Commentary on the Epistles of Paul

the apostles appoint Stephen and those with him to the ministry. Then ^A we find Stephen immediately stoned, and Paul consenting to the murder. He soon afterwards rushes off to Damascus, as if intending to slay the saints who were dwelling there. Yet in the middle of the journey, his calling came from God, so that year had scarcely been completed. He began to preach immediately upon the arrival of the nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar; and he is put to death in the thirteenth year of Nero, having his head cut off with a sword.

NARRATIVE CONCERNING THE HOLY APOSTLE PAUL

PROLOGUE OF EUTHALIUS THE DEACON

189 Euthalius the Deacon’s Prologue ^B Paul the Apostle was a Hebrew by race, of the tribe of Benjamin, and a Pharisee by profession; he was instructed in the Law of Moses under a faithful teacher, Gamaliel. In addition to this, he inhabited Tarsus, which is called the eye of Cilicia. He pursued and fought against the Church of God; therefore, he was present at the murder of the apostle and martyr Stephen, and was a participant in the slaughter at that time, having taken upon himself the custody of the garments of all who were stoning him, so ^C that he might use the hands of all for the killing. And he was seen as the first among those who were stirring up sedition, striving everywhere to destroy those who were the elite followers of piety. Many and great were the things perpetrated by him against the Church, and he left nothing undone up to the point of an incredible madness. For he believed that in this he was worshipping God and acting most righteously, just as he himself confesses in his epistles, and Luke narrates in his second book. For he did not only, like most of the Jews, long ago hate and turn away from the preaching of the truth, but he also harbored an anger greater than any nation of the heathens. For when he saw the preaching shining forth, and the flourishing word of truth becoming stronger than the Jewish doctrine 190, he was troubled by this, and thinking the greatest injury was being done because their doctrine was falling into contempt, with all promptness and zeal against

^A the pupils of the Church he proceeded, in order that he might reclaim them from the true teaching, or demand from them the punishments owed for their faith in Christ. When, therefore, Paul had at that time received letters from the priests and teachers addressed to the Jews living in Damascus, he rushed with great violence and fervor, like some furious mountain torrent, appearing as though he would engulf the disciples dwelling in Damascus and cast them into the abyss of perdition. But the Lord, seeing that he held an unjust madness under the guise of what he supposed was a just purpose, appeared to him in the middle of the road and deprived him of his sight ^B by the greatness of his light. And he was so transformed that he who formerly devised nothing but what was terrible against the Church, and expected utterly to destroy all the disciples, immediately and at once began to consider this man his own most beloved and faithful friend. For he who was a persecutor immediately becomes a petitioner of God, at once casting off the regiment of madness, he went over to represent the embassy, and confessed the piety toward Christ, and is sent to a certain disciple in Damascus, Ananias. When God, the investigator of truth, saw the man calmed and having become better than his former evils, he decreed that he should escape punishment in no other way than this. Having gone forth, therefore, he is baptized, and becomes a participant in the ineffable mysteries, and a worthy ally of the preaching. And having been entrusted with a new preaching by God, he had a newer starting-point for salvation. Having undergone such a change, then, and still further having changed concerning the Law, and having been transferred to the highest zeal for piety, the blessed Paul, so that he might confirm the disciples of the truth—if ever it happened that he was away—by means of letters, so that they might acquire instruction from him, not only through deeds, but also through words for the time to come; and being fortified on both sides, they might carry around in their soul an unshakable bulwark of piety. After some time, ^C Paul again runs to Jerusalem, intending to see Peter, where indeed they divide among themselves the whole world. And Paul, having taken the portion of the Gentiles, just as Peter was allotted to teach the Jewish people, traveled through many cities and many regions. And in a short time he filled almost all of Illyricum with the dogmas of the piety toward Christ. Having therefore suffered ten thousand terrible things and endured for the sake of the faith in Christ—along with many and various dangers, which he himself records—on account of the Gospel, and having overcome them all and wrestled them down by faith (for although Paul was willing, God held him back to live among men for his own appointed time, until he should preach the Gospel to all the Gentiles, and when this time was drawing to a close, ^D Paul returns again to Jerusalem, intending to visit the saints who were there and to assist the poor among them. In the meantime, a certain sedition seized the city, and the people were in great turmoil, with the Jews agitating the, commons. For they considered it a terrible and grave thing to have as an accuser the man who was formerly their leader and partner in their madness, and they were eager to kill him. But the chiliarch immediately...

