A as we previously stated. Therefore, the holy ones indeed receive the participation of the Spirit, since He breathed upon them, saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit." For Christ cannot lie, nor would He have said "Receive" if He were not bestowing. Yet in the days of the holy Pentecost, when God willed that there should be a more express manifestation of grace and a declaration of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, tongues as of fire appeared, which by no means signified the beginning of the gift in them, but rather led them to the beginning of speaking. It is written, therefore, that they began to speak in various tongues, according as the Spirit gave them to speak. Do you hear how they began to speak, but not to be sanctified, and how the distribution of tongues descended upon them, with the Spirit who was in them working this also? For just as the Father uttered a voice from heaven, bearing witness to His own Offspring and saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and did this for the assurance of those who heard, having broken through, as it were, with an organic voice cast into our ears, or having caused it to come to pass, so also upon the holy apostles He placed a more evident manifestation of grace, sending down tongues upon them in the form of fire, and having caused the sound of the rushing violent wind to imitate the descent of the Spirit. B That this was also given to the Jews in the order of a sign, you will easily understand when you hear the Lord of all, God, saying through the voice of the prophet: "In strange tongues and in the lips of others I will speak to this people, and they will not believe." Therefore, in order that we might believe that the blessed disciples are truly partakers of the Holy Spirit, and are already crowned from above with the grace from Christ, and are capable of explaining the truth, and possess the praiseworthy glory of their own apostleship, having been testified to by the gift from on high, the fire descended in the form of tongues. I consider these things to have been said by us abundantly enough for an accurate demonstration of the question proposed. But since we must take care in every way that no scandal arises among the brethren from the malice of some, come, let us add this besides to what has been said, and let us blunt the unbridled loquacity of certain people. C
Itaque paulo post scriptum inveniemus, Thomam, qui dicebatur Didymus, non fuisse cum discipulis cum venit Jesus. Quomodo ergo, nec immerito quæret aliquis, quandoquidem vere aberat, sancti Spiritus factus est particeps, cum discipulis Servator apparuit, et insufflavit, dicens: "Accipite Spiritum sanctum"? Respondemus Spiritus virtutem in omnes permanasse, et scopum largientis implesse. Dedit autem Christus non aliquibus seorsim, sed universis D
disciples. Wherefore A they receive it, even though some were not present, the liberality of the giver not being contracted only to those present, but permeating the whole choir of the holy apostles. But that we may feel that nothing here is distorted by force, nor that we say it too boldly, I will provide faith from the sacred Scriptures themselves, with testimonies taken from the Mosaic books to demonstrate this. Therefore, the Lord God once commanded the most wise Moses to choose seventy elder men from the congregation of the Jews, and openly professed that he would take of the Spirit that was in him and place it upon them. Moses chose them and fulfilled the divine command. Yet two were missing from the number of the seventy elders, and remained in the congregation, Eldad and Modad. But when God had infused the divine Spirit into all, B according to the promise already brought forward, those who had been chosen by Moses were indeed prophesying immediately, having received the grace: nor did those two who had remained in the congregation prophesy any less, the grace from above flowing down upon them also. And indeed Joshua, son of Nun, who was always clinging to Moses and was ignorant of the power of the mystery, thinking they were opposing the prophets chosen by Moses after the example of Dathan and Abiron, said to him: "Eldad and Modad are prophesying in the camp: my lord Moses, forbid them." But what does that truly wise and great man say to this, who, as a wise man, understood the efficacy of the grace given to them and the virtue of the Spirit? "Do not emulate me. For who would give that the Lord's people were prophets, when the Lord has given his Spirit upon them?" Do you see how he reproves the words of Joshua, who had not known the mystery? Would that C would that, he says, the Spirit had been given to the whole people: but there will be a time when the Lord of all, that is Christ, will be with them; he will bestow his Spirit upon them, as if they were the first-fruits of those who were to receive it, breathing upon the holy apostles and saying: "Receive the holy Spirit." Therefore, although Thomas was absent, he was not deprived of the Spirit, which was permeating all who were to receive it. Furthermore, Christ giving the Spirit: "Whose sins you shall forgive," he says, "they are forgiven them; and whose you shall retain, they are retained," although he alone is God by nature, and has the power of absolving those guilty of sins. For to whom is it fitting to absolve the transgressors of the law from sins, if not to the author of the law himself? But if it pleases, let us observe D the force of what we say from ourselves. Who of earthly kings would dare to violate decrees, and attempt to dissolve their sentences and edicts, unless perhaps someone endowed with royal honor and majesty? For in these, the crimes of violated law have no place. And therefore that saying is wise: "Impious is he who says to the king: You act unjustly." By what way, therefore, or by what reason does the Savior attribute to his disciples the dignity which is owed to the divine nature alone? Certainly, it cannot be said that the Father did this wrongly, but rather through
A fixed by a decree and counsel, unless perhaps one might happen to be among those who have been invested with the honor and glory of the queen? For in those cases, charges of lawlessness have no place. Therefore, the wise saying also declares: "Impious is he who says to a king, 'You act lawlessly.'"
In what manner, then, and for what reason, did the Savior confer upon His disciples an authority that is proper to the divine nature alone? But the Word, who is in the Father, would not be mistaken concerning what is appropriate, for this is established and most correct. He judged it necessary that those who already possessed the divine and masterly Spirit within themselves should be masters in remitting the sins of some, and in retaining those of whom they wished, the Holy Spirit who dwells within them remitting or retaining according to His own will, even if the matter happens to be performed through men.
The Spirit-bearers indeed remit or retain sins in two ways, in my opinion: either they call to baptism those who deserved to attain it by reason of the gravity of their life and their proven faith, or they prevent some, barring them for the time being from divine grace because they are not yet worthy. Or they remit and retain sins in another way, by rebuking those of the Church’s children who sin, and granting pardon to those who repent—just as Paul, for instance, delivered the one at Corinth who had committed fornication to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved, but later accepted him again, so that he might not be swallowed up by excessive sorrow, as he himself says in his letter. Since, then, the Spirit of Christ, having become in us, fulfills things proper to God alone, how would He not be God by nature, He who is naturally endowed with the illustrious dignity of the divine nature and possesses authority and power over the sacred laws?
C Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Therefore the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
Sublime miracles almost always have incredulity as their companion, and what transcends the standard of human reason is not easily accepted by those who hear it; yet, even if they see it, they scarcely assent. Something of this sort happened to the most wise Thomas regarding the resurrection of our Savior, nor does he easily admit the testimony of the other disciples, although according to the law of Moses, every word shall be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. And yet, it seems to me that the disciple did not so much withhold faith from what was said as he was struck with the greatest grief that he himself had not also been granted a sight of our Savior. He perhaps thought that he would be entirely deprived of the sight of Him. For he knew that the Lord was Life by nature, and that He was equal to escaping death and destroying the kingdom of corruption. For if He drove it away from others, how would He not have more effectively repelled it from His own flesh? But out of a desire that was too great, he becomes near to infidelity, and, yearning with great zeal to behold Him present, he desires to be made more certain that He had come to life, just as He had promised. For, "Little children," the Savior was saying, "a little while, and now"
A of great joy becomes almost disbelief, and as if leaping suddenly and greatly, he longs to see Him already present, and to be fully persuaded that He has risen again, according to the promise He made to him. For, "Little children," said the Savior, "a little while, and you will no longer see me; and again a little while, and you will see me, and your heart shall rejoice." I think, truly, that the disciple’s temporary lack of faith was ordained with great economy, so that through his conviction, we who come after him might also believe without doubt that the Father, through the Son, has brought to life the flesh that hung upon the tree and suffered death. Therefore Paul also says: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." For since this nature of the flesh did not of itself become the source of life, but the deed was accomplished rather by the operation of the divine and ineffable nature—in which the power to give life to all things naturally resides—the Father also raised up that divine temple through the Son, not because His own Word could not raise up His body, but because whatever the Father does, He does through the Son (for He is His power B), and whatever the Son does, this is entirely from the Father. We are therefore taught, by that slight lack of faith of the blessed Thomas, that the mystery of the resurrection is accomplished in this earthly body of ours, and as in the first-fruits of the race in Christ; and that it was not a phantom or a shadow, as some think, which simulated the shape of a man and feigned the features of our form, nor yet, as others foolishly said, a "spiritual body"—that is, something subtle and airy, and different from flesh. For so it pleases some to conceive and understand the "spiritual." But since the whole rationale of our hope and the power of an irreproachable faith, after the confession of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, looks and gazes toward the mystery of the flesh, the blessed evangelist most opportunely placed this also in the following chapters. Observe how Thomas does not desire to see the Lord simply, but seeks the traces of the nails, that is, the wounds made in the flesh. For thus he affirms he will believe and agree with the others that the Lord has truly risen—that is, risen in the flesh. For that which is dead is rightly considered to return to life, and in that in which death occurred, in that same thing must the resurrection take place. C And after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus comes, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. Then He says to Thomas: Reach your finger here, and see my hands, and reach your hand, and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but faithful. He appeared again to his own disciples in a miraculous manner, as God. For He did not command the doors to be opened for Him as they do for us when we enter, but ignoring them, He penetrated the door and suddenly appears in the middle of the house, D as if [original-script column: see facsimile] almost…
A granting the same, as is likely, in the manner of a miracle to the blessed Thomas himself. For there was need to heal the one who was suffering most, and who was of narrow faith. He addresses him with familiar words, such as He frequently had on His lips, and brings forward the good of peace for our example, as we have already said before.
You would justly marvel at the precision in these matters, I mean in those things before us. For so exact was the care of the one who composed this book, and so diligent did he make this observation, that he did not simply say that Christ manifested Himself to the holy disciples, but "after eight days," and when they were assembled. For what else could the bringing of them all into one house signify? Therefore, we say, because of this exact and admirable observation, that Christ fixed the time of the meetings, or assemblies, that take place for His sake, and for this reason He shows it to us. For He altogether draws near, and in a certain manner dwells with those gathered for His sake, especially on the eighth day, that is, the Lord's Day.
Let us consider, if you please: at one time He appeared to the other disciples, and at another time again appears to the very same ones while Thomas was present. It is written, therefore, a little earlier: "When therefore it was evening on that day, the first of the Sabbaths, and the doors were shut, He stood in the midst." Take note, then, how B on the first of the Sabbaths—that is, the Lord's Day of the Sabbaths—He appeared to the disciples while they were assembled, and nevertheless, He is seen shining forth again on the following eighth day. For just because He said "after eight days," we should not suppose that He signifies the ninth day; but rather, that by including the eighth day itself in the number—the day on which He appeared—He says such things. Most reasonably, therefore, we conduct the holy convocations in the Churches on the eighth day; and if one must say something even more mystical, because of the necessary need for understanding, we close the doors, but Christ draws near and appears to us all, invisibly and visibly: C invisibly as God, but visibly, on the other hand, in the body. Furthermore, He permits and gives His holy flesh to be touched. For we draw near according to the grace of God to the participation of the mystical eulogia, receiving Christ into our hands, that we too may firmly believe that He truly raised His own temple.
For that the communion of the mystical eulogia is a confession of the resurrection of Christ would be clear, and very easily so, through those things which He Himself said when He performed the type of the mystery through Himself. For having broken the bread, as it is written, He distributed it, saying: "This is my body which is given for you for the remission of sins. Do this in my remembrance." The participation, therefore, in the holy mysteries is a true confession and remembrance that the Lord died and came to life again for our sake and D on our behalf; and because of this, moreover, we are filled with divine blessing. Let us, therefore, flee from unbelief as from something destructive, and this after we have touched Christ, so that we may be found firm and stable in faith altogether. But let the diligent student again call to memory...
A that He forbade Mary Magdalene to touch Him, saying most clearly: "Do not touch me; for I have not yet ascended to my Father," yet He allows Thomas both to handle His side and to explore with his finger the marks of the nails. And for what reason, has already been clearly stated, but I shall recall it nonetheless, while shortening the length of the discourse. For to her the time for touching was not yet given, because she had not yet been sanctified by the grace of the Spirit. For while Christ was still with us, and had not yet ascended to the Father who is in the heavens, the descent of the Paraclete was not to be seen perfected in men. To him, however, this was already appropriate, as one who was enriched with the Spirit together with the others. For as we have already stated before, it was not because he was left behind that he was therefore without share in the Spirit. For the liberality of the Giver extended even to him, the gift having been distributed to the whole fullness of the holy disciples. Furthermore, I think it worth investigating this too: Thomas handled the side of the Savior, and examined the wounds made by the soldier's lance, and saw the marks of the nails. But how, perhaps someone might ask, were the signs of corruption seen B in an incorruptible body? For the bodily indications of corruption are the holes left in the hands and in the side, and the scars of the wounds, although with the body reformed unto incorruption, it ought entirely to follow that it should cast off, together with corruption, all things that arise from it. For if someone should happen to be lame, will he rise again lame in foot or leg? And if someone should have been deprived of an eye in this life, will he rise again blind? How then, someone might say, shall we have cast off corruption, if the inconveniences that follow from it still remain and characterize our bodies? I consider these things not to be asked without reason, yet we say, endeavoring as much as is in us to defend the proposed doubt, that at the time of the resurrection there will be nothing left in us of adventitious corruption, but as the wise Paul said concerning this body: "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; and it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory." C But what else is it to expect the future resurrection of this body in power and glory, except that, with all weakness and the dishonor of corruption and diseases driven away, it will return to its original state? For it was made not for death and corruption. Since, therefore, Thomas requested this also for more certain faith, for this reason our Lord Jesus Christ, that He might leave no pretext for our incredulity, just as Thomas asked, so He presents Himself to be seen. Indeed, when He was ascending into heaven itself, and declaring the power of His mystery to the supernal Virtues, Principalities, and Powers, and to those set over the orders of angels, He appeared again in this very form, so that they might believe that the Word, who is from the Father and in the Father, had truly become man for our sake, and might know D
that He exercises such providence over His own A creatures, that He even predeceased our life. But so that the power of the Word might become clearer to the hearers, I will set forth the very things spoken through the voice of Isaiah concerning these same matters. He says, therefore: "Who is this that comes from Edom, the redness of his garments from Bosor?" But those who cry out these things, and say—I mean the phrase, "Who is this that comes from Edom?"—that is, from the earth, are the angels and the intellectual powers. For they marvel at the Lord ascending into heaven, and seeing Him, as it were, stained with His own blood, they ask Him, not yet understanding the mystery: "Why are your garments red, and your clothes as though from a trodden winepress?" For they compare the color of blood most especially to new, freshly trodden wine. And what does Christ say to them? First, so that He might be understood to be God by nature: "I," He says, "speak righteousness," that is, setting down "I speak" for "I teach." But how would he who teaches righteousness not be acknowledged as a lawgiver? And if He is a lawgiver, how is He not altogether God? Then the angels say to Him, Christ showing them in a way the marks of the nails: "What are these wounds in the midst of your hands?" To whom the Lord: B "With which I was struck in my beloved house." For since Israel was indeed the beloved house, it struck the Lord with nails and a spear. For the rash deeds of the soldiers might deservedly be inscribed upon the heads of the Jews. For they themselves brought the Lord to the passion. Since, therefore, Christ wished to persuade the holy angels themselves, that He had truly become man, and that He had endured the cross for our sake, and had risen and lived again from the dead, He was not content with words alone, but showed the signs of the passion. What is strange or unusual if, wishing also to rid the blessed Thomas himself of unbelief, He showed the marks of the nails, and appeared beyond what might be expected, on account of what is profitable for all, and so that we might believe without doubt that the mystery of the resurrection had been accomplished, not of some other body raised up, but of that which had suffered death?
