Complexiones In Epistollis Apostolorum

M. AURELIUS CASSIODORUS, COMPLEXIONES ON THE EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLES.

EPISTLE OF SAINT PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, servant of Christ Jesus, called an Apostle, etc. He fittingly places his name before the Epistles, since he was writing to those absent; he also says that he was called an Apostle by God, as it was said to Ananias: He is a vessel of election to me, to carry my name among the Gentiles; and set apart for the Gospel of God, which he had promised beforehand through the prophets, concerning his Son, who was made for him from the seed of David according to the flesh; through whom he says he received grace, so that he should preach him among all the Gentiles. Thus he laid the foundations of the catholic faith in its very beginnings, like a learned architect, by his saving preaching. He also blesses the Romans, that they may receive grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; where the Holy Spirit must also be understood: since when one or two persons of the three are named, the whole Trinity is most fully known to be indicated; as in the Acts of the Apostles the blessed Peter says: And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts X, 48): although the Lord had said: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. XXVIII, 19; cf. Go, therefore, teach). It is read also in the above-mentioned book, concerning the Holy Spirit alone: John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts I, 5).

2.—I, 8. First indeed I give thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ, for all of you, and the rest. First of all he gives thanks to God, proclaiming the faith of the Romans, and he testifies that he prays for them continually; promising that he has a desire finally at some time to be able to come to them for the confirmation of the faith, which was already proven to be common to them: for he says that he has frequently desired to come to them; but he testifies that he was prevented by certain hindering causes: namely, that he might teach them more fully, as also the other nations to which he had been destined, with the truth of the New and Old Testament laid open; adding the example of Habakkuk the prophet, that the just lives by faith (II, 4). Nor should you be frightened by the sacred depths, because it is especially his intention that he himself subsequently explain himself.

3.—I, 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven over all impiety and injustice, and the rest. He says that the wrath of God has been made manifest upon those who, although they had come to know the supernal power through his creatures and his inestimable works, transferred the glory of the incorruptible God to corruptible creatures; that is, so that they resolved to worship men, birds, and four-footed beasts. These, while they reckon themselves to be wise, have been condemned by the blindness of folly: because everything deadly is born from that source, where the author of things has been abandoned by sacrilegious impiety. For in what way can fragile creation come to aid, if the omnipotence of the Creator is offended?

Up to this point the narration has concerned the offense; next follows the penalty of the sin.

4.—I, 24. For this cause God gave them over to the desires of their heart, and the rest. Here he now recalls what sort of penalty comes upon those who have withdrawn themselves from the worship of the Lord; namely, that those who have attempted to despise the incorruptible God, being left to the desires and uncleannesses of their own heart, defile themselves with mutual foulness: first, that they use women unlawfully against natural use; the males also themselves, torn by mutual corruption, are subjected to their own lusts and the other shameful acts that a blinded understanding invents: but not only those who do these things, but also those who consent to such persons, he condemns with like detestation.

5.—II, 1. For which cause you are inexcusable, O every man who judges, and the rest. He reproves those who judge others rightly and defile themselves with the same manner of life: for the patience of God bears with those who wander in folly; but whoever has confessed his sins receives glory and honor; but upon those who do not consent to the truth, tribulation and distress worthily follow; for there is no respect of persons with God, but only the quality of deeds is to be weighed; for not only are the hearers of the law pleasing to God, but rather the doers of the law shall be justified.

6.—II, 14. For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, naturally do the things that are of the law, and the rest. Since the Gentiles, who do not have the law, live ordered by a natural institution, the Jew, because he received the law and was unwilling either to understand it or to keep it, is held more deeply liable in the judgment of the Lord Christ; for it is not circumcision that makes anyone blessed, but life; especially since that cutting away of the foreskin is established to have been transferred to the circumcision of the heart, whose praise is not from men, but is established to be from God.

7.—III, 1. What then is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? To the Gentiles indeed, who had as yet believed very little, he sets the Jews before them; who nevertheless received the law of the Lord with devoted hearts; nor again can that void the divine precepts, if some of them were disobedient; for when they perish, the truth of the law remains: for he says that the sins of men commend the righteousness of God, so that when we do wrong, he is always proved most just in our condemnation; but those who say otherwise, their condemnation is just: wherefore he confirms that all Jews and Greeks are under sin. He proved this also by the example of the thirteenth psalm, saying that all flesh cannot be justified by the law, but by grace, which the coming of Christ the Lord proved, who bestowed on us, placed as we were in guilt, the gifts of his faith.

8.—III, 27. Where then is your boasting? It is excluded: by what law? Of works? No; but by the law of faith, and the rest. The boasting of the Jews, which they seemed to have through the law, he declares to be excluded by the law of faith, now that the Lord Savior has come: for a man is not justified by the law of circumcision, or other things of this kind, but by the law of faith: since there is one God of both the law and of faith. To Abraham also he adds an example, proving that he obtained the grace of the Lord not from works, but by faith (adding the testimony of the XXX psalm; confirming that those are blessed to whom sins have been forgiven), whom he shows to have been justified not in circumcision, but to have been in uncircumcision through faith. But his faith appeared evidently when, with the Lord promising, he did not doubt to believe concerning himself and Sarah, though aged, that a son, Isaac, would be born to him. Wherefore the righteousness will be like theirs, who have believed that the Lord Christ was both delivered up for human sins and raised again for the justification to be conferred on us.

9.—V, 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He admonishes those justified by faith to have peace with the Father, since through Jesus Christ his Son they have received the gifts of eternal salvation, and they who are in tribulations and straits always take increase of their hope. Since he says that Jesus Christ died for the ungodly, he promises much more that he will save from wrath those whom he deigned to justify by his blood. For when Adam sinned, it is established that death was inflicted on the human race, even on those who are known not to have transgressed the commandments of the Lord in the least, as Adam did; but just as through Adam death passed over into his descendants, so much more at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will grace and the gift of eternal life abound in many.

10.—V, 28. Therefore, just as through the one trespass it came upon all men unto condemnation, so also through the one righteousness it comes upon all men unto justification. He still persists in the same proof; for he says that through Adam the human race received death, but through the Lord Christ it obtained the rewards of eternal blessedness; and just as through the disobedience of one many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one many will be made righteous. For the law entered in, that the trespass might abound; grace came, that it might destroy perdition; and therefore he who is already dead to sins ought not to live in trespasses.

11.—VI, 3. Do you not know that all of us who were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized in his death? Just as every baptized person has died to his sins, so, with Christ rising again, he is renewed unto everlasting salvation; for the one who is acknowledged to have been planted together in the likeness of his death is declared to be, in the same manner, made a partaker also of the likeness of his life. For on that cross our old man was fixed, so that, renewed from that point, he might be born by the gift of the resurrection. For just as Christ died once to sin and lives in the glory of God, so we too, having died to sins, should live in his sanctification, because we are known to be no longer under the law but under grace.

12.—VI, 15. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law but under grace? and the rest. He says that faithful men must not serve sin, because they are no longer subject to the law but to grace; for just as formerly the members of the flesh served iniquities, so now, having become spiritual through faith, they ought to live in the holiness of their purpose. Indeed, whereas in the wages of the former life there was without doubt eternal death as its end, in this life, by contrast, perpetual joy is given, and security without end.

13.—VII, 1. Do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law), and the rest. In what way the law stands, he sets forth by a comparison of a man and a woman. For just as, when the husband is dead, a woman passes to another without guilt, so, when the law has departed, one has come to the newness of grace without fault: wherefore he now says that God must be served in glory [perhaps in grace], not in the oldness of the letter: for the law gave occasion to sin, which, by forbidding offenses, always shows disobedient men to be guilty.

14.—VII, 12. So then the law is indeed holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Since the law is spiritual, it is necessary that the flesh always offend against it: because by the vice of original sin, it is proven to pursue the concupiscence of the world, which is condemned: whence the Apostle professes that he has a desire for the good, but is drawn most of all by the covering of sin; on account of which difficulty the Lord Father sent his Son, who, having taken on the flesh of sin, might break the chains of believers.

15.—VII, 25. Therefore I myself serve the law of God with the mind, but with the flesh the law of sin. He says that he serves the Lord's law indeed by will, but with the flesh rather obeys sins; but those who do not walk according to the flesh receive forgiveness from the Lord: for this reason the Father sent his Son, so that taking the likeness of sinful flesh, he might dissolve the offenses of the world. For he says that the prudence of the flesh, which is hostile to the Divinity, works death; but the spiritual understanding, which is always acceptable to God, grants eternal life and salvation: whence one must live more in the Holy Spirit. He dwells in us then, when the power of the devil estranges itself from us. One must walk, therefore, in the holiness of one's purpose, since those who live spiritually, these are sons of God.

16.—VIII, 15. For you have not received the spirit of slavery again in fear, and what follows. He says that every perfect Christian has received not the spirit of slavery in fear, but the affection of adopted sons: since he calls him father whose inheritance he rightly desires with longing: for if we suffer with Christ, we shall also be worthy to be partakers of his glory.

But the present evils are far less than the future rewards; for these are temporal, those perpetual: for our creation groans and labors in birth, until it comes to that point where it may obtain the promised felicity: which he says it also does, although it is recognized that it has already received the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit, awaiting the redemption of its body, which is to be provided in the general resurrection.

17.—VIII, 24. For in hope we have been saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. He proclaims that the divine promises are to be awaited more by hope; since whatever is placed in future times is not seen by carnal eyes. But the Holy Spirit asks on our behalf with inexpressible groanings; that is, he makes us groan, so that we may be able to come to the promised rewards. But he says that those predestined are called, so that the Lord Christ may be the firstborn among many brothers: and lest fragile human hearts waver in such great hope, he says that the predestined are called, but he asserts that the called are justified, and he confirms that the justified are magnified. This argument is called climax, that is, gradation, which he also frequently takes up in what follows.

18.—VIII, 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? and the rest. He commends therefore in every way the mercy of the Father, who, in order to redeem us, did not spare his own Son: for what good thing could he deny us, who granted the author of all benefits? For he himself intercedes for us, who also sits at the right hand of the Father. There follows also a promise exceedingly abundant and full of affection, that no tribulations, no persecutions, no dangers, no powers of the heavens, neither things present nor things to come, can separate us from the grace of the Lord Christ, to whom he deigned to grant such great things.

19.—IX, 1. I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, and the rest. He testifies that his love for his carnal parents was so great that, what is the last of miseries, he would rather have been separated from Christ than see the Jews shut out from faith in the Lord: which Moses also is read to have said: Either forgive this people their sin; but if not, blot me out of the book which you have written. First, because they had been adopted into the glory of sons; then, because to them was given the obedience of the law, from which the patriarchs also came; and, what surpasses all honors, from them was born according to the flesh the Lord Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever.

He also says that the children of promise come to faith in Christ, not all the children of Abraham who were indeed born from his seed but did not share his faith. Examples are also given of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and the two brothers Esau and Jacob; but one of these is so shown to be chosen that, with no preceding merits, but by grace alone, he is seen to have been set before his brother, commending the free grace of the Lord through all things.

20.—IX, 14. What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God? By no means, and the rest. He confesses that all things are placed in the Lord's judgment, since it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. He also attaches the example of Pharaoh, because he justly carries out by his will whatever he ordains. From the things said above he also raises against himself a contrary question, which he resolves by the comparison of the potter, saying that he has power to make one vessel for dishonor and another for honor, lest anyone rise up against God's will with sacrilegious murmuring.

21.—IX, 22. But if God, willing to show his wrath and to make manifest his power, and the rest. He showed the patience of God, when he bore with the impious with great mercy, so that from both the Gentiles and the Jews he might choose holy men, whom he prepared for eternal glory; of this matter an example is given from the prophet Hosea. But the remnant of the Jews, by the example of the prophet Isaiah, he says will be converted at the end of the ages, which he also confirmed must be done by another example of the same prophet.

22.—IX, 30. What then do we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness. He says that the Gentiles attained righteousness through faith, not from works; for the Jews, believing according to the letter and not understanding spiritually, stumbled over the stone of stumbling, which is the Lord Christ; this is also proved by the example of the prophet Isaiah. Hence with civic affection he testifies that he prays for the Jews, for whom he bears witness that they indeed have a zeal for God, but do not have the knowledge of Christ, who is the end of the law and its completing perfection.

