Translated by Claude.
Section 1: Why Paul Changed His Name from
Saul
First let us consider why the one who was previously called Saul now
calls himself Paul. Saul was a proud and ungovernable king and a persecutor of
holy David, born of the tribe of Benjamin. From this tribe the apostle Saul
also came, and he received his name and manner of life as if by inheritance
from King Saul. The name 'Saul,' then, is the name of a proud persecutor.
Moreover, 'Saul' and 'Saulus' are the same name: what we say as 'Saulus'
is what the Greek and Latin idiom made of it, declining Hebrew names in
conformity with their own case-endings—just as 'Joseph' became 'Josephus,' and
'Jacob' became 'Jacobus,' so also 'Saul' is said in our language as 'Saulus.'
When he had subjected the proconsul Paulus to Christ, he himself too
wished to be called Paul instead of Saul, as a token of so glorious and
beautiful a victory. For an enemy is more completely overcome in someone he
holds more firmly and over whom he holds many in his grip. Pride holds the
nobility more firmly by reason of their distinguished name, and through them
holds many more by reason of their authority. Just as, therefore, the one who
conquered Africa was called Scipio Africanus, so also this Apostle, after
subjecting Paulus, was always called Paul, who before used to be called Saul.
And not without reason. For 'Saulus' or 'Saul' is interpreted as 'sought'
or 'demanded,' because he had been requested by the devil to make war against
the Church. But 'Paul' means 'wonderful' and 'fittingly sent to preach to the
nations.' He is named Paul—that is, 'wonderful'—so that he might wondrously
gain the reward of faith. For he is indeed a most wonderful leader who glories
not in wisdom of word, not in riches, not in eloquence, not in the vain glory
of the age, but in the sufferings of Christ.
[Allusion: 1 Cor 1:17–18
(not in wisdom of word); Gal 6:14 (glory in the cross of Christ); 2 Cor 11:30
(glory in infirmities)]
Another explanation can also be offered for this matter: he may perhaps
have been double-named, that is, called both Saul and Paul. This seems the more
probable view, because the custom we mentioned—of his being called Paul after
the proconsul Paulus whom he brought to Christ—is not found established
anywhere in the divine scriptures. But in those same scriptures we do find that
not a few persons used two or even three names: thus Zedekiah is the same as
Joakim, Uzziah the same as Azariah, Solomon the same as Jedidiah or Qoheleth,
and many others. Nor was this custom absent from the apostles of Christ: for
one of them was called both Matthew and Levi, another both Lebbaeus and Judas
Thaddaeus.
[Biblical names: 2 Kgs
23:34; 2 Chr 36:4 (Joakim/Eliakim); 2 Chr 26:1 (Uzziah/Azariah); 1 Chr 3:5;
Eccl 1:1 (Solomon/Qoheleth/Jedidiah); Matt 9:9 / Luke 5:27 (Matthew/Levi); Luke
6:16; Acts 1:13 (Lebbaeus/Judas Thaddaeus)]
Since it was therefore the custom among the Hebrews to use two or three
names, this Apostle too seems to have used a double name: while he was
ministering specifically to the Jewish people, he was called Saul, because that
name was more native to his ancestral tongue; but Paul when he gave laws and
precepts to the Greeks and Gentiles.
And indeed the fact that scripture itself says (Acts 13): 'But Saul, who
is also Paul,' manifestly seems to show that the name Paul was not then first
given to him but had been his old name. Whether, then, this or the former
explanation is more true, one thing is certain: from the time this Apostle was
sent with Barnabas to preach to the Gentiles, he preferred to be called Paul
rather than Saul.
[Acts 13:9: 'But Saul,
who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit…']
Section 2: Why Paul Places His Name First in
the Epistle
He puts this name of his—celebrated and known to all—at the head of this
epistle, so that when the Romans hear the name of so great a man, they may
attend carefully to what he wishes to persuade them and what he deigns to
command them; that is, so that they may be eager to listen and ready to obey.
'Paul'—he says this as though saying: You Romans ought to have peace
among yourselves, because the one who writes to you is Paul—not a persecutor of
Christians but a teacher; not one who tears down the Church but one who builds
it up; not a promoter of division but a persuader of unity and concord.
Nor ought you to be lifted up in elation, because the one who teaches you
is a servant—that is, humble—and not without the yoke of the Lord. For the name
'servant' is a name of humility, to call them to humility. But when the Lord
says to his chosen disciples, 'I will no longer call you servants' (John
15:15), how is this man a servant?
[John 15:15: 'I no
longer call you servants… but I have called you friends']
There are two kinds of servitude: one of fear and another of love; one of
those who serve from fear, another of those who love and please as sons. The
chosen disciples, therefore, are not servants according to the servitude of
fear, which perfect love casts out (1 John 4:18), but according to the
servitude of chaste fear, which perfect charity begets. Paul, then, is a
servant not in the manner of a slave but serving God out of chaste love. He
commends his own person and office first, so that the Romans may more readily
assent to his words and corrections, and may take from him an example of
humility and concord.
[1 John 4:18: 'Perfect
love casts out fear']
For Paul, as we have said, is interpreted as 'wonderful.' And he was
indeed truly wonderful, one whom God had made marvelous with such a prerogative
of merits. And yet he humbled himself in all things and humbly confessed
himself a servant, so that he might give an example of humility to all, lest
anyone should glory in his own merits or powers, but that all might attribute
whatever good they have to the grace of the Lord, and recognize themselves not
as proudly free but humbly as servants.
As for what others say—that Paul means 'small' in Latin and 'quiet' in
Greek—we do not much approve of this, since this name is not Greek or Latin but
Hebrew, and so it should be understood according to the Hebrew sense. Paul, a
servant of Jesus Christ.
As if to say: I do not make myself free, nor do I put myself on a level
with my Lord, but I reckon myself his servant and subject, and whatever good I
have I ascribe entirely to his grace. But you set up yourselves not as his
servants but as free people, and by derogating from his gracious gift that is
in you, you have attributed it to your own merits and natural capacities.
Section 3: 'Servant of Jesus Christ'
He says: 'I am a servant of Jesus Christ.' This too is to the
commendation of his own person, because the servant is honorable and the Lord
incomparably more honorable. Therefore the honorable servant of so great a Lord
ought readily to be received. He does not yet call himself an apostle but only
a servant, whereas in other epistles he puts forward his title of authority at
once—because he had not yet preached to the Romans and was not yet seen to be
an apostle to them. And so he puts forward the name of humility when inviting
them to humility, lest if he constrained them to obedience by the name of
authority he seem too harsh.
'Servant of Jesus Christ': 'Jesus' has one meaning and 'Christ' another,
though there is one Jesus Christ our Savior. 'Jesus' is his personal name, as
Moses is called by his personal name, as Aaron, as Elijah. But 'Christ' is a
name of office, as one might say 'lawgiver,' or 'priest,' or 'prophet.' Thus
'Christ' is presented as the one in whom there should be the redemption of the
whole people of Israel, whom the Jews expected to come—but because he came in
humility they did not recognize him.
[Acts 4:12; Isa 7:14;
Matt 1:21 (Jesus = Savior); Ps 2:2; Dan 9:25–26 (Christ = Anointed)]
Called as an Apostle
Called as an apostle—called from unbelief to faith, when Christ spoke to
him from heaven as he was going to Damascus (Acts 9). And he was established as
an apostle (which in Latin means 'one sent') when, after he prayed in the
temple, the Lord appeared to him saying: 'Make haste and go out of Jerusalem
quickly, because they will not receive your testimony about me. Go, for I will
send you far away to the nations' (Acts 22:18–21).
