Prayers are to be said for all men, because God wills the salvation of all. Women are not to teach.
By his Apostolike authoritie he appointeth publike praiers to be made for al mē vvithout exception. 8 also men to pray in at places: 9 and vvomen also in semely attire, 11 to learne of men, and not to be teachers in any vvise, but to seeke saluation by that vvhich to them belongeth.
1I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men:Raccomando adunque prima di tutto, che si facciano suppliche, orazioni, voti, ringraziamenti per tutti gli uomini:I Desire therfore first of al things that obsecrations, praiers, postulations, thankesgeuings be made for al men,Obsecro igitur primum omnium fieri obsecrationes, orationes, postulationes, gratiarum actiones, pro omnibus hominibus: 2For kings and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all piety and chastity.Pei Regi, e per tutti i costituiti in posto sublime, affinchè meniamo vita quieta, e tranquilla con tutta pietà, ed onestà:for kings and al that are in preeminence: that vve may leade a quiet and a peaceable life in al pietie and chastitie.pro regibus, et omnibus qui in sublimitate sunt, ut quietam et tranquillam vitam agamus in omni pietate, et castitate: 3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,Imperocché questo è ben fatto, e grato nel cospetto del Salvatore Dio nostro,For this is good and acceptable before our Sauiour God,hoc enim bonum est, et acceptum coram Salvatore nostro Deo, 4Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.Il quale vuole, che tutti gli uomini si salvino, ed arrivino al conoscimento della verità.vvho vvill al men to be saued, and to come to the knovvledge of the truth,qui omnes homines vult salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire. 5For there is one God: and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:Imperocché Dio è uno, uno anche il mediatore tra Dio, e gli uomini, uomo Cristo Gesù:For there is one God. one also mediatour of God and men, man Christ IESVS:Unus enim Deus, unus et mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus: 6Who gave himself a redemption for all, a testimony in due times.Il quale diede se stesso in redenzione per tutti, testimone nel debito tempo:vvho gaue him self a redemption for al, vvhose testimonie in due times is cō firmed.qui dedit redemptionem semetipsum pro omnibus, testimonium temporibus suis: 7Whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle (I say the truth, I lie not), a doctor of the Gentiles in faith and truth.Al qual fine son io stato costituito predicatore, e Apostolo (dico la verità, non mentisco) dottore delle genti per la fede, e per la verità.vvherein I am appointed a preacher & an Apostle (I say the truth, I lie not) doctor of the Gentiles in faith and truth.in quo positus sum ego prædicator, et Apostolus (veritatem dico, non mentior) doctor gentium in fide, et veritate. 8I will therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention.Bramo adunque, che gli uomini orino in ogni luogo, alzando pure le mani, scevri d'ira, e di dissensione.I vvil therfore that men pray in euery place: lifting vp pure handes, vvithout anger and altercation.Volo ergo viros orare in omni loco, levantes puras manus sine ira et disceptatione.
9In like manner, women also in decent apparel: adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety, not with plaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire:Similmente anche le donne nel lor vestire decente si ornino di verecondia, e modestia, non con i capelli arricciati, né con oro, o perle, o con vestimenta preziose:In like maner vvomen also in comely attire: vvith demurenesse and sobrietie adorning them selues, not in plaited heare, or gold, or pretious stones, or gorgeous apparel,Similiter et mulieres in habitu ornato, cum verecundia et sobrietate ornantes se, et non in tortis crinibus, aut auro, aut margaritas, vel veste pretiosa: 10But, as it becometh women professing godliness, with good works.Ma con le buone opere, come a donne conviensi, che fan professione di pietà.but that vvhich becōmeth vvomen professing pietie by good vvorkes.sed quod decet mulieres, promittentes pietatem per opera bona. 11Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.La donna impari in silenzio con tutta dipendenza.Let a vvoman learne in silence, vvith al subiection.Mulier in silentio discat cum omni subjectione. 12But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence.Non permetto alla donna il fare da maestra, né il dominar sopra l'uomo: ma che stia cheta.But to teach I permit not vnto a vvoman, not to haue dominion ouer the man: but to be in silēce.Docere autem mulierem non permitto, neque dominari in virum: sed esse in silentio. 13Imperciocché Adamo fu formato il primo, e poi Eva:For Adam vvas formed first: then Eue.Adam enim primus formatus est: deinde Heva: 14And Adam was not seduced; but the woman, being seduced, was in the transgression.E Adamo non fu sedotto, ma la donna sedotta prevaricò.and Adam vvas not seduced: but the vvoman being seduced, vvas in preuarication.et Adam non est seductus: mulier autem seducta in prævaricatione fuit. 15Yet she shall be saved through child bearing; if she continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.Nondimeno si salverà per la educazione de' figliuoli, se si terrà nella fede, e nella carità, e nella santità con modestia.Yet she shal be saued by generation of children: if they' continue in faith & loue and sanctification vvith sobrietie.Salvabitur autem per filiorum generationem, si permanserit in fide, et dilectione, et sanctificatione cum sobrietate.
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Witham
Intercessions, as in the Protestant translation. If men's intercessions to God in favour of others, are no injury to Christ, as our mediator, how can it be any injury to Christ for the Angels and saints in heaven to pray or intercede to God for us? (Witham)
St. Augustine writes thus on this verse: By supplications are meant what are said before the consecration. By prayers, are what are said in and after the consecration and communion, at mass, including the Pater Noster[the Our Father]; which St. Jerome also says, our Lord taught his apostles to recite at the daily sacrifice of his body. (lib. 3:contra Pelag. 1 Timothy 5) By intercessions, what are said after the communion: and by thanksgivings, what both the priest and people give to God for so great a mystery then offered and received. (ep. 50. ad Paulin.) See St. Chrysostom on this place.
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Witham
For kings, who were then heathens, this being in Nero's time. (Witham)
Upon the happiness of the king generally depends that of his subjects. We pray for the emperors, says Tertullian, that God would grant them a long life, a secure throne, and a safe family, brave armies, a faithful council, and a just people. In fine, that he would grant them peace, and whatever else they could wish, either for themselves or their empire. (Apologet. cap. 30.)
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Witham
All men to be saved. They contradict this, and other places of the Scripture, as well as the tradition and doctrine of the Catholic Church, who teach that God willeth only the salvation of the predestinated, of the elect, and as they say, of the first-begotten only: and that he died only for them, and not for all mankind. But if it is the will of God that all and every one be saved, and no one resists, or can frustrate the will of the Almighty, whence comes it that every one is not saved? To understand and reconcile divers places in the holy Scriptures, we must needs distinguish in God a will that is absolute and effectual, accompanied with special graces and assistances, and with the gift of final perseverance, by which, through his pure mercy, he decreed to save the elect, without any prejudice to their free will and liberty; and a will, which by the order of Providence, is conditional, and this not a metaphorical and improper will only, but a true and proper will, by which he hath prepared and offered graces and means to all men, whereby they may work their salvation; and if they are not saved, it is by their own fault, by their not corresponding with the graces offered, it is because they resist the Holy Ghost. (Acts 7:51.) If in this we meet with difficulties, which we cannot comprehend, the words of St. Paul, (Romans 9:20.) O man, who art thou, who repliest against God? may be sufficient to make us work our salvation with fear and trembling. (Witham)
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Witham
One mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a redemption for all. Take all these words together, and we may easily understand in what sense the apostle calls our Saviour Christ, the one or only mediator; that is, he is the only mediator, who at the same time is our Redeemer; the only mediator who could mediate betwixt God, the person offended by sin, and men the offenders; the only mediator who reconciled God to mankind by his incarnation and death, by the infinite price of his blood, by his own merits, independently of the merits of any other. All Catholics allow that the dignity and office of mediator in this sense belongs only to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made man to save us. The sense then of this place is, that as there is but one God, who created all, so there is but one mediator, who redeemed all. But yet the name of mediator is not so appropriated to Christ, but that in an inferior and different sense the Angels and saints in heaven, and even men on earth, who pray to God for the salvation of others, may be called mediators, intercessors, or advocates; and we may apply ourselves to them to pray, intercede, and mediate for us, without any injury to Christ, since we acknowledge that all their intercession and mediation is always grounded on the merits of Christ, our Redeemer. The same word for mediator, in the Greek as well as in the Latin, is given to Moses, God's servant. (Galatians 3:19.) See also Deuteronomy 5:5. The words of our Saviour himself, (Matthew xxiii.) taken according to the letter, contain an express prohibition of being called masters, or fathers; and this reason is given, because all men have one Father in heaven, and because Christians have one master, Christ. Yet no one can justly pretend from thence, that in a different sense, a man may not be called father or master, without any injury to God, or to Christ. (Witham)
Challoner
Christ is the one and only mediator of redemption; who gave himself, as the apostle writes, a redemption for all. He is also the only mediator, who stands in need of no other to recommend his petitions to the Father. But this is not against our seeking the prayers and intercessions, as well of the faithful upon earth, as of the saints and Angels in heaven, for obtaining mercy, grace, and salvation, through Jesus Christ. As St. Paul himself often desired the help of the prayers of the faithful, without any injury to the mediatorship of Jesus Christ. (Challoner)
If there be other mediators among the Angels and saints, they are only so in subordination to the first[Christ], who by themselves have no right to mediation or favours, and who cannot demand them but through the merits of him[Christ] who is our only essential mediator. (Estius, Menochius, etc.) Consult Judges 3:9; 2 Esdras 9:17; Acts 7:35.
Witham
A redemption for all. Not only for the predestinated, not only for the just, not only for the faithful, but for all Gentiles and infidels: and therefore he says again, (chap. 4:10.) that Christ is the Saviour of all men, and especially of the faithful. See St. Augustine[Ver. 6. See St. Augustine (lib. de Spi. et Lit. tom. x. 1 Timothy 33. p. 118) Vult Deus omnes homines salvos fieri....non sic tamen, ut eis adimat Liberum Arbitruim, quo vel bene, vel male utentes, justissimè judicentur. Quod cum fit, infideles quidem contra voluntatem Dei faciunt, cum ejus Evangelio non credunt.] and St. Chrysostom.[Ver. 6. St. Chysostom (om. z. p. 277) kai o men Christos kai apethanen uper ellauon....pos oun, phesin ouk episteusan, oti ouk ethelesan, to de autou moros egeneto.] (Witham)
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How beautifully does St. Paul teach that modesty and chastity are the greatest ornaments of the female sex, not only in the sight of God and of Angels, but also of men, who although by their own neglect they have not always grace and courage sufficient to be virtuous themselves, cannot help admiring virtue wherever they see it in others. Even the pagan fully acknowledges the native attractions of virtue. Virtus per se placet: Virtue pleases with unborrowed charms.
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Witham
In silence. See 1 Corinthians 14:34. See St. Chrysostom.[Ver. 11. In silentio. St. Chrysostom (log. th.) edidazen apax e gune, kai panta katestrepse.] (Witham)
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St. Paul only means in public. See note on ver. 11. of the next chapter. It would appear from this regulation of the apostle, as well as from the writings of the earliest fathers, that the practice and condemnation of women interfering at all in spiritual affairs, in not new. Tertullian says: We do not permit a woman to teach, to baptize, or to arrogate to herself any part of the duty which belongs to man. (De Veland. Virg. cap. 9.)
Bible de Vence
The woman has tried once to teach, when she persuaded Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, and has wofully failed. Let her now be content to remain in silence, and subjection to man; (St. Chrysostom on this place) as appears also from the order of the creation. See ver. 13. Seduction began with Eve, a subject of profound humiliation for women; but this ought not to deprive them of confidence in God's mercy, nor take from them the hope of salvation. (Bible de Vence)
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Witham
Adam was first formed....and was not seduced. That is, was not at least seduced first, as the woman. (Witham)
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Witham
She shall be saved by bearing children, etc. and performing other duties of a wife, with a due submission to her husband, taking care to serve God, and bring up her children in the faith of Christ, in piety, etc. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
This would perhaps be more properly rendered, from the Greek, by the bringing up of her children in faith, charity, and holiness. This is the duty of the woman; upon the faithful discharge or neglect of which she must expect her salvation, or reprobation, to hang. Thus repairing the evil which the first of all women brought upon man, by seducing him to evil. (Bible de Vence)
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One mediator.... Christ is the one and only mediator of redemption, who gave himself, as the apostle writes in the following verse.
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A redemption for all.... He is also the only mediator, who stands in need of no other to recommend his petitions to the Father. But this is not against our seeking the prayers and intercession, as well of the faithful upon earth, as of the saints and angels in heaven, for obtaining mercy, grace, and salvation, through Jesus Christ. As St. Paul himself often desired the help of the prayers of the faithful, without any injury to the mediatorship of Jesus Christ.
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2:13.For Adam was first formed; then Eve.
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1. Obsecrations.] The praiers & petitions in the Masse, deduced out of the Apostles vvordes by S. Augustine, & other fathers. This order of the Apostle S. Augustine (ep. 59) findeth to be fulfilled specially in the holy celebration of the Masse, vvhich hath al these kindes, expressed here in foure diuers vvordes pertaining to foure sortes of praiers. the difference vvhereof he exactly seeketh out of the proper signification and difference of the Greeke vvordes. And he teacheth vs that the first kind of praiers vvhich here be called, 〈Greek〉. obsecrations, are those that the Priest saith before the consecration: that the second called, Praiers, be al those vvhich are said in and after the Consecration, & about the Receiuing, 〈Greek〉. including specially the Pater noster, vvherewith the vvhole Church (saith he) in maner endeth that part, as S. Hierom also affirmeth, that Christ taught his Apostles to vse the Pater noster in the Masse. Sic docuit, &c. So taught he hit Apostles, that daily in the Sacrifice of his body the faithful should be bold to say, Pater noster &c. Li. 3 cont. Pelag. cap. 5. PATER NOSTER in the Masse. where he alludeth to the very vvordes novv vsed in the preface to the said Pater noster in the said Sacrifice, audemus dicere, Pater noster. 〈Greek〉. The third sort called here in the text, Postulatiōs, be those vvhich are vsed after the Cō munion, 〈Greek〉. as it vver for dimissing of the people vvith benediction, that is, vvith the Bishops or Priests blessing. Finally the last kinde, vvhich is Thankes-giuings, concludeth al, Theoph. in hunc loc. vvhen the Priest and people giue thankes to God for so greate a mysterie then offered and receiued. Thus the said holy father handleth this text ep. 59 to Paulinus.
S. Epiphanius also insinuateth these vvordes of the Apostle to pertaine to the Liturgie or Masse, vvhen he thus vvriteth to Iohn Bishop of Hierusalem. Vvhen vve accomplish our praiers after the rite of the holy Mysteries, Praier in the Masse for kings and other. vve pray both for al others, and for thee also. •p. 60 c. 2 ad Io. Hierosolym. apud Hieronymum. And most of the other fathers expoūd the foresaid vvordes, of publike praiers made by the Priest, vvhich are said in al Liturgies or Masses both Greeke and Latin, for the good estate of al that be in high degnitie, as kings and others. See S. Chrys. ho. 6. in 1 Tim. & S. Ambr. in hunc lo• Prosper de vocat. li. 1. c. 4. So exactly doth the practise of the Church agree vvith the Precepts of the Apostle and the Scriptures, and so profoūdly do the holy fathers seeke out the proper sense of the Scriptures, vvhich our Protestants do so prophanely, popularely, and lightly skimme ouer, that they can neither see nor endure the truth.
4. Vvho vvil al men] The perishing or damnation of men must not be imputed to God, vvho delighteth not in any mans perdition, but hath prouided a general medicine & redemption to saue al from perishing that vvil accept it, God vvil no mans perditiō but the saluation of al. or that haue it applied vnto them by his Sacraments and other meanes by him ordained, and so vvould haue al saued by his conditional vvil and ordinance: that is, if men vvil them selues, by accepting, doing, or hauing done vnto them al things requisite by Gods lavv. for God vseth not his absolute vvil or povver tovvardes al••• this case. But he that list see the manifold senses (al good and true) that these vvordes may beare, let him see S. Augustine, Ad articul. sibi false impos. resp. •. to. 7. E•ch. c. 103. Ep. 107. De cor. & grat. c. 15. and S. 〈◊〉 li. 2. de orthod. fide •. 29.
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Euen for heathen kings & Emperours by vvhom the Church suffereth persecution: much more for al faithful Princes & powers and people both spiritual and temporal, for vvhom as members of Christes body, and therfore ioyning in praier & oblation vvith the ministers of the Church, the Priestes more properly and particularly offer the holy Sacrifice. See S. Augustine de orig. anima li. 1. c. p.
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5 One mediator.] The Protestants are to peuish and pitifully blind, that charge the Catholike Church & Catholikes, vvith making moe Mediators then one, vvhich is Christ our Sauiour, in that they desire the Saincts to pray for them, or to be their patrones and intercessors before God. Vve tel them therfore that they vnderstand not vvhat it is to be a Mediator, in this sense that S. Paul taketh the vvord, Hovv there is but one Mediator, Christ: and vvhat it is to be such a Mediator. and in vvhich it is properly and onely attributed to Christ. For, to be thus a Mediator, is, Aug. li. 9. de Ciu. cap. 15. De fid. ad Pet. c. 2. by nature to be truely both God and man, to be that one eternal Priest and Redeemer, vvhich by his sacrifice and death vpon the Crosse hath reconciled vs to God, and paied his bloud as a full and sufficient raunsom for al our sinnes, him self vvithout neede of any redemption, neuer subiect to possibilitie of sinning: againe, to be the singular Aduocar and Patrone of mankind, that by him self alone and by his ovvne merites procureth al grace & mercie to mankind in the sight of his •ather, none making any intercession for him, nor geuing any grace or force to his praiers, but he to al: none asking or obtaining either grace in this life, or glorie in the next, but by him. In this sort then (as S. Augustine truely saith, Cont. ep. Parm. li. 2. c. 8.) neither Peter nor Paul, no nor our B. Lady, nor any creature vvhatsoeuer, can be our Mediator. The aduersaries thinke to basely of Christes mediation, if they imagine this to be his onely prerogatiue, to pray for vs, or that vve make the saincts our Mediators in that sort as Christis, vvhen vve desire them to pray for vs. vvhich is so far inferior to the singular mediation of him, that no Catholike euer can or dare thinke or speake so basely vnto him, as to desire him to pray for vs: but vve say, The different maner of praying to Christ, and to Saincts. Lord haue mercie vpō vs, Kyrie eleison. Christ haue mercie vpon vs: & not, Christ pray for vs, as vve say to our Ladie and the rest. Therfore to inuocate Saincts in that sort as the Catholike Church doth, can not make them our Mediators as Christ is, Christe eleison. vvhom vve must not inuocate in that sort. And as vvel make vve the faithful yet liuing, our Mediators (by the Aduersaries arguments) vvhen vve desire their praiers, as the departed Saincts.
But novv touching the vvord Mediator, Hovv there be many mediators, as there be many sauiours, and redeemers, euē in the Scriptures. though in that singular sense proper to our Sauiour, it agreeth to no mere creature in heauen or earth, yet taken in more large and common sort by the vse of Scriptures, doctors, and vulgar speach, not onely the Saincts, but good men liuing. that pray for vs and help vs in the vvay of saluation, may and are rightly called Mediators. As S. Cyril li. 22 Thesaur. c. 10 proueth, that Moyses according to the Scriptures and Ieremie and the Apostles and others be Mediators. Read his ovvne wordes, for they plainely refute al the Aduersaries cauillations in this case. Iud. 3, 9. And if the name of fauiour and redeemer be in the Scriptures giuen to men, 2 Esd. 9, 27. Act. 7, 35. vvithout derogation to him that is in a more excellent and incomparable maner the onely Sauiour of the vvorld: vvhat can they say, vvhy there may not be many Mediators, in an inferior degree to the only and singular Mediator? S. Bernard saith, Opus est mediatore ad Mediatorem Christum, nec alter nobis vtilior quam Maria. that is, We haue neede of a mediator to Christ the Mediator, and there is none more for our profite then our Ladie. Bernard. Ser. qui incipit, Signum magnum apparuit &c. post Ser. 5 de Assumpt. S. Basil also in the same sense, vvriting to Iulian the Apostata, desireth the mediation of our Ladie, of the Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs, for procuring of Gods mercie and remission of his sinnes. His vvordes are cited in Conc. Nic. 2. act. 4. pag. 110 & 111. Thus did and thus beleeued al the holy fathers, most agreably to the Scriptures, and thus must al the children of the Church do, be the Aduersaries neuer so importunate and vvilfully blinde in these matters.
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Concordance 2. Tim. 1, 11.
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Concordance 1. Pet. 3, 3.
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Concordance 1. Cor. 14, 34.
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12. I permit not.] Women great talkers of Scripture, and promoters of heresie. In times of licentiousnes, libertie, and heresie, vvomen are much giuen to reading, disputing, chatting, and langling of the holy Scriptures, yea and to teach also if they might be permitted. but S. Paul vtterly forbideeth it, and the S. Chrys. Ho. 9. in 1. Tim. Greeke Doctors vpon this place note that the vvoman taught but once, that vvas vvhen after her reasoning vvith Satan, she persuaded her husband to transgression, and so she vndid al mankind. And in the Ecclesiastical vvriters vve find that vvomen haue been great promoters of euery sort of heresie (vvhereof see a notable discourse in S. Hierom ep. ad Ct•siph. cont. Pelag. c. 2.) vvhich they vvould not haue done, if they had according to the Apostles rule, folovved pietie and good vvorkes, and liued in silence and subiection to their husbands.
Concordance Gen. 1, 27. 3, 6.
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she
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Prayer 3
… So far, for the glory of God. On the other hand, for our own petition, when we say, “Hallowed be Thy name,” we pray this; that it may be hallowed in us who are in Him, as well in all others for whom the grace of God is still waiting; that we may obey this precept, too, in “praying for all,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.73
… for kings, and for all that are in authority;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 23
For this is their life, this their business, that thou mayest enjoy peace. Wherefore in another Epistle, he bids them not only be subject, but also “pray” in their behalf. And as showing there too that the advantage was common to all, he adds, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all things.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 33
… What then doth he say? we must not hate, but pity. Since if thou shalt hate, how wilt thou easily convert him that is in error? how wilt thou pray for the unbeliever? for that one ought to pray, hear what Paul saith: “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayer, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 2
… So then let us give thanks also for the confidence of others [toward God]. For this custom is an ancient one, planted in the Church from the beginning. Thus Paul also giveth thanks for the Romans, ( Rom. i. 8 .) for the Corinthians, ( 1 Cor. i. 4 .) for the whole world, (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 7
… iv. 27 , LXX.) And there is another besides this; constancy in prayer, and persevering attendance on the intercessions made with God. In like manner fasting brings to us some, and that not small comfort and release from sins committed, provided it be attended with kindness to others, and quenches the vehemence of the wrath of God. (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 103
… Then saying, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,” that is, that prayers should be made for such as these, he immediately adds, as if to remove any ground of despair, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Catechising of the Uninstructed 21
… For he speaks in these terms: ‘I entreat, therefore, that first of all supplications, adorations, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for kings, for all men, and all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, with all godliness and charity.’
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.36
… for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 1.14
… “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.21
… neither accuse any falsely: and be content with your wages”? Did not one of His soldiers, His most beloved companion, say to his fellow soldiers, the provincials, so to speak, of Christ, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers”? Does he not enjoin the Church to pray for even kings themselves?
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.9
… viz., to expound one by one the different kinds of prayer, which the Apostle divides in a fourfold manner, when he says as follows: “I exhort therefore first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.13
In the third place stand intercessions, which we are wont to offer up for others also, while we are filled with fervour of spirit, making request either for those dear to us or for the peace of the whole world, and to use the Apostle’s own phrase, we pray “for all men, for kings and all that are in authority.”
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St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 12
… and may He bestow on you a lot and portion among His saints, and on us with you, and on all that are under heaven, who shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Father, who “raised Him from the dead.” Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings,
Tertullian † AD 220 Apology 31
… Who, then, are greater enemies and persecutors of Christians, than the very parties with treason against whom we are charged? Nay, even in terms, and most clearly, the Scripture says, “Pray for kings, and rulers, and powers, that all may be peace with you.”
Tertullian † AD 220 To His Wife i.7
… The occasion must be embraced which puts an end to that which necessity commanded. How detrimental to faith, how obstructive to holiness, second marriages are, the discipline of the Church and the prescription of the apostle declare, when he suffers not men twice married to preside (over a Church
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril procatechesis-or-prologue-to-t.13
Afterwards busy not thyself about unprofitable matters: neither, what the city has done, nor the village, nor the King
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 18.27
… She, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour , in former days amid persecutions and tribulations crowned the holy martyrs with the varied and blooming chaplets of patience, and now in times of peace by God’s grace receives her due honours from kings and those who are in high place
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 23
For this is their life, this their business, that thou mayest enjoy peace. Wherefore in another Epistle, he bids them not only be subject, but also “pray” in their behalf. And as showing there too that the advantage was common to all, he adds, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all things.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 1
… How? For if he had shunned bonds, he might have been thought a deceiver; but he that endures every thing, both bonds and affliction, shows that he suffers this for no human reason, but for God, who rewards. For no one would have been willing to die, or to incur such great risks, no one would have chosen to come into collision with such a king,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Titus 4
See how his first concern is for the preaching of the word, not for worldly things; for when he writes to Timothy, he says, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 220.3
… you were influenced by considering, on our representation of the matter, how much service the work which then occupied you might render to the churches of Christ if you pursued it with this single aim, that they, protected from all disturbance by barbarian hordes, might live “a quiet and peaceable life,” as the apostle says, “in all godliness and honesty;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 231.6
… that we may give a good account of you to the Chief Shepherd and Head over us all, and may escape both from the trials of this world and its allurements, which are still more dangerous, except when the peace of this world has the effect for which the apostle has directed us to pray, “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 19.26
… For from Babylon the people of God is so freed that it meanwhile sojourns in its company. And therefore the apostle also admonished the Church to pray for kings and those in authority, assigning as the reason, “that we may live a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and love.”
2:3
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 7
Ver. 3 . “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”
2:4
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Philadelphians: Shorter and Longer Versions 3
… For our God is a lover of mankind, and “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 2.7
… forasmuch as he knew not his Maker, and Him that inspired into him an active soul, and breathed in a living spirit;” that is, God, the Maker of all men; therefore, also, according to the apostle, He “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.3
… for it is plain that the title of Father does not present to us the Essence, but only indicates the relation to the Son. It follows, then, that if it were possible for human nature to be taught the essence of God, He “Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 12.3
… But I say that to those who with simplicity of heart receive the preaching of the Cross and the resurrection, the same grace should be a cause of equal thankfulness to the Son and to the Father, and now that the Son has accomplished the Father’s will (and this, in the language of the Apostle, is “that all men should be saved
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… Now that voice was fashioned by God, suitably to the understanding of the hearers, in airy substance, and adapted to the language of the day, God, “who willeth that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 5
… But is His motion none of these, but such as the mind is moved with? No, nor this either. Far be it! for in many things the mind is even absurdly moved. Is to will, to operate, or not? If to will is to operate, and He wills all men to be good, and to be saved (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 7
Ver. 4 . “Who willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 118.4
… Why should not you who hold a foremost place in the world hold a foremost place also in Christ’s household? Is it because you have been married? Peter was married too, but when he forsook his ship and his nets he forsook his wife also. The Lord who wills that all men shall be saved and prefers the repentance of a sinner to his death
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 97
Hence we must inquire in what sense is said of God what the apostle has mostly truly said: “Who will have all men to be saved.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 103
Accordingly, when we hear and read in Scripture that He “will have all men to be saved,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 57
… if from God’s gift, then again, why is not the gift open to all, since “He will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 58
… Consequently a man cannot be said to have even that will with which he believes in God, without having received it; since this rises at the call of God out of the free will which he received naturally when he was created. God no doubt wishes all men to be saved
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius 48
… If, indeed, it has happened that some are removed from the influence of this clearest light of truth, whose blindness required its illumination, yet even to them, we doubt not, the same grace will find its steady way, however late, by the merciful favour of that God ‘who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.’
