Haley Goranson Jacob. Conformed to the Image of His Son: Reconsidering Paul’s Theology of Glory in Romans. IVP Academic, 2018. See here to purchase the book.
Haley Goranson Jacob teaches theology at Whitworth University. This book, Conformed to the Image of His Son, offers a fresh interpretation of Romans 8:29-30.
Romans 8:29-30 states: “For those whom he foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he
might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he
predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified;
and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (NRSV)
What does Paul mean when he refers to believers being conformed to
the image of God’s Son? Two proposals are prominent. The first view is
that believers will be conformed to the image of God’s Son in terms of
holiness: they will become like Christ in their moral and spiritual
character. The second view is that Paul means that their resurrection
bodies will be glorified, shining bright, like Christ’s glorified
resurrection body.
Although Jacob rejects these interpretations, moral holiness and
bodily composition still seem to factor into her scenario. Jacob
accepts Colossians as authentically Pauline, and Colossians 3:7-9
presents moral aspects to becoming conformed to the image of God. Paul
also depicts believers’ resurrected bodies as new and improved, in
possessing immortality, for instance.
Jacob argues, however, that Paul has a different focus in Romans
8:29-30. For Jacobs, when Paul affirms that believers will be
glorified, he means that they will be honored. And when Paul refers to
believers being conformed to the image of God’s Son, he is echoing
themes in the Hebrew Bible. There is Genesis 1:26-27, which depicts
God’s image as the dominion that human beings have over creation. Jesus
is God’s Son in the sense that he is the Messiah, for the Davidic ruler
in the Hebrew Bible was called God’s Son. Jacob argues that, for Paul,
believers are conformed to the image of God’s Son in that they join
Jesus in ruling over a creation that is being renewed.
This has future implications, but it has present implications, as
well. When Paul in Romans 8:26-27 talks about the Spirit interceding
for believers when they pray, Jacob believes that this relates to
believers praying for creation, not so much their own personal issues.
Jacob translates Romans 8:28 differently from how it is customarily
translated. Most translations render it as all things working together
for those who love God (Romans 8:28), but Jacob interprets it in terms
of believers working with God in the renewal of creation, not so much
things clicking in their personal lives.
In making her argument, Jacob appeals to a variety of
considerations. She examines the usage of doxa (glory) in the
Septuagint, highlighting that it often pertains to receiving honor. She
considers Paul’s writings broadly, then she looks at Romans, then she
closely looks at Romans 8. Jacob sees that Psalms 8 and 110 feature
prominently, sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, in Paul’s
discussion of the risen Christ. Psalm 8 is about the dominion that
human beings have over God’s creation, and Paul contends that Christ now
has that as the risen Messiah. Paul interprets Psalm 110 as the
Messiah sitting at God’s right hand and ruling. In Jacob’s argument,
Paul holds that believers share in this rulership with the risen Christ,
for believers’ participation with Christ is a salient feature of Paul’s
writings. Jacob also offers a grammatical argument for her
interpretation of Romans 8:28.
Jacob judiciously engages prior scholarship. The book is interesting
in that it highlights the different interpretations that scholars have
offered regarding Romans 8 and other Pauline passages, as well as
changes in scholarly trends. For example, whereas scholarship used to
interpret Paul’s reference to the “Son of God” in light of the sons of
God in Greek mythology, Jacob states, it has come to interpret the
phrase in light of the Messiah of the Hebrew Bible. While the book is
nuanced, Jacob continually stresses her main points, and her
introduction and conclusion lucidly summarize her arguments.
A slight issue that I have with Jacob’s argument is that, when I read
Paul, Paul does not seem to emphasize believers going out and serving
the world. One can certainly derive that lesson from the Bible, for the
Old Testament talks about giving alms, and the Gospels depict Jesus
going into the world and helping people. Paul, however, focuses more on
spreading the Gospel and the spiritual care of his congregations. When
he talks about helping the poor, he usually (perhaps always) means the
poor of the church, not the poor in the world. This is odd, if Jacob’s
interpretation of Paul is correct. Still, one cannot dismiss the
evidence that she does present, such as the significance of Psalm 8 and
110 in Paul’s writings.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.