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Summary
- Psalm 5:5 says God hates “all evildoers” and Psalm 11:5 that his soul “hates the wicked”; Proverbs 6:16–19 and Hosea 9:15 also speak of God hating people.
- Malachi 1:2–3, quoted by Paul in Romans 9:13, says “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
- The NET Bible reads Malachi’s “love” and “hate” as covenant words for “choose” and “reject”; Calvin read Romans 9 as election and reprobation of persons, and Wesley as God’s choice between two nations.
- Luke 14:26 has “hate” where Matthew 10:37 has “loves more,” and Genesis 29:30–31 uses “hated” for “loved less.”
- Scripture also says “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that Christ died for sinners (Romans 5:8), and Wisdom 11:24 says God detests none of the things he has made.
- Augustine and Aquinas taught that God loves sinners as his creatures and hates them as sinners; D. A. Carson rejects “hate the sin, love the sinner” as a cliché.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Psalm 5:4–6; 11:5; Proverbs 6:16–19; Hosea 9:15; Leviticus 20:23; Isaiah 61:8; Amos 5:21, 24; Revelation 2:6; Malachi 1:2–3; Genesis 25:23; 29:30–31; Deuteronomy 21:15; Romans 9:10–13; 5:8; Luke 14:26; 6:35; Matthew 10:37; 5:45; John 3:16; 1 John 4:8–10; Ezekiel 18:23; Acts 10:34), the King James Version (Acts 10:34) and the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (Wisdom 11:24).
- NET Bible translators’ notes on Malachi 1:3, Luke 14:26, Genesis 29:31 and Psalm 5:5. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+1&version=NET
- John Calvin, Commentary on Romans, on Romans 9:10–13, trans. John Owen. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.xiii.iii.html
- John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Romans 9:13. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.vii.x.html
- Augustine of Hippo, Letter 211 (A.D. 423), section 11, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102211.htm
- Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John, tractate 110, section 6, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 7. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701110.htm
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, question 20, article 2, reply to objection 4. https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1020.htm
- D. A. Carson, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000), as quoted at https://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/11/23/divine-love-hate-part-two/
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