Commentary on the Epistle of Blessed Paul to the Romans

For this indeed which Scripture says: "Saul, who also is called Paul," clearly shows that the name Paul was not then imposed upon him for the first time, but designates that this had been his ancient appellation. ^A Since this was omitted by the author of the work himself, I think that we have not inappropriately prefixed it, since the beginning of the dissertation seemed to demand it. The rest of the body of the explanations we shall pursue with such brevity as we can.

He said Thaddaeus, Luke wrote Judas of James. He writes down the laws and precepts from the Greeks and the nations. It is certain, however, that the evangelists did not err in the names of the apostles; but because it was the custom for Hebrews to use two or three names, individuals placed the different names of one and the same man. ^B According to this custom, therefore, it seems to us that Paul also used a double name; and while he was ministering to his own nation, he was called Saul, which also seemed more vernacular to his paternal name; but he was called Paul when...

ORIGEN'S COMMENTARIES ON THE EPISTLE OF BLESSED PAUL TO THE ROMANS. BOOK ONE

461 1. *Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ*. We have already spoken about Paul. Let us now inquire why he is called a servant, he who writes elsewhere: *For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry: Abba, Father*; and again: *But because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father*. ^C Therefore, he is no longer a servant, but a son. How then, when he even says to those whom he was preaching that he is now no longer a servant but a son, does he himself profess himself a servant? Whether we think this was said according to that humility which the Lord taught, saying: *Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart*, we shall not err. For the truth of liberty is not harmed in Paul by this. For he himself says: *For whereas I was free as to all, I made myself the servant of all*. He serves Christ, therefore, not in the spirit of bondage, but in the spirit of adoption, because the service of Christ is more noble than any liberty. Or as an imitator of him who had said: *I am in the midst of you, not as he that sits at meat, but as he that serves*; and of him who emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, so that as he became under the law to those who are under the law, and to those who are without the law he was made even as one without the law, so also he might be made a servant for those who are still servants and have not yet been led into the liberty of the sons through the spirit of adoption, this will not seem to be a contradiction. To this may also be added that which the same Apostle writes to the Corinthians, and while giving precepts about marriage or chastity, he interjects certain things about liberty and servitude as though under another name, saying: *Hast thou been called, being a bondman? Care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a bondman, is the freeman of the Lord. Likewise he that is called, being free, is the bondman of Christ. You are bought with a price; be not made the bondslaves of men*. These things indeed seem to some to be inserted contrary to reason. For what [do these have to do] with the precepts of marriage or chastity...

^A? But we understand the sense of Paul thus: that he calls him a bondslave who is bound by the condition of wedlock; because "the wife has not power of her own body, but her husband; and the husband has not power of his own body, but his wife." On account of which he says also to them in other places, that "the brother or sister is not in such cases under bondage," namely, because he knew that in other matters they were subject to bondage. There is, therefore, a called bondslave, who being in wedlock comes to Christ, to whom it is said, "Wert thou called being a bondslave? Let it not concern thee; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather," because among those who are married, the liberty of one’s own continence produces a danger of chastity for the other. For they ought not to be absent from prayer for a time, except by consent, and it is necessary to return to the same state again, lest Satan tempt them because of their incontinence. He, therefore, who is called a bondslave because of the tie of marriage, is a freedman of the Lord. For a freedman is neither entirely free, nor is he entirely a bondslave. If he has been free in other virtues, if he has held the liberty of faith, patience, mercy, and justice, he is called a freedman of the Lord, inasmuch as he is free because of the virtues of his soul, and is a bondslave because of the necessity of wedlock. But he is a free man who comes to Christ without a wife through the purity of continence, who nevertheless is made a bondslave of Christ, while he serves the virtues entirely. Paul, therefore, as some hand down, was called while having a wife; of whom he says, writing to the Philippians: "I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women": because he was made free from her by consent, he calls himself a bondslave of Christ. But if, as it seems to others, he was without a wife, he who is called free is nonetheless a bondslave of Christ. But what is it to be a bondslave of Christ, unless it is to be a bondslave of the Word of God, of wisdom, of justice, of truth, and of all virtues whatsoever, which things Christ altogether is? But let us also add this to this place, if it seems right, that just as the knowledge which is now given to the saints is given through a glass and in a riddle, as are prophecy and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit: so also the liberty which is now granted to the saints is not yet full liberty, but ^B is as it were through a glass, and in a riddle; and therefore the holy ones say they are bondslaves, in comparison to that liberty which is bestowed face to face. For who, while placed in the flesh, can attain to full liberty, so that he in no way serves the flesh? Just as no one, while placed in the body, can have the adoption of sons in its fullness. And would that this at least could be obtained in the life of mortals, that one should become a bondslave of Christ entirely and not of the flesh, not of blood, not of vain glory, not of desire, not of avarice, not of anger, not of envy; but that he should serve Christ alone, that is, should serve all the virtues at once. These things [are said] concerning that which is written: "Paul, a bondslave of Jesus Christ."

2. "Called to be an Apostle." This name, because it pertains to all who believe in Christ, can be seen as general; but everyone, according to that which God foreknew and chose in him, is called either an apostle, or a prophet, or a teacher, or is free from a wife, or is a bondslave in wedlock; and according to the diversity of grace that which is written is fulfilled: "Many are called, but few are chosen." It must be known, however, that it is possible for someone to be a called apostle, or a called prophet, or a called teacher, and if he neglects the grace of his calling, to fall away from it: just as Judas, who was called an apostle, and being neglectful of the grace of his calling, was made a traitor from an apostle. And he was indeed a called apostle, but he was not a chosen apostle. But also that prophet who in the third book of Kingdoms is reported to have prophesied concerning Jeroboam, was a called prophet; if, however, [he was] also chosen, let him who ^C examines this decide, because although he was forbidden to eat bread in Israel, he did eat, and was slain by a lion. There are also many called teachers through all the Churches of God, and called ministers; but I know not who among these are chosen teachers, and chosen ministers. Thus also I think there are some who are called indeed to suffer for Christ, but not chosen; that is, called martyrs, but not chosen martyrs: as are those who, after the agonies of torments and prisons, did not endure unto the end in the endurance of their confession. There is also a called virgin, but not a chosen virgin;

^A who might not have been holy in body and spirit. And there is a called pastor, but not a chosen pastor ^B, who indeed presides over the flock, and uses its milk, and is covered by its wool; but he does not seek the infirm, and does not gather the lame, and he circumscribes the strong with labor. Thus also there is a called abstainer, but not a chosen abstainer ^C, namely, one who fasts and disfigures his face that he may please men. But even through the individual degrees of graces, you will similarly find many who are called, but few who are chosen.

3. *Separated unto the Gospel of God*. In Paul...

Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Book I

^A ...the things to come, and whom he thus foreknew and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. The Son of God is therefore someone, being the image of the invisible God, and the image of Him, and what is called the image of the Son of God: which we deem to be the human soul which the Son of God assumed; which became an image by reason of the virtue of the image of God. And God predestinated those whom He foreknew by reason of His foreknowledge of them to become conformed to this image, which we deem to be the image of the image of the Son of God. It must not, therefore, be deemed that the foreknowledge of God is the cause of the things that shall come to pass; but rather, since they were to come to pass by the individual impulses of the one acting, for this reason He foreknew them. Knowing all things before their creation, some he thus foreknew and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, but others he saw to be alienated. ^B But if anyone brings objection to these things, asking if it is possible that those things which God foreknew as things to come might not come to pass, we shall say that while it is indeed impossible that they should not come to pass, yet it does not follow, if it is impossible that they should not come to pass, that there is a necessity that they not come to pass, or that they must come to pass; and it comes to pass not at all by necessity, but while it remains possible that they should not come to pass. The topic regarding possibilities pertains to logical agility and contemplation, in order that one who has wiped the eye of his soul may be able, through the subtlety of the proofs, to follow and understand how, even in the case of trivial matters, it is not hindered that something is possible—one thing being of the many that are to come, and foreknown in such a way that it will indeed come to pass, though not of necessity; rather, while it is possible that it should not come to pass, it will come to pass, predicted not by conjecture, but truly foreknown. And let no one think that we have passed over in silence the matter of *purpose*, as if it were troubling our argument; for Paul says: "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose." But pay attention, that the Apostle immediately provided the cause for being called according to purpose, saying: "Whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son"; and who further ought to have been included in the calling that justifies according to the purpose of God, if not those who love Him? ^C And indeed he strongly sets forth the cause of the purpose and foreknowledge from that which is *in our power*, saying: "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good"; for he almost said that all things work together for good for this reason, because those who love God are worthy of this cooperation. And at the same time, also let us put a question to those who speak the contrary, and let them answer us regarding these things: let it be granted by way of hypothesis that something is in our power, and even this we shall say to those who deny what is in our power, until their argument is refuted from the hypothesis as not being sound. If then what is in our power exists, will God, by casting His gaze upon the sequence of things to come, foreknow the things that will be done by what is in our power, by each of those who possess the power of agency, or will He not foreknow them? To say, therefore, that He will not foreknow them is characteristic of one who is ignorant of the mind above all, and of the greatness of God; but if they grant that He will foreknow, again we shall ask them: Is then His having known the cause of the things that will come to pass, given that something is in our power, or does He foreknow because they will come to pass, and is foreknowledge in no way the cause of the things that come to pass from what is in our power in each case? It was possible, therefore, for those who faced such things to act not this way, but that way, the being who was created with free will. ^D If then such things are to be said, there is also preserved the saying: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord."

And all praise [is reserved]; but kept also is the reasonable statement: "Wicked and slothful servant, you ought to have cast my money into a bank." Thus, only those things spoken justly to those on the right will be saved: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I hungered, and you gave me to eat," and so forth; and to those on the left: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; for I hungered, and you gave me no eat," and so forth. ^B But if the saying, "Set apart for the Gospel of God," and the saying, "He who set me apart from my mother’s womb," contained some necessity, how could he reasonably say, "I buffet my body and bring it into slavery, lest perhaps, having preached to others, I myself should become disqualified," and, "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel"? For he clearly demonstrates from these that if he did not buffet his body and bring it into slavery, it was possible for him, having preached to others, to become disqualified, and that it was possible for a woe to come upon him if he did not preach the Gospel. ^C Might it be, then, that along with these things God set him apart from his mother’s womb, and set him apart for the Gospel of God, while having seen the cause of such a just setting-apart, namely, that he would buffet his body and bring it into slavery, fearing lest perhaps, having preached to others, he himself might become disqualified; and that knowing a woe would be upon him if he did not preach the Gospel, out of fear toward God, that a woe might not come upon him, he did not keep silent, but preached the Gospel? And the one who set him apart for His own Gospel saw these things—that he would be in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes excessively, in deaths often, that he would be beaten by the Jews five times forty ^D save one, would be beaten with rods three times, would be stoned once, and would suffer such things—rejoicing in these tribulations, and knowing that tribulation works patience, and patient under what was foreknown to be, and being set apart from his mother’s womb, he was being set apart for the Gospel of God. And for these reasons it was worthy for him to be set apart for the Gospel of God; not because of his nature, which possessed something exceptional—so far as its construction goes—above the natures of those not like him, but because of the actions which were foreknown indeed before, but came to be afterwards, each one according to the preparation and the apostolic choice. But now, it was not the right time to render this into the exact word of the Psalm, for it would have been a digression; therefore, upon the proper occasion, God granting, it shall be rendered when we expound the Psalm. These things, as added to the "set apart," are also pleasing.

Third point of examination

But if we look at those things which are said concerning foreordainment in this Epistle which we are explaining, we shall be able, having destroyed those things which simpler [minds] drag to the opinion of one who accuses Divine doctrine of injustice, to answer concerning Him who destines from the mother’s womb, and who sets apart Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an Apostle, for the Gospel of God. These words are (Rom. 8:28, seq.): "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to His purpose, because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He Himself might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He predestined, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified." Let us therefore attend to the series of what is said. God justifies those whom He first called: but He did not justify those whom He did not call; yet He calls the predestined before the calling, whom He would not have called had He not predestined; nor is predestination the principle of justification and calling for them. For if this were the principle of the things that follow, those who introduce an absurd argument about nature would doubtlessly win: but before predestination is foreknowledge: "For whom," he says, "He foreknew, these He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." God, therefore, who looked upon the series of future things, and knew the propensity of our free will, and the impetus and affection toward piety of some after this propensity, and that they would give themselves entirely to virtue, He foreknew them; knowing indeed present things, but foreknowing future things; and those whom He thus foreknew [as] to be conformed to the image of His Son, He predestined.

The Son of God is therefore the image of the invisible God, and His image—that which is called the image of the Son of God—is what we believe to be that human soul which the Son of God assumed, made an image through the virtue of the image of God. And God predestined those whom we think to be the image of this image of the Son of God to become conformed [to it], by His foreknowledge of them. God's foreknowledge is therefore not to be thought of as the cause of future things: but because it was going to be according to the proper impulses and affections of the one acting, for that reason He foreknew, who knows all things before their birth (Dan. 13:42); whom He foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, others He saw as alienated. But if anyone should object to this, whether it is possible that those things which God foreknew would be, might not be: we shall answer that it is impossible that they do not come to pass; but it is not for that reason—because it is impossible that they do not come to pass—that it is necessary that they do not happen, or do happen. For truly, it is not at all out of necessity, but it is also possible that they might not happen. But this place requires the sharpness and perspicacity of reason and understanding concerning things that can come to pass, so that he who has cleansed the eye of his mind, having attained the subtlety of the demonstrations, may understand how, even in the smallest matters, it is not hindered.

^A Finally, see immediately in what follows what the divine word says concerning those whom the heretics think are sinners from the womb, whether by uncertainty of lot or by the prerogative of nature. For it is written: "They are estranged from the womb, they have wandered from the belly, speaking lies" (Ps. LVII, 4). If we understand how sinners wander or speak lies immediately as they come forth from their mother’s womb, we likewise understand that the just are separated from the womb. Therefore, since Paul is also said to have been "set apart for the Gospel" and "set apart from his mother’s womb," He whom the mind does not escape saw the causes and merits in him for which he ought to be set apart in this way. For He foresaw that he would labor in the Gospel more abundantly than all the rest, that he would be about to preach the Gospel of Christ in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in perils of robbers, in perils of rivers, in perils of the sea, knowing that "woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel," and that he would be about to macerate his body and subject it to servitude, lest perhaps having preached to others, he himself should become a castaway. ^B Therefore, Jesus, foreseeing these and many other similar things in him from his mother’s womb, set him apart for the Gospel on account of these things. For if, as the heretics think, it had been chosen by the prerogative of a better nature, he would certainly never have feared that if he failed to keep the reins of his body, it could happen that he might become a castaway, or that "woe to me" would be his portion if he ceased from evangelizing. Finally, even he himself, discussing this more broadly in what follows, says that "those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son," clearly showing that those whom God foreknew would be such that they would conform themselves to Christ in sufferings, those same ones He also predestined to be conformed and similar to the image of His Son and to His glory. ^C Therefore, the foreknowledge of God precedes, by which those who are to have labors and virtues in themselves are known, and thus predestination follows; and yet, on the other hand, foreknowledge is not to be thought of as the cause of predestination. For what among men is the merit of each one weighed by past deeds, that before God is judged by future ones; and he is a very impious man who does not believe God in this, that what we see in the past, He sees in the future. "Set apart," he says, "for the Gospel of God." In other places of Scripture, you have that the Gospel is Christ’s (see I Cor. IX, 16), which he says, "You gave me to eat" (ibid. 34, 35), and the things which follow: "But to those on the left: Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you did not give me something to eat," and the rest. Moreover, if that expression, "Set apart for the Gospel of God" (Rom. I, 1), and this one, "Who set me apart from my mother’s womb" (Galat. 1, 15), contained some necessity, how could Paul rightly say: "I buffet my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway" (I Cor. IX, 27); and that: "For woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel"? ^D For by these words he openly declares that, unless he chastised his body and brought it into subjection, he could, after he had preached to others, become a castaway, and that it would be woe to him himself, if he had not announced the Gospel. Perhaps, therefore, God set him apart from his mother’s womb with these conditions, and set him apart for the Gospel of God, seeing the cause of a just setting apart, that he would be about to chastise his body and bring it into subjection, fearing that, after having preached to others, he himself might become a castaway; and because, knowing it would be woe to him if he did not preach the Gospel, fearing that there would be woe for him before God, he was not silent, but preached the Gospel. And He who set him apart for His Gospel saw that he would be much more in sufferings, in prisons beyond measure, in stripes more than is just, in deaths often: that he would receive from the Jews forty lashes save one, that he would be beaten with rods three times, that he would be stoned once, and would suffer other such things, glorifying in tribulations, and knowing that "tribulation works patience," and sustaining what God had foreseen would be in the future, being set apart from his mother’s womb, and set apart for the Gospel of God. [alt-version omitted]

As the evangelist Mark also writes: *The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet.* But since Christ is the Word, and *in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God*, it is one and the same thing to speak of the Gospel of God and the Gospel of Christ, either because the Lord himself says, *I and the Father are one*, and again He says to the Father: *All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.* Therefore, the Gospel of the Father is also the Gospel of the Son. But Paul also says: *My Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles*, which he speaks of perhaps as an heir of Christ, and as a co-heir in the Gospel, since elsewhere he even speaks of it being the Gospel of many, as to the Galatians: *But if our Gospel be also hidden [it is hidden to them that are perishing]*; ours, that is, of all who are co-heirs of Christ. But according to the fact that he himself is its preacher, Paul rightly calls it his own Gospel.

^B 465 4. *Which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy Scriptures.* Whether the Gospel promised by God through the prophetic Scriptures should be taken simply; or whether one should make a distinction ^C of another Gospel, which John in the Apocalypse calls "eternal," which is to be revealed then when the shadow has passed and the truth has come, and when death has been swallowed up and eternity restored, consider this as well, you who read. To which eternal Gospel those eternal years will also seem to correspond, of which the Prophet says: *And I had the eternal years in mind.* And to this can be joined that book of life in which the names of the saints are said to be written; but also those books which, when the judgment had been set, were opened in Daniel; or those which in the prophet Ezekiel are said to be written within and without: ^D all of which are reported to be written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God. Concerning which, although it seems dangerous to commit speech to parchment, yet the sayings of wise men and enigmas are not to be passed over idly, but with a quite subtle edge of the mind, as far as the matter allows, are to be contemplated as if through a certain mirror: lest by chance He who was made flesh appeared to those placed in the flesh, as the Apostle says, *because He was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, appeared to the angels*, this which appeared to the angels, did not appear to them without the Gospel: just as neither even to us humans, to whom He says He was sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and to announce the acceptable year of the Lord. If, therefore, when He appeared to us humans, He did not appear without the Gospel, the consequence seems to show that even to the angelic order He did not appear without the Gospel, perhaps that eternal Gospel which we taught above was mentioned by John. But if it is to be suspected that something of the kind was done by Him also in the remaining celestial orders, in the form in which each one of them exists, and announcing peace, since indeed through the blood of His cross He has pacified not only the things on earth, but also the things that are in heaven, examine this also within yourself. *Which He promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.* What has been predicted concerning Christ through the prophets, this must also be felt to have been predicted concerning the Gospel, although the evangelist Mark seems to make a distinction between Christ and the Gospel, when he says: *Whoever shall have left father and mother, etc., for my sake, or for the sake of the Gospel.* And even if the promises of the Gospel must be sought properly, you will find them abundantly in the prophets, as is that: *The Lord shall give the word to those evangelizing with great power*; and: *How beautiful are the feet of those evangelizing good things!* To this looks also: *Into all the earth their sound has gone out, and their words to the ends of the world*, and: *His word runs swiftly*; but also: *Behold I send many shepherds, and many hunters, and they shall catch them upon every mountain, and upon every hill.* Through Jeremiah it is promised concerning the Gospel which Paul now mentions, because God promised by His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son.

5. *Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.* But he was made without doubt that which he was not before according to the flesh. According to the spirit, however, he was before, and there was not when he was not. It is to be observed for that

^A spirit of sanctification or the substance of divine power is named; concerning which the Savior himself says elsewhere, that my soul is sorrowful even unto death; and: Now my soul is troubled: which he also posited of himself, or rather [that] which went down even into hell, concerning which it is also said: Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. For it is certain that this was not generated from the seed of David. He says that what was made from the seed of David is ^B according to the flesh. Because, therefore, it seems to be numbered neither in that which is according to the flesh, nor in that where the Son of God is designated

in power according to the spirit of sanctification

^A Although it may be difficult according to the letter of the law to unravel these matters, let there be an answer from our side: that Mary, who was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit before she and Joseph had come together, was, according to the law, undoubtedly joined to her own tribesman and kinsman. And although it is said to her by the angel that Elisabeth, your kinswoman, shall also herself bear a son in her old age (and Elisabeth is said to be of the daughters of Aaron), yet it is affirmed by our people that the term for kinship can be fittingly applied not only to those of the same tribe, but also to all who are of the stock of Israel among one another, just as the same Apostle also says concerning all of them at once: "Who are my kinsmen according to the flesh." ^B These things, and others similar to them, are given as an answer; but how valid these are against the assertions of those who press us with the testimonies of the Scriptures, do you, who read, approve. Yet to us, these things seem to be understood more according to a spiritual or allegorical meaning, according to which it is no hindrance that Joseph is even called the father of Christ, when he is in no way his father; because also in the genealogies it is reported by Matthew that Josaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias; but in the fourth book of Kings it is written that Joram begat Ochozias, and Ochozias begat Joas, and Joas begat Amasias, and Amasias indeed begat Azarias, the very one who is sometimes called Ozias; and Azarias begat Joatham. This Ozias, therefore, who is also Azarias, although in the fourth book of Kings he is said to be the son of Amasias, is written by Matthew as the son of Joram, with three generations passed over in the middle. ^C It is certain that the dissertation of this matter does not stand according to history, but according to spiritual understanding; which is not to be examined by us now in passing: for it will be touched upon in its own place. Meanwhile, it suffices for us to answer those who oppose us, that just as Jesus is said to be the son of Joseph, from whom he was not begotten; and Ozias was begotten of Joram, from whom he was not begotten: so also Christ can be accepted as being of the seed of David according to the flesh, so that whatever reason or assertion they have brought forward regarding Joram and Joseph, we should say that the same must be accepted regarding David.

^A That the Son of God is such from the resurrection of the dead, it is not difficult for him to notice who has read what is written: "For it was fitting for him, through whom are all things and in whom are all things, bringing many sons into glory, to make perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." The end, however, of the sufferings of Christ is the resurrection; and because after the resurrection he dies no more, nor shall death have dominion over him; and it is said again, that even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we know him so no longer, therefore everything that is in Christ is even now the Son of God. ^B But how this is also referred to him who is destined to be the Son of God in power, constrains our understanding, unless it is that through the indissoluble unity of the Word and the flesh, all things that are of the flesh are ascribed to the Word, and things that are of the Word are preached in the flesh. We find indeed Jesus, and Christ, and the Lord frequently referred to both natures, as is that: "One Lord of ours Jesus Christ, through whom are all things"; and again: "For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty." Therefore Christ is called the firstborn or "primitivus" from the dead. But we must inquire whether he alone is the firstborn or "primitivus" from the dead, and has no others with him even as participants in the first-birth, concerning whom the Apostle says that he raised us up with Christ, and made us sit together in the heavenly places. ^C Lest perhaps these also, whom he says were raised up with Christ and sit with him in heavenly places, should themselves be firstborn or "primitivi" from the dead, just as those were who are said to have been raised with him when the tombs were opened and the bodies of many saints appeared and entered into the holy city. And perhaps the Apostle speaks of these kinds of people as that Church of the firstborn, which he recounts as having been inscribed in the heavens.

7. Through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name. Through Christ he says he has received grace and apostleship, as mediator of God and men. Grace and apostleship. Grace is to be referred to the patience of labors; apostleship to the authority of preaching, because Christ himself is also called an apostle, that is, sent by the Father, inasmuch as he was sent to evangelize the poor. ^D Therefore all things that are his, he gives also to his disciples. Grace is said to be spread abroad in his lips. He gives also to the apostles our Lord. Indeed, how he who is said to have been made according to the flesh from the seed of David, the Son...

of God with power, is His grace, with which those who labor say: *But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me* (1 Cor. xv, 10). And because it is said of Him: *Having then a great High Priest and Apostle of our confession, Christ* (Hebr. 1, 1, 4, 14), He gives to His disciples the dignity of the apostolate, so that they too might be made apostles of God. For neither could the Gentiles, who were aliens from the covenant of God and from the conversation of Israel, believe in the Gospel, except through the grace which had been given to the apostles, through which, when the apostles preached, it is said that they obeyed in the faith (Rom. 1, 5), and that into all the earth the sound of their grace is commemorated to have gone out (Psal. XVIII, 5; Rom. x, 18), so that it might reach those who are in Rome, to whom the Apostle says: *Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ* (Rom. 1, 6). Paul is called an apostle, and the Romans are indeed called, yet not apostles, but *called to be saints in the obedience of faith* (Rom. 1, 7). Concerning the diversity of the called, we have already spoken above.

8. *To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ* (Rom. 1, 7). This blessing of peace and grace, which the apostle Paul gives to the beloved of God to whom he writes, I think is not less than the blessing of Noah on Sem and Japheth (Gen. ix, 26, 27), which was fulfilled through the Spirit toward those who had been blessed: similarly also that in which Abraham was blessed by Melchisedech (Gen. xiv, 19, 20), and Jacob by his father Isaac (Gen. XXVII, 28, 29), and the twelve patriarchs who are blessed by their father Israel (Gen. XLIX, 3, seq.); or the blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxx, 6, seq.) by which he blessed the twelve tribes of Israel. I do not therefore deem ^A this blessing of the Apostle, by which he blessed the Churches of Christ, inferior to all these. For he says even of himself: *For I think that I also have the Spirit of God* (1 Cor. VII, 40). In the Spirit of God, therefore, the Apostle writes, and in the Spirit he blesses. Through this same Spirit, therefore, those will receive the blessings who are blessed by the Apostle, if they are found worthy on whom his blessing might come. Otherwise, that which is written will come to pass: *If the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, your peace shall turn to you again* (Luc. x, 6). What is written, therefore, concerning peace, this will come to pass also for grace, because he joins grace together with peace. It must be known, however, that this custom of the Apostle in writing is not observed by him ^B towards all the Churches. For to the Corinthians indeed in the first and second, and to the Galatians, and to the Ephesians, and to the Philippians, he writes similarly. But to the Colossians (Coloss. 1, 3), *Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father*, he says; and he does not add, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. But to the Thessalonians, the first letter is thus: *Grace be unto you and peace*, and nothing further. In the second, however: *Grace unto you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ* (II Thess. 1, 2). To Timothy, first and second: *Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord* (I Tim. 1, 2). But to Titus (Tit. 1, 4): *Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Saviour*. And although such observation may seem too ^C curious, nevertheless he who believes that nothing is idle in the divine Scriptures will not consider the differences and diversities of these to be vain.

9. *First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of in the whole world* (Rom. 1, 8). Since the Apostle, writing to certain ones, says that he gives thanks for all, as even now to the Romans; but writing to others, he indeed gives thanks, but does not add *for all*; keeping watch, you will find that where he says he gives thanks for all, he does not exaggerate against them some grave faults or reproaches; but where he notes some or reproves them, he does not add to the thanksgiving that he gives thanks for all, as even to the Corinthians (I Cor. 1, 4) or to the Colossians (Coloss. 1, 3). But to the Galatians (Galat. 1, 6) he does not place a thanksgiving at all, because he is astonished that they were so quickly removed from Him who called them, into another Gospel. The first voice ^D therefore begins with thanksgiving. To give thanks, however, to God, this is to offer a sacrifice of praise; and therefore he adds, *Through Jesus Christ*, as if through a great High Priest. For it behooves one who wishes to offer a sacrifice to God to know that he ought to offer it through the hands of the high priest. But also this which he said, *My God*, is not to be taken idly. For this voice cannot be of any but the saints, whose God He is said to be, as the God of Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob (Exod. III, 6). He cannot say "my Lord God" to whom his belly is God (Philip. III, 19), or to whom avarice is God, or to whom the glory of the world, and the pomp of the world, or the power of transitory things is God. For whatever each one sets above…

^A all other things, this is his God. But let us see what it is for which the Apostle gives thanks to his God. For your faith, he says, is announced in the whole world. If we take "the whole world" simply, it seems to designate that in many places of the world—that is, of this earth—the faith and religion of those who are at Rome is being preached. But if indeed, as in some cases, "the world" in this passage also designates that which consists of heaven and earth, and all things that are in them, there can also be understood those virtues of which it is said that they have joy over one sinner who repents, much more do they rejoice over the conversion and faith of the Romans, when those angels who ascend and descend to the Son of Man announce it to them. For they themselves marvel at the conversion of the Gentiles, and that into all the earth has gone out the sound of the apostles of Christ Jesus. ^B Finally, as they look upon their struggles in this world, they rejoice, just as the Apostle says: "That we have been made a spectacle to this world, and to angels, and to men." Yet it may also be understood in this way: that this faith which the Romans have is the very same, and no other, than that which is announced and believed in the whole world, which is preached not only on earth but also in the heavens, because Jesus has reconciled through His blood not only the things that are on earth, but also the things that are in the heavens; and at His name every knee bends, not only of those on earth, but also of those in heaven and those in hell. And this is what it means for faith to be preached in the whole world, by which the whole world may be subject to God. It must certainly be observed that, regarding what he said, "first," he did not indeed provide a "second, however," for example, because of the reasons stated above concerning unfinished expressions; unless perhaps it may appear it is provided when he says: "But I would not have you ignorant, brethren."

10. "For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit, in the Gospel of His Son." God is a witness to His saints, because they themselves are also witnesses of God, according to what the prophet says: "You shall be my witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord." But the Savior also says to the disciples: "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth," according to that which is written: "Whoever shall have confessed in me, I also will confess in him before my Father." Let us see, however, what it is that he says, "whom I serve in my spirit." To serve in the spirit seems to me to be similar, or indeed something even greater than to worship in the spirit, just as ^C the Lord Himself said to the Samaritan woman: "The hour is coming, and now is, when true adorers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." But Paul does not only worship in spirit, but he also serves in spirit. For one can worship even without deep feeling (affectus), but to serve belongs to him whom deep feeling constrains. The Apostle, therefore, serves God, not in the body, nor in the soul, but in the better part of himself, that is, in the spirit. For he designates that there are these three in man, writing to the Thessalonians, when he says: "May your whole body, and soul, and spirit be preserved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." And Daniel says: "Praise, you spirits and souls of the just, the Lord." The Apostle, therefore, everywhere prefers the spirit, and repudiates the flesh or the things that are of the flesh. Finally, he also praises the spirit of the Law itself; but he spurns the letter as though it were flesh, when he says: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life." But also when he says: "For in that the Law was infirm through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin," he doubtlessly calls the letter of the Law the flesh of the Law. For through the letter the Law was infirm, so that it could not be fulfilled. For who could fulfill, even concerning the Sabbath, what is written: "You shall not move from your place on the day of the Sabbath" (for how could it happen that someone might not move at all from his place on the day of the Sabbath?), or concerning the laws of leprosy in the warp, or in the wall, or in the skin, and a thousand other things ^D in which, according to the letter, as if according to the flesh, the Law was infirm? Therefore, the Apostle says that the Law is spiritual. Whoever, therefore, understands that the Law is spiritual, he serves God in spirit. Whence he also says elsewhere: "For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die," that is, according to the letter which kills; "but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live." It must certainly be inquired if the ancient fathers, the patriarchs, or the prophets, who also themselves were perfect, are to be believed to have served God in spirit, because even Abraham desired to see the day of the Lord, and he saw it, and rejoiced; and Moses and Elias appeared in glory, speaking with Jesus on the mount. In which it is shown that the Law and the Prophets are in harmony with the Gospels, and shine with the same glory of spiritual insight and understanding.

11. "How without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, beseeching if by any means at long last I may have a prosperous journey in"

the will of God to come unto you. It should be considered that the Apostle, setting forth for a holy work—that is, the work of the Gospel—awaits this without intermission for those to whom he writes, saying he prays, and fulfilling in deed what he enjoined in word, mindful of his command. ^A Since, however, he speaks of beseeching if by any means he might have a prosperous journey at long last, so that he might come to the Romans by the will of God, it must be considered that the Apostle, setting forth for a holy work—that is, the work of the Gospel—waits until he obtains by prayers not only that his journey be made prosperous for himself, but that it be made prosperous in the will of God. Whence, much more for us, who do not have such a consciousness of work or merit, when we arrange to do something, prosperity of the journey must be requested from God. Yet I think that the Apostle wished this also to be understood, because the prosperity of a journey is not always accomplished by the will of God. Finally, even Balaam had a prosperous journey to go to Balak to curse the people of Israel; but that was not a prosperity from the divine will. And many in the affairs of the century use prosperous successes and exult in their prosperities; ^B but such prosperity is not from the will of God, unless the work of our journey is such as the Apostle designates here.

12. "For I long," he says, "to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to confirm you, that is, that I may be comforted among you by that faith which is in each other, both yours and mine." First of all, we ought to learn that it is an apostolic work to long for the brethren, but for no other reason than that we may either bestow upon them some spiritual gift if we are able, or if we are not able, that we ourselves may receive from them. For without this, there is no probable desire to visit the brethren. But what he says, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, seems to indicate that there is something which is indeed a gift, yet not spiritual. For the gift of faith is without doubt spiritual, and ^C the gift of wisdom, and of knowledge, and likewise of virginity. But where he speaks concerning marriage and virginity: "But each one has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that"; he calls marriage indeed a gift, because, as it is written, a woman is joined to a man by God; but that gift is not spiritual. Many other gifts of God can also be named, such as riches and the strength of the body, such as the beauty of form, such as an earthly kingdom. For even these are given by God, just as Daniel also says: "Because he makes kings, and changes them"; but these are not spiritual gifts. Blessed, therefore, are those to whom the Apostle wishes to impart spiritual grace for the confirmation of faith, so that they may no ^D longer be children and not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine. Which, when it happens from Paul, he himself also receives comfort, seeing his work firm and stable; and they are comforted who become participants in apostolic grace.

13. "But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that I have often proposed to come unto you (and have been hindered until now) that I might have some fruit in you also, as in other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise: so that, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome." There is indeed—and this is a hyperbaton in this place—also a defect of elocution. But we can render this hyperbaton in this way: "But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that I have often proposed to come unto you, that I might have some fruit in you also, as in other Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, wise and unwise, and have been hindered until now." The defect of elocution, however, will be fulfilled in this way. In that where he says: "And in other Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, wise and unwise," there seems to be a "to whom" lacking, so that those things which follow might be read thus, "to whom I am a debtor"; and the consequence might be such: "Just as I bear fruit in other Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, wise and unwise, to whom I am a debtor, so that which is in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you also who are at Rome." For I have never been ashamed to preach the Gospel before any nation, because it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek; because the justice of God is revealed in the Gospel, which, obstructed before, was veiled in the Law. But it is revealed in those who from the faith of the Old Testament come to the new faith of the Gospel, just as it is said in the prophet, that the just, even if he still be in the Law, believing in God and his servant Moses, lives by faith; and when he comes to the Gospel, he is directed from the faith of the Law into the faith of Christ, and thus goes from faith to faith. These things, as far as concerns the consequence of the Apostle's own words, have been said. But now let us inquire as to what pertains to understanding. That he says, because I have often proposed to come unto you, he shows the charity which he had toward the Romans. But what he added, and have been hindered until now, if indeed it is thought to be hindered by God, it is shown through this that it is also a care to God where each of the apostles should go or should not go, and that by a certain dispensation he permits the word of God to be preached to some, but forbids it to others, just as he says elsewhere: "And when we attempted to go into Bithynia, the Spirit of Jesus stopped us"; and in the Gospels, it is said by the Savior:

^A "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear." If, however, I have been hindered until now, let it be referred to Him of whom he himself says elsewhere that "Satan hindered us," and he fittingly shows that he strives in prayers without ceasing, so that, once Satan’s hindrances are overcome, his journey to see those who are at Rome may become prosperous by the will of God. For he desires, and does not cease to beseech in his prayers, to gather some fruit from them, just as from the other nations. Hence, as one desirous of great riches, Paul desires to gather returns from many rational possessions. He gathers fruit from the Greeks, he gathers from the barbarians, he gathers from the wise, and he even collects something from the foolish, while to some, as to the perfect, he speaks wisdom, to others, as to the foolish, he declares that he knows nothing save Christ Jesus, and Him crucified; while he teaches others out of the Law and the Prophets, and persuades others by signs and powers. Truly, however, Paul brings forth all these fruits because, as a good branch, he remains in the true vine, which is Christ, whom the Father, the husbandman, prunes more frequently, and therefore he brings forth much fruit. He prunes him in labors, in tribulations, in persecutions. ^B For there are other branches which indeed remain in the vine, but do not bring forth fruit, but are withered. Among these are those who remain in Christ in name, but are found unfruitful and withered in works and deeds; who are said to be cut off by the Father and cast into the fire. For just as the first man, Adam, was a certain vine, and the root of the human race, which brought forth some fruitful branches, such as Seth, Enos, Enoch, and the rest down to Noe; others, however, unfruitful and useless, such as Cain and all the stock that was procreated from him: so too in Christ, who is the newest Adam, there are some fruitful branches, as if bearing fruit in the true vine; and some, indeed, are withered and to be cut off by the Father, the husbandman. But it must also be observed that the Apostle names the fruit of the good in the singular number, as also elsewhere: "But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace"; but the works of the flesh which he reproves, he brings forth in the plural. But if someone objects to that which is written in the Psalm, "You shall eat the labors of your fruits," as said for the good and in the plural; it must be known that just as he who was trading in pearls, finding one precious pearl, sold all, and bought that one; ^C so he who begins from many fruits must tend toward one fruit of perfection. It must now be investigated how the Apostle is a debtor to the Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish. For what had he received from them, whereby he became a debtor to them? I think that from the different nations he necessarily became a debtor to them, because he received by the grace of the Holy Spirit the ability to speak in the tongues of all nations, just as he himself says: "I speak in the tongues of you all the more." Since, therefore, one receives the knowledge of tongues not for himself, but for those to whom it must be preached, he becomes a debtor to all those of whom he has received from God the knowledge of the tongue. But to the wise he is made a debtor through the fact that he received the wisdom hidden in a mystery, which he might speak to the perfect and the wise. But how also to the foolish? In that he received the grace of patience and long-suffering. For it is the mark of highest patience to bear the impulses of the foolish. Most gratefully, however, he added in the following: "So that, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you." He testifies that he is ready who also says elsewhere: "If I do this willingly, I have a reward." For one is ready to speak to the prudent. But concerning the foolish, that which he says must be felt: "But if against my will a dispensation is entrusted to me"; and: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel."

^D "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes." Many reproaches indeed arose against the Gospel at the beginning of the preaching: but Paul had learned patience from the prophets who say: "Do not be overcome by their reproaches, nor yield to their sneers"; and he knew that he was not preaching the Gospel in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the power of the Spirit. Defining, therefore, what the Gospel is, he pronounces: "For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek." What he said, "it is the power of God unto salvation," seems to show as if there were some power of God which is not unto salvation, but unto perdition. For he knows indeed that it is written in the prophet: "And the locust, my great power"; and again it says in the Psalms: "In your power scatter them"; and therefore he says here: "Power of God unto salvation." It must therefore be seen whether, perhaps, on account of these differences of the powers of God, the right and the left may be spoken of in God, such that the power unto salvation is called His right, and the power in which He scatters is called the left. But this also must be heeded, lest perhaps...

as Christ is called the power of God, and the Gospel the power of God. As with many other things, so also ought the Gospel to be understood, and perhaps it should be felt that the eternal what is called the Gospel is said of Him. “To every one,” he says, “that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek.” ^A The Greeks first, by two appellations, had judged the whole race of men, that is, saying that everyone was either a Greek or a Barbarian; and their distinction had been such that whoever was not a Greek was held to be a Barbarian. But Paul uses a much truer distinction, naming the Jews first, and afterward the Greeks, and lastly the Barbarians. Since the Greeks, because they themselves made use of laws, called all the rest Barbarians as if they were living without laws, the Jews are deservedly preferred by the Apostle even to the Greeks themselves, because they both began to live by laws before them, and their laws were promulgated by God, and not by men.

15. “For the justice of God is revealed therein from faith unto faith,” ^B by the fact that no one is excluded from salvation, whether Jew, or Greek, or Barbarian comes. For the Savior says to all equally: “Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened.” ^C But concerning “from faith unto faith,” we have already said above that the prior people were also in faith, because they had believed God and Moses His servant, from which faith they now pass unto the faith of the Gospel. That which he says from the testimony of the prophet Habacuc, that “the just man liveth by my faith”; whether he who is in the Law is understood, so that he may also believe in the Gospels, or he who is in the Gospels, so that he may also believe in the Law and the Prophets. For the one without the other does not have the integrity of life.

16. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all impiety and iniquity of men, that detain the truth of God in iniquity: because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it to them.” About the wrath of God it has been spoken more fully by us in other places; nevertheless, something shall be said here in a few words. Therefore, the wrath of God is now said to be revealed not in any part, but upon all impiety and iniquity; yet not upon all men, but upon those alone who detain the truth of God in iniquity—indeed, but they detain it in iniquity.

To whom he also says it is manifest, that which is known of God, showing that there is something of God that is known, and something of Him that is unknown. He says, therefore, that the wrath of God is revealed to those who detain the truth in iniquity. Things that are revealed are brought forth from what is obscure and hidden to cognizance. Since, therefore, even here the wrath of God is said to be revealed, not to those who are ignorant of the truth, but to those who hold it—even if they hold it badly—it seems that by reason and knowledge he says that the wrath of God is made manifest to those to whom the truth is known, even if they detain it in iniquity. Which, indeed, as is declared by what follows, is understood to be said of the wise men of this world, and the learned, or philosophers, who, when they had known the truth and justice of God, “did not glorify Him as God, or give thanks, but became vain in their thoughts, converted to idols; and professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, because they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things.” In which the Apostle also shows this, that the things which came to the wise of the age concerning the knowledge of truth came by God revealing them: but while they either study vain glory, or flatter ancient errors, or are restrained by the fear of princes, they themselves become the judges of their own damnation; from whom the truth, which they had known by God revealing it, is either covered over by excluded liberty, or denied by the iniquity of their deeds. So, therefore, the wrath of God is sometimes seen to be the power itself, which presides over the ministers of punishments, and which brings torments upon sinners; as I think is signified in that which is reported, that the wrath of God moved David to order Joab to number the people. But also His ministers and allies are signified in that which is said: “He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, tribulation, and wrath by evil angels.” Sometimes, also, the goads of conscience itself, when we sin, are called the wrath of avengers and vindicators, as the same Apostle says: “Thou treasurest up to thyself wrath in the day of wrath”; and elsewhere: “Their thoughts between themselves accusing, or also defending one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men.” But also the affliction of tribulation or temptation is called the wrath of God.

as Job also says: *The wrath of the Lord is in my body* [Job 6:4]. But why is wrath now said to be revealed from heaven? Perhaps to distinguish it from another wrath, which is not from heaven, as is that saying [Deut 32:33]: *The fury of dragons is their wine, and the fury of serpents is incurable.* Or perhaps because they against whom the discourse is directed are said to sin not in ignorance, but in the knowledge of the truth; therefore, punishment is directed against them from heaven: for thence does the minister of punishments receive his power. Or certainly, because the *spiritual forces of wickedness* [Eph 6:12], against whom is our struggle, are said to be in the heavenly places, it is consequently said that the wrath of God is launched from heaven against those who are overcome by them: just as if we were to say that fiery darts are vibrated against them from thence, and that they receive therefrom the wounds by which they run into sins; but those who are devoid of all truth, as if they had nothing in common with heaven and light, endure the wrath of their own vices, and passions, or of the demons to whom they have voluntarily submitted themselves. *Upon all impiety and iniquity of men, who detain the truth in iniquity.* [Rom 1:18]. Impiety is to sin against God; iniquity is to sin against men. Therefore, those who detain the truth in iniquity sin against both God and men. Which truth men are to be believed to have known through natural faculties and reasons implanted in the soul by God; to whom so much prudence has been granted that they might recognize what is known of God, that is, what can be known about God by conjecture of the creature, through those things which are able to be seen, they might recognize his invisible things. From this compact, the judgment of God will be just even towards those who, before the coming of Christ, when they could have known God, turning away from his worship, turned to the worship of images of men and animals. For, to speak briefly and with every definition collected into one, to worship anyone other than the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is a crime of impiety. *Because that which is known of God is manifest in them: for God hath manifested it unto them.* [Rom 1:19]. We have already said above that what is known of God is that which they are able to attain through the consequence or reasoning of this world, just as the Apostle himself also indicates from those things which follow [Rom 1:20], saying that his *invisible things are contemplated through those things which were made.* However, the unknown of God must be understood as the essence of his substance or nature; the property of which I think is hidden not only from us men, but also from every creature: or if at some time there will be so great a progress for a rational nature that it might be able to attain to this knowledge concerning God, it is to be known. For something like this seems to me to be expected from those things which are said by the Savior: *No one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth anyone know the Father, but the Son, and to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him* [Matt 11:27]. For he would not have added, *And to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him*, unless he knew there were some to whom he might wish to reveal him.

17. *For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, his eternal power also and divinity, so that they are inexcusable: because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God, or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things.* [Rom 1:20-23]. Much has already been discussed above concerning each of these things. For we said that although this pertains to all men in whom there is natural reason, it pertains especially to the wise of this world, and to those who are called philosophers, whose task it is principally to examine the creatures of the world, and all things that have been made in it, and to gather by reason, through these things which are seen, the things which are not seen. It must be known, however, that the "invisible things" which he names here, he speaks of regarding creatures; concerning which the same Apostle also writes in another place: *For in him, that is, in Jesus Christ, were all things created, whether in heaven or on earth, visible and invisible* [Col 1:16]. And therefore, besides those things which he called invisible, he adds: *And his eternal power, and divinity.* Therefore, the power of God which is eternal, and the divinity which is none the less eternal, is recognized from conjectures of the creature. Power is that by which he rules all things; divinity is that by which he fills the universe. Therefore, from this they become inexcusable: because when, with God manifesting himself, they knew God, they did not worship him as is worthy, nor gave thanks; but while through the vanity of their thoughts, they seek forms and images in God, they lost the image of God in themselves, and those who seemed to boast themselves in the light of wisdom, were overturned into the deep darkness of foolishness. For what is so foul, so obscure, and so shadowy, as to turn the glory of God into the corporeal and corruptible image of the human form, as is the custom of those who worship idols, and to equate the eminence of divine majesty to birds, and four-footed beasts, and serpents?

18. For which causes God delivered them most justly *unto the desires of their heart* [Rom 1:24], in uncleanness.

These individual matters, although they may seem to be explained consequentially according to the faith of the Church, because for preceding causes those who hold the truth which they know by God's revelation in iniquity are justly and deservedly abandoned by God, and because they are abandoned, they are delivered unto the desires of their heart—and their heart's desires were these: that they should dishonor their own bodies in themselves—and with whatever judgment they exercised veneration toward divinity ^A when they led the glory of the incorruptible God down to foul and unworthy forms of men or animals, with such a turn they should also use it toward themselves, so that rational men live like irrational beasts. Yet let us ask of those who deny that the good God is also a just judge what they may answer concerning these things which the Apostle says, that God delivered them in the desires of their heart into uncleanness, that they should dishonor their bodies. For in this, their own reasoning (which is entirely excluded) would seem to be constrained, and our answer as well. For how will it be just that he who is handed over—even if he is handed over for sins—is nonetheless handed over to concupiscences, and handed over for this: that he may defile his body with uncleanness and concupiscences? For just as to this person who, for example, is handed over to darkness for punishment, it cannot be imputed that he is in the dark; and he who is handed over to the fire cannot, on account of this very fact, be blamed that he is burned; so also it will not seem to be justly imputed to those who are handed over to desires and uncleanness so that they may dishonor their bodies, if, placed in desires and uncleanness, they stain their bodies with dishonor. Marcion, therefore, and all who from his school have sprouted forth like the offspring of serpents ^B will not dare to touch the solutions of these things even with the tip of a finger; for they, on account of such questions, if ever they had read such a thing in the Old Testament, have cast it aside. But what did it profit them, when they are nevertheless trapped by similar questions of the New Testament? We, however, who confess one good and just God, the Father of Christ, of the Law and the Prophets and the Gospels, utilize the same explanations in both the New and the Old Testament, invoking Him who placed in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, so that He Himself may open for us through His Holy Spirit the stumbling block and the offense, by which doubtful minds are offended.

We frequently find in the Scriptures, and it has often been discussed by us, that man is said to be spirit, soul, and body. But when it is said that the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, the soul is undoubtedly placed in the middle, which may either acquiesce to the desires of the spirit or be inclined toward the concupiscences of the flesh; and if indeed it joins itself to the flesh, it is made one body with it in its lust and concupiscences; but if it associates itself with the spirit, it will be one spirit with it. Therefore, finally, concerning those whose souls had entirely joined themselves with the flesh, the Lord says in the Scriptures: *My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh* [Gen 6:3]; but concerning those whose soul had been associated with the spirit, the Apostle says: *But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit* [Rom 8:9]. There are besides (as we find in many places of Scripture) certain angels as well, who are supporters and helpers of both sides, or of both ways. For the devil and his angels, and all spiritual wickednesses in the high places, and all the princes and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world against whom the struggle of men is, favor the flesh that lusts against the spirit. On the contrary, however, toward the spirit that struggles against the flesh, and that strives to recall to itself the human soul, which is in the middle, all those good angels favor and help, ^C of whom the Lord says that *their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven* [Matt 18:10]; and of whom the Apostle says to the Hebrews: *Are they not all ministering spirits, sent for ministry for the sake of those who receive the inheritance of salvation?* [Heb 1:14]. The Lord Himself also favors it, since He even lays down His own soul for His sheep. But on both sides, the discipline of favor is preserved. For the matter is not transacted by force, nor is the soul turned toward the other side by necessity; otherwise, neither fault nor virtue could be ascribed to it; nor would the choice of good deserve a reward, nor the turning to evil a punishment: but the freedom of its own will is preserved for it in all things, so that it may incline itself toward whatever it wishes, as it is written: *Behold I have set before thy face life and death, fire and water* [Deut 30:15; Eccli 15:17]. Life, therefore, is Christ, and death is the last enemy, which is the devil. The soul therefore has in its own will, if it wishes, to choose Christ as life, or to turn toward the devil in death. And if the soul, recognizing God, has not embraced Christ as its life, nor has it, as ^D

^A in all sanctity and purity we should keep it—so that it may not only be worthy of the entry of angels, but also of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the abode of the Father and the Son, who says of him who remains in His commandments: "I and the Father will come, and we will make our abode with him" — if it has not glorified God, or given thanks, but has vanished in its thoughts, and has changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things, and in all these things has declined toward the flesh, and those who favor the desires of the flesh: it will be left without doubt and abandoned by those who were encouraging it by their favor so that it might be joined to the spirit; and they will concede or deliver it to the desires of its heart, by which it is associated with and clings to the flesh. For they will not recall it to the things which it shuns and rejects, if it is resisting and reluctant. If the image of this matter still seems obscure, we shall render it clearer and plainer by a certain kind of illustration. Let us suppose there is a certain house, in which the soul dwells with the body and the spirit, as it were, with two counselors; and that before the doors of this house, piety stands, along with all the virtues, while on the other side stands impiety, and all the forms of luxuries and lusts, ^B waiting for the nod of the soul, to see which of the two watching at the doors it desires to be introduced as a choir to itself, and which to be repelled. Does it not follow that if it obeys the spirit, and uses the better counselor, it will summon the choir of piety and purity to itself, and that other one, spurned and rejected, will depart? But if it uses the counsels of the flesh and introduces the troop of impiety and lust to itself, all that crown of sanctity and piety—to which the soul preferred the council of evils—will depart with righteous indignation, leaving it to the desires of its heart, so that ^C it may afflict its body with ignorminy and insults within itself, having exchanged the truth of God for a lie and, introducing to itself the prince of impiety and infidelity, it worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. For what reasons the human soul undergoes such a precarious state of so great a crisis is not for the present place to discuss. Therefore, it belongs to those who serve idols to afflict their bodies with insults; and it is for those who have abandoned the Creator to worship the creature. But we, who worship and adore no creature, but the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, just as we do not err in our worship, so let us not sin in our actions and conversation; nor let us imitate those who afflict their bodies with insults within themselves; but looking to what the Apostle says: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" and again: "That your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit," so that our bodies ^D as members of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should keep in all sanctity and purity, that they might not only be worthy of the entry of angels, but also of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the abode of the Father and the Son who says of him who remains in His commandments: "I and the Father will come, and we will make our abode with him."

19. Therefore God delivered them into passions of dishonor. For their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, were inflamed in their desire one toward another, men with men working that which is shameful, and receiving in themselves the recompense which it was fitting to receive for their error. And as they did not approve to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them into a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not fitting, being filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, wickedness, avarice; full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, insulting, proud, haughty, inventors of evils, disobedient to parents, foolish, disorderly; without affection, without covenant, without mercy. Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things are worthy of death; not only they who do them, but also they who consent to those who do them. Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judges; for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you do the same things which you judge. Thirdly, we find put by the Apostle: "God delivered them." And for the first delivery indeed, he gave the causes: "Because when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, or give thanks; but they became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For claiming to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things." Therefore, he says, God delivered them in the desires of their hearts unto uncleanness, to afflict their bodies with insults within themselves. The cause of the second delivery he seems to premise when he says, because they changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. Therefore, he says, God delivered them into passions of dishonor. Which second delivery, however, seems to be subject to graver crimes. For, he says, their women changed the natural use, into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, were inflamed

to the desire of them interchangeably, men with men ^A working that which is shameful, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due for their error. He seems also to give the reasons for a third tradition when he says: "And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting, being filled with all iniquity, malice, and the rest of the wickedness which he subsequently enumerates." But these distinctions of causes do not seem to me to correspond sufficiently to the crimes ^B which are subject to each one severally. For how is one who serves the creature more fittingly "given up" to shameful vices than he who changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things? Or how are those who "did not approve of having God in their knowledge" given up to an examination of evils, as it were, above either of these two? Hence, it seems to me rather that all these causes, which are set forth before the individual traditions, should be gathered into one, and again the species of the traditions into one, so that (for example) we may say thus: Since indeed men changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things; and because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, and did not approve of having God in their knowledge: for the sake of all these things, God gave them up in the desires of their hearts unto uncleanness, that they should dishonor their own bodies; and gave them up unto vile passions, so that their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature. Likewise also ^C the males, leaving the natural use of the female, were inflamed in their desire one toward another, males with males working shameful things. But he also gave them up into a reprobate mind, to do things which are not fitting, because they were filled with all iniquity, malice, wickedness and avarice, and were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and the rest of the evils which are written: and who, although they knew the righteousness of God, did not understand that those who do such things are worthy of death, not only those who do them, but also those who consent to them. And therefore they shall be without excuse for all these evils, while they judge and condemn others for the very wickedness in which they themselves engage. For a man pronounces judgment upon himself when he punishes another for the things which he himself commits. I think, however, that it is sufficient to say what has been said above concerning the kind of tradition, as to how God is said to give them up, for whose acts and state of mind, turning away from Himself and indulging in vices, He feels abhorrence and deserts; and I think it superfluous to repeat the same things. There are indeed two things which I believe are being indicated in this passage, one of which seems to be designated by the other. For it is certain that if God has given anyone up ^D either to the desires of his own heart, or to vile passions, or to a reprobate mind, immediately, as in soil that is wretched and reprobate, all that crop of crimes springs up in the one who is given up. And again, if anyone, when he has known God, does not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but is such as the apostolic discourse has described in turn, there is no doubt that an soul of this kind has been abandoned by God, and given up. For it is not possible that there should be a dwelling place for God where these evils exist, or that these evils should proceed from a source where God dwells. But because it seems that the Apostle has enumerated in these three (groups) universal species of impiety, whether of those who worship idols, or of those who serve the creature rather than the Creator, but also of those who have not approved of having God in their knowledge: in the first title of which are indiscriminately designated the pagans, in the second their wise men and philosophers, I think that in this third one are indicated heretics, either denying the Creator God, or speaking various blasphemies against the Most High. Therefore, if each one of these, whom we have said above to err in the worship of the divinity, is designated by such titles of wickedness, we who appear to be in the Church, and to hold the right faith, let us consider ourselves, and with all circumspection let us weigh whether we are perhaps separated by name only from their kind of worship, while being associated with them in things and in deeds. For it is certain that he who (for example) is filled with iniquity, malice, wickedness, avarice, has not approved of having God in his knowledge, and is of the number of those whom God has given up into a reprobate mind. And again, those whose women, or males, having left the natural use, are kindled into that use which is against nature, it is certain that they are of the number of those who serve the creature rather than the Creator, and whom God has given up unto vile passions. But also if any are in uncleanness and dishonor their own bodies, they are of those who have changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of man; except that it is a greater sacrilege that he who is now a believer, who is a temple of God, should defile that temple as a profane person still does with idols.

rum. ^A Nor 476 is that apostolic remark indeed to be passed over, in which, saying, "They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man," he is to be understood as refuting not only those who worship idols, but also the Anthropomorphites ^B who, existing within the Church, say that the bodily image of man is the image of God, ignoring that which is written in Genesis: that man was made in the image of God. Regarding which man, what ought to be thought is interpreted by the Apostle when he says: "Putting off the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new, who is created according to God." Do you hear that he speaks of the new man as created according to God? This same new man he calls elsewhere the "inward man," while the corruptible one—whose image he rejects here—he names the "outward," when he says: "For even if our outward man is corrupted, yet the one within is renewed." And so that those who err regarding the image of God may know his meaning more plainly, let them hear whom the Apostle calls the man who is created in the image of God, when he writes to the Colossians in this way: "Lie not," he says, "stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new, who is renewed in knowledge ^C according to the image of Him who created him." From which things he shows evidently that the inward man, who is renewed through knowledge, is himself created in the image of God. But those who say that the outward man—that is, the corporeal and corruptible one—is in the image of God are associated by the Apostle with those who "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man." Verily, it was necessary that these things not be omitted in the explanation of the apostolic discourse, so that in this chapter of the Apostle, just as in very many others, the Anthropomorphites—that is, those who say that the corporeal image of man is the image of God—might know themselves to be convicted and refuted. But let us now conclude the contents of the first volume with these remarks.

BOOK SECOND

1. ^C We know, however, that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. Judgment, indeed, of God according to truth is to be expected and believed in, not only against those who do these things which have been enumerated above, but also against all who have in any way done anything good or evil. But that which seems to be shown in this place is this: that the judgment according to truth belongs to God alone. For there are certain things which are committed by an act that is indeed evil, but with a mind that is not evil: as if someone, for example, should commit homicide not by his own will. And other things are done by an act that is indeed good, but with a mind that is not good: as if someone should perform a work of mercy not for the commandment of God, but so that he might be praised by men. Other things there are in which, whether in good or in evil, the mind ^D coincides with the act. And because the judgment of the hearts of men belongs to God alone, and He alone is able to discern the secrets, therefore He alone is the one who can hold judgment according to truth. But it is sought whether, toward those whose iniquities have been forgiven through the grace of baptism, or whose sins have been covered through repentance, or to whom sin is not imputed through the glory of martyrdom, God appears to exercise judgment according to truth. For the truth of judgment demands this, that the evil person should receive evil things and the good person good things; and although the gifts and bounty of God do not at all admit the curiosity of one who disputes, nevertheless let us show in this instance also how great the truth of His judgment is. It is the common profession that the good ought not to be punished, nor the evil to obtain good things. If therefore, for example, there be anyone who has done something...

477 evil, it is certain that he was evil at the time when he was committing evil deeds. But if, repenting of his past actions, he corrects his mind toward the good, and acts well, speaks well, thinks well, and wills well, does he who does these things not appear to you good, and deservedly a recipient of good things? Similarly, if someone is converted from good to evil, he is no longer the good that he was, nor is he, but he shall be judged as evil, which is what he is. For actions, whether good or evil, pass away, but according to their quality they imagine and form the mind of the actor, and leave it either to be accounted good or evil, to be destined for either punishment or rewards. It would therefore be unjust for either a good mind to be punished for evil deeds, or an evil one to be rewarded for good acts. But that what we say may become even clearer, let us add this also: let us posit that there is a soul in which dwell impiety, injustice, folly, luxury ^B and a multitude of all evils, to which it has made itself a submissive handmaid and servant. But if this soul, having returned into itself [(26)], should again open the door of its mind to piety and virtues, would not piety, having entered, immediately put to flight impiety? Similarly, justice will thrust out injustice, wisdom will put folly to flight, and temperance will banish luxury; and thus, the barbarian inhabitants having been expelled from within itself, it will provide a hospitable, civilized, and legitimate dwelling for the virtues. How therefore would it be just to now accuse a soul—already full of virtues—of the things it did when it was not yet a friend of the virtues, and to condemn the pious for impiety, the just for injustice, or the temperate for luxury? In this way, therefore, even in the case of those whose iniquities have been remitted, and whose sins are covered [(27)], God is to be believed to preserve judgment according to truth.

2. "But do you imagine, O man, who judges those who do such things and do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God [(28)]?" If all things which the Law speaks, it speaks to those who are in the Law; and what the Gospel, and the Apostle now speaks, it speaks not to the princes of this world, nor to the kings of the world, but to the rulers of the Churches and to the princes, namely to those who judge those who are within, that is, to bishops, or presbyters and deacons. To these, therefore, he says that they should not imagine that they will escape the judgment of God if they themselves commit the things for which they judge and condemn others. And therefore it behooves each one first to judge his own conscience, and then to examine the deeds of him whom he judges. If this were done, any ambition whatever for approaching ecclesiastical honor would be wholly cut off, if they saw that they were to be judged rather than ^C those who wish to preside over the people. Let no one therefore think that he can escape the judgment of God, just as the Prophet also says: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit, and whither shall I flee from thy face [(29)]?" And because these things are said especially to those who preside in the judgments of the people, therefore he also says elsewhere that "judgment shall begin at the house of God [(30)]." And again, the Lord says elsewhere: "In those who draw near to me I shall be sanctified [(31)];" just as it was done in the case of Nadab and Abihu [(32)], when they offered strange fire, that is, not holy fire, upon the divine altars. Therefore, judgment begins first with the sons. For "God scourges every son whom he receives [(33)]." But, as I deem it, one ought not to wish to escape the judgment of God, even if one could. For not to come to the judgment of God is—to those who wish to preside over people—to ^D not come to correction, or to health, and remedy.

3. "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his goodness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know [(34)] that the kindness of God leads you to repentance [(35)]?" He can recognize the riches of the goodness of God who considers how great are the evils which men commit daily on earth, and how almost all, turning aside and together becoming useless, walk the broad and spacious way of destruction, having neglected the narrow path of life, and yet [(36)] God daily brings forth His sun upon all these, and ministers rains [(37)]; and he who considers [(38)] how many blaspheme God daily, and extend their tongues to heaven. Now what shall I say of frauds, of violence [(39)], of wickedness, of sacrileges, and of impieties? Yet in this place, all those who judge others, while they themselves commit the things they punish in others, seem to be preferred in wickedness. If anyone, therefore, shows contempt for this goodness of God, and His forbearance, and patience, he is ignorant that by these he is provoked to repentance. But forbearance seems to differ from patience in that those who sin more by infirmity than by set purpose are said to be borne with; but those who, with a stubborn mind, as it were rejoice [(40)] in their own offenses, are said to be borne with patiently. But just as God has made all things in measure, and weight, and number [(41)], so too there is a certain measure of His patience: which measure is to be believed to have been reached [(42)] either by those who perished in the flood, or by those who were destroyed in Sodom by celestial fire. Whence it is also said of the Amorites: "For as yet the sins of the Amorites have not been filled up [(43)] even now."

^A God therefore bears with us patiently and awaits the repentance of each one. But let not this ease dissolve us, nor make us slow to conversion, because there is a certain measure to His patience and forbearance.

4. "But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works." A hard heart is spoken of in the Scriptures when the human mind, like wax hardened by the cold of iniquity, does not receive the seal of the divine image. This same thing is elsewhere called a "gross" heart, as when it is said: "The heart of this people hath become fat." Contrariwise to the hard is the soft, which in the Scriptures is called a heart of flesh; and to the gross is contrasted the subtle or refined, which the Apostle calls a spiritual man, he who examines all things. Therefore, when someone knows what things are good and does not do the good, he is to be believed to have a contempt for all good things through the hardness of his heart. The grossness of the heart is where the sense of subtle and spiritual intelligence is not received; and thus the impenitent heart effectively treasures up for itself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, while the good work is not performed because of hardness, and the good intellect is excluded by the grossness of the heart. Concerning the wrath of God, it has been discussed above as much as the matter required, and often in other places as well. Regarding the phrasing, "Thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath," it must be considered that a "treasure" is that into which riches and wealth of various kinds are gathered. We read of a triple significance of this in the Scriptures. For in the Gospel it is said that there is a certain treasure on earth, in which the Lord forbids us to treasure up; and another treasure in heaven, in which He ^B commands the faithful to store their riches; and here, now, the Apostle speaks of the treasures of wrath. Therefore, all men, by what they do in this world, gather treasures into one of these three. For either one is faithless and iniquitous, and through the hardness of his heart and an impenitent heart stores up his deeds in the treasure of wrath. Or he is earthly, and savors of the earth, and speaks of the earth, and when his field brings forth abundant fruits, he destroys his barns and builds greater ones, and treasures up on earth. And that one is called "hard," but this one "foolish." For it is said to him: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be demanded of thee; and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" Or he is wise, and rich in God, and while walking on earth, his conversation is in heaven, and all things which he does are worthy of the kingdom of heaven: and this person stores up the treasures of his riches in the heavens. Thus, therefore, the owner and founder of each one's treasure can be called, in one case, carnal, in another animal, and in another spiritual.

Now let us see what the "day of wrath" is, which the Apostle names here, a matter which will be more easily discerned if we inquire what the rest of the Scriptures indicate about it. We shall apply such examples as can occur for the present, and from these, it will be shown what the day of wrath is. It is written in the prophet Amos: "Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord. To what end is the day of the Lord for you? It is darkness and not light. As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him, and he go into the house and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light, and darkness and not light, and gloom wherein is no splendor?" But Joel also says to the priests and those who serve the altar: "Cry to the Lord without ceasing: Woe, woe is me for the day, because the day of the Lord is near, and as misery from misery it shall come!" And after a few words: "Blow ye the trumpet in Sion, preach upon my holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the earth be confounded, because the day of the Lord is at hand; for it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and whirlwind. As the morning spread upon the mountains, so a people many and strong. There hath not been the like from the beginning, nor shall there be after it even to the years of generation and generation. Before the face thereof a devouring fire, and behind it a flame burning. As the paradise of pleasure is the land before the face thereof, and behind a desert of destruction, and there is none that can escape it. The appearance of them is like the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. They shall leap like the noise of chariots over the tops of the mountains," but regarding all the consequences, he writes even to the place where he says: "And the Lord shall utter his voice before the face of his army, for it is very great, for the multitude of his camp is great, and he is strong who executeth his word; since the day of the Lord is great and very terrible: and who can stand it?" Sophonias however says thus: "Reverence before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, and the Lord hath prepared his victim, he hath sanctified his guests." And after a few words: "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and exceeding swift. The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man shall there meet with tribulation. A day of wrath, that day, a day of tribulation and necessity."

a day of bitterness and perdition, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and mists, a day of the trumpet and crying over fortified cities and high walls. ^A And I will afflict men, and they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord: and I will pour out their blood like dust, and their flesh as dung. Their gold and their silver shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy all the earth shall be consumed, for he shall make a speedy riddance over all them that dwell on the earth." Isaiah likewise records similarly: "For behold, the day of the Lord cometh, of incurable fury and wrath, to lay the globe of the earth desolate, and to destroy the sinners out of it." And after a few words: "For the heaven shall be kindled with fury, and the earth shall be moved from its foundations, because of the fury of the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, in the day in which his fury shall come upon them." ^B With so many and such testimonies concerning the day of wrath gathered together, I think that the place has no further need of exposition. For in all these things the day of wrath, the day of vengeance, and the day of judgment is clearly designated. Therefore, the Apostle finally adds to the day of wrath, "and revelation," for he says thus: "In the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God." For that all things are to be revealed is also designated in the Gospel, when it is said: "There is nothing covered that shall not be manifested; nor hidden, that shall not be revealed." But the Apostle also says in the following parts of this Epistle: "With thoughts accusing or also defending, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men." In which, to be sure, he shows that the secrets of men are not to be revealed except in the day in which God is to judge, just as he also says more clearly to the Corinthians: "Do not judge before the time," he says, "until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of hearts." ^C Which things all are understood to be said of this same day, in which darkness, and sorrow, and future sadness are mentioned, because of those who, pierced by many wounds of sins, will be in need of the remedies of fire. At which time it shall be said to the saints: "Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors about thee, hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation of my wrath pass away." In which words how great the riches of the goodness of God are hidden, for the sake of those who contemn his patience and goodness, it is not necessary to manifest. It is asked, indeed, by some why this day, concerning which we have above moved the prophetic libraries, has been set at the end of the world, so that all who from the beginning of the age until the end ^D of the deceased have themselves died, are reserved for this last day of judgment. The inner causes of this matter are covered by more secret mysteries. "But it is good to conceal the secret of a king." Nevertheless, for the sake of explanation, we shall say as much as it is possible to commit to pages. There are many who, departing from this life, have left behind them certain seeds of either good or evil, from which those who remain receive occasions for either salvation or perdition; for example, I might say, as are all those who founded wicked sects alien to God among the philosophers, or who devised magical sacrileges, or the errors of the stars and their decrees; or certainly those who among us have existed as authors of heretics and wicked dogmas through published books; or even those who have wrought schisms in the churches, and scandals and dissensions. On the contrary, however, the work of the apostolic letters, and the progress through them of the universal Church, and the conversion to God, and the amendment of the whole world. The causes of all of which shall not be closed except with the end of the world itself; and therefore the judgment of God would not be just, as long as progress or impediments depend upon each of these. Which the Apostle also seems to signify, when he says: "Some men's sins are manifest, going before to judgment; and some they follow after." Now, truly, if also those placed outside the body, or the saints who are with Christ, do something and labor for us in the likeness of the angels, who procure the ministries of our salvation; or again, if sinners themselves, also placed outside the body, do something according to the purpose of their mind, to the likeness of the wicked angels, with whom they are said by Christ to be sent into eternal fire, let this also be held among the secrets of God, and not a matter to be committed to writing. Let these things suffice concerning the day of wrath and revelation. Now let us inquire concerning the just judgment of God, in which he will render to every man according to his works. And first, indeed, let the heretics be excluded, who speak of good or bad natures of souls; and let them hear that God will not render to every man according to his nature, but according to his works. Second in place, let the faithful be edified, that they may not think it sufficient for themselves that they only believe; but let them know that the just judgment of God renders to every man according to his works. Indeed, since he says that the just judgment of God consists in this, that he renders to every man according to his works, it will seem that the Gentiles can by no means be excluded from this discourse, if by chance they themselves have done good.

^A And that which is written in Ezekiel also seems to be in opposition to this opinion. For he says: "When the righteous shall turn away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquity according to all the iniquities that the wicked man hath done, all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be remembered in his fall in which he hath fallen; but in his sins which he hath sinned, in them shall he die." 19 For if nothing of the righteousness of the righteous man shall be remembered when he has fallen, how will God render to every man according to his works? But let us see whether perhaps divine discourse may find in itself a way of resolving this, if we observe 480 how it is written: "When the righteous shall have turned away from his righteousness," and it is not enough for him to say: "When he shall have turned away from his righteousness," but he adds: "And shall commit iniquity according to all the iniquities that the wicked man hath done." In which it seems secretly to have implied this meaning: that if perhaps the righteous man has not done according to all the iniquities that the wicked man has done, not all his righteousnesses are removed from memory; but if he has indeed done all the iniquities that the wicked man performs 50, then at last all his righteousnesses are subtracted in his fall. ^B Although the Holy Spirit has hidden these things in the Scriptures on account of those who despise the riches of His goodness and patience, He has not, however, wholly removed them: for even the treasure hidden in a field is not indeed found by everyone, lest it be easily plundered and perish; yet it is found by the prudent, who can go, and sell all that they have, and buy that field. 20 And these things, therefore, although they be hidden in the Scriptures, as it is written: "O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!" 21 yet they are found by those who defend, from these things 51 which are hidden in the mystery of the Scriptures, that God is not only just, but also good, the God of the Law and the prophets. From which necessity has required us to disclose a few things for the sake of explaining 52 the apostolic discourse, where he says: "Of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works."

§ 1 ^C "But to them that are contentious, and who do not believe the truth 53, but obey iniquity, wrath and indignation: Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek: But glory, honor, and peace to every one that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For there is no respect of persons with God." 22 "To them that seek," he says, "glory and honor and incorruption, through patience of good work, eternal life shall be given, not only to Jews, to whom the oracles of God seemed to be entrusted 23, but also to Greeks, because God's judgment is just, and He is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles." 24 But to those who through contention of mind 54 and depravity of spirit do not believe the truth, but follow iniquity, wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish are rendered, not only to the Gentile, but also to the Jew, because there is no respect of persons with God. These things, indeed, in so far as the order of the discourse is concerned. But now let us inquire into those things which pertain to the inner meaning. "To them," he says, "who by patience of good work." Which he says: "Patience of good work," shows that a certain labor and struggles are impending over those who wish to do a good work. "For it is a struggle," as the same Apostle says 25, "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and rulers of this world of darkness;" all of which are opposed to good work: and therefore patience is necessary, because it is written: "In your patience you shall possess your souls." 26 But let us see what he calls a "good work." The Lord in the Gospel, concerning that woman who poured the alabaster of precious ointment upon His head, pronounces that "She has wrought a good work in me," 27 signifying that he who shall have poured an ointment upon the Word of God, that is, he who shall have joined his works with the Word, he works a good work. For the discourse becomes fragrant, filled with all the sweetness of ointments, when it has been adorned by work and deeds 55. Now let us inquire 56 what it is to seek glory and incorruption. In many places the Holy Scriptures write concerning glory. For in Exodus it is said of Moses 28 that when he descended from the mountain, his face was glorified. Unfolding this, the Apostle says to the Corinthians: "But if the ministration of death, formatted in letters upon stones, was made in glory—"

^A so that the children of Israel could not look upon the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which fades; how much more shall the ministration of the Spirit be in glory! For if the ministration of condemnation is in glory, how much more shall the ministration of righteousness abound in glory?" And he adds a little later, "But we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord." There is, therefore, a certain glory according to the Apostle which is not glorified, like that which was on the face of Moses, which is said to be destroyed, which can be understood as the letter of the Law, having indeed a glory of precepts, but which cannot be glorified. There is also another glory, which remains and is glorified in Christ. For when he had ascended ^B into the mountain with Peter, and James, and John, he is written to have been transformed into glory. "And then appeared," he says, "Moses and Elias talking with him." By which it is shown that the glory of the Law and the prophets appeared then, when Christ had been transformed in glory, so that the prophecy and the Law, illuminated by that glory, might be understood in the spirit, the veil of the letter being removed. But since it is said in Exodus that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle of the testimony; and again at the dedication of the temple it is said that the glory of the Lord nonetheless descended and filled the house with smoke, darkness, and a cloud, in which the very presence of God is designated: that is to be thought to be spoken of in those places [58a] as the glory of which the Apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says concerning the Son, that he is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his substance. By which it is declared 59 that the Father is called the fountain of glory, from whom the Son, the brightness of glory, is generated, by whose participation all creatures are said to have glory: as it is written concerning those who are from the resurrection, "Another is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, another the glory of the stars. Star differs from star in glory." Whoever, therefore, seek this glory, which is of the resurrection, and honor, and incorruption, will without doubt find that which is written: "It is sown in dishonor, it shall rise in glory; it is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption." And therefore the seeker of this glory, and honor, and incorruption attains eternal life through patience in well-doing. But because we have discussed ^C glory as best we could, let us see what 'honor' also indicates, because those who hasten toward eternal life seek not only glory, but also honor. It is written: "Humanity, when it was in honor, did not understand; it was compared to senseless beasts, and was made like unto them." He seeks, therefore, that honor which he had 60 before he was compared to senseless beasts, that is, the honor he had in paradise before he sinned, the honor by which he deserved to hear the voice of God, the honor by which he enjoyed the fruits of paradise and the tree of life. And also that which the Apostle says: "Render to all their dues; honor to whom honor is due," seems to me to look toward this. For I understand the honor due to God 61 to be rendered in this way: if what is due to justice is rendered, and nothing of its portion is conceded to injustice; similarly, if what belongs to truth is so rendered that nothing of its parts is left to falsehood; and if we render to wisdom, and to innocence, and to goodness what is theirs, so that we permit nothing of our share ^D to belong to folly, or craftiness, or malice. For when, for example, in judging, you have accepted the person of a powerful man, or have suppressed what is true for the sake of a friend, you have not rendered the honor due to justice, nor to truth, but have dishonored justice and committed an insult against truth: and since Christ is justice, and sanctification, and truth, you will be like those who struck Christ with their fists, and who spat into his face, and who, striking his head with a reed, placed a crown of thorns upon his brow. But what honor 62 is owed by man to all these virtues, we are taught in the Gospels, the Lord saying: "That all should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father." He, therefore, honors the Father and the Son who offers worthy honor and devotion to wisdom, and to justice, and to truth, and to all those things which are said to be Christ. In this way, therefore, they seek glory, and honor, and incorruption who hasten to eternal life. But we shall quickly know what incorruption indicates if we discuss what is contrary to it. Incorruption has corruption as its opposite. Corruption is said to happen in two ways: corporally and spiritually. It happens corporally when that which is written comes to pass: "If any man shall corrupt the temple of God, him shall God corrupt." But it happens spiritually when that which the Apostle nonetheless says occurs: "But I fear, lest as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity of the faith, which is in Christ Jesus." If anyone, therefore, remains uncorrupted in body and spirit from those things which we have mentioned, he is incorrup

incorruption itself said to be seeking, so that through this incorruption of ^A observance, he may deserve to attain that incorruption which is from the resurrection. Let us see, however, what is given to those who seek these things. "Eternal life," he says: that of which the Savior teaches when he says: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." By which he shows that the substance of eternal life remains in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus. But how the knowledge of God may be obtained, we are taught in the Psalms, when it is said: "Be still, and acknowledge that I am God."

6. "But to those who are contentious, and who indeed distrust the truth, but obey iniquity, wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish." Whoever takes these things simply, believes it sufficient for understanding that God renders to everyone according to his works according ^B to those things mentioned above; that is, just as he renders eternal life to those who by patient continuance in good work seek glory and incorruption, so also to those who out of contention indeed distrust the truth, but obey iniquity, he renders wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish. But because he who believes that in the apostolic writings, through which Christ speaks, not one iota or one point is superfluous, will maintain that it did not happen through an error of the Apostle that he should use such a locution, saying: "Who will render to those indeed who by patient continuance in good work seek glory and honor, eternal life," but to those who out of contention obey iniquity he did not say "wrath and indignation," so that this also might be referred to "will render," which he had said above; but he says: "Wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish." Whence he who is spiritual, and understands what the Spirit speaks ^C in Paul, says that the Apostle did not write these things through lack of skill, but through divine skill: namely, so that through these things he might show that those things which are to be rendered to those seeking glory and incorruption through patient continuance in good work are rendered by God, that is, eternal life; but those things which follow those who through contention indeed distrust the truth, but obey iniquity, are not given by God, whose gifts are surely permanent and worthy of himself, but [rather] that from the consequence of their own deeds there will be for those who work evil wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, according to what they have treasured up for themselves. For just as he had brought forward "eternal life" in the accusative case there, so also here he would have brought forward ^D "wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish" in the accusative case, if he had wished to refer it to the person of God who renders. Which is also understood to be designated similarly in other places of Scripture, as in the first book of Kings, where the Lord says: "Those who glorify me I will glorify; those who despise me shall be made contemptible." In which it is evidently shown that the Lord says that those who are to be glorified are to be glorified by himself; but of those who are to be despised, he did not refer it to himself, but spoke absolutely, that they shall be made contemptible. For if as God provides good things through himself, so also he rendered evil things through himself, it would have been consequent that, in the same way he said, "Those who glorify me I will glorify," he should also say, "And those who despise me I will despise." But also in another place through the prophet a similar thing seems to be shown in that those who are "in the fire," are not finding it enkindled by God, but by themselves, as Isaiah says: "Walk in the light of your fire, and the flame which you have enkindled." And that a clearer discussion of these things may be made, these things shall also be added: if anyone, contrary to the precept of a physician, having taken the juices of harmful foods and with the temperament of the body disturbed, incurs either fevers or any diseases of this kind, it is certain that not through the physician, but through his own intemperance he has received the plague of languor; but if, keeping the physician's precepts, he remains in health, he will certainly be said to have the grace of health through the physician. In this way, therefore, it will logically be seen that God himself renders to each one according to his works, which are good; but evil things are understood to come not from God, but from the worst juices of intemperance and the crude depravity of actions. But let us not omit undiscussed this very thing which he said: "Who out of contention indeed distrust the truth, but obey iniquity." For in these individual things certain languors of the soul are designated by the Apostle, the cure for which no one will find, unless he has first known the causes of the diseases. And therefore in the divine Scriptures the infirmities of the soul are numbered and remedies are described, so that those who have submitted themselves to apostolic disciplines, with their languors recognized from those things which are written, may be able to say, cured: "Praise the Lord, O my soul, who heals all your languors." One, therefore, among the rest of the languors of the soul, and indeed the worst, is to be understood as contention, through which every evil work is performed. Through this, heresies are born; through this, schisms and all scandals in the Churches are generated, while those who are prudent among themselves, and wise in their own sight, defend whatever they please as law; and thence it happens that it is distrusted

^A indeed by the truth, but obeyed by iniquity. Furthermore, to be distrustful, for not believing, or for not obeying, is wont to be found in the Holy Scriptures, just as in this place: which, perhaps, the Latin interpreter might more aptly have rendered had he said: "Who do not obey the truth, but obey iniquity." Every man, therefore, who enters upon a path alien to the truth, and follows not Him who said, "I am the truth," is distrustful of the truth and disobedient to it. Thus, there are those who err, not only in their acts, but also in their senses and in their faith; which mostly happens from contention. But even those who resist wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, are distrustful of Christ, who as He is truth, so is He also wisdom, and so is He also sanctification. To be disobedient to Christ, who is justice, is to obey iniquity, and to those acts of his, which without doubt are followed by what is written: "wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish." Concerning wrath, we have often said already that sometimes the torture itself, which is struck into the soul from the conscience of sin, is called wrath: but by indignation is signified a certain swelling of wrath itself, and a commotion in each individual thing: as if, for example, we posit that some very bad wound is wrath, the swelling and distension of this wound is called indignation. But the tribulation which anguish follows is not to be thought similar to that tribulation of which the Apostle says, that "tribulation worketh patience." For such tribulation as that does not have anguish following it, just as the Apostle himself also says: "We suffer tribulation, but we are not in anguish." Nay, indeed, 483 that tribulation of the saints not only has no anguish, but has latitude. Finally, thus says the just man: "In tribulation Thou hast enlarged me." The Apostle, conscious of this latitude for himself, writes to the Corinthians: "You are not in anguish in me, but you are in anguish in your own bowels." And he added: "Be ye also enlarged." Therefore, God says of his saints, whom He knows how to enlarge, and to have within the domicile of their heart spaces diffused far and wide: "I will inhabit in them, and will walk among them." This gift, among other gifts of wisdom, Solomon also received from God, as it is written: "And God gave," he says, "to Solomon ^B wisdom very much, and latitude of heart." In this, therefore, the latitude of the saints' heart, He not only inhabits but also perambulates God. But in the hearts of sinners, where there is anguish, because they have given place to the devil to enter—the devil does indeed enter, but not as one who inhabits, nor as one who walks about; for there is anguish: but as one who lies hidden as in a cavern; for he is a serpent. Thus, therefore, in an unhappy soul, which this worst serpent has beset, it is drawn in, rigid with serpentine cold, and is constrained, and is forced into all manner of anguish: but that soul which obeys the truth is dilated like the heavens, and is diffused, and is illuminated by the rays of the sun of justice, and is made a hall of wisdom and truth.

7. Why, however, "wrath and indignation to the Jew first and to the Greek"? Because glory and honor are to them first. For to them first were the oracles of God entrusted, and they themselves say: "Blessed are we Israel, because those things which are pleasing to God are known to us." And therefore according to the judgment of the Gospel, "the servant, who knew the will of his lord and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes," that is the Jew: "but he who knew not," the Greek, that is the Gentile, "shall be beaten with few." For it matters to have known God, and to have known the will of God, because God could be known "from the creation of the world by the things that are made, even by the Gentiles," and His "everlasting power and divinity": but His will is known only from the Law and the prophets. However, since the Apostle prefers the Jews both to punishment and ^C reward, and puts the Greeks after, it must be inquired whom he wishes here to be understood as Greeks and whom as Jews. If he calls those Jews who are still under the Law, and do not come to Christ, and calls the Greeks Christians—that is, those who believe from the Gentiles—it appears to run counter to the judgment of the entire mystery. For how will they be called "first" of whom it is said: "Behold, the first shall be the last"; and to whom again He says: "Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate"? And again, when the Savior had approached the fig tree, in which He found no fruit, He said: "And let no fruit ever grow from thee." And the two peoples were designated in the womb of Rebecca, of whom it is said, that "the greater shall serve the lesser, and the lesser received the blessing of the primacy." But you will find other innumerable things according to this in the Scriptures. If, however, he calls us Jews, that is, Christians, and those who have believed from every race,

^A it remains that by "Greeks" he speaks of those Gentiles who have not yet believed. But how does the Apostle place such great hope in Gentiles who have not yet believed, when the ecclesiastical rule seems to hold against it, which established that unless one has been reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot "enter into the kingdom of heaven"? And again, Peter in the Acts of the Apostles pronounces concerning Christ, saying: "Nor is there any other name under heaven in which it behooves us to be saved"? How then does he here make the Gentiles partakers of glory, and honor, and peace, in the second place after the Jews? But let us see if perhaps that goodness and sweetness of God, which is accustomed to be hidden in the holy Scriptures, is also here contriving something secret. ^B It seems to me that the Apostle has made three orders in this place. For he speaks first of those "who according to patience in good work seek glory, and honor, and incorruption," to whom God renders "eternal life." And it is certain that the patience in good work exists in them who endure the labors and struggles of piety: which we have explained above to be clearly said of Christians, among whom martyrs are made. This is also proven by that which the Lord says to the apostles: "You will have tribulation in this world, and the world will rejoice, but you will weep"; and he added after a few words: "In your patience you will possess your souls." It belongs therefore to Christians to suffer pressure in this age, and to weep, whose is eternal life. And do you wish to know that there is no eternal life for any, except for him who believes in Christ? Hear the voice of the Savior himself clearly marking it in the Gospels: "This is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and whom you sent, Jesus Christ." Apart from the knowledge and faith in the Father as the only true God, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, one is alienated from the eternity of life. ^C For this very knowledge and faith is designated as eternal life. This, therefore, is this first place of Christians, to whom, for "seeking glory, and honor, and incorruption by patience in good work," eternal life will be rendered; that life, without doubt, according to him who says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." But in Christ, who is eternal life, is the fullness of all good things. ^D Secondly, "and to those who indeed distrust the truth, but obey iniquity," to whom "wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish" impend; that is, to every soul "doing evil," ^A first to the Jew, and to the Greek. Yet to these same persons, the retribution of good things is also promised in the third place in a like manner with a distinction, when he says: "But glory, and honor, and peace to everyone doing good, to the Jew first and to the Greek." This, as I am able to grasp, he says concerning the Jews and the Gentiles, both not yet believing. For it can happen that even of those who are under the Law, if anyone, because of common persuasion, does not believe in Christ, he might nevertheless do what is good, hold to justice, love mercy, keep chastity and continence, preserve modesty and gentleness, and do every ^B good work. Even if he does not have eternal life here, because while believing in the only true God, he has not believed in his Son Jesus Christ whom He sent, yet the glory of his works, and peace, and honor, cannot perish. Moreover, if the Greek—that is, the Gentile—even if he does not have the law, is himself a law to himself, showing the work of the law in his heart, and is unmoved by natural reason, as we see some among the Gentiles who either hold to justice, or keep chastity, or preserve prudence, temperance, and modesty: he, although he may seem alienated from eternal life because he does not believe in Christ, and cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven because he has not been reborn of water and the Spirit, nevertheless ^C it seems that, by these things which are said by the Apostle, he cannot entirely lose the glory, and honor, and peace of good works. For if, according to those things which we have discussed in the preceding, the Apostle seems to condemn the Gentiles from the fact that, when they knew God by natural intelligence, "they did not glorify him as God," how do we not think that he also can, and ought to, praise them, if any among them, knowing God, magnified him as God? I do not think, therefore, that it is to be doubted that he who would have deserved to be condemned for evil work ^D would also, if he had done a good work, be held worthy of the remuneration of a good work. For you see the Apostle saying that "we all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things proper to the body, according to

what he has done, whether good or evil." Finally, it is for this reason that he adds in this place: "For there is no respect of persons with God." But if this still seems doubtful to you, hear also what Peter ^A in the Acts of the Apostles declares when he had entered to the Gentile Cornelius: "I perceive," he says, "that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fear Him, and works righteousness, is accepted by Him." But the objection may be brought against us from what the Lord says in the Gospel: "He that believes in Me, is not judged; but he that does not believe, is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." Let us see, then, how we who believe in Christ are not judged, so that we may know how he who does not believe is already judged. Do we suppose that one who has believed in Christ, and after this has committed murder, or adultery, or spoken false testimony, or done anything of this kind—which we sometimes see even ^B the faithful commit—will not be judged for these things because he has believed in Christ? It is certain that all these things come to judgment; and therefore the utterance of the Lord where He says, "He that believes in Me, shall not be judged," must be understood as follows: that according to the fact that he has believed, he shall not be judged as an unbeliever and an infidel; but as to his deeds, he shall undoubtedly be judged. Therefore, just as he who does not believe is already judged in that he has not believed, and just as for the believer, if he has committed any sin externally, his faith remaining, the judgment still stands: so also for the unbeliever, if he has done any good work, apart from his infidelity, the reward shall not perish. Unless, perhaps, someone wishes to raise some grave and intolerable objection, saying that he who sins ought not to be counted among the believers; because if anyone believes, he does not sin: but if he does sin, by this very fact he is shown not to believe. But how harsh a judgment this is, I think no one is in doubt. For how many people could be found on earth who would so balance their life as to not sin at all? Moreover, John the Apostle in his Epistle clearly notes even an opinion of this sort, when he says: "If anyone says that he has no sin, such a one is a liar, and the truth is not in him." But if we confess our sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus ^D the just, who prays for our sins. These things, therefore, have been discussed by us in this place, as we were able, considering also that which the Apostle says: "Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also," so that through these things the explanation might become clearer as to how the Jews first, and then the Greeks, are placed by the Apostle. But yet, let it be at the reader's discretion to judge what has been said. We, however, have brought forth many things into the treatise, so that we might not appear to leave anything of the Apostle's meaning undiscussed.

485 8. "For whosoever have sinned without law, shall perish without law; and whosoever have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Since the Apostle says that those who have sinned without law shall perish without law, it is inquired whether this is to be understood only of the law of Moses, or also of the law of Christ, or even of any human law under which it happens that every mortal lives, such that he who sins in it can be judged according to it; or whether he who is outside the law of Moses alone, even if he lives under some law, perishes as one placed outside the law when he has sinned. For even the Apostle Paul himself, when he says that to those who are without law he is as one without law, and adds: "Whereas I was not without the law, but was under the law of Christ," he shows that indeed he is not under the law of Moses, yet he is under a law. But note that even human laws, as we have said, ought to be reckoned to this very matter. As for the natural law, which is commonly in all men, it must be considered whether it makes almost everyone to sin in the law, just as he says in the following: "For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law, these having not the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts." Unless, perhaps, we say that those are placed outside the law who obey neither written laws nor their own conscience and thoughts which accuse and argue against them. But how does he say: "Whoever have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law"? Surely he who is in the law of Christ, shall be judged by the law of Christ; and he who is in the law of Moses, shall be judged by the law of Moses; nor is he who is under the law of Christ, even though he might seem to be subject also to the law of Moses, to be thought to be judged according to it because he is not circumcised or because he does not observe the Sabbath. And if he is to be thought to be judged according to the law of Moses, he shall be judged according to the fact that the law is spiritual. For this is the meaning: not the hearer of the law, but the doer is justified. But as for the fact that he who has sinned without the law seems to be struck with a more severe sentence, since he is pronounced as one who shall perish, whereas he would seem to be worthy of some mercy, as one who has not used the aid of the law, let us see, lest again, as we have taught in the other cases, the divine kindness might lurk herein, which

^A is hidden and abolished from those who fear Him. Perhaps, indeed, that which is written, *that he who is without law shall perish*, may be seen to refer to this; and he who lives under the law may be said to be judged by the law, because the Apostle also testifies that everyone who circumcises himself is a debtor to perform the whole law.

9. *For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the things that are of the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between one another accusing or also defending them, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my Gospel, through Jesus Christ.* It is certain that the Gentiles who do not have the law naturally cannot do the things of the law because for this very reason the Lord ^B Himself shows in the Gospel that He has a more propense care for those who are perishing, when He says that *the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost*. And He says again: *I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.* And David says: *I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; seek thy servant.* But also in the Gospel the drachma that was lost is found by the woman after the house is swept; and the father rejoices over the younger son who is penitent, who *was dead, and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found,* more than over him who was not lost and had not been found. This younger son, as I judge, had already fled from the natural law itself; for this seems to be indicated by the fact that he consumed the portion of his father's substance which fell to him by living luxuriously. But also in the prophet ^C Ezekiel it is imputed to the shepherds that they did not bind up that which was infirm, and did not seek that which was lost; and after a few things the Lord Himself says: *And that which was lost,* He says, *I will seek.* Nevertheless, it is to be observed that in all these things God is nowhere said to have destroyed anyone, but each one suffers from himself that which is lost, as He says in this very point: *Without the law and they shall perish*; and: *The Son of man came to seek that which was lost,* not that which He had destroyed: and *to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,* not which He had destroyed. And when the Lord Himself says: *All,* He says, *those whom thou hast given me, I have kept, and none of them is lost*; He did not say: None of them did I destroy. Certainly, wherever God is said to destroy, you will find it said rather in the sense of reproving, just as when He says: *I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will reject the understanding of the prudent.*

As to the fact that He says *as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law,* consider whether perhaps according to these punishments, which are written in the Law, by which judgments were carried out, where they were commanded to be stoned, or handed over to the fire, or to go to a city of refuge, or to suffer other things of this kind: so also the future judgment may be; since indeed those who are under the law are said to serve the type and shadow of heavenly things; lest perhaps by a similar reason the future judgment also may be conducted against those who have transgressed the law. Since, therefore, it has become clear that different laws are mentioned in the Scriptures, if anyone has avoided all these to such an extent that even the natural law itself, which is lacking to almost no one, ^D either through hardness or through the thickness of the heart is seen to be obliterated and abolished in him, of this one it may be said that he perishes without the law; but he who lives under the law may be said to be judged by the law, since the Apostle also testifies that everyone who circumcises himself is a debtor to do the whole law.

Certum est that Gentiles who have no law naturally cannot do the things of the law, for this reason—not because this law is written in the hearts of the Gentiles (for it is not): but this is what they are naturally able to feel: for example, that they should not commit homicide, not commit adultery, not steal, not bear false witness; that they should honor father and mother, and things similar to these. Perhaps also that God is the one creator of all is written in the hearts of the Gentiles. More than this, however, those things which are said to be written in the heart seem to me to agree with the evangelical laws, where all things are referred to natural equity. For what is so close to the natural senses as that men should not do to others what they do not want done to themselves? Yet the natural law can agree with the Law of Moses according to the spirit, not according to the letter. For what natural intelligence would there be in this, for example, that one should circumcise an infant on the eighth day, or that wool should not be woven together with linen, or that no one should eat anything leavened on the day of the New things? When we had sometimes put these questions to the Jews, and demanded that they show if there were any utility in these things, we know that they were accustomed to answer only this, that it had so seemed to the lawgiver. We, however, who feel that all these things ought to be understood spiritually, for that reason believe that not the hearers, but the doers of the law shall be justified, not the law according to the letter, which certainly, because of its impossibility, cannot have a doer, but according to the spirit, through whom alone the law can be fulfilled. This, therefore, is the work of the law, which the Apostle says that the Gentiles also can fulfill naturally. For when they do the things that are of the law, the law seems to be written in the hearts.

That which he says, "in the hearts," is not to be thought to mean that the law is written in a member of the body ^A which is called the heart. For how could flesh emit such great senses of prudence or contain such large receptacles of memory? Rather, it must be known that the rational faculty of the soul is accustomed to be called the heart. And by the "testimony of a sane conscience" the Apostle says they contain the law written in their hearts. Whence it seems necessary to discuss what this is that the Apostle calls "conscience," whether it is some substance other than the heart or the soul. For this conscience is said elsewhere to be something that reproves, yet is not reproved, and that judges the person, yet is not itself judged, just as John says: "If our conscience," he says, "does not reprove us, we have confidence toward God." And Paul himself says elsewhere that "this is our boasting, the testimony of our conscience." Since, therefore, I see such great liberty in it, in that it always rejoices and exults in good deeds, while in evil deeds it is not rebuked, but rather reproves and argues against the soul to which it is joined, I think that it is the very spirit which is said by the Apostle to be with the soul—as we ^B taught in the preceding—joined to it like a tutor and ruler, so that it may admonish it regarding better things or chastise and reprove it regarding faults; of which the Apostle also says, "For who among humans knows the things of a person, except the spirit of the person which is in him?" And it may be the spirit of conscience, of which he says: "The Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirit." And perhaps this is the very spirit that is joined to the souls of the just, which have been obedient to it in all things; and for this reason it is written: "Praise the Lord, ^C spirits and souls of the just." But if the soul should be disobedient and contumacious toward it, it will be divided from it after departure, and will be separated. And on account of this I think it is said in the Gospel concerning the wicked steward, that "the Lord will divide him and place his portion with the faithless." Perhaps this is the spirit, of which it is written that "the spirit is incorruptible in humans." And according to those things which we said above, that it is divided and separated from the sinful soul so that it may receive a portion with the faithless, it can similarly be applied to these, and that which was said: "There will be two in the field, one will be taken and one will be left; and two at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left." These things [are] concerning that which is written: "The conscience bearing witness."

10. Now let us see what follows: "And between one another the thoughts accusing, or even defending, in the day when God will judge the hidden things of men according to my Gospel, through Jesus Christ." ^D Who doubts that the judgment of God is righteous, where accusers and defenders and witnesses are brought in? And indeed, from this righteous judgment of God let us humans take an example, and let us not think that a just judgment can ever be held without an accuser, and a defender, and witnesses. Then it must be seen how in that day, when God will judge the hidden things of humans, thoughts will either accuse or defend the soul—not indeed those thoughts which will be at that time, but those which are now in us. For when we think either good or bad things, just as in wax, so in our heart there are left certain imprints and seals of both good and evil thoughts, which, now placed in the hidden part of the breast, are said to be revealed in that day by none other than by Him who alone can know the hidden things of humans: the causes of which signs, or of which markings, our conscience will also testify do not remain hidden from God. That judgment, however, according to the Gospel of Paul (that is, that which Paul announces), will be done through Jesus Christ. For the Father judges no one, but has handed over all judgment to the Son. Marcion, however, and all those who introduce various natures of souls by diverse figments, are most openly refuted by this passage, when it is said by Paul that God will judge the hidden things of humans through Jesus Christ: and it is shown that each one is to be judged not by the privilege of nature, but by [his] own thoughts being accused or excused by the testimony of his own conscience.