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 44
And what is written, that “He wills all men to be saved,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.20
… Or at any rate it may be taken in this way: The will of God is the salvation of all men, according to these words of the blessed Paul: “Who willeth all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.7
… “Neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth,” meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 14.19
But sometimes in the lavish generosity of God in His Providence, “Who willeth all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 16.6
… For in the same way you will be punished for violating the Lord’s command. For He who said that you should not be angry with another, said also that you should not disregard the vexations of another, for it makes no difference in the sight of God, “Who willeth all men to be saved,”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 76
… For your nobility will doubtless eagerly seize the God-given boon, moved thereto by true friends who clearly understand its value, and guided to the bountiful God “Who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 98
And we ought to have left him in the position where he had placed himself: but, since we profess the teaching of the Saviour “who wishes all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Truth
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 2.29
Also one must bear in mind that God’s original wish was that all should be saved and come to His Kingdom
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Fabian 1
… We beseech you also to be zealous in praying in your pious supplications, that our God and Lord Jesus Christ, who will have all men to be saved, and no one to perish,
2:5
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Tarsians 4
… For says the apostle, “There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things.” And again, “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus;”
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Antiochians 4
… “The Word,” says [the Scripture], “became flesh, and dwelt among us.” And again: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And those very apostles, who said “that there is one God,” said also that “there is one Mediator between God and men.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.17.1
… but in respect of His power, He is Lord; and in respect of His wisdom, our Maker and Fashioner; by transgressing whose commandment we became His enemies. And therefore in the last times the Lord has restored us into friendship through His incarnation, having become “the Mediator between God and men;”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Flesh of Christ 15
… “A man of suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of weakness;” and Jeremiah: “He is a man, and who hath known Him?” and Daniel: “Upon the clouds (He came) as the Son of man.” The Apostle Paul likewise says: “The man Christ Jesus is the one Mediator between God and man.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 51
… is still sitting there at the right hand of the Father, man, yet God—the last Adam, yet the primary Word—flesh and blood, yet purer than ours—who “shall descend in like manner as He ascended into heaven ” the same both in substance and form, as the angels affirmed, so as even to be recognised by those who pierced Him. Designated, as He is, “the Mediator
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 63
And so the flesh shall rise again, wholly in every man, in its own identity, in its absolute integrity. Wherever it may be, it is in safe keeping in God’s presence, through that most faithful “Mediator between God and man, (the man) Jesus Christ,”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 27
… In one Person they no doubt are well able to be co-existent. Of them Jesus consists—Man, of the flesh; of the Spirit, God—and the angel designated Him as “the Son of God,” in respect of that nature, in which He was Spirit, reserving for the flesh the appellation “Son of Man.” In like manner, again, the apostle calls Him “the Mediator between God and Men,”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Numbers 1
Now, in order that He might be shown to have together in Himself at once the nature of God and that of man,—as the apostle, too, says: “Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 21
… Both of these, therefore, are leagued together in Christ, and both are conjoined, and both are linked with one another. And rightly, as there is in Him something which excels the creature, the agreement of the divinity and the humanity seems to be pledged in Him: for which reason He who is declared as made the “Mediator between God and man”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Synodis or On the Councils 1
85. But perhaps on the opposite side it will be said that it ought to meet with disapproval, because an erroneous interpretation is generally put upon it. If such is our fear, we ought to erase the words of the Apostle, There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 4.8
… Again, they say that Paul proclaims, For there is One God, and One Mediator between God and men
St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: The Pearl. Seven Hymns on the Faith 6.6
Let our Lord be set between God and men! Let the Prophets be as it were His heralds! Let the Just One, as being His Father, rejoice! that Word it is which conquered both Jews and Heathens!
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 14
… “The people,” it is written, “believed the Lord and his servant Moses.” Moses then is joined with God, not with the Spirit; and he was a type not of the Spirit, but of Christ. For at that time in the ministry of the law, he by means of himself typified “the Mediator between God and men.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 30
… For to intercede does not imply to seek for vengeance, as is most men’s way (for in that there would be something of humiliation), but it is to plead for us by reason of His Mediatorship, just as the Spirit also is said to make intercession for us. For there is One God, and One Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus.
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.8
… For men revolted from God, and “served them which by nature were no gods ,” and though being the children of God became attached to an evil father falsely so called. For this cause the mediator between God and man
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.12
… It is not thus that we are taught by the lofty utterance of the Apostle, who says that having made void the law of commandments by His own doctrines, He is the mediator between God and man, declaring it by this saying, “There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 3.4
… For nothing so clearly points to Him Who is the “mediator between God and man
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 6.2
… exalted, or adopted (those, I mean, who were brought into being at His command), marking the specialty of nature by the addition of “own.” And, to the end that no one should connect the suffering of the Cross with the imperishable nature, he gives in other words a fairly distinct correction of such an error, when he calls Him “mediator between God and men
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.2
8. But what is He Who is at once the Most High and man, what but “the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus Who gave Himself as a ransom for us”?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 7
… not to delude us with a phantom, but to instruct us in humility. When therefore he says, “as a man,” this is what He means; since he calls Him a man elsewhere also, when he says, “there is one God, one Mediator also between God and men, Himself man, Christ Jesus.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 7
Ver. 5 . “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 7.18
24. And I sought a way of acquiring strength sufficient to enjoy Thee; but I found it not until I embraced that “Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.43
68. But the true Mediator, whom in Thy secret mercy Thou hast pointed out to the humble, and didst send, that by His example also they might learn the same humility—that “Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 11.29
39. But “because Thy loving-kindness is better than life,” behold, my life is but a distraction, and Thy right hand upheld me in my Lord, the Son of man, the Mediator between Thee,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 137.12
… nowhere divided, nowhere distended, but without dimensions, everywhere present in His entirety,—this Word of God, I say, took to Himself, in a manner entirely different from that in which He is present to other creatures, the soul and body of a man, and made, by the union of Himself therewith, the one person Jesus Christ, Mediator between God and men,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 9.17
… For, though His incarnation showed us nothing else, these two wholesome facts were enough, that true divinity cannot be polluted by flesh, and that demons are not to be considered better than ourselves because they have not flesh. This, then, as Scripture says, is the “Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 15.26
… this is certainly a figure of the city of God sojourning in this world; that is to say, of the church, which is rescued by the wood on which hung the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 17.5
… put me in a part of Thy priesthood. For “I have chosen to be mean in Thine house;” I desire to be a member, no matter what, or how small, of Thy priesthood. By the priesthood he here means the people itself, of which He is the Priest who is the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 17.7
… this day,” reigned forty years over Israel,—that is, just as long a time as David himself,—yet heard this in the first period of his reign, that we may understand it was said because none of his race was to reign, and that we may look to the race of David, whence also is sprung, according to the flesh, the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.47
… And I doubt not it was divinely provided, that from this one case we might know that among other nations also there might be men pertaining to the spiritual Jerusalem who have lived according to God and have pleased Him. And it is not to be supposed that this was granted to any one, unless the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.7
… But because, on account of the incarnation of the Word of God for the working out of our salvation, that the man Christ Jesus might be the Mediator between God and men,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.13
… and on the other hand, He will judge as the Son of God, yet not appearing in that [unincarnate] form in which He is God equal to the Father, but in that [incarnate form] in which He is the Son of man.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 3.11
… For He was not born in limitation, but in power. But you learn in another place that he does not mean any one of the angels as a mediator, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in so far as He deigned to be made man: “For there is one God,” he says, “and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 4.8
12. So the Son of God Himself, the Word of God, Himself also the Mediator between God and men, the Son of man,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 6.9
… especially since it is the Word already made flesh that speaks; and according to this His humiliation also, the Father is greater than He, as He says, “for my Father is greater than I;” so that the very being of God, which is one to Him with the Father, is itself the head of the man who is mediator, which He is alone.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 15.25
… For that Lamb that was slain by them without any debt of sin has conquered them; but not by the might of power before He had done so by the righteousness of blood. And free accordingly from the power of the devil, they are borne up by holy angels, being set free from all evils by the mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Catechising of the Uninstructed 3
… And in an analogous manner, the Lord Jesus Christ, previous to His appearing in the flesh, and coming forth in a certain manner out of the womb of His secrecy, before the eyes of men as Man, the Mediator between God and men,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.15
… There are points of both kinds, and one can be proved as well as the other. Christ is unlike man, for He is God; and it is written of Him that He is "over all, God blessed for ever." Christ is also like man, for He is man; and it is likewise written of Him, that He is the "Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 1.48
… of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.” He also says: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.1
… I undertake in the present book to discuss and explain the question, Whether there lives in this world, or has yet lived, or ever will live, any one without any sin whatever, except “the one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 47
… they all come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace.” By this grace there is written on the renewed inner man that righteousness which sin had blotted out; and this mercy comes upon the human race through our Lord Jesus Christ. “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 48
… there being “one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 51
… that there have been or are any such, I should not by any means therefore affirm that they had or have the ability, unless justified by the grace of God through our Lord “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” For the same faith which healed the saints of old now heals us,—that is to say, faith “in the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 77
… any question as to where and when this perfection was to be obtained by him,—although in fact it is quite an interesting question among godly men, who are notwithstanding agreed as to the possibility of such perfection on the one hand, and on the other hand its impossibility except through “the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”);
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 42
… or outside that people, as Job; or previous to that people, as Abraham, and Noah, and all others who are either mentioned or not in Holy Scripture. “For there is but one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness chapter44
Whosoever, then, supposes that any man or any men (except the one Mediator between God and man
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin 2.28
… the latter has saved us in Himself, by not doing His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him: and it is in what concerns these two men that the Christian faith properly consists. For “there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin 2.33
… He is, however, not a Mediator, because He is equal with the Father; for in this respect He is Himself as far distant from us as the Father; and how can there be any medium where the distance is the very same? Therefore the apostle does not say, “There is one Mediator between God and men, even Jesus Christ;” but his words are, “The Man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.12
… but I say that they were freed by the blood of the Redeemer Himself, who is the one Mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.39
… making void what is said: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 1.3
… for it was according to His humanity that Christ was made both King and Priest. To Him, too, God gave the throne of His father David, in order that of His kingdom there should be none end. And this was done with the purpose that there might be a mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 1.35
… Accordingly, Christ was named the Mediator between God and men, who stood between the immortal God and mortal man, as being Himself both God and man,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 62.1
… yea, rather others have been called, we not called, but led; not only led, but even forced. For so have we heard, that “a certain Man made a great supper.” Who is this Man, but “the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 16.7
… For that city in which He was made, that Zion, that nation of the Jews He Himself made when He was with the Father as the Word of God: for “all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.” Of that man we have to-day heard it said: “One Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 17.7
… This impotent man is healed by the Lord in person; but before healing him, what does He say to him? “Wilt thou be made whole?” The man answered that he had not a man to put him into the pool. Truly he had need of a “man” to his healing, but that “man” one who is also God. “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 41.5
… For there is a separating medium, and, on the other hand, there is a reconciling Mediator. The separating medium is sin, the reconciling Mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ: “For there is one God and Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 47.3
… In the same way as the intellect seeth itself, so also doth Christ preach Himself. If He preacheth Himself, and by preaching entereth into thee, He entereth into thee by Himself. And He is the door to the Father, for there is no way of approach to the Father but by Him. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 66
… Whoever, therefore, acknowledges Christ as God, and disowns Him as man, Christ died not for him; for as man it was that Christ died. He who disowns Christ as man, finds no reconciliation to God by the Mediator. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 74.3
3. But when John the Baptist said, “For God giveth not the Spirit by measure,” he was speaking exclusively of the Son of God, who received not the Spirit by measure; for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. And no more is it independently of the grace of the Holy Spirit that the Mediator between God and men is the man Christ Jesus:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 80.1
1. This passage of the Gospel, brethren, where the Lord calls Himself the vine, and His disciples the branches, declares in so many words that the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 82.2
… “We love God because He first loved us.” But when He says, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you,” He indicates no such equality between our nature and His as there is between Himself and the Father, but the grace whereby the Mediator between God and men is the man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 105.7
… For we were chosen in the same way as He was glorified; inasmuch as before the world was, neither we nor the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 124.5
… but, besides other consolations to the miserable, which He ceaseth not to bestow on mankind, in the fullness of time, when He knew that such had to be done, He sent His only-begotten Son, by whom He created all things, that He might become man while remaining God, and so be the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 45.7
7. Lo! now then that Word, so uttered, Eternal, the Co-eternal Offspring of the Eternal, will come as “the Bridegroom;” “Fairer than the children of men” ( ver. 2 ). “Than the children of men.” I ask, why not than the Angels also? Why did he say, “than the children of men,” except because He was Man? Lest you should think “the Man Christ”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 59.1.2
… Therefore here also let us perceive the Lord’s Passion, and let there speak to us Christ, Head and Body. So always, or nearly always, let us hear the words of Christ from the Psalm, as that we look not only upon that Head, the one mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 60.1
1. David the king was one man, but not one man he figured; sometimes to wit he figured the Church of many men consisting, extended even unto the ends of the earth: but sometimes One Man he figured, Him he figured that is Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.20
… Not because in other men He dwelleth not, but because in them through Him. “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead,” not in a shadow, as in the temple made by king Solomon, but “bodily,” that is, solidly and truly.…“For there is One God, and One Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 105.9
… as it is most truly defined by the Apostle: “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 118.21
21. “God is the Lord, who hath showed us light” ( ver. 27 ). That Lord, who came in the Lord’s Name, whom the builders refused, and who became the head Stone of the corner, that “Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.14
… But this sense is a solitary one; for it cannot be divinely spoken of any of the saints, nor in any wise lawfully said of any, “The Word was made flesh,” save of the “one Mediator between God and men.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
Orth. —Very well: then hear the teacher of teachers writing to his very perfect disciple. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 152
… the blessed Paul writes “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead,” and to show of whom he is speaking he explains his words and says, “For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” And writing to Timothy he says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 35
… but both remains in one and one is in both, not divided by the diversity and not confounded by intermixture: He is not one by His Father and another by His mother, but the same, in one way by His Father before every beginning, and in another by His mother at the end of the ages: so that He was “mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Trallians: Shorter and Longer Versions 8
… Do ye therefore, clothing yourselves with meekness, become the imitators of His sufferings, and of His love, wherewith He loved us when He gave Himself a ransom
Clement of Alexandria † AD 215 The Stromata, or Miscellanies fragments-of-clemens-alexandri
1 Tim. ii. 6 . “In his times;” that is, when men were in a condition of fitness for faith.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.2
… If the first man formed out of the earth brought in universal death, shall not He who formed him out of the earth bring in eternal life, being Himself the Life? If Phinees, when he waxed zealous and slew the evil-doer, staved the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew not another, but gave up Himself for a ransom
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 6
“Not therefore,” saith he, “by display of eloquence, neither armed with arguments from without, do I declare the testimony of God.” He saith not “the preaching,” but “the testimony
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 7
Ver. 6 . “Who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 8
… 28 ), and “My Father is greater than I.” But how did He not glorify Himself, He who “made Himself of no reputation” ( Philip. ii. 7 ), He who gave Himself up? For, it is said, “He gave Himself” up “for our sins.” (See Gal. i. 4 .) And again, “Who gave Himself a ransom for us all.” (
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 124
… For “there is not another name given to men under heaven, in which they must be saved .” Neither is there any ransoming of men from captivity, save in His blood, “who gave Himself a ransom for all
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 14
… For this you had been bound to read, even if not in an Epistle, yet impressed upon the very character of the apostle, by (his) modesty more clearly than by the instrumentality of a pen: not to steep, to wit, Paul, the “apostle of Christ,” the “teacher of the nations in faith and verity,”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 2
… ‘Be ye therefore followers of me ,’ he wrote to the Corinthians. Now the apostolic precept exhorts us all, for those commands which he sent to individuals, he at the same time enjoined upon every man in every place, for he was ‘a teacher of all nations in faith and truth
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 11
2. Since we are thus circumstanced, my brethren, let us never loiter in the path of virtue; for hereto he counsels us, saying, ‘Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ .’ For he gave this advice not to the Corinthians only, since he was not their Apostle only, but being ‘a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.14
… the one heard the divine voice and was cleansed by a live coal for his prophetic office, and the other was known before his formation and sanctified before his birth. Paul, also, while yet a persecutor, who became the great herald of the truth and teacher of the Gentiles in faith,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 1.4
… for I am preparing to plunge our discussion to an extreme depth. The admonition itself hath no doubt seemed beside the purpose, and superfluous to many: and they are apt to talk much in this way, “Was Timothy of himself not able to judge what it was needful to make use of, and did he wait to learn this of his teacher.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 7
Ver. 7 . “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an Apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not:) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 39
… Why then does each man still say even now to his neighbour and his brother, “Know the Lord?” Or is it not perhaps meant that this is everywhere said when the gospel is preached, and when this is its very proclamation? For on what ground does the apostle call himself “a teacher of the Gentiles,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius 32
… He possessed also that of prophecy ; for was not that a prophecy of his in which he says: “In the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils?” He was, moreover, “the teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 8
… Shall it be granted possible for human ingenuity to summon a spirit into water, and, by the application of hands from above, to animate their union into one body with another spirit of so clear sound; and shall it not be possible for God, in the case of His own organ, to produce, by means of “holy hands,”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Prayer 13
But what reason is there in going to prayer with hands indeed washed, but the spirit foul?—inasmuch as to our hands themselves spiritual purities are necessary, that they may be “lifted up pure”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… and to cast down our sin that exalted itself, when it would exalt us above our better part. It is good also for the shoulder to be sanctified and purified that it may be able to take up the Cross of Christ, which not everyone can easily do. It is good for the hands to be consecrated, and the feet; the one that they may in every place be lifted up holy;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 19
… putting on the garb of a suppliant, but uttering the cries of a wild beast, and darting out against thyself those shafts of the wicked one? Wherefore Paul also, making mention of prayer, required nothing so much as the observance of this commandment; for He saith, “lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 23
… But what are these? To seek the things spiritual, all of them; to forgive them that have trespassed, and so to draw nigh asking forgiveness; “to lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 51
For so Paul too commanded: his phrase being, “lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 17
… Seest thou not how, when we wish to converse on matters of serious import, we look out for places free from noise, where all is stillness, all calm, that we may not be put out and discomposed? But if noise from without discomposes, much more disturbance from within. Whether one pray, to no purpose does he pray “with wrath and disputings:” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 31
… Since then it was likely that these shared many dangers with him, he calls them fellow-captives. As in another passage also, “Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner.” ( Col. iv. 10 .) Then another praise besides. “Who are of note among the Apostles.” And indeed to be apostles
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.27
… and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved through the child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.” Let us consider what led the Apostle to make this declaration:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 63.10
… Let us also lift up our hands to God in prayer: and our hands being lifted up to God shall not be confounded, if they be exercised in good works. For what doth he that lifteth up hands? Whence hath it been commanded that with hands lifted up we should pray to God? For the Apostle saith, “Lifting up pure hands without anger and dissension.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 8.13
… And yet we are commanded by the Apostle: “Pray without ceasing;” and “in every place lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Chaplet, or De Corona 14
… For what is a crown on the head of a woman, but beauty made seductive, but mark of utter wantonness,—a notable casting away of modesty, a setting temptation on fire? Therefore a woman, taking counsel from the apostles’ foresight,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Dress of Virgins 8
… but Paul meets your riches, and with his own voice prescribes for the moderating of your dress and ornament within a just limit. “Let women,” said he, “adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly array, but as becometh women professing chastity, with a good conversation.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.37
… “Let your women be such as adorn themselves with shamefacedness and modesty, not with twisted hair, nor with gold, nor with pearls, or precious garments, but as becometh women professing chastity, with a good conversation.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 7
… For the feast does not consist in pleasant intercourse at meals, nor splendour
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.18
… Rich is modesty, for it is the portion of God. Paul also bids that prayer be offered up with modesty and sobriety.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.45
… “Let all things be done decently and in order.” But we can also fear, love, ask, honour men; yet the hymn especially is addressed to God. This seemliness which we offer to God we may believe to be far better than other things. It befits also a woman to pray in an orderly dress,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Instructions to Catechumens 2.4
… For what reason wilt thou be able to state, what defense, when the Master lays these pearls to thy charge, and brings the poor who have perished with hunger into the midst? On this account Paul said, “not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly raiment.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 17
But if thou desirest to hear also His rebuke for them in particular, listen to Isaiah, in many words inveighing against them, and deriding their habit, their aspect, their gait, their trailing garments, their tripping feet, their drooping necks. Hear with him the blessed Paul
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 49
And if thou despise our judgments, hear the voice of Paul, with great earnestness forbidding these things, and then thou wilt perceive the absurdity of them. What then saith he? “Not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 85
… because they walked with a lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes, and in their walking, trailing their garments, and mincing at the same time with their feet; the Lord shall take off their bravery, and instead of a sweet smell there shall be dust, and instead of a stomacher, thou shalt gird thyself with a cord.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 53
… 24 ) they acquit him, as undeserving not only of death, but also of bonds, and indeed would have released him entirely, if he had not appealed to Cæsar. But this was done providentially, that he should also depart with bonds. “Unto bonds,” he says, “as an evil doer.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 30
… Nay even this cannot be said. For “the churches of the Gentiles,” he says, “thank them.” And yet they were of the Jews. But still they had such a clear ( εἰλικρινὥς ) faith, as to minister unto them also with all willingness. Such ought women to be, not adorning themselves with “broidered hair, or gold, or costly array” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 26
[6.] But I fear lest having assumed the dress, yet in their deeds some of our women should be found immodest and in other ways uncovered. For therefore also writing to Timothy Paul was not content with these things, but added others, saying, “that they adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 7
… that if ye women do continue thus to act, I will not suffer it, nor receive you, nor permit you to pass across this threshold. For what need have I of a crowd of distempered people? And what if, in my training of you, I do not forbid what is not excessive? And yet Paul forbade both gold and pearls. (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 12
… To show by comparison the superiority of the other, in that the former is of no solid advantage, though it is attended with many toils, whilst the latter has a lasting and abundant good. As when he bids women “adorn themselves, not with broidered hair, or gold, or costly array: but which becometh women possessing godliness; with good works.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 61
… These things I say, desiring that you should be adorned with that wholesome adornment which Paul enjoined; “Not with gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 28
… However, that we may not shut you up too narrowly, this I assure you, that we have no need of ornaments of gold, or of lace. And it is not I who say this. For that the words are not mine, hear the blessed Paul saying, and solemnly charging women “to adorn themselves, not with plaitings [of the hair], or gold, or pearls, or costly apparel.” (
Sulpicius Severus † AD 420 The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus 2.12
… elegance in the apparel which is adopted, but let there be the hidden man of the heart in the stainlessness of a peaceful and modest spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Let another apostle also tell thee, the blessed Paul, who, writing to Timothy, gives his approval to the same things in regard to the conduct of believing women: “Let wives
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Good of Marriage 14
… so the married woman is seldom met with, who, in the very obedience of married life, hath no thought save how to please God, by adorning herself, not with plaited hair, or gold and pearls and costly attire,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin 1.29
… On no other principle would they be thus admonished with respect to self-adornment. “Not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but which (says the apostle) becometh women professing godliness with a good conversation.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 31.2
… But to give you, too, a sprinkling of pepper and to remind you of my former letter, I send you to-day this three-fold warning. Cease not to adorn yourself with good works—the true bracelets of a Christian woman.
2:11
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 1
… for vipers and asps and basilisks themselves generally do affect arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes, after the example of our ΙΧΘΥΣ Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water; so that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.47
… “Let women be silent in the church. But if any wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.” Also to Timothy: “Let a woman learn with silence, in all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to be set over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not seduced, but the woman was seduced.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.13
156. Or as a woman to a man, as we read: “Let the wives be subject to their husbands;” and again: “Let the woman learn in silence in all subjection”?
2:12
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 31
… For he says, “who bestowed much labor on us,” that is, not on herself only, nor upon her own advancement, (see p. 520) (for this many women of the present day do, by fasting, and sleeping on the floor), but upon others also, so carrying on the race Apostles and Evangelists ran. In what sense then does he say, “I suffer not a woman to teach?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 9
… vi. 13 .); or what when he says, “But she that giveth herself to pleasure, is dead while she liveth” ( 1 Tim. v. 6 .), speaking of a widow. Is then the widow a Teacher? Has not he said himself, “But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man”? (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Titus 4
And yet thou forbiddest a woman to teach; how dost thou command it here, when elsewhere thou sayest, “I suffer not a woman to teach”? (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 127.7
… For she knew that the apostle had said: “I suffer not a woman to teach,”
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St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 22.1
… The Christian ought not to be of doubtful mind, nor by anything drawn away from the recollection of God and of His purposes and judgments. The Christian ought in all things to become superior to the righteousness existing under the law, and neither swear nor lie. He ought not to speak evil; to do violence;
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.27
27. But we toil to no purpose. For our opponent urges against us the Apostolic sentence and says,
2:14
Tertullian † AD 220 Five Books in Reply to Marcion 2
Because he pleased her wittingly; because
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 12.1
… And the fact too that this grace was revealed by means of a woman, itself agrees with the interpretation which we have given. For since, as the Apostle tells us, “the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 25
… For if that account, were even by itself hard to pass, when these be added too, how are we to be saved? And let us not suppose, that if we can find accomplices in our sins, that will be an excuse; as this will prove an addition to our punishment. Since the serpent too was punished more than the woman, as was the woman likewise more than the man (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 31
… Now consider; Adam sinned, and Eve sinned, and both transgressed, yet they were not equally sinful. And therefore neither were they equally punished. For the difference was so great that Paul said, “Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 26
For with us indeed the woman is reasonably subjected to the man: since equality of honor causeth contention. And not for this cause only, but by reason also of the deceit (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.5
… but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.’ And
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 14.11
… For not without significance did the apostle say, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression;”
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1. I BESEECH YOU FIRST OF ALL TO MAKE SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, PETITIONS, THANKSGIVINGS. — Note: For "I beseech," in Greek it is παρακαλῶ, which can be translated with Vatablus and others as I admonish, I exhort; St. Ambrose reads it as exhort, perhaps because he read παρακάλει in the imperative in the Greek. Second note: The word "therefore" signifies that these things are inferred from what was said in the preceding chapter. For he said that Christ came so that he might save all sinners, and in this matter the Bishop Timothy ought to cooperate with Christ and wage a good warfare; hence he now infers: "I beseech you therefore first of all to make supplications," as if to say, O Timothy, so that you may rightly fulfill your episcopate for the salvation of sinners, know first that the duty of a Bishop is to devote himself to prayer with his people and for his people, and you will accomplish more through prayer than through preaching (which among external duties of the active life is first in a Bishop); for prayer will obtain from God light and grace by which sinners and the unfaithful may be converted. Thus Chrysostom. And it is evident from what follows; for why he wishes prayers to be made, he adds the reason when he says: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of our Saviour God, who will have all men to be saved." Third note: The word "all" can either be referred to what follows, namely to supplications (as if to say, I wish supplications to be made by all, or by all Christians), or to what precedes, namely to "first," as if to say, First of all, that is before all things, I wish supplications to be made; and this is more apt, and thus St. Ambrose and Chrysostom explain it, who interpret it as if the Apostle wishes us to devote ourselves to prayer before all things in the morning. "And this," says Chrysostom, "the faithful know, how on each day morning and evening prayers are made to the Lord, how for the whole world, and for kings, and for all who are in high places, supplications are made by the Church." Note this passage for morning and evening prayer from the ancient custom of the Church. Thus David did, Psalm 62: "O God," he says, "my God, to thee do I watch at break of day." Thus Job did, chapter 1, 5: "He sanctified," the Scripture says, "them (his sons), and rising up early in the morning offered holocausts for every one of them." Hence St. Dionysius, chapter III On the Divine Names: "Every," he says, "action is to be begun by us with prayer, especially in theology," that is when discourse or disputation concerning divine things occurs. Thus the Nazianzen did, as is found in his oration which he recited when about to journey: "To thee," he says, "Christ, I live, to thee I speak, to thee, Christ, I sit, to thee I walk, since thou rulest me with thy hand." SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, PETITIONS, THANKSGIVINGS. — First, Theophylactus, Gagneius and, as it seems, Chrysostom, wish the first three, namely "supplications, prayers, petitions," to be the same thing, but to be repeated with other names for amplification: for thus in Philippians 4:6 and Ephesians 6:18, he takes these for the same thing. Second and better, others distinguish these. Especially St. Thomas wishes these to be found distinctly in one and the same prayer or collect: prayer, he says, is the very ascent of the mind to God, as when in a collect it is said, "Almighty eternal God;" thanksgiving is when it is added, "Who choosest the weak things of the world;" this is followed by petition when it is said, "We beseech thee, grant;" which all concludes supplication through sacred things, when it is said, "Through our Lord Jesus Christ." Third and more aptly to the Greek, Theodoret, Oecumenius and Cassian, Collation XI, chapters 12 and 13: "Supplications," they say, in Greek δεήσεις, are called, that is supplications for the removal of evils and sorrows, so that we may be freed from them. Whence Ambrose and Augustine read "deprecations." "Prayers," in Greek προσευχαί, are called petitions of goods, so that they may come to us. "Petitions," in Greek ἐντεύξεις, are called intercessions, when we accuse those who injure us, says Theodoret; or, as Primasius says, when we intercede for the salvation of others. Finally "thanksgiving" is offered to God for goods which have previously befallen us. Note with Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom and others, that the Apostle speaks chiefly of public and common prayer, such as the Mass, Litany and similar things. Whence St. Augustine, epistle 59 to Paulinus, Question V, aptly refers these things to the liturgy of the Mass, so that "supplications" are the Confiteor and other prayers of the Mass which are made before the consecration, in which there is frequent entreaty and supplication through Christ and other sacred things; but "prayers" are those which are made at the consecration. For the Greek προσευχή signifies prayer which is made with an offering (such as in the consecration) or with a vow. Then so that "requests" are made after the consecration, when the people are blessed; for then, says Augustine, "The prelates as advocates offer their charges through the imposition of hands to the most merciful power;" namely when the priest after the consecration for himself, for the living and the dead requests benefits, and when he blesses the people, then he places him as it were before God's mercy, and by his request offers him to be benefited. These things being completed, "having partaken of so great a Sacrament, thanksgiving concludes all (the liturgy and mysteries of the Mass)." Thus far Augustine. From which place of St. Augustine it is clear that this rite of the Mass at least in general and as to these parts was in the time of St. Augustine received in common use by the Church, as if handed down from the ancients from the institution of the Apostles. The same is clear from the liturgies of St. James, Basil, Chrysostom, which others teach to be their genuine works, and the Sixth Synod, canon 32, expressly asserts concerning that which is ascribed to St. James. No less aptly does Francis Suarez, III part., in Question LXXXIII, disputation LXXXIII, section 4, think that these things are done promiscuously in any part of the Mass: for in any part the priest now requests, now entreats, now again and again gives thanks. And the same is to be imitated by any faithful person in private prayer: for David teaches this manner of praying and singing in the psalms, where he alternates all these affections, so that now he entreats, immediately he requests, soon he gives thanks, again he prays, immediately he gives thanks, soon he entreats, etc.; for the best prayer is that which proceeds from the affections of the mind; and just as he who indulges in affections mixes and alternates them, so let him do who prays to God affectionately. St. Bernard distinguishes these otherwise, in the Sentences: "Supplications," he says, "are made with a reverent, prayers with a pure, requests with an ample, thanksgivings with a devout affection." He explains each by examples: The type of supplication, he says, was held by the woman with an issue of blood, Matthew chapter IX, 21, who wishing to be healed said within herself: "If I shall touch only the hem of his garment, I shall be whole." The example of prayer was given by Magdalen, who purely confessing her sins, watering the feet of Christ with tears, prayed for pardon. A request is when he who had prayed for himself now prays for others. Thus the Apostles prayed for the Canaanite woman: "Send her away, for she crieth after us." Thanksgiving was that of Christ about to raise Lazarus: "Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me."