Thomas answered Him, and said to Him: "My Lord, and my God." C He was swift to confession, who a moment before was slow to believe, and in a very short space of time he was entirely healed. For only eight days had passed, and the obstacles to unbelief were removed by Christ, when He showed both the marks of the nails and the side itself. But perhaps someone will say to this: "Why, pray tell, does the mind of the holy disciples use such subtle and accurate investigation? For would not the form of the body, the marks of the countenance, and the manner of Him, have sufficed to demonstrate that the Lord had truly been raised and recognized
What, then, do we say to this? The divine disciples did not possess a mind free from doubt, even though they had looked upon the Lord. For they supposed that it was not He Himself in truth who had formerly been with them and lived among them, and had hung upon the tree, but rather a spirit cleverly fashioned into the image of the Savior, and counterfeiting the features which they knew; yet they fell into this way of thinking B not without some cause which reasonably invited them to do so. For since He entered miraculously while the doors were shut—a thing which requires the passage of an earthly and grosser body, and compels the access of bodies to be opened just as much as the size of each one requires—therefore our Lord Jesus Christ very usefully laid bare His side to Thomas, and made the wounds in His flesh transparent, thereby confirming them all through him. C For the saying of the holy Thomas is reported: "Except I shall put my hands, and see the marks of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." But the charge of unbelief was in some way common to all; and we shall find that the minds of the other disciples were not free from distress, even though they themselves said to holy Thomas, "We have seen the Lord." That the argument is not far from the truth for us is not hard to learn from what the divine Luke has written to us concerning these things: "As they were saying these things," he says, "He stood in the midst of them—He Himself, clearly, who is Christ—and said to them, 'Peace be unto you.' But being troubled and terrified, they thought they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Feel Me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see Me have.' And having said this, He showed them His hands and feet. But while they still did not believe for joy and wondered, He said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' And they offered Him, he says, a part of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. D And having taken it, He ate in their presence." Do you see how the thought of unbelief dwells deep not in blessed Thomas alone, but how the mind of the other disciples also suffers from this disease? For behold, behold, even after the sight of the wounds upon the cross, seeing them still doubting, He thought it necessary to persuade them by another action, one which in no way befits a spirit, but belongs rather specifically to earthly bodies and to the nature of flesh. For He ate the small fish that was brought to Him, or a part of it. We shall admit that both were, in a way, works of necessity. For since after the resurrection no place is left for the corruption of the holy flesh, inasmuch as it rose again to incorruption, and it is not believed that He needed customary food as before, He showed the marks of the nails, and yet He did not refuse to take food, in order that He might establish the great mystery of the resurrection and implant the faith of this in the souls of all of us; and He performs acts that are entirely alien to the nature of a spirit. For the marks of the nails, and
the traces of the wounds, and the consumption of bodily food, whence or how could they exist in a spirit that is entirely naked and devoid of bodily connection—that which would be appropriate according to the rationale of its own nature, and which is wont to occur in these things? A Therefore, so that some might not think that it was a subtle spirit that raised the Lord, nor a body untouched, shadowy, and airy, which it is the custom of some to call "spiritual," but that it be believed that this very thing which was sown in corruption, according to the words of Paul, has indeed risen, He displayed and showed those things that are appropriate to a dense body. Indeed, it will not be far from a sound line of reasoning to say that, in the beginning, the blessed disciple did not doubt so much because of a weakness of mind, as that it happened to him from exceeding great joy. For we have heard the blessed Luke saying regarding the others also, that while they were disbelieving, they were rejoicing from joy. B Accordingly, that astonishment produced a slowness of faith in the disciples. But since there was no longer any excuse for unbelief in those who were seeing and beholding, therefore the blessed Thomas rightly made his confession to Him, saying: "My Lord and my God." For to the Lord by nature, and to Him who truly and admittedly possesses power over all things, there would accompany the title of "God," just as, indeed, there is also seen to belong to the God by nature, absolutely, the ability to rule over all things, and to possess the glory of lordship. It is to be noted, however, that Thomas spoke individually and with the article: "The Lord of me," he says, "and the God of me"; for he did not say simply "My Lord and my God," C so that no one might think that He was called Lord and God by a resemblance to our status, or that of the holy angels. For there are many lords and gods in heaven and on earth, just as the wise Paul taught us; but knowing Him uniquely as the one Lord and God—as the One begotten of the Lord and God by nature, the Father—he says, "My Lord and my God." And what is even greater for the demonstration of the truth, the Savior heard this said by His own disciple, who was thus disposed and who so believed, that He is in truth both Lord and God, and He did not think it necessary to rebuke him. Therefore, He praised him who had believed, and very rightly so. D You may see that this is true and most easily understood; for to him who had so believed and was thus disposed, He says at the end of the Gospel: "Go, teach all nations." If He commands him who is of such a mind to teach all nations, and appointed him as a teacher of the world, He does not wish us to have any other faith. For He is truly Lord and God by nature, even after He has become man. For consider that the disciple, after his hands and feet had been touched and his side had been groped, offered his confession to Him, not indeed by cutting Emmanuel into a duality of sons, but by recognizing One and the same with His flesh. For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures.
to Him, not indeed by cutting Emmanuel into a duality of sons, but by recognizing One and the same with His flesh. For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures.
XX, 29. *Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.*
The Savior’s discourse is full of singular providence and is capable of bringing us the greatest utility. For He took thought not sparingly for our souls even in this, because He is good and desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, according to what is written. A And truly that which is the cause of the miracle is noteworthy. For it was necessary for Him not only to bear patiently with Thomas, who said this, and with the other disciples who were with him—who had thought that He was a spirit and a phantom—but also to show, and that most readily, for universal assurance, both the marks of the nails and the opening of His side; and no less than this, also to take food against His custom and necessity, so that no cause for unbelief might be left at all to those who sought these things for their own benefit.
But it was also necessary that He should take no small thought for us, and so exercise foresight that no handle for doubting should be given to those who would come after. For He was not unaware that there would be some who, abandoning the straight path and foolishly embracing a bastard piety, would repudiate the faith and not admit the resurrection of the dead; and, following the example of that unbelieving disciple, would bring it forward and say: “Unless I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” B For what way would there be of demonstrating this, when Christ was no longer existing corporally on the earth, but had returned to the heavens? Or how would it not have been suspected at some time by those who might claim they were speaking rightly, when they saw themselves emulating the disciple of the Savior—and as though they were attributing to themselves some excellent thing by not believing rashly/lightly, but rather insisting on seeking for a surer faith those things which were offered to the holy disciples—that they were not being rash or inconsiderate?
Therefore, He inhibits this ruin and fall of some. For He knew, since He is the true God, the malignant mind of the devil and his skill in deceit. And therefore He declares those blessed who have not seen and have believed; for they are truly worthy of admiration. Why so? For to those things which we see with our eyes, undoubted faith is owed, since no place for doubting is left. C But he who receives what he has not seen, and believes that to be true which the teacher has poured into his ears, honors the One who is preached with an exceptional faith.
Therefore, every one is called blessed who has believed through the voice of the holy apostles, who were both eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, as Luke says; to whom we must also yield obedience if we are held by the desire for eternal life, and if we count it a great matter to dwell in the heavenly mansions.
XX, 30, 31. *Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written...* D
ansionibus habitare magni ducimus. XX, 30, 31. Multa quidem et alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc. Haec autem scripta sunt, A ut credatis quia Jesus est Christus Filius Dei, et ut credentes vitam habeatis in nomine ejus.
He concludes in a way what he has said so far, and makes clear to his hearers the scope of the evangelical preaching. For, he says, so that you may believe, and believing may have eternal life, these things were written by me. He says that there were many signs and works, and that his mention of our Savior's accomplishments and wondrous actions is not limited to those perceived and spoken of by him alone, but he assigns them, as do the other evangelists, to whatever they might wish to bring to mind with accuracy. For he says, not everything is written in this book, but these things alone were set down through my voice, which it was likely would suffice, not moderately, to be able to persuade the hearers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. B Such are the words of the divine Evangelist. But I, in turn, think it useful to say this: if the power of what is written generates such faith in us, and persuades us very well that the one born of the holy Virgin, who was also named Jesus by the angel's voice, is the very same as the one proclaimed as Christ through the divinely inspired Scripture; and that he is this one and no other, not simply a son, but the Son of God uniquely and particularly—what then would they do, or what would they say, or what judgment will they undergo at the time of the great day, who dispute about the faith out of ignorance, and in addition to this attempt to teach others to think there are two Christs? For they divide [him] into man separately and into God the Word separately, even after the union and the ineffable and completely incomprehensible conjunction with the body. For this reason they have been led astray, and coming far from the truth, they have denied the Lord who redeemed them. For if we examine the definition of nature when we conceive something about Christ, we find the flesh to be different from the God the Word who is from the Father and in the Father: but when we consider the power of the union with him, and examine this great and, as regards us, mystery placed above every mind, we understand the Word as one thing with his own flesh, not indeed changed into flesh (for we do not say this; for the nature of the Word is immutable and unchangeable, and completely incapable of any change), but [we understand] that according to our holy and divinely inspired Scripture, from the divine temple which contains the whole definition of humanity, and from the living Word, Jesus is finally one and [the same] Christ and Son. You would understand that this same thing is also true in our own case, and that it exists thus by nature. For we are composed into one human being, consisting of soul and body, the body being one thing and the soul in the body being another, if the definition of each is viewed, yet they concur for the making of one living creature, and do not suffer themselves to be divided at all after they have been intertwined with one another.
D XXI, 1-6. After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he manifested himself thus: There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus, and Nathanael who was from Cana of Galilee,
and those of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter says to them: I go fishing. They say to him: We also are coming with you. They went out, and immediately climbed into the boat, and in that night they caught nothing. But when morning had already come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus. Jesus says to them: Children, have you any food? They answered him: No. But he said to them: Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find. [But they said: Having labored through the whole night, we took nothing; but at thy word we will cast.] They cast, therefore, and now they were not able to drag it from the multitude of the fish. B Our Lord Jesus Christ again grants to his own disciples to enjoy his highly-desired presence, and for the third time manifests himself to them upon two other occasions already, in order that he might indeed work in them a firm mind, founded unshakably in faith toward him. For how could those who had beheld him not once, but already for the third time, not having shaken off all unbelief from their own minds, have become accurate initiators of the dogmas of piety to all others? Peter, therefore, goes out fishing together with the others; for they accompany him also as he walks toward this, perhaps because our Savior Christ is ordering and arranging something useful through these things. For he said to them somewhere, when he was calling them to the dignity of the apostolate: "Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men." C But in order that he might again give them firm assurance, as in a vivid image, that what had been stated would certainly come to pass, and that the promise would result in the power of truth, he persuades them clearly from this very undertaking that was in their hands. For the blessed disciples, having employed the things that belonged to their own art (for they were fishermen), took nothing, although they had labored through the whole night. But when morning had already come, and the light and the rays of the sun had already begun to disperse, Jesus stood on the shore. Yet they did not know that it was he. But to him inquiring, and saying whether they had come to have any need of things pertaining to the table, they say that they had taken absolutely nothing. Then he commands them to let down the net into the right parts of the boat. Although they had spent empty and profitless labors throughout the whole night, they say, "At thy word we will cast." D When this was done, the weight of the catch surpassed the strength of those pulling. Now this is what the divine evangelist has narrated for us. But since we were just saying that the Savior clearly and truly asserted to the apostles that they would be fishers of men, come, having transferred the figures to the signification of the truth, as far as it is possible, let us bear witness to the words of the Savior, and explaining in detail to the auditors what things were done, let us provide, in my judgment, no small handle for spiritual contemplation. "For give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser; notify a just man, and he will add to receiving." Therefore, that the disciples fished the whole night, and yet took nothing, but labored in vain, I judge to signify that by the preaching of the ancient teachers no one was clearly persuaded, or caught to perform the will of God, or at least they brought few...
A And a very small number, when taken from among many, is held as equal to none. And it is rightly understood that the human race throughout the whole world was in this state. What then was it that hindered them, and stood in their way, and rendered the labor of the ancients futile? And what also rendered the preaching to them, as it were, fruitless? It was night, and still darkness, and a certain intellectual mist, and a demonic deceit settling upon the eyes of the mind, and not allowing them to see the truly divine and true light. "For there was no one doing goodness, according to the voice of the Psalmist; there was none even unto one; all have turned aside, together they have become useless." But even if Israel had been in some way caught through Moses, yet they were on a level with those not caught at all, practicing a worship in shadows and types, and not being instructed by the law toward the perfect. B For that we shall find the worship in types to be most useless, and indeed discordant with God, is easy to see from the fact that He rejects blood-offerings, and every kind of earthly and bodily oblation. "For why to me," He says, "do you bring frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a far-off land? Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices were not pleasing to me." And we say these things not scorning the first commandment given long ago, nor intending to accuse the law, but rather wishing to indicate to the hearers that since the Lord God of all looks only toward the beauty of the evangelical life, those who were caught through the law to a worship in shadows and types were in some way placed on a level with those not yet caught, until the time of correction should shine forth, C Christ saying clearly when He became man: "I am the truth." If one must also add another thing to these, I will not hesitate for the sake of utility. Those called to instruction from the law through Moses, and having even reviled the law itself that was given, and as it were laughing broadly at the holy commandment, turned themselves toward the teachings and commandments of men; and they slipped toward this state through a hard and unyielding will, so that even the word of the holy prophets became of no account to them. Therefore they even cried out: "Lord, who has believed our report?" And Jeremiah again: "Woe is me, mother, whom did you bear me to be, a man judged and condemned in all the earth? I have neither benefited anyone, nor has anyone benefited me. My strength has failed among those who curse me." How then is it not on a level D with those not even caught at all that you must acknowledge that perverse and hard Israel, when it has trampled underfoot the very law delivered by Moses? That the multitude of the Gentiles also had not yet been converted to the faith, nor did they yet stand within the nets of divine doctrine, can be demonstrated with no trouble. Therefore, there was darkness in their hearts, and a diabolical night, which repelled the light of the true knowledge of God. Wherefore, to speak in one word, though they had toiled all night, they possessed an intellectual net still destitute of fish, those who preceded the advent; but when morning had come, that is, when the diabolical darkness had already been dissipated,
A and the true light had risen, and He who seeks from those weary whether they have any provisions within their net—provisions which might, as it were, become food for God, who famishes for the salvation of us all (for the Scripture called the conversion of the Samaritans His food)—and when they frankly confessed to Him that they had absolutely nothing, He bids them cast their nets again on the right side of the boat. For blessed Moses let down the net of command, through the legal letter, but the fishing was carried out, as it were, on the left side, whereas the command of our Savior is understood to occupy the right side. For the Christian institution is judged to be incomparably greater and more excellent in honor and glory than the legal precepts, since the truth must altogether be preferred to the types, and the Lord to the servant, and the grace of the Spirit to the condemning letter. B In the right side, therefore, shall the doctrine of Christ be established, by which side is signified its superiority over the Law and the Prophets. Without delay, therefore, having been persuaded by the commandments of our Savior, the divine disciples let down the net. This signifies to us that they did not at all snatch the grace of the apostolate for themselves, but went out for the spiritual fishing by His command: "For going," He says, "teach all nations." And they themselves say that they let down the net at His word. For they fish in no other way than by the words and evangelical precepts of our Savior. Upon the net being cast into the sea, an immense multitude of fish was caught, so that the disciples could not easily draw it in. For countless are those who have been converted to the faith, and the miracle of this matter is indeed greater and more excellent than the strength of the holy apostles. C For it is the power and operation of Christ, who, by His own power, gathers the multitude of those being saved into the apostolic Church on earth, as into a net.
XXI. 7-14. *Then that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter therefore, when he heard that it is the Lord, girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits), dragging the net of fishes. As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereupon, and bread. Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three; D and although they were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. And no man durst ask*
him: Who art thou? knowing that it is the Lord. Jesus cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.
A The writer of this book says here again that he is that beloved disciple. He was indeed greatly loved, as it seems, on account of his very great keenness of mind, and the purity of his intellect, and the sharpness of the eyes of his heart, and the edge of his genius most apt for understanding. And indeed, having been the first of all to apprehend the sense of the sign, he recognized that Christ was present and indicated it to the others, doubting nothing at all, but rather crying out with great confidence: "It is the Lord." And that divine Peter leaps forth, thinking that he would perhaps be slower in approaching him with the boat. For Peter was always fervent in zeal, and moved toward daring and love for Christ. The others follow the leader, drawing the net along with the ship. Then they behold coals unexpectedly placed there, and Christ piling up wood, and placing upon it the fish caught by divine power, and this, too, by a singular plan. For it was not the hand or the preaching of the holy apostles that initiated our spiritual fishing, but the power and strength of the Savior. B For he was the first to catch one, as the first-fruits of those who were to come; nor indeed do we say that there was only one, but by the one, many are signified. Then, after this, the disciples catch a great multitude, strengthened again for the catching by his divine beckonings. Yet Peter draws the seine, by whom it is again permitted to understand that the labor of the holy apostles will not be without mystery. For they brought to the Lord the fish that had been caught, in the number of one hundred and fifty-three, with the centenary number, if I am not mistaken, designating the fullness of the Gentiles. For the hundred-fold number is most full, being composed of ten decades; and therefore our Lord Jesus Christ himself sometimes says that the sheep belonging to him are a hundred, C thereby signifying the entire number of rational creatures, and sometimes declares that the best field will bring forth a hundred-fold, indicating the perfect fruitfulness of the holy soul. But the fifty, proposed for understanding, demonstrates in a way the remnant of the grace of election among the Israelites. For fifty is the half of a hundred, and it lacks the perfection of the number. But the three can signify the holy and consubstantial Trinity as in a single number, to whose glory and everlasting praise the life of those who have been converted through faith is referred and understood in conjunction; for God is in all who believe, holding them closely, according to the mode of sanctification assigned to those who have obeyed the evangelical D preachings. But after the net was drawn, our Lord said again to his holy disciples: "Come"
A breakfast, and by this as well, it is clear that He is teaching that after the labors and sweats expended upon those who have been called and saved, they will recline again with Him, according to the voice of the Savior Himself, and will be with Him forever, with ineffable delights placed before them, spiritual, of course, and divine, and exceeding our mind. Christ, moreover, as it were wishes to signify what is written in the Psalms: "You shall eat the fruits of your labors." But they do not take for themselves what they eat, but Christ rather distributes to them, that again, as in a certain type, we might learn that Christ will be even at that time the bestower and distributor of divine gifts to us, insofar as He is Lord. B
XXI, 15-17. When therefore they had breakfasted, Jesus says to Simon Peter: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He says to Him: "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He says to him: "Feed my lambs." He says to him again a second time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He says to Him: "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He says to him: "Tend my sheep." He says to him the third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time: "Do you love me?" and he said to Him: "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus says to him: "Feed my sheep."
