The following is a revision/correction of the heretic Pelagius' commentary on Romans, done by order of Cassiodorus and the monks at the Vivarium Monastery. Cassiodorus
took the original 5th-century commentary on the Letters of Paul by Pelagius—which was
popular but contained heresy—and tasked his monks with purging it of
these errors, especially in the Epistle to the Romans. The corrected commentary appeared in volume 68 of Jaques-Paul Migne's Patrologia Latina with authorship being attributed to Primasius. Translated using ChatGPT.
Rom 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man into this world…” Here he wishes to show that Christ therefore suffered so that we who had departed through Adam might be reconciled through Christ.
“Sin entered.” By example and transmission—for when there was no sin, through Adam it came; and when justice was no longer found among anyone, through Christ it was restored. And just as through that one’s sin came death, so through this one’s righteousness comes life.
“And through sin…” In this place, against the rash error of Pelagian impiety, he (i.e., the Apostle Paul) strives to show that death was not made by God but was brought in through the fault of transgression; for just as through the sin of the first Adam salvation was lost, so through the righteousness of the second it was restored. Here the Apostle intends to assert that great indeed was Adam’s transgression, but richer is Christ’s redemption; and therefore he said, “And not as through one man sin, so also the gift.” From one sin he brought in death; this one, by abolishing many sins, restored life. And thus righteousness prevailed more in giving life than sin in bringing death.
“Death.” That death of which he says, “When you were dead in sins, He made you alive together with Christ.” Death took its name from the serpent’s bite; death passed over—both of soul and body—from original sin, even into Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but they were made alive by God’s grace, of whom it is said, “He is not the God of the dead,” as the Apostle also says.
“Even over those who did not sin”—that is, capital sin thus passed into men, because not only he who transgressed died, but also those who are born from transgressors are held bound by the bond of nature—that is, through all the branches the corrupted root transmitted its fault. Adam killed; Christ made alive.
“In whom all sinned.” Either in the sin of disobedience, or in Adam the punishment of all sinners was prefigured.
Rom 5:13 “For until the law sin was in the world.” One must inquire what sin flourished—the transgression which the fault of the first parent introduced. For the offense of transgression existed before the coming of the law. In the former age sinners more securely enjoyed the freedom of the present life. There was indeed sin before the law by action, but it was not so imputed, because knowledge of the natural law had almost been erased, whose understanding, as if dead, revived through the law. The law came as the avenger of sin.
“But sin was not imputed when there was no law.” It existed, but among rustic men it was not imputed, nor was it believed by others to be sin.
Rom 5:14 “But death reigned from Adam to Moses.” That is, death coming from original evil alone reigned until the law. Therefore he said “reigned,” because it had generally occupied the whole world. Other sins did not seem to reign, because iniquity did not rule universally among all. For a certain natural justice flourished in many, as among many philosophers; and other offenses, though arising from a corrupted nature, were nevertheless voluntary.
Another new thing followed: the crime of despising the law after it was given. The obligation of the first man alone reigned through death until Moses; but from the time of the law another kind of guilt was added—the offense of neglecting the law—which before its promulgation could not be imputed. And thus, when new commandments entered, iniquity was multiplied. For the law came not to take away sin but to show or judge it; therefore here the Apostle commends the abundance of grace, because the goodness of the Redeemer remitted not only Adam’s debt, which alone had reigned like a tyrant until the law, but also the innumerable offenses of transgression and wicked conduct.
Therefore he said, “For judgment indeed from one unto condemnation.” And when he says “until Moses,” that is, until the end of the law and the beginning of grace, the natural debt reigned—just as when we say, for example, “The Huns existed until Attila,” we indicate not the beginning but the end; so also “until Moses,” that is, until the end of the law and the beginning of grace.
The remaining offenses, which were not understood to be sins until the beginning of the law—until “You shall not covet”—revived through the law. For original sin even today reigns until baptism, but it has lost the exercise of its claim since the blood of Christ erased the bond of the original debt.