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2. FOR KINGS, AND ALL WHO ARE IN AUTHORITY. — In Greek ἐν ὑπεροχῇ, that is, in dignity or eminence. "For the faith, conversion and salvation of kings and princes, who by their pride abhor Christian humility, do not despair, but pray, that by the prayers of the humble God may grant salvation to the exalted," says Augustine, Enchiridion CIII. Hence we say first, that it is most necessary for every faithful person to pray for Prelates both ecclesiastical and civil: for these have great power, and upon them depends the whole commonwealth and Church; for such as these are, so are their subjects almost always: for the whole world is ordered according to the example of the King. Thus Constantine, when converted, converted the world, removed idols, and built churches. Secondly, the Apostle wills that we pray not only for Christian kings and magistrates, but also for infidels and pagans, such as Nero and the like, who reigned in the time of Paul, and this, as Chrysostom notes, for a threefold reason: First, that Christians might lay aside all hatred, since they are commanded to pray for all; for no one can hate him for whom he prays. Secondly, that the kings and princes themselves might be milder toward Christians, knowing that they prayed for them, even while they persecuted and tormented them. Thus in the camps of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, when the soldiers were besieged and afflicted, the Christian legion obtained rain for the Romans, which came with thunder and lightning hurled against the enemies of the Romans. Whence this legion was called κεραυνοβόλος, that is, the Thunderbolt Legion. Alluding to this, Tertullian, cap. XL of the Apology, thus expostulates with the Gentiles: "When you suspend the summer rains in winter, and the year is in your care, you indeed, fed daily and about to dine immediately, working in baths and inns and brothels, offer aqualicia (that is, sacrifices to draw forth water) to Jupiter, announce naked-footed processions to the people, seek the sky at the Capitol, expect clouds from the ceiling, turned away from God himself and from heaven. But we, dried by fasting and wrung out by all continence, deprived of every fruit of life, rolling in sackcloth and ashes, beat heaven with envy, touch God; and when we have extorted mercy, Jupiter is honored." Thus that Christians of old were accustomed to pray in the holy mysteries for the king or Emperor, even an infidel (such as Nero, Decius, Diocletian then was), is testified by Justin, Apology II; Origen, book VIII Against Celsus; Arnobius, book III Against the Gentiles; Eusebius, book IV of the History, cap. XXVI. Thus St. Cyprian, as his Life relates, when it was objected to him by the prefect that he, as a Christian, had conspired against Caesar, freely answered: "We Christians are far removed from this guilt, we who, though Caesar worships other sacred things and other gods, yet because he is our prince, wish him well and pray, and ask our God that He may lead him to the thought of true goods." Hence morally Chrysostom here, homily 6, from the fact that the Apostle exhorts us to pray for all, and consequently for enemies and persecutors, inveighs against those who pray for the vengeance of enemies, saying to God: Repay him what he has done to me; strike him as he struck me. "Let us learn," he says, "to pray as befits Christians; those are the prayers of the Gentiles, such prayers are reckoned among the Jews. Christians are commanded to give easy pardon to those who have sinned, and with all intention to beseech God that He forgive them." And further: "You seem indeed," he says, "to aim a wound at your enemy while you pray against him, but in reality you drive the sword against yourself; you do not permit the judge to deal more mildly with you in your affairs, while you provoke him against another." The third reason for praying for pagan princes was, namely, that they might obtain from God the grace of ruling well and peacefully, and that God might in this way bend and direct their mind and rule in the way that was profitable to the Church and its peace and tranquility. For, as Plutarch elegantly says, "The Roman Empire was the bond of peace, like an anchor to the wavering world." Hence Tertullian, Apology XXX, answering the calumny of the Gentiles: "Looking up to heaven," he says, "Christians with hands outstretched, because innocent; with head uncovered, because we are not ashamed; finally without a prompter, because we pray from the heart; always praying for all Emperors, long life for them, secure empire, safe household, strong armies, faithful senate, worthy people, peaceful world, and whatever are the wishes of man and Caesar." Thus Jeremiah, cap. XXIX, wrote from Jerusalem to the Jews dwelling in Babylon, that they should pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar and his sons: "Because in his peace," he says, "shall be your peace." Theodoret adds a fourth reason: we must pray not only for kings so that through them we may enjoy peace and live a quiet life, but also so that they themselves may be led from impiety to faith and piety, as the Apostle subjoins: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be saved." You will say: St. Augustine, in book I of On the Soul and Its Origin, chapter IX, says: "Who offers the body of Christ, except for those who are members of Christ?" But the unfaithful are not members of Christ, therefore we ought not to offer or pray for them. I answer: "for them," namely the dead; for Augustine speaks of infants who died without faith and baptism, and he says that we ought not to pray for them, because these neither are nor can become members of Christ. But the unfaithful, so long as they live, can become members of Christ, and therefore we ought to pray for them. Note thirdly: It falls upon the bishop and priest to pray for all; for, as Chrysostom says, the priest is in a certain way the common father of the whole world; it is therefore fitting that he care for all and provide for all, just as God does, whose ministry he serves and whose office he performs. For this world is as it were a certain holy temple worthy of God, as Diogenes said in Plutarch at the end of the book On Tranquility of Mind, and Philo in book II of On Monarchy, at the beginning, and Lactantius in the book On the Wrath of God, chapter XIV, indeed the prophet Baruch himself, chapter III, 24, says: "O Israel, how great is the house of God!" namely this whole world. The priest is constituted as the high priest of this divine temple, as it were, so that he may perform the priesthood and intercede for all creatures. For this reason the high priest of the old law represented the whole world in his vestment; for, as it is said in Wisdom XVIII, 24: "In the vestment of the poderes the whole earth was." Note here: he calls poderes the hyacinthine tunic, because thus ποδήρης, that is, extending to the feet. Under this hyacinthine tunic, however, by synecdoche all the other vestments of the high priest are understood. The breeches of the high priest made of linen therefore figured the earth, from which linen is born; the girdle, with which the high priest was girded, signified the ocean encircling the earth; the hyacinthine tunic, being of violet, that is, of the color of air, represented the air. From this tunic below hung pomegranates and bells; the former represented lightning, the latter thunder. Over all these, he was clothed in a precious and variegated ephod, which was a type of the starry heaven distinguished by various stars: the ephod had on the back two onyx stones, which signified the two hemispheres, or the sun and moon; on the front, however, the ephod had on the breast the Rational, in which were twelve gems, which represented the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Again these twelve gems had inscribed upon them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, so that the high priest might remember that he performed the priesthood for them, and ought always to pray for them. On his head the high priest wore a tiara, to which was affixed in front a golden plate with this inscription of the name of the tetragram קדש לאדני kodes ladonai, that is, holiness to the Lord: this tiara signified the empyrean heaven, and the plate signified God presiding over all. Thus therefore the high priest represented all creatures and the whole universe in his vestment, so that he might remember that he was the minister of the Creator of the world, and might indicate that every creature needs the mercy of God, and that he ought to pray for it continually both in voice and in appearance. Thus from Josephus and Philo Jerome, in his letter to Fabiola, where he explains these vestments. On which I have said more in Exodus XXVIII. THAT WE MAY LEAD A QUIET AND TRANQUIL (in Greek ἤρεμον καὶ ἡσύχιον, that is, peaceful and quiet: thus the Syriac, Vatable and others) LIFE,—which will come to pass if the kings and princes themselves administer the commonwealth prudently, and if we obtain this prudence for them by prayer. IN ALL PIETY AND CHASTITY,—For "chastity," in Greek it is σεμνότητι. Which word signifies not only chastity, but also all honesty and gravity of morals, and is seen in every virtue, says Theophylact. Whence the Syriac translates it, in all reverence of God and purity. Note first: The Apostle wishes us to lead a quiet life not in idleness and delights, but in piety and holiness. Thus Theophylact. Note secondly, that peace and quiet are very useful for piety and honest living; for war and disturbance, says Ambrose, neither preserves piety nor chastity. For we see that when war rages, cities, temples, all sacred things are profaned and plundered, virgins are violated, priests are captured or put to flight, all things are mixed with rapine and slaughter, laws are silent and all worship of God ceases. "There are three," says Theophylact, "kinds of wars: one, which comes from Barbarians; another, which is waged privately against us, by those who are hostile to us; a third, which is stirred up within us from evil impulses. The war therefore which rushes upon us from Barbarians, let the industry and virtue of kings settle, and we ought to help them with our prayers. But the other two we ourselves ought to settle, in this manner, namely, that what is brought upon us by our enemies we overcome with gentleness, and compensate afflictions with our prayers; and that which rises up within us, we overcome with all the arms of justice."
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3. FOR THIS IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD OUR SAVIOUR, WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, AND TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH. — Hence it follows that the prayers of the pious avail much for the conversion and salvation of infidels and other men, and therefore many owe their salvation to those who pray for them. Thus St. Paul owes his conversion and salvation to the prayers of St. Stephen; for if Stephen had not prayed for Paul, the Church would not have Paul, says St. Augustine, sermon 4 On St. Stephen. Hence it is most useful to commend oneself to the prayers of others, especially those who on account of their innocence and holiness are in great favour with God. Note: He calls God, not Christ, the "Saviour," because God wills all men to be saved, and therefore gave Christ as saviour to all. Thus he called God "Saviour" in chapter I, verse 1.
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4. WHO (God) WILLS ALL MEN TO BE SAVED. Verse 4. — It is asked how this can be true: for if God wills this, since He does all things whatsoever He wills, it follows that God will bring it about that all are saved. Again, God wills many to be damned, therefore He does not will them, and consequently therefore He does not will all to be saved. St. Augustine responds first, in the Enchiridion, chapter CIII, that the word "all" here is taken and distributed not for individuals of a kind, but for kinds of individuals, that is, it does not signify individual men, but from all mankind some, namely some kings, some commoners; some men, some women; some Jews, some Spaniards, some Belgians, etc., God wills to save. Beza eagerly embraces this exposition. Secondly, the same Augustine in the same place responds that God wills all to be saved, namely those who are saved: just as it is said that a teacher, who alone teaches in some city, teaches all the boys of that city, because whatever boys are taught, are taught by him, that is to say, No one becomes saved without God's will, but all and only those predestined by God, by God's election and will are saved: therefore God ought to be prayed to for the salvation of all of them. But these restrictions seem to be contrary to the mind of the Apostle: for the Apostle wills us to pray not for some, or only for those to be saved, but for all men absolutely; and he adds this reason, that this is acceptable to God, because God wills all men to be saved. Again, the Apostle proves this very thing, namely that God wills all men to be saved, by another reason, when he adds: "For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all;" but Christ died for all men absolutely, and by His death procured for all redemption, that is, the ransom of redemption: therefore God Himself also, who willed Christ to be born, suffer and die for this end, and thus sent Him, that all men absolutely be saved. Thirdly, St. Augustine, in the book On Correction and Grace, chapter XV: God, he says, wills, that is, makes us will, that all be saved. Just as in Galatians IV, 6, it is said: "God sent the Spirit of His Son crying out (that is, making us cry out), Abba Father." But neither does this satisfy the scope and mind of the Apostle, who by these words wishes to show that it is acceptable to God that all be saved: because namely He wills this not in us, but in Himself; for how can this be acceptable to God, unless God in Himself wills this very thing, and is pleased with it in Himself? Fourthly, St. Thomas, Cajetan and others: God, they say, wills all to be saved, by a will not of good pleasure, but of sign, because namely God proposes to all men the doctrine, faith and precepts of salvation: but this will is not sufficient, for if He only gives all these signs, namely the precepts of salvation, truly God does not will the salvation of all, nor does He will all to be saved; therefore He falsely exhibits these signs to them. For by these signs He signifies that He seriously desires the salvation of all: why does He exhibit these signs to all, unless to signify that He sincerely wills that all be saved? But if He does not will all to be saved, and yet by these signs signifies that He wills all to be saved, then God acts falsely and deceitfully: but it is impious to say this of that first truth, sincerity and goodness of God. I say therefore fifthly, God wills, that is, sincerely desires, and from His heart wishes, all men to be saved, and therefore gave all Christ the redeemer, and through Him grace, Sacraments and all other means necessary for salvation supplied, as far as it is on His part, so that, if any perish, they perish not by God's will and predestination, but by their own fault and malice. This will of God therefore to save all is not only of sign, which namely God signified through so many exhortations, precepts, punishments and rewards proposed to men; but also of good pleasure; not however complete, consequent and totally efficacious, but incomplete, antecedent and efficacious only on God's part. Where note from Damascene, book II On the Faith, chapter XXIX: The will of God, which is called of good pleasure, is twofold, one antecedent, which namely antecedes all foreknowledge of good or evil works of man, and which flows only from God, and God's benevolence toward men: the other is consequent, by which, foreseeing the good or evil works of man, He wills him completely and efficaciously either to be saved or to be damned. I say therefore that God wills all to be saved by a will not consequent (for by this will, the wicked, their impiety being foreseen, He wills to damn, not to save), but antecedent; that is to say, before the foresight of final impenitence, or of someone's death in sin, as far as concerns His part, God seriously and from His heart desires and wishes the salvation of all, and calls all to it, and gives to all sufficient means for it. But in order that this will may be made complete and efficacious, that is, that it may efficaciously obtain its effect, namely the salvation willed by God, there must be added a condition required by God on the part of man, namely his own cooperation, so that man may use the means prescribed by God for salvation, and may merit it through good works. Thus Damascenus, lib. II De Fide, cap. XXIX; Oecumenius, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome. Indeed St. Augustine, De Spiritu et Litt., XXXIII, and Prosper to the first objection of Vincent; and it is evident from what precedes and follows here in the Apostle, as I said concerning the first and second exposition. And this is confirmed by St. Peter, epist. II, cap. III, 9: "God," he says, "dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance." And Ezech. cap. XVIII, 23: "Is it my will that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live?" And Christ, Matth. XI, 28: "Come to me all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you." And again: "I came not to call the just, but sinners." For this is the end of the Incarnation and of the whole economy of Christ, namely that He should invite and call all men to salvation, not superficially, not merely in word, not in pretense, but seriously, but from the inmost desire of His soul: for this reason, I say, He underwent such great labors, fatigues, sorrows and even the death of the cross, so that if any perish, they perish to the great sorrow of Christ, and contrary to His will and through their own negligence. Thus indeed piety and the love of Christ persuade us, that we should feel this and much more concerning His redemption so abundantly. Whence beautifully St. Ambrose: "If God," he says, "who is called omnipotent, wills all men to be saved, why is His will not fulfilled? But in the statement there is a sense, the condition is hidden." And a little further: "For God wills all to be saved, but if they come to Him: for He does not will it so that the unwilling should be saved; but He wills them to be saved, if they themselves also will it," etc. And Jerome on those words of Ephes. I, According to the purpose of him, who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will, etc., thus says: "But God wills, namely, those things which are full of reason and counsel; He wills all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth: but because no one is saved without his own will (for we are of free will), He wills us to will good, so that, when we shall have willed, He Himself may will in us and fulfill His counsel." And Damascenus in the place cited: "Nor should it be hidden," he says, "that God antecedently wills all to be saved and to attain His kingdom: for He did not form us for punishment, but that He might make us partakers of His goodness, as being good; but those who sin He wills to punish, as being just. Therefore the first antecedent will is called, and acceptance existing from Him; but the second will is consequent, and permission existing from our cause." Finally, to pass over others, St. Clement of Rome teaches this expressly, lib. II Constit. Apost., cap. LIX, as if received from the Apostles, and a most true statement, namely that God from the beginning of the world willed all men to be saved, and called all to penance and salvation through His Prophets and other just men. Then he adds: "We therefore, who have been made worthy to be witnesses of His coming, together with James, the brother of the Lord, and the other seventy-two and seven deacons of His, have heard from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and knowing perfectly we say, what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God, demonstrated to us through Jesus Christ, that no one should perish, but all men believing in Him with one mind, and bearing unanimous praise to Him, should live eternally." Thus he. You will say: how then is it said in Matth. XX, 28 and elsewhere, that the Son of Man came to give His soul not for all, but for many? Some answer that "for many," namely for the elect, Christ gave His soul efficaciously, but sufficiently for all. But I answer truly and simply, "for many," that is for all: for all are many. For He wishes to say that this benefit of Christ does not extend to few, but to many, namely to the multitude of all men, who are, have been, or shall be. Thus often elsewhere by "many" all are understood.
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5. FOR THERE IS ONE GOD, AND ONE MEDIATOR OF GOD AND MEN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS. — There is one God, the Holy Trinity, from which Christ is distinguished as mediator, that is as man: therefore the Arians wrongly prove from this passage that Christ is not God. Note: The Apostle here proves what he said, namely that God wills all men to be saved, by this argument: There is one God of all men, both faithful and unfaithful, that is creator, provider and father, who being supremely good, loves all men as his own sons, and desires them to be saved; and therefore he gave Christ as mediator, so that one and the same Christ would be the redeemer of all men absolutely, and that through Christ he would join all men to himself and save them: it is therefore evident that God seriously and sincerely wills all men to be saved. Thus Theodoret, Anselm and others. Note, the name "mediator" first signifies a substantial medium, or bond, by which two parts, or things extremely distant from each other, are united and joined together; thus Christ is a substantial mediator, because in Christ human nature and divine nature, which are most distant from each other, are substantially joined and united. Thus Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theodoret. St. Augustine adds, in book IX of the City of God, chapter XV, that Christ was also a mediator, that is a middle, between God and men by reason of his state: because he was at once blessed, as God is, and at once a wayfarer, as men are. Secondly, "mediator" signifies one who reconciles parts that are at odds and hostile, either by entreating, or by advising, or by making satisfaction to the injured party, and himself effecting and restoring the reconciliation and friendship. Whence for "mediator," Vatable and Erasmus translate "reconciler"; Tertullian, in the book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, translates "intermediary." And in this sense properly Christ is here called "mediator," although this sense presupposes the former: for it was necessary that in Christ the divine and human natures be coupled hypostatically, so that he might reconcile the enmity between God and men. Thus Augustine above, Chrysostom, Ambrose and beautifully Theodoret: "One," he says, "(Christ), is the reconciler of peace, who joined together those things which were separated and distant from each other; but the Apostle named Christ a man, because he called him an intercessor: for he became man as an intercessor, and just as one who wishes to reconcile two men holding each other's hands and fighting, placing himself in the middle, holding this one by the right hand and that one by the left, leads them to friendship and joins them: thus he, having united the divine nature to the human in an inviolable and indissoluble bond, brought about peace." And Anselm: "There were," he says, "men mortal and sinners; but God, to whom they were to be reconciled so that they could be saved, was immortal and without sin. But a mediator between God and men ought to have something similar to God, and something similar to men, lest being in all things similar to men he be far from God, or being in all things similar to God he be far from men, and thus not be a mediator. And therefore between mortal sinners and an immortal just one, there appeared one mortal with men, just with God." Note here, that Paul, when he calls Christ "one mediator," strikes at Simon Magus and his followers, who from Plato taught that not Christ, but angels, or demons, are mediators of men to God. Whence the epistle to the Ephesians (whose bishop was Timothy, to whom Paul writes this) says many times that we have access to the Father only through Christ. See Colossians II, 18. From this it follows that Christ is and is called one mediator, that is redeemer, and in this sense Christ alone is mediator. You will ask, whether in any other sense the Saints, who intercede for us with God, can be called mediators, or whether this name and this title belongs to Christ alone. I answer: This is a question about terminology; for among Catholics it is agreed that the Saints pray for us; and consequently that they are our advocates with God, intercessors and patrons; but with heretics we do not contend much about the name. Let them concede that the Saints, as it were, intercede with God as advocates for us, even if they deny them the name of mediator and attribute it uniquely to Christ, and we already give them the right hand of fellowship. Yet in order to dispel the shadows which some cast upon this name, I say that the Saints in this sense, namely that by praying they mediate and intercede for us with God, can be called mediators. For in Greek μεσίτης, that is mediator, is said of anyone who in any way interposes himself in the middle between two who are at odds. Thus Moses is called middle and mediator between God and the people, Deuteronomy V, 4, and Galatians III, 19, as I said there. Thus Hebrews V, 1: "Every high priest," it says, "taken from among men is appointed for men in the things that pertain to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." What is this other than that the high priest is appointed mediator for men and for men's sins to God? Indeed the Apostle here in chapter IV, at the last verse, calls Timothy a saviour, which is far greater than being a mediator: "By doing this," he says, "thou shalt save thyself, and them that hear thee." What is "thou shalt save thyself" other than "thou shalt be a saviour"? and in this sense the Saints praying for us are called mediators by Nazianzen in his oration to Gregory of Nyssa; by Jerome, in chapter II of Malachi; by Chrysostom, homily 6 On the Priesthood; by Cyril, book XII of the Treasury, chapter X; by Gregory, book I, epistle 24, and others. Yet note here: In this very matter there is a great difference between Christ and the Saints: for although the Saints by praying for us are mediators, namely ministerial, mediated and secondary, as Cyril says, book XII of the Treasury, chapter X, yet Christ alone is the principal, immediate and primary mediator: for Christ alone immediately through himself accedes to the Father, and prays for all, and asks grace for us as it were by right of his merits; but the Saints pray for us, not by right, or by their merits, as though they had merited some grace for us and demand it for us as it were by debt; but they pray through Christ and relying on Christ's merits. Whence St. Bernard, sermon On St. Mary, in that passage of Revelation XII: "A great sign appeared in heaven," hints that the Saints should not be called mediators of God and men, but mediators to the mediator; because they approach Christ and through Christ approach God, and pray for us. "There is need," he says, "of a mediator to the mediator (Christ, who is the one mediator of God and men), nor is any other more useful to us than Mary." And in this sense St. Augustine, book II Against the Epistles of Parmenian, VIII, concedes many advocates, but one mediator: "For whom," he says, "no one intercedes, but he himself for all, he is this one true mediator." For St. Augustine here argues against the Donatists, who thought that grace of the Sacrament depended on the priest, so that a good priest would sanctify by baptizing, but a bad one would pollute by baptizing, and therefore they made the priest in a certain way a mediator of redemption. Therefore St. Augustine teaches the people to be secure, whether they are baptized by a good or a bad priest, because there is one mediator of God and men, Christ. And for this reason some Catholics are careful enough scrupulously to avoid attributing the name of mediator to anyone other than Christ: but since Moses is called mediator, as I said, and since it is established that the thing signified by this name can in a certain way and sense befit the Saints, I do not see what scruple should be made here, if someone according to the sense already given calls the Saints mediators; nor did St. Augustine make a scruple in this matter: for that he himself does not deny that a priest can be called a mediator by praying is clear, because he says in the same place that Christians do rightly when they commend themselves to the prayers of another. Finally note: In Christ God alone is not the mediator, nor man alone, but God-man: for he exercised the works of mediator, or of our redemption in the humanity assumed by him; so that the principle which (as the Scholastics speak) of such works is God, or this man who is God; the principle by which is humanity, inasmuch as in it and through it all these works were perfected, namely all the actions and passions of the mediator, and this is what Paul here expressly says: "One mediator, etc., the man Christ Jesus." Thus St. Augustine, book II On Original Sin, chapter XXVIII. See St. Thomas and the Scholastics, III part., Question XXVI, as the Apostle says: Christ is the mediator of all, therefore, as I said, God wills the salvation of all; for to procure this, Christ the mediator is given to all by God, and consequently it is necessary to pray for all, that they may become partakers of this redemption of Christ. Thus St. Augustine, epistle 59, Question VI to Paulinus.
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6. WHO GAVE HIMSELF A REDEMPTION FOR ALL; A TESTIMONY IN HIS OWN TIMES. — "Redemption," that is, the price of redemption, which the Greeks call λύτρον, by which captives are redeemed from enemies. But the Apostle, in order to signify more effectively that this redemption was not made with money, but with the body and life of Christ, does not simply call it λύτρον, but ἀντίλυτρον, which signifies a vicarious price, by which a thing is exchanged with a similar thing, namely, the life of one with the life of another, the head of one with the head of another: for thus Christ gave His own life for ours as it were our ἀντίλυτρον. Thus Theophylactus. Note: Some here add and read: "Whose testimony has been confirmed," which Ambrose explains thus, that is to say, an open proof of this redemption made by Christ was given in the resurrection of Christ, the preaching of the Apostles and miracles, by which they confirmed this redemption. But the word "whose" and "has been confirmed" should be deleted with the Roman, Greek and Syriac texts, and only "a testimony in His own times" should be read, and the sense is, that is to say, Christ gave Himself for all as the price of redemption for this purpose, namely, that this very redemption of Christ should be in His own times a testimony, both of divine charity, faithfulness (by which He promised this redemption to men through the Prophets, and actually fulfilled it) and philanthropy in this life: for the blood of Christ shed testifies and makes credible how much God loves us, and how greatly He desires all to be saved; and also of the equity and justice of divine judgment in the future: for then the passion, cross and redemption of Christ will testify on the part of God that nothing was lacking by which all, however impious, might be saved, but it stood on their part, in that they were unwilling to obey Christ and to embrace His redemption, and consequently most justly are they condemned. Thus Anselm. Morally St. Chrysostom, homily 7 in the moral sense, teaches that it is great ingratitude if we do not respond to the redemption and love of Christ in love and mercy toward our neighbors. "Christ," he says, "offered Himself for enemies, for those who hated Him, for those turned away from Him. What no one would do even for friends, nor for sons, nor for brothers, the Lord did for servants, the immortal for mortals, the eternal for temporal beings, the Son of God finally for enemies." And further: "He Himself," he says, "deigned to offer Himself for us: we wretches, needing food, spurn Him, and do not deign to visit Him when infirm and naked: with what anger should these things be punished? to what torments, what fires are they liable?"
