The mystery hidden from former ages was discovered to the apostle, to be imparted to the Gentiles. He prays that they may be strengthened in God.
For vvitnessing the vocation of the Gentils, as being the Apostle of the Gentils, he is 〈◊〉 prison: 1•, Wherein the Gentils therfore haue cause to reioyce, rather then to shrinke. So he saith, 14 and also praieth to God (vvho is almightie) to confirmed their invvard man though the outvvard be infirmed by persecutions.
1For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles:Per questa cagione io Paolo (sono) il prigioniero di Cristo Gesù per voi gentili,FOR this cause, I Paul the prisoner of IESVS Christ, for you Gentiles:Hujus rei gratia, ego Paulus vinctus Christi Jesu, pro vobis gentibus, 2If yet you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me towards you:Se pur siete stati informati del ministero della grazia di Dio, che fa a me conceduto per voi:if yet you haue heard the dispensation of the grace of God, vvhich is giuen me tovvard you,si tamen audistis dispensationem gratiæ Dei, quæ data est mihi in vobis: 3How that, according to revelation, the mystery has been made known to me, as I have written above in a few words:Conciossiaché per rivelazione fu a me notificato questo mistero, conforme ho scritto brevemente di sopra:because according to reuelation the sacrament vvas made knovven to me, as I haue vvrittē before in breife:quoniam secundum revelationem notum mihi factum est sacramentum, sicut supra scripsi in brevi, 4As you reading, may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,Dal che potete in leggendo conoscere la scienza, che io ho del mistero di Cristo:according as you reading may vnderstand my vvisedom in the mysterie of Christ,prout potestis legentes intelligere prudentiam meam in mysterio Christi: 5Which in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit:Il quale non fu conosciuto nell'altre età da' figliuoli degli uomini nella maniera, che ora è stato rivelato ai santi Apostoli di lui, e a' profeti dallo Spirito,vvhich vnto other generations vvas not knovven to the sonnes of men, as novv it is reuealed to his holy Apostles & Prophets in the Spirit.quod aliis generationibus non est agnitum filiis hominum, sicuti nunc revelatum est sanctis apostolis ejus et prophetis in Spiritu, 6That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body: and copartners of his promise in Christ Jesus, by the gospelChe le genti sono coeredi, e dello stesso corpo, e consorti della promessa di lui in Cristo Gesù mediante il vangelo:The Gentils to be coheires & concorporat and comparticipant of his promis in Christ IESVS by the Gospel:gentes esse cohæredes, et concorporales, et comparticipes promissionis ejus in Christo Jesu per Evangelium: 7Of which I am made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, which is given to me according to the operation of his power.Del quale son io stato fatto ministro per dono della grazia di Dio, la quale è stata conferita a me secondo l'efficacia, della potenza di lui.vvhereof I am made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God, which is giuen me according to the operation of his povver.cujus factus sum minister secundum donum gratiæ Dei, quæ data est mihi secundum operationem virtutis ejus.
8To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ:A me menomissimo di tutti i santi o stata data questa grazia di evangelizzare tralle genti le incomprensibili ricchezze di Cristo,To me the least of al the sainctes is giuen this grace, among the Gentils to euangelize the vnsearcheable riches of Christ,Mihi omnium sanctorum minimo data est gratia hæc, in gentibus evangelizare investigabiles divitias Christi, 9And to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God who created all things:E di disvelare a tutti, quale sia la dispensazione del mistero ascoso da secoli in Dio, che ha create tutte le cose:and to illuminate al men vvhat is the dispensatiō of the sacrament hidden from vvorldes in God, vvho created al things:et illuminare omnes, quæ sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a sæculis in Deo, qui omnia creavit: 10That the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places through the church,Onde adesso per mezzo della Chiesa sia conosciuta dai principati, e dalle potestà ne' cieli la moltiforme sapienza di Dio,that the manifold vvisedom of God, may be notified to the Princes and Potestats in the celestials by the Church,ut innotescat principatibus et potestatibus in cælestibus per Ecclesiam, multiformis sapientia Dei, 11According to the eternal purpose which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord:Secondo la determinazione eterna, che egli ne fece in Cristo Gesù Signor nostro:according to the prefinitiō of worldes, vvhich he made in Christ IESVS our Lord.secundum præfinitionem sæculorum, quam fecit in Christo Jesu Domino nostro: 12In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.In cui abbiamo fiducia, ed accesso (a Dio), confidanza per mezzo della fede di lui.In vvhom vve haue affiance and accesse in confidence, by the faith of him.in quo habemus fiduciam, et accessum in confidentia per fidem ejus. 13Wherefore I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.Per la qual cosa io vi chieggo, che non vi perdiate d'animo per le tribolazioni, che io ho per voi: le quali sono vostra gloria.For the vvhich cause I desire that you faint not in my tribulations for you, vvhich is your glorie.Propter quod peto ne deficiatis in tribulationibus meis pro vobis: quæ est gloria vestra. 14For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,A questo fine piego le mie ginocchia dinanzi al Padre del Signor nostro Gesù Cristo,For this cause I bovve my knees to the Father of our Lord IESVS Christ,Hujus rei gratia flecto genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, 15Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named:Da cui tutta la famiglia e in cielo, e in terra prende nome,of vvhom al paternitie in the heauens and in earth is named,ex quo omnis paternitas in cælis et in terra nominatur,
