Commenting on Rom 3:10-18, common “proof-texts” for Total Depravity, Scott Hahn wrote:
Paul’s citations [Psa 141:1-3; 5:10; 140:10; 10:7; Isa 59:7-8; Psa 36:2] are usually said to prove that every single Jew and Gentile, without exception, is a sinner living in opposition to God. On first reading, this might appear to be his main point. However, there is reason to think that Paul is bringing charges against the Jewish nation collectively, not against every Jewish man, woman, and child individually. It is true that the whole human race is implicated in the sin of Adam and is forced to live with the consequences of his fall from grace. This touches every person’s life, as Paul will make clear in Rom 5. But we must be careful not to run ahead of his argument. The point here is that sin has breached the defenses of God’s chosen people, just as it has all other nations.
Several points support this reading. (1) Paul’s citations from the Psalms and Isaiah make use of poetical exaggeration as a way of giving the message greater impact. This would not have escaped Paul’s notice. As a careful interpreter of Scripture, he would not have felt free to impose a rigidly literal meaning on obviously hyperbolic texts or rhetorical overstatements. (2) To insist that Paul reads these verses literally amounts to saying that Paul places Scripture in opposition to Scripture. Statements such as There is no one just (3:10) and no one . . . seeks God (3:11) and There is no fear of God (3:18) serve well as shocking generalizations, but they are blatantly inaccurate if treated as exceptionless statements of fact. The Bible speaks of numerous figures who are deemed “righteous” (Gen 6:9; Wisdom of Solomon 10:6, 10, 13; Dan 13:3; see also Matt 1:19; Luke 1:6; 2 Pet 2:7), who earnestly “seek” the Lord (2 Chron 11:16; 15:12; 34:3; Psa 27:8; 63:2; 119:10; Isa 51:1), and who reverently “fear” God (Gen 22:12; 42:18; Exo 1:21; Job 1:1; Psa 22:24; Mal 3:6). It hardly seems credible that Paul, an avid student of the written Word, could think of no exceptions whatsoever to his far-reaching verdict. Besides that, Paul could not have hoped to convince readers—least of all Jewish ones—to accept his interpretations if they were propped up by a cavalier handling of Israel’s sacred texts. (3) Most telling of all, Paul quotes from several psalms that actually distinguish those who are “righteous” in Israel from those who are “wicked” (Pss 5; 14; 36; 140). No doubt these references support Paul’s contention that sin has established beachhead in Israel. But that is not the same thing as saying that every member of the covenant people is a godless rebel, down to the last woman or man. How, then, can Paul deny the possibility of even a single Jew being righteous when he draws from psalms that affirm the distinction between righteous and unrighteous Jews in no uncertain terms? Again, his argument works as a collective indictment of Israel, viewed as a nation alongside other sinful nations, but not as a distributive indictment of every single Jew considered individually. (Scott W. Hahn, Romans [Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2017], 41-42; emphasis in original)
Elsewhere, when commenting on Rom 3:23, Hahn notes:
Paul retraces the movement from plight to solution, from sin to salvation. He contends that no distinction can be made between persons because all have sinned. Countless readers of Romans take this to mean that every member of the human family, without exception, stands before God as a sinner. However, this popular reading is imprecise on two counts. (1) Paul uses the phrase “no distinction” instead of the phrase “no exception.” Paul’s issue is whether there is a difference between the two groups of people up for comparison. The two groups, of course, are Jews and Gentiles. In fact, the only other time Paul uses this expression is in Rom 10:12, where he says: “There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all.” Thus, when the Apostle says “all have sinned,” he is implicating Jews together with Gentiles. (2) The more obvious fault of the popular reading is that there are exceptions to the statement. Notice that Paul is talking about sins committed by deliberate choices. There is no denying that the human race is born into this world in a state of spiritual alienation from God. Paul teaches as much elsewhere (5:12; Eph 2:3). But the saying “all have sinned” does not apply to persons incapable of willful transgression. What of miscarried fetuses, infants in arms, children younger than the age of reason, the mentally disabled? For that matter, what of Jesus Christ himself? He too was born into the human family of Adam, and yet he passed through this world without the slightest taint of sin (Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5). If even a single exception can be found, then the popular interpretation must be wide of the mark. Paul’s point, yet again, is that Jews have been no more immune to wrongdoing than Gentiles. (Ibid., 45; emphasis in original)
