“the god of this world has blinded the minds of
unbelievers”: ο θεος το αιωνος τουτου ετυφλωσεν τα νοηματα των απιστων better translated as “the god of this
age,” as opposed to “this world.” The phrase ο θεος του
αιωνος (DR: “the god of this world”) appears
in no other passage of the NT. Some Fathers and medievals construed the passage
to mean, e.g., “But we assert of this passage that it is spoken neither of the
devil nor of another creator, but of the God of the universe, and that it is to
be read thus, ‘God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world’
(Chrysostom, Homily 8 on 2nd Corinthians). This view is based mainly on the
idea that since God “hardened” the Jews in unbelief (cf. Jn 12:40; Rm 9:18;
11:7), he is still hardening them at the present time. Paul, however, is not
dealing directly with Jews in Second Corinthians, but with the obstinacy of the
Gentile Corinthians. Even in 2Co 3:4-14 when Paul speaks about the Jews, he
refers to them merely as a backdrop to his teaching of the superiority of the
New Covenant to the Old Covenant. Marcion was the first to hold the view that
“god” in 2Co 4:4 referred to God, based on the distinction he made between “the
creator God” (which is referred to by Chrysostom above as “another creator”) and the “Father of Jesus
Christ,” as if they were two distinct beings. Irenaeus disagreed with Marcion,
but to substantiate his point he rearranged the Greek syntax of 2Co 4:4 to
read, “God has blinded the unbelievers of this age” (Against Heresies, Bk 3, Ch
7), as followed by Chrysostom above. Irenaeus’ view is also followed by
Tertullian, Cyril, Origen, Ambrosiaster, Theodoret, Augustine, and into the
medieval period by Theophylact, Herveius, Sedulius, Primasius, Lombard, and
Aquinas. Erasmus was the first to posit that “god of this age” refers to Satan (Annotations,
533). Like many after him, he refers to similar passages describing Satan
(e.g., “the prince of this world” – Jn 12:31; “the ruler of the power of the
air” – Ep 2:2; “the rulers of this age” – 1Co 2:8, cf. Ac 26:18; 2Co 11:14; 1Th
2:18), so that “god” (θεος)
refers not to divinity but to rulers, much like Jesus’ reference to, “I said,
you are gods” in Jn 10:34 (cf. Ps 82:6) refers to the rulers of that day.
Furthermore, as God is presented in Scripture, he is never identified as the
God of a particular age, but the God of all ages. Irenaeus is obviously
cognizant of this fact and thus decides to remove του αιωνος τουτου (“this age”) as a direct object of ο θεος (“the
god”) and instead makes τα
νοηματα των απιστων(“the minds of unbelievers”) the direct
object of ο θεος, which is an egregious manipulation of
the Greek text. Conversely, only a being whose power was limited to a certain
period would fit the title “god of this age.” Moreover, it has always been
acknowledged that Satan is used of God and thus God is the ultimate controller
of any situation (cf. 2Sm 24:1; 1Ch 21:1; Jb 2:3-7). Thus it is necessarily
implied God allows the prerogatives of Satan without specifying it in the text.
The mere fact that Irenaeus changed the syntax of the Greek to arrive at his
preferred view suggests it was his anti-Marcion theology driving his
interpretation rather than good grammatical exegesis. We also know the term
“god” was also used in other non-divine contexts, such as “gods of Egypt” (Ex
12:12); “upon their gods the Lord executed judgment” (Nm 33:4); “among the gods
there is none like unto thee” (Ps 86:8). (Robert A. Sungenis, Commentary on
the Catholic Douay-Rheims New Testament from the Original Greek and Latin,
4 vols. [State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc.,
2021], 2:355-56 n. 52)
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