23.—X, 5. For Moses wrote that the man who does the righteousness which is of the law shall live in it. Moses says that if a man does the righteousness which is of the law, he shall live in it; and therefore let him believe that Christ the Lord was raised from the dead by the power of his might; for whether Greek or Jew, whoever has rightly invoked his name, and has not been confounded by sacrilegious doubt, shall be saved. But he denies that the obstinate Jew believes the Gospel, since he has despised to hear Christ himself, which is also confirmed by the examples of many.

24.—XI, 1. I say then: has God cast away his people? Far be it, and the rest. He does not say that the whole people of the Hebrews has been despised by the Lord, but that from them he daily chooses many who can attain to the joys of the kingdom to come; which he also confirms by the reading of the kingdoms; for just as he says that the elect have obtained the grace of the Lord, so he reports that the unbelieving have been deprived of heavenly light. This is also established as proven by the examples of Isaiah and David. But he records that the Jews indeed stumbled, yet not so as to perish utterly; if their offense, with Christ crucified, is the salvation of the world, and their diminishment the riches of the Gentiles, much more will their conversion be the immense joy of the blessed.

25.—XI, 13. For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, and the rest. The Apostle addresses the Gentiles, saying that he indeed wishes to lead the Jews to emulation of them; but he says the Gentiles ought not to boast that the Jews have been rejected because of their unbelief, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter in for salvation: for if the firstfruits of them are holy, it is evident that the lump is rather most holy: making a most beautiful comparison of the wild olive and the olive; because the grafted branch ought not to boast against that into which it is evident it was grafted: for if the Gentiles received an extrinsic benefit by the gift of the Lord, how much more can those also be restored by Him to their once-chosen origin!

26.—XI, 25. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, and what follows. He says that the Hebrew people was blinded in part for a time, so that the Gentile nations might enter into the Christian faith. But at the end of the world he declares that the people of Israel shall be saved by the mercy of the Lord, after the predestined multitude of the Gentiles has believed; for just as, when the Jews first received the law, the Gentiles did not believe at all, so also, when the Gentiles have been saved, the Jews are known to be about to believe: for God has shut up all in unbelief, that He might bestow the gifts of His mercy upon all.

27.—XI, 33. O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! and the rest. Filled with wonder at the Lord's dispensation, he truly exclaims that the things which the holy Trinity is shown to accomplish are incomprehensible: for from him, that is from the Father; and through him, that is through the Son; and in him, that is in the Holy Spirit, are all things; and to show that the unity among them is indivisible, he added, to him be glory for ever and ever [in the Vulgate "and ever" is absent]: therefore he entreats the Romans not to be captivated by the delight of the world, but to offer their bodies to the heavenly precepts. He also admonishes that all should be wise according to their own measure, which God has distributed to each according to his goodness; so as to abolish unlawful presumptions, whereby frail humanity especially sins.

28.—XII, 4. For as in one body we have many members, and the rest. Having made a comparison of members, he teaches that each one, according to the gifts bestowed, ought to serve Christ the Lord in the joining of the ecclesiastical body; laying down manifold rules as to how the faithful people ought to live. Finally he concludes all things in such a way that no one renders evil for evil, but injury inflicted is rather overcome by the repayment of good.

29.—XIII, 1. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, and the rest. He says that all ought to be subject to the powers that command justice, since power is given by God, and he who strives to oppose the judicial ordinance seems to wish to resist God, saying that such a one is reasonably feared by him for conscience's sake who is shown to be involved in some crime; for we also pay tribute for this reason, because we feel that we are subject to the rulers; for they are God's ministers when they punish crimes that have been committed.

30.—XIII, 7. Render to all their dues, and what follows. He says that every debt is indeed to be rendered through many enumerations, yet in such a way that affection always holds us guilty; for he fulfills all God's commandments who stands in love of neighbor, because guarded love of a brother is the fullness of the law. He also admonishes that we must rise from the night of this world, since the Lord's advent is near, whom we ought to await with good works, keeping watch; but he is known to await him who is shown to overcome the desires of the flesh.

31.—XIV, 1. Receive the one who is weak in faith, and the rest. He calls "weak" the one who is to be received gently in regard to the sacred Scriptures, and not to be contended with in strict disputation; teaching by comparison that some are to be refreshed with the juice of olives alone, others to be satisfied with the solidity of foods; and therefore one person ought not to despise another, but that one alone who truly judges should discern concerning all things: for the Lord is able to strengthen him more in the solidity of abstinence, who seems to us to succumb through the frailty of the flesh; for when he was dealing with fasts, he says, one judges between day and day (v. 5), so that certain of the faithful choose to abstain on the fourth and sixth day; but another every day, because many are found who purify themselves every day by the offering of fasting; but both do not cease to give thanks to their Lord.

32.—XIV, 7. For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself, and the rest. Removing unlawful presumptions from men, whether we die or live, he says it is to be referred to the Lord, who will judge the world: for he redeemed the human race with precious blood to this end, that he himself might be lord over all. An example from Isaiah is also given fittingly, that all things serve his command.

33.—XIV, 12. Therefore each one of us shall give an account of himself to God, and the rest. He reproves those who by glorying in their abstinence cause scandal to their brethren; saying that with the Lord nothing is in any way defiled, as he himself testifies: for it is not what enters into the mouth that defiles a man, unless perhaps that guilt falls upon those who declare the foods which God created for eating to be defiled; which the Apostle also says elsewhere, all things are clean to the clean, but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean (Tit. 1:13); for the kingdom of God is not known to be established in our food, but in peace and concord. For although to abstain is good, yet if it destroys love of a brother, it is certain to be sin: offering the example of the Lord's passion, as Psalm 68 says, that he endured reproaches, so that the merciful Lord might fulfill love of the brethren.

34.—XV, 4. For whatever things were written, were written for our correction. Whatever things have been set down in the sacred books, he says, were written for our correction and for the hope of the world to come: whence it is fitting that they bear one another's burdens, as Christ is known to have taken up ours: adding the examples of the prophet Isaiah and of Psalm 17, that all peoples ought to praise God the Father and Christ the Lord in common communion.

He also blesses the Romans and celebrates their faith with holy preaching; and he says that he must necessarily remind them, so that their offering may become acceptable to God through the Holy Spirit, who is proven to have been granted to them: thus, with the whole Trinity commemorated, the saving unity is made known to us.

35.—XV, 17. I have therefore glory in Christ Jesus toward God, and the things that follow. He says that he has glory in God, because his preaching, newly instituted when the Lord came, filled the Gospel of Christ from Jerusalem and the surrounding regions all the way to Illyricum (vs. 19). Then he blesses the Romans, promising them that after he has arranged certain matters in Jerusalem, he will come to them; and he asks them not to cease praying for him, so that, once rescued from the unbelieving Jews, when he has set out for Spain, he may be able to come to them and save them.

36.—XVI, 1. I commend to you Phoebe our sister, and the rest. To show that here too a good purpose is glorious, he commends and greets the most approved women and various brothers, whose holy works he celebrates with spiritual praise; admonishing them to avoid false preachers, lest these overturn hearts that have been well established: concluding his letter on the incarnation of the Lord with the same power of preaching with which he began.

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and the rest. With Sosthenes his brother he greets the Church of God which is established at Corinth, and all who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his custom, he preaches Christ at the very threshold, by whose will he was called to be an apostle, asking that grace and peace be granted to them by divine bounty: he wishes them grace, that they may receive the words of the Holy Spirit that are to come; peace, that they may rejoice in the virtue of unity.

2.—I, 4. I give thanks to my God always for you, and the following. First of all he praises their faith, and prays that they may persevere without fault until the coming of the Lord: beseeching them also to keep the firmness of the doctrine they have received, and not to think themselves subject to preachers, but to the one Lord Christ; since they know that they were baptized not in the name of Paul, not of Apollos, not of Cephas, but in the grace of Christ.

3.—I, 14. I give thanks to God that I baptized none of you, and the rest. The Apostle does not say that he baptized others besides Crispus and Gaius and the household of Stephanas, since he does not claim to have been sent to baptize but to preach the gospel. This is said on account of the greater part: for the sacrament of baptism was given to all the apostles to administer in common; hence it is to be understood that they accomplished some things for the salvation of those who desired it, since they were shown to be occupied in preaching. But he preached the gospel in the wisdom from above, not of the world; for it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching (as it nevertheless seemed to unbelievers) to save those who believe: for since those who are powerful and noble according to the flesh are few, God chose the lowly things, so that no flesh may glory in itself, but in the Lord Jesus Christ: as it is written in the prophet Jeremiah: He who glories, let him glory in the Lord (Jer. 9:24).

4.—II, 1. I, brethren, when I came to you, and what follows.

He says that he came to them not in weakness of speech but in the power of discourse, so that he might show his teaching to be not of the world but from above, in order that they too, forsaking worldly things, might ascend to the height of divine contemplation. He shows also how far heavenly wisdom is distinct from human wisdom; for if the Jews had received the prophetic words, they would never have preferred to crucify the Lord of glory. For the divine mysteries are deep; for just as a man's own spirit knows the infirmities that are in him, so only God himself knows the deep things that are in God. Therefore, in order to speak of God, he asserts that this was conferred on him not by the spirit of the world but by the Divinity, showing that the spiritual man judges all things, but he himself can be judged by no one—which he confirms by the example of the prophet Isaiah (v. 15).

5.—III, 1. And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal people. At the very beginnings, he says that he did not speak to the Corinthians in fullest measure of the mysteries of the Divinity, but rather, as to little children, gave them cups of milk; for since they do the things that are of the world, they prove that they could not yet receive perfect teaching, inasmuch as, thinking carnally, they said, "I am of Paul, I am of Apollos" [v. 4; Vulg., "I am of Apollo"], when the perfect faithful confesses himself to be a servant of Christ, not of a man.

For no one can owe to his preacher what he owes to God. But the works of men, which are nevertheless built upon the foundation of Christ, he says must be purged through tribulations and the various necessities of this world, as Father Augustine explained more fully in the book Enchiridion.

6.—III, 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? and the rest. He confirms that the baptized are the temple of God, since the Holy Spirit dwells in them, with whom nothing common ought any longer to exist alongside vices; especially admonishing that if anyone thinks himself wise in the world, he should rather have recourse to the divine knowledge, which truly makes men prudent and blessed; saying that all things are the faithful's, which he then enumerates in order; but the faithful are Christ's, and Christ is God's: which is said with respect to his humanity. He adds also that he does not fear to be judged by men; but lest he be thought to be puffed up, he says he is not conscious of his own good works; since all things are placed in the judgment of God, where the deeds of all are known with manifest clarity. But these things which he says above, he testifies that both he himself and Apollo his disciple were transfigured into, so that human presumption might not trust in anything in its own strength: desiring that they might reign in faith, so that with them he might rejoice in mingled charity.

7.—IV, 9. For I think that God has shown us apostles last, and the rest. Because of the Gospel of Christ the Apostle says that he is subject to various injuries and necessities, while his spiritual children are noble and happy in Christ: he asks that they persevere in every way in his paths, they who wished him to be the father of heavenly preaching to them; he reproves those who boasted, puffed up, of worldly glory, since the kingdom of God is placed not in empty speech but in power. He also threatens them, lest they force him to come to them under correction rather than in grace.

8.—V, 1. It is altogether reported that there is fornication among you, and such as is not even named among the Gentiles. He rebukes the Corinthians because they have among them those who are joined in marriage to their stepmother; since a little leaven corrupts the whole lump; but he judges that the one who committed such things is to be handed over to Satan for a time, for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may escape the punishments of eternal damnation in the judgment of the Lord. He also forbids even to eat with those who have resolved to conduct themselves in impious conversation; but he says they are to be removed from the midst, lest the rest be polluted by seeing such things: for it is fitting that brothers live by the established rules; but concerning those who are outside, the divine judgment has decided.

