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<< 2 Corinthians 4:3   2 Corinthians 4:5 >>


2 Corinthians 4:4

God is sovereignly over both physical and metaphorical sight (understanding or comprehension). God states that He blinds, whether as a punishment for sin or simply because He deems it necessary in working out His purpose.

However, translators of II Corinthians 4:4 use a lowercase g in the phrase, “the god of this age,” to signify that Satan has blinded the world. If the translators are correct, it creates two significant scriptural anomalies:

1) Satan is nowhere else said to blind; blinding is squarely in God's domain.

2) Neither God nor His servants ever call Satan a god of something—at most, he is one of the “so-called gods” that “are not gods” (I Corinthians 8:5; Galatians 4:8).

Rather than blinding, Satan deceives, distorts, and twists the truth. At times, we may use the terms “blinding” and “deceiving” interchangeably, which can have similar effects on understanding. However, the critical distinction is that it comes down to intent. God is absolutely committed to truth—to what is real. Jesus declared Himself to be the Truth. God desires His children to understand and walk in truth. However, without the necessary spiritual faculties, a person can find truth overwhelming, even painful, just as a diseased eye may find bright light excruciating. God hides and reveals truth according to His will as He moves His creation toward everlasting light.

In type, we do the same thing with our children. We recognize that some knowledge would be harmful to them before they are mature, so we limit their exposure to some of the realities of life. We also determine what knowledge they are responsible for, according to their capability.

God does the same thing with His children. In their natural state, humans cannot deal with God's knowledge and understanding, so He opens their eyes according to what is appropriate. He also closes their eyes, either as a judgment (see Deuteronomy 28:28) or out of mercy. In the Parable of the Faithful Steward, the man who does not know the master's will is disciplined less because he is accountable for less (Luke 12:47-48).

Because God has hidden some truth for the time being, He has concluded humanity in unbelief so that He can have mercy on all (Romans 11:32, KJV). In this age, He is not working with all mankind the same way, so He closes the minds—blinds the spiritual eyes—of those He will work with in later ages. As Solomon teaches, part of His glory is to conceal matters (Proverbs 25:2).

Satan, though, is not committed to truth; he is instead the father of lies and liars (John 8:44). God has not granted him authority to open or close eyes, so instead, he plays fast and loose with the truth with ultimate skill. He is not devoted to God's reality but to his own agenda. He lies, exaggerates, acts, distracts, downplays, and employs any other subterfuge in his pursuit of superiority. He will use some truth, but he couches it in self-serving ways that do not reflect reality. Scripture never shows him opening eyes or taking away understanding God has given. However, he will twist and distort truth, encouraging human nature to deceive itself about the truth that is available.

Some truth is readily available to all. Mankind is without excuse when it comes to the truth of God's existence (see Romans 1:18-21). Satan has not closed men's eyes to this reality. Instead, Paul says, people have suppressed that truth, closing their own eyes, and Satan has aided them along the way.

Similarly, the serpent “helped” Eve reinterpret what God had said in a way that seemed to benefit her. In fact, the world's disintegration began with Eve seeking knowledge that was not appropriate for her yet: Adam's and Eve's eyes were opened through eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan neither opened nor closed their eyes, but he offered an alternative narrative that eased their rejection of what God had said.

Cultivating a love for truth thus becomes paramount, for that love stands as a hedge against falling away. When we value personal comfort or interpersonal harmony more than living by God's every word, we close our own eyes. When we so choose, we alter our beliefs and can no longer see what we saw before.

David C. Grabbe
Spiritual Blindness (Part Two): The God of This Age



2 Corinthians 4:4

By blinding the minds of men to the true gospel of God, Satan has set himself up as a counterfeit of the Creator God. As the prince of the power of the air, he broadcasts his evil, rebellious attitudes to all humanity, and except for a few whom God has called out of his deceptions, the whole world lives under his sway (Ephesians 2:1-3; I John 5:19; Revelation 12:9).