11. "But if you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and boast in God, and know his will, and approve the more useful things, instructed by the law, and trust that you are a guide of the blind, a light of those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having the form of knowledge and of truth in the law. You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by the transgression of the law? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written." Just as we have observed in the prophetic Scriptures, not only does the person of the speaker change secretly and suddenly, but also those to whom the discourse is made, or about whom the discourse is being made; for example, as now from the Father

or the Holy Spirit, or even from the person of the prophet, or of anyone else, some things are said; and now indeed the discourse may be directed to the Israelite people, now to foreign nations, or to kings, and to a thousand others. So it seems to me that this Epistle to the Romans (10) was also written, in such a way that sometimes even the person of the speaker changes, and sometimes indeed Paul speaks spiritually, as in many places of the Epistle; but sometimes truly Paul, ^A in the flesh, as, for example, when he says: "But I am carnal, sold under sin" (28), as will be shown (11) when, with the Lord directing us, we shall have come to that very passage. Sometimes, however, there also happens a change in the persons of those to whom the discourse is directed, so that it is now addressed to the whole Church of the Romans: "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is spoken of in the whole world" (29); but in other places not to the whole Church, but to every one who judges another, while he himself does the things which he condemns in others, and is inexcusable. ^B Now, however, the discourse is directed neither to the Church, nor to him who judges, in the place where he says: "But if you are called a Jew, and rest in the Law, and glory in God, and know His will," and the rest, up to that place: "And that which is by nature uncircumcision shall judge the Law-breaker, you who through the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law." As in the prophetic Scriptures, it behooves him who wishes to grasp the intelligence of those things which are written to attend vigilantly to the persons—either of those speaking, or to whom, or about whom the discourse is made (12)—so now in the Epistle to the Romans it seems to me that this must be done. But let us see now what those things are which the Apostle says to him who is nicknamed ^C Jew. For first, this is to be observed, that he did not say concerning him: "But if you are a Jew," but: "You are called a Jew," because it is not the same thing to be a Jew, and to be called a Jew. For Paul himself teaches in what follows, that he is truly a Jew who "in secret" is circumcised by the circumcision of the heart, who "in spirit, not in the letter," keeps the Law, "whose praise is not of men, but of God." But he who is such in the manifestation, in the flesh, circumcised, keeping the Law to this end, that he may be seen by men, this one is not truly, but is called, a Jew. For of these, too, the Apostle himself says (30): "See the circumcision: for we are the circumcision, who by ^D the Spirit serve God." But also John in the Apocalypse says thus concerning certain people (31): "Who say they are Jews, and are not," whom he even pronounces to be "of the synagogue of Satan." It must be known, however, that this one who is "in secret" and truly a Jew, draws the name from that Judah, of whom it is written: "Judah, your brothers shall praise you: your hand shall be upon the back of your enemies: a lion's whelp, Judah" (32), and the rest, which were prophesied concerning the Lord the Saviour.

Therefore, if it is clear concerning the differences of persons, and who truly is a Jew, and who, however, is nicknamed by the name alone, let us see what the apostolic discourse says to this one who boasts that he is a Jew, and is not. "You," he says, "who are called a Jew, and place all your rest in the letter of the Law, and glory in God as one who is His portion, and to whom it has been granted to know the will of God, and as one skilled in proving, you boast that you are able to know and discern what things are more useful, and the difference, so that you not only know what things are good, but also discern what things are better 488 and more useful; you trust also that you can be a guide of the blind." Indeed, you are of those leaders of whom the Lord was speaking: "The blind are leaders of the blind. But if a blind man leads a blind man, both fall into the ditch" (33). He trusts, therefore, that he is a leader of the blind, a light of them also who are in darkness. But to them also, nevertheless, the Lord says: "But if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness itself!" (34). They trust, however, that they are instructors of the foolish, and masters of infants, as those who have received from the letter of the Law the form of knowledge and of truth. And because they profess these things, indeed, yet do not truly hold them, the Apostle says to them: "You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? And you who preach not to steal," you steal the coming and presence of Christ, which has shone forth to the whole world; "you who say not to commit adultery," in the synagogue of the people of God you commit adultery, superinducing upon it a perverted and adulterous sermon of doctrine; and you place it with the letter of the Law which is outside, when you read that it is written concerning it that "all the glory of the king's daughter is within" (35); and to which Law, through the prophet, it is notwithstanding said: "Unless you hear in secret, your soul shall weep" (36). Therefore, you who deny that one should commit adultery, you commit such grave adultery, that you introduce an adulterous sense to her of whom it is said in the Law by God: "I will betroth you to Me in faith and in mercy" (37)." You who abhor idols, you commit sacrilege, violating the true temple of God, which is Christ Jesus. For you destroy (15) the temple of God which was raised up in three days (38) to those who believe. But also he who steals and hides the sermon from the law and the prophets which announces Christ, lest the people hear and believe, commits sacrilege, and truly violates the temple of God. The same man also here who is nicknamed Jew, and glories in the letter of the Law of Moses, is convicted as a transgressor of the Law when he does not believe in Christ. For if he believed Moses, he would surely believe Him, of whom Moses wrote (39).

Because of these, therefore, who are called Jews and are not, the name of God is blasphemed ^A among the Gentiles, not only because of their most wicked works, but also because of the humble and abject understanding which they have of the Law and the prophets. For it becomes ridiculous even to the Gentiles themselves, when they who follow the letter of the Law say (14): "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle; which are all for corruption according to the commandments and doctrines of men." But the Apostle says this indeed to him who is a Jew by name, not by deed; yet it can also pertain to every man in whom there is only the name of religion and piety, but whose deeds, and knowledge, and faith are lacking. And therefore we ought to discuss these things with greater care in ourselves than in those who do not come to the faith of Christ, lest any of us, who through faith in Christ and the circumcision given in baptism has become a true Jew, and rests in the Law of Christ, and glories also that, having cast off the error of idols, he has recognized God and had His will made known to him (for he knows how to approve what is good, and well-pleasing, and perfect, and reaches the point where he is also a leader and teacher of the Church to enlighten (15) those who are blind in knowledge, and to instruct the simple in Christ): lest such a one, I say, should wish to teach others more strictly, and to exact ^B the highest discipline of chastity (16) from those whom he instructs, while he himself is urged on by the vice of intemperance and greed, and sometimes even burns with the flames of secret lust. To such a man, therefore, this apostolic discourse is aptly fitted, saying to him: "You who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one must not steal, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?" But if, as sometimes happens, he should also convert offerings given to God, and alms given for the use of the poor, to his own gain, it is rightly said to him: "You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege?" But if he should also incur open reproaches, and have already gained a public reputation for his avarice, and unjust judgments, and drunkenness, God is dishonored in his actions; and when it becomes known to the people that a teacher of the Church is such, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles. For it is certain that disciples are similar to their master. These same things, however, can in the third place be adapted even to heretics. For they, too, are surnamed Christians, and some of them ^C also have held the Law, by which they were instructed, and claim to be guides of the blind, and teachers of the simple, proving the more useful things which they say are hidden from the ecclesiastics. But because these men steal the words of God, and pervert their meaning with a perverse exposition, and introduce an adulterous sense of faith to the Church, the bride of Christ, into the royal chambers, it is rightly said to them (18): "You who preach that one must not steal, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? And you who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege," stealing precious vessels from the temple of God, that is, the pearls of the true faith from the holy Scriptures: through whom also "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles," while they spot the chaste and honest dogmas of the Church with the corrupt and filthy (19) errors of heretical pravity. For from them, indeed, the scandals of infanticide, and incest, and other similar crimes have arisen to the envy of holy religion. It must be known, however, that the Apostle says these things to the Jews by irony. For he who truly rests in the Law, and glories in God, and approves what is more useful, is not to be believed to do these things which have been enumerated. The testimony, indeed, which he set forth, that is, "The name of God is blasphemed through you among the Gentiles," is taken from Isaiah (4).

...rest in the Law: if, however, you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If, therefore, the uncircumcised keeps the righteousness of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision, and will he not judge that which by nature is uncircumcision, fulfilling the Law, you, who through the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For not he who is a Jew in the open is a Jew, nor is that which is in the open in the flesh circumcision; but he who is a Jew in secret is one; and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God (3). What that circumcision is which the Apostle says is of profit, or what Law profits if it be kept (20), seems to require diligent inquiry; that when we have understood these things, we may also be circumcised. Indeed, if circumcision profits, according to the word of the Apostle saying that "circumcision profits, if you keep the Law," the Apostle himself teaches in what follows that not that which is in the open in the flesh is circumcision, but the circumcision of the heart, done in the spirit, not in the letter.

^A Since this has praise not from men, but from God. And elsewhere He says: "Watch out for the circumcision," for we are the circumcision who serve God in spirit and do not put confidence in the flesh. This, as I think, is the circumcision which the Apostle says is of benefit if you keep the law: not the law of the letter, whose circumcision in the flesh you certainly do not receive, but the law of the spirit, according to which you are circumcised in the heart. For "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life," because the law of God is not "written with ink," but by the finger of God, which is His spirit, "and not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of the heart."

But it may be objected against us that if the Apostle says that circumcision is of benefit—which is certainly understood to be nothing other than the cleansing of the soul and the rejection of vices—how does he add furthermore that this kind of circumcision is of benefit only if you keep the law, when this very circumcision seems to be achieved only by the observance of the law? But consider whether it may signify the cutting away of vices and ceasing from evil: yet to do the things which are good, and to accomplish the things which are perfect, is to keep the law. For perfection is not found in merely ceasing from evils, but in doing good, as we are more clearly instructed in the Psalm, when it says: "Turn away from evil," and it did not stop there, but added: "and do good." ^B Similarly, therefore, the Apostle, being as it were imbued with these things, says that circumcision and the rejection of evils are of benefit only if you keep the law of good things. For no one can be perfect if he has done nothing evil, but only if he has done something good. Whence even the very circumcision which used to be performed in the flesh, without this understanding which we are now explaining, would be signified only in an image. Finally, it was given to infants on the eighth day, who had as yet performed no action at all.

But if any one should bring forward against us that which is placed in the beginning of the book of Job concerning his praise, where it is said: "And Job was a true man, blameless, just, a worshipper of God, abstaining from every evil thing," and if he should think that the rejection of evil is counted last, after the preceding praise of good works: I indeed believe it is indicated by this, as is often the custom, that although very many men do indeed perform good things, they nevertheless mix in something of evil work; whereas few are like Job, who are so true and irreprehensible, so just and worshippers of God, that while doing all these things they abstain from every evil thing.

"If, therefore," he says, "you are a transgressor of the law," as we have explained above, by not doing those things which are good, "your circumcision has become uncircumcision." While it appears to you that you have abstained from evil, not performing the works of faith and justice is reckoned to you as infidelity. Nor is it possible for any carnal circumcision to revert again into uncircumcision, since the flesh of the foreskin which has been cut away cannot return; ^C but if it lacks the restraint of evil deeds, which is signified by circumcision, then, if it does not have the works of faith, it may be reckoned as uncleanness. But also in the Church, if anyone who is circumcised through the grace of baptism should afterwards be a transgressor of the law of Christ, the circumcision of baptism will be reckoned to him as foreskin: because "faith without works is dead," and the portion of the evil servant is placed with the infidels.

13. "But if the foreskin keeps the requirements of the law, will not that which by nature is a foreskin, by fulfilling the law, judge you, who through the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?" We said above that the Apostle discusses two Jews and two circumcisions, and now makes mention of the carnal, now of the spiritual. It seems, therefore, in the present place, that by "foreskin" he describes the Gentiles who came to the faith of Christ in the uncircumcision of the flesh: whom he composes and compares with those Jews who, through the letter and circumcision of the flesh, are transgressors of the law, whom he also says are to be judged by those in whom there is not the circumcision of the flesh, but the observance of the law.

We can, moreover, from this comparison, also admonish those of our own in the Church; for example, if we were to say that catechumens, or even Gentiles, are still in the foreskin; and those who are faithful through the grace of baptism are circumcised. If, therefore, a catechumen who is not yet circumcised through the grace of the washing should keep the law of Christ, and keep the righteousness and commandments, will he not from this comparison judge him who is called a believer and yet does not keep the precepts, and treats the law of Christ and the commandments with contempt? Finally, the Lord Himself was saying: "The Queen of the South will rise in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." These things, indeed, have been said for the instruction of the Church. But consider if this understanding can also be admitted in this place: that even after the coming of Christ, the carnal circumcision which is observed from the law might be said to be of benefit to those who were still observing it at the beginning of our faith: such as is taught in the Acts of the Apostles that either Peter did in the distinction of foods, or Paul in the sacrifices of purification: ^D if perhaps here too the Apostle seems to have proposed a circumcision of this kind, which he says is of benefit provided that the law is also kept: if not, this circumcision is to be turned into a foreskin, that is, it will be of no profit: and indeed, it will have a greater judgment for that man who, through the circumcision of the flesh, appears to profess the observance of the law, and in transgressing the law is judged by him who has not even received the circumcision of the flesh.

^A For the outward Jew is such, but he who is in secret is the spiritual Jew. In this, the former is indeed a transgressor of the law, but the latter is made the judge of the transgressor. Now the carnal Jew is made a transgressor (28) because the law itself was weakened through the flesh. For if it had not been weakened according to the flesh, it would certainly not have been said: "For that which was impossible for the law, in that it was weakened through the flesh." But you will never find it written that the law is weakened through the spirit, and therefore "they who are in the flesh cannot please God"; ^B but those who have mortified the acts of the flesh through the spirit will not only live, but will be judges not only of men, but even of angels: because the praise of the one is from men, but of the other from God. Let these things, then, be said by us for the explanation of the apostolic utterance which we set out to discuss. Yet it will not seem intrusive to discuss also the general rationale of circumcision itself, since the passage itself has reminded us of it. Let us therefore repeat, and bring forward into our midst, whatever is contained concerning it in the Law or in the other Scriptures. We find written in Genesis the first commandment concerning circumcision, when replies were given to Abraham in this manner 61: "And God said to Abraham: Thou shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations. And this is my covenant, which I have established between me and you, and between me and thy seed after thee in their generations: every male of yours shall be circumcised, and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and you. And the boy on the eighth day shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations: the homeborn, and the purchased with money from all the sons of strangers, who is not of thy seed, shall be circumcised by circumcision, the homeborn of thy house, and the purchased with money by thee: ^C and my covenant shall be upon your flesh as a perpetual covenant: and the uncircumcised male, who shall not be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be destroyed from his people (30), because he has broken my covenant." However, it should not escape us that in other codices "on the eighth day" is not contained in this place alone. Likewise, it is written in Leviticus 62: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: A woman, whatsoever seed she shall receive, and bear a male, shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the period of her separation she shall be unclean, and on the eighth day she shall circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, and for thirty-three days she shall sit in her blood in her impurity." These testimonies from the Law of Moses we have set forth. But the Savior says in the Gospel, circumcision

to receive a man on the Sabbath, and not to break the law of Moses; and he says that it is from the fathers, and given before Moses. Moved by the authority of this ^A judgment, and at the same time by the gravity of the legal precept, even after the advent of Jesus some were persuaded to be circumcised, though they were from the Gentiles. Others, however, shuddering at the weight of the precept, recoiled entirely even from the very laws in which these things appeared to be written, so that they thought these were not commands of the good God, nor of Him whom our Lord and Savior had come to proclaim. And therefore to me it seems that a more diligent discussion must be applied in such places, to see if there be any utility in such a command even according to the letter; and if there are those to whom it is useful, or towards what end its utility tends, or if something more useful is indicated figuratively.

Therefore, repeating the testimonies which we have brought forward from the law, let us discuss more attentively whether such a command seems to hang over the Jewish people alone, or whether it binds in equal measure all those who believed from the Gentiles. Let us look, therefore, at that oracle which is deferred to Abraham, by which he is ordered to keep the covenants of circumcision. "You, therefore," He says, "shall keep My covenant, and all your seed after you through their generations. And this is the covenant which I have arranged between Me and you and them, that every male of yours be circumcised, and they shall circumcise the flesh of their foreskin, that it may be as a sign of the covenant between Me and them; and every male on the eighth day shall be circumcised." ^B Those whom He wishes to be circumcised even from the foreigners—that is, those who are not said to be from the seed of Abraham—He manifests clearly. For He says: "Your house-born servant, and one bought with money from all the sons of foreigners, who is not of your seed, shall be circumcised with circumcision." He nowhere made mention of a proselyte, that is, a stranger; but He orders a house-born servant, surely of that nation, born in the house, or even bought with a price, to be circumcised; He does not bind the free man, He does not bind the guest, He does not bind the stranger [as such].

Let us now search through the law of Leviticus also, and how God orders even Moses: "Speak," He says, "to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: If a woman has received seed and brought forth a male." And a little later: "On the eighth day," He says, "he shall circumcise the flesh of his foreskin." Observe here also how Moses is ordered to speak of the law of circumcision only to the sons of Israel, and no mention is made of foreigners. For if we believe that those things which are brought forward in the law were written by the Divine Spirit, surely it is not to be thought that anything is added or passed over in silence in vain; and therefore when in some commands it is said: "Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them," but in other cases it is added, so that not only to the sons of Israel, but also ^C to the strangers, it is told, a necessary distinction must certainly be observed: because just as in those places it is said: "Speak to Aaron," and elsewhere: "Speak to the sons of Aaron," and elsewhere: "Speak to the Levites, and you shall say to them," it is certain that the rest of the sons of Israel are not subject to those laws which were promulgated either to the sons of Aaron, or to the Levites, or to Aaron himself: so also in the case of those things which are commanded to the sons of Israel, nor is there any mention of a foreigner, it is not to be thought that the command in them is common, or that the law is rendered common, where an exception of designation is held.

Yet let us bring forward a few testimonies from many for the probation of these things, by which we may prove that either the addition or the exception of such names is necessary. In the first parts of Leviticus, ^D a law of this kind is brought forward only to the sons of Israel: "Speak," says the Lord, "to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: If a man among you offers gifts to God from the cattle," and so forth; and again: "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the sons of Israel: If a soul shall sin unintentionally," and so forth. Who would doubt that these and such things are commanded to the sons of Israel alone? But other things are commanded not to them, but to Aaron or his sons, as He says in the subsequent parts: "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: Command Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the law of burnt offerings," etc.; and again: "The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering, there they shall slaughter for sin in the sight of the Lord;" and again to Aaron: "Wine, He says, and strong drink you shall not drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter into the tabernacle of witness." But other things are ordered neither to Aaron nor to the sons of Israel, but to the elders of Israel in this way: "Speak," He says, "to the elders of Israel, saying: Take a goat from the goats for sin," etc. Is it doubted that this law is enjoined only upon the elders of the sons of Israel? Moreover, a special law seems to be given to the sons of Israel concerning clean and unclean animals also. For so it is written: "And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying: Speak to the sons of Israel, saying to them: These are the animals which you shall eat," and the rest.

Thus, therefore, also concerning circumcision, whether in those which were answered to Abraham, or in those which are contained in Leviticus, no one else is bound by the law of circumcision, unless he be either tracing his origin from Abraham, or is a servant born in their house, or bought with a price. But do you wish to see that where He wishes even foreigners to be connected by one and the same law, He indicates it significantly? Hear what is written: "And the Lord," He says, "spoke to Moses saying:"

Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: Any man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that dwell among you, whoever eats any blood, I will set my soul against that soul that has eaten blood, and will root him out from among his people, because the life of all flesh is in the blood: and I have given it unto you, that upon the altar you may make atonement for your souls, because the blood shall expiate for the soul. Therefore I said to the children of Israel: No soul of you shall eat blood, and the stranger that sojourns among you shall not eat blood." You see, then, that this law regarding the observance of blood, which was given commonly ^A both to the children of Israel and to strangers, is observed also by us who believe in God from among the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. For Scripture is accustomed to call us proselytes and strangers, when it says: "The stranger that is in you shall go up above you; and you shall go down below. He shall be the head to you; but you shall be his tail." Therefore, the Church of the Gentiles has also received the law regarding the observance of blood as common with the children of Israel. For thus understanding what is written in the law, that blessed council of the apostles decided then, writing dogmas and decrees to the Gentiles, that they should abstain not only from those things which are sacrificed to idols, and from fornication, ^B but also from blood and from what is strangled. But perhaps you will ask, if as it is clear regarding the observance of blood, it is also taught regarding what is strangled, whether the law was given as common to the children of Israel and to strangers, since the statutes of the apostles decree that the Gentiles should observe this also. Hear how observantly it is provided for even in this matter in the laws of God: "A man, a man," he says, "of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who are among you, whoever hunts a wild beast, or a bird, which are eaten, let him pour out its blood and cover it with earth, because the life of all flesh is its blood." See, therefore, how observantly the legislator, where he wishes a command ^C to be common, joins the strangers to the children of Israel: but where he gives special precepts, he distinguishes those by whom he wishes them to be observed. But since among those things which we brought forward above from Leviticus, this is also recorded: "A man, a man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that are among them, whoever shall offer a holocaust or sacrifice, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be exterminated from his people": and by this it seems that this is also enjoined upon the stranger regarding sacrifices, and that the Church from among the Gentiles is made subject to offering holocausts: these words and syllables, so to speak, of the law ^D must also be observed more diligently. For he says, "if he shall offer a holocaust or sacrifice, that he bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant." The law does not command that he must do it, but if he happens to do it, it teaches how he ought to do it. For it is certain, and cannot be doubted, that while the temple stood in Jerusalem, and the religion handed down to the fathers flourished, many even of the Gentiles came to worship, and to offer sacrifices. But since this is commanded to be done in only one place, regarding which it is also ordered here that the victim be led to the door of the tabernacle to be slaughtered, it could be legitimately done only as long as the status of the place remained intact. Finally, the Savior also said to those ten lepers whom he had cleansed: "Go, show yourselves to the priests: and offer for yourselves the sacrifices, as Moses commanded"; from among whom, when one had returned to the Savior giving thanks, the Lord said: "Were not ten purified? And where are the nine? There was no one found to return, and give thanks to God, except this stranger." Thus, then, with the state of the temple remaining, it was also the custom for strangers to offer sacrifices: but now what is required of strangers, which it is not permitted even to the proper worshipers to exhibit? But all these things have been said by us, that we might show how great is the distinction of the commandments in the law, and especially that we might teach regarding the precept of circumcision, which was enjoined to none other than those who draw their lineage from Abraham, and to their home-born, or those bought with a price: but that those who believe in God from among the Gentiles through Christ are free from laws of this kind. Which, however, we have discussed in the meantime without the addition of any allegory, lest there should remain any occasion for those who are from the circumcision, as is their habit, to clamor against the truth. But they will still be able to raise a powerful weapon against us, maintaining that proselytes also are made subject to the law of circumcision, from those things which are written in Exodus in this way: "But if any stranger shall dwell among you, and shall keep the Passover of the Lord, every male of his shall be circumcised, and then he shall come to keep it, and he shall be as an indigenous. No uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who shall arrive among you." Which, although it may seem an astute objection, yet the admirable caution of the legislator meets it everywhere. For consider that even here he did not say that the stranger who shall come to you shall keep the Passover to the Lord, and be circumcised; but he decrees with most observant moderation, saying: "If he shall dwell among you, and keep the Passover." Nor can there be any doubt about this, that if someone should keep the Jewish Passover with the Jews, he must also be circumcised: it is only this one thing, by which those who contradict are repelled, that the caution of the legislator has foreseen. There is also that besides, about which they will not be able to whisper. The Passover which the law commands to be kept, it orders it to be celebrated in that place which the Lord God chose, that is, Jerusalem. For in that place…

^A sacrifices are decreed to be offered. Therefore, let them first recover the state of the temple, and then let them contend about circumcision; but if, according to the opinion of the Savior, there remains not there a stone upon a stone which has not been destroyed, the cause concerning circumcision is superfluous. Moreover, circumcision is to such a degree a badge of the native people and of no other race, that nowhere else in the histories of the ancients is anyone else reported to be rebuked on its account, except the son of Moses, whose mother Sephora checked the power of the angel threatening the life of the son by circumcision. From all these things, therefore, it is shown that Israel, who is according to the flesh, is alone subject to the circumcision of the flesh; but the proselyte people, who came to it, who ascended and was made above, is free and alien from it; that one, however, descended and was made below; ^B and by the mercy of Christ, this people was made the head, and that one the tail. For the ‹last have become first, and the first last,› and for this reason, that which by nature is the foreskin judges those who, through the letter and circumcision, are transgressors of the law. For this circumcision which is done in the manifest flesh does not purify the soul; but that which is in secret, the circumcision of the heart, that itself purifies the mind and cuts away the stains of vices. Thus far let it be said by us to the best of our ability concerning carnal circumcision. Come now, according to him who said that the law is spiritual, and who says concerning those things which are recounted in the law that they were spoken by allegory, let us see what ought also to be thought regarding it by allegorical laws. I know that the sayings or writings of many are brought forth on this point; but we also shall add what the Lord has granted to those things which seem to be conveniently composed by others. To circumcise is, from the genital member, by which the succession of the human race and the carnal propagation is ministered, to cut off some part. Therefore, I believe it is indicated figuratively by this that it must be cut away from the soul if any impurity has adhered to it from the ^C association of the flesh, or if any persuasive passion of lust has covered its understanding. Therefore, that cutting-off is not applied to other members, but to the genital members, so that it may be clear that faults of this kind do not come to the soul from its own substance, but from the genuine motion and incentive of the flesh. But that circumcision is given on the eighth day, I think it is signified that the present age is indeed reckoned to the week; but the eighth day holds the mystery of the future age. Therefore, the spiritual circumcision belongs to those who serve in the future age, in which ‹they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be as the angels of God;› and to those ^D ‹who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of God,› and to those who, walking on earth, ‹have their conversation in heaven, and who look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen,› and know that ‹the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.› Truly, as we mentioned above, it was also said by others that spiritual circumcision is to cut away every unclean thought and impure sense from the heart and to cast it away. But this is met by such editions from those things that are written in Ezekiel, where the Lord says: ‹Every alien son, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter into my sanctuary, among all the alien sons who are in the midst of the house of Israel.› For the prophetic utterance clearly shows two circumcisions at this place, saying: ‹Uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh.› Whence we are compelled, according to allegorical laws, to assign forms and species of each circumcision, although this can be objected against us even in those reasons which we expounded above. But in the meantime, let us now follow what figure of the two circumcisions can be preserved according to allegory; and let us see whether perhaps it might be referred to two general sins in which it is not useful to be uncircumcised, that is, in faith and in works: so that he is uncircumcised in heart who does not have faith, and uncircumcised in flesh who does not have works. For one is reproved without the other, because ‹faith without works is said to be dead,› and ‹by works without faith no one is justified before God.› Thus, therefore, as I think, the prophetic saying will be conveniently fitted to the people of the faithful, to whom it is said: ‹Every alien who is among you in the midst of the house of Israel, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter into my sanctuary.› This is surely what the Lord also says in the Gospel: ‹He who believes in me guards my commandments;› and again: ‹He who hears these words of mine and does them;› and again: ‹Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?› You see, therefore, that faith is everywhere joined with works, and works are associated with faith. Therefore, the circumcision of the heart is to feel nothing sordid, nothing unworthy concerning faith. The circumcision of the flesh is to commit nothing unclean, nothing contaminated in deed and action. For whoever is uncircumcised and unclean in either of these is forbidden by the words of God to enter into the sanctuary. Yet even the alien enters into the sanctuary, where it was not lawful to enter according to the law of the letter except for the priests alone.

^A It is granted now, however, even to aliens that they may enter, so that they may be cleansed by the circumcision of faith and of deeds. If, however, anyone should strive to recall us to the aforementioned questions, and should repeat to us what is written concerning the alien—that for him who desires to enter into the sanctuary, not only is the circumcision of the heart required, but also the circumcision of the flesh—let us answer him who insists so annoyingly with that which the prophet Jeremiah says: "Behold, their ears are uncircumcised." Let this seeker of carnal circumcision show us a sensible and bodily circumcision of the ears, if he can; but it is certain that he can in no way do this. Therefore, compelled by necessity, he will revert to allegories, and he will say that the ears are circumcised when, according to the admonitions of Solomon, they do not receive vain hearsay, and when they are closed so as not to hear the judgment of blood, and when they are fenced about with thorns so as not to receive detraction, but to be open only to the word of God and to those things which are said for edification. Therefore, let the circumcision of the heart be such as this circumcision of the ears, which is commonly understood to be set forth. And in this way, he is also called uncircumcised in lips who has not circumcised blasphemy, scurrility, and base speech from his mouth, who has not set a guard for his mouth and a door of restraint for his lips, and who has not circumcised his mouth even from an idle word. Finally, when Moses says to the Lord: "Provide, O Lord, someone else whom You may send; for I am slow of speech and of a weak voice," in the Hebrew manuscripts they say that they have: "But I am uncircumcised in lips." ^B But if, in this way that we have spoken of above, one can be seen to be uncircumcised in ears and uncircumcised in lips, why, in a similar form, may he not be called uncircumcised in the foreskin of his flesh who indulges in the natural impulse of intercourse more immoderately and intemperately; while he is held to be circumcised who, in such a matter, uses his functions lawfully and only as much as suffices for posterity? But since we are treating the rationale of circumcision, it does not seem absurd to add this to these things: that Jesus the son of Nave, by the command of the Lord, is recorded to have circumcised the children of Israel a second time with knives of stone—which, indeed, so far as the letter is concerned, seems an impossible thing to have been done. For once they were circumcised in the flesh of the foreskin, what could a second circumcision find to remove? ^C But our Jesus, who truly leads the children of Israel after Moses into the holy land flowing with milk and honey, into the land of promise, it is evident how He circumcises the people of believers not once, but a second time. For the first is His circumcision, by which He cut off from them either the worship of idols or the fabrications of philosophical persuasion. With the second, however, He uses the circumcision of the old man, and He cuts off the passions and vices of the flesh: and then is fulfilled what is written in the book of Jesus Nave: "Today I have taken away from you the reproaches of Egypt." ^D For a man carries with him the reproaches of Egypt if, while placed in the Church and fighting under Jesus as his leader, he retains Egyptian customs and barbarous movements of the soul. Marcion, indeed, to whom it is not pleasing that anything be understood through allegory, will not find at all how to explain that which the Apostle says, that circumcision is profitable. But he will not be able to render a reason for even individual things that are brought forward. Indeed, not only he, but all the heretics who repudiate the Old Testament are accustomed to oppose and to point out with a certain derision the God of the Law who gave circumcision, along with the Gentiles, all of whom, by way of a kind of confederate detraction, repeat such things against the God of the Law. The Stoics say: "Let circumcision denote something mystical, and let it hold an allegorical figure; but were the species of figures and the enigmas of the law meant to be established with the pain and danger of little children, with the torments of tender and as yet innocent infancy? So, did the legislator have nowhere to place mystical forms except in the defilement of the private parts; and could the law of the omnipotent God and the seal of the eternal testament be placed nowhere but in the base parts of the limbs? Is that God good, then, who commanded a man to be wounded immediately at the very first auspices of his new life? And if, as seems to you, He Himself is the creator of both soul and body, He either notes that He created that part of the body superfluously, which He later commands to be cut off, so that through the torments of the miserable He may amend His own error; or what He made necessarily and usefully He does not rightly command to be taken away. Then, moreover, if God cares that very many be brought to the worship of His religion, the greatest obstacle is born from circumcision. For as each one shrinks from the pain, so too he shuns the derision of the indecency; whence this is to be considered more an impediment to religion than a badge." Both the Gentiles and the heretics clamor these and many such things against the legislator: to whom I think it necessary to respond, but first to the Gentiles. No wise man notes in others those things which he considers honorable and great among his own; for among you, O Gentiles, circumcision is held in such high regard that it is not entrusted to the common, ignoble crowd, but only to priests and to those who have been devoted to more choice studies among them. For among the Egyptians, who are held to be both the most ancient and the most learned in your superstitions, from whom almost everyone else has borrowed the rite of sacred things and ceremonies—among them, I say, no one either of...

the geometry or of astronomy, which are considered foremost among them, or certainly of astrology and genesis, which they consider the most divine of all, probed the secrets unless they submitted to circumcision. Among them, every priest, every soothsayer, or every minister of sacred rites, or, as they call them, every prophet, is circumcised. Nor did anyone learn the priestly letters of the ancient Egyptians, which they call hieroglyphics, unless he was circumcised. Every hierophant, every vates, every initiate and one privy to the secrets of heaven and the underworld, as they believe, is not considered to be among them unless he has been circumcised. Do you therefore judge this to be shameful and obscene among us, which among you is held to be so honorable and great that you believe the secrets of things celestial and infernal can be declared to you only through signs of this kind? But if it is necessary to seek a reason for those things which are performed among you by the ministry of circumcision for the sake of so many and such great secrets, and one which ought not to be despised—lest with it all your ceremonies likewise be undermined ^A—why do you not hope that this can also happen among us? But if you unfold your histories, you will find that not only did the Egyptian priests and hierophants use circumcision, but also the Arabs, Ethiopians, Phoenicians, and others whose devotion to superstitions of this kind has flourished more nobly. Let these things be said sufficiently against the heathens, to whom it was not permitted to speak more openly of the mysteries of our law. Now let our speech be directed toward those who indeed believe in Christ, but who do not accept the Law and the Prophets.

You certainly confess it to be true which is written in the Epistle of Peter: "Because we were redeemed not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Only-Begotten." If therefore we were "bought with a price," as Paul also confirms, we were undoubtedly bought from someone whose servants we were, who also demanded the price he wanted so that he might release those whom he held under his power. But the devil held us, to whom we had been sold by our sins. He demanded therefore our price: the blood of Christ. But until the blood of Jesus was given, which was so precious that it alone sufficed for the redemption of all, it was necessary for those who were being instructed in the Law, each one for himself, as if in imitation of a certain future redemption, to give his own blood; and for this reason we, for whom the price of the blood of Christ has been paid in full, do not need for our own selves to offer the price, that is, the blood of circumcision.

If, however, it seems culpable to you that the God of the Law commands that wounds be inflicted upon infants and that blood be shed, this took place also in Christ ^B, who received the wounds of his passion and shed his blood through the punishment of the cross. ^C But if the approach to religion seems difficult to you on account of the horror of circumcision, the entry into the Gospel seems much more difficult, where one is ordered to lay down not a small part of the body, but the soul itself. But will the examples of the martyrs, according to you, prohibit men from approaching the faith? Or is it believed to be a firmer religion because it promises nothing lax, nothing delicate, or soft? And if circumcision held no other sacramental figuration, what would be the absurdity if the people who were being instructed under the law of God carried some unique mark for the sake of distinction from other nations? And if the amputation of some part seemed necessary, what was so suitable as to find that which seemed to be obscene, and to remove those things whose diminution would not impede the function of the body?

But as to what they say, that if that part of the member was not necessary, it should not have been made by the Creator, and if it was necessarily made, it ought not to be removed: let us ask them, and us, whether they call the procreation of children necessary. They will undoubtedly answer that it is necessary. Therefore, those who, under the pretext of continence and virginity, do not minister to the necessary functions of nature will be guilty; and all those who "have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God" according to the laws of the Gospel, having as the author of this example, among many other saints, the Lord Jesus himself, would have to be forced into marriages.

In sum, however, it must be said that just as many baptisms were necessary before the baptism of Christ, and many purifications before the purification by the Holy Spirit took place, and many sacrifices before the one sacrifice—the immaculate Lamb Christ—offered himself as a sacrifice to the Father ^D: so also there was need for many circumcisions until the one circumcision in Christ was delivered to all, and the shedding of the blood of many went before, until through the blood of one the redemption of all was brought about. These are the things that could occur to us for the present regarding the rationale of circumcision, though they are said by us on the condition that, if anyone can speak better and more reasonably, those things should be held rather than these of ours. But after a digression perhaps more lengthy than just, let us return to the conclusion of the apostolic chapter.

Therefore, since this discussion is frequent in the Apostle, in which he designates that there are two men in each person, of whom he is accustomed to name one the exterior and the other the interior, and says that one of them is according to the flesh and the other according to the spirit, I believe that from those...

^A things which were written in Genesis, where one is reported as having been made in the image of God, and the other as having been molded from the slime of the earth, he now calls these very same ones, the one a Jew in the manifest, the other a Jew in the secret: it must be known that each of these uses certain differing institutions, but in some others they use common ones. For there are certain things which have their beginning from the interior man and reach to the exterior; but others, begun by the exterior man, reach to the interior. Now what I mean is this: if chastity takes its beginning from the interior man, it reaches without doubt (57) to the exterior. For it cannot happen that if one does not commit adultery in his heart beforehand, he could commit adultery in his body. But not continuously, if one begins from the chastity of the exterior man, does he reach also to the interior continence; so that if he does not commit adultery in his body, he does not commit adultery in his heart (58). According to these things, therefore, let circumcision of the interior and exterior man be understood by allegorical laws, when that interior man no longer covets in his heart, nor does this exterior man minister to concupiscence ^B in the body: so that he is said to be circumcised in the flesh, whom the Apostle says "is no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit, and who mortifies the acts of the flesh through the spirit." But since he who is circumcised has given over some flesh as lost, and has kept some safe, I think that by that which he has given over as lost (59) is signified the flesh of which it is written: "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of grass." But the flesh which is kept and remains safe, I think that it holds the form of that flesh of which it is said, "because all flesh shall see the salvation of God (60)." But there is need of ears that can hear which is the flesh that perishes, and which is the flesh that shall see the salvation of God: which remains safe after the deposition of the flesh of the foreskin, when that other, as the flower of grass, shall have fallen. Whoever shall have understood this will find the ^C forms of immense mysteries set forth in the reason of circumcision, and will find that he who is a Jew in secret, and who is circumcised in the interior man, stands out so much, and is more eminent than he who is a Jew according to the flesh, as much as that Judas, whom his brothers praise, and who slept as a lion and was raised up as a lion’s whelp, stands out and is eminent over the Jew who was born from the loins of Jacob according to the flesh.

14. What advantage then is there to the Jew? or what is the utility of circumcision? Much by every mode. First, indeed, because the oracles of God were committed to them. For what if certain of them did not believe? Shall their incredulity make void the faith of God? God forbid! But let ^D God be true, and every man a liar: as it is written: "That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged." In this Epistle, Paul, sitting as a kind of arbiter between the Jews, and the Greeks—that is, those who believe from among the Gentiles—invites and calls both to the faith of Christ, so that he neither offends the Jews by utterly destroying the Judaic rites, nor casts the Gentiles into despair by confirming the observance of the law and the letter; and whether he remembers the promises or the punishments, he divides the word to both peoples. So, for example, when he says: "But to those who are of contention, and who do not believe indeed the truth, but believe iniquity, [there shall be] wrath and indignation: tribulation, and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and [of] the Greek." These are concerning punishments. But concerning the promises he subjoins: "But glory, and honor, and peace to every one that worketh good, to the Jew first and to the Greek." Again, he seems to be speaking concerning the Gentiles: "For whosoever have sinned without the law, shall perish without the law." And again concerning those who are circumcised: "And whosoever have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law." But again, lifting up the Gentiles, he says: "For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law, these having not the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts"; etc. And again he turns the discourse to the Jews, saying: "But if thou art surnamed a Jew, and restest in the law," and the rest up to the place where he says: "For the name of God is blasphemed through you among the Gentiles." And lest he should seem too harsh in his rebukes of the Jews, he says: "Circumcision indeed profiteth, if thou keep the law." But again, lest he should lift up those who place vain glory in circumcision, he added: "But if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision." But that he might a little lift up the spirits of those who believe from the Gentiles, he subjoins: "If then the uncircumcision keep the justices of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?" And that he might more forcefully lift up the spirits of the Gentiles, and [show] that they might know they could, if they kept the law more perfectly, be made even better than the Jews, he says: "And that which by nature is uncircumcision, if it fulfill the law, shall judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law." But because he knew that there were many promises in the Law and the Prophets which seem to be made to the Jews, lest the Gentiles should be able to despair as if they had no part in the inscribed promises, he teaches them that according to the mystical reason

^A even the Jews themselves are, and that they possess circumcision. Therefore he says: "For not he who is a Jew in the manifest is one, nor is that circumcision which is in the manifest in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God." But since in all these things he had in a certain way made the cause of the Gentiles superior, again, as if meeting the complaints of those who are of the circumcision, he proposes to himself what are contained in the present chapter, saying: "What then is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the utility of circumcision? Much in every respect." He asks, therefore: if he who is a Jew in the manifest, and that which is in the manifest in the flesh is circumcision—if this is not held as such, but he who is a Jew in secret, and the circumcision of the heart which is done in the spirit, is the true circumcision, tell me: What more is there in these Jews who are designated by this appellation? Or what utility is had in corporal circumcision? To these things, lest he seem to have sat as a less than just arbiter between the two peoples, he declares ^B what advantage the Jew has, and that circumcision which is in the flesh, and says they have advantage "much in every respect." He adds, however, what that "much more" is. "First, he says, because the oracles of God were entrusted to them." For although now the oracles of God are also entrusted to the Gentiles, yet, he says, they were first entrusted to them. I inquire, however, what it is that is meant by saying "the oracles of God were entrusted to them first": whether he says this of letters and books, or of the sense and intelligence of the law. For we see very many of the Jews from infancy to old age always learning, and never arriving at the knowledge of the truth; and how will that which is said appear to be true, that they have something more in the fact that the oracles of God were entrusted to them first, when they neither understand what they say, nor about what they affirm? If, however, that man is called wise according to Solomon, who "understands the things that are from his own mouth, and who carries ^C intellect on his lips," these things are to be understood as said of Moses and the prophets and others similar to them, to whom the oracles of God were entrusted, since it cannot be doubted that there were indeed Jews, and that they had circumcision: but also if there was anyone among them who was wise, and an understanding hearer, and a wonderful counselor, whom the Lord is said to take away from Jerusalem provoked by the impieties of the people. For thus says Isaiah: "Behold the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, shall take away from Jerusalem and from Juda the strong and the powerful," and after a little: "And the prophet, he says, and the judge, and the elder, and the captain of fifty, and the wonderful counselor, and the wise architect, and the prudent hearer." ^D To these, therefore, it must be thought that the oracles of God were entrusted in the first place, and it must be confessed that there was in these "much more in every respect." But also if there were others like them, as the Apostle records in the books of Kings: "I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed their knees to Baal." But also the very apostles of Christ, and the very vessel of election, Paul, coming from the Jews and from circumcision, had more than those whom he taught from among the Gentiles in every respect. For the oracles of God were entrusted to them. But concerning this very thing which he says, "Because the oracles of God were entrusted to them," it is to be considered that he did not say letters were entrusted, but "the oracles of God." Whence the way is given to us of understanding that to those who read and do not understand, and who read and do not believe, the letter alone is entrusted—that of which the Apostle says: "for the letter killeth"; but the oracles of God are entrusted to those who, understanding and believing the things which Moses wrote, believe also in Christ, just as the Lord also says: "For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me also: for he wrote of me." But be it so, let the Jew have more in the letters, let him have something also in the oracles of God: have those who come from the Gentiles to Christ been entirely abandoned? Or is there somewhere where they also have something more? Hear the Lord saying to the centurion from the Gentiles believing: "Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel." See therefore where it comes to faith, how much more the Gentiles have; of whom in another place the Lord says: "That many will come from the east and the west, and from the four winds of the earth, and will recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God; but the children of the kingdom will be cast out into the exterior darkness." Where therefore it comes to laws and letters, the Jews have more "much in every respect"; where, however, it comes to faith, that I may speak by way of comparison, the Gentiles have more "much in every respect." It must indeed be inquired if it is also to be said to the Samaritans that the oracles of God were entrusted first, since indeed even among them the law of Moses appears to be kept. But as for them, I would not even say that the letter itself which is said to kill was entrusted to them. For the prophet says of them: "Woe to them that despise Mount Sion, and trust in the Mount of Samaria"; for they truly make themselves aliens to the letters of God, repudiating the prophets. But as for the heretics who speak iniquity against the Most High, and who by their impiety divide the unity of the Godhead, and who separate the law from the Gospels, I would not say that the oracles of God were entrusted to them, for the reason that divine things are not among them.

They seem to be re-read; but because there is nothing in these thoughts that is spiritual, nothing worthy of God, I would say that only the letter, which kills, holds place among them. But if perchance the Jews do not wish to accept the opinion of our Apostle, which says that "the letter of the law kills,” and think that an injury is done to the law if it seems to be despised according to the letter, let us return to Moses himself, and let us see how greatly he himself prized the letter of the law; he who, when he had received the stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God, bore so much honor for the letter of the law that he cast the tablets from his hands and broke those which had indeed been written by the finger of God, and yet was not marked with the guilt of impiety for this. You see, therefore, that not only Paul despises the letter of the law, but much earlier Moses himself despised, cast away, and broke the letters of the law, undoubtedly signifying even then ^A that the honor and virtue of the law were not in the letters, but in the spirit. But even the Lord in the Gospel, when He says, speaking to the Jews: "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit," I believe He called the understanding of the law the kingdom of God, which was taken away from the Jews, while only the letters of the law remained with them, and was given to the nations which might be able, through faith, to produce the fruit of the spirit. Since these things are so, why are we so slothful and idle that we do not, once having cast off all malice, hasten with simplicity and purity of heart to receive the oracles of God, and to grasp from them the sense of Christ, especially when we hear that the kingdom of God is in them? ^B Certainly, let each one grasp the oracles of God according to his strength, as he is able, and if he is fit for solid food, let him receive those oracles of God which are the wisdom that the Apostle speaks of among the perfect. But he who is not yet fit for this, let him receive the oracles of God in which he may recognize nothing more than Christ Jesus, and Him crucified. He who cannot even do this, let him in it receive the oracles of God so as to use milk, and not strong food. If, however, he is still weak in faith, let him take the oracles of God in herbs. It is enough that we all may know in common that the oracles of God are "chaste oracles," and "silver examined by fire, proved to the earth, purified sevenfold," that is, that we may keep the divine oracles in chastity and holiness of heart and body. The oracles of God were therefore entrusted to those first ones of whom we spoke above; but some, as he says, did not believe either God or the oracles of God. You see that those who do not believe are those who are according to the flesh, of whom he also says elsewhere: ^A "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him." But their unbelief does not 499 evacuate the faith of God. We understand the faith of God either as the faith which God Himself has in those to whom He entrusts His oracles, or the faith by which those who receive the divine oracles from Him believe in God. We are reminded, therefore, that the unbelief ^B of those who either do not approach faith or fall from it—if they perchance mock us who perform the works of faith, whether when we fast, or when we do works of mercy, or when we devote ourselves to study and labor for the law of God, or even when we suffer torments for the martyrdom of Christ—we must always remember that their unbelief does not evacuate the faith of God which is in us. After these things, what follows seems to be less coherently connected; for it says: "But let God be truthful, but every man a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words, and may conquer when you are judged." Nevertheless, we will attempt by a certain circumlocution to adapt it to what has gone before. It says: Granted that some of the Jews did not believe, concerning their unbelief, however, it must be said that God indeed alone is truthful, but every man is a liar: because even if anyone is just, it is necessary nevertheless that in something he should fall short of the truth, which it is almost impossible for human nature to preserve in all things. Because, therefore, every man is a liar, for that reason some of the Jews, as lying men, did not believe. For since every man is a liar, necessarily on that day, when the Lord comes to judgment with men, He alone will be justified in His words. For His words are in all things true, because they are words of truth. But that the Lord comes to judgment with men, the prophet says: "Come, and let us be judged, says the Lord"; and: "The Lord Himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people"; and again: "Remember you, and let us be judged, says the Lord." The Apostle introduced these things while observing that objection which he sets forth in another place, where he says: "But if our injustice commends the justice of God." Concerning which, when the time comes to reach its place, we shall inquire. Now, therefore, let us see what it is that he says: "But let God be truthful, but every man a liar." For so it is held in the Greek manuscripts. For the Latins read ^D *fiat* [let be] in place of *fiat* [let be/become]. First, therefore, this must be known, that when he said, *fiat*, he does not say it in the imperative mode. For it is foolish if it be thought that it must be commanded to God that He be truthful. But as we say: "Thy will be done."

as in heaven, so on earth; or, as we say again: "Let peace be in thy strength," not commanding, but hoping, nay rather asserting, etc., because peace cannot exist except in the strength of God: so also here, the statement is to be accepted as if of one asserting: "Let God be true, but every man a liar."

But this also must be known, that this statement, that is, "Every man a liar," is taken from the hundred and fifteenth Psalm, where he says: "I said in my ecstasy: Every man a liar." Here, indeed, in order to illuminate the Apostle’s sense more clearly, let it not seem burdensome ^A to readers if we briefly explain the context of that same Psalm, from which he takes the testimony. It seems to me, therefore, that the Prophet is announcing a certain such sense as this. While there are many dogmas among men, he says, and many engage in philosophy regarding the inquiry into truth, and since it is fitting that the Son of God should have precedence in all these questions: some, indeed, who did not first believe but sought, did not find; but I, because I believed before I sought, therefore found what I was seeking, and not only found, but I also spoke, and announced to the peoples the truth which I had found. Yet I was not puffed up in wisdom upon finding the truth, nor was I inflated in my knowledge; but I was the more humbled by it, when I recognized and understood that the Lord is He who teaches all knowledge. Then, considering what and how great things men have spoken about the truth, whether among philosophers or among the rest of the barbarians, and because with much labor speaking many things they found nothing, because they did not believe before they sought: considering all their words or writings, and having been brought into an ecstasy of mind, that is, astounded with stupor of heart, that all those volumes of the philosophers, which seemed splendid and very bright, composed with eloquence, stood far from the truth, in ecstasy and stupor ^B of mind I said: "Every man a liar." But I, to whom God had shown these things, was not ungrateful, but I pondered and asked within myself what gift I might repay to the Lord for this, that the Lord granted me the knowledge of truth: yet I understood that that eternal nature, and the mistress of all, needs nothing. One thing, therefore, I found alone that it was fitting for me to offer to God, that is, that I should believe of Him that He can never receive anything from a man, but always gives; and therefore I said: "I will take the cup of salvation"; ^D as if I were answering Him who says: "Can you drink the cup which I am about to drink?" and I were to say: "I can, Lord." So therefore I say: I will gladly and with my whole will take the cup of thy passion; and, that I may preserve the grace of thy cup, that is, of thy passion, even to the end, I will not act by my own powers, but "I will invoke the name of the Lord," for "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death," which is undertaken for piety and truth.

According to this, therefore, even in apostolic sayings, "Every man a liar" must be accepted, whether it be he who trusts in the letter of the law without faith, or he who boasts in whatsoever dogmas and letters. But it is objected to us: If every man is a liar, Paul himself, because he is a man, will therefore be a liar. But also David, who said these things, because he was a man, if every man is a liar, he himself will also be a liar, and this very thing which he says is false: "Every man a liar," because he necessarily declares himself a liar along with other men; and if he is a liar, that which is said by the liar will certainly not be true, because "every man is a liar." His statement, therefore, seems to have fallen into the syllogism which is called *aporos*, that is, unsubstantial, which is also called false. But if we return to the interior understanding of Scripture, we shall find that all the prophets or apostles are of those to whom the word of God comes, as it is written: "And the word of the Lord came unto him," or unto that prophet. Those, therefore, to whom the word of God comes, the Lord in the Gospel declares not to be men, but gods. For thus He says: "If He calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken." Because, therefore, the word of God came to David as a prophet, and to Paul as an apostle, without doubt they were not men, but gods, to whom the word of God came. Therefore, because they were not men, but gods, it is true ^C that which they declare concerning other men to whom the word of God did not come, because "every man is a liar."

But that which follows is nonetheless taken from the fiftieth Psalm, that is: "That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged." But the whole sense is placed in the Psalm in this way: "Against thee alone have I sinned, and done evil before thee, that thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged." And since it is an immense digression if we start from the beginning of the Psalm, for the sake of brevity let us discuss only this statement, which we have placed in the middle; in which, straightway at the first, this explanation seems difficult. For if we follow the history which is written in the title of the Psalm, it is reported there that, after Uriah the Hittite was killed, David took his wife. How, therefore, does he say: "Against thee alone have I sinned," when he had sinned indeed against Uriah himself, and against his relatives, but also against Bathsheba herself and all his house, upon which he seems to have brought the stain of adultery? But it must be known that the content of the Psalm does not always follow the history of the title, as he who observes will find in very many psalms. And, for the sake of example, let me say, the title of the seventeenth Psalm is: "Unto the end,"

he says, to the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this canticle on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he said. The content of the psalm, however, is far different from what the pre-titling contains. For what are the foundations of the mountains that have been shaken? Or how ^A has the earth been made to tremble, when David was fighting against his enemies? Or where is it reported that there was darkness under the feet of the Lord? Or where is it indicated that He ascended upon the cherubim, and flew, or upon the wings of the winds, and almost all the rest of the things which disagree in every way with the history of the pre-titling? Thus, therefore, even in the fiftieth psalm, the things which according to history do not fit. It must be considered whether, perhaps, the mention of a woman in the pre-titling was made for this reason by way of a figure, so that under this appellation some such woman might be understood, ^B or such as is described in the case of the strong woman who made double garments for her husband, or certainly one contrary to this, as were those who are said to have turned away the heart of Solomon, so that he built altars to the gentiles, and idols. Which, taken in any case for allegory, are not from the divine wisdom, but from those things which are contrary to it—that is, sects alien to God. Such, therefore, can this wife of Uriah the Hittite, a man foreign to Israel, also be understood to be, whom David, placed in the high places, saw washing her impurities in the waters, and wishing to wash away her filth, and he desired her and took her. But because it was not the will of the Lord that sects alien to the truth of God be introduced into the house of David, her first offspring and first fruit is extinguished, so that in the second progeny a wise king might be born from a foreigner. But it is long to pursue the figures and enigmas of these matters.

That which pertains to the matter, however, we shall briefly pursue. Since, he says, there is much subtlety in the variety of sects, and who has the sense according to God, and who is alien to God in the tracts and disputations of the wise—it belongs to no one to know or to judge, except to God alone, who alone can comprehend the wise in their craftiness; therefore, "To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee," because all others, being as it were animal men, cannot judge me, who am spiritual, even if I have erred: because "the spiritual man judgeth all things, but he himself is judged of no one." But because Paul adds "spiritual," and says: "But he who judgeth me is the Lord"—David, knowing this, that it is the Lord alone who judges the spiritual man, or the prophet, for that reason ^C says: "To thee only have I sinned," by whom alone I can be judged. For the human day cannot judge the spiritual man. But that which follows also looks to this sense: "That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged." For God is judged in the disputations of the wise, while some think of God in this way, others in another, and individuals think differently about God. He, however, overcomes those who judge about Him, when He Himself reveals His own sentiment to all who are errant, as to how or in what manner He is to be believed and worshipped. But let this suffice for the length of the second volume. For I know not how it is, while I am loath to omit anything that is suggested as necessary for explanation, we depart from brevity: which, if the matter allowed it, taking care for the reader's disgust, we would greatly desire to preserve.

BOOK THREE

1. "If, however, our iniquity commends the justice of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? I speak according to man. God forbid. Otherwise how shall God judge this world? For if the truth of God has abounded in my lie into His glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner, and not (as we are blasphemed, and as some say that we say) let us do evil that good may come? whose damnation is just." Perhaps it will seem to many that the order of speaking, digested by the apostle Paul throughout almost the entire text of this Epistle, is inconsistent, while his discourse is now directed against the gentiles, now moderated for the sake of the gentiles, and again against the Jews, and again about the Jews, or ^D even for the Jews is it put—and from those same ones he calls some worthy of praise, others he vituperates. Which variety of senses again, outside the lines of the intended action, will be thought to have led him astray, such as when he uses that exclammation in which he says: "But let God be truthful, every man however a liar"; or also that which he adds consecutively when he says: "If, however, our iniquity commends the justice of God," and the rest, so that through this he might appear to have lapsed from excess into excess. But we who believe Him saying that "He has made us fit ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit," find His sense to be much loftier than the ratio of human art is believed to be. For throughout the whole text of this Epistle...

^A he wishes to reveal what the salvation before the coming of Christ was for those living under the Law, or how, through the coming of the Savior, salvation is again conferred upon the Gentiles from the unbelief of Israel; and again, that the Gentiles are not brought to salvation in their entirety, unless it be those who have believed, nor is Israel rejected in its entirety, but "the remnant" of those who believe "shall be saved." And therefore, as I have said, the order of his speech seems confused while he follows the diversities of the believers and non-believers on both sides. In these, he necessarily turns his speech also to God, so that in all these differences of acceptances and rejections, he may teach that God's judgments are indeed true and just, but that much falsehood abounds among men; and therefore he says: "Let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written: That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged," concerning which we have spoken as we were able in the preceding pages. To these things, therefore, now seeing that a plausible objection can be urged against him to the contrary—because if it is necessary that God be true and every man a liar, and if the justice of God is commended by human injustice, God will seem unjust who inflicts wrath upon men, while He sees His own justice approved by the injustice of men; for if our injustice, that is, the injustice of men, commends the justice of God, surely those men through whom the justice of God is held to be more probable and clearer will not appear worthy of punishment—he says: "But God forbid," that we should accept this in such a way, that God who brings wrath upon men is seen as unjust. For how shall He be thought unjust who judges the world, ^B since by the very name of judge it is shown that He does nothing without judgment? But where there is judgment, it is certain that there is justice. For from justice the judge and the judgment are named. If, therefore, as the unjust, he says, falsely claim that we affirm, "the truth of God has abounded through my lie," "am I judged as a sinner?" But that, he says, will appear more in which they blaspheme us, as if we seemed to say this: "as if, if the truth of God is shown more clearly by the lie of men, and His justice is proven by the injustice of men," "Let us do evil that good may come," and let us lie, so that by our lie the truth of God may be made manifest. But these things they falsely attribute to us, blaspheming us, because these things are said or appear to follow as if from the consequence of our own assertion. Which the reason of our dogma does not at all accept, for we understand God to be a just and true judge. It should certainly be known that in some Greek copies it is found thus: "Is God unjust who inflicts wrath upon men?" And according to this sense, those for whom we have said these things harmonize. ^C According to this, however, which we find in Latin copies and some of the Greeks: "Is God unjust, who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. God forbid;" it seems it should be understood as follows. This which is said, "Is God unjust who inflicts wrath," because "our injustice commends the justice of God," is not spoken according to God, nor according to the wisdom of God, but "according to man," and according to this which is said: "all men are liars." But we have said these things while still treating the very order of the words and the sequence of the statements, so that the very division of the words might make a clearer way of understanding for us. But now let us seek what kind of sense is held in these words according to the apostolic dignity. All discipline consists of favorable and unfavorable things, or of contraries. For example: medicine professes knowledge not only of health, but also of illness; and although it may have a concern for health, it cannot, however, be ignorant of what pertains to illness. Similarly, prudence consists in the knowledge of good and evil; and temperance knows what things are to be chosen and what are to be avoided; and fortitude is not ignorant of what pertains to fear. So too is justice. If we wish to know what justice is, it is necessary that we know what injustice is; but when we have obtained a full knowledge of injustice, we shall also recognize from it what justice is: for when it has become clear what is unjust, it will consequently appear what is also just. And since justice is in God, whose nature is inaccessible to human sense ^D and injustice, however, is held to be in us men, or even in every rational creature; from this injustice of ours, which is known to us, that justice of God, which is as if inaccessible and incomprehensible to us, is recognized and commended, and the contrary is manifested as if from its contrary. The apostle Paul therefore notes the ignorance of those who raise an inconsequential question, thinking that God is unjust who leads wrath upon men, because His justice is commended from our injustice; but they are ignorant that it is not by the benefit of our sins, but by the consequence of the reason itself, that contraries are approved from contraries. Therefore, the Apostle says thus: "If our injustice commends the justice of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. God forbid. Otherwise how shall God judge the world?" Therefore God is not proved unjust in this, if the reason of discipline proves contraries from contraries, and commends justice from injustice; but with every consequence, justice is worthily and meritedly opposed to and resists injustice, just as in-

- life life is opposed to death, and light to darkness. And ^A therefore God, in whom there is justice, is said to bring wrath upon men in whom injustice dwells; for these things naturally oppose one another. And how, even from this, will God appear unjust, since He opposes injustice? And for this reason, perhaps, the Apostle did not say that we unjust men commend the justice of God, but said: *If our injustice commends the justice of God*, to show that it is not God who is opposed to men, but justice that is opposed to injustice; yet wrath is brought upon men for the reason that they gave room for injustice within themselves. God, therefore, who is justice, will not be seen as unjust when He grows angry against injustice, to which it is unfitting for Him to be propitious; but this wrath even reaches those men who have shown themselves to be ministers of the injustice with which God is angry. For injustice cannot subsist in anyone, just as justice is the effect of a just and right work, which is found first in God and then in those who imitate Him; so also injustice is the effect of an unjust and wicked work, which is detected first in the devil, and then in those who wish to imitate him. And therefore it is mentioned that wrath is worthily brought upon them, even though God’s justice might appear to have shone forth from their injustice as if from its contrary. For they were able, just as they received within themselves the affection of an unjust and wicked work, to have received much rather the just and the right. With justice, therefore, is wrath said to be brought by God upon all men. For those in whom wrath has no place, they are no longer to be called men, but something ^B above men. And because of this, perhaps, the same apostle Paul makes pronouncement about all men, saying that *we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest*. For he did not say, "We were children of wrath," but added: *We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.* For all men have been made children of wrath by nature, from the fact that they were gods and children of the Most High, and by this were called men. Attend more diligently to how He says: *I said: You are gods, and children of the Most High;* and He added, *all of you.* Such an addition signifies the entire human race connected together under this title. Finally, in the consequences, He says: *But you, like men, shall die.* Whence also that which is written: *And God deliberated that He had made man upon the earth; and He repented in His heart, and God said: I will wipe away the man whom I have made from the face of the earth;* I think this is said not only for the destruction of the flood, but that something from this was also predicted under a mystery concerning ^C things to come: so that the saying, *I will wipe away man*, may be understood in the way that God also says through the prophet: *For behold, I wipe away your iniquities like a cloud;* so that He may be seen wiping [him] away according to that which he is a man, and [thereby] making Him God, then when *God shall be all in all*. To this meaning can also be applied that which is said in Genesis: *The time of every man has come into my sight:* so that it may be thought said not only about that time of the flood, but also about the mystery of baptism; just as the apostle Peter says, that just as then Noah was made safe from the flood, so also now believers may be made safe by a similar form through baptism. And thus that which is said, *the time of every man*, can be understood as having arrived for salvation, so that through the grace of baptism believers may be understood to be changed from men into a higher order, when the day of the resurrection shall have arrived, where all the saints will be as the angels of God. These things may be said regarding that which was spoken: *Is God unjust who brings wrath,* or *against men,* as we have said we read in some copies, or, as we have it, *I speak according to man.* Far be it, as far as it has been able to occur to us, that these things were said. But that which he says, *Otherwise how shall God judge the world,* in this place he says "the world" are the men who are in this world, just as we also read elsewhere that *the whole world is set in malignity;* which confirms that men who dwell in this world are set in malice. After this, let us see how it is said: *If, however, the truth of God has abounded in my lie unto His glory.* There are many species of religions in this world, many sects of philosophers, many doctrines handed down by false assertions and written with lying arguments, whose authors are held to be men—falsely, perhaps, in the name of wisdom—of no small or despised authority; from whose prerogative things false are received for true, so that they have occupied almost the whole world with lying opinions regarding religion, so that, if it can be said, even the elect might be led into error. Since, therefore, the truth of God, and His wisdom, and His Word, coming, refuted and confuted every lie, and cut through all the assertions of false doctrines by the faith of the truth, the truth of God abounded through every single lie which had previously been asserted by men, by refuting the surreptitious verisimilitudes and ^D by handing down the simple truth of faith in every single one of the doctrines; and in this way the Apostle says the truth of God abounded in the lie of men. But, so that what we say may become more manifest, let us bring forward some things for the sake of example. There was a dogma among men which proclaimed that the highest good is pleasure; in which it is also consequently asserted that there is no Providence, indeed, if one is to live not by laws, but by pleasure; and these things [were presented] in a sufficiently grand and ornate style, and with most valid arguments...

^A If anyone has understood this, he does not in any way say that which is brought forward by foolish objection in the following passages: "Why then am I judged as a sinner?" But he perceives that he would justly be judged if he were to persist in the lie of men; and he who, having been convicted by the truth of God according to those things which we have expounded above, feels that he has erred, turns from his error and glorifies the true God by acknowledging the truth, and no longer blasphemes those who preach [(7)] the truth, as if they were saying: "Let us do evil that good may come," knowing that in this word the condemnation of the one who blasphemes is just. It is also to be noted that he has established that those who preach the truth are not so much insulted—which pertains to men—as blasphemed—which pertains to God.

^B Innumerable volumes are digested. But observe now how he who defends the truth of God, and who, according to Christ, who is the truth of God and the wisdom of God 17, is a philosopher, teaches men that the highest good is eternal life; and that this is eternal life, that men should know the one only true God, and His Son Jesus Christ 18; and how with all confidence he asserts the providence of God, saying: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without the will of the Father 19?" and because He Himself "maketh His sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust 20." Through each of these, while those dogmas of false knowledge are refuted, the truth of God abounds in the lie of men. There are also others who say that there are three kinds of good: one regarding the soul, another regarding bodies, a third external. When each of these is possessed conveniently, they assert that the highest good consists of them. These, likewise cutting off the providence of God, contend that it reaches as far as the globe of the moon: below, however, that is, to men, it does not descend at all. There are also others who say that nothing is invisible and incorporeal, but assign all things that exist to bodies, whence they have also said that the Father of all, God, is a body. But because the consequence of their reasoning pressed them—by which it is established that every body is corruptible, so that if they also assert that God is a body, they must without doubt concede that He is also corruptible— they turned the manner of their argument and said that He is indeed by nature corruptible, yet that He is not corrupted, for the reason that there is nothing superior to Him by which He could be corrupted or dissolved. There are also other innumerable figments of men composed by dialectical arguments and the fraud of sophisms. When the truth of God convicts each of these through ecclesiastical men and those learned in divine wisdom, and refutes the snares of their arguments, the truth of God is said to abound in the lie of men, and not only to abound, but to abound to His glory 21. This, I think, is to be understood in this way: if a doctor of the Church teaches simple listeners who are not yet preoccupied by false dogmas, and opens to them the reason of divine truth concerning each individual thing, the truth of God will seem to abound in such doctrine. If, however, the discourse is directed at those who resist the truth, who contradict [(6)] the words of sound doctrine, and those who contradict are refuted and convicted, so that, having abandoned the darkness of errors, they come to the light of truth; then not only will the truth of God abound, but it will also abound to His glory. For God is glorified through him who, rescued from the error of a lie, has beheld the light of truth. ^C Whoever, therefore, has understood this, ^D [is he who] has understood that we have proved Jews and Greeks all to be under sin, as it is written: "Because there is none just, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They have all gone out of the way; they are become unprofitable together; there is none that doth good, there is not so much as one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes 27." We have already predicted that in this Epistle Paul, as a certain arbiter between those who believed from the circumcision and those who believed from the Gentiles, always tempers his discourse and balances it, so that now these, and now those, seem to be reproved in certain things, and again he encourages each party with the certain hope of the promise [(9)]. Because, therefore, he had seemed to say in the preceding section that if the uncircumcision keeps the righteousness of the law, he shall judge him who, in the circumcision, is a transgressor of the law 25: again, to lift up those whom he had humbled, he added: "What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what is the profit of circumcision? Much every way. First indeed, because the oracles of God were committed to them 26." After these things, when he had followed them up as if with certain consequences, he now adds and says: "What then? Do we excel? We have proved that Jews and all Greeks are under sin 27." But if all are under sin, then there will be no cause for pride for one against the other, since both come to salvation not from their own righteousness, but from the mercy of God. He proved, therefore, that the Greeks, that is, the Gentiles, are under sin when he says 28: "For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools: and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. Wherefore God gave them up..."

to a reprobate sense, and the rest: concerning the Jews, however, when he says: «But if you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and the rest. To which he added: «You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal?» etc. After these things, therefore, he says that «we have asserted that Jews and Greeks are all under sin.» After these things, however, as is his custom, he wishes to affirm what he said from the holy Scriptures; at the same time, he provides an example to the teachers of the Church, so that they may bring forth what they say to the people, not presumed from their own opinions, but fortified by divine testimonies. For if he, such a great and such an Apostle, does not believe the authority of his own words can suffice unless he teaches that what he says is written in the Law and the Prophets, how much more should we, the least, observe this, that when we teach we do not bring forth our own opinions, but those of the Holy Spirit? We also think it necessary to warn that in several of the Latin manuscripts, the testimonies that follow are found set out in their entirety in the thirteenth psalm; ^A but in almost all the Greek manuscripts, they are contained in the thirteenth psalm no further than that verse where it is written: «There is none who does good, there is not even one.» But the fact that the Apostle also said: «As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God,» is not found in the psalm with the same words, but some are changed, others are assumed, others are left out. If this is observed more diligently by any studious persons, I think that apostolic authority is granted in this, so that when we need to use the testimonies of Scripture, we capture the sense rather from it than the words. For you will find this done frequently even in the Gospels. Therefore, in the thirteenth psalm it is written thus: «The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there is any who understands, or who seeks God.» But in the fifty-second psalm it says thus: ^B «God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there is any who understands, or who seeks God.» And it seems that the same sense is preserved also in that which the Apostle posited: «There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.» And as to what he said: «There is none righteous,» I think he took it from that which is written: «There is none who does good, there is not even one;» in which, even though the wording seems changed, yet one and the same sense is preserved. But as to what is said in the following: «Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have practiced deceit,» you will find it in the fifth psalm. After this: «The poison of asps is under their lips,» which is itself also taken from a certain psalm, ^C as we said above, I believe, with the words changed. Moreover, what follows: «Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,» seems taken from the ninth psalm. Then next: «Their feet are swift to shed blood;» you will find this either in Isaiah or in the Proverbs. But also, «Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known,» I do not indeed remember entirely where it is written; I suspect, however, that it can be found in one of the prophets. In the Psalms, however, it is written: «There is no fear of God before their eyes.» He seems to have desired to gather all these testimonies for this reason, to show that what he asserts, that «Jews and Greeks are all under sin,» he declares not so much as his own opinion, as that of holy Scripture. ^D But let us inquire what this very thing, «to be under sin,» is; for his statement seems to involve everyone without exception, whether they be Jews or Gentiles. But another statement of his occurs to us, where he says: «For where there is no law, there is also no transgression.» Among the Jews, indeed, it is manifest that there is the law of Moses; among the Gentiles, however, he confirms there is the law of nature, which by the testimony of conscience condemns the sinner. When, therefore, we seek for a man in whom there is no law, and who through this does not seem to be in the transgression of sin, because even Paul himself says of himself: «For I was alive without the law once,» when did Paul live without the law, who again says of himself: «Circumcised the eighth day, a Hebrew of the Hebrews»? How then will it be true that he once lived without the law, who on the eighth day of his birth received the sign of circumcision from the law? Whence it is evident that a man is made under the law at the time when he arrives at that age that he can choose, and discern what the law is; nor does he receive the yoke of that law externally any sooner than he begins to have the firmness of the internal and natural law. Finally, in that place where he said: «For I was alive without the law once,» he added: «But when the commandment came, sin revived.» In which he indeed shows this, because in childhood, before one has the discernment of good and evil, one is said to be without the law; since even if one sins, because the law is not in him, sin is not imputed to him. But when one has received the discernment of good and evil, the law is said to have come, and to have given commandments. But where the force of the commandment is present, that is, the conscience rebuking, the sin which was previously dead in him is said to have revived. From this time, therefore, if anyone subjects himself to the law of Moses, so that he might observe it according to the letter, he is made

in the open a Jew. But if, according to the spirit, he follows it, he is made in secret a Jew. This is in regard to what was said: "For we have charged both Jews and Greeks, all to be under sin." ^A Clearly, the word "all" must be understood of those whom it is established to be taught either by natural or by written law not to sin. For we also interpret this concerning the Gentiles made under sin in the same way we spoke above: when they begin by nature to do what is of the law, and are a law unto themselves, then they are reproved by their conscience in those things which they are seen to do against the law. Because of this, it also seems to me that those who call the law of nature the law of God, but call the law of Moses the written law, have indeed sensed correctly. If, therefore, Paul were speaking about the written law, that is, about the law of Moses, and said: "But sin is not imputed when there is no law," then it would seem that sin was not reckoned to Cain ^B nor to those who perished in the flood, nor to those whom fire consumed in Sodom. But since we see that not only were sins reckoned to them, but also that vengeance was visited upon them, it is shown from these things that Paul is speaking about the natural law, which, except for the first age of childhood, is in all men; and through this he says most correctly: "For we have charged both Jews and Greeks, all to be under sin." Hence, it does not seem to me that, among the whole race of mortals, when one has reached that age where he might receive the discernment of right and wrong through the entry of the natural law, malice is first aroused, and after these things it is gradually cast off by erudition, institutions, and admonitions, and he passes over to virtue. For ^C Paul also seems to me to have sensed what is consonant with these things in what he says: "But when the commandment came, sin revived." Yet, when the Savior also says in the Gospels: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin," He will seem, according to this reasoning, to have said that by the virtue through which He is said to fill the world, He comes to every single man, and speaks in his heart, and teaches the judgment of good and evil. Therefore, Paul says it is written: "Because there is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God: all have gone out of the way, they have altogether become unprofitable"; just as the Prophet also says elsewhere: "Because in thy sight ^D shall no man living be justified." This perhaps might seem to be contrary to other Scriptures, which bear witness to some as if they were righteous; to the extent that it is even said to Jerusalem about Sodom, that "Sodom is justified by thee." But look more carefully at the caution of Divine Scripture, how it did not say: "Sodom is justified," but says: "that thou committest many crimes, and such things are done that thou surpassest them in the magnitude of thy sins; in comparison to thy crimes, Sodom is already justified." And so, here too, what he said: "In thy sight shall no man living be justified," he did not intend it to be understood that every man living shall not be justified, but "in thy sight," that is, in the sight of God, he shall not be justified. For however righteous a man may be, however holy he may be, it is certain that he cannot be justified in comparison to God, not only among men, but even among the supernal and more eminent creatures. Indeed, also in the Apocalypse of John, where the sealed book is offered in the sight of the Ancient of Days, and it is sought from every tribe, and tongue, and people, who might be able to open it, none was found except the Lamb alone from the tribe of Judah, who has been justified in the sight of God: and He alone deserved to open the book, who alone is He "who opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens." Therefore, our Savior Lord Jesus Christ alone is justified in the sight of the Father, because "whatever the Father does, these the Son also does likewise." Every creature, however, is justified by comparison with those who are inferior. As if, for example, we were to say: in comparison to the rest of the people, Mary the sister of Moses was righteous; and again, in comparison to Mary, Aaron was righteous; and again, in comparison to Aaron, Moses was righteous. Yet blessed is he who is called righteous by comparison with better men, and not by comparison with the worst, like Sodom, which is recorded as justified by comparison with Jerusalem. Whence I also fear lest, from among us who seem to be in the Church of God and to give effort to His law and to serve the evangelical precepts, some might be found who ought to be justified by the infidels. To say, for example, if we serve lust and impurity, and a Gentile who is alien to the faith of Christ observes chastity, that Gentile is justified by us. Similarly, if we are involved in avarice, rapacity, pride, and other evils of this kind, and a Gentile abstains from all these, and those who know not the law of God, they shall be justified by us, and we by comparison with them shall be condemned. But let us rather give effort that, just as we precede the Gentiles in faith, so we may excel in acts and works, lest our evils become others' goods, and their temperance convict our intemperance. It can also be explained in another way what he said: "There is none righteous, no, not one"; or what he says: "In thy sight shall no man living be justified"; because until one lives in the body, he cannot be justified nor pronounced righteous, but when he has departed from the body, and has departed from the struggle of this life, just as Scripture also says:

^A “Do not congratulate a man before his death, because you do not know what his end will be”; and again Ecclesiastes says: “And I praised the men who are dead and have already died, more than the living who still live: and better than both is he who has not yet been born.” You also have another statement of Scripture which says that whoever is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he who is in the body, even if it be that John, than whom there was no greater among those born of women. “There is not, therefore, any righteous person.” And he added: “There is none who understands.” And in truth, when the Apostle himself says that he knows in part and understands in part, who will be the one called “understanding”? For no matter how much one may have understood, he will be seen to understand “in a mirror and in an enigma,” because after the deposition of the earthly body he is brought ^B face to face to understand. But now, as Scripture says: “The corruptible body burdens the soul, and the earthly habitation weighs down the mind that ponders many things.” Whence it comes about that there is “none who understands, and none who seeks God.” For while we are occupied with the anxieties of the body, and seek the things that are of men, we are unable to seek God or to think on divine things.

5. “All have turned aside, they have become useless together.” llbracket507 It seems to me that one is not said to have “turned aside” unless he once stood on the straight path. Whence it appears that that first work of the rational nature, which was created by God, was straight, and by the gift of its Creator was placed upon the straight path. But because it detoured from this to the left ^C path of sin, it is justly said now to have turned aside, as is the example of the first man, Adam, who from the straight path of paradise, through the persuasive fraud of the serpent, turned aside to the crooked and winding paths of mortal life. Consequently, therefore, all who come into this world in his succession have “turned aside,” and together with him have “become useless.” For this reason, I think, the Lord also gives the command in the Gospels that when we have done all the commandments, we should still remember what we are, and say: “We are useless servants: we have done what we ought to have done.” For until a person does only what he owes, that is, those things which are commanded, he is a useless servant. If, however, you add something to the commandments, then you will no longer be a useless servant, but it will be said to you: “Well done, good ^D and faithful servant.” But what that is which is added to the commandments, and is done above what is due, the Apostle Paul says: “Concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give my counsel, as having obtained mercy from the Lord.” This work is above the commandment. He, therefore, who, having completed the commandments, adds even this, that he should keep his virginity, no longer be called a useless servant, but will be called a good and faithful servant.

And again, it is a commandment that those who announce the Gospel should live of the Gospel. Yet Paul says that “I have used none of these things; and therefore he was not a useless servant, but faithful and prudent. “All, therefore, have turned aside, they have together become useless.” To which he added: “There is none who does good, there is not even one.” A grave verdict, and one which might seem difficult to maintain! For how does it seem possible that there could be found, even among the Jews or Greeks, absolutely no one, not even one, who did good? Do we thus believe that there was no one who ever offered hospitality, or gave bread to the hungry, or clothed the naked, or rescued an innocent man from the hands of the powerful, or performed some such good work? It does not seem to me that the Apostle Paul wished to assert so incredible a statement, but I think it should be understood in this way: that he denies that anyone has performed goodness. For example, just as if someone should lay the foundations of a house, and build one or two walls, and carry some material, will he be said to have finished the house, although he may be seen to have labored in the house? One will be said to have built the house who has brought every single part of the entire edifice to perfection. I believe also that the Apostle is saying here that no one has performed goodness, that is, that no one has brought it to perfection and to wholeness. But if we seek who is truly good, and who has performed perfect goodness, we shall find Him alone who says: “I am the good shepherd”; and again: “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” After these things, taking from the fifth [Psalm], as we said above, he says: “Their throat is an open sepulchre.” By these, various sins of the human race are described, as it seems to me. Every sepulchre covers the uncleanness of a dead corpse; whence the Lord also spoke in the Gospel concerning the Scribes and Pharisees, that they were whited sepulchres, “which outwardly indeed appear beautiful to men, but within are full of all uncleanness.” It seems, however, that Paul, in this place, points out a greater crime in these whom the discourse is about, since he calls them a sepulchre not covered, nor closed, but “open.” For those are called closed sepulchres whom shame restrains a little from sinning openly and proclaiming their crimes to the public. But those are called an open sepulchre who have their filth and uncleanliness in the open, to whom the constant use of wickedness—which is the ultimate among evils—has taken away even the shame of things committed: so that now they do not open their mouth and bring forth the word of God, the living word; but they open their throat...

and bring forth a dead word, a word of the devil, not from the heart, but from the sepulcher. If, therefore, you see a man with an unchaste mouth casting forth shameless words, or with a swollen and furious spirit uttering insults and curses, do not doubt to say of him: “Their throat is an open sepulcher.” “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” ^A To this is added: “With their tongues they have dealt deceitfully.” Deceit is when one speaks one thing with his tongue and revolves another in his heart. A crime which I do not know if even any just men or the elect leave unscathed; but I think that while one is more so, and another less, yet no one is perfectly pure of this, except that One alone of whom it is written: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” For even if one is found diligent and cautious, he may perhaps guard himself in graver matters: but whom will you find who does not fall into these things, either through shame or through negligence? Sometimes even things that should have been taken care of are omitted through forgetfulness, and so that the fault does not appear, they are excused in a manner other than that in which they occurred. Whence also Peter, knowing that these are the varieties of deceit, writes in his Epistle, saying: “Laying aside therefore all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you may grow unto salvation.”

4. “The poison of asps is under their lips.” The bite of a serpent destroys the body: the bite of a poisoned word destroys the soul through deceit. This may happen also from those who circumvent men with the fabrications of calumnies: it may also occur from those who, through a heretical doctrine infected with the poison of the devil, deceive the souls of the simple. “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” He did not say that their lips were full of the poison of asps. For in that vice perhaps many may be found, yet not many who fully and entirely exude the venom of that poison. But to be full of cursing and bitterness is the lot of very many. For who is so refined in his speech that the habit of cursing does not solicit him—I do not say against those who are worthy of cursing, but against those whom the Lord has not cursed, that is, just and innocent men? ^B This vice is prompt and prone to human frailty, especially toward subjects and inferiors: so that they now consider this appellation a matter of no curse. And therefore it is said that their mouth is full of it, and that like a full vessel of the mouth, cursing flows unceasingly. To this, however, bitterness is joined, because it is drawn out from the gall of wrath. For through wrath and fury the tongue is compelled to curse. And therefore the same Apostle says: “Bless and curse not”; and elsewhere: “Lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble.”

It is added in what follows: “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” Which crime, however, perhaps will not seem to be applicable to the greater number of those of whom he said: “For we have charged all, both Jews and Greeks, to be under sin”; unless, perhaps, we understand it thus, that it is not only corporally that the blood of those whose bodies are slaughtered is shed, but even those who separate a soul from God by any scandal are called men of blood. For just as he who separates the body from the soul, by which it is quickened, is called a killer, so with much greater truth is he to be called a killer who separates the soul from the true life, which is God. ^C Understand also in this place those of whom the Prophet says: “But my feet were almost moved”; that is, the counsel by which we walk the journey of life.

5. “Destruction and unhappiness are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known.” He speaks here of destruction, not that by which the spirit is crushed for sins in penance, whence it is said in the Psalms: “A contrite and humbled heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise”: but he calls that destruction by which sinners are said to crush the yoke of the Lord and cast it away from their necks. Similarly, “unhappiness”—or, as it is read elsewhere, “misery”—is to be understood as that by which a man is made wretched and unhappy, who “when he was in honor, did not understand,” but was compared to senseless beasts and became like them. ^D “And the way of peace they have not known.” Our peace is Christ. The way of peace, therefore, is the way of Christ. But if we accept that sinners, while they are always being pressed by the wars of vices, do not know the way of peace, we understand it rightly. For the prophet says to the Lord: “Much peace have they that love thy name, and there is no scandal for them.” But also that people who were led out of Egypt walked through the way of peace, so that they might come to the land of promise, and dwell in Jerusalem, which is interpreted as the vision of peace, just as the Prophet also says: “His place has been made in peace, and his habitation in Sion.” But he more fully knows the way of peace who tends toward the habitation of the heavenly Jerusalem, so that he may ascend to the holy city of the living God. After these things it is added: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” If there be someone who always thinks about the fear of God, and seeks what may please Him, and what may displease Him, to this man it is said that the fear of God is before his eyes. But he must be learned, and diligently instructed by the law of the Lord, lest perhaps he fear there with a fear where fear will not be necessary. The fear of God is therefore always to be placed before the eyes: not these eyes of the flesh (for it is not any visible or corporeal thing that is sought), but before the eyes of the mind; which…

^A fear of God and of intellect and of doctrine is perceived, through which, as we said above, it is understood what ought to be feared and what ought not to be feared. He who fears God does not fear the powers of the world. And what do I say of the powers of the world? He does not fear those principalities and powers and the rulers of this world, nor does he fear the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And that we may confirm this by the authority of Paul himself, listen to how he speaks concerning human powers: "Do you wish," he says, "not to fear the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it." And the Prophet says: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me." But yet it seems to me that the same Prophet felt the same regarding the adverse powers, where he says: "Many who fight against me from on high," and "they will fear in the day"; and again: "If camps stand against me, my heart will not fear." Therefore, it is a great and magnificent work always to have before the eyes of the heart the fear of God: that fear which filled the rod that rose from the root of Jesse, and the flower that rose from his root: of whom he had said: "And the spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him." Moreover, the fear of God renders a man so perfect, that nothing is lacking to him, as the Prophet says, because "nothing is wanting to those who fear Him." These things, as far as we were able, we have adapted to each and every thing that had been assumed by Paul, as they seemed to agree to those things of which he says: "For we have charged both Jews and Greeks, all to be under sin." Which things, nevertheless, I think should be understood in this way: not that all these things are proven to have been in individual men, but one in one, and another in another, yet so that this universality of vices is fulfilled in all.

6. "But we know that whatsoever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become subject to God. Therefore, by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God. For by the law is the knowledge of sin." ^B We have stated in the beginning that the Apostle was about to treat of several laws in this Epistle, the discretion and distinction of which, if not held through individual passages, will be able to confuse the mind of the reader. Therefore, even in the present passage, what he says: "But we know that whatsoever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law," we must inquire more diligently what is the law that speaks to those who are in the law, and by this, because it speaks to them, strips them of all excuse, so that they cannot find hiding places for their sins: for this is what it says: "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become subject to God." But if we wish to understand this of the law of Moses, which without doubt speaks to those alone whom it circumcised from their mother’s womb and instructed, how will it appear to follow that by this law, which touches only one nation with its institutions, every mouth is stopped, and the whole world is held subject to God through it? For what does the whole world have in common with this law, what are we to believe the whole world possesses? How, moreover, is the knowledge of sin said to be made through the law of Moses, when many are found to have acknowledged their sin even before it? Cain, finally, when he had sinned, said: "My sin is greater than that it may be remitted." ^C And the patriarchs when they went down to Egypt, and were pressed by an interrogation feigned by him, said to one another: "We are guilty for our brother, because we despised the trouble of his soul when he begged us, and we did not hear him: therefore this trouble has come upon us." But also Job, who it is agreed was before the law, says thus: "If I have sinned against my will, if I have hidden my sin, or have been ashamed of the multitude of the people, so as not to announce my fault." Who are all clearly taught to have acknowledged their sin. From this, therefore, it is gathered that the Apostle Paul does not say these things of the law of Moses, which says: "That the law speaks to those who are in the law," but of the natural law which is written in the hearts of men. This law, therefore, whatsoever it says, says to those who are in the law. Now, those who are in the law are those who are of an age where they already grasp the discernment of good and evil. ^D Those without the law, however, are those to whom a sense of such discernment has not yet come, according to what Paul also says: "But I was living without the law at one time." According to this natural law, therefore, the Apostle will appear to have consequently said that "every mouth is to be stopped," and the whole world will be subject to the judgment of God. For of this law which is naturally in men, no one is exempt, neither Jews nor Gentiles; and therefore it seems to follow also that saying, "that God may be justified in His words, and may conquer when He is judged." For to say by way of example: if it is required what God has bestowed upon man, and what man has done from those things which he received from God, God will appear to be judged with men: and indeed God will be found to have given man all affections, and all impulses by which he might be able to strive and advance toward virtue: and moreover to have inserted the power of reason, by which he might acknowledge what he should do, and what he should avoid. These things, therefore, God is found to have bestowed commonly upon all men. But if, having accepted these, man has neglected to walk the path of virtue, to whom nothing from God was lacking,

^A M ^A erito therefore it is said that in such a judgment God overcomes and is justified in His words. This natural law, then, speaks to all who are in the law, by whose precepts only infants—in whom there is not yet judgment of right and wrong—seem to me to be immune. But whether those who for any reason are not masters of their own mind are to be associated with them, consider this. To me, however, no human being seems to escape this law, except these. It must be considered, however, whether perhaps not only humans, but also angels, and every rational creature, ^B whatever it may be, is bound by this law. For if it has been rightly defined by the wise that law is what dictates what ought to be done and forbids what ought not to be done, how will a law of this kind not seem to be implanted also in the supernal and celestial orders, to whom there is also a discipline of observing certain things and avoiding others? And if they were not bound by this law, Divine Scripture would never say of them: "God did not spare the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, and hath reserved them chained under darkness in Tartarus unto the judgment of the great day." Hence it is established that the law is in them; and not having observed it, they suffered these things which Scripture above has testified. But also when Paul says: "Know you not that we shall judge angels?" what else is this but a recognition that they are placed under the law whom he declares to be brought to judgment? ^C But if anyone should confront us with the fact that we said above that God is to be judged with men, as if we appeared to say that He too is under the law, hear how much caution is found concerning this in the Apostle's letters, which do not commemorate Christ as being in the law, but as being the fullness of the law: and as He Himself is the justice from which all the just are made, and He Himself is the truth in which all exist in truth, and He Himself is the life from which all live, so He Himself is the law, from which all are in the law. He comes therefore to judgment, not as one who is in the law, but as one who is the law. I, however, think that those who are already perfect and are joined to the Lord and have been made one spirit with Him are not themselves in the law, but rather they are the law, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere: "Because the law is not made for the just." So: "Whatsoever the law speaks, it speaks to those who are in the law, that every mouth may be stopped," ^D according to those things which we have said above, "that he may be subject," or, as we read elsewhere, "that all the world may become guilty before God," which also agreesier with the Greek models. But let us inquire what he has called "all the world" here. Will it be thought that by "all the world" this earthly place is to be understood, and that trees, and stones, and herbs, and seeds, and the chaff that are in it are equally named? For these seem to be the individual parts of the world. I do not think anyone can be found so inept as to be able to assert this. It remains, therefore, that one must say "all reasoning creatures" [are] the whole world; and just as everything that is irrational is excepted from this sense, so no rational creature seems to me to be separated from this condition. Therefore the whole world becomes guilty before God, through the fact that He has implanted the natural law in all: concerning whom He says also in another place, that "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." Which, if it indeed does so, it will appear to have fulfilled the law; if it does not do so, to be guilty before the law: and through the law, consequently, before God. But if to anyone this seems to have been said only of men, in that He said the natural law was in them, and he accepts what is written concerning them alone: "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God," he will use the occasion of the subsequent discourse, where it says: "Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." Which indeed will appear to be a saying about those only who are placed in the flesh. But those who wish to hold the former sense more firmly will observe more diligently how the Apostle said that by the works of the law "no flesh" is justified: because the works of the law pertain to those who are in the flesh; but to those who are in the spirit, that is, the superior orders of the celestial ministries, the sense of the law pertains. Therefore, from the works of the law, that "no flesh shall be justified in His sight," I think it must be understood in this way: because everyone who is flesh, and lives according to the flesh, cannot be justified by the law of God, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere, that "they who are in the flesh cannot please God"; likewise elsewhere: "Because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God; for it is not subject to the law of God: neither can it be"; and the prophet says: "All flesh is grass"; and it is written in the Gospel: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." Of these, therefore, he says that by the law of God "no flesh shall be justified before Him." But let him not pass over in vain this which he added, "before Him," as we have frequently warned, because it is one thing to be justified before God, another before men: that is, in comparison with other men, another man who has lived more correctly may seem just; but in comparison with God, not only will a man not be justified, but also, as Job says: "The stars also are not clean in His sight."

- For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Let us see ^A how the knowledge of sin comes through the law. While we learn by the law what ought to be done and what must be avoided, at the same time we recognize what sin is and what it is not. Therefore, the law is not the evil root, as heretics who accuse the God of the Law claim, nor is it the evil tree through which the knowledge of sin comes: for it did not say: "Out of the law is the knowledge of sin," but "through the law," so that you may know that sin did not originate from the law itself, but was recognized through it. For, by way of example, if we were to say: "Through the art of medicine is given the knowledge of a malady," would the cause of the malady appear to you to be the medicine, because through it the quality of the malady is recognized? But, just as it is certain that the medicine which provides an understanding of an illness, by which infirmity can be avoided, is good, so also is the law good, through which sin is detected and recognized. Moreover, I believe this kind of exposition preserves the consequence of that explanation which we set forth above regarding what is written: "For we have charged that Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God."

7. "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe in him. For there is no distinction. For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." What we maintained above, saying that it was not spoken of the law of Moses, "For whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law," some will think is asserted not so much truthfully as violently, ^C when he sees that the name "law" now refers not to the law of nature, but to the law of Moses; and he will say that in the present passage the righteousness of God is declared by the Apostle to be manifested through the law, and not only through the law, but also through the prophets, so that without any ambiguity what is written is understood to speak of the law of Moses: from which law the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus is manifested unto all who believe, whether coming from Jews or from the Gentiles, who nevertheless may not be justified by works, but by the grace of God, with Jesus Christ Himself made their redemption. This, indeed, will be said by the one who will accuse us of having violently twisted the sense of the Apostle in the things we explained above. But this is what we can steadfastly affirm: that just as for us who assert these things ^D there is nothing - ^A that can be brought forward to prove that these phrases refer not to Moses, but to the law of nature written down—so neither will they be able to find any way that what was said above appears to look toward the law of Moses rather than the law of nature: and therefore, just as the former will not stand for them on the ground that the latter seems to agree, so neither can the primary points be upset for us if the secondary ones do not appear to run along the same path. What then? Shall we say the Apostle writes things contrary to himself? And this would be the assertion of a distinguished expositor! That is a thing which usually happens to those who break up the single dogma of the faith into different sectarian senses and seek out from the divine Scriptures only those testimonies by which they may constitute their own dogma, while the absolutions of divine Scriptural sentences which come from the opposite side ^B they do not touch even, as the Lord says, with the tip of the finger. But he who faithfully and integrally gathers the sense of the sacred Volumes must show how those things which appear to be contrary are not truly contrary. We shall therefore attempt in this present place also to show how this following part does not conflict with our former exposition. We have often said, and said more evidently in the preface, that the Apostle makes mention of many laws in this Epistle in such a way that, when he passes from one to another, it can hardly be detected except by a sufficiently attentive reader. He had said in the preceding section that "by the law is the knowledge of sin," and because he sensed that it could indeed be answered: "If, then, the knowledge of sin is from the natural law, can there also be a knowledge of justice from it, according to that same image of the medical art we gave above—that just as through it a malady is recognized so that health may be found, so also through the law of nature, if a knowledge of sin can occur, can there similarly be a knowledge of justice?" When he saw this objection could be made against him, after he said: ^C "For by the law is the knowledge of sin," he subjoined: "But now, without the law, the righteousness of God is manifested." Such then is what he says: Not as through the law the knowledge of sin, so too is the manifestation of the righteousness of God made through the law; but without the law is the righteousness of God manifested. For the law of nature could argue the nature of sin and show its awareness; but the righteousness of God surpasses and super-eminently exceeds whatever a human mind can fathom with only its natural senses. For it does not suffice to understand and contemplate not just any human righteousness, but the very righteousness of God and the judgments which descend from it, of which it is said that they are "a great abyss," and because the righteousness of God and His judgments are so profound that ^D the Apostle says: "How unsearchable are the judgments of God!" But also Wisdom speaks to men as if it could not...

^A be known by the movements of nature alone, but must be sought through the study of doctrine; and therefore it says: "Learn righteousness, you who judge the earth." For this reason the law of nature will be of no help at all for knowing the righteousness of God, even if it seems to perceive something regarding human righteousness. For that law can perceive what is just among men, namely that one should not do to one's neighbor what one does not wish to suffer oneself. But can it naturally perceive that righteousness which says: ^B "Take heed that you do not do your righteousness before men," and "that your left hand may not know what your right hand is doing"? The law of nature cannot dictate these and similar just deeds; and therefore the Apostle says: "But now without the law," that is, without the law of nature, "the righteousness of God is manifested," having the testimony of the law of Moses and the prophets, in which the Holy Spirit had written many things through figures and enigmas concerning the righteousness of God. And do not be surprised that one word for "law," placed twice in the same passage, signifies different things. We find this to be the custom of Scripture in other places as well: as there, "Do you not say that there are still four months until the harvest comes? Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for the harvest." Is it not the case that in this passage the harvest, being named twice, refers first to the physical harvest, and secondly to the spiritual? And again in the Gospel, when the Savior says to the Samaritan woman, "Give me to drink," and after her reply He says to her again: "If you knew who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." And again He added to her: "Everyone who drinks from this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks from the water that I give him, will not thirst forever." Do you see how both "drinking" and "water" are taken, in one and the same passage, now corporally, and now spiritually? It is likewise set forth there, where the man blind from birth is cured. After this the Savior says: "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." Is it not also understood here that "seeing" and "not seeing" are now interpreted corporally, now spiritually? Therefore, just so in this passage also, when the Apostle says the righteousness of God is manifested without the law, the law of nature is understood; but when he says "Testified by the law and the prophets," he designates the law of Moses. But if what we have said still seems less clear to you, we shall add these points as well: If it should appear that it is the same law of which it is said, "But now without the law the righteousness of God is manifested," and that it is also the same one of which he says, "Testified by the law and the prophets," then if it is manifested without the law, it does not receive the testimony of the law; but if it does receive testimony from the law, then it was not manifested without the law. Since this is ^A insoluble, and cannot be overthrown by any reasoning, it must be said that the righteousness of God is indeed manifested by Christ Jesus, who gives testimony to it, not by the law of nature, which is in any case still meager and small, but by the law of Moses—not that which is according to the letter, but that which is according to the Spirit, of which the same Apostle says: "For the law is spiritual." Likewise, the prophets also [give testimony] through Him who spoke in them, the Spirit of God. There is, furthermore, a remarkable distinction to be observed in this passage of the Apostle, if one pays closer attention. It is the custom among the Greeks for these [Gk: ἄρθρα] to be placed before names, which among us can be called articles. If, therefore, he names the law of Moses, he usually places the article before the name; but if he wishes the law of nature to be understood, he names the law without the article. And this is why, in this place where he says, "Now without the law the righteousness of God is manifested," it has no article; whereas in the following clause, where he says, "Testified by the law and the prophets," he has placed the law with the article in the second instance. If, therefore, the difference regarding the naming of the law has been sufficiently shown, let us now see what righteousness is manifested without the natural law. The same Apostle Paul says of Christ that He "has become for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." This righteousness of God, therefore, which is Christ, is manifested without the natural law, yet not without the law of Moses or the prophets. For the law gives testimony to Him, just as He Himself says: "Search the Scriptures; it is they that give testimony of me." For indeed, the natural law can offer occasions and provide an understanding, as we have said, either for those things which equity demands to be done among men, or for this very matter, that one might perceive that God exists. But can anyone naturally perceive that He is the Son of God? Therefore, without this ^C law, the righteousness of God, which is Christ, is manifested, [yet] testified from the law of Moses and the prophets. But before we hurry to the consequences, we should not omit even this observation: that in sin he placed "acknowledgment," but in righteousness "manifestation." "For everything that is manifested is light." And if what is manifested is light, then sin, which is not light, is not manifested, but acknowledged. ^D I also accept that saying: "Nothing is hidden that shall not be manifested, nor secret that shall not be revealed." But let us return to the subject. The law and the prophets, therefore, are witnesses of the righteousness of God; which righteousness is manifested through faith in Jesus Christ unto all who believe, among whom there is no distinction whether they believe from the Jews or from the Gentiles. See, however, because it is manife-

manifest that the righteousness of God ^A does not place the cause solely in faith, but associates both the Law and the prophets; since faith alone is not, without the Law and the prophets, the manifestation of the righteousness of God, nor again are the Law and the prophets without faith. Therefore, the one clings to the other, so that perfection exists from both. There is no distinction, he says, between Jews and Greeks, since it is evident that all have been made sinners in equal measure, as shone forth above, and now the righteousness of God, supported by the testimonies of the Law and the prophets, is given in equal measure to all through faith in Jesus Christ. From the fact that all had been made under sin, they were without doubt made alien also from the glory of God, since they could neither attain it in any way, nor deserve it. For how would a sinner dare to give glory to God, to whom the Prophet says: But ^B to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my righteousnesses? And another Scripture says: The praise of God is not comely in the mouth of a sinner. Therefore, the righteousness of God, coming through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, whether they be Jews or Greeks, justifies them, having cleansed them from their former crimes, and makes them capable of the glory of God: and He does this not from their merits, nor because of their works, but He grants glory freely to those who believe. Through redemption, he says, that is in Christ Jesus. Let us see more attentively what is meant by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Redemption is called that which is given to enemies for those whom they hold in captivity, so that they may restore them to their former liberty. Therefore, the captivity of the human race was held fast ^C among enemies, overcome as if in war by sin: the Son of God came, who was made for us not only wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, but also redemption; and He gave Himself as a redemption, that is, He handed Himself over to the enemies, and shed His own blood for them as they thirsted: and this was the redemption made for those who believe, just as Peter also writes in his Epistle, saying: For you have been redeemed not with corruptible silver or gold, but with the precious blood of the only-begotten Son of God. Perhaps Solomon also designated this under a mystery, saying: The redemption of a man’s soul is his own wealth. For if you inquire what the proper riches of the soul are, you will find that wisdom is its riches, and righteousness, and sanctification. But the Apostle says that Christ is all ^D these things. Christ therefore is the wealth of the soul, and for this reason He Himself is its redemption. For bodily riches are to be believed as being more the ruin of the soul than its redemption, unless they are turned to the good work of righteousness and mercy, and are transferred from bodily riches to the riches of the soul.