9.—VI, 1. Does any one of you dare, having a judgment against another, and the rest. He says that the judgment of wicked men is to be avoided, and rather that of the saints is to be sought, who will even judge the world in the future dispute. He then blames them because they do not endure the injury of their brothers, but rather rush against them with impious will. He also enumerates the vices to which those who cling to them do not come to the kingdom of the Lord—namely, those who persevere in such crimes even to the end of life: he says that fornication is altogether to be execrated, since it defiles our bodies, which are members of the Lord; for he who was bought at a great price ought no longer to serve the devil, but Christ.

10.—VII, 1. Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. He says that it is indeed a principal good in no way to have intercourse with a woman; but he admonishes married persons to abstain for a time, so that they may be free for prayers, and afterwards by consent to return to the use of their marriage, lest they be proved to be caught by the temptation of the devil; yet he proclaims that this is to be done according to indulgence, not according to command. For he wishes all to be abstinent, as he himself is; but if they cannot abstain, then let them be joined to wives: yet he does not say that those who have come together into one bond of covenant should be separated.

11.—VII, 12. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and what follows. If a believer has a heretical or pagan wife, he advises that she should not be abandoned at once, but corrected with diligent care; and he says that a devoted woman should do the same; for if either of them wishes to remain in depraved sects, then it is right that they be despised by the believer, since with the obstinate and the lost there can be no concord. He adds also that there is no salvation in uncircumcision or in circumcision, except in the commandments of God, which belong to the New Testament. Moreover he admonishes that whether a slave or a free man has been called to the faith, he should persevere in the catholic doctrine without any distinction of condition; since in the judgment of Christ a faithful servant is rightly preferred to an unbelieving master.

12.—VII, 25. Concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, and the rest. He indeed praises virginity, but he also permits marriage, showing that unmarried persons more easily think on spiritual things than married persons; yet he commands all not to love the things of the world, because the figure of this age will pass away at its appointed end. In like manner he admonishes parents, saying that first indeed is he who keeps his daughter a virgin; second, that he give her to a husband at the fitting maturity of time; but a woman who has been left by her husband, if she cannot abstain, let her marry; a remedy [leg.

For it is better to be joined in marriage than to be abandoned to the freedom of lust; yet he affirms that it is much better if they remain in widowhood. But he asserts that he preaches such precepts by divine counsel.

13.—VIII, 1. Now concerning those things which are sacrificed to idols, and the rest. He says indeed that idols are nothing, but that meats are permitted to be eaten which seem to be offered to such things; lest the weakness of the brethren fail to judge as abhorrent what it is established that the pagans do. And so it comes about that it returns to that error of the believers which gives a beginning to faults; wherefore he says that he will not eat forever whatever can scandalize his dearest brother: for on his account it is established that the Lord of the heavens was slain in the flesh he assumed.

14.—IX, 1. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? He says indeed that he is an apostle of those whom he had formed by sacred instruction; to whom there was power to receive foods and to be joined in marriage, as it was also free to the other apostles, who were joined to wives; but he says that he willingly endures all things, lest he seem to bring any stumbling block to the Gospel of Christ: for which reason he says that he does not wish to receive anything even from them, although it is known that it was permitted by the Lord; lest the glory of such great labors be emptied by such a compensation.

15.—IX, 16. For if I preach the gospel, it is no glory to me, and the rest. He says that he preaches the gospel under a kind of necessity, so that he may be shown to escape boasting; for he says that he is paying a debt, if he seems to wish to carry out what has been entrusted to him; for he says that he humbles himself to all, so that he might be able to gain them. For if those who run in the stadium do not cease from abstaining, so that they may receive human prizes, with how much greater zeal ought the crown of future blessedness to be sought? But he does not say that he runs in vain, nor that he beats the air with his fists; lest—what is more wretched than every misfortune—while preaching to others, he himself be found reprobate.

16.—X, 1. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud. He admonishes the Corinthians to recognize that the things done to the Jews in former times pertained to Christ the Lord; then, that they may dread their most grievous punishments, and that the new people may be kept away from similar faults; he also warns them that they ought not to tempt the Lord, but to hope, so that by the gift of his mercy they may escape carnal temptations—by whose mercy it is brought about that one escapes the crimes of this world.

17.—X, 14. Wherefore, my beloved, flee from the worship of idols, and the rest. Just as those who come together into one fellowship are partakers of the table of the Lord, so those who are joined in one superstition are partakers of the table of demons; and therefore those things which are divided by their distinct nature cannot agree with one another. Wherefore if anyone has said that it is a thing sacrificed to idols, for conscience's sake it ought not to be eaten; but if it has been unknown, let it be eaten in the name of the Lord. For it is written in the psalm (XXIII), The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. For whether one eats or drinks, or does anything else honorably, it is established that all things are to be done to the glory of the Lord. He also admonishes them that they should conduct themselves without offense, and please the Church, as he is known himself to have done.

18.—XI, 1. Be imitators of me, brothers [in the Vulgate "brothers" is lacking], as I also am of Christ, and what follows. The Apostle admonishes the Corinthians that, just as he is an imitator of Christ, so the faithful ought to imitate him. But this can come about if they seek that which can be proved useful for many, not for themselves: teaching that the head of the man is Christ, but the head of the woman is the man, but the head of Christ is God: which statement is rightly understood as spoken with respect to humanity, so that, when such a distinction is recognized, all things may be weighed in their proper order. He also persuades men that they ought not to pray with the head veiled, since to be subject to God is a mark of freedom.

But the Lord commands women to pray with their head covered, so as to declare that they are subject to their husbands.

19.—XI, 16. But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom. He indeed declares that the contentious person does not love the people of God, saying that the ecclesiastical assembly has the desire of peace, not the pursuit of quarrels; yet he says that there must be heresies, so that those who are approved may be made manifest among them by clear purity. He also reproves those who, not enduring the assembly, desire to hold the celebration of the masses individually, giving as an example the Lord's supper, in which he gave the rule of faith not to individuals but to all the apostles together.

20.—XI, 27. Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself. He says that one who is conscious of right faith and good works ought to receive it, lest he seem to seek not so much the remission of sins as his own condemnation; for if we judge ourselves, we are absolved in the judgment of the Divinity. Wherefore he says that in the celebration of the masses one must be borne with by the other in the zeal of charity; for if they were seen to ascend with reverence to mute idols, how much more ought they to come together to the true God without blasphemies and contentions, with a most pure mind? For the Lord Christ is not to be approached with blasphemies, but is to be honored in the Holy Spirit with great zeal of devotion.

21.—XII, 4. But there are divisions of graces, the same Spirit, and what follows. Although the divisions of graces are many, he nevertheless confirms that there is one Lord, the author, who works all these things in all. He also proved this by the example of the members and the body, saying that the eye performs one function, the hand another, the foot another; but they are joined to one another by mutual intertwining. So in the Church of God, although there are many offices of holiness, through the union of charity all things are known to be necessary to one another.

22.—XIII, 1. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and the rest. In this chapter he commends charity above all, so that he recalls that no virtue is of profit without it; he also defines what charity rejects and what it follows; for although other gifts, that is, faith and hope, will cease in the future age, charity alone remains forever: which he says must be awaited in every way.

23.—XIV, 2. For he who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God, and the rest. Between the knowledge of tongues and prophecy he says there is a great difference: since the knowledge of tongues is not known to all, whereas prophecy instructs the churches and edifies those who understand with heavenly gifts, setting forth examples of musical instruments, because unless what is played on pipes or trumpet is understood, no profitable hearing can be had: teaching by many proofs that prophecy is greater, to which he admonishes them to devote themselves more than to the manifold quality of diverse tongues.

24.—XIV, 13. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret, and what follows. He still lingers on the same distinction to be made, teaching by many proofs that the interpretation of the Lord's discourse is more useful than the manifold utterance of tongues; asserting that the prayer which is brought forth without understanding is not profitable: so also heavenly doctrine, if it is not understood, is thought by many to be madness; for if any unlearned person hears one prophesying and understands what he says, then he falls on his face and publicly declares that the Lord has truly spoken through him.

25.—XIV, 26. What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you, and the rest. He says that by men who teach in the church great care must be taken that they should instruct their hearers in the divine commands. But if the word of God has been revealed to anyone of those sitting, he declares that he too is not to be neglected, since he asserts that the interpretations of the prophets are prophecies: for he says that the understanding of the prophets is subject to the prophets. He also forbids women to speak in the church because of the weakness of their sex; but what they do not know, he instructs them to learn at home from their husbands, so that, composed by such a law, they may obtain both knowledge and the gifts of modesty.

26.—XV, 1. But I make known to you, brothers, and the rest. Briefly he makes known the Gospel, which he had preached to all: for he says that he handed on to all that Christ died for our sins, and that on the third day he rose from the dead; who, although after the resurrection he was seen by many brothers, he reports that he was also seen by himself, as by the least and one born out of due time: commending the grace of the Lord concerning himself with very great humility, by whose rising the resurrection of the dead ought not to be denied; since all holy doctrine is destroyed if this belief is taken from human hearts: comprehending in a most beautiful definition that the resurrection is the firstfruits of those who sleep in the Lord.

27.—XV, 21. For since indeed by man came death, and by man the resurrection of the dead. As he says that men died through Adam, so through Jesus Christ will come the resurrection of all the dead. But death will be destroyed at the end of the age, when the Lord Christ shall come: he will always be subject to the Father by the nature of the humanity he assumed, after all things have been made subject to him, so that God may be all in all (vs. 28). But those who do not believe these things, as the apostle John says, will be reckoned under the name of Antichrist. He also sets before them the words of those who doubt, asking in what kind of body he who has died will rise: and this he destroys by a comparison drawn from the sowing of wheat, saying, If a grain of wheat falling into the earth is reborn renewed, how much more must the bodies which have died be restored by the command of the Lord!

28.—XV, 39. Not all flesh is the same flesh, and the rest. First he makes a distinction of all flesh; then by a separation he distinguishes heavenly and earthly bodies; lastly, by a marvelous account he foretells how greatly the nature of men, made better through Christ the Lord, will advance in that resurrection: describing the mystery of his own resurrection with undoubted proclamation. He also admonishes them that, considering these things, they persevere in the faith they have received and in good works.

But he instructs that the collections which were being provided for the needs of the saints be made according to custom before it should happen that he come to them himself: commending some brothers, greeting others, and so that he might most perfectly strengthen the hearts of the believers, he pronounces anathema at the future coming of Christ upon him who does not love the Lord Christ: greeting them, and concluding the present Epistle with his customary blessing.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and the rest. With Timothy his brother he writes to the Church of God which is established at Corinth, embracing at the same time those also who throughout all Achaia were persevering in holy purpose; asking that grace and peace be granted to them from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: for when these are named, the Holy Spirit also has been abundantly mentioned; for when one person of the Trinity is named, he most fully embraces the whole Trinity.

2.—I, 3. Blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the rest. He says that he was consoled by the Lord in all his tribulation, so that he too might in like manner console those placed in calamities; and therefore he writes to the Corinthians, that just as they were companions in suffering, so they might be deemed worthy to share in the consolations of Christ. He also reports the evils they endured in Asia, giving thanks to God that through their prayers he was delivered from so great a disaster for the instruction of the peoples; whence the faithful also ought to rejoice over the prosperity bestowed.

3.—I, 12. This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience, and the rest. He calls the testimony of his conscience his glory; since he testifies that he conducted himself in this world not in carnal wisdom but in the grace of the Lord: saying that his boast is the Corinthians, just as he was also approved as their apostle: promising indeed that he had often wished to come to them, but it was not from levity that what he promised was by no means fulfilled: for every word of his preaching among them, after the example of the Lord Christ, was steadfast, not doubtful. But yet, lest he attribute anything to his own powers, he says that it is of God's Son Jesus Christ that they were confirmed in all things: for he it is who both anointed the preachers and sealed the hearts of the believers.

4.—I, 23. But I call God as witness against my soul, and what follows. The Apostle says that he spared them by not coming to Corinth, lest he be burdensome to those who were to be blamed with some reproof; but their sorrow is the cause of eternal salvation, since then disciples become most pleasing to the Lord when they profit by the correction of their teachers. Teaching patience as well, he asks that pardon be granted to the one who is known to have grieved him, promising that he has therefore forgiven him, lest he perish in despair, but rather, being converted, escape the snare of the devil; for he says it is clear to him by what great deceits the devil's thoughts destroy those who are deceived.