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Basic Doctrines: Satan's Origin and Destiny



2 Corinthians 4:3-4

II Corinthians 4:3-4, is commonly quoted with little consideration as to who it is truly describing. Who did this blinding? Because the translators use a lowercase g, we assume that Satan receives the title of “god of this age” or “god of this world.” But could this be a case of mistaken identity?

The Bible contains many clear and definitive scriptures in which God declares that He will blind and that He has blinded, as well as ones about eyes being closed (see Deuteronomy 29:4; Job 17:4; Matthew 11:25-26; Luke 10:21; 19:41-42). He blinds, and He also heals the blindness that either He has caused or that men have chosen. But in no other place is Satan said to blind or is shown closing eyes. If II Corinthians 4:4 is about Satan, it is a significant anomaly.

Rather than blinding, Satan deceives. He works to distort vision (rather than take it away) to influence people to sin, but the Bible never shows him opening or closing eyes, physically or metaphorically. Some may argue that this is a distinction without a difference. However, deceiving and blinding are indeed distinctive. Satan's deceptions are active oppositions to truth, while God's blinding is usually a temporary state in which He chooses to withhold complete understanding. God embodies truth, but He does not give all truth all at once. He blinds, either temporarily or for judgment, but Satan actively opposes and distorts the truth.

A second reason Satan does not fit in II Corinthians 4:4 is that nowhere else is Satan referred to as the god of anything. Undoubtedly, Satan fits within the general classification of false gods, referring either to idols or the demons behind them, or both (see I Corinthians 10:19-20). However, even though people may worship those idols and demons as gods, Scripture also maintains that these so-called gods are not truly gods (see II Chronicles 13:9; Jeremiah 2:11; 5:7; Jeremiah 16:20; Galatians 4:8).

In I Corinthians 8:5, God inspired Paul to call the demons—which would include Satan—“so-called gods.” He then clarifies his description with a contrast in the next verse: “. . . yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” In other words, even though people worship demonic principalities—whether deliberately or inadvertently—the perspective of God and His servants is that they are not gods.

Paul tells the Gentile Galatians that, prior to their conversion, they served “those which by nature are not gods” (Galatians 4:8). He immediately describes them as “weak and beggarly elements” to which they were again turning (verse 9). Did this same apostle then bestow upon Satan the title “god of this age” when writing to the Corinthians? God answers this in Isaiah 45:5: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.”

The true God never names the Devil as a god of anything. If II Corinthians 4:4 is about Satan, it is a highly significant exception to the pattern, and exceptions invite us to dig deeper. So, how does Scripture characterize him?

Instead of calling Satan a “god,” the gospel accounts consistently call him a “ruler.” He is “the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15; see Ephesians 6:12), and three times in the book of John, Jesus calls him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Paul calls him “the prince [or ruler; it is the same Greek word] of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The Devil has authority, intelligence, and capabilities far above man, and we should never underestimate him (see Matthew 24:24). Yet, he in no way approaches God's level, except in his own mind! While God rules supremely, the highest title Satan can legitimately claim is “ruler” over something but never “god.”

David C. Grabbe
Spiritual Blindness (Part One): The God of This World



2 Corinthians 4:4

What does the gospel do? It reveals to us what God's purpose is. We are to grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesian 4:13) so that we can inherit the Kingdom of God. However, to do that we need light. God has given us free moral agency. By what guide are we to make choices? What direction are we to head in? What is our creed? What are our standards? Who should we emulate? The gospel reveals those things, giving us the right perception, understanding, judgment, and conduct because the true light, the truth of the gospel, is provided to us.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Truth (Part 3)



2 Corinthians 4:4

A significant difficulty with interpreting II Corinthians 4:4 to be about Satan is that he is nowhere said to be the god of anything. Many proponents of his being “the god of this world” say that the world's people have him as their object of worship. It is a true statement, but the verse is not saying that.

The word for “God,” theos, is used in a general sense in just a few places, such as Paul's description in Philippians 3:19 of people who set their minds on earthly things—he says their “god is their belly,” an abstract and rare usage of theos. But II Corinthians 4:4 is not abstract; it speaks of someone specific rather than a general concept.