16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man:Affinchè conceda a voi secondo l'abbondanza della sua gloria che siate corroborati in virtù secondo l'uomo interiore per mezzo del suo Spirito,that he giue you according to the riches of his glorie, povver to be fortified by his Spirit in the inner man.ut det vobis secundum divitias gloriæ suæ, virtute corroborari per Spiritum ejus in interiorem hominem, 17That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that, being rooted and founded in charity,Che Cristo abiti ne' cuori vostri mediante la fede: essendo voi radicati, e fondati nella carità,Christ to dvvel by faith in your hartes, rooted and founded in charitie,Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris: in caritate radicati, et fundati, 18You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,Perché possiate con tutti i santi comprendere, quale sia la larghezza, la lunghezza, e l'altezza, e la profondità:that you may be able to comprehend vvith al the sainctes, vvhat is the bredth, and length, and height, and depth,ut possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quæ sit latitudo, et longitudo, et sublimitas, et profundum: 19To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge: that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.Ed intendere eziandio quella, che ogni scienza sorpassa, carità di Cristo, affinchè di tutta la pienezza di Dio siate ripieni.to knovv also the charitie of Christ, surpassing knovvledge, that you may be filled vnto al the fulnes of God.scire etiam supereminentem scientiæ caritatem Christi, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei. 20Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us:E a lui, che è potente per fare tutte le cose con sovrabbondanza superiore a quel, che domandiamo, o comprendiamo, secondo la virtù, che sfoggiatamente opera in noi:And to him that is able to doe al things more aboundantly then vve desire or vnderstand, according to the povver that vvorketh in vs:Ei autem, qui potens est omnia facere superabundanter quam petimus aut intelligimus, secundum virtutem, quæ operatur in nobis: 21To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, world without end. Amen.A lui gloria nella Chiesa, e in Cristo Gesù, per tutte le generazioni di tutti i secoli. Così sia.to him be glorie in the CHVRCH, and in Christ IESVS, vnto al generations vvorld vvithout end. Amen.ipsi gloria in Ecclesia, et in Christo Jesu, in omnes generationes sæculi sæculorum. Amen.
3:1
Witham
For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner, etc. The sense seems to be, I, Paul, am a prisoner; otherwise the sense will be suspended, and interrupted by a long parenthesis till the 14th verse, where it is again repeated, "for this cause I bow my knees." (Witham)
3:2
Witham
If yet [Ver. 2. Si tamen audistis, eige, etc. Si tamen and eige do not here express a doubt, but an affirmation, the same as in Latin, si quidem. See St. Chrysostom on the next chapter, ver. 21. log. ig. p. 829. eige ouk amphiballantos esti, alla kai sphodra diabebaioumenou.] you have heard. If yet doth not imply a doubt, but is the same as, for you have heard the dispensation.[Ver. 2. Dispensationem, oikonomian, rei gestae administrationem.] This word, dispensation, is divers times taken by St. Paul to signify the manner by which a thing is done, or put in execution; the sense therefore here is, for you have heard how by the grace of God I have been made your apostle. (Witham)
3:3
Witham
The mystery, etc. By this mystery, he means what he has already mentioned in the last chapter and what he continues to speak of, to wit, that by the coming of Christ, and the preaching of his gospel, all both Jews and Gentiles, all nations should be united into one Church, by one and the same faith. (Witham)
Estius
Mystery, etc. Revelation, the same as he mentions Galatians 1:12.; where speaking of his gospel, he says, For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. This revelation seems to have regarded principally three things: 1. The redemption and justification of man by Jesus; 2. the vocation of the Gentiles; and thirdly, a positive command to announce the gospel to them. He speaks particularly of the second and third. (Estius)
Witham
Made known to me by revelation, and to the other apostles and prophets. (Witham)
3:5
Witham
As it is now revealed.[Ver. 5. Sicuti nunc, os nun.] St. Paul, as both St. Jerome and St. Chrysostom take notice, does not absolutely say that this mystery was not known, but only not known as it was afterwards to the apostles. For whether by this mystery we understand the incarnation of Christ, or the uniting of the Jews and Gentiles into one Church, we cannot doubt but both were revealed to Abraham, to David, to many prophets and just men in the time of the law; but now it was revealed and made known to all. (Witham)
3:6
Witham
That the Gentiles should be coheirs, etc. This is the mystery which was heretofore unknown, and now revealed. This is what the greatest part of the Jews could never be brought to believe, that the Gentiles should be equally sharers with them of God's promises and blessings. They were strangely scandalized that St. Peter should receive Cornelius, an uncircumcised man, into the same communion. On the like account they persecuted St. Paul. (Witham)
3:7
Witham
I am made a minister, etc. that is an apostle, to preach this same doctrine of the gospel of Christ. (Witham)
3:8
Witham
