"I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great grief and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to flesh, the Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from whom Christ according to the flesh who is God over all be blessed to the ages. Amen."

The Issue: Whether this verse indicates Jesus is "God over all".

The Trinitarian Claim

Although many Trinitarians do not believe this particular verse identifies Jesus as God, there are many who still do. Here they claim that Paul is identifying Jesus as God.

What the Evidence will Show

The facts will show that Trinitarians are not being very honest with the facts. Even their own scholars are very skeptical about this claim. The facts will show why Paul was most certainly not identifying Jesus as "God" in this verse.

Examination of the Evidence

Punctuation

Some Trinitarian apologists often promote this mistranslated passage because they reckon they can make their desires true by creating an argument for it. Even though Trinitarian scholars completely disagree with each other on this matter, Trinitarian apologists tend to paint a one-sided view of the issues concerning this passage in order to promote their agenda. In other words, they will not tell you that many Trinitarian scholars insist this verse does not identify Jesus as God. A survey of Trinitarian apologetic statements suggests they argue for their own translation simply because their sole motive is that they simply want it that way despite disagreement among their own scholars and despite Paul's intent. However, the Greek grammar of this verse allows for three possible translations and this is admitted by all reputable Trinitarian scholars. The key issue at Romans 9:5 essentially concerns punctuation. Paul did not use the modern punctuation conventions that we use today. He did not provide commas and periods in Romans 9:5 as translators conveniently give us and translators have three options open to them.

1. Christ according to the flesh who is God over all be blessed to the ages. Amen.

2. Christ according to the flesh who is over all. God be blessed to the ages. Amen.

3. Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen.

The actual Greek text reads, "kai ex wn o cristoV to kata sarka o wn epi pantwn qeoV euloghtoV eiV touV aiwnaV amhn," and comes out word for word in English as, "and out of whom the Christ according to flesh the one being over all God be blessed to the ages amen." No commas, no periods. The verse can be, and should be, translated as "from whom the Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen.", or possibly but not likely, "from whom the Christ according to the flesh who is over all. God be blessed to the ages. Amen." The phrase "God be blessed to the ages" is a Pauline doxology.

Now because Trinitarian scholars themselves admit more than one translation is grammatically possible, the question then becomes what Paul really intended and a right understanding comes from a proper interpretation of Paul's words.

The Greek Grammar and Structure

kai ex wn `o cristoV to kata sarka 'o and out of whom the Christ the [one] according to flesh the [one]   wn epi pantwn qeoV euloghtoV eiV touV aiwnaV amhn being over all God be blessed to the ages Amen

In Greek, word order has far less importance than in English. The intended meanings of the words have to do with the inflections of those words rather than the order. The Greek at Romans 9:5 grammatically allows for more than one conceptual understanding and therefore more than one viable translation.

Inconsistencies in Major Trinitarians Translations

Not all Trinitarians can bring themselves to promote the translation of Romans 9:5 as the Trinitarian apologetic agenda advances. Many Trinitarian translators and Greek scholars are non-commital and leave it open to interpretation and other Trinitarian translators simply profess by their own translations that the passage does not refer to Christ as God.

"whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." (NASB)

"whose [are] the fathers, and of whom [is] the Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen." (Young’s Literal Translation).

"whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." (ASV).

"Whose are the fathers and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen." (Douey-Rheims).

"Theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen." (NAB)

"to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen." (RSV).

These are major translations by Trinitarian Greek scholars. Carefully note the NAB and RSV translations which do not make it possible to identify Christ as "God." Here we can vividly see that Trinitarian Greek scholars do not think there is only one translation grammatically possible here and reasonable minds can see that the NAB/RSV translation is even most likely. It is not up to us to just choose the translation which suits our theological fancies but to discover what Paul intended under inspiration. Because the grammar allows for more than one understanding of Paul's intent, it is rather clear the intended meaning will not be found in Greek expertise but within the context of Paul's style and vocabulary and the immediate context of the message.

Pauline Terminology

A review of some similar expressions in the Bible, and especially from Paul, is required so that one can examine his vocabularly, writing style and thought. The first two passages are not Paul's, however, they are included to show that all New Testament occurrences of the word eulogetes ("Blessed be") exclusively refer to God the Father.

"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One." (Mark 14:61).

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel." (Luke 1:68).