8. Whom God has set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, for the manifestation of His righteousness, through the remission of preceding sins, in the forbearance of God, for the manifestation of His righteousness at this time: that He Himself might be just, and the justifier of him who is of the faith of Jesus Christ. Since the holy Apostle had taught us many and admirable things about our Lord Jesus Christ, which are said through the mystery concerning Him, he has brought forward in this place something more eminent, which I do not think is easily found in other places of Scripture. For when he had said above that He had given Himself as a redemption for the whole human race, that He might redeem those who were held in the captivity of sins, while He tasted death for all without God: now he adds something more sublime, and says that God set Him forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood: by which, indeed, He made God propitious to men through the sacrifice of His own body, and by this showed His own righteousness, while He remitted to them their preceding sins, which they had contracted by serving the worst tyrants at the time when God was forbearing and letting these things happen. But He was forbearing for this reason, that after these things, that is, in this time, He might show His righteousness. For in the consummation of the age, in the last time, God manifested His righteousness, and gave as redemption Him whom He made a propitiator: lest perhaps, if He had sent the propitiator earlier, He would not have rendered God propitious to as many of the human race as in these times in which the world is now seen to be filled with men. For God is just, and a just God could not justify the unjust: therefore He willed that there should be a mediator of the propitiator, so that through faith in Him, those who could not be justified by their own works might be justified. These things, as far as they concern the explanation of the discourse itself, may be set out, so that the apostolic lesson may be made more evident. Now, however, as is our custom, let us inquire what the interior sense of the apostolic discourse contains; and first of all, how it was said: Whom God has set forth as a propitiatory (or propitiator) through faith in His blood. It is certain that the sense in almost all places of the Apostle flows from the treasures of the Law and the prophets. Let us inquire, therefore, where he found the appellation of the propitiatory, and whence he took this name. I remember in Exodus the Lord speaking to Moses, and commanding what it was fitting for him to make, first indeed commanding the ark, and its staves and rings (to be made along the sides of the ark; after this: And you shall make, he says, a propitiatory of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two golden cherubim forged by tapping,

and you shall place them on the individual sides ^A of the propitiatory: one cherub on this side, and another cherub on the other side of the propitiatory: and you shall make the two cherubim such that they are from its two sides, extending their wings and overshadowing the propitiatory: and their faces shall be toward one another over the propitiatory. And you shall make the cherubim, and you shall place the propitiatory upon the ark, and into the ark you shall place the testimonies which I shall give to you: and I will make known to you from there, and I will speak to you from above the propitiatory, between the midst of the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testament, according to all that I shall command you to the children of Israel. It is clearly apparent that the Apostle, having found the name of "propitiatory" in these passages, has now set it down in his own letters, regarding which our discourse is concerned. And this propitiatory, concerning which it is written in Exodus, seems to have referred to none other than the Savior Lord, when he says that God set him forth as a "propitiatory through faith." How, indeed, the form and figure of this true propitiatory could be that which is described in Exodus as made of most pure gold, it is worth the effort to investigate. And first, we must consider in what places the gold that is used in the work is called "pure gold," and in what places it is placed as merely "gold" without any addition. Observing this in many places, I seem to have discovered that, wherever "pure gold" is said with the addition, it indicates that holy and pure soul of Jesus, which "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth": and these measures of the length and breadth of the propitiatory harmonize with him; although it is arduous to explain these things, and to adapt to that holy soul everything that is recounted concerning the propitiatory. First, therefore, let us see what he says: that the length of the propitiatory had neither only two cubits, which number is accustomed to be adapted to bodies being joined and generated; nor three full cubits, which number is accustomed to exceed the name of a creature and to be consecrated to a non-corporeal nature. Therefore, he says the length of the propitiatory is two cubits and a half, and the width is one and a half. But if it is permitted to dare in such matters, since the same Apostle says of Christ that he is "the mediator of God and men," it seems to me that this soul, which is indeed inferior to the nature of the Trinity and has something less, yet—since it is not below that—is not ^B to be mingled with the dual number which is reckoned to those placed in a body, without the exceptional and pre-eminent eminence of its virtues. For this is shown, that its measure is described as being of a monad and its singular station, yet not altogether having grown into the dual number, which is sometimes even used for the unclean. For although he took on the flesh of our nature, it was nevertheless assumed from the undefiled Virgin and formed by the chaste operation of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Apostle also, discussing the Mediator, has marked a clear distinction, saying: "The mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus, a man": that he might teach that the mediator is to be referred not to the deity of Christ, but to his humanity, which is his soul. The length, therefore, is posited, and the breadth. The length signifies that which tends towards God and is joined to the Trinity; the breadth, that it walks among men who are accustomed to tread the broad and spacious way: and for this reason he is rightly called by the name of Mediator, because, as we have said, this holy soul was indeed middle between the divinity of the Trinity and the frailty of humanity. This, therefore, can be understood as the propitiatory, according to what we have said above, upon which are said to be placed two cherubim, one on this side, and one on the other side. Whose form, therefore, are these two cherubim to be thought to possess? For "Cherubim," interpreted in our language, signifies the fullness of knowledge. Where, then, do we say there is the fullness of knowledge, if not in him of whom the Apostle says: "In whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden"? Of the Word of God, therefore, the Apostle says these things. But he writes similar things also concerning the Holy Spirit, when he says: "But to us ^C God has revealed them through his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." It is signified, therefore, as I judge, that in this propitiatory—that is, in the soul of Jesus—the Word of God, who is the only-begotten Son, and his Holy Spirit always dwell: and this is what the two cherubim placed upon the propitiatory indicate. But observe also this, that he did not say: "One cherub on the right side, and another cherub on the left side"; but he says: "One cherub on this side, and another cherub on the other side": that he might show that in that propitiatory, that is, in the soul of Christ, there was nothing on the left. But these two cherubim also have wings; and not only are they winged, but they also spread out their wings. If any of the saints has merited to have testimony from God, it is said that God was with him, just as it is said of Jesus Nave: "And God was with him, just as he was ^D with Moses his servant." So wherever...

there is a promise of a greater gift from God, God says: "And I will be in them, and will walk among them." You will not find any soul among men so blessed and so exalted, except this one alone, in which the Word of God and the Holy Spirit have found such breadth, such capacity, that it is said not only to dwell therein, but even to spread its wings and, in a new rite of the sacrament, at times even to fly. The two cherubim are also said to have their faces turned toward each other over this blessed soul, through which the sense of the divinity from the Son of God and the Holy Spirit 82 is poured into it, being in agreement and consonant with it. But where is this soul, full of God, in which it has pleased the whole fullness of the Deity to dwell, 68 placed? "Over the ark," he says, "of the covenant 69." The holy ark of the covenant can be understood as His flesh, in which this blessed soul is placed, ^B having within itself the testimonies of God, which are understood as the sufferings that Christ bore in the flesh, predicted long ago by divine testimonies. The celestial virtues can also be understood as the ark of God, which themselves are indeed capable of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, but the soul of Jesus is placed before them, and it, in a certain way, receives the grace of divine bounty as a mediatrix. After these things: "And I will be known to you," He says, "from there, and I will speak to you from above the propitiatory 70." Not only to Moses, but to each of the saints who is a servant of God, God is not made known or recognized from elsewhere save from this propitiatory which we have explained above, and from the midst of the cherubim. The prophet Habakkuk implies this when he says: «In the midst of two living creatures ^C you shall be recognized: when the years have drawn near, you shall be recognized, and when the time is present, you shall be revealed 71." For no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him 72." And Paul also says: "God has revealed it to us through His Spirit 73." Therefore, it is said that "I will be known to you from there, and I will speak to you from above the propitiatory between the two cherubim which are over the ark of the covenant 74." I think, however, that the things we have taken from Exodus have not been explained out of season, so that the meaning might become evident as to how the Apostle in the present passage has assumed the name of propitiatory when he says: "Whom God has set forth as a propitiatory through faith 75." But even this very thing which he said, "he has set forth," is understood rather of the soul of Jesus than of His deity 84. For "he has set forth" is understood as "he placed before," that is, before it existed. For that which is, is placed; that which does not yet exist is set forth. Therefore, it is not fitting for Him who always was, that is, the Word of God, to be said to have been set forth ^A: but concerning His soul, which, although it is inseparable from the Word of God, was nevertheless created and is posterior to the deity of the Only-Begotten: and it will not seem inconsistent to say of it that, before it existed, it was set forth and preordained to be a propitiatory. Since, therefore, according to what we have explained above, God has set forth Jesus Christ as a propitiatory through faith in His blood 75, it seems necessary to inquire concerning the divine laws what the propitiation is that is made through blood, so that from these we might gather how propitiation was also made through the blood of Jesus. It is written in Leviticus, after the sacrifice of the high priest: "But if the entire Synagogue of Israel has been ignorant, and the matter has escaped its eyes, and it has done one of the commands of the Lord which ought not to be done, and has sinned, and the sin which they have committed has become known to them, the Synagogue shall bring a calf from the herd 85 for sin; ^B and after a few words: "And the priest who is anointed shall bring of the blood of the calf into the tabernacle of the testimony; and after a few words again: "And he shall make," he says, "the calf, just as he did the calf for sin, and the priest shall provide propitiation for them, and it shall be forgiven them 76." Therefore, through the blood 86, the priest provides propitiation for the whole Synagogue so that it may be forgiven them. Let us now inquire into all the individual names that have been written concerning the Savior, and in each appellation let us contemplate more diligently what things are designated. You will find, therefore, that since it pleased the whole fullness of the divinity to dwell in Him bodily, He is Himself the propitiatory, and the high priest, and the host which is offered for the people 77. And indeed, enough has already been said about the propitiatory. But David also writes clearly about the high priest in the Psalm 78, and the apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews 79. And John testifies that He is also the host, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world 80." According to this, therefore, in that He is a host, propitiation is effected by the shedding of His blood in that it gives remission of past sins: which propitiation, however, comes to each of the believers through the way of faith. For unless it gave remission of past sins, the propitiation would not be proven to be effective. But when the remission of sins is granted, it is certain that the propitiation has been fulfilled by the shedding of the sacred blood: for "without the shedding of blood," as the Apostle says, "there is no remission of sins 81." But lest Paul alone should seem to you to have presumed 87 ^D the name of propitiatory in Christ, hear how John also speaks consonantly 88 about this sense when he says: "My little children, I write these things to you, that you may not sin."

And if anyone has sinned, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just; and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world." ^A Therefore, in one and the same sense, the apostles call Christ a "propitiatory," or a "propitiation," or, as is found more frequently in Latin codices, a "Propitiator." And it makes no difference whether it is written "propitiator," or "propitiatory," or "propitiation," or even "intercession," since in Greek it is always expressed by one and the same term. Unless perhaps it may seem to some that "propitiation" is his very divine substance, but "propitiator," when he fulfills the dispensations among men.

But also what John said, that "he is the intercession (or propitiation) for our sins; and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world," seems to us to introduce certain augmentations of the mystery, so as to show that Jesus is the propitiator not only of believers, but also of the whole world; not, however, of the world first, and then of us, but first of us, and thus finally of the whole world. For although the entire creation awaits the grace of the Redeemer, each one nevertheless will come to salvation in his own order. I think this is indicated also in Leviticus, where the sacrifices of re-propitiation are commanded to be offered by the high priest. Yet the order of these sacrifices is not proposed in a confused way; but first it says what the propitiation is, and what kind of sacrifice should be offered if the priest has sinned. Second, if the whole Synagogue has erred through ignorance, with what kind of victim God is to be appeased. Third, if a prince has sinned, it is written in what order he is to be purified. Fourth, if a single soul has sinned, the rite of expiation for this is also explained. Which individual things, in a mystical sense, designate the future propitiation of Christ, not only for our sins but for the whole world, in certain orders and modes and causes: if, however, anyone, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, looks at these things according to that revelation which is said to have been shown to Moses on the mountain.

It happens, therefore, through the re-propitiation of the blood of Christ, that there is ^B remission of "the former sins, in the forbearance of God, for the showing of his justice." The "forbearance of God" is where the sinner is not punished immediately as he sins, but, as the Apostle said in the same place, is led to penance through the patience of God; and in this, God is said to show his justice. But he added well, "in this time"; for in the time of the present age, there is the forbearance of God; but in the future, there is retribution. For it seemed just before God that, because He had established the future age for judgment, He should entrust the present to forbearance and patience. For if He were to punish the sinner in this time, He would not seem just in calling to judgment again the one whom He had already punished. But if He forbears and suffers in the present age, He will rightly be a just judge in the future. He therefore justifies him who is of faith, just as it is also written concerning Abraham, that "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him unto justice." But if Abraham believed, and was justified by faith, it will be the consequence without doubt that even now he who believes in God is justified through the faith of Jesus Christ with the faithful Abraham.

"Where then is thy boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No: but by the law of faith. For we account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law." Again and more often we admonish those who wish to examine the writings of Paul more diligently to observe more tenaciously that distinction which we spoke of above: how ^C he pursues the cause now of circumcision, now of the uncircumcision—that is, of Jews or Gentiles—by an always discrete path. For if a little part escapes the reader, this narrow and lean path of understanding will be at once disturbed. Therefore, when the Apostle had shown above what more there was to the Jew, or what was the utility of circumcision: and had taught that the oracles of God were entrusted to those first ones, and by these had seemed to bolster their boastfulness with which they were accustomed to be puffed up against the Gentiles: and again in subsequent passages had objected to these that the justice of God through the faith of Jesus Christ is upon all who believe, and that there is no distinction, but that all have sinned, both Jews and Greeks, and need the glory of God, and are justified by the grace and redemption which is in Christ Jesus: and that he himself is the propitiatory through faith, and that everyone who is of faith is justified by him: now, then, as if placing the conclusion of his assertions in this place, he says: "Where then is thy boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No: but by the law of faith. For we account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law": ^D and he says that the justification of faith alone is enough, so that whoever believes merely is justified, even if no work has been fulfilled by him. It remains, therefore, for us, who strive to prove the Scripture of the Apostle to be whole, and that all things are consistent in their order, to ask who has been justified by faith alone without works. As far, therefore, as the example applies, I think it enough to instance that thief who, when crucified with Christ, cried out to him from the cross: "Lord Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Nor is anything else described

of his good work in the Gospels, but for this faith alone. Jesus said to him: "Amen I say to thee: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." Let us now apply, if it seems fitting, the words of the apostle Paul to the case of this thief, and say to the Jew: "Where is then thy boasting?" It is certain that it is excluded; but it is excluded not through the law of works, but through the law of faith. For by faith this thief was justified without the works of the law: because over this matter the Lord did not require what he had done before; nor did he wait for what work he might complete once he had believed, but, justified by his confession alone, He took him as his companion, being about to enter paradise. Furthermore, as to that woman ^B of whom it is recounted in the Gospel according to Luke, that when she knew that Jesus reclined at the table in the house of the Pharisee, she brought an alabaster box of ointment, and standing behind at his feet, and weeping, she washed his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed and anointed them with ointment. The Pharisee, moreover, who had invited him, seeing this, said within himself: "If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth his feet, for she is a sinner." But Jesus spoke to him a parable of the five hundred or fifty denarii; and by no work of the law, but for faith alone, He said to her: "Thy sins are forgiven thee"; and again: "Thy faith hath made thee safe, go in peace." But we read in many places in the Gospel that the Savior used this language, so that He declared the faith of the believer to be the cause of his salvation. From all of which it is clear that the Apostle rightly considers that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law. But perhaps someone, hearing these things, may be relaxed, and may become negligent of doing good, since faith alone suffices for justification. To him we shall say that if anyone conducts himself unjustly after justification, he has without doubt spurned the grace of justification. For one does not receive the forgiveness of sins for this reason, that he should think a license to sin is given to him again. For indulgence is granted not for future, but for past crimes. Therefore, that we may return to the subject, man is justified by faith, to which the works of the law contribute nothing toward justification. Where, however, there is not faith that might justify the believer, even if one should have works from the law, nevertheless, because they are not built upon the foundation of faith, although they may seem to be good, yet they cannot justify their author, because faith is wanting to them, which is the seal of those who are justified by God, just as we said above, because "Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice." It is enough that he who is justified ^D by the grace of faith, should say according to Paul, that "the grace ^A of God which was given to me, hath not been void." Therefore, every boasting which comes from the works of the law is excluded. And that what we say may be even more manifest, we shall give an example from those things which are written in the Gospel, where the Pharisee and the Publican go up into the temple of God; "and standing," he says, "the Pharisee prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican: I fast twice in a Sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess," and the rest. And these things he may perhaps have said truly, but according to the judgment of the Lord, corrupted by the disease of boasting, he did not go down justified from the temple. Such, therefore, is the boasting which came from the works of the law, it is excluded, because it does not have the humility of the cross of Christ; in which he who boasts hears what is said: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world." You see the Apostle not boasting in his own justice, nor in his chastity, nor in his wisdom, nor in his other virtues or acts, but most openly pronouncing and saying: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." And thus Judaic boasting is excluded, not by the law of works, but by the law of faith which is in Christ Jesus, in whose cross the Apostle glories. For who will rightly boast of his own chastity, when he reads what is written, that "whoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart"? Whence also the prophet says: "How will any man boast that he has a chaste heart?" Or who will boast of wisdom, when he sees it written that "the world by wisdom knew not God: and it pleased God by the foolishness of our preaching to save them that believe"? And again: "God chose the foolish things of the world, that he may confound the wise." But who, moreover, will boast even in his own justice, when he hears God saying through the prophet that "all your justice is like a menstruous cloth"? Therefore, the only just boasting is in the faith of the cross of Christ, which excludes all that boasting which descends from the works of the law. These things, however, have been said by us for the reason that the Apostle said as if in the language of one asking: "Where is then thy boasting?" And to this he answered himself: "It is excluded." And again, as if he questions himself, he says: "By what law? Of works?" And he answered himself: "No: but by the law of faith. For we account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law." We have already spoken of these things above. That, however, in the present place he makes mention again of the two laws

^A consider also yourself, you who are of the law, whether this expression should be inclined toward the law of Moses and the natural law, or toward the law of the letter and the law of the Spirit: for the law of the letter kills, and works death; but the law of the Spirit sets free from the law of sin and death.

40. Whence he fittingly posits in the following: "Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Since it is one God who justifies circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith." To those who wish for there to be one God of the Jews and another of the Gentiles—that is, one of the Law and another of the Gospels—this response will be narrow and confined enough, with the apostle Paul providing his opinion more than abundantly, when he not only says there is one God of the Jews and ^B Gentiles, but also adds that he is the same one who justifies circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. And even if they wished to accept "circumcision" through allegory, so that they might say that all the holy and spiritual persons are called by that name "circumcision," they will immediately encounter a stumbling block in what follows. For if he called the holy, or, as they name them, the "spiritual," by the name "circumcision," it follows that he would have called the sinners—those whom they call "animal"—the "uncircumcision." And how would it be appropriate for the good God to justify the spiritual and the animal alike? Therefore, for them, there will be an inextricable knot in these words of the Apostle. For us, however, who say that "circumcision" refers to those who have believed from among the Jews, and "uncircumcision" ^C nevertheless refers to those who have been called to faith from among the Gentiles, the exposition will be clear and easy. For the same God justifies those who believe from both peoples, not by the privilege of circumcision or uncircumcision, but by the contemplation of faith alone.

It remains to consider the difference of a single syllable in which the Apostle seems to have varied his usage. Let it not pass by us idly what he says, that God justifies "circumcision by faith, and not through faith"; but "uncircumcision through faith, and not by faith." For it does not seem to me that this change of prepositions is used by him superfluously, because we find them placed by him in other passages, not as one pleases, but observantly, and the difference of this distinction is necessarily maintained, just as when, speaking of God, he says: "For from him, and through him, and in him are all things." And again he says elsewhere: ^D "For as the woman is from the man, so is the man through the woman: but all things are from God." Such also is what he writes to the Corinthians: "To one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit." And not only does the apostle Paul hold to the observances of these distinctions, but also John, who, when he says of the Word of God that "all things were made through him," testifies that life was made not "through him," but "in him," saying: "What was made, in him was life."

And since it is lengthy to expound upon those things which we have now brought forward for the sake of example, let us briefly summarize their meaning according to our capacity. When it is said "from him," something primary is seen to be indicated by the sense of this preposition. But when it is said "through him," the understanding of the subsequent cause—that is, of the one which is after the primary one—is designated. As, for example, we may say regarding what he says, "From him, and through him, and in him are all things"—"from him" gave the significance of the primary creation of all things, and of this very fact that those things which are, began to be from God; "through him," that those things which had been made first are governed and dispensed through him by whom they draw the beginning of their subsistence; "in him," that those who have already been corrected and mended consist in his perfection. Thus, therefore, it is taught that the differences of these are held with the fullest reason, so that we are said to have our subsistence "from God": that we are dispensed and ruled is designated as coming about "through him": that we truly consist in the sum of perfection is declared to be "in him."

It is possible to observe a certain such difference in the present place, so that circumcision, which is justified as it were in the first place and order, may be recorded as to be justified "by faith," and not "through faith": but uncircumcision, which is drawn to justification in the second place, may be said to be to be justified "through faith," and not "by faith." I think, however, that these things are more fully designated by the distinction which we mentioned above: "For as the woman is from the man, so the man is through the woman." For in the first place is the man, from whom the woman is said to descend, and not "through the man." But in the second place is the man "through the woman"; because the woman seems in some way to minister to the man, the author, and therefore the man is said to be born "through the woman," and not "from the woman." But perhaps someone might occur to our exposition regarding the woman and the man, and object with that which the Apostle said concerning Christ: "Made from a woman, made under the law," and he did not say "made through a woman." To this I think one must respond in this way. As regards every man, it is fitting to say that he was made "through a woman," since indeed, before he was born through a woman, he received his beginning from a man; but Christ, who was not from the seed of a man of his own flesh

^A took his origin, and is deservedly said to be made "through a woman." For to her, that is, to the woman, the very principal origin of his flesh is ascribed, and it is rightly recorded by the Apostle that he was made not "through a woman" [in the sense of the male seed], but "through a woman" [in the sense of birth]. Therefore, one and the same God justifies circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. But if someone asks more curiously: by whom are those who are justified by faith justified; and again, out of whom are those who are justified by faith justified? Although this curiosity may perhaps seem excessive, nevertheless we can conveniently say that those who are justified by faith, having begun with faith, are brought to completion through the fulfillment of good works, and those who are justified by faith, having set out from good works, receive through faith the highest perfection. Thus, both clinging to each other, the one is completed by the other.

11. And for that reason, I think the Apostle has set down in what follows: "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means; rather we establish the law." Since in the preceding passages he seemed to call everything back to faith, he sets before himself what could be proposed by another, and says: "If a man is justified by faith and not by the works of the law, and if God justifies circumcision by faith and uncircumcision by faith, do you then, Paul, destroy the law of Moses by faith?" But answering to this, he himself says: "By no means; rather we establish the law," that is, we confirm it. But it is worth seeing how he declares that he establishes the law, he who has said in the preceding that a man is not justified by the works of the law. The Savior says in the Gospels that "Moses wrote of me." Therefore, whoever does not believe in Christ, of whom Moses wrote in the law, destroys the law; but whoever believes in Christ, of whom Moses wrote, confirms the law through faith, because he believes in Christ. Now we speak of faith in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit as whole, full, perfect, which ^C professes nothing different, nothing discrepant, or foreign in the Trinity. For Marcion, who says that the God of the Law is one and the Father of Christ is another, does not establish or confirm, but destroys the law by his faith. Ebion does this too; and all who introduce any corruption into the catholic faith do this. I may also conveniently add that everyone who, believing in Christ, does well and keeps himself from every stain of sin, he confirms the law of God by living rightly; but he who is driven headlong by the vices of sins, and is stained by the continuity of his crimes without any restraint of repentance, he, even if he seems to believe in Christ, does not establish, but destroys the law by his faith. ^D But that objection also must by no means be skipped over by us, which anyone can bring forward and say that the Apostle seems to contradict himself, since in the present place he says that the law is not destroyed, but confirmed; but in his second letter to the Corinthians he writes thus: "But if the ministry of death, written in letters on stones, was in glory, so that the children of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which fades, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more in glory?" And a little later: "For if that which is fading is through glory, much more that which remains is in glory." It can therefore be said that the glory of Moses' countenance which fades, and this which he says, "For if that which is fading is through glory," seems contrary to this opinion by which he pronounces: "We do not destroy the law through faith, but we set it up and confirm it." But see if we can resolve in this way the problem that is posed. It is not the same thing that he said, "we destroy the law," and "the law is destroyed." Paul therefore pronounces in the present place that he himself does not destroy the law. For even if the law is destroyed by that which surpasses it in glory, it is not destroyed by Paul, nor by any other of the saints. Whence the Lord himself also said: "I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill." Therefore, none of the saints, nor the Lord himself, destroys the law, but its temporal and passing glory is destroyed and surpassed by the eternal and permanent glory. Whence see how cautiously and perspicaciously the apostolic letters are to be read. He did not say, "For that which is glorious is not glorified," and fall silent; otherwise it would seem false (for how would that which is glorious not be glorified?), but he added, "because of that which surpasses it in glory," in order to show that the glory of Moses—that is, of the law—is not destroyed by just anyone, but, as we have said, by the comparison of the greater glory which is in Christ, that glory which is in the law is covered and obscured; and for that reason he says: "For if that which is being destroyed is through glory, much more that which remains is in glory." He says that those things which are of Christ remain, and those which are of Moses are destroyed: yet they are destroyed not by man, but, as we have said, by the comparison of the glory that is arriving; since indeed "the law was our pedagogue in Christ" until "the fullness of time should come"; and, as we say, the work of a pedagogue is necessary while he who is under the pedagogue is a child, but the office of the pedagogue is destroyed and is no longer necessary when he who was under the pedagogue has reached perfection; so we say that it is destroyed

as the work of the law, "when the fullness of time had come," ^A a son who at one time was no different from a slave, has become an heir of the paternal substance. But that these things are to be understood in the way the Apostle calls them to be destroyed, learn from his custom regarding this word in other places as well, where he says: "We know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, those things which are in part shall be destroyed." And in this place, the knowledge or prophecy of Paul is said to be destroyed without injury to the apostolic grace: so that we may understand that, by comparison with perfect things, those that are imperfect are vacant and idle. Thus, therefore, in the present discourse, Paul does not destroy the law, but confirms it. But when the glory of Christ has been revealed, that glory which appeared in Moses, and from which he had been glorified, is—by the very comparison by which it is surpassed—both refuted and argued against, ^B and shown to be not even worth counting as glory. Such is also that which is said elsewhere: "He must increase, but I must decrease"; and what Paul himself says: "But when I became a man, I put away the things that were of a child." This is also shown by the simile of the tutor, whose work is destroyed and ceases when the child has arrived at perfect age. Therefore, the Apostle very cautiously said: "Do we then destroy the law through faith? God forbid!" And he did not say: "Is the law then destroyed by faith?" but: "Do we then destroy the law?" And again in the following: "No; but we establish the law." For even if the law is destroyed, it is not destroyed by faith, but by the supereminent glory. But by faith, the law is not only not destroyed, but is set up by the apostles and confirmed: because Christ, whom the law and the prophets predicted would come, they declare has already come: and it is certainly a confirmation of prophecy or law when those things which had been predicted are shown to be fulfilled.

BOOK FOURTH

1. "What then shall we say that Abraham our father found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has glory, but not before God. What indeed does Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. But to him who works, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt. But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." Just as David also speaks ^C of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits justice without works: "Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord has not imputed sin." Since above he had proposed two laws, one of which he named the law of works, the other the law of faith, through which law of faith he says the boasting of those who boast in the works of the law is excluded; and he had pronounced that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law: consequently, now, so that these things may be asserted from the Scriptures, he produces the example of Abraham, and says that "Abraham, if he was justified by works, has glory, but not before God." This, indeed, he argues not without dialectical art. For if he who is justified by works has no glory ^D before God, and it is established that Abraham has glory before God, then Abraham was justified not by works, but by faith, so that he might necessarily have glory before God. For thus Scripture pronounces: "Because Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness." But if God reckoned it to him for righteousness, without doubt his glory is also before God. Therefore, the Apostle adds to this testimony, which he took from the book of Genesis, his own discourse, and says that "to him who works, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt; but to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." Throughout this entire passage, therefore, the Apostle seems to show this, that there are two certain justifications, of which he names one from works, the other from faith. And that one which is from works, he says, indeed, has glory, but in itself, and not before God; but that one which is from faith has glory before God, as before Him who inspects the hearts of men, and who knows who it is that believes in secret, and who it is that does not believe. And therefore, deservedly, he has glory before God alone, who perceives the affection of his faith in secret: but he who hopes for justification from works, it may happen that his works are even approved by men. For it is plain, and can be seen by the eyes, whatever is manifest by work; and if faith is in secret, but works are manifest, it will be proper to apply to this that which is written: "The secret things belong to the Lord your God, but those which are manifest belong to you and your children." But also to apply to these

words, we fitly say that for those who are circumcised according to the inner man, and are Jews in secret, in spirit and not in letter, their praise and glory is not among men, but before God. But those who are justified by works, since their works are open and manifest, their glory can be before all the holy and righteous ones—who receive from God the authority to judge concerning visible human works—or even before the angels and the rest of the celestial powers, who can certainly glorify him whose works they have tested. But since it is for God alone to know the secrets of the heart, He Himself perceives if some affection of faith dwells in each one ^B; and therefore he who is justified by faith has glory before God alone, who has knowledge of secret things and is the sole inspector of faith.

"Therefore," it says, "if Abraham was justified by works, he has indeed glory that comes from works, but not that which is before God alone; but it is certain that Abraham has glory before God alone: it follows, therefore, that he was justified not by works, but by faith." Now, do not suppose that if anyone has such faith as that from which he is justified and has glory before God, he can simultaneously have injustice with it. For there is no part of faith together with infidelity, nor is there communion of righteousness with iniquity, just as there can be no fellowship between light and darkness. For if "everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God," and "everyone who has been born of God does not sin," it is manifest that he who believes in Jesus Christ does not sin; but if he sins, it is certain that he does not believe in Him. Therefore, the proof of true faith is where there is no transgression, just as, conversely, where there is transgression, it is proof of infidelity.

Therefore, for this reason it is also said in another place of Scripture concerning Abraham that he was justified by the works of faith: because it is certain that he who truly believes performs the work of faith, and of righteousness, and of all goodness, and becomes capable of both kinds of glory—both that which is before God in the secret place, and also that which is public and not only before God. Having explained these things according to my ability, that which follows, that he named Abraham our father according to the flesh, must not by any means be passed over. For Abraham is seen to be the father of the nations ^C according to faith, not according to the flesh. For the Apostle himself can also be called such according to the flesh: for Abraham was of the Israelite race, but the other nations shall call him father in spirit, not in the flesh—unless, perhaps, in such narrow places we turn to the breadth of allegorical understanding, where he who can be accepted as father according to the flesh is he who imparted the first elements of carnal doctrine, that is, of the law according to the letter, and stood as a master of the first instruction in the divine law. That masters are also called fathers, the Apostle Paul also says, "For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel."

But you who are reading, gather for yourself from the divine Volumes the testimonies that look toward this. It is added in the following: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." This discourse is woven from the book of Genesis, from the place where not Abraham, but Abram says to the Lord: "Since You have not given me seed, this servant of my house shall be my heir." And the Lord said to him: "This man shall not be your heir, but he who shall come forth from you, this shall be your heir." And He brought him out, it says, and said to him: "Look to the sky, and number the stars, if you can count them. And He said to him: So shall your seed be. And he believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." We have repeated the passages themselves more extensively for the sake of example from the book of Genesis, that we might know what was the cause of this justification. Hence, we must consider more keenly whether it is said that his faith was reckoned as righteousness for this reason alone, that he believed that a son was to be given to him, and from him a progeny to be propagated to the multitude of the stars, or for this and for all the things he had already believed before. For it should not be thought that it was without faith that he went out from his land, and from his father's kindred, and came into the land which God had shown him; or that, when Lot was separated from him, the Lord says to him: "Look with your eyes, and see from this place where you are standing, and gaze toward the north, and south, and west, and east, for all this land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed forever." But who could say that even that was done without faith, that Abraham, coming, dwelt by the oak of Mambre in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord? Or how was that not also a work of faith, when Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and said: "Blessed be Abraham by the most high God who created heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, who has delivered his enemies into your hands"? From

all these things it is gathered that in each of these instances faith indeed was in Abraham, but it was in part; whereas in that place where it is said that his faith was reckoned unto him for righteousness ^A, a perfect faith is declared. For just as the Apostle says that science and prophecy are in part, and again says that the perfect is in him when he writes: "We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, those things which are in part shall be destroyed," so too we can understand faith to be at times in part, and at times perfect. But that what we are saying may be strengthened by other testimonies of the Holy Scripture, listen to the apostles in the Gospel saying to the Lord: "Lord, increase our faith." Do they not by these words evidently show that they indeed possess faith, but such as stood in need of increase? But the Apostle Paul himself also, when he says: "If I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains," by saying "all," he teaches that the whole is composed of parts. For "all" cannot be named where there is not a diversity of either quality or quantity. It seems, therefore, that in the present passage, since many acts of faith of Abraham preceded him through each of those things which we previously mentioned as being in part, his whole faith is now gathered together in this one instance, and is thus reckoned to him for righteousness. Now you will certainly consider that, just as it is said of faith that it was reckoned to him for righteousness, so also it may be said of other virtues, that, for example, mercy can be reckoned to anyone for righteousness, or wisdom, or knowledge, or meekness and humility, or at any rate if faith is reckoned for righteousness to every believer. But when I return to the Scriptures, I do not find that faith is reckoned for righteousness to all who believe. Finally, it is written of the children of Israel that they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses, yet it is not added, as it was written of Abraham, that it was reckoned to them for righteousness. For this reason I think that there was not in them—as we have taught in the case of Abraham—a perfection gathered together from many parts of faith which would ^C merit being reckoned unto righteousness. But as to what he says: "To him who works, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt; but to him who believes in him who justifies the ungodly, faith is reckoned for righteousness," he seems to show that in faith there is indeed the grace of the One who justifies, but in works the righteousness of the One who recompenses ^D. But when I consider the eminence of the discourse, in which he says that to him who works a reward is rendered according to debt, I can scarcely persuade myself that there can be any work that requests a remuneration from God by debt, since even this very thing, that we are able to do anything, or think, or speak, we do through his gift ^A and bounty, and what, therefore, will be the debt owing to us, whose loan from him has preceded us? And hence it must rather be seen whether peradventure what he said, "To him who works, the reward shall be reckoned according to debt," is to be understood as the debt of an evil work. For you will frequently find that "debts" are termed sins in the divine Volumes, as the Lord himself taught us in the prayer to say, "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors," and again when the Lord himself says, "A certain householder had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty," and he himself interpreted this to be said of sins. Lest perhaps, therefore, in this place also, the Apostle may have drawn the reward of work which is rendered according to debt to this sense which we have mentioned above, concerning those who work in such a way as Cain worked the earth, and as he says elsewhere, "Depart from me, workers of iniquity," to whom, indeed, a debt of punishment is paid out as a reward for iniquity. Whence the same Apostle in another place says: "The wages of sin is death," and he did not add, so as to say similarly: "but the wages of righteousness is eternal life," but he says: "but the grace of God is eternal life"; so that he might teach that the "stipendium," which is surely like a debt and a reward, is a retribution of punishment and death, but that he might consign eternal life solely to grace. According to this sense, also, that which is written in the Gospel, "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again," I think is to be understood concerning evil works. For God does not set a measure to his grace, as it is written: "For God does not give the Spirit by measure." If, therefore, these things are thought to have been rightly discussed, it will consequently follow that those things which cohere will be seen to be understood, so that for him who works the works of iniquity the reward is repaid according to the debt of sin; but to him who believes in him who justifies the ungodly, faith is reckoned for righteousness: if indeed we well remember the previous points, in which we showed that faith can be reckoned for righteousness not to him who believes in part, but to him who believes entirely and perfectly; which faith is so great that it justifies even him who had been ungodly, so that he is no longer ungodly, just as that thief who hung on the cross and was blaspheming, but is like him who confessed and said: "Lord Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." After these things, as if for the confirmation of his discourse which he had said—"To him, however, who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, faith is reckoned for righteousness"—he assumes a testimony from the Psalms, and says: "As David also speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness"

without works: "Blessed are they whose iniquities ^A are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." You see how, through these words, it can consistently be proven that righteousness is reckoned to a man without works. Whence it seems to me that the Apostle understood this: because it is impossible for a man, in whom—by virtue of age—there is present an intellect for discerning between good and evil, to have neither injustice nor justice. But if this is so, the soul cannot be found without one of the two; and it is certain that if it has ceased from evil, it is now found in good. But that soul is not in evil whose "iniquities are forgiven," and whose "sins are covered," and "to whom the Lord has not imputed sin"—it is fitting, therefore, that it be among those in the good. ^B Competently, therefore, regarding the remission of iniquities and the covering of sins, and regarding that which the Lord does not count as sin, the Apostle says that righteousness is reckoned to a man, even though he has not yet performed works of righteousness, but solely for that which he has believed in Him who justifies the ungodly. For the beginning of being justified by God is the faith that believes in the Justifier. And once this faith has been justified, it clings to the soil of the soul like a root that has received the rain, so that when it begins to be cultivated through the law of God, there may spring up in it branches that bear the fruit of works. Therefore, the root of righteousness is not from works, but the fruit of works grows from the root of righteousness—namely, that root of righteousness by which God accepts and reckons righteousness without works. Wherefore, I believe that David also, in the thirty-first Psalm, which he superscribed "A Lesson of David," gave this beginning, warning by the very superscription that a deeper understanding ought to be sought in those things which he was about to say, because "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven"—of whom we have spoken as best as we could when we were commenting on the Psalms in order. But the difference of the order itself urges us on, because he said first: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven"; secondly, "whose sins are covered"; thirdly, "to whom the Lord has not imputed sin." And see if, perhaps, this order can be understood within one and the same soul: as in that the beginning of the soul's conversion is to leave behind evil, and for this it deserves to receive the remission of iniquities; but when it begins to do good, covering over every single evil that had previously passed by with fresh good deeds, and introducing a more abundant number of good things than there had previously been of evil, it is said to "cover sins." But where it has finally arrived at perfection, so that every root of malice is utterly amputated from it, to the point that no trace of it can be found, then there is already the summit of perfect blessedness in the remission of ^C iniquity, since the Lord can impute no sin. Iniquity surely has this difference from sin, that iniquity is said of those things which are committed against the law; whence also the Greek language calls it *anomian*, that is, what is committed without law; 524 but sin can also be called that which is committed against what nature teaches and conscience convicts.

2. "Is this blessedness then in the circumcision, or also in the uncircumcision?" For we say that Abraham's faith was reckoned for righteousness. How, then, was it reckoned? Was it when he was in the circumcision, or when he was in the uncircumcision? Not in the circumcision, but in the uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which is in the uncircumcision: that he might be the father of all who believe in the uncircumcision, that it might be reckoned to them also for righteousness, and that he might be the father of the circumcision, not to them only who are of the circumcision, but to them also who follow the steps of his faith which is in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham. When he had said above that "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness," and had shown what kind of blessedness such faith had from those things which were written in the thirty-first Psalm—because to him who believes in such a way the Lord would not count sin—he now proposes a ^D question, from whose answer he might teach, and from the very reckoning of time itself, that the blessedness of Abraham's justification was given not in the circumcision, but while he was still placed in uncircumcision. But if Abraham was justified by faith while he was still in uncircumcision, then everyone who believes in God can be justified by faith, even if he be in the uncircumcision, and this blessedness of which it is said, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord has not imputed sin," can pertain to him also. He shows, therefore, that it is not that the Lord does not impute sin to just anyone, but that He does not reckon sins to him who has believed, because of his faith. For just as faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness, so too to every believer to whom faith is reckoned for righteousness, sins are certainly not imputed. For it is not said of the just that faith is reckoned to them for righteousness. For if it were thought so, what grace would be seen in being reckoned to the just? Righteousness for righteousness? But surely He speaks of him to whom faith is reckoned for righteousness as one who, before he had this faith, possessed no justice; and this is surely the blessed man to whom God credits justice without works, and to whom sin is not imputed, to whom also iniquities have been forgiven, and any sins that have previously existed have been covered. But at the same time, he also teaches us to be more diligent in observing.

^A the lessons, since he so vigilantly narrates those things which were written concerning Abraham, because "faith was reckoned to him as righteousness." He wishes us also to consider when it was reckoned, so that the rationale of the time in those things which were written may be gathered—whether he was still in uncircumcision when these things were said, or whether he had already passed on to circumcision—and he says: "How then was his faith reckoned as righteousness? When he was in circumcision, or when he was in uncircumcision?" For if he had been at that time in circumcision, uncircumcision would then seem to have been excluded from this grace of faith. But now he shows that faith was reckoned as righteousness while he was still set in uncircumcision, and for this reason he declares that, since Abraham was justified by faith while set in uncircumcision, he is without doubt deservedly called the prince and father of all who believe through uncircumcision. But as for the fact that after the faith which was in uncircumcision he received circumcision, he explains ^B consequently the reason why circumcision was given to him. That it might be, he says, a sign of that faith which he had while set in uncircumcision, that through this he might be the father of all who believe through uncircumcision, that it might be reckoned to them for righteousness, and that he might be the father of circumcision, not only to those who are of the circumcision, but also to those who follow the footsteps of that faith which is in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham. But if Abraham, while he was still in uncircumcision, was justified by faith, it can happen that he is also the father of those who are born in circumcision, if indeed they belong to that faith which justified him while set in uncircumcision. And since he justified Abraham while set in uncircumcision, he becomes therefore the father of both kinds: to those who are in uncircumcision through faith, and to those who are in circumcision through the flesh; and after circumcision he begets Isaac first, and from him begins the beginning of the ogdoad, that is, the first mysteries are consecrated on the eighth day, and from there the posterity of Abraham begins to run with a twofold sacrament. For just as faith is understood to be one thing by its nature, and the righteousness which is reckoned to it through faith is another; so also his posterity is one thing in uncircumcision, another in circumcision. For those who are uncircumcised, I think, are the very stones from which God is said to be able to raise up children of Abraham, in whom is also fulfilled what is written: "Because in you shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed." But let us still repeat what he says: "And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which is in uncircumcision," and let us contemplate the profound wisdom of Paul in these things. For perhaps to some it ^C may seem that he is saying the same discourse a second time, that is, "sign" and "seal." But to me, each term seems to have a great difference between them. For a "sign" is spoken of when, by that which is seen, something else is indicated: as when, for example, the Lord says in the Gospel: "This generation seeks a sign; and no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so also the Son of man must be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights." This is therefore a sign, where Jonah was seen and Christ was understood. Similarly, it is also said of the Lord himself in the Gospel: "Behold, this one is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many, and for a sign which will be contradicted." For the sign in which Christ had come was contradicted, because one thing was seen in it, and another was understood. Flesh was perceived, and God was believed. Thus, therefore, Abraham also received a sign: and he says what the sign was in the subsequent words: "Circumcision," he says, which circumcision was "a seal of the righteousness of faith" which he had before he was circumcised. Well, therefore, he called circumcision a sign in Abraham, because it too was one thing seen and another understood; and he shows that even then that carnal circumcision was a sign of the spiritual circumcision, which is not received in the flesh, but in the heart. But as to what he calls a "seal," I think it should be understood thus. A seal is said to be placed when a safe-keeping is imposed for a time upon some thing to be kept—a thing which no one else but he who impressed it ought to unseal. Through this seal, therefore, as the Apostle explains, the righteousness of faith which Abraham deserved to receive while set in uncircumcision is indicated, and that he is to be the father of many nations: which we believe is to be unsealed when the fullness of the nations has entered in, and "all Israel will be saved." For then that will happen which the Apostle says, that Abraham is the father not only of the nations, but also of the circumcision through faith. And let us discuss even more openly concerning the sign and the seal. Since a sign is, as we have said, where something is indicated by that which is seen, but a seal is where something is enclosed for a time and is not manifest, it can also be understood in this way: that the mysteries which were adumbrated in the Law and the patriarchs were of such a kind that they were to be indicated by signs and observed by seals. Therefore, that they were to be indicated by signs ^D was said of those who were to believe from the nations, for which reason Abraham is said to have received the sign: but that they were to be observed and concealed refers to those who were not to believe while in the circumcision.

^A This sign will indeed be resigned at that time when in the last days, after the fullness of the Gentiles has entered in, as we have said, all Israel will be saved. For this reason, then, Abraham is justified 57 in faith while he was still uncircumcised, and later he is circumcised, so that he might be shown to be first the father of many nations, and subsequently of those who will believe from the circumcision. For neither are those who are descended from Abraham according to the flesh to be called children of Abraham, unless they have the faith and works of Abraham. Hence, then, even the Lord in the Gospel says to the Jews, who boasted of being children of Abraham: "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham" [*]. But do you wish to be instructed also from the ancient Scripture that a person is called a son not only of him from whose carnal seed he descends, but also of him whose actions and works he imitates? Hear what Daniel says to one of those elders whom he convicts of adultery: "Seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty has seduced thee, and lust has perverted thy heart" [*]. You see how he who had descended carnally from the line of Juda is denied to be a son of Juda, but [is called son] of Chanaan—that is, of him whose actions and works he followed. So, therefore, even those who draw their lineage from the seed of Abraham according to the flesh are not called children of Abraham if they do not have his faith. Thus, then, the prophet also says to them: "Thy father was an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite" [*], to whom, indeed, not the bond of blood, but the similarity of morals joined them. "That he might be, therefore," he says, "the father of all believers through the uncircumcision, that it might be reckoned to them for justice, and that he might be the father of circumcision, not only to them who are of the circumcision, but also to those who follow the footprints of that faith of our father Abraham which is in the uncircumcision" [*]. In which he clearly declares from both peoples, as we have said above, that not fleshly origin, but the notability of faith is to be sought. But concerning the sacrament of circumcision, we have already spoken more broadly in previous sections, and in many other places we have explained what seemed to occur according to the matter and the time. But the diligent reader, whom not one iota or one apex of the law escapes [*], should not be unaware that what the Apostle said, "Abraham’s faith was reckoned to him for justice" [*], at that time when it is written of him that he believed God and it was reckoned to him for justice [*], Abraham was not yet called [Abraham], but Abram was his name. For he still remained uncircumcised, as the Apostle interprets. Regarding which, perhaps to some it will seem that an error is held in the manuscripts, because it would be easy for Abraham to have been written for Abram. But because these matters ^B are an estimation more uncertain than a firm approval, let us answer more concisely, observing the judgment of God who said, "Now thy name shall not be Abram, but Abraham" [*]; he called him now not as it is written in the place in Genesis, but as God pronounced concerning him. For what is divinely ordained is fitting to be observed thereafter. These things, as we have been able, set forth in places so arduous and so difficult [*], if anyone perhaps considers the zeal of our mind, he will be able to embrace them. If, however, he wishes to notice the infirmity of our sense, we ask for pardon, and we willingly yield to him who is able to discuss or explain these matters better. We, however, turn our footsteps with a slow pace, though it be, to the things that follow.

3. "For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world; but through the justice of faith" [*]. In this place it seems to me that the Apostle is arguing about the Law of Moses, and asserting that the promise which was made to Abraham, that he should receive the inheritance of the world—that is, of the whole earth—either he or his seed, did not consist from the Law of Moses. For before Moses the legislator existed, "The Lord," he says, "appeared to Abraham, and said to him" [*]: "Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall show thee: and I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I will magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed" [*]. What he says, therefore, "In thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed," this is that he was made the heir of the whole world. Which promise was indeed made to Abraham before it was commanded by Moses concerning the observance of the Law. Therefore, the promise to Abraham and to his seed is not from the Law, that he should be heir of the world, but through the justice of faith. What is this justice of faith? Concerning which [*] it is written in the preceding, as we have often said already, that "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for justice" [*]. Nor without merit: for the observance of the law only avoids punishment; the merit of faith is established for servants, faith is sought from friends. But even if, according to those things which we have discussed above, Paul is understood to say these things concerning the natural law, it will not be contrary to the arguments rendered above. For although the law of nature renders testimony concerning good and evil according to the judgment of conscience, yet it cannot be equaled to the law of faith, by which Abraham believed God, and merited to be justified and called the friend of God [*].

^A For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. For the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. If, he says, the promise was not given to Abraham by the law that he should be the heir of the world, but by faith, which was reckoned to him for righteousness, it will undoubtedly follow that all who hope for righteousness to be reckoned to themselves by God, should hope not by the law, but by faith. And to show this more clearly, he added: If, he says, they which are of the law be themselves the heirs of that promise which Abraham merited through faith, that which is written, that Abraham was justified by faith, will be rendered void: since surely if the inheritance were to be by the law, it would have been necessary for Abraham first to fulfill the law, and so to merit the inheritance of righteousness. And to show that this could in no way have been the case, he says that the law worketh wrath. But where there is wrath, there is no inheritance; and he adds: “But where no law is, there is no transgression.” But let us repeat a little, and see of what law these things are said. In the preceding parts, indeed, where he says, “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect,” it can be referred both to the Law of Moses and to the natural law. For it is certain that if the inheritance is granted by the Law of Moses, that ^B which is written is emptied, that Abraham merited it by the credulity of faith: and again, if the understanding be turned to the natural law, these things can be said: If the natural law could have sufficed for faith, it would seem superfluous what was said to Abraham: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, and come into the land which I will show thee.” For why should he go out of his country, and from his house, if the natural law sufficed for him, which surely he could have possessed and kept even while living in his own land? But now, as if that were less sufficient, he is ordered to follow the law of faith, without which neither he himself nor his seed could have been the heir of the world, nor could he have been called the friend of God: thus, therefore, one may see that, removed from both laws, it looks only to the law of faith, which he says: “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect.” Now, indeed, in this place where he says, “For the law worketh wrath,” we must look more carefully at which law this discourse seems to look; but also that which follows, “For where no law is, there is no transgression.” But before a fuller explanation is required from us, let us briefly answer those things which heretics are accustomed to object to us concerning this place. For they say: “Behold how the Apostle ^C says that the Law of Moses worketh wrath, but where that law is not, there is no transgression.” Let us therefore inquire of them: Where the law is, there will be transgression of the law; therefore, where there is faith, there will be transgression of faith. For if he who departs from the law is made a transgressor, without doubt he also is a transgressor who departs from the faith: and if the law itself is the cause of that transgression which is in the law, faith is also believed to be the cause of that transgression which is in the faith. But if it is absurd to say that faith is the cause that someone should transgress from the faith, and if he had not approached the faith, he would not have been a transgressor of the faith; so it will be absurd to derive the transgression of the law from the fact that one has accepted the observance of the law. But let us also add this. What will they say to us about those who were made in transgression before the Law of Moses? If ^D no one existed as a transgressor before Moses, no one was condemned, no one punished. What will they say of the Sodomites? What of those who were condemned in the flood? What will they answer concerning Cain? What of Adam himself? What of Eve, of whom the Apostle says: "And the woman being deceived was made in transgression"? If there is no transgression without the Law of Moses, whence are Adam and Eve named transgressors by the Apostle? But, as we have often said before in the preceding parts, the Apostle introduces diverse laws in this Epistle, and now he speaks of the Law of Moses, now he names the law of faith, just as when he says: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.” He introduces besides also other laws, of which he says: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity in the law of sin”; and so he passes from one law to another, so that unless the sense be watchful and intent, it can scarcely be grasped and followed. We must see, therefore, lest perhaps that law which is in our members, and leads us captive in the law of sin, be itself the law which the Apostle says worketh wrath. For it worketh wrath without doubt upon him whom it has led captive in the law of sin. But where this law is not, it is certain that there neither will there be transgression. But those who are under that law, consequently will not be heirs. And if anyone wishes to commemorate this concerning the Law of Moses, and to say that it worketh wrath, perhaps for this reason alone he will be able to affirm it, because it commands the one sinning in it either to be stoned immediately, or burned with fire, or whatever other punishment is decreed in the law for those who sin: so that the very penalty which is brought upon the sinner by the law is what is now called wrath by the Apostle.

^A For it seems that not every transgression is generally designated by this term in this place, but only that of one who has sinned while under the law; so that the transgression of him who sins while prohibited by the law appears to be a graver offense than that of one who was cautioned by no law. But it must also be observed that the Apostle did not say that where there is law, there is also transgression, but says: "Where there is no law, neither is there transgression." In this he shows that transgression cannot exist at all unless law exists; yet it does not follow that if law exists, there will be transgression of every kind. For it can happen that there is law, and yet there is no transgression; but it cannot happen that there is transgression where there is no law. For even if we posit the law of Moses, it does not immediately follow that all who lived under the law of Moses became involved in transgression; ^B otherwise we would seem to involve both the prophets and all the just in this, unless perhaps someone says that all the just and the prophets lived not so much under the law as under faith, but that sinners and the unjust were bound by the shackles of the law, just as the Apostle says: "The law is not laid down for the just, but for the unjust and the insubordinate, the impious and sinners, the wicked and the profane, for patricides and matricides, murderers, fornicators, those who lie with males, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and if there is anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine." But if the law is laid down for such persons, those of whom it is said, "For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they, not having the law, are a law unto themselves, who show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience bears witness to them," will not appear to you much better? And let us place before our eyes, if you please, two individuals; for instance, two who have not lain with males in carnal union: one of them restrained from this by the precept of the law, who, if he had not had the fear of it, perhaps would have done it; and another who, by the judgment of his own mind, has not permitted even his thoughts to approach such defilement. Would you not much rather prefer the one who, deterred by no threat of the law, kept himself free from the stain of such an outrage? The same examination should be applied to other sins as well. And therefore, whether the law of Moses is understood, or indeed that which is in our members and works wrath, those who are of it cannot be heirs; but those who are of the law of faith are, ^C and that faith is the one by which Abraham was justified. But perhaps someone may inquire how it is that one who is under the law of Moses does not also appear to be under the law of faith, since it is written in Exodus: "And the people believed God and Moses his servant"; and again the Lord says in the Gospel: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." We respond to this that what is said in the wilderness, "The people believed God and Moses his servant," is a narrative showing that the people believed God through the ministry of Moses, through whom he dispensed signs and wonders; in this word where he says, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me," he argues against the infidelity of those who, while they do not believe him, show that they do not believe the writings of Moses, in which the coming of Christ is contained in prophetic speech. But where he says, "He who believes in me, believes in him who sent me," he raises the hope of the believers up to God the Father, so that just as one knows that when he sees the Son, he has seen the Father, so when he believes in the Son, he knows he has believed in the Father.

5. "Therefore it is of faith, that the promise may be firm to all the seed, not to that which is of the law only, but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all (as it is written: 'I have made you the father of many nations') before him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that are not, as though they were." In the foregoing, he gave the distinction between reward and grace, saying that a reward is a matter of debt, but grace is not of any debt, but a benefit of benevolence. And so, in the present passage, wishing to show that God gives the inheritance of the promises not by debt but by grace, he says that the inheritance is granted to those who believe by God, not by the debt of wages, but by the gift of faith. For just as (to speak by way of example) this fact—that we exist—cannot be understood as if we existed by the reward of our work, but it is evidently a gift of God and the grace of the Creator, who willed that we should exist, so even if we receive the inheritance of the promises of God, it is of divine grace, not the reward of any debt or work. But if by chance it should appear that this very thing which is called "of faith" is not free, inasmuch as faith must first be offered by man, and thus grace be merited from God, hear how the Apostle teaches the same thing even regarding this in other places. For when he enumerates the gifts of the Spirit, which he says are given to those who believe according to the measure of faith, he asserts there, among other things, that the gift of faith itself is bestowed through the Holy Spirit. For after many things, he thus also...

^A says: "To others faith in the same Spirit," in order to show that even faith is given through grace. But elsewhere the same Apostle also teaches, saying: "Because it has been given to you by God not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for him." You find this also designated in the Gospels, where the apostles, understanding that faith which is from man cannot be perfect unless that which is from God has also been added, say to the Savior: "Increase our faith." From all of which it is most clearly proven what the Apostle says here: "Therefore it is from faith, that the promise might be firm according to grace"; because even the very faith by which we seem to believe in God is confirmed in us by the gift of grace. Now this is the grace which anyone who is blessed deserves to find like a great treasure. Noah found this; and therefore it is written of him: "But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord God." Moses also had found this grace; and therefore he used to say to God: "If I have found grace in your sight." We find, however, some of the saints to have found grace not only in the sight of the Lord God, but also in the sight of men. Finally, it is written of the blessed Joseph: "And Joseph found grace in the sight of his master." But this grace which is found in the sight of men is granted by the bounty of God. For thus it is written of the same Joseph: "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he poured mercy upon him, and gave him grace in the sight of the keeper of the prison." Furthermore, something more regarding such grace is mentioned in the divine scriptures concerning the blessed Esther. For thus it says: "Because Esther was finding grace in the eyes of all who saw her." Shortly after, the Scripture says: "Esther found grace over all the other virgins, and the king placed a womanly diadem upon her." Now I do not believe we have inquired into these things from the holy Scriptures inappropriately for the confirmation of the apostolic statement, in which he discourses concerning faith and grace. He says, therefore: "Therefore it is from faith, that the promise might be firm according to grace." But it must also be noted what he says, "Therefore it is from faith, that the promise might be firm according to grace," as if wishing to show that if the promise were from the law, and not from grace, it would not be firm; but now it is firm for this reason: because it is not from the law, but through grace. In which I think he wishes it to be understood that the things which are from the law are outside of us, but the things which are through grace are held within us. For example, the things that are written in the law are written with pen and ink on membranes or papers; but those which descend from grace are written by the Spirit of God ^B in our heart, as the same Apostle himself, the minister of this grace, designates in other places, and says: "You are our epistle, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tables of stone, but on fleshy tables of the heart." Therefore, as it seems to me, he says that those things which are through grace are firmer than those which are from the law, because those are outside of us, and these are within us; and those consist in perishable material, so that they can easily fade away, but these, written by the Spirit of God and impressed upon the recesses of the soul, obtain the firmness of perpetuity. With such letters, therefore, the soul is inscribed regarding the promise, provided it has offered its faith to God like prepared wax, so that in it the grace of God may be worthily inscribed; and for this reason faith of this kind is reckoned for righteousness, since it has proved capable of celestial grace. Now this happens to the seed of Abraham, not only to that which is from the law, but also to that which is from faith. For the succession from faith is much nobler than that from the flesh, because it is recorded that he was justified not by the flesh, but by faith. For if the succession were to be given not from faith, but from seed, it would be fitting for the posterity of Ishmael, and those who descend from Keturah, to be brought to the sacraments of the promises. Which is certainly not accepted, but only the posterity of the law and of the faith is introduced. Truly, however, let us not let pass an utterance of the Apostle in this place that is somehow hesitating and ambiguously expressed. For what he said, "That the promise might be firm to all the seed, not only to that which is from the law, but also to that which is from faith," if it is so understood as if he said that the seed from the law is one thing and that from faith is another, so that the promise of the inheritance ^C should be expected from both seeds, he is found to say things contrary to what he wrote above, when he says: "For not those who are of the law are heirs"; and elsewhere: "For we reckon that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law"; and again, "For if they who are of the law are heirs, the faith is made void." For if a man is justified from faith without the works of the law, and those who are from the law do not become heirs, how will what he says in this place—that the promise is firm through grace, not only to that seed which is from the law, but also to that which is from faith—not be seen as contrary? And when in the preceding passages he seems to have rejected those who are of the law, how does he here equate them with those who he says hope for grace from faith? But it seems to me that he says, "To all the seed, not only to that which is from the law, but also to that which is from faith," indicating here, as we have often said, the natural law, and asserting this: that the promise is not firm for those who come solely by the natural law, but also for those who have added faith to the natural law.

^A For it is faith that is reckoned unto righteousness. And in this way, the distinction offered makes the understanding clearer, and things that are thought to be contradictory are found to be consonant and in harmony with one another. Regarding the diversity of laws, we have frequently shown that in this epistle in particular, the Apostle also latently and suddenly changes the order of his discourse from one law to another, and it is superfluous to repeat the same things. Well, however, he did not say of Abraham: "Father of all"; but says: "Father of us all," that is, not of those who descend from the law, but of those who, by faith, succeed the law. And because he is the father of all who are of this kind, he deservedly placed the sentiment of the divine promise in the subsequent verses, saying: ^B "As it is written: Because I have set thee a father of many nations, before God whom he believed." If, therefore, he is promised to be the future father of many nations, not undeservedly is he named father both of those who come from the Gentiles and of those who come from circumcision. And rightly did the Apostle add in his own interpretation: "Before God whom he believed"; that is, he was placed as father of many nations before God himself in whom he believed, whose promises he received, and from whom he received the seal of faith in circumcision. How then does circumcision claim Abraham as its own father, when God himself, who gave him circumcision, made him the father of many nations? But if anyone should wish to turn this toward the posterity of Ishmael or Keturah, he is met by what is written: ^C "Because in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed." This also John was saying in the Gospel: "Because God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." He added, however, in the subsequent verses: "Who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things that be not as though they were." We understand the dead here according to the sin of the soul, since he says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." For just as in the death of the body the senses perish, so that one no longer receives anything through the body—neither hearing, nor smell, nor taste, ^D nor touch—so too he who has lost the spiritual senses in his soul does not see God, nor hear the word of God, nor taste the good word of God, nor do his hands handle the word of life; such men are deservedly called dead. Such were the men the coming of Christ found us to be, but he quickened us through his grace, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere: "And when we were dead in sins and trespasses, he raised us up together with him." But do you wish also to be convinced from the prophetic Scriptures that all who worship idols and trust in them are dead? Hear how David says: "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not." And after a little: "Let them that make them become like unto them, and every one that trusteth in them." You see that they are dead, and that those who worship them and trust in them are made like unto idols. Whence let us look more diligently if, by chance, just as those who worship idols and trust in them are said to be made like them, so too those who worship the true God and trust in him are made like him. And this is perhaps what is meant at the beginning concerning man, when, though there had been a purpose that he should be made to the image and likeness of God, he was indeed made to the image, but the likeness was deferred for this reason: that he might first trust in God, and thus become like him, and he himself might hear that everyone who trusts in him will be like him. These things we have joined, by way of a certain digression, to the matters we discussed concerning the type of death, so that it might be made more manifest in what ways God quickens the dead. But also as to what he says in the subsequent verses, "And calleth those things that be not as though they were," let us see how it ought to be understood. We have frequently explained in other places that God alone is he who says: "I am who am"; and that is the one substance of God which is for ever; to whom if anyone shall join himself, he becomes one spirit with him, and through him who is for ever, he too is said to be. But he who is far from him, and does not receive a participation in him, is not even said to be, just as we Gentiles were before we came to the knowledge of divine truth; and therefore God is said to call "those things that be not as though they were." For among those who are, that is, who have participation in him who is, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the other saints are numbered. But if the Gentiles by believing in faith come to Abraham, the Apostle consistently proclaims that God has called "those things that be not as though they were." It may, however, also be noted that in this place the Apostle seems to have poured himself out more broadly in praise of God, and to have recalled with wonder the beginning of his first creation.

^A when He made all things out of nothing, and called those things which did not exist into being, to the end that they might exist by the power of His might; and thus, that nothing was difficult for Him in creating, so that when nothing existed, all things, once called upon, were present as if they had always existed. But if anyone should object to us that discourse of the Apostle which he writes to the Corinthians, where he says, because "God chose the contemptible things of the world, and things which are not, to destroy those which are,"—so that "no flesh should boast in the sight of God"—and should say that, according to this exposition, it is not fitting that those things which are should be said to be destroyed when those which are not have been chosen, we will say in response to this that in that place he called one group those who "are," and another group in this chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. For he explained to the Corinthians that he was speaking of those whom he had enumerated above. For he said ^B further up: "For see your calling, brethren, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many are powerful, not many are noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world, that He might confound the wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that He might confound the strong." Just as, therefore, he says that God chose the foolish things of the world—that is, the Gentiles—that He might confound the wise—without doubt, the Jews—and the weak things of the world, that He might confound the strong, in the same order he speaks in this place also of those things "which are not," that He might destroy "those which are"; and he shows that the Gentiles are the "things which are not," and the Jews are those "which are"—that is, those who were in the law, but did not fulfill the law, so that they might be destroyed, and those who were not in the law might be brought in, and might be joined to the faith and belief of Abraham.

However, as to what he said, "That He might confound the wise," it is not that they were truly wise; otherwise, God would never confound those who are wise according to the wisdom of God; but he refers to those who think themselves to be wise, and are not, just as he says elsewhere: "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the inquirer of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of this world foolishness?" Therefore, He confounds the wise of this world by choosing the foolish, not because these latter were likewise foolish through a lack of sense, but according to that which was said: "He who wishes to be wise, let him become foolish in this world, that he may be wise before God; because the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God."

6. "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was said to him: So shall thy seed be as the stars of heaven and the ^C sand of the sea." And he was not weakened in faith, nor did he consider his own body already dead, since he was almost a hundred years old, and the dead womb of Sarah. Nor did he hesitate in the promise of God out of disbelief; but he was strengthened by faith, giving glory to God, and knowing most fully that whatsoever He has promised, He is mighty also to perform. Therefore, it was reckoned to him for righteousness. It seems to me that the Apostle, in saying "against hope," had looked upon that which is reported in Genesis, namely, that Abraham had said to the Lord: "Master Lord, what wilt Thou give me? But I go away childless; and the son of Masech my maidservant is this Damascus Eliezer." And Abraham said: "Since thou hast not given me seed, this my servant shall be my heir." By which words, at any rate, it is understood that Abraham had despaired of receiving children. But as to what he said, "He believed in hope," he gathers that again from where it was written that a hope was given to him: "And the word of the Lord came to him, saying: This man shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thee, he shall be thy heir. And He brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven, and count the stars, if thou canst count them. And He said to him: So shall thy seed be. And he believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness." From these words, therefore, his despair first, and later the hope given to him by God's promises, are declared. Because he believed this, that which the Apostle now proposes is written concerning him: "that it was reckoned to him for righteousness."

But the Apostle rightly joins hope as well, and in his customary manner, knowing that hope inseparably coheres with faith, just as he teaches the same in the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying: "Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And again, in this same Epistle to the Romans, he says in the later parts: "For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen, is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for? But if we hope for what we see not, we wait for it with patience." What he says, "We are saved by hope," is the same thing he states elsewhere, that "we are saved by faith"; and, "Thy faith hath made thee whole"; and, "According to thy faith let it be done to thee." These things are indeed said to those who, believing in Jesus, have conceived a hope that they can be healed by Him. And just as Abraham "against hope believed in hope," so all those who are sons of Abraham through faith, against hope believe in hope concerning ^D the father of many nations, according to what was said to him: "So shall thy seed be as the stars of heaven and the arena maris."

sand of the sea." ^A And to each one of those things which they believe, whether concerning the resurrection of the dead, or concerning the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. For these things, as far as human nature is concerned, are seen as contrary to hope; yet as far as the power of God is concerned, they are believed in hope; by the example of Abraham believing that God is powerful and able to do whatever he has promised, if, however, faith, hope, and charity remain in those who believe. And I think that faith is the first beginning of salvation and the very foundation of it; hope is the progress and growth of the building; but charity is the perfection and summit of the whole work; and therefore "the greatest of all," it is said, "is charity."

Therefore, Abraham "believed in hope against hope," that he might become the father of many nations, which were to be as the stars of heaven, not only in multitude, but also in brightness: and he who faithfully believed the One promising, "he was not," he says, "weakened in faith." By saying "he was not weakened in faith," it seems to me that he indicates there is a certain weakness in faith. But if there is weakness, there is undoubtedly also health, just as he shows in other places when he says: "Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith." Blessed, therefore, is he who is not weakened in the faith. But if someone is weakened, the Apostle describes his care when he says: "Him who is weak in the faith, welcome, not into controversies of thoughts. For one believeth that he may eat all things; but he that is weak, let him eat herbs." By this, indeed, he designates that the "herbs" of the word are to be offered to him who is weak in the faith, lest the full doctrine of faith be forced upon those who are hesitating in it, and in a certain way ailing. That faith is called sound, however, which is perfect, and to which nothing is lacking: and it is that itself which believes it can eat all things, that is, which can grasp all things; he who possesses this is called spiritual, and "judgeth all things," and cannot be scandalized by any discourse. Whence it clearly appears that there are certain augmentations and progress in faith, and that some have a small portion of faith, others a large one, and still others possess "all faith." Whence also the Apostle used to say: "If I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains." But also in the Gospels the disciples say to the Lord, as if they did not yet possess full faith: "Increase our faith." Consider, indeed, if, according to those things which we are saying about faith, we can likewise understand the augmentations of charity, so that we may say of charity what he said about faith: "If I should have all faith," "if I should have all charity," and that he possesses all charity who has possessed all those things which are specific to charity, as the Apostle says: "Charity is patient, is kind, is not puffed up, is not envious, is not ambitious, does not act perversely, ^B is not provoked: it beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things," ^C and other things similar to these. If anyone has these, it rightfully seems to me to be said that he has all charity, which charity undoubtedly consists of these individual components mentioned above by the Apostle. Likewise, however, I think it can be said of mercy, and piety, and the remaining virtues. And perhaps through each of these, just as it was said of faith that "faith was reckoned to him for justice," so too it can be said of charity, that charity was reckoned to him for justice, or piety, or mercy.

But let us now see the things that follow. "And he was not," he says, "weakened in faith, nor did he consider his own body already dead, when he was almost a hundred years old, nor the dead womb of Sara: in the promise, also, of God he did not waver through unbelief, but was strengthened by faith." ^D As far as the simple understanding is concerned, he put forward an evident reason: that Abraham, when he heard that offspring was promised to him by God, did not look at the dead powers of his hundred-year-old body, from which, surely, no succession could be hoped for; but, gazing upon the power of the One promising, he believed that nothing was difficult in those things which the Omnipotent was promising: "but he gave," he says, "glory to God," understanding that it was the gift of God alone, where the laws of human fecundity had ceased. Merely, therefore, he gave glory to God, who had been deserted by the aids of nature. These things, as I have said, as far as the simple understanding is concerned, will seem to have been said sufficiently. But if anyone should object to us: "How will Abraham be able to be called one who was in the hundredth year of his age and of a dead body, who, after he had received Isaac, and Sara was dead, who had conceived him at ninety years and lived one hundred and twenty-seven years, after even the forty years of Isaac having been made, took Rebecca—after all these things it is written: 'And Abraham taking a wife whose name was Cethura, and she bore to him Zamram, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboch, and Sue?'" How then will he be seen to be of a "dead body," who, having become much older than he was then, was able to take a wife and beget six children? These objections, so that we may be able to exclude them decently, we translate [the description of] his "dead body" not as a "deadness of age," but according to that virtue which the saints, first fulfilling in themselves, also warn others to have, and say: "Mortify your members which are upon the earth." For I deem it absurd that this good which Paul had in himself (for he would not command others what he himself did not have)

^A and which he says Abraham the patriarch—whom the Apostle also calls his own father—had, we should not believe he had. Therefore, there was mortification of the members in him as well: lust was not incited, nor was he burned by passion, just as in those of whom the Apostle says: "It is better to marry than to burn." This same thing was also in Sarah, because the ways of women had ceased for Sarah. For there was no feminine wantonness in her, nor the dissolution of incontinence, nor were they dragged unwillingly into the use of lust; but when they hear of such great hope for posterity, and the glory of their offspring to be made equal to the heaven and the stars, when they hear these things, they do not look at their own goods, to the grace of continence, to the mortification of the members, but all these things which they thought were gains for themselves, ^B they count as losses, that they may gain Christ. But perhaps you believe that I have erred, because when I should have spoken about the posterity of Abraham and his seed, I spoke of Christ. We do not err, but we speak with the Apostle. For he himself interprets these things as having been said about Christ when he says: "It was written: To you I will give this land, and to your seed. He did not say: And to seeds, as if of many, but, To your seed, as if of one, who is Christ." You see, therefore, how the Apostle teaches us that the Lord has spoken to Abraham so that in his seed he understood that Christ was to be perceived: and for this reason I think that the Apostle added and said: "Giving glory to God." For Abraham could not have offered so much glory from the birth of Isaac ^C as the glory he was able to give to God, if he understood that Christ would be born from his body, now dead and purified from vices. But if you also mortify your members which are upon the earth, if, having cast off all fervor of lust, you keep the body dead and subject to no vices, you also can generate the best fruits from it; you can generate Isaac, which is joy; and this is the first fruit of the spirit: your seed, that is, your works, can ascend to heaven, and be made works of light, and be compared to the splendor and brightness of the stars, so that when the day of resurrection arrives, you may differ in glory as star from star. I say still more: if you have been so pure in mind, so holy in body, so immaculate in actions, you can even generate Christ himself, according to him who said: "My little children, whom I am again laboring over, until Christ is formed in you." And thus the Lord himself says of Himself: ^D "Whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." Who, then, will be the mother of Jesus, except her whose womb is dead? So that she may thus bring forth children of chastity, just as the woman of whom the Apostle says: "But she shall be saved through the generation of children, if she shall have remained in faith and chastity." Whence I also think it is conveniently added for these: "And it was reckoned to him unto righteousness." For how would it not be reckoned unto righteousness to him who held perfection not only in faith, but in all virtues? "Because it was reckoned to him unto righteousness, but also for our sake, to whom it will be reckoned, believing in Him who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up for our transgressions, and rose again for our justification." In this place where it says, "Not for his sake only," it is to be understood concerning him; and again what it says, "But also for our sake," this is also about us. For it is manifest that because of what is said, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him unto righteousness," Moses did not write this so that Abraham might read it, who had surely died long ago, but that we might take the fruit of faith from such a reading, understanding that even if we so believe God as he believed, faith will also be reckoned to us unto righteousness, "believing in Him who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead." I certainly wish to inquire why it is that in this place the Apostle, naming God, in whom we believe, and in whom Abraham believed, did not say, "believing in the most high God," or, "believing in Him who made heaven and earth," or "in Him who made the angels and the other virtues of celestial glory," but says: "who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead." Let us therefore inquire for what cause this title of the Lord's resurrection is assumed for the comparison of Abraham's faith. Had Abraham believed in Him who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead, when Jesus had not yet been raised from the dead? I wish therefore to consider what may have seemed right to Paul in promising us that just as faith was reckoned unto righteousness to Abraham who believed, so it will also be reckoned to us believing in Him who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. In which, for the smallness of my understanding, I notice this, that it is much more magnificent in the praises of God to have raised our Lord Jesus from the dead, than to have made heaven and earth, to have created the angels, and to have founded the celestial virtues. For the former was to make things that were not, but the latter is to restore things that had perished. The former was to institute things not yet destroyed, the latter is to restore things already destroyed. Finally, the former was perfected by a command, the latter by passion. But of this so great and so magnificent

mysterical significance in the faith of Abraham, the form and the image had preceded. For he had believed when he was commanded to offer his only Son, because God was powerful enough to raise him even from the dead; he had believed also that not only to him was the matter of Isaac pertaining, but that the full truth of the mystery was preserved for his seed, which is Christ. Thence, finally, rejoicing, he offered his only son, because in him he was considering not the destruction of his offspring, but the reparation of the world and the innovation of the entire creation, which has been restored through the resurrection of the Lord. And for this reason the Lord says of him: "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day; and he saw it and was glad." ^A In this way, then, the comparison held between the faith of Abraham and those who believe in Him who raised Jesus the Lord from the dead will be seen to be fitting; because what he believed would happen, is believed by us to have been accomplished. At the same time, it is also shown—which does not please the heretics—that the God in whom Abraham believed, and who reckoned his faith unto righteousness, is the same God who also raised the Lord Jesus from the dead; nor is any room left for the understanding that there is one God of the law, and another God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But we further inquire: since there are so many things that Christ is said to be (for He is called Himself Wisdom, and Power, and Righteousness, and the Word, and the Truth, and the Life), why does the Apostle make mention specifically of His resurrection in our faith? The same ^B Apostle says in other places that "God has raised us up together with Christ, and has made us to sit together with Him in the heavenly places." This, therefore, is what he admonishes: if you believe that Christ has risen from the dead, believe also that you yourselves have risen together with Him; and if you believe that He sits at the right hand of the Father in the heavens, believe also that you yourselves are now seated not in earthly things, but in heavenly ones; and if you believe that you have died together with Christ, believe that you shall also live together with Him; and if you believe that Christ died unto sin, and lives unto God, you also be dead unto sin, and live unto God. And this is what he declares by apostolic authority, and says: "If then you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth"; because he who does these things shows himself to believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, and to him truly faith is reckoned unto righteousness. For it is not possible that for one who has within himself some injustice ^C righteousness can be reckoned, even if he believes in Him who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. For injustice can have nothing in common with righteousness, just as light can have nothing in common with darkness, nor life with death.

So, therefore, for those who indeed believe in Christ, but yet do not put off the old man with his unjust deeds, faith cannot be reckoned unto righteousness. In like manner, however, we can say that just as righteousness cannot be reckoned to the unjust, so neither can modesty be reckoned to the unchaste, nor equity to the iniquitous, nor liberality to the avaricious, nor piety to the impious, until he casts off the old clothing of his vices, and puts on the "new man, who is created according to God, and is renewed in the knowledge of God after the image of Him who created him." For this reason, he also adds in the following and speaks of the Lord Jesus: "Who was delivered, he says, for our sins, and rose again for our justification"; that he may show that those things for which Christ was delivered, we also ought to abhor and cast off. For if we believe Him to have been delivered for our sins, how is every sin—for which our Redeemer is remembered to have been delivered unto death—not considered alien to us and hateful? For if any association or friendship with sin is again formed for us, we show that we consider the death of Christ Jesus as nothing, embracing and following those things which He conquered and overcame. And the Apostle, connecting all this together, has called the clothing of the old man the very body of sin itself, which he urges those who believe in Him who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead to lay aside, so that, having discarded the clothing of injustice, they may put on the Lord Jesus, who is the true garment of righteousness, so that ^D by merit faith may be reckoned unto righteousness to those who believe. Therefore, "He was delivered for our sins, and rose again for our justification." For if we have risen together with Christ, who is righteousness, and we walk in the newness of life, and live according to righteousness, Christ has risen for our justification. But if we have not yet put off the old man with his deeds, but live in injustice, I dare say that Christ has not yet risen for our justification for us, nor has He been delivered for our sins. For if I believe this, how do I love that for which He underwent death? If I believe this, that He rose for my justification, how does injustice please me? Christ, therefore, justifies only those who have taken up a new life by the example of His own resurrection, and who cast off the old garments of injustice and iniquity as the cause of death. But I would like to inquire whether the Apostle says this on this account alone…

that is, ^A that it is written "not for Abraham's sake alone, but for ours," because he said: "And it was reckoned to him as righteousness"? Do you think that this saying alone, out of all that is said about Abraham, was written not only for his sake, but also for ours? Or will it appear that other things also were written not only for his sake, but for ours? Or is it not certain that all things which are said concerning him are said not only concerning him, but also for us? And not only concerning Abraham, but see lest perhaps these same things ought to be received concerning Isaac, so that the things which were written about him might look not only to him, but also to us. Similarly also concerning Jacob and the other patriarchs. ^B For what reason will it seem that the things which were written concerning Abraham are said to pertain to us, but that the same form does not apply to Isaac, and to Jacob, to Judah, or to Joseph, and the others? But if no reason appears why this ought to be accepted in this way concerning one patriarch, and not concerning the others as well, it will be a necessary consequence that all things which are written appear to have been written not only for those who existed then, but also for us. Concerning which point, that gospel passage especially persuades me to think so, in which our Lord and Savior answered those who said to Him that "Abraham is our father": "If you were Abraham's children, you would surely do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth which I have heard from my Father: Abraham did not do this." ^C By which He surely shows that those who do the works of Abraham are his children, and that for their sake were written the things that were written about Abraham. Here it is the task of a wise man, illuminated by God, to look and discern how every work which is written about Abraham is seen to be fulfilled in himself; for example, what was said to him: "Go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father, and come into the land which I will show you": how he who wishes to be seen as being "of the seed of Abraham" by his works ought to obey these things, which were truly written not for his sake alone, but also for the sake of those who believe in Him who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead; and when he has fulfilled these, how he ought also to hope for that which is subjoined, that is: "And I will make you a great nation and will bless you, and will magnify your name, and you will be blessed, and I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you, and in you shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed"; and again when the Scripture says: "But Abraham went forth according to the things which He spoke ^D to him." So let this also be examined, not only for Abraham's sake, but for ours, that we may walk according to all that the Lord has spoken. But also concerning Isaac, or the others which are written similarly, how they also seem to pertain to us. It is not, however, for the present time to bring all things into the middle and discuss each individual point, in what order the things which were said or done in the divine Scriptures concerning Abraham or the other saints might be fulfilled also in us who believe in Him in whom Abraham believed; but in as much as the necessity of the present work allows, we have opened a path by which he who desires to be exercised in the Scriptures can walk more broadly. Thus far the discourse of our argument has run regarding the account of the faith which was reckoned unto righteousness, and the observance of diverse laws, and the diversity of uncircumcision and circumcision. Now let us see how those who are justified by faith, and not by works, are instructed by the Apostle.

8. "Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God." Most clearly by this He invites him who has understood what it is to be justified by faith and not by works, to the peace of God which surpasses all mind, in which also the sum of perfection consists. But that we may more diligently perceive the sense of the Apostle, let us inquire what the name of peace means to him, and what that peace which is through our Lord Christ is. Peace is said to be where no one dissents, no one quarrels, where nothing hostile, nothing barbaric is carried on. We, therefore, who at one time were enemies of God, following the enemy and tyrant the devil, now if we cast away his weapons and take up the sign of Christ and the banners of His cross, we surely have peace with God, but through our Lord Jesus Christ, who reconciled us to God through the sacrifice of His blood, just as it is written: "When we were enemies of God, we were reconciled through the blood of the cross of His Son." And elsewhere the same Paul added to these things, saying: "We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God." If anyone therefore has peace with God, and is reconciled through the blood of Christ, let him no longer touch those things which are hostile to God. Do you want to hear what those things are which are hostile to God? Paul himself teaches you, who says: "The wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God: for it is not subject to the law of God." If therefore you think carnally, etc.

or expose your life to the desires of the flesh, and are dissolved by a profusion of delights (37), or if you understand the law carnally and not spiritually, and defend these things with arguments sought through human skill rather than through spiritual grace and a more subtle understanding, by the wisdom of the flesh you are made an enemy to God. Nor does Paul alone write these things in his letters: hear also James, the brother of the Lord, protesting similar things, when he says: "Whoever wishes to be a friend of this world will be constituted an enemy of God" (17). But John also testifies to the same: "My little children," he says, "do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world: for all that is in the world is the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life (39), which is not from God" (18). Therefore, he in whom these things are cannot have peace with God, but again stirs up enmities, those for the resolving of which Christ came, just as the same Apostle also says about Christ: "For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of the hedge, the enmities in his flesh: making void the law of commandments in decrees, that he might create in himself, in one new man, making peace" (19). But if Christ came to resolve enmities, to make peace, and to reconcile to God us who were dissident on account of the hedge of malice which we wove by sinning, once the hedge of sin is resolved: he who turns again to sins, without doubt repairs the enmities again, and weaves the hedge of dissension, and through these things dissolves the work of Christ, and makes void the cross of his passion.

But we, justified by faith, "let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Let us have peace so that the flesh may no longer oppose the spirit, nor the law of the members oppose the law of God. Let there not be in us "yes and no" (20), but let us all say one thing, let us understand the same things, nor let there be any dissension among us internally or externally, and then we shall have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. However, it must be known most certainly that everyone in whom there is the vice of malice can never have peace. For while he is always thinking about how he may harm his neighbor, while he is always seeking the arts of harming, his mind never consists in peace. But if you ask of me how a just man can have peace, who is impugned by the devil, who sustains the wars of temptations, I would say that he ^A possesses peace more than all others. For see how observantly the Apostle writes. He did not say: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us have peace," and then fall silent; but he adds: "let us have peace with God." He knows that war against the devil provides peace with God, and then we come more into the peace of God when we persist in being unpeaceful against the devil (42), and when we fight against the vices of the flesh. Finally, the Apostle James also says thus: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you: approach God, and he will approach you" (21). You see that he also felt the same, that one approaches God when one resists the devil. "Therefore let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And he added: "Through whom also we have access into this grace wherein we stand." How ^B we have access to grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior himself says: "I am the door" (22); and: "No one comes to the Father, except through me" (23). Through him, therefore, who is the door (43), we have access to grace. But let us see what kind of door it is, that we may know what kind of people those ought to be who enter through it and have access to grace. This door is truth, and through the door of truth, liars cannot enter. And again, this door is justice, and through the door of justice, the unjust do not enter. This door says: "Learn from me, because I am meek and humble of heart" (24). Through the door of ^C humility and meekness, therefore, neither the irascible enters, nor the proud. If, therefore, there is anyone who, according to the word of the Apostle, wishes to have access to the grace of the Lord through our Lord Jesus Christ, in which Paul, and those who are like him, says that he stands, it behooves him to be purged of all these things which we have remembered above. Otherwise, this door will not allow those to enter through it who carry things that are alien to it, but it is shut immediately and does not allow those unlike itself to pass through it. This, assuredly, is what also happened to those five foolish virgins, who, because they had not gathered the oil of good works in their vessels, coming after the delays, found the door shut (25). For foolish souls could not enter through ^D the door of wisdom, and have access to grace (44). But the Apostle Paul well says that he stands in grace, who also said elsewhere: "But I have labored more abundantly than all they: yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (26). Hence, if there is anyone else who labors more abundantly, and who glories in his infirmities, who is often found in perils—"in perils of the sea, in perils of rivers (45), in perils of robbers, in perils among false brethren" (27)—and in all these stands always in faith, this one is similarly said to stand in grace. But also what follows, "And we glory in the hope of the glory."

…let us see what it is. It moves me why he did not say that he glories in the glory of God, but "in the hope of the glory of God": in which some element of expression seems to be lacking, so that it must be understood ^A as "in the hope of seeing the glory of God." Through these things, however, he teaches us, just as he himself says elsewhere, that "the things which are hoped for are eternal; but the things which are seen are temporal." For Moses is also said to have seen the glory of God; and the people are said to have seen the glory of the God of Israel at the dedication of the house of the Lord. But even of such glory as could be seen, Paul, who was learned in the mysteries of God, dared to declare that that glory would be destroyed, which also was seen on the face of Moses. This glory, however, which is hoped for, of which he speaks, "In the hope of the glory of God," will never be destroyed. For there is another, of whom the same Apostle speaks, discussing Christ: "Who," he says, "is the radiance of glory, and the express image of his substance." Those of whom it was said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," cherish the hope of ^B seeing this glory; at that time when pain and sorrow and sighing shall have fled away, and when those things which are now seen in a mirror and in a riddle shall be destroyed, and those things which are face to face shall remain. But if it should happen that to some it seems that the objection can be raised against this exposition of ours, because the Apostle himself says: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord"; and he says: "How does he still cherish the hope of glory, who says that he now beholds the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, and is being transformed from glory to glory?" See if we can resolve this objection in this way. The Apostle seems to me to show differences of glories, and that there was one glory which was revealed through the ministry of Moses, of which we have already spoken in the preceding, and that another was ^C ministered at the coming of the Savior in the flesh, of which John also speaks in the Gospel: "And we saw his glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Concerning this glory, we cannot say that it is the one to be hoped for: for the apostles say they have seen this; and true is that maxim which says: "For what one sees, why does he hope for it?" But that glory which is to be hopped for, concerning which the Apostle also says in the present passage that he glories "in the hope of the glory of God," can itself be understood as that of which the Savior speaks in the Gospel: "When the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, and of the holy angels." But since he said, "of the Father, and of the holy angels," it is not that the glory of God the Father and of the angels is one ^D; but it seems to me that it shows that those glories which were bestowed either through Moses upon the ancients, or upon us through the coming of the flesh of Christ, were not those of angels, but of men; for they were administered to men, and were of such measures as men could grasp: but that glory, in which the Son of man is to come for the judgment of the world, will be the glory of the Father, of such magnitude that it can be grasped only by angels. If, however, some of the saints also are proved capable of that glory, they will indubitably be those of whom it is said, "For they shall be as the angels of God." And in this way it seems rightly said concerning the future glory, which is to be hoped for, that the Son of man comes in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels, that is, which not earthly men now, but holy angels deserve to grasp. For God dispenses the sizes of glories according to the capacity of minds. But just as no one could either believe or grasp this glory which the apostles say they saw in the Gospels, "the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth," unless that glory also which was administered through Moses in the Law had held the way of understanding—just as he who said to Nathanael bears witness: "We have found Jesus of Nazareth, of whom Moses and the prophets wrote" (in which he surely shows that, being illuminated from the Law and the Prophets, they glimpsed the light of this glory which was as of the Only-Begotten of the Father)—so also what the Apostle said, "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord," ought to be understood as meaning that he who contemplates this glory of the Only-Begotten with an unveiled face, that is, with a full intelligence of faith, by the same image by which he comes from the Law to the Gospels, and to the carnal advent of the Savior, with the sight of his heart illuminated through faith, directs the gaze of his mind no less to the second coming of glory, and is transformed from the glory present to the glory which is hoped for. Hence I believe that no one can, nor deserves to become capable of that future glory, unless he already takes from here a certain use and meditation of it, according to what the Apostle says, by beholding it in a mirror and in a riddle, so that from this image of assiduous meditation, which he carries while placed in the flesh concerning the divine glory, he may be made more ready for the capacity of that true glory through the virtue of the Holy Spirit to be transferred.

9. Not only so, but we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience trial, and trial hope; but hope does not confound, because the charity...

^A of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us. The very first utterance of this chapter contains a certain ambiguity; for it has no clear point of reference in what follows, so see if we can in this way resolve the ambiguity of the expression. Since in the preceding parts he taught us thoroughly that many things have been bestowed upon us through our Lord Jesus Christ, as when he says that we have been justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him have access into this grace, and through Him also glory in the hope of the glory of God; I think it ought to be referred to all these things which have been said, "but not only so": that is, not only the things I mentioned above; but we also have this, that we glory in our tribulations, through our Lord Jesus Christ. For while others are saddened in tribulation, we, strengthened by the power of His grace, glory in tribulations. For we have learned a new discipline from His teaching, so that we may obtain the good of patience through tribulations: and by having the good of patience, we are judged worthy of approval: and being tested through the patience of many tribulations, we may have hope of future ^B remuneration from God: which hope, because it is certain and true, does not confound those who place their hope in it. For faith and hope are followed by the charity of God, which is the greatest of all, and which not only fills our mind, but also abounds and is poured forth in our hearts, because it is not acquired by us by human art, but is infused by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Let these things serve as an explanation of the Apostolic utterance, according to the sequence of his speech or the letter, for the sake of clarity.

Now let us inquire what the interior sense contains. And first let us see concerning the glorying, where he said: "We glory in our tribulations." For the term glorying is sometimes used laudably in the Scriptures, sometimes culpably. For when Jeremiah says: "Thus saith the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man glory in his strength, nor let the rich man glory in his riches: but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who worketh mercy, and judgment, and justice upon the earth"; in one and the same ^C chapter he has placed glorying both laudably and culpably. For if anyone, he says, glories either in his own wisdom, or in his strength, or in riches, he glories culpably; but if anyone glories in acknowledging the Lord, and in the understanding of His judgments, and of His mercy, and of His justice, he glories laudably.

Since, therefore, this discourse pertains to both, we must inquire in what cases glorying is right, and in what cases it is less right. And we shall be able to recognize this only if we hold the natures of things by a competent distinction. What we say is as follows. All things that exist or are done are either good, or evil, or indifferent. Concerning which, although a wider discussion ought to be held, yet as far as the present place suffices, we shall bring it forward. Those are certain to be properly called good which pertain to the virtues of the soul; and those alone to be defined as evil which relate to malice and are done against the law of God; but the rest are to be considered indifferent, that is, neither to be named good nor evil, as are riches, the appearance of the body, and strength or stature, and those things which serve the uses of the body. If, therefore, anyone is ignorant of the distinction of this diversity and glories in those things ^D which are not truly good, nor pertain to the virtue of the soul, he glories culpably.

But Paul, who was most expert in these matters, when he had said that "we glory in our tribulations," lest he should be thought to glory in indifferent and intermediate things, immediately gives the reason, and shows that his glorying, which he has in tribulations, pertains to the virtues of the soul. For he says that "tribulation, for which I glory, works patience, and patience trial, and trial hope, and hope does not confound, because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit"; and in these he teaches that through the virtues succeeding to one another, the glorying of tribulations ascends even to the summit of the Holy Spirit, just as he also says elsewhere: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Therefore, it is fitting to glory not in one's own wisdom, nor in strength, nor in riches, but in God alone. But perhaps you will say: Does not wisdom pertain to the virtues of the soul? And why is it considered culpable to glory in wisdom? See, therefore, how cautious is the discourse of Scripture, which seems unpolished and rustic. It did not say: "Let not the wise man glory in wisdom," and stop; but it says: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom." For whoever glories in his own wisdom, and not in God’s, glories culpably, because the prophet also says elsewhere: "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and in their own sight are learned."

Therefore, God’s wisdom is to know God, and to understand his mercy, and judgment, and justice which he has wrought upon the earth, in which if anyone glories, he glories in the Lord. But human wisdom cannot know and understand the Lord, nor recognize his judgments, and mercy, and justice which he has wrought upon the earth; and therefore it is indifferent, and intermediate. For it may happen that one, instructed by this human wisdom, may come to a better preparation for the understanding of divine wisdom, and, having been exercised in the former, may become more capable of the latter. In a similar way, whoever uses other things which we have called intermediate—namely, courage or wealth—so long as these are intermediate (that is, while one is not courageous in the work of God, nor rich in the mercy of the poor), ought to glory neither in courage nor in wealth. But if those things which are intermediate are converted to the virtue of the soul and to the fruit of good work, they are made worthy of glory; just as, conversely, if they are applied to an evil work—as if one should oppress the poor through wealth or strike down the weak through courage—these things are no longer considered intermediate, but evil. Therefore, by their own nature, they are called indifferent and intermediate, because when associated with an evil work, they can be called evil, and when joined to good works, they can be called good. If, however, there is no such inclination toward one of the two, those who call them good are to be considered unskilled and ignorant of reasonable definitions and labels. Yet, we loosely call a craftsman "wise," and a pilot, and an architect, and we call a woman "wise" at weaving. Therefore, what the Apostle says in the present chapter—"Because tribulation works patience"—if it is established that patience is one of the virtues of the soul, then tribulation, which surely produces the virtues of the soul, must be called neither evil nor indifferent, but good. But inasmuch, as we said above, as patience must be called a virtue of the soul—so that he says that through patience our proving is accomplished, and through proving hope is given, which, since it is situated in God, who is the father of all virtues, does not put the one who hopes to shame—it holds with hope the abundance of charity, which, in the first place, because "charity is the greatest of all," is joined to the Spirit. And if anyone should meet us and say that tribulation is intermediate and indifferent, since we find that even the wicked and the impious are troubled, and it does not follow that, because they are troubled for their evil acts, their tribulation is to be reckoned as a virtue of the soul, see if we can respond in this way: that tribulation is properly the lot of the saints, but the tribulation of the impious ^A and unjust is termed "scourges." Finally, in the Psalm it is said: "Many are the tribulations of the just." Concerning those others, however, it says: "Many are the scourges of the sinner." And perhaps for this reason tribulation and anguish pertain to the saints, because they are the ones who walk the narrow and constricted way, and on account of this they are said to be "troubled." I believe the apostles also understood this in the Lord himself, who is the true way along which the saints walk, when they said to him: "The crowds press and constrain you, Master." Therefore, we ought to understand the tribulations of the just not only as those which come from without—from those things which we said above are indifferent or intermediate, that is, from losses, or illnesses, or from any bodily torture—but also in the fact that, even when placed in rest, they afflict and wear themselves down by resisting their own wills, by bridling lust, by restricting license, and by thwarting all things that pertain to the good of continence, according to him who said: "I chastise my body, ^B and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway." And in this way, the tribulation of the just cannot be called indifferent, but openly good, through which the goods of virtue are fulfilled. The unjust, however, even if they are troubled—which we have said the Scripture calls "scourges" all the more, because they do nothing in these very scourges and corrections that is according to the virtue of the soul, they do nothing that leads to patience, nor do they hope for a proving through patience—for this reason, in them, what is to be named is not tribulation (which arrives at these goods) but "scourges," as the Scripture willed, even if you sometimes find the name of tribulation used loosely even over the unjust. But so that you may know that the tribulation of the just does not constrict the virtue of the soul, but rather dilates it, hear how Paul himself, writing to the Corinthians, distinguishes these things; for he says as follows: "In all things we suffer tribulation, but we are not constricted; we are cast down, but we do not perish." You see that he says he suffers tribulation not in one thing, but in all—that is, both in those things which happen objectively and are brought on by others, and in those things which he endures within himself for the sake of bodily continence and the labors of excellent institutions; and therefore he says that "in all things we suffer tribulation, but we are not constricted." For he who is dilated ^C by virtues cannot be constricted. And so that what we say may become clearer still, Paul himself writes in what follows: "I know how to be humbled, I know how to abound, (in all things, and in all ways I have been trained) both to be filled, and to be hungry, and to abound, and to suffer need." Therefore, if that is true which he said above, "In all things we suffer tribulation," it is certain that it is indicated by him that even when he suffers need, he is troubled; and when he abounds, he is nonetheless troubled. For he is troubled in need, because he lacks; but in abundance, because he restrains himself, so that he may not be dissolved through abundance, or so that he may not distribute less competently those things that appear to abound. Thus, both when he hungers and when he is satisfied, and when he suffers persecutions and when he dwells in rest. And in this way, whoever abounds. ^D

^A in all these things is tribulated, correctly glories in his tribulations: from which without doubt is born endurance, which, having become proven, produces hope, which in turn is joined to charity and associated with the Holy Spirit.