To me, the least of all the saints, (that is, of the faithful) is given this mission by the grace of God, and power from the Almighty of working miracles, and other miraculous gifts from him, who created all things in order to enlighten [Ver. 8. Illuminare omnes, photisai pantas; not as God doth by interior illuminations, but by preaching.] or bring light to all men, that they may know and be convinced of the dispensation and manner in which God will have this mystery now made known and preached to all the world. (Witham)
3:9
Menochius
The Lord has commanded me to teach and declare his wisdom, displayed at this time in the mystery of our redemption; a mystery, which for so many ages, nay even from all eternity, has been locked up in the breast of the Almighty, but which he has at length vouchsafed to reveal. (Menochius)
3:10
Witham
That the manifold wisdom of God, and his other divine perfections of mercy, of justice, etc. may be more known, and seen executed by the coming of his Son, according to his eternal decrees of sending a Redeemer, in whom they are to believe, and have a hope and confidence of their eternal salvation. (Witham)
3:13
Witham
Wherefore, I beseech you, be not discouraged nor disheartened at my tribulations and persecutions on the account of the gospel, nor at your own, which ought to be a subject both for you and me to glory in. (Witham)
3:14
Witham
For this cause I pray and bow my knees to the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity (or fatherhood[Ver. 14-15. Omnis paternitas, patria. See St. Jerome on this verse: Deus....paternitatis nomen ex seipso largitus est omnibus....praestat caeteris ut patres esse dicantur. Theodoret, tom. 3. p. 305. Ed. Par. an. 1642. Alii patres, sive corporales, sive spirituales, desuper traxerunt appellationem: oi de alloi pateres....anothen ten prosegorian []ilkusan. See St. John Damascene, lib. 1. Ortho. fid. ch. IX. Ed. Bas. p. 32. touto de istion, etc. See Theophylactus, etc.]) in heaven and earth is named. The Greek word oftentimes signifies a family, and therefore may signify, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named; and thus the sense will be, that God is not only the Father of his eternal Son, but (as not only the Latin text, but even the Greek may signify) of all angelical spirits in heaven, and of all men, especially Christians, made his adoptive sons in baptism. But here may be signified not only a family, but those in particular who are honoured with the name and dignity of fathers; so that the name which they have of fathers, or patriarchs, is derived from God the Father of all, and communicated to them in an inferior degree. This exposition is found in St. Jerome, in Theodoret, Theophylactus, St. John Damascene, etc. (Witham)
Challoner
All paternity, or the whole family; patria. God is the Father both of angels and men: whosoever besides is named father, is so named with subordination to him. (Challoner)
3:17
Bristow
Christ dwelleth in us by his gifts, and we are just by those his gifts remaining in us; and not by Christ's proper justice only, as some modern innovators will have it. (Bristow)
Bristow
And this not by faith only, but by faith rooted and founded in charity, which accomplishes all virtues. (Bristow)
3:18
Witham
What is the breadth, etc. It is not expressed to what must be referred these metaphorical words of breadth, length, etc. Some expound them of the charity which in our hearts we ought to have for one another; others, of the love which Christ shewed towards mankind, in coming to redeem all. (Witham)
St. Thomas Aquinas
What, etc. This thought seems borrowed from Job xi: "Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and wilt find out the Almighty perfectly." The inspired writer then shews us how the Almighty is incomprehensible; for, says he, "God is higher than the heavens; and what wilt thou do? he is deeper than hell; and how wilt thou know? The measure of him is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." The apostle, alluding to these words, prays that the Ephesians may have faith and charity sufficient to enable them to comprehend all that is comprehensible of God; as St. Dionysius explains it. But we are not hence to conclude, that there exists such a thing as dimension or size with regard to God, for he is a pure Spirit: but these expressions are merely metaphorical. For by breadth we are to understand his virtue and wisdom, which extend over all his creatures: (Ecclesiasticus i.) "he poured out wisdom upon all his works." By length is meant his eternal duration: (Psalm ci.) "but thou, O Lord, remainest for ever." By height we are taught the infinite superiority of his nature over ours: (Psalm cxii.) "The Lord is high above all nations." And by depth we are shewn the incomprehensibility of his wisdom: (Ecclesiastes) "Wisdom is a great depth; who shall find it out?" Hence it appears that the end of faith and charity is, that we may arrive at a perfect faith; which may know, as far as it is intelligible, the greatness of his wisdom, his eternal duration, etc. (St. Thomas Aquinas, in Eph.)
3:19
Witham
That you may be filled unto all the fulness of God; that is that as God is full of love and charity for all, so may you in an inferior degree, according as you are capable, be filled with charity. (Witham)
3:15
All paternity.... Or, the whole family. God is the Father, both of angels and men; whosoever besides is named father, is so named with subordination to him.
3:7
Concordance 1. Cor. 15, 9.
3:8
〈Greek〉
3:9
That is, for euer before.
3:11
that is, the eternal prafinitiō
3:13
In the liturgy The Epistle vpon the 16 Sunday after Pentecost.
3:17
Christ dwelleth in vs by his giftes, and vve be iust by those his giftes remaining and resident in vs, & not by Christes proper instice onely, as the Heretikes affirme.
Not faith only must be in vs, but charitie vvhich accōplisheth al vertues.
3:19
Concordance Ro. 16, 2•.