Peter preceded the others, and came to Him with the boat, nothing delaying C because of his incomparable and preeminent fervor of love toward Christ; for this reason he springs forth first, and drags the net. For the man was eager and agile, and most ready to act and to speak. Therefore he was the first to profess the faith, when, indeed, the Savior asked them about the regions of Caesarea Philippi with these words: "Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" For when the others were answering, some indeed that he was Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, and when Christ added further: "But who do you say that I am?" that head and prince of the others again springs forth before the rest, and says: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And furthermore, when D the cohort of soldiers with the ministers of the Jews had arrived to lead the arrested Jesus to the princes, all the others, indeed, having left Him, fled, as it is written. But Peter, with his sword, cut off the ear of Malchus. For he thought that he must by all means defend his master, even though he was attempting a deed in no way suitable to him. Therefore, upon his arrival, Christ urges him more sharply as to whether he loved Him more than these, and this happens for a third time. Peter, however, assents and confesses that he loves Him, citing Him as the witness of his own love. But in each of the confessions, in various ways he hears that he ought to have the care of the rational sheep. I, however, think (for I say that the hidden sense of these words must also be investigated) that these things were not written in vain, but
the discourse is again in labor, and the mind of the things set forth possesses something that lies hidden within. A For will not one reasonably ask, "Why does He ask Simon alone, although the other disciples were standing by?" And what would He wish to signify by the words, "Feed my lambs," and the things akin to these? We say, then, that the blessed Peter had already been ordained to the divine apostolate together with the other disciples. For our Lord Jesus Christ Himself named them apostles, as it is written. But since it happened that the malice of the Jews was carried out, and some stumbling occurred in the meantime, and it came to pass (for, seized by overwhelming fear, the blessed Peter denied the Lord three times), He heals the one who had suffered, and demands back in various ways the confession for the third time, setting this as an equivalent for that former one, and preparing the correction to be a counterweight to the faults. For one might say that what was stumbled into by word, and has the force of an offense in mere words, should be released in the same manner. He asks him to say whether he loves Him more than the others. And indeed, in truth, since he had enjoyed greater forbearance and had received the remission of his transgression with a more bountiful hand, how would it not be reasonable for him, gathering within himself a greater love than the others, to compensate the benefactor with love that reached the highest point? For although it is common to all the holy disciples to have turned to flight—the inhumanity of the Jews planting an unbearable terror in them, and the savagery of the soldiers threatening cruel death at the time they were present to seize Jesus—the transgression of Peter, which took place through the threefold denial, was peculiar to him. Therefore, as one who had received a greater remission than the others, he is asked to say whether he loves even more. For [it is written], according to the voice of the Savior, "To whom more is forgiven, he will also love more." B Again, this serves as a type for the Churches, that it is necessary to ask for the confession in Christ three times from those who have chosen to love Him, when they come to holy baptism. And teachers recognize from the theory of the things set forth that they would not otherwise be well-pleasing to the Chief Shepherd of all, that is, Christ, if they did not take care for the vigor of the rational sheep and their continuance in well-being. Such was the blessed Paul, who was weak with those who were weak, and called those whom he had brought to the faith and who had chosen to excel through the brightness of their works, the boast, joy, and crown of his own ministry. For he knew, he knew that this is the manifest fruit of perfect love for Christ; and he who thinks on this with a good and noble mind would see it. For if He died for us, how would He not have esteemed the salvation and life of us all worthy of every care? C And if those who sin against their brethren and strike their weak conscience truly sin against Christ, is it not true to say that those who, as it were, lead by the hand the souls of the faithful, or of those who are waiting to be called to the faith, and strive to reconcile to them a constant and firm faith, are pious toward the Lord Himself? Wherefore, through the threefold confession of blessed Peter, the sin contracted by the threefold denial is abrogated. D And from that which the Lord says, "Feed my lambs," the renewal of the apostolate already committed to him is...
understood, dissolving the reproach of the faults that intervened, and wiping away the pusillanimity born of human weakness.
XXI, 18, 19. *Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and walked where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me.* B
With great grace and very wittily, our Lord Jesus Christ has borne witness to his own disciple regarding the sincerity of his love for Him, and the glory of his piety and perseverance, which have reached the highest peak. For He clearly declares what the end of his apostolate will one day be, and what sort of conclusion of life will overtake him. For He previously announced that someone would take him and carry him away to a certain place, even against his will—that is, to the place where the persecutors fixed the cross, or those who inflicted upon him a capital punishment. But He says that the location of the cross would be contrary to Peter's desire. For no one among the saints suffers intentionally; but although a bitter death may come upon them even when they are most unwilling, yet, being desirous of the divine glory, they despise even this earthly life. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore predicted that blessed Peter would be carried away to a place of death that was loathsome and hostile. C Yet he would not have arrived at that glory, nor would he have been crucified for Christ, had he not been sought out by judgment because of the care he expended upon the rational sheep, and had he not, possessing a power rooted in love for Christ, called to obedience those who had been ensnared by diabolical fraud into error. For those who killed blessed Peter, and who dared to do this, had no other cause to ascribe to him; they accused him of nothing but his piety toward Christ.
It is therefore possible to see even from these things that our Lord Jesus Christ usefully and necessarily predicted Peter's death, so that through the things he was destined to suffer, He might, in a certain manner, seal and demonstrate as true that which was said to him: "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." For is not death for the sake of preaching entirely a certain and indubitable proof of love, and of that perfect love for Christ? D But Christ adds to Peter, "Follow me," which words, if we follow common opinion, can be understood concerning the following of disciples; but enigmatically, as it seems, they intimate nothing else than: "Follow in the footsteps of my perils, and treading in a certain manner the same path, helping by word and deed the souls of those called to the faith, do not even hesitate to go toward the very death of the cross," which He also says will come to pass when he has reached old age, not wishing to strike premature fear into him, but extending the force and onset of that fear into the long term.
A And Peter, turning, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned back at supper upon His breast and said to Him: “Lord, who is it that is betraying You?” Peter, therefore, seeing him, says to Jesus: “Lord, but what of this man?” Jesus says to him: “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” The saying therefore went out among the brothers that that disciple does not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he does not die, but: “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
The divine evangelist designates himself again, though more obscurely. For he is the one beloved, who reclined upon the breast of Christ at the time of the supper, and asked who it was that would betray Him. Peter, therefore, having seen him, attempted to be inquisitive, and wished to learn what dangers might perhaps await him too, and in what the end of his life might terminate. But the inquiry seemed outside of appropriate speech, and was a work of curiosity rather than of virtuous learning—to seek the things that would befall others having already received the knowledge of one’s own [fate]. For this reason, I think, the Lord answered something, but not directly to the questions, or rather to the things sought, but, as it were, turning the scope of the interrogator to other things, He does not say that John would be immortal, but: “But if I wish him to live until I come, what is that to you?” This is: “You have heard, O Peter, the things that pertain to you; why do you inquire into the things of others, and dig up the knowledge of divine judgments as if at an inopportune time?” For if he were not to die at all, He says, what would that do to console your care? Therefore, the wise and sensible man will remain indifferent, even if he too were destined to suffer something, whether someone else is being saved or not. For it will remain for him to suffer his own [trials], receiving nothing at all from the calamity or happiness of another for his own consolation. B Such, in a way, is the power of the things set before us; and the discourse concerning these things intimates to us that, in every way and altogether, whether in the same manner or perhaps in some other way, as John was also destined to undergo danger at some time, the blessed Peter was anxiously inquiring into what was destined to befall him as if for his own consolation. And do not wonder at this, but rather consider that. For this is also something common among us, even if it is completely useless: that we love at times not just to be seen suffering, or to be about to endure some of the things we shrink from, but rather to hear of others, either of those who have already suffered, or of those expected to fall into the same. C
“This is the disciple who also testifies concerning these things, and who wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.”
I think that no one of the more discerning would doubt that the Lord would not have loved John, had he not been most exceptional and illustrious in virtue, and fitted and perfectly prepared for every good thing. For you will not find God affected by vain emotions, such as happen in men, to love those who are unworthy; but
He who is entirely untried by the onset and assault of the passions, and who stands most firmly in every kind of virtue—or rather, is himself every kind of virtue—how would He not do this with judgment and discernment, and bestow his love in an irreproachable manner upon the one who deserves to receive it? A Having therefore explained it very well, and having previously said that he is the one who is loved, he says that he has borne witness of these things without any arrogance or vainglory at all, in a wonderful and excellent way, requiring those who hear to assent as if by necessity to what he has written and testified. For the herald of truth would not have lied. Therefore he says: "We know that his testimony is true." For a false word is a slippery and truly terrible thing, since a man cannot but emit a voice. For truth would not have loved him, if he had weakened the truth. B
XXI, 25. "And there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that should be written. Amen."
Great indeed, he says, is the multitude of the signs, and the list of the wonderful deeds appears completely innumerable; and, having been taken from ten thousand such things, these are sufficient to provide the most complete benefit to the hearers. And let no fair and studious hearer, he says, reproach the writer of this book if he has not also mentioned the others. For if what was done had been written down one by one, with nothing omitted, an innumerable multitude of books would have filled the world itself. C And we consider that this is said hyperbolically. For one must think that ten thousand of the miracles were performed by the power of our Savior; yet, as it seems, only the more illustrious ones were written by the heralds of the Gospels, through which the hearers could most especially be established in the incorruptible faith and be instructed in both morals and dogma; so that, being conspicuous by right faith and variously adorned by works that look toward piety, and having arrived at that city above and being joined to the Church of the firstborn, they might enter into the very kingdom of heaven in Christ, through whom and with whom to God and the Father is glory with the holy Spirit, unto the ages. Amen.
FRAGMENTS ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. SUPPLEMENT TO VOLUME IV OF THE EDITION OF JOANNES AUBERTUS. FRAGMENTS OF ST. CYRIL ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (From the Catena of Cramer, Oxford 1838.)
A 1, 7. He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has set in his own authority.
Cyril: He shows by this that one ought not to be overly curious about matters which are very secret and hidden in God; rather, he exhorts them to eagerly embrace what is useful and to strenuously discharge the office of the apostolate, attributing the knowledge of all things to God.
II, 3. And there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire.
Cyril: Some were speaking in tongues previously unknown to them, while others were busy with their interpretation before men who were not particularly curious about such matters. Paul indeed attests that the gift of tongues was bestowed upon them then, not as a charism [for its own sake], but as a sign for those who had faith, and to this end he cites these words: “In other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and not even so will they listen to me.” Therefore, he makes the Holy Spirit the dispenser of charisms. For, he says, just as this thick and earthly body consists of parts, so also Christ, that is, his body, which is the Church, consisting of many saints, has its constitution into a spiritual and most perfect unity. And a little later: When, therefore, the mystagogues under the sun were about to proclaim the saving, namely, the evangelical, preaching in every tongue and to every nation, he gave the gift of tongues to them as a B sign. C Being men of Galilee and reared in Judea, Hebrews born of Hebrews, they would speak with Medes and Parthians, and indeed also with Elamites and those who dwelt in the middle of Mesopotamia, and with Cappadocians and Egyptians, in their own languages; for the grace of the Holy Spirit was working in them. For it is written: “And there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire,” etc. And at first, indeed, not all grasped the meaning of these things.
A For when they had once begun to speak in the tongues of others, making a display, as it were, of the grace that came through the Spirit, and seizing upon the mark as a pretext for boastfulness, they were slothful to explain to the crowds the things from the holy prophets and to speak in harmony with the evangelical doctrines, as had been proclaimed from above and of old; and puffing themselves up as if they alone were able to speak in tongues, they thought that it was only with this that they ought to concern themselves, and the matter was among their most urgent pursuits.
II, 19. *And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath.*
Of Saint Cyril. He clearly foretells what the lot of Christ’s cross would be, and what things would happen to the Jews regarding it through the Roman war; and he calls the day of Christ, the “great and manifest” one, the day of His resurrection.
II, 20. *The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.*
Cyril. The very elements of nature mourned over the iniquities with which the Jews had afflicted Christ, just as the whole world, seeing its own Lord treated unworthily, lamented. You might say that the divine temple also mourned with the mourners, inasmuch as it was being rent; for it is written that the veil of the temple was rent in two parts, from the top even to the bottom. B The sun, retaining its own light and withholding its rays, was not willing to shine any longer upon mortals, since it was darkened from the sixth hour even to the ninth. The rocks also were rent; and perhaps, too, something unusual was happening regarding the sphere of the moon, so that it seemed to have been transformed into blood. Now such a thing is passed over in silence by the holy evangelists; yet faith is sufficiently given by the prophecies, that not on the sun alone did the signs occur by the nod of the Creator, but that creation itself moved toward a state of deformity and strangeness, which would be made clear through the voice of Isaiah saying: “I will clothe the heaven with darkness, and I will make its covering a sackcloth.” C When he says “heaven,” he understands by it all things that are in heaven; and by saying that he will clothe it in sackcloth, he signifies mourning and grief, and suggests them by this figure. These, then, would be the signs and wonders appearing in heaven. But as for what follows, “blood and fire and vapor of smoke,” he would mean—I suppose—the calamities of the Jews, which the most cruel war, that through the hand of the Romans, heaped upon them. For their whole land was being inundated with blood; and the very temple, famous in report, was destined at the same time as the cities to be destroyed by fire; why, there was even a fear that the buildings might perish by an earthquake. Moreover, that the Jews were to suffer such things before the great and notable day, at which every man standing before the tribunal of Christ shall be rewarded according to his works: D this is sufficiently indicated by the words of the Lord, “Before the great and notable day of the Lord.”
II, 26. *Insuper et caro mea requiescet in spe.* A Cyrilli. He rose again on the third day, because it was not possible that He who is Life by nature should be held by the bonds of death. And again: For it is not lawful to say that the flesh united to the Word could ever be subject to corruption, or that the divine soul could be shut within the gates of hell; for it was not abandoned in hell, as the holy Peter says.
II, 27. *Quoniam non derelinques animam meam in inferno, nec dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem.*
Cyrilli. He rose again, despoiling hell, and saying to those in bonds: "Come forth," and to those who sat in darkness: "Be revealed."
II, 28. *Notas mihi fecisti vias vitæ.*
Cyrill of Alexandria. He wished to teach us by this, that He who bears the appearance of humanity, and is clothed in the same nature as we are, speaks words suited to us rather than to Himself, as He is God; for He calls Himself the first, but reminds us of the participation in heavenly goods. For He bestows on human nature that which He says is given to Himself; indeed, we are enriched by the poverty of man in this way.
IV, 10. *Quem Deus suscitavit a mortuis, in hoc iste astat coram vobis sanus.* C
Cyrilli. No one will doubt that the Father raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, by operating in the flesh; for He Himself is the vivifying power of the Father, and hence He raised His own temple, according to that word: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Therefore, that which was raised was not something alien, nor anything of our nature, but the body proper to the Word.
VII, 2. *Viri fratres et patres, audite me.*
Cyrill of Alexandria. He commands them to be prepared to receive the discourse; for the majority were eager to taste the power of the divine word with their first lips.
VII, 3. *Exi de terra tua et de cognatione tua, etc.* B
Cyrilli. Do you see that those who obey God in all things, and prefer hope in Him to bodily things and worldly pleasures, will surely be partakers of heavenly blessings?
VII, 22, 23. *Et eruditus est Moyses omni sapientia Ægyptiorum, et erat potens in verbis et in operibus suis. Cum autem impleretur ei quadraginta annorum tempus.*
Of Saint Cyril. Therefore Christ also said
"I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." For theirs are the promises; theirs are the fathers.
Of the same. For we shall assert that the Word who went forth from the Father and was made man among us, [having] proceeded with human nature, had been destitute of the glory which is worthy of God; if indeed it is true that being rich he became poor, and lowered himself into a state of emptiness.