but the tribune immediately rescued him, and with a military escort sent him to Caesarea to the governor. They therefore took him and led him to the leader of the Gentiles, who was called Festus. But Paul, perceiving the conspiracy being prepared against him by the Jews, immediately standing at the tribunal, appealed to Caesar. And he was indeed released for the time being from the judgment seat, and the malice which was being devised against him by the Jews lay dormant, and finally he was sent under guard to Rome to Caesar. ^B And having there undertaken the same struggles, and having labored for the same rewards, he finally departed from this life also for the sake of the doctrines of the truth, judging that his walk with Christ was better than this mortal and fragile life. For a little later the Caesar Nero, wishing to lead him out of this life, bestowed upon him the true and truly living life, and appointed as an heir of heaven him whom the earth had deprived. These, then, are the cities which the most illustrious apostle of Christ, Paul, traversed with his preaching, to set forth in summary what follows.

THE TRAVELS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

Then to Syracuse. Then to Rhegium. And from there ^A to Puteoli. And from there he went up on foot to Rome, and when the brethren met him at the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns, he finally entered Rome, and after teaching for a sufficient time, he later suffered martyrdom in that very city of Rome, having fought the good fight there. The Romans, having enclosed his remains in beautiful silver caskets, celebrate an annual day of his memory, observing his martyrdom on the third day before the Kalends of July. But before this, the blessed one had already given many exhortations concerning life and virtue, and had instructed men in many things regarding what must be done. And furthermore, through the entire fabric of these fourteen epistles, he outlined the whole way of life for men. ^B I considered it necessary to note down briefly in this place the time of Paul's preaching, summarizing it from the chronological canons of Eusebius Pamphili. Upon taking the book in my hands and opening it, I find that the passion of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ occurred in the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, and his resurrection immediately on the third day, and again the assumption of Christ into heaven. And after a few days, I saw the apostles choosing there for service the man who bore his own name, Stephen, and those with him. And afterwards I grasp the sedition of the Jews again, just as we have already said, and Stephen suffering in it, and Paul consenting to his murder. He, a short time later, having stood before the rulers of the Jews, took letters to the Jews who lived in Damascus ^C against the disciples. But in the middle of the journey, his calling by God occurred, a little before the end of that year. For once the nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar had begun, history writes that Paul began his preaching: and that he traversed the entire inhabited world, spreading the religion of Christ, up to the thirteenth year of Claudius Caesar, when Felix was governor of Judea: under whom Paul, being accused by the Jews, made his defense. He indeed confined the apostle in the prison at Caesarea for two years. After him, having taken up the rule, Porcius Festus immediately attempted to judge the Apostle, wishing to secure great favor among the Jews by this act. Then therefore the blessed Paul, thinking that he could not otherwise avoid the plot except by appealing to Caesar, standing at the tribunal ^D appealed to Caesar, and he is sent to Rome, to Caesar Nero. Aristarchus was also with him, whom he also rightly calls a fellow-prisoner in a certain place in the epistles, and Luke, who handed down the Acts of the Apostles in writing. Paul was therefore kept under Roman guard there for two full years. For Luke writes these things and up to this point in the Acts of the Apostles, having written the book at that time, and as he did not at all know the things that would come next, he did not record his martyrdom. For they left him there, and Luke and Aristarchus returned. But Eusebius, making diligent inquiry into the subsequent times, wrote for us in the second book of his Church History of this