[Acts 9:3–6: the
Damascus road vision; Acts 22:17–21: the temple vision and sending to the
nations]
And he was also set apart for the gospel of God, when the Holy Spirit
said at Antioch: 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I
have called them' (Acts 13:2). In all these things Paul could glory, since he
obtained them all through the Lord appearing and speaking to him. For he is
shown to be great whom God deigns to advance in this way by himself. But though
he has the greatest occasions for glorying in everything, he humbles himself in
all things, so that he may draw all by his example to humility. And therefore
he names himself servant in the very first line.
[Acts 13:2: 'The Holy
Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul…"']
Now the calling by which he was called is not the one of which it is said
'Many are called but few are chosen' (Matt 22:14), but rather the one of which
he himself speaks: 'Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he
called he also justified' (Rom 8:30).
[Matt 22:14: 'Many are
called but few are chosen'; Rom 8:30: predestination, calling, justification]
He is an apostle—that is, sent by Christ—to go as a legate calling all to
life. And he was sent not like the other apostles but 'set apart for the gospel
of God.' For while a particular province had been assigned to each of the other
apostles for preaching, to Paul and Barnabas was committed the office of
preaching among all the nations. And so these two were set apart—that is,
separately, distinct from the rest of the preachers—sent to evangelize. Or: set
apart for the gospel, because out of the company of the other preachers who
were staying at Antioch they were chosen by the Holy Spirit for the work of
preaching.
The gospel is interpreted as 'good news,' because in it is announced
human salvation through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ.
Which gospel is not of men but of God—that is, not established or devised by
human beings but by God—which he had promised beforehand through his prophets.
To commend the preacher he adds a commendation of the gospel. Whence the
preacher himself could also greatly glory, as if saying: I have been set apart
for a gospel that is not sudden or improvised, because before its fulfillment
God promised it, so that it might be awaited with longing and, when it came,
received devoutly and without any scruple.
Section 4: The Gospel Promised Through the
Prophets, Concerning God's Son
It is not trivial or recent—what God the Father promised freely, and not
recently but through many previous centuries. He promised it beforehand through
prophets, and not through strangers' prophets but his own. For some prophets
who were not his own had also predicted some things about Christ—such as the
Sibyl and Virgil—but the Apostle speaks of those prophets who were his own,
such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. He promised it, I say, through prophets, and not
in words alone but in writings—not secular but holy, that is, divine. For in
the books of the pagans one may find testimonies of truth (as the same Apostle
shows when addressing the Athenians—Acts 17:28). But because in those same
books errors are also proclaimed, they are not holy, though something pertaining
to Christ may be found in them. But those scriptures are holy which were
divinely entrusted to the Hebrew people, and in them are written the promises
of the gospel that God made from ancient times through his true prophets. In
those scriptures the promises were left in writing lest they fall into oblivion
and fail to come to the knowledge of future generations.
[Acts 17:28: Paul at
Athens quoting Aratus ('In him we live and move and have our being')]
Scriptures—I say concerning his Son, because all those scriptures were
made concerning the only-begotten of God and all proclaim his divinity through
which all things were made, and foretell that his humanity would restore all
things.
Who was made—who while remaining what he was, took on what he was not. I
say 'was made,' and this not according to his divinity but according to the
flesh; because according to his divinity he was begotten from the Father, not
made. According to the flesh, then, he was made—for his honor, that is, so that
the Father might be glorified through the humility of the incarnation and the
obedience of it.
Made—and not of any lineage but of the seed of David, because his mother,
from whose sanctified virginal womb he took flesh, was born uncorrupted from
the line of David, to whom God had promised that from his seed an eternal king
should be raised up. For thus we read in 2 Samuel: 'When your days are
fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you,
which will come forth from your womb, and I will establish his kingdom. He
himself will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son' (2 Sam
7:12–14). According to this promise the Son of God was made man from the seed
of David, so that he might build the house that is the Church and reign forever.
[2 Sam 7:12–14: the
Davidic covenant promise to Nathan; Rom 1:3: 'born of the seed of David
according to the flesh'; Ps 132:11; Isa 11:1]
Predestined as Son of God
Who was predestined to be the Son of God in power—predestined, that is,
foreordained by God the Father according to his humanity; that is, chosen
solely by grace, so that he who was to be according to the flesh the son of
David should nonetheless in the power of his divinity be the Son of God—that
is, that his humanity should be so taken up by the Word of God into the unity
of the person that the same man should be Son of God by virtue of the union
with the Word.
Son of God according to the Spirit of sanctification—that is, according
to the Holy Spirit's sanctifying the womb of the virgin from which he would be
born, just as the angel also said: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the holy thing that
will be born will be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:35).
[Luke 1:35: the
Annunciation; Rom 1:4: 'predestined Son of God in power according to the Spirit
of holiness']
He was predestined also by the resurrection of the dead—that is, so that
he would precede the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of the dead of
our Lord Jesus Christ himself—as if to say: of his own dead who belong to him
and are his members. For he preceded those who would follow him into the
heavenly kingdom whither he preceded them, and into blessed incorruption.
But from the resurrection of those other dead he was not
predestined—those whom he was not to precede but to condemn—because he did not
precede those who were not going to follow him to the glory of eternal life,
that is, the reprobate who are to rise again to punishments.
Or thus: he who was predestined according to the flesh—since God from
eternity predestined that his Word should become flesh, which when raised he
also glorified—was predestined to be Son of God in the power of immortality and
of that power of which he says after the resurrection: All power has been given
to me in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18). For since he himself says of the
elect that they are sons of God insofar as they are of the resurrection, why
should not he himself much more—who according to his divinity is naturally
always the Son of God—be said to have been made Son of God in the resurrection
according to his humanity? For this is what Paul teaches in the Acts of the
Apostles, where he speaks of the Father: Raising up Jesus Christ, as it is written
in the Second Psalm: You are my Son, today I have begotten you (Acts 13:33 / Ps
2:7).
[Matt 28:18: 'All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'; Acts 13:33 / Ps 2:7:
'You are my Son, today I have begotten you'; Luke 20:36: the sons of the
resurrection; Matt 19:28: regeneration when the Son of Man sits on his glorious
throne]
The Father therefore, by raising Christ, said to him 'You are my Son,
today I have begotten you,' so that this raising is understood in Paul's sense
as a kind of begetting—since also our resurrection is called a begetting, as
the Lord says: 'In the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of
his majesty' (Matt 19:28).
Christ, then, according to his humanity—who while he was mortal was son
of man—in the resurrection, clothing himself with immortality, was made Son of
God; yet he did not cease to be son of man, because he remained true man, but
he received the glory which humanly he had not had. And so it is now said that
he was predestined to be Son of God in power from the resurrection—not from his
own resurrection, but which is of greater power, from the resurrection of the
dead, because he caused many dead to rise with him.
And lest we understand the general resurrection of good and bad alike
which is to come on the last day, he says: '…of the dead of Jesus Christ'—that
is, only of the elect who belong to Christ, because then only the holy rose
with him. Hence he also calls him 'our Lord,' because the one who in his death
destroyed our death and the ancient enemy received in his resurrection the
dominion owed over us, as we said above when he then said: 'All power has been
given to me in heaven and on earth.'
He was predestined to be Son of God in power from the resurrection, and
this according to the Spirit of sanctification—that is, according to the Holy
Spirit who sanctified him from the very beginning of his conception. For
through the Spirit by which he had been so sanctified he was raised from death,
so that he would be in the way we said Son of God; as it is also said to us:
'He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit who dwells in you' (Rom 8:11).