VII, 27, 28. "But he who was doing wrong to his neighbor pushed him away, saying: Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you wish to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" A
Cyril of Alexandria. The venerable Moses is accused of having killed the Egyptian, although he was vexing and insulting [him]. Thus, where Christ cast the evil spirits into the deep and stripped them of their dominion over us, even against their will, the wondrous yet simultaneously envious [people] exclaimed: B "This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."
VII, 32. "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Cyril. Consider the powerlessness of the Law: God, the creator of all, manifests himself, and Moses turns his face away from this manifestation. This, moreover, can be an irrefutable proof to us that the sons of Israel are least able to gaze upon the divine glory of the Son, who manifests himself and grants the opportunity of knowing him. C
VII, 33. "And the Lord said to him: Loose the sandal of your feet."
Cyril. This is an indication of mortality and corruption; for every sandal is like the skin of an animal dead and already decaying. Christ, therefore, was inaccessible to those who were bound in the Law and in Gentile institution. For it is necessary that before all things the impurities be removed and the filth of sin be washed away.
VII, 43. "And I will translate you beyond Babylon."
Cyril. Since you have fulfilled the perversity of the Moabites, which nation is neighboring to Damascus, you shall cross beyond Damascus, to go into Babylon.
VII, 46. "And he sought to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." D
Cyril. "I shall enjoy no rest," he says, "until I know the place of the Lord and the tent (that is, the dwelling) of the God of Jacob," that is, of Christ.
VII, 47. "But Solomon built him a house; nevertheless, the Most High does not dwell in temples made by hands."
Cyril. Solomon indeed built a famous [house] in Jerusalem—
but the Jewish people greatly rejoiced in it, and thought that God, the Lord of all, dwelt enclosed within it. For the Jews were ever somehow sluggish in understanding and inexperienced in divine discourses; since, imagining Jerusalem to be the city of God, they contended that He dwelt there alone, because it had been said of David: "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." A Therefore, God refutes their petty notions, saying: "What house will you build for me, who have heaven as my throne, and the earth as my footstool?"
And they stoned Stephen, who was calling out and saying: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." B By Saint Cyril, on the passage: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Again, a great and singular achievement for our souls—he knelt down and cried with a loud voice: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And having said this, he fell asleep. Now Saul was consenting to his death.
By the same. Just as if defending himself—that there was no anger in his previous actions—he says: "Lord." And wishing to win them over by this. For to cast away anger and wrath at [the hour of] the murder, and to purify the soul of that passion, made his word acceptable.
By the same. And this blessed one does not pray simply, but having knelt with care. Behold his divine death; up to this point the Master permitted his soul to be within him.
In the first fruits of his preaching, Stephen, flowing like a river and silencing everyone, stopping the shameless tongues of the Jews, to whom no one could resist, confounding all Jewish matters, and having erected a brilliant trophy and conspicuous victory—this noble and wise man, filled with grace, and benefiting the Church so greatly, C not having spent much time in his preaching, was suddenly snatched away; and he was condemned and stoned as a blasphemer.
By the same. Bearing a very great sign of love toward God. For just as one who curses his persecutor shows that he does not greatly rejoice in suffering these things for Christ, so he who blesses shows them great love.
By the same. Why then did He not charge them with the sin, but it was forgiven, he says? It was forgiven if they repented. For Paul, who struck him with a thousand hands, and who persecuted the Church, became a leader of the Church.
The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth."
Cyril. D The meaning of what is set before us is very clear. Sheep are led to the shearing at set times, and the shepherds bring the shearing knives; although
they are being treated in this way, they do not turn upon those who do it. In the same way, Christ, when reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten A; for it is believed that the mystery of his birth according to the flesh was accomplished above our nature. Therefore he says, "Who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth," B which is to say, it is lifted up and is higher than those things that are on earth—meaning, his manner of life. It is also "taken away" in another sense, and his life is above all; that is to say, the existence of the Only-begotten, when he was outside of flesh and not yet born after the manner of men.
XI, 17. "Who was I, that I could withstand God?" B Cyril. A certain dispensation took place because of the great discernment of those from the circumcision who had accepted the faith, and because Cornelius and his household were accounted worthy, before baptism, to receive the Spirit, so that he might put an end to the contradiction of those who were indignant. Hence it is also reasonably said concerning those who spoke against it, "When they had heard these things, they held their peace."
XIII, 25. "And as John fulfilled his course, he said, 'Whom think you that I am? I am not he; but behold, there comes one after me, whose shoe's latchet of his feet I am not worthy to unloose.'" B C Cyril. For it is the work of the essence that is above all things, solely and specifically, to be able to be the Holy Spirit for some, and to make those who approach it participants in the divine nature. This resides in Christ originally and essentially, and not by way of transmission or communication intervening from outside; for "he baptizes with the Holy Spirit." Being God, then, the fruit of God and the Father is the Word made flesh. But he did this even when he had become man, as being one Son, together with the flesh that was ineffably and incomprehensibly united to himself. For the blessed Baptist, after having said, "Whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose," immediately added, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,"—implying D feet and sandals. For no one who is of sound mind would say that the Word, being bodiless and not yet born after the manner of men, has feet and sandals, but only when he had become man; for as God, he did not lose his own being; but he acted vigorously and divinely, giving the Spirit to those who believe in him. For in the same one, God and man existed together. He who judges himself unworthy to unloose the strap of the Savior, how could he be compared to him in essence?
XIII, 33. "As it is also written in the second psalm: 'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.'" D Cyril. He who alone knows the Father, and who is known only by the Father, being his Wisdom and Word, the "Angel of the great council" according to the prophet, clarifies for us most excellently the mystery of the economy according to the flesh.
For being Son by nature and truly, and having shone forth from the very essence of God the Father, he became flesh, that is to say, man, according to the voice of John; and he has been called brother of those who are upon the earth, and underwent the birth according to the flesh with us, although he was pre-eternal and always co-existent with him who begat him, even if he did become flesh. The Father knows him to be his own Son in this way as well, for he said: "You are my Son; today I have begotten you." A You see a clear confession, or rather, a proclamation. For by the "You are," he indicated the one who was before time; for he did not come into being in time, but always was this, that is to say, Son. But he added "today I have begotten you," so that he might indicate his most recent birth, according to the flesh, which he willed to undergo through the holy Virgin; for this reason he is also named Theotokos. B
Behold, therefore, lest that which is spoken in the prophets come upon you: "Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish, etc."
Cyril: "Behold, you despisers, and look, and see how that which is harsh is cut away; lest," he says, "what was said to others come upon you."
For so has the Lord commanded us: "I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Cyril: Christ has shone forth, therefore, to the nations, and has manifested that which is under heaven as filled with divine light, and for the pure eyes of the mind to contemplate his divine and transcendent nature, and to consecrate the modes of spiritual worship.
And when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garments and rushed into the crowd, crying out and saying:
Cyril: It is the custom among the Jews to tear their garments in the face of blasphemies against God. C And so indeed when Christ declared himself to be the Son of God, Caiaphas, having torn his garment, exclaimed: "He has blasphemed." The holy apostles Paul and Barnabas did the same. For when they were in Lycaonia, since they were delivering some from the illness of their suffering, and the event was wondrous to those who saw it, the observers wished to perform sacrifices to them; for they said, "The gods, having become like men, have come down to us." And they called Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was, as they say, the leader of the word. Since, however, the act being performed was a type of blasphemy, they tore their garments, following Jewish traditions and written customs. The custom is still censured as not being of the Law and as being altogether useless. And so God of all said to the Jews, who were acting in such ways and wandering far from the true piety: "Return to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning; and tear your hearts, and not your garments." D
A XV, 10. *Now therefore why do you tempt God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples?* etc. Cyril. Wherefore, if the law is burdensome and difficult, the reverend disciples, encountering the indolence of certain people, said: "Now therefore why do you tempt?" etc. Of the same. The law was admittedly burdensome to those of Israel, and the reverend disciples acknowledged this as well. And the Savior himself taught us this, calling out and saying: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls." He calls those who are under the law "those who labor and are burdened," but he calls himself "humble of heart," as one who is unburdened by the law.
XV, 16. *As it is written: After these things I will return, and will rebuild the tabernacle of David,* etc. Cyril. By the tent of David, he signifies the race of the Jews. It must be known that when Cyrus released the captives from Israel, they returned again to Judaea and rebuilt the divine temple, and having fortified the cities that had been laid waste until that time, they dwelt in them in total security for many days and many long years. They became an example and a proof to the other nations that it was possible for all to return to God. And after a little: This, indeed, is the historical account, but more rightly and more truthfully it should be set in Christ. For after he had raised up his own tent, which had undergone death—that is, after God and the Father had raised up the flesh from the earth—then, truly then, everything human was raised to its ancient form, and all our things that had been cast down were brought into a new vision. For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation according to the Scriptures; for we have been raised up together with him; and death had broken down the tents of all, but God and the Father rebuilt them in Christ. B
XVII, 23. *Therefore, what you worship without knowing, this I announce to you.* Cyril. That is, God the Most High. For the wretched Greeks think they are being pious even toward the one who is truly God, if they offer to him the same worship they give to the other gods; not knowing that they will be judged worthy of greater punishments, comparing light with darkness, good with evil, the rational with the irrational, and the profane with the divine. Wherefore he also called them fools, saying: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."
XX, 29. *I know that after my departure savage wolves will enter among you,* etc. Cyril of Alexandria. That we might not be defiled by the filth of the heretics, he says this, strengthening us with faith in the Holy Spirit.
XXVIII, 11. *In an Alexandrian ship, whose figurehead was the Dioscuri.*
Cyril. It has always been, as it were, a custom in the ships, especially those of the Alexandrians, that there should be such inscriptions on the right and left sides of the prow. Since, therefore, it was likely, while idolatry was prevailing at that time in which it was written that the Dioscuri were in the ship, that one should understand "alien," that is, "idolater," by this, just as Isaiah also says: "They shall fly in the ships of aliens, at the same time plundering the sea." A
OF SAINT CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, EXPLANATION ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
Concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.
B(Cod. f. 2 b.) He says that the One who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh was marked out as Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead. For we too have been marked out as sons, but not indeed in power, but rather as by a portion of grace, being thought worthy of the calling, and as though we gained this matter by the sole will of God and the Father. But Emmanuel would not be thus; far from it. But even if He was born of the seed...
of David according to the flesh, and is accounted as one of us A because of the humanity as a Son of God, yet in power and truth He is Son by nature; through whom we also are made sons. For if it is true to say that, having been enriched with His Spirit through holy baptism, then indeed, and only then, do we say without reproach: “Abba, Father.” Therefore, as images are to an archetype, so also we, who are sons by adoption, are to Him who is confirmed by the testimony of the Father as such by nature, by power, and in truth.
II, 20. And His eternal power and divinity.
The term “is perceived” is understood as common to the preceding member. But how is His eternal power known through creation? Because, since all created things possess a perishable nature and were called into existence in time, it is surely altogether evident that the creator of these things must be incorruptible and eternal. Therefore, the incredulous will find no excuse whatever in the day of judgment.
III, 3. Shall their unbelief make void the faith of God?
Those who were foreknown by God and who received the law as a guide for life, and to whom promises concerning B Christ were made and realized, and who were called before others, are indeed superior to the rest. For the Savior was saying: “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”; and they became the first-fruits of those saved through faith. For it is not the case, he says, that if some, out of a perverse mind, have fallen away from the faith, God should therefore fall away from His truth. The Father did indeed send His Son from heaven, but not all believed in Him. Shall then, because some have become insolent and unbelieving, God not be true on this account? God forbid! Rather, let God be true, and every man a liar; that is to say, let God be understood and called true by us, but let the accusation of mendacity be brought against every man. For the divine nature is utterly unchangeable and immutable; but the nature of man, on the contrary, wavers greatly. And as far as potentiality is concerned, every man is a liar. For sin and falsehood often assail the C mind of man, and this disease affects his very nature. But regarding the Lord of all, it is sinful to think or speak anything of this sort. Thus, it is indeed permissible to affirm truly that falsehood can creep into the nature or mind of man. For thus also the blessed David says somewhere: “I said in my ecstasy: Every man is a liar.” Moreover, in all other matters, the same reasoning must be affirmed regarding God and ourselves and all other things, such as in the case of D
A righteousness, for one might say, and not without reason: “Let God be found just, but every man a liar.” III, 5. “But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God” (1).
The occasion for a calumny of this kind arose from this: After the return from Babylon, the sons of Israel, having been commanded by Cyrus to rebuild the temple of God, to perform prayers, and to offer sacrifices, behaved sluggishly, pleading poverty and the hardships of the past captivity. For this reason, they were chastised with fitting discipline, namely, with the barrenness of crops and a lack of rain. And because they were aggrieved by such afflictions, they called the heathens—those who did not serve God—blessed, as if they were living a happy life, and they asserted that those people enjoyed a better lot than they did. Wherefore the prophet Malachi addressed the Israelites in this way: “You have uttered grievous words against me, says the Lord. And you said: In what have we spoken against you? You said, he says: Foolish is he who serves God; for what did it profit us that we kept His commands, and that we walked as suppliants before the face of the Lord Almighty? And now we call the foreigners blessed; and they are built up, doing lawless things; they withstood God and were saved. These things those who feared the Lord spoke, each to his neighbor. And the Lord took heed, and heard” (Malach. iii, 15-16). This, he says, was the cause why some supposed it to be said by the Jews: “Let us do evil that good may come” (Rom. iii, 8). B Rightly, indeed, does he condemn those who either attributed those words to the Jews or dared to say: “Let us do evil, that good may come to us.”
III, 21. “But now without the law the righteousness of God has been manifested.”
(Cod. f. 28 b.) I know that it is written concerning some, that “they were both just, walking in the commandments and justifications of Christ (2) without blame” (Luc. i, 6). And the blessed Paul also said that he too had become blameless according to the righteousness which is in the law (Philipp. iii, 6). But he who is blameless in these things has not yet done the things by which he shall be C brilliant and renowned. And so, the blessed Paul himself said again that he considered all things in the law to be a loss, and counted them as dung, but he sought the excellence of the knowledge of Christ (Ibid. 7, 8). Moreover, the law again condemns those who transgress. For this reason he says elsewhere: “For if the ministration of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministration of righteousness abound in glory” (II Cor. iii, 9). And since there are very many commandments in it, it is absolutely necessary that even the meticulous observer of the law stumble in some things, and be rendered a transgressor of the law. And that it was truly burdensome, the divine disciples have clearly confessed. For they said: “Now therefore, why do you tempt God, by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
A Since, then, the Gentiles were under sin, as having been ignorant of the Creator, and the Jews were under sin as being guilty of transgression of the Law, it was necessary for those who were on earth to be justified by Christ. For we have been justified, not by works of righteousness which we ourselves have done, but according to His abundant mercy. For He Himself is the one who even of old said through the mouth of the prophets: “I am He who blots out your transgressions, and I will remember them no more.” Yet the justifying grace comes to all equally—I mean both to Jews and to Gentiles—because all alike have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now, the glory of God may rightly be understood as neither knowing nor being by nature inclined to sin. For every created being is altogether below the excellence of the Godhead; for even some of the angels fell into fault. Nevertheless, it pleased God and the Father to reunite all things in Christ, who justifies freely by His grace: for He has been set forth as a propitiation through B faith in His blood. For since He appointed His own blood as the price of the life of all, He has saved those under heaven, and has rendered to us the Father and God who is in the heavens, propitious and gracious.
III, 27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. For who at all, or for what reason, will boast, seeing that all have become unprofitable and have turned aside from the straight path, and there is no one at all who practices goodness? Therefore, he says, boasting is excluded—that is to say, it has been cast out and destroyed, having no place left for it among us. And in what way was it excluded? We have obtained the forgiveness of past sins, being justified freely by mercy and grace in Christ. C
III, 31. Do we then nullify the law through faith? The God of all once said to that peerless Moses: “I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you, and I will give my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And whoever will not listen to the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance on him.” How, then, do we not uphold the Law through faith, when we accept the word that comes from Him? And Emmanuel is called a prophet because of His humanity, as He is, in the order of Moses, the mediator between God and men. And again: the law indeed was in shadows, yet it bore the form of the truth. D Moreover, the truth does not destroy the types, but makes them more manifest.