his martyrdom, and that Paul passed his time in freedom, and preached the word of God without hindrance. ^A For account has it that at that time, when Paul had answered for himself under Nero and had been acquitted by the emperor, he was sent forth again to the ministry of preaching, and disseminated the word of the Gospel for another ten years. But when Nero had reached the height of madness, he first slew his own mother Agrippina, and furthermore his father's sister, and Octavia his own wife, and countless others related to him by blood. Then he stirred up a universal persecution against the Christians, and thus it reached the slaughter of the apostles. For having summoned Paul, he placed him once again before the tribunal. Luke, meanwhile, had joined him again. And it came to pass there that Paul, in the thirty-sixth year after the saving Passion and the thirteenth of Nero, suffered martyrdom, his head being cut off with a sword. There are, therefore, from the nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, in which he began to preach the Gospel, until the twenty-second year, four years; and likewise the years of Gaius, four years. Again, the years of Claudius, a little less than fourteen. ^B Following him, Nero, in the thirteenth year of his reign, put the Apostle to death. The Apostle Paul himself writes of this his first defense to Timothy: "At my first defense no one took my part, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to bear the message fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth" (2 Tim. iv, 16, 17), meaning Nero by this name. Regarding the second, indeed, "in which he also finished his life by martyrdom," he says: "Fulfill your ministry. For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come." And because Luke was with him again, he writes after a few words in the epistle: "Luke the physician with me greets you." The entire time then of the Apostle's former preaching is twenty-one years, besides the other two years which he spent in prison at Caesarea. To these again be added the two first years after he had arrived at Rome, and the final ten: so that all the years from his calling until his death were thirty-five. ^{C D}

MARTYRDOM OF THE APOSTLE PAUL.

ARGUMENT OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

^A The Epistle to the Romans contains the preparation for Christ, especially as demonstrated by natural reasonings; and for this reason, it is placed before all others, as written to those who already possessed a foundation for divine worship. He sends this from Corinth, not having yet seen the Romans, but having heard of them and desiring to see them. And first, he says that he is pleased with their faith, which he sees being proclaimed everywhere. Next, he signifies that he had often proposed to come to them, ignited by desire for them, but had not yet been able. And then he composes a letter full of instruction regarding the calling of the nations. And that circumcision was until a time, and now has ceased. And that through Christ the fall of Adam has been undone, and the shadow of the law has passed away. He therefore consistently establishes the calling of the nations, showing that the law is innate in all men, and that all, by an untaught nature and from creation itself, are able to know God. Therefore, he rightly reproves the Greeks first, for although God manifested to them from the works of the world the knowledge of Himself and of His eternal power—which is His Word, in whom and through whom He created all things—they did not acknowledge from the creatures that God was their Creator, but made the works into gods and worshipped the creation rather than the Creator. He also reproves the Jews, as those who had not kept the law, but rather, through the transgression of the law, had dishonored God. And thus he locks up and convicts both of the greatest ones, Jews and Greeks, for lawlessness, to show that all who have been born, every one of them, are equally liable and are in need of a Redeemer. And the grace and redemption having been made equally available to the Jews and to the nations, the calling of the nations naturally took place. ^B And with the calling of the nations having occurred, of necessity circumcision and the shadow which was in the law have ceased. For Abram, he says, not in circumcision but before circumcision was justified, and his name was changed to Abraham, because he was to be the father of many nations, according to the faith which he had in uncircumcision. He took, after he had been justified, circumcision in the flesh, so as to be a sign to those born of him according to the flesh, that circumcision would some day cease, when the nations became children of Abraham, having begun to live according to the faith of Abraham, in which he was justified when he was in uncircumcision. For the sake of these things, his name was changed to Abraham. ^C It is necessary, when the things signified have arrived, that the sign should cease. If, therefore, the nations are forced to be circumcised, let them also cease the name of Abraham, and let him be called Abram. But if Abraham was renamed by God, then there is no need for the nations to be circumcised, nor even for the Jews themselves, who are such according to the flesh, so that the name may remain firm and he may be called the father of many nations. For there is no need, from this point on, for anyone to be circumcised, as the faith of Abraham is sufficient for them, nor indeed to observe the other shadow of the law. For not from these...