5.—II, 12. But when I had come to Troas for the Gospel of Christ, and the rest. He says that grace was given to him by the Lord at Troas and in Macedonia, so that the crowd of the faithful might follow the Gospel of Christ: that he was to some the odor of death unto death, to others the odor of life unto life, drawing a likeness from animals, which reach the things they desire by the keenness of their nostrils; saying that those are rather his letter who held the things he preached, written in their hearts (III, 2). Yet he does not claim that he is sufficient for such things, but trusts in the Lord's mercy, who made him fit, with the truth of the New and Old Testament laid open; understanding not according to the letter, but knowing all things spiritually; since the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

6.—III, 7. But if the ministry of death, formed in letters on stones, was in glory. He compares the tablets written and given through Moses with the hearts of those who believe rightly, saying that those former things were emptied out by the fullness that was to come, though they were held in honor until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But far more will these things be most firmly established in eternal praise, which have been written in the hearts of the faithful by the power of the Holy Spirit. He confirms this with the argument that follows; and therefore he says that one must persevere in this gift, so that by the truth of preaching we may be acceptable to God and to men.

7.—IV, 3. But if our Gospel is also veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing. He says that the hearts of the foolish Jews are veiled, for whom the gospel affection does not shine forth. For what are those to be said to see, for whom Christ the Lord, the image of the Father, does not shine brightly? For believers, although they endure very frequent hardships, are nevertheless known to overcome all things with God providing; and just as they undergo afflictions for the Lord's sake, so will they be placed with him in eternal glory. Therefore one ought to seek his death with longing, so that we may also deserve to receive the rewards of life; for the Apostle says that he underwent all dangers, so that with them he might deserve to rise again in that recompense of the Lord.

8.—IV, 16. For though our outer man is corrupted, the inner man is renewed from day to day. He says that the outer man in us is corruptible, but confirms that the inner man can be renewed from day to day, when one devotedly draws near to the doctrines of the Christian faith. Yet this outer man, although in this world he lies open to harsh necessities, nevertheless in that resurrection, advanced by great hope, he exults; and therefore, as long as we are strangers in this world, let us please the Lord, so that in his judgment we may deserve to be absolved; where man will receive his deeds, whether good or evil, in just recompense.

9.—V, 11. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but to God we are manifest. The Apostle says that he is manifest to the hearts of the Corinthians, not for empty glory, but that he might declare himself by truthful speech. He also preaches that the Lord Christ has risen from the dead, so that he might reconcile to God the lost world: for he took upon himself the flesh of sin for us, that we might be set free and restored by the gifts of grace. And therefore the Lord must be sought with confidence, since it is written in the prophet: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you; for such a one promises, so that we cannot be cut off.

10.—VI, 2. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation, and what follows. What the coming of the Lord is, is defined with great brevity. For he says: Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation: for which reason he says that no occasion of offense is to be offered to anyone, but that anything whatsoever, even that, is to be endured patiently; so that a holy people may be acquired for the Lord: wherefore, to stir up the rest, he duly enumerates the calamities of his sufferings: exhorting them that they have no portion with unbelievers; making a great distinction between dissimilar things, since darkness and light can in no way agree. This too he confirmed by the example of Numbers and Isaiah.

11.—VII, 1. Having therefore these promises, dearest ones, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh. After the promises have been received, he persuades the most faithful to cleanse themselves from carnal vices and to persevere in sanctifications, rejoicing exceedingly that he felt them, brought to repentance, to be sharers both in his sufferings and in his faith: adding, with a necessary distinction, what the difference is between the sorrow that is according to God and the sorrow of the world: the former produces repentance, the latter drives to death: for how much those who have been made sorrowful for the Lord's sake have profited, he declares in the following enumeration.

12.—VII, 12. Therefore, even if I wrote, it was not because of him who did the injury, and the rest. He says that he wrote, not accusing anyone, but making his solicitude known to them, signifying that it was pleasing to him that they had obeyed Titus the brother and had received him with a kindly mind; also provoking the Corinthians to emulation, he praises the Macedonians, because though poor in wealth, they were filled with abundance of faith; and lest praise from another should again sting them, since they excelled in many virtues, he nevertheless says that they were filled with zeal for charity; and therefore he exhorts them that they not appear unequal to any in making the collection.

13.—VIII, 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what follows. Still he persuades them in this way to zeal for the collection, saying, since the Lord, rich in himself, became poor for us, with how much greater desire ought we to give what we know that divinity has conferred on the human race? And therefore let each one offer according to his strength, and not constrain himself by any necessity; for that alms is pleasing to God which is proven to be offered without weariness of mind. He also praises Titus because he did not delay to come with another brother to build them up; who, in order that he might be well received, was praised by him. But he says that he does not wish to receive the collections himself for this reason, lest some scandal of giving arise before men and God.

14.—VIII, 22. But we have sent with him our brother, whom we have often proved. Again he admonishes that, with those who have been sent present, the appointed collection be prepared; lest their previously proclaimed generosity perhaps be found to be otherwise: saying that their devotion had stirred up very many to imitation of good; setting down a wonderful rule of almsgiving: that each one reap from it only as much as he appeared to have sown by his generosity. Moreover, a Davidic example is furnished for this matter.

15.—IX, 10. He who supplies seed to the sower has also supplied bread for food. He still treats of the virtue of almsgiving, saying that God repays far more abundantly than the givers of money are able to give to the needy; for even those who receive confer greater things by their prayers than they were able to receive. He says that he indeed walks in the flesh, but he does not assert that he serves the flesh: since he declares that he wishes to destroy the superstitions of the world, so that all things ought to serve the true Lord: admonishing that worldly flatteries and blandishments are to be guarded against in every way.

16.—X, 7. "Consider: if anyone trusts in himself, let him think this again within himself," and the rest. He forbids a man to regard himself as singular before God, but rather let him recognize that he is a member of the Church. Yet if he should wish to glory a little in the power granted for the edification of all, this does not seem absurd; for the honor of the teacher is greater than the devotion of the disciple can be. He also answers those who dispute about him, that the letters sent ought to be judged such as his presence in completing the work can be: but he affirms that those alone are to be praised who are commended not by themselves, but by the Lord.

17.—XI, 1. "Would that you could bear with a little of my foolishness," and the rest. He begs that his foolishness be borne with, since by the zeal of Christ he desired that peoples be won; for he says that the people were espoused to the Lord Christ in the figure of the Church; but he fears lest, with the devil seducing them through false preachings, they be perverted from the rule of chastity. He also asserts that he was burdensome to them at no expense, showing in passing what kind of man a preacher ought to be; he also enumerates his sufferings and deliverances; not that by boastfulness he should presume upon vices, but that, knowing such things, they might more willingly submit themselves to Christ the Lord.

18.—XII, 1. "But I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord," and what follows. He comes to wondrous visions and excellent revelations, in which he says he was caught up to the third heaven and knew secret words in paradise which it is not lawful for a man to speak. Yet he says he wishes to glory not in these visions, but rather in his infirmities, so that the power of Christ may always be increased in him. Enumerating also various calamities, he asserts that he labored no less in them than the other apostles in the holy faith, although it is known that he received no support from them in any way, so that this matter, once recognized, might increase in him a greater zeal of charity.

19.—XII, 14. "Behold, this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you." He says indeed that he is ready to come to them, but nevertheless presumes nothing from their means, teaching that children should not lay up treasure for their parents, but rather parents for their children. He also admonishes them to live corrected in the Lord, lest when he comes he mourn those whom he has known to have served the devil. He also threatens the Corinthians with his rebukes, because even if Christ died in the flesh, he nevertheless lives in the eternal glory of his divinity, just as all live in him who have preferred to believe in him with a pure mind. Then he says that each one ought to test himself and judge himself in the faith, whether he can be joined to Christ the Lord; for that one is recognized as belonging to him who is not held to be reprobate.

20.—XIII, 7. "But I pray to the Lord that you do nothing evil," and what follows. He says that he prays that the faithful people may appear glorious before the sight of the Lord; not that he himself may be praised for their correction, but that the Lord may rather be praised for his own goodness. He says that he bears it most gratefully when, on account of his sufferings, he is found weak and lowly, while they are seen as noble and powerful in Christ the Lord. Then he says that he writes such things deliberately, lest, when present, he should seem to rebuke the people of God harshly. He greets the holy people, and joins the greetings of the Churches with the zeal of charity, also granting a blessing to the people with his customary piety.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, an apostle not from men, nor through men, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. When he says that he is an apostle made not by men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, he destroys those who were calling themselves apostles by human presumption; for in those times the Churches were being violently disturbed by false preachers, which he greets together with all the brothers who were with him; and in that very greeting he blesses them, so that they may be proved fit to receive the words of the Lord. And note that the whole Epistle is set forth against false preachers, who were asserting that even those already baptized must be circumcised.

2.—I, 6. I marvel that you are so quickly being transferred from him who called you, and the rest. He rebukes those who, seduced by false preachers, were straying from the rule of faith they had received, decreeing that if anyone wishes to preach another gospel besides that which was established as having been preached by him, let him be anathema, asserting that his revelation was not human, of course, but divine. He proves this more abundantly by the contrary will of his former life, so that he who had first been a fighter against the Church, corrected by the will of the Lord, might appear devoted to his precepts. He says that he also came from Jerusalem to see Peter and James; then that he set out for Syria and Cilicia; and that he returned again to Jerusalem to set before them the Gospel which he was preaching among the Gentiles. But those who were striving to confound the peoples by false preaching, he says are in the present convicted, so that the truth of the Gospel might appear by manifest proofs.

3.—II, 6. For those who seemed to be something conferred nothing on me, and the rest. He says that he did not receive the Gospel of Christ from the brothers, but that it was bestowed on him by divine inspiration; for this reason he reports that Peter, James, and John gave him the right hand, so that they should preach to the circumcision, but he to the uncircumcision. For he also states that he resisted Peter at Antioch, saying to him: If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how do you compel the Gentiles to judaize (vs. 14)? So that both Hebrews and Gentiles might be brought to the grace of faith, not to the strict requirements of the law, which no human being could fulfill. Hence Peter showed an example of great meekness and patience, in that so great and such an apostle, when rebuked, corrected himself [it seems rather to be supplied], rather than excusing himself in a human manner with shameless allegations. For he says that he preached grace, and he also commanded that grace be kept, lest the death of the Lord Christ appear vain and emptied.

4.—III, 1. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? and the rest. He rebukes the Galatians because, although they had received the teaching in the grace of Christ, and had seen him crucified before their own eyes through the apostolic preaching, they had turned back again to the works of the law; and he will prove by the examples he sets forth that this is contrary to the Christian faith. But the Son of God was crucified in the flesh for this reason, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law, and that the promise to Abraham might be fulfilled for those who believe in Christ; for he says that the promise was made to Abraham not in his seeds, but in his seed, so that he might clearly show that the promise was proclaimed in the Lord Savior. For if the inheritance were from the law, which was made four hundred and thirty years later, it would certainly not be from the promise that came before; but since it is established that the promise was made to Abraham long ages before, it is clearly evident that this inheritance did not come from the law, but from grace; for God has shut up all things under sin through the law, so that, when Jesus Christ came, the inheritance might be given by faith.

5.—III, 24. Therefore the law was our pedagogue in Christ, and the rest. By this he says that until the Lord's advent the fear of the law was our pedagogue; but after baptism came, he made sons for himself without distinction of sex or of any condition: proving by various arguments that they ought not to return to the servitude of idols, from which they were already shown to have departed. He also admonishes them not to yield to false persuaders, since they had both shown the greatest favor to the preacher and know that they have been well instructed: hence they act prudently if they strive toward better charisms, and, in the Apostle's absence, make progress through divine instruction.

6.—IV, 19. My little children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you, and the rest. He still reproves those who wish to be under the law rather than under grace, setting before them that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, who was subject to the flesh, and the other by the free woman, who is known to have been born according to the promise: the former belongs to the law, the latter to the grace of faith. Why, then, do they wish to choose the worse, when they know they have received the better? By examples and sentences he proves the grace of faith to be far better than the presumption that is in the law: wherefore they ought to cast off unlawful persuasions, lest by the leaven of iniquity a vicious corruption spread through the whole mass.