In addition, the verse refers to “this age” (emphasis ours throughout) rather than “this world.” The word here is aion, which refers to a span of time. A search about how the Bible's writers use aion clarifies who is God in—and thus of—every age. Hebrews 1:1-2 is a ready example:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds . . ..

At the end of verse 2, “worlds” translates aion, which should be rendered as “ages.” God is sovereign over the ages because He created them through His Son. The Faith Chapter begins similarly: “By faith we understand that the worlds [aion] were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). The Word of God framed or prepared the ages. In other words, God is sovereign over the divine timeline; He has not given any part of it to the Adversary.

This aspect of God's sovereignty is critical because of a widely held first-century idea called dualism. Part of dualism is the belief in an ongoing, cosmic struggle between light and darkness, good and evil. In popular application, dualism maintains that God and Satan hold parts of the creation in a rough balance, and they are battling for the souls of humanity. Notice, though, that this puts God and Satan on essentially equal levels, as though Satan is somehow a match for God.

Paul skewers this idea in Ephesians 1:20-21:

. . . which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

The apostle claims that Jesus Christ is “far above” everything “in this age” [aion]. He is above every principality and power, which includes all the angels, even the rebellious ones like Satan. He is not only preeminent in this age but also in the next. In other words, Christ is the God of this age, just as He is the God of the next age—only the Father is higher. Similarly, when writing to Timothy, Paul refers to God as “the King eternal” (I Timothy 1:17). This Greek phrase, tō basilei tōn aiōnōn, is literally “the King of the ages.”

Are both Christ and Satan “God/god of this age”? Certainly not! Even though Jesus allows Satan to rule, He also limits him, and the Devil must seek permission to do things such as afflict Job and sift Peter. Jesus possesses “all authority,” in both heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18-20). Many may inadvertently worship Satan, and a few deliberately deify him, but he is not the deity of this or any age. Neither God nor His servants give him that honor or designation.

David C. Grabbe
Spiritual Blindness (Part Two): The God of This Age



2 Corinthians 4:4

This verse defines or reveals Satan's religious position. He receives homage as the one worshipped by the unconverted. Thus, the world pursues his plan and yields to his temptations while at the same time neglecting or rejecting the reign, the realm, the Kingdom, the rule of God.

John W. Ritenbaugh
What I Believe About Conspiracy Theories



2 Corinthians 4:3-4

Paul says Moses kept Israel from looking at “the end of what was passing away.” Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end (meaning “the goal” or “aim”) of the law. This reality is vital to us because we should be able to look at all the sacrifices and rituals and see Christ's glory, for He was their object. His light was too bright for the Israelites because their carnal minds could not receive it. So, Paul uses the metaphors of blindness and veils. Moses' veil was out of consideration for a carnal people who could not handle the light—either physically or spiritually—because of their natural state (see Deuteronomy 29:4).

But it was not Satan who introduced the veil! Who blinded Israel? God Himself declares that He blinded and hardened the hearts of the Israelites, just as He promised He would if they persisted in disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:28):

» And He said, “Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

» For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. (Isaiah 29:10)

» Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden. (Isaiah 29:14)

Because of Israel's hardness of heart and rejection of God, part of Isaiah's unusual commission was to make Israel's self-inflicted blindness even worse (Isaiah 6:9-10)! God successfully used Isaiah, such that when Jesus came on the scene, the nation was still blind except for the few to whom He chose to grant spiritual sight. When Jesus came to His own, God withheld an incredible blessing, such that the Jews, in general, could not see their Savior. Recall Jesus' prayer in Matthew 11:25: “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” His people saw Him physically, yet most did not recognize Him spiritually. God did not withhold this understanding out of vindictiveness but because they had rejected Him all along.

On the road to Emmaus, the two disciples' eyes were restrained (Luke 24:16). Jesus, beginning with Moses' writings, showed them all the places in Scripture that spoke about Him. He opened their eyes to see the things they could not comprehend before. The true God had closed Israel's eyes—the God of this age had blinded them—and He was now opening the eyes of those few He was calling so that He could heal their minds.