3:1
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 52
… for they were as yet too weak in their minds, and it was rather in condescension that he so spake. For what could be better than those bonds which always in his Epistles he prefers (to all things else), saying, “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ:” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Chap. iii. ver. 1 . “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 2.3
… and so let us have the satisfaction of reciting his deeds with those of the other martyrs of Alexandria, and that he may be able to meet the people who bark against him with the words: “From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
3:2
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 29
… The result will be that you will abandon these carnal and grovelling doctrines, and learn to be more sublime, and to ascend with His Godhead, and you will not remain permanently among the things of sight, but will rise up with Him into the world of thought, and come to know which passages refer to His Nature, and which to His assumption of Human Nature.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Ver. 2 . “If so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God, which was given me to you-ward.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 14, 15 . “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret 2.6
From this letter may be learnt the duplicity of the calumniators, and the injustice of the former judges, as well as the soundness of the decrees. These holy fathers have taught us not only truths respecting the Divine nature, but also the doctrine of the Incarnation
3:3
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 7.14
Now this (mystery) was not made known to previous generations, as he says, it has been written, “By revelation was made known unto me the mystery;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Ver. 3 . “How that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 34
And having written thus much, he said this was little, in comparison with what he was going to say. As he says also in another place, “As I wrote to you in few words: whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” (
3:4
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Ver. 4 . “Whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5.14
Chapter 14.— 16. Accordingly we find the apostles using the expressions, "My glorying," though it was certainly in the Lord; and "Mine office," and "My knowledge,"
3:5
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.2
… But to many it was not revealed, as Paul says,
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.33
… so motley and diversified are the errors of the heretics. And again the same Paul says, Which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His Holy Apostles and Prophets in the Spirit
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians the-argument
… 10 .) And again; “He raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in heavenly places.” ( Eph. ii. 6 .) And again; “Which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Observe how he blends all together, the Gentiles, the Jews, the Apostles, the Prophets, and Christ, and illustrates the union sometimes from the body, and sometimes from the building: “built,” saith he, “upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets;” that is, the Apostles and Prophets are a foundation,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 5
… As he doth also in the Epistle to the Ephesians, saying, neither Angels, nor principalities, nor any other created power, but only the Son of God knew. (
3:6
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 22.1
1. Even of itself the teaching of the Blessed Paul is sufficient to give you a full assurance concerning those Divine Mysteries, of which having been deemed worthy, ye are become of the same body
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Ver. 6 . “That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body and fellow partakers.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 6
… as when he says, “Hath raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him” ( Eph. ii. 6 .): and, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” ( 2 Tim. ii. 12 .): and, “How shall He not also with Him freely give us all things” ( Rom. viii. 32 .): and calling us “fellow-heirs.” Then as for His dignity. And He “is the head of all principality and power.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 6
Then he adds ( ver. 14 ), “For we have been made partakers of Christ.” What is this, “We have been made partakers of Christ”? We partake of Him (he means); we were made One, we and He—since He is the Head and we the body, “fellow-heirs and of the same body; we are one body, of His flesh and of His bones.” (
3:7
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
Ver. 7 . “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of His power.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Faith and the Creed 9
… because diffidence also is assigned to fear, which the perfecting of love excludes. Thus, likewise, the same is called the Gift of God,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Morals of the Catholic Church 18
… To the love of God we are incited by the gospel, when it is said, "Ask, seek, knock;" by Paul, when he says, "That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend;"
3:8
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.18
… The apostle declares that to himself, “less than the least of all saints, was the grace given” of enlightening all men as to “what was the fellowship of the mystery, which during the ages had been hid in God, who created all things.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 13.29
… For to say that the little are here called perfect, according to the passage, “He that is least among you all, the same is great,” and as Paul said, “Unto me who am less than the least of all saints was this grace given,”
St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 The Oration and Panegyric Addressed to Origen 15
… and what is shut is opened when the word of inspiration explains mysteries. Now that greatest gift this man has received from God, and that noblest of all endowments he has had bestowed upon him from heaven, that he should be an interpreter of the oracles of God to men,
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 34
… Nay, rather, as has been already said above, He gave proof of His presence with us forthwith, and did most abundantly impart Himself to Paul, whose testimony we also believe when he says, “Unto me only is this grace given.”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 35
… which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would turn you away from the Gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which has been delivered to you, let him be accursed.” And again he says: “To me, who am the least of all the apostles, is this grace given;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 7
“Which he fore-ordained unto our glory” and yet, elsewhere he saith, “unto his own glory,” for he considereth our salvation to be His own glory: even as also He calleth it His own riches, (vid.
3:9
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 5
11. In the same manner it may also be said of the word “in,” that Scripture admits its use in the case of God the Father. In the Old Testament it is said through ( ἐν ) God we shall do valiantly, and, “My praise shall be continually of ( ἐν ) thee;” and again, “In thy name will I rejoice.” In Paul we read, “In God who created all things,”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.8
… “In the Lord I will praise the word;” and elsewhere: “In God we will do mighty deeds;” and “My remembrance shall be ever in Thee;” and “In Thy Name will we rejoice;” and again in another place: “That his deeds may be manifested, that they are wrought in God;” and Paul: “In God Who created all things;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 5
… but why, he saith not yet. “From the ages,” from the beginning, as one might say. And with reason he calleth that a mystery, which none knew, save God. And where hid? In Christ; as he saith in the Epistle to the Ephesians (
3:10
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.18
… (“what is the fellowship of the mystery) which hath for ages been hidden from the God who created all things.” The falsification, however, is flagrantly absurd. For the apostle goes on to infer (from his own statement): “in order that unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might become known through the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 8
… Then again, on account of the divers manners wherein grace is given to us, which, because of the riches of His goodness, according to his manifold
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 7
… For surely Christ saith, (St. Matt. x. 27 . ηκούσατε rec. text ἀκούετε .) “What ye have heard in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” How then does he call it “a mystery?” Because that neither angel nor archangel, nor any other created power knew of it before it actually took place. Wherefore he saith, (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians the-argument