7.—V, 10. I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will think nothing else, and the rest. He says that he has confidence in them, that they are unwilling to hear false preachers any longer, persuading them not to love wicked contentions, but to seek God the Lord in one fellowship, since every law is proved to be fulfilled in one saying: You shall love your neighbor as yourself; wonderfully revealing to them the vices of the flesh and the spiritual virtues; admonishing them that they ought to walk in grace rather than in the presumption of the law.

8.—VI, 1. Brothers, even if a man has been overtaken in some fault. He admonishes that a fitting gentleness be shown to fallen brothers; for thus we fulfill the law of the Lord, if one bears the burdens of another. It follows also that the one who has been catechized should respond to the one who catechizes with probity of character; so that those to whom ears are opened ought to share the doctrine of faith with their teachers: adding, he who sows in the flesh shall reap corruption; but he who sows in the spirit shall reap eternal life. Therefore good things are to be done toward all, but kindness is especially to be bestowed on those of the household of faith; since the fruit of labor is received in the future judgment.

He also explains that false preachers wish to creep in among them to such an extent that they make void the cross of the Lord Savior; for the Apostle glories in that cross through which he himself is crucified to the world and the world to him; for in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but only the renewed perfection of man through faith. But he declares that he bears the marks of Christ, that is, the standard of the cross, which he endured in various sufferings, concluding his Epistle with a most holy blessing.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and the following. He says very frequently that he was called an apostle by the will of the Lord, in order to destroy those who sought this honor by human presumption. He writes therefore to the saints and faithful at Ephesus, adding his customary blessing with fatherly charity, so that they may obtain grace and peace from the Father and Christ the Lord; where nevertheless the holy Trinity is perceived with religious devotion.

2.—I, 3. Blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what follows. First he gives thanks to God the Father, and to our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose will he says he was predestined an apostle: he celebrates with manifold praise the grace of their unanimity, asserting that the Ephesians also were filled with the same munificence. Wherefore he declares that he prays that they may receive the excellence of faith and the greatness of revelation, so that they may know the secrets of so great a mystery, and understand through the truest faith that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, whom he set above every principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and the rest which are proclaimed concerning him in wonderful narration.

3.—II, 1. And you, when you were dead in trespasses, and the rest. He now again teaches those things which he first wished them to know; because they had been dead in their sins under the devil, but now they are proved to have been made alive in Christ: asserting that this was conferred not by human merits but by divine grace: persuading most distinctly that this is to be believed, this is to be held; for those who formerly were among the nations, placed so far off, have now been made near in the blood of the Lord Christ; who, joining the two dissenting peoples of the Hebrews and the Gentiles into one new man through his cross, bound them with the bond of peace; offering access through himself to the Father in one Spirit, in one faith, to those who believe.

4.—II, 9. So then you are no longer strangers and pilgrims, but you are citizens of the saints, and the rest. He says that they were built up in Christ the Lord, in whom also his apostles and prophets are shown to have been built: which indeed seemed unknown to the Gentiles before, but in the Holy Spirit it is established that it was revealed to the faithful. He declares that this dispensation has now been entrusted to him, so that the Gentiles might become co-heirs with the blessed who came before, in the blood of the Lord and Savior; whose minister he says he was made, so that through the whole Church the blessed preaching of the holy Gospel might run abroad: whence he asks of the Lord that the faith of those who are known to have received such rewards may not be able to fail.

5.—III, 14. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the rest. He says that he asks God the Father on their behalf, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named, that Christ may dwell in their hearts; so that they may be able to comprehend what are the great works of the Lord and the love of Christ. He also entreats them that with patience and humility they may persevere in the rule of faith they have received, and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: for of right faith there is one fellowship, and one God. Adding that the Son of God gave various gifts to his saints, namely for the building up of the Church, until the future resurrection shall come; in which we shall all rise again to the measure of the age of Christ, but in different sex.

For when the Lord says in the Gospel, "In the resurrection they will not marry, nor be given in marriage" (Matthew 22:30), he plainly shows that males can rise again together with females.

6.—IV, 17. "This I say again, and testify in the Lord," and what follows. He exhorts them that, just as they did before, they should not walk in the vanity of the nations, describing the blindness in which the other nations are entangled; but in the wisdom by which they were called, let them put on the new name, which is known to have been created according to God: setting forth distinct and clear enumerations of both kinds of things, both those to be avoided and those to be pursued. Wherefore they ought to imitate the Lord Christ, who offered himself in the odor of sweetness for the salvation of all.

7.—V, 3. "But fornication, and all uncleanness, and covetousness, let it not even be named among you." With perfect teaching he forbids harmful things and persuades to useful things; for just as he declares that vengeance comes upon crimes, so too rewards come upon virtues: saying that the things the Lord forbids are to be fled, and the things he commands are to be followed. And lest anyone should attribute any good thing to his own strength, he warns in all things that we ought to be subject to God, and to give thanks to the Lord Christ, who deigns to protect and govern us.

8.—V, 22. "Let women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord," and what follows. He admonishes women that they ought to be subject to their husbands, just as he confirms that the Church is subject to Christ. In order to instill the sense of perfect charity, he commanded in the same way that a wife be loved by her husband, just as Christ loved the Church, saying that he who loves his wife cherishes his own flesh. He also admonishes children and parents to join together in mutual dutifulness; he has also admonished slaves and masters as to how they ought to treat one another; yet he instructs all generally to be clothed with heavenly arms against the snares of the devil. He also says that prayer must be made for himself, that the freedom of the Holy Spirit may be granted to him, so that he may be found fit for teaching; for he says that Tychicus will report to them all that has been done, concluding his letter with a greeting of charity.

THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

1.—I, Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi. He greets the fellow bishops and deacons established at Philippi with Timothy, desiring for them grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, showing that in the Church of God both his own rank and the deacons are to be honored.

2.—I, 3. "I indeed give thanks to our Lord in all remembrance of you," and the rest. He promises that he gives thanks to God on their behalf, so that the faithful may remain in mind within the bowels of Christ. He indicates that his chains stirred up many both good vows and depraved endeavors: for he says that those pure in heart received the desires of right preaching; but the crooked and lost pretended to speak of God, so that the Apostle might be more heavily burdened. But in both he gives thanks to God, because the name of the Lord was being shown to increase, defining that to him life is Christ and to die is gain.

3.—I, 22. "But if to live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, and what I should choose I do not know." He says indeed that he desires to pass from this world, so that he ought to be with Christ; and again, out of zeal of charity, that he wishes to live, so that he may be able to strengthen the hearts of the Philippians in Christ the Lord: it is only that, having received the Gospel, they should not constantly fear the snares of adversaries, but guarding the virtue of charity toward one another, they should emulate the Lord Christ, who, though he was God almighty, deigned to become man for our salvation: whom the Apostle professes equal to the Father not by robbery, but by the truth of his nature.

Hence there also follows, above all created things, the glory of the humanity assumed by Christ, whom heavenly, earthly, and infernal beings are known to adore with knees bent.

4.—II, 12. Therefore, my dearly beloved, as you have always obeyed, and the rest. He admonishes them that even in his absence they ought to be solicitous for the salvation of the soul, defining that God gives both the good will and what things will be profitable for perfecting it; saying that he rejoices over their faith, which will give him glory before the Lord Christ; promising that he will soon send Timothy, whom he praises and altogether commends. He also says that he has sent Epaphroditus at the present time, who after a long illness is known to have been restored for the Apostle's consolation. This man also hastened with great desire to see them, whom he admonished them to receive reverently, because he did not yield to many dangers for the preaching of Christ.

5.—III, 21. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, and the following. He further admonishes the Philippians that they ought to be watchful concerning false preachers, whom he rightly calls dogs, because they bark rather than speak; emptying out the circumcision of the body, but confirming that of the heart, since the former is known to be subject to the law, while the latter is joined to grace.

Yet he does not claim that he himself is perfect, but professes that he strives toward perfection. Moreover, he declares that the faithful are made conformed to Christ the Lord in this way: if they imitate in every manner him toward whom they tend—he who will reform the body of our lowliness, conformed to the body of his brightness (VI, 21). That is, in this respect: that those who no longer desire sins are immortal, because they enjoy divine delights; for the measure has been prescribed for the blessed, of whom it was said, they shall be as the angels of God (Matt. 22:30).

6.—IV, 1. Therefore, my dearest and most beloved brothers, my joy and crown, stand fast in the Lord. He exhorts the Philippians, whom he fittingly calls his crown, to remain in the firmness of the faith they have received. He also commends those truly most holy women, whom he declares labored with him along with other brothers in the Gospel of Christ, admonishing them that they ought to have continual prayer and confidence, and thereafter to accomplish those things which are proven acceptable to the Lord; giving thanks to them because they consoled his tribulations with a monetary gift; blessing them equally and greeting them.

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS

1.—I, 1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He writes to the Thessalonians together with Silvanus and Timothy, who were preaching the Gospel of the Lord with united labor, asking that grace and peace be granted to them from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor let it disturb anyone that he is silent concerning the Holy Spirit; for whether one or two persons of the Trinity have been named, as has already been said, they cause the most perfect Trinity to be understood, as was said in the Epistle written to the Romans.

2.—I, 2. We give thanks to God always for you all, making remembrance of you all in our prayers. He says that he gives thanks to God because the Thessalonians, having abandoned the superstition of the Gentiles, received the foundations of the true faith; recounting with what integrity and fatherly love he and his companions had dealt with them; rejoicing also that they received the Gospel of the Lord, not as a human word, but as it was, the divine word.

3.—II, 14. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus. He says that they became imitators of the prophets and of the Lord Christ, when they too endured similar things for the holy faith; for he says that he greatly desired to come to Thessalonica, because they are his glory and crown before God; but for the present he states that Timothy has been sent, to strengthen them in the faith and to make them prepared for the sufferings which he declares are never lacking to the faithful. He adds also that he does not have the ability to give thanks to God sufficiently on their behalf, to whom he is known to have bestowed such love; but may the Lord confirm them in the mercy once granted, so that before the Father they may be able to be partakers with Christ of all the saints.

4.—IV, 1. For the rest, brothers, we ask and beseech you in the Lord always, and the rest. He admonishes the Thessalonians that, just as they have done until now, so also in the future they should keep the faith they have received with a devoted mind, adding what things they ought to avoid and what things they ought always to seek. He also says that the resurrection of all the dead is to be accomplished; for even those who will be found alive in the spirit at that same time, as he himself was, after bodily death has come first, he says will meet the Lord Christ together in the air; for we all die in the flesh, as it is written: What man is there who lives and will not see death? Yet he testifies that the saints of the Lord will remain forever with him.

But the day and hour of the Lord's coming is proclaimed unknown to humanity, just as the Lord himself also testifies in the Gospel.

5.—V, 4. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that that day may seize you like a thief. Those who are children of light will not fear being overtaken by the darkness of sins at the Lord's coming; nor do those who are drunk in evils sleep, who, armed with the Lord's precepts, always stand ready. He also admonishes that they not cease to treat their preachers with a kindly mind, and that they bestow the zeal of charity upon the rest of the brothers; and that they remind one another of the tradition they have received. He also prays that at the Lord's coming they may be offered with pure and religious minds; he also adjures that his present Epistle be read again to all the brothers.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and Jesus Christ. With these same brothers he again greets the Thessalonians, whom he also named in the first Epistle; showing that such honor is to be bestowed on those who have deserved to be sharers in his labors, commending the opening of his Epistle with a holy blessing.

2.—I, 3. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, and what follows. He praises the Thessalonians for having followed the rules of right faith; but he warns them concerning things to come, lest any perverse persons deceive them by some novelty, saying that the coming of the Lord will not come unless the Antichrist is first seen; whose perverse times he describes with a remarkable propriety of expression. Asserting that already indeed the mystery of his iniquity is at work, he also declares that the presence of that most wicked one himself is then to be revealed, when the Roman empire, which now holds sway, shall have been removed from the midst, with the order coming to an end. Thus by these indications it is proclaimed that the truth of the Lord's coming will come.