But regarding what he said, "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts," it must be considered more diligently in whose hearts the charity of God is poured forth. I think that it is in the hearts of those who no longer have the "spirit of slavery again in fear," but rather of those in whom perfect charity casts out fear, and to whom is given the spirit of adoption, who cries out in their hearts, "Abba, Father." It is not, therefore, for any man, unless he is perfect—and such as Paul was—that the charity of God is poured forth "through the Holy Spirit." ^B 540 But it also seems to me that it should be considered whether he here calls the charity by which we love God that which is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, or the charity by which we are loved by God. And if indeed that charity by which we love God is understood, that statement needs no assertion: but if, because he said that the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, this should rather be understood as that by which we are loved by God, it is certain that he posits charity as the highest and greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, by which, as a gift first received from God, we are able through it to love God, because we are loved by God. For Paul himself names the spirit of charity, and God is called charity, and Christ is called the son of charity. If, then, the spirit of charity, and the son of charity, and God as charity is found, it is certain that from one fount of Paternal Deity the Son is to be understood, and the Holy Spirit, from whose abundance ^C indeed, even in the hearts of the saints to take part in the participation of the divine nature, as the apostle Peter taught, an abundance of charity is poured out; that by this gift of the Holy Spirit that word may be fulfilled which the Lord says: "As you, Father, are in me and I in you, and that they may be one in us,"—they having been made participants of the divine nature, in the abundance of the charity granted through the Holy Spirit.

10. "For even while we were still infirm," he says, "according to time, he died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a just man. For a good man perhaps one might dare to die." Wishing to show more fully the virtues of charity, which he had said was poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, he set forth the causes by which we ought to understand this, teaching us that Christ died not for the righteous, but for the ungodly. For we were ungodly before we were converted to God, and Christ indeed accepted death ^D for us before we believed: which, without a doubt, He would not have done if our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, or God the Father in handing over His Only-Begotten for the redemption of the ungodly, had not had immense and most abundant charity toward us. For since hardly anyone dies for a just man, and everyone hesitates to undergo death, even if there be a just cause for death, how much is this [man] to be weighed, and how great is His charity toward us, who, according to the time in which He suffered, did not refuse to undergo death for the ungodly and the unjust? In which indeed is the sign of that supreme divine goodness. For if He were not coming from that substance, and were not the Son of that Father of whom it was said, "No one is good except one, God the Father," He could not have shown such great goodness toward us. Whence, because from this sign of such great goodness He Himself is recognized as good, for this good perhaps one might even dare to die. For when each one has recognized such great goodness of Christ toward himself, and has had His charity poured forth in his heart, he will desire not only to die for this good, but even to die audaciously. Which we often see being fulfilled in deeds and works themselves, when those in whose hearts the charity of Christ is abundantly poured forth, spontaneously and with all audacity offer themselves to persecutors, and confess the name of Christ, with the world listening, before angels and men, so that they dare to undergo not only injury for His name, but death for this good—which one hardly undergoes for a just man. For the love of this life is so great that, even when a just cause of death arrives, hardly anyone accepts death patiently. A just cause of death is seen, however, when it is brought about by the law of nature: and although it is just by the condition of mortality, yet the spirit hardly welcomes yielding to the laws of nature. Hardly, therefore, does one die for a just man. For for a good man one dares to die and audaciously meets his end, especially if he has understood that, while we were still according to time ungodly and infirm, He Himself died first for us. And how would one, who recognizes that these things were first bestowed upon him by Him, not repay with good the death which He laid out for the bad? But the error of those is refuted who thought that this passage [of Paul] ought to be interpreted in such a way that they assert that what he said, "For one will hardly die for a just man," ought to be understood as being about the God of the Law, whom they call just, but not also good; and that they call Christ the good [one]...

as the Son of the good Father, they assert. But why, they ask, does it happen ^A that they forsake the God of their fathers and worship the gods of the gentiles? Let them read the books of the Maccabees, where, with every urgency, a blessed mother with her seven sons undergoes martyrdom, and they not only endure martyrdom patiently, but also hurl insults at the tyrant; and let them see if it is true, what they say, that "hardly for a just man does one die." Let them see the three boys thrown into the furnace of burning fire with every confidence for the sake of the liberty of the faith, and let them say that "hardly for a just man does one die." Death *for God* is, therefore, the only death which is undertaken with all boldness; but any other death is endured with difficulty, even if it be just and occurs by the law of human condition.

11. "But God commends His charity in us, since when we were yet sinners, Christ ^B died for us; much more, therefore, being justified now in His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him." Having said in the foregoing that "Christ according to the time died for the ungodly," he now wishes to show from this the magnitude of God’s charity toward men, for if it existed in such great measure toward the ungodly and sinners that He gave His only Son for their salvation, how much more generous and expansive will He be toward those who are converted, amended, and, as he himself says, redeemed by His blood? I do not think, indeed, that this variety of terminology in Paul is idle, that he sometimes calls them infirm, sometimes ungodly, and sometimes sinners, for whom he says Christ died; and although he confesses himself unskilled in speech, yet I do not believe that he varied in these things through lack of skill, but rather through profound knowledge. For through these three ^C types every genus of sin is gathered. For either someone, ignorant of God, sins in darkness and is called ungodly; or, wishing to keep the commandment, he is overcome by the fragility of the flesh and deceived by the allurements of the present life and is called infirm; or, knowing and willing, he despises the commandment, hates the discipline of God, and casts His words behind him, and is called a sinner. And thus Paul, who, as we have said, confesses himself unskilled in speech, in these three diversities has encompassed all those for whom Christ is preached ^D as having died. But if sometimes even those who are under the law, and appear to worship God, are called ungodly in the divine Scriptures, it therefore happens that, leaving behind the God of their fathers, they worship the gods of the gentiles. That Paul numbers himself with sinners, which he says elsewhere: "We are Jews by nature, and not sinners from the gentiles," belongs to the virtue of his humility. For he imitates Him "who, when He had committed no sin, was made sin for us," and, though He was God, conversed among men. "God therefore commends His charity in us." Here "commends" is understood either to mean 'confirms' or 'makes [God] lovable' by reason of His benefits. For the fact that "Christ, when we were still sinners, died for us," gives us hope that He will much more, having purged and justified us from sin, save us from the wrath which threatens sinners through Himself. And He, who loved even strangers and enemies so much that He gave His Only-Begotten for us unto death, will much more, having made us His own and reconciled us to Himself, endow us with eternal salvation. But how Christ died for us, and how, while being the Lamb of God, He took away the sin of the world and carried our infirmities, and suffered for us, has often been said by us in other places, where we also employed those things which are told in secular histories, that even among them some are reported to have offered themselves to death to repel pestilence, or storms, and other similar things, and to have freed their country or their own nation from the ruin of an impending slaughter. Whether these have been written as true, or what reasonableness they have, if they are true, it is for God alone to know. Yet not one of them, of whom these things are recounted, is reported even in a feigned story to have absolved the sins of the whole world, except Jesus alone, who "when He was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself," and according to the will of the Father, having taken the form of a servant, offered Himself as a victim for the whole world, delivering His blood to the prince of this world, according to the wisdom of God, "which none of the princes of this world knew: for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty," nor would that blood, which they had thirsted for, extinguish not so much their thirst as their powers, and destroy their kingdom; nor would that have happened to them which the Lord says in the Gospel: "Now is the prince of this world judged"; and: "I saw Satan falling as lightning from heaven." Much more, therefore, he says,

justified now in his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” In the preceding passage he had said: “Therefore, being justified by faith, let us have peace with God”; and now he says: “Much more now, being justified in his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” From this he shows that neither is our faith without the blood of Christ, nor does the blood of Christ justify us without our faith; yet, from both, it is much more the blood of Christ that justifies us ^A than our faith. And therefore it seems to me that, whereas in the preceding passage he had said simply, “justified by faith,” he added here, “much more therefore now, being justified in his blood,” to teach that even if our faith saves us from the wrath to come, and even if works of justice do so, nevertheless above all these, it is the blood of Christ that much more saves us from the wrath to come.

How the wrath of God should be understood has been more fully stated in our exposition of the second psalm, and how that which is written can be fulfilled, so that we may be saved by fleeing from the wrath to come, and by fleeing from wrath in such a way that it does not overtake us, but rather by pursuing justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness, and other similar things. Wrath, therefore, is that to which each person is handed over according to the measure and merit of his sins, though God, according to what is written in the seventy-seventh psalm, does not kindle all his wrath. For who could endure it if the Lord were to kindle all his wrath against sinners, since that which is proclaimed in the song of Moses is so terrible, where he says: “For a fire is kindled in my fury, and it1 will burn even to the lowest hell: it will devour the earth and its produce, it will burn up the foundations of the mountains”? Consider, therefore, that this fire which is kindled from the wrath or fury of the Lord devours the earth and the lowest hell, and consumes earthly works. It burns up not the heights of the mountains, but the foundations—that is, not sublime souls nor celestial senses, but those cast down to the ground and into the earth, or even those sunk into the depths of the earth, as are the foundations of the mountains. It was necessary, therefore, to discourse a little also about wrath, so that it might be more clearly understood from what evils the blood of Christ has delivered us.

12. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, ^B much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved in his life. And not only so, but we also glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” By saying, “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God,” he clearly shows that there is no substance which, according to the definition of Marcion or Valentinus, is naturally an enemy to God; otherwise, if what is an enemy were so by nature and not by will, it would certainly not have reconciliation. But where someone is made a friend from an enemy, it is certain that while he does those works which God does not love, he is an enemy of God, and each person becomes as grave and as hateful an enemy as he has multiplied works worthy of enmity. There are, therefore, certain measurements and degrees in these, distinguished by the quality or quantity of sins, which are enemies to God. Hence, he also who has sinned above all is mentioned by Paul as the last enemy to be destroyed. But conversely and in order, it is also certain that those who have been reconciled through the death of his Son are held among friends, and that there is someone so much a friend, just as Moses was called a friend of God; that there are also others to whom ^C the Savior says: “I will not call you servants, but friends.” I believe, however, that there are some who are still more intimate friends among the heavenly beings before God—either those who always see the face of God, or those who always stand in the sight of the Most High—so that, just as we said above that there is a certain last enemy, so also there, according to the merits of their virtues, some are considered the highest friends. Since, therefore, these things are so, I do not know if he who still remains in those works which God hates and on account of which there are enmities between God and men, can be deservedly called reconciled to God through the blood of Christ. For how is he reconciled who does the things that are the works of an enemy? Paul, therefore, deservedly says of himself and those like him, that “when we were enemies, we were reconciled through the death of his Son.” It is a great shame, when such a reconciliation has been made, where not the word of a sinner but the blood of the intercessor has absolved the enmities between God and men, that we should turn again to enmities and do those things which are hated by him whom no one had reconciled to us except the pouring out of his sacred blood. But Paul himself, writing more fully also to the Ephesians concerning the reason for reconciliation and enmity ^D and concerning the pouring out of the blood of Christ, makes mention: which, if we join them to these, can more easily open up the text of this present chapter. He says, therefore: “For which cause be mindful that you, who some time were the Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision...”

from that which is called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, because you were at that time without Christ, being aliens ^A from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the promise of his covenants, having no hope, and without God in this world. But now in Christ Jesus you, who were once far off, have been made near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmity in his flesh, making void the law of commandments in decrees, that he might create the two in himself into one new man, making peace, 543 that he might reconcile both in one body [(99)] to God, through the cross killing the enmities in himself; and coming, he preached peace to you [(1)] who were far off, and peace to those who were near, because through him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father." But especially observe this [(2)] in these words, that Christ dissolved the middle wall of partition in his flesh, that is, the enmity, and that he reconciled both in one body to God through the cross, and that he killed the enmity on the cross. In which instance it does not seem to me without cause that Paul has named enmity twice, and in the first instance said that Christ dissolved the enmity [(3)] in his flesh, and in the second instance that he killed it on the cross. For he seems to me to dissolve it in those who still wage conflict against sin and resist it with all their strength; but to kill it in those who now no longer receive sin at all, but have mortified their members to sin in every respect, among whom was also he who said: "I am crucified with Christ. And I live, now not I; but Christ lives in me." In this way, therefore, Christ also killed the enmity in his flesh, when by accepting death he gave to men an example to resist sin even unto death: and thus at last, the enmity having been dissolved in his flesh, he reconciled by his blood men to God—at least those who keep the inviolate covenant of reconciliation by not sinning further. Therefore his death gave death to the enmity that was between us and God, and was the beginning of reconciliation. Moreover, his resurrection and life brought salvation to those who believe, just as the Apostle ^B also says elsewhere about Christ: "For in that he died, he died to sin once; but in that he lives, he lives to God." He is said to have died to sin, but not his own; for he committed no sin: but he himself died to sin, that is, as one who by his own death brought [(4)] death to sin itself. Moreover, he is said to live to God, so that we also might not live for ourselves, nor for our own will, but for God, so that we might finally be able to be saved in his life, according to him who said: "But I live, now not I; but Christ lives in me." But with regard to what he placed similarly as in the preceding verses: "And not only so, but we also glory in God," and he added nothing to "not only so," it is to be understood similarly to what was said above: namely, that not only [(5)] "when we were enemies, were we reconciled to God through the death of his Son," and not only "shall we be saved in his life," but also "now we glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation." But it is not without cause that he added "now," when he could have said: "But we also glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ [(6)], through whom we have received the reconciliation"; but he did this in order to show that glorying is given to us not only in the future, but also in the present, concerning the knowledge of God, and the amendment of life, and the correction of errors [(7)], just as in other places the same [(8)] Apostle says: "Having hope of the present life, and of the future": of the present, because it is more honest and more amended; of the future, because it is eternal.

BOOK FIVE

1. "Therefore as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, and so death passed into all men, in whom all have sinned. For until the law sin was [(9)] in this world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who have sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one to come." After he had taught the difference between faith and the law, and that those who are justified by faith 544 and those who are such as the promises made to the fathers were for, cannot hope through the law: and after he had opened the secrets of the hidden mystery, that "when we were enemies to God, we were reconciled through the death of his Son," he now follows up by explaining the reasons why we were enemies, or why this reconciliation stood in need of the death of the Son of God: the purpose being that, as we behold how great things Jesus has done for us—nay, for us—and that those who are justified by faith and those who are such as the promises made to the fathers were for, cannot hope through the law: and after he had opened the secrets of the hidden mystery, that "when we were enemies to God, we were reconciled through the death of his Son," he now follows up by explaining the reasons why we were enemies, or why this reconciliation stood in need of the death of the Son of God: the purpose being that, as we behold how great things Jesus has done for us—nay, for us—

how much he has endured—we may be held fast by a more deeply rooted faith and an inseparable 10 charity toward him. Therefore, although he does not reveal it entirely 11, he nevertheless shows us the reason for another secret, saying: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death," and so on. But before we come to the explanation of the whole chapter, a few things must be said about what seems to be a defect in the sequence of the discourse itself. For where it is written, "Therefore, just as," it seems necessary that a certain completion be added; that it should be said, "So also [does] this or that," just as he himself writes in certain other places, for example, when he says: "For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." Here, however, when he had said: "Just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, and thus death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned," he did not add 13—so as to say, for the sake of the argument: "So also through one man justice entered into this world, and through justice life, and thus life passed upon all men, in whom all have been made alive." For this is what the sense of the proposed discourse seemed to demand, according to what he says elsewhere. For there is not much difference between what he says in another place 10: "For just as in Adam all die," and what he says here: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, and thus it passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned"; and again what he said 11: "So also-in Christ all will be made alive." There is no difference at all from the sense which we said above was missing from the expression 14, and left to the understanding of the reader. But it seems to me that Paul, who says that "our sufficiency is from God, who also has made us fit ministers of the New Testament," and who says again: "Do you seek evidence of him who speaks in me, Christ 13?", does not suffer this through a defect 15 of speech, but he has looked ahead through these things to some utility, so that—even if it is necessary to understand those things which we said were missing from the expression and left to be sub-understood—nevertheless, for the sake of the more negligent, who perhaps could be relaxed if they heard that, just as death passed upon all men through sin, so also life passed upon all men through Christ, he considered that these things should not be stated openly and publicly: at the same time, showing that even if justice entered into this world through one man, and life through justice, and thus passed upon all men, nevertheless this does not happen immediately in the present, nor does it happen to the slothful, but to those who have been able, with much labor and sweat, to seek what is hidden, to knock at what is closed, to desire what is concealed. ^B Finally, even in that chapter which, for the similarity of these sayings, we have brought into the middle 16—that is, "For just as in Adam all die"—he did not say, "so also *have all been made* alive in Christ," or "are being made alive," but "will be made alive," so as to demonstrate that the present time is indeed one of labor and work, in which merits are acquired through good conduct; but that the future is the time in which those who die with Christ in the present life will be made alive, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere 18: "For if we die with him, we shall also live with him." And for this reason, even in the present passage, he delays following through and completing in speech those things which are seen to be understood by the sense and ^C consequence. Perhaps another says that this which seems to be missing in what we said above, according to the order of the expression, is indeed returned to, but later, where he says 16: "But not like the transgression, so also the gift. For if by the transgression of one many have died, much more has the grace of God, and the gift, in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abounded unto many"; and he asserts that those things which seemed to have been missing in the preceding statements were completed by these. Nor does it matter much that there he said that sin "passed upon all men," while here he said the gift and grace of Jesus Christ "abounded unto many," since "all men" are understood to be "many," and it does not seem absurd for "many" to be understood as "all," especially since in the subsequent verses 17 he says more openly: "Just as through the transgression of one unto all men unto condemnation; so also through the justice of one unto all men unto justification of life." And that he might show more evidently that "all men" and "many men" are the same, he added to these 18: "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one the many will be made just." And what he called "all men" above, here he named "the many" with the same sense. Unless someone says that the Apostle, wishing rather to merge and confuse that which he had opened up above, so that—as we said—he might not dissolve and relax the listeners, named those whom he had previously called "all," here "the many," so that that which he said as "all" is drawn only to ^D those 18 who have obtained the gift of Christ’s grace, who are however not few, but many. For it is the custom of the apostle Paul, when he has revealed some things concerning the kindness of God and his ineffable goodness, to again, for the sake of the more negligent listeners, sharpen a little bit what he has said, and [induce] fear.

^A For he acts like a wise steward of the word: when he comes to those places in which he must speak of the goodness of God, he brings these matters forward more hiddenly and obscurely for the sake of the more negligent, lest, as we have said, they contemn the riches of his goodness, and patience, and longsuffering, and hoard up wrath for themselves in the day of wrath, upon which all who have hoarded deeds of this sort for themselves must necessarily stumble. You may also see yourself what happens after these things.

But as to what he says: "For unto the law sin was in this world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law," this seems to show that unto the law—that is, until Christ came who takes away the sin of the world—sin was in the world. However, it is manifest that sin cannot be imputed where there is no law to convict the sinner. "Now death reigned," which had entered through sin, "unto Moses," that is, until the law remained, "over them that had sinned after the likeness of the transgression of Adam," through whom death itself received its entry; he who is "the figure of him that was to come"—not according to that in which he transgressed, but according to this: that as through him death entered into this world, so through the latest Adam life entered; and as through the one there was condemnation unto all men, so through Christ there is justification unto all men.

These things let be said concerning the content of the apostolic utterance itself. Let us now see what the interior understanding holds. But I think it must be warned first of all, that it seems to me the Apostle Paul, in these passages which are now in his hands, speaks in a way ^B as if some faithful and wise servant were to be introduced by a great king and his lord into the royal treasuries, and diverse and great mansions were shown to him, the approaches to which are various and uncertain, so that an entrance is shown to him through one way, and an exit through another; sometimes, however, it may come to pass that from different entrances one arrives at a single chamber, as we often see certain palaces constructed on earth: let there also be shown to this faithful servant who is being led around the king’s treasury of silver, and another of gold, and of stones and pearls, and of various necklaces, and a place also for the royal purple, and another for diadems: let the queen’s chambers be shown, besides, placed in many and diverse mansions, and yet these individual things are not opened with doors wide open to the full, but are partially uncovered in such a way that he may indeed recognize the lordly treasuries and the royal riches, and yet not know each individual thing clearly and perfectly.

After these things, however, let this servant, who is held to be so faithful that the king and lord has made the magnitude of his riches known to him, be sent to gather an army for the king, to make a selection, and to test soldiers; because he is faithful, he will invite many to serve, and he will exert himself to gather a larger army for the king, and will be under the necessity to bring forward those things which he has seen—yet, because he is wise and knows it is necessary to hide the mystery of the king, he uses certain indications rather than explicit accounts; so that the power of the king is not hidden, but the arrangement of the order, and the adornment of the palace, and the habit, nevertheless remains a secret dispensation.

So therefore, as I said, it seems to me that the Apostle Paul also does this in these discourses, not only for the reason that he himself says that he knows in part and prophesies in part, but also for our sake, who cannot grasp even those things which he knows in part; he tempers his speech and restricts each chamber of the mystery to individual, or at most doubling, points and partially uncovers them with his words, and now he enters by one approach and departs by another, now he enters from one and runs to another chamber, so that if you seek him by the same entrance by which he entered, you do not find the exit. These things, then, must first be in mind concerning those things which Paul writes.

and we must examine and contemplate them as they lie before us and direct our strength toward them. And first, let us see how through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death. ^A For perhaps someone might ask: if the woman sinned before Adam, of whom it is said that she "was made to sin through being deceived," and if the serpent sinned before her—for he sinned when he said to the woman, "Why did God say that you should not eat of every tree of the garden?"—and again he sinned when God had said that "in the day you eat of it, you shall die by death," and he said to the woman, "You shall not die by death; but God knew that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil"—if, therefore, the woman sinned before Adam, and the serpent before the woman, and in another place the Apostle says that "Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived," how shall it be seen that sin entered through one man, and not rather through one woman? For the beginning of sin was from the woman, and before the woman from the serpent, or from the devil, of whom it is said in the Gospel that "he was a murderer from the beginning." But see how in these things the Apostle kept the order of nature, and because he was speaking of sin, by which death passed into all men, he ascribes the succession of human posterity that succumbed to this death coming from sin, not to the woman, but to the man. For posterity is named not from the woman, but from the man, just as the Apostle himself says in other passages: "For man is not from the woman, but woman from the man"; and again: "For as the woman is from the man, so also is the man," not from the woman, but through the woman; and for this reason, mortal posterity and bodily succession are attributed to the man rather as the author, and not to the woman. But so that what we say may become even more evident, we shall also add this, which the same Apostle writes to the Hebrews: "But even Levi, who receives tithes, was tithed. For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchisedech met him as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings." If, therefore, Levi, who is born in the fourth generation after Abraham, is said to have been in the loins of Abraham, much more were all men who are born and have been born in this world in the loins ^D of Adam, while he was still in paradise; and all men were expelled from paradise with him or in him, when he himself was driven out from thence; and through him death, which had come to him from the transgression, consequently passed also into those who were held in his loins; and therefore the Apostle rightly says: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." Therefore, it is said that sin, and through sin death, entered not from the serpent who had sinned before the woman, nor from the woman who had been made to sin before the man through transgression, but through Adam, from whom all mortals derive their origin. But this is, beyond doubt, the one man through whom sin entered, and through sin death, whom the Apostle also elsewhere calls the first man, earthy, from the earth, but the second, the Lord from heaven, when he exhorts us that, having cast off the image of the earthy, we should bear the image of the heavenly; that is, that living according to the Word of God, we may be renewed and reformed according to the inner man into the image of God who created him. This man, therefore, who is now being reformed and repaired into the image of God, is said to be neither earthy, nor is his conversation in this world, but in the heavens; and therefore, according to him who said, "But you are not of this world," death cannot pass through into him. But as for him who is still in this world, and is earthy, and bears the image of the earthy, it is said of him that through him sin entered into this world, and through sin death. But if sin and death entered into this world and dwell in this world, it is certain that those who have died to this world through Christ or with Christ, and have been raised with him, have also deserved to sit with him in the heavenly places, having their conversation no longer in this world, but in the heavens, are aliens to death and to sin. Whence it is shown by equal consequence that every man is first earthy from the earth, as the same Apostle says elsewhere; as he bears the image of the earthy and walks according to the image of the earthy, he thinks of the flesh, and savors the things which are of the flesh, and it is rarely that he is converted to the Lord and is led by the Spirit of God, and becoming spiritual, he is made the last Adam into the quickening Spirit. Seek, then, since through one man into this world di->

did sin enter, and it is certain that He ^A calls this terrestrial place the world in which men dwell, if sin entered in no other place, nor is found in those places where "the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the celestial places" are named. But consider also this within yourself: whence did sin enter into this world, or where was it before it entered hither, or if it was entirely, or if it existed before him to whom it is said, "Until iniquities were found in thee, and because of this I cast thee to the ground"? Regarding these things, it is not safe for us to discuss more, since we see the Apostle ^B having touched upon these things only with difficulty in individual discourses. "Through one," therefore, "man sin entered into this world." But by "world," as we have said, we must understand either the place in which men dwell, or the terrestrial and bodily life in which death has a place; to which world—that is, to earthly life—the saints say they are crucified and dead. "And through sin," he says, "death,"—that death without doubt, about which the prophet also says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die"; of which death one might rightly call this bodily death a shadow. For wherever that one proceeds, this one must follow, just as the body follows a shadow. But if anyone should object that the Savior did not commit sin, nor was death of the soul through sin in Him, and yet He sustained bodily death, we will answer him that, just as the Savior, though He Himself did not commit sin, for our salvation by the assumption of flesh is said to have Himself been made sin, so too, when He owed this death to no one, nor was He subject to it, for our salvation, however, He voluntarily, not of necessity, took it upon Himself as a shadow of that assumed dispensation, as He Himself said: "I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again." But let us see how "death passed through into all men, in whom," he says, "all have sinned." With an absolute sentence the Apostle pronounced that the death of sin passed through into all men, in whom all have sinned, just as elsewhere. "For all," he says, "have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." And therefore, even if you call that Abel "just," he cannot be excused. "For all have sinned." For why, after days, did he offer, and after Cain offered sacrifice from the firstborn, and not before him, and not immediately? Even if you speak of Enos, who "hoped to invoke the name of the Lord," why did he hope, and why not immediately call upon Him, but dissimulate and delay? Even if you say of Enoch: it is not written that he pleased God until he begat Mathusalam. But Mathusalam is interpreted as "the emission of death." From which it is shown ^C that this death which passed through into all men passed also into him; but he scarcely felt at any time that there was death within him, and having turned to the Lord, he cast it away from himself and rejected it through repentance: and for this reason, he is said to have begat Mathusalam, because he had cast off from himself the death which had beset him. Rightly, therefore, because he was no longer subject to death, but had cast it away from himself and had put it to flight, it is said that "God transferred him," so that "he should not see death." But if you inquire more attentively concerning Noah, you will find that it is written of him only in the five-hundredth year that "Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord God," and that "he was righteous in his generation," and that "he pleased God"; which, if he had earned it earlier, I do not believe the divine Scripture would have remained silent about it. But if anyone wishes to weigh the fact that he drank wine, and was made drunk and uncovered, he will find from all these things that it is not without cause that it is said by the Apostle, "In whom all have sinned," even if Noah awoke from his wine. What, however, shall I say of Abraham, to whom it is said: "Go out of your land, and from your kindred, and from your father's house"? Which, indeed, would not be said if he could have pleased God in his father's house. But there is no need, with great peril, to enumerate every individual saint among these, when the sentence of the Apostle suffices, which says that death passed through into all men, and that of Him who said: "No one is clean from filth, even if his life be but of one day." But this death of sin which passed through into all men, when it came to Jesus and had tempted ^D Him to pierce Him with its sting (for the sting of death is sin) was repelled and crushed. For "Life was," and death was necessarily exterminated by life; and then it is said to it: "Where, O death, is thy sting? Where, O death, is thy victory?" For because it had conquered all, it is said to it here: "Where, O death, is thy victory?" But although he did not say that sin entered into all men, but into the world; yet he said that death passed through, not into the world, but into all men; and not that it entered, but that it passed through—I do not think that Paul used this diversity in vain. I judge that by "world" he designates these earthly individuals, and those remaining in earthly conversation; but by "men" he designates those who now begin to acknowledge themselves, and to know that they were made in the image of God. Into those, therefore,

he says that sin has passed; that is, that it had existed, but had been driven out by the penance of conversion, and had passed through, and no longer remained in them. From this it appears that in the Letters of Paul not even a single syllable should be considered empty of mysteries. Let us see now how it was said: "For until the law sin was in this world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law." In this place, according to that interpretation which we explained above, it seems to me that Paul has entered by one way and gone out by another. For who can follow him by that way by which most people seem to have entered, so that it is understood to be spoken of the law of Moses, that "until the law sin was in this world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law," as if before the law there was no sin, and no one sinned, nor was sin imputed to anyone before the law of Moses was given, ^B when we read that sin was imputed to Cain and Lamech, and (not to dwell on individuals) that God was so exasperated by the sins of men that He brought the flood into the world, and said: "I will destroy every creature that is upon the earth"; and again that a fiery shower and sulphureous flame wasted the Sodomites? How then in these, or in sins of this kind, can it be said that there was no sin, or will it be denied in such punishments that it was counted as sin? And therefore, having departed from a more hidden entrance, we must seek from Paul what he says, "For until the law sin was in this world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law." We find him also in the later parts of this Epistle saying in this way: "For without the law sin was dead: but I lived some time without the law." In which I see one and the same meaning for both chapters. For what was lacking here in the discourse, he filled in there. "For until the law sin was in this world," "dead" is lacking, which he expressed more clearly there. If, therefore, we also join this discourse here, and say: "For until the law sin ^C was in this world" dead: "but sin is not imputed when there is no law," see how it can stand entirely true. But we have often said already, in this Epistle, that Paul disputes about many laws, but more frequently about the natural law, which is also especially detected in this place. For until the natural law, sin is dead. Therefore, at a certain time of age, when anyone has grown capable of reason, and has the discernment of just and unjust, of equal and unequal, then sin, which previously was held as if dead within man, is said to revive, in that there is now within a law that forbids, and a reason that shows what should not be done. But in order that what we say may be understood more clearly, let us use an evident example. It is written: "He who strikes father or mother, let him die the death"; and: "He who curses father, or mother, let him die the death." A small boy, therefore, of about four or five years of age, ^D if, as is wont to happen, being angry he strikes his father or mother with a rod, as far as the precept of the commandment is concerned, he deserves death. But because the law is not yet natural in him, which would teach him that he ought not to do injury to his father or mother, nor does he know that in this the crime of impiety is admitted: there is indeed a species of sin that he does, because he strikes his father or mother, or curses; but the sin is dead in him, because by the absence of the natural law, which is not yet in him, the sin cannot be imputed to him. For there is not yet in him enough reason to teach him that this which he does should not be done: and therefore, also by his parents, it is not only not imputed to guilt, but is received with favor and joy. And in this way consequently, as I judge, it can be understood what the Apostle says: "For until the law sin was in this world,"—that it should be understood,—"dead. But sin is not imputed, when there is no law." For it fits according to this exposition that we also understand what the Apostle says: "But I lived some time without the law." For how is Paul found to have lived at some time without the law of Moses, since he himself says of himself that he is a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and on the eighth day, immediately from birth, was in the observance of the law of Moses? But it is certain that he lived at one time, that is, in his childhood, before he became capable of reason, without the natural law. For there was not yet in him at that age the distinction of just and unjust, nor of right and wrong.

^A And how, before the law of Moses, was even the serpent condemned, or did death enter into the world through the envy of the devil? How, too, can that which the apostle Judas says in his Catholic Epistle be explained? For he says thus: "And the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, he hath reserved under darkness in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day." From all of which it becomes more and more evident that the Apostle is speaking of that law which every one, whether of men or even of angels, bears naturally within himself by a certain divine dispensation or gift; the force and power of which is so great that it even convicts angels, and spares the person of no one of any dignity, and it itself has brought about that which the Apostle Judas mentioned above—that the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, were reserved under everlasting chains unto the judgment of the great day. This is the very law which also drags the devil and his angels into the everlasting fire which was prepared for them. And just as it is certain that neither would those angels be reserved in everlasting chains for judgment, nor would the latter be sent into the everlasting fire prepared for them, unless they had failed to keep the law placed in them by God, nor would they come to judgment unless they had committed some wrong against the law, so it seems certain that if they had kept the law placed in them, neither would the latter have fallen into the everlasting fire, nor would the former have fallen under the chains of everlasting darkness. It remains for us also to discuss to the best of our ability how it is said: "But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him that was to come." ^C The Apostle now makes mention of death for the third time. First he says that "by sin death entered into this world"; secondly, he says, "unto all men death passed." Now he says, "death reigned from Adam unto Moses." And, knowing that there are certain differences in these individual points, he indicated when it entered and when it reigned. Then, he says, it entered when the first man transgressed. And he told how it entered: "By sin," he says. And now he designates the time of its reign as from Adam to Moses: but how it "passed unto all men" he does not show. It seems to me, therefore, that in these words the Apostle is describing the entry of some tyrant who wished to invade the kingdom of a legitimate king, and who first occupied the very mouths and entrances of the kingdom ^D by the transgression of its guardian: and then, in turn, he endeavored to incline the minds of everyone toward himself

^A by the flesh; God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, and indeed reconciled the world to God; but he stripped the principalities and powers of the tyrant, triumphing over them in himself. But we seem to have slipped into a digression here; let us return to our subject. Therefore, the death of sin reigned from Adam until Moses, that is, until the advent of Christ. For Moses is called the law, and the law, as it is written, held its place until John’s baptism, from which time Jesus began to preach the kingdom of God. But regarding the fact that he excepted certain persons in whom death reigned, when he says: "Death reigned over those who sinned ^B in the likeness of Adam's transgression," it does not seem to me to be said without some indication of a mystery. Perhaps there were some up to that time, during which men were held under the law as under a pedagogue, who did something similar to what Adam is described as having done in paradise, namely, having reached out to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and having been ashamed of his nakedness, and having fallen from his habitation in paradise. Or, it seems, it should be taken more simply, and the likeness of Adam's transgression should be accepted without any further discussion, so that by this expression all who were born from Adam the transgressor might be shown to be indicated, and to have in themselves the likeness of his transgression, ^C not only by seed, but also by the received instruction. For everyone who is born into this world is not only nourished by their parents but also instructed, and they are not only the sons of sinners, but also their disciples. But when age has reached maturity, and the freedom to do what one thinks has been attained, then one already either proceeds on the way of his parents, as is written of certain kings, or certainly walks in the way of the Lord his God. Finally, regarding Abel, something like this seems to me to be indicated in what is written: "Abel also offered to God a sacrifice from the firstlings of his sheep and from their fat." Therefore, the fact that it says "after days" shows that during the first days of his life he was held by the institutions of his father’s transgression; but after those days, when he repented, when he looked to God, admonished by the law of nature, ^D it is said that he then offered a sacrifice to God. This passage can therefore be explained simply in this way, or it may be that it is hidden 551 in that which is said, "in the likeness of Adam's transgression," a mystery, and one almost ineffably hidden to be gathered by a subtle line of understanding: so that if anyone posits death here, which

^A is said to have reigned from Adam even until Moses—that is, until the end of the law and the beginning of Christ—it is that of which it is written in the prophet as if in the person of the Lord saying: "I will deliver them from the hand of the netherworld, and will redeem them from death;" or certainly that some have been excepted, and marked by a more hidden mystery, who are recorded as having sinned according to the likeness of Adam’s transgression, in whom alone death reigned. But if, as is had in some copies, it is said that this death—that is, which detained souls in the netherworld—reigned "even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression," we understand that all the saints also fell under this death, even if not by the law of sinning, yet certainly by the law of dying: and that Christ descended into the netherworld for this reason, not only that He Himself would not be held by death, but that He might also withdraw those ^B who were held there, not so much by the crime of transgression, as we have said, as by the condition of dying: as it is written: "because many bodies of the saints that slept arose with Him, and entered into the holy city." In which also the sayings of the Prophets are fulfilled, whereby he says of Christ: "Ascending on high, He led captivity captive." And in this way, by His resurrection, He destroyed the kingdoms of death—whence it is also written that He liberated the captives. But as for the enemy and tyrant himself, whose kingdoms He dissolved, hear how the Apostle says he is to be destroyed: "The last," he says, "enemy shall be destroyed, death." And indeed the kingdom of death has already been destroyed, and the captivity that was held under it has been led away. But because that enemy and tyrant himself is still to be destroyed in the end and at the termination ^C of the age, for this reason we see him now not so much reigning as acting the bandit; and being expelled from his kingdom, he wanders through deserts and pathless places, seeking a band of unfaithful for himself; and therefore the Apostle cried out: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to obey the desires thereof." But we, content to have touched upon in few words those things which the Apostle wished to have been obscured, seek what follows. He added after this: "Who is a figure of the future." Which indeed seems ambiguous to me, whether Adam is called the figure of the future from that time when the Apostle was writing these things, which is of the future age; or from himself—that is, from Adam—as the future, so that it is accepted in Christ: which time was not future to the Apostle writing these things, but past; although in another place, when the same Apostle was speaking about Adam and Eve, he said: "This is a great mystery: but I speak in Christ and in the Church;" in which it seems that he has given this to us more for understanding, that Adam is said to be the figure of the future in that he ^D brings Christ to the espousal of the Church to Himself. I do not know, indeed, how anyone can fit into the form of Christ his transgression, and his sin, and this fact that death passed through him into all men, unless perhaps from opposites, as the same Apostle explains in the foregoing, when he says: "For as by one man death, so also by one the resurrection of the dead;" and again: "For as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of one many shall be made just." But if we understand the Apostle to have said, from his own times in which he was writing these things, that Adam was the figure of the future, it is understood more that, just as in this age death reigned through one Adam, and all the human race was made mortal, so also in the future age life will reign through Christ, and all the human race will be gifted with immortality. Similarly, however, as we said that the passage wherein he says, "Who is a figure of the future," is ambiguous, we find it also written ambiguously to the Colossians, where he says: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a festival day, or of the new moons, or of the Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come." And likewise elsewhere the same Apostle says: "For the law hath a shadow of good things to come." In which indeed there is a similar doubt, whether meat, and drink, and festival days, and new moons, and Sabbaths, thus have the shadow of things to come, so that at the advent of Christ the truth of the shadow itself was fulfilled; or whether it is to be fulfilled in the future age. But also concerning what the Apostle says, that the whole law has a shadow of future good things, whether its truth is to be fulfilled at the advent of Christ, or in the future age, is uncertain; because it is written also in another place concerning those things which are under the law, that they perform the duty of shadows and figures of celestial things. Whoever, therefore, wishes to prove that these things were completed at the advent of Christ, will confirm the reasons for meat and drink to be fulfilled in that wherein Peter by a vision saw all manner of animals lowered in a sheet, and heard the voice: "That which God hath cleansed, do not thou call common," which is referred to the diverse customs of men; and he will say that the cup is the chalice of the New Testament; he will also prove the festival day, where "Christ our pasch is sacrificed," and we celebrate the festival "not with the old leaven, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Similarly, he will show that the new moons—that is, new months—come into being through Christ, the Sun of justice, and his apostles. But he will teach that the Sabbaths are to be observed, not by carrying the burdens of sin, but by each one standing stably in his place, not lighting a fire, concerning which it is said by the prophet: "Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled."

^A Another, however, translates these forms and the shadow of the law to the future age, and believes that they are images of celestial mysteries [(94)] to be fulfilled in that heavenly Jerusalem, and he will attempt to assign [a meaning] to food and drink according to those things which the Lord says: "Until I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father." But he will also call a feast day according to the prophet’s saying: "What will you do on the day of the solemnity, and on the feast day of the Lord?" He will also seek out the neomeniae, that is, the new moons, in those eternal years of which the Prophet speaks: "I have remembered the eternal years, and I have meditated," and again in the canticle of Deuteronomy: "Remember the eternal days," and of the Sabbath it is said: "There remains therefore a sabbath-keeping for the people of God." And he will establish, since each of these holds the form of a future age, that Adam also, of whom it is said, "Who is the form of the future," can ^B be compared to the rational conception of the future age; and therefore, when it had been established concerning those who sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, it is added: "Who is the form of the future."

2. "But not as the offense, so also the gift. For if by the offense of one many died, much more have the grace of God, and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abounded unto many. And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift. For the judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation: but grace is of many offenses, unto justification." Since the Apostle had said in the preceding [verses] concerning Adam: "Who is the form of the future," seeing that it could be asked—because if Adam is ^C the form of Christ, then it is necessary that he should also have the form of Christ in that wherein he sinned, and in that in which death reigned from Adam even to Moses; but this seemed absurd to think concerning Christ—he immediately subjoins: "But not as the offense, so also the gift," and he begins from this discourse, as it were, to explain himself how he said that Adam is the form of Christ. "For if," he says, "by the offense of one many died," namely in Adam, "much more have the grace of God and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abounded unto many": that is, if, when one man sinned, death, finding a place, was able to diffuse itself into many, much more does the grace of God, which abounded more copiously and widely in Christ than death in Adam, diffuse itself into many; and to such an extent is the condition of the offense and that of ^D the gift not the same, so that when judgment had been held concerning Adam, condemnation came upon all men from that one who sinned; conversely, however, through Christ, out of many offenses by which the whole human race was held, justification was given unto all: as just as death had reigned through one unto condemnation, so also through the obedience of one might life reign through justice. Therefore, the Apostle has not without a profound art of speaking placed Adam as the form of Christ, which may be similar by genus, but contrary by species. For by genus the form is similar in that, just as it diffuses from one Adam into many men, so it diffuses from one Christ into many men. But by species it is contrary, because from Adam’s transgression it began that "many were constituted sinners," but by Christ's "obedience many shall be constituted just." Since, therefore, it has been explained according to the reason of his own discourse how far Adam was the form of Christ, whether in similar or in contrary things, let us now see also what the Apostle indicates, or rather conceals, in the interior sense of these things. And although it may seem dangerous to reveal things which were placed more occultly in the writings of the Apostle, yet, as far as it is possible, I do not think it ought to seem absurd to gather certain indications of divine goodness from them. The Apostle proposed to show what the "first Adam, who was made into a living soul," brought upon the human race; what also the "second Adam," who is "into a life-giving spirit." "By his transgression," he says, "sin appeared, and through sin death entered into all men"; nay, to maintain the moderation of Paul's letters which he held in the present place, "death passed into many men." But through the obedience of Christ, justification, and through justification life, much more abounded into many. And he wishes to show that life is much stronger than death, and justice than sin; and by this to teach that if sin and death could thus reign in all, receiving its beginning from the disobedience of one man, how much more potently and worthily shall life reign through justice, receiving its beginning through the one 553 obedience of Christ; Christ, I say, who approached this work not by necessity of condition, but moved by mercy alone. For he "was in the form of God," and seeing death reigning through the people by the sin of one man, he "does not forget his own creature," nor "thinks it robbery to be equal to God," that is, he does not count it as something great for himself that he is indeed equal to God and one with the Father, but death grazes upon his work through the offense of one man entering into it. Therefore he "emptied himself," from the equality and form of God, and "took the form of a servant," and becomes man, to whom he who reigned in all might indeed dare to come to tempt him, but could not enter. Yet he took upon himself that common death, [together] with that of sin, which…

^A in the rest was the cause of death, Christ recalled to life: so that it is true which the Apostle writes in the following [verses], that “as by the offense of one man [it was] unto condemnation of death for all men, so also by the grace of one, Jesus Christ, unto all men unto justification of life.” But Adam is also a man: therefore, justification of life shall reach even to him. But perhaps you will say: If by one man sin passed into all men, and again by the justice of one, justification of life reaches to all men, then nothing has been done for us so that we might die, nor [again] so that we might live, but Adam is truly the cause of death, and Christ of life. We have said indeed already in the foregoing, that parents do not only beget children, but also educate them; and those who are born become not only sons to their parents, but also disciples, and they are pressed into the death of sin not so much by nature as by discipline. For the sake of example, if someone turning from God worships idols, will he not immediately teach his children, if he begets them, to worship idols and offer sacrifices to demons? This he does according to Adam, and in this death reigns from Adam, that is, from birth, up to the time of the law, when, coming to a discernment of right and wrong, he becomes capable of receiving the grace of Christ: and there he leaves Adam, who either begot him or taught him into death, and follows Christ, who both teaches him and begets him unto life. But do you wish to know that it is not only of birth, but also of teaching, in which death reigned from Adam? Learn this from the contraries. For when the Lord Jesus Christ had come to amend the things that had been done wrongly, because in ^C the first birth, which came from Adam, he was generating that which was unto death, he introduced a second birth, which he called not so much generation as regeneration, by which without doubt he might abolish the vice of the first birth: and as he substituted regeneration for generation, so also for doctrine he substituted another doctrine. For sending his disciples to this work, he did not say only: “Go, baptize all nations”; but he said: “Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Knowing therefore that both are in fault, he gave a remedy for both, so that mortal generation might be changed by the regeneration of baptism, and the doctrine of piety might exclude the doctrine of impiety. It is not, therefore, for nothing that death reigned in us while we were sinning, just as, again, it will not be for nothing that life shall reign in us while we are not idle, and doing nothing. But indeed the beginning... ^D

of life is given by Christ ^A to those who are not unwilling, but to those who believe; and it is reached by the perfection of life through the perfection of virtues, just as, according to the likeness of transgression and the completion of vices, death was formerly reached. And although the apostle Paul, as a prudent dispenser of the word of God, wished these things to remain hidden and veiled in his letters, he nevertheless inserted them, and did not remain silent where he says: "But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression of Adam." 35 See you how Paul excuses no one from sin? But he also designates the kind of sin, establishing in each one the likeness of the transgression of Adam; even if he did not think it safe to declare more openly where, when, or how that likeness of transgression was admitted by each one. But he who is instructed out of the law of the Lord knows how to understand the obscure speech and the sayings of the wise and their riddles. 36 For this reason, then, he even speaks more obscurely concerning the salvation that is in Christ; and when he had said: "For as in Adam all die," 37 he did not say, "so also in Christ shall all be made alive," but, "shall be made alive"; and again, when he had said: "For if by the transgression of one, death reigned through one, so also by one justification," 38 he did not say, "life reigns," but, "life shall reign through one Jesus Christ." For he knows, as I have said, that it is written that "a faithful spirit concealeth matters"; 39 and likewise elsewhere: "O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee." 40 For if you ask when life shall reign through Jesus Christ, and when his justice shall be effected in all men unto the justification of life, 14 when that beatitude shall come to all, learn from the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which he says to the disciples: "Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes, Lord. He saith to them: Blessed are ye if ye do them." 41 Therefore, we shall be blessed when we shall be able not only to hear and understand the word of God, but also to do it. 15 For although it is promised that one is to go out of prison at some time, yet it is designated that one cannot go out from there unless each one also pays the last farthing. 42 But if even the farthing, which is the punishment of the smallest sin, is not remitted, 16 unless it be paid in prison and through torments, how will anyone be released in the hope of impunity, or will the gift of grace release the freedom of sinning? ^B 43 For did he think that by one Adam sin began to reign in this world, and it reigned over those who followed the likeness of Adam's transgression: and therefore "judgment was by one unto condemnation"; 43 and again, through one, our Lord Jesus Christ, grace began to reign through justice; which shall also reign in all who obey him and keep his words, and through these things come from many offenses unto the justification of life.

3. "For if by the offense of one, death reigned through one, much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ." 44 If it were as the offense, so also the gift, the Apostle would surely have said that as by the offense of one, death reigned through one, so also by the justice of one, life shall reign through one Jesus Christ. Now, however, he says that "death" indeed "reigned through the offense of one." But they who receive the abundance of grace, 45 and the gift of justice, not only does death no longer reign in them (which indeed is in itself of no small grace), but two other goods are also conferred upon them: one, that in place of death, Christ Jesus reigns in them; another, that they themselves shall also reign through one Jesus Christ. Since, therefore, these necessary goods come into them, that is, that they may escape the kingdom of death, and in place of death life may reign in them, nay, that they themselves may also reign in life through one Jesus Christ, it is manifest how "it" might not be that the offense is just as the gift, 45 and how it is said: "Much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many"; 46 and that: "But grace from many offenses unto justification": but also this which he says in the present: "Much more they who receive abundance of grace, and the gift of justice, shall reign in life through one Jesus Christ our Lord." 46 Therefore, when he says, "By the offense of one, death reigned through one," 47 he shows that the kingdom is given to death through the offense, nor can it reign in anyone unless they receive the right of the kingdom 20 from the offense. By which it seems to be indicated that, whereas the soul was created free by God, it subjects itself to servitude through the offense, and, as if giving up the handwriting of its own immortality which it had received from its creator, it delivers it to death. For the soul that sins, it dies.

^A Indeed, the very soul itself cries out through the Prophet, saying, “You have brought me down into the dust of death.” 49 This is something that surely could not have happened to it except by way of transgression. From this, it is evident that by transgression it had signed the handwriting of its own soul with death, so that, having lost the liberty of immortality, it received the yoke of sin and the kingdom of death.

Therefore, since the Apostle wishes to show how many greater things the soul receives through Christ than those it had lost through Adam, he repeats these sayings, so as to say, “Much more,” and, “abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness,” and, “shall reign” (21) “by one Jesus Christ.” 50 All of which, indeed, declares that the gifts are far more abundant than the losses.

But you will ask: these ones whom he says shall reign in life through Jesus Christ, over whom shall they reign? It seems to me that, just as he shows the kingdom of death was over those whom it made subject to itself by sinning, so also, regarding those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and are said to be about to reign through one Jesus Christ, he shows ^B that a kingdom is to come over those who are made subject to them in the instruction of the kingdom of God, and, if I may so say, those who have been found capable of the wisdom and righteousness and life that is in them and by means of which they reign.

Hence, it does not seem to me idle that the Apostle—who in other places had said that “death passed unto all men,” and again, “the grace of God” (22) “abounded unto many,” and again, “grace from many offenses unto justification”—in this passage established neither “all,” nor “many,” nor “more,” knowing that the sum of this blessedness pertains to a few: “who receive the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life through one Jesus Christ.” 52

The kingdom of death itself is described here, which is said elsewhere 53 (25) to be the last or newest enemy to be destroyed. It will be destroyed in that [time], so that it may no longer reign. But if it does not reign, it is certain that there will no longer be transgression, in which alone the kingdom of death exists; then, without doubt, when it is said to it: “O death, where is thy sting?” 55 56 since, as the Apostle himself says, “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” 55 It remains, therefore, that then there will be no law, since the very power of sin is called such, so that once the power of sin is taken away, the kingdom of death may deservedly also be abolished. But let these things be said now in a digression: for they will be sought more opportunely in their proper places.

However, I would wish to inquire (since indeed we have said that death held its kingdom until the appearance of Christ, who is life; and that He has come) ^C as to whether the Apostle says Christ is come not only to destroy death, but also to destroy him who had the empire of death, that is, the devil, in the midst of this, that is (24), before that which is written comes to pass: “Then the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father.” 57 Who is it that reigns? For if we say that which seems to follow, that life reigns once death is destroyed, it may be countered: How, then, is there sinning? And it is manifest that death reigns through sin. But if we say that Christ, which is to say Life, reigns in some, and death in others: whom, or where, shall we find those in whom the kingdom of life is such that the kingdom of death has no power in them, that is, who are utterly without sin?

To me, these things seem to pertain rather to the future kingdom, and that there these matters are to be fulfilled, where (25) it is said that “God may be all in all.” 57 For indeed, we are taught to say in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” 58 as if it has not yet come; and the Lord Himself at the beginning of His preaching does not say, “The kingdom of heaven is come,” but, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 59

But I would say the present time seems less like a kingdom than a war: through which war the future kingdom is sought, although even in this very time of war, because already in some part the kingdom of death is being weakened and gradually destroyed—which had previously been spread over all men—Christ is said to reign, according to that which is written: “For He must reign, until He hath put all His enemies under His feet.” 60 And in another place it says: “But now we see not as yet all things subject to Him.” 61 Whence it appears that this which he says, “For He must reign,” 556 he posits [as meaning] to prepare for the kingdom. For it is certain that first (27) one must fight, and the strong man must be bound, and thus his vessels are to be plundered. 62 And therefore the Savior Himself also says: “I came not to send peace, but the sword.” 63 For so long must they who wish to reign in life through Jesus Christ fight, until that “last enemy,” death, is destroyed. 64

But also concerning the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness it must be known that to that kingdom, which we have said is prepared by war, no one comes who has received only one grace, that is, who has pleased [God] in one single work; but ^D an abundance of grace is required of him, according to him who says: “But I have laboured more abundantly than all they: yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” 65 Similar things also [are required of] those whom it imbues with precative…

^A grace, when he says: “Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” 66 Grace is, therefore, multiplied and abounds if our speech is always seasoned with the salt of grace, and our work is done with the grace of humility and simplicity, and we perform all things for the glory of God. Similarly, we must also understand this concerning the gift of righteousness. For he who is justified by Christ ought to do nothing without righteousness, according to him who says: “Blessed are they who keep judgment, and do righteousness at all times;” 67 and according to what Wisdom pronounces, saying: “For even if one be perfect among the children of men, yet if the righteousness from God be not present with him, he shall be reckoned as nothing;” 68 and in this way those who have had the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 69

4. “Therefore as by the offence of one unto all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one unto all men unto justification of life.” 70 Already, above, we have said that by the sin of Adam a kind of entrance was given, through which either sin, or the death of sin, or condemnation would come upon all men. On the contrary, therefore, Christ opened an entrance of justification, through which life might enter to men, and for this reason He said of Himself: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” 71 But regarding these matters, enough has already been said above. However, this must be observed, that He did not say: “As unto all men unto ^B condemnation” of death, but only “unto condemnation,” that He might prove that the gift abounds much more in all than the offence. How, indeed, or what condemnation came upon all men, must be seen. And perhaps it may suffice according to a simple exposition to say that the condemnation is this common death, which comes to all, and will come, even if they seem to be just. But if perhaps someone might object concerning Enoch and Elijah, who were translated that they should not see death 72: in this way this case is saved, that those things which are said about everyone are not immediately proven false if some dispensation of God has been made in the case of one or two men. But also that other point, I think, one might properly bring forward in its place, that when Adam had sinned, it is written 73 that the Lord God cast him out of paradise, and set him on this earth against the paradise of delights; and this ^C was the condemnation of his offence, which without doubt reached to all men. For all were brought into this place of humiliation and into the valley of weeping; whether because all who are born from him were in the loins of Adam, and were cast out together with him, or in some other ineffable manner known only to God, each one seems to have been thrust from paradise and to have received condemnation.

“Many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of one shall many be made just.” 74 Indeed, it may be that, according to those things which we observed above, Paul, wishing to cover more secret mysteries, puts “many” where he had elsewhere said “all,” lest perchance, if he had said that “by the disobedience of one all were made sinners,” he would have necessarily added, “so also by the obedience of one all shall be made just,” and would seem by such security of promise to loosen the minds of those for whom it is expedient to be under fear. And therefore we, keeping the counsel of the faithful and prudent dispenser of the word of God, ought to be the more satisfied as to why not all, but many, were made sinners by the disobedience of one. For how it is that not all, ^D but many, are constituted [just] by the obedience of one will not have any difficulty of understanding, according to that which the Lord says in the Gospel 75: “For many will come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God,” and He did not say, “All will come.” But how it is that many—and not all—are seen to be sinners, when the same Apostle says that “all have sinned,” we ought to show. It is one thing to sin, and another to be a sinner. A sinner is called one who, by doing many wrong things, has now come into a habit and, if I may so say, into a pursuit of sinning; just as, conversely, a just man is not called one who has done some act of righteousness once or twice, but one who, by always acting justly, has righteousness in use and habit. 557 For if anyone were unjust in almost all other things, but had done some just work once or twice, he would indeed be said to have acted justly in that work in which he held righteousness, yet he will not be called just on this account. So also a man would be said to have sinned if he had committed something at some time which is not permitted, yet he will not be called a sinner on this account, as he who does not hold the habit and custom of sinning: just as that man is not called a physician who knows how to put a spider-web on a scalp that is slightly ruptured, or who has bathed a swelling of a wound with warm water, even though this too may seem to be of medicine: but he is called a physician who has the use, and pursuit, and discipline of healing. From all of which I think it is sufficiently shown that it is one thing to sin, and another to be a sinner.

For it may be that all have sinned, even if they were saints, because “there is no one clean from filth, not even if his life be of one day.” 77 For who is there who has not sinned either in deed, or in word, or—if he be very cautious indeed—at least in thought? And therefore, as I said, all will deservedly be said to have sinned, but not all to have been made sinners; but many. In a similar form also many shall be held to be just, not all, even if all the just do some work.

^A The Apostle also maintains the reckoning of the times. For when he had referred the fact that many were constituted sinners to the past, he deferred the time when many are to be constituted just to the future, knowing without doubt that through the process of evangelical preaching the multitude of the just would grow even greater. That there were many just ones even before the Savior’s advent, the Lord himself testifies in the Gospels, when he says: “Many prophets and just men desired to see what you see.” But the Savior here calls many just in one way, and the Apostle has posited it in another (31). For the Savior, looking back to the number of the apostles, called many just and prophets in comparison to them; in the present passage, however, the Apostle must be understood to have recalled [the number] in comparison to all who have been born and shall be born in this world. Therefore, “through the disobedience of the one, the many were constituted sinners” (80); according to that observance, many sinners are to be understood, just as we set forth above regarding the one committing sin and the sinner. But if anyone should object to us that which the Apostle says of himself: “That Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the first” (81), as though he also appeared to call himself a sinner, we shall say that it is one thing for someone to be designated a sinner by the person of the Scripture, or of the prophet, or of the Lord, and it is another thing for the just man himself to become his own accuser and to humble himself so that he may be exalted by God; ^B although even Paul, in what he says—that he persecuted the Church of God, and ravaged it, and dragged away men and women, and cast them into bonds—even if he did these things in ignorance and obtained mercy (82), yet when he did these things, perhaps he did not unjustly confess that he ought to be called a sinner. But that the distinction which we have given between committing sin and being a sinner might become still more evident (33), look at Cain, who, although he is manifestly a sinner, yet did something right: on account of which the Lord said to him: “If you offer correctly” (83). And Pharaoh, when he says: “The Lord is just; but I and my people are impious” (84)—he did something just, but he is not called just on account of this. And you will find many such things in the divine Scriptures, from which you detect that both the just man has done something sinful, and the sinner has done something just; yet you will not find the just man called a sinner because he sinned in something, nor the sinner called just because he has done something just. But let not that intended point escape the listener, that where he says “the disobedience of the one,” he adds “of the man,” through whom many were constituted [many]. ^C But where he added “obedience,” he does not add “of the man,” through whom the many shall be constituted just (35). For he through whom they are made just is without doubt Justice itself, just as the same Apostle says of Christ: “Who was made unto us justice from God.” Adam therefore gave to sinners the form through disobedience; but Christ, on the contrary, established for the just a form through obedience, just as it is written elsewhere: “But you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which you were delivered” (86). For therefore he himself also was made obedient even unto death (87), so that those who follow the example of his obedience might be constituted just by Justice itself, just as those following the form of the disobedience were constituted sinners.

6. “But the Law (36) entered in, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did superabound, that as sin reigned unto death, so also grace might reign through justice unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (88). If indeed no one had sinned before the Law was given through Moses, the Marcionites and other heretics, wishing to accuse the Law from these words of the Apostle, would seem to take an opportunity, as if this were the cause of the Law being given, that sin, which had not existed before the Law, might abound. ^D But I know not what time they find empty of sins before the Law. When Cain was killing Abel, and defiling the earth with a brother's blood, so that it was said to him: “Cursed is the earth in your work (37), which opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother,” did not sin abound? It abounded, surely. For what of the time when men multiplied even then, when Lamech was saying: “I have killed a man in my wound, and a young man in my soreness? And for Cain it was avenged sevenfold, but for Lamech seventy-sevenfold” (89). But in the times of Noah, transgression abounded to such a degree that, it says, “the Lord, seeing that the malice of men was multiplied upon the earth, and that every man diligently applied his heart to malice in all the days of his life, it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth, and he was grieved in his heart, and said: I will destroy man whom I have made from the face of the earth, from man even to beast, and from reptiles even to the birds of heaven, because it repenteth me that I have made them” (90). And again, when it is said: “The earth was corrupt in the sight of the Lord, and the earth was filled with iniquities. And God saw the earth, and it was corrupt indeed, because every flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth” (91). Who then is so stu-

stupid that he would deny that sin abounded in all these things? Or certainly, when it is said of the Sodomites by God: “I will go down and see whether they are consuming according to the outcry of the Sodomites, their iniquities” (92); or when they surrounded the house of Lot, desiring the wickedness of their own impurity even against angels (93)? Or did sin perhaps not abound then, when Pharaoh was oppressing the sons of Israel with clay and brick, and was ordering their offspring to be killed in the river (94)? And yet the law of Moses had not yet entered, when so great a stream of sins was being poured out upon the earth. From which it is gathered that the heretics whom we mentioned above—or if there are any who agree with them about these things being said of the law of Moses—could never have grasped the apostolic sense even slightly. ^A It should be understood, therefore, that this refers to what we have often said, the law of nature, which “is written, not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshy tablets of the heart; not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God” (95); a law which was inscribed by Him who created man from the beginning upon the principal part of his heart, so that, at the appropriate time, when the pages themselves had grown upon the mind, or rather, as Scripture termed it, when the fleshy tablets of the heart had begun to open with the increase of age, it would begin to spread through the inward parts of the conscience and fill the senses with reasons. Then, therefore, against the precepts which are naturally suggested by such a law, the will of the flesh rises up and suggests other desires; and this is what the Apostle himself called the “law in my members, resisting the law of my mind” (96). ^B Therefore, the Apostle seems here to have set the law of members, which he says entered so that sin might abound. For the very word he used seems to me to indicate most fully what we are saying. For it is one thing to enter, another to enter in (subintrare); just as it is one thing to lead, and another to lead in (subducere); one thing to draw, and another to draw away (subtrahere). For *subintrare* indicates this: when, while another has entered, someone else enters under cover of that one. By this reasoning, which we have explained above, it is clearly shown that under cover of the natural law—which the Apostle called the law of the mind, which consents to the law of God—the law of members arose, which, by suggesting the desires of the flesh and leading the captive man inclined to lust and pleasures (97), makes sin abound in him. Thus, therefore, the law entered that the offense might abound. “But where sin abounded,” he says, “grace superabounded” (98). As we have taught in the preceding pages, where he makes a comparison between each of the things that seem to have ^C happened adversely to Adam, he shows that those things which were brought in through the grace of Christ are much greater; and in the present passage, when he had said that sin abounded, he used a most worthy expression with which to overcome the abundance and set forth the superabundance. For the grace of Christ superabounded in such a way that it not only absolved man from past sins, but also protected him against future ones. Indeed, he shows two kingdoms in man: one by which sin reigned unto death; the other by which grace reigns through justice unto life. Therefore, it is grace that cast and expelled sin from its kingdom, that is, from our members, with which of necessity death also departed and was equally expelled, that so finally grace might secure the kingdom for itself in us through justice, ^D and where death had been, eternal life might consist. This is what the same Apostle says elsewhere: “Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body” (99); and the same elsewhere: “For as you presented your members as weapons of iniquity to sin, so now present your members as weapons of justice to God” (1). There is, therefore, a great superabundance in the fact that where there was sin and death, there now is grace, and justice, and eternal life. And all these things are indeed above the rest through our Lord Jesus Christ. However, it can happen that, just as he said all these good things exist through our Lord Jesus Christ, he also wished those evils to be understood as having existed through the devil, but was silent about the name of their author, so that he might designate the superabundance of grace in all things. For just as Christ is indeed one in substance, but is designated by many virtues and operations (for He is understood to be the grace itself, as justice, as peace, as life, as truth, as the Word), so perhaps even the devil can often be understood in various significations. For the sin that is said to reign is to be thought of as him; and death is to be thought of as him, of whom it is said that the “last enemy, death, shall be destroyed” (2). But even perdition is understood as him, according to that which was said by the prophet: “You have become perdition, and you shall not subsist forever” (3). But also what the Apostle says, “Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body,” I think is said more about him. For he is the author of sin, and of death, and of perdition; and consequently the author is named from the things that were invented. Therefore, it cannot be that man is ever without a king; but this must be provided for, that he has Christ as king, whose yoke

is sweet, and His burden light; and not the devil, whose kingdom is heavy. For iniquity is that which sits upon a talent of lead ^A. But where Christ reigns, there grace and justice superabound unto eternal life.

7. What then shall we say? Shall we abide in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer therein? 7 Since he had said above 8 that "where sin abounded, grace did superabound," he now proposes to himself the question arising from this: if the abundance of sin produces an abundance of grace, then one ought to sin, that grace may abound the more. But he shows the prompt solution to the question when he says, "God forbid," and immediately adds the rationale, saying that those in whom grace has abounded are dead to sin. Now, it is certain that one who is dead to sin cannot be a sinner. Therefore, he who is dead to sin cannot abide in sin. But that these things may become clearer, let us inquire what it is to live to sin, and what it is to die to sin. ^B As he who lives according to the will of God is said to live to God, so also he who lives according to the will of sin is said to live to sin, as the Apostle likewise indicates when he says: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to obey the desires thereof" 9. In this he shows that to obey the desires of sin, this is to live to sin. And if to perform the desires of sin is to live to sin; then not to perform the desires of sin, nor to obey its will, is to die to sin. Yet the Apostle says that sin has, as it were, a certain seat and throne of its kingdom established in our body. For this part of our substance is more familiar to it, and there is a certain friendly association with the pleasures of the flesh 53, from which, taking occasions of natural incitement, it turns the order of nature by a small divergence into the precipice of death. But that what we are saying may be even more clearly explained, let us put forth an example. The flesh has natural appetites for food and drink, which are contained within certain measures of sufficiency; if anyone exceeds these by the persuasion of sin, the flesh no longer demands the food and drink that suffices for nature, but luxury and drunkenness. In a similar way there is in the flesh a natural incitement by which it demands to unite with a woman for the sake of replenishing the succession; but if, from this occasion, ^C by the persuasion of sin one is turned from the law, and the movements of natural lust are incited to illicit acts, he lives to sin who in each of these things obeys not the law of God, but the persuasions of sin. If, therefore, anyone, being admonished by the death of Christ who "died for the ungodly" 10, repents in these things, and as a wicked king reigning in his flesh casts him out, and makes himself a stranger to his desires and precepts, he truly 54 is said to be dead to sin by the death of Christ. And I judge that "sin" itself here is called the author of sin. If, therefore, anyone dies to sin, it is certain that he dies through repentance. How then shall one abide in sin that grace may abound, since grace abounds from the fact that one dies to sin? For if we abide, as is proposed, in sin, it is certain that we do not die, but we live to sin; but to those who live to sin, grace cannot abound. We must indeed inquire if grace superabounds only in men in whom sin once abounded; and whether grace superabounds in no one, unless in him in whom ^D sin has abounded; or if grace can also superabound in some in whom there never was, nor ever will be, sin. And if anyone looks at what the Apostle says, that "Christ reconciled by His blood not only those things which are on earth, but also those which are in heaven" 11; and that [saying], "That without God He should taste death for all" 12, he will think that there also there was a like abundance of sin, so that nevertheless an abundance of grace might also come to be. But if you attend to what the preceding reading commemorated, where it is said 56 that sin entered into this world by one man, and through sin death 57, and so passed unto all 13; you will say that from that beginning also come those things which are at hand, so that he seems to treat of those things alone which the Apostle proposed at the beginning, that is, those which pertain only to men. Surely it must be observed how balanced a discourse the Apostle used to say: "Shall we abide in sin?" For to abide is not to cease from a beginning. Which, indeed, if anyone does, it is certain that he has not even received the beginning of conversion. But it happens sometimes that one does not indeed abide in sin, but when he has ceased, he returns again to his vomit, and becomes most wretched, so that after the kingdom of sin and death has been cast off 58 by him, and the kingdom of life and justice has been assumed, he again subjects himself to the domination of sin and death. And these are the things which the Apostle calls the shipwrecks of faith 14. Nevertheless 59, although one may abide in sin, although he may persist in the kingdom and power of death, yet I do not judge this kingdom of death to be so eternal [59*] as is [the kingdom] of life and justice; especially since I hear the Apostle destroying death, the last enemy 60.

16. ^C And indeed, if the same eternity of death were to be assumed to exist as that of life, then death will no longer be contrary to life, but equal. For an eternal thing will not be contrary to an eternal thing, but the same. But now it is certain that death is contrary to life; it is therefore certain that if life is eternal 61, death cannot be eternal: hence, the resurrection of the dead holds a necessary place. For when the death of the soul, which is the last enemy, has been destroyed, then this common death also—which we have said is, as it were, a shadow of the former—will necessarily be abolished; and then, consequently, a place will be given for the resurrection of the dead, where the kingdom of death will be destroyed on equal terms with death itself. But let us not await the time when this last enemy is destroyed, we who have been enlightened once, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come 17; but let us remain in grace, and not wait until, after a fall, we be renewed unto repentance, again crucifying the Son of God to ourselves and putting him to an open shame, but let the kingdom of justice become in us an eternal kingdom; and let us not again flee into the kingdom of death 62, from which we have been delivered and arrived at the kingdom of life eternal, that grace may reign through justice in us unto life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord 18. What he therefore said: "We have died to sin," is what he says elsewhere, that we are made conformable to the death of Christ, "who died once unto sin 19." Moreover, what he says, "once," signifies entirely. For Christ died entirely unto sin, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth 20."

^D 8. "Do you not know that whoever of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized in his death? For we have been buried with him by baptism into death 21;" teaching by these words that if anyone has first died unto sin, he is necessarily buried in baptism with Christ; but if one does not first die unto sin, he cannot be buried with Christ. For no one is ever buried while alive. But if one is not buried with Christ, neither is he legitimately baptized. But concerning the rationale of baptism, when we were expounding the Gospel according to John, where we came to that place in which John says of Jesus 63: "He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit 26;" and also where the Savior himself says: "Unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God 26," we said what we could according to our strength, or rather what the Lord granted, where we also attempted to open more deeply the force of the very sentence where it is said 64: "Unless one is born again." For what we Latins have as "again" (*denuo*), the Greeks say *anothen* (*ἄνωθεν*), which word signifies both "again" (*denuo*) and "from above." In this place, therefore, because he who is baptized by Jesus is baptized in the Holy Spirit, it is not said "again" 65 in such a way that it should be understood as concerning the former things: for we say "again" when the same things that were done are repeated: but here, the same birth is not repeated or reiterated, but, this earthly [nature] being put aside 66, a new birth is received from above; and therefore we would more correctly read in the Gospel: "Unless one is born from above, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God": for this is what it is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. To which rationale, so that it may be confirmed that baptism is from above, not without reason are the "waters which are above the heavens, and [which] praise the name of the Lord 27" joined to the Holy Spirit. And although according to the type handed down to the Churches 68 we are all baptized in these visible waters, and in the visible chrism, yet he who has died to sin, and is truly baptized into the death of Christ, and is buried with him through baptism into death, he is truly baptized in the Holy Spirit and in water from above. And consider even more diligently the consequence of the mystical order. You must first die to sin, that you may be able to be buried with Christ. For burial is owed to the dead. If you are still alive to sin, you cannot be buried with Christ, nor be placed in his new tomb, because your old man is alive, and cannot walk in the newness of life. Because of this, it was the care of the Spirit to resolve what seemed to be a contradiction, and he says: "For we who have died to sin, how shall we live any longer in it 21?" Now therefore, wishing to show by the things themselves what it is to have died to sin, he says: "Do you not know that whoever of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized in his death? For we have been buried with him by baptism into death 23," teaching 561 by these words that if anyone has first died to sin, he is necessarily buried in baptism with Christ; but if a man does not die to sin before, he cannot be buried with Christ. For no one is ever buried while living. But if he is not buried with Christ, he is not even legitimately baptized. *[alt-version omitted]*

^A holy to transmit through the Scriptures that the sepulcher in which Jesus was buried was also new, and that he was wrapped in a clean linen cloth: so that everyone who wishes to be buried with Christ through baptism may know that nothing of oldness is to be brought to the new sepulcher, and nothing of impurity to the clean linen cloth.

This is, therefore, the blessed death of which the Apostle speaks, because “we always carry about in our body the death of Jesus Christ,” and again: “I die daily.” But even when he says: “All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or this world, or life, or death,” he enumerates this death by which we die to sin and are buried with Christ.

But one might inquire in these passages why the Apostle, speaking of our baptism and of Jesus, said: “We are buried with him by baptism into death,” and in another place: “If we die with him, we shall also live with him,” and again: “If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him,” yet nowhere said: “We are baptized with Christ,” although, just as death is conferred upon death and life upon life, so also it might seem that baptism ought to be conferred upon baptism. But see what caution there is in the Apostle’s letters; for he says: “Whoever of us have been baptized in Christ Jesus.” He says, therefore, that our baptism is in Christ Jesus. Christ himself, however, is reported to have been baptized ^B by John—not with that baptism which is in Christ, but with that which is in the Law. For so he himself says to John: “Suffer it to be so, for thus it behooveth us to fulfill all justice.” In which he shows that the baptism of John was the completion of old things, not the beginning of new ones. Finally, it is reported in the Acts of the Apostles that certain disciples who had been baptized with the baptism of John were, by the judgment of the Apostles, rebaptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. “Whoever of us, therefore, have been baptized in Christ Jesus, have been baptized in his death.”

You might perhaps also inquire about this, that whereas the Lord himself said to the disciples that they should baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, why the Apostle here assumed solely the name of Christ in baptism, saying: “Whoever of us have been baptized in Christ,” when, of course, there is no legitimate baptism unless it be under the name of the Trinity. But observe the prudence of Paul, because in the present passage he desired to discuss not so much the nature of baptism as the death of Christ, to the likeness of which he was urging us that we also ought to die to sin and be buried with Christ. And it was not indeed convenient ^C that, where he was speaking of death, he should name either the Father or the Holy Spirit. For “the Word was made flesh,” and deservedly, where there is flesh, there one treats of death. Nor was it convenient that he should say: “Whoever of us have been baptized” in the name of the Father, or in the name of the Holy Spirit, “have been baptized in his death.” Whence one must observe from this passage, even in other matters, the custom of the Apostle: that he does not always, when he assumes something from the Scriptures, assume the entire text of the words as it is placed in its own passage, but only those things which the requirement of the present cause demands. Just as in the present discourse, because he wished to teach about the death of Christ, it sufficed for him to say: “Whoever of us have been baptized in Christ, have been baptized in his death.”

To me, however, it does not seem that the Apostle inserted here in vain what he says: “Know you not?” Through which he shows that at that time—that is, in the times of the Apostles—the virtue and reason of the mysteries were handed down to those who were being baptized, not as we see done now, mere symbols, but as to those who were knowing and instructed that those who are baptized are baptized into the death of Christ and are buried with him by baptism into death; and that, just as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so those who have been baptized ought to walk in ^D newness of life. These things the Apostle writes.

Perhaps also this may still be inquired into in the present chapter: If we have died to sin, and have been buried with Christ, and have risen together with him, it will seem necessary that it be shown, according to this pattern, how we have also performed three days and three nights in the heart of the earth in being buried with him. And see if we can perform three days of being buried with Christ, when we take up the full knowledge of the Trinity: for the Father is light, and in his light, which is the Son, we see the Holy Spirit. We perform, however, also three nights, when we destroy the father of darkness and of ignorance, together with the lie which is born of him, and he “is a liar as his father,” and “when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.” But also in a third place we destroy the spirit of error, which inspires the false prophets to say: “The Lord saith, which the Lord hath not sent.” We destroy these and trample them underfoot, if we have been buried with Christ, also according to that which he himself says: “Behold, I have given to you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.” Which things individually are so contrary to the Trinity as night is to day, and darkness to light, and lie

in opposition to the truth. These are the things which, for the present, could occur to us ^A in this place. If anyone, however, should have a better understanding, let him not be weary of omitting these and accepting those. Nevertheless, this is what is gathered from these sayings of the Apostle through a deeper understanding: that just as no living man can be buried with a dead one, so too no one who still lives in sin can be buried with Christ in baptism, since He died to sin. And therefore, they who hasten to baptism ought first to take care that they die beforehand to sin, and thus be able to be buried with Christ through baptism, so that they too may say: “Always carrying about the death of Jesus Christ ^B in our body, that the life of Jesus Christ may also be manifested in our mortal flesh.” But how the life of Jesus Christ is manifested in the body, Paul himself shows when he says: “But I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.” This is the same thing that the apostle John writes in his Epistle, when he says: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is of God.” In which, indeed, it is not he who has pronounced these syllables and uttered them in a common confession that will be seen to be led by the Spirit of God, but he who has so formed his own life, and has so brought forth the fruits of work, that he has shown by the very religion of his deeds and sensations that Christ has come in the flesh, and has died to sin, and lives for God. Let us see now, after we have explained to the extent of our powers what it means to be buried with Christ, even this which he says: “That as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.” If we have been buried ^C with Christ, according to what we said above, that is, according to the fact that we have died to sin, then consequently, as Christ rose from the dead, we too shall rise with Him simultaneously; and as He ascends to the heavens, we shall ascend with Him simultaneously; and as He sits at the right hand of the Father, we shall be said to sit with Him simultaneously in the heavenly places, according to what the same Apostle says elsewhere, that “He has raised us up with Christ, and has made us sit together in heavenly places.” Christ rose through the glory of the Father; and if we have died to sin, and have been buried with Christ, and all ^D who see our good works glorify our Father who is in heaven, we shall justly be said to have risen with Christ through the glory of the Father, so that we may walk in newness of life. Moreover, the newness of life is where “we have put off the old man with his deeds,” and have put on the new, “who is created according to God,” and “who is renewed in the knowledge of God, according to the image of Him who created him.” For do not think that the innovation of life which is spoken of, having been done once, is enough; but always, and daily, if it can be said, the newness itself must be renewed. For thus says the Apostle: “For even if our outward man is corrupted, yet the man who is within is renewed from day to day.” For just as the old man always grows old, and day by day becomes more ancient, so too this new man is always renewed, and never is there a time when his renewal does not increase. Behold, finally, those who progress in faith and shine daily in virtues, how they always add better things to good works, and seek more honest things for honest acts, how they grow rich in intellect, in knowledge, and in wisdom, and perceive those things which before seemed less clear to the understanding, as open and lucid afterward. And see if you would not say that a man of this kind is renewed daily by the very things themselves, just as on the contrary, as we said, if anyone begins to become old, he will proceed for the worse, and will be found daily more ancient and worse than himself. Therefore, let us walk in newness of life, showing ourselves daily to Him who raised us with Christ, as new and, if I may so say, more beautiful, gathering the beauty of our countenance in Christ as in a mirror, and gazing upon the glory of the Lord in Him, let us be transformed into the same image, because Christ, rising from the dead, ascended from earthly humility to the glory of the Father’s majesty. But furthermore, regarding what he said, “Let us walk in newness of life,” see lest perchance it reveals that mystery that, until anyone makes progress, he is said to walk. Nor, however, should it be thought that he is said to walk without end, but rather that those who walk in these progresses arrive at last at that place where one must stand. Thus, finally, to the first martyr Stephen, who had already reached the degree of perfection, Jesus Christ appeared standing at the right hand of Power; and to Moses, who himself also after many progresses had arrived at perfection, the Lord says: “But you stand here with me.” But also Paul, when he recognized the consummation of perfection in himself, says: “I have finished the course.” To those who thought themselves to be perfect, when they were not yet so, he says: “He who thinks he stands, let him see that he does not fall.”

Imperfect ones, and those who still have beginnings, are told ^A to walk after the Lord their God; and of others it is said: “I do not wish to dismiss them fasting, lest they fail on the way.”

9. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection” (94), knowing this, that our old man has been crucified together with him, so that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we might no longer serve sin. “For he” (95) “who is dead is justified from sin” (96). All these points look toward that question, lest he appear to have given place to sin by saying: “But where sin abounded, grace did superabound.” For this reason he calls us dead to sin, and says that whoever of us were baptized in Christ, we were baptized into his death; and he writes that we are now planted together in the likeness of his death (61), adding that if we bear the likeness of his death, in which he died to sin, we ought also to hope for the likeness of his resurrection. But he shows to what extent this can happen, by saying that our old man must be crucified together with Christ (97). But our old man is to be understood as the former life which we led in sins, the end and total destruction of which we effect when we receive into ourselves the faith (98) of the cross of Christ, through which the body of sin is so destroyed that our members, which were serving sin, no longer serve it, but serve God. But now, repeating our discourse, let us see what it is to be planted together in the likeness of the death of Christ; he shows the death of Christ in the manner of a plant of some tree, to which he wishes us to be planted together, so that from the juice of its root, our root also, receiving it, may produce branches of justice and bring forth fruits of life. But if you wish to recognize from the Scriptures what this plant is to which we ought to be planted together, and of what kind of tree it is, hear what is written of Wisdom: “She is a tree of life,” he says, “to all who hope in her; and those who trust in her are as if in the Lord.” Christ, therefore, the power of God and the wisdom of God, is himself the tree of life, to which we ought to be planted together; and by a new and lovely gift of God, his death is made for us a tree of life. Well, therefore, does the Apostle, knowing that he is not treating here of this common death, but of the death of sin, not say: “For if we have been planted together in his death,” but, “in the likeness of his death.” For Christ died once to sin in such a way that he committed no sin at all, nor was deceit found in his mouth. Which, in another man, cannot be found entirely. For “no one is clean from sin, even if his life has been but for one day.”

^B Therefore, indeed, because of the very death by which Jesus died to sin, so that he did not commit sin at all (99), we cannot die in such a way that we are entirely without knowledge of sin; nevertheless, we can possess the likeness of it, so that, imitating him and following his footsteps, we may abstain from sin. This, therefore, is what human nature can receive: that it might be made in the likeness of his death, while by imitating him it does not sin. For to be entirely and completely without knowledge of sin is the prerogative of Christ alone. Certain heretics, not understanding this, have attempted to assert from this passage of the Apostle that Christ did not truly die, but had the likeness of death, and appeared to die rather than truly died. To whom, since it is very easy to reply, I do not think it necessary to bring in the weight of testimonies from other sayings of the Apostle or the Gospels, where his death is written of simply, and not as the likeness of death, since we can say to them: If it was the likeness of death, and not a true resurrection, then we also shall appear to rise again, and will not rise again truly; and we will appear to die to sin, and will not truly die. And therefore everything that happened, and is happening, only appeared to happen, but did not happen. It remains, therefore, that we also—that we have been saved—only appeared to be saved, but were not truly saved. Whence, because these things are so absurd that they do not need proofs, let us turn to the explanation of those things which are held in the following. Therefore, he wishes us to be planted together into the likeness of his death, ^C by which he died to sin once, so that we may also be planted together into his resurrection. For to both, “planted together” must be understood. And see how necessarily he assumed the figure of planting. For every plant after the death of winter awaits the resurrection of spring. If, therefore, we also have been planted together in the death of Christ in the winter of this age and of the present life, we shall also find in the future spring that we produce fruits of justice from his root; and if we have been planted together with him, it is necessary that the Father, the husbandman, purge us as branches of the true vine, so that we may bring forth much fruit, just as he himself says in the Gospels: “I am the true vine, and you are the branches, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch that does not remain in me, my Father will cut off. But he who remains in me, he will purge him, so that he may bring forth much fruit.” In this way, therefore, we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, so that we might also be planted together in the likeness of his resurrection. But what it is to be planted together in the likeness of his resurrection, the apostle John…

teaches: "Little children, we do not yet know what we shall be. But if he shall be revealed to us, we shall be like him." And the Savior himself says again: "Father, I wish that where I am, they also may be with me"; and again: "Even as I am in you, and you in me, that they also may be one in us." This, then, he clearly says of those who in the present life have been planted together in the likeness of his death. I suppose that one might gratefully say this also of that thief who hung on the cross with Jesus, and who, by his confession in which he said, "Remember me, O Lord, when you come into your kingdom," and by rebuking the other who was blaspheming, seemed to be planted together in the likeness of his death; but he was also planted together in [the likeness of] his resurrection by what is said to him: "Today you shall be with me in paradise." For the plant of paradise was worthy to be joined to the tree of life. ^A Therefore, since the Apostle had said that we were planted together in the likeness of the death of Christ, he repeats it in another figure, and says: "Because our old man was crucified together with him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed." In many places, and often, we have already said what it is to be crucified with Christ; and we have often discussed the old man; whence we briefly state in the present place that the old man is he who lived according to Adam, subject to transgression and sin, and over whom the death of sin held dominion, concerning whom he who held the empire of death possessed the handwritings of sin: which, because Christ blotted them out with his own blood and affixed them to his cross, we also, according to the old man who was subject to sin, ought to be crucified, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we may no longer serve sin. But I think it must be observed that where the Apostle says the "body" is to be destroyed, he adds "of sin"; whereas where he does not say it should be destroyed—not the body of sin, but us ourselves—he says [this] to show that if the body of sin is destroyed, we no longer serve sin, which we surely served as long as it was not destroyed in us, nor were our members, which are upon the earth, mortified. But it must be still more carefully repeated how he said "body of sin." In which ^B a twofold meaning seems to be given: either that he called our body the body of sin; or that he says sin itself has some proper body, which is to be destroyed by those who ought no longer to serve sin. Since, therefore, both meanings can be set forth in this place, we shall set forth what appears to us regarding both. For if we posit that it is the proper body of sin, it will seem that, just as it was said of those who have been repaired into the new man, that "you are the body of Christ, and members in part," so also of those who have not yet crucified the old man, it can be said that they are the body of sin and members, the head of which body is the devil, just as Christ is the head of the body of the Church, not having spot or wrinkle. Now the members of which this body of sin consists can be considered to be those which the Apostle enumerated above as members being upon the earth, that is, fornication, uncleanness, ^C impurity, avarice, contentions, anger, deceits, brawls, dissensions, heresies, envy, revellings, and the like: from all which members it is worthily said that the body of sin consists, and this body is called the old man. But if anyone destroys this through the cross of Christ, and is changed into the new man who was created according to God, he will no longer be said to serve sin, which he undoubtedly serves as long as he is subject to any of these which we set forth above as members of sin. If, however, it is understood that the Apostle called our own body the body of sin, it will indeed be taken according to that understanding with which David also says of himself: "For I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me." But the Apostle himself, in other places, says: "Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" and again he calls our body "the body of humility." But concerning the Savior, he says in one place that he came "in the likeness of the flesh of sin," so that "concerning sin" he might condemn "sin in the flesh." In which he shows that while our flesh is indeed the flesh of sin, Christ's flesh is like the flesh of sin. For it was not conceived from the seed of a man, but the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, so that what was born from her might be called the Son of the Most High. Thus, therefore, Paul, through the ineffable wisdom of God which was given to him, beholding I know not what secret and hidden mystery, calls our body "the body of sin," and "the body of death," and "the body of humility." But David, too, being familiar with the secret celestial meanings through the same Spirit, said concerning the body: "And you have led me into the dust of death"; and again: "Our soul has been humbled in the dust." Jeremiah also, of a similar...

mystery, being conscious through the Spirit of God, says in his Lamentations that all men are prisoners of the earth, namely, for the sake of the body, and says: "To humble under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, because they have declined the judgment of a man in the sight of the Most High, and have condemned a man in judging." ^A Therefore, our body is the body of sin; for it is not written that Adam knew Eve his wife and begot Cain except after sin. And finally, in the law, for a child who has been born, a sacrifice is ordered to be offered—a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons; of which one is for sin and the other for a burnt offering. For what sin is this one pigeon offered? Could a child just born already have sinned? And yet he has sin for which the sacrifice is ordered to be offered, from which no one is declared free, not even if his life should be of only one day. It is to be believed that David said regarding this what we mentioned above, that "in sins my mother conceived me." For according to the history, no sin of his mother is declared. On this account, the Church also received from the apostles the tradition to give baptism even to infants. For they to whom the secrets of the divine mysteries were entrusted knew that there were in all people innate defilements of sin, which ought to be washed away through water and the Spirit; on account of which the body itself is called the body of sin, not—as some of those think who introduce the transmigration of souls into various bodies—on account of these things which the soul might have committed while placed in another body, but for this very reason, that it has been brought into the body of sin and the body of death and humiliation; and as he said, that "you have humbled our soul in the dust." These things, for the present, could occur to us regarding the body of sin. Let him who reads approve which of the two expositions ^B is agreeable to the apostolic sense, or if neither is. But regarding what the Apostle says in other places, that we have already risen with Christ, and have been co-raised, and together sit in the heavens, and here says: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also of the resurrection," this is the reason: that a twofold resurrection is understood—one by which in mind and purpose and faith we rise with Christ from earthly things so that we may think of celestial things and seek what is future; the other, which will be the general resurrection of all in the flesh. Therefore, the resurrection which is according to the mind through faith is already in those who savor the things that are above, where Christ is at the right hand of God, it seems implemented [in those who are]; but that general resurrection of the flesh which pertains ^C to everyone is still future: for the former will be completed in the first, the latter in the second coming of the Lord.

10. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live together with him, knowing that Christ rising from the dead dies now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he lives, he lives unto God. In everything the Apostle said above, he wished to show this, that if Christ died primarily to sin, we also have died to sin with him. And when he says: "In his death we have been baptized," and "We have been planted together in the likeness of his death," by all these things he shows that we have died with Christ to sin, from the fact that Christ indeed died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and to each of those who believe, He granted the death of his very sin as a certain gift of faith from His own death—to those, namely, who with Him believe themselves to have died and been crucified and buried with Him; by these things, sin in them as in the dead cannot work, and thus they are said to be dead to sin. Therefore, in the present discourse the Apostle makes a conclusion of all things which he had constructed above, and says: "But if we have died with Christ," by those things, namely, which we showed above, "we believe that we shall also live with him." He did not say: "and we lived together," as he said, "we have died," but "we shall live together," so that he might show that death works in the present, but life in the future, ^D then namely "when Christ shall be manifested, who is our life hidden in God." Now "therefore," as Paul himself teaches, "death works in us." But even death itself which works in us seems to me to have some differences. For as in Christ there was one time of death, of which it is said: "And crying out with a loud voice he expired," and another time when He lay in the sepulcher with the door closed, and yet another when He was sought in the monument and was not found, because He had already risen, the beginning of whose resurrection was visible to no men; so also in us who believe in Him, this triple ratio of death is to be held. And first, indeed, by the confession of the voice, the death of Christ is to be shown in us, when with the heart it is believed unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Second, truly, in the mortification of the members which are upon the earth, when we always "carry about" the mortification of Christ in our body now; and this is what he says, that "death in us" works.

^A Secondly, when we are already risen from the dead and walk in newness of life. And to explain more briefly and clearly: the first day of death is to have renounced the world; the second is to have renounced even the vices of the flesh; but the fullness of perfection in the light of wisdom is the third day of resurrection. Yet, the Apostle alone—to whom alone the hidden things of the heart are open—can know and discern the differences in these things and the degrees of progress in each of the believers. But look at the wisdom of Paul in his writing; for writing to Timothy he says, "For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him"; and he who joined it to those dying with Christ as something consequent and necessary, that they should also live with him, here added, "we believe," in order to show that although it is consequent and necessary for one who dies with him to live with him, yet this is perfected through faith and belief as a medium. "Knowing," he says, "that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more." For if he were to die again, just as we show it to be consequent and necessary that those who die with him shall also live with him, so it would without doubt seem consequent that if after the resurrection and life he were to die again, those who live with him would also die again with him who is dying. Therefore, the Apostle defines with an absolute statement that Christ "dieth no more," so that those who live with him may also be secure regarding the eternity of life. But after these things (to use the very words of the Apostle, by which he says: "But Isaiah is very bold and saith"), I also say: But Paul is very bold and saith: "Death shall no more have dominion over him." ^B Have you dared, O Paul, to say this concerning Christ, "Death shall no more have dominion over him," as if it had at some time had dominion? His voice is carried through the whole body of the Church clearer than light, whereby he says: "No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself, and I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." Do you say, therefore, that death had dominion over this one who not only laid down his life by his own will, but also took it up by his own power? Who alone was "free among the dead," and whom death alone could not hold? These things, I suppose, and things similar to these will move against Paul those who are held by a tender affection toward Jesus, and who cannot bear to hear anything lowly or unworthy concerning him. But we also, when we look to Paul, do not think that he is someone who could be surpassed by anyone in the love of Christ: and thus it must not be thought that he spoke anything contrary to what is worthy of Him. And therefore, let us inquire more subtly through the grace of the Holy Spirit the word of wisdom, by which we may be able to discern the mind of Paul, or rather, the mind of Christ which is in him, according to what he himself confesses: "But we have the mind of Christ."

^C One can therefore speak more concisely in these matters, saying that here he speaks of this common and intermediate death by which "he died, as the same Apostle says, 'according to the Scriptures,'" and it should seem nothing absurd if he who had taken the form of a servant endured the dominion of death, which without doubt has dominion over all who are placed in the flesh under the servile form. But there also pertains to this assertion that which says that this form of a servant, that is, our own flesh itself, "is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body," without doubt so that death may no longer have dominion over it as it did while it was in weakness, and dishonor, and corruption. For concerning such flesh, which is still in these vices of the passions, Paul himself says: "That flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither shall corruption inherit incorruption." But because in another place the same Apostle called it the "body of death," he who asserts these things says that this is to be understood of this intermediate death which has dominion over such a body as long as it is natural and corruptible, and not yet changed by the glory of the resurrection, and made from corruptible incorruptible, and from ignoble glorious. Furthermore, that which is strongly contrary to this assertion (that is: that we have died with Christ and have been buried with him; which in any way can by no means be understood of this common death), he will try to explain in this way: that just as above, when we were explaining concerning the diversity of laws, we showed the Apostle in one and the same place to call the law now natural, now that of Moses, now also that of sin, and we taught that this is in the use of divine Scripture, even by bringing in other testimonies, so also in the present instance, he is now calling it common death, now that of sin, now also the author of death himself, who also...

^A had the empire of death, that is, the devil, that he might free 16 those who were held by death. For by binding the strong man, and having triumphed over him on his cross, he proceeded even into his house, into the house of death, into hell, and thence he despoiled his vessels, that is, the souls which he was holding, and drew them away. And this is what he himself said through enigmas in the Gospel, saying 28: "Who can enter into the house of the strong man, and despoil his vessels, unless 568 he first shall have bound the strong man?" Therefore, he first bound him on the cross, and thus entered into his house 47, that is, hell, and thence "ascending on high, he led captivity captive" 29, namely those who rose with him, and they entered into the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem 30. Whence the Apostle rightly says in the present passage 31, that "death shall no longer hold dominion over him." For he will not again yield himself to the dominion of the tyrant, nor will he empty ^B himself again that he may receive the form of a servant, and become obedient even unto death; lest 49 he should again, being placed in the form of a servant, although by will and not by necessity, suffer the dominion of the tyrant and of death. Wherefore I wonder that some, contrary to this most evident opinion of Paul, wish to assert that in future ages it is necessary for Christ to suffer the same or similar things, so that those whom in the present life the medicine of his dispensation could not heal may also be set free. For they say: "Can there be any age in the future where neither any good nor any evil is done, but things lie stagnant, and profound silence remains?" They assert that this seems absurd. We will grant, therefore, that something is done. "And where something is done," they say, "it is necessary that something be done rightly, and something less rightly, and in this act ^C some make progress and become better, others worse." For the freedom of the will will always remain for a rational nature, and just as it was possible even for him who was Lucifer because of the splendor of his glory and was rising in the morning because of the light of knowledge 32, to be changed from his glory, and to be made darkness because of the malice which he received; and for him who was immaculate from his birth, and dwelt with the cherubim, and walked in the midst of the stones of fire, and was clothed with every ornament of virtues—nor was there any tree of virtues in the paradise of God that could be compared to him—after these things iniquities were found in him, and he was cast from heaven to earth 33; so ^D

so it may happen that in whatever state a soul may be, and in whatever perfection of virtues, because virtue is mutable, it may incur a fall, just as it is inclined from vices to virtue, so also it may be inclined from virtues to vices. If this is so, it will appear to follow that it requires a physician where there is a malady, because, according to the voice of the Savior himself, there is need of a physician for those who are ill. Those, therefore, who propose these and similar things, judge that the same dispensations must also be repeated by Christ in future ages. But we shall reply to these things briefly as we are able. We do not deny that the rational nature always retains free will; but we assert that the power of the cross of Christ, and of this death which he suffered at the end of the ages, is so great that it suffices for the health and remedy not only of the present and future, but also of past ages, and not only for this human order of ours, but even for the heavenly powers and orders. For according to the sentiment of the Apostle Paul himself, Christ has reconciled ^A “through the blood of his cross not only those things which are on earth, but also those which are in heaven.” But what is it that holds the liberty of the will in future ages, so that it might not again fall into sin? The Apostle teaches us in a short word, saying: “Charity never falleth.” For this reason, charity is also called greater than faith and hope, because it will be the only thing through which it will no longer be possible to sin. For if a soul has ascended to that height of perfection, so that with its whole heart, and with its whole soul, and with all its strength it loves God and its neighbor as itself, where will there be a place for sin? Therefore, finally, it is said in the Law that this is the first commandment, and in the Gospels it is commanded above all other things concerning charity; and when the matter of feeding the sheep was entrusted to Peter, and the Church was founded upon him as upon the earth, no confession of any other virtue is required from him, except that of charity; and John, when he speaks much about charity, also says this: “He who abideth in charity, abideth in God.” And therefore charity, which alone is greater than all things, will deservedly hold every creature from falling. Then shall God be all in all. The Apostle Paul had ascended to this level of perfection, and standing in this, he said confidently: “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ which is in Christ Jesus? Tribulation? Or distress? Or persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or peril? Or the sword?” And again: ^B “For I am certain that neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the charity of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” From all of this it is evidently shown that if all these things which the Apostle enumerated cannot separate us from the charity of God, when a person has ascended to that pinnacle of perfection, much more will liberty of will be unable to separate us from his charity. For although this virtue also exists, and remains in nature, yet the power of charity is so great that it draws all things to itself, and unites and claims for itself all virtues, especially since God, who “did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, and with him hath given us all things,” gave us the causes of charity first. Whence, whether he who was Lucifer, and was rising in heaven, or he who was immaculate from his birth, and being placed with the cherubim could slip before he was bound by the bonds of the charity of the benefits of the Son of God, truly after the charity of God had begun to be poured forth into the hearts of all through the Holy Spirit, it will be certain that which the Apostle proclaimed, that “charity never falleth.” We have said these things as we were able regarding the matters that were stirred up in this place, so that it might be more manifest how Christ once died to sin, and dieth no more; and that he who liveth, liveth unto God. To live unto God, however, is to be understood as if that which ^C he, being placed in the form of God, emptied himself, and took the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, he remains in the form of God, and equal to the Father. Whence he also deservedly puts in the following verses: “So do you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord,” by which, clearly, through the imitation of Christ, we might die to sin, being made alien to it, and live unto God, joining ourselves to him, and being made one spirit with him. But not without cause did he say this: “Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin;” which is indeed held better in the Greek: “Think yourselves to be dead to sin.” For the matter about which there is discourse subsists more in thought and reason, because such a death is to be held not in effect, but in thought. For whoever thinks or reckons himself to be dead before himself, does not sin. For example, if the concupiscence of a woman draws me; if ^D

of silver, if of gold, if of property, should strike, and because it is in my heart that I have died with Christ, and I think of death, concupiscence is continually extinguished and sin is put to flight. Or if I am inflamed by hatred or anger to the swift killing of my enemy, if I should consider myself dead with Christ, and place thoughts of death in my mind, without doubt fury is extinguished, hatred ceases, anger subsides, no place is given to sin, and in this way one is found to die to sin and to live to God. But even this which he ^A added, "Living to God in Christ Jesus," does not seem to me idle. For I think it is the same as if he had said: Living to God in wisdom, in peace, in justice, in sanctification, all of which Christ is. In these things, therefore, to live to God is to live to God in Christ Jesus. But if without justice, without peace, without sanctification and other virtues no one lives to God, it is certain that no one lives to God, unless in Christ Jesus. Amen.