IV, 2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. I think it necessary, says someone, [to discuss] the argument regarding our forefather Abraham, to say this: It is said...
by one of the holy disciples that faith without works is dead. A And he adds to these words: "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar?" Do those inspired by the Spirit, therefore, say things contrary to one another? What then do we say to this? When he had reached old age, God of all things promised him a son quite unexpectedly; and He said that his offspring would emulate the innumerable multitude of the stars. But because he reverently esteemed that the One who promised was able to accomplish all things, by this he testified B to God and was justified by Him, and received as a reward worthy of such a God-loving frame of mind the forgetting of his ancient offenses. Nevertheless, at certain times God exercised the righteous man, specifically regarding the oracle concerning Isaac; but he was faithful and God-loving even in that, as he preferred nothing to the love of God. However, as the disciple of the Savior says: "Faith was working with his works, and by works faith was perfected." And the admirable Paul himself says somewhere regarding the forefather Abraham: C "By faith he offered up Isaac when he was tested, and he who had received the promises offered his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead." Therefore, even if it happens to be said that he was justified by works because he offered up Isaac when tested, nevertheless this reality was a clear demonstration of his most steadfast faith.
V, 5. But not only that, but also glorying in God. D Our Lord Jesus Christ, wishing to declare the truly admirable love of God the Father which He showed toward us, brought forward as proof the accomplished work of the Incarnation and the passion of the Cross, saying thus: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." For He truly gave His own Son for us, and we were therefore redeemed and rescued from death and sin. For the Word did not become flesh and dwell among us for the sake of anything else, but that, having endured death in the flesh, He might triumph over principalities and powers, and might render powerless him who held the dominion of death—that is to say, Satan—and might take away corruption, and banish with it sin which had tyrannized over us, and finally render empty that ancient curse which human nature had incurred at the beginnings of the race, and as it were in the primal root, on account of Adam. For Adam, having violated the commandment...
offended the Creator; and for this reason he became both accursed and subject to death. But the Lord of all again had mercy on those who were utterly lost. A For the Son descended from heaven, forgiving sins, justifying the ungodly by faith, and, as God, transforming human nature into incorruptibility and restoring it to what it was from the beginning. For there is a new creation in Christ, since a new root has also been planted. And He became the second Adam; and not, like that one, the cause of wrath and of turning away from the heavenly fatherland for those who have come from Him; rather, He became the agent of reconciliation and the giver of intimacy with God, through sanctification and incorruptibility and through justification by faith. These things the wise Paul explains to us in the present passage.
V, 12. "Therefore, as by one man," he says, "sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
For, as I said, because of sin, death entered into the first man and into the beginnings of our race; then it took hold of the whole race in succession. Moreover, the dragon, the inventor of sin, having prevailed against Adam by his wicked ways, opened for himself a path to the mind of man: "For all have turned aside, they are together become unprofitable." B Therefore, being turned away from the presence of the most holy God, because the mind of man is diligently inclined to evil from his youth, we lived a senseless life; and death, as conqueror, devoured us, as the prophet says: "Hell has enlarged its soul, and opened its mouth without ceasing." For since we have become imitators of the transgression in Adam, inasmuch as all have sinned, we have incurred the same punishments as he did. But the world has not remained without help; for sin has been blotted out, Satan has been prostrated, and death itself has at last lost its strength.
V, 13. "For until the law sin was in the world."
The law through Moses was, as I said, a reproof of the infirmity of offenders, not an absolution of sin; rather, it even provoked C wrath. For it was necessary for those who transgressed to undergo the punishments defined by the law; but where there was any manner of transgression, there also was sin. But if sin brings forth death, it must undoubtedly be said that death, being born of sin, is strengthened along with it; but conversely, when this is removed, that too is weakened, and perishes along with its parent. Therefore, he says, death was in the world until the law. For as long as the law remained, for so long did the charge of transgression prevail against those who fell; but the law being removed, the accusation of transgression likewise ceased. Furthermore, the guilt ceasing, death also, as I said, shall cease. D
A *V, 14. But death reigned from Adam until Moses, etc.* But if this is so, one might ask, how did death rule over those on earth even before the Law? For although some were not guilty of the transgressions of the Law, because the Law had not yet been given, they nonetheless fell into corruption in the likeness of the transgression of Adam. This is as if he were to say, for instance: Since death was spreading in the likeness of Adam, just as a plant which has suffered in its root, there is every necessity for the branches sprung from it to wither. He says that he [Adam] was a type of the one who was to be, that is, of Christ, even though He had already arrived and had completed the mystery of the dispensation in the flesh. How then does he call Him "to be"? One might perhaps ask. For having set before us the first man, and having recalled the times of the transgression, he named Christ the last Adam, as one who was to come after them. For He had been predestined by the will and providence of God and the Father as Savior and Liberator; but He appeared at His own times, as the Sovereign willed. B These are the times at the end, as it were, at the sunset of the present age. Having therefore placed the second as a type of the first, he almost questions the listener, and with a certain punctuation of speech and as if questioning, he says what follows.
*V, 15. But not as the transgression, so also is the gift.* For it is as if he were saying: We have been condemned to death through the transgression in Adam, the whole of human nature having suffered this in him, for he was the first-fruits of the generation. But in Christ we have blossomed again into life. And Adam was a type of the future one, that is, of Christ, bringing upon us a grace C that matches the wickedness of those who preceded. Does he say, then, have I missed the truth by saying this? Do I wander off the mark? Is it not the case that as is the transgression, so also is the gift? What? Because of one, death was strong, but shall life be weak because of one? Why should it not be said rather: If by the fall of one, the many have died, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound unto the many? For the Creator, being philanthropic, will by no means allow that while death prevailed on account of one, life should not also gain power on account of the one; D on the contrary, grace will surpass the power of wrath.
*V, 16. And not as by one who has sinned, so also is the gift.* He sets the momentum of the matter and the force of the reasoning upon what is becoming to God. For if, he says, the condemnation finds its cause in the one who sinned, the gift...
one, Adam, it passed down to all according to his likeness—for he was, as I said, the root of the race having suffered corruption—how would it not also be acceptable to God and worthy of love, that from one righteous act, the many should be justified from many trespasses? Or is it not more preferable in the eyes of God to save rather than to destroy? As therefore Adam was condemned, and the power of the curse of Moses prevailed, bringing under corruption those upon the earth, so, since Christ, the second Adam, has been justified, then by the same path the justification will certainly also reach us. We say that Christ is justified, not as though he had ever been unjust, or as though he had advanced toward justification through a progress toward better things, but because he was the first and only human on earth who did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.
V, 17. *For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one, etc.* Observe again how he defines the justifying grace as being more powerful than the condemning curse. For no one, he says, would say—as is reasonable—that the death occurring through one person could prevail over those on earth, while life would lack the power to do the same. For with much more cause, those who have the grace of Christ and have received the gift of righteousness from the bounty from above, will shake off the power of death and will reign together with Christ, who makes all things alive. C
V, 18. *Therefore, as by the trespass of one, into all men unto condemnation, etc.* The divine Paul, as it were, puts the finishing touch on the preceding thoughts, saying: "Therefore, as by the trespass of one," and the rest. For we have been condemned, as I said before, in Adam, and from the first root, the death resulting from the curse passed into every shoot born from it; yet afterwards we have been justified and reborn into life, Christ having been justified for us. For our forefather, having disregarded the commandment given to him, offended God and underwent the effects of divine wrath; for he slipped into corruption. Then sin also laid hold of human nature; and thus the many—that is, those throughout the whole earth—were made sinners.
But someone might say: "Granted that Adam fell and, having disregarded the divine command, was condemned to corruption and death; why does it follow from this that the many were made sinners because of him? How can it be that his fault pertains to us? Or why at all, when we were not yet born, did we undergo condemnation with him, when God has said: D 'Fathers shall not die for their children, nor children for their fathers; but the soul that sins, it shall die' (Deut. xxiv, 16)?" What then shall we make of the defense of this dogma? The soul, I say, that sins...
A actually dies. But we have become sinners through the disobedience of Adam in the following manner: He had been created for incorruption and life, and his life in the paradise of delights was holy; his mind was entirely and always centered on divine visions; his body was in calm and tranquility, with every shameful pleasure quieted—for there was no tumult of irrational impulses within him. But since he fell into sin and slipped into corruption, from that moment, pleasures and impurities rushed into the nature of the flesh, and the law that rages in our members sprang up. Therefore, nature contracted the disease of sin through the disobedience of the one, that is, Adam; and thus the many were constituted sinners, not as having transgressed with Adam (for they did not yet exist), B but as being of his nature, which fell under the law of sin. Just as, therefore, human nature became sick in Adam through disobedience, and corruption and passions entered into it, so it has been delivered again in Christ; for He was obedient to God the Father, and did not commit sin.
V, 20. But the law entered in, that the offense might abound.
Someone will perhaps reason in a plausible manner and say: "Adam was a type of the one who was to come; and just as we were constituted sinners in him through the transgression, so we have been justified in Christ through obedience." It was necessary, therefore, he says, for the justification in Christ to shine forth to those on earth with no one intervening. What then was the use C or necessity of the laws given through Moses? To such questions, the divine Paul again stands up, as if in opposition, saying: "But the law entered in, that the offense might abound." He said "entered in" (or "supervened") to mean that it was placed in between the condemnation of Adam and the justice of Christ. And whoever might ask again what the need was for this introduction of the law, will clearly hear him saying, "That the offense might abound." What do you say, O Paul? Is the law then the cause of sin, and has the offense been multiplied through it? God forbid. It is necessary, then, to clarify the method of this mystery. David therefore said: "All have turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; D there is none that does good, no, not one" (Ps. xiii, 3). For all those on the earth had indeed corrupted their way after the transgression of Adam; and for this reason they were punished, all having undergone the common penalty, the flood, and individually also at times and in countries and cities. For even if the law was not yet, nevertheless, men were instructed by God toward the knowledge of what is right through impulses naturally ingrained. But, being addicted to wretchedness...
God took pity on those on earth, and A in His goodness, considered how to deliver them from the sin that tyrannized them in Christ. Indeed, He judged it necessary—and quite correctly so—that those on earth should be shown first as sickly, so that the saving entrance of justice in Christ into the world might appear as timely as possible. For we say that a man is justified, not if he is already righteous, but if he is held in the grip of sins. By what argument, then, had it to be demonstrated that those dwelling on earth were in need of Christ’s grace? The law entered, that sin might increase: that is, that among those under the law, sin might appear in abundance, since clearly no one could be justified because of the weakness of his nature, and all were as if held fast by the charges resulting from transgression. The law, therefore, was established as a kind of reproof for the weakness of all, so that human nature might appear as having obtained the healing that comes through Christ. On this account He says: “But where sin abounded, grace did superabound.” For it had to be of such a nature and extent that it would appear superior to the law that condemns.
VI, 3. Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus, etc.
We have indeed been baptized, clearly, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And if one says, “We have been baptized into Christ Jesus,” he says nothing incongruous. For, while the specific property of diversity is distinguished by names, and by subsistences, and by differences of persons—in the way, namely, that the Father relates to the Son, and how the Spirit relates to both (for the Father is Father and not Son; and the Son in turn is by nature He who is born of Him and is not the Father; and the Spirit is properly the Holy Spirit)—since the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son, and the Holy Spirit exists in both because of the unity of nature, even if one names only one, he C signifies the whole Trinity by the power of theological contemplation. Therefore, he who names Christ will not forget the Father nor the Spirit. But since Jesus became man and endured death for the life of all, the blessed Paul necessarily turned to that which was most apt for the doctrine proposed; for it was necessary for him to name the One who suffered. Wherefore he says: “As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.” For having first set forth, as it were, the good questioning from a right conscience toward Christ, and having accepted by faith that He died for us and was buried and rose again, we have obtained the remission of sins through Holy Baptism, and by enduring the mortification of sin, and as if dying D together with Him who died for our sake, through the putting to death of the members which are upon the earth. For Christ died indeed once to sin; but in that He lives, He lives to God. And we
likewise undergo a death equal to His, and are as it were buried with Him, carrying around His mortification in our own bodies; for we have been buried together with Christ. What then do we gain from this? The Apostle himself reveals it, saying: "That as Christ was raised llbracket A from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." For we must, as those who have been buried with Him, also rise again in a spiritual sense. And if to be buried with Christ is to die to sin, it would be logical to conclude that rising with Him must mean nothing other than living in righteousness. Now, he asserts that Christ was raised by the glory of the Father, not that He lacked power of His own—for He is Himself the Lord of powers—but because it is customary for both Christ and His disciples to ascribe things that are above human nature to the glory of the highest nature. Therefore, even if God and the Father is said to accomplish anything, do we not make the Son a participant in every work performed by Him? For if all things were made llbracket B through the Son, who could doubt that even the resurrection of His own sacred body was accomplished through the Son? And indeed, the Son, showing Himself to be an agent in this, said to the Jews: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Observe, then, how He promises to raise up His own temple Himself, even though it is said to have been raised by God and the Father. For because He is Himself the life-giving power of God and the Father, He gave life to His own temple.
"If we have been planted together in the likeness of His death," etc. The "likeness of His death" is the death of Christ, because He did not remain in death, but rose again on the third day.
llbracket C [Again, cod. f. 53.] The divine Paul says that those who have been buried with Christ must expect a resurrection similar to His. And the term "planted together" might suggest being conformed to Him and being of the same intellectual species. But this must be carefully considered: Emmanuel laid down His own soul for us, and died in the flesh; and we, as many as have received baptism, have been in a certain manner buried with Him. Is it as if we have experienced the death of the flesh together with Him? By no means. Let us explain, therefore, how we have been "planted together" in the likeness of His death. Christ died in the flesh, that He might loosen the sin of the world; but we die, not indeed at any time to the flesh, but to sin, as it is written, that is, llbracket D by causing sin to be idle and inactive in ourselves through the putting to death of the members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. Thus we have become "planted together" not only with the death of Christ according to the flesh, but also with the likeness of His death. And this is to be understood as dying for sin, though not—
A nor for His own B—which is far from the truth; for God is immaculate and far removed from any capacity to sin—but as I have said, for the sin of the world. For in that He died unto sin, He died once for all. We have therefore been planted together into the likeness of His death; and we shall be altogether planted together in the likeness of His resurrection, for we shall live in Christ. And the flesh will indeed live again, but we shall also live in another way, by dedicating our own soul to Him, being transformed unto holiness and a glorious manner of life in the Holy Spirit.
VI, 6. *Knowing this, that our old man, etc.*
Who our old man is, and what the body of sin is that is destroyed, and in what way it has been crucified with Christ, it is necessary to inquire with some diligence. Perhaps some will imagine that the earthly flesh is called the body of sin, as if it were a punishment joined to the soul, because it had sinned before these bodies. For it pleases some to think and speak thus. C Since, however, this is a distinctively pagan opinion, let us cast it away as alien to the truth. Therefore, He calls the earthly body "the body of sin" and "our old man," which, from the antiquity of Adam, has received the necessity of corruption; for in him, as the first, we were condemned. Moreover, it has contracted a study of pleasure as a kind of infirmity; for thus does the flesh naturally behave on account of its innate impulses. How then, therefore, has the man been crucified with Christ? The Only-begotten became man, and was clothed in earthly flesh, which, as I said, being as it were from the antiquity of Adam, was weakened unto death, and, so to speak, was travailing within itself to be sharpened toward sin by innate impulses. D The law of sin, however, lay quiet in the holy and most pure flesh of Christ; and we do not say that the more misplaced human passions were stirred in Him, except for those that have an irreproachable movement—I mean hunger, thirst, weariness, and whatever else the law of nature has kept apart from blame even in us. Yet even if the law of sin did not move in Christ, because it was lulled to sleep by the power and operation of the incarnate Word, nevertheless, if the nature of the flesh be considered in itself, even if it were seen in Christ, we shall find it to be no different from our own. We were therefore crucified with Him, His flesh being crucified, which in a certain way contained the whole nature in itself; just as also in Adam, at the time when he fell under the curse, the whole nature contracted the disease of the curse. For thus we are also said to have risen with Christ, and to sit together in the heavenly places. For even if God Emmanuel exceeds our condition, yet because He dwelt among us as one of us, He subsequently rose and sits with God the Father. The old man, therefore, was crucified together with Him; for it has been loosened by the resurrection of that ancient curse [the power of which — see facsimile] has been destroyed; and the body of sin is also destroyed, and...
not indeed the flesh altogether, but the inherent ferocity of the movements within it, which always drags the mind toward baser things, casting it as if into mire and muddy pools with earthly pleasures. For who would doubt that even this has been set right in human nature through Christ, when Paul says clearly: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Do you see, then, how the body of sin has been destroyed? For the sting of sin has been condemned in the flesh; and though it was mortified first in Christ, grace has passed from Him and through Him even to us.