3.—II, 13. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, and the rest. He says that he gives thanks to God for them, because he has conferred on them right faith and the gifts of eternal salvation; and therefore he says that the faith must be greatly held fast, which he boasted had been received from them, when he declares the faith to be that not of all but of a few. He also prayed for them, and again reminded them that they ought to pray for him. He also announced that false brothers must be most earnestly guarded against, and that they ought not to seek other rules of faith than those which they were proven to have received from him, concluding his Epistle with his customary ending of salutation and blessing.

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and the rest. He writes to the Colossians with Timothy his brother; but when he says to the saints and faithful, he shows that men cannot receive the words of the Lord so long as they are polluted and faithless; over such he prays that the grace and peace of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ may come. In these two expressions, that is, in peace and grace, he shows how great are the gifts that are repeated with such frequent reiteration.

2.—I, 3. We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you, and the rest. He gives thanks to God, because through Epaphras he learned that they persevere in the faith they had received; so that, bearing fruit in every good work, they may be proved acceptable to the Lord. Adding praise to the Father with wondrous proclamation, to whom it pleased to reconcile to himself through the blood of his Son both the things on earth and the things in heaven: showing that his holy incarnation has benefited all things with wondrous power.

3.—I, 21. And you, whereas you were sometime alienated and enemies in mind of his, and the rest. He admonishes them that just as they were once alienated and occupied in carnal vices, so now they ought to devote themselves to evangelical virtues, adding his own examples for their salvation, and how greatly he is weighed down by calamities; for now he speaks of the manifest mystery of the holy incarnation, which was shown to be hidden from the ages, warning that no one should seduce them through the empty wisdom of the philosophers, who say that the sun and the moon, or the other stars, are to be venerated, which beyond doubt consist of the elements, since they are offered to our sight. Nevertheless the true authority attacks these things, if they do not refer all things to the Lord Christ, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (vs. 9). For he said bodily, because all the fullness of the divine nature dwells in his body: the saints going before were called in his figure Christ in former time (Ps. 104:15). But he says the Colossians were circumcised in heart, not in body; who, buried together through faith in the Lord's passion, are known to have risen with Christ.

4.—II, 13. And you, when you were dead in your trespasses, and the things that follow. Since the Lord's cross has nailed the old man with its passion and has canceled the handwriting of perpetual death, he forbids that certain precepts of the Old Testament be sought any further: for he says that those things are to be avoided which bring death, not salvation; for those who serve as soldiers of Christ ought to strive after the things that are Christ's. Wherefore, having put off the old man, let us put on the new, which is renewed through the grace conferred in the image of him who created him: in the inner man, indeed, neither person, nor sex, nor condition can be found to differ, but all things and in all things Christ is the Lord.

5.—III, 12. Therefore put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of compassion. He lays down rules by which the one who hastens to take up the Christian faith ought to walk: designating that in our every act thanks are to be given to God: he has admonished that men, women, parents, children, masters, and servants ought to render to one another the veneration that is due. But he exhorts them to persist in prayer, so that the Lord may open to the Apostle a door of preaching, for speaking the holy mysteries of the Lord.

He also admonishes them to speak with heavenly wisdom to those who are known to be outside the Church, lest they seem able to be provoked rather than instructed, and that their speech should always be seasoned with salt, so that it may be pleasing and beneficial to its hearers; instructing them that after the customary greetings this Epistle should be read again in the Church of the Laodiceans.

FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.

1.—I, 1. Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our Lord, and the rest. Although in previous Epistles he named the Father and the Son, and again in the following blessing he mentions the Father and the Son, here he says that the apostle was made such only according to the command of Christ, so that it may clearly appear that, when one person of these is named, as has already been said before, the whole Trinity is nonetheless poured forth, when he says that Timothy is a son of his faith, who is established to have been regenerated by the holy Church.

2.—I, 3. As I urged you to remain at Ephesus when I was going to Macedonia, and the rest. He writes to Timothy his disciple, that he ought to be solicitous for the people committed to him; that they should not follow superfluous doctrines, but should keep with a fixed mind those things which were preached to them, knowing that the law was not appointed for the just, but for the wicked; whom he enumerates in succession, when he always reproves those who defile themselves with the foulness of crimes. Concerning himself, moreover, he relates how great things were granted to him by the Lord's generosity, proving through his own salvation that Christ the Lord came to save sinners. Admonishing him not to cease persevering in the preaching committed to him, which Hymenaeus and Alexander abandoned, and suffered shipwreck of the faith: for which reason he says that they were handed over to the devil, that they might learn not to blaspheme.

3.—II, 2. I urge therefore first of all that supplications be made, and the rest. Writing to his disciple, he fittingly admonishes him what rule the ecclesiastical order ought to observe.

First of all he commands that prayer be made for kings and those in authority, so that, placed in peace, we may pass the life of this world in tranquility; and to kindle confidence in prayer, he extols with holy preaching the Lord Christ as mediator; and as a spiritual teacher he instructs how men and women ought to pray, adding what sort of men bishops, deacons, or subdeacons ought to be, and what sort they ought not to be: in sum concluding that good ministers find great confidence with Christ the Lord.

4.—III, 14. These things I write to you, hoping to come to you quickly, and the rest. He admonishes Timothy that his conduct in the Church of God should shine with beauty; lest false preachers deceive the hearts of the simple: in which matter he says he ought to be so constant that he provides an example of virtues to all who hear. He also says with what honor, with what moderation each person ought to be treated, praising good stewards, and reproving those who have neglected to care for their households, so that he even calls them worse than unbelievers.

5.—V, 9. Let a widow be chosen who is not less than sixty years old, and the rest. He clearly shows what kind of widows ought to be chosen, or what kind ought to be avoided; but those who cannot abstain he commands to marry and bear children, lest they be tempted by the snares of the devil. Presbyters who rule well, especially those who preach the word, he declares should be honored with double honor; nor should accusers be easily believed against them; and the rest which the ecclesiastical order comprises. He further warns that hands should not be laid on anyone hastily, lest he who promotes him incautiously share in the sins of others; and therefore he says they should be examined more cautiously, lest the reputation of the Church be harmed. He commands slaves to honor their masters with all honor, especially those who are known to be faithful.

6.—VI, 2. Teach these things, and exhort, and what follows. Gathering together what has been said at the end, he says that one must persevere in them in every way, and avoid the contentions of those who are corrupt in mind; but he praises godliness with sufficiency, which is altogether sweet to the faithful, saying into how many temptations fall those who hasten to be rich in this world; since the root of all evils is known to be covetousness: urging them to direct their mind rather to the virtues enumerated, about to receive from the Lord eternal rewards.

He also hands down in what manner Timothy ought to admonish the rich of this world, so that in the future they may obtain rather the eternal riches of the Lord, instructing him again with repeated insistence to keep the deposit of the faith and not to cease to avoid wicked contentions.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.

1.—I, 1. Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and the rest. According to the promise of life he says that he was made an apostle by Christ the Lord, so that it may be understood what is the reward of those who have merited to exercise his apostleship faithfully, writing this Epistle also to Timothy himself, to whom he also appears to have sent the former one, placing grace and peace solemnly in his blessing; but in the middle he adds mercy by a kind of increase of declaration; because neither grace nor peace can be granted without the Lord's bounty.

2.—I, 3. I give thanks to my God, whom I serve from my forebears, whom I serve in a pure conscience. He promises Timothy that he holds remembrance of him day and night in his prayers, praising him because he persists in the whole discipline of the faith through the emulation of his mother and grandmother.

He also admonishes him not to cease preaching the rule of doctrine he has received, and not to be ashamed to do that by which he knew both himself and the believers were to be saved; desiring for the house of Onesiphorus that in that day of judgment it may obtain the mercy of the Lord, since he was not ashamed to relieve his chain with generous benefits, but in preaching the Gospel, both at Rome and at Ephesus, he contributed services worthy of him.

3.—II, 1. You therefore, my son, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He instructs Timothy to proclaim without delay to the peoples the mysteries of the holy faith that he learned from him, admonishing this frequently, so that he may avoid the contentious and obstinate; for their speech, profiting nothing, creeps like a cancer (Verse 17). But what manner of man he himself ought to be for teaching, the preacher of truth instructs him, forewarning what he ought to follow and what he should allow to be avoided; for those who are known to be perverse must be corrected with patience, so that they may be freed from the snares of the devil, to which they are held bound.

4.—III, 1. But know this, that in the last times there will be perilous times. By manifold enumerations of the last times he sets forth how utterly wicked men are found; among them he asserts those to be who strive to pour wicked doctrines into women: yet he says that these are to be depraved [perhaps: made manifest] by the illumination of the truth itself: but he also admonished that such men are altogether to be avoided; but he commands that he himself remain in those things which he learned and believed: for every Scripture inspired by God is known to be useful for teaching, for reproving, for instructing, so that the man of God may be perfect, usefully prepared for every good work.

5.—IV, 1. I testify before God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead. He sets terrible adjurations before Timothy, that he rebuke the peoples in season and out of season, reprove them, and persist with them patiently: so that the word of the Lord, with preaching spread abroad, may advance: but he professes that he himself will continually pass from this world, and in that judgment will receive the crown of righteousness, which the Lord promised again to his saints. He also urges that he make haste to come to him quickly with Mark and certain matters; since he seemed to have been deserted by those ministers of his. He also says that Alexander the coppersmith, the adversary of his preachings, is greatly to be guarded against; upon whom he confirms that due punishment threatens. Conveying the greetings of many, he also admonished that he ought to save the faithful of Christ.

EPISTLE TO TITUS.

1.—I, 1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and the rest. When he calls himself an apostle of Christ, he declares, as has often been said, that he belongs also to the Father and to the Holy Spirit; because there is recognized there one cooperation, one God, and one power. But lest this name be thought to be borne by him together with false brethren, he says, according to the knowledge of the truth, which those alone deserve to receive who are known to shine with perfect truth; and in order to show the Son to be coeternal with the Father, he also says, the hope of eternal life, Christ, foretold before eternal ages, teaching that the incarnation of the Lord was completed by the preaching of the prophets and in his own time; and lest perhaps you should think him less in power, he says, according to the command of God our Savior: wishing grace and peace to be granted to Titus from God the Father and the Lord our Savior.

2.—I, 5. For this cause I left you in Crete, and the following. He admonishes his disciple Titus what sort of presbyters or bishops it is fitting to ordain through the Churches of Crete, lest evil persuaders overturn the hearts of the simple: saying that they are to be rebuked especially, lest, subverted by false preaching, they be carried over to Jewish rites. But he declares that all things are clean to the clean, yet he asserts that the defiled and unbelieving have nothing most clean; since they confess the Lord with their mouth, but in deeds they deny the judge, whom they profess as author.

3.—II, 1. But speak thou the things that become sound doctrine, and the rest. He therefore asserts that each age and each condition must be admonished as to how they ought to conduct themselves in a commendable manner of life, so that in all things the grace of the Lord may be clearly recognized, who deigned to die in the flesh for our salvation; and that the most effective kind of teaching may be this: that he himself live with such moderation as to give an example to his own admonitions, lest the adversary dare to speak evil of him, whom he knows to govern himself by a most holy discipline. He also says individually how he who is faithful to Christ ought to conduct himself; and he commands that heretics be avoided. Moreover, he bids him come to Nicopolis with certain persons, so that by seeing the Apostle he may learn how he stands in the holy faith with most firm stability, concluding his Epistle with a most dear blessing.

EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.

1.—I, 1. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy his brother, and the rest. In these very opening words he newly joined suffering to his own name, and lest he should be thought to have been bound for some offense, he added of Jesus Christ, so as to declare those chains not criminal but glorious; writing to Philemon his brother and helper, together with his brother Timothy; also commemorating Appia and Archippus in the same salutation; but he also embraces with an equal salutation the congregation that appeared to be in his house; wishing grace and peace to come to them from the Father and the Lord Christ.

2.—I, 4. I give thanks to my God, always making remembrance of thee in my prayers. He gives thanks to God, having heard of the faith and charity of Philemon, which he had in the Lord Christ and in all his saints; celebrating his works with great proclamation. He also beseeches him that he release to him, with the condition due, Onesimus, once his servant, whom he says was made his own heart through faith in the Lord, and that he receive him in brotherly charity; saying that he himself will repay whatever that one owed: yet confident that he will gladly hear him because of the charity of the Lord, adding the words of salutation of certain persons.

EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

1.—I, 1. In many parts and in many ways God once spoke to the fathers in the prophets concerning his Son. It is customarily asked why this Epistle alone has no salutation, when it seems to be preferred to all the earlier ones: for at the very front he so concealed his name from the Hebrews, lest because of hatred of his person they should not receive the heavenly remedy. First of all, joining the Old Testament and the New, he says that the Son of God, foretold through the prophets from the seed of David, came in the last times; whose magnificence he celebrates with ineffable praise, showing that by the examples of the divine law he is mightier than all his creatures; since to no angel, or to any power of the heavens whatsoever, was it said by the Father what is established to have been foretold concerning him.

For if the word spoken through angels is proved to have been fulfilled, what shall we deserve to endure if we neglect the author of so great a gift?

2.—II, 3. Which, when it had begun to be declared through the Lord, and the rest. He says that the beginning of salvation was granted when Christ the Lord preached, and then that the truth of the holy faith became known through signs and wonders and through his apostles. He returns again to declaring his omnipotence, which he sets forth by examples, saying that he was fixed to the cross for the salvation of all; for this reason he does not cease in many places to call them brothers, since he deigned to take on flesh and destroyed by his passion the devil, who held the empire of death. For since the humanity he assumed laid hold not of angels but of the seed of Abraham, he was rightly called their brother, so that he might exist as true high priest and mediator of man and of God himself. Thus he who suffered for all is also able without doubt to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

3.—III, 1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, and the rest. He exhorts the Hebrews to faith in Christ, by whom it is evident they are called brethren; preferring him far above Moses, to whom they seemed to be obedient: showing that the creator is far superior to his creature; joining most fitting examples, so that the voice of the Lord ought to be heard without delay. For the punishment of the ancients is to be dreaded, because they did not enter into his rest, who refused to hear the divine word: on the other hand, to the obedient peace was given, and tranquil repose, so that they too might cease from their own labor, just as the Lord rested from his works.

4.—IV, 11. Let us therefore hasten to enter into that rest, and the following. He says that the divine commandments must be obeyed, because that cannot be false which is known to be brought forth by such great truth: having the greatest hope in the Lord Christ, that he may come to the aid of our calamities, who for our sake endured the cruelty of passion: adding to so great a matter both the most evident examples of the divine law and arguments. For he reproves those who are seen to have so forgotten the teaching of the ancient law that it is necessary for them, as little children, to be fed again with milk: for for perfect minds the solid work of preaching is food, for those who can have a probable discernment of good and evil.

5.—VI, 1. Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, and the rest. He says that the first principles of the faith are no longer to be treated, but the remaining matters, in which proven and settled perfection is demonstrated, making a wonderful comparison with the earth, which when it has received the rain brings forth pleasant herbs for beauty; but if it has produced thorns, surely the avenging flame consumes them. He trusts, however, that they are rather to be raised up to the imitation of those to whom the kingdoms of heaven were promised; joining to this the example of Abraham, to whose seed the Lord by swearing promised most firm assurance: so that, strengthened by this promise, the mind of the faithful might be directed to the innermost places of heaven; where already our forerunner and high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, has entered.

6.—VII, 1. For this Melchisedech, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, and the rest. At the beginning of this chapter he explains who Melchisedech was, to whom the Lord Christ is compared through great and most subtle arguments: first, because the interpretation of his name itself, that is, king of peace and king of righteousness, can fit the Lord Christ alone; second, because no scripture at all testifies to his father and mother, just as the divinity of Christ, as I judge, is known to have been without a mother, and his flesh without a father; third, because neither the beginning nor the end of his life is taught to have been made known, just as the Lord says of himself, I am he; fourth, because, likened to the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Fifth, there follows the reason why it was not said in the psalm, "according to the order of Aaron"—namely, that he might announce the transferred priesthood and the change of the law, which brought nothing to perfection, to be exchanged for the grace of Christ. Thus through these similitudes, fittingly expounded, Melchisedech is proved to have borne the image of the Lord Christ.

7.—VII, 19. But the introduction of a better hope, through which we draw near to the Lord, and the rest. Here he makes distinctions between ordinary priests and the Lord Christ, because this one has been made singular, who was both promised by the interposition of a sacrament and is known to have been established forever; then every priest first pleads for his own sins, and so presumes to supplicate for the people; but Christ, having no sins of his own, intercedes confidently for us; finally he offered himself uniquely for the salvation of all; in him too the promise of the New Testament was made, which is established as fulfilled in no other: for by saying "new," he wished to show that what preceded had been made old.

8.—IX, 1. It had indeed also previously the justification of Holy Scripture, and the rest. He makes a distinction through the foregoing observations of the New and Old Testaments, saying that the ancient priests approached the holy things in one way, and again more inwardly to the holy of holies; but that the Lord Christ entered into the holy things in another way, who wrought the glory of eternal redemption. For if the victim of bulls cleansed sins, what will the shed blood of the immaculate Lord Christ do, who purified the hearts of the faithful for serving God?

9.—IX, 15. And therefore Christ Jesus is the mediator of the New Testament, and the following. He also proves the Lord Christ to be the mediator of both the New and the Old Testament; so that the obligation of the Old might be dissolved by the gift of his death being conferred: teaching also, even in the ancient solemnities of sacrifices, that the New Testament was without doubt promised; since with the blood of calves and goats, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, he testifies that the sacred book and the people themselves were sprinkled. There follows moreover, that he suffered once in the consummation of the ages, so that as a loving redeemer he might continually entreat the Father for us: for just as it is appointed for men once to die, and afterwards to endure the judgment of the Lord; so Christ died once, that he might appear, as promised, to those awaiting him in his judgment.

10.—X, 1. He calls the law a shadow of future good things, and the following. He calls the law a shadow of future good things, not an image, that is, it did not possess the truth of the things that follow, showing that through the blood of sacrifices the human race could by no means be saved; but, to be sure, before the passion of the cross, which came to the aid of a world in peril by its redemption: with this confidence having been received, he admonishes those washed clean in the font of holy baptism to come to the Lord Christ, so that the faithful promiser may worthily fulfill his gifts in them.

11.—X, 24. And let us consider one another unto the provocation of love, and the rest. He says that the grace of God is to be considered, not through impious divisions, but in the brotherly congregation: threatening the future judgment, which is proved to be already near by the advent of the Lord Christ. For if he who makes void the law of Moses is wont to perish, with what punishment must he be struck who despises the commandments of love and unity of Christ the Lord? He also warns them not to make void the sufferings and the plundering of their possessions, which they have already endured for the name of Christ: for perseverance alone makes perfect Christians; for patience is necessary, so that the promise of the Lord may be received as accepted.

12.—XI, 1. Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the argument of things not seen. First he defines what faith is—namely, belief in things not seen; then he recounts how many were saved through it, by the Lord's mercy, so that he might stir the unbelieving hearts of the Jews to a like zeal by considering such great devotions. For he speaks of the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah; and he repeated this frequently because, with them believing, the whole Church is established in their likeness as blessed. Yet all these have not yet received the promised rewards, but they will receive perfect blessedness in the heavenly city, which the Lord deigned to prepare for them.

13.—XI, 17. By faith Abraham offered Isaac, that he might be sacrificed, and the rest. He continues still in this same enumeration of the faithful: for he speaks of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, of the sons of Israel, Rahab the harlot, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel; he also adds the examples of the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms (verse 33), and by the variety of their sufferings merited to find divine grace; yet even these have by no means yet received the promised rewards, so that at one and the same time the loving Redeemer might give to all what he is known to have promised to all the faithful.

14.—XII, 1. Therefore we also, having so great a cloud of witnesses set before us, and the following. Having considered the faith of those who came before, and laid aside sins, he says that we must hasten to Christ the Lord; for he deigned to undergo the cross for us, who sits at the right hand of the Father. Why should we be grieved in moderate sufferings, which we nevertheless know belong to eternal rest? He also reminds them that they are called sons to such a degree that they should endure the scourges of the Father most gratefully; and to this matter he adds the examples of carnal parents, whose discipline is indeed thought grievous in the present, but once righteousness has been attained is known to be sweet for the future. For this reason patience must be applied, and our steps strengthened, so that we may effectually reach that toward which we strive.

15.—XII, 4. Follow peace with all, and holiness, without which no man shall see God. He says that peace and holiness must be sought in every way, without which no one can see God. He also warns us to take care lest the works of our own impiety go up before us and make us strangers to the inheritance of the Lord; as he says happened to Esau, who after he had sold his birthright shed many tears indeed, but by the hidden judgment of God it is not at all certain that he was heard.

He also adds the example of Moses, who caused those who occupied themselves with unclean conduct to be stoned—that is, making a comparison between Mount Sinai and the Church of God as between things unlike; for there it is established that Christ was both heard and seen bodily, and he says that his utterance must be greatly obeyed.

16.—XII, 23. For if they did not escape, refusing him who spoke on earth. Still remaining in the comparisons above, he says: If the people of the Hebrews could not avoid the avenger, who was not at all obedient to Moses, what shall we suffer, if we appear in no way to obey the Lord speaking from heaven? His power and greatness he declares both by necessary arguments and by the examples that follow. He also admonishes them with what conduct they ought to occupy themselves, and which vices they should rather flee as harmful, asserting that Jesus Christ was seen in the last times, who always was, and is, and will remain for ever and ever.

17.—XIII, 9. Do not be led away by various and strange doctrines, and the rest. He wishes various doctrines and foreign dogmas to be entirely avoided: for it is best that the heart be strengthened by grace of the Lord, not by foods. He also draws the former rite of sacrifices into a likeness of the Lord's passion; since just as the bodies of animals offered for sin were burned outside the camp, so also it is established that the Lord Christ, who offered himself for our sins, was crucified outside the city; but that crucifixion, that reproach, he says must be desired in every way, so that going out to him we may deserve to reach the heavenly city. Persuading them in no way to forget beneficence and sharing; for by such things God is appeased: but obedience, he says, must be shown to those set over them on account of the order of those who keep watch, so that they ought to have care for their salvation with joy.

18.—XIII, 18. But we trust that we have a good conscience, being willing to conduct ourselves well in all things. He testifies that he owes the greatest goodwill to those conducting themselves well, which he says must be done for them continually; so that he ought to hasten to them with the most eager zeal.

He also prays for them, that with a sincere mind they may fulfill the will of the Lord Father, who brought forth from the dead the great Shepherd, the Lord Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever; so that against those who thought that the Father alone was to be worshiped, the fitting remedy, briefly set forth, might suffice; indicating to them that Timothy had been sent to them, through whom, by his own mouth, he both greets the most approved men and, with abundant love, makes mention of the greetings of good men.

COMPLEXIONS ON THE SEVEN CANONICAL EPISTLES, THAT IS, ON TWO OF THE BLESSED APOSTLE PETER, THREE OF JOHN, ONE OF JUDE, AND ONE OF JAMES.

EPISTLE OF THE APOSTLE PETER TO THE GENTILES.

1.—I, 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers, and the rest. Celebrating together the ordinances of the most holy rule, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, writes to the absent Hebrews who were scattered by the impious persecution of the Jews and became strangers throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, but who had nevertheless believed with a corrected mind in Christ Jesus; to whom he says that his preaching was transmitted according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, and in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, and through the passion of the blood of the Lord Christ: so that the people sprinkled in the ancient manner of sacrifices might be cleansed by the Lord's blood; thus in these very beginnings both the unity of the threefold power and the distinction of persons is briefly declared, asking that the grace and peace of the Lord be filled with the fullest abundance.

2.—I, 3. Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what follows. Having completed his greeting to the faithful people, mindful of the Lord's institution, he first gives thanks to God the Father, who through his great mercy has regenerated us by sacred baptism into the hope of eternal life; that is, through the resurrection of the Lord Christ, which is established to have taken place from the dead after three days. He then sets forth how great are the rewards of that inheritance, exhorting us that we ought to bear patiently the troubles of the present time, so that at the judgment of the Lord the proof of our faith may be shown to be much more precious than gold; for those who believe in him here without seeing him, beholding him, will rejoice with inestimable exultation. Concerning this recompense of rewards, the prophets, searching into the hidden things of the Lord, said many things; and lest you should think anything was proclaimed by their own will, he teaches that it was revealed to them through the Holy Spirit, whom the angels desire to see.