BOOK SIXTH

1. ^B "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to obey the desires thereof, neither yield ye 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 ye are not under the law, but under grace" [Rom. vi, 12-14]. In the preceding he says: "As sin hath reigned in death" [Rom. v, 21]. Now, however, he did not say: "Let not sin therefore reign in death," but he says: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to obey the desires thereof," ^C teaching through this that sin has a certain seat and kingdom in the body. This is what he said also elsewhere: "The carnal mind is enmity against God" [Rom. viii, 7], and again: "To be carnally minded is death" [ibid. 6]. But the Apostle also declares that all sins are works of the flesh, which he says are fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil concupiscence, immodesty, idolatry, witchcraft, hatreds, variances, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. But if you should ask how heresies also are numbered among the works of the flesh, you will find that they proceed from ^D the mind of the flesh. For thus the Apostle says concerning someone: "Vainly," he says, "puffed up by the mind of his flesh, and not holding the Head" [Col. ii, 18, 19]. We have said these things that the understanding might become clearer, as to how sin reigns in the body. For all those things which we have enumerated above as being works of the flesh, are as it were an armed army serving under this king of sin, and obeying his law, which is inscribed in the members of the flesh. For it is certain that because the flesh renders obedience to the desires of sin, "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary one to the other" [Gal. v, 17]. Nevertheless, note this, that showing it to be placed in our power that sin may not reign in our mortal body, the Apostle gives a precept, saying: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to obey the desires thereof" [Rom. vi, 12]. For if it were not in our power that sin should not reign in us, he would not have given such a precept. How then is it possible that sin should not reign in our flesh? If we do that which the same Apostle says: "Mortify your members which are upon the earth" [Col. iii, 5], and if we "always bear about in our body the death of Christ" [cf. II Cor. iv, 10]. For it is certain that where the death of Christ is borne about, sin cannot reign. For the power of the cross of Christ is so great that if it is placed before the eyes and faithfully retained in the mind, so that the eye of the mind, intent upon the death of Christ itself, looks upon it, no concupiscence, no libido, no fury, no envy can overcome; but immediately upon its presence that whole army of sin and flesh which we enumerated above is put to flight: sin itself, indeed, does not even subsist, inasmuch as its substance is nowhere except in work and deeds. There is, therefore, in us both the concupiscence of sin, which has a kingdom in the flesh; and there is the concupiscence of the Spirit, which has a kingdom in the mind, according to what we said above, that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." When, therefore, we lust for what is not allowed, or what is not becoming, or what is not expedient, it is the concupiscence of the flesh. When, however, our soul lusts and fails [towards...]

^A to see the salvation of God, this is the concupiscence of the spirit. From which it appears that the soul is in some way intermediate between the flesh and the spirit; and if indeed it joins itself to the flesh to obey the desires of sin, it becomes one body with it; but if it joins itself to God, it becomes one spirit with Him, according to that which was said: "For he who joins himself to a harlot is one body; but he who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit." And do not wonder if he calls the flesh a harlot, which is subject to all those vices and sins which we have enumerated above, as to the most shameful lovers.

However, I inquire why he added, "in your mortal body," when it would surely have sufficed to say: "Let not sin therefore reign in your body." Why is "mortal" added ^B, as if anyone doubted that the body is mortal? But it seems to me that he did not add this without cause. For by this he advised how it is possible for sin not to reign in the body, according to what he himself had said elsewhere: "The body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness." If, therefore, we know that our body can be mortified, and be dead to sin, it can come to pass that sin does not reign in it. For according to that which is dead, it is said to be justified from sin. For neither does the dead man lust or get angry, or rave, or snatch away others' possessions. If, therefore, we restrain the body from all these concupiscences, the body is said to be dead to sin. And this is what this addition of the Apostle seems to caution in the present passage, saying, "in your mortal body." Perhaps another will say that he named this body in which we now are mortal by way of distinguishing it from another body which is immortal. But the same Apostle teaches what an immortal body is in other places, where he says: "For it is necessary that this corruptible should put on incorruption, and this mortal should put on immortality"; and there is no doubt that, mortality being removed, this very thing which now is mortal becomes an immortal body. After these words, it follows: "Neither yield your members as instruments of iniquity ^C to sin; but yield yourselves to God as though alive from the dead, and your members rather as instruments of righteousness to God." Observe the wisdom of Paul through each point, for he uses necessary distinctions. Where he says that instruments are not to be presented to sin or iniquity, he does not set ourselves, but our members; but where he urges that we should present ourselves to God, he does not wish our members to be presented before we ourselves, that is, our soul or our purpose, are presented to God, so that when we have presented ourselves as pious to God and adhered to Him, thus finally we may also make our members instruments of righteousness to God. For just as hands are called holy that have served for holy works, as the Apostle says: "Lifting up pure hands without wrath and disputation"; and again hands are called full of blood that have served for the shedding of blood: so also in the present passage, the members which serve sin and iniquity are called instruments of iniquity; and again if we mortify the concupiscence of sin in our mortal body, and labor in the work of righteousness, and serve righteousness with all our members, we become as alive from the dead, that is, dead to sin and living to righteousness; and consequently our members also become instruments of righteousness to God. But he well kept the metaphor proposed above: as he had said that sin reigned, he called the members the instruments of sin, and again toward God the King, our members would become instruments of righteousness ^D.

It follows after this: "For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under the law, but under grace." Here too, observe the wonderful caution in the Apostle's speech. When he speaks of us, he says: "Sin shall not have dominion over you"; when he was speaking of the Savior, he did not say: "Sin shall not have dominion" (for it was not fitting to be said of Him in that way), but he says: "Death shall no longer have dominion over Him." For there was a place in Him for death, none for sin. But contrariwise, it was not fitting to be said of us: "Death shall not have dominion over you"; for this we cannot escape; but, "Sin shall not have dominion over you"; which he knew without doubt we were able to avoid, according to those things we said above, if we mortify the concupiscences of the flesh, in which sin could hold dominion. Pro-

- ^A ptere-a" — for he adds: "For you are not under the law, but under grace"— and by these words he clearly shows that we are not under that law which, placed in our members, he says struggles against the law of the mind, for whoever mortifies his members, it is certain that he is not under the law of the members, but under the grace of God. Regarding this law he says elsewhere, "The strength of sin is the law." If, however, anyone wishes to understand these things as referring to the law of Moses, he will without doubt say that we are not under the law of the letter that kills, but under the law of the spirit that gives life, which he here calls grace.

2. "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid." This seems similar to that statement which we expounded above: "What then shall we say? Shall we abide in sin that grace may abound? God forbid." And therefore one and the same explanation should suffice for both places. The only thing that seems to have a difference is that in the former, where he says: "What then? Shall we abide in sin?" it seems as if it were said to those who had not yet departed from sin, lest they remain in that in which they were still seen to be; while here, however, the interrogation seems to be made as if by those who have already departed from sin: and there, as if grace, which was not yet [abundant], might abound; here, however, as though grace were already present, he says, "Because we are not under law, but under grace."

3. "Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto justice?" But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been delivered. Being then made free from sin, you have been made servants of justice. It seems, perhaps, that the phrasing is less than perfect where he says: "You are the servants of him whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto justice," when reason would demand it be said: "You are the servants of him whom you obey, whether of sin or of justice through obedience." But in the case of one who voluntarily confesses his ignorance of speech, ^B I think it superfluous to require the art of composition of words, when the meaning is evident. This, therefore, is what the Apostle teaches in this place, that each one holds in his own hand and in the power of his own will whether he is to be a servant of sin or of justice. For to whichever part he has inclined his obedience, and to whichever part he has willed to submit, this binds him as its servant. In which, as I have said, without any hesitation, he shows that there is freedom of choice in us. For it is our task to exhibit our obedience either to justice or to sin. "No man," however, "can serve two masters at the same time, sin and justice. For he will either hate the one," namely sin, "and love the other," that is, justice: "or he will suffer the one," namely sin only, "and despise the other," that is, justice. Therefore, it is similar to what the Apostle said: "You are his servants whom you obey, whether of sin or of justice." But what is said: "Everyone that committeth sin is the servant of sin," also looks to this, although he did not add, "And everyone that doeth justice is the servant of justice." Which perhaps another might think was omitted, so that it might be understood as if from the consequences. But it seems to me that it was not added intentionally. For it was not fitting to be said that everyone who does justice is a servant of justice. For God Himself does justice, and yet He cannot therefore be called a servant of justice, but the Lord of justice. Therefore, not everyone who does justice is a servant of justice in the way that everyone who does sin is a servant of sin. For even the devil himself is without doubt a servant of sin, in that he departed from the servitude of justice, and rebelled in the sight of the omnipotent Lord, for which reason he is also called an apostate. It is certain, therefore, from these words by which Paul says: "For to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, you are his servants whom you obey, whether of sin or of justice," that we offer ourselves ^C of our own accord, with no one forcing us, either to serve sin or justice through our obedience: and therefore we must always remember these things, so that we do not bring forth empty complaints in excuse of sin, as if the devil had caused us to sin, or the necessity of nature, or a fatal condition, or the course of the stars. But hear Paul’s open pronouncement, in which he says: "To whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, you are his servants whom you obey, whether of sin or of justice." After this: "Thanks be to God," he says, "that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been delivered." It seems that he says this to those whose life and progress he presumes, and of whom he had already said above: "I give thanks to God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is spoken of in the whole world." ^D

^A Then he further shows that all people, at first, serve sin. For so it is written: "Because there is no just man upon the earth who does good and does not sin." For it is necessary first that in every man there be fulfilled what is written: "But when the commandment came, sin revived." But this which follows is said to a few, those who are already being amended, namely what he says: "But thanks be to God, that you were servants of sin, however you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which you were delivered." We were all, therefore, servants of sin; but when the form of doctrine was delivered to us, and to this we chose to obey—not just anyhow, nor with words alone, but with the heart, with the spirit, with the whole devotion—we were liberated from the servitude of sin and are made servants of justice. Whence I fear lest we be more numerous, we who seem to have received the form of the doctrine of justice, and by words or profession seem to obey justice, but with the heart obey sin, while the vices of the flesh still reign in us. ^B And therefore we are in need, before all else, of that mortification of the members about which he taught above. But as for what he said, "the form of doctrine into which you were delivered," I think it must be inquired how each one is delivered. For we find that God delivers those "who do not approve of having God in their knowledge" unto the desires of their own hearts into uncleanness, that they might dishonor their own bodies in themselves, and others who "exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God," He delivers unto "shameful passions," of which we have spoken in their proper places as we have been able. Therefore, these also—those who exhibit themselves as servants of justice through obedience—God has delivered, so that they may be instructed and imbued according to the form of the doctrine of justice. But this also moves me: that he did not say, "You have obeyed from the heart the doctrine into which you were delivered," but he set down "the form of doctrine." Nor do I think the Apostle sensed that the doctrine and the form of doctrine are one and the same; but it seems to me that he knew the form of doctrine to be less than the doctrine itself. And now, indeed, in this present life while we are in this body, and "this earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind that ponders many things," we have the form of doctrine, not the doctrine itself, just as the same Apostle says in other places: "Now, however, we see through a glass in an enigma," whereas the doctrine itself is that of which he speaks: "But then we shall see face to face." Whence, even in the present life, I think that we can attain to a shadow and image of the virtues, but the virtues themselves, only when those things which are perfect have come. And therefore, the just man now, as it seems to me, lives in the shadow of the virtues rather than in the virtues themselves. And perhaps for this reason Jeremiah says in the Lamentations: "Christ the Lord is the spirit of our countenance, to whom we said: In his shadow we shall live among the nations." But if Christ is justice, and wisdom, and truth, and we say, "In his shadow we shall live among the nations," then we live in the shadow of justice, and in the shadow of wisdom, and in the shadow of truth, even if we appear to be just, and wise, and lovers of truth. Therefore it is said: "If anyone thinks he has known, he has not yet known as he ought to know." ^C For perhaps even this Word of God, according to that whereby "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," will be known differently in this present state of life, and differently when that which is perfect has come; and he will be felt now in the form of a servant, but then otherwise in the form of God, and in the equality of the Father. For all these reasons, whether "in the form of doctrine," as the Apostle says, and not yet in the doctrine itself, or "in the shadow of Christ," as Jeremiah named it, and not yet in Christ himself, we seem to live among the nations. "But being freed from sin, you have been made servants of justice." This is an exposition of those things which he said above. For if you no longer serve sin, it is certain that you have been freed from it and made servants of justice. But it is sought who it is that frees from sin. Without doubt, the knowledge of the truth. For so Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him: "If you shall have believed in my word, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall liberate you." The truth, therefore, is what frees from sin, and the knowledge of the truth. It is certain that whoever has been freed from sin serves justice. But what we say, "he serves justice," because justice is one of the choir of virtues, is the same as if we said that if anyone has been freed from sin, he will serve truth, and will serve wisdom, and will serve chastity, and will serve piety. For so I understand that which was said: "Open to me the gates of justice, and having entered into them, I will confess to the Lord." For he who wishes to confess to the Lord does not enter only the gates of justice, but also those of truth, and of wisdom, and of piety, and of chastity. For there is one hall of all the virtues, whose doors ^D the just man requests to have opened to him in the name of justice.

^A “I say human, because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto iniquity, so now yield your members as servants to justice unto sanctification.” * The Apostle strikes a certain shame into his hearers through these words, that they might at least render to justice and sanctification the same obedience which they previously accorded to uncleanness and iniquity. What then is so human, that is, what so light, what so without burden, and what can any infirmity of the flesh excuse even less? “As,” he says, “you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification.” It is indeed inglorious for one to serve virtues in the same way he served vices. For justice must be honored much more amply and with much more intensity. But, he says, I am speaking in a human and common way: I ask the same things, I require similar ones. Your feet were once running to the temples of demons, now let them run to the Church of God. They ran before for shedding [blood], now, however, let them run for delivering it. Hands were stretched out before to plunder the property of others, now let them be stretched out to distribute one’s own. Eyes were looking about before at a woman, or something belonging to another, to lust after it; now let them look about at the poor, the weak, the needy, to show mercy. Ears were delighted by vain hearing, or by the derogation of good men; now let them be turned to hearing the word of God, to the explanation of the law, and to grasping the discipline of wisdom. The tongue that was accustomed to revilings, ^C to curses, and to foul speech, let it now be turned to bless the Lord at all times: let it bring forth sound and honest speech, that it may give grace to the hearers, * and let it speak the truth with its neighbor. But what need is there to pursue these things one by one, when it is plain even to you that you must adapt the ministry of each member, which it exhibited to vices, to the virtues, and convert the action which it exhibited to uncleanness, now to chastity and sanctification? It seems indeed that he has here named justice for all the virtues at once, just as, conversely, he has placed iniquity for all the vices at once. He has added, indeed, “unto sanctification,” that he might commend both the part of chastity and, generally, with the others, that which is in itself special. But also, observe that he signifies everywhere through these the freedom of the will ^D and shows that every one has it in his own power, so that those services which he previously depended upon for iniquity unto iniquity, these, with his purpose converted to the better, he may depend upon for justice and sanctification. ^A 5. “When you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting.” * How one may be a servant of sin has already been sufficiently said in the preceding pages, when we explained that passage: “Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin, or of justice?” * When, therefore, one serves sin, he is free from justice, that is, he is a stranger to justice. For here he calls “free” a stranger, and rightly so. For no one can serve sin and justice at the same time, as the Savior also said, that “no man can serve two masters.” * But we have spoken more fully of these things above. It is certainly to be noted that there is both a culpable freedom and a praiseworthy servitude. For to be free from justice is a crime; but to be a servant to it is praiseworthy. Moreover, what he says about becoming a servant of justice, you should understand also of wisdom, and of piety, and of chastity, and of all the virtues: just as, conversely, he who sins is a servant at once of evil concupiscence, and of anger, and of fury, and of unchastity, and of rapine; and he serves all the vices and crimes at once. Whence we ought to examine ourselves always through every single thing that we do, and in every act consider whom we serve, whether sin unto iniquity, or justice unto sanctification. “What fruit therefore,” he says, “had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death.” * Scripture divine teaches that the fruit of both good and evil things exists, just as the Savior Himself says in the Gospels: “Make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.” * In which the purpose and will of man is seen to be called the tree, whether good or evil, but its fruit to be his works. If any one turns his mind and purpose to justice, he is without doubt ashamed, and he himself marks himself for the prior deeds which he did while placed under sin, because “the end of them is death.” But I ask, what death? It is certain that this is not the common one. For no one after death is turned to justice, or is ashamed for evil deeds done in the past. What then is it? Does he seem to call it the death of sin, because the soul that sins, it shall die? Or is that...

^A more capable of being understood, that he speaks of this death by which we die to sin with Christ, and put an end to vices and crimes, so that on account of this he seems to have said, "the end of these is death"? "But now, having been freed from sin, and having become servants to God, you have your fruit in sanctification, and the end, everlasting life." He compares fruit with fruit: and indeed he declares that the fruits of sin, for which those who are now—that is, after they have been freed from sin and have become servants to God—are ashamed, are ended by death; but he says that the fruits of justice, which are for sanctification, receive everlasting life as their end. In this, first of all, it ought not to be passed over that the fruits for which we are now ashamed, he did not wish to name, in which they might be; but the fruit of those who have been freed from sin and have become servants to God, he says is in sanctification. For the memory of good things should be held more frequently than that of evil. But that he mentioned first about the evil fruits and their end, and afterwards about the fruits which are in sanctification ^B and about their end, which is everlasting life, see that this is similar to that prophetic saying by which He Himself says: "I will kill, and I will make to live"; and again: "I will strike, and I will heal"; and again in Job: "He causes pain, and gives a remedy: He strikes, and His hand heals." All of which look to this, that one must first die with Christ, and thus live again; and first suffer with Him, and thus reign with Him. For unless we first die to sin through repentance, we cannot live to God through justice. But also that which he said above: "But having been freed from sin, you have become servants of justice": but now when he spoke in a similar way, "But having been freed from sin," he did not say in a similar way, "you have become servants of justice," but, "you have become servants to God": this is not an idle distinction. For by this it is shown that after anyone has been freed from sin, he ought to serve justice and all virtues at once first, so that from there he may ascend through progress to this, that he may become a servant to God, although even to serve justice is to serve God. For Christ is justice, and to serve Christ is to serve God. Yet there is an order of progress, and there are ^C indeed degrees in the virtues: and for that reason Christ is said to reign, indeed according to this, that He is justice, until the fullness of virtues is completed in each one; but when the measure of perfection has been fulfilled, then He is said to hand over "the kingdom to God and the Father," so that God may now be "all in all." But I think that this must still be observed (since we said that the Apostle made a distinction of evil fruits and of good fruits) that there, indeed, where he was speaking of evil fruits, he did not say: "You had your fruit in which you are now ashamed," but he said: "What fruit therefore had you?" But where he speaks of good fruits, he adds "your." For so he writes: "You have your fruit in sanctification": by which it seems to me he indicates that the evil fruit, the fruit to be ashamed of and to be repented of, is not our fruit. For God did not plant an evil tree in us which would bring forth evil fruits, just as He Himself says through the prophet: "I planted you a fruitful vine, all true; how then have you turned into the bitterness of a strange vine?" Therefore, even if we bring forth evil fruits, they are not ours, but alien—that is, of sin; but if we bring forth good ^D fruits unto sanctification, those are our fruits. For human nature received from its Creator the ability to bring forth these fruits. For those alien ones are not sown in us by God. But do you wish to know that the Lord does not sow evil fruits? Hear Him saying in the Gospel: "Did we not sow good seed in the field? Whence then has it tares? And he answering said: An enemy has done this." And do you wish to learn still more that these fruits of the flesh are not ours, but alien? The Lord Himself again in the Gospel says: "If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?" Thus, therefore, by the mystery of profound reason, the Apostle, in the case of evil fruit, did not add "your"; but concerning the good, he says: "You have your fruit in sanctification." Moreover, that he calls those whom he names servants of God more perfect than those whom he had first called servants of justice, is also proved by this, that he placed their fruit in sanctification; those who can be understood to be those who have devoted themselves to chastity and continence; but those whom he said were servants of justice can even be seen to be those who are placed in marriages, yet who give effort to justice and all the virtues. But as for everlasting life, although it has often been said by us in other places, nevertheless it must be briefly touched upon in the present, that eternity in the Scriptures is sometimes put for that which does not know an end, and at other times so that in the present age indeed it may not have an end, yet it may have one in the future. Sometimes the space of any time, or even the life of one man, is called eternity, as is that which is written in the law concerning the Hebrew servant: "If he shall love," he says, "his wife, and his children, and shall wish to remain in servitude on account of them,

^A you shall pierce his ear with an awl upon the doorpost, and he shall be your servant forever." "Forever," he says here, without doubt designates the time of a man's life. And again, it is said in Ecclesiastes: "A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth stands forever." Here it shows the time of the present age. But where it says "eternal life," one must look at that which the Savior himself said: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent," and again, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." And the Apostle himself says in other places that we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, "and so we shall always be with the Lord." As, therefore, to be with the Lord always has no end, so also eternal life must be believed to have no end.

6. "For the wages of sin: but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is similar to what he said, "The wages of sin is death," which corresponds to what he had said above, "But the end of those things is death." But of whom? Of those of whom you are now ashamed, whose fruit he does not even deign to name. And again, "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," is similar to that which he said: "You have your fruit unto sanctification, but the end is eternal life." He preserves well the metaphor—that is, the figure of the warfare introduced at the beginning—so that for those fighting under the king who is sin, ^B or rather, more specifically, for those obeying his tyranny, he says that the due wages of death are paid out. It was not worthy of God to give his soldiers wages as if they were a debt, but a gift and grace, which is "eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." I do not think it is trivial that he added "in Christ Jesus our Lord" to eternal life, but because perhaps he wished it to be known that eternal life is one thing, and eternal life in Christ Jesus is another. For even those who will rise to shame and everlasting reproach will indeed have eternal life, but not in Christ Jesus; rather, they will exist in shame ^C and eternal reproach. But the righteous, who will rise to eternal life in Christ Jesus, will have eternal life. Therefore, sin distributes to its soldiers, in whom it reigns, wages worthy of death. We do not call this death bodily, but that ^A of which it is written, "For the soul that sins, it shall die." And although much has already been said by us concerning the diversity of death, nevertheless, because the present passage has admonished us, it is neither burdensome for me to repeat the same things more clearly, nor tiresome for the readers to collect into one things that were said dispersedly. Death in the Scriptures is one name, but it signifies many things. For the separation of the body from the soul is called death. But this can be called neither evil nor good; for it is intermediate, which is called indifferent. And again, the separation of the soul from God is called death, which comes through sin. This is openly evil, which is also called the wages of sin. God did not make this death, nor does he take pleasure in the destruction of the living; but by the envy of the devil this death entered into the world. And again, the devil himself, the author of this death, is called death, and he is the one who is said to be the last enemy of Christ to be destroyed. But the place of the underworld, in which souls were detained by death, is also itself called death. Indeed, that death is also mentioned into which one is buried, through which the improvement of the soul is made and eternal life is sought. Since, therefore, there is such a difference in this one name of death, if you hear God saying, "I will kill, and I will make alive," you ought to understand which death it is that it becomes God to inflict: it is, without doubt, that which confers life—that is, that one should die to sin and live to God. "When he slew them," he says, "they sought him, and returned." Showing most clearly by this that ^C whomever God kills, he kills for this reason: that he may die to sin and seek God. Thus I also hear that which is written, that God slew Er, the son of Judah, because he was wicked; and whatever else of this kind we read written concerning God. So too the Apostle delivered the sinner to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be made saved—that is, that he might die to sin and live to God. In the present passage, therefore, the wages that sin gives are said to be death: not that death which separates the body from the soul, but that by which the soul is separated from God through sin. And again, we are said to be baptized into the death of Christ, into that death, without doubt, by which he died once to sin, so that we also may be separated from sin and live to God. For whoever dies by such a death is said to be justified from sin. Thus, therefore, one must hold a distinction.

that God, even if He is said to kill and to hand over to death, is such a kind of death that is given by God, that it confers life. For nothing evil is given by the Good, although it may be sad, although it may be full of pain, yet it is brought in with a view to healing, and with the contemplation of health, so that the severity of austerity may separate the soul, which the enticement and sweetness of sin had separated from God, from sin itself. On the contrary, however, whatever sin may have given, whatever it may have conferred, is death to the soul, even if it lavishes wages.

7. “Do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law) that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For a woman who is under a husband is bound by the law to her husband while he is alive. But if the husband has died, she is released from the law of the husband. Therefore, while the husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress if she is with another man. But if the husband has died, she is freed from the law of the husband, so that she is no longer an adulteress if she is with another man. Therefore, my brothers, you also have been made to die to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another who was raised from the dead, that we may bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were through the law, were working in our members to bear fruit unto death. But now we have been released from the law of death, in which we were held, so that we should serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” ^A Discussing more broadly in the preceding sections about faith and the law, he shows that the faith is to be preferred in every way of those only who believe “in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” After this, he subjoins what their conversion ought to be, in which he discussed both the sin of Adam and the justice of Christ; but he also disputed about servitude and liberty, by which one serves either justice and is free from sin, or serves sin and is free from justice. ^B Now, therefore, after a certain digression that was treated more broadly, he returns again to the treatise of the law and Christ, discussing certain such things in the present place: which, repeating them a little, we will first attempt to open up according to the sequence of the letter: then also we will inquire, as far as we are able, what virtue each word possesses. I speak, he says, to you who have the knowledge of the law and who know that its sense is not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit: this is, “I speak to those who know the law,” and I appeal to you, because of this knowledge of the law, “brothers”; and I say: “Do you not know that the law has dominion over everyone who is enslaved and serves it, just as a husband does to the woman joined to him; and just as in all her life he has dominion over the woman by the ^C laws joined to her, so also to the man who is under the law, as long as he lives and is strong, the law has dominion.” But just as to a man, to whose laws a woman had been subject, if it happens that he dies, the woman is made free and is released from the power of the husband, so also he who is under the law, if it happens that the law dies, he is made free from the works of the law: and as the woman who is released from the laws of her former husband has the liberty to be joined to another husband, so also he who lived under the power of the law, when he sees the letter dead, has the power to be joined to the living Word as to a husband. But if the woman should wish to leave the former husband while he is still alive and be joined to another, she will without doubt be called an adulteress. What applies in a similar form also to him who deserts the law as a living husband and joins himself to another. But these things, as I said, “I speak to those who know the law, brothers,” so that you may understand that you also have left the law as a dead husband. But the death of that one is through the coming of Christ and the assumption of His body, through which you have been made of another, that is, joined to another husband, namely to Him who was raised from the dead and does not again receive death, as that former husband, that is, the law, received it. You, therefore, have now become the bride of that husband who was raised from the dead: and for this reason you ought to live according to His will, because we are no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit, even if at times, being placed in the flesh, we were urged by the passions of sin and the flesh; which passions, through the occasion of the law, were bearing fruit in our members, not to God, but to death, to that death which God did not make. Now, therefore, just as when a husband dies, the woman is free and released from the law of the husband, so also we have been made free from the law which seemed to have dominion over us as a husband. To which law, without a doubt, we have also died, and are alien to the condition of it in which we were held, so that now after these things we may “serve not in the oldness of the letter” as before, but “in the newness of the spirit”: which Spirit we have received from our Bridegroom as a nuptial pledge, just as it says elsewhere: “Who gave us the pledge of the Spirit.” ^D This is the order of the eloquence, and this is the composition of the apostolic discourse. But now, repeating what has been said, let us discuss them one by one. “Do you not know,” he says, “brothers (for I speak to those who know the law) that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” He has a hyperbaton immediately at the beginning, which is rendered thus: “Do you not know, brothers, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” and after these things is rendered that which is inserted in the middle: “For I speak to those who know the law.” But what he said: “I speak to those who know the law,” is similar to that

which he says a little later: “But we know that the law is spiritual.” Yet, not only Paul knew ^A that the law was spiritual, but also those who were instructed by him—who, however, were spiritual, of whom he says: “The spiritual man examines all things.” For I cannot pronounce that those among the Galatians know the law to be spiritual, of whom he says: “O foolish Galatians!” unless perhaps they did know it when they had begun in the Spirit; but they did not remain in this knowledge, because they were perfected by the flesh. Now the doctrine of the Apostles, and of those who were instructed by them to teach, was of such a kind that it taught men to serve the law “not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit.” And I believe that not only the apostles, but also the prophets, and those who were at that time wise among the people of God, felt this, because the law is spiritual, even if, for the sake of the multitude, they seemed to observe [the law] carnally. Nor is this surprising, since even Paul himself says: “For I have become to the Jews as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews.” Thus, therefore, many among the former people were progressing in spiritual knowledge, and were seeing the glory of the Word of God, just as Isaiah is recorded to have seen the glory of the Son of God, as John testifies when he says: “But Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory.” ^B It is, therefore, to those who know the law that Paul speaks—that is, to those who know what the oldness of the letter is in the law, and the newness of the spirit; for he who knows this well, knows without doubt that the law dominates a man as long as he lives, just as a husband [dominates] a wife; and just as by the death of her husband a woman is freed from the law of marriage, and receives the liberty to join herself to another husband, so also the soul whose husband is the law, when it discovers the oldness of the letter in the law—because that which is growing old is near to destruction—sees it as a dead law, and according to the letter receives the right of being wedded to another husband, who is the spirit of the law: “For the Lord is the Spirit.” But what he said: “The law dominates a man as long as he lives,” refers not to the man, but to the law. For he indicates this also in what follows, where he says: “While the husband lives, she is bound by the law,” and the same order fully declares the example which was assumed: for he placed the law in the place of the husband, and says of her: “But if the husband ^C is dead, she is released from the law of the husband.” If, however, this is understood of the apostles, or of those who believed from the circumcision, no question will be stirred up, for it is clear that they had the law as a husband, under whose power they lived. But when the “fullness of time” came, the law began to be enfeebled in the flesh, and death followed that infirmity; and if any who had lived under the power of this husband as a wife, the letter being dead, are wedded to the spirit, they believe in Christ. But those who believed in the Lord from among the Gentiles will not be seen to have lived under this husband—that is, under the power of the law—nor to have had the word of the law as a husband. Testimony to this matter—that is, that those who are from the circumcision were under a husband, but those who are from among the Gentiles were without a husband—Isaiah declares, saying: “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear, break forth and cry, you who are not in labor! For many are the children of the desolate ^D more than of her who has a husband.” He says there are more children of the desolate than of her who has a husband, because many more from the Gentiles than from the circumcision have believed; and he shows that she who has a husband is the Synagogue, which has the law; but the desolate, and the wandering, and living without any power of the law, is the multitude of the Gentiles, which also was barren, producing the offspring of no legitimate word. Therefore, a man who lives under the law is placed by the Apostle in these [passages] as a woman who is under a husband. But he poses the word of the law as the husband, whom, however, he calls a dead husband, which is the word of the law according to the letter. But how he is dead must be well considered. It can indeed be seen in this way also that he is dead, when spiritual understanding excludes and, as it were, kills the corporal [understanding], and shows that the killing letter must be avoided, and the life-giving spirit must be followed. But in this way also this husband will be approved of as being more evidently dead. For indeed, as long as the law bore the shadow of future good things, and the type and image of celestial worship was carried out in earthly Jerusalem, and the altar remained, and the priesthood, the word of the law—namely the letter—was seen to live. For Christ had not yet entered into the holy places not made by hands, nor had he approached the inner veil, which toward the Hebrews the Apostle…

^A interprets as the flesh of Christ. But where the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, there his presence caused the earthly Jerusalem with its temple 63 and altar, and all things that were performed there, to be overthrown. Then her husband died, that is, the law according to the letter. For is it not justly said in this regard that the speech of the law is dead, seeing that no sacrifices, no priesthood, no ministries of the Levitical order are offered to it? It cannot punish a murderer, nor stone an adulteress 64: for the Roman power claims these things for itself; and do you still doubt whether the law according to the letter is dead? Every male does not go up three times a year to appear before the Lord 65; no sheep is slaughtered in the city on the feast of the Passover which the Lord God is thought to have chosen; no sheaves of first-fruits are offered, no oblation is celebrated; no leprosy is purified, no uncleanness is purged 66. And can it be doubted in all these things that the letter of the law is dead? Since, therefore, it has become clear through all these things that the former husband is dead, there is no transgression for Christ to be joined as to another husband, just as it is no crime for a woman if, upon the death of her former husband, she enters into a second marriage. And for this reason he says: "Therefore if, while the husband is alive, she will be named an adulteress if she is with another man," in order to show that even the soul of man, if it has now come to Christ, and is joined to Christ as to a second husband, in no way should it live for the oldness of the letter, which is as it were the former husband, lest perhaps if it holds him alive within itself, it be made an adulteress, since it is joined to a second in such a way that the former 67 still lived for it. This is what he said through another figure also in the preceding ^B section, that it is necessary first to die, and so to be buried together with Christ. Finally, he also adds this in the following parts: "Therefore, my brethren, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be of another who has risen from the dead, that we may bear fruit to God 68." You see how, although a diversity of figures is seen, all things are nevertheless brought back to one meaning. For the fact that he says the law is dead to us, he intends to be understood as the same thing as the fact that we also have died to the law through the body of Christ, in which body 69 "he took away our iniquities, and bore our sins 60," and in which "he put off principalities and powers, triumphing over them in himself 61." We must therefore hasten to these second nuptials, which are far more blessed than the first. And see if perhaps even then the law did not somehow foreshadow this in that it commanded 70 that a woman, when her former husband had died, from whom she had not received seed (for such had been one who could not bring forth fruit), should be ordered to marry his brother 62. For the brother of the letter of the law ^C is seen to be the law according to the spirit, that the woman might bring forth fruit from him more properly. But these things will be sought more fully in their own places. Now, however, as we have said, one must first die to the law of the letter, so that we may thus be joined to Christ, who has risen from the dead. But it can happen that this may be understood not only concerning the law of Moses which is according to the letter, but concerning every man 71: for it is certain that by whatever institutions, by whatever customs he is led, he is to be believed to live as if under this law which he uses: to which at any rate either he himself must die, or she to him 72, lest perhaps the soul placed under another husband, when coming to Christ, may seem not so much to enter into his marriage as to be made an adulteress, inasmuch as it lives by the laws of the former 73 husband. Which the Apostle, however, brings to the same meaning 74 of explanation by another figure again. For he subjoins: "For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were through the law were working in our members to bear fruit unto death. But now we are released from the law of death, in which we were held, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." It appears even in these, as ^D we said in the preceding section by the example of a certain likeness 75, that Paul turns from one subject to another with uncertain and hidden steps. For since in the preceding section he had argued about the law of the letter, which indeed seemed to pertain only to those who had believed from the circumcision: now, by a certain hidden turn of the flesh and of vices, he discusses the law.

^A For this reason, it is clear that this treatment should be seen to pertain also to other men, not only to those who are from the circumcision. He says, therefore: *For when we were in the flesh.* And indeed, so far as the matter is concerned, he was saying these things while placed in the flesh: but *when we were in the flesh, that is, when we were living according to the flesh, the vices of sins which were through the law were working in our members.* What is this law through which the vices of sin are working (76)? Does the law of Moses, even if it is observed according to the letter, generate the vices of sins? But it is manifest that he is speaking of that law in the members which resists (77) the law of the mind, about which we have also treated before, and how the law entered in so that sin might abound. Therefore, it is this very law that causes, in those who live according to the flesh, the vices of sins to abound so that they might bear fruit unto death (78). For this is the purpose of that law in our members, that, resisting the law of the mind, it might lead us captive to sin and offer these fruits unto death. *But now we have been loosed from the law of death, in which we were detained.* Therefore, we have now been loosed from this law in which we were detained. "Now." When? ^B Without doubt, when we died with Christ and were buried with him (79) through baptism, and were crucified with him; and therefore he says: *We have been loosed from the law of death (80).* For unless someone has died with Christ, he is not loosed from this law. I know it is written in other copies: *From the law of death, in which we were detained;* but this, that is, "died," is both truer and more correct. But what he adds in the conclusion: *So that we may serve in the newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter,* which without doubt seems to be said about the law of the letter, can be understood in this consequential way (81). While placed in the flesh, and living according to the flesh, on account of the vices of sins, which that law that was in our members nourished so that they might bear fruit unto death, we could not serve the newness of the spirit while that law of the members lived in us; no, while we were living according to it. But where Christ has died for us, and we have died with him to sin, we have been liberated and are now able to serve the law of God; but to serve ^C in the newness of the spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. For Christ did not therefore draw us away from the law of sin, so that we might serve the oldness of the letter, that is, that we might receive circumcision and Sabbaths and the rest of the things which the oldness of the letter of the law contains: but so that we might serve the law of God in the newness of the spirit, that is, that from all things which are written in it we might take the spiritual sense through the Spirit’s granting it, just as the same Apostle says in other places, that *a veil is placed upon the face of Moses: but when one has been converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. For the Lord is the spirit. But where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.* I know, indeed, that some, understanding the "newness of the spirit" wrongly (83), have dragged it to mean that the Spirit is "new," as if He were not before, and had not been known to those of old: and they do not know that in this they blaspheme most gravely. For He himself is the Spirit who is in the law, He himself is in the Gospel, He himself is always with the Father and the Son, and always is, and was, and will be, just as the Father and the Son. Therefore, He himself is not new, but He makes believers new, when He leads them from old evils to a new life and the new observance of the religion (84) of Christ, and makes them spiritual instead of carnal. 8. *What then shall we say? Is the law sin? God forbid. But I did not know sin, except through the law. For I did not know concupiscence unless the law said: Thou shalt not covet. And taking occasion, sin worked in me through the commandment all concupiscence. For without the law, sin was dead. But I was living without the law at one time. But when the commandment came, sin revived. But I died: and the commandment, which was to life, was found for me to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion through the commandment, seduced me, and through it killed me. Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. What then is good, is death to me (85)? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear as sin, through the good worked death in me, that the sinner might become above measure*—the sin itself—*through the commandment.* In these places it is necessary for us to warn often about the diversities of the laws (86). For this is what ^D Paul wills, who under the one name of "law" moves the sense from one to another.

^A to that which those who are divinely inspired (88) proclaim, in a way that is not contrary to the purpose upon which the prophetic Scriptures also stand.

For there are, according to the Scripture, words that are homonymous even in regard to other things. It is these that confuse those who think that, just because the name is one, the signified thing is also one, wherever this name may be pronounced. But that the word "law" is established not for one thing, but for many—having passed over many things that require demonstration and having an objection requiring a solution—we shall produce things sufficient to persuade anyone, the word "law" being applied to many things. For instance, when it is said in the Epistle to the Galatians: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to do them." It is clear that the law according to the letter of Moses is signified, which is mandatory regarding things that ought to be done and prohibitive regarding things that ought not to be done by those subject to it.

The same thing is signified in the same Epistle where it says: "For the law was ordained because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom it was promised, having been ordained through angels in the hand of a Mediator." And where it says: "So the law has become our tutor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith; but when faith came, we are no longer under a tutor, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." The history recorded by Moses is also signified by the word "law," as can be taken from the same Epistle: "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-woman and one by the free woman; but the one by the slave-woman was born according to the flesh, but the one by the free woman through the promise."

So too are the Psalms named "law," as is clear from: "That the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, that they hated me without a cause." But even the prophecy of Isaiah is called "law" by the Apostle, who says: "In the law it is written: I will speak to this people in strange tongues and with strange lips, and not even so will they listen to me, says the Lord." For I found the equivalents to this expression placed in the translation of Aquila. The more mystical and divine understanding of the law is also called law, as in: "For we know that the law is spiritual." Beyond all these, the law sown in the soul according to common notions is called law, and as the Scripture names it, "written on their heart," which is mandatory regarding things that ought to be done, and prohibitive regarding things that ought not to be done. And this is also signified in: "For when the Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness."

For the law written in the hearts, even in Gentiles who by nature do the things of the law, is no other than that which is written by nature according to common notions on our ruling faculty, and which becomes clearer after the completion of the word upon any given day. This was the signified meaning of the law also in: "Sin is not imputed when there is no law," and in: "I would not have known sin if not through the law." For even before the law of Moses, sin was imputed to Cain, and to those who suffered the flood, and moreover to the Sodomites, and to countless others; and many knew sin even before the law of Moses.

And do not marvel if two significations of the one name of "law" have been taken up in the same place. For we shall find this habit in other Scriptures too: as, "Do you not say that it is four months, and the harvest comes? Lift up your eyes and behold the fields, for they are white for harvest already." For the harvest, named twice, is referred in the first instance to the physical, but in the second to the spiritual. You will find the same thing also in the case of the blind ^B man healed from birth, to whom He adds, for the one who became blind physically: "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see might see, and those who see might become blind."

So also: "Now apart from the law of nature, the righteousness of God has been manifested, but testified to by the law of Moses and the prophets." And I would say to those who still hesitate to accept the double meaning of the law that, if the same law is taken up in: "But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested," and in "testified to by the law and the prophets," if it is manifested apart from the law, it is not testified to by the law; but if it is testified to by the law, it is not manifested apart from the law. Therefore, to the righteousness of God being manifested by Jesus Christ, the law of nature does not testify at all—for it is lesser than it—but the law of Moses does, not the letter, but the spirit, and the prophets proportional to the spirit of the law. And the spiritual words in them; therefore, one who reads the divine Scripture must carefully keep in mind that the Scriptures do not always use the same words for the same things; they do this sometimes because of homonymy, sometimes because of tropology, and sometimes because the context requires the word to be used differently in certain places than how it lies in others. And if we keep this carefully, we shall be liberated from many mistakes and misinterpretations.

One must therefore recognize that the word "to see" does not always lie on the same thing. But sometimes it lies on seeing physically, sometimes instead of "to understand." For it must be known systematically that, because the intent is to conceal and not to expound openly the meanings of truth, the Spirit in the prophets, and the word of Christ in the apostles, is often obscured by the wording, and is not spoken as if under one sequence, so that those who are unworthy might not find to the judgment of their own souls those things that remain appropriately hidden for them. And this is often the cause of the whole Scripture seeming not to have order or sequence, especially, as we have said before, the prophetic and the apostolic. And most especially the Epistle to the Romans of the Apostolic [writings], in which the things concerning the law are named differently and placed upon different matters, such that Paul seems not to keep to the purpose set before him in the writing of the Epistle.

"What then? Is the law sin?" (Rom. vii, 7.) The way that "law" is one name does not mean that the discourse of Scripture about the law is everywhere the same. Wherefore in individual places there is a need to follow it accurately and contemplate it, and to perpend now what is signified by the name of law, now indeed what that thing is.

But this must also be maintained regarding many other words. For in Scripture, there are words that have received the same appellation for the signifying of other things, which confuse those who think that, just as the word is one, so the signified is one, wherever the name has a place. But that the word "law" is not set for the same signifying, but for many, many things being passed over—which for the sake of the entangled senses that require unraveling call for effort and study—we shall set forth those things that can settle everyone, as the word of the law is placed for many [to be signified]: as when it is said in the Epistle to the Galatians: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written: Exsecrable is he who does not adhere to all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them" (Gal. iii, 10). It is plain that by these words is signified the law of Moses.

^A Cain his sin and said: "My sin is greater than that I should be forgiven" (Gen. iv, 13)? Or by which did Pharaoh acknowledge his sin and say: "The Lord is just, but I and my people are wicked" (Exod. ix, 27)? But if all these, and countless others before the law of Moses, acknowledged their sin, then without doubt it will not be the law of Moses of which the Apostle says: "I did not know sin except through the law" (Rom. vii, 7); and of which he says: <"I did not know covetousness unless the law said: Thou shalt not covet">; but it is that law of which we have frequently spoken, which is ^B "written in the hearts of men, not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God" (II Cor. iii, 3), and teaches each one what is to be done and what is to be avoided. It is, therefore, that [law] through which man acknowledges his sin. He clearly says here that the natural law is ignored by us for so long as, in the process of age, ^A the law of Moses, which commands things to be done to those who are subject to it. But this is declared in the same Epistle, and in these words: "The law was ordained because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator" (Gal. iii, 19); and in these: "So that the law was our schoolmaster in Christ, that we might be justified by faith: but when faith came, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. iii, 24 seq.). By the name of the law is also signified the history described among Moses, just as we learn from that same Epistle in these words: "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written: Abraham had two sons, one by a bondwoman, and one by a freewoman; but he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh; but he who was of the freewoman, by promise" (Gal. iv, 21 seq.). I know also that the Psalms are called the law, as is plain from these words: "That the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law: That they hated me without cause" (Joan. xv, 25). But the prophecy of Isaiah is also called the law by the Apostle, saying: "In the law it is written: For with other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and neither so will they hear me, saith the Lord" (I Cor. xiv, 21). For I have found in the interpretation of Aquila that which would respond equally to this saying. Also termed the law is a more abstruse and divine intelligence of the law, as in this place: "For we know that the law is spiritual" (Rom. vii, 14). To these is added the law which, according to the common sense, is implanted in the soul, and, as Scripture speaks, is written upon the heart, commanding what is to be done and forbidding what is not to be done, which is also declared in these words: ^C "For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law: these, having not the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them" (Rom. ii, 14, 15). For the law that is written in the hearts, and the nature in the Gentiles which the law commands to those who perform it, is not other than that which, according to common sense, is by nature inscribed upon the ruling part of us, and which daily grows more mature and solid with the perfection and consummation of reason. This was the signification of the law in this place: "For sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Rom. v, 13); and in this: "I did not know sin except through the law" (Rom. vii, 7); for before the law of Moses, sin was imputed both to Cain, and to those who were swallowed by the flood, and to the Sodomites, and to countless others. And many before the law of Moses acknowledged sin. Nor should you wonder that two significations of the word law are received in the same place. For we shall find this custom in other Scriptures also; just as: "Do you not say that there are four ^D months until the harvest comes? Lift up your eyes and see the regions, for they are already white for the harvest" (Joan. iv, 35). For the harvest is named twice: first, it is referred to the bodily harvest, but later to the harvest of the spirit. Moreover, you will find a similar thing in the man born blind who was healed by Him, to whom He speaks these words, though he was blind in body: "I am come into this world for judgment, that they who see not may see, and they who see may become blind" (Joan. ix, 39). So also: "But now without the law the justice of God has appeared, being witnessed by the law of Moses and the prophets" (Rom. iii, 21); indeed I would say to those who doubt that this receives a double signification of the law, if the same law is accepted both in this place, "But now without the law the justice of God has shone forth," and in that, "witnessed by the law and the prophets." If it appeared without the law, it is not witnessed by the testimony of the law; but if it is proven by the testimony of the law, it has not been declared without the law. Therefore, the justice of God, which has been declared by Jesus Christ, the law of nature in no way proves by its own testimony: for it is lesser than it. But the law of Moses—not the letter, but the spirit—and the prophets who respond to the spirit of the law, and the spiritual discourses which are in them. Wherefore, he who peruses the divine Scriptures must observe diligently that they do not always use the same words and do not always treat the same things; which they sometimes do by cognomination, sometimes by a figurative manner, and sometimes because of the context of the speech, which demands that the expression be used differently in some places than it is placed in others. For if we observe this attentively, we shall avoid many lapses and sinister interpretations. Therefore, it must be known that "to see" is not always used in the same signification, but sometimes it is used for the vision of the body, and at other times it is the same as "to understand." For this must be known universally, that since it has been decreed by the Spirit who speaks in the prophets to hide, and not to expose openly, the senses of truth—as with the word of Christ, in the apostles—it is often even mingled under the locution, and is not woven as if under one series of discourse, so that, evidently, the unworthy may not find for the judgment of their own soul those things which were usefully hidden from them. This is the reason why, for the most part, the Scriptures seem not to cohere with a sufficiently apt composition and sequence, especially, as we said above, in the prophetic and apostolic [writings], particularly the Epistle to the Romans, in which the things that are said about the law are said in diverse ways and are imposed upon diverse matters, so that Paul appears in that Epistle not to follow through with the proposed subject.

We know how to discern between good and evil, and we listen to our conscience. ^A For it speaks to us within our conscience, and says: "You shall not covet." But because this law is not found in man always and from the beginning as he is born, but for a time, while his age does not yet allow it, life is lived without this law, just as Paul himself confesses when he says: "I was alive without the law once," in that time when we lived without the law, we did not know concupiscence. He did not say "I did not have it," but said, "I did not know it," as if it existed indeed, yet the fact that it was concupiscence was ignored. But when reason arrived, and natural law found a place in us in the progress of age, it began to teach us what things were good and to forbid us from evils. Therefore, while it says, "You shall not covet," which we did not know before, we learn from it itself that concupiscence is evil. "But taking occasion, sin worked in me through the commandment all manner of concupiscence." That law of which he says that he did not know concupiscence, unless the law said, "You shall not covet," is also called ^B a commandment. He says, therefore, that by the occasion of this commandment, by which we are forbidden to covet, sin flared up most violently in us and worked in us all manner of concupiscence. For in that state in which the flesh covets against the spirit, that is, against the law which says, "You shall not covet," it also struggles against it, and in a way wages a battle, so that it not only satisfies concupiscence, but also overcomes the adversary. This, therefore, is the occasion which he says comes from the commandment. For I do not know how it is that those things which are forbidden are desired more ardently; and therefore, when the commandment is holy, and just, and good (for what forbids evil is necessarily good), while, by forbidding concupiscence, it provokes and inflames it more, it created death for me through what is good. Yet the Apostle indicates in these words that the origin of sin arose from concupiscence, while the law—whether of Moses, which says: "You shall not covet," or even, as we explained above, the natural law—forbids it, and that which is forbidden is sought all the more contentiously. ^C It should be known, indeed, that concupiscence is put here as blameworthy. But in many things it is also praiseworthy, as we showed above. "For without the law sin is dead. But I was alive without the law sometime." But when the commandment came, sin revived. "And I died; and the commandment, which was for life, was found for me to be for death." Almost all these things have already been fully treated above; so, lest we repeat the same things too often, we shall briefly recall to memory what has been said. Now, that sin is dead in us without the law—that is, before a reasonable sense grew strong within us through age—we showed, when we also adduced the example of a boy striking his father or mother, or cursing them. In which, according to the law that indeed prohibits the striking or cursing of a father or mother, it seems that a sin is committed; but that sin is said to be dead, because the law is not yet present in the boy ^D which might teach him that what he is doing is not allowed. Without this law, it is certain that both Paul and all men have lived at some time, that is, in the age of childhood. For all exist in the same way during that time, not yet capable of this natural law. For it would certainly not seem that Paul's profession about this was true. For how could it be proven that Paul once lived without the law of Moses, when he himself confesses that he is a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and circumcised on the eighth day according to the precepts of the law? But in this way, which we have described, he himself also lived without natural law in his childhood. In which time he did not say that there was no sin in man, but that it was dead, and revived later when natural law arrived and began to forbid concupiscence: which law, like one who is dead, raised up sin. For the nature of sin is such that if that which the law forbids is done, it increases. Therefore, sin reviving, "I," he says, "died." I. Who? The soul, undoubtedly, which had done what the law forbade to be done: for the soul "which sins," as the prophet says, "it shall die." The commandment, therefore, which had been given for life, was found, to be sure, for the soul, so that it might teach it the works of life, to have yielded to death for it, since it did not so much shun what was forbidden as it sought it more ardently. However, it moves me in these things how he said that sin was dead and revived. For it seems that one cannot be called dead unless it once lived and afterwards lacked life. But this very thing which he says, "revived," does not teach that life was recently given, but that a previous life was restored: for the word itself, "revived," re-

^A signifies that it had lived. If, therefore, sin is said to have revived in the soul, how do those who introduce from this discourse of the Apostle the dogma of metempsychosis—which teaches that the souls of men previously existed in cattle, or birds, or fish, and thus came to men—how do they explain that the Apostle said, "I was alive without the law once," as though one who, before he came into this human body, lived in that order (for example) of birds or animals, where there is no law? How, I ask, will they be able to answer this, when he states that sin, not newly arisen in the soul, but what was dead, has revived? And it is certain that he who revives lived at some time. Therefore, the soul will never be seen to have been in that order where sin could neither have existed without the law nor have lived. Let these things be said against those who draw the Apostle's discourse toward an impious dogma. But we say ^B that this death of sin was given by the grace of God at the time when we lived without the law. And even if, when the commandment came, which is holy, and just, and good, sin revived in us and slew us ("for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me"), this is not an accusation against the commandment for the reason that it says sin came by the commandment as the occasion by which it slew me, but this is the consequence of this statement. The law is called that which teaches what ought to be done, what should be avoided; and it is necessary that it teach what that thing is which it says should be avoided, so that it may be more easily avoided by this means. For no one can avoid what he does not know. ^C If, therefore, anyone, having been taught by the law what that thing is which he ought to avoid, does not so much avoid it as do it, he will seem to have received the knowledge of not doing the thing because of the law: but the law did not teach him for this reason, that he should do what he ought not, and die; but that he should not do it, and live. Thus, then, "sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me." Or certainly, because he said, "Sin, by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me," sin here can mean either the author of sin himself, of whom it is written: "The serpent deceived me," or he may have fashioned the person of sin, which might appear to have deceived man by the occasion of the commandment, so as to make concupiscence sweet, and (while the soul is delighted by the sweetness of concupiscence, by transgressing the commandment which said, "Thou shalt not covet") ^D brings about death. But lest anyone should attribute this to the mandate of the law, the Apostle adds and says: "Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." For the commandment itself is good, and the law is holy. For it commands good things, and mandates the observance of good things. "What therefore," he says, "is good, is death to me? God forbid." He refutes the objection necessarily arising, and says: Not that the good of the law and the commandment brought death to me; "but sin," he says, "that it might appear how iniquitous it is, by the good brought death to me." For the commandment is good when it is kept: but if it is not kept, it will necessarily be evil to him who has lost the good. Thus that same sin becomes "exceeding sinful" by the occasion of the commandment. We have said also above that he fashioned as it were a person of sin, and speaks of sin itself being made exceeding sinful, of whose person he speaks, by the occasion of the commandment. For it is less of a sin if you admit that which is not forbidden. But if you have committed things forbidden and interdicted, you are, so to speak, an exceeding sinner: because not only have you committed what you ought not, but you have also transgressed the precept. But as for what we said, "sin as a sinner," we preferred to accept a fault of style rather than to fail to express the sense of the Apostle intact: because in the Latin language the noun for sin (*peccatum*) constrained us, which is declined in the neuter gender: 584 in Greek, however, it is feminine; and therefore we called it *peccatorem* (sinner): for there it can be called *peccatrix* (female sinner).

9. "We know indeed that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I work, I do not know: for not what I will, that I do; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not, I consent to the law, that it is good. Now then it is no longer I that work it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that there does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh, good. For to will is present with me, but to perform what is good I do not find. For not what I will do I good; but what I will not, evil, that I do. If then I do what I will not, no longer do I work it, but sin that dwells in me. I find therefore the law, that to me, willing to do good, evil is present. For I am delighted with the law of God according to the inward man."

I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind, and leading me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members. Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. ^A If anyone perchance thought that the exposition which we have held concerning the diversity of the laws was violently presumed, let him now observe in this chapter how a diversity not only of laws but also of persons is introduced. For Paul, who said in other places, *For walking in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh*, in the present passage says that he is carnal, and here says that he is sold under sin, he who in other places said: *You were bought with a price*; and again: *Christ has redeemed us*; and in return in other places he says: *But I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me*. And again he who says, *Because of his Spirit dwelling in us*, now says: *Because that which is good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh*. But if that which is good does not dwell in his flesh, how does he say that our body is the temple of God and the temple of the Holy Spirit? But also the other things in which he confesses that he is held captive ^B by the law which is in his members, and fights against the law of his mind, and is led captive in the law of sin, how do they agree with apostolic dignity, and especially with Paul, in whom Christ both lives and speaks? But let us gather from these things how it is the custom of divine Scripture to hideously alter both persons, and things, and the causes concerning which it seems to speak, and to change names—or rather, to use the same names for other and different things, as the Apostle does in the present place: *For we know that the law is spiritual*. This he still pronounces with apostolic authority. For he who is carnal and sold under sin does not know that the law is spiritual; but he who has the Spirit of God in him, he knows that the law is spiritual: which is appropriately said concerning the law of Moses. For it is that same law which, to him who understands it spiritually, is a spiritual law and a life-giving Spirit; but to him who understands it carnally, it is mentioned as being the law of the letter and the letter that kills. ^C But as to what he says: *But I am carnal, sold under sin*, here he now takes upon himself, as a doctor of the Church, the person of the infirm; on account of which he said elsewhere: *I became weak to the weak, that I might save the weak*. And here, therefore, Paul becomes carnal and sold under sin for the sake of all who are more infirm, that is, the carnal, and those who are sold under sin, and he speaks those things which it is the custom for them to speak, under the pretense of either excuse or accusation. He speaks, therefore, about himself as though speaking from their person: *But I am carnal, sold under sin*: that is, living according to the flesh, and reduced to the price of the power of sin, of lust, and of concupiscence. *For I do not know what I work. For not what I will, I do; but what I hate, that I do*. Therefore, as to what he says, that *I do not know what I work*, it is not that a person does not know the thing itself which he works, even if he be carnal, but he is said to be ignorant of the cause of the thing which he does. But as to what he says, *For not what I will, I do; but what I hate, that I do*, he shows that even though he who says these things may be carnal and sold under sin, yet he still strives to resist his vices somewhat, by the instinct of natural law, but he is conquered by his vices and suppressed ^D against his will: just as it often happens (for example) when someone proposes to bear with patience someone urging him on, and in the end he is conquered by anger, and he suffers this against his will: he is angry, therefore, even when he does not wish to be angry. This same thing is also accustomed to happen with the vice of fear, so that against his will someone is terrified by dread and alarm; this also often happens 585 in the elation of sudden or unexpected honor, so that one becomes more arrogant and puffed up than one wishes. He is conquered, therefore, in these individual instances—he who is not yet spiritual—even against his will: because that will is not yet so strong, and not so robust, that it may define for itself that it must contend even unto death for the truth; nor is it such that it says, *Yes, yes; no, no*; and therefore he cannot work what he wills, but what he does not will. Yet, from that part by which he does not will evil, he consents to the law of God because it is good, which forbids evil; and the natural law is brought into a certain consonance with the law of God, so that they may both will and not will the same things. But if, according to the will, the law...

the same things are unwilling. But if we consent to the law of God according to our will, then the evil which we do is no longer wrought by us, but by the sin that is in us, that is, the law and will of the flesh, which leads us captive in the law of sin that is in our members (31). And here, indeed, the carnal Paul says, "Now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." But the spiritual Paul says in other places, "I have labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (I Cor. xv, 10). Therefore, just as the latter ascribes his labors not to himself, but to the grace of God which worked in him, so also the former, the carnal one, does not attribute the evil works to himself, but to the sin that dwells in him and works in him. Therefore he says: "Now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For there dwells not in me, that is, in my flesh, any good." For Christ does not yet dwell in him, nor91 is his body the temple of God (32). Nevertheless, the person here proposed is not entirely alien to good things, but has begun to seek good things by purpose and will, even though he cannot yet obtain those goods in actions and works. For there is a certain such infirmity in those who receive the beginnings of conversion, that when anyone (33) wants to do everything that is good immediately, the effect does not immediately follow the will. For even if (34) he has meditated with himself and determined (for the sake of example) not to be angry, and this was decided in his will, yet because the vice of anger has held dominion in him through long use and habitual practice, it resists his will and purpose; and the force of fury breaks out along its customary path (35). The vice of lust acts similarly. The disease of habit similarly brings about lying, and fear deters; and in each of these cases, the person who has already received the beginnings of conversion rightly says: "To will is present with me, but to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will, I do not do; but the evil I hate, that I do." But if the will has a judgment of good, yet the habit of carnal vices, which is called the law of the flesh or the law of the members, resists and ensnares, yet because I possess the will for good (36), even if I perform evil things—yet since I do them unwillingly—"I consent to the law of God, that it is good." For I hate evil, and I desire to perform the good things which the law commands. But if I do evil contrary to my will, overcome by the habit of sins and of sinning, "now it is no longer I," that is, the inner man, "that I do the good I will; but the sin that dwells in me." For indeed, he called the custom of sinning sin. ^A I find, therefore, the law, "when I wish to do good, that evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man." And concerning these, as we have often reminded in previous parts (37), the expressions do not seem to be explained in their entirety, but are hindered by the abundance or the peculiarities of the conjunctions. We must therefore read with such order, so that the understanding becomes clearer: Therefore, because evil is present with me, when I wish to do good I find the law of God, and I delight in it according to the inner man. By which he shows that the inner man, that is, the will and purpose which receives the beginning of turning to the Lord, consents to the law of God and delights in it. But, as we said above, not immediately upon someone having the will to turn to good things does the use of good works also follow. For the will is a swift thing, and is converted without impediment; but the work is slow, because it requires usage, and art, and the labor of operating. And that this may be made more evident, let us use the likeness of an example. For instance, someone wants to become wise, yet he has not become wise the moment he wished it; but the will indeed preceded, nor can anyone become wise without will; yet once the will is present, there must be applied labor, study, care, watchfulness, doctrine, training; and only with difficulty is one finally made wise through long usage and continuous meditation. He, therefore, from the beginning indeed had the will at once to be wise, but the work of wisdom did not immediately attend him. But even in that 586 very process, while he is being trained to become wise, how many foolish things and things contrary to wisdom he has done (38)! Yet he who was able to understand that he had acted foolishly: for he already (39) had the study of wisdom; yet he was not yet so wise that he could guard against admitting something foolishly. This order must also be held concerning modesty, that not immediately when someone wishes to profess modesty will he fulfill it in deed such that he is not agitated by any stimuli of concupiscence. So also must it be understood concerning gentleness, and patience, and each of the individual virtues. In all of which it is appropriate to say that "I delight in the law of God," that is, in the virtues, "according to the inner man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members." What he had said above, "for to will what is good is present with me," here he named the will of the good the law of the mind; which law of the mind agrees with the law of God, and consents to it. But again, the motion. ^{B C D}

of the body and the desires of the flesh he calls the law in the members, which leads the soul captive and subjects it to the laws of sin. For it is certain that the desires of the flesh draw the soul to sin, and subject it to its laws; and just as the law of the mind, if it can obtain the soul, leads it to the law of God, so also the law that is in the members, and the concupiscence of the flesh, if it has seduced the soul, will subject it to the laws of sin. But when Paul, having assumed a more fragile person, had taught that struggles are held within man, and had shown ^B that even against the will, by the desires of the flesh, the soul in the very practice of sinning is snatched into the rights of sin, he still uses an exclamation from the person of him whom he described, and says: "Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He sees himself as wretched, within whom so many laws fight against one another, so many battles are stirred up: "The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh" : the law that is in the members fights against the law of the mind, and the soul is led captive into the law of sin, and is made under its yoke, even when the interior man delights in the law of God: how then may man not call himself wretched in these many such evils, and that he dwells in the body of death? For it is deservedly called the body of death, in which dwells sin, which is the cause of death. Therefore, this exclamation is made from the person of him whom the Apostle describes as having received the beginnings of conversion, in that the will for good is present with him, but the performance of the good has not yet arrived. For he does not find how to perform the good because the habit and exercise of the virtues had not yet become ingrained in him. But to what he had said: "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" he is answered not now from that person, but by apostolic authority: "The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Whence it appears that for this reason the Apostle described all these things, and set forth the evils which were being transacted within us, that at last he might show and teach from how many evils and from how many deaths Christ has snatched us. ^C But that it is the custom in the divine Scriptures for the holy ones to assume the persons of sinners, and for masters to take the infirmities of their disciples upon themselves, we are most fully taught from the book of Psalms when it says: "There is no peace to my bones by reason of my sins, for my iniquities are gone over my head, and as a heavy burden have they weighed upon me. My scars have putrefied and are corrupted by reason of my foolishness. I am afflicted and humbled even to the end," and the rest by which this Psalm is written almost entire. But if by chance it shall seem to anyone that David could have said these things rather about himself, for those things which had happened to him, than about others, what shall we say also of Daniel, whose sin is not indeed reported, yet his confession is described in fasts and sackcloth and ashes, and a prayer of such a kind, in which among other things he also says this: "We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done unjustly, we have committed impiety, and have departed, and have declined from thy commandments and thy judgments, and we have not hearkened to thy servants the prophets, who spoke to us in thy name, and to our kings, and our princes, and to our fathers, and to all the people of the land? And to thee, O Lord, is justice, but to us confusion of face." Who is there who could deny in these words that the person of sinners was assumed by Daniel, for whom he seems to say these things as if for himself? ^D Whence it is fitting for us, as we read the sayings of the saints, when we see such a thing being said by them, to understand and feel that they are describing our own passions in themselves and our own sins; and for that reason they bewail these things, that by their weeping we might be invited to tears. For they considered that no one could be found so hard and ungrateful, who, when he sees his own wounds being bewailed by others, receives no sense of pain for his own wounds. Thus, therefore, in the present chapter, the Apostle, that no one of us might be ashamed of those things which he felt to be transacted within himself, or even, having turned to the Lord, and his will already changed, lest he despair while feeling these things still moving within himself, described them as if they were being transacted in his own person, so that by the example of the Apostle no one might be ashamed of the nature of the body, nor despair for his amendment, nor be ignorant of the multitude of his own evils, from which he is liberated by the grace of Christ. 10. "So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." Perhaps someone will say that the Apostle, who until now has spoken not as himself, but with the person of another assumed, now, as if designating a change of person, says, "I myself," that he may show that these things which are about to be said belong to himself, that is, to the Apostle.

^A because he serves the law of God with his mind, but with his flesh the law of sin, as if the power of sinning were so great, and the tyranny of the flesh so vast, that not even the Apostle could escape it. And furthermore, in other places he has said, "I chastise my body (54), and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." But it seems to me that to take these words as spoken in the person of the Apostle strikes despair into every soul, as if there were absolutely no one who does not sin in the flesh. For this is what it means to serve the law of sin in the flesh (55). To me, therefore, it seems more likely that he is still holding to the persona of the one he described above in himself, as one who has already turned in will and purpose toward better things, and in mind and spirit serves the law of God, but has not yet attained the goal where he could even bring the obedience of the flesh into consensus (56) with the mind. For since he had discoursed in the previous section on the mortification of the body and had taught that we must die with Christ, he seems now to show how this work is not an idle one, and to teach that it is not the case that as soon as someone wills to do good, and has purposed it, it is immediately fulfilled in deed also; but such is the power of habit, or the sweetness of vices, that even when the soul already tends toward virtue and resolves to serve the law of God (57), the desires of the flesh still persuade it to serve sin and to obey its laws.

11. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (58). For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." He had taught in the preceding section what difference there is in those who, placed as it were in a sort of conflict, live in their minds according to the law of God, but are driven by the desires of the flesh into the law of sin (59). Now, however, he speaks of those who are no longer partly in the flesh and partly in the spirit, but are wholly in Christ; and he pronounces that in them there is nothing worthy of condemnation (60), because "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made them free from the law of sin and death." But the law of the Spirit of life is one and the same as the law of God, just as, on the other hand, one and the same is the law of sin and death. There will be no condemnation, therefore, for those who are completely freed from the law of sin, which is the law of death, and serve the law of God, which is the law of the Spirit. To serve

^B Christ is to serve the law of God, and to be under the law of the Spirit; this is to serve wisdom, this is to serve (61) justice, to serve truth, and to serve all the virtues at once. Whence it is not to be thought that anyone is suddenly, and instantly upon his wishing it, translated from the service of the law of sin and made to be in Christ Jesus, so that there is no longer anything in him to be condemned under the pretext of sin. For justice demands its own parts in everyone; it tests whether he is already so mended and corrected (64) that it finds in him nothing of an unjust work from which condemnation might follow. Likewise, truth also demands its own share in everyone, to see if he, once translated from the law of sin, is found no longer in any part to defile the obedience of truth with a lie (65). Similarly, chastity also examines its own part, to see if he is stained by any unchaste (66) desires. Thus piety, thus wisdom examine their parts in everyone, which if they find to be rightly and integrally established in him, then he shall be judged to be in Christ and to have no condemnation. These things, 588, are certainly beyond doubt to be acquired through use, long meditation, and vigilant labor (67). And therefore it is certain that these things do not come to the idle or the slothful; but by progressing little by little, and first in few things, then in the very least, and finally, if they can attain it, by sinning in nothing. And it seems to me that the same Apostle, thinking this, wrote in another place: "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before," teaching by these things that those which are past ought to be things in which there was something culpable and worthy of oblivion; but those which are in Christ are "those which are before," and these are the things toward which we ought to extend ourselves and seek with all the avidity of our mind. As for the law of the Spirit of life, which we said ought to be understood as the law of God, we said this according to that part by which the law is said to be spiritual. Therefore he added: "The law of the Spirit of life." For he could not say this of the law of the letter, of which he had pronounced in other places that "the letter killeth." These things are also called in other places the "ministration of death" (68). The law therefore contains both: the letter that killeth and the Spirit that giveth life. From this, consider whether perhaps the form of this thing holds to that tree of which it is written:

^A “of the knowledge of good and evil.” For both are contained in one, just as they are contained in the Law. But let us not omit this, that he who here liberates from the law of sin and death is called the “spirit of life,” while in the Gospel according to John it is written that the Lord said: “If you remain in my word, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” In which, indeed, it seems to me that although in their operation or name these may seem diverse, yet in the thing itself they are one. For Christ is life, and he himself is the one who will set free; and this spirit of life sets free. And how is there not one liberty in both? For what the Spirit does, Christ also does, and what are of Christ, the Spirit does. For just as Christ sanctifies those whom the Holy Spirit sanctifies, so too does Life set free those whom the spirit of life sets free. It is enough that, being liberated from the law of the spirit of life, we remain in Christ, nor be found any longer to serve the law of sin: because just as he who is liberated from the law of the spirit of life remains in Christ who is life, so he who serves the law of sin remains in death, which comes from the condemnation of sin.

12. “For what was impossible to the Law, in which it was ^B weakened by the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the justification of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For they that are according to the flesh, mind the things of the flesh: but they that are according to the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit. For the wisdom of the flesh is death: but the wisdom of the Spirit is life and peace: because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. So then they that are in the flesh, cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” Since in the preceding verses he has named so many laws (for he spoke also of the law of God, and the law of the mind, and the law of the spirit of life), and conversely has also mentioned the law which is in the members, and the law of death, and the law of sin, concerning which of these laws does he speak here, ^C “For what was impossible to the Law, in which it was weakened by the flesh”? I think, however, that here, as we have often said in other places, the Apostle divides the Law into two parts, and calls one part in it the flesh, and the other the Spirit: and indeed he calls the observance which is carried out according to the letter the “sense of the flesh,” just as he says of such a Jew: “Vainly puffed up by the sense of his flesh”; but he calls the part which is received spiritually the “Spirit,” just as he says elsewhere: “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Therefore, in this place also, the words “impossible to the Law” and “in which it was weakened by the flesh” can be understood in the sense that is according to the letter. For it itself was both impossible and weak if it were understood according to the flesh, that is, according to the letter. For what is so impossible as the observance of the Sabbath according to the letter of the law, as we have often said in many places? For it is commanded not to go out from one’s house, not to move oneself from one’s place, to lift no burden. Because Jews ^D who observe the Law according to the flesh see these things as impossible, they invent certain absurd and ridiculous things, by which they might seem to repair the impossibility of the Law. And what shall I say of the manner of sacrifices, which all at once has been made entirely impossible? Seeing that there is no temple, nor altar, nor any place at all for sacrificing. In each of these cases, the Law is not only—I will not say impossible and weak—but it is plainly already dead. For before this death, it was weakened then, when it labored with the blood of calves and goats, and yet could not take away sins: and it was weakened in the laws of leprosy, which it could never explain nor fulfill. In all these and countless other things, the Law was both impossible and weak, in so far as it pertains to the understanding of the flesh: and therefore, “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,” or as is more truly held among the Greeks, “and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” By saying “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” he shows that we indeed have the flesh of sin, but the Son of God had the likeness of sinful flesh, not the flesh of sin. For all of us men who are conceived from the seed of a man uniting with a woman, we necessarily use the word by which

David says: “In iniquity was I conceived, and in sins my mother conceived me.” But He who came to the immaculate body without any contagion of man, but only by the Holy Spirit descending upon the Virgin, and by the power of the Most High overshadowing her, truly possessed the nature of our body, yet He possessed none of the pollution of sin which is transmitted to those conceived through the movement of lust. Therefore, the Son of God is said to have come “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” And for sin, he says, “He condemned sin in the flesh.” ^B That Christ was made a host for sin and was offered for the purgation of sins, all the Scriptures testify, and especially Paul, writing to the Hebrews, when he says: “For this He did once, offering up Himself as a host;” and again: “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” By this host of His own flesh, therefore, which is called “for sin,” He condemned sin in the flesh, as the same Apostle says elsewhere, that “He appeared in the last days for the destruction of sin;” and again the prophet says: “He Himself bore our sins and suffered for our iniquities.” For sin, therefore—that is, by the host of His own flesh which He offered for sin—“He condemned sin in His own flesh, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.” For by this host of the flesh, which was offered for sin, He both condemned sin, that is, He put sin to flight, and He took it away, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us who keep the law according to the spirit, and not according to the flesh—in which part, according to what we have explained above, the law was impossible and weak. “For they who are according to the flesh, savor the things of the flesh; but they who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit.” Here he now more openly, as it were, setting the Law of Moses in the midst between us and the Jews, says: “They who are according to the flesh, savor the things of the flesh,” that is to say, the Jews, whom he calls Israel according to the flesh, savor the things of the flesh of the law, in that they understand the law according to the flesh; “but they who are according to the spirit (speaking of those whom he calls Jews by spirit, not by letter), savor the things of the spirit.” And he further satisfies this same meaning, and opens it more evidently, when he says: “For the wisdom of the flesh is death: but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace.” Is it not one and the same thing that he says, “The wisdom of the flesh is death,” and that: ^C “The letter kills”? Therefore, “the wisdom of the flesh is death.” To whom is it death? Without doubt, to the soul. For he who has understood the law according to the flesh, that is, according to the letter, does not come to Christ who is life, and therefore the wisdom of the flesh is death; but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace. For he who understands the law spiritually possesses life and peace, which is Christ. “Because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God: for it is not subject to the law of God: neither can it be.” It seems that the same understanding is being unfolded further. For how could the wisdom of the flesh, that is, carnal intelligence, not be an enemy to God, it which opposes Christ; which does not receive Him whom God sent; which says: “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God”? How then could such wisdom and such intelligence in the law not be called an enemy to God, and to His law? Namely, to that which is according to the spirit, it is not subject, nor can it be subject: because as death and life are contraries to each other, so the letter of the law that kills, which is also the wisdom of the flesh, and the life-giving spirit which is truly the law of God, are contraries to each other. “But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit: if yet the Spirit of God dwell in you.” The same understanding continues. “They who are in the flesh,” he says, that is, they who follow the law according to the letter, “cannot please God.” For this was also proclaimed by God long ago through Isaiah, when He says: “Your fasts, and holidays, and your great day I do not sustain: my soul hates your new moons and your Sabbaths.” But “you,” he says, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, if indeed He dwells, “are not in the flesh, but in the spirit,” that is, you do not follow the carnal intelligence of the law, but the spiritual, through which you have come to the life-giving Spirit, if indeed your acts and conduct are such that you deserve to have the Spirit of God within you. Dividing the Law of Moses into two parts, therefore, as we have said—that is, into the spirit and the flesh—he handed the things that are of the spirit, which he also called the spiritual law, to us; but the things that are of the flesh, he left to the carnal Jews. Thus, finally, he interpreted also that which concerns Abraham when he said: “But he indeed who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh: but he of the free woman, by promise. And as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit; so also it is now.” It is certain

that those who are Jews according to the flesh ^A persecute us who are Jews not openly, but in secret, and who keep the law according to the spirit, not according to the flesh. Those, therefore, who mind things according to the flesh, consequently also hope for the promises of the law carnally. But we, on the other hand, expect the promises of the Spirit spiritually, according to the word of Paul saying: “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” and again: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” From all of these it is shown both what the law according to the flesh is, and what that according to the spirit is, and what the hope of the carnal promise is, and what the spiritual hope is.

It is possible also, according to another exposition, if we go back to the beginning—that is, to the passage, “What was impossible for the law, in which it was weak through the flesh”—to understand it of the law of the mind, which he mentioned above as wishing to do good but, through the infirmity and frailty of the flesh, being unable to fulfill it; and that for this reason God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin—that is, through the sacrifice offered for sin—He condemned sin. ^B For as soon as the remission of sins was given to us, sin was put to flight and exterminated from our flesh, and the justification of the law began to be fulfilled in us—that is, of that law which delights in the law of God—which is quickly fulfilled when the law of sin, which was in our members, no longer resists it, provided we do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For as long as one is in the flesh and lives according to the flesh, he minds the things of the flesh; but when he has turned himself to the spirit and has died to the law of sin and of the flesh, he minds the things that are of the spirit. For to mind the things of the flesh is death to the soul; but to mind the things of the spirit is life and peace, because “the carnal mind is enmity against God”—that is, so long as the flesh resists the spirit and is not subject to the law of the mind, which is the law of God, it is enmity against God; and therefore they who live carnally cannot please God. But “you,” he says, “are not in the flesh”—that is, you do not live according to the flesh—“but according to the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” These things ^C can also be adapted in this place according to another exposition, as we have said. Let him who reads choose, however, and follow what he has better approved, if indeed he has approved it.

13. “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” If, however, Christ is in you, the body indeed is dead on account of sin, but the spirit is life on account of justification. For if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who dwells in you. That the apostle Paul makes use of syllogisms collected by constant and dialectical art, whether in this place or in his other Epistles, does not seem to me to be the time now to expound, lest we seem to be champions not so much of his knowledge as of the discourse in which he does not wish to be called skilled; and therefore we shall hasten rather to discuss the sense of the proposition. ^D In the preceding, where he said: “But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit; if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you,” we explained in a twofold way what it is to be “in the Spirit”—that is, either to understand the law not according to the letter, but according to the spiritual sense; or also, when the body has been mortified, to live not by the laws of the flesh, but by the laws of the spirit. And now, therefore, what he says, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His,” and he subjoins: “But if Christ is in you,” it must be inquired whether it is different for the Spirit of God to be in someone, or the Spirit of Christ, or even Christ Himself, or the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead. But insofar as I behold either the consequence of the present passage, or that which the Savior says in the Gospel regarding the Holy Spirit, that “He proceeds from the Father” and “He will take of what is mine,” and he joins the explanation of this word in what follows, saying: “Father, all that is mine is yours, and yours is mine; therefore I said that He will take of what is mine”—when, I say, I look upon such a reason for unity between the Father and the Son, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ seem to me to be one and the same Spirit. We can, however, also understand in this way what he said, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (because it truly appears to be stated abruptly), so that if anyone has not merited to be so great and such that he is worthy to have the Spirit of Christ, it is not immediately denied that he is Christ’s, since in the Psalms it is said: “Mine are all the beasts of the forest, the cattle on the mountains, and the oxen.” And if the beasts and the cattle are His, how are men not His? But it is possible, as I said, for this to be understood as in the Gospel: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me.”

^A And here, therefore, he who does not have the Spirit of Christ—that is, he who is not led by the same Spirit so as to act for the sake of justice, for truth, for preaching the word of God, for proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, for casting aside the letter of the law and opening up its spirit, and for resisting against sin—he who is not prepared to come even unto death for all these things is not His disciple. He, therefore, who is not such a one, nor bears such a Spirit within himself, is indeed His creature, just as the wild beasts of the forest, and the cattle on the mountains, and oxen are; but he is not His disciple. Thus, therefore: ^B “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His; but if Christ is in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of justice.” In this place, the Spirit of Christ and Christ Himself seem to me to be one and the same thing to say. For where Christ is, He Himself says that we “always carry around the death of Christ in our body.” Death, however, is imposed upon the body for the sake of sin—that is, so that it may not sin. But if the body is dead to sin, the spirit must necessarily live to perform justice. For he who is dead in the body, and does not serve sin, must necessarily live in the spirit and serve justice. Thus also the same Apostle says in a certain place that he delivered a certain person over to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you; He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also vivify your mortal bodies because of His Spirit dwelling in you.” ^C Since he had said above concerning those who mortify their bodies to the likeness of Christ’s death so that they might not sin, he necessarily now makes mention of Him who raised Christ from the dead, so that in a similar manner and by an equal reasoning they might know that, as they are dead and buried together, they are to be vivified by the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, and to be resurrected from the dead unto the likeness of Christ. And he shows to what extent this happens, saying: “Because of His Spirit dwelling in you.” For if the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, it seems necessary that His dwelling-place be restored to the Spirit, and the temple be renovated.

However, I would wish to consider what this very thing means when it is said ^D that Christ Himself dwells in us: whether this Spirit is given to all from the beginning, and is later driven out by actions that are wicked and foreign to God, according to that which is written: “My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh”; or whether it is given later by merit of life and by the grace of faith, according to those things which are taught in the Acts of the Apostles, because the Holy Spirit came like fiery tongues upon each one of them; or certainly, as we are taught in the Gospel, when the Savior Himself, after He rose from the dead, said to the disciples: “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and He breathed into each one of them. Whence it seems to me that this gift is acquired by merits, and is preserved by the innocence of life, and is increased for each one according to the progress of faith and grace; and the purer the soul is rendered, the more abundantly the Spirit is infused into it.

That which he said, “My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh,” looks to this: that because their soul, having repudiated the service of the Spirit, has turned itself entirely to the services of the flesh, it should also receive the name of that flesh to which it has joined itself, and with which it has been made one. Therefore, the Spirit can be had in diverse ways. [D (cont.)] Whether the Spirit of Christ is had, according to that which we said above, from divine inspiration, where He says: “Receive the Holy Spirit, and He breathed into them”; or again, in that manner which is described in the Acts of the Apostles, so that the apostles spoke in diverse tongues. There is also that manner which is reported in the books of Kings, when the Scripture says: “And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Saul, and he began to prophesy.” And there is still that other manner, as when the Savior, after the resurrection, walking with Cleopas and the other disciple and opening the Scriptures to them, set them on fire with the spirit of His mouth, so that they said: “Was not our heart burning within us, while He opened the Scriptures to us?” But do you wish to know that not only did Jesus speaking deliver His Spirit to those who heard, but also that he who speaks the word of God in His name delivers the Spirit of God to the hearers? See in the Acts of the Apostles how, when Peter was speaking to Corne-

-^Alius, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, both he himself and those who were with him. Whence, if you too speak the word of God, and speak it faithfully from a pure conscience, and you yourself are not refuted by your own words as one who teaches one thing and does another, it may come to pass that, while you are speaking, the fire of the Holy Spirit inflames the hearts of the hearers, and they forthwith take fire and burn to fulfill all that you teach, that they may fulfill in deeds what they have learned in words, and that they may seek those things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: that they may mind those things that are above, and not those things that are upon the earth. Thus, too, is each one proved to have the Spirit of Christ in himself. Christ is wisdom: if anyone is wise according to Christ, and minds those things that are of Christ, he has in himself, through wisdom, the Spirit of Christ. Christ is justice: if anyone has in himself the justice of Christ, through justice he has in himself the Spirit of Christ. Christ is peace: if anyone has in himself the peace of Christ, through the Spirit of peace he has in himself the Spirit of Christ. So also with charity, so with sanctification, and so with each individual thing that is said to be Christ—whoever has these, he is to be believed to have the Spirit of Christ in himself, and to hope that his mortal body shall be vivified on account of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him.

14. Therefore, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. He has taught above that the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, and of the gifts of the Spirit conferred upon us. Consequently, he now adds that we are debtors, without doubt to those things which we have obtained from the Spirit of Christ. We are not, he says, debtors to the flesh. For God did not make us in His own image to this end, that we should be subject to the service of the flesh, but rather that the soul, serving its Creator, itself might utilize the service and ministry of the flesh. But perhaps someone may say: How are we not debtors to the flesh, when we are compelled by the necessity of nature to provide it both with food and clothing? But in order to show that we are not contributing something to the flesh, but that to surrender one's life to the flesh is held to be blameworthy, he therefore adds: For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. What it means to live according to the flesh has already been said often. This is to indulge the desires of the flesh. In this, therefore, he denies that we are debtors to the flesh, as he says elsewhere: And make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences, not indeed denying that provision must be made for the flesh regarding necessities, but regarding concupiscences. Therefore, so also here: For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. And he adds: But if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. And concerning this it has already been said above, how the body must indeed be dead on account of sins, but the spirit life on account of justification. Whoever, therefore, acting according to the spirit, mortifies the deeds of the flesh, lives on account of the spirit of life dwelling in him. Now, one mortifies the deeds of the flesh in this way: charity is a fruit of the Spirit, the hatred of the flesh is a deed; therefore, hatred is mortified and extinguished through charity. Joy similarly is a fruit of the spirit, but the sadness of this world, which works death, is a deed of the flesh; this, therefore, is extinguished if the joy of the spirit is in us. Peace is a fruit of the spirit; dissension and discord are deeds of the flesh; but it is certain that discord can be mortified through peace. So also is the patience of the spirit; it extinguishes the impatience of the flesh, and goodness destroys malice, and meekness ferocity, and continence intemperance, and chastity slaughters ^B impudicity, and by such an order ^C he who has mortified the deeds of the flesh through the spirit will live. One must indeed observe that just as he says, If you live according to the flesh, you must die, he does not mean this common death, but that of sin; so too, he does not mean this common life, but that eternal one to which everyone who has, according to the things we have exposed above, perfectly mortified the deeds of the flesh through the spirit will attain. But we ought also to know this, that this mortification of the deeds of the flesh is brought about through patience, and not suddenly, but gradually. At first it is necessary for them to languish in those who are beginning; then later, when they begin to progress more ardently, and to be filled with more abundant spirit, the deeds of the flesh will begin not only to languish, but even to wither away; where, however, they have already arrived at perfection, so that in them absolutely no indications of sin arise, either in deed, or in word, or in thought, then the deeds of the flesh are plainly to be considered destroyed. ^D

BOOK SEVENTH

1. Just as we have shown that various laws are recorded in the Epistles of Paul under the single term "law," and that various deaths are designated by the single appellation "death," so too we see that various spirits are now indicated under the single term "Spirit." Therefore, he says in the present chapter: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom. viii, 14); in which he certainly refers to the Spirit of God Himself. And again in what follows: "For you have not received," he says, "the spirit of bondage again in fear" (ibid. 15). By this he shows that the spirit of bondage is different from that which he had called the Spirit of God above. And for this reason he adds: "But you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba [Father]" (ibid. 16). By this he shows that the spirit of adoption is that very Spirit which he had called the Spirit of God above, of whom he also repeats: "For the Spirit Himself ^A bears witness with our spirit" (ibid. 16), which is to say, the Spirit of God Himself, in whom we call God our Father, bears witness with our spirit. This spirit of ours is without doubt different both from that spirit of bondage which is given in fear, and from this one which bears witness to it concerning the invocation of the Father. All men, therefore, as it appears, are moved by some spirit, just as Paul himself wrote: "You know that when you were Gentiles, you went to dumb idols, even as you were led" (1 Cor. xii, 2). By this he shows that even the Gentiles are moved by some spirit towards idols. The Spirit of God is therefore the same as the Spirit of Christ, and the same also as the Holy Spirit. But the spirit of adoption also seems to be called the same, as the present apostolic discourse declares. David also, who says: "Take not thy holy spirit from me" (Ps. L, 13), and, "Strengthen me with a princely spirit" (ibid. 14), seems to speak of the same; and I believe he is called the "princely" Spirit precisely so that it might be shown that while there are indeed many spirits, this Holy Spirit, who is also called "princely," holds the principate and dominion among them. For just as there are many sons of God, as Scripture says: "I said: You are gods, and all of you the sons of the Most High" (Ps. LXXXI, 6), yet there is one Son in nature and the Only-Begotten from the Father, through whom all the sons are named, so too, while there are indeed many spirits, there is but one who truly proceeds from God Himself, and who bestows the grace of His name and sanctification upon ^B all others. That there are many spirits, the same Apostle declares to the Hebrews, writing and saying: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?" (Hebr. i, 14). And David also says: "Who makes his angels spirits" (Ps. CIII, 4). And Daniel nevertheless testifies and says: "Bless the Lord, O spirits and souls of the just" (Dan. iii, 86). And in the present passage, Paul says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit" (Rom. viii, 16); and in another place: "May your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. v, 23). There is no doubt that all these things are said of rational spirits. Furthermore, evil spirits and evil angels are called spirits, just as David also says: "He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent by evil angels" (Ps. LXXVII, 49); and as it is written in the books of Kings concerning Saul: "And the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him" (1 Reg. xvi, 14); and as it is related in the book of Judges: "And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and between the men of Sichem" (Judic. ix, 23). This evil spirit, therefore, who is said either to have gone forth to trouble Saul, or to have ^C gone forth to shatter Abimelech and the Sichemites, and is remembered as having gone forth and been sent from the Lord, must be understood as a sort of executioner sent to exact punishments from sinners. And although they are called evil on account of their own purpose and will, in those who are worthy of punishment they nevertheless render service to the divine will, just as that one is, of whom the prophet Micah relates, the lying spirit, who, when it had been said by God, "Who shall deceive Ahab for me?" (III Reg. xxii, 20), answered: "I will deceive him. And the Lord said: By what means? And he said: I will go forth," he says, "and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And I will say that he may go up to Galaad, and fall there. And the Lord said: Go forth, and thou shalt deceive, and shall prevail" (ibid. 21-22). Thus, therefore, even those who are called evil spirits render an office of ministry to God regarding punishments. Moreover, there are other spirits, of whom David speaks: "With a violent spirit thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis" (Ps. XLVII, 8); and they are called "the spirit of a storm" (Ps. cv, 25), and "the spirit of burning" (Isai. iv, 4). These, however, I would call material rather than rational spirits. 2. Therefore, in the distinction of the term "spirit," ^D

^A let us see what it is that he says: "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba [Father], what it is." It is written also in the prophet Malachi (Mal. i, 6): "A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: and if I be a father, where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord Almighty." It is certain, however, that one becomes a son of God through the spirit of adoption, but a servant of God through the spirit of bondage. The beginning, therefore, of serving God, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Eccli. i, 16), is fulfilled through the spirit of fear, when one is still called a little child. And for little children, fear is the schoolmaster. Whence also the Apostle says concerning such a little child: "Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world" (Gal. iv, 1-3). ^B You see, according to the wisdom granted to him by God, how Paul here called the spirits that are given in fear tutors and governors of little children, who keep each one of us, as long as he is a child, in fear according to the inner man, until he comes to that age at which he deserves to receive the spirit of adoption of sons, and is now a son and lord of all. "For all things," he says, "are yours" (I Cor. iii, 22); "and with Christ God hath given us all things" (Rom. viii, 32). This, therefore, is what Paul teaches: that after we have died together with Christ, and His Spirit has been made in us, we have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear—that is, we have not again been made little children and had the beginnings of our effects—but as if now perfect, we have once received the spirit of adoption, "in which" spirit we cry: Abba, Father. For no one calls Him Father except the Son. But as to what he adds, "Abba," he has repeated the same thing in the word of the native language, as if he had said: Father, father.

5. "For the Spirit itself beareth witness ^C with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Rom. viii, 16-17). The Spirit himself, through whom one is adopted as a son, bears witness and confirms our spirit that we are children of God, after we have come from the spirit of bondage into the spirit of adoption, when now there is no fear within, that is, we do nothing for fear of punishment, but we do all things out of love for the Father. It is well, however, that not to the soul, but to the spirit—which is the better part in man—is it said that the Spirit of God bears witness. Moreover, it is possible for the distinction between those who are driven in fear by the spirit of bondage and those who are driven by the spirit of sons to take also that which is assumed: that Abraham, indeed, gave his inheritance to Isaac, but to the children of his concubines or bondwomen, it is said that he gave not the inheritance, but gifts or rewards (Gen. xxv, 5-6). In which, without doubt, this is shadowed forth: that even those who still serve God in fear are not altogether despised, but there are gifts for them, and there are rewards, but the inheritance through which they are glorified together with Christ belongs to those who deserve to receive the spirit of adoption. After these things, the Apostle now weaves a syllogism from what follows, and says: If we have received the spirit of adoption, then we are children. But if we are children, then undoubtedly also heirs. For a servant expects a wage, but a son hopes for an inheritance. And again he adds another augmentation of the conclusion: "Heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. viii, 17). One is made an heir of God when he deserves to receive the things of God, that is, the glory of incorruption and immortality, the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii, 3); but a joint heir of Christ, when "he shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Philip. iii, 21), but also when he shall deserve to obtain that which the Savior himself says: "Father, I will that where I am, they also may be with me" (John xvii, 24). Furthermore, because "the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John v, 22). But the Son also says to His joint heirs: "Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. xix, 28). And in this way, Christ brings His joint heirs not only into a share of the inheritance, but also into a communion of power. "If so be," he says, "that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." ^D

Or even he who can say: "I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh." And just as God, because Christ humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross, hath exalted him and given him a name which is above every name; so too God exalts in glory those who suffer with Christ and imitate the example of his sufferings. For this is the way that Christ opened up for his co-heirs, that they might be exalted not by strength, nor by wisdom, but by humility, and might attain the glory of the eternal inheritance through the patience of tribulations.

4. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope: because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth ^A and travaileth in pain until now. If anyone contemplates what it means for him to be made a son of the most high God, and an heir of his goodness and glory, and a co-heir of the only-begotten Son of God, Christ, even if he remains without reproach in the observance of all the commandments and the justifications of the Lord, and continues in them with a vigilant mind; or if he encounters all the types of punishments that can be brought upon human nature from within or without; or even if one sustains those things which are recorded to have happened to Job, where Satan destroyed not only those things which seemed to be outside him in his possessions and children, but also touched his bones and his flesh, and struck him with a most foul ulcer from the soles of his feet even to his crown, so that taking a potsherd he scraped the rot flowing from his sores: if, I say, one who suffers tribulation in this very brief life in all things, and who is tormented in soul and body, can compare these things to the future glory which shall be revealed in the ^B saints, and to those things which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man," he can understand how Paul, considering these things, says: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." For nothing worthy can be found or compared to the future glory. For what mortal things can you compare to immortal? Or visible things to invisible? Or temporal to eternal? Or perishable to everlasting? If, however, in the present life certain seeds of future glory can be gathered, these, I say, seeds are gathered from tribulations and passions, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere: "For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at things which are seen, but at things which are not seen." For he shows by these things that he looks at those which are not seen, and which are eternal, and he deems every tribulation, whatever it may be that happens to him, however cruel and however long it may appear, to be momentary and light: even if he should be subjected to torments, and pricks, and hooks, at the time when the body is afflicted with tortures, if he looks at the future glory which is to be revealed, and considers how after such great torments this body of his humility shall be transformed so as to be made conformable to the glorious body of the Son of God, he deems the present tribulation to be momentary and light; but the weight of future glory he deems to be heavy, that is, great and eternal: and the more he sees the punishments of his tribulations multiplied to himself, the more he understands that the weight and magnitude of glory is being accumulated for him. But that a certain measure and magnitude of glory is gathered from the quantity of tribulations, I think that the prophet David also indicates when he says: "According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul." Whence I think that in the present life the consolation which is given to the just is bestowed according to the measure of the torments and wounds: but the future glory, of which the Apostle says that it "shall be revealed in us," is not according to the measure of the sufferings: for the sufferings of this time are not condign to the future glory which shall be revealed in the saints: but as he says to the Corinthians, etc.

^A for it is found in other copies, "groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." To groan and suffer with another is to groan or suffer when one is with another who is grieving or sighing; that is, although he himself has no cause for groaning or suffering, he nevertheless groans for the sake of him who has a cause for groaning or grieving. He says that the creature does this because it is subject to vanity and is placed in the servitude of corruption. These things, as far as the order of the apostolic discourse pertains to them, have been explained. Now, repeating, let us discuss more intently what this vanity is to which the creature is said to be subject, and what this corruption is from whose servitude it hopes to be delivered. It seems to me that these things are said of this material and corruptible substance of the body. For corruption does not dominate any other thing ^B except the body. For that interior man which was created according to God and made in the image of God is incorruptible and invisible, and according to its own nature it can even be called incorporeal. The exterior man, however, is called both corporeal and corruptible; on account of which Paul also said: "For even if he who is our outward man is corrupted, yet he who is within is renewed." The renewal of the interior man, however, inasmuch as it is reasonable and mind, consists in the knowledge of God and the capacity for the Holy Spirit. But that we may entrust something of such profound matters briefly and strictly to these pages, let us derive from the very substance of the interior man—that is, of the soul and the mind—the image of how the creature "is subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope"; and let us place Paul himself in the middle, if it seems fitting, whose soul or mind, which is his interior man, surpasses and ascends ^C above everything that is corporeal, that which is visible, that which is subject to sense and sight, and is made capable of the divine nature itself. But this so great and such a substance of his soul, which holds the reasons and intelligence of heavenly and divine perceptions (for what causes, God will have seen), is subject to the servitude of the corruptible body and is bound to its vanity. For consider the necessities of the body, the craving for food, the shame of digestion, the modesty of propagating offspring, how seed is sown, how it is brought forth, how it is nourished; and see in these things what great vanity is held, what great corruption, to which the creature, noble and reasonable, though not willingly, is subject, subject ^D

^B by the will of Him who subjected it in hope. For it is by the hope that one day it will cease from these corporeal and corruptible things. For this reasonable creature has this expectation, that the revelation of the sons of God will take place, for whose sake the angels are sent into ministry, so that they too, together with those to whom they have ministered, may receive the inheritance of salvation, that of terrestrial and celestial things there may be one flock and one shepherd, and God may be all in all. And that he might confirm more evidently the things he had said, he added: "We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." He had said above: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory"; and while there he said he reckons it, here he says that he knows that the whole creation groans and suffers together, whereby certainly nothing is to be held in doubt in this sense. For the creature, though it is not subject willingly, yet because it yields to the will of Him who subjected it, it also displays a certain affection and charity toward those for whom it appears to be subject, and it grieves for their sorrows and groans for their groans. If, however, as is found in other copies, we read thus, "it groaneth and travaileth in pain together," we shall accept according to that sense "travaileth in pain," by which ^C the Apostle says he begat through the Gospel those whom he brought to the light through the faith of Christ; or as he said of others elsewhere: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you." The creature, therefore, also travails in birth with those whom it regenerates unto salvation. But if even this should seem to those who read it to require inquiry, why in the preceding verses ^D he named the creature, and nowhere said every creature; I even from the prophetic eloquence am invited to consider something of the sort regarding the archangels. For what vanity and what corruption could you find as great as waging wars in this world, and stirring up battles of kings and nations against one another? See, therefore, that in these things also the chief office of the angelic work is held, as the prophet Daniel testifies when he says that an archangel spoke to him, who said to him that he had fought against the prince of the Persians, and "no one," he says, "was a helper to me, except Michael your prince." By these things, therefore, each one is discerned to be a reasonable creature ^A subject to vanity, "not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected it in hope."