[Rom 8:11: 'He who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies']
Section 5: Grace and Apostleship Received
Through Christ
Through whom we received grace and apostleship. As if to say: Such and so
great is Christ through whom as mediator we—I and Barnabas, or the other
apostles—have received from the Father grace (with all the faithful) and
apostleship (not with all). If he said he had received only the apostolate, he
would be ungrateful for the grace by which his sins were forgiven him, and
would seem to have received the apostolate as if by merits of prior works.
Excellently, therefore, he maintains the order of causality, so that no one
dare say that he was led to the gospel by merits of his prior life—since not
even the apostles themselves could properly have received the apostolate unless
they had first received in common with the others the grace that heals and
justifies sinners.
First, therefore, they received the grace by which they were cleansed
from sins and sanctified, and afterwards the apostolate—that is, the legateship
to run everywhere and preach that same grace of the gospel—for the obedience of
faith; that is, so that faith might be obeyed, for the name of Christ, that is,
so that all might believe in Christ and be signed in his name who wish to be
saved. And let this happen not only among the Jews but among all the nations
wherever they are spread throughout the whole breadth of the world.
Or: let faith be obeyed, so that the faithful may do whatever faith
requires—not only by believing but also by acting—and this for the name of
Christ, that is, for his glory and not for their own, so that in the good they
do they seek not their own glory but Christ's and desire to magnify not their
own name but Christ's.
'I have received the apostolate among all the nations so as to cause many
to obey the faith in them for glorifying the name of Christ. Among which
nations—over whom, that is, my apostolate has been given—you too are': he says
this in order to admonish them more familiarly. 'Among whom you too are, O
Romans, who through the grace of preaching have been called to faith'—and you
are not of those who called you but of Christ to whom they called you. 'For you
are the called of Jesus Christ'—that is, called to faith so as to be of Jesus
Christ, not of Peter or of another.
Section 6: Address to the Romans — Grace and
Peace
Thus far it has been said who is the one writing the epistle: namely,
Paul, servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel
of God. But because there arose the question of what gospel, he answered: Which
God had promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
concerning his Son. And because there arose the question of which Son of his,
he answered: Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was
predestined Son of God in power according to the Spirit of sanctification from
the resurrection of the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord. And if it were asked how
you belong to him, he answered: Through whom we received grace and apostleship
for the obedience of faith among all nations for his name. And if it were asked
what therefore is the cause that you write to us, he answered: Among whom you
also are, called of Jesus Christ.
Then, after the manner of an epistle, he adds to whom he writes: 'To all
who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.' He does not say 'those
who love God' but 'beloved'—'of God'—so as to signify the goodness of God
rather than their merit. For he loved us first, before all merit (1 John 4:10),
so that, being beloved, we might love him. These he also freely by his gift
called through preachers and sanctified through baptism. Therefore all good
things are to be ascribed to divine grace, not to human merits. For those who
were hateful, far off, and disgraceful he loved and called and sanctified. Or,
to put it more briefly: he loved them so as to call them to holiness.
[1 John 4:10: 'Not that
we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son'; 1 John 4:19: 'We love
because he first loved us']
After this, to complete the customary opening of an epistle, he greets
them saying: 'Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ' (Rom 1:7). Grace and peace be to you from God, because not every grace
nor every peace is of God or from God. For even wicked judges grant favor when
taking bribes, induced by some desire or driven by fear; and that is an evil
peace which is made with vices or with the devil (1 John 2:15). But that grace
is from the Father and Christ by which our sins are forgiven us—sins by which
we were at odds with God—and that peace by which we are reconciled to him. For
when through grace the sins are forgiven and enmities have been removed, it
remains that by peace we cling to him from whom sins alone had separated us.
[Rom 1:7: the
salutation; 1 John 2:15 (allusion: do not love the world)]
Grace is so called because it is given not as a merited recompense but as
a concession of the giver. Such grace and peace, he says, be to you from God
our Father, who has adopted us as sons and wills to be loved and honored by us
as a father—from the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, from the Son, who redeemed us
from the hand of the enemy and bound us to his dominion and is our Savior and
King.
He wishes grace and peace from the Father and the Son, and does not add
the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit himself is the gift of God, and the
gift of God is grace and peace. And thus the whole Trinity is contained in this
greeting, since when the Father and Christ from the Father are named, the Holy
Spirit is signified by grace and peace. For in no way can grace be given to
human beings by which we are freed from sins and peace by which we are
reconciled to God, except in the Holy Spirit.
[Rom 5:5: 'God's love
has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit'; Gal 4:6: Spirit of
adoption]
Section 7: Thanksgiving for the Faith of the
Romans (Rom 1:8–13)
'First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your
faith is proclaimed in all the world' (Rom 1:8). Having commended himself in
many ways and having given the greeting in the manner of epistles, he again
makes them well-disposed, showing that he has great love toward them. For since
he was about to rebuke them very sharply, he begins gently first and courts
their goodwill, lest if he had begun to reprove them sharply at once, their
impatience might take those rebukes badly.
[Rom 1:8: opening
thanksgiving]
'I give thanks'—he says—'to my God.' Though God is by nature and power
the God of all, by merit and will he is the God of few. That is why he says 'my
God.' For this voice cannot be that of just anyone, but of holy ones, whose God
he is called—as 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
It cannot be the voice of those whose god is their belly, or who have made some
other vice their god.
[Exod 3:6 / Matt 22:32:
'the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob'; Phil 3:19: 'whose god is the belly']
'I give thanks to God'—that is, I offer him the sacrifice of praise, not
through myself but through the great high priest, that is, Jesus Christ. For
whoever wishes to offer sacrifice to God must offer it through the hands of the
priest. And I offer such sacrifice through this priest for all of you, so that
you too may do likewise, giving thanks always to God for the benefits he has
conferred upon you. For to give thanks to God is to sense that all good things
are given by him, and to praise him for these with heart, voice, and deed.
Give thanks to God through Jesus the mediator, through whom God has given
you whatever good you have and through whom you receive whatever good you
offer. Or thus: I give thanks for all the faithful. And first for all of you,
because you are first—since the Roman church holds the primacy among all
churches. And here it is clear that this epistle ought to have been placed
first.
'I give thanks to God'—whom I make my own by rightful worship, not
through the law but through Christ. I give thanks first for you, then for the
others. First for you, from whom great benefit comes to all, because your
faith, though not yet perfect, is already proclaimed in all the world. Rome was
then the capital of the world and people from the whole world gathered there;
and when the Romans had received the faith of the Christian religion, those who
proclaimed it abroad, the other nations throughout the world received the same
faith with greater confidence. And this is the praise of the faithful Romans,
because such a model of them was spread everywhere. They therefore had to take
care lest, just as the news of their faith had been heard from afar, so the
rumor of division should be heard and harm many.
They are urged toward progress by the fact that their faith is announced
everywhere. Faith is the confession of divinity and the solid foundation of
religion, because we truly believe what we cannot see. The very name of faith
derives from this: that what has been spoken or promised comes to pass. For
faith is so called from the fact that there is made firm what has been agreed
upon between the two parties—between God and man: namely, that man should do in
deed what he says with his mouth, and God should give him the blessedness he
has promised.
[Heb 11:1: 'Faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen'; Rom 1:8:
'your faith is proclaimed in all the world']
'For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his
Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, asking,
if somehow now at last by God's will I may succeed in coming to you. For I long
to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so as to strengthen
you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged in you by the faith that is
both yours and mine' (Rom 1:9–12).
