We now move on to the translation of 1:18-32 which is part of the larger argument that runs through chapter 15 supporting the thesis statement of 1:16-17. Will comment on it tomorrow.
"for now the curtain has been pulled back to reveal the heavenly court room and the just anger of God against those who do evil and with nothing but wicked intentions try to conceal the truth because that which is capable of being know about God is plain to see because God has made it clearly visible! For since the creation of the world His invisible characteristics, including His divine power and divine nature, have been clearly visible through what He has made, so they are without excuse.
So, even though they know about God they refused to honor Him as God or worship Him as God and so they speculated like idiots and their hearts became black, while claiming to be brilliant they became morons and exchanged life eternal with the eternal God for material things and false gods. Therefore, God turned His back on them and they then lapsed into lust filled, impulsive animals . They exchanged the truth for a lie and worshipped and served things rather than the eternal creator, who is to worshipped forever, Amen!
For this reason, God continued to turn His back on them and they then lapsed into disgusting perversions, for example, women unnaturally lusted for other women and in the same way men turned their back on natural desires for women and unnaturally lusted for other men committing perverted acts and receiving within themselves a just punishment for their mistake.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God refused to acknowledge them and they did these things which are not right, being filled with injustice, wickedness, greed, evil; full of jealousy, murder, disruptive attitudes, viciousness, lies, etc. they gossip, slander, hate God, disregard others and are full of themselves, furthermore, they love to create evil and disobey their parents while they don't know what they are talking about, they are untrustworthy, they are unloving and unmerciful; and although they know God's commandments and that those who break them deserve death, they not only break them but encourage others to do so as well!