… vi. 19 .) It abounds with sentiments of overwhelming loftiness and grandeur. Thoughts which he scarcely so much as utters any where else, he here plainly declares; as when he says, “To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the Church the manifold wisdom of God.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 11
The dispensation in our behalf he calls a “mystery,” and well may it be so called, since it is not manifest to all, nay, it was not manifest to the Angels, for how could it, when it was “made known by the Church”? (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 1
… since they too have learned by the voice of John with us, and by us, the things which we know. And this hath another Apostle declared, saying, “To the intent that unto the principalities and powers might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… Surely he who sows more and he who sows less are both on the right side. And although they belong to the same class, that of the sower, yet they differ in respect of measure and number. The same Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says:
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 15
… If you speak ill of him, by the evil report he gains fresh lustre in God’s sight. If you cast him into starvation, the more will his glory and his reward be. If (what seems the most severe stroke of all) you give him over to death, you are twining a crown of martyrdom about him.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 12 . “In whom we have,” saith he, “boldness, and access in confidence through our faith in him.”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 41
… and He bears them, for He is longsuffering. But from those who love Him He receives all that is honourable. And He defers, as in the former case His wrath, so in ours His kindness; in their case perhaps to give them the grace of repentance, and in ours to test our love; whether we do not faint in our tribulations
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 13 . “Wherefore I ask that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which are your glory.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 Five Books in Reply to Marcion 4
Is every fatherhood in heaven and earth
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 6.29
… And they dwell in an earthly body, with a soul, when demons do not take up their abode with that soul. This, he says, is what has been written in Scripture: “On this account I bend my knees to the God and Father and Lord of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God would grant you to have Christ dwelling in the inner man,”
St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 8.8
… And Paul confirms this, teaching it plainly, where he says:
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 7.5
… and again, Even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love . Therefore we also say like the Apostle, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all consolation : and, We bow our knees unto the Father from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.4
… He is called also the Spirit of the Father, as the Saviour says, For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you ; and again Paul saith, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father , and the rest;… that He would grant you to be strengthened by His Spirit
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 13
… i. 11, 13, 10 .) And to the Galatians, he says, “My little children of whom I am again in travail.” ( Gal. iv. 19 .) To the Ephesians again, “For this cause I bow my knees” for you. (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
He has mentioned Christ’s great and affectionate care; he now passes on to his own, insignificant indeed as it is, and a very nothing in comparison with that, and yet this is enough to engage them to himself. For this cause, saith he, am I also bound.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 14, 15 . “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.7
… and where he bows his knees unto Thee for us, that we may know the super-eminent knowledge of the love of Christ.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Morals of the Catholic Church 18
… that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the height, and length, and breadth, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 22.3
… the Apostle prays for the people; “I bow my knees,” he saith, “unto the Father for you, that being rooted and grounded in love, ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 52.8
… “I bow my knees for you to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye may be in love rooted and grounded.” And because there now is root, “That ye may be able,” he saith, “to comprehend what is the height, and breadth, and length, and depth: to know also the supereminent knowledge of the love of Christ, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 147
… and the Comforter who completes the number of the Trinity is one Holy Ghost. Thus though many are named fathers, we worship one Father, the Father before the ages, who Himself gave this title to men, as the Apostle says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every fatherhood in heaven and earth is named.”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 1.8
And this also it behoves us to know, that the names Fatherhood, Sonship and Procession, were not applied to the Holy Godhead by us: on the contrary, they were communicated to us by the Godhead, as the divine apostle says, Wherefore I bow the knee to the Father, from Whom is every family in heaven and on earth
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Theodotus † fl. AD 160 Excerpts of Theodotus 1
… “For,” says the Lord, “they that do the will of my Father are my brethren and fellow-heirs.” “Call no man, therefore, father to yourselves on earth.” For it is masters that are on earth. But in heaven is the Father, of whom is the whole family, both in heaven and on earth.
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 5.2
The expression “rock,” he says, he uses of Adam. This, he affirms, is Adam: “The chief corner-stone become the head of the corner.” For that in the head the substance is the formative brain from which the entire family is fashioned.
St Hippolytus † AD 235 Against the Heresy of One Noetus 3
… The proper way, therefore, to deal with the question is first of all to refute the interpretation put upon these passages by these men, and then to explain their real meaning. For it is right, in the first place, to expound the truth that the Father is one God, “of whom is every family,”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Synodis or On the Councils 1
We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Creator and Maker of all things; from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. (
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.7
… For God does not make man His pattern; but rather we men, for that God is properly, and alone truly , Father of His Son, are also called fathers of our own children; for of Him ‘is every fatherhood in heaven and earth named
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 History of Arian Opinions 1
We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of all things, ‘from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named
Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 2.18
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of all things, of whom the whole family in heaven and upon earth is named;
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St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 24
… How can you be a priest unto God , anointed though you are for this very office, to offer a gift to God; a gift in no way another’s, no counterfeited gift from sources outside yourself, but a gift that is really your own, namely, “the inner man
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.9
99. But in like manner we also read of many things done through the Spirit, as you find: “But God hath revealed them to us through His Spirit;” and in another place: “Keep the good deposit through the Holy Spirit;” and to the Ephesians: “to be strengthened through His Spirit;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 24
… he gives us the Lord Himself for a garment, the King Himself: for he that is clad with Him, hath absolutely all virtue. But in saying, “Put ye on,” he bids us be girt about with Him upon every side. As in another place he says, “But if Christ be in you.” ( Rom. viii. 10 .) And again, “That Christ may dwell in the inner man.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 16, 17 . “That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 4.8
… ( Ver. 7 .) “Thou hast put gladness into my heart.” Gladness then is not to be sought without by them, who, being still heavy in heart, “love vanity, and seek a lie;” but within, where the light of God’s countenance is stamped. For Christ dwelleth in the inner man,
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 5.21