B "Know you not, brethren? for I speak to them that know the law." He declares it to be slippery ground everywhere, if anyone strives to remain under the law; and he urges rather that we should desire, with our whole mind, the grace that comes through faith, that is, justification in Christ, with whom he has asserted that those who have been baptized are buried together, that being dead to sin, they might live to God in righteousness. Therefore, he also said: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey the lusts thereof; neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace." C See then how he commands them to depart from the shadow of the law, and rather to seek refuge in the grace that is in Christ. Furthermore, the inspired man was not unaware that some would certainly say, or would deliberate within themselves, that our ancestors had departed from the right way and life; for the law helped them nothing, and the glory of their Hebrew life was somehow empty. For if it is an absurd thing to seek to exist under the law, and yet this was the goal of life for the ancients, how is it not true to say that they had missed the mark of what was proper? D He who has Christ within himself struggles, therefore; and he skillfully pretends, at the same time, that he wishes to agree even with those who have lived under the law, but he turns the discourse in various ways, to the effect that one should believe that when the time invites one to faith, one ought not to persist stubbornly in the ancient customs. Hence he says: "Know you not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law has dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" This is a general rule, both regarding every law and those who are under the law. For indeed, for all those who are under the scepter of kings, the laws define what must be done, and what must not; but they have power while they are still living: if, however, any of those who are under the law should depart from this bodily life, they have stripped off with their life the authority of the laws also. For if they have ceased...
A from sinning, the law will also, in a way, be rendered ineffective regarding them. It is true, therefore, that it exercises authority over a man for as long as he lives.
And it is necessary to say what the aim of these words is. He brings forward two excellent points. For we, he says, who have been buried with Christ through baptism, having died to sin, have passed beyond the authority of the law, having been transformed into another life. But those who lived before the coming of Christ, not yet having endured the death understood in Christ, were still living to sin. B Therefore, the law held sway over them as living ones, just as, indeed, a husband does over a wife. For just as a married woman, while her legal husband is alive, does not make her union with another without incurring guilt, but if he should be dead, he says, she will be exempt from punishment, even if she should choose to enter upon a new marriage in a legal form; in the same way, I think, those who have not yet attained the mortification of sin in Christ, but are living, as it were, in it, have naturally been under the law; for it exercises authority over a man for as long as he lives. But those who have already come to be under grace in Christ, through whom they have also died to sin and been put to death C to the flesh—that is, to the passions of the flesh—if they are no longer appearing as those living in the world, would make their life outside the law blameless. For they have been put to death, as I said, through the body of Christ, and have died to the law, being justified through faith.
VII, 5. *For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were through the law, were at work, etc.*
By "flesh" he designates the carnal mind, as he also says elsewhere: "But those who are in the flesh cannot please God." And yet, how is this not true? Since he does not address such things to those who have been initiated by him as being outside it. But it is necessary to examine what he wishes to signify. Since, he says, we were living carnally and were ruled by earthly D affections, then the passions of the flesh were at work in us through the law, so as to bear fruit unto death. What then, someone might say, were the passions of the flesh brought in through the law? How then shall we defend the law against such a charge?
What then do we say to this? The passions of the flesh are not stirred up in us by the law, but are rather born from innate pleasure, and they lay hold of the weak mind. And this he makes clear to us by saying: "The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other." But now, passing over this, he says that the flesh resists the spirit, setting nothing in between. Therefore, the carnal passions are not moved within us by the law, but rather naturally; and what is more to be wondered at, they are repugnant to the will of the law itself, as Paul says elsewhere: that the carnal mind is enmity toward God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. If, then, the mind of the flesh fights against the law, how is it not insane to think that those things which are so opposed to it are moved by the law itself into action? What then is Paul saying? He is speaking as if to those who have died to sin, and through baptism...
A have been buried with Christ, and as if they have already obtained the mortification of the passions, to whom it would be fitting that they should depart even outside the bounds of the law, inasmuch as they have been set free from the passions which are condemned by the law.
Therefore, while we were still persisting in the intention of the flesh, the passions which were condemned and named by the law, he says, were active in us; and we were at that time also subject to the law, insofar as sin was still living within us. B
Now, however, we have been set free from the law, having died to that by which we were held. For we were subject to the law, he says, because sin had made us its subjects. But if we have died to that by which we were held—that is, to sin—the law will also certainly cease along with it; for it was appointed on account of it, so that it might convict those who transgress. We have therefore become outside the function of the law, we who have died to sin: for we have become another’s, and we must serve Him in newness of Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
VII, 7. What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Observe how wisely he speaks concerning the law. For he indeed said, “When we were in the flesh, the passions of sins C which were through the law were active in our members, to bear fruit unto death.” But the discourse would not lack suspicion. For someone might immediately say to these things: Is the law then the pledge and mediator of sin? For if it is true that through it the passions of the flesh are active in us, why ought we not to understand the law to be the fountain of sin?
What then does the holy teacher do? He meets this sharply, and denies that the law is the parent of sin; rather, he blames human nature, as being weak and having made itself liable to legal punishments through its own infirmity. Therefore he says: “What then shall we say? Is the law sin? By no means; but I did not know sin except through the law.” Observe the vigilant diction. For he did not say, “I did not have sin except through the law,” but he says rather that he did not know it except through the law. The law, therefore, is not the occasion of sin, D but rather its demonstrator, making it manifest to those who did not know it; not so that, having learned it, they might perform it—since, even before knowing it, they had in any case committed it; for “there was not any righteous,” according to the voice of the Psalmist:—but so that, having recognized sin, they might turn toward better things.
And it seems to me that something of this sort happened to the ancients through the command of Moses. Let there be proposed to the argument, if you will, a certain wide, smooth road leading to a destination, and let there be scattered in it much gravel throughout the middle, and let pits also be dug there, if one pleases; then let there be some who journey through it in night and darkness, stumbling and very frequently striking against those things lying in the middle, and moreover falling unwittingly into the pits. And as matters are in this state, let someone station a torch at those same crossroads, making it manifest to
A those who are in the middle, not so that they might again trip over them, but so that they might rather move beyond them and be rid of the evil. Did the light therefore do wrong because it pointed out what causes grief? Or shall we rather say that it worked for them the greatest possible benefit and rendered them more secure? But, I believe, this is evident to no one among existing things. When, therefore, being sinners and tripping into very many charges, we came to know sin through the Law, the Law should not reasonably be thought of as or called sin—far from it—but rather it is a demonstrator of sin, as I said.
VII, 8. For apart from the Law, sin was dead.
If the Law condemning the manner of wickedness had not been established, he says, the evil would have been ineffective; for it gains its strength in a certain way from the Law; and indeed the stimulus of pleasure would be weaker for some if no one forbade it; nay, it is almost blunted if there is a broad license for sinning: for where nothing resists, there the zeal is usually broken. Sin, therefore, is dead, when the Law does not distinguish what is to be done. The mystagogue says that he lived once without the Law; then, upon the arrival of the commandment, sin revived, but he asserts that he himself died; and he shapes the argument in these things around his own person. And I, for my part, believe that he wishes to signify something of this sort: for it is admittedly under judgment to commit a fault even in ignorance; but the punishment will be yet more burdensome for those who know, as the Savior fully assured us, saying: «He who knew the will of his lord and did not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who did not know, and did not do it, shall be beaten with few.» B It is therefore better, admittedly, to commit a fault in ignorance than with a knowledge of the laws. But if, indeed, someone has come under the Law, having once lived a life outside the Law, and then has chosen to disregard what has been decreed, he is caught by the charge of sin and has fallen under judgment. Then indeed, grieving at his own sloth and almost crying out against the exactness of the Law, he says: «I once lived without the Law; but when the commandment came, sin lived, and I died.» For if sin is truly dead without the Law, why is it not plausible to think that sin is, in a way, made alive through the Law, which both makes it manifest and, as it were, forms it into a living thing, even though it was not known before, although it did exist in us? For we were not righteous; but while sin was as if dead, because the condemning Law was not present, we lived, having a seemly pretext of ignorance. «For where there is no law, neither is there transgression,» as he himself says. Thus, the commandment having come into the midst, sin indeed revived, but death was rendered void, and therefore also the judgment of those who fall through weakness into transgressions. And what follows from this? An unexpected thing, beyond expectation, happened to us: «The commandment, though given for the sake of life, turned into death.» And just as to those suffering from an infirmity of the eyes, the solar C
be agents of things outside of hope and inadmissible to us. For the commandment, he says, that was given for life, the same is found to be for death. A For just as the light of the sun’s ray harms, in a way, those whose vision happens to be weakened, even though by nature it is sweet and desirable, and it is not at all the cause of the injury, but the blame should rather be attributed to the infirmity of those who are affected by it—the fact that they are harmed by it; in the same way, I think, he says that the commandment is given as a pretext to sin, and that he has been deceived by it, and carried down even to death. One might also say, in another sense, that the love of pleasure is always wont to struggle vehemently against the counsels of the Law; and the habits of depravity, being checked by [the Law's] kindnesses, set themselves up more generally, and sometimes plunder the mind, turning it toward transgression, and subjecting it to the punishments from the Law, even though they had the Law as the cause of that war. In this way, then, the wise Paul says that he was deceived by the commandment, and died by it. For it killed [him] by, as it were, whetting the pleasures within us toward resistance, according to the ways mentioned before.
So the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. B
(Cod. f. 81.) VII, 12. *Itaque lex quidem sancta, praeceptum sanctum justumque et bonum.*
The Law is holy, for it proclaims as holy and just and good those who can keep it, so that they might be in no way liable to charges arising from transgressions. But this was somehow impossible: "For who shall understand his errors?" as it is written.
VII, 13. *Quod ergo bonum est, mihi factum est mors?*
(Cod. f. 82 b.) The commandment is holy. Then how did it say "and the commandment which was for life is found to be to me for death"? Tell me, then, has the good become a cause of destruction? By no means, he says. For in these things I am not at all accusing the Law, but I stand as an accuser of sin. C For it so violently forces human nature, and has so mastered the mind within us, that the Law itself, which was given to us for salvation and life—the truly holy and good commandment—becomes a cause of death to those who are subject to it. How or in what way? For if punishment always follows those who sin, and we have been thoroughly driven to this point of weakness, so as to be always falling into transgressions, it is already clear, in a way, that in this manner the saving Law, the holy and the good, seems to become, as it were, sinews for sin and a path to death for those who are under sin. And perhaps, he says, [it is] so that sin may become exceedingly sinful through the commandment. For indeed, punishment will certainly follow those who have been ignorant of what pleases the Master; for they have sinned, even if they did not know it. Yet there remains for them, I think, a not implausible plea of defense: for they will, as is likely, offer their ignorance as an excuse to those who are under the Law, saying that they did not know the Master’s will, even if they were under reproach in some way. Therefore, if one were seen as having chosen to live impiously, the charge will not be one of ignorance, but of madness and, finally, of the highest aversion from God. Thus would he be called D a sinner in an extreme degree, a sinner simply…
A for being ignorant, and not at all one who is to be called or is a sinner by way of excess.
VII, 14. *For we know that the law is spiritual.*
He calls the law spiritual, as it makes those who follow it spiritual. But one who is spiritual is understood as he who does not live according to the flesh, but rather has inclined toward desiring to follow the will of the Spirit. For the blessed David also says: "The law of the Lord is immaculate, converting souls; the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones; the fear of the Lord is holy, abiding for ever and ever." As, therefore, he says that the law is immaculate, because it makes men immaculate; that the testimony is faithful, because it proves them faithful; and the fear is holy, as it renders them holy: so also in this place, consider that the law is said to be spiritual, B as it shows those who follow it to be spiritual. For even if it exists in shadows, it nevertheless has the form of truth. What, then, does Paul do? He affirms that the law is spiritual, but he accuses the nature of man, which is very prone to the disease of sin. But he also strives to prove that, because the law is spiritual, for that very reason it is exceedingly burdensome to human nature. For what, tell me, does he say, if the law is indeed spiritual, "but I am carnal," that is, completely oppressed by the affections of the flesh? Do you see how great a conflict of wills he demonstrates to us by his statement? For one thing is the will of the Spirit, and quite another is understood to be that of the flesh; for they C fight between themselves, and can never agree to come to a concord. If, therefore, man is carnal, but the law is spiritual, how could this be tolerable to those who are so greatly afflicted by the disease of sin? And it is said very wisely: for if he is carnal, he is understood to be, in a certain way, a captive and established in a servile state.
VII, 15. *For what I perform, I know not.*
Perhaps some of the more unlearned among the Greeks suppose that Paul wishes here to establish the myth of the heathens, which I know not from whence those men have learned to bring forward, deceived themselves and deceiving others. For, fabricating some sort of fate and fortune D according to their own pleasure, and then attributing power over our actions to these vain idols, they strip man of his chief ornament; that is, the ability to live freely and to have a complete and voluntary choice of the things he might wish to do. Now, by bringing the minds of men under necessity by means of their own doctrines and opinions, they harm common life in no small measure. For if anyone, as they themselves teach, should set out to commit illicit acts, since he cannot, even if he should happen to wish it, decline the nod of fate, no wise man would blame him, even if he were seen to be sinning. For what is
necessary and done against one’s will, if someone were found to have committed it, will surely be free from all blame and punishment; but on the other hand, no one would reasonably praise a pious and honorable man. For why should he be greatly praised if such a man did not exist by his own will, but was driven to this by the nod of another, or even compelled by the insuperable necessity of fate? It would be most absurd, therefore, to say that the teacher of the best doctrines was deluded by the sophistries of the pagans, or follows the folly of those whose mysteries he is the guardian of; indeed, when he says: “For what I work, I do not know; for what I will, that I do not, but what I hate, that I do.” But if anyone were to contend stubbornly, and preferred to believe that fate and fortune have power over our actions, why would he not rightly interrogate Paul, saying: If we are bound by harsh and inexorable necessities of things to be done or not done, and we have absolutely no dominion over ourselves, but rather yield to others who are more powerful, and use a coerced judgment, how have you written to us yourself: “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” The law, therefore, has dominion in a certain way over the living; for it will be rendered void, as is fitting, regarding the dead; but it is ordained not for them, but for those who still tread the life in the body; and it crowns with praises those accustomed to succeed, but passes judgment on the profane. Then how will the lawgiver be a holy judge, punishing those who have sinned because they fell into this unwillingly, compelled by fate? Or rather, why did he even establish the law at all? For to those who have the power to do whatever they might wish, the law ordains just punishment if, when it was possible to succeed by setting their mind to good works, they themselves have honored baser things, and have exchanged what is condemned by the law for better things; but to those, however, who have the yoke of necessity hanging over them, and who are always turned about according to the will of those who rule over them, I consider that the law was established in vain. In fact, why would it not be truly said that even the omniscient Divinity would not have imposed upon us the yoke of the law, which justly and deservedly defines what is pleasing to Himself and directs toward useful duty, if He had known that we were caught in the snares of fate? Either, therefore, let those of the contrary opinion say that this was unknown to God—or, if they choose to think rightly and shrink away from this detestable opinion of divine ignorance, they must also clearly confess that the law was truly established by Him and that punishments were also decreed by Him for sinners.
God surely knows well that man, living with free will, is able to direct his actions by spontaneous movements as he pleases, with no one hindering. For this reason, the divine Paul also says that the law has dominion over man as long as he lives. He does not say this as if the mind of man were subject to the will of others; but he speaks acutely and wisely, and examines the passions of human nature, unfolding the infirmities of the soul in detail, and with the innate pleasure.
A For although he himself was crucified to the world, and the world to him, and he was indeed truly worthy of admiration, yet he wisely judged that he should not look only to his own grace, but should take as the subject for his discourse the infirmity of those who had not yet reached his own condition. When, therefore, you hear him saying, "For that which I work, I know not," think of certain most grievous sinners who imagine that they are living a most excellent life, and that there is nothing that can equal the delights and vanities of this world. These men pursue pious ways with the utmost hatred, and they exult and revel exceedingly in their own pleasures. Of these, I think, Paul says somewhere: "Who mind earthly things, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame." These men might rightly say, as if performing some highly commendable act while committing iniquity: "For that which I work, I know not." Therefore, let them hear: "Awake, ye that are drunk, with your wine." For just as those who are heavy drinkers and intoxicated, having been deprived by their vice of the accuracy of a sound mind, do not even know what they themselves are doing at the time of their drunkenness, so those who have become infirm in their minds from love of the flesh and the most disgraceful pleasures would not even know what it is they are doing. B Paul, therefore, explains to us this disease of the human heart by saying: "For that which I work, I know not." But if there were someone whose heart was somewhat more sensitive to the reproaches of conscience, and who grieved while he was sinning, yet was still overcome by the pleasures of sin and advanced to sinning almost against his will, he might fittingly say: "For not what I will, that I do, but what I hate, that I do." How many and how often do they admire continence, and indeed even enter upon this way of life, but are afterwards overcome by the goads of detestable pleasure, their mind slipping into vice; they commit sin, and are filled at the same time with sorrow! To these in particular, who are sick almost against their will, it befits to say again: "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
C VII, 16. *But if that which I will not, I do, I consent to the law, that it is good.*
The sharpness of his consideration turns again to the nature of the body, and he contemplates the power of the natural passions inherent in it. For both the desires that impel one toward any passion whatsoever, and the sins of a life of pleasure, have the flesh as their fountainhead. The disciple of the Savior confirms this for us, saying: "Whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not hence, from your concupiscences, which war in your members?"