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7. IN QUO (that is, for which, namely testimony, and for proclaiming the redemption of Christ) I AM APPOINTED A PREACHER, AND AN APOSTLE (I SPEAK THE TRUTH, I LIE NOT) A DOCTOR OF THE GENTILES IN FAITH AND TRUTH. — Note first: For "preacher," in Greek it is κῆρυξ, that is a herald, namely of the cross, of the death and redemption of Christ, not in this or that place, but throughout the whole world and among all nations, says Theophylactus. Thus St. Francis, when he had fallen in with robbers, being asked who he was, answered that he was a herald of the great God. Note second: To "I speak the truth," the Greek texts add ἐν Χριστῷ, in Christ, as if Paul were swearing by Christ that he speaks the truth; but the "in Christ" does not appear in Ambrose, nor in Chrysostom, nor in the Roman, nor in the Syriac. Note third: "In faith," that is in faithfulness, as if to say, I perform the office of a doctor with the greatest faith and truth, I do not teach for gain, not falsely, not for applause. "We are not," he says, "II Corinthians II, 17, as many adulterating the word of God, but out of sincerity, but as out of God, before God, in Christ do we speak." Second, the Syriac renders it, בחימנותא דשררא behaimanuta desrara, in the faith of truth, that is in true and genuine faith. Whence most simply with others can be understood here the Evangelical and Catholic faith, as if to say, I do not teach human inventions, but those things which pertain to the faith of the Gospel; and lest you think there is something of falsehood and falsity in this faith and doctrine of mine, I add "and truth." Again, he aptly places faith before truth, because through faith there is obtained for us as a reward the knowledge of truth; for, as the Prophet says: "Unless you believe, you shall not understand." Hence beautifully from Plato in the Timaeus, St. Augustine, in the book On the Agreement of the Evangelists, chapter XXXV: "As much," he says, "as eternity is worth to that which is born in respect to immutability, so much is truth worth to faith. Those two things are above, eternity and truth: these two things are below, that which is born and faith. So therefore that we may be called back from the lowest to the highest, and that that which is born may receive eternity, through faith we must come to truth. And because all things which act in the contrary direction are reduced through some medium, temporal iniquity was alienating us from eternal justice. There was need therefore of a middle justice temporal, which middle thing temporal would be mixed from the lowest and the highest, and thus neither breaking away from the highest and tempering the lowest, would make the lowest equal to the highest. For this reason Christ the mediator of God and men is called between God immortal and man mortal, God and man reconciling man to God, remaining what he was, made what he was not. He himself is to us faith in things born, who is truth in eternal things." This therefore is the office of a priest and Apostle, namely to teach faith and truth. "The lips," says Malachi II, 7, "of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth." And Jerome, in Ezekiel, at the end: "All things," he says, "are required of individuals; for prophecy of future things is properly required of a Prophet: but the interpretation of the law is the office of a priest." Hence the high priest had inscribed on his Breastplate אורים ותמים urim vetummim, that is doctrine and truth, the moral reason of which inscription was to admonish the priest of his office, namely of sound doctrine and truth, or integrity of life (for this is what the word "tummim" signifies in Hebrew). But the historical reason was, that the dignity of the priesthood might be commended to the people, when they saw him clothed in the Breastplate taught by God concerning future events, and in turn pouring forth the oracles of God: not that God responded through these words "urim" and "tummim" inscribed on the Breastplate; but that through the priest clothed in the Breastplate and invested with pontifical vestments, as already performing the priestly office, God revealed those things concerning which he was consulted. And this writing of urim and tummim signified this, namely that the priest clothed in the Breastplate was in urim and tummim, that is, to receive from God the doctrine and truth of doubtful matters concerning which he was consulted: urim therefore was not an oracle, but an index of the oracle. And when Scripture says God was consulted through urim, or responded, it must be understood metonymically, namely that God responded through the priest clothed in the Breastplate, in which was urim; and this was so that the priest might bear a type of Christ, the supreme Prophet, through whom truth was made and brought from the bosom of the Father, John 1, 17 and 18. There was therefore in the priest thus adorned the doctrine and truth of oracles, and there ought to be the doctrine of judgments and law, and the truth of life. Concerning which I have said more in Exodus XXVIII.
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8. I WILL THEREFORE THAT MEN PRAY IN EVERY PLACE, LIFTING UP PURE HANDS WITHOUT ANGER AND DISPUTATION. — What the Apostle set forth concerning his own teaching and apostolate, he inserted as it were by way of parenthesis on account of the false apostles; now he returns to prayer, which he commended at the beginning of the chapter, as if to say: What I said ought to be prayed for all, I wish to pertain not to priests alone, but to all men and women. Note: He wishes men to pray in every place, which Ambrose, Anselm, St. Thomas and other Latin doctors understand of private prayer to be made anywhere in all places, as if to say: Not only in church, but also in fields, forests, workshops, on journeys, in ships, at table, in bed and in any place whatsoever, it is lawful for any man to pray, and I urge him to pray. For this purpose the ancients used brief prayers, but frequent and fervent ones, which they call ejaculatory prayers, and these were either vocal or mental only. Concerning which St. Augustine, epistle 121 to Proba, chapter IX: "It is said," he says, "that the brothers in Egypt have frequent prayers indeed, but nevertheless very brief ones and as it were darted forth rapidly, lest that watchful attention, which is most necessary to one praying, should vanish and grow dull through longer hours. And by this they themselves sufficiently show that this attention, just as it ought not to be dulled if it cannot endure, so if it does endure, ought not quickly to be broken: for let there be absent from prayer much speaking, but let there not be absent much supplication, if fervent intention perseveres." And below: "Often this business is conducted more by groanings than by words, more by weeping than by utterance." The reason why the Apostle wishes us to pray in every place is first, which St. Augustine gave, sermon 130 on Good Friday concerning the cross and the thief: because through Christ every place has become an oratory for Christians: "To the Jews," he says, "God commanded to leave the whole earth, and to offer sacrifices in one place, and to pay vows, because the whole earth was then unclean with the smoke of altars, and the stench of pyres, and other defiled things, which were brought upon it from the profane sacrileges of the Gentiles. But to us now, since Christ coming has expiated the whole earth, every place has become an oratory. And for this reason the Apostle exhorts and commands to pray without ceasing everywhere, saying: I will that men pray in every place, lifting up holy (for thus St. Augustine has it for pure) hands." The second reason is, because prayer is as necessary to the soul as food to the body. This St. Antiochus, who lived nine hundred years ago, teaches beautifully, whose homilies are extant in the appendix of the Library of the Holy Fathers, homily 106: "Prayer," he says, "joined with lamentation, and poured forth to God in spirit, is nourishment of the mind, no less than bread to the body." And how useful, blessed and divine this is, he declares, when he adds: "Blessed indeed is the mind, to which in the time of prayer it is given, with no hindrances interrupting, to be able to speak to God. Such a one is just as the young eagle, when it raises itself on high; for the whole, by a blessed and divine exchange alienated from itself, gleams with radiant splendor." And again how humble and meek prayer makes one, he declares, when he adds: "Constant prayer and continuous through familiar intercourse with God turns the mind away from all the prudence and pride of the world, and offers it present to God, and the more closely it joins to God, the more it fills with fear at the same time and meekness," that is gentleness. Finally, that constant prayer is necessary for subduing all vices and concupiscences, he teaches, when he says: "Those who desire to shake off from themselves the decaying putrefaction of sins, ought always to apply themselves to prayer, namely by internal speech of the mind, even if they dwell outside the walls of oratories." Secondly, however, the Greeks explain this passage of public prayer, especially of sacrifice and synaxis, and this coheres more aptly with what precedes and follows; for he dealt with public prayer in verse 1, and in public prayer pure hands must be washed and lifted up, not however in private. Again, because he wishes women to pray in adorned attire; therefore he speaks of public prayer. For what does it matter in what attire a woman uses, while she prays privately in her chamber? He speaks therefore of public prayer, which is to be made in any place, that is in an oratory dedicated to public prayer, as if to say: The Jews pray only in the temple at Jerusalem, but I wish Christians to pray in any church and in every place which is dedicated to prayer. For prayer which is made in the church is more efficacious than that which is poured forth at home, as St. Chrysostom teaches, hom. 3 On the Incomprehensibility of God's Nature, when refuting the objection of certain persons (such as our modern Novatians) thus speaks: "We can pray even at home, they say; but we cannot hear a homily and doctrine except in the church. You deceive yourself, O man. For although there is also the faculty of praying to God at home, yet it cannot be that you pray as well at home as in the church, where there are so many Fathers, where a cry raised in blessed fellowship is directed to God immortal. You do not beseech the Lord equally when you entreat Him alone, and when you do so with your brethren. For there is in such a thing something more, for example concord, conspiracy, a bond of love and charity, the cries of priests. For priests preside for this reason, that the prayers of the people, which are weaker in themselves, being strengthened by them, may together be borne up to heaven." Add to this, the place itself often stirs up devotion in prayer, and on account of the Saints who lived or rest there, it is celebrated by God with miracles and other gifts and benefits. For this reason St. Jerome so greatly yearned for Bethlehem, and invited Marcella, Paulina and others there, as he himself professes in the epistles given to them. For the same reason St. Chrysostom wished to go to the thresholds of the Apostles, so that he might kiss the chains of Peter and Paul, as he himself writes, hom. 8 in cap. iv to the Ephesians. See Bellarmine, lib. III On the Cult of Saints. LIFTING UP PURE HANDS. — In Greek ὁσίους, that is holy, both corporally by washing them, as the Jews, Exodus cap. xix, are commanded to sanctify themselves by washing their garments; and spiritually, namely by keeping the hands free from anger, as follows, and from contention, fights, rapine, avarice, baseness, and by sanctifying them through almsdeeds. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Oecumenius. Hence Tertullian in the Apology, cap. xxx, reads "innocent" for "pure." Whence also Augustine, serm. 93 On the Seasons: "In the hands," he says, "we ought to receive works; if therefore such are the works that you can lift them on high in the sight of the Lord, you can also exclude your adversaries in yourself. If therefore we wish to overcome these, our hands, that is our acts, and our conversation ought not to be on earth, but in heaven." Thus Horace, lib. I, Satire 4, said "to live with pure hands," for that which is to live studiously and from virtue. Note, that formerly Christians were accustomed to wash their hands before prayer: and this first, for the sake of honor and reverence; especially because, as is evident from the VI Synod, can. 101, those communicating received the sacred host, not in the mouth, as is now done, but with hands extended in the form of a cross, men with bare hands, women covered with pure linen, which they called the Dominical, as is evident from the Council of Auxerre, can. 36; then bringing the host to the mouth with their hands, they received it. Secondly, so that they might be reminded of purity of soul. Clement has this expressly, lib. VIII Const., xxxviii; and Tertullian, On Prayer, XI: "What," he says, "is the reason to pray with hands washed, but with spirit defiled." Indeed for this reason, not only with washed hands, but also clothed in white garments did they enter the church, as St. Chrysostom teaches, hom. 23 in Matthew. And for this reason besides holy water, or lustral water, placed was water at the doors of the church for purification, as is evident from Eusebius, lib. X Hist., IV. In place of this washing succeeded and remained a vessel of holy water, placed at the entrance of the church for the expiation of light sins, and now only priests wash their hands in the Mass. Note secondly: This rite of washing, as also many others, appears to have flowed and descended from the Jews to the Christians; for that the Jews worshipped God only with washed hands, Aristeas teaches, lib. On the 72 Interpreters. He adds the reason, namely that they accomplish all things with testimony, because all things are exercised by hands. The same is evident that the Gentiles did from Tibullus, lib. I, Eleg. II: The chaste please the gods above, come in pure garment, and with pure hands take the water of the fountain. The chaste please the gods above, come in pure garment, and with pure hands take the water of the fountain. See more in Baronius in the year of Christ 57, pag. 534 and 549. Note thirdly: To lift up the hands is the posture of one praying. Hence it was the custom of the ancients, both Jews and Christians, to pray with hands raised. This is evident from Exodus xvii, 11: "And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel was victorious; but when he let them down a little, Amalec prevailed." Psalm cxxxiii, 2: "Lift up your hands in the holy place," that is, toward the sanctuary. Psalm cxl, 2: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice," as if to say: Just as incense, which is burned and offered to God daily morning and evening, ascends to God and is most pleasing and sweet to Him; so also my prayer, which as it were like incense from my heart burning with holy desires evaporates, may ascend to thee, O Lord, and be sweet and pleasing to thee. Again, the prayer which I pour forth with hands lifted up to thee, O Lord, may please thee as an evening sacrifice, namely the perpetual lamb, which was offered both evening and morning. Note here: He says "evening" rather than "morning" because the evening sacrifice was more honorable: First, because it was as it were the end and consummation of the whole day. Second, because it was a type of the Eucharist to be instituted by Christ in the evening at the Last Supper. Third, because it was offered for sins committed throughout the day, with contrition and sorrow of heart, of which evening and darkness are the symbol. Thus Theodoret there. This same custom was that of the Gentiles, led by nature. Whence Apuleius, in the book De Mundo: "The posture," he says, "of those praying is this, that we pray with hands extended toward heaven." And Eusebius, in book IV of the Life of Constantine, xxviii, recounts a law of Constantine, by which he commanded even the Gentiles to observe the Lord's Day and to make their vows to God with hands equally lifted up to heaven as with their souls. By this same posture among the Romans was the image of Piety represented; and by the same posture Eusebius testifies that Constantine wished his own image to be fashioned, in book III of his Life, cap. III. You will ask what is the reason for this posture and rite? I answer: The first reason is that this posture is that of a suppliant, one asking and hoping for help from on high: just as those who are drowning extend their hands as if seeking help. The second reason is given by Clement of Alexandria, in book VII of the Stromata, that the lifting up of the hands signifies and stirs up the elevation of the mind toward God, which is as it were the soul of prayer. "We extend," says Clement, "our head and hands toward heaven, and we rouse our feet in the final acclamation of prayer, by the readiness and eagerness of spirit attaining the essence which is grasped by intelligence, and striving to lift the body along with the Word from the earth, we compel the soul, uplifted and elevated by desire for better things, to advance in holy things, despising with great courage the bonds of the body." Tertullian gives a third reason, in his Apology, book xxx, that by the extension of our hands we offer ourselves to God and as it were place ourselves in His hands. "The Christian who prays," says Tertullian, "is prepared for every torment, having the bearing of one praying," that is to say, praying: "I am ready; bind and strike me if you will, or at least have mercy." A fourth reason is that by this rite we signify the vehemence of our affection; as if we wished to use force with God, and with great confidence to seize with our hand what we are asking for. Thus the ancient writer tells that Bebianus the consul, when about to die, did so when God showed Himself to him, and there is a poem written about him which is found in volume VIII of the Library of the Holy Fathers. St. Cyprian gives a fifth reason, in his Exhortation to Martyrs, chapter viii; Theodoret, Question XXXIV on Exodus; Gregory of Nyssa, in the Life of Moses; Minucius, in the Octavius; St. Jerome, on chapter xi of Mark, and other ancient writers, namely that by this gesture we profess the merits of Christ crucified, and offer them to the Father as the most efficacious means of obtaining what we ask. For this reason the priest in the Mass often prays with hands extended in the manner of a cross. Hence also Prudentius, in hymn 6 on the Martyrs, asserts that certain holy martyrs being dragged to their torments prayed in such a way as to conform their body so as to exhibit the form of a cross, by which they professed themselves to be worshippers of Christ crucified, and to suffer and die for Him. A sixth reason is moral, namely that by this bearing he who prays testifies that he does not wish to obtain what he asks for in a sluggish manner; but wishes at the same time to put his hands to the work. Hence the Psalmist, Psalm cxviii: "I have lifted up," he says, "my hands to Thy commandments which I loved"; and Lamentations III, 41, Jeremiah exhorts us to lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord. A seventh reason is symbolic, which St. Ephrem gives, in his tract On Prayer, namely that by this extension our prayer is as it were armed with a bow, "because in it we extend our hands, and as it were direct an arrow at the enemy." Wherefore Christ justly complains to St. Hippolytus, in his book On the Consummation of the World: "I," He says, "made your hands that you might extend them for prayers and supplications; but you have extended them to robberies and murders, and mutual slayings." Moreover, Tertullian thus describes the bearing of the early Christians in praying, in his Apology, book xxx: "Looking up to heaven," he says, "Christians with hands extended, because innocent; with head uncovered, because we are not ashamed; without a prompter, because we pray from the heart. We are praying always for all emperors, long life to them, secure empire, safe household, strong armies, faithful senate, virtuous people, a peaceful world, and whatever are the wishes of man and Caesar." WITHOUT ANGER AND DISPUTATION. — "Without anger," that is without memory of injuries, says Chrysostom, without desire for vengeance, but rather with reconciliation and forgiveness of injuries: for he understands this positive condition through the negation of anger; it is a meiosis. Christ teaches the same thing, Matthew v, 23: "If thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath something against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift." For nothing so disturbs the soul, nothing so turns it away from God and prayer, and renders it incapable of divine inspiration and grace, as anger. Hence Chrysostom, homily 8: "Let no one," he says, "be so bold as to go to pray to God while exercising enmities." Note: For "disputation," in Greek it is διαλογισμῶν, which Oecumenius translates as "hesitation"; Chrysostom as "disputation," by which he says one disputes within oneself, thinking: Do you think God will hear me? Do you think I shall obtain what I ask? To this hesitation is opposed confidence, which is necessary for one who prays. "Believe," says Christ, Mark XI, 24, "that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you." James I, 6: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." Secondly and better, this disputation is understood which is wont to follow from anger, which was mentioned before: for he who is angry disputes with himself about the causes and modes of vengeance, and is full of tumult of thoughts as it were conflicting among themselves, which disturb the peace of mind and render it wholly unfit for prayer. Whence St. Ambrose, book V On the Sacraments, chapter v, understands by "disputation" the wandering of the mind, which ought to be excluded in prayer by attention of mind, which is as it were the soul of prayer.
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9. LIKEWISE ALSO THE WOMEN. — Supply and repeat, "pray in every place, lifting up pure hands," equally as the men. In becoming attire (in Greek κοσμίῳ, that is, honest, decent, and, as Vatablus says, modest; and, as the Syrian version, chaste; for this adorns women: for excessive, dishonest and indecent attire does not adorn them, but disfigures and defiles them, especially in the temple, where they are about to pray. Whence, explaining this, he adds:) WITH REVERENCE AND SOBRIETY (that is, reverently, soberly, moderately and modestly) adorning themselves. — Rightly did Demades say that modesty in a woman is the citadel of beauty: for those who lack it and adorn themselves shamelessly prostitute themselves and their beauty. St. Cyprian, in the book On the Attire of Virgins, reads, "with reverence and chastity," and thus the Syrian version and Erasmus translate it; for this also signifies σωφροσύνη; yet it more properly signifies sobriety, as Our Author translates it. Note: The first virtue of a woman, especially in a public place and in the temple, is modesty, especially in the adornment of the body, to which this sex, because it lacks those other gifts of intellect and judgment with which men are endowed, is more inclined. Whence the female sex is φιλόκοσμον, says St. Jerome, epistle 12 to Gaudentius. Hence the Economist: "While they are being adorned (or polished), while they are being combed, a year passes." And that common saying of Plautus is well known: "A ship and a woman are never sufficiently adorned;" and: "He who seeks work and business, let him get himself a wife or a ship." The Apostle therefore wills that they be in attire not sordid, nor wanton, but grave, moderate and honest, such as befits a Christian matron, and which signifies a modest, grave and well-composed mind. Hence secondly, he wills that women proceed not unkempt and uncomposed, but honestly adorned, each according to her station. Thus Ruth, chapter 3, clothed herself entirely in finer garments, when she was still unmarried. Thus Judith adorned herself, chapter 10, verse 3. Thus Esther proceeded to Ahasuerus in royal attire. And so a woman would sin if, against her husband's will, she used baser clothing or adornment. Whence St. Augustine, epistle 199 to Ecdicia, severely reproves her because, being zealous for continence, she changed her garment against her husband's will. St. Basil in the Shorter Rules, question 210, defines becoming attire thus: "That which," he says, "is accommodated to the purpose and end of each person with decorum and dignity, having regard to the time, place, person and utility: for different clothing befits the time of winter and summer; different for the laboring and the resting; different for the servant and the master; different for the soldier and the citizen; different for the man and the woman." NOT IN BRAIDED HAIR, OR GOLD, OR PEARLS, OR COSTLY RAIMENT (in Greek ἱματισμῷ πολυτελεῖ, that is, in sumptuous clothing); BUT THAT WHICH BECOMETH WOMEN, PROFESSING (ἐπαγγελλομένας, that is, displaying, and, as the Syrian version and Ambrose, professing) PIETY THROUGH GOOD WORKS. — Note: For "braided hair," in Greek it is πλέγμασιν, that is, plaits and crimpings, by which women with the curling iron, that is, a heated needle, twist their hair in various folds through gradations and knots, so that they may walk with curled and crimped locks. Secondly, for "piety," in Greek it is θεοσέβειαν, that is, reverence and worship of God; the Syrian version translates it, fear of God. Piety therefore here is understood toward God, not toward parents or children, as if to say: Let them dress so honestly and modestly as it befits Christian women to dress, who through "good works," that is through good Christian life and conduct, profess not levity, not luxury, not wantonness, but piety and the worship of God. Furthermore, St. Bernard, epistle 42 to Henry, Archbishop of Sens, extends this to Bishops and Ecclesiastics: "Not in costly raiment," he says; "yet it is cried out especially to women, so that a Bishop may blush to be found in himself what he had heard reproved even in the weaker sex. Learn, Pontiffs, what gold does in a bridle!" This is a moral passage concerning the becoming adornment of women. Thus St. Peter, epistle I, chapter III, verse 3, describes wherein the true adornment of a Christian woman consists: "Whose," he says, "adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel; but the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, which is rich in the sight of God." Where note, that the true adornment of a woman is internal, namely the integrity and incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, or, as St. Jerome reads it, a silent spirit. A quiet spirit, says Cajetan, is opposed to inconstancy, which is familiar to women; modest and silent, to anger and talkativeness. Thus of the bride of the king it is said in Psalm 44:14: "All the glory of the king's daughter is within." Otherwise a woman devoted to external adornment and neglecting the internal, internally resembles Hecuba, externally Helen, as the Nazianzen says in a Poem against unkempt women. Indeed St. Augustine, sermon 18 On the Words of the Apostle: "The ornaments," he says, "of this body, that is of the external man, the more they are desired, the greater are the injuries to the internal: but the less the ornaments of the external man are desired, the more is the inner man adorned with beautiful morals." Indeed she who adorns herself excessively externally, even if she be most chaste, is not nevertheless free from the suspicion of immodesty. Witness is Claudia Festalis, who, as Ovid sings in Book IV of the Fasti, Chaste indeed, but not believed; unjust rumor had harmed her, and she was accused of a false crime. Adornment and variously arranged hair proved harmful, as did her ready tongue to harsh sounds. Chaste indeed, but not believed; unjust rumor had harmed her, and she was accused of a false crime. Adornment and variously arranged hair proved harmful, as did her ready tongue to harsh sounds. On the contrary, Plutarch praises in the Life of Phocion the wife of that man, who, when a certain other very noble woman had shown her her own torques and feminine adornment, as women are accustomed to do, responded: "My adornment and feminine adornment is Phocion." Hence rightly Clement of Alexandria, Book II of the Paedagogus, chapter x: "I praise," he says, "and admire the state of the Lacedaemonians, which permitted only to courtesans to wear flowery garments and golden adornment, thus indeed removing from respectable women the zeal for adornment, by conceding to courtesans alone the right to adorn themselves." Tertullian wrote against this luxury of garments and adornment a notable book On the Adornment of Women, in which first, chapter I, he teaches that modesty consists not only in the integrity of the flesh, but also in simple and clean adornment. Second, chapter II, that this luxury is a sign of not entire conscience, and brings temptation and danger to spectators. Third, chapter v, that those who adorn themselves so much with colors and cosmetics deform, transfigure, adulterate nature, the work and image of God, and as it were correct and reprove God the artificer. Fourth, chapter x, that the colors of garments, works of gold and gems were invented by the devil, and he proves this from the book of Enoch, which St. Jude cites. Fifth, chapter xi, that this adornment is of the Gentiles and handmaids of the devil. Sixth, chapter xii, that these are the enticements and marks of courtesans. Seventh, chapter xiii, that Christians are called not to delights, but to austerity, crosses and martyrdoms. The same in the book On the Dress of Women, chapter I, teaches first, that women ought by their dress to mourn and expiate the shame and sin of Eve the mother. Second, chapter iv, that luxury is a sign either of ambition or of prostitution. Third, chapter vi, that gems are sea shells, or are dug from the foreheads of dragons, so that thus a woman is adorned from the serpent. Finally, that they are most gravely punished by God. For Isaiah, chapter iii, verse 17, says: "The Lord will make bald the crown of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will lay bare their hair; and there shall be instead of a sweet smell a stench, and instead of a girdle a rope, and instead of curled hair baldness, and instead of a stomacher a sackcloth." Therefore Tertullian thus exhorts women: "Come forth now, you who are built up with medicaments and adornments, followers of the Apostles, taking from simplicity brightness, from modesty blush, painting your eyes with shame, and inserting into your ears the word of God through the silence of the spirit, fastening to your necks the yoke of Christ. Subject your head to husbands, and you will be sufficiently adorned. Occupy your hands with wool, fix your feet at home, and they will please more than in gold. Clothe yourselves in the silk of integrity, the linen of holiness, the purple of modesty. Thus painted with cosmetics you will have God as your lover." Tertullian is followed by Cyprian, in his book On the Discipline and Dress of Virgins; for he says: "The adornment of those is more precious whose modesty is worthless. If you comb yourself more beautifully, and walk noticeably through public, you entice the eyes of youth upon you, so that even if you yourself do not perish, you nevertheless destroy others, and as if you were presenting a sword and poison to those seeing you, you cannot be excused as if your mind were chaste and modest: your wicked adornment and immodest dress convict you." Then he asserts that the authors and inventors of this paint and luxury are demons: "Apostate," he says, "angels taught eyes to be painted with blackening drawn around, cheeks to be stained with the falsehood of redness, hair to be changed with adulterous colors, and to assault every truth of face and head with the assault of their corruption." Third, he shows that those who adorn themselves excessively wish to correct God's work, and consequently are contemptuous toward God. "The Lord said," he says, "Let us make man to our image; and does anyone dare to change and convert what God made? They lay hands upon God, because they strive to reform and transfigure what God formed, not knowing that everything that is born is the work of God; whatever is changed is the devil's. If a painter had painted an image, and another laid hands upon it, would not a grave injury be done to the painter? then will you bear unpunished that you lay hands upon God's image?" Fourth, he threatens God's judgment and punishments to those who dress and paint themselves: "Do you not fear," he says, "lest in the resurrection the craftsman not recognize his work, and say: This work of mine is not, this image of ours is not, you have polluted the skin with false medicine, you have changed the hair with adulterous color, the face has been assaulted by falsehood, the figure corrupted, the countenance is alien. You will not be able to see God, because you do not have eyes which God made, but which the devil infected. You have followed him, imitating the ruddy and painted eyes of the serpent, corrupted by your enemy, and you will burn together with him." How truly this luxury and adornment, both elsewhere and especially in the temple, is unbecoming, Chrysostom teaches here, and from him Theophylactus: "Are you going to church as if to a dance?" he says, "Do you seek here weddings and the delights of wantonness? Have you come so as to present yourself as a spectacle? Is your bridal chamber now to be prepared for you? This is not the dress of a suppliant; you have come so as to entreat God for your sins, so as to seek pardon with groaning and tears: why do you strive to adorn yourself with wicked and untimely zeal?" Finally, by the example of Praetextata, which I described from Jerome in I Thessalonians v, 19, God shows how much this luxury displeases him. Wherefore deservedly Blessed Thomas More said to a certain noble girl, who with much labor and pain was complicating her hair so that her forehead would be broader, and was constricting her breast and tunic so that she would appear to have a slender body: "Unless God renders hell to you for this great labor of yours, he will truly do you a great injury." He affirmed the same thing seriously, being most persuaded that by this labor in this life she was earning hell more, and by half would have gained heaven. Whence also St. Paula, as St. Jerome testifies in her Epitaph, expiated this luxury, however slight, in herself with such great penance and so many tears; and when, Jerome says, she was warned by us to spare her eyes, she answered: "The face must be disfigured, which against God's precept I have often painted with purple and white lead and antimony; the body must be afflicted, which has been devoted to many delights; long laughter must be compensated by weeping; soft linens, and silks, and precious things, must be exchanged for the roughness of haircloth: I who pleased a husband and the world, now strive to please Christ."