… We ought therefore, whenever the outward man fasts, to restrain the inner man as well from food which is bad for him: that inner man, namely, which the blessed Apostle above all urges us to present pure before God, that it may be found worthy to receive Christ as a guest within, saying “that in the inner man Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 5.4
… I mean, that he can choose, if he will, to make it a dwelling, and when he has made it, to live in it. “Or do you seek a proof,” says the Apostle, “of Christ speaking in me?” And elsewhere, “Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobate?” And again: “in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 40
… As for the inward man, indeed, the apostle prefers its being regarded as the mind and heart rather than the soul; in other words, not so much the substance itself as the savour of the substance. Thus when, writing to the Ephesians, he spoke of “Christ dwelling in their inner man,” he meant, no doubt, that the Lord ought to be admitted into their senses.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.22
… But the scope of our art is to provide the soul with wings, to rescue it from the world and give it to God, and to watch over that which is in His image, if it abides, to take it by the hand, if it is in danger, or restore it, if ruined, to make Christ to dwell in the heart
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Letters on the Apollinarian Controversy 101
… and, As is the Heavenly, such are they that are Heavenly; and, No man hath ascended up into Heaven save He which came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man which is in Heaven; and the like, are to be understood as said on account of the Union with the heavenly; just as that All Things were made by Christ, and that Christ dwelleth in your hearts
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 19.5
… and they taught simple people, tillers of the ground, and occupied with cattle, to be lovers of wisdom. Such are the persons, who beside all the rest having deeply rooted in them that love which is the source of all good things,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 55.25
… the part which is fixed in the ground, represents the occult nature of the holy mystery. For you remember, I suppose, the words of the apostle, which in this description of the cross I aim at expounding: “That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 2.41
… Now this is a meek and lowly herb, and yet nothing is stronger and more penetrating than its roots; that being rooted and grounded in love, we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.10
… But there ought also to be purity of intention on the part of the offerer. And therefore, when we are about to present any such offering in our heart, i.e. in the inner temple of God (“For,” as it is said, “the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are;” and, “That Christ may dwell in the inner man
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 3.15
… It is the inner man where Christ doth dwell, now by faith, and hereafter He will dwell in it, by the presence of His Divinity, when we shall have known “what is the length, and breadth, and depth, and height; when we shall have known also the love of Christ that surpasseth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 13.1
… “For the Lord Christ had not indeed death nor sleep in His power, and peradventure sleep overcame the Almighty One as He was sailing against His will?” If ye believe this, He is asleep in you; but if Christ be awake in you, your faith is awake. The Apostle saith, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 31.8
… Did not thy Lord tell thee, the world shall fail? Why when the promise was made, didst thou believe, and art disturbed now, when it is being completed? So then the tempest beats furiously against thine heart; beware of shipwreck, awake up Christ. The Apostle says, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 55.6
… For he says, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 45.15
… But what is that praiseworthy and blessed outgoing? I might say, indeed, that we enter when we engage in some inward exercise of thought; and go out, when we take to some active work without: and since, as the apostle saith, Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 49.19
… When thou speakest thus, Christ is already groaning; for thy faith is groaning. In the voice of one who groaneth thus, there comes to light the hope of his rising again. If such faith is within, there is Christ groaning; for if there is faith in us, Christ is in us. For what else says the apostle: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 57.2
… “I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” She says so even in the case of those who, purified from all dross, can say: “I desire to depart, and to be with Christ; nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” She says it in those who preach Christ, and open to Him the door, that He may dwell by faith in the hearts of men.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 96.5
… spirit of your mind,” and “understand what is the will of God, which is good, and acceptable, and perfect;” that, “rooted and grounded in love, ye may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the length, and breadth, and height, and depth, even to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.9
… Good is the form, holy the form: but what avails the form, if it hold not the root? The branch that is cut off, is it not cast into the fire? Have the form, but in the root. But in what way are ye rooted so that ye be not rooted up? By holding charity, as saith the Apostle Paul, “rooted and grounded in charity.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 8.5
… to the end that moved by Its authority each one may obey Its precepts, whereby being purified and “rooted and grounded in love,” he may be able to run with Saints, no more now a child in milk, but a young man in meat, “to comprehend the breadth, the length, the height, and depth, to know also the surpassing knowledge of the love of Christ.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 9.12
… now we practise watching, that we may arrive at vision. But again this same Church which now is, unless the Lord inhabit her, the most earnest watching might run into any sort of error. And to this Church it was said, “For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are:” again, “that Christ may dwell in the inner man in your hearts by faith.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 9.15
… “In that snare which they hid, has their foot been taken.” The hidden snare is crafty devising. The foot of the soul is well understood to be its love: which, when depraved, is called coveting or lust; but when upright, love or charity.…And the Apostle says, “That being rooted and grounded in love, ye may be able to take in.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 109.29
… For he is said to be in the midst, unto whom the chief honour is paid. But if the heart is, as it were, that which is mid-most of a man, no better construction can be put on this passage than this, I will praise Him in the hearts of many. For Christ dwelleth through faith in our hearts;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 142.1
1. …“With my voice have I cried unto the Lord” ( ver. 1 ). It were enough to say, “with voice:” not for nothing perhaps has “my” been added. For many cry unto the Lord, not with their own voice, but with the voice of their body. Let the “inner man” then, in whom “Christ” hath begun to “dwell by faith,”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Counter-statements of Theodoret 1
… We find the blessed Paul dividing the one man into two where he says in one passage, “Though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed,” and in another “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” And again “that Christ may dwell in the inner man.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 1
… heaven,’ and ‘as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly’ and ‘no man hath ascended up to heaven but the son of man that came down from heaven,’ and any other similar passage, must be understood to be spoken on account of the union with man, as also the statement that ‘all things were made by Christ,’ and that ‘Christ dwells in our hearts,’
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 15
… 2. This, too, is what Paul means to point out when he says: “That ye
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 5.3
… word of the Cross is “the power of God to them that are in a state of salvation .” To the Ephesians, moreover, he describes by the figure of the Cross the power that controls and holds together the universe, when he expresses a desire that they may be exalted to know the exceeding glory of this power, calling it height, and depth, and breadth, and length
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 The Great Catechism 32
… and it is from sight that the mighty Paul starts when he initiates
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 18, 19 . “To the end that ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.”