[Rom 1:9–12: the witness
of God, prayer, and the desire to visit Rome]
I said that I give thanks for you, and I have not said this falsely: for
God is my witness that I always remember you in my prayers. God, whose
knowledge is not deceived, is my witness himself—he who knows secrets, who
regards truth, is my witness that what I say is true. I serve him in my
spirit—that is, in the inclination of my mind—because I do not render him
service by simulation, but whatever good service I perform outwardly in his
service, this I also perform inwardly in the will of my heart in like manner. I
serve him and this in the gospel of his Son—that is, in the proclamation of his
only-begotten, through whose incarnation, death, and resurrection I announce
that salvation has been given to the world.
And the Father himself is my witness that in my prayers I always make
mention of you—that is, whenever I pray for myself I pray also for you, and I
do not forget you in my prayers but continually remember you, and this without
ceasing. Behold: the Apostle first does what he commands others: 'Pray without
ceasing' (1 Thess 5:17). And yet what he says—'without ceasing I make
mention'—should not be taken as if he were always doing this (since human
frailty cannot achieve this), but rather should be understood that no day would
pass in which he would not pray for them.
[1 Thess 5:17: 'Pray
without ceasing']
'Asking'—that is, praying by the sacraments you have received—'if
somehow'—that is, by some fortunate or adverse way—'at last'—that is, after
many longings—'at some time'—at least once, if more often is not possible—'at
some season'—whether of summer or winter—'I may have a prosperous journey'—that
is, an effective journey of my desires—'of coming to you, and this in the will
of God,' because then my coming will be useful. 'May I have a prosperous
journey in the will of God,' since otherwise a prosperous journey is not had
unless the will of God, which knows all things and anticipates and fosters us
in all good things, should direct me where I may have some fruit.
Or: 'may I have a prosperous journey in the will of God,' because the
prosperity of a journey is not always achieved in God's will—as in those who by
prosperous successes run toward evil. Therefore I beg to come to you in order
to see you, and this so that I may impart to you something—that is, make you
partakers in some spiritual grace that is in me, namely of preaching or
miracles—for your strengthening, that is, so that I may strengthen you; for you
already have something but are still weak and wavering, and therefore need
spiritual grace for confirmation, through which you may be able to be firm.
I wish, I say, to impart to you something of spiritual grace for your
strengthening—that is, I wish that we may be mutually encouraged in you through
the faith that is in common between us, so that through the common faith we may
encourage one another and mutually rejoice in the grace of the Holy Spirit. For
now I am desolate and you likewise, though you do not feel it. But we shall
receive consolation—I and you—if I shall have seen my work in you firm and
stable, and if you are made partakers of apostolic grace. And thus we shall be
mutually consoled—I in you and you in me—through the faith that is in common,
that is, shared (which in Greek is 'catholic')—your faith and mine; so that if
I shall have seen your faith to be mine and mine to be yours, so that it is one
and the same—both yours and mine—then we shall be mutually encouraged.
Section 8: Paul's Debt to All Nations (Rom
1:13–15)
'I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that I have often intended
to come to you (and have been prevented until now) so that I might have some
fruit among you as well as among the rest of the nations. I am a debtor both to
Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as
is in me, I am eager to proclaim the gospel also to you who are in Rome' (Rom
1:13–15).
[Rom 1:13–15]
You are to believe that I have a longing to come to you, because, O my
brothers—sons of the same mother the Church—I do not want you to be ignorant
that I not only wished but intended to come to you, and this I intended often,
but could not yet accomplish it, because I have been prevented until now—up to
this time—either by the Holy Spirit or by members of the devil, placing many
obstacles before me, God so dispensing. I intended so many times to come to you
so that I might have some fruit of eternal reward among you, as also among the
other nations—that is, so that for the labor of preaching which I spend on you
I may have the fruit of heavenly recompense, as I shall have for the other
nations to whom I have preached up to now, from Jerusalem in a circuit through
all Asia as far as Illyricum where Europe begins.
By the example of these nations he provokes the Romans. Or: that I might
have fruit among you—that is, so that you, having received the seed of
preaching, may bear fruit in virtues and good works, because I count that fruit
as my own.
I wish, I say, to acquire such fruit among you, as also among the others,
because I am a debtor to all—God has made me debtor to all: to Greeks and to
barbarians, to the wise and to the foolish. The Greeks divided the whole human
race into two appellations, saying that every person is either Greek or
barbarian. For since the Greeks themselves lived according to laws, they called
all the rest as if living without laws 'barbarians.' And the Apostle is a
debtor not only to Greeks but also to barbarians; not only to the wise but also
to the foolish—because he was sent to preach to all.
He calls the Greeks wise, since all philosophy was among them; but he
calls the barbarians foolish, as it were unlearned. But how is he debtor to all
when he has received nothing from them—unless it is because through the grace
of the Holy Spirit there was given to him the ability to speak the languages of
all of them? For since one receives knowledge of tongues not for oneself but
for those to whom one must preach, one becomes debtor to all those whose
language from God one receives. He is a debtor to the wise by the fact that he
received wisdom in mystery hidden, which he would speak to the perfect and the
wise (1 Cor 2:6–7). He also became debtor to the foolish in that he received
the grace of patience and long-suffering, for it requires great patience to
bear the impulses of the foolish.
[1 Cor 2:6–7: 'We speak
wisdom among the perfect… wisdom in a mystery, hidden'; 2 Cor 11:19: 'you bear
with fools gladly']
And so the Apostle is debtor to the wise—to advance them to greater
secrets of wisdom—and to the foolish—to educate them—because he bears them
patiently for a long time until he may remove foolishness from them. The
righteous too can be designated by the name of the wise and sinners by the name
of the foolish. And the Apostle is debtor to the wise and to the foolish
because it is the preacher's duty to watch over the righteous lest they fall
and over sinners that they may rise; to admonish the righteous to hold the way
of justice, to correct sinners to abandon the way of iniquity.
'I am a debtor to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and to the foolish.
So also I am a debtor to you who are in Rome to proclaim the gospel'—because as
to others so also to you I must preach, since I have been sent to all. He is
silent about the Jews because he is the teacher of the nations. 'Which
proclaiming the gospel is ready in me'—because I am prepared and quick to do
this.
Section 9: 'I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel'
(Rom 1:16–17)
'For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For
in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written: The righteous shall live by faith' (Rom 1:16–17, citing Hab 2:4).
[Rom 1:16–17; Hab 2:4:
'the righteous shall live by his faith']
Therefore I am ready to proclaim the gospel, because I am not ashamed of
the gospel—that is, there is no shame for me from the preaching of the gospel,
as there was for some who were ashamed to preach Christ crucified, not
understanding that nothing is more worthy of God than what profits the
salvation of man. For it is a mark of great virtue and piety that the Lord for
the sake of the salvation of his image deigned to humble himself to the
suffering of the cross. Seeing this now, the Apostle says: 'I am not ashamed of
the gospel.'
And why are you not ashamed? Because the gospel itself is the power of
God—that is, what is proclaimed in the gospel, namely the cross and death and
resurrection of the Savior, is the power of God, though it seems foolishness to
unbelievers (1 Cor 1:23). For there is no greater power than to restore to a
man his lost life by conquering death. Such is the power of the gospel—namely
because it announces the power of Christ's victory. And it is power because it
confers grace, by whose help we can do what it commands. What the law could not
do, in that it was weak (Rom 8:3). It is power effective for the salvation of
everyone who believes, Jew first and then Greek—that is, Gentile. This gospel
avails for the eternal salvation of every believer, both from the circumcision
and from the uncircumcision. The Jew is set before the Gentile on account of
the fathers and because he first knew God—though he is not on that account more
worthy now—because the Lord had said: 'Israel is my firstborn son' (Exod 4:22).