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12. BUT I SUFFER NOT A WOMAN TO TEACH, in the church and public assembly, where common prayer is conducted, which he has treated of hitherto. Whence I Corinthians xiv, 34: "Let the women," he says, "keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as the law also saith; but if they would learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church." For as Theophylactus notes, certain women in the time of Paul had received the gift of prophecy; lest therefore they should think it lawful for them to speak and prophesy in the church, the Apostle here forbids it to them, and that both on account of propriety, modesty, the weakness and talkativeness of the female sex, as Chrysostom says; and also from a desire of reverence and subjection toward the husband, which requires that when he is present and speaking the woman should be silent, especially in the church and in sacred matters; for privately at home Priscilla taught the faith of Christ to Apollos, an eloquent man, Acts xviii, 26. And to Titus II, 4, the Apostle wills that mothers teach their daughters and handmaids privately prudence and modesty; and a faithful woman is commanded to convert and instruct her unbelieving husband, I Corinthians vii, 16. Thus St. Cecilia taught the faith of Christ to Valerianus her spouse, St. Natalia to Adrian, St. Monica to Patricius, St. Martha to Marius; Theodelinda to Agilulph, king of the Lombards; Clotildis to Clovis, Flavia Domitilla to Flavius Clement. For, as Chrysostom says, hom. 60 in John: "Nothing is more powerful than a good woman for instructing and forming a man in whatever she wishes, nor will friends, nor teachers, nor princes so readily permit themselves to be admonished as a husband will permit his wife to admonish and counsel him; for there is a certain pleasure in a wife's admonition, since she loves greatly (or, as others read, is loved), which is why she counsels." Add to this, that the Apostle here forbids not only that a woman teach publicly, namely in the church, but also that she permit herself to teach privately, if she should wish to do so as if from office or authority. Whence follows: NOR TO HAVE DOMINION (in Greek αὐθεντεῖν, that is, to usurp authority) OVER THE MAN (supply I permit not to a woman), BUT TO BE IN SILENCE. — In Greek ἡσυχίᾳ, that is, in quietness. This silence, this modesty, this propriety adorns a woman far more than precious garments, says Chrysostom. And, as Euripides says in the Heraclidae: "The most beautiful gift for women is silence and modesty, and to remain tranquil within." Hence Nazianzen thus praises Gorgonia his sister: "What is more prudent than silence? What woman has known divine things more, both from divine oracles and from her own understanding and sagacity? And what woman again spoke less than she, keeping herself within the bounds of womanly piety?" From this place of the Apostle Epiphanius, haer. 49, which concerns the Quintillianists, refutes them, in that they assumed women to the episcopate or priesthood, in honor and reverence of Eve. For if the Apostle does not permit a woman to teach, nay even to speak in the church, what if he had seen what we have seen in this age, namely a woman as the head, ruler and teacher of some Church? would he not have exclaimed: A horrible monster! Surely by just judgment of God do they choose for themselves such a monstrous head, who refuse to acknowledge the head constituted by Christ, St. Peter I mean, and the successors of holy Peter.
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13. FOR ADAM WAS FIRST FORMED, THEN EVE: AND ADAM WAS NOT SEDUCED, BUT THE WOMAN BEING SEDUCED WAS IN THE TRANSGRESSION. — As if to say, A woman ought to be silent and to learn (not to teach), and to be subject to the man, because the man surpasses her, both in the dignity of first creation: for Adam was created first, then Eve from Adam; and in the vigor of reason; for Eve lightly and rashly allowed herself to be seduced, but not Adam. Thus Chrysostom, who notes that by the example of the first woman Eve all other women are tacitly here accused by Paul of rashness and levity. Hence Primasius beautifully says: "The Apostle teaches that women ought to be subject to men, because they are both later in order and first in fault."
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14. ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED, BUT THE WOMAN BEING DECEIVED WAS IN THE TRANSGRESSION. — "Deceived," in Greek ἀπατηθεῖσα, that is, deceived, as if to say: The woman, where the question arises: How is Adam said not to be deceived, when he was deceived by Eve, and received the forbidden fruit and ate it? The Master of the Sentences responds first, in II, dist. XXII, that only Eve is said to be deceived, because only Eve believed the three things which the serpent promised if she ate of the forbidden fruit, namely first, that they would not die; second, that they would become like God; third, that they would have knowledge of good and evil. But many of the Fathers oppose this, who wish that Adam also believed these things, and it is gathered from Gen. III, 22, where God, mocking Adam's credulity and appetite for omniscience and a certain divinity: "Behold Adam," He says, "is become as one of us, knowing good and evil." Second, more aptly Ambrose reading, "the woman deceived, was made into transgression," that is, she was to her husband the author of transgression, not the reverse. Third, others repeat from the preceding verse v "first," as if to say: Adam was not first deceived, but Eve. Thus Theodoret, Oecumenius, Haymo. Fourth, others explain it thus, as if to say: Adam was not persuaded, but Eve, that God had not commanded them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; Adam therefore was not deceived, but knowing and prudently violated the precept of God. Fifth and more plainly, "Eve was deceived," because by the serpent wishing to deceive her, she was deceived. Whence also she confesses herself deceived by this deceiver, saying: "The serpent deceived me." Adam truly "was not deceived," that is, deceived by the serpent: for the serpent did not dare to attack the man, but the woman, whom he knew he would more easily deceive. Hence also Adam did not excuse himself as deceived by the serpent or by any other, but only as allured by his wife (for Eve did not wish to deceive Adam, but only to allure him to eat of her fruit), and ate only so as to comply with her as it were his companion: "The woman," he says, "whom thou gavest me a companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Where however note: As soon as Adam consented to the woman and became disobedient, he wished to eat of the tree of life, lifted up in pride, he fell into blindness, and believed the serpent's promises and wished to become like God, and hoped from eating the fruit to gain omniscience, as I have already said. For this is what God mocking him said: "Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil." Thus Theophylactus, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Anselm, Augustine, lib. XIV De Civit., cap. XVII; Jerome, lib. I Contra Jovin. as if to say Paul: Therefore the woman, as being deceived by the serpent, is inferior to man in reason and prudence; therefore she ought to be subject to him. Second, therefore justly God in punishment of the sin by which she allured man to sin, subjected her to man. And, as Chrysostom and Oecumenius say, once the woman taught badly, and perverted man and all things: therefore let her not teach further, but be silent, and let her learn to act rightly from her husband. Hear Tertullian, lib. De Habitu mulierum, addressing a woman: "Thou," he says, "art the devil's gate, thou art the unsealer of that tree, thou art the first deserter of the divine law; thou art she who invaded him whom the devil could not attack; thou didst so easily destroy the image of God, man; on account of thy desert, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die."
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15. BUT SHE SHALL BE SAVED BY THE GENERATION OF CHILDREN, IF SHE REMAIN IN FAITH, AND LOVE, AND SANCTIFICATION WITH SOBRIETY. — St. Thomas wishes the word "by" to signify not merit, but condition, as if to say: The woman shall be saved, even if she be not a virgin, but marry and proceed through the state of matrimony and the generation of children. Whence Vatablus translates, the woman shall be saved subject to the generation of children: so that it is a Grecism, διὰ τεκνογονίας, that is, τεκνογονοῦσα, "by the generation of children," that is, bearing children, or she shall be saved in the generation of children. Thus the Greeks say, δι' ἀρρωστίας, that is, ἀρρωστῶν. For often διά, that is "by", is taken for ἐν, that is "in", as in Romans IV, 11, Abraham is called the father of believers, "by circumcision," that is in the state of circumcision; and II Corinthians VI: "By glory and dishonour, by infamy and good fame," that is in prosperity and adversity. This sense is confirmed by the words which the Apostle adds: "She shall be saved," he says, "by the generation of children, if she remain in faith, and love, and sanctification with sobriety." Therefore he attributes the cause of salvation to faith, love and sobriety, not to the procreation of children: for the procreation of children is a natural and indifferent matter, nor meritorious, unless it be referred higher to some spiritual good, namely to piety and the dutiful education of children. Secondly, some according to Theophylact understand by "the generation of children" the childbirth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which saved women; for she bore Christ, and in him many Christian sons and daughters. But this is too remote and foreign. Thirdly, St. Augustine, book XII of On the Trinity, XVII, understands by "the generation of children" the production of good works: but this is mystical. I say therefore fourthly, plainly and properly: the preposition "by" signifies here the cause and merit, namely of the labours which the woman suffers in childbirth and in the education of children in Christian faith and morals, through which she shall be saved. Note: Under "generation" the Apostle includes "education"; for education is as it were the complete generation and formation of children. Thus Chrysostom, as if Paul were to say: Even if she does not teach, a dutiful occupation befits her, and thus she shall be saved not through the handling of books, but through the handling of children. Let our modern Novations hear this, who for their heresy and Scripture contentiously dispute with men at tables, in ships, in carriages, in churches. Let them hear what St. Basil answered to Demosthenes, cook of the Emperor Valens, babbling for the Arians: "It is yours," he said, "to cook pottage, not to expound the Gospel." IF SHE REMAIN IN FAITH, AND LOVE. — Thus the Roman texts read; but the Greek already and the Syriac read, ἐὰν μείνωσιν, "if they remain", namely the children, as if Chrysostom says: The mother shall be saved if she takes care that her children remain in the faith and love of Christ, and in holiness, joined with sobriety; in Greek σωφροσύνη, which with Jerome, Against Jovinian, can be translated as chastity, or continence, or even modesty; yet more, as I said before, it signifies sobriety and temperance. Morally Theophylact: "What then," he says, "if the mother, infected with depraved and immodest morals, has rightly educated her children? It is not likely that she would do so; yet if it should happen, she will receive a reward for these things. But what if she be good and honourable, yet tolerates her children being wicked? what if she neglects them and indulges them? she will have an example of punishment and vengeance, which happened to Eli. But if she has done all things and omitted nothing that pertains to care, she will not be able to lead her children to the right path; which rarely happens: yet she will not be defrauded of the reward of her labours; since even the Son of God, doing and saying all things, yet had few who obeyed him." Let mothers learn here that their treasure is their children, to whom they ought to devote all care, not so much to enrich them as to educate them well. Thus Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, as Valerius Maximus says, lib. IV, cap. IV, when a Campanian matron who was her guest showed her her most beautiful ornaments of that age, drew her into conversation until her children returned: "And these," she said, "are my ornaments." Whence St. Chrysostom here hom. 9 in the moral sense: "We have," he says, "a great and precious deposit, namely children, let us guard them with great care, and do all things lest a cunning thief take it from us; no possession, no estate ought to be equally pleasing and dear to us: for all these things are sought for the sake of children. If therefore we have greater care for possessions than for those for whose sake they are obtained, that is assuredly most absurd and foolish. Let us therefore exercise the tender minds of our children toward virtue and piety, let us seek all other things in the second place: for if indeed they should be wicked, money will profit them nothing; but if they should be good, they will not be harmed by poverty. Do you wish to leave your son rich? Teach him to be good and kind: thus he will also be able to increase his estate." And further: "It is better for children not rightly instructed to be poor than rich: for poverty restrains them even unwilling, and keeps them within the bounds of virtue; but riches do not allow even the willing to live modestly and temperately, but cause them to exceed bounds and become perverted." Then he exhorts and instructs mothers thus regarding the right education of daughters: "Mothers, likewise assume care of your daughters: that care is very easy for you. Take care diligently that they be always at home. Above all teach them to be pious and religious, to despise money, and to be contemptuous of external ornament; and thus finally give them in marriage. If you shall have instructed them, you will save not only them, but also the husbands who are about to take them; nor husbands only, but also sons and grandsons. For from the best root stronger shoots come forth, and always advance to better things, and the reward of all these will be rendered to you." And finally he concludes the matter with this remarkable saying: "Thus indeed it is fitting for a virgin to go forth from her father's house and be joined in marriage, just as a wrestler from the wrestling school, so that she may have complete and most diligent knowledge of household management, and be as it were a leaven, which transfers the whole mass into its own beauty." St. Jerome assigns particular precepts concerning the education of daughters to mothers, in his epistle to Laeta, and to Calantidia, and to Gaudentius, tome I. Thus St. Monica was saved, and saved many through the solicitous education and care of St. Augustine, concerning which St. Augustine, lib. III Conf., cap. XI and following. Such also was Placilla, the wife of the Emperor Theodosius, whose remarkable piety and ardent zeal in educating her children may be seen in Nicephorus, lib. XII Hist., cap. XXIII and XXIV.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Supra docuit Timotheum quomodo reducat populum ad formam verae fidei, hic agit de pertinentibus ad cultum fidei, scilicet orationibus et obsequiis; et primo ponit doctrinam orationis in communi; secundo descendit ad determinatas conditiones hominum, ibi volo ergo. Item primo distinguit diversos modos orationis; secundo ostendit pro quibus sit orandum, ibi pro omnibus; tertio assignat rationem, ibi hoc enim bonum. Dicit ergo. Quia ita est quod Christus venit peccatores salvos facere, igitur primum omnium obsecro, et cetera. In quo aperte ostendit quod inter omnia necessaria ad vitam Christianam praecipua est oratio, quae valet contra pericula tentationis et ad proficiendum in bono. Iac. ult.: multum valet oratio iusti assidua. Distinguit ergo orationem in quatuor, scilicet obsecrationes, orationes, postulationes, et gratiarum actiones, quorum tria pertinent ad beneficia impetranda, ultimum ad beneficia accepta. In impetrandis autem beneficiis tria requiruntur. Primo, ut scilicet impetrans assignet causam quare debet ei concedi; secundo oportet quod ostendat causam esse rationalem; tertio concludit petitionem. Et sicut rhetores faciunt, sic et nos in orando debemus facere. Primo excogitare causam quare sit concedendum, et hoc non merita nostra, sed miserationem divinam. Dan. IX, 18: non in iustificationibus nostris prosternimus preces ante faciem tuam, sed in miserationibus tuis multis, et cetera. Et ad hoc est obsecratio, quae est attestatio per sacra, sicut: per passionem et crucem tuam libera nos, domine. Hac causa excogitata, necesse est quod meditemur quod hoc sacrum est causa salutis. Et ideo requiritur oratio, quae est ascensus mentis in Deum. Ps. LXVIII, 14: ego vero orationem meam ad te, domine, et cetera. Dicitur autem oratio quasi oris ratio. Persuasiones enim rhetorum dicuntur orationes, quia persuadent; sed aliter ibi, aliter in nostra ad Deum, quia non intendimus quod animum Dei flectamus, qui semper ad bonum est paratus, sed ut nostrum cor sit in oratione ad Deum elevatum. Tertio, postulatio. Iac. I, 6: postulet autem in fide nihil haesitans. Item de acceptis donis gratiarum actiones. I Thess. ult.: in omnibus gratias agite. Phil. IV, 6: in omni oratione et obsecratione, cum gratiarum actione petitiones vestrae innotescant ante Deum. Unde iste modus orandi est in Ecclesia Dei: omnipotens sempiterne Deus, ecce ascensus mentis, qui est oratio, qui dedisti Ecclesiae tale beneficium, ecce gratiarum actio, praesta, quaesumus, ecce postulatio, per dominum, ecce obsecratio. Similiter in Missa est obsecratio usque ad consecrationem corporis et sanguinis, quia in eis est commemoratio sacrorum ex quibus est fiducia impetrandi. In mysterio consecrationis est oratio, quia meditatio eorum quae Christus egit. In aliis vero usque ad communionem est postulatio pro vivis et mortuis, et pro se. In fine autem est gratiarum actio. Vel haec quatuor referuntur ad quatuor, quae nos volumus in oratione obtinere, ut obsecratio referatur ad difficilia impetranda, ut ad impiorum conversionem; oratio, quando iam conversis imploramus gratiam ut proficiant; postulatio, ut praemia pro meritis retribuantur; et pro beneficiis iam acceptis, est gratiarum actio. Deinde cum dicit pro omnibus, ostendit pro quibus est orandum. Et circa hoc duo facit, quia primo ostendit orandum esse pro omnibus; secundo assignat fructum orationis, ibi ut quietam. Circa primum ergo dicit esse orandum pro omnibus hominibus. Cuius ratio est, quia oratio est interpres desiderii nostri. Orando enim petimus quod desideramus. Charitas autem requirit quod desideremus bonum omnibus ad quos se extendit. Iac. c. ult., 16: orate pro invicem ut salvemini, et cetera. Sed pro quibus specialiter? Pro regibus, et cetera. Bar. I, 11: orate pro vita Nabuchodonosor regis Babyloniae, et pro vita Balthasar filii eius. Et apostolus dicit Rom. XIII, 1: omnis anima potestatibus sublimioribus subdita sit. I Petr. II, 13: subiecti estote omni humanae creaturae propter Deum, sive regi quasi praecellenti, sive ducibus tamquam ab eo missis. Subiecti quippe oportet quod impendant dominis suis de suis officiis. Utilitas autem est, quia per hoc etiam procuramus bonum nostrum. In pace enim eorum est pax nostra. Unde dicit ut quietam et tranquillam, et cetera. In his duobus est pax mundi. Ecclesia siquidem habet pacem propriam, in qua non est mundus, quia non est pax impiis. Sed quaedam est pax communis utrisque, et hac indiget Ecclesia. Ier. XXIX, 7: quaerite pacem civitatis ad quam transmigrare vos feci. Pax terrena quandoque perturbatur ab interiori, quandoque ab exteriori. II Cor. VII, v. 5: foris pugnae, intus timores. Quantum ad primum dicit ut quietam; quantum ad secundum dicit et tranquillam vitam. Et licet pax terrena communis sit bonis et malis, tamen diversimode utrique illa utuntur. Mali enim tunc ad duo ea utebantur, scilicet ad cultum Daemonum; quia illam prosperitatem falsis diis attribuebant. Item ad lasciviam; quia tempore pacis vitia carnalia abundabant. Sap. XIV, 22: in magno viventes inscientiae bello, tot et tam magna mala pacem appellant. Sed sancti e converso ea utuntur, quia in cultu veri Dei et in castitate.
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Et ideo dicit in omni pietate et castitate. Tit. II, 12: sobrie, et iuste, et pie vivamus in hoc saeculo. Deinde cum dicit hoc enim bonum, ponitur ratio orationis. Et circa hoc duo facit, quia primo ponit rationes; secundo probat quoddam propositum, ibi unus enim Deus. Item primo assignat rationem ex specie operis; secundo ex parte Dei, ibi et acceptum. Ponit ergo rationem ex operis specie, quia quando aliquid est secundum se bonum, illud debemus facere; sed pro aliis orare est huiusmodi, quia est actus charitatis. Et ideo dicit hoc enim bonum est. Ps. LI, 9: quoniam bonum est in conspectu sanctorum tuorum.
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Item ex parte Dei, quia est et acceptum coram Deo. Ps. l, 20: tunc acceptabis sacrificium, et cetera. Et hoc non nisi in charitate fuerit oblatum. Et dicit salvatore, quia solus Deus salvat. Is. XLIII, 11: non est absque me salvator. Et probat quod sit acceptum, ibi qui vult, et cetera. II Petr. III, 9: nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti. Sed contra: omnia quaecumque voluit fecit, ergo omnes salvat. Sed si dicis quod non, quia homo non vult, videtur inconveniens quod omnipotens impediatur per voluntatem non omnipotentis. Respondeo. Velle ponitur quandoque pro voluntate beneplaciti, quandoque pro voluntate signi. Pro voluntate signi vult salvare omnes, quia omnibus proposuit salutis praecepta, consilia et remedia. Pro voluntate beneplaciti, sic exponi potest quatuor modis. Uno modo ut sit locutio causalis, sicut Deus dicitur aliquid facere, quia facit alios illud facere, sicut Rom. c. VIII, 26: spiritus postulat, id est, postulare nos facit. Sic ergo Deus vult, quia scilicet facit suos sanctos velle quod omnes salvi fiant. Hoc velle enim debet esse in sanctis, quia nesciunt qui sunt praedestinati, et qui non. Alio modo ut sit distributio accommoda, id est omnes qui salvabuntur, quia nullus salvatur nisi per voluntatem eius, sicut in una schola magister docet omnes pueros huius civitatis, quia nullus docetur nisi ab eo. Alio modo ut sit distributio pro generibus singulorum, non pro singulis generum, id est, nullum genus hominum excipit a salute, quia olim tantum Iudaeis, sed modo omnibus praebetur. Et hoc magis facit ad intentionem apostoli. Alio vero modo, secundum Damascenum, ut intelligatur de voluntate antecedente, non consequente. In voluntate enim Dei licet non sit prius et posterius, dicitur tamen voluntas antecedens et consequens. Item secundum ordinem volitorum, secundum quod voluntas potest dupliciter considerari, scilicet in universali vel absolute, et secundum aliquas circumstantias et in particulari. Et prius est absoluta consideratio et in universali, quam in particulari et comparata. Et ideo voluntas absoluta est quasi antecedens, et voluntas alicuius rei in particulari est quasi consequens. Exemplum de mercatore qui vult omnes merces suas salvare absolute, et hoc voluntate antecedente. Sed si consideret salutem, non vult omnes merces per comparationem ad alia salvare, scilicet quando cum salute sequitur submersio navis. Et haec voluntas est consequens. Sic in Deo salus omnium hominum in se considerata habet rationem ut sit volibilis. Et apostolus hic ita loquitur, et sic eius voluntas est antecedens. Sed si consideretur bonum iustitiae, et quod peccata puniantur, sic non vult. Et haec est voluntas consequens.
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Et subdit ad agnitionem veritatis, quia salus non est nisi per agnitionem veritatis. Io. VIII, 32: agnoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos. Deinde cum dicit unus, etc., probat quod dixerat per rationem, et sunt tres probationes. Una ex parte Dei, alia ex parte hominis Christi, tertia ex parte testium Christi. Dicit ergo quod Deus velit omnes, et cetera. Patet, quia unus est Deus omnium, qui salvat. Rom. III, 29: an Iudaeorum Deus tantum? An non et gentium? Imo et gentium, quoniam quidem unus Deus, et cetera. Tunc ponitur ratio ex parte hominis Christi, ibi unus et mediator, et cetera. Ubi primo probat intentum, secundo inducit signum, ibi qui dedit.
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Dicit ergo: homo Christus Iesus est mediator Dei et hominum, non quorumdam, sed inter Deum et omnes homines, et hoc non fuisset nisi vellet omnes salvare. Et potest dici quod Christus mediator est similis utrique extremo, scilicet Deo et homini inquantum Deus et inquantum homo, quia medium debet habere aliquid de utroque extremorum. Et haec sunt homo et Deus. Sed quia medium est distinctum ab utroque extremorum, et filius non est alius Deus a patre, ideo melius est dicendum quod mediator est secundum quod homo. Sic enim communicat cum utroque extremorum. In Deo enim sunt duo, scilicet iustitia et immortalitas; in hominibus vero est iniustitia et mortalitas. Media ergo sunt duo: unum in quo est iustitia et mortalitas. Aliud in quo est immortalitas et iniustitia. Et utrumque est medium, sed primum medium convenit Christo, secundum vero Diabolo. Et ideo Diabolus est medium disiungens, quia per iniustitiam suam disiungit nos a divina iustitia; sed Christus est medium coniungens, quia est iustus et mortalis, et per suam mortem coniungit nos Dei iustitiae. I Io. II, 2: ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris, pro aliquibus efficaciter, sed pro omnibus sufficienter, quia pretium sanguinis eius est sufficiens ad salutem omnium: sed non habet efficaciam nisi in electis propter impedimentum.
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Supra dixit quod Deus vult omnes salvos fieri, et probavit hoc ex parte Dei, qui est unus omnium, et ex parte Christi, qui est unus mediator omnium; hic probat idem ex parte testimonii. Et primo inducit alios testes; secundo suum testimonium, ibi in quo positus sum. Dicit ergo: dedit se pro omnibus. Sed numquid subito Deo in mentem venit, ut qui elegerat salvare Iudaeos solum, vellet salvare totum mundum? Hoc excludens dicit cuius testimonium temporibus suis; quasi dicat: haec lex non est subita, sed antiquitus attestata per legem, et per prophetas. Is. XLIV, 8: vos estis testes mei. Act. X, 43: huic omnes prophetae testimonium perhibent, et cetera. Confirmatum est, scilicet impletione et ostensione signorum, et praedicatione apostolorum. Temporibus suis, scilicet quibus praedeterminatum erat fieri. Eccle. III, 1: omnia tempus habent. Vel testimonium apostolorum confirmatum est temporibus determinatis. Act. I, 8: eritis mihi testes in Ierusalem, et in omni Iudaea, et Samaria, et usque ad ultimum terrae, et cetera.
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Deinde cum dicit in quo positus sum, ponit testimonium suum. Et primo ostendit suum officium; secundo officii sui usum, ibi veritatem. Dicit ergo in quo, scilicet officio testandi, positus sum, scilicet a Deo. Io. XV, v. 16: posui vos ut eatis et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat. Ego praedicator, quia ad hoc me posuit, ut praedicarem. Mc. ult.: euntes in mundum universum, praedicate Evangelium omni creaturae. Sed in quolibet artificio sunt duo: quidam ministerialiter operantes, quidam qui disponunt de aliis, scilicet architectores; sed in officio Ecclesiae disponentes sunt apostoli; et ideo dicit apostolus, quasi cum auctoritate. I Cor. IX, 2: signaculum apostolatus mei vos estis in domino. Usus autem officii est praedicare veritatem, et hoc est officium praedicatorum, ut veritatem dicant. Prov. VIII, 7: veritatem meditabitur guttur meum. Eph. IV, 25: loquimini veritatem. Sed non est aliqua doctrina, quae non habeat aliquam veritatem; sed in hoc damnatur aliqua doctrina, quia miscet veritati falsitatem. Et ideo dicit veritatem dico, non mentior. Prov. VIII, 8: recti sunt omnes sermones mei. Iob VI, 30: non invenietis in lingua mea iniquitatem. Et hic est usus officii, scilicet veritatem sine mendacio praedicare, qui competit meo officio, qui sum doctor gentium. Doctor autem generat scientiam in anima discipuli. Scientia autem non est de falso; unde docens falsum non est doctor. Sed contra, Matth. XXIII, 8: nolite vocari Rabbi. Respondeo. Non prohibet ministerium doctrinae, sed ambitionem officii. Act. IX, 15: vas electionis est mihi iste, ut portet nomen meum, et cetera. Is. XLIX, 6: dedi te in lucem gentium, et cetera. Et debeo eas docere in fide et veritate, quia debet docere fidem et bonos mores. Et dicit in fide, id est, de his quae pertinent ad statum praesentem, in quo secundum fidem vivimus, et in veritate quantum ad statum gloriae. Deinde cum dicit volo, descendit ad speciales gradus hominum. Et circa hoc duo facit, quia primo monet viros de oratione, secundo mulieres, ibi similiter et mulieres. Dicit ergo volo, et cetera. Tria exigit a viris in orando: primo quod oratio sit assidua; secundo pura; tertio quieta. Assidua, ut in omni tempore et in omni loco. Et dicit volo, quia bonum est quod homo oret, et ego doctor volo viros orare in omni loco, non in Ierusalem tantum, ut Iudaei, nec in monte Garizim, ut Samaritani Io. IV, 21. In omni loco potest homo spiritualiter et mentaliter orare. Soph. II, 11: adorabunt eum viri de loco suo; omnes insulae gentium, et cetera. Sed quomodo dominus reprehendit Pharisaeos stantes in angulis, Matth. VI, 5? Respondeo. Oratio mentalis ubique potest fieri, sed signa orationis exterius non debent fieri in omni loco, quia homo non debet singularis apparere in exterioribus, quia propter hoc posset haberi inanis gloria. Sed quare nunc sunt factae Ecclesiae? Respondeo. Non quod locus sit de necessitate orationi, sed ad bene esse ei; quia oratio requirit solitudinem et quietem. Item pura. Ideo dicit levantes puras manus. Augustinus: quod exterius orando agimus, facimus ut affectus noster interius excitetur. Genuflexiones enim et huiusmodi non sunt per se acceptae Deo, sed quia per haec tamquam per humilitatis signa homo interius humiliatur, sicut elevatio manus significat elevationem cordis. Thren. III, v. 41: levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad dominum in caelo. Levantes, etc., id est, orantes cum devotione cordis. Iob VIII, v. 5 s.: si diluculo consurrexeris ad Deum, et omnipotentem fueris deprecatus, si mundus et rectus incesseris, statim evigilabit ad te, et pacatum reddet habitaculum iustitiae tuae. Item quieta.
