way and got off on the wrong track (Romans 1:27c). Thereby people commit an injustice to God and Paul therefore identifies them by their godlessness and their injustice. In that way the world became filled with idol worship and emptied of the knowledge of the true God (compare Paul’s address on the Areopagus in Athens, Acts 17:1–34). This is the reason for God’s wrath.1
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.