Not Possible
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. Romans 7:14-15 NASB
Hate – Step back and think about this verse. Is it really possible to do things that you hate? Everything you do is the result of a choice. When you do whatever it is, at the moment of choosing the action can’t also be, at the moment, something totally repulsive, something abominable to you. People don’t actually do things that they truly hate. Afterwardyou may assess what you’ve done as hateful, but that’s because after it has been done your action is evaluated according to some standard that was not in place when you actually made the choice. Reflect on some act that you later found hateful. When you did it, were you doing something that you hated at that precise moment? Even if you thought of the action as hateful before you did it, could you really hate it when you were doing it? Unless there were an outside force compelling you to act against your will, whatever you do as you are doing it is not something you consider hateful.
Of course, the influence of an outside force might be what Paul is trying to communicate. If someone holds a gun to your head and demands that you do something you would otherwise hate, you could make an argument that your choice was not actually free, that you acted under duress. But the counterargument is that you still chose that particular action. You determined that it was better to live and do what you would otherwise hate to do than to die (if that’s the threat). So, in a sense, you still chose the better alternative, even if objectively it amounted to a hateful act. But choices are rarely objective, are they? We are involved in the decision. We are personally connected. It’s not a game.
With this in mind, we need to rethink Paul’s statement. First, we should note that the Greek text doesn’t quite match the translation. In the Greek text, Paul writes, “but I hate this I am doing.” The translators have amplified the text with “the very thing,” and rearranged the syntax. That might be justified, but it does seem to make a difference, especially when the Greek word for “hate” is miséō. You see, it doesn’t always mean “hate.” It can also mean “dislike,” a milder emotion. What if Paul said, “I’m not practicing what I would like to do but I dislike what I do”? Would that have the same emotional impact? Probably not.
Fredriksen makes the point that Paul’s language is deliberately provocative. Paul employs a particular literary technique called prosopopoeia, or “speech in character.” prosopopoeia “was in antiquity a common rhetorical device by which the speaker presented the thought of a fictive character, the better to strengthen or to illustrate the speaker’s own point(s).”[1] Perhaps the translators wished to capture this technique by intensifying the emotions in English, but if we understand that Paul is using prosopopoeia, maybe we also recognize that the typical theological conclusions aren’t warranted. We should reconsider comments like Michel’s in the TDNT:
“In this verse ‘to hate’ is the negative equivalent of ‘to will.’ We are forced by sin (7:17), and hence we have no power either to do what we will or not to do what we hate (i.e., do not will).”[2]
Are we really “forced by sin” to do what we hate, or do we discover that we do things we dislike if we could only stand apart from ourselves? Does sin take away our ability to choose? Or is Michel’s comment really doctrine in disguise (sinful nature makes me sin)?
Brené Brown offers another way to look at this verse (although she may not realize it):
“Are my choices comforting and nourishing my spirit, or are they temporary reprieves from vulnerability and difficult emotions ultimately diminishing my spirit? Are my choices leading to my Wholeheartedness, or do they leave me feeling empty and searching?”[3]
So, do we read Paul as a doctrinal theologian, as a rhetorician, or as a licensed psychological counselor? You decide!
Topical Index: hate, miséō, prosopopoeia, Romans 7:14-15
[1] Paula Fredriksen, Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle (Yale University Press, 2017), pp. 123-124.
[2] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 599). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[3] Brené Brown, Daring Greatly, p. 147.