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Ideo dicit sine ira et disceptatione. Et ponit duo. Primo, ut scilicet mens sit sine ira, quae animum inquietat ad inferendum nocumentum proximo, a qua oportet liberum esse animum orantis. Eccli. XXVIII, 3: homo homini servat iram, et a Deo quaerit medelam. Item liber debet esse homo a disceptatione, quod potest intelligi dupliciter. Uno modo, secundum Glossam, ut non disceptemus contra Deum increduli verbis eius, et murmurando contra eius ordinationem. Rom. IX, v. 20: o homo, tu quis es qui respondeas Deo, et cetera. Item contra proximum, ut non rumpamus pacem cum eo, quod fit per disceptationem. Pax enim est necessaria oranti. Matth. XVIII, 19: si duo ex vobis consenserint super terram, de omni re quam petierint, fiet illis a patre meo. Deinde cum dicit similiter et mulieres, ordinat mulieres, et primo quantum ad orationem, secundo quantum ad doctrinam, ibi mulieres in silentio. Item primo ostendit quid requiratur a muliere orante; secundo exponit quae dixerat, ibi non in tortis. Circa primum sciendum est quod omnia quae requiruntur ad virum orantem, requiruntur et ad mulieres. Et ideo dicit similiter et mulieres; quasi dicat: omnia servent quae dicta sunt.
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Sed addit duo, scilicet ornamenta et verecundiam, dicens in habitu ornato cum verecundia, cuius ratio est, quia naturale est quod sicut mulieres sunt mollioris corporis quam viri, ita et debilioris rationis. Rationis autem est ordinare actus, et effectus uniuscuiusque rei. Ornatus vero consistit in debita ordinatione et dispositione. Sic in interiori decore nisi sint omnia ordinata ex dispositione per rationem, non habent pulchritudinem spiritualem. Et ideo quia mulieres deficiunt a ratione, requirit ab eis ornatum. Item verecundia est de turpi actu, et ideo est laudabilis in illis qui facile solent declinare in actus turpes, cuiusmodi sunt iuvenes et mulieres, et ideo hoc in eis laudatur, non autem senes et perfecti. Eccli. XXVI, 19: gratia super gratiam mulier sancta et pudorata. Item sobrietatem requirit; unde sequitur et sobrietate. Quia enim in mulieribus ratio est debilis, sobrietas autem conservat virtutem rationis, ideo in mulieribus maxime reprehenditur ebrietas. Unde antiquitus apud Romanos eis non dabatur vinum. Non in tortis crinibus, et auro, et cetera. Exponit quod dixerat, et primo de ornatu, secundo de verecundia, ibi sed quod decet. Circa primum, primo excludit ornatum corporalem; secundo ponit spiritualem, ibi sed quod decet. Circa primum dicit: quod dixi de habitu ornato, non intelligo de exteriori, quia non in tortis crinibus, id est, non ornato capite vel toto corpore. Sed praecipue mulieres ornant caput, quod est naturale mulieri, ut dicitur I Cor. XI, 15. Et ideo ornamenta in capite habent. In capite vero est duplex velamentum. Unum est naturale, scilicet capilli, ut dicitur I Cor. XI, 5, item artificiale, et in utrisque se ornant, quia capillos torquent. Unde dicit non in tortis, id est, in crispatis. Is. III, 24: erit pro crispanti crine calvitium. Item artificialia prohibet, cum dicit aut auro, aut margaritis. I Petr. III, 3: non extrinsecus capillatura, aut circumdatio auri, aut indumenti, aut vestimentorum cultus, et cetera. Vel non in tortis crinibus, et auro, id est, non habentes crines tortos auro, vel margaritis. Quantum vero ad totum corpus dicit vel veste pretiosa, hoc enim damnat apostolus hic, et Is. III, 17. Sed numquid hoc est peccatum? Respondeo. Dicendum est quod secundum Augustinum duo sunt consideranda in ornatu mulierum, scilicet simplex ornatus et fucatus. Simplex ornatus, puta in veste, et in auro, et huiusmodi, quod potest fieri cum peccato tribus modis: scilicet ex prava intentione, ut si intendant commotionem concupiscentiae, ostentationem, vel inanem gloriam. Prov. VII, 10: praeparata ad capiendas animas. Secundo si fiat praeter consuetudinem patriae, quod fit diversimode. Quod enim excedit modum consuetum patriae, hoc ex levitate animi est. Tertio si conditionem sui status excedit. Sed servata recta intentione, consuetudine patriae, et conditione status, non est peccatum. De fucato autem semper est peccatum. Mulieribus enim non permittitur ornari nisi propter viros, et viri nolunt decipi, ut fucatae eis appareant.
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Sit ergo non talis ornatus, sed qualis decet mulieres, promittentes pietatem. Exteriora enim opera hominis sunt quasi quaedam professio interioris hominis, sicut religiosi ad hoc habent habitum, et clerici similiter. Unde nisi concordet interior cum exteriori, est fictio. Ita etiam de aliis operibus interioribus. Interius enim debemus colere pietatem, id est, cultum Dei habere, exterius vero promittere et praestare per bona opera, quae concordant pietati; et similiter habere interius, sicut ostendimus exterius. Vel, dico, quod debent se ornare non exterius, sed secundum quod decet eas promittentes, id est, quae promittere debent, pietatem per opera bona. Eccli. XIX, 27: amictus corporis, et risus dentium, et ingressus hominis annuntiant de illo.
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Superius apostolus ordinavit mulieres quo ad orationem, hic ordinat eas quantum ad doctrinam, et primo ponit suam ordinationem circa earum doctrinam; secundo rationem ordinationis assignat, ibi Adam enim primus; tertio respondet tacitae quaestioni, ibi salvabitur autem. Item primo ostendit quid mulieribus conveniat; secundo quid eis non competat, ibi docere autem. Circa primum tria ponit eis competere, scilicet taciturnitatem, disciplinam, et subiectionem, quae tria ex una ratione procedunt, scilicet ex defectu rationis in eis, quibus primo indicit silentium, dicens mulier in silentio discat, et cetera. Iac. III, 2: si quis in verbo non offendit, hic perfectus est vir; et I Cor. XIV, 34: mulieres in Ecclesiis taceant, non enim permittitur eis loqui, et cetera. Nam verba mulieris sunt inflammantia. Eccli. IX, 11: colloquium illius quasi ignis exardescit. Secundo ut discant, quia eorum qui deficiunt ratione proprium est addiscere. I Cor. c. XIV, 35: si quid autem volunt discere, domi viros suos interrogent, et cetera. Viris autem datur quod doceant. Tertio indicit subiectionem, quia naturale est quod anima dominetur corpori, et ratio viribus inferioribus. Et ideo, sicut philosophus docet, quandocumque aliqua duo ad invicem sic se habent, sicut anima ad corpus, et ratio ad sensualitatem, naturale dominium est eius qui abundat ratione, et illud est principans, aliud autem est subditum, quod scilicet deficit ratione. Gen. II: sub viri potestate eris. Item excludit ea, quae eis non competunt, dicens docere autem, et cetera. Et sunt duo, scilicet ut non doceant. Sed contra, Prov. ult.: erudivit eum mater sua, et cetera. Respondeo. Dicendum est quod doctrina alia est publica, et haec non competit mulieri, et ideo dicit, in Ecclesia, alia est privata, et hac mater erudit filium. Sed contra Iud. V Debbora erudivit populum Israel. Respondeo. Illa eruditio est per spiritum prophetiae, et gratia spiritus sancti non discernit inter virum et mulierem; non tamen publice praedicabat, sed instinctu spiritus sancti consilia dabat. Secundo, interdicitur eis dominium in virum. Eccle. XXV, 30: mulier si primatum habeat, contraria est viro suo. Et philosophus dicit, quod dominium mulierum est corruptio familiae, sicut tyranni in regno. Et sic prohibet duo contra duo, quae competunt eis, sed primum repetit, scilicet sed esse in silentio. Deinde cum dicit Adam enim, assignat rationem eius quod dixerat, et primo ex ordine creationis; secundo ex ordine culpae, ibi et Adam non est seductus. Circa primum sciendum est, quod in ordine rerum perfectum et imperfectum diversimode ordinantur, quia in uno et eodem imperfectum praecedit tempore, et perfectum praecedit natura, quia natura tendit ad perfectum; sed in diversis perfectum est prius tempore et natura, quia natura semper incipit a perfectis. Et hunc ordinem agit hic, quia vir perfectus est in natura humana, mulier vir occasionatus. Unde primo formatus est Adam. Gen. II, 7: formavit Deus hominem de limo terrae, secundario mulier, sicut quoddam imperfectum a perfecto originatum, scilicet de costa. I Cor. XI, 8: non enim vir ex muliere, sed mulier ex viro est. Et inde est quod homo non dicitur factus propter mulierem, sed ad similitudinem Dei. Gen. I, 26: faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. Mulier autem propter virum, ideo vir debet praeesse. Item ex parte culpae. Ordo enim generationis et corruptionis est contrarius, quia quod est primum in generatione, est ultimum in corruptione. Peccatum autem est corruptio naturae, et ideo generatio incipit primo ab Adam, sed corruptio a muliere.
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Unde dicit Adam non est seductus, scilicet primo, quia fortior erat, sed tentator incepit a debiliori, ut facilius seduceretur fortior. Alludit autem hic verbis Adae Gen. III, 12. Cum enim dominus reprehendit Adam, dixit: mulier quam dedisti mihi sociam, dedit mihi, et cetera. Et ideo dicit Adam non est seductus, sed mulier. Seductio autem duplex est, scilicet in universali, et in particulari eligibili, quae est ignorantia electionis. Quicumque ergo peccat, seducitur ignorantia electionis in particulari eligibili. Mulier autem fuit seducta, ignorantia in universali, quando scilicet credidit quod serpens dixit; sed vir non credidit hoc, sed deceptus fuit in particulari, scilicet quod gerendus esset mos uxori, et cum ea comedere deberet, et inexpertus divinae severitatis credidit quod facile ei remitteretur. Sed contra. Ignorantia est poena peccati, ergo poena praecessit culpam. Respondeo. Dicendum est quod non praecessit, quia statim ad verba serpentis fuit elata, eo quod alius esset de ea sollicitus, et ex illa elatione seducta est, unde elatio praecessit. Deinde cum dicit salvabitur autem, respondet cuidam tacitae quaestioni; quia diceret quis, quod si mulier non est propter virum, et ex ea est initium peccati, ergo viro est nociva; sed si aliquid non est propter aliud, sed est ei nocivum, debet tolli; ergo mulier non debet salvari. Dicendum est ergo, quod duplex est salus, scilicet temporalis, et haec est communis etiam brutis; alia est aeterna, et haec est propria hominum. Is. LI, 8: salus autem mea in sempiternum erit. Utramque autem salutem mulier non amisit. Non temporalem, quia statim non privatur sexu muliebri propter generationem prolis. Nec aeternam, quia secundum animam capax est gratiae et gloriae. Et ideo quantum ad primum dicitur salvabitur, id est, non extirpabitur, et hoc per generationem filiorum, ad quam est a Deo ordinata. Quantum ad secundum dicit si permanserit. Sed quia si importat causam, numquid quae non permansit non salvabitur, cum apostolus dicat, quod mulier melius facit si non nubat? Respondeo. Uno modo potest esse locutio figurativa, et sic per virum ratio superior intelligitur, ratio inferior est mulier, opera bona sunt filii inferioris rationis, et charitas quam per virum concipit, et per haec salvabitur. Alia est expositio litteralis, ut ly per non dicat causam, sed repugnantiam. Et est sensus: mulier salvabitur, etiam si incedat per generationem, scilicet si nubat et non sit virgo. Et tunc ly per dicit augmentationem salutis, quasi per generationem filiorum ad cultum Dei, magis salvabitur. Eccli. VII, v. 25: filii tibi sunt? Erudi illos, et incurva illos a pueritia illorum. Quo ad salutem aeternam consequendam tria ponit. Primo aliquid quo ad intellectum; secundo quo ad affectum; tertio quo ad exteriorem actum. In intellectu est fides, per quam intellectus Christo subiicitur; unde dicit in fide. Hebr. c. XI, 6: sine fide impossibile est placere Deo. Et quia fides nihil valet sine dilectione, ideo quoad affectum statim subiungit, dicens et dilectione. I Cor. XIII, 2: si habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferam, charitatem autem non habuero, nihil sum, et cetera. In exteriori autem ponit duo contra lasciviam, quae consistit in duobus, scilicet, in luxuria; et quantum ad hoc dicit in sanctificatione, id est, in castitate. I Thess. c. IV, 3: haec est voluntas Dei sanctificatio vestra, et cetera. Item in crapula, contra quod dicit cum sobrietate. Tit. II, 12: sobrie, et pie, et iuste vivamus in hoc saeculo.
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1. Obsecro igitur primum omnium fieri obsecrationes, orationes, postulationes, gratiarum actiones. Obsecro, Graece TtapaxaAui, quod etiam verti potest, exhortor, ut apud Ambrosianum. Est autem verbum diversum ab eo, unde verbale nomen proxime sequens, pro quo nos obsecrationes, Ambrosianus deprecationes legit. Post constitutam Christianae doctrinae summam de lege et gratia, nunc deinceps specialibus ac variis praeceptis Timotheum Episcopum instruit Apostolus. Et quidem primum omnium fieri vult obsecrationes, orationes etc. Ex his enim caetera pendent. Nam quicquid aliud fieri oportet, id precibus a Deo petendum et exspectandum est. Dicit autem, primum omnium, sivo ante omnia, eo sensu, quo Christus dixit in Evangelio: Quaerite primum regnum Dei, Matth. 6., ut non tam ordo temporis significetur, quam dignitatis; quasi dicat Apostolus: Hortor et moneo, ut praecipuum studium et cura sit de precibus rite Deo offerendis. Sunt qui genitivum, omnium, de personis accipiant, hoc contextu: Obsecro primum fieri omnium obsecrationes etc, id est ab omnibus nve a tota Ecclesia. Quae expositio non est rejicienda; nam totius Ecclesiae est orare, idque pro omnibus hominibus, ut statim dicitur. Adde quod nusquam alibi in scriptura conjuncte legatur, primum omnium. Quomodo differant obsecrationes, orationes, postulationes, ab aliis aliter explicatur. Augustinus Epist. 59. ad Paulinum q. 5. locum hunc proprie pertinere existimat ad eas preces, quas recitat sacerdos ad altare; ut obsecrationes sint preces, quae riunt m missa ante consecrationem; orationes, post consecrationem usque ad orationem Dominicam; postulationes, cum populus benedicitur. Quibus, inquit, peractis et participato tanto sacramento, gratiarum actio cuncta concludit, quam in his verbis ultimam commendavit Apostolus. Rationem hujus distinctionis ex proprietate Graecarum dictionum petitam, vide apud eundem. Sunt et alii Latini, quorum quisque diversum fere adfert harum vocum discrimem, ut Hilarius scribens in Psalm. 140. Ambrosius lib. 5. de Sacram. cap. 5. et Ambrosii titulo commentator hujus loci. Item Joan. Cassian. collat. 9., cap. rum vocum differentia ac proprietate agitur, maxime hic audiendos puto Graecos interpretes, secundum quos ita differunt obsecrationes, orationes et postulationes; sive, ut alii putaverunt exactius e Graeco (ubi legis tzrpziq,, Tcpoosoxag, svtso^sic) vertendum: deprecationes, obsecrationes et interpellationes; ut deprecationes sint preces, quibus petimus a malis liberari; obsecrationes, quibus oramus, ut ncbis bona contingant; interpellationes, quum de his, qui nos laedunt, querimur. Ita Theodoretus, Theophylactus et Oecumenius. Alii interpellationes interpretari malunt, quibus oratur pro persequentibus, ut convertantur. Nonnulli vero eas extendunt ad universum genus orationum, quaecunque pro aliis funduntur, bonis ac malis, amicisetinimicis. Quod pcstremura verisimilius est: hac enim generali significatione Christus pro nobis inlerpellare dicitur Rom. 8, ubi verbum est Graecum, a quo hujus loci interpellatio deducitur. Veiumtamen idem Theophylactus eo magis propendet, ut (quod sentit Chrysostomus) tres voces velut idem significantes, congerie quadam Rhetorica ab Apostolo dicantur assumptae; quo vehementior sit adhortatio in re tanti momenti. Pro qua sententia adferri possunt alia loca Apostoli, ut Ephes. G. et Philip. 4. In his enim duo priora vocabula videtur indifferenter ad eandem rem significandam usurpasse. Sive autem distinguenda sint illa tria, sive non: haud tamen dubium est, quin praesens locus accipiendus sit de publici^ Ecclesiae precibus; vel quas ad altare facit sacerdos, ut sentit Augustinus, vel generalius, quae in conventibus ecclesiae per ministros ejus fiunt (sub quibus et sacrificium comprehenditur, ut Actor. 13.), simal orante cum eis populo; quemadmodum sentiunt Chrysostomus, Ambrosianus et Prosper lib. 1. de vocat. gent. cap. 12. Porro his precibus, quarum jam vocabula explicuimus, adjungi, seu potius admisceri vult Apostolus gratiarum actiones; quod et fecit Philip. 4., quia qui non agit gratias de beneficiis acceptis, eo ipso se praestat indignum, cui quantumvis oranti novum beneficium adjiciatur.
Pro omnibus hominibus, etiam infidelibus, inimicis, persecutoribus; quemadmodum Christus in Evangelio nos docuit Matth. 5., a qua generalitate nc quidem excommunicati sunt excludendi. Neque sensus est, orandum esse pro omni genere hominum, ut quidam intelligunt; quia non tantum ad genera hominum respicit intentio Ecclesiae pro omnibus orantis, sed etiam ad singulos: cupit enim unumquemque salvum fieri, et non tantum ex singulis hominum generibus aliquos. Itaque sensus est, in genere pro omnibus hominibus orandum esse; specialiter vero sic pro singulis, ut nullum prorsus ab oratione nostra velimus exclusum. O.stendit hic locus, nullum horaiuem dum vivit adeo perditum esse, ut de ejus salute nobis sit desperandum; nam oratio spei professio est. Ostendit item, sectarios nugasagere, duminquiunt, derogari ofncio unici Mediatoris, si Sancti pro nobis intercedant, aut intercedere rogentur.
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2. Pro regibus et omnibus, qui in sublimitate sunt. Ambrosianus legit, aui in sublimiori loco positi sunt, id est qui praesunt populis, etsi regibus ipsi subjecti. Liquet ex hac parte id, quod dictum est, pro omnibus hominibus, non de solis fidelibus accipi posse; nam tempore Apostoli Pauli reges et praesides populorum nondum credebant in Christum, imo vero Christi Ecclesiam persequebantur. Tertullianus Apolog. cap. 39. loquens de his, quae a Christianis fiunt in suis coetibus: Oramus etiam pro Imperatoribus, pro ministris eorum, et potestatibus, pro statu saeculi, pro rerum quiete.
Ut quietam et tranquillam vitam agamus. Graece, placidam et quietam. Politico magistratui debet hic scopus esse propositus, ut populus ei subjectus tranquillam et quietam vitam agat, id est a bellis ct molestiis, quae pacem reipunlicae perturbant, liberam; hoc autem ut praestet, orationibus ecclesiae adjuvandus est: praesertim cum ea res cedat ad bonum ipsius ecclesiae. Sic olim Dominus per Jeremiam cap. 29. monet populum sub infideli rege constitutum, dicens: Quaerite pacem civitatis, adquam transmigrare vos feci: et orate pro ea ad Dominum; quia in pace illius erit pax vobis. Ipsi quoque Judaei in captivitate positi fratres suos per epistolam rogant, ita scribentes Baruch 1. Orate pro vita Nabuchodonosor regis Babylonis et pro vita Balthasar filii ejus; ut vivamus sub umbra Nabuchodonosor etc. Quoniam autem a principibus hoc ofiicium non sic ut oportet praestatur, si a cultu veri Dei sint alieni: idcirco consequenter intelligendum est, Apostolum hic praecipere, ut pro illorum conversione et salute oretur. Hanc enim esse mentem Apostoli satis indicat id, quod paulo post seqaitur: Qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire.
In omni pietate et castitate. Pro castitate Graece est asuvoTTTi, quo vocabulo omnis morum gravitas et honestas significari solet. Unde alii plerique vertunt, honestate. Annotat Ambrosianus et res ipsa docet, pacem et tranquillitatem temporis valde opportunam esse pietati, qua Deo cultus debitus redditur; et honestati morum, quae potissimum in virtute temperantiae consistit. Videmus enim tempore belli protanari ecclesias, monasteria destrui, sacramenta violari, cessare conciores sacras, claudi ora laudantium Deum; haereses, perjuria, blasphemias et alia id genus vitia impune grassari; denique castitatis, sobrietatis et honestatis vitae nullam haberi rationem. Obiter observa, etiam hoc loco insinuari ab Apostolo illa tria, quae expressit in Epist. ad Tit. 2., ut sobrie, juste et pie vivamus in hoc saeculo. Nam vitam agere quietam et tranquillam ad justitiam pertinel, quamproximis debemus; sobrietas et castitas conveniunt in genere temperantiae: pictas autem suo nomine designata est.
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3. Hoc enim bonum est et acceptum coram Salvatore nostro Deo. Hoc, monstrat illud, ad quod hortatus fuit, scilicet ut oretur pro omnibus hominibus etiam infidelibus et inimicis. Id et bonum est, quia praecipuum opus charitatis in proximos, et proinde Deo Salvatori nostro valde gratum et acceptum. Addit autem, Salvatore nostro; nam ratio postulat, ut qui ad salutem misericorditer adducti sumus, etiam alios orationibus nostris adducamus ad salutem.
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Qui omnes homines vult salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire. Extensio est ejus quod dixerat: Salvatore nostro, quasi dicat, acceptum id esse Deo, qui non tantum noster est Salvator, sed omnes homines vult salvos fieri, nimirum salute aeterna; cujus in hac vita est inchoatio per fidem; de qua addit, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire. Loquitur enim de agnitione veritatis non cujuscunque, sed ejus, quae ad salutem pertineat; de qua veritate Christus in Evangelio: Ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati. Joan. 18. Hujus autem veritatis agnitio fides est. Sed quum certum sit, non omnes homines salvari, nec omnes credere, sed paucos ex omnibus; cumque non minus certum sit ex Scripturis, omnia fieri quaecunque fieri voluerit omnipotens Deus: hinc quaestio versatur inter Theologos, quo sensu dictum sit ab Apostolo: Deum velle omnes homines salvos fieri, et ad veritatis agnitionem venire; quam quaestionem nos etiam late et accurate tracravimus ad 1. sent. d. 46. Ut igitur, quae illic prolixius dicta sunt, hic in compendium contrahamus: Primo sciendum est, nonnullos Apostolicam sententiam hoc modo interpretari: Qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri, modo et ipsi velint. Hujusmodi enim conditionem in verbis Apostoli latere existimant commentatores Ambrosiaster et Pelagius. Quo etiam modo Rupertus Apostoli sententiam existimat supplendam, lib. de volunt. Dei cap. 12., amplexus commentarium hujus loci, qui est Pseudoambrosii, pro vero Ambrosio. Ab his reipsa non dissentiunt, qui sententiam ad hunc modum supplent: Qui vult, quantum in ipso est, omnes homines salvos fieri. Dicunt enim, Deum omnibus hominibus suppeditare media sufficientia ad salutem consequendam 5 atque id volunt his Apostoli verbis significatum esse. In eodem luto hic haeret Catharinus, cujus noxius commentarius est cavendus. Eo inter caetera docet, non omnes salvandos esse praedestinatos; ac putat secum sentire Nazianzenum, quem non intellexit. Diximus de novitio et male sano Catharini dogmate in Comment. ad Rom. 8. Sensum hunc, velut sanae doctrinae minus congruentem, rejiciunt Catholici Patres Augustinus, Prosper et Fulgentius duplici ratione. Primum, quia conditio memorata ab hominibus praestari non potest, nisi Deo dante. Unde frustra dicitur, modo ipsi velint, quia et hoc ipsum ut velint, a divina pendet voluntate. Deinde, quia constat, parvulos, qui sine baptismo moriuntur et pereunt, non posse velle. Unde nec dici potest, Deum, quantum in ipso est, vel adultos salvare, quibus non dat velle, vel parvulos, quibus ut baptizentur, non providet. Loca Augustini praecipua sunt in Epist. 107. ad Vitalem et in Ench., ubi de hac re disserit a cap. 95. usque ad 103. et lib. 4. contra Julian. cap. 8. Adde, quod sensus ille scopo Apostoli manifeste repugnat; hortatur enim Apostolus ad orandum pro omnibus hominibus. At si sensus est: Deum velle omnes homines salvos fieri, quantum in se est, aut modo ipsi velint, jam non sequitur, Suil- Sstli Conun. Tom. IL orandum esse Deum pro omnium salute; ut qui juxta hanc expositionem id, quod euarum est partium, fecerit, dato omnibus sufEcienti auxilio; sed solum exhortandi erunt homines, ut etiam ipsi velint, et quod in se est, utentes auxilio concesso, faciant. Hac igitur expositione reprobata, quam nec B. Thomas inter quinque a se enumeratas expositiones agnoscit, sed magis rejiciendam significat; subjiciamus alias probabiliores, quas ferme easdem etiam Joannes Hesselius in commentario diligenter est prosecutus. Una est, quae in verbis Apostoli distributionem facit accommodam, hoc sensu: Deus vult salvos fieri omnes, quicunque salvantur, quia nemo salvatur nisi Deo volente, et ideo rogandus est Deus, ut velit. Ita Augustinus Ench. 103. et alibi. Secunda expositio distributionem facit pro generibus singulorum, ut sit sensus: Deum velle omnis generis homines salvari, ut Judaeos, gentiles, servos, liberos, principes, privatos, doctos, indoctos etc. Haec quoque expositio apud Augustinum est in eodem loco. Tertia est Damasceni lib. 2. de orth. fide cap. 29., ubi Apostolum exponit de voluntate Dei antecedente, secundum quam dicitur Deus velle omnes homines salvari et regnum ipsius consequi, quatenus eos creavit, non ut puniat, sed ut bonitatis suae ac beatitudinis participes efficiat. Nam punitio atque damnatio ex peccato est, non ex prima hominis institutione: non igitur illam Deus vult antecedente, sed consequente voluntate. Notandum autem, quod voluntatem antecedentem exprimunt interdum doctores per illam phrasim: quantum in se est, ut B. Thomas lib. 3. contra gentes cap. 59. Dicit enim, quod Deus, quantum in se est, paratus est omnibus gratiam dare, quia vultomnes homines salvos fieri. Nam quod loquatur de voluntate antecedente seu praeveniente peccatum, quo gratiae Dei ponitur impedimentum, patet ex iis, quae sequuntur eodem loco, quod et probatur ex summa ejus Theologica p. 1. quaest. 19. art. 6. ad 1., ubi diserte locum hunc Apostoli ex Damasceno interpretatur de voluntate antecedente. Significat ergo, quod si peccatum non intervenisset, omnes habuissent gratiam et pervenissent ad salutem. Verum quoniam illud, quod dicitur, Deum, quantum in se est, velle omnes salvos fieri, et paratum esse ad dandum omnibus gratiam, vulgo accipi solet in eum sensum, quem supra rejecimus, idcirco idem S. Doctor in Summa, ubi exactius loqui solet, abstinuit ab ea phrasi, nolens cuiquam occasionem errandi praebere. Quarta expositio est de Christo atque humana ejus voluntate, ut sensus sit: Christum, qui est Salvator noster, non nos tantum, sed omnes homines velle salvos fieri etad fidem adduci; velle, inquam, non absoluta rationali voluntate, quae divinae voluntati per omnia conformis, sed voluntate desiderii seu pietatis, quam velleitatem vocant. Quinta est eorum, qui putant, Apostolum loqui de parte velut de toto quodam, quae forma locutionis in Scripturis non est infrequens, ubi de multitudine sermo est, ut Phil. 2. Omnes, quae sua sunt, quaerunt. Ita sensus est: Deum velle omnes salvos fieri, quod eorum, quos salvos fieri vult, et proinde salvos facit, tanta sit multitudo, ut suo quodam modo possint dici omnes. Sexta expositio est: Deum velle omnes homines salvos fieri, quatenus vult et facit, pios homines velle seu desiderare omnium salutem, ut exempli gratia Paulum ipsum, qui dixit: Omnibus omnia factus sum, ut omnes facerem salvos 1 Cor. 9. et Ambrosium super Lucae 19., ubi Zachaei tractat historiam, ita loquentem: Nolumus offendere divites, qui volumus, si fieri potest, sanare omnes. Cum enim ipsa Dei voluntas in se sit nobis occultissima, recte et convenienter hoc eum velle dicimus, quod vult in suis amicis, qui sunt homines Dei; idque non tantum praecipiendo ut velint, sed etiam hoc ipsum in eis operando, quemadmodum eam rem docte explicat Augustinus lib. 22. de civit. cap. 1. et 2. et lib. de coirept. et gratia cap. 15. Atque hunc sensum adfert B. Thomas secundo loco in commentario. Nec dubium, quin hic sensus admodum congruat instituto et contextui Apostolico. Quod enim praecipit, pro omnium salute orandum esse, optime probatur hac ratione: quia id bonum est et acceptum Deo, qui vult omnes salvos fieri, id est vult, ut omnium salutem desideremusatquehoc ipsum desiderium in nobis operatur. Hinc enim consequens est, impellente hujusmodi desiderio divinitus inspirato pro omnium salute nobis orandum esse. Amplius vero sensum hunc confirmat, quod non dicat Apostolus, Deum velle omnes salvos facere et ad agnitionem veritatis adducere, sed omnes salvos fieri et ad agnitionem veritatis venire. Quo sermone magis significatur voluntas nostra, quam a Deo habemus pro salute omnium, quam voluntas, quae proprie sit ipsius Dei. Nam Deus ipse totam salutem electorum suorum operatur, ideoque propriissime voluntatem habet eos salvandi et ad fidem perducendi, imo fidem ipsam donandi; unde et Salvator noster, id est electorum, hoc loco vocatur; et infra cap. 4. dicitur: Salvator omnium hominum, maxime fidelium. Nobis autem, qui non sumus salvatores, sed salvandi, proprie competit habere voluntatem, ut nobiscum omnes salvi fiant et ad veritatis notitiam peiveniant, utque ex illa voluntate pro omnibus oremus, juxta sensum superius explicatum. Quamvis ergo Deus non velit omnes salvos facere, sed solos electos; vult tamen omnes salvos fieri, scilicet per nos et qujintum in nobis est; dum praecipit nobis, ut omnium salutem quaeramus, et hoc ipsum studium ac desiderium in nobis operatur. Itaque secundum banc expositionem dicitur Deus omnes homines velle salvari, quia praecipit a nobis agi, ut omnes salventur. Et aptissima est hoc intellectu probatio Apostoli: Pro omnibus est nobis orandum, quia Deus praecipit, ut omnium salutem velimus et agamus. Septima expositio est: Deum velle omnes salvos fieri, quatenus media quaedam et auxilia generalia contulit ac proposuit humano generi in universum, quibus nimirum possint homines ad salutem perduci, licet haec ad salutem consequendam, absque mediis et auxiliis specialibus, minime sufficiant. Talia sunt creatio hominis ad beatitudinem, lex naturae mentibus omnium impressa, speculum totius creaturae, beneficium redemptionis Christi toti mundo expositum et ex Christi praecepto per omnes gentes praedicandum. Hic sensus est apud Prosperum lib. 2. de vocat. gent. per aliquot capita, et in responsis ad 1. et 2. objectiones Vincentianas, eundemque late prosequitur Hesselius in commentario. Favere etiam videntur sequentia verba Apostoli, quibus creationis simul et redemptionis nostrae beneficium commendat, dicens: Unus enim Deus, nempe creator, unus et mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus, qui dedit redemptionem semetipsum pro omnibus. Harum septem expositionum prima, secunda et quinta sensum faciunt haud prorsus universalem, uti manifestum est, multos enim homines exceptos relinquunt, et proinde non conveniunt instituto Apostoli, qui docere vult, orandum esse pro omnibushominibussine exceptione. Adde, quod ita dicitur Deus omnes velle salvos fieri, ut etiam addi possit, quod neminem velit perire; nam utrumqueconjunxit Petrus Apostolus 2. Epist. 3. dicens: Deum nolle aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti; atqui haec negatio non recipit dictas tves expositiones, ergo nec illa aflSrmatio. Porro tertia expositio voluntatem salutis nimium extendit. Si enim de antecedente voluntate sermo est, fatendum erit, quod Deus etiam daemones, animasque damnatas, salvas fieri velit: nec ratio reddetur ab Apostolo, cur pro omnibus hominibus orandum sit, nisi concedamus etiam, quod absit, pro damnatis orandum esse. Quarta quoque expositio non parum habet difficultatis. Nam ex ea sequitur, Christum non solum in terris agentem, verum etiam nunc in coelo regnantem, habere voluntatem optativam salutis hominum reproborum; loquitur enim Aposrolus de praesenti, qui vult etc. Absurdum autem videtur, ejusmodi voluntatem Christo tribuere, sicut et spiritibus beatis, quorum omnium voluntas perfecte conformis est voluntati divinae. Restant duae postremae expositiones; quas, ut sensu commodas et Apostolico contextui congruentiores, prae caeteris amplectimur et probamus, sextam maxime. Nam septima non perinde potest hominibus accommodari, velut amentibus, infantibus etc., cum tamen Apostolus docere velit, pro singulis orandum esse. Jam circa textum quaeritur, cur Apostolus invertit ordinem temporis, dicendo: Qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri et ad agnitionem veritatis venire, cum utique prius sit agnoscere veritatem, id est credere, quam salvum fieri. Respondeo, Apostolum de voluntate Dei loquentem non temporis, sed causalitatis ordinem spectasse. Nam intentione voluntatis prior est finis quam media ad finem, ut in proposito salus hominum, quam fides, qua salvantur. Atqae hinc ostenditur, electionem tam hominum quam angelorum ad gloriam simpliciter esse priorem ea, quae est ad gratiam.