I, indeed, as long as we are in this tabernacle, groan, longing that this may be in hope; the time, namely, hoping for that when it shall be set free, when the time of the liberty of the sons of God shall arrive. This, therefore, is what the Apostle was saying more openly concerning himself in other places: "While we are in this tabernacle, we groan." This also Wisdom said through Solomon, that "the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things"; and the same Paul: "For while we are in the body, we are pilgrims from the Lord," and he desires rather to be a pilgrim from the body and to be present with the Lord. He indicates this, and explains it much more openly even in that place where he says: "I am constrained by two things; having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; for it is much better: but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you." In which he openly shows that he was not willing, so far as pertained to the things of which his own soul was conscious, to serve this corruption and vanity, but by reason of Him who so willed these things, and for our sake, that we might be saved. He remains, therefore, in the flesh for our sake: but when the sons of God are revealed, and gathered into one through the Church, which he ordained "to present a chaste virgin to one husband, Christ," then he too shall be freed from the servitude of corruption, as he himself says: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice." This is to have been freed from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. But from these examples, if it seems good, ascend also to higher things, and see how the ministries of the sun itself, and of the moon, and of the stars of heaven, and of the whole world are subject to vanity, and serve corruption. For they feed the harvests for the uses of men, produce the fruits of trees, and the herb of the fields: and they roll the circles of the years returning into themselves. For they repair what pass away, and allow what are repaired to pass away again. The angels themselves also, if you look to the opinion of Paul, which says that "all are ministering spirits sent to minister for those who receive the inheritance of salvation," you will understand that they perform something of this sort, and are subject to this corruption: I believe also that they not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected them in hope. "For who resisteth His will?"

^A "But we ourselves also, having the firstfruits of the Spirit." For we have written in the Law: "The firstfruits of the threshing floor, and the firstfruits of the winepress, thou shalt not withhold," and: "The firstfruits of all thy produce thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God." What then? Since the firstfruits of the threshing floor and the firstfruits of the winepress are of the same produce as the rest of the threshing floor, or of the same liquid as the winepress itself, will it then seem that what he speaks of as the "firstfruits of the Spirit" is one particular thing, preeminent among many other holy and blessed spirits? Or shall we rather understand that, in accordance with the things we have argued above, there are many ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation, under whom each believer is instituted, as if under tutors and stewards, until the time predetermined by the Father, that is, until one arrives at the legal age of soul-perfection, where one, having already superseded the spirit of bondage which he had received in fear, by which he was guarded as if by a tutor, is rendered worthy to receive the spirit of adoption, the "firstfruits of the Spirit," through whom, once adopted as a son, he can also be joined to the firstfruits of the Church which is in heaven? And just as there is much difference between being a son and being a servant, so there is much difference between the Holy Spirit and the ministering spirits, the firstfruits of whom Paul says he and his like possess.

Let this be one way in which we have been able to investigate the understanding of this discourse. Let us now see another. We read in the Apostle Paul himself that many spirits are named as gifts or graces of the Holy Spirit, as when he says: "But now, since you are zealous for spirits, seek that you may abound for the edification of the Church," and likewise elsewhere: "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets," calling the spirits of the prophets "subject"—not as inferior to a better one, but because he who has the spirit of prophecy is not compelled to speak against his will, as those who have unclean spirits, but speaks when he desires and as reason dictates; but when it does not seem opportune to speak, he remains silent, knowing well that there is "a time to keep silence and a time to speak." And therefore, it is not said to the injury of the spirits that they are "subject to the prophets," but for the sake of the dispensation, just as that which was said

of the Savior, "Then the Son himself shall be subject to him who has put all things under him." ^A For this "subjection" is not spoken of as if he were inferior. For how can he be called inferior who is the Son and is all that the Father is? For "All things," he says, "Father, that are mine are thine." But among those whom he subjects to the Father—believing in himself, since he says that he is in each one of them, and says that he is hungry and thirsty and naked among them, and confesses that he is fed and clothed in them—for this reason he is said to be subject in them as well. But let these things be said by way of digression.

Now, however, let us return to the subject at hand. The diverse gifts of the Spirit ^B are therefore called "many spirits" by Paul. But whatever is the highest and greatest of these many gifts, the apostles have undoubtedly attained, so that they were adequate, just as even Paul himself says, to be ministers of the New Testament, and that they might be able to fill the Gospel from Jerusalem even around as far as Illyricum. Therefore, this gift of the Holy Spirit, which was bestowed upon them more sublimely and brilliantly than upon others, he merited calling the "first fruits of the Holy Spirit." And for that reason he says, "But also we ourselves." In which he seems especially to designate the apostolic dignity. "We, therefore," he says, "ourselves,"—that is, the apostles—"having the first fruits of the Spirit," who have been elected to this, that we might receive the first fruits of the Spirit, "even we ourselves groan within ourselves." To such an extent, he says, is there no creature that is free from sorrows and groanings, that even we ourselves, who have received the highest and select gifts from the Holy Spirit, ^C nevertheless, "awaiting the adoption of sons"—that is, the perfection of those whom we have been sent to teach and instruct, until we see them progress to such a degree that they merit to be adopted as sons—we necessarily grieve and groan. Therefore, as long as we, whom they instruct, are negligent and delay, and postpone the time of our amendment for too long, until we do not seek the invisible things, but are delighted by visible things, we stir up sorrows and mourning for the apostles, and, if I may say so, we awaken the groanings of the whole creation. For the whole creation groans and suffers together, sighing over the damages caused by our hardness and hypocrisy.

Here is another order of explanation for us concerning the first fruits of the Spirit, if it should seem acceptable. Furthermore, let us add ^D a third. The same Apostle himself says again concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is "the firstborn of all creation." Lest, perhaps, just as he is called "firstborn of all creation," the Holy Spirit might also be called the first fruits of many spirits in some such way. Let this also be the third mode of exposition. Let him who reads prove which of these is more in agreement with the apostolic sense. But if you take what he said—"And we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit"—as said of all who seem to have obtained the grace of baptism, one must hope for that which the same Apostle said: "For if the first fruits are holy, so also is the whole mass; and if the root is holy, so also are the branches." And if that be so, yet the first fruits of the mass itself, in which the multitude of the faithful seems to be indicated, will necessarily be thought to be located in the apostles. For thus it is written, that "God has placed in the Church first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers." These, therefore, who have been appointed in the first place are fittingly believed to have the first fruits of the spiritual grace of the Holy Spirit.

Now let us see how he, who in what precedes said that "the Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are sons of God," can say that he awaits the adoption of sons; and again, how he hopes for the redemption of the body, who in other places says, "Christ has redeemed us." But, as it seems to me, he resolves this in the discourse which is held in what follows. For he says, "We are saved by hope." Therefore, the fact that we are sons, and have been redeemed, and have been saved, consists in hope. For now we see through a glass and in an enigma; but then face to face: therefore, we receive both adoption and redemption through a glass and in an enigma. For "the fullness of time came, and God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." We receive the adoption, therefore, but that which is through a glass and in an enigma. But when those things which are perfect shall have come, then we shall obtain adoption face to face. But as for what he said—the redemption of the body...

^A of our own, I think that it refers to the whole body of the Church, just as he says elsewhere: "But you are the body of Christ, and members in part." Therefore, the Apostle hopes that the whole body of the Church is to be redeemed, and he does not think that what is perfect can be given to each of those members unless the whole body is gathered into one. However, it can also be understood in such a way that by the redemption of our body he means that which is in the future resurrection, when not only souls but bodies will come "before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the proper things of the body, according to what he has done," and according to that which is said: "Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." And therefore each one in this age must grieve and groan, lest perhaps through evil acts and the neglect of the present life he may not merit the redemption of his body, but rather fall into this judgment which condemns both body and soul to the fires of hell. After these things he says: "For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope." Just as he had said above concerning the creature, that "it was made subject to vanity by reason of him who made it subject in hope," so too here he speaks of himself, or of those whom he knows to be counted among them, saying: "For we are saved by hope," just as he also joined his own groans with the groans of the creature. ^B But how the salvation is in hope, and yet hope is not placed in those things which are seen, but in those which are not seen, we have already taught above. We shall only add briefly that from these words, and from those in which he says: "Not looking at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen," he teaches us that in the future blessings we should hope for nothing of those things which are now seen or can be seen, even if you see this visible heaven, even if you see the earth. Hear about these things, because heaven and earth will pass away; for they are visible; and what you see, what do you hope for? Therefore, nothing at all of those things which are seen is to be hoped for in the future. "For eye hath not seen what God hath prepared for them that love him." But the eye sees heaven and earth; therefore, that which is seen ought not to be believed to be prepared by God for those who love him; but the heaven, or rather the heavens, much more eminent and lofty than that firmament which can be seen by eyes. But the earth also is to be hoped for, though not this which is called dry land and is subject to the eyes, but that which will be the land of the meek, which the eye hath not seen. Evident is the Apostle's opinion, which teaches that not visible and corporal things are to be hoped for in the future, but spiritual and ^C eternal ones: because "the things which are seen are temporal," and those which are not seen are eternal, which the Apostle teaches are to be hoped for. Therefore, also, the very restoration of our body is changed from corruptible to incorruptible, and from mortal to immortal, and is restored from weakness into power, and from an animal body is made a spiritual body, so that, when it has been made spiritual, it may also be able to enjoy invisible blessings: which blessings we do not see in the present age, but hope for them through hope, and wait for them through patience.

6. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh for us with groanings unspeakable. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what the Spirit desireth; because he asketh for the saints according to God." When he had said in the preceding ^D that every creature was groaning and suffering with those who are placed in the struggle of this life, that is, was laboring together and bringing contribution of strength, and then had also mentioned that Paul himself and those like him were bringing forth groans for those who are laboring, so that by these things he might console those placed in the struggle, when they saw all the saints and the whole creation laboring with them in affection and joining their groans, he now adds something more elevated and sublime. Do not think, he says, that it is a small thing that every creature groans and suffers with us: do not think it small that we ourselves groan for your labors. There is also in the divine nature itself a certain affection of pity toward our struggles (for I join myself with you), and the Spirit himself "helpeth our infirmity." Finally, we do not know what we ought to pray for, or what we ought to request from God. For sometimes we desire things that are contrary to our salvation, forced by infirmity. For just as someone placed in bodily sickness does not ask from the physician those things which are appropriate or conducive to health, but those which the desire of the present infirmity has suggested, so too we, languishing in the infirmity of this life, sometimes ask from God that which is not expedient for us. Finally, I myself Paul, who speak these things to you, when because of the sublimity of the revelations, lest I should be exalted, there was given to me by the Lord "an angel of Satan to buffet me," I thrice besought the Lord that he might depart from me, not knowing what I should pray; and therefore, because I did not know according to what I ought to pray, the Lord did not hear me, but said to me: "My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity." So therefore, "we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh for us with groanings unspeakable." I know not what great thing Paul...

^A senses in these groanings; for it is the third time he speaks of groaning. "For even the creature," he says, "groaneth together," and "we ourselves groan," and "the Spirit himself asketh with groanings for the saints." He has added, to be sure, concerning these groanings which he says are offered to God through the Spirit, that they are unspeakable. He did not say this, however, either of the groaning of the whole of creation, or of his own. And see if we can understand in these groanings much confidence and freedom in the sight of God, because the prayer which is offered to God with sorrow and groaning receives from the Holy Spirit the confidence of ascending to God. Finally, when Adam had sinned, he lost his confidence, and hid himself from the face of God (Gen. III, 8). But holy David says, "My groaning is not hid from thee" (Ps. XXXVII, 10). But let us see what it is that he says: "The Spirit himself asketh for us" (Rom. VIII, 26). For John (1 John II, 1) signifies that Jesus does this also when he says: "Little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin: but if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ righteous, who also asketh for us." And here, the Spirit asketh for us. The Spirit does this by helping our infirmity. But what our infirmity is, the Lord himself teaches when he says: "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matth. XXVI, 41). Our infirmity, therefore, descends from the infirmity of the flesh. For it is that which lusts against the spirit (Galat. V, 17); and while it thrusts forward its desires, it hinders the purity of the spirit and beclouds the sincerity of prayer. But where the Spirit of God sees our spirit ^C laboring in opposing the flesh and clinging to Him, He stretches out His hand and aids its infirmity; and as though a master taking on a raw disciple, and one entirely ignorant of letters, in order that he may be able to teach and instruct him, it is necessary to incline himself to the rudiments of the disciple, and himself first say the name of a letter, so that by responding the disciple may learn, and he becomes in a certain way a master like to the beginning disciple, speaking and meditating those things which the beginner ought to speak and meditate: so also the Holy Spirit, when He sees our spirit disturbed by the assaults of the flesh, and not knowing what it ought to pray as is fitting, He himself as a master puts forward the prayer, which he ^A continues: He offers groanings by which our spirit might be taught to groan, so that it may render God propitious. But if the Spirit indeed teaches, and our spirit—that is, our mind—does not follow, by its own fault it becomes fruitless for the teaching of the master. And Paul, knowing this mystery to be within man, was saying: "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my mind is without fruit" (1 Cor. XIV, 14)—calling his spirit the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given from God to men. Whence also, exhorting us that we should not have this benefit of the Holy Spirit as fruitless, he adds and says: "What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind: I will sing with the spirit, I will sing also with the mind" (1 Cor. XIV, 15). Therefore, although Paul himself signified that these things are unspeakable, and to be performed in unspeakable groanings, yet as far as it was possible for us, we have brought forth a certain image of the things which are performed divinely, and which he himself brings forward. Moreover, he who is spiritual judges all things (1 Cor. II, 15), and if he is able to investigate anything higher than these, let him have with himself: "For the faithful one conceals matters in the spirit" (Prov. XI, 18). Those, however, who ask of God for themselves the prosperity of the present life, and health, or riches, or honors, are to be admonished, because they know not what they should pray for as is expedient (Rom. VIII, 26). For it often happens that these present gains and secular dignity result in the damage of the soul or its eternal disgrace. And therefore that which the Lord taught us to say in prayer is more to be held: "Thy will be done" (Matth. VI, 10). ^D "And he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what the Spirit desireth, because according to God he asketh for the saints." He shows indeed that with God it is not so much our words in prayer as our heart and mind that are weighed; for He is the one who searcheth hearts and reins (Ps. VII, 10). But what he says in the second place, that "the Spirit asketh," this is what he teaches: that not the least dispensation is performed in men even through the Holy Spirit. For although the only-begotten Son of God was incarnate and suffered for the salvation of the human race, and by his death destroyed death, and by his resurrection restored life, nonetheless [alt-version omitted] despite...

^A the magnificent incarnation, things are also accomplished through the Holy Spirit. It is so much the case that while He died for the ungodly (50) (as Paul himself shows when he says: "For while we were yet weak, Christ died for the ungodly according to the time"), the Holy Spirit no longer intercedes for the ungodly, but for the saints: and He intercedes not according to the flesh, but "according to God." Yet Christ is not said to have died according to God, but according to the flesh. Therefore, the Spirit is said to offer intercession for the saints not with words, but "with groanings," and not with these common groanings, but "inexpressible" ones. For how can that which the Spirit of God speaks to God be expressed, when sometimes not even our own spirit can explain by speech what it feels and understands?

7. We know, however, that "to them that love God all things work together unto good, to such as according to his purpose are called saints." For "whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable" (51) "to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." If, he says, the Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings, and the whole creation groans together and travails in pain until now, and will be delivered then at last from the servitude of corruption when the liberty of the glory of the children of God shall come, how will it not be competently declared that "we know that to them that love God all things work together unto good"? For to such a degree do all things work together for good (53), and labor with those who love God, that even the Spirit Himself assists, nor does the divine nature disdain to be the guide of the journey to the good. Nevertheless (54), if there are some who have the spirit of servitude in fear, while others are superior to these, who receive the spirit of adoption, in that they no longer reverence God with fear but with love, and because "perfect" charity casts out fear (67) in them, it must be seen whether perhaps all things may not work together for good for those who still remain in the spirit of servitude; but some things indeed may work together for them, but not all; and I do not know if they lead to the good itself, or rather, if I may so say, to the gates of the good. But for those who love God and cling to Him with the whole affection of charity, all things (55), as we have said, collaborate and help, and contribute something of their own effort, inasmuch as they [lead] them into the ^B good, which can never receive change, and establish them. But if there are others who love God, and others who receive the spirit of servitude, it must be seen whether perhaps this which he says, "To them that according to his purpose are called," and, "Whom he foreknew, and predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son," does not apply to those who are in the spirit of servitude. For they too can indeed be called, yet not "called according to his purpose": and for the reason that they still remain in the spirit of servitude, they cannot be placed among the many brethren whose firstborn is the Son of Charity, and "the invisible image of God," and "the firstborn of every creature." But I also wish to inquire concerning this which he said: "Conformable to the image of his Son," of what form they are said to be made conformable (56). We read, indeed, that the Son of God was at one time posited in the form of God, and at another time in the form of a servant. To which, therefore, of these two forms the Apostle says that those who love God—and to whom all things work together for good—will be ^C conformable, does not appear to me to be an idle distinction. I judge, therefore, according to those things which the same Paul designates in others, where he says: "My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you," that he calls Christ to be formed in those who tend toward perfection (57)—according to that which is the Word, so that the sincerity of the Word of God may be formed in them into purity; and according to that which is truth, so that truth may consist in them without the admixture of any deception; and according to that which is wisdom, so that that wisdom of God, which Paul speaks among the perfect, may be preserved in them, pure and without any bypass of error. So also according to all that Christ is, whether it be justice, or sanctification, or whatever other virtues (58), if they are formed in them into clarity, these will seem to have been made ^D conformable to the image of that form which is in the form of God. But if anyone is still conversant in the beginnings (and "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God"), and being still placed in fear receives the first elements of the worship of God, according to the form of the servant, which He assumed to this end, that He might teach the rude and the ignorant the fear of God, these are to be understood as being made conformable who receive the first beginnings in the fear of God. Since, he says, "whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son." Let us not omit even what he said: "He foreknew and predestinated." For I think...

that we should not understand God’s foreknowledge of good and evil according to the common opinion of the masses, but rather according to the usage of Holy Scripture ^A. For let the diligent student of the Scriptures observe that, whenever he finds Scripture saying that God foreknew the wicked—just as in the present passage it speaks manifestly of the good, saying, "whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son"—if, then, those whom he foreknew he also predestinated to be conformable to the image of his Son, but no wicked person can be conformable to the image of the Son of God, it is manifest that he speaks only of the good: "He foreknew whom he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son"; but the others he is not said to foreknow, but rather that God is said not to know them. For "God knows those who are his"; but concerning those who are not worthy to be known by God, the Savior says, "Depart from me, for I never knew you," you workers of iniquity. So, therefore, even in this present passage, those whom God "foreknew," them "he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son." But the others are not said to be foreknown: not because anything can be hidden from that nature which is everywhere and is nowhere absent, but because everything that is evil is held unworthy of his knowledge or foreknowledge. Whom, therefore, he foreknew, he also predestinated. But consider this, too: whether God can be said to foreknow and predestinate those who do not yet exist, or those who indeed exist, but are not yet conformable to the image of the Son of God; and whether foreknowledge is more suited to this than to that which is yet to be. For in this, there is more of the will than of the foreknowledge of the Creator. For in what will foreknowledge be seen, when that which is to be depends upon the decision of the Maker? Perhaps it will be seen by attentive readers that this also is required: why he did not say, "conformable to his Son," but, "conformable to the image of his Son." For one who examines these things will say that just as the Son himself, who is called the "image of the invisible God," ^C insofar as his person is concerned, is distinct from him whose image he is, so also here, that which is called the "image of his Son" must be distinct from him whose image it is. And although these things seem difficult and arduous, yet see if we can say this: that although every ^A image that has attained that form which we placed above is the image of God—that is, the image of the Son of God—yet the special and proper image of him, which received him entirely and in its entirety, and fashioned itself within itself, must be spoken of as the soul of Jesus, which so adjusted itself in all things to the Word and Wisdom of God that it would in no way be found faded from his likeness; so that whoever pursues the height of perfection and blessedness may tend toward his image and likeness, for he is in the first place, and above all others, the image of the Son of God; so "that he himself might be the firstborn among many brethren," in them, clearly, whose primacy he holds in the conformation to the image of the Son of God. ^B 8. "And whom he predestinated, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." He said above: "Whom he foreknew, these he also predestinated," and now he adds: "And whom he predestinated, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified." And if we understand "foreknew" and "predestinated" according to the common opinion, it will certainly seem that he who is justified is justified because he was called; and he who is called is justified because he was predestinated; and he who is predestinated is predestinated because he was foreknown. And again, you will understand the contrary: if any man is not justified, he is not justified because he was not called; and he who is not called is not called because he was not predestinated; and he who is not predestinated is not predestinated because he was not foreknown. And see into what an absurd opinion those fall who accept the foreknowledge of God only in this sense, as if he simply foreknows those things which are to come to pass afterward. For it is found, according to that which we explained above, that God did not foreknow those whom he did not predestinate. And again, if what he says—"whom he called, these he also justified"—is referred to the common understanding, we shall open a vast window to those who deny that it is in the power of man to be saved. For they say: "If God foreknew those whom he predestinated; and those whom he predestinated, them he also called; and those whom he called, them he also justified; then those who are not justified have no fault, because they were neither called, nor predestinated, nor foreknown." ^D Furthermore, that which is openly against us

is that not all who are called are also justified. For Judas the apostle was called, but he was not justified. And even if someone should contend that he was justified by the very fact that he was called, he was certainly not glorified. But also those of whom the Apostle says that they "made shipwreck in regard to the faith" (1 Tim. 1:19), were indeed called, but they are not justified. And according to the parables of the Gospel (Luke 14:17), those to whom the servants were sent and who made excuses, were called, but they are not justified; and he who entered the king's banquet and did not have a wedding garment (Matt. 22:11) was called, but he is not justified. Since, therefore, these things are each so, how will the Apostle’s statement, which he wrote concerning knowing beforehand, or predestinating, or calling, or even justifying, appear to be true? But I believe that, according to those things which we have set forth above, we must return to the custom of Scripture regarding how God knows or foreknows, which in this discourse is accustomed to use a certain vernacular—that is, in the sense of "to know," just as when it says: "And Adam knew Eve his wife" (Gen. 4:1), in place of saying, ^B "he had intercourse with his wife." And again it says of Rebecca: "She was a virgin, a man had not known her" (Gen. 24:16). But it is also said of the children of Levi, when they were punishing the transgressors, that "everyone did not know his father or his mother" (Deut. 33:9). In which, without a doubt, it is shown that he did not join his affection and love with his father or his mother. Indeed, you will find many things said in the Scriptures concerning "knowing" according to this sense; and therefore even in the present passage, it is clear that the Apostle set forth the word "knowing" according to the custom of the Holy Scripture, so that he might show as "foreknown" by God those in whom, knowing what kind they would be, God had placed His love and affection, according to what is also written: "The Lord knew those who are His" (2 Tim. 2:19); since, at any rate, as far as this common knowledge is concerned, God is not unaware not only of those who are His, but also of those who wander from Him. But He is said to have "known" His own—this is, to have held them in love and to have united them to Himself. "Thus therefore whom He foreknew, God also predestinated; and whom He predestinated, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified." There remains for us still the resolution of that question: how "whom He called, them He also justified," when, according to those things which we said above, it is certain that many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 22:14). But it seems to me that there is a certain difference in the calling, according to that which we set forth in the previous chapter, because all indeed are called, but yet not all ^C according to the purpose are called. For those who are called "according to the purpose" of the good and the good will which they bear toward the worship of God, are the very ones who are said to be called "according to the purpose," and these are the ones who, being called, are justified. For their good purpose lacked only the calling. But those, however, who do not have a good and fixed purpose either toward divine worship or toward a good work, are indeed called themselves, so that no excuse may be left to them, and so that they cannot claim these very things when they are judged: "Since if we had been called, we would have been able to be justified; and not only justified, but also glorified." Therefore, for this reason they are indeed called; but it is as if the seed were sown on stony ground; it springs up quickly indeed; but as the sun of tribulations increases, because they do not have the deep root of a good purpose, they immediately wither and perish (Matt. 13:5-6). And they are those of whom the Apostle says that they "made shipwreck in regard to the faith" (1 Tim. 1:19). Those, therefore, whom He called—that is, whom He called according to a good purpose—those He also justified. And even if "according to the purpose" is referred to God, that is, that they are called according to the purpose of God, who, knowing that a religious mind and a desire for salvation exist in them, is called, this will not appear to be contrary to those things which we have explained. In this way, therefore, neither does the cause of our salvation or perdition consist in the foreknowledge of God; nor does justification depend on the calling alone; nor is being glorified completely taken away from our own power. For even if we understand foreknowledge in the common sense, it will not be that something happens *because* God knows it will be future; but because it is future, it is known by God before it happens. For even if, for example, we were to imagine God as not foreknowing something, it would undoubtedly have been what it is, just as it is; as for instance, Judas became a traitor, and the prophets predicted that this was how it would be in the future. Therefore, it is not because the prophets predicted it that Judas betrayed; but because he was going to be a traitor, the prophets predicted the things which he was about to carry out from the wickedness of his own purpose; when meanwhile Judas had it in his power to be like Peter and John, if he had so wished: but he chose the greed of money rather than the glory of apostolic fellowship; and the prophets, foreseeing this future will of his, transmitted it in the monuments of their books. But so that you may know that the cause of salvation for each one is not placed in the foreknowledge of God, but in one's own purpose and actions, see Paul fearing that, perhaps, when he had preached to others, he himself might be rendered a reprobate (1 Cor. 9:27), beating his body and bringing it into servitude. Furthermore, against those who raise such questions to us,

we can also say this: "Whom he foreknew, he also predestinated"; but he did not predestinate everyone; ^A therefore he did not foreknow everyone: and according to them, there will be some things of which God is ignorant. But if "to foreknow" is understood according to what we said above, that is, to receive into one's affection and to associate with oneself, it will be true that, just as he did not predestinate all, so neither did he foreknow all. For thus Jesus also is said not to have known sin. Shall we say that Jesus did not know what sin was, that is, that he did not know that homicide, adultery, theft, and the like were sin? Or is this what it means to "not know sin," that he did not mingle himself with sin, nor did sin adhere to him? Likewise, it is written elsewhere: "He who keeps the commandment will not know an evil word," that is, he will not receive ^B an evil word, will not believe it, will not willingly listen to it, nor will he allow it to enter his mind. Therefore, those whom God foreknew in this manner, "he also predestinated; and whom he predestinated, them he also called," by that distinction of calling of which we spoke: "and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Regarding glorification, we can also understand in the present age, according to that which the Apostle says: "But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." There is, therefore, also this glory that every justified person receives in the present life; and there is also that which is hoped for in the future, when "this body of our humility, which is sown in dishonor, shall rise in glory"; and when "as one is the glory of the sun, and another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars, and as star differs from star in glory, so also will be the resurrection of the dead."

9. "What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also, with him, given us all things?" How God is for us is manifest from those things he set forth above, that is, that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and that the Spirit of Christ, or Christ himself is in us, or that the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, or that we are led by the Spirit of God, or that we have received the spirit of adoption; or that we are children of God and heirs and joint-heirs of Christ; or that we receive the first-fruits of the Spirit; or that the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered; or that the whole creation groans and travails in pain with us; or that all things work together unto good for those who love God; or that according to his purpose we are called, and foreknown, and predestinated, and justified, and glorified. For by making, as it were, an epilogue of all these things, and repeating everything at once, he says: "What shall we say to these things?"—that is, to all these things which we said above: "because if God is for us in such a way that he has granted us all these things, who can be against us?" Not that he says there is absolutely no adversary for us; otherwise how would that stand which was said by Peter: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour"? But this is what he shows: because, with God acting on our behalf, our adversary is rendered contemptible and nothing. Likewise also David says: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" He does not, therefore, say there is no one whom he should fear, and who opposes him, but although, he says, "my enemies who trouble me draw near to eat my flesh," yet with the Lord defending my life, "they have been weakened, and have fallen." Moreover, he gives the greatest evidence of the immense love of God towards us, who, he says, loved us so much that he did not spare his "own Son," but delivered him up to the passion for us all. And that he might bind us with greater admiration, he added a word conscious of an immense mystery, saying that he "did not spare his own Son." For he had said above that even we who receive the spirit of adoption are the children of God. Therefore, that by this common appellation of children we might not—

think that any one of those who seemed to have been adopted as children was delivered by him, he added "his own Son," to show that it is He alone who is generated from God himself by an ineffable generation. Therefore, for us all he delivered him, not by that delivery of which it is written: "And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the children," but he is said to have delivered him in this, that when he was in the form of God, he suffered himself to empty himself, and to take the form of a servant, and to reach even to the death of the cross; so that in himself he might set an example of obedience to all, and open the way of the resurrection to the dead. ^A "For us all, therefore, he delivered him." Not only for the saints, not only for the great, but also for the least, and for all who are in the Church, the Father delivered his own Son: and therefore even if one hurts any of the least and weakest, wounding his weak conscience, he is said to sin against Christ, inasmuch as he scandalizes the soul for which Christ died. Since, therefore, for us all the Father delivered his Son, no one at all, not even the least who is in the Church, is to be despised: and therefore the Lord himself said: "Whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones, it is better that a millstone be hanged about his neck, and that he be cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these." God, therefore, who made us precious by shedding the precious blood of his own Son for us, how will he not with him give us all things? For there is no creature, visible or invisible, ^B that can be equated to the Son: for by no means can the creature be conferred upon its creator; and if the creator himself is given to us, how will not every creature be given to us with him? Although this saying can be understood in a twofold way, that is, that with him he will give us all things. For this also can be seen, that if we have Christ in us according to that which he is, the Word and wisdom, and truth, and justice, and peace, and all other things which are written of him, with this fullness of virtues all things will be given to us, so that we may no longer hold one of all the creatures, and this small place of the earth which we now seem to inhabit, but that we may possess together with Christ all things whatsoever God has created, visible and invisible, hidden and manifest, temporal and eternal. But it can also ^C be understood in another way, how he said: "With him he will give us all things": that is, that to them indeed it will be given to enjoy the whole creature as co-heirs with him.

10. "Who shall accuse against the elect of God? It is God who justifies; who is he that shall condemn? Christ Jesus who died, yea rather who is risen again, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." It seems to me that he speaks of the devil. For there is no one so elect and so great whom he would not dare to accuse, except him alone "who did no sin," who also said: "Now the prince of this world comes, and in me he finds nothing." But although he exerts the wickedness of his purpose, with God justifying and blotting out the iniquity of his elect like a cloud, and their sins like a fog, and washing them whiter than snow from former offences, and making them like white wool, what will the accuser profit? But even when Christ has died for them, or rather has risen from the dead, and stands at the right hand of the Father, and intercedes for them, who will be able to condemn them? In the former part of this epistle, the holy Spirit, he says, "makes intercession for us with groanings inexpressible": here "Christ Jesus who died and rose again," he himself "intercedes for us." God who delivered his own Son for us, he himself justifies the elect: who will there be furthermore who would dare to condemn? But consider more diligently how the Apostle never departs in his discourses from the caution implanted in him. He did not say: "Who shall accuse against the called, but against the elect?" For unless you are elect, unless you have shown yourself acceptable to God in all things, you will have an accuser. For if your cause is evil, if your crime binds you, what will it profit you to have an advocate, even if it is Jesus who makes intercession? For Jesus is the truth: therefore truth cannot lie for you. In this will the advocate help you, that you may not be involved in the accusations of the accuser, and that past sins, which were blotted out through baptism, may not be imputed to you. ^D If, however, after these things you sin again, and do not wash these away with any tears of penance, you will give your accuser matter to accuse you: and although Jesus makes intercession for us, yet Jesus cannot say that darkness is light, nor bitter sweet. If, therefore, you wish to conquer when you are judged, do what is written of the just: "Set your words in judgment."

Prepare your works for your departure: "Remember your last things, and you shall never sin." ^A Lest that which is written of a certain man befall you: "When he is judged, let him go out condemned." See, moreover, how you should listen, for Jesus intercedes for us. For he is the one of whom it is written elsewhere, that "the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son," and just as he himself is sacrifice and priest, and he himself is in the form of a servant and in the form of God, so he is also advocate and judge.

11. "Who therefore shall separate us from the love of God? Tribulation? Or distress? Or persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or peril? Or the sword? (As it is written: 'Because for your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.') But in all these things we conquer through him who loved us." For these things, he says, which we have enumerated above—that is, that we are no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit; and that the Spirit of God dwells in us; and that Christ is within us, through whom the body is indeed dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of justification; ^B and that we are no longer debtors to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because by the spirit we have put to death the deeds of the flesh; and that through the spirit of adoption we have been made sons of God, and if sons, then also heirs of God, yet fellow heirs of Christ; and that the whole creation groans with us and suffers with us, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God; and that for those who love God all things work together for good; and that he foreknew and predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, who are called according to his purpose—since for all these benefits which we have obtained, we are fixed and rooted in the love of God, who shall be able to separate us from it? If tribulation comes, we shall say to God, "In tribulation you have enlarged me." If there is distress of the world, and it comes from the necessity of the body, we shall seek the breadth of the wisdom and knowledge of God, in which the world cannot straiten us. For I will return to the most ample fields of the divine Scriptures: I will seek the spiritual understanding of the word of God, and no distress will straiten me therein. ^C For I will ride through the most wide spaces of mystical and spiritual intelligence. If I suffer persecution, and confess my Christ before men, I am certain that he also will confess me before his Father who is in heaven. If famine is present, it cannot disturb me: for I have the bread of life which descends from heaven and refreshes hungry souls; nor can this bread ever fail, for it is perfect and eternal. Nakedness does not confound me: for I have put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and I hope to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven: "For this mortal must put on immortality, and this corruptible must put on incorruption." I will not fear peril: "For the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" and "The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" ^D The earthly sword cannot terrify me: for I have with me a stronger sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; and with me is the living and effective word of God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword. If, therefore, the sword of the world comes upon my neck, it secures greater love for me toward God. For I will say to him, because, as it is written: "For your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." For it does not suffice for me to die for Christ for one hour, or to be tortured, but "all the day," that is, for all the time of my life. For if I spend my whole life in persecutions and perils, I will say that "the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the future glory which shall be revealed in us." For the time of this life is short, and that which we spend in persecutions is trivial; but that which we await in glory is eternal and everlasting. And therefore "in all these things," he says, "we conquer," not by our own virtue, but "through him who loved us." For while we hang on his love, we do not receive the sensation of pain. For his love, by which he loved us, and which has snatched our affection to himself, makes us not feel the torture of the body and the pain. Therefore, we conquer in all these things. Something of this kind the bride also says in the Canticles to the Word, that "wounded," she says, "am I with love." To this manner, therefore, our soul having received from Christ the wound of love, even if it hands over the body to the sword, it will not feel the wounds of the flesh, on account of the wound of love.

^A “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Apostle seems to have indicated two orders of those things which are accustomed to stir up temptations for men. And in those things which we discussed previously, the order of human temptations is understood to be described; concerning which he also said to the Corinthians, inasmuch as they were not able to bear greater things: “Let no temptation take you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.” But now in these words which we have in hand, he does not indicate human temptations, but those greater than human. And therefore I think that when he had enumerated each single thing in the former ones, at the end he says: “But in all these we overcome.” But in these temptations of the second order, he does not say so confidently, “We overcome,” but he says very tenuously that nothing of these “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.” For concerning human temptations, he declares confidently that we overcome them as if they were small and light; but those higher ones, and more than human, even if we are not able to overcome and cast them down—for this is the work of Christ alone, who “stripped principalities and powers, triumphing over them in Himself”—yet even this is in the place of victory, if, when all have turned the engines of their assaults against us, they are nevertheless unable to separate us from the love of God. But now let us attempt to discuss each point, and, according to our strength, to open up what ought to be thought about each saying of the Apostle. Although the Apostle seems here to have touched upon deeper things than the power of our exposition is sufficient to bear, or the requirement of brevity admits; yet let us inquire whether all these things which the Apostle has enumerated, or some of them, bear this character of study or intention, that they strive to separate human souls from the love of God, and for that reason exert against us all that we suffer. For it seems that it can indeed do this—that we might be separated from the love of God—death perhaps, and angels, and principalities, and powers opposing us without doubt, and things present which are certainly slippery and fleeting. But depth also can be understood similarly. However, how life, and things to come, and height, and any other creature should strive to separate us from the love of God, it does not seem idle to explain. Unless perhaps one might say hyperbolically that the Apostle says this: that is, we are not turned aside from the love of God in any way, not only by those things which can happen, but not even by those things which cannot happen at all; for example, as if another life were given to us than this which was given 609 by God, or if another hope of things to come were promised to us, or height, or even another creature than that which “groans and travails in pain” for us—which certainly cannot happen—not even these things could separate us from the love of God. This, therefore, is one mode of exposition. ^B Let us see, however, lest perhaps this understanding might also be admitted. “Death,” which he speaks of here, is to be taken as that which we explained above, the enemy of Christ said to be destroyed, the last one. Which is certainly called death for this reason, because just as this common death separates the soul from the body, so also that one strives to separate the soul from the love of God; and this is, in any case, the death of the soul. It may therefore be that there is also some life on its part, which acts with it to separate us from the love of God; which life is of sin. For if this life were not bad, the Apostle would never persuade us that we should die to sin, and be baptized in the death of Christ, and be buried together with Him. It may therefore be that this is the life of sin, which desires to separate us from the love of God. I, however, think that each single sin also has some life of its own within us: for every vice is a life of sin. The more, therefore, vices are found within us, the more the lives of sins will appear to be in us. And for that reason perhaps it was said: for “Thy mercy is better than lives.”

^C “Neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers.” It is easy to understand those angels for whom the eternal fire is said to be prepared by the Savior, with the devil; but principalities and powers, those undoubtedly against whom our struggle is, or those principalities and powers of which he says: “When He shall have destroyed every principality, and power, and virtue.” From which also the prince of this world is called. After these, “Neither things present,” he says, “or things to come.” This can seem to have been said of those whom the same Apostle in other places called “the rulers of this world and of darkness”; or also because the pleasure and delight of present things, and the empty glory of this world, may strive to lead us away from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. After these, let us see what are the “things to come,” which indeed intend...

but they cannot separate Paul and those like him from the love of God. This seems to me to be understood in two ways. For ^A *future* things can be understood from the time when he was writing these things, so that he appears to be saying this: "If any temptations, if any tribulations should come upon me, they shall not be able to separate me from the love of God." Or also, understand by "future" the things that are to occur to those departing from this world, when the prince of this world and other powers that are under him shall contend to hold back the soul departing from the body; but they shall not be able to hold back those for whom "perfect love, which is in Christ Jesus, casts out fear." However, that Scripture which says: "For while we are in the body, we are away from the Lord—for we prefer to be away from the body and to be with the Lord," and, "we strive, whether absent or present, to please Him," seems to confirm this sense; for he calls those who are in the body "absent," and those departing from the body "present," and he shows that the saints, even when departing from the body, strive to please God. If, therefore, there is perfect love in them, not even any of the things that are to come, in which it is necessary to please God, shall be able to separate them from it, since those who are so mobile in the love of God will certainly not be ones who will please God in such a way that they can be separated from it. Let these things be said by us in a double sense concerning future things. But it may be that there is also some third mode superior to these, which he who is able to investigate may judge worthy to be preferred to these.

He then subjoins: "Nor powers." "Species" seems to be one among many rational creatures, not leading a life in a mortal body, but like the angels, yet of a different order than the angels. And so these very powers have a struggle to separate us from the love of God; but not even they, he says, shall be able, if it is rooted and founded. ^B Similarly, "height" and "depth" assault us, just as David also says: "Many who war against me from on high," no doubt when he was being pressed from the celestial realms by the spirits of wickedness; and as he says again: "Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord"; since they are consigned to the underworld and the spirits of gehenna. But Paul says that not even these shall be able to separate us from the love of God. "Nor," he says, "any other creature." It can be understood that he meant another creature besides this one which we see: for there is another now invisible to us. But it can also be accepted in this way: besides those which I have enumerated above; that is, angels, and powers, and if there is any other creature, lest by enumerating them one by one according to species, he might appear to draw out a long and superfluous discourse. Or in another way. Since Paul knew that there are many and innumerable creatures of God, of whom even he had received not total knowledge, but knowledge in part, and of whom not only the species, but even the names are unknown in the present age—concerning whom the same Apostle also says in other places that the Savior sat "above every principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age, but also in the coming one"; ^C on account of these, therefore, which he knows can be named not only in the present age, but also in the coming one, he will appear to have said: "Nor shall any other creature be able to separate us from the love of God."

Nevertheless, from all these, Paul shows his confidence regarding his own salvation, since now, with neither opposing angels, nor impugning powers, nor things present, nor things to come struggling against him, nor any creature whatsoever acting as an adversary, he says that he can be torn away from the love of God, nor does he harbor any fear at all of so many adversaries, that he might truly show that perfect love and, by him, already cast out fear. For he himself also once had fear, and he feared lest he might fall: and he who just now did not fear the battles of celestial powers if they should move against him, once feared his own flesh and dreaded the snares rising from it, when he said, writing to the Corinthians: "I discipline my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." And therefore, above all others...

the snares of the flesh are to be feared, and that enemy which proceeds from ourselves is to be guarded against, until the soul comes to such progress that, bound to God by the sweetness of charity, it abhors the blandishments of the body and the enticements of the flesh, having become one spirit with God.

13. "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great sadness and continuous sorrow in my heart. For I wished myself to be anathema from Christ for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as of children, and the glory, and the testaments, and the lawgiving, and the service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom ^A is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever (Rom. ix, 1 ff)." Seeing that Paul had explained that if, according to the things which he laid out above, no power, whether in heavenly or earthly things, things present or things to come, could separate him from the charity of Christ, it would appear contrary and incredible that he were now proposing to say that he wished to be anathema from Christ, whom he loved so inseparably; lest he should seem to incur the mark of a lie, he places a satisfaction beforehand, that there might be no doubt about his word, and says: "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost." But let us see why he said, "I say the truth in Christ," as though showing there is some truth that is not in Christ. And see if we can in such a way distinguish the truth that is in Christ from that which is not in Christ: since elsewhere the same Apostle says: "The truth of Christ is in me, ^B because I lie not (II Cor. xi, 10)." Therefore, we must believe that the truth of Christ is there, where also the other virtues are which are described as being Christ: that is, where there is justice, where there is peace, where there is the Word of God, there also is the truth of Christ. But there is also truth in injustice; as if, for example, we say that that spirit of Python, which is reported in the Acts of the Apostles to have dwelt in a certain handmaid, and to have cried out after the apostles, that they were servants of the most high God, who announced to men the way of God, there was truth in these words; for it was true what was being said: but that truth was not in Christ; and for that reason Paul, having turned to her, said: "Be silent, and come out of her (Act. xvi, 16 ff)." ^C But that also was truth which Caiaphas said: "It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and not the whole nation perish (John xi, 50)." But yet that truth was not in Christ. And therefore the Apostle, for the distinction of that truth which is outside of Christ, says that he speaks the truth in Christ. But also this which he says: "My conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost," seems to me to have a similar understanding. For conscience also renders testimony to the Gentiles; according to what the same Apostle says in the preceding passages: "Their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between themselves accusing, or also defending them (Rom. ii, 15)." In those, therefore, in whom their thoughts have something to accuse, and conscience comes to bear testimony, it cannot be said that for evil acts the conscience bears testimony in the Holy Ghost. But in the Apostle, where the thought now ^D has nothing to accuse, the conscience rightly bears testimony in the Holy Ghost. See, however, the magnitude of the apostolic heart. He cannot be separated from the charity of God: what he speaks, he speaks in Christ; what he has in his conscience is contained by the Holy Ghost. Who, I ask, of the heavens, who of the thrones, which most broad minds of the heavenly virtues will be able to contain the whole Trinity in such broad seats? "For," he says, "I have great sadness and continuous sorrow in my heart." Be it so, that you have sadness; be it so, that you take up sorrow for the perdition of your brethren "who are my kinsmen according to the flesh": but does it go so far that you wish to be anathema from Christ? And what does their salvation profit you, if you are separated from salvation? And what will you save others, if you yourself perish? No, he says, it is not so; but I have learned from my Master and Lord, that "he who wishes to save his soul shall lose it; and he who has lost it for my sake, shall find it (Matt. xvi, 24 ff)." What wonder is it, then, if the Apostle wishes to become anathema for his brethren, who knows that He who was in the form of God, emptied Himself of it, and took the form of a servant, and became a curse for us (Gal. iii, 13)? What wonder is it, then, if, when the Lord became a curse for the servants, the servant becomes anathema for his brethren? But I think this is what Moses also, when the people had sinned, was saying to the Lord: "And now if indeed Thou forgivest them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book of life which Thou hast written (Exod. xxxii, 32)." What then? Do you wish Paul to seem inferior to Moses? He asks to be blotted out of the book of life for his brethren; should Paul not wish to be anathema for his brethren?

But perhaps someone may say that Moses, by offering this, deserved to obtain salvation for the people; whereas Paul indeed asks, but is not heard. What if I show you that Paul was heard more than Moses? For all those who had gone out of Egypt through Moses fell in the desert. And their descendants, who received the land of promise, even now wander as exiles and outcasts from it. But hear what Paul says concerning Israel: "I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, that blindness in part has happened to Israel ^A, until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter in, and so all Israel should be saved." You see, therefore, that Paul was heard, and that because he offered himself as anathema, he deserved to obtain salvation for his brethren. And that is why it seems to me that he prefaced all those things, that "no power can sever him from the love of God," so that when he offers himself as anathema for his brethren, you do not judge his fall to be possible; but just as He who is inseparable from the Father by nature, and is immortal, came into death and descended into the netherworld, ^B so also this man, imitating his Master, since he cannot be separated from the love of Christ, may become an anathema from Christ for his brethren, by devotion certainly, not by prevarication. That the Israelites are kin to Paul according to the flesh needs no exposition. "Whose," he says, "is the adoption of sons." For the sons of Israel were adopted by God then "when the Most High divided the nations, and dispersed the sons of Adam according to the number of the angels of God, and Jacob became the portion of the Lord, and Israel the cord of His inheritance." This, therefore, is the adoption of sons. "And the glory, and the covenants, ^C and the giving of the law." It has often already been said about the glory of the law that was given, just as the Apostle himself says: "For if that which is done away was glorious, which is the Old Testament, much more that which remains is in glory," namely, the preaching of the Gospel. But what he says, "covenants and the giving of the law," might perhaps seem to say one thing. For the law that was given is also called a Testament. But I think this distinction exists: that the giving of the law was one, and was held once through Moses; but the covenants were frequently established. For as often as they sinned and were cast out, so often did they seem to be disinherited. And again, as often as God ^D was propitiated, He recalled them and brought them into the inheritance of His possession, and is to be believed to have repaired the covenants as many times; and He is to be believed to have written them as heirs. "And the service, and the promises." He calls the priestly duties "service"; the "promises" are those which were made to the fathers, and are hoped to be given to those who are called the sons of Abraham through faith. Yet it is certain that also according to the flesh, they were of the same lineage, that is, of Israelite stock; not only the fathers, but Christ also, just as he says through the prophet: "Woe to them, because my flesh is from them." But why "woe to them"? Because Jesus was born "for the ruin and resurrection of many," and because He was repudiated by those whose flesh He was, and was accepted by the Gentiles by whom He was not known, as He says through David: "A people whom I have not known, served me." Therefore, from them is Christ also according to the flesh, "who is over all, God blessed for ever." That Christ is one thing according to the flesh, and another according to the Spirit, he already designated in the earlier parts of this Epistle, where he says: "Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was destined to be the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of sanctification." And how He is the Son of God according to the Spirit, and the son of David according to the flesh, we have explained there more fully to the best of our ability. Whom, therefore, he there called the Son of God according to the Spirit, here, as the order of doctrine proceeds—as befits advanced hearers—he declares to be "God who is over all blessed for ever." And I wonder how some, reading what the same Apostle says elsewhere: "One God the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things," deny that the Son of God should be professed as God, lest they seem to speak of two gods. And what will they do with this passage of the Apostle, in which Christ is openly heralded as being "God over all"? But those who think in this way do not notice that, just as he said that there is one Lord Jesus Christ, without thereby saying that God the Father is not Lord, so also he did not say that God the Father is one God, in such a way that the Son of God is not believed to be God. For true is the Scripture which says: "Know that the Lord He is God." One also...

^A is God, because there is no other beginning of the Son’s divinity than the Father; but the Son is the purest flowing from the one paternal fountain, as Wisdom says. Christ is therefore God above all things. What "all things"? Those, without a doubt, which we mentioned a little before: "above all principality, and power, and virtue, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." He however who is above all things, has no one above Himself. For He is not after the Father, but of the Father. And the Wisdom of God permitted this same thing to be understood concerning the Holy Spirit, where He says: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world: and that which containeth all things has knowledge of the voice." If therefore the Son is called "God above all things," and the Holy Spirit is mentioned as containing all things, and God the Father is He "from whom are all things," it is evidently shown that the nature of the Trinity and the one substance is that which is above all things.

14. "But the word of God has not failed." For not all who are of Israel, these are Israelites: nor because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all the children: but "in Isaac shall thy seed be called: that is, not they that are the children of the flesh, are they the children of God: but they that are the children of the promise, are accounted for the seed." Since he had said above that for his brethren, who are kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, he wished even to be anathema, for the reason that theirs was the adoption of children, and the lawgiving, and the promises; concerning these he now says that the word of God has not failed, that is, the promise which was made to them has not vanished. For whoever is the true Israel, not only tracing his lineage from the carnal race of Abraham (for "not they that are the children of the flesh, are they the children of God"), but he who descends from the promise of the faith of Abraham, he also attains the promises of God. For of the race of Israel there are many, but not all are called Israel. For Israel was so named from seeing God. For so Jacob himself also says: "I saw the Lord face to face, and my soul has been saved." Therefore, because he saw God, he was called Israel. But he who does not see Him who said, "He that seeth Me, seeth the Father also," cannot be called Israel. Nor, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all also children. This was clearly signified even then ^D in Abraham, when for him who had many children, whom the Apostle calls children of the flesh, the promise of the seed was placed ^A in Isaac alone who was the son of promise. And now, therefore, those who, according to Isaac, are the children of promise, that is, of that faith through which promise Abraham merited to receive the future inheritance, they alone are reckoned as the seed; for in them is the succession of the inheritance declared.

15. "For this is the word of promise: At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son." 613 But not only so, but Rebecca also having [children] of one, even of our father Isaac. For when the children were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said to her: "The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." The Apostle purposed to follow up the fact that, although the people of Israel might have been rejected on account of infidelity, yet the promises of God which had been held toward them have not failed or been frustrated: and he teaches that although there were many children of Abraham, the promise was made in Isaac alone. "For not," he says, "as many as are children of the flesh, are these the children of God." And he strives to show how Isaac is not a son of the flesh, but is a son of God; and he returns to those things which were written concerning him in Genesis. "Of promise," he says, "this is the word: At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." Therefore, he says, Isaac is not born through the order of carnal birth; since Abraham’s body was already considered dead, and the womb of Sarah was already dead, as was said above; but through the power of Him who said, "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." deservedly, therefore, is he called not the son of the flesh, but of God, who is born ^C of the coming and word of God. This reasoning, therefore, he says, must be accepted not only concerning Isaac, but also concerning Jacob. For Rebecca, he says, did not bring forth her offspring according to the order of carnal birth. For when she had conceived twins by one union, before the birth had taken place, and before any good or evil had been performed by the boys among men, the divine election is held regarding Jacob, and it is said, "because the elder shall serve the younger," and, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." But why these things were said in such a way, he teaches: "That according to election," he says, "the purpose of God might remain, not of works, but of Him that calleth it was said"; that is, that not they who are children of the flesh, but those who are children of God, these are accounted for the seed. For just as there, from many children

of the flesh, Isaac is chosen by God to be adopted as a son ^A of God, so also here, from two, the younger, Jacob, is chosen to be adopted as a son of God; and thus it becomes true that the promises of God do not consist in the children of the flesh, but in the children of God. But all these things point to this, that the Apostle demonstrates that if either Isaac or Jacob had been chosen by God for those merits which they had acquired while placed in the flesh, and had deserved to be justified by the works of the flesh, the grace of their merit could surely have pertained also to the posterity of flesh and blood. But now, since their election was not made from works, but from the purpose of God and from the will of the Caller, the grace of the promises is not fulfilled in the children of the flesh, but in the children of God, that is, those who, similarly to them, are chosen from the purpose of God and are adopted as sons. For even in them that which we already expounded above is fulfilled: "Whom he foreknew, he also predestinated; and whom he predestinated, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Moreover, whatever we expounded above concerning these discourses, the same are sufficient, even abundantly so, for the ^B explanation of the present passage, lest by repeating the same we generate weariness for the readers.

16. What then shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with God? Far be it. For Moses says: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." Therefore it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "For this very purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say therefore to me: "Why then doth he yet find fault? For who resisteth his will?" It is fitting for one reading these things to remember attentively that similitude which we set forth in the previous books concerning the dispensation of the apostolic discourse, that just as in a certain royal house, which is distinguished by manifold ^C entrances and exits, one passes from one chamber to another in such a way that the traces of either the one entering or the one leaving are scarcely visible, so also Paul, while indeed revealing the secrets of divine things a little, does not, however, reveal them plainly and openly. Finally, when concerning those things which he had said above about Isaac and Jacob—that because of election and from the purpose of God, before they had done anything of good or evil work, God had said even of him, "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son"; or concerning this: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated"—he had introduced in the present chapter some person as if contradicting him and raising a question, and saying: "Is there unrighteousness with God?"; and had answered: "Far be it, but it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy"; and if he chose Pharaoh for this reason, that he might show the power of his virtue in him; and if he himself hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth; "Why then," he asks, "does he find fault? And why is he who sins blamed, since such is his will concerning each one?" Therefore, to one who is stirring up these and similar things, and who is intruding himself too audaciously and importunately into the chamber of this mystery, he meets with an exclamation worthy of the highest rebuke, and says: "O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" As if he were to say: Who art thou who immergest thyself into the royal hall and hast dared to penetrate the secrets of the inner chamber? Therefore, then, even we, placed as it were in the royal hall with suspended foot, let us pass by in few words, with more in silence, with the Apostle Paul himself made for us the master and leader of this journey.

Therefore, from the person of the contradictor, the Apostle says: "Is there unrighteousness with God?" And immediately he answers: "Far be it"; so that to all the other things which are to be objected from the person of the contradictor, it may be seen that it is always answered by the Apostle: "Far be it." He, therefore, who contradicts uses also the words of Moses, in which the Lord says to him: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." But if this is so, he says, then salvation is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of him to whom God showeth mercy. For even to Pharaoh, he says, it is said: "For this very purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth"; so that from this it may seem to be shown that, if Pharaoh was chosen for this, that through him the virtue of God might be declared to men, it was not in his power what perished. And he adds after all: "Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth." This, he says, is what thou who contradictest assertest: that God complains and finds fault with men without cause. For if he himself chooses whom he will and rejects whom he will, who resisteth the will of him through whom are all things? This contradiction without doubt contrives that there is no freedom of will in man, nor does each one have ^D

^A in his own power whether he may be saved or perish. Concerning these matters, however, we have discussed each point in that book where we spoke of the freedom of the will, according to our strength, and those things are sufficient—more than sufficient—for instruction. Nevertheless, we shall now offer a few reminders of what was said there. That which he said, "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy," is understood just as David also says in the Psalm: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." In this he shows not that he who builds the house does nothing and is idle, and that the Lord builds it in such a way, but rather that the man expends as much concern and labor as lies in man; yet it is God’s part that, with all obstacles removed, the work may reach its effect. Since, therefore, it is taught by this that man indeed expends labor and concern, but God grants success and effect to the work, it is pious and religious, for that reason, to ascribe the sum of the work to God more than to man, regarding what lies in man. So also, when Paul was planting and Apollos watering, God is said to give the increase; and it is added: "So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." Therefore, we can say the same thing in the present passage: "So then, neither is he that runneth anything, nor he that willeth; but God who giveth the effect." For he who willeth, and he who runneth, seem to be what he is who planteth and he who watereth; but the Apostle says that he who planteth and he who watereth are nothing: not because they do nothing, but because they are said to be nothing in comparison with God, who gives the increase and the effect to the work.

But let us see what this statement addressed to Pharaoh means: "Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee." It is certain that God not only knows the purpose and will of every individual, but also foreknows it. ^B Being omniscient and foreknowing, like a good and just steward, He utilizes the movements and purpose of each one to perform those works which the heart and will of each one chooses. For instance, if we were to say: If there were some wise and just master of a house who has many servants, would he not, if he were wise, discern which among them by their cleverness is fitted to cultivate the fields and assign them to the farm? And whose nature he might prove apt for trade, or for raising livestock, or for ministration, and for keeping his private bedroom—and thus, being wise, will he not assign each one to the duties for which he is competent? But since it cannot be hidden from him, whether he be a master of a house or a king, that it is sometimes necessary for subjects to rebel and to break the laws of discipline, and therefore they require correction and stripes; it is necessary, then, that he choose from all of them dispositions fit for this—if there are any who are inclined toward more ferocious actions, who might indeed be carried away by their own impulses, yet who might provide the correction necessary for the delinquents. Let us suppose, then, that this master of the house, or king, sees a time when those who have committed many transgressions against custom and discipline ought to be corrected; and that he has chosen someone most cruel, and much more merciless than those who are to be corrected, who, because of his own crimes, is no longer worthy of correction but of death. Wishing, however, to turn his destruction to the correction of others, he sends him to those whom he desires to be corrected by his death, and says to him: "Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared ^C throughout all the earth." For see that he did not say: "Because I made thee for this same purpose"—otherwise the blame would seem to be referred to the Creator—but he says: "I have raised thee up for this same purpose"; that is, so that through the malice of your mind, which thou hast sought by living unrestrained and without the fear of God, there might be brought upon others a useful and fruitful correction, and that in thine own self might be brought about a most famous destruction as an example for posterity.

But what he says, "Therefore ^D hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth," he seems to take from those things which are written in Exodus. For there it is said: "I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall not let the people go." Now Pharaoh's heart was hardened in this way: God did not wish to give him sudden and full retribution. For although he was of consummate malice, nevertheless, through His own patience, God had not excluded for him the possibility of conversion; and therefore He first uses lighter, and then gradually more burdensome, stripes against him. But what God was doing through patience, from this he…

slides into contempt, gathering for himself greater wrath, so that to him that which the Apostle writes fittingly applies: "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, and patience, and longsuffering, not knowing that the patience of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath." Therefore, it is not the person whom God wills that He hardens, but he who has been unwilling to comply with patience is hardened. It is superfluous, therefore, for you, O man who opposes, to say: "Why, then, does He still blame? For who resists His will?" It is certain that no one resists the will of God; but it is fitting for us to know that His will is just and right. For it is of our own will that we are good or wicked; but it is of the will of God that the wicked is assigned to such and such lashes, and the good to such and such a glory.

17. ^A "O man, who are you to answer back to God? Does what is molded say to him who molded it, 'Why have you made me thus?' Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?" We read also in the Gospels that those who insolently and faithlessly asked the Lord by what authority He did the things which He was doing, and who had given Him this authority, were not even deemed worthy of a reply. ^B Similarly, we also see the Apostle in the present passage stirred against insolent questions, and by the things which he answers, he has confounded the contumacy of the one putting them forward. For he says: "O man, who are you, that you answer against God?" For a man is before God what the clay is before a potter. And just as, if a worthless servant sees his master order some work to be done that may seem to be full of reason and utility, but because he is unwilling to perform it, he begins to examine the things that the master commands and to demand of the master: "Why do you order this work to be done? Who does it benefit? For whom is it necessary?", what more worthy answer can be given to the contumacious servant than that it be said to him: "Who are you, you who answer against the master? It pleases him; it seems good to the master." ^C I do not think, however, that if a faithful and prudent servant asks, wishing to understand and admire the wisdom of the master, that it is said to him: "Who are you?" Finally, when the prophet Daniel desired to know the will of the Lord, for which reason he was also called a "man of desires," it was not said to him: "Who are you?", but an angel was sent who instructed him concerning all the dispensations ^C 616 and judgments of God. And if we, therefore, desire to know something of the secret and hidden things of God, if we are men of desires and not of contentions, let us faithfully and humbly seek the judgments of God hidden deeply in the divine letters. For this reason the Lord also said: "Search the Scriptures," knowing that these things are not disclosed to those who, occupied in other business, either hear or read them fleetingly, but to those who, with a right and simple heart, through continuous labor and constant vigils search the divine Scriptures more deeply: from which I well know that I am not. If, however, there is anyone who seeks in this way, he will find. But let us also, according to our strength, turn to those things which are at hand. "Does the molded thing," he says, "say to him who molded it: Why have you made me thus? Does not the potter have the power to make, from the same lump, one vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?" ^B And we read something similar in the prophet Jeremiah, where he is commanded by God to enter the house of the potter, and to see him molding: who, gathering up a vessel that had collapsed from his hands, molded it again according to his will. "And the word of the Lord," he says, "came to him, saying: Cannot I do with you, O house of Israel, as this potter does?" And Wisdom says: "The furnace proves the vessels of the potter, and the trial of temptation the just men." God therefore has power over us as the potter over the clay, that He may make from the same lump vessels for honor and vessels for dishonor. To you, therefore, who insolently answer God, let these things suffice to have heard. But he who desires to contemplate the works of the wisdom of God in His dispensations, let him hear Paul, who was privy to the divine secrets, disputing about these very things in another place: "In a great house, however, there are not," he says, "only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware; and some indeed for honor, but others for dishonor. If, therefore, anyone has cleansed himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work." ^C Do you hear how Paul, in these things where he did not have a petulant contradictor, explained the diversities of the vessels? For there, where the listener was not worthy but was a contradictor, he mentions only earthenware vessels; here, however, he says there are also gold and silver, and wood and earthenware; and some he says are for honor, others, however, are made for dishonor. Similarly, where he mentioned the reason

that some are for honor and others for dishonor, he was silent there, but here he opened it. For if someone has cleansed himself, he says, from these, ^A without doubt from the stains of sin, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work. It remains, therefore, that he who has not cleansed himself, nor washed away the stains of sin through penance, is a vessel for dishonor. And if he has increased his malice, and through hardness of mind and an impenitent heart has altogether disdained to be converted, he will now no longer be merely a vessel of dishonor, but also a vessel of wrath. Thus, therefore, he opens in this place to those who rightly desire it the reason which he had withheld there from those who asked in an unworthy manner, by which also that which he proposed a little earlier concerning Jacob and Esau is more clearly explained. For in order that Jacob might be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work, his soul had cleansed itself; and God, seeing his purity, and having the power from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor, made Jacob indeed, who, as we have said, had cleansed himself, a vessel for honor; but Esau, whose soul He saw was not so pure nor so simple, He made from the same lump a vessel for dishonor. But in order that you may know that Jacob was made a vessel for honor because of the purity and simplicity of his soul, hear what kind of testimony to his simplicity the divine Scripture provides for him. "And Jacob," it says, "was a simple man, dwelling in the house." Therefore, the Apostle says concerning them, because before they were born it is said of them: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." ^B 617 He does not here return to such a thing, but has left that conjunction as if it were indefinite; and even if it is not assumed, a clearer understanding will be given without it: for the sake of the word, as we read: "Willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, God endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy." In which this seems to be understood: that while God sustains and patiently bears with the incredulous and the unfaithful, He makes known to men both His patience and His power: patience, while He endures for a long time, if by chance they might repent and be converted; power, while He sometimes punishes, and does not leave wickedness altogether unavenged. And again, "on the vessels of mercy," that is, those who have cleansed themselves from every stain of sin, from which no one is clean, even if his life had been of only one day, He makes known the riches of His glory: which vessels He prepared for glory, not by some irrational or fortuitous grace, but because they themselves had purged themselves from the aforementioned stains. But what he adds: "Whom he also called," is for the sake of what he might have said: "As also us, whom He called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles." For the preceding [remarks] seem to have been pursued as if about Pharaoh, who was a vessel of wrath, and about the sons of Israel, who were vessels of mercy. Here, therefore, what he adds, "Whom he also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles," he seems to assume a comparison: that is, it should be seen as said in this way: As we also are vessels of mercy, whom He called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. ^C These things, as far as they pertain to the order of the apostolic discourse itself and the explanation of the words, may be said to have sufficed. Now, briefly repeating, let us also look for something from a more interior understanding. How, therefore, does God make known His wrath? By the vessels, he says, of wrath prepared for destruction. I am astounded within myself, contemplating the counsel of the Holy Spirit in the divine volumes. For He says that the wrath of God, which is foreign to His nature, is made known to men, as this present passage of the Apostle indicates; but His goodness and sweetness, which is proper to His nature, he records as being hidden and obscured, as David says: "How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!" What cause, therefore, shall we say there is that God manifests wrath to men, and hides sweetness?

He knows, without doubt, that the race of men is fragile and prone to fall through negligence, and that it is beneficial for them to be relaxed more by the fear of wrath than by the hope of God's kindness and sweetness, just as the Wisdom of God also says: "He that spares the rod, hates his son. For if you strike him with the rod, he shall not die: but you shall deliver his soul from death." ^A God therefore makes His power known when He chastises and corrects the impious, so that, according to the sentiment of Scripture, "when the pestilent man is scourged, the innocent may become wiser." But He also makes known "the riches of His glory upon the vessels of mercy, which He has prepared unto glory." The riches of God are made known when, among those who are despised and are humble among men, His mercy is shown—those who do not hope in their own riches, nor in their own power, but in the Lord. Just as then the race of the Hebrews, desperate among men and outcast, obtained mercy from God; so too ^B now the people of the Gentiles, which used to be despised and was despaired of by those who boast in circumcision, has obtained mercy. But that which we must attend to more keenly is this: that while they indeed obtained mercy, and were called the people of God, and were the beloved of God, yet because they did not know how to preserve the grace they had received, it is said to them: "In which the reproach of Israel was adulterated, I have dismissed her, and have given her a bill of divorce into her hands"; and likewise elsewhere: "You have become a weariness to Me, I will no longer forgive your sins." And through Jeremiah the Lord says: "My inheritance has become for me as a cave of the hyenas." ^C lest perhaps also we—who were not the people of God, but through the riches of His glory He has called us His people, and who were not beloved, but have become beloved and children of the living God—if we do not walk as children of light and children of God, if we do not act as the people of God in such a way that men, seeing our good works, may glorify our Father who is in heaven, we must fear lest we incur that word of the Apostle, by which he says: "For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either." As He says in Hosea: "I will call that which was not My people, My people; and her that was not beloved, beloved; and her that had not obtained mercy, one that has obtained mercy. And it shall be: In the place where it was said to them: You are not My people, there they shall be called children of the living God." This testimony, indeed, which the Apostle takes from Hosea, insofar as it pertains to the very passage of the prophet, does not appear to be spoken of the Gentiles, ^D but of the very people of Israel. But, as we said above, Paul takes the example from a likeness, so that he may show that just as to them, when they were formerly outcast and desperate, it was said first: "You are not My people, and I am not your God"; and it is added after these things: "And it shall be: In the place where it was said to them: You are not My people: there they shall be called children of the living God," so, he says, "also we, whom He called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles," who before were not His people, has now called His people, "and her who was not beloved, beloved; and in the place where it was said" to us, "You are not My people; there we shall be called children of the living God." But perhaps those who are of the circumcision may inquire of us and say: Where indeed was it said to you that you are not the people of God, and there you are called children of the living God? For they will assert that God spoke these things in Judea (for in it alone is God known), and these things have no regard for us, because "the law speaks to those who are in the law." Nay, I will show a much worthier place where it was both fitting and possible for God to speak. For it will not be said that it is consistent for God to speak in mountains, and rocks, and whatever earthly places; but God speaks in the mind of man, in the rational sense, and in the principal part of the heart; and there, when unworthy acts and those alien to God are accused by the conscience that reproves them, there, I say, it is proclaimed, there it is said to each one: "You are not My people." If, however, anyone cleanses and purifies himself from these, and "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding," begins to guard his heart, there, that is, in the secret place of the heart, being made peaceful, he will be called a child of God, with his conscience attesting to it.

19. But Isaiah cries out for Israel: "If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For He shall finish and cut short the word in righteousness: because the Lord will make a shortened word upon the earth: and as He foretold

Isaiah says: "Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed, we should have been made as Sodom, and we should have been like Gomorrah." What seed does Isaiah say was left by the Lord? It is that, without a doubt, which the same Apostle explains in other places when he says that it was said to Abraham: "I will give this land to thee and to thy seed." He did not say "and to seeds," as if to many, but ^B "and to thy seed, as of one, which is Christ." This, therefore, is what Isaiah says: "Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed"—that is, unless He had given us Christ to be born of us—"we should have been as Sodom," so far as the magnitude of impiety is concerned, were it not that something even more grievous was done among the Israelites. For the Sodomites are spoken of as incestuous toward guests and unchaste; but the people of Israel were sacrilegious against Him who, though He is the Lord of Majesty, yet was willing to be and to be called their brother. If, therefore, the Lord had not left this seed, through which the remnant was to be saved and the vessels of mercy to be saved, that people would have perished like Sodom.

And yet, it is not without purpose that Isaiah named the "seed" which was left. For that which is sown in the earth is called a seed, and it renders abundant fruit—teaching by this that even Christ was to be sown, that is, to be buried in the earth, and from there, rising again, to bring forth the abundant fruit of the entire multitude of the Church, just as the Lord Himself says: "Unless a grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it brings forth no fruit; but if it die, it brings forth much fruit."

"What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who followed not after justice, have attained to justice; even the justice that is by faith." It may perhaps seem that this is contrary to what we said earlier, that everyone ought to cleanse and purify ^C himself, in order to become a useful vessel and a vessel of mercy, or to those [points concerning]

the matters we discussed above, that the Gentiles also use the natural law, in which there is without doubt justice. How, then, does he say here that “the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness, have attained ^A righteousness”? Consider, therefore, if we can answer in this way. It is one thing to pursue, another to have it ingrained. He is called a pursuer who desires to attain something through teaching and much study: whence even the doctrines of this kind, which are learned by human tradition, are called “sects” from the act of pursuing. Therefore, the Gentiles, though they are not said to have pursued righteousness, nevertheless possessed it as ingrained, which the natural law taught them. For that reason, therefore, they were closer to the righteousness which is of faith, that is, to Christ. Israel, however, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not arrive at the law. And this passage, as we said above that it must be noted, names the law in one and the same verse in different ways. ^B For it is certain that Israel was pursuing the law of righteousness according to the letter, but did not arrive at the law. At what law? Without doubt, the Spirit. For the Apostle would not have said that the law which he was pursuing, and which he held, and which he had, was not the one he arrived at. He therefore gives the reason why Israel could not arrive at the law. “Because,” he says, “it was not from faith, but as if from works.” We have discussed the faith of Christ and the works of the law abundantly at the beginning of this Epistle; and therefore, so as not to repeat the same things too often, let us explain the present passage with a few words of the Apostle himself, by which he says: “For being ignorant of the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, they are not subject to the justice of God. For Christ is the end of the law, unto justice to every one that believeth.” Because, therefore, they pursued the law not according to the works of the justice of God, but according to the works of their own justice, for that reason they stumbled at the stumbling stone, of which it is written: “Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a rock of scandal; and whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded.” It must be known that in the prophet Isaiah this testimony is written thus: “Behold I cast into the foundations of Sion a precious stone, a corner stone, a distinguished one, into its foundations; and he that believeth in him, shall not be confounded.” Moreover, the Apostle inserted into this testimony from another place of the same prophet Isaiah, in which it is written thus: “And you shall not meet him as a stumbling stone, nor as a stone of ruin”; and extracting from both places what seemed advantageous for his assertions, he adapted them. ^C Nevertheless, since we find the Lord Jesus, whom we discover being addressed by very many, but good and salutary names, it may perhaps seem strange why in this passage, which the Apostle took from the prophet Isaiah, he is named the stone of stumbling and the rock of scandal; since, indeed, to the good Lord, and the Son of the good Father, whatever things are good and salutary seem to be apt, such as peace, and justice, and truth, and the door through which one enters to the Father, and the shepherd, and the lion of the tribe of Judah, or the lion's whelp that is aroused from sleep, or sanctification, or redemption, and other things of this kind which seem to befit his dignity. But see if we can also show how the “stone of stumbling and rock of scandal” can be competently applied to him. Stumbling and scandal mean almost one and the same thing. For scandal is said to occur when some obstacle is found in the way, which hinders the stride of one walking or climbing. From this, therefore, scandal is derived. Since, therefore, those who were in Sion, walking in ways that were not good, were running with quick foot on the path of perdition, favoring each other in their evils, even as the Prophet says, that “the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and the unjust man is blessed”: our Lord and Savior coming, began to rebuke their ways, and to say: “Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees”; and again: “Woe to you rich”; and again: “Woe to thee, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stonest them that are sent to thee.” But also saying many things similar to these, and rebuking them, he began to hinder the ways of their perdition, and became to them a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal, not allowing them to enter the broad way ^D which leads to death. So finally, it is written also in the prophet Hosea concerning those who walk in the path of sin: “For this cause,” he says, “behold I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will obstruct thy ways, and she shall not find her path.” Let us put

therefore again, if it seems good, ^A let us place Paul himself in the middle, who, having once received letters from the priests, was going to Damascus to lead away bound to Jerusalem all the men and women who believed in Christ. When, therefore, he was engaged in this journey of sin, the Lord Jesus met him on the way, and for a time struck him with blindness: and he was made for him, as far as that intention was concerned toward which he was traveling, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, so that he could not complete that journey of sin which he was pursuing, but being converted, he might believe in Him who had blocked his path and, as it were, with certain stakes of warning had obstructed it; and believing in Him, he would not be put to shame.

BOOK EIGHTH

1. ^B “Brethren, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God is for them for their salvation. For I bear witness to them, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, are not subject to the righteousness of God.” And from the beginning, and as the text of the Epistle proceeds, we have said that Paul speaks now on behalf of the Gentiles, now even on behalf of Israel. Since, therefore, in the things which have been recently set forth, he has used many testimonies of the prophets against Israel, so that he might cite from Isaiah: “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and should have been made like to Gomorrha”; and again: “If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved”; and he adds to these that Israel, ^C pursuing the law of righteousness, has not reached the law; therefore, being now willing to comfort his own people again, and through this to invite them to faith, he says: “Brethren, the desire of my heart and prayer to God is for them for their salvation.” And he shows the reason why his desire and prayer for them is had before God. “For I bear witness,” he says, “to them, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Although, he says, they are involved in so many and so great evils of their sins, yet there is in them an ineffable zeal and emulation for God. And this cause moved me to ^D call upon God for them, that they might even at last attain to salvation. For they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. And he proves how they have a zeal of God not according to knowledge: “For they, being ignorant,” he says, “of the righteousness of God, do not obey His righteousness.” It is not, therefore, of much advantage to have a zeal of God, and not to have the knowledge of zeal. In short, the Jews, thinking that they were acting with a zeal for God, became sacrilegious toward the Son of God: because they were not zealous according to knowledge, as was Phinehas the son of Eleazar, who, being zealous according to knowledge, slew the Midianite and likewise the Israelite woman who was playing the harlot with him; and as Elijah who said: “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord Almighty God of Israel, [C (cont.)] because the children of Israel have forsaken thee, thy prophets have they killed, and thy altars they have overturned”; and as Mattathias, of whom it is written in the first book of Maccabees, that “he was zealous in the law of God, and his reins trembled, and his fury rose up according to judgment.” The zeal and emulation of all these was according to knowledge. But the zeal of the Jews was not according to knowledge, because, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, they tried to fulfill their own—that is, what seemed to be righteousness to men; when meanwhile it was proper for them rather to obey the righteousness of God, which is Christ. But see now, lest perhaps this discourse seem to be said not to them alone, because they “have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”

Similarly, the Apostle can say the same of others, that “I bear them witness that they have a fear of God, but not according to knowledge;” and of others, that they have the charity of God, but not according to knowledge. For if anyone has an affection toward God, but is ignorant that charity ought to be “patient, kind, not envious, not acting perversely, not puffed up, not ambitious, not seeking its own,” and if he does not have these and similar qualities in charity, but loves God only in affection, it will be fittingly said even of him that he has the charity of God, but not according to knowledge. Similarly, it can be said of another that he has the faith of God, but not according to knowledge, if he is ignorant that ^B “faith without works is dead;” and that the faith of God is not in words alone, which are sometimes learned from another as composed or written, but in an affection of the mind such as she possessed who said within herself: “If I shall touch the hem of his garment, I shall be saved.” If, therefore, anyone does not possess faith in such a way that he demonstrates it by his good works to Him in whom he believes, it can be said of him too that he has the faith of God, but not according to knowledge. It can also be said of another that he has the chastity of God, but not according to knowledge. And another has a care for the poor, but not according to knowledge, ^C inasmuch as he wishes to be praised by men. And another can be said to be abstinent, but not according to knowledge, if he fasts for the reason that he may please men. And so, concerning every single thing we do, if we do not perform it according to knowledge and understanding, it can be said to us that we have a zeal for a good work, but not according to knowledge. And therefore, effort must be given especially to knowledge, lest the matter fall out unfortunately for us, so that, placed in the faith, we might be frustrated of the faith, and, having a zeal for good things, we might fall away from the good. Do you wish to know that one can, if he does not have knowledge, ^D vanish in the faith? Hear Paul himself saying to some: “Unless you believed in vain.” It happens, therefore, to have believed in vain for those who do not give effort to knowledge, so that in that which they have believed, they might also receive an understanding of the truth. Finally, the apostles also, seeing this difference between faith simply handed down and the faith that is according to knowledge, said to the Savior: “Increase our faith,” that is, that we might have that faith which is not according to knowledge, but that we might also have that which is according to knowledge. And so, Paul bears witness to the Jews that they have a zeal of God, though not according to knowledge. Yet because they have at least some zeal of God, they gave the Apostle cause to offer prayer for them to God. For it is better to have a zeal of God, even if not according to knowledge, than not to have it at all. “For he that hath, as the scripture says, it shall be given to him,” or in the last days when “all Israel shall be saved,” but “he that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him.”

2. “For Christ is the end of the law, unto justice to every one that believeth.” For Moses writes that “the man that shall do the justice which is of the law, shall live in it.” But the justice which is of faith, says thus: “Say not in thy heart: Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.” But what says the scripture? “The word is near thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: this is the word of faith, which we preach. For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” For with the heart, man believeth unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says: “Whosoever believeth in him, shall not be confounded.” For Christ is the end of the law—that is, the perfection of the law—and Christ is justice, but for those who believe. But those who do not believe, because they do not have Christ, do not have the perfection of the law; and therefore they cannot reach justice. For Moses writes that “the man that shall do the justice which is of the law, shall live in it.” But the justice which is of faith, says thus: Now the Apostle had previously made mention of two justices, where he says that Israel, being ignorant of the justice of God, sought to establish their own justice; and here he now speaks again of two justices, one which is of the law, and another which is of faith. But it seems to me that that which he said above, namely, that the justice of God is ignored by Israel, is this very justice which is of faith; while that regarding which he says, “seeking to establish their own justice,” is the one concerning which he here intimates by the words of Moses, that “the man that shall do the justice which is of the law, shall live in it.” But observe the difference of the justices, and likewise of the lives. For that justice of God, that is...

Christ, "who is made unto us justice from God," and peace, see how He says: "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." This justice, therefore, provides not only life, but eternal life. But concerning that justice of the law, "the man that shall do it," the Scripture did not say he shall live for ever, but only "shall live in it." For if the end of the law, as the Apostle says, is Christ, then the justice which is of the law cannot be fulfilled without Christ by one who does not receive Christ, who is the end of the law. This justice, therefore, which is of faith, which is Christ, as living and subsisting, says, he states: "Say not in thy heart: Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ up again from the dead."

^B Nor should you marvel that, although Christ Himself is justice, He seems to speak of Himself as if He were another. For in many places you will find the Savior speaking of Himself as if He were another; as in the Gospel He says: "And He shall set the sheep on His right hand; but the goats on the left," and He shall say to those who are on the right, and again to those who are on the left, the things which are written. What He says, therefore: "Say not in thy heart: Who shall ascend into heaven, or who shall descend into the abyss?"—excepting those things which He inserts in the middle, "that is, to bring Christ down, or to bring Him up from the dead"—but also, "The word is near to thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart," seems to be taken from Deuteronomy, where it is written in this manner: "This commandment, that I command thee this day, is not above thee, nor far off from thee. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say: Who shall ascend for us into heaven, and take it for us, that we may hear and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say: Who shall cross the sea for us, and take it for us, that we may hear and do it? But the word is very near thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, and in thy hands, that thou mayest do it." Since, therefore, these things are taken from Deuteronomy, and the Apostle writes that the justice which is of faith itself says these things, which is Christ; without doubt what is said in Deuteronomy is pronounced by the Apostle to have been said by Christ. It is He, therefore, who says: "This commandment, that I give thee this day, is not ^C above thee, nor far off from thee," and the other things that follow.

What then is it that the Apostle teaches through this? Clearly that we should not say in our heart, and think that Christ is contained in some place, and is not everywhere, and that He is not diffused through all things: since He, even when He was on earth, said that He was also in heaven. For thus He spoke to His apostles: "No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven." He did not say, who was, but, who is in heaven. And again, lest we should think that He is only in heaven, but that the abyss is empty of His presence, for this reason the justice which is of faith says: "Say not in thy heart: Who shall ascend into heaven?" And as if this were similar to saying that one is bringing Christ down from heaven, the Apostle thus added: "That is, to bring Christ down." And again, if anyone descends into the abyss in mind and thought, thinking that Christ is contained only there, as if it were similar to calling Christ back from the dead, he thus subjoins: "That is, to bring Christ up again from the dead." But so, he says, you ought to feel concerning Christ, as of the Word, and the truth, and the wisdom, and the justice of God. But all these things are not sought in a place, but are everywhere present; nor are they called forth from infernal places, but are grasped by the mind alone and by the understanding. As the Word, therefore, and wisdom, He is near in thy mouth and in thy heart. And this is, he says, the word of faith which we preach. "For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart we believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." We ought also to know this, that it is one thing for a possibility to be in someone, another for efficacy or efficiency, which the Greeks call *dynamis* and *energeia*. For instance: a child recently born is potentially a rational human being; for he can be rational if he has grown up. And he is also potentially a craftsman, and a pilot, and a grammarian; for it is possible that he might be one of these. But efficacy or efficiency, that is, in the thing itself and in effect, he is none of these while he is a child: but if he begins to be already capable of reason, or to produce something of the craft of a workman, or of any other art, then he is said to have rational efficacy, or is called a craftsman, or just as that is which

^A acts by the effect of a work. In this way, therefore, even Christ, who is the Word of God, is to be believed as being present by possibility according to us—that is, according to every man—just as reason is present to little children; but He is said to have efficacy in me when I have confessed the Lord Jesus with my mouth, and have believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Do you wish to know that He is present everywhere, and is in the midst even of those who are ignorant of Him, and do not confess Him? Hear how John the Baptist testifies these very things concerning Him: "In the midst of you," he says, "stands He whom you do not know, who comes after me." He is therefore in the midst even between those who do not know Him, but He is in the midst to them by possibility, not by efficacy. For they can grasp Him, but they do not yet grasp Him. But He is in the midst of those by efficacy or efficiency to whom He said: "Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." ^B For these confessed the Lord Jesus with their mouth, and believed in their heart that God raised Him from the dead. Otherwise, it would seem absurd if He is said to be in the midst both of those who are gathered in His name, and of those who do not know Him, unless such a distinction is maintained: that He is said to be in the midst between those who are ignorant and not yet believers by possibility; but between believers by efficacy, that is, by the effect of the thing itself and the work. But observe also what he says: "Because if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." For it will seem to some through this that, even if the privileges of a good work are lacking to anyone, and even if he has not applied himself to virtues, yet by this very fact, that he has believed, he does not perish, but is saved, and possesses salvation, even if he cannot possess the glory of beatitude. But see lest that should be understood rather: that he who truly and not falsely confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus, and believes in his heart, confesses at the same time that he is subject to the dominion of wisdom, and justice, and truth, and of all things that Christ is; and that Mammon is no longer lord over him—that is, that neither avarice, nor injustice, nor impurity, nor lying, any longer dominates him. For once one has confessed the Lord Jesus, ^C he does not profess that he serves any of these. But he who believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, it is certain that he believes He raised Him for his own justification. Otherwise, what will it profit me to know and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, if I do not have Him raised within myself? Therefore, if I do not walk in the newness of life, and do not flee from the old custom of sinning, Christ has not yet for me risen from the dead. Indeed, to this sense there also conform the things that follow, when he says: "For the Scripture says, that everyone who believes in Him, will not be put to shame." This, moreover, is written in Isaiah. But if everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame, and yet everyone who sins is put to shame—just as Adam sinned, and felt shame, and hid himself: he who still incurs the redness of sin does not seem to believe. ^D 3. "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord of all is rich unto all who call upon Him. For everyone who shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." How there is no distinction in the faith of Jew and Greek, we have already shown frequently. But that the same is the Lord of all, you will receive according to these things which we have recently published; that is, if justice, and truth, 624 and sanctification, and wisdom—which Christ the Lord is in His entirety—bear rule in us. For these are His riches, as being He in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Which riches, however, he did not say He bestows upon all men, but upon all who call upon His name. But also in this, a question seems to arise as in the former. For not all who in any way whatsoever have called upon the name of the Lord can be saved, even if they have not done works worthy of the name called upon, especially since the Wisdom of God also says in Proverbs: "For it will be when you have called upon me, I, however, will not hear you." In which it seems to me that Wisdom is exhorting and urging those who wish to be saved, so that they may call upon Wisdom more quickly, and not delay, nor put it off: lest perchance when the appointed time has passed, that is, in which there is the opportunity for repenting, too late after these things...

^A call, where there is no space for repentance. And hence he says, "For ye shall call upon me, and I will not hear you." Yet this saying which the Apostle posited, that is: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," is written in the prophet Joel in this manner: "And I will show wonders in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and noble day of the Lord come. And it shall be: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." It seems to me, however, that something great is signified in the divine Scriptures under this name of invocation. For not concerning just any men, but concerning the great and prominent, is it written that "Enos first hoped" to call upon the name of the Lord; and in the Psalms: "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them: in the pillar of cloud he spoke to them."

5. How then shall they call, in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those that preach good things!" Manifestly in these words, by what he says: "How then shall they call, in whom they have not believed?" he taught that that which he had placed above, stated by the prophet, that "every one whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," is to be referred to Christ the Lord. For after he said: "Every one whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," he subjoins: "How then shall they call, in whom they have not believed?" For the Jews did not believe in Christ, and therefore they do not call upon him in whom they have not believed. But also in the beginning of the Epistle which he writes to the Corinthians, where he says: "With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours," he proclaims that he whose name is called upon is the Lord Jesus Christ. If, therefore, both Enos, and Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel "called upon the Lord, and he heard ^B them," they were without doubt calling upon Christ Jesus the Lord; and if to call upon the name of the Lord, and to pray to the Lord, is one and the same thing; as God is invoked, so Christ is to be invoked; and as God is prayed to, so Christ is also to be prayed to; and as we offer to God the Father first of all our prayers, so also to the Lord Jesus Christ; and as we offer petitions to the Father, so we offer petitions also to the Son; and as we offer thanksgivings to God, so we offer thanks to the Saviour. For one and the same honor is to be deferred to both, that is, to the Father and to the Son, as divine speech instructs us when it says: "That all may honor the Son, as they honor the Father." But what, in the manner we proposed concerning the Epistle to the Corinthians, where the Apostle says first: "To the church of God, which is at Corinth, those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints," and after these, as if they were of another degree and another order, he thus subjoins some others, of whom he says: "With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours": it will perhaps appear to have some difference, that he calls the former the Church of God, and those sanctified and called to be saints: but these others merely ^C call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And see whether perhaps this diversity shows something of the kind which the present chapter also seems to contain, in which he teaches that the name of the Lord cannot be invoked, unless one first believes in Christ. But when one has believed in Christ, even if he be not yet sanctified, and joined to the body of the Church, yet it is necessary that he already invoke him in whom he has believed. For Christ came to reconcile the world to God, and to offer to the Father those who believe in him. But those whom he offers to the Father, the Holy Spirit receives, so that he may sanctify them, and quicken them as members of the celestial Church of the firstborn, and restore them into the solidity and perfection of the whole body, and so at length they may deserve to be called the Church of God, not having spot nor wrinkle. Before, therefore, they approach to the degree of this perfection, as of the mediator of God and

men, they call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; but after the Spirit of God has been in their heart, crying, "Abba, Father" (Rom. viii, 15), the Spirit himself teaches them to call also upon the name of the Father. Therefore, he says, "How, then, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?" (Rom. x, 14), and by this he constrains them into a very strict conclusion. Salvation, he says, is not for any but the one who calls. But no one calls who does not believe. Therefore, because you do not believe, you do not call; and because you do not call, you are not saved. ^A But "how," he says, "shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" What is meant by "have not heard," we can understand in this way: that they refused to hear him either when he was situated in the flesh, or his apostles preaching about him. For the Lord himself also says (Luc. x, 16): "He who hears you, hears me; and he who despises you, despises me." But it can also be understood that Christ, even now and always, as the Word and Reason, speaks to each person in the heart, and teaches about piety, persuades about justice, about chastity, about modesty, and testifies at once about all the virtues, just as he himself says (Joan. x, 27): "My sheep hear my voice." Thus, finally, he was speaking also in the heart of Paul, so that he said (II Cor. xiii, 3): "Do you seek a proof of Christ, who speaks in me?" It follows: "How, moreover, shall they hear without a preacher?" In this he shows that Christ is heard more through the discourse of preachers, in whom, according to what we have said above, Christ is shown to speak and teach. ^C But "how shall they preach unless they are sent?" A certain difficulty seems to me to arise in this discourse. For if we understand it in such a way that they do not preach because they are not sent, and where there is no one preaching they will not hear; but those not hearing will not believe, and those not believing will not call; and those not calling will not be saved: it is gathered from these things that the cause by which they are not saved returns to the fault of the author who did not send the preachers. But let us deflect our path of understanding toward that which is straighter; and as to what he said, "How shall they preach unless they are sent?" let us take it as if the Apostle were saying: We would not be able to be the heralds and preachers of Christ, nor would any power to announce exist for us, unless he himself who sent us were present with us. But if, when we are ^B preaching, you do not wish to hear, it is your own fault already; and if you hear but do not believe, and because you are not believing you do not call, and because you do not call you cannot be saved. Since, therefore, they were sent to preach, for that reason it is written about those who were sent by him: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good things!" (Isa. lii, 7). That he calls the feet here "beautiful," not in a bodily sense but in a spiritual one, I think that, even if someone is a friend of the letter, he cannot deny. For he will not lead the apostolic sense into such ridicule that he thinks the feet of the evangelists, which can be seen by bodily eyes, are called beautiful and fair by him; but those are beautiful and fair feet which walk along the way of life. For according to him who said (Joan. xiv, 6), "I am the way," you should understand the beautiful and fair feet of those who preach, who deserve to walk along such a way. These are the feet with which Paul also said he had run the course, and to run in such a way that he may obtain (I Cor. ix, 24, 26), that is, the vigor of the soul by which one reaches out and hastens toward heaven. You will confirm that these feet are those which Jesus washes for his disciples and dries with the towel with which he was girded (Joan. xiii, 5). And although at that time it was fulfilled in bodily form, yet even to Peter, who was understanding only that which he saw happening, and to him who was excusing himself for the sake of honor, lest the Lord wash the feet of his servant, hear what a deep mystery the discourse reveals. "If I do not wash you," he says, "you will have no part with me" (Joan. xiii, 8). And again he brings forth another similar expression as if from the secret treasures of knowledge, and says: "What I have done, you do not know now; but you will know afterward." And he adds, because "just as I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example." Let us see, therefore, what this example is, by which masters ought to wash the feet of their disciples, or with what water they ought to wash. If anyone finds the living water.

^A that springs up in him into life eternal, he can from this water of spiritual doctrine wash the feet of the disciples and cleanse their souls of all uncleanness and filth; and by doing this, he will fulfill the example given by the Master. "Beautiful," therefore, "are the feet of those who preach good things." I think the Spouse in the Song of Songs speaks to the Word of God about these very feet: "I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" And it is said of them no less: "Thy thighs are like carved marble with silver bases." And perhaps because this beauty is in the feet of the evangelists, therefore the Lord Jesus does not wish to cover them with sandals and hide their beautiful appearance, but orders them to have no sandals on the way. But let us see what the "good things" are which they preach, that is, which they announce. Although this very word "to preach the Gospel" [evangelizare] is interpreted as "announcing good things," let us seek what these good things are that he adds to the "good." The one and true good is God, whose image of goodness is the Son, and His Spirit, who is called good. Therefore, this one good, because it is in God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He has named "good tidings." For this is what the evangelists announce, according to the precept of our Lord and Savior, ^B who says: "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." These, then, are the "good things" of those who preach the Gospel. But since the good messenger himself is also mentioned, and the news of good things, that is the reason why they not only announce good things, but also announce the good well. For there are some who indeed announce and preach the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but not sincerely or completely: just as all heretics, who indeed announce the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but do not announce them well or faithfully. For they either wrongly separate the Son from the Father, saying that the Father is of one nature and the Son of another; or they wrongly confuse them, thinking that God is composed of three, or that in Him there is only the term of a threefold designation. But he who announces the good things well will give to each His own properties—to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit—yet he will confess that there is no diversity in substance or nature. Those, therefore, who preach the Gospel in this way, do not only announce good things, but they announce them well and integrally. ^C But this example, indeed, seems to be taken from Isaiah; yet there the prophet attributed the duty of preaching the Gospel to the Lord Himself. For He says: "For I myself who spoke, I am here, as a breeze on the mountains, the feet of him who brings good tidings of the hearing of peace, that he may announce good things." And truly, it seems to me that Paul, because the prophet had said, "the feet of him who brings good tidings of the hearing of peace, that he may announce good things," recorded this as if by comparison with another; as if he were saying: I shall be present as the man who preaches peace and preaches good things. But the apostles do this: therefore, this word seems to have been taken about themselves—that is, about the apostles—by comparison with whom Christ had said that He would arrive ^D and preach good things through the prophets.

6. "But not all obey the Gospel." For Isaiah says: "Lord, who has believed our report?" Faith therefore comes from hearing; and hearing through the word of Christ. But I say: Have they not heard? "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." But I say: Has Israel not known? First, Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by a people that is not a people, a foolish nation; I will provoke you to anger." But Isaiah is bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I appeared openly to those who did not ask for Me." But what does he say to Israel? "All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people." Nor did all from the Gentiles believe the Gospel, nor did all from Israel; yet there were more, and by far more from the Gentiles, than from Israel. Therefore, the fact that the Apostle posits that Isaiah said: "Lord, who has believed our report?", the "who" is said for "the rare one": and we ought to observe that this term "who" is sometimes used in the Scriptures for "the rare one," sometimes for "no one at all"; for example, when he says: "Who is wise, and shall understand these things?" and, "Who shall ascend into the mount of the Lord?" and, "Who is the man that desires life?" In all these, "who" signifies "a rare person." But where he says: "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down: or who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ back from the dead," here "who" is understood as "no one." For there is no one who ascends into heaven to bring Christ down from there. Now, therefore, "Lord, who has believed our..."

^A auditui nostro?"—which Isaiah says—a rare thing it signifies. It is as well for us to know that the "Lord, who has believed our report?" is not in the Hebrew copies, but it is in the Septuagint translation, and the Apostle, confirming what is among them, placed "Lord" there. However, it seems that Isaiah is prophesying these things from the person of the apostles, to whom the office of preaching had been entrusted, and they themselves, when they saw the scarcity of believers, especially among the people of Israel ^B, say to the Lord: "Lord, who has believed our report?"—just as that which is also said from their own person, because "we have announced as a child before him, as a root in a thirsty ground." And they are, none the less, they who speak, as if placed with him and seeing him in human form, because "we saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness," and the rest. But even if these words are referred to the person of the prophets themselves, as if they are complaining to the Lord that because of those things which they prophesied about Christ, no one or very few from that people believed, it will not seem foreign. And it is not to be thought that Moses says to the Lord: "Lord, no one has believed my report?" For if they had believed my writings, they would surely have believed Christ too; for I wrote about him: "Therefore faith comes from report; but report comes through the word of Christ." Here "the word of Christ" signifies the preaching about Christ. For not only those believed who heard the word from Christ Jesus the Lord himself as he was speaking; but there are far more who have heard it from others preaching it, just as the Lord himself had foretold, speaking to Thomas: "Because you have seen me," he says, "you have believed; blessed are they who have not seen and have believed." Therefore, every word which the apostles, and if any others have preached about Christ after receiving grace from him, declares to be the word of Christ. But even in the Church, if anyone speaks the wisdom which is from God, and the truth of God, if anyone teaches the way of God, which is Christ, and explains his justice, without doubt what he speaks is the word of Christ. "But I say: Have they not heard? Into all the earth their sound has gone out, and into the ends of the world their words." This is taken from the eighteenth psalm, where he says: "There are no ^A voices of theirs, whose sounds are not heard. Into all the earth has gone out their sound, and into the ends of the world their words." In which, by the variety of tongues and speeches, the nations are without doubt understood: and it is said that the sound of the apostles of Christ has indeed gone out into all the earth, but not the sound, but rather the words, have reached the ends of the world. Which can be understood in this way: because he calls "the earth" all the unskilled and teachable men, to whom not the words, in which the reason of faith and the explanation of wisdom is contained, but the sound of faith has reached by common and simple preaching: but by the ends of the earth, he has summoned all the more learned and prudent ones. For an end ^B indicates the perfection of things. To such as these, therefore, he declares that not the sound of a voice, but words and reason have reached, those who, hearing the word of faith, can also examine and search the divine Scriptures, so that they may know the truth of those words which were announced to them by the apostles. And knowing that this is the difference among them, that is, in sound and words, the Apostle in a certain place says: "And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"; so that he might show that there is a word by which the wisdom of God is more lucidly explained through the power of the Spirit, but that this other is the preaching about which the Prophet says: "Into all the earth has gone out their sound": in which there is, of course, the simple announcement ^C of faith, and sufficient for all the simpler ones. But also elsewhere he says of himself that he is a "preacher and apostle, and teacher of the gentiles." In which the apostle indeed indicates the general name of the office, who not only preaches, but also teaches: he indeed preaches the simple faith, as to those to whom he says: "For I judged myself to know nothing among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified"; but he teaches those to whom he was saying: "But we speak wisdom among the perfect." In which it is shown that for the former he uttered the sound of preaching, but for the latter he discussed the wisdom of God through words. "But I say: Has Israel not known? First Moses says: I will provoke you to jealousy by a not-nation, by a foolish nation; into anger I will provoke you." See

^A how what he said above, speaking of the nations, he now, following his custom, applies to Israel; he wishes to prove that Israel is inexcusable through suitable witnesses. He says, Moses himself speaks in the person of God: "I will provoke you to jealousy by a not-nation," speaking without doubt of the Christians, who were taken up by God to provoke the former incredulous and contemptuous people. But perhaps it may seem that Moses spoke insultingly of the nation chosen by God for the merit of its faith and devotion, when he says, "by a not-nation," and so holds it as nothing, that he does not even deign to call it a nation, or if he calls it one, names it foolish. But Moses is not insulting, being a friend of God, toward His elect; nor will it be considered a reproach in his discourse, if the reason for his words appears. Each nation, for instance, of the Egyptians, or Syrians, or Moabites, is called this or that nation because it is distinguished by its own boundaries, language, appearance, customs, and institutions; and neither are the Syrians sometimes called Egyptians, nor are the Moabites called Idumeans, or the Arabs called Scythians. But the Christians are not one nation, but one people from all nations; and therefore, for the highest honor, Moses named them a "not-nation," because it was not one nation, but, if it may be so said, a nation of all nations. Indeed, we shall seem to be excluded in the things that follow, where he says: "Into a senseless nation, into anger I will bring you," because he named them both a nation and foolish. But not even in this does Moses, the servant of God, cast a reproach upon the people of God; but he foresaw in the Spirit that if anyone wishes to be wise in this world, he must become foolish, so that he may be wise before God; and "because the world by wisdom did not know God, it pleased God by the folly of preaching to save those who believe"; and because through the preaching of the cross of Christ, which is folly to the nations, a people will be gathered who become foolish in this world, so that they may be wise before God. Therefore ^B the Jews are angry because, while they excuse and refute themselves, the nations were invited to the king’s banquet, not looking to those things which long ago concerning this mystery Isaiah dares and says: "I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly among those who did not inquire of me." But what does he say to Israel? "All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people." As we have often shown above, the Apostle Paul, now speaking of the nations, now of Israel, makes his argument, yet he declares the change of person ^C clearly and openly; so also does Isaiah in these words, which the Apostle brought forward as an example; and the first parts, that is, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly among those who did not inquire of me," he says without doubt of the nations. And where he secretly changes the person, the Apostle gave a clear distinction to his words in that which he added: "But what does he say to Israel?" and the former things he explains as referring to the nations, while the following ones he refers to Israel, in which he says: "All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people." But first of all, as to the fact that he says, "Isaiah dares and says," let us see what he dares, or what boldness of the prophet is taught here. If we attend to the words of blessed Stephen saying: "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute, who announced the coming of the Just One?" then we understand the boldness of Isaiah, who, with persecutions and death offered to him, yet dared to preach about the coming of the Just One, and for the sake of the good, he dares even to die. In which, however, it is also shown at the same time that, as some think, the prophets did not know what they were saying, and did not prophesy as if with their sense alienated. For what the Apostle says about Isaiah, that "he dares and says," indicates that, despising death and the persecutions which were being inflicted, although he knew that danger threatened him, he nevertheless dares and preaches the word of God, just as Paul himself said: "I know that chains and imprisonment await me in Jerusalem; but I do not hold my life dearer to me." So therefore ^D Isaiah also knew indeed that he was to be cut in two and killed by the impious, yet he dares, and says in the person of Christ: "I was found by those who did not seek me." But it is certain that the nations were those who neither knew how to seek Christ, nor had learned to inquire about him. Yet they found him whom they did not seek, because he himself sought them first. For he is the good shepherd, and sought the sheep that had perished; and it is wisdom that sought the lost drachma, and seeking, found it. But the Jews even until now seek concerning Christ, and inquire of the Scriptures about him, and do not find; because his cross is a stumbling block to the Jews, and therefore he says to them: "All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people"; that is, when he was hanging on the cross, they not only did not find him, but in-

-^Astead, they said: "If you are the Son of God, come down now from the cross, and we will believe you." But hear what is also said in the Wisdom of Solomon, that "he will not be found by those who tempt him, but will appear to those who are not incredulous toward him." But it is not appropriate for us to be ignorant of the fact that this is not in the Hebrew copies and contradicts [the Apostle]. The Apostle, however, followed the truth of the Septuagint Interpreters in his writings, and sets it down just as they interpreted it.