"They changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed to the ages. Amen." (Romans 1:25).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:3).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 1:3).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:3).

"They changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed to the ages. Amen" (Romans 1:25).

"The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knows that I am not lying, he being blessed to the ages." (2 Corinthians 11:31).

"one God and Father of all, he over all and through all and in all."
(Ephesians 4:6).

"from whom the Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen." (Romans 9:5).

Notice how the above translation of Romans 9:5 harmonizes perfectly with the rest of the Scripture verses while the Trinitarian translation does not. Every single occurrence of the Greek word eulogetes ("blessed be") in the New Testament is a direct reference to God the Father. The Trinitarian apologist would have us believe that Romans 9:5 should be one exception. This word is variously translated as "be praised" or "be blessed." The "Blessed be" is the Jewish berakah, an ascription of praise to God the Father. The phrase appears to be an allusion to Psalm 41:13, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen." And the only instance where Pauls says someone is "over all" in this manner is at Ephesians 4:6 where we find God the Father is the one identified as being "over all." Also carefully compare 2 Corinthians 11:31 and Romans 9:1-5 and note how Paul claims he is not lying in each of these passages. It may very well be that Paul wishes to reinforce that he is not lying to his audience by adding the berakah, "God be blessed to the ages."

"I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying.... and from whom Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen." (Romans 9:5).

"The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed to the ages, knows that I do not lie." (2 Cor 11:31).

It is well known that the word "Blessed" or "Blessed be" is an ascription of praise used exclusively for God in the Old Testament. Some Trinitarians also often try to claim that the word "blessed [be]" should be placed before the word "God" in Romans 9:5 if Paul had intended it to refer to God the Father and not Christ. This is however a very misguided grasping at straws. The LXX at Psalm 69:19-20 does indeed have it both before and after in the very same passage. We also have firsthand evidence that Paul himself who wrote Romans 9:5 does indeed elsewhere use this phrase to refer to God without placing the word "blessed be" before the word "God" in his sentence structure, as we can see in 2 Corinthians 11:31 where it is placed after the word "God."

"The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed to ages, knows that I do not lie" (o qeoV kai pathr tou kuriou hmwn ihsou cristou oiden o wn euloghtoV eiV touV aiwnaV oti ou yeudomai. (2 Cor 11:31).

The Theology of Paul

Paul wrote 13 books of the 27 book New Testament. He uses the word theos ("God") over 500 times in the New Testament. In all these instances, Paul nowhere else refers to Jesus as "God." And as highly respected scholar J. Jeremias has pointed out, the phrase "the great God," is not a term a Jew such as Paul would apply to anyone but his Abba Father. Moreover, Paul is here addressing and trying to persuade the Jewish audience in the Roman church (also see 2:17; 3:9; 4:1; 7:1; 8:3-4, 36). For Paul, there is one God, the Father (1 Cor 8:6; Eph 4:6) and he identifies "God" as "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," a statement he makes numerous times. Of course, the Trinitarian will point to Titus 2:13, another seriously flawed Trinitarian interpretation which is variously interpreted among Trinitarians who dispute this passage among themselves. This is the typical way of the Trinitarian, that is, to pile one feeble argument upon another in an attempt to create an illusion of validity. Now if Paul had only written a letter or two there would be little weight in saying he never refers to Jesus as "God." But the plain fact that he wrote over half of the New Testament books, covers all kinds of theological questions, and uses the word "God" over 500 times is very telling. Perhaps, just perhaps, unlike the Trinitarian, Paul did not have a Trinitarian concep of God as the central doctrine of his faith because he had never heard of such a thing. I think we all know how peppered the New Testament books would be with descriptions of Jesus as "God" and "God the Son" if Paul's letters had been written by a person with the mind of today's Trinitarian. The Trinitarian would have us believe that Paul understood Jesus was "God" and the Trinity stood at the center of his faith but he just neglected to mention this concept in all his writings except for two isolated occasions where he makes purely incidental passing remarks describing Jesus as "God," and in passages with grammatical structures that cast serious doubt on the interpretation on top of it all. And not only so, the Trinitarian would also have us believe that this passage is the one exception where Paul uses the word eulogetes to refer to someone other than God the Father. The thinking mind can see the extreme unlikelihood of the Trinitarian claim based on these facts alone.