[1 Cor 1:23: 'we preach
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles'; Rom
8:3: the weakness of the law; Exod 4:22: 'Israel is my firstborn son']
Truly the gospel is the power of God, for the righteousness of God is
revealed in it—which had been veiled in the Old Testament. Or thus: truly the
gospel avails for the salvation of every believer, for the righteousness of God
is revealed in it—that is, the righteousness of faith, which was covered in the
law. For the righteousness of God is that by which he freely justifies the
ungodly through faith, without works of the law (Rom 3:22–24). Which the gospel
reveals, giving faith to man by which he is justified who believes God just and
truthful in his promises—so that he rewards those who seek him and condemns
those who are negligent.
[Rom 3:22–24: 'the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ'; Rom 4:5: 'who justifies
the ungodly']
Righteousness, I say, tending from faith to faith—that is, from the faith
of the Old Testament to the faith of the New. For the people of Israel were in
faith, because they had believed God and Moses his servant. From which faith
they now pass over to evangelical faith. It is the righteousness, then, of one
who passes from faith to faith—that a Jew and whoever else may freely pass from
the faith of the old to the faith of the new covenant. For righteousness is
revealed from the faith of the law—where one God is proclaimed—to the faith of
the gospel—where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are manifested. From the
faith of the first coming of the Lord to the faith of the second. From the
faith of the first resurrection to the faith of the second. From the faith of
preachers to the faith of peoples. From the faith of Christ's humanity to the
faith of his divinity.
Thus in the gospel righteousness is revealed from faith—through which we
are saved—as it is written in Habakkuk: 'The righteous shall live by faith'
(Hab 2:4)—that is, whoever is justified by faith lives, that is, attains
eternal life. And so from faith comes righteousness and from righteousness
life.
Or: the righteous man lives meanwhile by faith while he is in this
pilgrimage, until arriving at the homeland he lives by sight. For the soul that
was dead through unbelief begins to live through faith. But the faith by which
one lives is that which works through love (Gal 5:6), since faith without works
is dead in itself (Jas 2:17). This however is understood of those who have time
to work. For if someone who has just been justified through faith in baptism
departs this life, he will attain life by faith alone without any works. But
one who has time to do good and neglects to do so presumes in vain upon faith.
[Gal 5:6: 'faith working
through love'; Jas 2:17: 'faith without works is dead']
That the Apostle said 'the righteous shall live by faith'—in the prophet
we read: 'the righteous shall live by his faith' (Hab 2:4). But the Apostle
used rather the translation of the Seventy interpreters, because he was writing
to Romans who did not know the Hebrew scriptures, and he was not concerned
about the words since the sense was safe and the present discussion would
suffer no loss from it—since also the Hebrews who had learned Greek letters
read the edition of the Seventy interpreters. Therefore both this and many
other testimonies he cites seem to differ from the translation of the Hebrew
truth which we now use, because sometimes he takes them from the Seventy
interpreters, sometimes—speaking in the same Spirit as the prophets—he takes
only the sense, using his own words and his own arrangement.
Section 10: The Wrath of God Against the
Pagans (Rom 1:18–32)
'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because
what is known of God is manifest among them, for God manifested it to them. For
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world, understood through
the things that are made, are clearly seen—his eternal power and divinity—so
that they are without excuse' (Rom 1:18–20).
[Rom 1:18–20]
He now turns to the Gentiles according to their former state—who boasted
of good nature and excused their shameful acts on grounds of ignorance—showing
that they had previously had knowledge and lost it afterward through fault, and
that the good nature left them by God itself had plunged into all evils.
As if to say: In the gospel is revealed the righteousness of God—not only
by which he justifies through faith those who do penance, but also by which he
condemns those who persist in malice. For the wrath of God—by which he justly
punishes the guilty, that is, the vengeance by which he will strike them—is
revealed in the same gospel as coming upon them from heaven. Or thus: from
faith comes righteousness and thence salvation, because from impiety comes
unrighteousness and thence wrath—that is, punishment. For the wrath of God is
revealed, etc.
He did not say 'is inflicted' but 'is revealed.' Where it is revealed it
is not yet inflicted—it is not striking but is revealed so as to terrify, and
that being terrified it may not be inflicted. It is revealed through the
gospel, which was previously hidden from human beings. The wrath of God is
revealed—that is, the retribution of the strict judge is revealed. It is
revealed from heaven, so that human beings may know they must expect not only
benefits but also blows from heaven. Or 'from heaven'—that is, from the
Church—the wrath of the future judge is revealed, since in the Church the anger
of the coming judge is made manifest to sinners.
This wrath will come over all ungodliness and unrighteousness of human
beings—to trample underfoot in punishments their perversity—of those who deny
the due worship to God and who live evilly in lust and other vices. For impiety
signifies unbelief, but unrighteousness signifies criminal conduct.
'The ungodliness of those people who suppress the truth of God in
unrighteousness.' Everything that can change is not the truth. The truth of God
is his invisible and unchangeable substance. Which they suppress in
unrighteousness—whoever through visible and mutable creatures have indicated to
human beings that the cult of idols is to be worshiped. The truth of God—that
is, that he himself is the true God—they suppress in unrighteousness, because
although they truly know that to the one Creator God the worship of highest
veneration is due, they unjustly render it to the creature. The truth of
God—that is, the true knowledge of God—they suppress in unrighteousness—that
is, in evil deed, preferring to dwell unjustly in their pleasures and being
unwilling for the truth of God, which offers itself to them spontaneously, to
withdraw from their iniquity—but even wishing to detain the very truth in their
wickedness if it were possible.
I said that they suppress the truth of God and do not allow it to reach
the knowledge of others, while they teach that idols are to be worshiped as
God. For they knew that very truth which they conceal from others, because
'what is known of God'—that is, what can be known of God by natural
intellect—'is manifest among them.' Many things are what cannot be known of God
by nature, such as the mystery of the incarnation and passion which was hidden
from the wise of the world. But this can be known of God naturally: that he is
God—because every creature shows that it is not God but that there is another
who made it, to whose service it must necessarily submit. Thus 'what is known
of God is manifest among them.' Or: manifest in them—that is, in their
hearts—though it may not appear outwardly in their deeds. For they have in
themselves the natural reason by which they may know him.
Truly it is manifest in them or to them because God manifested it to
them—not only did natural reason profit, but God daily assisted lest nature
alone seem to suffice. God manifested it to them through the work of creation,
because by natural genius they understood that this is not the Creator through
the creature. For the invisible things of him—that is, his eternity, power,
divinity, and omnipotence—are seen from the creation of the world—that is, from
man, in whom through a certain kinship all creatures are present, since he has
being in common with stones, living with trees, feeling with animals,
understanding with angels. From this creature of the world—from man—the
invisible things of God are seen, understood through the things that are made.
For if we attentively contemplate exterior things, through those very things we
are called back to interior ones.
For the vestiges of the Creator are the wonderful works of visible
creation, since through these things which are from him we go to him. For the
mind, scattered by its own power through external things, does not yet come to
know God from within—but while it sets forth the beauty of what it has made, it
as it were gives signs and shows what we should follow within, and in a
wonderful way through external forms leads us to interior things. The works of
creation considered are a way to the Creator, since when we see what has been
made, we marvel at the power of the maker. For wherever the soul turns, if it
is vigilantly attentive, in those very things it finds the Lord—through those
by which it abandoned him, and through those knows again his power—and through
the very things through which it turned away and fell, when converted it is
recalled.
For where we have fallen, we must press down there to rise. And as it
were there, rising up, we plant the hand of consideration where we were falling
with the slippery foot of love through negligence. For since we fell from
invisible things through visible ones, it is fitting that we lean on those same
visible things again to reach the invisible—and the soul should return by the
same step to the summit by which by its fall it came to the lowest.