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul underscores Israel's spiritual blindness and clearly identifies who was and is responsible for it:

What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” (Romans 11:7-8)

He uses somewhat different terminology, but the essence of his words unmistakably matches II Corinthians 4:3-4:

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the [G]od of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

For those who are perishing, the gospel of the Kingdom of God is veiled. They can understand some aspects of it, for which God will hold them accountable, but He has equipped only the elect with the Holy Spirit to understand the deep things (I Corinthians 2:10). Even with what His elect do understand, they still see dimly and await being face to face (see I Corinthians 13:12).

Everybody else will have his or her chance in the resurrection. God holds them responsible for much less than He does the elect. He has consigned them to disobedience so that He may show mercy. When the time is right, He will open the eyes of those whom He has blinded for now.

David C. Grabbe
Spiritual Blindness (Part Two): The God of This Age



2 Corinthians 4:4

Since the Scriptures testify that Christ is the God of this age and that He blinded Israel (in particular), how can II Corinthians 4:4 be applied to Satan simultaneously, especially in the absence of any biblical support?

This verse's interpretation has an intriguing history. It is far less important than correctly piecing together the Bible's consistent revelation, but it nonetheless sheds light on why translators have used “god” instead of “God.”

First, however, notice the principle in Proverbs 18:17: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (English Standard Version). The translators of II Corinthians 4:4 have “stated their case first” in their use of “god,” so it has seemed right to us. Are we willing to examine their case?

The comments of writers closest to the apostolic era reveal that they believed II Corinthians 4:4 to refer to the Eternal God, not Satan. No recorded disagreement about this verse appears until the second century when a heretic named Marcion (of Sinope) twisted it to support his gnostic interpretation of God. He believed that many of the teachings of Jesus were incompatible with the actions of Yahweh, the LORD in the Old Testament. To reconcile these things, he taught that Yahweh, the Creator, was an inferior, vindictive being whom he called the Demiurge.

In contrast, Marcion taught that the New Testament revealed Jesus as a superior, loving, and universal God, using II Corinthians 4:4 to support his idea of a vindictive Demiurge. His writings attracted enough attention that numerous writers of the next couple of centuries wrote against Marcion—especially against his thoughts on this verse—including Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons), Tertullian of Carthage, Origen, Ambrosiaster, John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo, Pelagius, and Theodoret of Cyrus. All these early writers saw the true God, not Satan, in II Corinthians 4:4.

After the controversy over Marcion died down, the common view for the next 1,200 years was that this verse refers to the Eternal God, not Satan. During these twelve centuries, all the discovered writings show nearly universal agreement that the true God blinds, as the rest of Scripture testifies.

However, this view changed during the Protestant Reformation. This time, the main and loudest proponent of the contrary view was John Calvin. Erasmus, who not long before had translated new Latin and Greek translations of the New Testament, may have influenced him, but Calvin led the charge in changing the prevailing view on this verse. He wrote boldly, “Nobody of sound judgment can have any doubt that here the apostle is speaking about Satan.” And again, “. . . if all these men [the early writers] had read Paul's words with a calm mind, it would never have occurred to them to twist them into a forced meaning in this way.”

Calvin ignores the fact that God Himself takes responsibility for blinding. He simply asserts, like a rationalist, that if one cannot see Satan in this verse, it is due to not having sound judgment and a calm mind. Calvin was so influential, and his words in general given such gravity, that his assertions went unchallenged. As a result, the prevailing view became that Satan was responsible for all the blinding.

In this theological environment, the Bible began to be translated into English. John Calvin became “the one who states his case first”—and few have been willing to cross-examine such an esteemed and calm theologian and rightly proclaim Jesus Christ as the true and unconstrained God of this age.

David C. Grabbe
Spiritual Blindness (Part Two): The God of This Age




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 2 Corinthians 4:4:

1 Samuel 28:11-14
John 15:18-23
Acts 26:12-19
Romans 12:2
2 Corinthians 2:14-15
2 Corinthians 3:12-16
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
2 Corinthians 4:4
Galatians 4:22
Galatians 4:24
Galatians 6:14
2 Timothy 3:16
1 John 2:15

 

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