The Context

Paul recalls the spiritual honors given to Israel: the sonship, the [Shekinah] glory, the covenants, the law, the temple worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and the Messiah himself came out of them in the flesh. He then ends with a common thankful ascription of praise to God for all that He has done for Israel and one of those things was the promised seed of the Messiah through Israel according to the flesh. Paul is here describing Israel "according to flesh" before Christ died in the flesh for them and rose in the Spirit and this is the reason why he emphasizes Christ's descent from Israel according to the flesh (see also 1:3-4). Jesus is the promised covenant seed of Abraham and David, and Paul is about to discuss the promised seed in the verses which follow. In Galatians he explicitly states that seed was Christ. This passage is about Christ the promised seed according to the flesh and Paul concludes by expressing praise toward God for what he has done for them and through them. The Christ came from them in the flesh and God is to be praised for giving Israel that privilege.

Now just what exactly is the Trinitarian claiming here? Is he actually claiming that "Christ according to the flesh" is "God"? Indeed, one can read throughout Trinitarian apologetic literature that Christ "according to the flesh" is not God but Christ "according to his divine nature" is God. For example, when it is pointed out that Jesus has a God Trinitarians respond by claming tjhat Christ according to the flesh has a God but not Christ according to his divine nature. In other words, Christ according to the flesh can have a God because he is not God according to the flesh. So once again we find Trinitarians in the dire straits of contradiction.

Overview

What we want to discover is what Paul really intended to say and these other related passages which he himself wrote give us much insight. We might be able to conclude that Paul intends to say "the Christ according to the flesh, he being over all. God be blessed to the ages. Amen." But we certainly have no basis whatsoever in Scripture, and especially in Paul's writings, to translate the passage as "the Christ according to the flesh, he being God over all blessed to the ages. Amen." The more likely translation is "the Christ according the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen.", because this is the terminology used by Paul at Ephesians 4:6 and he is also the one doing the writing in this passage. Or we could translate it in the same vein as "the Christ according to the flesh. The One being over all, God, be blessed to the ages. Amen."

Paul's vocabulary, structure, style, theological thought, and the immediate context, absolutely demand that we translate this passage as "Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages." The Trinitarian can offer absolutely no similar evidence whatsoever from Paul's writings for his translation. The only thing the Trinitarian has is his disingenous claims and his own personal desire to have the passage imply that "Jesus is God" simply because that's what he wants it to say. There can be no doubt that Paul did not say what Trinitarians wished he would have said.

In fact, Paul uses a very similar expression in this very same letter:

"They changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed to the ages. Amen." (Romans 1:25).

"from whom the Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen."

Notice the very same "Amen" between the two passages which ends Paul's expression of praise to God. Why would we believe that Paul had any other intention at Romans 9:5? And once again there is the concept of lying in view. Again, Paul's theological terminology shouts loudly to us concerning what he intended at Romans 9:5.

Summation of the Facts

• The Greek grammar allows for three possible translations. The deciding factor cannot be found in the the grammar alone.



• Many Trinitarian scholars are non-committal at best concerning the interpretation of this verse and this is evidence by their own translations.



• Pauline terminology never supports the Trinitarian claim. In each and every case, this kind of terminology is used by Paul to refer to God the Father.



• The Trinitarian claim contradicts their claim that Christ according to the flesh has a God because Christ according to the flesh is not God and can thereby have a God.

Call for Discernment

We find all kinds of evidence in Paul's terminology for what he intended at Romans 9:5 from his own writings. Paul uses the Greek word theos ("God") over 500 times in his 13 letters and never once uses this word to refer to Jesus. And we should believe he makes a passing and incidental referance to Jesus as "God" in this passage when he is referring to Jesus Christ according to the flesh? It is absurd. We don't have any reason whatsoever to believe that Paul intended to say what Trinitarians claim he intended to say but we do have numerous reasons which strongly indicate he intended to refer to God the Father and not Christ in the doxology. The Trinitarians' only real motive for their translation is that they wish to promote the Trinity by distorting the facts. The Trinitarian can offer nothing else but his desire to have it the way he wants it. But as we have shown here there is every reason to translate it similar to the way the NASB and RSV translates this passage and absolutely no reason to translate it as Trinitarians are tendentiously wont to do.

"I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great grief and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to flesh, the Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from whom Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed to the ages. Amen."