but through faith is someone justified, just as Abraham was. Having ^A established these things thus, he proves again that there could not otherwise be any redemption or grace for Israel and the nations, unless the ancient sin of Adam, which spread to all, were undone. He says that it could not be blotted out by another, except through Christ who is God, through whom the curse also came into being from the beginning: for it was not possible for another to undo the transgression. Then he writes that this cannot happen in any other way than if the Son of God should clothe himself in a body and become man, so that by offering this for all, he might liberate all from death. And just as through one man sin entered into the world, so also through one man might grace come. And finally, like a good steward, he comforts the Jews, saying: "You do not become transgressors of the law if you believe in Christ." But he admonishes those who have believed from among the nations not to be exalted against Israel, but to acknowledge that just as branches upon a root, so they themselves have been grafted upon them. After these things, having instructed them with hortatory words concerning conduct, he concludes the epistle.

198 ARGUMENT OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

1. Evangelical teaching concerning those who live outside the grace of Christ, and those who are in grace; and concerning hope and spiritual conversation. 2. Concerning the judgment that is brought against the nations, not observing those things which are by nature. 3. Concerning the judgment that is brought against Israel, not observing the things that are lawful. 4. Concerning the prerogative of the Israelites, who attained the promise. 5. Concerning the grace by which men alone are justified, not divided by race, but according to God's gift, being honored equally according to the type of Abraham. 6. Concerning the hope that is laid up. 7. How Jesus Christ, having become man for us, introduced salvation, in place of the earth-born Adam who had fallen from the beginning. 8. Concerning the good work that is owed and must accompany faith. 9. A repetition concerning the life which is in grace. 10. Concerning the condemnation which was under the law because of sin. 11. Concerning the passions in human nature, which make conformity to the law impossible. ^C 12. Concerning the change of natural affections through conformity to the Spirit. 13. A repetition concerning the glory which is laid up for the saints. 14. Concerning the love which is owed to Christ. 15. Concerning the fall of Israel who was cast away, and the calling of the true Israel, who was brought in with the nations. ^D

16. When, according to incredulity, there was a fall of the Jews through erroneous knowledge and a preaching that did not befit them. ^A 17. Concerning the purpose according to which they were cast out, so that they might return a second time through the imitation of the honored nations, that is, the believers who have come together in the faith. 18. An exhortation concerning virtue, which is toward God and men. 19. Concerning the imitation of Christ’s long-suffering. 20. Concerning his ministry, in the East and in the West.

SCHOLIUM

Before Paul arrived in Rome, the Jews had been warned not to receive the preaching concerning Christ. And not only they themselves, but also all who were dwelling in all places of the world. But whence is this manifest? We find in the writings of the ancients that the priests and scribes and elders who dwelt in Jerusalem, having drawn up letters, sent them to all the nations, to the Jews everywhere, defaming the doctrine of Christ ^B as being alien to God. And they commanded them by letters not to receive it. This very thing, indeed, the prophecy of Isaiah seems to signify, saying: "Woe to the land of the wings of ships, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, sending messengers by the sea, and papyrus letters over the water" (Isa. xviii, 1, 2). By these words he signifies that even beyond the land of the Ethiopians and the furthest ends of the earth, the sound of the malice of those who inhabited Judea went forth by way of certain winged ships; and their ^C apostles, carrying papyrus letters and navigating over the waters and crossing the sea, ran everywhere in the world, defaming the word which was about our Savior. For even to this time, it is the custom for the Jews to call those "apostles" who carry circular letters from their own rulers. But what follows in the prophecy is said concerning the disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom, because they were evangelists of good things to all men, he named "light angels," in contrast to those whom he had indicated as Jewish apostles.