What does hatred mean?

Paul doesn’t say those people lacked information about God. Romans 1:21: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” According to the verse, the problem was that they didn’t respond to what they knew with honor and gratitude. Instead of recognizing God as God, their thoughts turned away from that truth, and their hearts grew dark. This describes the direction they took, not a list of things they lacked in order to worship. So we could say they didn’t lack knowledge; they failed to recognize God and give thanks to him.

Good observation. Paul isn’t saying that he is the source of the gifts. In Romans 1:11 he writes: Romans 1:11: “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;” “Impart” can be understood as sharing or communicating something spiritual to strengthen them. In the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives the gifts; Paul could be an instrument through his service, teaching, and prayer. The source and the instrument aren’t the same. So the verse doesn’t present Paul as competing with the Holy Spirit. It expresses his desire to contribute to their spiritual growth, trusting that God would work through their meeting.

Romans 1:20 teaches that creation bears witness to God. Though we cannot see him physically, the created world lets us perceive something of his eternal power and divinity. Paul says that people are accountable to God in light of this. In the context of Romans 1, Paul speaks of people who, despite this testimony, do not honor God and exchange the truth for idols. He explains that they cannot claim ignorance to avoid that responsibility; this does not mean that nature explains everything about God or the way of salvation. The verse also does not say that everyone has had the same opportunities or that sincere questions are wrong. One way to understand it is that creation can open our eyes to God’s greatness, but it cannot tell the whole story of his love and redemption on its own.