7. I say then: "Has God rejected his people? Far be it. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, and of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says in Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 'Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and demolished thine altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.' But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So therefore, even in this time, a remnant according to the election of grace have been saved. But if by grace, it is no longer by works; otherwise grace is no longer grace." Because from these things which have been said above, it might perhaps seem that the people of the Jews were rejected by God, and hold no hope, if indeed God has provoked them to jealousy by a non-people, and to anger by a foolish nation, and has been manifested to those who were not seeking him, and has been found by those who were not asking about him: therefore the Apostle, wishing to heal these things, and to show that there still remains a way of salvation for the people of Israel if they believe, and that they have not been rejected for the reason that they are the race of Israel, but because they have been incredulous, he says: "God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew." And so that he might prove this by a present example, he subjoins: "For I also am an Israelite from the seed of Abraham, and of the tribe of Benjamin," and yet I teach the faith of Jesus, and announce that he is the Christ. But if it did not hinder me that I am an Israelite from the seed of Abraham, ^B so as not to believe in Christ, and be justified by faith in him; it is certain that "he has not rejected his people whom he foreknew." Moreover, how "those whom he foreknew, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified," has already been said above: and that to foreknow on the part of God is not only to foresee future things (which cannot be doubted), but to approve, and to judge worthy of his own knowledge, is set down in the Scriptures. But lest it seem a small thing that the Apostle was teaching by his own example that the people of God were not rejected, he requires stronger examples, and says: "Or do you not know what the Scripture says in Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel? 'Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and demolished thine altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.' But what does the divine response say to him?" In which the prophet is taught, being at times filled with the zeal of God, when he was setting forth a complaint of the prevaricating people before God, who had not only killed the prophets and subverted the altars, but was also striving to extinguish Elijah who seemed to be left alone among the prophets of the Lord. And while Elijah was lamenting this before God, hear what the divine oracles respond to him: "I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Baal is the name of an idol, to whose worship that people, having abandoned the law of God, had fallen. These are the things which the Apostle brings forward as an example of the present time. And he adds: "So therefore, even in this time, a remnant according to the election of grace have been saved. But if by grace, then it is no longer by works; otherwise grace is no longer grace." We must, therefore, demonstrate to the best of our ability how, just as it happened under Elijah, where the prophet had thought the whole people collectively rejected, seven thousand men were found who had remained in the covenant of God; so it happened also at the advent of Christ, and in these times in which Paul was preaching. And see if perhaps we can place John the Baptist, who preceded the Savior's advent, in the place of Elijah: insofar as the Gospel also provides such testimony to him.

^A For he came "in the spirit and power" of Elijah; and the Lord Himself said of him: "And if you are willing to know it, he is Elijah. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." This one, therefore, who had come in the spirit and power of Elijah, had despaired so much of that people that he did not even call them the generation of Abraham, but a generation of vipers; and he said to them: "Do not say that we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." To him, therefore, complaining about the people, let the response be made by our Lord and Savior: "I know whom I have chosen"; and again: "My sheep hear my voice, and I go before them, and they follow me"; and again: "I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also." But let us see what the number seven thousand men itself signifies. The number seven ^B pertains to rest. For "in the seventh day God rested." Hear then also how Christ invites to rest those who believe in Him, and says: "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and you will find rest for your souls." To this seventh number, therefore, pertains everyone who, coming to Christ, has laid down the burdens of sin and found the rest of salvation. Rightly, therefore, does the Apostle say that "so too at this time the remnant have been saved according to the election of grace"; calling "remnant" those who believed from the circumcision, as well as the apostles (with whom he also counts himself), and the others who followed with them the faith of Jesus Christ. But that he says "according to the election of grace" the remnant were saved—this addition of "election" does not seem to me superfluous. For he could have said: "The remnant were saved by ^C grace"; but he shows by these words that there is grace both without election and with election. For while all who are saved through faith are saved without a doubt by grace, those who are saved by "the election of grace" seem to me to be shown to be of a more perfect soul. For just as everyone who descends from the race of Israel is called Israel, yet he is the true Israel who with a pure mind and sincere heart sees God; so too we can understand this: that while all who come to the faith of Christ come through grace, he who ornaments the gift of grace with works of virtue and purity of heart, he will not only be called [blessed] by Christ. In fact, if one observes the apostle Paul himself diligently in his words, one sees how he uses distinctions of this kind; at one time naming Israel according to the flesh, at another making no mention of the flesh above him at all, as in the present place where, when he said that "God has not rejected his people," and wished to explain the nobility of the Israelite soul, he said: "For I also am an Israelite." But in the second [epistle] to the Corinthians, where he is forced to reply to certain ones who boast of their Israelite race according to the flesh, see what he premised: "What I speak," he says, "I do not speak according to God, but as if in foolishness, in this matter of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast." And after a little bit he says: "They are Hebrews, and so am I; they are Israelites, and so am I; they are the seed of Abraham, and so am I." Thus, therefore, where he was speaking of Israel, of that inner man (for that is the people whom God foreknew, and did not reject), he does not call them Israel "according to the flesh"; but to those who were boasting in their physical race, he premised that he was speaking neither "according to God" nor in wisdom, but, as he himself says, "in foolishness." Such, therefore, are the "remnant, who have been saved according to the election of grace." And he added: "But if by grace, then it is no longer by works." It must be known that the works which Paul rejects and frequently attacks are not the works of justice which are commanded in the law, but those in which they who observe the law according to the flesh boast—that is, either the circumcision of the flesh, or the rites of sacrifices, or the observance of Sabbaths and new moons. These and suchlike, therefore, are the works from which he says no one could be saved, and of which he says in the present place that it is "not by works: otherwise grace is no longer grace." For if one is justified through these, one is not justified freely. But he who is justified through grace—these works are not required of him at all; but he must observe that, once grace is received, it does not become empty in him, just as Paul also says: "For His grace in me was not empty, but I have labored more than them all." And again he adds, as if mindful of grace: "Not I," he says, "but the grace of God with me." Therefore, he who adds works worthy of it does not make grace empty, and is not ungrateful for the grace of God. For he who, after obtaining grace,

^A does not make that grace empty, grace shall be multiplied to you, and as if a reward for a good work, you shall attain a multitude of graces, just as he himself writes, and Peter in his Epistle says: "Grace to you and peace be multiplied" in the recognition of God; and again elsewhere: "As good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

8. What then? Israel has not obtained what he was seeking; but the election has obtained it; the rest, however, have been blinded; just as it is written concerning them: "God gave them a spirit of compunction; eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, until this day." And David says: "Let their table be before them into a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a retribution unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and make their back always crooked." In these the Apostle divides Israel into two parts: one he calls the election, which has obtained what it was seeking; the other he calls the rest, who not only did not obtain what they were seeking, but have been blinded by the spirit of compunction. To whom he also says God gave eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, until this day, ^B that is, until the consummation of the world. But a question occurs to us, how it might seem to be worthily said of a good God that He Himself gave eyes to the remnant of Israel with which they should not see, and ears with which they should not hear. And see whether, perhaps, this may be rather a retribution and the reward of unbelief, according to those things which we explained above, where it is said, that because they did not approve of having God in their knowledge, God delivered them into a reprobate mind. For here also he speaks of the eyes and ears of the heart, not of the body, by which they have been blinded and do not hear, they indeed who, seeing Christ in the body ^C and hearing his teaching, were willing neither to believe the works which they saw, nor to obey the word which they heard. But of this very question enough has been said by us in the first parts of this Epistle. Where, however, that very thing which the Apostle says is written: "As it is written: God gave them a spirit of compunction, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, until this day," I have not yet been able to find. But if anyone searches the divine Scriptures more diligently than we, if he finds it, let him make it manifest. I think, however, that the Apostle spoke in this way: "But the others have been blinded; and as it is written concerning them: God gave them a spirit of compunction," so that in his own words he appears to say that God gave them a spirit of compunction, according to those things which were spoken through Isaiah concerning the blindness of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. For Isaiah speaks thus: "Go, and say to this people: Hear indeed, and you shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has been hardened, and they have heard heavily with their ears: and they have closed their eyes, lest perhaps they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." Now therefore the Apostle seems to have brought forth the sense of Isaiah ^D indeed in his own words; but because he was speaking the sense of the prophet, he added: "As it is written." Similarly he also does the same concerning those things which he declares were spoken through David. For he says: "And David says: Let their table be into a snare, and into a trap, and into a stumbling-block, and into a retribution unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and make their back always crooked." For that which he says: "Let their table be into a snare, and into a trap, and into a stumbling-block," the words "into a trap" are not in the Psalm, nor are they in our copies of the seventy Interpreters, nor in the Hebrew. And again it is held in the Psalm: "Let their table before them be into a snare": but the Apostle did not place "before them." We have mentioned these things concerning the order of the words and the quality of the testimonies assumed, so that we may show item by item that the apostolic authority does not at all make faith in the Hebrew copies, nor does it always serve the words of the interpreters, but explains the sense of the Scriptures with the words to which it is suited. Now therefore let us see how the sense of the proposed chapter ought to be explained. The blindness of heart, by which the rest of Israel, that is, those who did not believe, has been blinded, he proves by two prophetic testimonies, whether it appears to have been assumed from Isaiah, or from David; and in each of them one sense is in a certain way set forth. For here also eyes 632 are given to them with which they should not see, and ears with which they should not hear; and there it is desired that their table may be for them into a snare, and into a trap, and into a retribution, and into a stumbling-block; and that their eyes may be darkened that they may not see.

And how these things are worthily believed to be said, and especially from the person of Christ in the psalm, does not seem useless to show. See, therefore, if in this way we are able to explain what is sought. Just as each one uses their bodily eyes to see either good or evil things, and has the power either to lift their eyes to heaven and, through that which they see, to acknowledge its Author and praise the Creator, or to direct them to the spectacles of the circus or theater, or to the allurements of any shameful sights by which the mind is inflamed toward either lust, or greed, or any other vices: so understand also for me the eyes of the soul, by which some indeed use them so that they may recognize the Word of God and the doctrine of the truth and daily receive the progress of His wisdom; whereas others use these eyes in the opposite way, exercising themselves daily, so to speak, and inquiring ^B how they might infringe upon the dogmas of the truth and, as much as it seems to them, attack the faith of Christ. Let us posit, therefore, someone praying for those who are sharp-sighted and argumentative in false science, and saying: "May God give them eyes that they may not see," the sharp points of a perverse sense, "and ears that they may not hear," that is, the teachers of falsehood; "and let their eyes be darkened that they may not see." Does it not seem to you that he ought to be embraced who desires this for them, through which their sins might be diminished? For it is much better not to have knowledge than to have evil knowledge. Does it not seem to you, I ask, that Marcion, who composed blasphemous writings against God the Creator, or Basilides, or Valentinus, or the other authors of perverse dogmas, would have been blessed if they had not had those eyes of the heart with which they held evil knowledge? For concerning them Isaiah writes: "Woe to those who write iniquity." Similarly, however, David also prays in the Psalms for those who teach evil and speak evil, and says: "Let lying lips be made silent, which speak against the just, impiety in pride and contempt." Thus, therefore, it is also said concerning Israel: "Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see," and, "May God give them eyes that they may not see." These things, insofar as they pertain to the blindness of the eyes which, to the evil-seeing unbelieving Israel, seems to be given by God as a kind of remedy, let them have been said. Now also concerning the table which is said to be for them into a snare, and into a trap, and into a retribution, let us see. But first, a few things must be said to those who reject allegories in the divine Scriptures and are accustomed to laugh at those who do not follow the historical sense in all things. Let them tell us, therefore, if the Prophet here calls that table of the Jews, at which they are accustomed to dine or sup, the one that becomes a snare to them to catch them; or if this very table is made into a retribution for them, so that they may receive vengeance from it for those things in which they have done wrong; or how they might explain it as being a stumbling-block to them. But if they are not able to explain concerning these individual things, and they see their laughter turned into confusion, then let them come and join with us, and let them inquire from the divine Scriptures how this table of Israel can be understood. To us, therefore, according to the capacity of our sense, it seems that all the Scriptures which were before the coming of the Lord among Israel ("for to them ^C primarily were the oracles of God entrusted"), and all that which is called the Old Testament, is the table of Israel: at which table, if anyone wished to eat the Word of God, they were fed with the words of the law and the prophets set before them. And I think this is the table of which Solomon speaks: "If you sit to dine at the table of a powerful man, understand intelligently what is set before you, and put forth your hand, knowing that it behooves you to prepare such things." But also, where the Savior says: "When you have eaten and drunk at my table"; what else do we understand by His table, except where He teaches those who are worthy, and those who are able to grasp the word of wisdom and the knowledge of things? This also Solomon protests in the Proverbs concerning Wisdom, saying: "Wisdom built for herself a house, and set up seven columns: she slaughtered her victims, mixed her wine in a bowl, and prepared her table." Every Scripture, therefore, is the table of Wisdom. But let us see how David prays for this table to be to the unbelieving Israelites into a snare, and into a trap, and into a stumbling-block, and into a retribution. Divine Scripture becomes a snare to them when they read those things which were prophesied concerning Christ: "He shall build my city, and he shall convert the captivity of my people," and they say that these things were not completed under Jesus. Neither, they say, did He build the city of God, nor did He turn back the captivity ^D of the people.

But they say these things because, sitting ^A with unclean and sordid garments—that is, a polluted body or heart—they do not perform at the table of the mighty what Solomon admonished, so that they might intelligibly understand what is set before them. For it was not these things visibly, but intelligibly—that is, spiritually—that Christ was prophesied to perform. For He truly built the city of God, but out of living stones, from which He raised up children of Abraham, and from them He built the Church of God; and He turned back the captivity of the people, of those whom the devil held captive in their sins. Since they did not understand in this way, this table of Divine Scripture was made for them into a snare and a trap.

It is possible, moreover, for that "trapping" by this table to be seen, by which the Lord trapped them when He said to them: "What think you of Christ? Whose son is He?" But they answered: "David's." And the Lord said: "How then," He says, "does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand?" And they could not answer Him a word. This table also becomes ^B a retribution to them, to speak briefly, according to the word of the Lord where He says: "Do you think that I will accuse you before the Father? There is one who accuses you, even Moses," according to that which the Apostle says: "As many as have sinned by the law shall be judged by the law."

This table also becomes "a stumbling-block" to them in this way. The Jews had learned from the Scriptures that "Christ abides forever"; but seeing Jesus in the flesh—and not only in the flesh, but in death, and the death of the cross—they were scandalized by Him, not knowing that "though He was crucified through the weakness of the flesh, yet He lives by the power of God." Because they did not receive these individual points intelligibly—which were set before them at the table of the mighty—they were scandalized, and the very table of the divine Scriptures was made into a stumbling-block for them, and their eyes were darkened according to what we have said above, and their back was bowed down always. ^C For those who have sinned against the Creator of heaven and against the Lord of majesty ought not to look above the heaven.

But it is to be feared for each one of us, lest by chance this table of divine words, at which we seem to have sat down so that we might consume the food of the word of God according to our capacity, should become a snare, or a retribution, or a stumbling-block, if we do not, intelligibly and as it is worthy, take from it clean and pure and spiritual foods of wisdom; equally observing, also, that we do not sit down at the table of wisdom with a polluted heart, but meditating even now on the appearance of the future feast in the heavens, we prepare through conversion and repentance garments that are daily cleaner and nuptial, that using them, we may merit to enter the hall of wisdom and the chambers of the King's Son.

^D 9. "I say then: Have they so stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But by their offense, salvation is come to the Gentiles, that they may emulate them." But if their offense be the riches of the world, and their diminution the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? When the Apostle had exposed the things in which Israel was rejected and the Gentiles were brought in, and had enumerated even the prophecies which had predicted regarding their blindness, and the snare, and the retribution, and the stumbling-block, to prevent the Gentiles from again having grounds for insulting them and material for pride, he says that the fall of Israel itself was of such a kind, not that they should fall, but that by their fault they might give salvation to the Gentiles; and he says: "I say then: Have they so stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But by their offense, salvation is come to the Gentiles." And he shows how salvation is given to the Gentiles from their offense: "That they may emulate them," he says: that is, that seeing the conversion of the Gentiles, and that the testament of God which they themselves had first received has been handed to them, and that the law and the prophets are held in greater and more worthy observance among them, they themselves might also take up zeal, at least in the latest times; and just as now their fall has given salvation to the Gentiles, so the faith and conduct of the Gentiles might confer upon Israel an emulation of conversion and of salvation.

However, it must be observed that Paul sets "to stumble" and "to sin" as one thing, and "to fall" as something else; and for the offense or the sin he provides a remedy, but for the fact that they have "fallen"—as if there were some despair in this—he does not receive it. For he says: "Have they so stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But by their offense, salvation is come to the Gentiles." And it is a wonder how, in so many and such things which the whole text of the Epistle exposes about them, the Apostle nevertheless denies that they have fallen. But it seems to me that Paul knew well the differences of falling, and knew that "to fall" is one thing, according to that which is written: "A just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again"; and again: "Do not insult me, my enemy, because I have fallen, and I shall rise again"; and according to what Jeremiah says: "Shall he who falls not rise again? or he who turns away, shall he not turn back?"

And Job also says of himself: "At the appointed time it is prepared for him to fall under others, and for his house to be plundered by strangers"; and in the fourth book of Kings it is written: "Hezekiah fell from the loftiness of his heart." And all these falls, which we have mentioned that the Scripture has pronounced in the aforementioned discourses, ^A certainly have a resurrection; and their turning away has a conversion. In the present chapter, however, as if the Apostle knows that if they had fallen, they could not rise at all, he denies that they have fallen, and strongly excuses them in what he says: "Have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means." Lest perhaps the Apostle, looking to another fall, might excuse Israel and deny that they had fallen—that one perhaps of which our Lord and Savior said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven"—but also that one of which Isaiah says: "How did Lucifer, who arose in the morning, fall from heaven?" He therefore denies that Israel fell by such a fall. For the conversion of those people will be at the end of the age, when the fullness of the nations has come in, and all Israel shall be saved; but there will be no conversion at the end of the age for him who is said to have fallen from heaven. Therefore, let us acknowledge that this fall which we mentioned above—that is, in which he who falls will add that he may rise again—is similar to this one which the Apostle in this same place names an offense, and which he calls a transgression: which seems to me to be of such a kind. If a righteous man is ever overcome in any one thing, for example, either by the fragility of the flesh or by any other transgression, he has fallen, yet he has not on that account departed from all observance of the law, but he holds to justice, cultivates mercy, keeps faith, piety, and gentleness, and does not neglect to meditate upon the law of God: of him we can say, "Have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means." So too the Israelites, ^B although they denied their Redeemer and stoned and persecuted those who were sent by Him, yet still have something remaining. There is among them a meditation of the law, even if they do not believe and do not understand. There is also among them a zeal for God, even if not according to knowledge. And for this reason the Apostle says that they did not so stumble that they fell—that is, that they turned away entirely from all observance or meditation of the law of God. And he named a fall of this kind a transgression. "For by their transgression," he says, "salvation has come to the nations." Therefore David also, knowing that there are transgressions of this kind in which he who has fallen may rise, and that there are others in which he who has fallen does not rise even in the consummation of the age, said: "Transgressions, or slips, who can understand?" There follows after these: "But if their transgression is the riches of the world, and their diminution the riches of the nations, how much more their fullness?" Consider in these things the wisdom of God, how not even transgressions and falls themselves turn to uselessness for Him; but when each person transgresses out of the freedom of his own purpose, the dispensation of divine wisdom makes others rich through this very thing by which they become poor through the damage of their own negligence. For when "God divided the nations and dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. Then part of the Lord became Jacob, and the cord of His inheritance was Israel." But those angels to whom the part of the nations had been distributed, by seducing in a certain way each and every person from the part of the Lord and depraving them, caused them to stumble, so that the Lord said through the prophet: "My portion has become for me a desire unto execration." It was necessary that, once that part was refuted and rejected, there should be another part of the Lord upon the earth, which would receive the glory, and the testaments, and the legislation, and the observance—^C because the worship of God (all of which were the riches of the portion of the Lord)—and that the part of the Lord should be called by the name of that part which had stumbled. Therefore "their transgression becomes the riches of the world." For now, it is no longer only the race of the Hebrews, but the whole world that has been made the portion of the Lord. For if the Savior Himself says: “I have come not that I might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through me," and lest the name "world" seem ambiguous—since it is indeed often referred to heaven and earth, often to the earth alone, and sometimes even to all men—

the Apostle repeats it, and designates the world more clearly. For he says: "And their diminution, the riches of the Gentiles." ^A For that which was diminished and taken from those who offended has been brought to the riches of the Gentiles, who through faith have been made a portion of the Lord and His inheritance. Well, indeed, did he provide "fullness" in correspondence to "diminution," and not without a certain profound sense does Paul call the people of Israel "fullness." In this, I understand, to the best of my ability, something of this sort: Now, indeed, as long as all the Gentiles are coming to salvation, the riches of God are being gathered from the multitude of those who believe; but as long as Israel persists in unbelief, the fullness of the Lord's portion will not yet be said to be complete. For the people of Israel is missing in order to make it whole. But when the ^B fullness of the Gentiles has entered in, and Israel in the last time has come to salvation through faith, it will be the very same people that had been first; but coming last, it will in a certain way complete the fullness of the inheritance and portion of the Lord. And therefore it is called "fullness," because what was lacking in the portion of God, it itself will supply in the last times: and thus the dispensation of the omnipotent and good God makes the faults of some fruitful for others, as in the present the faults of Israel make the riches of the world, and their diminution the riches of the Gentiles. Now, surely, if out of the faults of the Gentiles—who necessarily offend—the Dispenser of all things does something of this kind, and confers upon some of them riches, so that this may not seem to have been a special privilege of Israel alone, but that fairness is held by the just and good God over all, ^C even you yourself, who read this, should inquire.

10. "For I speak to you Gentiles: As long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will make glorious my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to emulation my flesh, and save some of them. For if the loss of them is the reconciliation of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" As we have often observed in this Epistle, Paul sometimes takes up an argument on behalf of the Jews, sometimes on behalf of the Gentiles, and sometimes addresses one or the other, or both, as when he said: "But if thou art surnamed a Jew," as if speaking to a Jew: and again, "To the Jew first, and to the Greek," speaking as if to both; so now indeed he speaks openly to the Gentiles, that is, to those who especially among the Gentiles in the city of Rome had believed, ^D and he says: "For I speak to you Gentiles."

Let us see, therefore, what he says to the Gentiles. "As long as I am," he says, "the apostle of the Gentiles, I will glorify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to emulation my flesh, and save some of them." Someone will say: Does what he says, "As long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles," show that he will not always be the apostle of the Gentiles; but that once his ministry is completed, he is to be the apostle of others? But as far as can be gathered both from his own words and from the reasoning of the facts, as long as he was in this world, he is proven to have remained in faith and truth the apostle of the Gentiles. What then shall we say? Was it that, as a good and faithful servant, who had been faithful in a few things, he knew that he was to be set over many, and that he would be an apostle even after his departure, not only of the Gentiles, but also of the Israelites and perhaps of other invisible ones, there where the spirits and souls of the just bless the Lord, sing a hymn, and superexalt Him for ever? Or should we rather accept the saying simply, "As long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles," as the Lord also says to the apostles: "And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world"? Not that he says he will not be with them after the consummation of the world, but to show that he would never depart from them, he said "until the consummation of the world"; so too the Apostle, in saying "As long as I am the apostle," expressed it for always and without end. Now, which interpretation ought to be accepted from the two, we leave to the judgment of the reader. Therefore, as long as Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles, he says he will glorify his ministry: and what is so worthy as that everyone should adorn the ministry which he receives through the providence of God? He adorns and glorifies his ministry who ministers well, just as conversely he disgraces his ministry and makes it notable, who ministers negligently and unworthily. For example, in the ministry of the Church, "the deacon," he says, "who has ministered well, acquires for himself a good degree, and great confidence in the faith of Jesus Christ." But if he has not ministered well; that is, if he has not shown himself to be such as the Apostle describes, grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of base gain, but holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience: not

a good step, but acquires for himself an evil punishment, as one who has brought insult upon the divine ministry. Similarly, he who receives the rank of presbyter in the Church must strive sufficiently to illustrate the ministry of the presbyterate. For to him pertain both those things which the Apostle writes to Titus concerning presbyters, and those things which Isaiah writes when he says: “The Lord himself shall come into judgment with the presbyters of the people, and with the princes thereof shall he be judged,” and adds: “But why do you burn my vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your houses? Why do you do injury to my people, and shame the faces of the poor?” According to these, the bishop also illustrates his ministry in the episcopacy, if he be such as the Apostle describes: irreproachable, vigilant, prudent, refined, hospitable, a teacher, not given to wine, ^B no striker, but modest; not litigious, not greedy, ruling his own house well, having his children in subjection with all gravity, not puffed up with pride, lest he fall into the judgment of the devil. Whoever is such a one illustrates the ministry of his episcopacy, that he himself too may hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many.” Similarly also the widow, if she remains in prayers and supplications night and day, illustrates the ministry of her widowhood. But if she be such as the Apostle notes, idle, and talkative, and not only talkative, but also a busybody, speaking things which she ought not; or if she be living in pleasures, and living while dead; such a one has dishonored, and not illustrated, the ministry of her widowhood. In the same way also, a virgin consecrated to God illustrates the ministry of her virginity, if she be holy in body and spirit, and thinks not on the things of men, but the things of God, how she may please God. If, however, she acts otherwise, not only does she not illustrate the ministry of her virginity, nor does she illuminate her lamp, but on the contrary her light is extinguished, and she becomes one of the foolish virgins. This same thing let everyone placed in the Church consider within himself, so that in whatever place he stands, whether in the clergy or in the laity, he may illustrate the ministry of his faith, and do such deeds, “that men seeing” ^C his “good works, may glorify the Father who is in heaven.” For this indeed Paul was doing by teaching the Gentiles, of whom he was the apostle, and by instructing them, feeding the weak with milk, offering to the robust the stronger food of the word, and bringing back those who were erring and wavering in the faith, as if into a certain abortion returning with a motherly affection, until Christ should be formed in them; and by these things illustrating the ministry of his apostleship, he brought his own flesh, that is, his kinsmen according to the flesh, to an emulation of the faith and a zeal for good conversation; so that if not all, at least some of them he might save. Thus, therefore, while he exercises vigilant care and constant solicitude toward the doctrine of the Gentiles, and makes their conversation and life highly commendable, seeing these things, the Israelites who were his kinsmen according to the flesh, he invites and provokes to imitate those who are progressing in the faith of God: and the glory of his ministry is such that, from the instruction of the Gentiles, a benefit also accrued to them. “For if, he asks, the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world, what shall the assumption be, but life from the dead?” It seems to me the Apostle shows in these discourses that, with Israel cast away, and the preaching necessarily transferred to the Gentiles, the world (that is, all nations) has been reconciled to God, according to what is written: “For God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning their trespasses to them;” and again as Paul says: “Who has placed in us the word of reconciliation;” through which word he said: “We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God.” If therefore, he says, the rejection of this Israelite nation provided reconciliation for the world, and if there was so great a grace toward this nation, which, when taken away from it, sufficed to reconcile the entire world to God, how much of a benefit do you think the world will then deserve, when even this nation shall have deserved to be reconciled to God? And what that thing is which the world acquires from 637 the reconciliation of Israel, he briefly points out by saying: “Life from the dead.” For then shall be the assumption of Israel, when now even the dead shall receive life, and the world shall be made from corruptible incorruptible, and mortals shall be endowed with immortality.

It would seem ^A absurd if, while the offense brought the world reconciliation, the assumption of these did not bring the world something greater and more excellent. 11. "For if the first-fruit is holy, so also is the lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken, and you, although you were a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became a sharer of the root and richness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, it is not you that carry the root, but the root you." You say then: "The branches were broken, so that I might be grafted in." Well: they were broken because of unbelief. But you stand by faith: do not think proudly, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either. Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God: on those indeed who fell, severity; but on you, goodness, ^B if you remain in goodness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off, and they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in. For God is powerful to graft them in again. For if you were cut from the natural wild olive, and contrary to nature were grafted into the good olive tree, how much more shall these, according to nature, be grafted into their own olive tree? I do not know how those who come from the school of Valentinus and Basilides, hearing these things thus spoken by Paul, think there is one nature of souls which is always saved and never perishes, and another which always perishes and is never saved: whereas Paul openly says that the branches of the good olive tree were broken because of their own unbelief, and that they stood in need of the vengeance ^C of divine severity; and again, that the branches of the wild olive, which for them is classified as a lost nature, were grafted into the root and richness of the olive. But for them, let this be an easy answer. Nevertheless, it is possible for us also—who say that the nature of all men, or rather, of all rational beings, is one and equally capable of salvation, and of perdition if it neglects itself—to be challenged and asked: How then does Paul set forth the good olive tree and the wild olive, when surely, if he knew there was one nature for all, he would not have introduced an example of different kinds of trees? We must answer this as follows: Just as the whole of corporeal matter, while it is without doubt of one nature, because of the qualities added to it produces diverse species of bodies, ^D or trees, or plants: so, too, when the nature of all rational beings is one, and endowed equally with the freedom of its own will, the particular movements of each, brought forth from the power of the will, incline the soul subject to them either toward virtue or toward lust, and form it into the likeness of a good or a bad tree; so that it is called a good tree if it has chosen good things; or a bad one, if it has chosen evil; and each one, according to the movements of its own intention, will be named either a good olive tree, if it walks in the path of virtue, or a wild olive if it pursues the opposite. Hence, finally, the Lord also said in the Gospel: "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad," to show that a tree is not born good or bad, but becomes so. Now, if there is added to the freedom of the will something which from without either provokes to evil or encourages to good through certain ineffable dispensations of divine Providence, this in no way offends the consistency of the proposed liberation. For the rational nature has in itself a vigorous freedom of will, by which it can—if it desires—obey the one urging it, or—if it does not desire—can spurn the one encouraging it. But what we said, that qualities added extrinsically to corporeal matter produce diverse species—some persisting for a long time, some for a short time, and some scarcely lasting even for a few months or days—is to be understood as follows. For example, the species of heaven, sun, or moon, or of the stars, are formed by such certain qualities as are sufficient to endure until the end of the age, and "until they are liberated from the servitude of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God." But there are other qualities of earthly bodies, and in them there is much difference. For the bodies of some animals, or trees, or birds, can endure for a very long time; others, for a few, or for a very short time. But if you have understood this well, let us now pass from examples of corporeal quality to the quality of the rational nature: and see how some indeed persist for many ages in the qualities of blessedness; and others, in the quality of malice, nonetheless consume many ages; others of them remain for a small time either in virtues or in malice; others for a very short time; others for a very brief time. We men, as we are weighed down by the burden of a corruptible body, can grasp 638 little or no knowledge of these things, one by one. But He who searches all things, even the deep things of God, the Holy Spirit, knows all things and makes them known to whom He wills to reveal them. For in these things especially, that is, in the dispensation of the rational nature, that apostolic saying must be spoken: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how inscrutable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" So, therefore, each one, by the power of his own will, is either a good olive tree, or a wild olive.

or of the Israelitic race, or of another culpable nation, so that it may be said of him: "For the wicked are estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly: they speak lies," so that they are strangers to the covenants and guests of the promises of God. And others are cast upon God from the womb and say: "I was cast upon You from the womb; from my mother's womb You are my God." But since, as we have said, the freedom of the will always remains for this nature, it is possible that while someone is of the Israelitic race, and a branch of the good olive tree, he may fall into unbelief and be broken off; and again, another who had chosen to be of a culpable ^B and sinful nation, and for that reason was called a branch of the wild olive, if he is converted to the faith (for he has in himself the freedom of his will, by which he can be converted to the good), he is grafted into the good olive tree through faith, and becomes a partaker of the root and the fatness of the olive. Others call this root Abraham, others Seth, and others place it as some one of the well-deserving fathers. But I know of no other root that is holy, and the holy first-fruits, than our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the first-fruits of all, or the libation, as we have it in this passage of the Apostle, according to that which is said of Him elsewhere: "Who is the firstborn of all creation." For into this root everyone who is saved is grafted, and from this holy libation the whole mass of the human race is sanctified: and truly, just as the holy root provides the fatness of holiness to the branches that remain in it, while through His Holy Spirit He quickens those who adhere to Him, cultivates them with the Word, makes them flourish with wisdom, and makes them bring forth rich fruit in the fullness of all virtues: so that it might even say of them: "But I, like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God." For if the branches that were broken off were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith: who is there else in whom you stand if not Jesus Christ? And who is there else from whom they were broken off because of unbelief, if not He whom they did not believe? Therefore, always, whoever came as an outsider to the faith, or to the conversation of Israel, were grafted into Christ, who was the true Israel. But especially from the time of His advent, a wild olive is abundantly grafted into this root, or into its branches, namely the apostles and prophets of God: so that those who are grafted into them become partakers of the root and fatness of Christ. After this ^C the Apostle teaches us not to be puffed up against the root, or the broken Israelite branches, nor to insult them: because we do not carry the root, but the root carries us. For we have nothing that we did not receive. But if we have received it, why do we boast as if we had not received it? Then, furthermore, as if some were impudently insulting and saying: "If the branches were broken off: well and good: they were broken off because of unbelief, so that I, who believed, might be grafted in": the Apostle, restraining them, says: They indeed were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith: but remember "everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled"; and therefore "do not be high-minded, but fear," do not speak high and lofty things. For although you stand in the root, and stand well, yet fear, seeing that others, whom you insult, stood where you also stand: and you, when you were not there, were transplanted elsewhere to the root of this olive, and it is possible for you also to sin. For even by this very fact, that you are proud and exalted, you are already sinning: and know that "if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you." After this, however, this person who is proud and insults those who have fallen is imbued by the Apostle with higher thoughts of humility; and it is said to him: "You who say these things, behold the goodness and severity of God:" and when you see His severity toward the broken branches, you must fear lest perhaps you, too, while you are proud and insult those who have fallen, might incur for yourself the severity of God which persecutes sinners by sinning. For His goodness remains in those who have remained in His goodness. "Otherwise," he says, "in the same order you also, if you do not remain in goodness, will be cut off: and they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in." For it is not impossible for God to graft them in again if they withdraw from the unbelief ^D through which they were broken off: since it is seen to be easier to restore the branches of one's own tree to their own root, than to graft in others. Furthermore, what he said, "from the natural wild olive," and again: "according to nature they will be grafted into their own olive tree," we must accept the nature of the olive or wild olive according to what we have explained above, that the freedom of the will made the nature for each one, either of the wild olive or of the good olive. It is to be noted, indeed, that those who have fallen from their own olive tree are said to be broken off; but these who are grafted in from the wild olive, if they sin again, are not to be broken off, which certainly should be...

accounted lighter, but are called subject to being cut out. In which the severity of God is indeed more vehemently indicated, if, after someone, when he was a wild olive and gathered from the forest of sins, has been brought to the root of faith and holiness, he again brings forth the bitter juices of malice. But let not even this escape us in this place, that the Apostle did not place the similitude of the olive and the wild olive in that order which is held by farmers. For they are accustomed to graft the olive into the wild olive, and not the wild olive into the olive; but Paul, with apostolic authority, having changed the order, has adapted things to causes rather than causes to things.

12. "For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits: that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in: and so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Sion he that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: and this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." ^A Furthermore, he says to those who had believed from the Gentiles, as though they were puffed up and proud against the branches that were broken off, and thinking that this occurred not by the goodness ^B and ineffable dispensation of His wisdom, but by their own merits, so that when they were broken off, they themselves, although they were wild olives, were grafted into the good olive: "I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits": because to insult the fallen, and to glory against the branches that were broken off, is not done through the wisdom of God, but through human arrogance, and ignorance of the mystery of God. For he who is wise according to God does not insult those cast down by the benefits of God but, with fear, gives thanks to the mercy that bestows them. There is, therefore, a mystery, which was unknown to those who were insulting, of this kind: how, in the dispersion of the sons of Adam ^C when the rest of all the nations were distributed according to the number of the angels, Israel was made a certain peculiar portion of God, just as also in other cases where it was fitting, and in these same ones we mentioned a little above, to whom both the promises of good things, and the covenants, and the legislation were made. That portion of the Lord remaining, therefore, in that state of its own, it was not possible for us, who were Gentiles, to enter into the inheritance of God, and to succeed to the rights of His scepter. Therefore, God suffers on account of a part, that is, not for all but for some from Israel, a blindness to occur, undoubtedly brought upon them by those angels ^D who had been allotted the leadership of the other nations, under the pretext of envy. God therefore permitted it, and though He could have prevented it, He would not, in order that, for those who were deceived by blindness, that is, who had fallen through the dullness of their hearts, God might make their own portions the portion of those who had deceived them, so that in a certain way they might be caught in that very thing by which they had caught others. For those who, by the allurements of sin, turned the people of God toward themselves, made a place for the Gentiles to enter into the inheritance of God, while God held with them a certain common and most just judgment, so that until they kept the people of God held in the captivity of blindness, the number of the Gentiles might be returned as it were in place of those whom, from the beginning, they had withdrawn from the portion of God and His separated inheritance: when however the fullness of the Gentiles had been completed, and Israel, by the emulation of their salvation, had begun to cast off from itself the blindness of the heart, and with uplifted eyes to behold Christ, the true light, so according ^C to the preceding prophecies, Israel, blinded, would seek the salvation which it had lost, being stirred to do so, saying to itself that prophetic word: "I will return to my former husband, for it was better for me then than now." That these things were promised to them by the prophets is found in many prophetic volumes; yet we will set forth that which may suffice for the present, one testimony from Jeremiah thus containing: "If the heaven shall be exalted into the height, and the earth shall be lowered downward, I will not reject the race of Israel for all that they have done." If, therefore, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter, blindness was made in Israel for all that they have done, without doubt when the fullness of the Gentiles shall have entered, the blindness will cease. But if you wish, says the Apostle, to know how even after blindness Israel is to be saved, hear how it is written: "There shall come out of Sion he that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: and this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."

^A It should be known indeed that in the prophet Isaiah, from whom Paul takes this testimony, in place of what the Apostle said, "There shall come out of Sion," it is written, "There shall come for the sake of Sion"; and what he says here, "when I shall take away their sins," is not written there at all, nor indeed is it in the Hebrew text; yet it has been presumed by the authority of the Apostle. Meanwhile, the Lord coming out of Sion delivers, and turns away ungodliness from Jacob. He turns away ungodliness from him according to that which is written: "For the Lord shall wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and shall cleanse the blood from the midst of her by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning"; and it was a testament to them from God that it should be done in this way, so that ungodliness might be turned away from them and sins taken away. But who this "all Israel" is that might be saved, or what this "fullness of the Gentiles" will be, God alone knows, and His Only-Begotten, and if there be any who happen to be His friends, to whom He says: "I will not now call you servants, but friends; because I have made known to you all things that I have heard from my Father." However, this may also occur to our own understanding, that just as Israel, as long as it remains Israel according to the flesh, and has not yet been made a true Israelite according to the spirit by seeing God with the mind, cannot pertain to salvation, so neither can all the Gentiles at all be saved, unless they be those found within the fullness, whatever that is which is called fullness by the Apostle. Thus, therefore, the mystery of God is treated by a certain ineffable dispensation of His wisdom, so that even when a soul has brought upon itself the lot of evils, He who knows how to dispose all things may cause its abjection and punishment to be the salvation of others. But this also seems to me to be pondered more diligently in this place, that he does not say this blindness has happened to all Israel, but "in part." For the "remnant according to the election of grace have been saved." Concerning which remnant Isaiah had also prophesied, saying: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed." These remnants, therefore, are associated in blessedness with the fullness of the Gentiles; but the rest who are blinded from Israel are associated with those Gentiles who could not attain to the fullness. Thus, therefore, whatever is found in the sayings of the prophets written about the promises containing blessedness, if it concerns Israel, they pertain to those remnants who have been elected; if it concerns the Gentiles, they look to the fullness. ^B But if there is sadness, if indeed they are called of Israel, they refer without doubt to the rest who have been blinded; but if of the Gentiles, they surely strike those who are outside the fullness. Yet the end urges all things, and the discourse on the evangelical doctrine of the present time cleanses those who are blessed, whether they come from Israel or even from the Gentiles, ^C so that they may be such as were those to whom the Lord said: "Now you are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you." But whoever spurns the purification of the word of God and evangelical doctrine reserves himself for sad and penal purifications, so that the fire of Gehenna may cleanse in torments him whom neither apostolic doctrine nor evangelical speech has cleansed, according to that which is written: "And I will purify thee by fire unto purity." But in this very purification which is applied through the punishment of fire, for how long a time, or for how many ages the torment may be exacted from sinners, only He can know to whom the Father hath committed all judgment, who so loves His creature that for its sake He emptied Himself from the form of God and took the form of a servant, humbling Himself unto death, willing that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Nevertheless, we should always remember that the Apostle wished the present place to be held as a mystery, in which, specifically, the faithful and perfect should keep such a sense within themselves as a mystery of God in silence, and not everywhere put it forth to the imperfect and those less capable. "For it is good," saith Scripture, "to conceal the secret of a king." ^D "...concerning you according to the election, they are most dear for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. For as you also in times past did not believe God, but now you have obtained mercy, through their unbelief: so these also now have believed in your mercy, that they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he may have mercy on all. O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen."

^A The Apostle continues still regarding Israel and the nations, and the branches of the wild olive which insulted the branches of the olive tree that were broken off, imputing these things as well, and adds: *Because Israel, indeed, according to the Gospel is an enemy to God, because he did not believe in Christ; but as far as concerns the honor of the fathers, he is chosen and held most dear by God.* Yet, since the election was once given to the seed of the fathers, and love granted, God without doubt preserves His gifts and calling toward the seed of those upon whose merits He had once bestowed it; nor does repentance enter into God, even if those toward whom the benefits promised to the fathers are conferred appear to exist as less worthy. However, as we have often warned, even in the present passage that distinction must be observed: that the Israel who is an enemy to God is said to be the one who cries out concerning Christ: *Away with him, away with him, crucify him.* For how are those not called enemies of God ^B who, whether then or even now, have said these things, or are saying them? But what he says, *on account of you*—that is, those whose salvation they clearly envy, prohibiting the apostles from speaking to the nations and persecuting those who announce Christ. Yet according to the remnant which is said to be saved, in which the election of those who believe from Israel has followed, they are *most dear on account of the fathers*, whose faith they follow, believing in Him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead. And according to this, toward such a seed, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. But after these things, he also opens up the hidden and deeper causes of their incredulity, and says: *For just as you, O nations, formerly did not believe in God, nor yet for that reason did God entirely abandon you, but at some point at the last you obtained mercy; yet the occasion for mercy being conferred upon you came from the incredulity of the people of Israel: so also those who now of the people of Israel have not believed, and on account of their incredulity have been abandoned, so that the mercy of God might be turned toward you, will not be left entirely in their incredulity; but after the fullness of the nations has been fulfilled, ^C even they themselves shall obtain mercy.* In which the Apostle, wishing to show the goodness of God, how from the incredulity of some He makes the salvation of others, says: *He has concluded all in incredulity, that He might have mercy upon all;* not that He Himself cast into them the intent of incredulity, but from their own intent of incredulity, He opened the way of believing for others who had also themselves been previously incredulous. Placed in these positions of the discourse, Paul, looking more deeply into causes of this kind—how God does not immediately cut off and excise an evil intent, but suffers and reserves it, ^D foreseeing that some good thing is about to come about in others through the evil intent of another—withdrew, I opine, the eyes of his heart from those of whom he was speaking, to the very origin of malice itself, as to how God from the beginning in those whom it has arisen, whosoever they are, did not judge it useful to cut off that which is budding and growing by the freedom of the will; but permitted them to use their intent, knowing and foreseeing that the progress and utility of many will arise from the occasion of their malice, and to such an extent is there place for virtue before the good God, that even the work of malice, however pernicious it may be to him from whom it proceeds, is nonetheless dispensed to provide a benefit to him against whom it stirs up struggles, when it has been overcome. The holy Apostle, therefore, considering that there are such great riches of the goodness of God, and that so great a work of divine wisdom is brought to pass toward rational natures, and because God is so much *rich in mercy* and *rich toward all who call upon him*, and that the magnitude of His goodness, and patience, and long-suffering is so great, suddenly beholding them with the interior eyes of his heart and perceiving their immensity, smitten with wonder and fear at the same time, he exclaims and says: *O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, and unsearchable his ways!* For whence indeed could the sense of the human mind imagine those things, that while the freedom of the will is preserved for each, the work of another's malice should be turned to the salvation of another, and that malice, in using itself, should confer the palm of victory upon the one against whom it struggles?

does it offer destruction? Since, therefore, the Apostle has looked into these things with a general view, as it seems, he exclaims and says that the depth of the riches of God is so great, and the depth of his wisdom is so great, and the depth of his knowledge is nonetheless so great—for the word “depth” applies to all these things ^A—that no one is sufficient to scrutinize his judgments, by which he dispenses every soul and every rational nature, nor can anyone investigate the ways of God in which his providence proceeds. By “anyone,” however, we mean not only of men, but of the entire creation. For his judgments would not be called inscrutable, and his ways unsearchable, if there were any creature that could either investigate or scrutinize them. For the Son alone is the one who knows the Father, and the Holy Spirit alone is the one who searches all things, even the depths of God ^B. And for this reason he calls this depth of God, which he says is both inscrutable and unsearchable, inscrutable and unsearchable to every creature. But he could not say these things of the Son and the Holy Spirit, because the Son says in the Gospel to the Father, “Father, all things mine are yours, and yours are mine”; and concerning the Holy Spirit, Paul himself pronounces, saying: “For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the things of God, no one has known, except the Spirit of God.” You see, therefore, that Paul in the present chapter, in the things he says: “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” is speaking about creatures; but he excepts the nature of the Trinity, since it has nothing in common with the creature, except the work of beneficence. But as for what he says: “Who has been his counselor?”—it is not as if he were himself less sufficient and in need of the counsel of another, but that he pronounces that no one among creatures ^C is a participant in his counsel. The counsel, however, remains necessary to the wise man in his wisdom, which is Christ, and in holiness, which is the Holy Spirit. In a similar manner, “Who has first given to him, and it shall be repaid to him?” must also be understood. For no one has contributed anything to his Creator beforehand; since each person has received even this very thing that he is from the Creator. “For from him, and through him, and in him are all things.” You see how in the final part he shows that in all things which he said above, he has marked the mystery of the Trinity. For just as in the present place, that which he says: “For from him, and through him, and in him are all things,” corresponds to those statements which the same Apostle mentions in other places when he says: “One God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things”; and likewise in the Spirit of God he says all things are revealed, and by these things he designates that the providence of the Trinity is in all things; so also when he says: “The depth of the riches,” he signifies the Father, from whom he says all things are, and he points to the depth of wisdom, Christ, who is his wisdom; and he declares the depth of knowledge, the Holy Spirit, who also knows the deep things of God. Verily, however, that which he says: “From him,” indicates this very thing that we are: “Through him,” however, that we are dispensed in life through his providence: “In him,” indeed, that the perfection and end of all things will be in him when God shall be all in all; and then to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. “For ever,” on account of this, that the perfection of all things is not concluded within one age, but is extended into many, and is hoped to be fulfilled only with difficulty at some point. He adds also “Amen,” so that we may understand that through him we must come to that blessedness, of which it is written in the Apocalypse: “These things says he who is the Amen.”

BOOK NINE

643 1. When in the preceding pages the Apostle had taught through the entire text of the Epistle how the Jews were brought to the faith, from circumcision to faith, from the letter to the spirit, from the shadow to the truth, from carnal observance ^D to the spiritual observance of religion.

^A And since we had already 53 attempted to explain in the book on Leviticus, according to our strength, how each person might, by a reasonable service of worship to God, sacrifice a calf if he conquers the pride of his body, slaughter a ram if he overcomes anger, offer a goat as a holocaust if he conquers lust, and sacrifice doves and turtledoves if he cuts off the roaming and slippery flights of his thoughts. But these things, as I said, if anyone thinks them worthy to be known, he will find treated more fully there. Now, however, Paul beseeches those who believe in Christ to present their bodies as a living, holy sacrifice, pleasing to God. He calls it a "living" sacrifice, which bears within it life, that is, Christ, and he says: "We carry about in our body the death of Jesus, that the life of Jesus Christ may also be manifested in our body" (II Cor. iv, 10). He calls it "holy," in which the Holy Spirit dwells, according to what he said elsewhere: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (I Cor. iii, 16). And "pleasing to God," because it is separated from sins and vices. Now all this is the reasonable service of God. For a reason can be given for such a service, and it can be shown that it is worthy of God that such sacrifices be offered. But that rams, and goats, and calves should be offered to an immortal and incorporeal God, no right and honest reason will accept. Therefore, that those who have believed in Christ should do these things, and thus worship God, the Apostle not only teaches but beseeches by the mercy of God: to show that such sacrifices have been provided for the human race (since it is prone to sin) by the mercy of God: so that if ever a fall occurs, by a reasonable service and by sacrifices immolated in the way we have described above, the soul may be able to be repaired and restored to salvation. ^C But Paul points out that the mercies of God are many, in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, saying: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies" (II Cor. i, 3). You hear that God, just as He is the Father of Christ, and is the Father of wisdom, and the Father of justice—which Christ himself is—so He is also the Father of mercies. Therefore, since Christ is all other things, and is himself Mercy, the mercies are many, not one: that is, just as the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in him, yet they are hidden (Col. ii, 3); so also the treasure of mercy is in him, but it is hidden.

Lest, perhaps, if it were brought forth suddenly and before_time, it might make me, and anyone who might wish to be like me in sloth, negligent. ^A It will be seen, therefore, that a living, holy, and God-pleasing sacrifice is, in particular, an undefiled body. But since we see that some of the saints, and even some of the apostles, have possessed marriages, we cannot altogether think this regarding virginity alone, although in sacrifices of this kind it may hold the first order: just as in the Law one kind of sacrifice was the priest's, another the ruler's, another the synagogue's, and another an individual's soul. And although in the Church the sacrifice of martyrs is seen as the first after the apostles, that of virgins as the second, and that of the continent as the third; I think, nevertheless, that neither are those who are placed in marriages—and who by consent for a time abstain from prayer, as if discharging the vows of the Nazarenes—to be denied, if in other matters they act holily and justly, the ability to present their bodies as a living, holy, God-pleasing sacrifice; nor, on the other hand, are the bodies of virgins or ^B the continent to be thought to have offered a holy and God-pleasing sacrifice from virginity of body alone, if they are polluted by a stain of pride, or the filth of avarice, or a foul tongue, or the impurity of lying: because also in the Law, when a sacrifice was offered, it was inspected by the priest with care, not only to see if it were from clean animals, but that it might not have a blemish in its eye, or in its ears, or in its feet, so that a lame, or one-eyed, or deaf animal might not be brought to the divine altar. Thus, therefore, the living, holy, God-pleasing sacrifice, which is to be offered rationally, is searched and examined through all its members. "And be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good, and acceptable, and perfect." We must know that it is in the Greek: "That you may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." But we, because one sense can be seen in both, follow the custom of the Latins. "Do not therefore," he says, "be conformed to this world." In which he shows that there is a certain form of this world, and another of the world to come: and if there are those who love ^C the present world, and those things which are in this world, they are adapted according to the form of the present world; but those who do not look at things that are seen, but at those that are not seen and are eternal, are transformed and renewed to the form of the world to come: and hence it happens that this world does not recognize them, but hates and persecutes them. But the angels of God, who are of that world to come, do recognize this form. And it seems to me that this is similar to that saying in which he says: "As we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly." See, therefore, lest perhaps when wrath comes into your heart, it makes you conformed to this world; but likewise also let evil concupiscence, and avarice, and other vices in which the present world delights, impose upon you the form of the present world. If, however, on the contrary, gentleness, patience, lenity, continence, faith, truth, and other virtues dwell in your mind, they will make you conformed to the world to come, and thus will render the appearance of your soul so beautiful, that the Word of God, who pledged it to himself in mercy and faith, may say to it: "You are altogether beautiful, my neighbor, and there is no stain in you." ^D Consider, however, more diligently what he says: "But be transformed by the renewing of your mind," so that he may show the culpable form: for every soul formerly had a form of malice. But the apostolic word exhorts from this, that, having cast that off, we may be transformed to the appearance of every single virtue, and thus finally be able, with unveiled face of the heart, to behold the glory of the Lord, transformed by an image of this kind. But how we are transformed into these things, he himself teaches, saying: "By the renewing of your mind." Our mind is renewed through exercises of wisdom, and meditation on the word of God, and spiritual understanding of his Law: and the more one makes progress daily through the reading of the Scriptures, and the more deeply his intellect reaches, the more he is always made new, indeed, daily anew. I know not, however, if a mind can be renewed that is sluggish toward divine Scriptures and exercises of spiritual understanding, by which it is able not only to understand what is written

but also to explain it more openly ^A and to manifest it more diligently. It may happen, however, that not every mind can be renewed in this, so as to be dilated by the recognition of knowledge. For a mind can be renewed toward justice, toward continence, toward mercy, faith, and patience. But see what the Apostle adds in the following to this renewal of the mind: *That you may prove,* he says, *what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.* And certainly, unless the mind is renewed toward all knowledge and is entirely illuminated by the wisdom of God, it cannot prove what is the will of God. For in many things it is thought to be the will of God, when it is not. In which those who do not have a renewed mind certainly err and are deceived. But it is, in truth, not the mind of just anyone, but of one who is greatly renewed, and (if I may say so) already reformed ^B to the image of God, to prove in each individual thing that we do, what we say, what we think, whether it is the will of God; and to do, or say, or think nothing at all that it does not perceive to be in accord with the will of God. *What is,* he says, *the will of God, the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect.* If we read according to what we find in the Latin codices, the sense will be this: That the will of God is whatever is good, and acceptable, and perfect: nor can God wish anything else, except what is good: and certainly what is good and perfect, without doubt, this is pleasing to God. But if we read according to what we said is held among the Greeks, that is, *that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God,* it can indeed seem to be the same as we said above, that every ^C will of God is good, and acceptable, and perfect. Yet something like this can also be felt in these words, that the will of God is indeed always good, but we do not always merit being dispensed according to His good will, nor acceptable and perfect. For example, when Saul was anointed as king, it was indeed the will of God, but not acceptable, nor perfect. For, being angry at the people, who had refused to have God over them as King, He commanded a man to be set up as king for them. But also the Prophet says from the person of God: *I sent them away according to the desires of their heart; they went on in their own inventions.* Thus, therefore, sometimes the will of God comes to pass in those things in which we covet and desire; but he who is renewed in mind must prove whether the ^D will of God is this good, and acceptable, and perfect [will].

2. *For I say by the grace that is given to me, to all who are among you:* not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety: *unto every one as God hath divided the measure of faith.* For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same act: so, being many, we are one body in Christ, but everyone members one of another. It must first be known that where we have *to all who are among you* (omnibus qui sunt inter vos), in the Greek it is held *to every one who is among you* (omni qui est in vobis). Which speech certainly signifies that the Word is made to those who, when they were not before, now have begun to exist. For God, as the same Apostle says, *calls those things that are not, as though they were.* These are not, however, those who are not partakers of Him who truly is, who said to Moses: *Say to the children of Israel: He Who Is, hath sent me to you.* What, therefore, Paul says: *I say to all who are among you;* or, as we said it is held in the Greek, *to everyone who is in you,* it is the same as if he said: I say to everyone who is in God, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise. Nevertheless, it must be seen that Paul, just as he says in other places, does not speak in the persuasive words of carnal wisdom, but through the grace that was given to him. For there is a great difference between one speaking by grace, and one by human wisdom. Finally, it is often discovered in the things themselves that some eloquent and learned men, being powerful not only in speech but also in understanding, when they have spoken much in the Churches and have received huge applause of praise, yet not one of the hearers from those things that were said receives compunction of heart, nor progresses toward faith, nor is incited to the fear of God from the memory of those things that were said; but they depart having captured only a certain sweetness and delight for the ears: yet often men of no great eloquence, nor studying the composition of speech, with simple and uncomposed words convert many infidels to the faith, incline the proud to humility, and fix the prick of conversion into those who are sinning. And this is certainly a sign, just as the Apostle says in the present, that they speak by the grace that is given to them.

Moreover, I believe that grace is present not only in those who teach the word of God—if the discourse is such as we described above, which does not so much delight the listener as stimulate them and lead them to some progress in virtue—but also, you will find, in almost everything that is done in life. For there is someone who has grace both in what he does and in what he speaks; and another who sometimes speaks more prudently, and acts more diligently and laboriously, yet finds grace neither in his words nor in his deeds. Finally, as we have already said in other places, it is written that Joseph found grace in the sight of the keeper of the prison 25, and Esther found grace in the sight of the king 26. ^A We have found written in a certain more secret book that there is a kind of angel of grace, who even draws his name from grace. For he is called Ananehel ^B, which is interpreted as "the grace of God." That writing, therefore, contained the fact that this angel was sent by the Lord to Esther, so that he might give her grace before the king. Thus, therefore, the virtue of a discourse that is spoken through grace is one thing, and the power of doctrine is another. There is another kind of discourse 87 that comes from common erudition, which, although it may be elegant and composed with art, yet, if it is not spoken or written through grace, may perhaps delight the reader, but it cannot lead the listener to progress. Paul, therefore, not only says what he says through grace 88, but also prays that grace be given to his listeners; and not only grace, but a multitude of grace. For thus he writes: *Grace be multiplied unto you* 26: and in all his Epistles he says: *Grace unto you, and peace.* ^C But let us see what it is that the Apostle, through the grace that has been given to him, says to all who are among the Romans. *Not to think*, he says 90, *more highly than it is fitting to think, but to think unto sobriety.* It seems that he is still adapting this discourse to the arrogant branches of the wild olive—those who insult the branches that have been broken off from the good olive tree 27—and saying to them that they ought not to think more highly than it is fitting to think: which is similar to that discourse he said: *Be not high-minded* 28; for this is indeed to think 92 more than is fitting. It should be known, however, that other learned men also employ this definition, so that they place the nature or cause of sin in this: if anything is added to the virtues, or subtracted from them. For example, justice is a virtue: and if anyone does something 93 less than justice requires, he is undoubtedly unjust. But if anyone, under the guise of justice, becomes excessive toward punishments and pursues vengeance too cruelly 94, he has fallen from justice into cruelty. Whence Solomon also says: *Be not righteous* 95 *overmuch.* Similarly, liberty, if it is within its own moderation, is a virtue; if it has less, it is called timidity: if more, temerity. In the same way, prudence also, if it is in its own measure, is a virtue; if it has less, it is imprudence; if it has more than is fitting, it is called malice. Hence I think that even the serpent 647 in paradise was called ^D more prudent than the other beasts 29, that is, exceeding the measure of prudence, and having fallen into parts of malice. Hence also the sons of this world are said to be more prudent than the sons of light 30; for they think more than it is fitting to think. And thus, in each and every virtue, one can think more than it is fitting to think. One can also think more than it is fitting to think in regard to chastity, as are those who *give heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and abstaining from meats which* 96 *God hath created.* Such men think more about chastity than is fitting. But the lewd and incestuous man thinks less than is fitting. As for me, I say that even heretics think more about Christ than it is fitting to think, who deny that he is the Son of the Creator God, but of another I know not what better God 97. But those, too, think more about Christ than is fitting who deny that he came in the flesh and was born of a Virgin, but assign to him a celestial body. In all these things, therefore, Paul wishes us not to think more than it is fitting to think, but to think unto sobriety, which in Greek is called σωφροσύνη, but in our codices—that is, in the divine Scriptures—this has been interpreted by the ancients as *sobriety*; by other learned men, however, it is called *temperance*, which temperance is held to be one of the four cardinal virtues. And in this place, therefore, it is better

^A for the Apostolic words to shine forth if we too were to write in accordance with the power of the Greek language, but to be sober—that is, that in all things, whether we act, or speak, or think, we should maintain sobriety. For in all those things which we have enumerated above, only sobriety knows how to keep the measure—that it is not proper to do more or less. After these things he says: *To each one as God has distributed the measure of faith:* ^B this is so that each one may know and understand what measure of the grace of God is in him, which he has merited to attain through faith. For sometimes a man receives from God that he might be wise in the work of charity, or wise in the office of visiting, or toward the mercy for the poor, or regarding the care of the weak, or toward the defense of widows and orphans, or toward the solicitude of hospitality. These things, therefore, God has distributed to each one according to the measure of faith. But if he who has received grace to be wise in one of these things does not understand the measure ^C of the grace given to him, but wishes to be wise regarding the wisdom of God, regarding the word of doctrine, regarding the reason of a deeper science, in which he has not received grace, and wishes not so much to learn as to teach what he does not know—that man, while he is less wise, wishes to be *wiser than he ought*. For he is not wise unto sobriety, so that he might guard for each one as God has distributed the measure of faith. Truly, that the Apostle might designate these things even more evidently, he introduces an example and says: *For as in one body we have many members, yet all the members do not have the same action: so we being many are one body in Christ, but everyone members of another:* ^D arranging with the greatest order through these things the whole body of the Church; so that just as the individual members of the body have their own actions, and each one serves in its own offices, nor yet is it possible that they do not yield to one another by mutual consent—so, he says, in the Church which is the body of Christ, we have individual and diverse actions. For example: one applies his whole study toward the wisdom of God and the doctrine of the Word, and persists in the meditation of divine law day and night; and he is the eye of this great body. Another, as we said above, cares for the ministry of his brothers and those in need; and he is the hand of this holy body. Another is a studious hearer of the Word of God; and he is the ear of the body. Another is tireless for visiting the bedridden, for seeking out those in tribulation, and for rescuing those placed in necessities; who without doubt is called the foot of the ecclesiastical body. And thus you will find each one inclined ^A toward one certain office, and more specially to devote labor to it; whereas he considers the others as sequent. Nor do we say this because one ought to satisfy [all], but according to the form of the proposed example. Just as, for example, the eye has a special office so that it may see, yet it is one out of all and in all members, and it acts in all things with the individual members, and the individual members in turn act in all things with it; so also, he who has merited to receive some one special gift ^B through the grace of faith administers that thing principally; yet in all his actions he is held to be a companion and participant with the others. How, moreover, this body exists in Christ—that is, in truth, and wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, all of which Christ is—we have already said often. But now, if in this body, for example, there is ^C some eye, which is the more noble part in the whole body; or a hand, which can be held in the following place; or an ear, or a tongue, or all other things which seem to be more honorable; and, on the other hand, there might be some other member from those which seem to be less honorable; whether he himself contributed some cause, or whether by the will of God he was constituted such a member without any causes at all ^D—I think that this is above our understanding. But lest those who assert that there are diverse natures of souls, and that they were instituted by different creators, might seem to find a place to confirm their dogma, those things which were discussed by us above regarding the *vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor* may suffice even in the present place. For it must never be admitted that, whether in the present, or in the past, or even in future ages, the divine Providence does not so dispense each one that the merit of each individual, gathered by the liberty of the will, has provided the material to the dispenser. For God is just, and there is no injustice to be found among 649 him *according to the grace that is given to us, the difference, whether prophecy according to the measure of faith, or ministry in ministering, or he who teaches in doctrine, he who exhorts in exhorting, he who distributes in simplicity, he who rules in solicitude, he who shows mercy in cheerfulness*. When he had said that each of the believers is a member of the one body of Christ, now he enumerates the diversity of the work as if of diverse members; and, for example, as the vision to the eye, so he assigns the office of prophecy to the mind, which is the interior eye; and to others.

he assigns the teaching of the tongue as if it were a ministry to the hand: and similarly also the rest. He resolves that point also which appeared ambiguous to us in the previous passages, where we were asking whether each member comes to the offices of the body—whether they be honest or less honest—by offering something from itself as a cause, or whether it was delegated to each member for no cause, but by the sole will of God. What was therefore less clear to us there, the Apostle has here openly revealed, saying that whether it be prophecy, or ministry, or the other gifts of graces, they are given "according to the measure of faith": although this expression, that is, "according to the measure of faith," may seem to be translated less properly among the Latins. For *analogia* in Greek can be said to be not so much "reason" as a "competent measure," so that because it cannot be explained in one word, it is explained in two. Therefore, he pronounces that the diversities of graces are given according to the measure of faith of each one, so that, for example's sake, a person becomes this or that member in the body of Christ, once the grace has been received. And here, indeed, he has posited the "measure of faith" as the cause of the receiving of graces; but writing to the Corinthians he says: "To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for that which is profitable"; and after a few words he adds: "But one and the same Spirit works all things, distributing to each one as He wills." And it seems to me that, writing to the Romans as well as to the Corinthians, he intends to teach the three modes of grace that are to be taken up, so that he may show that, while there is something to be accomplished by us in this matter, it nevertheless consists largely in the generosity of God. ^A He posits, therefore, that there is a measure of faith through which each one receives grace; he posits also that it is given for that which is profitable; and that the Spirit distributes as He wills. Therefore, that such great faith may be found in us—as much as can merit a more sublime grace—is a matter of our work and zeal; but that there be given that which is profitable and useful to the receiver is God's judgment; or if it be given at all, it rests with Him. Therefore, the same Apostle also says in another place: "But now God has placed each one of the members in the body as He willed." God willed it, however, according to the reason or measure of faith that is in us; or He willed it for that which is profitable. Unless, perhaps, someone might wish to understand this also in such a way that "God has placed each one of the members in the body as He willed" refers more to the member—that is, as He willed, as He chose, as He took pains; so that the power of free will does not seem to be taken away from man. ^B Yet, from this point—that he says grace is given for that which is profitable—it may happen that, even if there be in someone a measure of faith so great that he might merit to receive a more exalted grace, if the Holy Spirit, foreseeing the future, judges that it is not profitable for the one receiving it, He necessarily distributes to each one as He wills and as is profitable. Finally, we see that some have received the grace of teaching or of exhortation to the people, and from this very fact have been extolled and turned to pride and have fallen into the judgment of the devil; others have indeed received grace, but have corrupted it by negligence of mind and sloth of life: whence was also that man who bound up the received denarius in a napkin and did not wish to work anything out of it. Therefore, the Apostle finally writes also to his most beloved son, saying: "Do not neglect the grace that is in you"; as if knowing that grace can perish through negligence. But as to what he said: "According to the reason or measure of faith," I think it has already been fully explained in the previous pages what the faith is that is required of us, and what that is which is given by God through grace, according to that which the same Apostle says: "To others faith in the same Spirit": and likewise where the apostles say to the Lord: "Increase our faith": for faith—which is that we might hope and believe and trust without any doubt—is in us; but the "reason of faith," which is the perfect intellect, is given by God. But let us not omit in this place what seems to be of a more secret mystery. ^C For if in the present age God gives to each one grace according to the measure of faith, without doubt He will also in the future give to each one grace according to the measure of merits; and if in the present age such is God's dispensation, and such it will also be in the future, how is it not believed that in the past ages, which were before us, there was a similar dispensation of God toward every rational creature? But let us now see what are the gifts which he enumerates as given according to grace. Prophecy, he says, and ministry, and teaching, and exhortation, and giving [tributio], which is provision, and "he who presides," and "he who shows mercy." To these he joins charity and the rest. Regarding which someone may perhaps say: If all these things are given through grace, will it not be a fault if someone does not prophesy, or does not minister, or ^D does not teach, or does not exhort, or does not give, or does not preside, or does not show mercy, or does not love?

^A Since he has not received the grace for all these things. But to these points we shall say: Just as there is a faith which we have taught exists within us, and again there is a faith which is given through grace, as we said above it is written: "To another faith in the same Spirit"; so also with each one of these things which we have enumerated above as being given by God through grace, there is also something in us, according to the measure or proportion of which each one merits the grace. For it is not only regarding wisdom that we must accept what is written, since even "if someone ^B be perfect among the sons of men, if the wisdom which is from You be wanting to him, he shall be reckoned as nothing." In the same way, we can say: Even if someone were perfect in faith among the sons of men, if the faith which is from Your grace is wanting to him, he shall be reckoned as nothing. So too, even if someone were perfect in ministry, if the grace of ministry from God is wanting to him, he shall be reckoned as nothing. So too, even if someone were perfect in doctrine, and the grace of doctrine which is from God is wanting to him, he shall be reckoned as nothing. And so in all these things which have been enumerated, there is a certain perfection among the sons of men which they attain through labor and their own studies, whether in wisdom, or in doctrine, or in other duties: which, however, if they do not have the grace given by God, shall be nothing: because if the grace of the Spirit is wanting to them, they cannot even be members of the body of Christ. But among these, it is asked whether there can be any aspect of prophecy in us or from us, which does not have everything from God, but also takes a little ^C from human studies. This, indeed, will seem quite impossible to others; but to Paul, however, it is clearly proven, saying: "But covet the better gifts, and more that you may prophesy." In which, just as someone covets ministry, and doctrine, and exhortation, and the rest, by applying study and labor toward these, so too the Apostle shows that it ought to be done regarding prophecy. Whence prophecy is understood, by which it is said: "Thus says the Lord"; for that stood until John, according to what is written in the Gospel: "The Law and the Prophets were until John": but that ^D of which the same Apostle says: "He who prophesies, speaks to men for edification, and exhortation, and consolation." Prophecy, therefore, is spoken of according to Paul when someone speaks to men for edification, and when he speaks for exhortation and consolation; and therefore it is possible for us to apply study to such prophecy, and it is within our power that, while we labor for these things, if we do these according to the proportion or measure of faith, there may be added also that prophecy which is from God. Moreover, according to the Apostle, there is also another kind of prophecy, of which he says: "But if you all prophesy, and an unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all, the secrets of his heart also are made manifest, and then falling on his face he will declare that God is truly among you." For just as the Spirit of God searches all things, so too the Word of God searches all things, even those which are in the secret; especially since the Word is living, and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching even unto the division of soul and spirit, of the joints also and the marrow. For when moral discourse is handled in the Church, then the conscience of each person within himself is stirred, recognizing from these things which are said his own sins, and remembering if he chanced to commit any in the secret. Sometimes, however, even the judgment itself of the prudent, whether from the countenance, or from the character, or from the movement of each person's conscience, holds the aspect of prophecy. Let these things be said by us regarding the grace of prophecy. After these follows: "Or ministry in ministering." We can refer all these things back to that rule.

which was said above, that is: *Not to be wise above what it behooves to be wise*: so that, for example, we may say that he who ministers should not, in ministering, be wiser than it behooves to be wise; and he who teaches, in teaching ^A should not be wiser than it behooves to be wise; and he who exhorts, in exhortation should not be wiser than it behooves to be wise. For many, having received a ministry or having received a doctrine, have been wiser than they ought to have been, and, puffed up into arrogance or resolved into delights, have fallen headlong. *He that exhorts, in exhorting.* Exhortation is a species of doctrine and of the word, by which afflicted souls are prudently relieved by Scriptures divine and by gathered discourses. For often there befalls the soul a despair through an excess of tribulations; nor can it easily be repaired or refreshed by any words whatsoever, however polished and plausible they may be. But if a sermon having the power of the grace of God has been applied, then it penetrates her heart, and provides consolation, and recalls hope, with despair removed, according to that which was said by the Lord through the prophet: *Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem.* ^B

3. *He that distributes, in simplicity; he that rules, in solicitude; he that shows mercy, in cheerfulness.* He who distributes and provides for the needy, he says, it is necessary to do this in the simplicity of heart; that is, let him not appear to do good to the needy, while in his heart he seeks praise from men. It is not therefore simplicity if one thing is seen to be done by the hands, and another sought in the heart. But he who rules over brethren, or who rules over the Church, must be in the solicitude not of human causes, nor of worldly affairs (for this solicitude should be alien from those who rule the Church): but let him receive such solicitude as the Apostle mentions: *The concourse in me daily, the solicitude of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not burnt?* He therefore who rules the Churches must have such solicitude, and must not have that other worldly solicitude at all. *He that shows mercy, in cheerfulness.* Let it be seen ^C perhaps if this is one and the same thing as he said above: *He that distributes, in simplicity*, and this: *He that shows mercy, in cheerfulness.* But to me it seems another thing to give to the needy, and another to share with the needy with an affect of mercy; and therefore he does not want there to be sadness in such a work. For he who bestows his money, if he be unfaithful and despairs of receiving it back, he is necessarily saddened just as one who has lost it. But he who does this with faith and hope, he does it in cheerfulness and joy, certain that these small things which he spends for the command of God bring him immense riches of heavenly treasures, and moreover confer eternal life.

4. *Charity without simulation.* I think that all charity which is not according to God is simulated, and is not true. For God, the creator of the soul, for that reason implanted in it, along with other virtues, also the affect of charity, ^D that it might love God, and those things which God wills. When, therefore, he has given this work of charity into the soul, whoever has loved anything other than God and the things which are pleasing to God, his charity must be called feigned and simulated. But even if one loves his neighbor, and does not admonish him when he sees him erring, nor corrects him, that charity of his must be called simulated. And therefore charity ought to have nothing of adulation, nothing of pretense, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere: *Charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned.*

5. *Hating what is evil, cleaving to what is good.* It is perhaps a wonder that among other good things of the virtues, even hatred is assumed, and is posited by the Apostle as necessary. Whence it is certain that an affect of hatred exists in the soul; for it is praiseworthy to hate vices, to hate sins. For unless one has hatred for vices, he cannot love, nor preserve, virtues. By way of example, if someone proposes to guard chastity, he cannot safely guard it unless he takes up a certain hatred and execration against immodesty. For that continence is difficult, and very difficult, where that is desired from which one abstains, and the desire of the mind is restrained only by the fear of future judgment. These things are dangerous, and very dangerous, unless, according to the counsel of the Apostle, hating evil, and in a certain manner waging war with hatred against them, we thus cleave to the good. This too must be observed,

that just as it is said in other places: *He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit* ^A, so too it is said here: Let us cleave to the good, without doubt so that it may be granted to us to be one with the good.

6. *Be loving one another with brotherly love.* This commandment, that we should love one another as God has loved us, since it is the first after the first commandment (for the first is to love God; and this again is the first among men, that we should love one another), I know not how it is despised among men as if it were the last and less necessary, and the hatred which we have said is innate in us for the purpose of hating evil, we exercise in a perverse order toward good things, and while we love the vices of the flesh and sins, we hate our brothers. Nor does it happen that we hate what we ought not, except because we love what we ought not. Therefore, we are commanded to love our brothers, not to judge them. For if you think someone is wicked, and for that reason you think he is not to be loved, hear what Cristo died for the ungodly. But if, because your brother is a sinner, you think for that reason he is not to be loved, hear that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. If, however, he is righteous, he is much more worthy of love, for the Lord loves the righteous.

7. *Preventing one another with honor.* This is what the Lord taught when He noted the Scribes and Pharisees claiming first places for themselves at banquets, and taught that when you are called to a wedding, you should sit in the lowest place.

^A I know, however, that in some Latin manuscripts it is read, *serving the time*, which does not seem to me to be aptly inserted, unless perhaps someone might think it was said thus, just as the same Apostle says elsewhere: *The time is short; it remains that those who have wives be as though they had none*; or as that other saying is: *Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.*

He rejoices in hope who does not look at the things which are seen, but expects those which are not seen; and who knows that *the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us.* The same man will also be patient in tribulation; because *tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation indeed hope*, if, however, we fulfill the word which follows, that is, *instant in prayer.* For in this, human frailty does not suffice; the help of God must be implored by prayers.

12. *Communicating to the needs of the saints.* I remember that it is read more in the Latin manuscripts: [communicating to] *the memories of the saints*: but we do not disturb the custom, nor do we prejudice the truth, especially since both are suitable for edification. For to provide for the needs of the saints honestly and decently, not as if giving alms to the needy, but to hold our own property in common with them in a certain way, and to remember the saints, whether in solemn gatherings or for the sake of our benefiting from the recollection of them, seems apt and convenient.

13. *Pursuing hospitality.* How worthily he encompasses in one word the munificence of one who pursues hospitality! For by saying that hospitality is to be pursued, he shows not only that we should receive the guest who comes to us; but that we should also seek, and be solicitous, and pursue, and inquire everywhere for guests, lest peradventure they should be sitting in the streets, lest they lie outside under the roof. Remember Lot, and you will find that the guests did not seek him, but he sought the guests; and this was to pursue hospitality.

14. *Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse.* Pursuing the moral point more broadly, the Apostle orders the actions, the mind, the intention, the mouth itself of the disciples, and their very tongue.

^A He does not want those who believe in Christ to bring forth wickedness from their mouth, but rather to speak well, to bless, and to pray well, so that from this they may be believed to be disciples of a good master and a good teacher. However, it must be known that this discourse on blessing is found used in diverse ways in the Scriptures. For God is found blessing both humans and the other things which He has created; and humans or other creatures are commanded to bless God. But God’s blessing always imparts some gift to those who are blessed by Him: while humans are said to bless God in the sense that they praise and offer thanks to Him. Here, however, the Apostle saying, "Bless, and do not curse," warns us, as if when we are provoked by enemies or incited by injuries, not to return curses for curses; but let us do what he writes of himself, where he says: We are reviled, and we bless. ^B

15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. But we must also have a competent and fitting distinction in this matter. For our joys are not to be joined with just any joys of Christians, nor are our tears to be joined with just any weeping. For if I see someone rejoicing over the acquisition of money, or the extent of possessions, or the eminence of secular honor, I should not congratulate such a person, since I know that such joys are followed by grief and tears. For one should not rejoice in such things to such an extent, even as the Lord did not grant His disciples to rejoice even at the fact that they saw the demons subject to them, but said to them: Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you; but rejoice, He says, that your names are written in the book of life. And so we too, if we see any work being done by someone that is worthy to be written in heaven—whether it be a work of justice, or of charity, or of peace, or of mercy—and it is so performed that it deserves to be recorded in the book of life, we ought to rejoice with such people. But also, if we see someone turned from error, and having come from the shadows of ignorance to the light of truth, and having earned the remission of sins and the grace of the Holy Spirit, we ought to rejoice with such people. Moreover, we are commanded to weep with those who weep—not with those who weep for their dead, ^C or who weep for worldly losses, knowing that the sadness of this world works death. Therefore our tears are not to be joined with such people; but we must weep with those who weep, as the Lord says: Blessed are those who weep, for they shall be comforted. If someone is weeping for their sins, if someone after a transgression turns to repentance and washes away their error with tears, if someone even while placed in this dwelling place groans and desires to return to Christ, and comforts their holy desire with a profusion of tears, let us join our tears with such people, and let us share their groans; for sadness that is according to God works a stable salvation through repentance.

16. Being of the same mind toward one another. This saying is somewhat obscure not by its own nature, but by its interpretation. For this is what he says: that we should have the same mind toward a brother as we have toward ourselves; and that we should want for our neighbor just what we want for ourselves: as the Lord also says in the Gospel: What you want men to do to you, do also to them.

17. Do not be high-minded, but agree with the humble. He teaches that pride is to be avoided in all things; for this is what he means by "high-minded." ^D And deservedly is pride to be shunned, since Scripture says that pride is the beginning of turning away from God. Moreover, he has laid out the instruction of humility in one discourse; for to agree with the humble, and to love the humble, and to incline oneself toward them, this is to grow accustomed to imitating Him who, when He was in the form of God, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself even unto death.

18. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Whoever appears wise to himself, this person is foolish with arrogance; nor can he know the true wisdom of God, who cultivates his own foolishness as if it were wisdom. Finally, Paul himself taught that this had been the cause of the Jews' incredulity in earlier passages, saying of them that, since they were ignorant of the righteousness of God and wanted to establish their own righteousness, they were not subject to the righteousness of God. So, therefore, even he who is wise in his own estimation cannot be wise before God.

19. Returning no one evil for evil. If to inflict evil is a sin, to return evil is not, as some think, just, but is a similar sin, or, as I judge, even more grievous. For he who first inflicted the evil perhaps did not sense that what he did was evil. But he who returned evil, by the very fact that he was moved to take revenge, has confessed that he perceived it to be evil what he has returned. And therefore one must always look to...

him who said: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." ^A

20. "Providing things honest in the sight of all men." A person provides things honest in the sight of all men, even if he does not please the vices or the characters of individuals. Otherwise, that saying of the Apostle himself would be contrary, which says: "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." But one who holds the balance of his own life, and morals, and actions, so that he cannot be reproached by any man, he provides what is honest in the sight of all men. But we should also notice here how the Apostle did not say that we should please all men, but that we should provide things honest in the sight of all men; that is, that we should do what is honest in the sight of all men, whether those things that are honest please them or whether they do not.

21. "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Knowing that peace, among those with whom it is held, consists not on one side, but on both, lest our mind, if by chance it happens to be unpeaceable, should seem to hinder the good of peace, the Apostle provided the most moderate precept: that in the meantime our mind should always be prepared for peace, and that the fault of discord should not rest with us, but with the other party. But perhaps someone may say: "How can it be that we have peace with all men? And what shall we do concerning the Scripture which says: 'When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers'?" Therefore, the Apostle well added: "As much as lieth in you"; that is, which is consistent with your purpose and your faith. For to have peace and fellowship with the wicked is not consistent with our faith and purpose, although a different distinction might be held in another place. For it is one thing to love men, ^B another to love crimes. He who loves men, loves the creature of God: he who loves crimes, follows the inventions of the devil. Therefore, those who are perfect love the very men in whom they hate the crimes; and while having hatred in them for that which they commit, they do not cease to love that which God created.

22. "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Those who do not avenge themselves, how do they give place unto wrath? They do not return hand for hand, or reproach for reproach; they have given place for the wrath of him who did the injury to pass by and vanish. For no one will be found so rabid that, if he does not receive a return for an injury inflicted, he will rage a second time; but, as if his fury were poured out and digested, he necessarily grows calm. There is, therefore, also great gain where the multitude of the sins of the offender is curbed, and the patience of one who has suffered injury ^C is made acceptable before God. But there is also this way of giving place unto wrath: when, for the injuries that are inflicted upon those who sin, they treasure up for themselves wrath in the day of wrath, according to the sentence of Paul himself, when God shall render to every man according to his deeds. If, therefore, we avenge ourselves, it is no great thing that we return what we received for an injury—for example, a blow for a blow, or a stone for a stone, or for a taunt of the tongue, a taunt of the tongue in return. But if we reserve these things for the vengeance of God, in him who has harmed us we give place to the wrath which he, without doubt, treasures up for himself by his own evil deeds—the wrath which will exact from him, in the judgment of God, much heavier penalties than we could inflict.

23. "But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." These things the Lord also commands in the Gospels. And although this understanding is manifest—by which, according to what we have said above, in as much as we not only do not return evil for evil to our enemies and those who harm us, but even provide good things, we store up their punishments in the judgment of God (for it is truly a just condemnation if they are convicted before God of having inflicted evils upon those from whom they received goods)—yet let us see if perhaps the understanding of this commandment contains something more worthy. For the prophet Jeremiah also says to the sinful daughter of Babylon: "Have you coals of fire? Sit upon them; they will be for your assistance." Perhaps, therefore, these coals of fire that are gathered upon the head...

of the enemy are gathered by us through an act of mercy and piety. The head, indeed, is called the principal part of the heart; and it is deservedly called the head, by whose intellect and prudence all the members are governed.

24. "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." He is overcome by evil who, provoked by evils, returns evil. But he who, having received evils, returns good, overcomes evil with good. For it is certain that this is the nature of evil, that it grows and increases from its own kind, just as if you were to add fire to fire; just as if the darkness of the night were joined to the cloudiness of the air. But if you apply good, the evil is exterminated. For contraries are destroyed by their contraries, just as fire is extinguished by water, and darkness is put to flight by light. But perhaps someone might say that Paul, through lack of skill in discourse, has strayed from his intended subject; for he proposed to speak of the gifts of graces which are given through the Holy Spirit. And indeed, what he says: "Whether prophecy, or ministry, or teaching, or exhortation," ^B these can pertain to spiritual gifts. And perhaps that which follows: "He who contributes in simplicity, he who presides in diligence, he who shows mercy in cheerfulness," can be joined to the preceding ones; but those things which he enumerates after these, such as "let love be without hypocrisy, hating evil, clinging to good, loving one another with brotherly love, anticipating one another in honor" and other things of this kind, one might say they are moral precepts rather than gifts. But let us consider more diligently lest, perhaps, he intends in all these to treat [the subject of] morals, and to make a Christian not only stable and immovable in the faith of the truth, but also adorned in behavior; [and] for this reason [he] joins moral precepts to the gifts of graces, so as to show that even these are given to Christians through the grace of God. For there are also some among the Gentiles of composed behavior and honestly instructed, who nevertheless do not refer this very thing which they possess to God, nor do they confess that the grace given to them is from Him; but they boast of their own industry or glory in their masters and instructors. But to us, the Apostle shows that everything which is good is from God, and is given through the Holy Spirit, just as the Apostle James also says: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; that he who boasts, may boast in the Lord."

25. Let us see, then, what the Apostle adds in the sections that follow: "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers." It seems to me that he has named the "soul" here in a very praiseworthy manner, [the soul] which he commands to be subject to the powers. For he would never have said, "Let every spirit be subject to the power," but "every soul." Concerning which difference we have often already spoken, that sometimes man is named by the soul, sometimes by the flesh, [and] sometimes by the spirit. But when he is to be named by the better part, as one who ought to be understood as spiritual, he is called spirit; when by the inferior, soul; but when he is named by the worse part, he is called flesh; and we have often brought forward testimonies of the Scriptures concerning these. Now, therefore, since the Apostle sets forth precepts for the believers, he wishes us to maintain quietness, as far as it is in us, and the peace of the present life. And if indeed we are such [people] that, being joined to the Lord, we are one spirit with Him, we are said to be subject to the Lord. But if we are not yet such, but there is still in us a common soul which has something of this world, which is bound to it by some business, the Apostle sets precepts for this [soul], and says that it should be subject to the powers of the world: because the Lord also said that those who have in them the inscription of Caesar should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Peter and John had nothing they could render to Caesar; for Peter says: "Silver and gold I have none." He who does not have this, neither has he anything to render to Caesar, nor [from] whence he should be subject to higher powers. But whoever does have money, or possessions, or any business in the world, let him hear: "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers."

26. "For there is no power," he says, "except from God." Perhaps someone asks: What then? Is that power which persecutes the servants of God, attacks the faith, and undermines religion, from God? To this we shall answer briefly. There is no one who does not know that even sight...

hearing, and the senses were given to us by God. Since, therefore, we have these from God, it is nevertheless in our power to use sight either for good or for evil; similarly ^A in hearing, in the movement of our hands, and in the thought of the senses. And herein is the just judgment of God: that we abuse what He gave for good uses to impious and wicked services. Thus, therefore, all power is also given by God for the punishment of the wicked, but for the praise of the good, 20 as the same Apostle says in what follows**. But the judgment of God will be just toward those who employ the accepted power according to their own impieties, and not according to divine laws.

27. And therefore he says: *Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation* (97). He is not speaking here of those powers that bring persecution upon the faith—for there it must be said: *We ought to obey God rather than men* (23)—but he speaks of those common powers which are not for the fear of a good work, but of an evil; ^B to which certainly he who resists, purchases to himself damnation, according to the quality of his own deeds.

28. *Wilt thou then*, he says, *not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same; for he is God's minister to thee, for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is God's minister; an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil* (25). In these words, Paul moves me, because he calls the power of the world and the judge of the world the minister of God; and he repeats this not once, but a second and a third time. I would therefore wish to inquire how the judge of the world is a minister of God. We find it written in the Acts of the Apostles that the apostles, coming together in one place, established decrees which we who have believed in Christ from among the Gentiles ought to observe (98), in which these things are contained: *The apostles and ancients to the brethren who are at Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, and to all who have believed from among the Gentiles, greeting. Forasmuch as we have heard that some have gone out from you and have troubled you, to whom we gave no commandment* (22). And a little further on, it is added: *It hath seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things, that you abstain* ^C *from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which keeping yourselves, you shall do well. Farewell* (27). In these precepts, then, in which he says that no other burden is to be imposed upon those who believe from among the Gentiles except that they abstain from those things which are sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, neither is homicide prohibited, nor adultery, nor theft, nor the lying with mankind, nor other crimes which are punished by divine and human laws. But if he says that only those things which he mentioned above (1) are to be observed by Christians, it will seem that he has given license for the rest. But see the ordinance of the Holy Spirit: since indeed other crimes are punished by the laws of the world, and it seemed superfluous for them now to be prohibited by divine law, when they are sufficiently punished by human law; 656 he decrees only those things about which human law had said nothing, and which seemed to befit religion (2). From this it appears that the judge of the world fulfills the greater part of the law of God. For all the crimes which God wishes to be punished, He did not wish to be punished by the prelates and princes of the Churches, but by the judge of the world (3); and knowing this, Paul rightly calls him the minister of God and an avenger ^D upon him who does that which is evil (4). But as for what he says about the power: *Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same*, it seems to me to require deeper inquiry. For it is not the custom for the powers of the world to praise those who have not been criminals. For while they punish the sinning, it is not their custom to praise those who do not sin. But let us see whether Paul, even when he seems to be teaching moral principles, perhaps also does not omit to insert something about mysteries. For knowing (5) that *whosoever have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law* (28)—and furthermore, judgment will without doubt convict each one according to how he lived (we have shown, however, that the Holy Spirit has in many things given a place to human law)—it is certain, then (6), that on the day of judgment, he who has committed nothing against the established laws will have praise before God even from these laws, when he is told by the Lord: *Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things* (29). It must be known, however, that the law is not made for the just, but for the unjust.

and for the insubordinate, for the wicked, for murderers, for the polluted, for the perjurers, and for the others who are of this kind*. For these are they who fear the law. But he who does good—that is, he who acts not out of the fear of the law, but for the love of the good does what is good—he already lives not under the law of the letter, but under the law of the spirit.

29. It is necessary to be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake (7). For this is why you also pay tributes. For they are the ministers of God, attending to this very thing*. By these words, Paul indeed orders the Church of God to conduct herself in such a way that, bearing nothing adverse toward the princes and powers of the world, she might exercise the work of justice and piety through the quiet and tranquility of life. For if we should suppose, for the sake of argument, that those who believe in Christ were not subject to the powers of the world, did not pay tributes, did not discharge taxes, rendered no fear, rendered no honor, would they not, on account of such things, deservedly turn the weapons of rulers and princes upon themselves, and make their persecutors indeed excusable, but themselves blameworthy (8)? For they would seem to be impugned no longer for the sake of faith, but for the sake of contumacy: and there would be for them a cause worthy of death, but the merit of death would be unworthy (9).

30. Therefore, Paul, providing for this through his immense wisdom, says: Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe no man anything, but to love one another*. But I think that Paul utters these things also not without the usual mysteries of his words. For we have already taught in the preceding books that every creature, and all spirits, whether good and right, or also of wicked and evil purpose (10), serve God and offer up each one to do the service for which he has rendered himself apt. For the Apostle pronounced about all of them at once when he said: Are they not all ministerial spirits, sent to minister for those who receive the inheritance of salvation*? Therefore, all spirits minister to the life of men; yet each one, as we have said, according to its dignity and merit: for those too are called ministers whose ministry performs what pertains to the world. Hence also the Apostle, who had said of himself, that the world was crucified to me, and I to the world*, he ^A even says this: But we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is from God*. But he who is still of the world, and savors the things that are of the world, and seeks the things that are of the flesh, is necessarily subject to the ministers of the world; but he is subject because of the wrath, which he has treasured up for himself from sins. And on account of this it seems to me (12) that he says: Therefore it is necessary to be subject, not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience*; ^B since he who is subject has (15) within himself that which may be accused by conscience. Therefore, we pay certain tributes even to these, while we still live according to the flesh, and think on the things that are of the flesh. For if we cultivate the vine of the Lord, and exercise within ourselves the true vine, which is Christ (14), we do not pay tributes from that vine to the ministers of the world, but we render the fruits to the Lord Himself in due time: according to what the Savior Himself says in the Gospels*: that He will take away the vineyard from evil tenants, and will give it to other tenants who render Him the fruits in due time. But even this very thing that he says: Render to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom: this seems to me (15) to be divided from what is added in the following: Fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor; and that indeed tributes and customs pertain to those ministers whom we mentioned above. For they exact from us the tributes of our land, and the customs of our commerce. And what do I say, from us? Even our Lord Jesus Christ, when placed in the flesh (16), was required to pay tribute: which He says He pays for this reason, not because He is a debtor, but lest He scandalize them*. But if He who had nothing of Caesar’s in Him (17), and in whom the prince of this world, coming, found nothing of his own*, although He was free, still paid tribute (for He came even ^C into death so that He might be free even among the dead*), how much more is it necessary for us to expend these tributes of the flesh, and to pay the customs of our commerce—if, however, we deal in the pearls of the kingdom of heaven—to the spirits exacting them from us through diverse temptations (18)? ^D But we ought to refer fear and honor rather to Him who says through the prophet: And if I be a Lord, where is my fear? And if I be a Father, where is my honor (19)*?

^A regarding the things he added, that is to say: *Owe no man anything*; it is certain that this refers to those ministers to whom a person becomes a debtor when he has sinned. For we have shown in many places (20) that sin is frequently a debt. Paul, therefore, desires that every debt of sin should be paid off, and that the debt of sin should not remain at all with us, yet that the debt of charity should remain and never cease from us: for it is profitable for us both to pay this daily and to be always in debt (21).

51. Finally, he sets forth in the following verses of what great virtue charity is. *For he who loves his neighbor*, he says (22), *has fulfilled the law. For thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself* (23). And to the end he brings together the reason for such a great good briefly, saying: *Love of the neighbor does not work evil: love therefore is the fullness of the law*. Above he had said that he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law; and because it seemed difficult how anyone could fulfill the whole law in (24) one saying, he renders a very full reason, saying: *Love of the neighbor does not work evil, and therefore love is the fullness of the law*. For place love before each of the commandments of the law, and see how easily everything is fulfilled. Could he who loves his neighbor kill him? It is certain that no one would kill whom he loves. It is therefore by love that the commandment is fulfilled which commands: *Thou shalt not kill*. And again, could (26) he who loves his neighbor commit adultery with his wife? Certainly never. If, therefore, you love your neighbor, you will not commit adultery. Likewise, he who loves his ^B neighbor does not steal what belongs to him; and he who loves his neighbor does not bear false witness against him. In the same way, the other commandments of the law are kept without any labor if there is love towards one’s neighbor. I think, however, that the Apostle wished us to learn something more compendious in this (27). For if you inquire more diligently who our neighbor is, you will learn in the Gospel that he is our neighbor who came and placed us, lying wounded by robbers and stripped by demons, upon the beast of his own body, and brought us to the inn of the Church, and paid the innkeeper two denarii of the New ^C and Old Testament for our care (28). If, therefore, we love this neighbor, we fulfill the whole law and all the commandments in love for him. For *Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth* (29): nor can it happen in any way that one who loves Christ with all his heart and with all his bowels should do anything that does not please Christ. For he who loves that One not only does not kill, which the law forbids; but he does not even get angry with his brother (30). He who is so delighted by Him whom he loves, not only does not commit adultery, but does not even look at a woman to lust after her; but rather says to Him: *My soul longeth and fainteth for the living God* (31). 658 He who loves Christ, how could he think of theft, when he even leaves all his own possessions that he may follow Christ (32)? He who loves Christ, how could he bear false witness, when he knows that He whom he loves is betrayed by false witness (33)? But necessarily he who loves Christ, loves his neighbor also (34). For by this token alone is one designated as a disciple of Christ, if he has charity with his neighbors (35). For it is certain that he who does not love his neighbor, does not know Christ (36).

52. *And this knowing the time, that it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light, let us walk honestly as in the day* (37). When, after those arguments which the Apostle has pursued either regarding the Gentiles or the Jews, he had also introduced a moral topic, by which he might incite his listeners more and more to conversion, he now introduces also the urgent (38) reason of time, which is the most important thing in all matters. For no one is so sleepy and sluggish that the brightness of the approaching day does not wake him, and to whom the sun, poured into his eyes, does not open his gaze. There is also a certain sleep of the soul. For if it has, as we have often said, its own eyes, and its own ears, and its own hands and feet—which things individually are to be considered not so much as bodily members present within it, but as virtues by which it is moved and incited toward each thing—a sleep of course also happens to it in accordance with its eyes. For if it does not do the things of God at the opportune time, but is sluggish with laziness, it is deservedly said to sleep (39). Wherefore, then, Paul, the herald of Christ…

cuiens [the world] set in the sleep of sloth, announces that the light is already present, and that it is time to rise from sleep; and that night—that is, that time during which ignorance held sway over men—has passed, and with the advent of the Sun of righteousness drawing near, and the darkness thinning, the day of knowledge is now imminent: and therefore he calls out that one must awaken, lest through sluggishness one suffer night while in the light; and that the works of darkness must be cast off, and the armor of light be donned. The works of darkness are those acts which are alien to God ^A, as we said, that it is shameful to sleep when the day is pressing hard, and it is far more shameful to perform the works of darkness under ^B the time of day and light. But it must be known that the advent of this light and day is to be understood in a double sense, both generally for all, and specially for each individual. The light and day will be present generally for all when the time of the future age arrives: in comparison to which the era of this present world is called darkness. This time approaches as the days daily wane, and the stages which are added to the past are undoubtedly subtracted from the future: and therefore, he says, "our salvation is nearer than when we believed," and it becomes nearer daily: just as the Lord, when he was distinguishing the signs of the consummation of the age, said: "When you see all these things, lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near." But the advent of this day also occurs for each individual. For if Christ is in our heart, he makes a day for us: if the reason of knowledge puts our ignorances to flight, and we turn away from unworthy acts and pursue all that is pious and honest, we are placed in the light, and walk honestly as if in the day.

