Romans 1:19-20
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The verse emphasizes that the knowledge of God available through creation is not merely possible to know, but is actively known and manifest within people, because God Himself made it so. This means their suppression of this truth isn't due to ignorance, but a deliberate act against evidence already present within them.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul is explaining why God's wrath is justly poured out on humanity. He argues that people aren't condemned out of ignorance; rather, they suppress the truth about God that is readily available to them through creation and their own conscience. This readily available knowledge, Paul asserts, makes everyone accountable.
Ever wondered if God intended for us to know Him, even without a Bible in hand? This verse says yes!
Paul here tackles the idea that people are ignorant of God's existence or nature. He argues that it's not a lack of information, but a deliberate suppression of truth that leads people astray.
The 'Manifest' Truth
The phrase "that which is known of God" points to truths about God that are universally accessible. Think of it like God leaving His fingerprints all over creation and even on our inner moral compass. This knowledge isn't hidden away in a secret vault; it's 'manifest' – openly displayed and evident.
Within Us and Around Us
This knowledge is 'in them' – meaning it's imprinted on their consciousness, their conscience. It's also 'manifest' through the created world. So, God has made Himself known both internally, through our capacity to reason and feel moral obligation, and externally, through the awe-inspiring universe He designed.
Does God only speak through the Bible? This verse helps us understand the scope of God's self-disclosure.
It's crucial to grasp that Paul isn't saying people have all the knowledge of God through nature alone. He's clear that special revelation (like the Gospel Paul preaches) reveals things like God's plan for salvation through Christ, which isn't found in creation.
Sufficient for Accountability
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The knowledge God makes plain is 'that which is known' (or 'knowable'), not exhaustive divine omniscience. This level of revelation is enough to hold humanity accountable. It establishes the basic truth of God's existence, His power, and His moral order. It's enough to make people inexcusable for their ignorance or rebellion.
Foundation for the Gospel
This general revelation serves as a foundation. It awakens a sense of the divine, a longing for meaning, and a recognition of moral truths. When Paul later presents the Gospel, he's not starting from scratch but building on this inherent, though often suppressed, awareness of God.
Understand the original words
aoratos · Greek Adjective
Qualities that are not perceptible by physical sight. These represent the non-physical, transcendent reality of God’s being.
theiotēs · Greek Noun
The essence of what it means to be God. It encompasses His deity, sovereignty, and supreme authority as the Creator who exists above and beyond His creation.
anapologētos · Greek Adjective
Having no valid argument or justification. In a legal or moral sense, it means one stands condemned with no defense against God’s judgment because of the clear revelation provided.
This passage echoes Romans 1:19 by showing how God's creation itself declares His glory, making His existence and power known to all.
Acts 17:24-28Paul directly states in his speech to the Athenians that God is not far from any of us, and that through creation, humanity can perceive Him, directly supporting the idea that God is knowable through general revelation.
Job 12:7-10This ancient text asks a rhetorical question that implies the same truth as Romans 1:19: that even animals and the earth can teach us about the Creator's hand and power.
Romans 2:14-15This passage further clarifies Romans 1:19 by explaining that God has written His law on the human heart, providing an internal witness to His moral character that is manifest within people.
ellicottRomans 1:19: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them."
(19) The Apostle goes on to show how the Gentiles came to have such a knowledge of right, and how they repressed and contravened it. They had it, because all the knowledge that mankind generally possessed of God they also possessed. So much as could be known without special revelation they knew. That which may be known.—Rather, that which is (generally and universally) known—the truths o…
meyerRomans 1:19: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them."
Romans 1:19 . Διότι ] propterea quod —only to be separated by a comma from the foregoing—specifies more precisely the causal relation, on account of which the wrath of God comes upon such men, etc. ( Romans 1:18 ). They keep down the truth through immorality; if they did so out of ignorance, they would be excusable: but they do not do so out of ignorance, and therefore God’s wrath is man…
The verse emphasizes that the knowledge of God available through creation is not merely possible to know, but is actively known and manifest within people, because God Himself made it so. This means their suppression of this truth isn't due to ignorance, but a deliberate act against evidence already present within them.
Paul is explaining why God's wrath is justly poured out on humanity. He argues that people aren't condemned out of ignorance; rather, they suppress the truth about God that is readily available to them through creation and their own conscience. This readily available knowledge, Paul asserts, makes everyone accountable.
Paul is explaining why God's wrath is justly poured out on humanity. He argues that people aren't condemned out of ignorance; rather, they suppress the truth about God that is readily available to them through creation and their own conscience. This readily available knowledge, Paul asserts, makes everyone accountable.
"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things…" — The verse emphasizes that the knowledge of God available through creation is not merely possible to know, but is actively known and manifest within people, because God Himself made it so. This…
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Last reviewed October 2026