Well, therefore, it is said that the invisible things of God are seen
from the creation of the world—that is, from man—understood through the things
that have been made, since through visible works the invisible maker is
understood. For so also the Gentiles—though they had neither law nor
prophets—knew God through visible creation, arriving at the understanding of
the invisible Creator. The invisible things of him from the creation of the
world—that is, from man, who is preeminent over every creature of the world—or
from creation—that is, from the constitution of the world—are seen, understood
through the things that have been made by him.
His eternal power and divinity—which are no less eternal—are similarly
known from the conjecture of creation. Power is that which governs all things;
divinity is that which fills all things. The eternal power of him can also be
understood as his Son, through whom all things were made and who never began to
be but is sempiternal—always eternal—with him; and divinity as the Holy Spirit.
Thus through visible creatures the invisible Father is understood, and
his eternal power which is the Son, and divinity, that is, the Holy Spirit—to
whom sanctification especially pertains. So that also the Gentiles, who did not
have the divine scriptures, are without excuse, since they were not ignorant of
the truth but were ungrateful to the very truth that had revealed itself to
them.
The Ingratitude and Idolatry of the Gentiles
(Rom 1:21–23)
'Because, having known God, they did not glorify him as God or give
thanks, but became vain in their reasoning and their foolish heart was
darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the
glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of the image of corruptible
man, and of birds and four-footed animals and reptiles' (Rom 1:21–23).
[Rom 1:21–23]
They cannot be excused of ignorance—as they were accustomed to claim—who
had indeed known God through nature. And though they had known him, they did
not glorify him as God by living well and worshiping him, nor did they give him
thanks for the knowledge of him which they had received through his gift. For
to glorify him was to worship him worthily and to proclaim him and to do his
will. And to give thanks—that is, to be piously grateful—so that they might
acknowledge that they had wisdom and all good things from him.
But they neither glorified him nor gave him thanks, but attributing to
themselves the wisdom they did not have from themselves and pretending to be
something when they were nothing, their understanding grew darkened little by
little and became wholly foolish in their reasoning—which they drew from
themselves, not from God. They became vain because they were empty and deceived
in their thinking, and the reason of their mind was obscured by the smoke of
pride while they gloried in themselves.
And truly they became vain. For claiming to be wise—that is, boasting as
if they had found wisdom by their own genius—they became fools; that is, their
foolish heart was darkened. For when certain of them had directed the keenness
of their mind not only to the study of arts and learning of the liberal
disciplines but also to the inquiry into the highest good, and had seen the
invisible things of God understood through the things that have been made—yet
not giving thanks to God nor confessing him to be the author of this faculty
for them, but saying that they were wise—that is, glorying not in God but in
themselves, as if by their own studies and reasoning they had approached the
contemplation of truth—they became vain in their reasoning and what they had found
by the illuminating grace of God they lost through blinding pride, relapsing
from the heavenly light into their own darkness; that is, from the unchangeable
and eternal good to the mutable and corruptible nature.
And they exchanged—not only in thought but also in deed, as much as they
were able—the glory of the incorruptible God, fashioning God in such a way as
he is not and not as they had known him, handing this over to men; but thinking
that images should be worshiped as God instead. They, while through the vanity
of their reasoning seeking forms and images in God, lost the image of God and
were plunged into such great darkness of folly that they turned the glory of
God into a bodily and corruptible likeness of human form and inclined the
eminence of divine majesty to the forms of brute animals.
They exchanged the glory of God—who is incorruptible and eternal—into the
likeness of the image of corruptible man, as if making the glory of God—that
is, the glorious God—like the image of man and worshiping that very image as
God. Not only into the likeness of man did they exchange the glory of God, but
also into the likeness of birds and four-footed animals and reptiles. From more
dignified creatures they descended gradually to less worthy ones, to show that
they had fallen into deeper darkness of folly.
It was a custom from ancient times for the Romans to worship images of
men—such as Romulus, Jupiter, and others—especially from the coming of Aeneas
into Italy. But of birds and four-footed animals and serpents from the time
Alexandria was conquered by Augustus and brought under Rome. For they had been
accustomed to worship the gods of all the nations they had subdued. Into such
vile forms, as said, they turned the glory of God.
God Gave Them Over — Threefold Punishment
(Rom 1:24–31)
'For this reason God gave them up—let them go—in the desires of their
heart to uncleanness to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged
the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than
the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen' (Rom 1:24–25).
[Rom 1:24–25; Wis 14:12:
'the beginning of fornication is the devising of idols'; 1 Chr 22:10 / Ps 89
(the eternal throne)]
To give up is said of God when he does not restrain the delinquents on
account of the freedom of will most prone to evil. It is also manifest that God
works in the hearts of human beings to incline their wills wherever he
wills—whether toward good through his mercy, or toward evil through their
merits—by his judgment, sometimes open, sometimes hidden, but always just. For
because of prior sins subsequent ones are multiplied. And God who long awaits
the sinner to return—when he does not return but persists in contempt—places
still another where he may stumble more gravely.
For sin which is not quickly wiped out through repentance is either sin
and cause of sin, or sin and punishment of sin, or sin simultaneously cause and
punishment of sin. For everything that is first evilly committed is sin. But if
it is not soon wiped away by repenting, by the just judgment of omnipotent God
the obligated mind of the sinner is permitted to fall also into another fault.
Sin, therefore, which is not dissolved by the lamentation of repentance is sin
and simultaneously cause of sin, since from it there arises that by which the
sinner's mind may be further obligated. The sin that follows from sin—that is,
from the second—is simultaneously sin and punishment of sin, because growing
blindness is generated from the retribution of the prior fault, so that the
very increase of vices are as it were already some punishments in the sinner.
And it never happens that one and the same sin is simultaneously sin and
punishment of sin and cause of sin. Which the Apostle demonstrates well in this
place, speaking of the unbelieving and dissolute: 'Having known God they did
not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their
reasoning'—behold: sin and cause of sin. From which cause what follows he adds:
'and their foolish heart was darkened.' 'Professing to be wise they became
fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness
of the image of corruptible man, of birds, four-footed animals, and
reptiles'—behold: it is sin only. And it would be punishment of sin if another
sin did not yet follow from it.
For after unbelief comes: 'For this reason God gave them up, etc.' Those,
therefore, who knowing God did not glorify him as God—from that cause and sin
they were led to fall into the worship of reptiles and birds. But since through
this blindness too they fell all the way to uncleanness of flesh and dishonors,
that same blindness of unbelief preceding became—both sin and punishment of the
sin of prior understanding—and cause of the sin of subsequent uncleanness. And
the merit of prior sin covers the pit of subsequent sins, so that one who
knowingly commits evil afterward justly falls into other things even
unknowingly. This indeed works such that faults are struck by faults, to the
extent that the punishments become the very increases of vices.
By merit, therefore, after the fault of idolatry is subjoined: 'For this
reason God gave them up, etc.' For God justly deserted them and permitted them
in their own wills—who had preferred idols before him—and as scripture says:
'The beginning of fornication is the devising of idols, and their invention is
the corruption of life' (Wis 14:12). He gave them up, therefore, on account of
idolatry—that is, by withdrawing his grace he permitted them in the desires of
their heart—that is, to fall into what their heart desired according to the
ardor of the flesh—desires tending toward uncleanness, that is, toward the
defilement of the flesh—even to the point that they dishonor their own bodies
with shameful acts, that is, they themselves apply their bodies in dishonoring
deeds. Dishonor is what is brought upon someone against the dignity of the
person.