33. Which are the works of darkness that must be cast off, he consequently enumerates, and says: "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and jealousy." These are the works of darkness, which are also called the works of the flesh, in those who have delivered their flesh to luxury and impurity, and not to holiness nor to the Lord. For revelings, that is, dishonest and luxurious banquets, to which base drunkenness is necessarily a companion, what else will follow but chamberings and impurities? From foul couchings and impurities ^C they are called, which are not so much to be avoided by rational beings. "Not in contention and jealousy." What he said above are the vices of the flesh: these, however, are both of the mind: although all are called works of the flesh at the same time, and works of darkness, because in truth contention and jealousy are in the minds of those who live according to the flesh, and who walk in darkness. But he who is in the light, and walks honestly as in the day, does nothing through contention, nothing through vain glory. In this way, therefore, one casts off (as he said above) the works of darkness.

659 34. But what he said: "Put on the armor of light," he now explains how it ought to be done. "But put on," he says, "the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in its lusts." We have frequently said that Christ is wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and truth, and all virtues at once, which, once one has assumed them, is said to have put on Christ. For if Christ is all these things, necessarily he who has these, has also Christ. For he who has these does not make provision for the flesh in its lusts. The Apostle uses his customary moderation, since he does not deny that provision for the flesh must be made in all things. For it is certain that it must be had in necessary things; but in delights, and luxury, and all lust, it must be completely excluded.

55. "But him who is weak in faith, welcome, not in disputations of thoughts. One man believes that he may eat everything: but he who is weak, let him eat herbs." And in the preceding pages ^D the Apostle mentioned the infirmity of faith, where he says regarding Abraham: "When he was nearly a hundred years old, he did not faint in faith." Concerning this infirmity of faith in those passages which were able to occur, we have explained. But even now he commemorates the one weak in faith, whom he calls weak in this, because he does not believe that he may eat everything, but his faith is so meager that he thinks herbs alone are the food proper for him. Which can indeed appear to be said to those from the Gentiles who believed, exalting themselves into the liberty of faith, because they believed that nothing is common or unclean, against those who believed from the circumcision, still observing according to the tradition of the law…

^A regarding the difference of foods: so that he might appear to restrain them and warn them not to insult those for whom a long habit in observing foods still caused some discernment and hesitation. He commands, therefore, that he who is weak in this faith be welcomed rather, and not cast out, nor judged as if he were an unbeliever. For it is one thing to be an unbeliever, and another to be weak in faith. For he is called an unbeliever who does not have faith; but he who is weak in faith is he who doubts in some part of the faith.

36. The Apostle, therefore, composing the body of the Church in peace, says: *He who eats, let him not despise him who does not eat: and he who does not eat, let him not judge him who eats; for God has accepted him. Who are you that judge another man’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls: but he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand*; for by these things there would be no cause of dissension among believers over foods. But Paul seems to have spoken these things with a deeper sense. For the law had not commanded anything to those coming from circumcision about eating herbs, so that what he says—*But he who is weak, let him eat herbs*—would seem to apply to them. Whence it is evident that he is discussing these things regarding the food of the Word, and says that he is weak in faith who is not so perfect in his senses that he can take all the food of the Word of God, just as the Apostle himself says in other places: *But solid food is for the perfect, for those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to the discerning of good and evil*. And again he says to others: *I gave you milk to drink, not meat: for you were not yet able*. And shall we be so foolish as to think that the Apostle, who was sent to preach the Word of God, carried with him milk to give the Corinthians to drink? But it is manifest that he is speaking of the quality of the Word, and for that reason says: If anyone is weaker in senses, and is not of such perfect faith that he can take the word concerning more secret mysteries, he ^B ought not to be moved by the disputations of thoughts through those things which he cannot understand. For one, he says, believes that he may eat all things. By these words, Paul does not exhort the disciples to eat all things; nor is he a master of gluttony and excessive eating: but he speaks without doubt of those whose faith is perfect, and is hindered by no distinctions in the Word of God: whom the same Apostle in other places calls spiritual, when he says: *But the spiritual man judges all things*. He is therefore the one of whom he says here: *But another believes that he may eat all things*. Indeed, even to the apostles, before they received the Holy Spirit, it was said by the Lord: *I have yet many things to say to you; but you cannot bear them now. But when the Paraclete the Spirit of truth comes, he will teach you all things*. These, therefore, are all the things that he who, through the perfection of faith, has become capable of the more secret Word by the grace of the Holy Spirit, believes he may eat. Yet the weak person also has something that he may take from the Word of God, and there is a certain species of the Word which this Apostle called herbs, which does not render the listener’s sense so robust and strong, as it sustains it and does not let it perish. For in many things, the Divine Scripture speaks of the interior senses of the soul as if they were the exterior members of the body; and as we have often taught that the interior man is designated as either seeing, or hearing, or walking, so too now the inner man himself is said either to be able to perceive all food if he is perfect, or, if he is weak, to eat herbs. But that he may compose the harmony of the perfect and the imperfect in the Church, just as members of the body that are unseemly and seemly, and that there may be no dissension among them, he says: *He who eats, let him not despise him who does not eat: and he who does not eat, let him not judge him who eats*. This is what he also says elsewhere: *That the eye cannot say to the hand: I need not your help; nor the head to the feet: I do not desire your labor. But much more those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body, are more necessary*. And so, he commands those whose faith is so great that they can eat all things and take every species of the Word, that they should not be proud and despise those who are inferior; and again, he commands those who are incapable of higher doctrine that they should not judge those whose sense is more capacious and whose intellect is more eminent. For it is common for the unskilled in a perverse order to judge the skilled, and the slothful to judge the studious. Sometimes, however, even those who have grasped some beginnings of knowledge are inflated and puffed up against those who appear to be less capable. Therefore, then, Paul, restraining the insolence of both sides with the rebuke of apostolic authority, says: *Who are you that judge another man’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls*. That which he says, *he stands, or falls*, he says according to the sense of him whom he rebukes. For even the less skilled, if he sees someone [perceiving] something more deeply, and—as he himself cannot grasp [it]—he judges that he has fallen from the state of faith; and again, those who are puffed up from knowledge, and not

acting with charity, as Paul cautions ^A, also form opinions about the more unskilled; and for this reason he removes from the brother the power of judging a brother. Well, however, does he say "another man's servant," because the Lord says: "But you are all brothers." All, that is, every creature; and there is one Lord alone, Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, rich in all. At the same time, he manifests God's ineffable goodness when he speaks of him who seems to have fallen, even if he has truly fallen, that "God is powerful" to establish him. For the Lord raises up those who are bowed down.

37. "One judges every day; another judges every day. Let each one abound in his own sense." We said above that, in accordance with the sequence of the apostolic letter, these matters appear to be treated regarding the abstinence from foods, or the liberty thereof: since the calling which is in Christ places nothing common or unclean in foods, but the rationale of abstinence persuades one to abstain even from permitted things. For it is not, as he himself also says in other places, that because "all things are lawful," for that reason "all things are expedient," or "all things edify." The rationale of abstinence itself, however, is different according to the vow and purpose of the one making the vow. For one person judges this, and determines within his own mind so as to pass every day, that is, the continuous time of his life, in abstinence. Another, however, determines some [particular] time as if by a votive profession. In which, whether he takes up perpetual or temporary abstinence, he grants free faculty to the senses of each person. Yet he promises that both are acceptable to the Lord, and for that reason he appends:

38. "He who esteems the day, esteems it for the Lord; and he who eats, eats for the Lord: for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord, and gives thanks to God." ^B Therefore, thanks are offered to God by both; by the former, for the fruit of abstinence; by the latter, indeed, for the liberty of eating. But since, as we showed in the preceding, the Apostle's sense is found to be deeper than the rationale of carnal foods contains, in a spiritual exposition—according to the things we have argued above concerning those for whom one judges every day, and another, by contrast, judges alternate days—we can understand that in the divine Scriptures every single chapter in which the dogma of piety and faith is contained may be called a "day." For truly it is a "day" that illuminates the mind, which puts to flight the shadows of ignorance, which has in itself Christ, who is the "Sun of righteousness." If, therefore, there be anyone who so applies work and study to the divine writings that he discusses and judges every day and every sense of divine Scripture, so that not one iota or one apex of the law passes him by, this person will be seen to judge every day. But he who is not so great in intellect will take from the many some 661 alternate senses—that is, a few—which, if they do not suffice for the fullness of knowledge, at least are sufficient for the sum of faith. Let each one, therefore, according to the apostolic counsel, give thanks to God; he who understands every day, and who eats all things, that is, he who recognizes and understands all things; and he who, although he does not eat all things and does not grasp the understanding of everything, is nevertheless saved by a brief confession of faith. And for this reason, even he who does not eat everything, nor take the knowledge of everything, is nevertheless said to give thanks to God.

39. "For no one of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself; whether we also live, we live to the Lord; whether we die, we die to the Lord. Whether therefore we live or we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and lived, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living." What it is to live in Christ, and what it is to die in Christ, has often been said by us in the exposition of this Epistle, and especially in that place where we attempted to explain the word of the Apostle where he says: "But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." ^C If, therefore, we remember what has been said in that place, the word of the Apostle proposed in the present becomes even clearer and more lucid, as to how no one of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For not each one gives the example of death to himself, but takes it from Christ, who alone died to sin, that he himself also, by the imitation of him, might be able to be made alien and dead to sin. But we do not have the example of life from ourselves, but we take it from the resurrection of Christ, as the same Apostle says: "That just as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in the newness of life."

^A Newness of life, therefore, by which we live in Christ through faith in His resurrection, is credited to the Lord, because it takes its beginning not from us, but from Him; and therefore: "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether therefore we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's." For He calls that "death" by which, as we have said, being buried together with Christ and baptized in His death, we have died to sin; and that life by which, having been made strangers to this world, and, as He Himself says, living from the dead, we do not live to ourselves, that is, for the flesh, but to God, according to those things which He joins in what follows. For in this, he says, "Christ died and lived," in order that He might rule over both the dead and the living. He says that Christ died by the dispensation, no doubt, of His passion; but that He lived through the sacrament of the resurrection. Whence also He left us an example, first of passion and mortification, and afterwards also of resurrection and the newness of life. But perhaps it might move someone that the Apostle says He died and lived for this reason, that He might rule over the dead and the living; as if this gave one to understand that unless He had died, He would not have had dominion over the dead; and unless He had lived again after death, He would not have held dominion over the living. But I think one must answer these points as follows. Christ's dominion over every creature consists in two ways. One, through which, as Creator of all things and bearing power over all, He has all things subject to Him by force of majesty and necessity of power, through which mode He rules not only over good and holy minds and spirits, but even over the wicked and the fugitives, and those whom divine Scripture ^B has called malignant angels. For this reason He is called "all-containing," or "omnipotent," according to what John designates in the Apocalypse, saying: "Thus says He who is, and who was, and who is to come, the omnipotent." This, therefore, is one mode by which Christ rules over all. But the other is that by which, as good and the Son of a good Father, He does not wish to bend rational spirits to the obedience of His law by force, but waits for them to come of their own accord, so that they may seek the good by will and not by necessity, and by teaching rather than by forcing, by inviting rather than by extorting. ^D Hence, finally, it is that He deigns to approach even to death, that He might leave an example of obedience and a form of dying to those willing to die to sin and vices. And because of this, in the present passage, the Apostle writes that He died and lived for this reason, that He might rule over both the living and the dead; over the living, surely those who, by the example of His resurrection, lead a new and heavenly life on earth; over the dead, those undoubtedly who carry about the mortification of Christ in their bodies, and mortify their members which are upon the earth.

662 40. But if these things are so: "Why," he says, "do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother, since, whether the mortification of the flesh and vices is in you, it has not sprung from you but is bestowed by the death of Christ; or whether you have newness of life, and walking on earth you have your conversation in heaven, you have merited this by the resurrection of Christ?" He has well marked the note of each vice with an everyday name, saying to the former: "Why do you despise?" And to the latter: "Why do you judge your brother?" For those who seem to have progressed a little in knowledge ^C are accustomed to despise and consider as nothing those who are less capable of higher intelligence; on the contrary, however, the unskilled and the unteachable are accustomed to "judge," that is, to accuse and condemn those who seek out higher and deeper things than they can grasp or attain. And for this reason the Apostle, wishing to cut out the vice springing up from both sides, commands the former not to despise and look down upon the inferior; and the latter not to judge their superiors, when they do not have the skill to judge. Although, therefore, he rebukes both—both him who despises an inferior brother, and him who judges a superior—yet, to show that the latter sins more gravely by judging than the former does by despising his brother, he passes over the guilt of contempt and exaggerates the presumption of the brother who judges, and for that reason he adds in what follows: "For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, for to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God."

^A Therefore, "each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." The Apostle takes his reasons from those points in which those who judge their brothers act incorrectly; he introduces the form of divine judgment, and says: "For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ," so that he who judges his brother might know that he incurs so great a crime of pride that he seems to usurp the judgment seat of God and to anticipate the judgment of the Only-begotten.

But let us see what it means that the Apostle mentions the judgment seat of God, and how it is to be understood. For not only in this place, but also writing to the Corinthians, he makes mention of a judgment seat, where he says: "Wherefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing unto him. For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad." But even in the prophet Daniel we find such things described regarding the nature of the judgment. "I beheld," he says, "and behold, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days did sit, and his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, his wheels burning fire, a river of fire issued from before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set, ^B and the books were opened." Also in the book of the Twelve Prophets, it is said in a mystery that the Lord shall judge His people in the valley of Josaphat: but a little later he names that same valley the valley of judgment.

But it seems long to discuss one by one these things which we have brought forward for the sake of similarity. Yet those things which we said the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, comparing them with the present place, or with the others which we have recalled as written among the prophets, we see are declared from all of this to be the most certain future judgment of God; the form of which—so that it might be better known to men—has been assumed from those things which happen among men, so that we might realize that just as that earthly judge ascends a certain higher place which is called a tribunal, so that from it both the punishments of the guilty or the pleas of the innocent might not escape his sight; so we should understand that Christ, the judge of all, being by nature and majesty more exalted and prominent than the rest of those who are to be judged, looks into the hearts and consciences of each one, manifests the hidden things, and reveals what is covered, so that He may attribute praise to good acts, and those who are evil may receive the punishment which they deserve. ^C But if the future judgment of God remains, and it is such a judgment in which not only will each one receive for his acts, but will also give an account for every idle word, according to the sentence of the Lord: evil thoughts also shall be refuted when the conscience convicts, and in all things each of us shall give an account for himself to God.

"Let us not therefore," he says, "judge one another anymore," just as he says in other places: "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from God." For our heart, as I think, will be laid bare to every rational creature, and hidden things will be revealed, or rather, even manifested. For there is a difference. For those things which are "revealed" seem to pertain to the wicked, of whom it is said: "For it shall be revealed in fire"; but those things which are "manifested" pertain to the good; and therefore it is said: "For whatsoever is made manifest is light"; and they shall be read—as we have said—by every rational creature, as if they were certain books having been inscribed, or tablets engraved containing the letters of our acts and thoughts. And this is what I think is indicated by Daniel where he says: "And the books were opened," which are now indeed folded and covered in the heart, containing in writing the things which we commit, and furrowed with certain marks of the conscience, ^D yet known to none but God alone. These books, therefore, of our soul, or these pages of our heart, will be opened in the sight of the burning throne, and the wheels of burning fire, and the river of fire running before the Ancient of days. These things they will see, and even the angels will read, and those thousand thousands of angels, and ten thousand times ten thousand ministers, and thus for our crimes, for which we are now ashamed to endure even one witness, we will be...

forced to suffer the testimony of unnumbered crowds of virtues. But since Paul says that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God, and since he joins ^A himself with those who shall stand before the judgment seat of God, who is he who so deceives and deludes himself as to think that he will not come to the judgment of Christ and to the judgment seat of his knowledge, or that he does not have to be manifested in those things which he has committed, whether rightly or even less rightly? Now as to the fact that here he sets forth the judgment seat of God, but to the Corinthians the judgment seat of Christ, I for my part think there is no difference that would prevent one and the same tribunal from being named the judgment seat of Christ and the judgment seat of God, according to what the Savior himself says in the Gospel: "All things that the Father has are mine," and again, "Father, all mine are yours, and yours are mine." If, however, anyone thinks that in the words of Paul, because there is no idle word or syllable in his writings, the reasons for this variety must be sought, he might perhaps say something of this sort: the name of Christ, as far as the propriety of the appellation itself pertains, is a token of the Word placed in the flesh and reconciling the world to God, just as the same Paul says, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself"; but the delays of our conversion and our negligence in amendment stretch out the spaces of this reconciliation and make them longer; and until he abolishes all principality and power, and puts all enemies under his feet, and destroys the last enemy, death, it is necessary for him to reign, so that he may exercise ^B the mystery of the dispensation undertaken in the flesh, and manifest the good, while the guilty each receive according to their works; but when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, that is, when he shall have offered to God all who are converted and amended, and shall have fulfilled the whole mystery of the reconciliation of the world, then he says that all shall stand before the judgment seat of God, so that this which follows may be fulfilled: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." Every creature will bow the knee to God in the name of Jesus, through whom it has been reconciled to him, according to what the same ^C Apostle says, that in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth. To bow the knee, and for every tongue to confess to God, he took from the words of the prophet Isaiah ^D the Apostle. Which, however, is not to be taken carnally, so that we might think that even the celestial beings, of whom he says that they bow the knee, are believed to perform these acts with carnal limbs: for example, that the sun, or the moon, or the stars, or even the angels, and whatever else are called celestial, are thought to worship with bent bodily knees, or even with a carnal tongue, and with such a member as we humans speak with, to confess God—those of whom it is said that they are spirit and fire, according to what the Prophet says: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a burning fire." And what knees are believed to be in spirits? Or what tongue would be required in the likeness of fire? But to bow the knee declares that all things are subject, and that they obey the worship of God. I am still moved by these things which we have taken from the Epistle to the Corinthians, where he says: "That each one may receive the things proper to the body according to what he has done, whether good or evil," whether because it is necessary that there be something good and something evil in all men; and that no one is found among the good who has not had something of evil; or again, [that no one] among the evil who has not had something of good, on account of the Scripture which says, "For the incorruptible Spirit is in humans," and for that reason he said that each one receives good for his good deeds, and evil for his evil deeds; or whether he calls those good to whom no evil is to be ascribed, and those evil to whom no good whatsoever is due. But if we think this last, we shall seem to go against evident reason. For no one, as I have said, will be found so good that something of evil is not inherent in him, just as it seems easy to gather from the examples of many saints; and again, there is no one among the worst, even if Judas himself is posited, who was wicked beyond all impiety, so that he does not seem to have had something of good even in himself. For to omit those things which, placed with the apostles, he did as if he were one of them, although even there evils were already mixed in with his good qualities (for he was covetous of money), nevertheless this very thing, that led by repentance he brought back thirty pieces of silver to the priests and said, "I have sinned in betraying just blood," was something of good. From which it seems to me that one and the same person cannot simultaneously receive good and evil (for one cannot be in paradise and in hell at the same time).

We respond that in those cases the principle of a good life is not held in which evils strongly preponderate, and that in those cases the principle of evil is not accepted in which goods preponderate, and in which the traces of evils have been wiped away by penitence of conversion. But to return to the end and conclusion of the proposed chapter: since, he says, there is such truth of judgment with God and with His Christ, such seeking out of future examination, "therefore," he says, "let us no longer judge one another. But judge this rather, that you put no stumbling-block or scandal before your brother." Judge this, that is, decree this, that you do not generate offenses or scandals for your brothers through the observance of foods. Concerning offense or scandal, we have already said above that a scandal is when something is found placed in the way in which one is walking, against which the feet of those stumbling or walking strike. This, therefore, is what they suffer, those who have recently entered the way of faith, who are offended by the contentions, or neglects, or contempt and elations of their predecessors, and, struck back by their examples, are turned away ^A from the faith.

42. I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is common through Him, unless to him who thinks anything to be common; to him it is common. For if because of food your brother is saddened, you are no longer walking according to charity. Do not destroy him with your food, for whom Christ died (12). We have said also in other places that in the holy Scriptures, by a certain vernacular appellation, that which is not holy or clean is called "common, " which appellation is nevertheless found more frequently in the New Testament; but in the Old, I do not recall it to have been named anywhere, as the Savior says in the Gospel, that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, fornications, adulteries, thefts, false testimonies; and these are the things that make a man common. But to eat with unwashed hands does not make a man common (11). Although in some copies the Latins have put "defile" instead of "make common," and although the force is the same, yet the propriety of the speech relates to "common." But also in the Acts of the Apostles the Lord says to Peter: "What God has cleansed, do not you call common" (12). I think, therefore, that the use of this speech is assumed from thence, that because, for example, the vessels of the temple isolated for ministry are without doubt called the vessels of the Lord ^B as were the common vessels; so also as to the distinction of foods, those whom Scripture set apart as clean and to be eaten according to the Law, all the rest were called common. But the Jews, ignorant of the force of the word, whence a man was called common, whom they termed common, kept the use of the term without the understanding of its signification. For neither could the foods which God created, whether taken ignorantly or simply, make a man common and unclean; but that mind of man which is segregated to God alone is deservedly called clean; but that which is foreign to God, since it is possessed not by one unclean spirit, but by many, therefore such a man is called common, as if he were the servant of many vices or demons, according to him who, being asked, "What is your name?" answered, "Legion: for we are many" (13). And according to that which is said by the Savior, that when the unclean spirit has gone out from a man, he walks through arid places, seeking rest, and not finding it, he returns; and finding the house vacant and swept with brooms, he takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter and dwell in it (14). And without doubt this man ^C is called common, being made, namely, the servant of all the malign spirits which dwell in him. Deservedly, therefore, Paul, knowing this to be the rationale of this term, says: "I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is common through Him." For nothing in the creatures of God is by its own nature unclean (for it is clear that all things created by the good God are good and clean), but to him, he says, who thinks anything to be common, to him it is common; that is, who in the intention of his heart considers something unclean, and admits the observance of diversity, just as he also says in the following: "But he who discerns, if he has eaten, is condemned; because it is not from faith. For all that is not from faith is sin" (15). Yet he has not in these excluded the distinction of the Law, so that he should say absolutely that nothing is common or unclean of those things which the Law defined as unclean. For he premised the cause why nothing is said to be common through Him. "I know," he says, "and am confident in the Lord Jesus." In therefore the Lord Jesus ^D nothing is common through Himself, that is, by its own nature.

^A It is said; but to him, he says, who reckons and who thinks something to be common, to him it is common. And lest you marvel that the thought of the mind should make a food, which by its own nature is not common or polluted, polluted, when on the contrary a food [that is] truly polluted (for the one sacrificed to idols is truly polluted) is cleansed by the simplicity of mind and the lack of any injected scruple of thought from every suspicion of contamination. And again, even if a food may be clean, yet if one suffers a suspicion as if it were sacrificed to idols, he is said to be polluted for the sake of the scruple of conscience. If, indeed, because of food thy brother is grieved, thou art no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. When he had defined by apostolic dogma through the Lord Jesus that nothing is to be deemed common or unclean by its own nature, and had granted to all believers the most absolute freedom regarding the use of foods, he again curtails this freedom for the edification of brotherly love, and says: Even if nothing is common and the use of all foods is freely admitted, yet if you, on account of food which you think should be taken lawfully, scandalize your brother, who is not yet capable of this knowledge, you are already no longer walking according to love, nor do you show the affection of brotherly love within yourself. For what injury is it to you if, in order not to grieve your brother, you abstain even from lawful things? For you, to abstain from what is lawful is no crime; but for him in whom he discerns and thinks it not lawful, the use is damnable. For he who discerns, if he eats, is condemned. And if you do this, you are certainly destroying your brother for whom Christ died, and you are acquiring for yourself causes of perdition. More magnificently, however, the same Paul writes to the Colossians about these things, saying: Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day, or of the new moons, or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you, desiring in humility of mind and religion of angels, which he has not seen, lifting himself up, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh, and not holding the head; and after a few words: If therefore you be dead with Christ from the elements of the world, why do you decree as though living in this world? Touch not, taste not, handle not: which ^B are all in corruption by the use itself, according to the precepts and doctrines of men: which have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility, by the punishing of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Concerning these it is not the business of the present work to discourse one by one; for we are now attempting to explain those things which the Apostle writes to the Romans. This, however, is that which is also asserted by the present example: that we should not be judged by anyone in food, or in drink, or in such observances, which among the Jews is thought to be the religion of the 666 angels. For they lift themselves up in those things which are seen, and are puffed up concerning visible things. Which elation, however, is not according to the wisdom of the spirit, but according to the sense of the flesh. But the precept is not about carnal things: Touch not, handle not, taste not. For all these things, that is, carnal things, were given for this corruptible use; and what observance of purity can there be in corruption? But when this law gives precepts concerning rational things, which, if they are unclean, ought truly not to be touched or tasted, lest they make us partakers of sin and their impurity, they, leaving behind the precepts of men and doctrines, have transferred this spiritual ^C sense to these carnal and bodily things, which have a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility of the body, not however that because of this kind of observance any honor before men and delights of the flesh should be sought, while for the abstinence of a few, many and choice foods are required. True observance, however, is where food is taken in such a way, and all things are done in such a way, that it is not said of such: Whose God is their belly. For it is fitting to abstain from every food which concupiscence and lust presumes, which delicacies prepare, which luxury devises. For it must be seen not only with what kind, but also with how much food, and at what time, and how sparingly we use. For thus all things become clean to clean minds; but to the contaminated, as the Apostle says, and to the unbelievers, nothing is clean. In which he shows that even those things which are named clean among the Jews in foods, if anyone be contaminated and an unbeliever, cannot be clean to him. It will therefore follow that if

those things which are clean are made unclean by those who are defiled, even those things which are called unclean may become clean for the holy and to the faithful. For they are sanctified through the word of God ^A and prayer, because every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving. But through prayer they are not sanctified for just anyone, but for those who lift up pure hands without wrath and disputing. Do you wish, however, to be taught more magnificently concerning the clean and the unclean, that they are spoken of not concerning bodies, but concerning souls and minds? Hear the opinion of the Lord and Savior Himself in the Gospel, saying: *Not that which enters into the mouth defiles a man, but that which proceeds out of the mouth; for from within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, etc.* Thought, therefore, and a mind that does not perceive rightly, is what defiles a man, not the quality of foods, which, of whatever kind it may be, will end in the same result and will complete the course of corruption. And it is no wonder if a holy man sanctifies the food which he takes by the word of God and prayer, since even the garments with which he is clothed are themselves holy. Finally, the handkerchiefs ^B and aprons of Paul had received so much from the purity of his own sanctification that, when applied to the bodies of the sick, they would put to flight diseases and restore health. For what shall I say of Peter, whose very shadow of his body carried such an amount of sanctification that, as he passed by, whosoever he touched—not he himself, but his shadow alone—would be immediately relieved of every ailment? But we have digressed somewhat broadly in discussing clean and common foods, so that we might consider the Apostle’s meaning, as much as is possible, more profoundly. But mindful of the brevity proposed, having reached this conclusion of the ninth volume, let us approach the beginning of the tenth and final one.

BOOK TEN

^B 1. *Let not then our good be blasphemed.* For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he that in this serves Christ, pleases God, and is approved of men. I ask how our good can be blasphemed. The good is to understand the law spiritually, and to avoid the impious and foolish dogmas of heretics, or of those who study a false philosophy, as if they were unclean and defiled foods. For this is what is sanctioned by the spiritual law. Yet if someone, whether from the Jews, for instance, or from those who are called Encratites, wishes to believe in Christ, but thinks that there is no little importance in the observance of continence, or of those foods which are prohibited by the law, or ^C which some, thinking they are contrary to chastity, deem should be avoided by the authority of the Scriptures: if you press a man of this kind toward the common foods of all, and do not say that he can be saved in any other way, or come to the faith of Christ and grace, unless he has taken those foods which he shuns, then the truly good spiritual opinion is blasphemed, since he whom you are pressing thinks that this faith is held among us, so that we believe no one can be saved unless they eat those things. He who eats pork, or other common and indifferent foods of this sort, is not to be blasphemed. Moreover, he adds: *For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.* In which I again vehemently admire the wisdom of Paul, who compels the faults of the present time by the authority of the future sacrament, and in order to establish the form of the Church, reveals the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. He says, therefore: What need is there to disturb fraternal peace and charity so much for the sake of foods and the quality of meats, since the kingdom of God, for which we labor and run, consists neither in meats nor in drinks: but let these be alien ^D to the kingdom of God, and to that future conversation? For there, just as they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God; so they neither take meat nor drink, but are as the angels of God. Therefore, by a most absolute dogma and an evident sentence from the Apostle, it has been determined that in the kingdom of God there is no place for bodily meats or drink, but for righteousness and peace in the Holy Spirit; and therefore he urges that we exercise ourselves in these, and that we meditate on having those good things already here, and on possessing that substance which

can pass with us ^A to the kingdom of heaven. Peace, therefore, and justice, and whatever things of this kind are sought after through the Holy Spirit, will themselves be our food and substance in the kingdom of God. And for this reason, through these things he teaches that we should not be occupied with the concerns of bodily foods—which will no longer exist in the future—but with the care of the virtues, which remain with us in the present life and will continue in the future in the kingdom of God. And that is why he says that whoever serves Christ in this is pleasing to God and approved 46 by men. This is what he says also of himself in other places: “Just as I also,” he says, “please all in all things, not seeking what is useful to me, but what is useful to many.” For this reason, even when he was an apostle of Christ, he became a Jew to the Jews, undoubtedly so that by pleasing the Jews he might save them; and to those who were without the law, he himself also became as one without the law, so that by pleasing 668 ^B them he might save them.

However, he says that he pleases men not by complying with their vices, but by sustaining their infirmities through patience. But let us not pass over idly even that which he says: “For he who in this—that is, in the Holy Spirit—serves Christ, is pleasing to God and approved by men.” In this sense he says that to serve Christ in the Holy Spirit is what he also says elsewhere: “No one says ‘Lord Jesus’ except in the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, Paul himself serves Christ in the Spirit, he who, having received the grace of the Holy Spirit, serves the Word of God, serves wisdom, serves justice, and serves all the virtues at once, by which Christ is mentioned as existing. And therefore he is said to please God in these things who fulfills the will of God, according to the word which He himself pronounced, saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Whoever, therefore, listens to God, and serves Christ in whom God is well pleased, pleases God and is approved by men.

2. Therefore, let us pursue the things of peace and the things of mutual edification. “Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God.” Above 33 he said: “Pursue hospitality”; and here likewise, he says: “Let us pursue the things of peace and the things of mutual edification”; and as we showed there how hospitality is to be pursued, ^C so also let us understand here how peace is to be pursued, because David likewise says: “Seek peace and pursue it.” Although in Latin codices it is read, “follow it,” nevertheless “pursue” is also written there. In which this seems to me to be shown: since, he says, peace has been disturbed by many acting restlessly and insolently, and has been driven away as if fleeing from men, on the contrary, by those who have learned Christ and serve Him, it must even be pursued and recalled by all means. One pursues peace who holds fast to the things that can secure peace, even with one’s own labor, with loss, with reproach, and if it should be necessary, even with danger to one’s life and reputation. For these things preserve not only peace, but also mutual edification. For he is edified who sees you seeking not what is useful to yourself alone, but also what is useful to others; and thus the edifice of faith grows, and the temple of God rises from living stones through the construction of charity; and therefore he adds: “Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God.” For he destroys the work of God and ruins the building of charity who puts a stumbling block before his brothers because of an intemperance in foods.

But it is evil for a man who eats to the point of offense. “It is good not to eat meat, and not to drink wine, nor anything by which your brother is offended.” What he said, “All things indeed are clean, but it is evil for the man who eats to the point of offense,” is similar to that which he said above, that there is nothing common [or unclean] of itself, except to him who thinks anything to be common; to him it is common. Therefore, according to the nature of itself and the reason of the creature, in which all things that exist were made by God, ^D all things are clean; and there is nothing unclean or what is called common. Yet, he posited two causes by which things that are clean become unclean, or things that are good become evil. For he says in the present passage: “But it is evil for the man who eats to the point of offense.” What therefore is good by its own nature becomes evil by the offense, that is, in the fact that the brother is offended by you.

^A Another cause exists, however, by which that which is not unclean by its own nature is made common or unclean, if someone thinks so and holds in his own mind that it is common. Therefore, to those very people who think it so, it becomes common or unclean. From this, the Apostle clearly teaches that uncleanness and pollution consist not in things or in substances, but in actions and thoughts, although the Law of Moses 37 indicated certain things as clean and certain things as unclean, in which he wished to posit certain distinctions so that the people who were reckoned under the Law might appear to be distinguished from other nations by these kinds of observances. And as long as that people was held as holy and segregated from other nations, a distinction regarding clean and unclean things also seemed necessary, ^B which would segregate and separate the special people of God from the nations whom the ignorance of God and the worship of idols made unclean. But when the gate of faith is opened to the nations, and all are invited to God, all the quadrupeds, creeping things, and birds were shown to Peter, set out in a sheet which had been let down from heaven, and it is said to him: *Arise, Peter, kill and eat* 38. And since, mindful of legal observance, he had answered the Lord and said: *Far be it, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth*, it was pronounced by celestial decree: *What God has cleansed, do not you call common*. Where, therefore, all nations are cleansed by the acknowledgement of faith from contamination, there also every food is purified by the word of God and by prayer; and because of this, the Apostle says that all things are clean, only that what he posits in what follows must be avoided, lest by the offense of a brother, things that are clean become unclean again for the one who eats.

Now, as to what he adds, *It is good not to eat flesh and not to drink wine*, unless he had added *nor anything in which your brother is offended*, it would perhaps appear contrary to the previous points. For to eat flesh and not to eat, or to drink wine or not to drink, he taught to be neither evil nor good, but to be held as a middle ground and indifferent. For it is possible for an evil man and one alienated from the faith even not to eat flesh and not to drink wine, just as it is certain that many sometimes do this for the sake of idols. Sometimes also such an observance is said to be held for the sake of evil arts. It is certainly ^D the custom for not a few heretics 59 to observe these things; and yet we do not immediately say: "It is good for them because they do not eat flesh nor drink wine." But in that very manner in which he set it forth—in which a brother is offended—it is not now a middle or indifferent thing, but it is truly good. ^B For it is good not to bring an offense or scandal upon a brother. For this reason he also says in other places: *Be without offense both to the Jews and to the Greeks and to the Church of God* 39. And therefore let those see if they act rightly who, for any reason at all, abstain from meats and wine, and compel [others] to partake in every way, so that by this it might appear that the suspicion is taken away from them, by which they are superstitiously thought to adhere to the distinctions of foods. For let them consider that the Apostle did not say: "It is good to eat and to drink wine," but, *not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine, if in this a brother is offended*. He did not want, therefore, for the sake of those who judge that it should be eaten, the one who is offended by this to be forced to eat; but for the sake of him who does not think it should be eaten, he commands even those who judge that it should be eaten to abstain. For it is to be feared lest, once the wall of continence is broken through and license is accepted, one might fall into the storm and depth of luxury, and shipwrecks of chastity might equally follow. Everything, therefore, ought to be done so that the work of God is not destroyed; and for this reason, ^C it is to be eaten, if the brother is edified by this; and it is not to be eaten, if the work of God does not grow by this; and it is to be drunk, if the brother progresses toward faith by this; and it is not to be drunk, if the brother incurs by this a loss of faith, or you a loss of charity.

4. After this he says: *The faith which you have in yourself, have before God* 40. By "faith" here he means that by which one believes that one may eat everything, just as he said above: *One believes he may eat everything* 41, he, without doubt, who believes that there is nothing common or nothing unclean in the creatures of God. But, he says, it is sufficient for you to have such faith before God, yet not because of this is another forced to eat everything, who does not yet have such faith that he believes everything ought to be eaten. But the fact that he said, *have it in yourself*, cuts away boastfulness, so that what we believe is not so much in ostentation as in virtue. He added, however, *have it before God*, to teach that we must be concerned not that our faith be defamed among men, but that it be proved before God. Moreover, it is a great thing to have a provable faith before God. For even the faith of the apostles is judged small 66 before God, whence it is said to Peter: *O you of little faith, why did you doubt?* 42 Therefore, truly great is he who has a provable faith before God.

^A *Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves. But he who discerns, if he eats, is condemned, because it is not of faith. For all that is not of faith is sin.* 43 Blessed is he who is said to be so, not only if he does the things that are proper, but also if he does not do the things that are not proper: just as he is called blessed who *has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly* 44, and he is no less blessed who *walks in the law of the Lord* 45. 670 He, therefore, because he walks not in the way of sinners; the latter, because he walks in the law of the Lord, is blessed. So also in the present passage, the Apostle says: Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves. But let us see whose work this blessedness is. For there are many who approve of doing something good, for example, those who, hearing about the rewards of chastity, approve and resolve to live chastely; but in the lapse of time, whether through creeping negligence or overwhelming lust, that which they had approved of observing is stained and corrupted, and wretched is he who, conquered in what he had resolved to observe, judges and condemns himself. But truly blessed is he who, in what he approves and resolves, remains so fixed and stable that he in no way judges himself nor reproaches himself in anything. He says that this is also to be understood in the ^B observance of foods, according to that rule which he wove earlier: that if there is anyone who through knowledge of the spiritual law approves that all things are to be eaten and that all things are clean, he should not again judge himself and take up doubt as to whether he ought to consume them or not; for he who discerns in this way—that is, he who doubts whether what he consumes is truly clean or unclean—is condemned by the very doubt of his own mind, with his conscience accusing him. He also explains the cause of this condemnation, saying: *Because it is not consumed from faith* 46, but rather from doubt. And after this, he proposes a general maxim encompassing all things, saying: *But all that is not of faith is sin.* In this statement, he binds the negligent and slothful souls of all believers with a tighter bond, so that they may do nothing without faith, say nothing without faith, and think nothing without faith: because whether you have done something without faith, or whether you have spoken, or whether you have done anything else, *do all to the glory of God* 47. But someone might ask whether heretics, because they do what they do according to what they believe, are to be considered as doing it from faith? Or whether, because their faith ^C is evil 48, everything they do must be declared sin, because it is not done from faith? I think their credulity is more appropriately called something other than faith. For just as pseudo-prophets are sometimes called prophets under a false name, and false science is called science, and false wisdom is abusively termed wisdom, so also the credulity of heretics is called faith under a false name. Whence it must be seen lest, perchance, if some good work seems to be performed among them, it be turned into sin because it is not done from faith, as it was said regarding someone: *Let his prayer be turned into sin* 49. There is sometimes also a chastity which is not from faith, namely that of those who attend to *deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and abstaining from foods which God created* 50. There is, therefore, a false faith and a false wisdom, belonging to this world, in fact, and to the princes of this world, which will be destroyed. For just as pirates are accustomed to light lamps in the sea in shallow places and hidden reefs during the darkness of night, so that they may invite those sailing in the hope of reaching the harbor of salvation to the shipwrecks of destruction; ^D so also this light of false wisdom or false faith is kindled by the princes of the world and the spirits of this air, not so that men may escape, but so that they may perish while sailing the waves of this world and the sea of life. I believe it was of these pirates that Job said: *The arrows of his pirates have come upon me* 51. And for this reason, undoubtedly, even the Apostle Paul himself says that *Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light* 52. Therefore, those sailing the waves of this life ought not to believe every light—that is, not every wisdom; but as the Apostle warns, to test the spirits, which are...

from God (78). And for this reason we ought to pray unceasingly for the help of the Lord, and to hope that He himself will rescue us from the snare of the hunters, so that we too may say: "Because our soul has been rescued like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters; the snare is broken, and we have been delivered. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth" ^A (79).

6. We, however, who are 671 stronger, ought to sustain the weaknesses of the infirm, and not please ourselves. "Let each of you please his neighbor in good (80) for edification. For Christ did not please himself; but just as it is written: 'The reproaches of those who reproach you fell upon me.'" For whatever things were written, were written for our instruction, that through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope. In these things Paul seems to declare himself strong, just as he also says in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, "that I have become weak to the weak, that I might gain the weak." And indeed, he does not say there that he is weak, but that he has become weak: and certainly, if he had been weak, he could not have become weak. But do not take this ^B (81) as though he were forgetful of that mandate in the place where it is said: "Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." Therefore, he does not declare himself strong for the sake of his own praise, but in the course of the argument. For if he himself, under the guise of humility, had avoided being numbered among the strong, who among those who ought to bear the weaknesses of others would dare to undertake this office, that he himself, as if strong, might strive to bear the frailties of the weak? But for this reason he makes this a common duty, that each of us, in whatever he can—even if not in all things—nonetheless in that in which he appears stronger than his neighbor, might bear his weakness; just as he says in other places: "Bear one another's burdens." But it seems he has named burdens here in terms of bodily ^C necessities, so that if anyone is wealthier in resources, he may bear the burden of the poorer one, and relieve the scarcity with abundance. In that matter, however, where he says that the stronger should sustain the infirmities of the weak, it cannot be understood as anything other than that whatever things others commit through infirmity, the stronger should all bear patiently, and not immediately scorn them, cast them off, or abhor them, if perhaps they are overcome in some vice of infirmity, nor—under the guise of a purer life—should they be driven from the fellowship of the brethren and the society of the Church. For whoever does this is not an imitator of Him of whom Isaiah says: "He bears our infirmities, and suffers for us ^D (83); and we thought Him to be in pain, and in a blow, and in affliction." But if Christ bears our infirmities, and God patiently bears our offenses, how should we in no way tolerate the offenses and negligences of those who appear to be a little lower (84)? This is, assuredly, to turn Christ away from this affection, so that He might not be willing to bear our infirmities. For no one is so perfect that he is not found weak in some regard before God, and borne by Christ; and therefore He teaches sympathy all the more in this, that is, to suffer with one another (85) and to condole, just as he also writes in other places: "Forgiving one another your offenses, just as God in Christ forgave you." This, however, he does not command for the sake of nourishing those who commit offenses and breaking down the infirm with laxer indulgence (86); but knowing that if the infirm one is borne, he either blushes at being borne for long and corrects the vice of offending; or if he is not able to amend himself, at least there will be this fruit for the one bearing him, that he does not progress into worse, nor does he become worse than himself, just as those of whom the Apostle speaks: "But wicked men and seducers will progress (87) into worse, deceiving and being deceived." Moreover, we ought, in addition to the fact that we bear the infirmities of the weak, to add this also: that we do not please ourselves, but our neighbor, in good only, and for edification. The vice of *philautia*, that is, of pleasing oneself, the prophet also blames in others when he says: "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and learned in their own sight." Similarly, therefore, we can also say in this: "Woe to those who please themselves, and appear good in their own sight." For it is necessary to please God first, and secondly also one's neighbors. For just as it is the first thing to love the Lord God, and second to love one's neighbor, so it is the first (88) to please God, and the second also one's neighbors. But perhaps someone might say that Paul says things contrary to himself in that he commands us to please our neighbors, who in other places has said: "If I were pleasing men, I would not be the servant of Christ." And indeed it seems contrary to this statement, that each of us should please his neighbor, and what he says in other places: "Just as I also please all men in all things (89).

not seeking what is useful to me, but what is for the many, so that they may be saved." ^A We must therefore say in response to this, that it is one thing to have the desire to please men so as to seek praise from them, and another thing to have the desire to please men so that one’s life may be irreproachable before them, and that all who see or hear such a person may derive profit from it. There, then, one must not strive to please men where it is against faith, against honesty, against religion, in the thing one is pleasing them; and therefore he says: "For if I were still pleasing men," that is, the unbelieving and faithless Jews, "I would not be a servant of Christ." For if Paul had wished to please the Jews, he would have dragged men and women bound to Jerusalem, having been sent with letters to Damascus, and he would hardly have believed in the vision shown to him on the road, and in the heavenly voice. But even if someone demands that we do something against justice, against holiness, against the Christian rule, and threatens us with hatred and enmity if we do not do it, then we ought to remember this word which says: "If I wished to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." But when it is said: "Let each of you please his neighbor," a necessary distinction is added, which clearly shows in what way one should please one's neighbor when it says: "For good for edification." When, therefore, we act well and teach well, we please our neighbor and we edify him. For he does not advise seeking glory from men, but that edification should be given to our neighbors from our action and speech; just as in that which the Savior says, that your light should shine before men, and seeing your good works, they may glorify your Father who is in heaven. Through which he is not, of course, urging his disciples to seek glory from men, but so that living rightly and honestly they may provide edification to those who see them, ^B and God may be glorified, who opened to men the way of amendment and salvation. For Christ also did not please Himself, but as it is written: "The reproaches of those who reproach you fell upon me." In this it seems to show that Christ also, not pleasing himself, nor considering it robbery to be equal to God, emptied himself; but wishing to please men, that is, to save men, he bore the reproaches of those who reproach, just as it is written: "The reproaches of those who reproach you ^C fell upon me." Which will become more evident if we recall what is written in the Gospel, how, in order to benefit men and save them, he ate and drank with sinners and publicans, and at these things the Jews, reproaching him, said: "Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?" or again, when he did not prohibit the sinful woman from touching his feet, and washing them with her tears, or wiping them with her hair, and anointing them with myrrh; and for this, the Jews, reproaching and criticizing, said that if this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman it is who touches him, for she is a sinner. But if you ask why the example which he brought from the Psalm is arranged as if the reproaches which were cast at God fell upon Christ, we can explain it thus: because just as he said, "He who receives me, receives him who sent me," so this also can be accepted: that he who reproaches me, reproaches him who sent me. The example, therefore, which he assumed, is written in the sixty-eighth Psalm in this way: "I have become a stranger to my brothers, and a guest to the sons of my mother. For the zeal of your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me."

"For whatever things were written, were written for our instruction." Similar to this is that which he himself says in other places: "But they were written for us, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." But if it is asked how those things which were written were written for us, see that it is written for our sake: "You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain; for God is not concerned about oxen, but he says it for our sake." And it is written for our sake that Abraham had two sons, one by a bondmaid and one by a freewoman, so that we might know that these things are allegorical and these are the two testaments. For our sake also it is written that the people ate manna in the desert and drank water from the rock, so that we might understand that they ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink, drinking from the following rock, which rock was Christ. And these, and other mysteries of this kind, which were hidden in eternal times, are now manifested through the prophetic Scriptures and the coming of the Lord.

Jesus Christ. ^A But that it may be made yet more manifest how "whatsoever things were written, were written for our sake," the prophet says concerning the former people: "For with the ear you shall hear, and not hear; and seeing you shall see, and shall not understand." But concerning us it is said, that those to whom it was not told of him shall see, and those who have not heard shall understand. Consider, therefore, from this why those things that were written are seen to be written. For those things which are written are without doubt written for the sake of those who are to see and to understand them, not for the sake of those who are said to be neither able to see nor to understand them. But those who understand what is written will without doubt find what follows: "That through patience and consolation of the Scriptures, we might have hope in God." For he does not receive consolation from the Scriptures who neither believes nor understands, but he who both believes and understands.

7. "But the God of patience and consolation grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Jesus Christ: that unanimously with one mouth you may honor God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another, ^B as Christ also received you to the honor of God." If patience is a virtue, and all virtue is from God, then patience also is from God. When, therefore, God is called the God of patience, this is what is seen to be indicated: that God is with those who have in themselves the virtue of patience; just as when He is called the God of justice, it is indicated that God is in those who practice justice. Similarly, the God of truth and the God of wisdom are understood. But when He is also called the God of consolation, it is shown that God is there with those who receive the consolation of the Spirit through spiritual understanding from the divine Scriptures. "The God of patience," He says, "and of consolation grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Jesus Christ." In this, Paul, after the manner of the patriarchs and prophets, whose blessings are recorded as written, bestows blessings upon the Romans, beseeching God that it be granted to them to be of the same mind one with another. Great is this blessing, that all may think and feel one and the same thing, and that each one may desire for his neighbor what he desires for himself. But do you wish to know how much the grace of unanimity avails? The Savior pronounces in the Gospels that if two or three shall have agreed together on one thing, concerning any matter whatsoever that they shall ask of God, it shall be done for them; and He says again of Himself, that where two or three are gathered in my name, there, He says, am I in the midst of them. Do you wish to receive another example of how Christ is in the midst of those who think as one? See in the Acts of the Apostles how, after the ascension of the Lord, when the eleven apostles, as he says, had lifted up their voice with the others and had prayed unanimously, the place in which they were standing was moved, and they merited the presence of the Holy Spirit. ^C Moreover, that it may be shown more clearly how great is the power and how great the grace of unanimity, I do not think it absurd if we bring forward for consideration what has been reasonably handed down to us regarding these things in the Old Testament by the fathers—that is, to those who from among the Hebrews came to the faith of Christ. Therefore, those three sons of Core whose names we find in Exodus—that is, Aser, which is interpreted "erudition," and Elchana, which in our language is called "possession of God," and Abiasaph, which in the Latin tongue signifies "the gathering of the father"—when their father Core had sinned along with Dathan and Abiron and all who consented with them, and when the ruin of divine vengeance was being prepared against them, these men separated themselves from the wicked assembly and, sequestered from the impious conspiracy, unanimously poured out a prayer of penitence to God; and being heard by God, they merited not only pardon for punishment, but also the grace of prophecy. And this, too, was granted to them by God upon their asking: that they should not be commanded to prophesy anything sorrowful or destructive. And on account of this, all the Psalms that are inscribed with their names contain nothing sorrowful or harsh against sinners. But we have brought forward this so that the power of unanimity, and of being of one mind and of thinking one thing towards one another, might be the more magnificently recognized. I also believe that what Paul does in certain Epistles, joining the names of others with himself—saying, "Paul and Sosthenes the brother," and elsewhere, "Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy"—was not done in vain; but through this it is shown that when two or three are placed in one, the Holy Spirit has elicited one meaning and one utterance from them so that those who wished to teach the Churches to say one thing and to think one thing, might themselves first demonstrate that they were saying one thing and thinking one thing, and might with one mouth honor God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For one mouth is mentioned where ^D one and the same meaning and speech proceeds through the mouths of different persons. But the Apostle rightly...

where he says, "to be of the same mind one toward another," added, "according to Jesus Christ." For it could happen that some, even in malice, might unanimously agree and be of the same mind for the worse. For this reason he added, "according to Jesus Christ." He who is of the same mind according to Jesus Christ, without doubt is of the same mind in all that is good. After these things he says: ^A *Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received you to the glory of God.* What he says, "receive ye one another," must be referred to that which he had first proposed, where, because of clean or unclean foods, those holding different opinions were at odds with one another; and he says: "Receive ye one another, as Christ also received you," who did not shrink from the impurities of any, nor count the sins of anyone against them. Therefore, you should judge nothing regarding the impurity of animals, just as he did not count the impurities of the believers against them. And he who in the previous points had said: *He who eateth, let him not judge him who eateth not; for God hath received him,* here says: *As Christ received you*, that he might show that to be received by God and by Christ is one and the same thing. And he adds this also, that it is for the glory of God to be received by Christ. For those whom Christ receives, he teaches that they ought so to act that men, seeing their good works, may glorify their Father who is in heaven.

8. For I say that Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: *Therefore I will confess to thee in the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and magnify him, all ye people. And Isaiah saith again: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he who shall rise to rule the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust.* How Christ was a minister of the circumcision ^B to confirm the promises of the fathers can be understood in a twofold way. Either because he himself received circumcision in his own flesh, so that it might be most clearly known that, coming from the seed of Abraham, to whom God had promised that in his seed all nations should be blessed, he was fulfilling in himself what had been promised to the fathers: and so that by this, according to the purpose of the order of the whole Epistle, now ^C he might also restrain and repress those who came from the circumcision and were boasting against one another, so that he might teach that they who continue in the observances of the law are not to be judged absolutely; seeing that Christ himself stood forth as a minister of circumcision in his flesh: or in another way, so that Christ may be said to have been a minister of that circumcision of which the same Apostle speaks: *For it is not he who is a Jew in outward show, neither is that circumcision which is manifest in the flesh; but he who is a Jew in secret, and circumcision of the heart in spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God*; and according to what the same Apostle says in other places: *In whom you also are circumcised with circumcision not made by hand in the despoiling of the body of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ, being buried with him in baptism.* By such circumcision, therefore, it is certain that the promises of the Fathers were fulfilled.

But what those promises were, he declares by the appended examples in which he says: *Therefore I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.* This seems to be taken from the seventeenth Psalm, with a small change made, not of sense, but of words. For there the Prophet says: *Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.* But what he says, *Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people*, is written in the canticle of Deuteronomy in the same words. But: *Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and magnify him, all ye people*, is read in the one hundred sixteenth Psalm; only, where it says "magnify," "praise" (collaudate) is put there. But the last example Paul himself says is taken from Isaiah, in whose body it is thus written: *And it shall be in that day a root of Jesse; and he who shall rise to rule the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust. And his rest shall be honor.* Having omitted in the first place two words, that is, "in that day"; and in the last, "and his rest shall be honor," he placed the rest in the same words as the Septuagint Translators published them. Whence it is to be known that the Apostle holds to the edition of the Septuagint Interpreters in almost everything, unless perhaps in some things where what he is pursuing seems less necessary to that assertion, or if at any time he follows not so much the words of the Interpreters as the senses of Scripture.

^A Thus, he desires that what he has stated be brought forth by his own declaration. But it has seemed better that this discourse concerning the root of Jesse be discussed in the explanation of the prophet Isaiah himself. Yet even in the present passage it is said, since Jesse is interpreted in our tongue as "He is for me." Therefore, in the advent of Christ, everyone who believed in Him rightly said, "He is for me." For He of whom Moses said, "He who is has sent me to you," [Exod. III, 14] He himself is for me—that is, I believe in Him who is, not one who has been made out of nothing, as pleases the impious, but He who is, and always is, and this is His name; and He is the one who has risen from the root of Jesse, and in Him the nations shall hope. For this mercy which they have obtained from Him—that He who always was should be born from the root of Jesse to give salvation to the nations—for this mercy, I say, bestowed upon them, the nations honor and magnify God.

9. "But may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit." [Rom. XV, 13] Since he had said above that it is written in Isaiah, "And in Him the nations shall hope," [Isa. XI, 10] he gratefully adds, "But the God of *hope*," just as if it had been written, "In Him the nations shall believe," he would undoubtedly have added, "But the God of faith," so that now, from the act of hoping, he invokes the "God of hope" over those who hope in Him, from whom he prays that the gift of blessing may be increased for them. And the blessing is of this kind: "that they may be filled with all joy and all peace." Likewise, the Prophet also says in a certain place: "And in His days there shall be justice and a multitude of peace, until the moon is taken away." [Psal. LXXI, 7] But because these things are said of Christ, we can rightly perceive in Him the multitude of peace, because He has made peace through the blood of His cross, not only with things that are on earth, but also with things that are in heaven. [Colos. I, 20] But in all these things, how that which the Apostle prays for can be fulfilled—that they may be filled with all joy and all peace—it seems difficult to me to explain, especially since the Apostle himself, even in those things which he has obtained through the grace of the Spirit, says that he knows in part and prophesies in part. [1 Cor. XIII, 9] But I think that believers can have the fullness of peace in this, when they are reconciled to God the Father through faith, according to the word of Paul saying, "We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God"; [1 Cor. V, 20] and when they return into peace with the Son of God through the blood of His cross, and are associated with the Holy Spirit once they have amended ^B themselves from all defilement, and have become holy vessels, so that at length one may appear to be filled with all peace if he has believed in the fullness of the Trinity. For this reason, finally, the Apostle subjoins and says: "May He fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit." For if he who believes is fortified by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is certain that he always has the fullness of joy and the fullness of peace.

10. "But I myself also, my brethren, am certain concerning you, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish others." [Rom. XV, 14] By the same reasoning by which we said above that believers are filled with all joy and all peace, he here confirms that those to whom the discourse is directed are also full of goodness and all knowledge. Likewise, writing to the Corinthians, he says: "You have been made rich in all things in Him, in all word and in all knowledge"; [1 Cor. I, 5] who, as we said above, also declares of himself that he does not have all knowledge, nor all prophecy, but "in part," [1 Cor. XIII, 9] concerning which I remember we have often spoken in other places as well. And now nevertheless we shall say that Paul, and if there are any such as he, are called perfect by comparison with others; but to that supreme knowledge, or to that perfection which is in the celestial orders, no one among men can either be called or be perfect. As if we should say: in childish studies, by comparison with him who is recently being initiated and is receiving the first elements of letters, the master himself is called a perfect teacher of letters; but he is not so perfect as he who teaches grammar. And the grammarian himself, although he may be perfect, yet the perfection of the rhetorician is superior; and far more eminent than all these is the perfection of philosophical doctrine. And although in all of these there is a doctrine of literature, yet a diverse grade of perfection and mastery is held in each one. Thus, therefore, it can come about that when Paul says, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect," [Philip. III, 12] he seems to be writing this looking toward that summit of celestial perfection. But when he says, "Whoever of us, therefore, are perfect, let us think this," [Philip. III, 15] he refers only to a grade of human perfection. Thus, therefore, also in the present passage, they are to be understood either as regards peace, or joy, or even goodness, or ^C even knowledge, whether they are Romans or Corin-

-^Athii, in as much as it is possible for those who are instructed in the Church and under perfect teachers to be filled. Moreover, he designates the measure of knowledge itself, when he says: "so that you may be able to instruct others." In this he shows that in what each one has learned, he ought also to instruct another, and to have conversations of this kind with fellow-students, by which they may both instruct each other and edify one another. For mutual discussion can contribute a great deal of learning if it is held with charity; and as regards any deeper or more obscure matters, one should wait for the opinion of learned and perfect men, according to what Moses also says: "Ask thy fathers, and they will tell thee; thy elders, and they will declare it to thee" (Deut. xxxii, 7).

11. "But I have written to you all the more boldly in part, as"—reminding you by the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, "sanctifying the Gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. xv, 15, 16). As one who is conscious of himself in every text of the Epistle—while from time to time he addressed those who are of the circumcision, and at other times those who believed from the Gentiles—that he happened to write about some of the more secret and deeper mysteries, and that he revealed many things which were held in occult, by a study of rendering a reason (although in individual cases he preserved the dispensation of the word with cautious moderation, and while indicating something, he concealed it again for the most part), therefore he says: "But I have written to you all the more boldly in part, as reminding you of the grace which has been given to me." Do you hear(42) the Apostle saying: "I have written in part"? Hence, let no one be angry with us if we are not able to explain the rationale of the divine mysteries to the point of clarity, when he hears that he who delivered these very things to us delivered them "in part"; nor let anyone walk around so inflated under the title of knowledge, as if he had known all things, when Paul himself, from whom the speech of knowledge has been diffused to us, says that he writes "in part," and knows "in part" (I Cor. xiii, 12). I, however, consider that although ^B even Paul himself might confess to knowing it in part, he nevertheless knew more, and much more than he wrote. For just as one(43) who knew many things himself, and yet did not dare to bring forth many things, says that it was boldness on his part that he committed at least some things to writing. But what he says, "reminding you by the grace given to me," indicates that there had indeed already been speech with them about such things, and that he had often discoursed about the mysteries; but since oblivion could easily(44) intercept things that are said by speech alone, by these, he says, few things which I have written through the grace given to me, I recall to your memory those things which were often discussed by me more broadly. Concerning the grace, however, which Paul reminds them was given to him, we have already spoken above. The grace which he says was given to him for this reason, that "I might be," he says, "a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying the Gospel of God." What we have as, "sanctifying the Gospel of God," the Greeks say more magnificently, ἱερουργοῦντα τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, which, although not fully by us(45), might nevertheless be translated "sacrificing the Gospel of God"; by which it is shown that it is a sacrificial work to announce the Gospel. Therefore he finally adds: "That the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, being sanctified in the Holy Spirit." As, therefore, the priests when they offered sacrifices had to ensure that no stain, no reproach, no defect(46) was in the victim, so that it might be acceptable and pleasing to God(Levit. xxi, 21; Deut. xv, 21); so too he who sacrifices the Gospel and announces the word of God ought by all means to take care that no stain arises in his preaching, no defect in his teaching, no fault in his mastership; but, so to speak, if it is possible, let him first sacrifice himself, let him first slay himself for his vices, let him first mortify his own members to sin, so that not only by doctrine, but also by the example of his life he may make his offering of the salvation of his disciples(47) acceptable to God. "Sanctified," he says, "in the Holy Spirit." The source of sanctification is the Holy Spirit, and therefore the offering of the Gentiles which is offered by Paul, as he sacrifices(48), is said to become acceptable to God not by the observance of the law, but by the Holy Spirit. For I do not dare to speak anything of those things which through me

^A Christ does not work for the obedience of the nations, by word and by deeds, through the power of signs and wonders(49) in the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem round about as far as Illyricum I have fulfilled the Gospel of Christ. But I have thus preached this Gospel, not where Christ was named, so that I should not build upon another man's foundation: but as it is written: They to whom he was not announced shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand. Truly, a boasting before God is not, unless that which is in Christ Jesus. But to boast in God without Christ is like someone saying he can have glory before God without justice, without wisdom, without truth. For Christ is all these things; and therefore in Christ alone is the true boasting before God. This is similar to what he himself says elsewhere: He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. But how every boasting that is outside of Christ is culpable—for example, in riches, or the honors of the age(50), or the wisdom of the world, or other arts that are outside of Christ—we have already discussed more broadly above(51). It should be known, indeed, that here the Latins have used the word *gloria* [glory] for *gloriatio* [boasting]. For, he says, I do not dare to speak anything of those things which Christ does not work through me for the obedience of the nations, by word and deeds, through the power of signs and wonders in the power of the Spirit of God. What I speak, he says, are not words of another's work, nor do I become a praiser of other men's deeds; but what I know Christ has worked through me, these I write to you, which He fulfilled through the obedience of the nations by word in me and by work, by the word of preaching, by the work of signs and wonders. Now, what the difference is between signs and wonders, we have already said more broadly in other places(53), and we shall explain it more concisely in the present place. They are called signs in which, while there is something wonderful, something future is also indicated; but wonders are those in which only something wonderful is shown. He spoke of signs(54) and wonders as if they each contained both. Yet divine Scripture sometimes maintains these properties, and sometimes it uses them abusively, putting wonders for signs and signs for wonders. Paul, therefore, through the power of signs and wonders—which, however, he performed as signs and wonders in the power of the Holy Spirit—from Jerusalem as far as Illy^Bricum fulfilled the Gospel of Christ. God had given to Moses and Aaron the power of signs and wonders, as it is written: He placed in them the words of His signs and wonders in the land of Ham, that they might liberate the sons of Israel, having chastised Egypt: but they could hardly and rarely convert anyone(55) from the people of the Egyptians. Paul, having received the power of signs and wonders, did not convert one nation, nor two or three peoples(56), but all the nations and peoples from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum to the sacraments of Christ by the preaching of the word and the power of deeds and virtues(57). But he preached this Gospel in such a way that he would not insert into his own sermons an addition to other men's labors or another's preaching, so that he would not appear to impose the building of his own preaching upon foundations of faith laid by another, and seem to steal the glory of another's work. These things must be observed by the rulers of the Churches(58), and kept with diligent intention, so that they may neither appear to speak anything of those things which Christ has not worked through them, nor disparage the labors and studies of others. But one speaks of those things which Christ does not work through him in this way: if he speaks of continence and teaches it, when he himself is not continent; or if he speaks of sobriety, or of justice, or of the giving of wealth, and of the contemning of faculties for the sake of the kingdom of God, and in him who teaches these things Christ has worked none of them(59). And therefore the Apostle sets forth his own form, and says that he speaks and preaches those things to others which Christ first fulfilled through him. But as it is written, he says, They to whom he was not announced shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand. The Apostle therefore carefully observed that, according to the prophetic utterance, he should announce Christ to those to whom He had not been announced by anyone, and that they should understand of Him who had learned from no one before. And this, as I think, was the reason that frequently prevented him from going to Rome, as he says: For which cause I was hindered much from coming to you(60); not, as he says elsewhere, hindered by Satan, but detained by the occupation of founding Churches, and of founding them in those places where no foundation of faith had preceded. The example, moreover, is taken from Isaiah, and placed with the same words entirely as it is read in the prophet.

^A Likewise, he nourishes such affection toward himself on the part of the Romans, and places his remaining there at their discretion, so that he says he is to be led by them to Spain, and then led, when he has first satisfied them in love: in which, indeed, if they prove more eager, they will give the Apostle causes to delay longer.

15. *Now, however, having no place in these regions, but having a longing to come to you for many previous years, when I set out for Spain, I hope that, passing through, I will see you and be sent on my way by you there, when I have first enjoyed you in part.* He seems to be speaking this while located in Achaia near Corinth, just as we have already demonstrated to the best of our ability in the first parts of this Epistle: for Achaia is adjacent to and connected with Macedonia. Dwelling in these places, when he had traversed each and every thing while preaching the Gospel, in those regions only where Christ had not been preached before, and had filled all things with the knowledge of God, he says that he no longer has a place in these regions; that is, that no place remained for him empty of the preaching of Christ, and he designates that the time has now arrived when he must fulfill his desire of seeing those who are at Rome: which he had carried in his mind for many years, but it had been delayed and put off until he should fill every place in which Christ had not been preached with the knowledge of His Gospel.

That he said, *When I set out for Spain, I hope that, passing through, I will see you*, is not to be taken as if Paul were held by so little love for the Romans that he thought they should be visited only in passing and while he was going elsewhere. For see what he adds in what follows. *When first*, he says, *I have enjoyed you in part*. In which, indeed, he seems to place in their power when the journey he has proposed should be relaxed: and by this, in a certain way, he invites and nurtures their love for him, so that if they feel insatiable love for the Apostle, they may know ^B that it is also his intention not to depart from them beforehand, nor to set out for another place, until he enjoys the favor of their charity. Yet this charity, so great, he anticipates will be future, for which he cannot be satisfied in its entirety, but *in part*, he says. For he warns that in all things the necessity of evangelizing must be preferred. He promises his presence and his remaining more moderately to those whom he had not yet seen according to the flesh, and to whom he had not yet arrived in body. For we welcome more desirably those good things which we fear will be quickly taken away; but we neglect more securely what we believe we will retain for a longer time.

14. *Now, however, I am setting off for Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it has pleased Macedonia and Achaia to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It has pleased them, indeed, and they are their debtors: for if the Gentiles have become participants in their spiritual things, they ought also to minister to them in carnal things.* When I shall have finished this, and assigned to them this fruit, I will set out through you to Spain. *For I know that when I come to you, I will come in the abundance of the blessing of Christ.* That it pleased Macedonia and Achaia to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem, we can learn more fully from the second Epistle to the Corinthians, in which he writes in this way: *I make known to you, brothers, the grace of God which has been given to me in the Churches of Macedonia, that in a great trial of tribulation the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty has abounded unto the riches of their simplicity: for according to their ability (I bear witness to them) and above their ability they were of their own accord, with many prayers asking of us the grace and the communion which is toward the saints*, and the rest. And just as he bears witness to the Macedonians in these things, so again he exhorts the Corinthians, saying: *But just as you abound in all things, in faith, and word, and knowledge, and in our charity toward you, so also you should abound in this grace*, and the rest. But also in other things, praising the Corinthians because they were prompt toward the communion of the poor who are in Jerusalem, he says: *And I give my counsel in this: for this is expedient for you, who have begun not only to do, but also to will from the year before: now, however, complete it in deed.* But he also proceeds regarding this same communion of the saints in the remainder, and after some time he adds: *Regarding the ministry, however, which is toward the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you. For I know your prompt will, for which I boast about you to the Macedonians, that ^C Achaia has been ready from the year before, and your emulation has provoked many.*

^A That the Apostle, moreover, after having proposed such a ministry [(75)] of Macedonia and Achaia, which was conducted for the saints who are in Jerusalem, was also intending to see Rome, is indicated in the Acts of the Apostles in this way: *When these things had been ended, Paul resolved in the Spirit that, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, he would set off to Jerusalem, saying: "After I have been there, it is necessary for me to see Rome also."* But from all these words it is gathered that not only the first to the Corinthians, but also the second was written before this one to the Romans which we have in our hands; and at the same time it is noted that the later Paul is found in any given Epistle, the more perfect he becomes—so that the word he said may be true: *forgetting the things behind, I extend myself to the things ahead, pursuing toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly vocation.* And regarding what he says, *It has pleased Macedonia and Achaia [(75)] to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints*, he is-while subtly and modestly praising the Corinthians—exhorting the Romans. For devoted minds are more easily invited to charity by examples than by words. But also in what he adds: *For it has pleased them, and they are their debtors*, what else does he wish the Romans to understand, except that if the Achaeans [(76)] and Macedonians are debtors to the poor of the saints who are in Jerusalem, for the same reason by which the Romans also hold one and the same faith [(77)] in Christ as they do, they should notice that they themselves have been made debtors to these same people? For not only have the Macedonians and Achaeans been made partakers ^B in spiritual things with the saints who are in Jerusalem, so that they ought to minister to them in carnal things; but the Romans as well; and therefore they are debtors on a par with them: but he pronounces this about the former only, so that the latter might also know themselves to be subject to a similar obligation [(78)].

These things, indeed, have been spoken according to the common understanding of the letter. But let us seek the usual magnificence in the letters of Paul. For I do not think he intended that the poor of the saints—whom he calls spiritual—should be confined within Jerusalem alone, a single city of Palestine [(79)], as if those who are on the whole earth are not also to be called saints; nor that those dwelling in Jerusalem were the only ones to whom those in the flesh were to minister in carnal things: since it is surely permitted that spiritual people may be found outside of Jerusalem as well, whom not place, but holy conversation and the perfection of faith and knowledge have made spiritual—just as Paul himself, writing, says [(80)]: *Brothers, even if someone is caught in some transgression, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness.* What, therefore, is it that it is fitting for us to understand in these things? That everyone who is spiritual—that is, who serves God in spirit, and who does not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit—that person dwells in Jerusalem, that is, in the place of peace, and consists in the vision of peace; and this is the poor man of the saints, from among those blessed poor to whom it is said: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.* So it is, then, a blessed poverty that says: *Silver and gold I do not have; but what I have, this I give you [(81)]: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk.*

This kind of poor man always dwells in Jerusalem, possessing spiritual riches. His gold is wisdom [(82)], his silver is the word of knowledge: his garment is Christ, his dapes and delicacies are the table of wisdom, and his food is the flowing word in God: he drinks the wine of gladness which Wisdom has mixed in her crater, and from the victims of her intelligence [(83)] he eats solid food, and the Word made flesh. These are the spiritual riches [(84)] which Gentiles, still placed in the flesh, hasten to share. It seems to me, therefore, that by the Gentiles he names, he indicates all the more imperfect souls who stand in need of the teaching of the perfect: and if by chance they have been judged worthy so that they become partakers of spiritual things [(85)]—that is, when their spirit has begun to be imbued with higher knowledge—to minister to them in carnal things: their flesh must also, receiving the reins of continence and chastity, minister to the spiritual precepts; lest, if it should still be wanton in carnal things, it might heedlessly and unbridledly cast off its rider, the Word of God. But also...

the difference of terms which Paul uses toward each part ^A does not seem to me to be without purpose. For in spiritual matters he posits communion or participation; in carnal, however, ministry; and he calls the former something owed (a debt), while the latter is communicated: to show that everything more perfect, as being celestial, is not so much owed to earthly things as it is loaned to them; but earthly and carnal things ^A are exacted as if for a debt. For we are made debtors according to him who first lost the assessment of immortality and incorruptibility in paradise through the persuasion of the serpent; and therefore we are all made debtors, as many as are bound in the likeness of Adam by the lot of prevarication. Therefore, then, commandments are given, so that we may pay our debts. Finally, even in the Gospel, the Savior says: When you have done all things which I commanded you ^B, say that we are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do. But those things which we do above what is owed, we do not do by commandments. For example, virginity is not discharged out of debt: for it is not sought through a commandment, but is offered over and above what is owed. Hear, finally, Paul saying: But concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord. ^B Thus, therefore, regarding spiritual and more perfect things he spoke of communion; but regarding inferior and carnal things he called it a debt of ministry. But I also think that through such a ministry one must observe that which is in the Psalms: Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire, ^C so that, to be sure, he called the good angels spirits as being spiritual, but those who are set over the ministries of punishments, and prepare flames for sinners, he named ministers of a burning flame. These things, although they may seem to be said by a certain hyperbole, yet because the passage has prompted it, we have not omitted. After these things he says: When, therefore, I have consumed this and have assigned to them this fruit, I shall set out through you into Spain. I know indeed that, coming to you, I shall come in the abundance of the blessing of Christ. See with what caution ^D he promises that he will consign the fruit of those who offer it. By what seal, do you think, does the Apostle consign the fruit of a holy work? By that, I think, by which the image of God is expressed, that is, that in the completing of the work there should be no admixture of alien thought, no praise sought from men, but that he who gives should give in the simplicity of heart, and not out of sadness; for God loves a cheerful giver. ^B God. And other things like these, which he observes in the work of God, he signs with the seal of divine image. When, therefore, he says, I have consumed this, I shall set out through you into Spain. He truly promises a great gift to the Romans, and says: For I know that coming to you, I shall come in the abundance of the blessing of Christ: which he promises not except through the Holy Spirit and the grace of prophecy. For it is above man to know these things about the future, that he will come to them not only in the blessing of Christ, but even in the abundance of the blessing. In which both the grace of the one who comes, and the merits of those who receive, are designated.

15. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the charity of the Spirit, ^B that you may aid me in your prayers to God, that I may be delivered from those who are incredulous in Judea, and that this ministry of mine may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem, so that coming to you in joy with the will of God, I may find rest with you. Although he said in the previous sections, For I know that coming to you, I shall come in the abundance of the blessing of Christ, nevertheless he knew that even in those things which he had recognized as being manifest in the future, prayer was necessary: which if, for example, it had not been applied, it would follow without doubt that what had been prophesied would not be fulfilled. Who, therefore, is he who, reading these things, that Paul beseeches those who are brethren at Rome to pray for him, contemns or despises the requesting of the prayers of the Church, ^C even if they from whom the prayer is requested appear to be inferior in merits? For behold, Paul, endowed with apostolic merits, not only exhorts the Romans to pray for him, but also the Corinthians. But see also with what strong and religious sacraments he binds them. Through, he says, our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the charity of the Spirit I beseech you that you may aid me in your prayers to God. That which our people have put, "that you may aid me in prayers," is read more magnificently among the Greeks, συναγωνίσασθαι (synagonisasthai), ^D in which this is what is indicated, that you may aid me in the struggle or contest of prayers to God, showing as it were that he himself has a struggle and contest of prayer, because they are undoubtedly opposed to him whom he was speaking of: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the celestial places.

And it is certain that all these, just as they oppose the faith and resist piety, and just as they are contrary to justice and truth and all good things, so without doubt do they resist and oppose prayer. And for this reason, Paul shows that there is no little struggle ^A even in prayer, if indeed he thought that in this struggle he must even implore the help of those who are at Rome. For demons and contrary powers truly oppose us in prayer, first of all so that one who is sweating in the agony of prayer may not be found such as to "lift up pure hands without anger." And even if someone could obtain this, so that he is without anger, it is difficult for him to escape being without distraction, that is, without superfluous and vain thoughts. For you will scarcely find that, when anyone is praying, something vain and alien does not occur to him, and turn aside and break the intention by which the mind is directed toward God, and snatch it away through things that are not fitting. And therefore, the agony of prayer is ^B great, so that against the enemies who oppose it and who snatch the sense of prayer in disparate directions, the mind may always strive with a stable intention, fixed upon God, so that he himself may also deservedly be able to say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race." Now, therefore, the Apostle prays that he may be helped in the agony of his prayers, so that he may be delivered from the unbelievers who are in Judea, from whom he does not fear to suffer and endure those things which pertain to the glory of his apostleship so much as he fears being hindered, lest, held back too long by their obstacles, he might render a less grateful ministry to the saints, which itself also needs prayers in order for it to become acceptable; or lest his desire, which he has to visit the Romans, be deferred too long. "If," he says, "this turns out in such a way that my ministry also becomes acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem, and, being delivered from the unbelievers who are in Judea, I am not hindered from coming to you, then, rejoicing for the well-conducted affairs, I shall indeed come to you with the will of God, and I shall rest with you." Paul is not, at any rate, seeking bodily rest, but that which has consolation from God, just as he himself said in the first parts of this Epistle: "To be comforted among ^C you by each other's faith, both yours and mine."

16. "But the God of peace be with you all. Amen." He presents the Romans with a mighty blessing, so that the God of peace may be with them; that is, that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, may guard their hearts in Christ Jesus, who is our peace.

17. "I commend to you however Phoebe our sister, who is in the ministry of the Church which is in Cenchreae, that you receive her in the Lord as is sufficiently worthy, and that you assist her in whatever she may have need of you. For she herself also has assisted many, and me myself." And this passage teaches by apostolic authority that even women are established in the ministry of the Church. Paul follows Phoebe, who is placed in this office at the Church which is in Cenchreae, with great praise and commendation, enumerating also her own illustrious deeds, and saying: "For she has assisted all to such a degree," that is, she was ready in necessities, "that she has assisted even me myself in my necessities and apostolic labors with the whole devotion of her mind." Moreover, I would call her work similar to the hospitality of Lot, who, while he always received guests, merited at some time to receive even angels with hospitality. Similarly, Abraham, while he always ran to meet guests, merited that the Lord also, with the angels, turned aside to his tent. Thus also this religious Phoebe, while she stands by all and serves all, has merited to stand by and serve the Apostle as well. And therefore this passage teaches two things equally: that women, as we have said, are to be held as ministers in the Church, and that such should be taken into the ministry as have assisted many, and have merited to arrive at apostolic praise through good offices. It also exhorts that those who spend their efforts in good works in the Churches should receive in return from the brothers, both honor and, in whatever may be necessary, whether in carnal offices, that they be held in honor.

18. "Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus (who for my soul have laid down their own necks: to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles), and their domestic Church." They seem to me to be those of whom it is thus written in the Acts of the Apostles: "After this, Paul departing from Athens, came to Corinth; and finding a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy, and Priscilla, his wife, because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome, he came to them; and because ^D Amen. He presents the Romans with a mighty blessing...

of the same craft, he stayed with them, and they worked together. For they were tentmakers, ^A that is, stitchers. Nor is it strange if Paul writes of Prisca in the Epistle, written as Priscilla in the Acts, as the others agree. But it is possible that because at that time, with the Jews driven from the city by the decree of Caesar, they had come to Corinth, once the cruelty of the edict ceased, they returned to Rome and were greeted by Paul. Yet it appears that they exposed themselves to danger while Paul was imperiled by the plots of the Jews, so that he might depart freely: this, indeed, it is reported in the Acts of the Apostles, Jason also did; and the Apostle does not silent this praise of theirs, but celebrates it as admirable to all the Churches, and therefore says: "To whom not only I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles." Whence it appears that they were obliging and hospitable ^B toward all the faithful brethren, not only those who had believed from among the Jews, but also those from the Gentiles. For great grace is found in the service of hospitality, not only before God, but also among men. Since, however, this matter rested not only on the will and purpose of the masters, but also on the ready and faithful ministry of the servants, he therefore called all who faithfully fulfilled this ministry with them, their domestic Church.

19. "Greet Epaenetus my beloved, who is the firstfruits of Asia in Christ." Here Epaenetus seems to me to have believed first of all from Asia; whence he also called him the beginning of the Church, or, as it is held in the Greek, the firstfruits of Asia: unless this expression signifies something deeper, so that we may understand the angels of God, who preside over the Churches, presenting each and every one as firstfruits to God out of those who believe; but the firstfruits among them are judged not in those who are first in time, but who excel in virtues and merits. Knowing through the Spirit the election of Paul regarding Epaenetus, and that the election of the angels found him from out of the whole number of the faithful who were in Asia, he called him the firstfruits of Asia. But also in another Epistle he says concerning certain ones, "That they are the firstfruits of Achaia"; looking without doubt to the same plan of the sacrament in them also. ^C

21. "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are noble among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me." It is possible that these were kinsmen of Paul according to the flesh, and that they believed before him, and were considered noble among the apostles of Christ; of whom it is also possible to understand that perhaps they were of those seventy-two who were also named apostles, and therefore he calls them noble among the apostles, and in these apostles who were before him. But it also moves me that he says: "my fellow prisoners." For what was Paul’s imprisonment, in which he testifies that Andronicus and Junia were also fellow prisoners with him? Unless perhaps we look with a deeper mystery to that imprisonment which Christ came to absolve, of which it is written, "to come and give remission to the captives, and sight to the blind." In which imprisonment they seem to be for one and the same reason, as Paul was. For example, if we say: When the people of Israel were captive among the Assyrians or Babylonians, all indeed seemed to be captives; but there is another reason in the captives, another in Daniel, and Ananias, and Azarias or Misael. For those were captives for their sins; ^D but these were captives even for the consolation of the captives: and therefore if Daniel were to say concerning any one of the people: "My fellow prisoner," it would not seem to be said as fittingly as if he said concerning Ananias, and Azarias, and Misael, "My fellow prisoners." For in these there is one reason for their captivity, which is far different from the reason of the rest of the people. So therefore Paul also, looking toward some such thing concerning himself and Andronicus and Junia, according to the reason of a more hidden sacrament, names them his fellow prisoners in this world, and noble among the apostles.

22. "Greet Ampliatus my beloved in the Lord." Although he seems to ascribe nothing exceptional to him above the others in praise, yet by this very fact that he...

is read as Paul’s, and he becomes praiseworthy and worthy of greeting.

25. *Greet Urban, my helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.* He joins Stachys in the greeting, but prefers Urban in his praises. For he names the former a helper in Christ, while he names Stachys merely as beloved to himself, just as he did Ampliatus. Now a helper of the Apostle in Christ is understood as nothing other than a participant in the apostolic work.

I think that this Apelles passed through many tribulations, patiently and bravely endured, and that is why he is proclaimed "approved" by the Apostle, in accordance with what he himself said elsewhere: that "tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation hope." It should certainly be looked into whether perhaps he is the same one who in the Acts of the Apostles is called Apollo, an Alexandrian, learned in the Scriptures.

25. *Greet those who are of the house of Aristobulus.* Since nothing is either added or diminished in the Apostle’s letters in vain, he does not for nothing name these who are of the house or family of Aristobulus neither beloved, nor approved, nor helpers in Christ: but perhaps because they had no such thing in their merits, he honored them with the title of greeting alone.

26. *Greet Herodion my kinsman.* And here, similarly to Andronicus and Junias, he is called a kinsman of Paul: but he is not called a fellow prisoner as they were, nor noble among the apostles, nor among those who were in Christ before Paul. Hence it is to be understood that even in those whom Paul calls his kinsmen, there is a great difference, in accordance with that reasoning, as I think, which we attempted to disclose above.

27. *Greet those who are of the house of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.* It seems that there were indeed many from the house or family of Narcissus, but that not all were in the Lord: and therefore he added that those who are in the Lord should be greeted.

28. *Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord.* He gives good testimony about them, testifying that their labor is not of this world, nor of common life, but is in the Lord. For many labor, but it is not evident that the labor of all is in the Lord.

29. *Greet Persis the beloved, who has labored much in the Lord.* She seems to be praised more than Tryphaena and Tryphosa, since he says that the latter labored in the Lord, but that she labored "much" in the Lord, to which he also added "the beloved."

30. *Greet Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.* I do not think that the distinction of praise and greeting is made in vain in these individual salutations. For he who knows that Christ speaks in Paul, is certain that it is because of merit that one is called "approved" by him, another "beloved," another "laboring in the Lord," another "laboring much in the Lord," another "chosen," just as this Rufus, concerning whom we are now speaking, is greeted as "chosen in the Lord." I believe that Paul knew he was of the number, not of the many who are called, but of the few who are chosen: whose mother also had such merit that Paul named her his own mother, with whom he himself also shares, just as Jesus did with John, one affection for a mother.

^B 31. *Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren who are with them.* Concerning these the greeting is simple, nor is anything significant of praise added to them. I think, however, that this Hermas is the writer of that little book which is called The Shepherd, which scripture seems to me very useful, and, as I think, divinely inspired. But the fact that he attributed nothing of praise to him, the reason, I suppose, is that he seems, as that scripture declares, to have been converted to penance after many sins: and therefore he wrote no reproach for him either; for he had learned from Scripture not to reproach a man turning himself from sin: nor did he attribute any praise, because he was still placed under the angel of penance, from whom at an opportune time he was to be offered to Christ again. It is understood, however, that they whose greeting is joined together dwelt together.

32. *Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympias, and all the saints who are with them.* It is possible that Philologus and Julia were married; the others are their domestics, to whom a simple greeting is directed.

33. *Greet one another with a holy kiss.* From this command, and some other similar ones, the custom was handed down to the Churches that after prayers they should greet one another with a kiss. ^D

^A It is this "holy kiss" that the Apostle calls by this name, teaching first that the kisses which are given in the churches must be chaste; then, that they must not be feigned, as were the kisses of Judas, who gave a kiss with his lips but harbored betrayal in his heart. A faithful kiss, as we have said, should be chaste in the first place, and then have peace within itself and simplicity in unfeigned charity.

34. *Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.* ^B Does not Paul write these things while positioned in one Church? And how is it true that he sends the greetings of all the churches together to the Church of Rome? But we must understand this either as meaning that there was one Spirit in Paul and in all the churches of Christ, or that he speaks of greeting through the faith and in being joined by the Spirit.

35. *I appeal to you, brethren, that you take note of those who cause dissensions and offenses in opposition to the doctrine which you have learned, and turn away from them. For such persons do not serve Christ our Lord, but their own belly, and by smooth words and blessings they deceive the hearts of the innocent.* For your obedience is known to all. *I rejoice therefore in you.* Paul is to be believed to be writing these things both to those who preside over the churches ^C and to all the believers through the Holy Spirit, so that they might consider and perceive more diligently who they are that generate dissensions and offenses in the churches, and that they might be strangers to that blessedness which the Lord promised, saying: *Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.* ^D For He says that you have learned from the Lord through the Gospel to be peacemakers; but to stir up dissensions or scandals is contrary to the doctrine you have learned. And therefore, let him who stirs up strife, who sows discord, who excites quarrels, and who practices the zeal of contention be a stranger to you, and let him not be received among you at all. For those who are such do not serve Christ our Lord, who is our peace, but their own belly. He even reveals, by the inspiration of the divine Spirit, what the cause is for which quarrels and disputes are stirred up in the churches. For the sake of the belly, he says; that is, for the sake of gain and greed. Thence it is that some go around to houses, speaking for gain with all flattery and deception, not to build up souls in virtue through the Word of God, but to urge them—by means of flattering and sweet-sounding words—to persist or even to advance in vices, praising and calling good those things which are worthy of reproof; putting darkness for light and light for darkness; bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter; and in these things they deceive the hearts of the innocent. And for this reason, it is necessary to pay diligent attention to the perspective from which the one who teaches is teaching: whether he is seeking grace and honor from his hearers, or whether he is hoping for a reward from the Lord for the instruction and progress of those who are learning.

Paul subtly notes the indiscriminate and easy obedience of the Romans, asserting that it is not praised everywhere, but that it is "known to all." But lest he make them disobedient again if he were to rebuke them too openly for this, he adds: *I rejoice therefore in you.* But you will say: How does he note a "commonplace" obedience in them, when he says he rejoices in them? First, it is one thing to note a vice, and another to note the men. For it can happen that he rejoices in those things in which he had discerned many other good qualities, yet he notes the vice that had displeased him, lest it be thought that even this had pleased him along with the rest. The Apostle may also have said that he rejoices in them for the reason that he who is disobedient cannot be drawn to evil, nor can he be drawn to good; whereas he who is obedient, if he is indeed drawn to useless things, it is the fault of his inexperience. For he is unaware that the things to which he offers his obedience are useless. But when he has learned what things are useful, possessing the good of obedience already prepared, he immediately ascends the path of virtue through it. Paul therefore rejoices over the obedient, certain that when he has taught them not to use that commonplace obedience which they provide incautiously to everyone, but rather that sole obedience by which it is necessary to obey God rather than men, they will use that alone, having left the rest behind. For in truth, it is not a matter of small discernment, but of a proven and most highly trained judgment, to know to which word and to which work one should be obedient, and to which one should resist. Finally, the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: *Beware of those who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.* And therefore a vigilant sense and an attentive mind is required, which knows how to test either the simplicity of the sheep in plain view, or the hidden rapacity of the wolf. Hence, see how close to danger they become who neglect to be exercised in the divine scriptures, from which alone the discernment of such an examination is to be recognized. Immediately, therefore, in brief, he shows the kind of distinction he proposes, and says: Since your obedience is easy and indiscriminate, accept what you ought to keep and what you ought to avoid.

36. *I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple in what is evil.* This is similar to that saying which...

he writes to the Corinthians, saying: *Be infants in malice, so that you may be perfect in your understanding.* ^A And that which the Lord says: *For the sons of this world are more prudent than the sons of light in their generation;* this fits the present statement. For the sons of this world are more prudent in malice, because they always find something deeper and more subtle in it by which they can harm more and wound more vehemently. In good, however, they are foolish; for they can scarcely find what good they might do. Conversely, Paul wants us to be wise in good, which is to always find something more, to seek more, and to think more deeply about what good we might do: so that even if we are hindered by someone's malice from a good work, ^B if we are wise, we might devise how, if we cannot perform a good work, we might at least bring forth a good word: and if even that is not permitted, we might at least demonstrate a good intention and desire. Thus, therefore, we ought to be wise in good, but simple in evil, so that if we are struck by malice, if we are struck by injury, we are not cunning and crafty, seeking arts and arguments by which we owe it to return evil for evil, and wickedness for wickedness. But in such a case, we ought to remember that sentence which says: *If anyone wishes to be wise before God, let him become a fool in this world.* Let us, therefore, be fools, receiving injury and not returning it, so that we may be wise before God who said: *Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.* For concerning the impious, Jeremiah also says: *They are wise in doing evil; but they do not know how to do good.* To this also belongs that which the Lord said, that we ought to be simple as doves, and prudent as serpents. But if anyone from among the infidels should cunningly encounter us and say: “How can the same person be both wise and foolish?” we shall say to him: “Look at those arts which are in use among men, how someone who, for example, is a most wise grammarian is found most foolish in the craft of smithing; or again, a most wise pilot, how he is found foolish in the art of medicine.” Thus, therefore, it is possible in those things that pertain to God to be wise; and in those things that pertain to the world, to be foolish. ^C It must be known, indeed, that where he says: *For such as these do not serve Christ our Lord;* it is not that they themselves claim not to serve Christ the Lord, but that, deviating from the rule of His service, they show by their very deeds that they do not serve Christ the Lord. For it does not seem possible for someone to serve Christ and the belly at the same time; and to be a lover of pleasure and of God equally; just as no one can simultaneously serve God and mammon.

57. *But the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet swiftly.* It is asked in this place whom he calls Satan, to be crushed swiftly by God under the feet of those to whom he writes. For if it refers to one person, namely that one about whom it is said in the Gospel: *I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven,* and who is indicated as the adversary of the human race, it will surely seem, if Paul truly says what he says, that he is being crushed swiftly under the feet of those to whom he was then writing, that Satan no longer exists to stir up agonies and struggles and persecutions for the believers: which indeed the reality of facts does not admit. But it seems to me that in this place he called "Satan" every spirit that opposes believers. For "Satan" is interpreted in our tongue as "adversary." Whatever, therefore, resists and opposes a soul tending toward God, and whatever is contrary to His peace, this is named "Satan" to it. Therefore, he finally prefixes it, saying: *The God of peace,* that is, the God to whom peace is pleasing, *will crush him* who is contrary to peace and works dissensions. Thus, finally, we also read in the books of Kings, that God *raised up a Satan to Solomon, Ader the Edomite:* that is, to Solomon who was peaceful, He raised up a Satan who is contrary to peace. But just as to those whom the Apostle teaches, if they act in such a way, and show themselves to be such as his speech has described, he promises the future crushing of Satan by the God of peace under their feet: so nevertheless, for the one who has not kept His peace in a pure heart and a clean conscience, God raises up a Satan, that is, an adversary; so that he who has neglected the good of peace, might suffer the bitternesses of constant attacks.

And so let us be edified by both passages of divine Scripture, in which God is said either to raise up ^A a Satan for the negligent, or to crush and subject him for the zealous—so that for the former He might stir up contests, and for the latter, from the vanquished adversary, grant the palm of victory and bestow the rewards of virtue. Moreover, we can, in the case of every individual contest, if we strive lawfully, say that God will crush Satan under our feet soon. For instance, if anyone undertakes a contest of chastity; if he endures until the end with an immaculate conscience, it can be said of him that God ^B has crushed Satan under his feet, that is, the spirit that was contrary to chastity. Similarly, he who undertakes the contest of faith, if, standing before kings and governors, he confesses the Lord Jesus Christ with confidence and remains in that confession until the end, God has crushed Satan under his feet, since by constant faith he has conquered the spirit of infidelity. Thus also he who perseveringly cultivates harmony crushes the demon of dissension underfoot; he who keeps meekness treads upon the Satan of anger with the footsteps of patience. This is indeed what the Lord says in the Gospel: "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy."

58. The grace of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, must be understood as one and the same grace. For just as the Father gives life to whom He wills, and the Son gives life to whom He wills; and just as the Father has life in Himself, and has granted the Son to have life in Himself, so too the grace which the Father gives, this also the Son gives. One must certainly know that everything which men have from God is grace. For they have nothing by debt. "For who has first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him?" Therefore, everything that he has—he who was not, and is—is grace, receiving it from Him who always was, and is, and shall be forever.

59. "Timothy my helper salutes you, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater my kinsmen." It seems to me that concerning these men, whom he separated from the entire list of those sending greetings, he felt something more. Finally, he calls Timothy his helper, and his kinsmen all together. And indeed, concerning Timothy, it is ^C reported most fully in the Acts of the Apostles that he was a citizen of Derbe, the son of a faithful widow woman, from a Gentile father: of whom Paul himself says that he therefore asked him to remain at Ephesus, that he might instruct certain ones not to teach otherwise, nor attend to fables and endless genealogies. But some hold that Lucius himself is the Luke who wrote the Gospel, because names are accustomed to be pronounced sometimes according to their native declension, and sometimes according to the Greek and Roman. But that Jason is the one of whom it is also written in the Acts of the Apostles that, when the crowds were making a sedition in Thessalonica on behalf of Paul and Silas, he gave himself up, that he might secure the freedom of the apostles to depart. Sosipater also, who is joined with these, I suspect is he who is written in the Acts of the Apostles as Sosipater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus. But whoever looks more curiously at Paul's letters, as if Christ were speaking in him, will without doubt be moved [to wonder] how Paul, who professed himself to have been born at Tarsus of Cilicia, ^D a Hebrew of the Hebrews, is now called a kinsman or blood relation—either of Timothy the Derbean, a citizen born of a Gentile father, or of Jason the Thessalonian, or of Sosipater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus. But if anyone says on his behalf that they too came in some part from circumcision: it was not therefore necessary to say this specially of these men, but of all who were from the Jews, that they were kinsmen of Paul. But now, since he by no means bestows this name on others, but ascribes it to these and some others, it is certain that he is naming another kind of kinship, which is held in common between himself and Timothy, and Luke, and a few others similar to these: which kinship or blood relation he undoubtedly knows to descend to himself from that paternity from which he says in another place: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom all paternity in heaven and on earth is named." Knowing therefore that there is some paternity in heaven just as there is on earth, it is certain that those who are by no means related to him according to the kinship of earthly paternity...

he calls kinsmen and fellow-captives and fellow-workers; inasmuch as he has received with them, by the lot of birth, a single kinship for the purpose of evangelizing, and the trial of enduring the captivity of this Babylonian world. Or, if anyone holds that these things cannot be explained by such a tropology, let him explain to us how Timothy, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater—citizens of ^A far different cities and even provinces—could have been blood relations and kinsmen to Paul according to the flesh; and not only these, but also Andronicus, and Junias, and Herodion, all of whom he calls his kinsmen and fellow-captives.

40. *I Tertius, who wrote the epistle, salute you in the Lord.* As one who was deemed worthy to write the epistle to the Romans at Paul’s dictation, he inserts his own name as well, not using it out of presumption or boasting, but because he knew he had performed not only the duty of a writer, but that he had written in the Lord; since, indeed, a righteous man does everything he does for the glory of God. And if he writes, therefore, he writes for the glory of God, and for that reason he writes in the Lord: on which account it is worthy that he should also insert a mention of his own name in the epistle. Or, certainly, because he had grasped the power of the thoughts of Paul who was dictating, and had understood that what he was writing was not of man, but of the Lord, he therefore records that he wrote in the Lord.

41. *Gaius, my host, salutes you*, and the whole Church. It is understood that this is the Gaius about whom he makes mention when writing to the Corinthians, saying: *I give thanks to God, that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius.* It seems, therefore, to indicate that he was a man of hospitality, who not only received Paul and everyone arriving at Corinth ^B into his hospitality, but who himself provided a meeting-place for the whole Church in his own house. It is indeed reported by the tradition of the elders that this Gaius was the first bishop of the Church of Thessalonica.

42. *Erastus, the steward of the city, and Quartus the brother.* I think he is the Erastus whom he says remained at Corinth, and who appears to be designated as the steward of the city. But I do not think that Paul made mention of him in his epistle because of this office, unless perhaps he perceived something more in him, and called him an *arcarius*, that is, a steward of that city whose architect and creator is God; and for that reason he did not set forth the name of which city it was, but merely called him the steward ^C of the city. Whether, therefore, it is to be understood in some such way, or more simply, and nothing deeper is to be sought in Paul’s letters, depends upon the one who is reading.

43. *Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept in silence for eternal ages, but now manifested through the prophetic Scriptures according to the commandment of the eternal God, to the obedience of faith made known unto all nations, to the only wise God through Jesus Christ be glory for ever and ever. Amen.* Marcion, from whom the evangelical and apostolic scriptures have been interpolated, completely removed this chapter from this epistle; and not only this, but from that place where it is written, *but everything that is not from faith is sin*, he cut away everything to the end. In other copies, however, that is, in those which have not been tampered with by Marcion, we find this same chapter placed differently. For in some codices, after the place which we mentioned above, that is, *but everything that is not from faith is sin*, it is held as immediately connected, *to him who is able to strengthen you*. But other codices contain it at the end, as it is now placed. But let us now come to the explanation of this chapter. Paul seems to me to show two reasons by which those who are strengthened in the faith of the Gospel are fortified: one by which the preaching of Paul, which is also the preaching of Christ, is made known to them; and another by which is revealed to them the mystery which had been kept in silence for all ages, but now, that is, at the advent of Christ’s bodily presence, has been manifested and opened, and, as far as it depends on such things, declared not without suitable witnesses, but with the support of ^D the prophetic Scriptures. For the commandment of the eternal God existed in such a way that, indeed, through the preaching of the Gospel, the nations would be called to the obedience of faith; but from the revelation of the mystery, the wisdom of God having been recognized, glory and clarity would be rendered to the only wise God for ever and ever. But let us again return, and consider how it was said: *Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept in silence for eternal ages.* It does not seem to me...