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 14
14. He Was Crucified Under Pontius Pilate and Was Buried: He Descended into Hell . The Apostle Paul teaches us that we ought to have “the eyes of our understand ing enlightened” “that we may understand what is the height and breadth and depth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 118.5
… For what could we have to say of the cross itself, which every one knows was in like manner made and fastened to Christ by enemies and sinners? And yet it is to it we may rightly understand the words of the apostle to be applicable, “what is the breadth, and the length, and the height, and the depth.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
… and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe.” And now again he says the same. “That ye may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth;” i.e., to know perfectly the mystery which hath been providentially ordered in our behalf:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 2.41
… And purified by this Christian action, we shall be able to know even “the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,” who is equal to the Father, by whom all things, were made, “that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 40
… And again, when the apostle speaks of “the love of Christ as surpassing knowledge,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 118.4
… But the coat, on which lots were cast, signifies the unity of all the parts, which is contained in the bond of charity. And when the apostle is about to speak of charity, he says, “I show you a more excellent way;” and in another place, “To know also the love of Christ, which far excelleth knowledge;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 18.34
34. “Who hath made my feet perfect like harts’ feet” ( ver. 33 ). Who hath made my love perfect to surmount the thorny and dark entanglements of this world. “And will set me up on high.” And will fix my aim on the heavenly habitation, that “I may be filled with all the fulness of God.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 To My Lady 2
… For He is not only able to turn as many things as we expect and hope, to good, but many more, yea infinitely more. Wherefore also Paul saith “now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 21.1
… and hath restored the head to the body, the shepherd to the sheep, the master to the disciples, the general to the soldiers, the High Priest to the Priests! Blessed be God, “Who doeth exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think!”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 20 . “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 22
… But in our own case, it is matter for contentment that we should be so much as able to wrestle. For the Romans indeed this is not what he asks, but what? “He shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” ( Rom. xvi. 20 .) And for these Ephesians he invokes, “Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 2 Timothy 2
… Reckon that thou sustainest these things, not by thine own power, but by the power of God. For it is thy part to choose and to be zealous, but God’s to alleviate sufferings and bid them cease. He then shows him the proofs of His power. Consider how thou wast saved, how thou wast called. As he elsewhere says, “According to His power that worketh in us.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 3.1
1. That God gives more than we ask Him for,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 8.12
… Thence we go in to my mother. We make it known to her,—she rejoiceth. We relate how it came to pass,—she leapeth for joy, and triumpheth, and blesseth Thee, who art “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.30
… that it may not be in rebellion against itself, and even in dreams not simply not, through sensual images, commit those deformities of corruption, even to the pollution of the flesh, but that it may not even consent unto them. For it is no great thing for the Almighty, who is “able to do . . . above all that we ask or think,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 130.31
… wherefore let her who can do less not keep back the one who can do more, and let her who can do more not urge unduly her who can do less. For your conscience is responsible to God; to each other owe nothing but mutual love. May the Lord, who is able to do above what we ask or think, give ear to your prayers.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 64
… brethren, —then after their pilgrimage here, in which their walk is by “faith,” when they shall have reached the “sight” of that final happiness which we hope for, though as yet we see it not, and wait for in patience, then undoubtedly love itself shall be not only greater than that which we here experience, but far higher than all which we ask or think;
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 147
… to God only will be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” Writing to the Ephesians he thus gives praise—“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.3.1
… Paul also, they affirm, very clearly and frequently names these Æons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when he says, “To all the generations of the Æons of the Æon.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 7
Ver. 21 . “Unto Him be the glory,” he concludes, “in the Church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
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1. For this cause, I Paul a prisoner. — A word is lacking, which would complete the sentence. Whence St. Jerome thinks it to be a solecism. Secondly, Erasmus and Anselm supply the verb am, as if to say, For this cause I am a prisoner; but the article ὁ, when he says, ὁ δέσμιος, as if to say, That prisoner, bears it with difficulty. Whence thirdly, much better do Vatable and Ambrose supply, I am engaged in an embassy. But it is far more true that this sentence is completed after a long parenthesis (which the Apostle in his manner inserts from verse 2 to 14, concerning the benefit of the calling of the Gentiles, by the admiration of which his heart was absorbed, and thus full, so that he would constantly return to it, and would continually belch it forth to others in different words) in verse 14; for there indeed, repeating the first words of the chapter, he adds and completes them, saying: "For this cause I bend my knees," etc. For these things cohere most excellently with the beginning of this chapter and the end of the preceding; for when he had said there: "In whom you also are built together into a habitation of God in the Holy Ghost," immediately in his manner, turning at the beginning of this chapter to the praise of God, thanksgiving and invocation, he adds: "For this cause I Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus, bend my knees," etc. We have seen a similar hyperbaton in Rom. V, 12 and 18. See Can. 38. A PRISONER OF CHRIST JESUS, — ὁ δέσμιος is an epithet not of servile condition, but of glory and honor: for Paul glories in his bonds undertaken for Christ, as in the insignia of his apostolate and martyrdom, just as a king glories in his torque or diadem. "To be a prisoner on account of Christ," says Chrysostom here, homil. 8, "is more illustrious than to be either an Apostle, or a teacher, or an evangelist. Great is this dignity, and greater than any kingdom or consulship; he who loves and burns for Christ chooses rather to bear bonds for Christ than to inhabit the heavens: for the head is not rendered so splendid by a crown imposed conspicuous with pearls, as by an iron chain, which is borne on account of Christ. And if anyone had granted me the choice and option of either all the heavens, or this chain, I would plainly have chosen this chain; if I had to stand above with the angels, and those who are near the throne of God, or with Paul a prisoner, I would surely have preferred the prison. Nothing is more blessed than this chain. I do not say Paul is so blessed because he was caught up into paradise, and because he endured bonds: rather is it accounted to me a greater thing to be afflicted for Christ, than to be honored by Christ. O blessed bonds! O blessed hands, which that chain adorned!" He then proceeds to adorn these bonds with examples and miracles, when he says: "Thus Peter was bound, and was loosed by an angel. If anyone had said to me here, Choose which you wish: do you wish to be the angel loosing Peter, or Peter bound? I would surely have chosen to be Peter. This is a greater gift of bonds than to stop the sun, or to move the world, or to have dominion over demons, and to cast them out. The prison was shaken with Paul bound, and the bonds of all were loosed, Acts XVI. Do you see the nature of bonds loosing bonds; for just as death slew death by the Lord's death, so the bonds of Paul loosed those who were bound, and shook the prison, and opened the doors. Paul therefore bound has dominion over the bound. Again Acts XXVIII, Paul bound was sailing, and was loosing shipwreck, and was binding the tempest, and could not be harmed by a viper." These and more things Chrysostom says, homil. 8, and again in his moral interpretation. For this reason Babylas, bishop and martyr of Antioch, after confessing the faith and ending his life in bonds, commanded his disciples to bury with him the chains, as witnesses of his struggle, and ornaments of his victory.