They dishonored their bodies and this among themselves—that is, defiling
themselves alone without others. They thus dishonor their bodies—those who
exchanged the truth of God for a lie—that is, what is true of God they gave to
an idol, since as scripture says: 'They imposed the incommunicable name upon
wood and stones' (Wis 14:21). For the name of deity is incommunicable to
creatures, since the Creator alone is properly and truly called God. But the
Gentiles imposed this name upon wood and stone, since they established wooden
and stone idols to be called gods.
[Wis 14:12: 'the
devising of idols was the beginning of fornication'; Wis 14:21: 'the
incommunicable name imposed on stones and wood']
And not only did they exchange the truth for falsehood by estimating
idols to be gods (which is false), but they also worshiped those same
idols—lest they be said not to worship the images but their realities such as
the sun and things of this kind. They worshiped not the Creator but the
creature—not God but idols, carefully adorning the images of demons with golden
crowns and adoring them with bended knees and serving them by offering incense
and sacrifices—the creature rather than the Creator. It would have been better
to serve the creature, that is, idols and demons, than God who is blessed
forever—that is, eternally. Amen—that is, truly. Those who clung to him will
truly be blessed with him forever. But the Gentiles were made cursed and
temporal who abandoned him who is blessed forever.
The Punishment of Shameful Passions (Rom
1:26–27)
'For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their
women exchanged the natural use for that which is against nature. Likewise the
men also, abandoning the natural use of the woman, burned in their desire
toward one another—men with men committing shameful acts—and receiving in
themselves the due penalty for their error' (Rom 1:26–27).
[Rom 1:26–27]
I said that they served the creature. For this reason God gave them
up—let them go into passions, that is, into pleasures which, even if they
delight, are passions of nature. Behold again punishment. For the preceding
fault that they served the creature is the punishment of the subsequent
passions of shameful acts. Previously they were said to have exchanged the
glory of God into the likeness of images of birds and reptiles, yet he did not
say that they worshiped those. And for this reason they fell into the
uncleanness of flesh, God punishing them whose glory they had turned into
idols. Then, with the error increasing, they worshiped the idols themselves
which they had made and served them—as the Apostle says—and for that reason
they are punished by yet more detestable uncleannesses.
'God gave them up to dishonorable passions'—that is, into the ardors of
pleasures not to be named. For 'dishonor' is said as if 'without name'—it is
called dishonor because the one caught in some crime ceases to have the name of
dignity. And truly they were given up to dishonorable passions. For their women
exchanged the natural use—he did not say 'conjugal use' but 'natural,' wishing
to be understood that use which is in the members created for this, so that
through them the sexes can mix for generation. And because of this, even a
prostitute who mingles with those same members uses them naturally—though not
laudably but culpably. But using a part of the body not instituted for
generating—even if with one's spouse—is against nature and shameful.
Thus the women exchanged the natural use for that which is against
nature—because the women themselves performed shameful acts with women. Not
only did women fornicate against nature, but also the men likewise, abandoning
the women with whom they could naturally mingle, burned by iniquitous will in
their desires among themselves—generated by themselves. They burned with the
spirit of fornication mutually and fulfilled the most wicked desires in the
most shameful acts, receiving in themselves the due and congruent penalty for
their error—that is, the fitting vengeance for their sin of error. Therefore
the Apostle expressed those crimes so evidently so that we might recognize they
had lost the reason of nature—who became so mindless as to pervert all things to
their depraved end. For they could not maintain the order of nature who had
abandoned the Author of nature.
A Reprobate Mind and the Catalogue of Vices
(Rom 1:28–31)
'And just as they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, God
gave them up to a reprobate mind to do what is not proper—full of all
unrighteousness, wickedness, fornication, covetousness, malice; full of envy,
murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God,
insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
foolish, disorderly, without natural affection, without fidelity, without
mercy' (Rom 1:28–31).
[Rom 1:28–31]
They did the aforementioned evils, and because they wished to turn their
eyes still further, they fell into other things. For they committed the
abominations we have spoken of and did not see fit to approve the Lord—as they
could have proven by many reasonings that God has knowledge of these crimes—yet
they thought God was ignorant of them and neglected them. And just as from
their fault they thought this, so from that same fault it came about that God
gave them up to a reprobate mind, so that they would consider everything
reprehensible to be worth doing and though they were doing such things would
not know that they were working evil.
Or: not only did they do the aforementioned abominations, but also they
did not approve—that is, did not choose—to have God in their knowledge—that is,
to know him. One approves—that is, judges good and praiseworthy—to have God in
knowledge who through pious devotion strives always to have him in mind and as
present fears and reverences him and dares not sin. But this the Gentiles did
not do. And just as they did not approve of having God in their knowledge—that
is, so as to know him or to know that he knew the evils they were doing—God
gave them up—let them go—to a reprobate mind, so that they might now understand
only what is far from probity, to do those things that do not befit reason or
nature.
Doing what does not befit is doing those things that laws detest. Those I
say—not with a little unrighteousness but full of all unrighteousness—the parts
are enumerated when is subjoined: 'wickedness, fornication, etc.' For the genus
is put first and the species are conjoined, so that the Gentiles may be more
evidently accused and terrified.
Wickedness pertains to the mind, fornication to the flesh. For wickedness
is that by which one devises to harm another in whatever way. Fornication is
named from fornices—that is, from arched places in which prostitutes used to be
displayed. But in this place fornication is understood to signify whatever is
committed outside legal marriage. Covetousness is the insatiable love of
having. Malice is rashness or presumption when one dares what one cannot
accomplish. Or malice is said from 'nequicquam'—'for nothing'—and is the
defection of the good when one falls from the love of heavenly things and burns
in the love of earthly things. For thus it tends toward nothingness—that is,
toward vanity and non-being—withdrawing from the true being of God.
Envy is that which is tormented by another's happiness and is split into
a double passion: when one either does not wish another to be what oneself is,
or seeing another being better, grieves at not being similar. Murder is
composed from 'homo' (man) and 'caedes' (slaughter). And the Apostle
beautifully associated murder with envy, since envy is the first material of
this crime. For the first murder—both of the devil and of Cain—arose from envy,
and still sometimes murders occur through envy.
[Gen 4:8: Cain's murder
of Abel from envy; Wis 2:24: 'through the devil's envy death entered the
world'; 1 John 3:12: Cain was of the evil one]
Strife is where something is defended not by reason but by stubbornness
of soul, and where not truth is sought but animosity is worn out. Deceit is the
cunning of the mind—from the fact that it evades—for it does one thing and
simulates another. Deceit is hidden malice adorned with flattering words, when
the mouth sounds one thing and the heart conceals another. Malignity is an evil
will inflamed by evil fire, wishing to love no one and to work nothing to
deserve to be loved. Between malice and malignity this is the distinction: that
depraved thought of the mind is called malice, but the will or work of malice
is called malignity.
Whisperers are those who speak evil of another in someone's ear.
Slanderers are those who take away or diminish virtues from someone by their
words. The whisperer is named from the sound of his speech, since he speaks not
in someone's face but in the ear, secretly derogating. Slander is either
viciously to turn the well-done works of others into evil, or by envious
deceptive fraud to diminish them—when either things spoken of are called evil
when they are good, or small things that are great are said to be small. For to
slander is to drag down the good of another—that is, to incline and press, or
to take some of those goods from them so that they appear fewer or smaller than
they are.
But lest whisperers and slanderers seem to sin little, he immediately
added: 'Hateful to God.' For those are hateful to God who whisper evilly of
their neighbors or slander them. Or those hateful to God are called who sow
discord among friends. Whence Solomon testifies that there are six things God
hates and a seventh that his soul detests—and that seventh itself is the one
who sows discord among brothers (Prov 6:16–19).