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5. TJnus enim Deus, unus et mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus. Probatio est sententiae praecedentis, eademque secundum ultimam ejus expositionem ad hunc modum declaranda: Unus est Deus, omnium hominum creator; unus etiam homo Christus, Dei atque omnium hominum mediator et, juxta id, quod sequitur, omnium redemptor, nam universale signum omnium ex parte subsequente, in qua dicitur pro omnibus, etiam hic supplendum est in utroque membro; ergo sive beneficium creationis spectetur, quod omnibus commune est, sive beneficium reconciliationis ac redemtionis, quod omnibus propositum est: vult Deus omnes homines salvos fieri. At secundum penultimam expositionem 42 * probatio est hujusmodi: Unus est omnium hominum Deus, cujus cognoscendi naturaliter omnes sunt capaces. Item unus est mediator ac redemptor omnium datus aDeo; ergo Dei voluntas est partim praeceptiva, partim operativa in nobis, ut omnes homines ad salutem et veritatis agnitionem, quantum in nobis est, adducamus. Observa, quod sicut unum Deum intelligit cum exclusione plurium, sic et unum mediatorem Dei ethominum, qui est Christus Jesus. Hoc igitur officium ita Christo proprium agnoscere debemus ex mente Apostoli, ut nulli alteri tribuatur, nec homini, nec angelo. Mediator enim Dei et hominum ille dicitur, qui immediate ad Deum accedens, per suum ipsius meritum, quod ab alieno merito non dependeat, Deum hominibus placatum reddit, atque omnia salutis dona a Deo hominibus obtinet. Quod quidem officium Christo competit non secundum naturam, qua Deus est, hoc enim modo etiam ipse est alterum extremorum, sed secundum naturam, qua homo est. Unde expresse ait Apostolus: homo Christus Jesus. Solus enim homo qualis Christus, id est homo justus, qui proprium haberet meritum, quique pretium infiniti valoris offerre posset, inter Deum et homines injustos ac peccatores mediator esse potuit, salvo jure ejus, qui fuerat offensus. Sed quoniam a puro homine haec praestari impossibile erat, idcirco hominem illum etiam Deum esse oportuit. Sic mediatorem Dei et hominum interpretati sunt Augustinus, Leo, Chrysostomus aliique Patres, quorum loca citata require apud Hesselium. Eandem mediatoris rationem docte explicat B. Thomas 3. q. 26. art. 2. Sed objicit haereticus: si solus Christus mediator est secundum Apostolum, igiturin Christum injuriosi sunt, qui illud ejus officium ad alios transferunt, tot mediatores facientes, quot sunt Sancti in coelo. Respondeo, Catholicos officium mediatoris jam explicatum, idemque Christo proprium, nequaquam ad alios transferre, sed tamen agnoscere alios quosdam imperfecta ratione mediatores, hoc est intercessores nostros ad Deum; quales sunt quicunque precibus ad Deum fusis salutem nostram Deo commendant. Quod adeo non est contra Apostolum, ut etiam hoc ipso capite jubeat nos pro aliis, imo pro omnibus hominibus orare et interpellare; quicunque autem Deum pro aliis interpellat, intercessorem et medium quodammodo se constituit inter illos et Deum; tametsi id faciat non proprio merito nitens, sed alieno, scilicet Christi. Quidquid enim sancti pro nobis orantes petunt, non nisi per Christum petunt. Hoc sensu mediatores eos interdum appellant Patres, nominatim Bernardus in ult. serm. de assumpt. B. Mariae et alibi. Quid mirum, quum Apostolus nos pro aliis jubeat esse interpellatores?
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6. Qui dedit redemptionem semetipsum pro omnibus. Declarat, qua ratione Christo proprie competat Mediatoris officium, videlicet ratione redemptionis; nam sine hac mediator, qualem supra descripsimus, esse non potuisset. In eo, quod semetipsum dicitur dedisse j id est obtulisse et tradidisse in passionem ac mortem, significatur, eum non invitum traditum fuisse, sed volentem, cum alioqui posset non pati; quod contra Arianos affirmantes Christum invitum fuisse traditum, annotant Graecorum commentarii. Porro quod noster interpres redemptionem vertit, Graece est dvTi AoTpov. Nam AOTpov quidem Graecis est qualecunque pretium, quo captivi redimi solent; dvxtXuTpov vero, cum caput capite, aut vita redimitur vita: quod aptissime de Christo dicitur; qui non aurum aut argumentum, sed semetipsum pro nobis redimendis dedit, et suam ipsius i animam pro nostra posuit. Jam quod ait, I pro omnibus, universaliter accipiendum videtur; sicutillud, quod supra monuit, pro omnibus hominibus orandum esse: ad id enim probandum haec pars cum praecedentibus est referenda. Si quaeras quomodo pro omnibus hominibus redimendis Christus semetipsum dederit; cum tam multi sint et fuerint omnibus saeculis, in captivitate et morte relicti, ac proinde redemptionis hujus expertes, respondet in commentario Pelagius: Ille se pro omnibus dedit, si omnes redimi vellent. At multo melius magisque Catholice quaestionem ita dissolvit B. Prosper in resp. ad primam object. Vincent. Quod ad magnitudinem, inquit, et potentiam pretii, et quod ad unam pertinet causam generis humani, sanguis Christi redemptio est totius mundi; sed qui hoc saeculum sine fide Christi et sine regenerationis sacramento pertranseunt, redemptionis alieni sunt. Cum itaque propter unam omnium naturam, et unam omnium causam a Domino nostro in veritate susceptam, recte omnes dicantur redempti, et tamen non omnes a captivitate sint eruti; redemptionis proprietas haud dubie penes illos est, de quibus princeps mundi missus est foras, et jam non vasa diaboli, sed membra sunt Christi. Et paucis interpositis: Poculum quippe immortalitatis, quod confectum est de infirmitate nostra et virtute divina, habet quidem in se ut omnibus prosit; sed si non bibitur, non medetur. Haec ille; prorsus consentanee cum eo, quod Scholastici dicunt Christum sufficienter, non efficienter omnes redemisse. Ex quo etiam ostenditur hujus Scripturae et similium concordia cum aliis Scripturis, quae, Christum pro multis mortuum esse, et ad multorum redemptionem venisse testantur, ut Matth. 20. et 26. Marc. 14. et Heb. 9. Multos enim, effioienter; omnes, suflicienter redemit. Verumtamen sciendum est, nulla necessitatenoscogiad hunc intellectum, quo illud: pro omnibus, ad omnes omnino et singulos homines referatur. Potest enim convenienter et secundum morem Scripturae sic accipi, pro omnibus, id est pro hominibus omnium gentium, seu pro hominibus toto orbe dispersis; juxta illud, quod redempti Christo canunt Apoc. 5. Redemisti nos Deo, in sanguine tuo, ex omni tribu et lingua et populo et natione. Porro quoniam nobis incognitum est, qui sint ex omnibus gentibus ad redemptionem et salutem praedestinati; propterea sic pro omnibus absolute oramus, quemadmodum supra explicatum est, ut, quod ad singulos attinet, neminem velimus ab oratione nostra exclusum. Ex quo patet, quam apte, etiam secundum hunc sensum, pars ista superioribus cohaereat.
Testimonium temporibus suis. In multis codicibus ita legebatur: Cujus testimonium temporibus suis confirmatum est. Apud Ambrosianum: datum est. At Graece tantum est, ut habet haec Romana correctio: Testimonium temporibus suis; nec amplius dedisse nostrum interpretem, probant plerique MSS. codices, astipulantibus Haimone et Anselmo; nec plura legisse Pelagium evidens est conjectura ex ejus commentario, alioqui hic etiam redolente suum auctorem, ut mox dicemus. Glossa quoque ordinaria lectionis hujus meminit. Proinde caetera a quopiam adjecta fuisse, qui putarit ita recte explicari, plus quam probabile est. Syrus interpres ita supplet: Testimonium, quod venit tempore suo. Juxta veram igitur lectionem testimonium appositive cohaeret ei, quod praecedit. Pelagius quidem pro sua haeresi, qua in Christo tantum agnoscebat justitiae exemplum, non gratiae auxilium, hoc modo exponit: In testimonium generi humano sanctae vitae dedit exemplum: quia et Prophetae suis testimonium fuere temporibus; novissime autem misit filium suum ad colonos. Nimirum sentit haereticus, non aliud fuisse Christi, quam Prophetarum officium; puta, verbo et exemplo docere homines. Ambrosianus testimonium intelligit redemptionis factae per Christum, idque ostensum eo tempore, quo re3urrexit: nam destructio mortis, inquit, resurrectio mortuorum est. Alii redemptionem ejus interpretantur testimonium divinae voluntatis, qua vult omnes homines salvos fieri. Qui sensus etiam Cajetano placet, ac satis congruit praecedentibus. Chrysostomus autem atque eum secuti Theophylactus et Oecumenius intelligunt, Christum per passionem suam, qua semetipsum dedit redemptionem pro omnilni6, perhibuissetestimonium veritati, cujus praedicandae gratia missus fuerat a Patre. Pro hac enim veritate, qua dixit, se esse filium Dei, missum a Patre pro. mundi salute, passionem et mortem subiit. Hujusmodi veritatis testimonium, quum usque ad mortem dicitur et morte confirmatur; proprie et per excellentiam ab ipsis etiam Apostolis Martyrium, id est Testimonium vocabatur: et qui tali modo testificabantur, Martyres, id est Testes: quoniam hujusmodi testimonio nullum erat excellentius. Hic sensus confirmationem accipit ex cap. 6. hujus epist., ubi dicitur Christus testimonium reddidisse sub Pontio Pilato bonam confessionem; scilicet, pro veritate, quam confessus fuerat, patiens usque ad mortem. Etenim Apostolus jam martyrium meditans, et Timotheum ad martyrium excitare volens, libenter ingerit mentionem martyrii Christi. Perhibuit autem Christus hoc martyrium seu testimonium temporibus suis, Graece propriis; id est tunc, quando tempus a Deo praeordinatum atque a Prophetis praenuntiatum erat impletum; quam alibi vocat Apostolus plenitudinem temporis. Gal. 4. et Ephes. 1.
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7. In quo positus sum ego praedicator et Apostolus. Graece, In quod, vel ad quod, scilicet testimonium. Et sensus est: Ad eam veritatem, pro qua Christus usque ad mortem testimonium perhibuit, promulgandam, ego constitutus sum praeco, seu nuntius, imo et Apostolus, hoc est legatus ab eo missus; nam plus est esse legatum, quam praeconem.,
Veritatem dico, non mentior. Graeci codices, qui nunc sunt in manibus, addunt aliquid: Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior. Atque illud, in Christo, juramentum interpretantur, quasi dicat, per Christum juro, me veritatem dicere, et non mentiri. Sed sciendum est, in Graecorum commentariis non exstare indicium hujus additionis, in Christo; ut verisimile sit, eam huc irrepsisse ex initio cap. 9. ad Romanos, ubi secundum codices Graecos et Latinos totum hoc legitur: Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior. Nam hoc ]oco non admodum opus crat juramento, ubi Timotheo discipulo scribebat. Porro sicut ea verba in epist. ad Rom. non ad praecedentia referuntur, sed ad sequentia; ita et hic, quamvis videri possint dicta ad confirmandum, quod proxime dixerat: In quo positus sum ego praedicator et Apostolus; potius tamen ex Apostoli mente ea referas, quod et Graeci commentatores faciunt, ad id quod sequitur, velut aliquid majus, idemque Judaeis creditu difficile:
Doctor gentium in fide et veritate. Pendet ex illa parte praecedenti: In quo positus sum ego etc., nam media verba parenthetica sunt. Dicit ergo, se non solum esse divinitus constitutum testimonii Christi praeconem et Apostolum, quod ei cum multis erat commune; verum etiam doctorem ad gentes, quod illi quodammodo proprium erat. Quam ob causam et a Judaeis, qui gentium vocationi obsistebant, persecutionem patiebatur: uti testatur ipse in 2. epist. cap. 1., ubi eadem haec repetit. Peculiariter autem Paulum fuisse deputatum gentibus Apostolum et doctorem, constat ex Actis Apostol. Item Rom. 15. Gal. 2. et aliunde; ut proinde merito specialis Magister gentium a Leone fuerit appellatus serm. 1. in natal. Apost. Petri et Pauli. Quod addit, in fide et veritate, vel ad ipsum Apostolum referri potest, hoc sensu, doctor gentium fidolis et verax; vel gentes, ut sensus sit, doctor gentium instituendarum in fide et veritate; id est ut fidem Christi recipiant et veritatem ejus agnoscant.
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8. Volo ergo viros orare in omni loco. Post nonnullam digressionem, redit ad institutam exhortationom. Dixerat enim, pro quibus orandum sit; nunc de loco agit. Ex quo apparet, etiam hanc partem de publicis Ecclesiae precibus accipi debere, perinde ut illam priorem. Unde et consequenter addit, levantes puras manus; quae caeremonia pertinet ad publicas orationes; atque id magis etiam probabile fict ex sequentibus. Non igitur sensus est, Apostolum docere, quod omnis omnino locus aptus sit orationi; ut forum, theatrum, officina etc., quamvis id verissimum sit de oratione interna; nullus enim locus est, in quo non possit Christianus mente in Deum elevata petere ab eo, quae petenda sunt, quod est orare. Sed nec ille placet commentarius, qui dictum hoc ab Apostolo interpretatur adversus Judaeos existimantes orationem uno loco templi Jerosolymitani divina lege circumscriptam esse: quod bene refellit Hesselius. Nam lex aperte jabebat, Israelitas etiam in terra captivitatis suae Deum invocare. Deut 30. Quod et a Judaeis factitatum legimus, nec a quoquam negatum, id recte fieri; quamvis extra locum a Deo institutum sacrificia offerre prohiberentur. Sed quoniam Judaei in singulis fere civitatibus suas habebant synagogas, in quibus et Scripturae legebantur, et exhortationee fiebant ad fratres, et orationes fundebantur ad Deum: ne quis putaret, publicas orationes fieri non debere extra synagogas Judaicas, aut certe fieri oportere uno tantum et certo loco cujusque civitatis, quod observatu difficile erat propter persecutiones infidelium; idcirco docet, eas fieri posse in quocunque loco ad publice orandum idoneo, prout opportunum fuerit. Nam basilicas et templa ad orationes publicas proprie deputata Christiani nondum habebant. Unde vult ac praecipit Apostolus, ut ad orandum conveniant, ubicunque tutum et commodum visum fuerit. Quod et hodie faciunt Catholici in Anglia et Hollandia, templis suis spoliati. Tale est, quod Lucas scribit Philippis factum ab Apostolo Act. 16. Die Sabbatorum, inquit, egressi sumus foras portam, juxta flumen ubi videbatur oratio esse, id est locus aptus orationi publicae fratrum, simul et exhortationi; ut patet ex iis, quae ibidem sequuntur. Et paulo post: Factum est autem euntibus nobis ad orationem, id est euntibus orandi causa ad locum aptum orationi. Quaeres cur solos hic viros nominet Apostolus, cura etiam mulieres ad publicas orationes convenire debeant ac soleant, quemadmodum ex eodem Actorum loco manifestum est, nec non ex 1 Cor. 11. et 14., ubi mulieres, quomodo in publicis conventibus se gerere debeant, instituuntur. Ambrosius lib. 6. de sacram. cap. 4. negat, se hujus invenire rationem; nisi forte, inquit, sanctus Apostolus ideo viros dixit, ne mulieres usurparent et male intelligerent, in omni loco, et inciperent ubique clamare, quas in Ecclesia sustinere non possumus. At verior responsio est, nec hic mulieres ab Apostolo praetermitti. Mox enim subjungit, quid eas oraturas facere oporteat; sed prius de viris loquitur, quia vitia, quae hic exclusa vult ab oratione, magis, secundum perfectionem suam, in viros cadere solent, quam in mulieres.
Levantes puras manus. Graece, ogiodq, id est sanctas, ut et videtur legisse Ambrosianus. Quanquam recte vertit noster interpres, puras, quod et Erasmo placuit. Levare manus caeremonia est orantis, velut auxilium ab alto ipsa manuum extensione implorantis; quomodo et Moses orasse legitur Exod. 17. Sed in eo quod dicit, levantes puras manus, metaphora est: non enim sentit, manus aqua lotas esse debere; sed ad orationem accedendum manibus a caede, rapina, avaritia, libidine mundis. Impedit enim hujusmodi impuritas effectum orationis. Videtur alludere ad illud Jes. 1. Cum extenderitis manus vestras, avertam oculos meos a vobis: et cum multiplicaveritis orationem, non exaudiam; manus enim vestrae sanguine plenae sunt. Lavamini, mundi estote: auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis meis etc., ut scilicet orantes exaudiamini, unde mox sequitur: Et venite, et arguite me, dicit Dominus. Intellige, si non exaudiam. Ecce commentarius hujus loci. Levat ergo puras ad Deum manus, qui orationem Deo offert cum munditia operis.
Sine ira et disceptatione. Hoc praecipit Apostolus, quod Christus Matth. 5. Si offers munus tuum ad altare; vade prius reconciliari fratri tuo etc. et cap. 6. Si non dimiseritis hominibus, nec pater vester dimittet, scilicet orantibus, peccata vestra; nam de oratione sermo illic erat, qua jubemur dicere: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Idem praecipit Ecclesiasticus capite. 28. Relinque proximo tuo nocenti te, et tunc deprecanti tibi peccata solventur. Homo homini reservat iram, et a Deo quaerit medelam? et caetera, quae ibi sequuntur. Nam ira est appetitus vindictae; qui autem vindictam appetit, non remittit poenam, sed exigit. Vult igitur Apostolus, ut Deum oraturus omnem injuriarum memoriam, quas forte ab aliis accepit, ex animo deponat. Disceptationem, Graece ^taXoYtajJiov, Graeci dubitationem interpretantur; qualem et Jacobus Apostolus ab oratione removet dicens cap. 1. Postulet in fide nil haesitans; qui enim haesitat etc.; intelligit autem haesitationem contrariam promissioni Christi: Petite et accipietis, id est eam, qua quis dubitet se accepturum, etiamsi petat sicut oportet. Ambrosius libr. 6. de sacram. cap. 5. et libr. 1. de Abel et Cain cap. 9. disceptationem intelligit cogitationem inter orandum ad alia divagantem, qua interpolatur oratio. Verum communis Latinorum expositio est, eademque caeteris probabilior, hac voce significari contentionem, cujus affectum et studium, perinde ut iram, voluerit Apostolus ab orantis animo remotam esse. Siquidem et alibi Graecum vocabulum usurpat in hac significatione, ut Rom. 14., ubi nos habemus, non in disceptationibus cogitationum. Quin et Lucas cap. 9. sui evangelii semel et iterum ea voce usus est pro contentione sive altercatione; licet interpres vulgatus cogitationem verterit. Atqui contentio adversatur paci et concordiae; ideoque effectum orationis impedit, sicut ira.
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9. Similiter et mulieres in habitx. ornato. Apostolus utrique sexui congruentia praescribit: a viris ea vitia, quae virorum esse solent removens, a mulieribus autem vitia muliebria; plerumque enim peccat hic sexus nimio corporis ornatu, si quando ad conventus publicos, ut ad ecclesiam, procedendum est. Verumtam sicut id, quod viris praecipit, ut orent puris manibus sine ira et disceptatione, etiam feminis praeceptum intelligi debet; ita quod nunc feminis praecipit de moderato cultu corporis, multo etiam magis a viris exigitur; ut quibus etiam vulgo turpe habeatur ornando corpori curam impendere. Similiter, inquit, et mulieres orare volo (id enim Graeci hoc loco supplent ex praecedentibus), sed in habitu ornato. Quod Erasmus vertit: In amictu modesto. Non enim ornatum externi habitus hoc loco praecipit Apostolus, sed reprimit; ut ex consequentibus manifestum est. Igitur consideranda sunt vocabulp, quibus Apostolus utitur. Pro habitu Graece est xdr<XGTo\y}, quae vox, ut annotavit Theophylactus et Oecumenius, habitum significat longiorem et circumquaque tegentem; est enim compositum nomen, ex simplici gzoXt}, quod erat genus vestis muliebris ad talos usque demissum. Pro ornato, Graece est xoauioc, quo non solum significatur ornatus, sed honestus, moderatus, modestus. Ambrosianus ordinatum legit, et humilem interpretatur, forsitan usus mendoso codice, in quo ordinato, pro ornato scriptum esset. Habitum igitur intellige, qualem vox Graeca significat; ornatum vero, id est modestum ac moderatum, et qui deceat mulieres. Nam quod decet, id demum ornat. Sensum hunc explicant ea, quae sequuntur.
Cum verecundia et sobrietate ornantes se. Pro sobrietate, pudicitiam legit Ambrosianus. Erasmus vertit castitatem; ac de ea post Chrysoslomum Oecumenius interpretatur. Castitas enim mulieres inprimis ornat. Graeca vox in genere temperantiam sen moderationem significat, et tam ad animum, quam ad corpus refertur: videtur enim oojcppoouvirj Apostolo esse virtus animi temperantis, in externo corporis habitu moribusque relucens. Repetit hoc nomen extremo fine hujus cap. Vocabulis conjugatis utitur Apostolus cap. 3. vers. 2., ad Tit. cap. 1. vers. 8., cap. 2. vers. 2. et 4. Tametsi hoc loco convenit, pudicitiam seu castimoniam intelligi, quemadmodum, ut dixi, post Chrysostomum intellexit Oecumonius. Potest autem haec pars dupliciter exponi: vel, ut jubeantur mulieres ornare se verecundia et castitate, quod ea vera sint illius sexus ornamenta, quomodo Latini exponunt; vel, ut habitu decenti corpus suum ornent, cum verecundia et castitate, id est verecunde et caste, non procaciter, aut impudice, qui videtur esse commentarius Graecorum, probabilitatem accipiens ex praepositione cum. Atque eum sensum etiam Syriacus textus expressit. Notandum praeterea Graece non legi ornantes, sed ornare semetipsas; ut infinitivus regatur a verbo volo, quod ex superiori sententia supplendum erit etiam hoc loco. Videtur enim hujusmodi esse constructio: Similiter et mulieres orare volo in habitu decenti; volo, inquam, eas cum verecundia et pudicitia ornare semetipsas.
Non in tortis crinibus, aut auro, aut margaritis vel veste pretiosa. In tortis crinibus, Graece iv TiAsyjuiaoiv, id est in implicaturis, ut vertit Theophylacti interpres; quod licet de tortis capillis plerique interpretentur, quos uno nomine cincinnos Latini vocant; intelligi tamen etiam potest de reticulis capillitio circumpositis, quibus ornatus causa mulieres nti solent. Prior sensus convenit cum 1 Pet. 3. vers. 3. In summa, docet Apostolus, mulieres Christianas moderato cultu corporis debere esse contentas; luxum autcra et sumptuosam superfluitatem in vestitu illis esse vitandam. Similis est locus 1 Petr. 3. Unde colligitur, hoc praeceptum non esse leve nec contemnendum, quod duo Apostolorum principes tam diligenter inculcatum voluerunt. Certe Chrysostomus vehementer hoc muliebre stuiium immodici cultus exaggerat; ut et Gregorius in hom. 6. super Evangelia ad illud Matth. 11. hominem mollibus vestitum, et iterum hom. super illud Lucae 16. et induebatur purpura et bysso, et ante eum Prudentius in Hamartigenia, ita canens: Taedet sacrilegas matrum percurrere curas etc. Ubi et in viros ornandi corporis studiosos invehitur eo gravius, quo minus istiusmodi cura sexum illum decet. Verumtamen non prohibet Apostolus, quin illustriores feminae, prout earum statui convenit, induantur vestitu pretiosiore: id enim decenter ac recte fieri, si modus servetur et vanitas ostentand: se humanis oculis excludatur, admonet exemplum mulieris fortis, de qua Proverb. 31. Byssus et purpura indumentum ejus. Nam eam, ut illustrem mulierem describi, patet ex eo, quod sequitur: Nobilisin portis vir ejus, quando sederit cum senatoribus terrae.