3.—I, 13. Wherefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, perfect, hope in it. After he has laid open to them the great rewards of the promise, he exhorts them that through strength of mind, as sons, they should strive toward the grace which is shown to be promised to them in the judgment of the Lord. Admonishing them that they ought to remain in a holy purpose, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I also am holy: knowing that they were not redeemed with corruptible price, but with the precious blood of our Lord, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but manifested in the last times for the salvation of all; so that the faith and hope of those who believe in him may remain fixed.

4.—I, 22. Sanctifying your souls to obey the charity, and the rest. Having first set out the faith, he explains how it is to be exercised, first, that with simple love they should not cease to keep mutual charity for one another; so that those who have been reborn together through the word of the living God should not be separated by any division, and the human mind should not hasten toward worldly vices.

By comparison with the grass, our flesh is shown to be how fleeting; but the word of the Lord, by which they are known to have been regenerated, remains forever. Wherefore, laying aside the malice of the former time, as newborn rational infants they ought to desire the first principles of faith, so that they may be able to arrive at salutary increase; for if they have come to the living stone, that is, the Lord Christ, with devoted minds, they themselves also ought, as living stones, to make progress in the building up of the Church, offering sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom the hoped-for salvation has come forth for the human race; and concerning this holy stone itself an example is given from the prophet Isaiah.

5.—II, 4. To you therefore who believe, honor: but to those who do not believe, the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Still concerning this same stone an example is given from Psalm 117, about which, with the contrast of believers and unbelievers having been made, it is disputed, saying that to the obstinate it is a stone of offense and a rock of scandal, but to believers it is a chosen generation, a holy offspring, a people of acquisition, which has been called out of darkness into the light of perpetual holiness.

Those who had formerly been strangers have now been made Christ the Lord's own, and in order to detach from them the affection of the world, he teaches them to abstain from carnal desires, which always strive to wound souls; but rather to live so as to provide examples of good conduct among the nations, so that those whom they now seem to disparage, having considered their conduct, may glorify the Lord when they have been pricked by his visitation.

6.—II, 13. Be subject to every human ordinance for the Lord's sake, and the rest. Lest the faith already set forth be able to puff anyone up, he returns to the endurance of patience, that they should be subject to rulers or leaders for God's sake, whom he is known to have appointed for the punishment of the wicked and for the praise of the good. Yet he commands this to be done from the freedom of conscience, not discharged by the compulsion of fear. He also admonishes servants to obey their masters, not only the gentle, but also those who seem harsh; since this is truly the grace of God, if we suffer not only equal things but even unjust things; for by such an example we have been called by the Lord, that we should endure iniquities for him who chose to take up the cross for us, though he had no stain of sin; and therefore we ought to turn to our shepherd, who bore death for the salvation of all.

7.—III, 1. Likewise, those who do not believe the word may be won through the conduct of their wives. He comes also to the admonition of women: first saying that they ought to be subject to their husbands, so that those who have scarcely believed the holy preachings may rather come to their senses through the conduct of their wives; then he commands them not to devote themselves so much to ornaments, but to be devoted to the inner man, who is found truly rich before God: to these the example of Sara is given, who served Abraham with praiseworthy devotion. He says that they themselves ought to imitate her, by whose zeal of faith they have been received in the seed of Abraham. Likewise he also commands the men to hold their wives in worthy honor, as weak and co-heirs of grace, so that the prayer of either may not be hindered. Finally he admonishes both sexes, that all may be of one mind, compassionate, merciful, and humble, not returning evil for evil, but persevering in the grace of blessing by which they have been called.

8.—III, 3. For whoever wishes for life and loves to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil. He continues to admonish us in general terms that we ought to hold our tongue back from evils, since it is always found prone to offenses. But he does not say that this alone can suffice, since that alone is perfection: to turn away from evils, but to do good deeds in an eminent way; for the Lord looks upon the just, and upon the impious he casts an angry gaze, saying that those are made blessed if they have been torn at by some persecution for the name of the Lord. He says that they ought to be ready at all times, so that with modesty and holy fear they may be able to give a reason for their faith; so that the detractors of the faithful, once the truth has been grasped, may at once fall silent.

9.—III, 17. For it is better, if the will of God so wills, to suffer while doing good than while doing evil. He confirms that it is much better for one who acts well to suffer evil than for one who acts evilly to be struck down according to the quality of his deeds. For thus the Lord, though he had done nothing evil, was put to death in the flesh for our sins, and he established for us the pattern of his passion. He also joins the example of Noah, since just as in his ark only eight souls were saved from the destruction of the flood, so through the grace of baptism the holy people is known to have been freed from the stain of sins; for in sacred baptism the flesh is not washed of its filth as in a common bath, but one is saved by believing in the Lord's resurrection, who swallowed up death, so that we might be made worthy to be partakers of his life.

Therefore, since Christ's resurrection has been established, let us also suffer in the flesh when we forsake our sins, so that we may spend the rest of our life's time not according to human desires but according to the will of the Lord.

10.—IV, 3. For the past time is sufficient to have been spent on the will of the Gentiles. He says it is sufficient for the world that the past times are proven to have elapsed according to the abominable will of the Gentiles; but now one must live according to God in the Holy Spirit, who called us from the dead, so that we should live in hope of him. For it is evident that the gospel was preached even to the dead under the law of sin, so that in that general resurrection they may obtain the joys of eternal life. Therefore, as the end of the age approaches, we ought to be prudent and diligent in prayer, having love among ourselves, since love covers a multitude of sins; he also commands that hospitality and the other good works be provided without murmuring; but he asserts that the word of the Lord must be preached in such a way that the whole intention of believers is referred to the Lord as its author, to whom is power and glory forever and ever.

11.—IV, 12. Beloved, do not be frightened [Vulgate: do not be surprised] in the fiery trial, because it is happening to you as a test. He strengthens the faithful people, so that they ought not to be disturbed by the suffering brought upon them; since Christ endured greater things for us than we seem to endure for his faith. Therefore we must exult with constancy in such matters here, so that perfect joy may be rejoiced in before him. He also admonishes that no one should endure torments for the world's shameful deeds or crimes; but if we suffer for the Lord Christ, we shall be placed in eternal blessedness: for no one ought to be ashamed of that through which he knows he will attain eternal rewards. But if the just and faithful are scarcely saved, then certainly the sinner and the impious will not be spared; for he who here suffers evils for Christ commends his soul in that judgment.

12.—V, 1. Therefore, the elders who are among you I beseech, as a fellow elder and witness of Christ's sufferings. He admonishes the presbyters to guard the clergy entrusted to them with diligent and disinterested care, to despise vices, to scorn temporal gain, and to place their riches in a praiseworthy manner of life: so that when the prince of shepherds appears (Verse 4), they may be crowned with the honor of blessedness. He also admonishes the young to be subject to their elders, since God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble; for those who humble themselves for Christ are exalted, without doubt, by his judgment.

He also says that human anxieties are to be cast upon him, so that he himself ought by no means to cast us out of his kingdom.

13.—V, 8. Be sober, be watchful; because your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. He warns them that they ought to be sober and watchful, since the devil ceaselessly tempts them, like a bloody beast, to steal upon them; he declares that they must resist him through faith and good works; because he is thus conquered, when the faithful soul is overcome by no assault. And lest the hearts of the faithful be disturbed when such an enemy has been pointed out, he says that the powerful God resists him, against whom no power can prevail. He testifies that he wrote this epistle through Silvanus, their faithful brother, beseeching and adjuring them that they not cease to persevere in the foretold grace of the Lord: also sending greetings to the Church, which he calls elect from Babylon, that is, from the confusion of this world, and [greetings] from Mark his son, formed in pious instruction; he asks also that the most faithful be greeted in the service of love, bestowing on them the grace of blessing, who were remaining in Christ the Lord.

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF THE SAME AUTHOR.

1.—I, 1. Simon Peter, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith equal in lot. Simon is his proper name, Peter his surname: as was said by the Lord in the Gospel: You are Simon, son of John; you shall be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter (John I, 43). But he declares himself a servant, because he served the Lord Christ with most humble devotion; he mentions that he is an apostle, to designate the office conferred upon him: for in saying Jesus Christ, as has often been said already, he is shown to indicate the most holy Trinity by the appellation of one person: and lest he should set himself before the Church of the Lord by any elation, he says that he writes to those who have obtained an equal faith by the bounty of the Lord; to whom he wishes grace and peace to be multiplied in the knowledge of the judgment to come; where whatever is bestowed is no further defrauded by any loss.

2.—I, 3. As all things of his divine power have been given to us for life and godliness. As all things have been given to believers for life and godliness, through the recognition of him who called us by his own glory, not by our merits, so that through these things which have been promised, we may deserve to be partakers of his divinity; as was said in the Gospel, Father, I will that where I am, there they also may be with me (John XVII, 24): so we also ought to flee the shameful deeds of the world.

But let us rather strive to attain virtue in our faith, and in virtue knowledge, and in knowledge self-control, and in self-control piety, and in piety love of the brotherhood, and in love of the brotherhood love of the Lord. For when these things are present in us, we cannot be without fruit in the knowledge of the Lord Christ; but we are received into the kingdom of the Lord, into which we by no means deserve to enter otherwise.

3.—I, 12. For which cause I will not cease always to remind you, and the rest. He says that he cannot cease from the preaching he has begun, until he leaves them firm and strengthened in the faith of the Lord Savior: since he testifies that he, as he was admonished by the Lord, will pass from this world; and therefore with the most holy affection of a father he shows that he gives his effort, so that he may accomplish such things in them, in such a way that they can retain his memory: for he says that he will say nothing about Christ the Lord from invented fables, but that he will say those things which he heard with his own ears and came to know by most certain vision. To this matter he adds that Gospel example: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him. He says that he heard this voice along with the other apostles, while they were on the holy mountain with the Lord Savior: thus in this testimony those are refuted who think that the Father does not have the Son.

4.—I, 19. And we have the more sure prophetic word, to which you do well to attend. What he has set forth, he praises as an example, that they ought always to hold this in their hearts, just as a lamp is prepared in the darkness; until Christ comes, from whom the righteous shall shine with incomparable brightness: praising true prophecy in general, which was never conferred by human will but by divine inspiration; but the false prophets he defines by a most fitting conclusion, saying that they are lying teachers, who by the hope of the most shameful gain acquire for themselves the judgment of eternal damnation.

5.—II, 4. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but thrust them down into the prisons below. A worthy proof of the preceding statement follows; since he did not spare the angels who sinned, but reserved them thrust down into dark prisons to be punished by his judgment; then, if he did not spare the original world, which he deigned to fashion with his own hands, and destroyed it together with impious men by the vastness of the flood brought over it, if he condemned Sodom and Gomorrah, reduced to ashes, by his just indignation: on the other hand, he delivered the eighth [sic] Noah from the flood, and the righteous Lot, deeply grieving, from the company of the impure: so that by such examples joined together the most holy man might prove both that the impious receive a worthy punishment and that the righteous are saved through temptation.

6.—II, 10. But especially those who walk after the flesh in the desires of wallowing. He accuses those who follow the desires of the flesh and with sacrilegious will despise the dominion of Christ; describing their base deeds in many ways, he says that they rise up against the Lord with proud will—those whom he knows to have inclined the sinning angels; and again he describes them, both the qualities of their bodies and their most wicked morals, which after many outrages he says they even practiced in worshiping idols, and he marks them with fitting comparisons: recalling that they are dry fountains, and dark clouds, and storms driven about, for whom eternal darkness is deservedly prepared; these deceive their hearers and drag them to the freedom of lust, while they themselves are known to be slaves of sin; adding a most useful and commendable judgment, that each one is the slave of him to whom he is known to be subject.

7.—II, 20. For if, fleeing the defilements of the world in the knowledge of the Lord. He rebukes those who, having received the commandments of truth, entangle themselves again in the former mire of falsehood, comparing to them those proverbs: A dog returning to its vomit, and a pig rolling again in its wallowings. He says that he has sent a second letter to them, that they may faithfully hold the traditions of the Fathers, and not turn themselves to the errors of the gentiles with impious will; but rather desire to do that which they know pertains to the commandments of Christ the Lord.