[Prov 6:16–19: the seven
things God hates, including 'one who sows discord among brothers']
The insolent are those who are quick to injury by word or deed. Insolence
is a deed or word that is unworthy and unsuitable for the one upon whom it is
unjustly and insolently inflicted. The proud are those who judge themselves to
be more than they ought. For pride is the appetite for perverse elevation. But
perverse elevation is to desert that first principle to which the mind ought to
cling, and in a certain way to make oneself a first principle. This happens
when one pleases oneself too much—that is, when one falls away from that
unchangeable good which should please one more than oneself.
The boastful are those who exalt themselves beyond their measure, or who
do not acquiesce to the institutions of their superiors since they refuse to
bear a prior or an equal. Inventors of evil are those who discover new kinds of
sinning, or new torments with which to torture others, or new unjust laws, or
other evils, being the first to devise them. For those are accustomed to find
these things to be done in evil pursuits to whom it is not enough to do the
evils that their predecessors did or that they see their contemporaries still
doing.
Those who are disobedient to parents are more untamed than beasts, since
beasts are subject and acquiescent to their own parents. The foolish are those
who have withdrawn from the very font of wisdom which is God. And therefore the
disorderly, because every fool is disordered. The disorderly are so in bearing,
gait, and movement—for the discomposure of the body indicates the quality of
the mind. Those without natural affection have not the bowels of affection by
which they might be moved toward another, but carry a hard and insensible heart
toward love of neighbor. Those without fidelity flee the society of all and
wish to have no bond of concord and fellowship with anyone. Those without mercy
do not have compassion for the miseries of others. And all these evils were in
the Gentiles.
Section 11: Conclusion — Worthy of Death
(Rom 1:32)
'Who, knowing the justice 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 those who do them' (Rom 1:32).
[Rom 1:32]
Having done the aforementioned evils, and since they wished still to turn
their eyes to other things, they fell into other things. For they committed the
abominations we have spoken of, and they did not understand that those who do
such things are worthy of death. For through the fact that evil naturally
displeased them, they knew the justice of God. And though they had known it
thus, they did not understand that those who do such things are worthy of
eternal death. For if they had understood, they would have feared; if they had
feared, they would never have committed such things. For they lost the light of
understanding from the time they deserted the font of heavenly wisdom. And
therefore, though they did not understand, they cannot be excused—because by
preceding faults they had merited to be so blinded.
Lest they should be thought to be afflicted only with those punishments
in which they took delight—that is, the aforementioned shameful acts of
crimes—the Apostle adds the last punishment: eternal death. 'Worthy of death,'
he says, 'are those who do such things.' Here with great fear it must be noted
that he put among these things for which eternal death is acquired some which
seem slight—such as what whisperers and slanderers and the disorderly or
contentious do. 'Worthy,' he says, 'of death'—not only those who do such things
but also those who consent to those who do them, so that no one may be excused.
For there are some who do not think themselves guilty if they do not work evil
but consent to those who do. But consenting is if one is able to rebuke yet is
silent or flatters. But those who act and those who consent merit eternal
death.
Up to here the Apostle has made manifest—by detesting them—the vices of
the Gentiles, so that they may no longer excuse themselves for their former
conduct, but humbly recognize what they had previously been—lest they proudly
prefer themselves to the Jews, but may the more love God and become obligated
to his grace, the more and greater sins they consider to have been forgiven
them by him.
— End of Translation —
Index of Biblical References
The following scripture passages are quoted or clearly alluded to in this
commentary:
Old Testament
Genesis 4:8 — Cain kills Abel; the first murder born of envy (p.14)
Exodus 3:6 — 'The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' (p.5–6)
Exodus 4:22 — 'Israel is my firstborn son' (p.8)
2 Samuel 7:12–14 — The Davidic covenant (p.3–4)
2 Kings 23:34 / 2 Chronicles 36:4 — Joakim / Eliakim (p.1)
2 Chronicles 26:1 — Uzziah / Azariah (p.1)
Psalm 2:7 — 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you' (p.3–4)
Proverbs 6:16–19 — The seven things God hates, including the sower of
discord (p.14)
Ecclesiastes 1:1 — Solomon / Qoheleth (p.1)
Habakkuk 2:4 — 'The righteous shall live by faith' (pp.8–9)
Isaiah 11:1 — The shoot from the root of Jesse / seed of David (p.3)
Wisdom of Solomon 2:24 — Death entered through the devil's envy (p.14)
Wisdom of Solomon 14:12 — 'The beginning of fornication is the devising
of idols' (pp.11–12)
Wisdom of Solomon 14:21 — 'The incommunicable name imposed on wood and
stone' (p.12)
New Testament
Matthew 9:9 / Luke 5:27 — Matthew / Levi (p.1)
Matthew 19:28 — 'In the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the
throne of his majesty' (p.4)
Matthew 22:14 — 'Many are called but few are chosen' (p.2)
Matthew 22:32 — 'The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' (p.5–6)
Matthew 28:18 — 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me' (p.4)
Luke 1:35 — The Annunciation: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you' (p.3)
Luke 6:16 / Acts 1:13 — Judas Thaddaeus / Lebbaeus (p.1)
Luke 20:36 — 'sons of the resurrection' (p.4)
John 15:15 — 'I no longer call you servants but friends' (p.1–2)
Acts 9:3–6 — Damascus road vision (p.2)
Acts 13:2 — 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul' (p.2)
Acts 13:9 — 'Saul, who is also Paul' (p.1)
Acts 13:33 — 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you' (p.4)
Acts 17:28 — Paul at Athens, quoting Aratus (p.3)
Acts 22:17–21 — Temple vision: 'Go, I will send you far to the nations'
(p.2)
Romans 1:3–4 — 'born of the seed of David… predestined Son of God in
power' (throughout pp.3–5)
Romans 1:7 — 'Grace to you and peace from God our Father' (p.5)
Romans 1:8 — 'your faith is proclaimed in all the world' (p.5–6)
Romans 1:9–12 — God as witness; prayer without ceasing; desire to visit
Rome (p.6)
Romans 1:13–15 — Debt to Greeks and barbarians; eager to preach in Rome
(p.7)
Romans 1:16–17 — 'I am not ashamed of the gospel'; righteousness from
faith to faith (p.8)
Romans 1:18–32 — Wrath of God; the sins of the Gentiles (pp.9–15)
Romans 3:22–24 — Righteousness of God through faith (p.8)
Romans 4:5 — God justifies the ungodly (p.8)
Romans 8:3 — The weakness of the law (p.8)
Romans 8:11 — 'He who raised Jesus will give life to your mortal bodies'
(p.4–5)
Romans 8:30 — 'Those whom he predestined he also called' (p.2)
1 Corinthians 1:23 — 'Christ crucified, stumbling block and foolishness'
(p.8)
1 Corinthians 2:6–7 — 'Wisdom in a mystery, hidden, spoken among the
perfect' (p.7)
Galatians 5:6 — 'Faith working through love' (p.9)
Galatians 6:14 — Glorying in the cross (p.1)
Philippians 3:19 — 'Whose god is their belly' (p.5–6)
2 Corinthians 11:19 — Bearing with fools (p.7)
Galatians 4:6 — Spirit of adoption (p.5)
1 Thessalonians 5:17 — 'Pray without ceasing' (p.6)
James 2:17 — 'Faith without works is dead' (p.9)
1 John 2:15 — Do not love the world (p.5)
1 John 3:12 — Cain was of the evil one (p.14)
1 John 4:10 / 4:19 — 'He loved us first' (p.5)
1 John 4:18 — 'Perfect love casts out fear' (p.2)
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