But someone may say: Why does the evil of origin still reign among many nations? He replies: Truly the plague widely spread reigned when the physician was absent, when universal mortality devastated all; but when remission sent from heaven opens the gate of paradise, death loses its power. And thus it does not reign, because its kingdom is destroyed through the grace of Christ.
“Even over those who sinned in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a type of the one to come.” A type of the future—in an opposite way: as he of sin, so this of righteousness; as that one a living soul, this a life-giving Spirit. Christ is the future Adam, because just as Adam was made by the hands of God without marital union, so Christ proceeded from a virgin by God’s working.
Rom 5:15 “But not as the trespass, so also the gift. For if by the trespass of one many died, much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded unto many.” And not as one sin, so also the gift—that is, righteousness is greater in giving life than sin in bringing death; for Adam’s sin killed both himself and his descendants, but Christ saved both those whom He found in the body and His own people and their descendants.
But perhaps someone says: The flesh which comes from the transgressor rightly bears original sin—but the soul, which is born innocent, whence does it draw original sin, so that if an unbaptized infant dies it is condemned eternally? Let him hear and recognize that the soul first sinned in Adam through the desire for divinity more than the flesh did.
In this place we must carefully avoid the opinion which says: just as the flesh reigns through one—that is, through Adam’s transgression from Adam’s flesh—so our soul is created from Adam’s soul by a hidden operation of God, as someone said: “By a hidden law nature pours forth its work,” which unless it is freed here by grace will be condemned to perpetual punishment.
Rom 5:16 “For judgment”—understand of death—“from one unto condemnation,” namely from the first sin. “But grace from many offenses unto justification,” as if the first obligation of the ancient offense ruled until Christ, while other offenses before the prohibition of the law were not seen or understood as so grave; but grace coming forgave not only the original debt but also actual sins through baptism. Therefore from many offenses it justified.
Rom 5:17 “For if by one trespass death…” Much more the abundance of grace. The redemption of the Savior is greater than the ruin of the transgressor, because through Christ all sins are forgiven—not only original but also actual.
“And receiving the gift and righteousness they shall reign in life through one Jesus Christ.” For both that we may live justly and that we may reign with Him is granted by the generosity of His gift. Let us hear of gifts and be silent about our merits.
Rom 5:18 Therefore, as through one trespass unto condemnation for all men, so also through one righteousness unto justification of life for all men. Death reigned—understand. Whoever is freed from this condemnation should love grace; whoever is not freed should acknowledge the debt. If goodness is understood in remitting the debt and justice in exacting it, nowhere is injustice found in God.
Rom 5:19 For as through the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one many are made righteous. Just as many sinned by the example of Adam’s disobedience, so many are justified by Christ’s obedience. Great is the crime of disobedience: whoever has it, though he does whatever good, makes it void. “Obedience,” he says, “is better than sacrifice.”
Rom 5:20 “But the law entered so that the offense might abound.” Lest they say the law forgave sins—no, he says, it came not to forgive but to show; and when despised, offense began to abound through knowledge, as if saying: I see the law did not diminish sins but added them—not by its fault but by theirs.
“The law entered so that offense might abound,” which was emptied by the generosity of the grace that followed. From this testimony we clearly perceive that the Apostle speaks of two kinds of sins: those arising from transgression of natural law, and those from transgression of the written law. “Where sin abounded, grace superabounded.”
The whole sense is this: the old Adam through one offense brought in death; the new Adam through the forgiveness of innumerable offenses gave salvation. Where sin abounded—because, once the law was received, sin is committed not in ignorance but knowingly—offense begins to abound. Grace superabounded so that, as sin reigned unto death—as the Savior says, “He to whom more is forgiven loves more”—the magnitude of sin is made known so that they might know the greatness of grace and render the greatness of charity, and from the indulgence of remission the debt of love might grow.
Rom 5:21 Thus grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Christ our Lord. These things are manifested when the merits of the unworthy are compared in contrast: for death reigned through Adam, life through Christ; just as the kingdom of sin was confirmed through the despised law which removed the excuse of ignorance, so the kingdom of grace is confirmed through the remission of many sins.
CONTINUE
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