VII, 18. *For to will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not.*
"To will," he says, "is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, D [is not]," and the rest. In order to demonstrate [the]
A that the flesh is justly accused of suffering sin within itself in a terrible manner, he wisely admits that while the good is present with us, the power to perform it is not; for the mind is forced toward an involuntary fall and against its own desire. Therefore, as far as its own purpose is concerned, it would be outside of sin; but because it endures a force that is hardly to be escaped, the blame seems to lie not so much with the mind itself as with the one who is prevailing. Therefore he says: "But if I do what I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
VII, 21. "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me."
B Observe again how wisely and skillfully [(Cod. f. 92.)] he accepts the law, not as having the power to blunt the goad of sin, nor as being able to put to death the sin within us, but only as instilling into the mind the knowledge of what is beneficial. For if, he says, evil is present with me, as dwelling in the flesh and debasing it, the law indeed provides help and, as it were, gives counsel, yet it does not free one from sin. But to those who are held by the infirmity of sin, it is not enough to know what they ought to do, because they need strength to perform the things that are right and pleasing to the law. Just as, indeed, for those who wish to excel in battle, the mere and naked knowledge of tactics is C not sufficient for this purpose, but if to this there be added vigor, only then would such men become illustrious and notable. If, therefore, the law teaches what is well-wrought in good deeds, but in no way aids those who are overcome by weakening sin, it is good as a teacher, yet it would not rightly be reckoned as having the same grace as that which is through Christ, which is both able to supply sound judgment and makes us stronger than evil.
VII, 22. "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man."
As I have already said, the mind thirsts for that which is free and longs to be delivered from those things that are reproached; and it crowns the law with the highest honors as the D guide to the best things. But the nature of the flesh is forced toward improper pleasures, while the law of sin wars and dwells within. By "the law of sin," he refers to the innate impulse and whatever one might think to be the passion of loving the flesh, just as indeed he also called "the law of the mind" its inclination and will toward the good.
VII, 25. "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
[(Cod. f. 96.)] A long discourse has been fashioned by him, examining minutely each of the things in us, and the
A modes of desire which the human mind is accustomed to endure when evil opposes it. He asserts, however, that the mind is sometimes sluggish toward the good on account of the tyranny of carnal passions, while at the same time it becomes sorrowful and ashamed of its own fragility; and that it is altogether unable to cast off the burden of involuntary sin, since pleasure presses upon it vehemently; and that for this reason it is weak to resist, with the law aiding it not at all in this. Truly, therefore, the divine Paul says that, with the mind, he obeys the divine law, but with the flesh, the law of sin. And this, I think, is what he meant when he said, "To will lies close to me, but to perform what is good, does not." Formerly, therefore, as I said, we had the resolve, as far as pertained to the will of the mind, to obey the divine law; but the flesh drove us toward sin, as if setting up its own will in opposition. Consequently, those who wished to do what was right fell into condemnation, being hindered by the tyranny of the passions. But through Christ the condemnation has ceased—that is, the overmastering power of carnal impulses. B Indeed, even those who were able, by being tyrannized by the passions, to complete the things of the fleshly impulses, are now, through Christ, no longer prone to such things.
VIII, 2. *For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.*
(Cod. f. 96 b.) I deem it necessary, for the sake of an accurate declaration of the meanings contained herein, to say this: just as he calls carnal affection—which leads us to every kind of vice—the law of sin and death, so too he calls the spiritual will—that is, the inclination of the mind toward doing right—the law of the spirit of life. But *he who sows to the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; he who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.* Therefore, the law of the spirit of life—that is, the will of the mind that leads toward life—was formerly in us as well; for we served the law of God with the mind. But the weak part of us, as I said, labored in resisting, and the human being, overcome by the desires of the flesh, fell into the C condemnation of the law. But once the disease was cast off, he was strengthened through Christ: for we were sealed through Him by the Holy Spirit, and clothed with power from on high; and thus we were redeemed, and no longer further subjugated to evil, and, as I said, restored to a free dignity. Therefore, the law of the spirit of life—that is, the will of the mind tending toward good works and life—after it has obtained grace through Christ, and has cast off its ancient infirmity, then, I say, this law of the spirit, despising the malice of sin and constituting itself superior to the law of the flesh, "has set me free," he says. Yet, this law itself did not grant freedom entirely, but it procured it for us through the merits of Christ. Just as, therefore, it is altogether necessary for those who are under the law of sin to be entangled also in the snares of death; so too, it is fitting that those who are not under it at all, D but have been vindicated into freedom through Christ, should in turn be outside the jurisdiction of death, and should show themselves to be superior to corruption, and lead a life in holiness.
A
(Cod. f. 98 b.)
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans
. "For the weakness of the law, in which it was weak through the flesh." The teacher of the mysteries is to be admired, and is extremely acute in his contemplations, yet he says that he is unlearned in speech. Therefore, we say with confidence, blushing not at all, that the construction of the words set before us lacks a little something for its meaning to be fully expressed. He ought to have said: "For the weakness of the law, in which it was weak through the flesh," is done away with, or perhaps has ceased; and then to have added the explanation of the matter and the manner of its dissolution, by subjoining once more: "For God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." He has rendered what follows according to the scope of these words as it existed regarding his B intent. Come, let us examine the manner of the healing wrought through Christ, and how the weakness of the law has ceased, and what, in general, is to be understood by the "weakness of the law," and of what law. For the divine speaker is extremely precise in these matters. He grants, then, that both are useful: the law of God, I mean the one written in letters, and the law of the Spirit, from which we have received the will for the good, even if the power to perform it may not perhaps be present to us. For he says: "To will is present with me, but to perform what is good is not," because sin, and the law of the flesh, which draws the mind—even against its will—to its own works, obviously prevails. C In this same way, I think, one might reasonably understand the "weakness of the law," both that written through Moses, as I was just saying, and indeed that which is innate in us, according to which even the Gentiles, though they do not have the written law, appear by nature to do the things of the law, and are a law unto themselves; for they show the work of the law written in their hearts, as it is written. But it is time to examine what the weakness in both is. For the law in letters was a teacher of propriety and an instructor in the best things, but it justified no one at all; whereas the law that is innate and in us, which he also calls the law of the Spirit, has inclined toward the good, but is greatly overcome D by the law that calls us to base things. Therefore, the weakness—that is, the infirmity—in either the written law or the innate law, has ceased through Christ. For with the flesh being in a certain way deadened, and the pleasure within us as it were extinguished, the law of the Spirit, or of the mind, will no longer be weak in any way.By what manner the sin within us is put to death, let us say, as far as we can. For the Word of God, by the good pleasure of God the Father, has appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might judge sin in the flesh. For he became man, having brought himself down to the emptying of himself. And that it is of like form and of like nature to those...
A of our bodies, who could doubt? Nevertheless, while the bodies of all other men may be called "flesh of sin," because they naturally sicken from the wellspring of absurd desires, no one would dare call Christ’s body "flesh of sin"—God forbid!—but rather the "likeness of the flesh of sin." It is indeed similar to our bodies, yet not so constituted that it could be sickened by carnal uncleanness; for that Temple was holy even from the womb. And as far as natural thoughts and reasonings go, certainly no one would hesitate to assert that, inasmuch as it was flesh, it did not have its own innate and inborn impulses. But because the Word, who sanctifies the whole creation, dwelt in it, the power of sin was condemned, so that the strength of this benefit might pass over to us as well. We have partaken of him not only spiritually, B but also corporally, just as he was transformed—for when Christ dwells within us through the Holy Spirit and the mystical blessing, then indeed the law of sin is entirely condemned within us. It is true, therefore, that what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak because of the flesh, has been brought to an end through Christ, who condemned and destroyed sin in the flesh, so that the justice of the law might be fulfilled in us. For the justice of the law—that is, the power of the decrees of the law, the will striving toward virtue—was fulfilled when our internal law was no longer, as I have said, undermined in any way by the tyranny of innate desires. Therefore, the justice of the law is fulfilled in us, if we no longer walk according to the flesh but prefer to live spiritually.
VIII, 6. *For the mind of the flesh is death: but the mind of the spirit is life and peace.*
He very rightly gives the mind of the flesh the title of death, and calls the mind of the spirit life and peace. For the love of the flesh truly generates death, whereas by those who prefer to live spiritually, eternal life and heavenly goods are acquired. C
VIII, 11. *But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you.*
Our Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the Father, life having entered into his flesh through the Holy Spirit, which is his own. For that he himself vivified his own temple, he declares to the Jews, saying: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Therefore, even if he is said to have been raised by the Father, he nonetheless raised up himself through the Holy Spirit. For all divine works are done by the Father through the Son in the Spirit. Christ, therefore, will raise our bodies also from the dead. D
VIII, 17. If we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.
A Good works are indeed not done without labor, but the labor of the saints is nourished by great hope. For nothing earthly is promised to them, but eternal glory and the attainment of blessings that surpass both understanding and speech. For those who despise earthly things are worthy of the highest rewards, and those who have labored beforehand in strength and endurance will enjoy crowns of incomparable excellence. For the labor for the sake of virtue will seem minor in the face of such great rewards. He signifies, indeed, the glory of the saints, for the righteous shall shine forth in time like the sun, constituted in honor and glory and immortality, when their bodies are changed, just as Christ was transfigured on the mountain.8, 19. For the expectation of the creature waits for the revelation of the sons of God.
B Expectation is indeed hope, and a waiting observation for the outcome of events. Furthermore, the creation expects the revelation of the sons of God, not indeed that it is itself prescient of the future (for how or from where could that come to be?), but because through the secret dispensation of God, who directs all things toward the better, the end will arrive at this result. For when the sons of God—that is, those who have achieved a life worthy of approval—are transformed as if into glory from dishonor and from corruption into incorruption, the creation itself also will entirely be transformed for the better. And regarding this, divine Peter does not permit us to doubt, saying that we expect new heavens and a new earth, and His promises.VIII, 20. Vanitati enim creatura subjecta est.
C By "vanity" here he means those living in vanity, that is, in carnal affection; concerning whom it might most fittingly be said: "Man is made like to vanity." And also that he has been compared to senseless beasts and made like unto them; for the life of such men is truly vanity. To these men the creation is subjected, although quite involuntarily. Why, I ask, do we say this? Indeed, the visible and tangible creation knows nothing of our affairs, because it lacks reasoning power. For if it happened by chance that it understood even a little, it would not endure to serve such base slavery, nor would it wish to be under and serve those who had chosen to lead a life bearing no good fruit. D Nevertheless, he says that it remains subjected in the hope of the saints and elect who are to be saved through the succeeding times, with God imposing the yoke upon it, and as it were reserving it for that freedom which will exist under His saints and those who love Him, so that it may at last serve only the sons of the same God, and attend to the needs of the chosen ones. For it groans, as it were, and travails and suffers pain; and if it were able in any way to know our deeds, perhaps it would even weep. Now, obeying the nods of God,A it awaits in a certain way the revelation, as I have said, of the sons of God.
VIII, 23. *Not only [it], but even we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves.*
He takes for the demonstration of what has been said that which is wont to happen within us. For we ourselves, he says, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan, being burdened, awaiting adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For it is true that a corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle presses down the mind full of many cares. But once the Spirit has leaped into us and transforms us unto a desire for virtue, the love of the flesh, which has settled into our members as an external law, immediately opposes us and, being ever sharpened toward absurd pleasures, rises up against us relentlessly. For this reason we groan for the redemption of our body, reckoning this as adoption. For we do not desire the laying aside of our bodies, nor do we deem this worthy of the name of redemption; but we await a spiritual body to be brought into being, one which, naturally, casts off all carnal and earthy affection and the goad of sin. Such is the body we call spiritual. And if the grace of adoption effects the redemption of our body, let no one find here an opportunity to slander the resurrection, nor let anyone arrive at such a point of impiety as to say that the flesh will be dispersed and utterly annihilated B after it has fallen into the earth, and that in its place will rise again something else, spiritual, extremely subtle, and ethereal. For this is how those people understand the term "spiritual."
VIII, 24. *For in hope we were saved.*
We believe that our bodies also will overcome corruption and death. But this is laid up for us in hopes, not as being already present, but as something that will most certainly occur in every way and altogether; and we await it, bearing up patiently, that we may attain so venerable a gift.
VIII, 26. *Likewise also the Spirit helps our infirmities, etc. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings inexpressible.*
*With groanings inexpressible* He makes intercession for us, namely, our spirit. For we groan at times C when we strive to offer supplications to God. But we learn even this through the Holy Spirit’s teaching, for He is as wise as the Son. D
A But since he says: “We do not know what to pray for as we ought,” let us examine this: although we have already been instructed by Christ as to what we ought to pray for, when He clearly said: “Thus therefore pray ye: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth,” and what follows these; since, therefore, we have learned in what manner it is fitting to offer supplications, what could be the meaning of the apostolic letters, or what could the voice of Paul be looking toward? We say, therefore, that we do indeed pray, seeking the request of good things, and above all others, those things that are for the glory of God, and those things by which one might be able to live rightly and truly accomplish a praiseworthy life. But having the first fruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. And certainly, in this respect, we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. For if “the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither has it ascended into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him,” what shall we ask for when we approach in prayer? Or how could we know or see them—or rather, the things that go beyond the mind and are not known to the hearts of men? And what could the redemption of the body be, or what is the transformation, or how it is changed into incorruption and glory, the Maker of these things alone knows. The disciple of the Savior once said to some who were ignorant of how they ought to pray: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask perversely, that you may spend it in your pleasures.” It is fitting, therefore, and with the best of reasons, for those who are in this state to say: “We do not know what we should pray for as we ought.”
B We ask, therefore, in the Spirit with ineffable groanings for those things which we believe will be, but of which we are entirely ignorant in what manner they will be. Our nature, he says, is weak, and as far as it is concerned, it disbelieves that it will ever live again; yet great and divine things are promised to us, such that they cannot be grasped, nor did they ever come up into the heart of man. Nevertheless, for faith in such great things, we have no small help from the Spirit. For these things are greater than prayer [can reach], and we do not know how it is fitting to pray for them. As if the Apostle were saying: those things which are above human mind and above prayer, these the grace of the Spirit given to us works for us in an ineffable way, and the first fruits give us confidence regarding the whole. For just as the wedding pledges, which those being married give to one another, guarantee what comes after, and, being produced, they compel the fulfillment of the contract for the sake of which they were given; so, I suppose, the first fruits of the Spirit, that is, the partial gift of the Spirit, which is the pledge of our inheritance, confirms to us the grace to be given in its own time in its totality. Therefore, it is necessary to not shirk the labors required to obtain it. The word “to intercede,” properly,
A metaphorically, is said, since we are also accustomed to raise our hands in mutual meetings.
VIII, 28. "We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose." B All things do indeed work together for good for those who love God, those who are called according to purpose. But whose purpose is this? And what might be understood by "according to purpose"? Therefore, "according to purpose" would be "according to will." Are those who are the subject of our discourse called, then, according to the will of some—whether of the one who calls, or even of those themselves who are called? Surely, every impulse which leads us toward righteousness would come to us from God and the Father. C For Christ says somewhere: "No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him." Nevertheless, in these matters, one would not be wronging the truth by saying that some have become called according to purpose, both that of the one who calls and that of their own.
VIII, 30. "And those whom he predestined, those he also called; and those whom he called, those he also justified; and those whom he justified, those he also glorified."
It is fitting that some, deceived by their own ignorance, should have offered a specious pretext for their unbelief, saying: "If those whom God foreknew according to purpose and choice are the ones called, it is nothing to us who have not yet believed; for we have not been called, nor have we been predestined." D To these we reply that the one who made the wedding feast for his son sent his servants to gather the invited, but they did not wish to come; and in their place came those who were called according to their own particular purpose, and thus the bridal chamber was filled with guests. Therefore, it appears that no obstacle was laid in the way even of the former, if they had wished to approach; nor does foreknowledge do injustice to anyone, nor, conversely, does it benefit some. Otherwise, let them demonstrate that they themselves were not foreknown—they who have insulted the God who calls them by their own unbelief. But even some were indeed called and rushed into the wedding, yet they did not become the elect, nor were they justified, nor were they honored. For what reason, you ask? Because they were not wearing the garment suitable for the wedding. Besides, we find our Lord Jesus Christ himself speaking openly: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Behold, he already called all to himself; and no one would lack the grace of the calling; for by saying "all," he excludes no one. Those whom he knew from afar, he says, what sort they would be, them he predestined to participate in the future goods, and them he called, so that through the...
faith in Him they might obtain justification and no longer sin. But glory, for those who have once and for all become partakers in incorruption and immortality, he has bestowed upon all these things. By these words, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good," B the Apostle wishes to teach that God by no means neglects His elect while He allows them to be tested by present calamities. For how could that be? Since he called them to the enjoyment of such great goods, not now, but long ago and from the very beginning, from the time when He knew by His ineffable foreknowledge what sort they would be, even before they were born. For knowing from above that they would be such, he prepared for them from afar goods proportional to his disposition toward them. How then is it possible that he should overlook those for whom, even before their power of choice existed, he had prepared rewards, and for these reasons had called them? So that through faith in Him, for those who have chosen to do good, all things work together, with God acting as their defender. For he who did not spare His own Son by nature, that He might save those in danger and deliver them from perils, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior, testimonium mihi perhibente conscientia mea.