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10. Sed quod decet mulieres, promittentes pietatem per opera bona. Promittentes, id est profitentes, nt Erasmus et alii vertunt Ambrosianum textum secuti. Hujus partis constructio varia est. Quidam Latinorum parenthesi claudunt ea dumtaxat verba quod decet mulieres. Sed obstant Graeca, quae participium promittentes non patiuntur divelli a nomine mulieres. Alii parentheticum faciunt totum illud: quod decet mulieres promittentes pietatem. Quod autem sequitur, per opera bona, referunt ad superiora hoc sensu: Volo mulieres ornare se non in tortis crinibus etc., sed per opera bona, quemadmodum decet mulieres pietatem profitentes, id est mulieres Christianas, quae verum Dei cultum profitentur; nam pietas hoc loco Dei cultus est, Graece ftsoospsia. Alii vero sine parenthesi continuant sermonem, ut sensus sit: Sed ornantes se eo habitu, qui decet mulieres pietatem profitentes, non verbis solis, sed per dpera bona; hoc est rebus ipsis atque operibus. Utramque constructionem et sensum Theophylactus adducit tanquam bonum et probabilem. Priori favet interpres Syrus: tametsi po3terior magis esse videtur ex mente Apostoli; nam si de ornatu bonorum operum loqueretur, diceret sua phrasi, in operibus bonis, sicut dixerat, non in tortis crinibus etc. Adde quod dicendo promittentes seu profitentes, sive, quod ex Graeco etiam verti potest: annuntiantes pietatem per opera bona, locumpraeparatsequentipraecepto; quasi dicat: Mulieri non aliud praedicationis genus convenire, quam ut per bona opera pietatem foris praedicet atque annuntiet. Quod enim ad vocalem attinet praedicationem et doctrinam, sequitur:
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11. Mulier in silentio discat, scilicet in ecclesia, quemadmodum praecipit idem Apostolus 1 Cor. 14. Mulieres in ecclesiis taceant, non enim permittitur eis loqui; repete, in ecclesiis; ne quidem interrogando ut discant. Ideo et hic digcere jubentur cum silentio. Nam ut ibidem ad Cor. dicitur: Turpe est mulieri in ecclesia loqui; sed si quid interrogando discere volunt, domi viros suos interrogent; quod Apostolicum praeceptum plenius eo loco a nobis explicatum est.
Cum omni subjectione. Jubet mulierem discere cum omni subjectione, id est perfectam exhibendo subjectionem, sexui suo congrucnteui, ad quam pertinet, ut in publico virorum coetu, praesertim ecclesiastico, audiat et discat cum silentio. Nam mulier, ratione sui sexus, in statu subjectionis est; quod significavit Apostolus ad Col. dicens, sed subditas esse, sicut et lex dicit nimirum Genes. 3. Sub viri potestate eris.
2:12
12. Docere autem mulieri non permitto. Quidam ita supplent: docere virum mulieri non permitto, propter illud (juod sequitur, neque dominari in virum. Sed verisimilius est, supplendum esse, in ecclesia; sicut in parte praecedenti: nam de conventibus publicis agit Apostolus. Piohibet ergo, ne mulier in ecclesia doceat, seu viros, seu feminas: nam absolutum praeceptum est, quod modo citabamus: Mulieres in ecclesiis taceant. Sicut autem domi viros suos interrogare permittuntur, ita et liberos suos ac familiam docere non prohibentur. Ex hac Apostoli doctrina liquet, mulierem non posse esse caput ecclesiae, ne particularis quidem, nam praefecti ecclesiastici praecipuum munus est, publice docere plebem. Liquet etiam, docendi munus non pertinere ad omnes eos, qui Spiritu sancto aguntur. Quis enim negaverit, aliquas osse mulieres, quae regantur ductu Spiritus sancti?
Neque dominari in virum. Graecum verbum au^svxsTv significat auctoritatem habere et exercere in aliquem: itaque alii verterunt, neque auctoritatem usurpare in virum, id est maritum suum. Sensus et connexio hujusmodi est: Docere mulieri in ecclesia omnino non permitto; privatim autem ut domesticos doceat, atque in iis etiam virum suum, si melius eo fuerit instituta in fide, non prohibeo, sic tamen, ut hac occasione auctoritatem in virum suum nulla ratione sibi vendicet: id enim est contra ordinem a Deo institutum, quando dixit mulieri: Sub viri potestate eris et ipse dominabitur tui. Genes. 3. Recte autem viros institui interdum a feminis extra publicum conventvm, ostenditTheophylactus; quoniam et Priscilla viam Domini diligentius exposuit Apollo, Act. 18. Et vir infidelis sanctificatur per mulierem fidelem. 1 Cor. 7.
Sed esse in silentio, videlicet in ecclesia. Est enim repetitio et inculcatio ejus, quod jam dixerat: mulier in silentio discat cum omni subjectione. De mulierum intolerabili in ecclesia loquacitate legat, qui volet, Chrysostomum. Vitium hoc Apostolorum tempore natum ex eo videtur, quod juxta vaticinium Joelis, citatum a B. Petro Actor. 2., etiam mulieres non paucae praeditae essent dono prophetiae et interpretationis scripturarum; in quibus et quatuor illae virgines filiae Philippi diaconi, prophetantes, ut habetur Actor. 21. Quum igitur hujusmodi dono quaedam illarum inordinate uterentur, loquentes in ecclesia, atque harum exemplum etiam ad alias dimanaret: cohibendae erant auctoritate Apostolica. Quod quidem Paulus facit et hoc loco et 1 Cor. 14.
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1 3. Adam enim primus formatus est, deinde Heva. Viro auctoritatem in mulierem competere, non contra, dupliciter ex Scriptura probat. Primum ex ordine creationis, quem eis scriptura tribuit: nam vir prior a Deo formatus est, deinde mulier, ut habet historia Genes. 2. Non enim sine ratione est, quod Deus primos parentes non simul tempore creaverit, sed virum ante mulierem. Nec ea ratio potest adferri, quod sicut bestiae creatae sunt ante hominem, quia propter hominem, ita et vir ante mulierem, quin propter eam: constat enim ex eadem Genesis historia, quod non vir propter mulierem, sed mulier propter virum facta sit, Apostolo etiam attestante 1 Cor. 11. Ratio igitur haec est, ut per illud significetur, in humano genere viros praeesse debere feminis, non contra.
2:14
14. EtAdam non est seductus. Graece, deceptus; tametsi seducere pro decipere tritum est apud ecclesiasticos scriptores Latinos. Mulier autem seducta in praevaricatione fuit. Graece: Mulier autem decepta, in transgressione facta est, pro quo Ambrosianus: Mulier autem seducta facta est in praevaricationem. Alii clarius ita reddunt: Sed mulier decepta, obnoxia facta est transgressioni. Id est: Mulier, nimirum Eva, quum decepta esset a serpente, transgressa est praeceptum Dei. Igitur in nostra versione verbum fuit, quod Graece est yiyovs, non est referendum ad participium seducta, velut unum cum eo verbum constituens, sicut in membro praecedenti, est seductus, Graece 7jrcaTTq{b], sed ad partem proximam, in praevaricatione. Hoc alterum est pro viri primatu argumentum, ex vigore mentis ac rationis sumptum, quo vir mulierem antecellit. Id enim probat testimonio scripturae Genes. 3., quae Adam non fuisse seductum, mulierem autem a serpente seductam Dei praeceptum violasse, satis per hoc significat, quod mulier interrogata, quare hoc fecisset, responderit: Serpens decepit me et comedi: vir autem nil tale, sed dixerit: mulier, quam dedisti mihi sociam, dedit mihi de ligno et comedi. Facile autem seduci ac decipi signum est levitatis animi atque infirmitatis judicii. Quod vero de prima muliere scriptum legitur, id in universo sexu locum habet; in quem levitas et imbecillitas mentis, contagio quodam a prima parente, pervasit; uti Graeci interpretes explicant. Porro difncultatem habet hic locus, quomodo dicat Apostolus, Adam non fuisse seductum; cum ex ipsa Genes. scriptura prorsus appareat non Evam solam, sed et virum credidisse mendacio serpentis, quo dixerat: Nequaquam moriemini. Et iterum: In quocunque die comederitis ex eo, aperientur oculi vestri et eritis sicut Dii scientes bonum et malum. Nisi enim credidisset, non ei cum ironica exprobratione dictum e Deo fuisset: Ecce Adam quasi unus ex nobis factus est, sciens bonum et malum. Accedit sanctorum Patrum auctoritas, qui pene omnes tradunt, Adamum verbis serpentis fidem habuisse, et ab eo deceptum atque seductum fuisse: quorum testimonia quia citavimus in 2. sent. dist. 22., iis commemorandls hic supersedemus. Ad hanc dubitationem a Joanne Hesselio in comment. hujus loci, et a Benedicto Pererio lib. 6. super Genes^ et a Bellarmino lib. 3. de amiss. grat. cap. 7. multae adferuntur responsiones, quae quoniam et a nobis in dictam distinct. commentantibus adductae sunt, breviter hic eas repetemus, ostensuri, quomodo praesens Apostoli locus intelligi possit, ut non sit contrarius ei, quod Moses scripsit. Unus igitur sensus est: Adam non est prior seductus, sed mulier. Sic enim nonnttlli sententiam supplent ex parte praecedenti: Adam prior formatus est, deinde Eva. Sed quid mirum, si prior tentata, prior fuit seducta? Alius sensus: Adam non est seductus ex colloquio serpentis, sicut mulier, nam cum sola muliere serpens locutus est. Sed fuit tamen seductus a muliere, ut fatentur auctores hujus sensus. Tertius sensus: Adam non legitur seductus, sed mulier. In reticentia autem Scripturae mysterium interdum subesse, probat illud Hebr. 7., ubi Melchisedec dicitur sine patre, sine matre, sine genealogia etc. At hinc non apte concluditur, virum magis polJere judicio. Quartas: Adam non fuit seductus in praevaricationem, id est, non ita seductus, ut mulieripraevaricationis auctoresset: quomodo mulierseducta viro fuit auctorpraevaricandi. Sed hunc non esse sensum verborum Apostoli, patet ex paulo ante dictis. Quintus: Adam non peccavit seductus, mulier autem peccavit seducta, hoc est, viro non fuit persuasum, Deum non praecepisse ne comederet de ligno; mulieri autem id persuasum fuit a serpente, ut ad quam notitia praecepti non nisi per virum pervenisset. Sed nec mulieri id fuit persuasum. Nam serpentis interrogatio praesupponebat Dei praeceptum: Cur praecepit etc. Sextus: Proprie et formaliter loquendo, Adam non fuit deceptus, sed mulier: nam proprie nemo decipitur, nisi a decipiente, id est ab eo, qui proprie ct formaliter decipit; quod non facit, nisi qui fallendi animo falsum ei persuadet: - sicut non mentitur, nisi qui falsum vult significare. Hoc modo serpens mulierem decepit: mulier autem etsi falsum viro persuasit, hoc fecit decepta, non decipiens, quia non fecit animo fallendi, putabat enim verum esse quod suadebat. Unde mulier quidem in excusationem sui dixit: Serpens decepit me, vir autem non ait: mulier decepit me, sed mulier dedit mihi. Porro neque serpens proprie decepit virum, saltem immediate: quia nullum viro suasionem adhibuit, sed solunr mulieri. Sic ait 2 Cor. 11. Serpens Evam seduxit astutia sua. Sensus hic postremus et simplicissimus est, et Scripturae Genesis consentaneus et Apostoli scopo maxime accommodatus. Quod enim a serpente immediate vir non est deceptus, sed mulier; utique valet ad ostendendum mulierem judicio ac vigore mentis minus pollere, quam virum; et proinde viri imperio ac gubernationi subjectam esse oportere. Reliqui sensus cur minus conveniant, lector ex his, quae ad singulos annotavimus, jam intelligit. Verum objiciet aliquis, parum referre, quod non immediate a serpente vir deceptus fuerit, quandoquidem deceptus est saltem mediate. Viro enim per mulierem persuasit et persuadere cupiebat serpens, quod edentes ex illo ligno non morerentur. Respondeo, propterea diabolum non accessisse ad virum, quod sciret, eum, ratione sui sexus, deceptioni minus obnoxium esse quam mulierem. Itaque callide partem tentavit infirmiorem. Hoc ipsum igitur, quod ad eum tentandum non accessit, argumento est, virum ratione et judicio plus valere. Additio B. P. Censoris. Fortasse et hoc responderi potest, Evam fuisse deceptam eo usque, ut crederet se non peccaturam, si ederet: Adamum vero hunc errorem non habuisse, credidisse tamen peccatum facile illud condonandum. Ita vero credidisse, eo quod divinae severitatis nullam experientiam haberet. Ex B. Augustini L. 14. de civit. cap. 11. Sed neque Bac falsa persuasione deceptus fuit Adam, Deum ex invidia illud interdictum posuisse, quam persuasionem ex verbis diaboli hausisse Evam, superbia vitiatam, S. Augustinus sentit de Genes. ad lit. lib. 11. cap. 30. et eum secutus B. Thomas 2. sec. q. 163. art. 4.
2:15
15. Salvabitur autem per filiorum generationem. Quamvis, inquit, mulieri non sit permittendum, ut in Ecclesia doceat; non tamen ei deest, quod agat, et per quod salva fiat: salvabitur enim per filiorum generationem, id est, liberorum ex se genitorum educationem. Sic enim inferius exponit, de vidua eligenda loquens cap. 5. Si filios educavit. Nec secus interpretandum, quod ibidem juniores viduas vult filios procreare; haec enim dicuntur eo schemate sermonis, quo ex priori posterius intelligitur. Quam vero liberorum eductionem dicat, exoonit verbis sequentibus:
Si permanserint in fide et dilectione et sanctificatione, cum sobrietate. In quibusdam exemplaribus legitur permanserit, singulari numero, sed Graeca constanter habent pluralem numerum. Consentiunt et Latinorum probatissimi codices, suffragantibus itidem Ambrosiani atque Pelagii commentariis, nec non Hieronymus in lib. contra Jovin., ubi locum hunc exponit. Eadem Syriacae versionis lectio est. Nec vero tam proclivis est numeri mutatio in Graecis vocabulis atque in Latinis, ut satis liqueat, eam germanam esse lectionem, quae numerum habet pluralem. Quod etsi ita sit, nonnulli tamen hanc partem ad mulieres referimt, numero mutato ad hunc modum: Si ipsae mulieres permanserint in fide etc. Dicunt enim, mulieris nomen in parte praecedenti vim collectivi habere, quia in universum de sexu sermo erat, ideoque illud hic ab Apostolo resolvi in numerum pluralem. Quae expositio etiam apud Pelagium est. Hi moventur ea ratione, quod inepte et falso dicatur, mulierem salvari non posse, nisi filii in fide permanserint, quum ex perseverantia filiorum salus parentum nequaquam pendeat. Adde, quod nec in Graeco aliud nomen praecedit, ad quod referri posse videatur verbum permanserint. Non enim illic legitur expressis vocabulis: filiorum generationem, sed unum compositum nomen xsxvoyovtac, quasi dicat: proligenituram. Verum haec nihil obstant, quo minus plurale verbum permanserint ad filios referatur, quod sine scrupulo faciunt Graeci et Latini interpretes fere omnes. Pro qua constructione etiam Hieronymus contra Jovin. certat. Nam quod ad Graecam lectionem attinet, plurale filiorum latenter includitur in composito nomine Tsxvoyovta, id est filiorum generatio. Dicit ergo Apostolus, mulierem salvatum iri per honestam et sanctam liberorum, quos ex viro susceperit, educationem, quae nimirum significatur verbis subsequentibus: Si filii permanserint in fide Christiana et dilectione fraterna ct sanctificatione, id est munditia, quae libidinum corruptelis opponitur, ut 1 Thess. 4. et alibi. Nam et 1 Cor. 7. conjugi fideli dicitur: Alioquin filii vestri immundi essent, nunc autem sancti sunt. Pro sobrietate, quam postremam adjicit, rursus in Graeco est aojcppoouvir), de cujus vocabnli significatione dictum est supra. Hieronymus loco memorato pudicitiam mavult quam sobrietatem, atque ita legit Ambrosianus, quos secuti Erasmus et Hentenius castitatem verterunt. Theophylactus honestatem seu temperantiam in genere videtur intelligere, cujus partes praecipuae sunt castitas et sobrietas. Atque ea acceptio mihi magis probatur, hoc sane loco. Nam castitas seu pudicitia satis significantur vocabulo sanctificationis, prout illud jam exposuimus. Jam quaeritur: Quid si filii in his virtutibus non permanserint, propterea mater salva non erit? Primum respondeo Graeca non habere permanserint, sed manserint, quod intelligi potest de eo tempore, quo liberi sunt sub cura et educatione matris. Quo quidem tempore, si non recte se geranfc, in parentes culpa conferri solet. Unde et sequenti cap. Episcopum requirit suae domui bene praepositum, filios habentem subditos cum omni castitate. Deinde respicitur ad intentionem et curam matris; ut sensus sit: eam salvam fore perfiliorum educationem, qua studiose egerit, ut filii in fide et sancta conversatione permanerent. Iterum quaerunt: Si mulier improba fuerit, nunquid salvabitur per rectam filiorum educationem? Respondeo, vix fieri, ut improba mulier probe filios educet, et ut fiat, sensum Apostoli esse, quod parentibus non satis sit ad salutem, si ipsi juste et integre conversentur, nisi et filios sancte instituant, eosque secum, ■eu quantum in ipsis est, ad salutem perducant. Tertio quaeritur, quomodo ex hac Apostoli doctrina non sit consequens, omnibus foeminis consulendum esse matrimonium, ut secundum Apostolum per filiorum generationem salvae fiant? Abutuntur enim hoc loco Sectarii ad extollendam plus aequo matrimonii dignitatem et ad deprimendum studium virginitatis, adeo ut quidam eorum scripserit, hanc Apostoli concionem complecti universam doctrinam de salute mulierum. Quasi videlicet immemor sit Apostolus, quale de virginibus consilium aliquando dederit, scribens ad Cor. 1 epist. 7., nec cogitet se paulo post scripturum in hac Epistola de quibusdam mulierculis, quod damnationem habeant eo, quod piimam fidem irritam fecerint. Illis igitur responsum sit, Apostolum dicentem: Salvabitur autemper filiorum generationem, loqui de muliere conjugata, quales pleraeque erant, ac docere, quod opus, quodve ofiicium ejus sit, per quod salva fiat; non tamen aut praecipere aut hortari, ut omnes liberis gignendis operam dent, quo possint per Christianam eorum educationemsalvari, sed virginibus sua singularia, per virtutes heroicas, praemia reservat, de quibus hic non erat agendi locus. Interim adversus haereticos obiternota, Apostolum non fuisse dicturum, quod mulier salvabitur per filiorum generationem sive educationem, si salus esset, quod illi volunt, ex sola fide et non etiam ex operibus. Non est praetereuudus hoc loco Cajetani commentarius, quem accepit ex Fabro Stapulensi. Hi verbum permanserint referunt ad mulierem simul et virum, hoc modo: Salvabitur per filiorum generationem, si permanserint, id est si ipsa cum viro suo permanserit in fide et dilectione etc. Sensus hic plus habere videtur probabilitatis quam primus; tametsi secundum, quo plurale verbum ad filios refertur, maxime probamus.
2:1
Calvin (Calvinus, Cauvin, Chauvin, Calvin Jean)
… With this C. goes against the gentle doctrine revealed by God and taught by the Catholic Church that God wills the salvation of all men, even after original sin, having given His beloved Son for the salvation of all (cf. Io. 3, 16; II Cor. 5, 15; I Tim. 2, 1-6), and that one will reap what one has sown, so that he who sows in his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, he who sows in the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life (cf. …
… John 16:23). Leaving aside the question debated among theologians, whether such infallibility of prayer holds only for the one who prays and not in favor of others for whom one may pray, it is certain that prayer for others is always most useful (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1-5; James 3:16).
… and will intercede for Abimelech; Ex. 32:11-14; Num. 14:13-20: Moses intercedes for the people; 1 Sam. 7:8 ff.; Samuel; Job 42:8: Job), and of the New (e.g., the plural form in the petitions of the Pater; Acts 7:60; 12:5; Rom. 15:30; Eph. 1:15; 6:8-20; 1 Tim. 2:1-4; Jas. 5:16-18), as well as by the documents of ecclesiastical tradition on the practice of the faithful, both private and liturgical, e.g., the admonition of the Didache, 1, 3: "Pray …
… The whole Christian cult is one. According to the example of St. Paul, at Troas the preaching was placed before the eucharistic Supper (Acts 20:7-11); in the Apostolic Letters the reading in the assemblies is presupposed (Col. 4:16; II Pt. 3:16); St. Paul (I Tim. 2:1-3) alludes to "supplications, prayers, petitions, thanksgivings for all men," elements that recur later in the prayer of the faithful. …
… The community will, however, have to know the content of these letters from the voice of those through whom Paul exercises his superior authority as Apostle (I Tim. 2:1 ff.; 4:12; 6:3 ff., 21; Tit. 2:1 ff.; 3:15; II Tim. 4:22).
(I Tim. 2, 1) distinguishes 4 forms or modes of prayer: "oratio, postulatio, obsecratio, gratiarum actio."
… I: PG 44, 1125). St. Paul enumerates various modes of "orazione": petitions δεύσεις; praises προσθυμεί; deprecations ἐντεύξεις; thanksgivings εὐχαρισνίαι (I Tim. 2, 1). In Sacred Scripture there is ordinarily question of impetratory or petitionary "orazione" (Ps. 4, 2; 16, 1; 38, 13), which God grants (Mt. 7, 7; Lc. 11, 5-13; Io. 16, 24). St. John …
2:2
… He invites his readers to respect the law of the State; but even in this field he points to a higher authority, God, to whom everything must be subordinated, including every human dignity (cf. Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:2; Titus 3:1).
2:3
The distribution of grace depends on the free will of God; but since he wills the salvation of all (I Tim. 2:3-6), he grants to all at least the grace sufficient for salvation. …
2:4
Augustine of Hippo, Saint, Bishop of Hippo
… (Contra Iulian., VI, 4, no. 8; cf. Opus imperf., II, 175; In ps. 95, no. 15). For Judas too the divine blood was shed (In ps. 68, no. 11). Among the many explanations that A. gives of the passage of St. Paul: "God wills that all men be saved" (I Tim. 2, 4), there is also this one, never retracted, that He wills it conditionally upon their free acceptance (De spiritu et littera, 33, no. 58); the other interpretations, which restrict …
… Jesus is the savior of all, dead for all. The will of God is that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). No longer any distinction between the Jew and the pagan; the same Christ is the Lord of all, generous toward all those who call upon him (Rom. 10:12).
I. THE TEACHING OF REVELATION. - The Gospel is the good news of the Redemption that must be announced to all (Mt. 28:19). St. Paul states clearly: "God wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:4). According to the teaching of the Old and New Testaments, God, infinite Wisdom and Goodness, does not command the impossible and therefore truly makes possible for all the observance …
… Unus enim Deus, unus et mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus, qui dedit redemptionem semetipsum pro omnibus» (I Tim. 2:4-6). The context and the reason adduced exclude any limitation. …
… Concretely, moreover, it arises from the juxtaposition of two indubitable truths, which are on the one hand, in the order of intention, God's loving design, who wills all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4); and, on the other, in the order of execution, the absolute necessity of faith, "the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification" (Denz-U, 801).
2:5
… According to them Mary would have been nothing but a channel through which Jesus, our only Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), passed in order to reach us (cf. Zöckler, Maria, in Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche, XII, pp. 309-36). All Catholics, on the other hand, admit a true …
… Word, not only has with God a power of intercession of infinite extent and efficacy, because he has merited every grace in strict justice, but is indeed in the proper sense the sole mediator between God and men and the only way that leads to the Father (I Tim. 2:5; Io. 14:6; Mt. 11:27; Rom. 5:1; 12:24; Hebr. 10:19-25; Act. 4:12), so that any other intercession with God for men, after original sin, must be understood as subordinate to and dependent …
One alone, according to St. Paul, is the mediator between God and men, Christ (I Tim. 2, 5): « For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus ». Thus the Magisterium of the Church teaches together with the Fathers (cf. Conc. …
… Incarnation placed Christ at the head of humanity; the Son of God made man became by absolute necessity "the Firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1, 15), "the recapitulation of things heavenly and earthly" (Eph. 1, 10), "the Mediator between God and men" (1 Tim. 2, 5). The eternal Word, "in whom was life" (John 1, 4), assumed our nature into the unity of his divine Person and filled it with that Grace, a participation in the divine life, which …
… Soul of all these marvelous events is Christ, the one and eternal priest who regulates the relations between God and humanity (cf. Hebr. 2, 17; 4, 14; 5, 5 etc.): he is the only mediator (I Tim. 2, 5).
… The magisterium of the Church adopts the doctrine of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who in the anathematism puts mediation in relation with the priesthood and attributes both the one and the other to the Word according to the human nature, recalling the divine Revelation: «Mediator homo Christus Jesus (I Tim. 2, 5) Pontificem et Apostolum confessionis nostro factum esse Christum divina Scriptura commemorat...». …
… Therefore the Church sings in its Creed: Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis et incarnatus est. Christ is born mediator for the pacification of man with God, as St. Paul affirms (I Tim. 2:5): "There is one God
2:6
… meus Novi Testamenti, qui pro multis effunditur in remissionem peccatorum": Mt. 26:28), since in biblical style these two expressions, even taken separately (for the traditio corporis cf. Is. 53:12; Mt. 20:28; Rom. 8:32; Gal. 1:4; 2:20; Eph. 5:25; I Tim. 2:6; Tit. 2:14; Hebr. 10:10; for the effusio sanguinis cf. Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; I Cor. 14:20; Hebr. 9:7; I Pt. 1:19; I Io. 1:7) always indicate a sacrificial immolation. …
… He is the Redemption (ἀπολύτρωσις), the ransom (ἀντίλυτρον), the propitiation (ἱλαστήριον), offering and victim (προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία) offered to the Father for our reconciliation (Rom. 3:24; I Tim. 2:6; Rom. 3:25; Eph. 5:2). The work of Christ our mediator and redeemer could not have been described more vividly. …
… Jesus' conception of his messianic kingdom is universalistic: he commanded the Apostles to preach the Gospel to all nations (Mt. 28:18); he is the light that enlightens every man (Jn. 1:9); he died for all (I Jn. 2:1-2, cf. 4:10; I Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:9; II Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 5:15-19).
2:8
The literary documentation is very rich: St. Paul (I Tim. 2, 8 ff.); St. Clement (I ad Corinthios, 29); St. Justin (Apol., 90); Minucius Felix (Octavius, 29); Tertullian (De oratione, 14, 17; De Baptismo, 20); Origen (De oratione, 31: …
2:13
… reasons, such as: 1) that man might be the principle of the whole human race and the unity of origin and of species might be established (Mt. 19:4; Acts 17:26; cf. Gen. 3:20; 5:1-2); 2) that the dignity and authority of man might be evident (1 Cor. 11:7-9; 1 Tim. 2:13-14); 3) that the union of Christ and the Church might be prefigured (Eph. 5:23-32; Jn. 19:34).
2:14
… 3:22); "all are under sin," "the whole world is debtor of punishment to God" (Rom. 3:9, 19). In this "kingdom" of his (Lk. 11:15), from the first sin, the original one, Satan makes sin spread, and the death that follows from it, over all (Rom. 5:12-14; I Tim. 2:14), and humanity is subject to his baleful influence; he has in it "strongholds and heights rising up against the knowledge of God" (II Cor. 10:4-5); the entire world lies in the evil …
2:15
a) the duty of mutual love (cf. Eph. 5, 25, 28; Col. 3, 19; I Tim. 2, 15); a grave duty, which imposes the obligation to love one's spouse more than one's parents and children;
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.