(Cod. f. 125.) God at the beginning made Israel His own choice, and indeed He even called him His firstborn; but they became arrogant and insolent, and, what is more, they became the slayers of the Lord. For this reason they have perished; for they have become cast off and cast out, and having fallen away entirely from their intimacy with God, they have been placed behind the nations; and they have appeared even as strangers to the hope of their fathers. C But since the blessed Paul was appointed a minister of the divine Gospels, and preached Jesus to the nations, saying everywhere and in all places that those who are of the blood of Israel had fallen from grace, while asserting that those who were once buried in darkness and were worshippers of demons had now been called according to the purpose and foreknowledge of God—lest any of the more ignorant should think that he was, so to speak, insulting his own kinsmen who were lying prostrate, and mocking those who had fallen, he offers a necessary defense, and says: "Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior," and the rest. But for those who have wandered into such perversity of ways as to fall away from the love of God, and who in consequence have had to endure severe punishments, it would be a matter for any man to feel sadness; and to shed a tear for them out of brotherly love is not contrary to reason, but rather denotes supreme charity. D Yet truly, to wish to be anathema from Christ for them—that, indeed, exceeds every measure of love. For no one who is in his right mind would choose, for the sake of the salvation of others, to offend God, and while disregarding his own life, to seek to procure the profit of others. Why then, what does he say concerning the salvation of the Jews, what compensation...
does he set before his own A? It is, therefore, a hyperbolic statement, and a proof of the most perfect charity. For "I could wish," he says, "that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brothers"; for it is as if he were to say: If, by my incurring the offense of Christ, Israel is saved, I would certainly wish it; I myself (who also said to those justified by faith: "For I decided to know nothing among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified," and who proclaimed openly to all: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?")—I myself, I say, would clearly wish to undergo such a great evil, and to go to destruction alone on behalf of all. But indeed, he speaks in such a way that he might draw the Jews to apply themselves to faith, and turn aside the slanders of the foolish. For some of the Jews were imagining that divine Paul, as if insane, was opposing the Mosaic laws. Hence he also wrote to those who believe: "For whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we are of sound mind, it is for you." Therefore, he says, I would indeed wish, and very eagerly, in order to save those of my own blood, to be anathema from Christ. He adds, however, as if showing a suitable cause for his grief on their behalf—wherefore he had come to such a decision of mind, and that it might not appear something harsh and absurd while he says he wishes to spend his own life for the life of others—he adds, I say: "First of all," he says, "they are Israelites, whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service, and the promises; and from them also is Christ according to the flesh." Certainly, if the law of Moses had not been a witness of our relationship with God, or for those few who not long ago had known the true God by his own nature; if the Jews had not sprouted from the root of the holy Fathers, and had been heirs of their nobility; if they themselves had not been the first to have pursued the modes of worshipping God, and had received the hope of the promises; certainly, one would be permitted to entertain a much lesser anxiety concerning them. Now, since their fathers, and the rest of the commonwealth, after a not unsuccessful course, had collapsed into an unexpected end, and had fallen away from their hope, why should he not be truly grieved who had fallen into such calamitous circumstances?
IX, 6. But it is not possible that the word of God should have failed.
He speaks precisely: for he says that it is least of all possible for the word of God to be false, that is, to be able to stray from the truth. D For God, the God of all, promised clearly to Abraham from the beginning of the world that he would be the father of many. And again: "Multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the multitude of the stars in heaven." It was necessary, therefore, that Abraham be shown to be the father not only of the Israelites (for the nation that came from him was but one), but of countless peoples throughout the whole world, who are likewise reckoned as sons of Abraham, if they indeed are of the promise, and walk
and stand in the footsteps of his faith, according to what is written. For as the blessed Paul himself says somewhere: “Not through the law was the promise given to Abraham, that he should be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith; for if they who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.” Since, therefore, the seed of Abraham is reckoned as in Isaac, that is, according to the promise (for these were the words of the promise: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son”), it is evident that it would not follow that all children of the flesh are in every way and altogether to be reckoned as children of God; rather, those should have the glory of this privilege who are of the promise, B that is, those who are to be such through faith.
“Not only so, but also Rebecca, having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac.” IX, 10. It must be known that the sense of the discourse here is not perfect, but rather suspended and in need of some brief addition; that is, something must be understood so that it may not appear to limp. The matter is as follows: The Apostle had previously demonstrated that because Isaac was given to Abraham by promise, it does not follow that all the children of the flesh are to be reckoned to him as seed, but that it is more fitting that he be called the father of those who are children by faith and promise. Then he comes to Rebecca and the events concerning her, C and says: “Not only so,” that is, “my argument does not stop merely at the birth of Isaac, but Rebecca also, having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac.” And it was necessary to add this; it would perhaps have been included for the sake of proof and confirmation, that is, it would serve as a pattern and image of the calling and grace given through election and foreknowledge. For with some such word added, his subsequent discourse would then have seemed to flow fully. But I know not how, having omitted that, he passed immediately to the remaining things which were said and done concerning the birth of those from Isaac.
IX, 14-24. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid!” D and so on, until: “And he called us, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles.” Since it was likely that some of those who are prone to calumny would believe that Jacob and Esau had obtained the inclination of their wills without scrutiny, and that the one had been loved by a peculiar grace, while the other had been hated, the Apostle, forestalling this injurious opinion concerning the divine decrees, necessarily attempts to defend his own words, lest they appear to contradict one another, thus in some way rising up against them. For if, he says, even before the children had done anything, and before any experience or deeds of their own, the one was deemed worthy of love, and the other was hated,
and ordered to serve the lesser, perhaps God is unjust. But how is this not a foolish thing to say? For if the good man Jacob had not come to be, and if Esau had not been wicked, one might reasonably say that the foreknowledge was perhaps mistaken, and that what was determined for both came to be the result of a random impulse and uncertain desires. But since Esau was very depraved A and Jacob was wise, the foreknowledge of God does no injury at all, granting beforehand—even before the time—to the good man the habits by which he would obtain the love of God, and allowing the other, who was not of this sort, to bring condemnation upon himself. For it was not difficult for God to show patience and wait for the time of their deeds, so that each of them might be distinguished by his own works. But because it was necessary to represent in a preliminary type the mystery of the grace given by election and of the gift B given by foreknowledge, for this reason the excellent Artificer of such things, God, in a way seized the occasion and, right from the birth of these children, demonstrated that Isaac—as though he alone descended from Abraham—would be the father of innumerable nations, who were to be called by promise and as if by faith. But if, again, God shows mercy as God to those whom He chooses according to knowledge—or rather, to those to whom it is reasonable that showing mercy is fitting (for He once said to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I C have compassion”)—how will this matter not be beyond any calumny? But the Apostle, I believe, clearly foreseeing that some would perhaps think that it is by divine nods that some are good and others disobedient, necessarily brings forward himself the objections arising from their ignorance, and says: “It is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” For if Esau was hated even before he had done any evil, and Jacob was honored before he was brought into being, and yet He shows mercy on whom He shows mercy; how is it not D then worth considering whether it is of no avail for one to run or to will—that is, for one who is eager to do some good—and whether all our affairs depend upon the nods of God? Then he heaps up the things that can strengthen this opinion, and says: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you.’” He then adds to these what is as it were the conclusion of the whole problem, saying: “So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.”
You will say to me, therefore: Why does He still blame man? For who has ever resisted His will? What, I ask, remains as a method of defending divine providence? The question is certainly obscure, and one which might seem to favor their objections. Nevertheless, although it is sufficient for our defense in this matter that nothing is done by God outside of justice and right—for He distributes to each what is fitting for him—there is a method of apology for it; although it is very difficult and seems perhaps even to bolster the problems raised by those men. Yet it is sufficient for understanding that nothing would ever happen outside of the reason that is fitting from God; for He distributes to each what is fitting for him.
(1) It is again intimated that predestination is after foreseen, and manifests the doctrine: Foreknowing those who were going to love Him, He predestined, etc.
He succors and has mercy on those to whom it is fitting that mercy should be shown, A but he subjects the wicked to penalties, not with the punishment following immediately and at the heels of their transgressions, but rather with a long-suffering patience preceding it, such that some might even come to think that God is unconcerned with affairs on earth. Paul therefore confronts them and stands in opposition to those who talk in this way, directing the force of his argument toward the persons brought forward as examples, I mean Esau and Pharaoh. B He speaks, then, toward each of those named: "O man, who are you to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why did you make me thus?'" He makes it clear by an evident example that it is very perilous to criticize divine judgments. For if anyone should choose to think reasonably, he will certainly leave the judgment of individual things to God, who knows all things, in whatever way He Himself knows to be appropriate; he will not doubt in any way that whatever He chooses to do is holy, molding things according to His authority as He chances to. Therefore, he vehemently blames those who apply a scrutinizing mind in any way to divine promptings, examining whether they are right or not. For he says C they ought rather to imitate the workmanship in the hand of the potter and with silence endure the work of God. "For the thing molded will not say to its molder, 'Why did you make me thus?'" But perhaps some may say, even in regard to this: "If God, like a potter, molds things according to whatever way He wishes, so that He makes one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor, how does this not persuade one to think entirely and in every way that each and every person is such as he has been divinely formed to be? So that one is born unto dishonor and has been allotted such a nature, and another is formed, or rather raised up, hard-hearted, in order that, as He Himself says, 'His name might be declared D throughout all the earth.'" What complaint, then, does the Scripture still have against sinners? For they have been made for this purpose.
Against such things one might say that, for one thing, they could not say that the power of these thoughts indicates to us differences of natures in these cases; for He did not say that some were made crude and hardened, or into vessels of honor and dishonor, nor did He assign such a nature to them at all. Rather, it persuades one to think that some are molded just like pottery vessels, some unto honor and some unto dishonor. And the manner of the example is taught to us from prophetic words. According to what manner, then, are some molded, just like pottery, some unto honor and some unto dishonor, and for what causes, one might know by consulting the words of Jeremiah. It is written thus: "Arise, and go down to the house of the potter, and there you shall hear my words. And I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was doing work upon the stones; and it fell, the vessel which he was making, in his hands; and he made it again another vessel, as it pleased before him to make it. And it came to pass, he says, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 'If as the potter...'"
A I shall not be able to do to you, O house of Israel? Behold, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hands. I will speak at last concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I may pluck them up; and that nation shall turn from all their evils; and I will repent of the evils that I thought to do unto them. And I will speak at last concerning a nation and a kingdom, that they may be built up and planted; and they shall do evil before me, so as not to hear my voice, and I will repent of the good things which I spoke to do unto them.' Do you see in what manner some are formed for honor, and others for ignominy? Not because they have obtained by lot a nature created in this way, but because they each receive the equal and fitting recompense for their own works. And indeed, if the Creator of all things punishes the man who turns away from upright works to foul ones, and in turn crowns with honors him who passes from foul things to good ones, how is it not true to say that some have by no means become base by nature, or are formed for their own sake, but rather have become as vessels of ignominy because, although they had chosen once to live a life upright before God, they have through voluntary weakness turned toward things that are worse?
B At, however, someone will say, God himself hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and indeed he also said to him: 'For this very purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power in you.' Come then, if God hardens some and himself raises them up as vessels of wrath, which are said to have been fashioned for destruction, why does he still find fault? For who has resisted his will? But how could he who is hardened by him be good? What then should I be able to answer to these things? It suffices for the cognition of the truth, if we consider and believe, that God could never be the author of any base thing; for all things whatsoever he has made are very good. If, then, they maintain that the Egyptian was not a man, and prove that he did not share in the same nature as we, we also will hold our peace. But if he was like us, and the divine oracle clearly declares that it does not do evil, neither is it so, or, if they shudder at this, let them confess that the things brought into existence by him are good. For in this way they will repel that most petulant judgment. But the words, 'For this very purpose I raised you up,' spoken to Pharaoh, denote C not 'I created' or 'I formed,' but rather 'I called' him to the will of resisting me, and not from the beginning of his birth, but at the time when Moses was sent to deliver Israel. And for what things, or for what reason, the all-wise Paul will make clear to us: 'For wishing,' he says, 'God to show his wrath,' and the rest. D
A The whole earth had been in error in the times prior to this; for some worshipped the creation, while others fashioned a religion according to their own desire. Abraham was eventually called to the knowledge of God, and thus there grew from him a race devoted to the worship of God. But since they themselves also went down into Egypt, and then spent long periods of time there, they slipped into error and worshipped the gods of the inhabitants. But God remembered the things He had promised to the fathers; and Moses was chosen for the mission, that he might deliver Israel from servitude. But it was necessary for those who had been called to the worship under Him, and for all peoples throughout the earth, not only to be persuaded that the God of the Hebrews had been manifested after a long passage of time, but also to be confirmed by exceedingly great miracles in the faith and glory concerning B Him—that He is not, like other gods, speechless and powerless; but rather that He Himself steers the whole universe, and that His wrath strikes down those who oppose His commands. But it was necessary, again, for God, wishing to perform wonders, to appear fittingly as He approached this. Pharaoh was therefore raised up for resistance in the economy of salvation, and he was hardened against the divine power; and for this reason he was not unjustly punished, for he was an impious man and an idolater, and he used to maltreat Israel with mud and the making of bricks, and he imposed upon them toil in place of wages. Therefore he was necessarily termed a vessel of wrath, and he had been fitted for destruction, that is, he had driven himself to such a state of wickedness that he became at last a vessel of wrath and destruction. God made use of this man for the demonstration of the power that was in Him, so that His name might be proclaimed in all the earth, and so that he might be seen to suffer things C of which he was worthy to suffer; so that the suffering was owed because of his first sins, and even if he had not caused offense by his second ones. Therefore, let every blame and babbling against God be dissolved; for wishing to demonstrate His wrath and to make known His power, He bore with great patience the vessels of wrath which had been fitted for destruction, that He might benefit the vessels of mercy, that is, those who have been shown mercy through faith. For we have been called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles.
*Moses indeed writes of the justice that is from the law, etc.*
*Moses writes of the justice that is from the law, he says: "The man who has done these things shall live by them."* But there was no one at all who was able to accomplish it blamelessly. *"For who shall understand his transgressions?"* The grace that justifies is therefore better, and it delivers us from the writing that is in the law.
*But the justice that is from faith, etc.*
It is helpfully defined, and as it would come to pass towards D our faith, if it might have the blamelessness before God, and that which has been made exceedingly well...
For to doubt at all and to be tossed about A in the weakness of the mind, and to waver of one's own accord, is a thing altogether to be detested. It seems also superfluous and most dangerous if anyone should think it necessary to scrutinize those things which are both ineffable and surpass our understanding. For how could those things which God has wrought by an ineffable plan be made manifest? Furthermore, who is the one whose eye of the heart is so great as to be able to look upon God? Or rather, who will understand, even if someone should choose to speak and recount those things which are far and away beyond us? For our Lord Jesus Christ, when once conversing with Nicodemus concerning spiritual regeneration, was saying: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one be born anew from above, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Then He also added the things that follow there. But when Nicodemus understood nothing at all, then indeed, then Christ, showing that the dullness of the human mind is far removed from the subtlety of understanding, says: "If I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe, how B will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?" He added to these: "Amen, amen, I say to you, that we speak what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and no one receives our testimony." Therefore, those things that are higher than us are inscrutable. For if it is truly said that even those things which are in our hands are with difficulty comprehended by us, as it is written, why is it not necessary to think that in those things which surpass our reasoning, faith is a most useful thing, with no examination accompanying it, and no vain searching applied? For in these matters, prudence is the chief ornament. C
X, 11. *Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame*, etc.
Let not Israel consider salvation through faith to be a good peculiar to itself alone; for everyone, says the Scripture, who calls upon the name of the Lord, will be saved, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free. God, the God of all, saves impartially; for all things belong to Him. Thus we say that all things are gathered together in Christ.
XI, 1-3. *Has God rejected His people? Far from it.*
Wisely does Paul, although Israel is suffering from blindness, nevertheless not allow it to be D more severely hardened.