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2. IF INDEED (it is not of one doubting, but asserting. Whence more clearly Vatable, Erasmus and others translate the Greek εἴγε, if indeed, as if to say, I am bound for you Gentiles, if indeed I preach the Gospel for you; but I am bound on account of the Gospel, as is known and clear to all, especially to you: if indeed) YOU HAVE HEARD OF THE DISPENSATION (in Greek οἰκονομίαν, economy, administration) OF THE GRACE OF GOD, WHICH (namely the dispensation) IS GIVEN TO ME FOR YOU, — among the Gentiles. Note: By this dispensation and administration he understands his apostolate, or the office of preaching the Gospel, that is, the office of promulgating the redemption and grace of Christ proposed and prepared for all who believe in him.
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3. BECAUSE (depends on you have heard, that is "You have heard because," that is) ACCORDING TO REVELATION IT WAS MADE KNOWN TO ME) in Greek ἐγνώρισε, made known to me, namely by God. It seems to us that he read more truly and aptly with Chrysostom ἐγνωρίσθη, that is, it was made known) THE MYSTERY, — in Greek τὸ μυστήριον, mystery, namely of Christ, as he explains in verse 4, that is that secret and great mystery of piety, which I preach and admire everywhere, concerning the incarnation of Christ, redemption, predestination, salvation, and the calling to it, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles: for this calling of the Gentiles especially here and elsewhere Paul admires and celebrates. AS I WROTE ABOVE — concerning this mystery and sacrament; for if anyone reads chapters I and II, he will see that this mystery of Christ was already told, especially concerning the calling of the Gentiles, clearly and deeply revealed to Paul. Thus Jerome. IN BRIEF, — ἐν ὀλίγῳ, in little, that is, in few words and briefly. Thus Chrysostom and Jerome. "The Apostle, says Jerome, touches upon a small part of the mysteries of Christ in his discourse, not so much bringing forth all that he knew, as showing from a little what he was keeping silent about." Whence it follows:
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4. THAT YOU READING (chapters I and II) MAY UNDERSTAND MY PRUDENCE (σύνεσιν, that is understanding) IN THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, — concerning which I have already spoken in verse 3. "For none, says Jerome, of the epistles of Paul has so many mysteries, is wrapped up in such recondite senses, as this one." Properly, however, the Apostle here understands the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles to the faith and grace of Christ, as he explains in the verses immediately following. Note: Paul often takes prudence, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, science for the same thing; and this from Hebrew phraseology, in which he imitates the Wise Man, who in Proverbs calls his ethics and precepts concerning morals now wisdom, now prudence, now understanding, now discipline, now erudition, now doctrine, now science: which names, although they are distinguished in connotation, etymology and proper signification, as is evident to one observing, the Wise Man nevertheless confuses them, and takes them for the same thing, namely the ethics already mentioned, and does this for the sake of abundance.
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5. WHICH IN OTHER GENERATIONS (that is, as Ambrose says, in other ages) WAS NOT MADE KNOWN TO THE SONS OF MEN (that is to men) AS IT IS NOW REVEALED TO THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS (namely of the New Testament) IN THE SPIRIT, — that is, through the Holy Spirit. It is asked how this can be true: for Isaiah and other Prophets most clearly prophesied concerning the calling of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ. First, St. Jerome and Chrysostom answer that by sons of men are understood common and carnal men: for the Patriarchs and Prophets are not called sons of men, but sons of God; but this is more subtle and acute, and beyond the mind of the Apostle. Whence secondly, the same Chrysostom answers that the Prophets indeed knew that the Gentiles were to be called to Christ, but did not know that they would be equal to the Jews in calling, faith and grace, which the Apostles knew; and this is what the Apostle says, "The Gentiles are coheirs and concorporeal," namely with the Jews. But neither does this appear to be true to one observing Isaiah, who in this matter prefers the Gentiles very often to the Jews, as appears in chapters XXXIV, XXXV, XLIX, LIV, LX; indeed, with the Jews rejected, he teaches that the Gentiles are to be substituted. Whence thirdly, the same Chrysostom, Jerome, St. Thomas, Anselm and others answer that the calling of the Gentiles to the same Church, grace and dignity with the Jews was indeed made known to the ancient Prophets, but to few, and that obscurely and in confusion: but to the Apostles and Prophets of the New Testament, who were to care for and execute it, it was revealed by God to all clearly and distinctly. Whence the force is in the word as, that is, Not so plainly and in particular was this mystery of the calling of the Gentiles made known to the ancient Prophets, as it was revealed to the Apostles, who foresaw its manner, place, time, order and other circumstances in particular, and with God revealing, and saw it in experience and in the thing itself, when they converted those same Gentiles: for a thing is seen more fully when the work is completed, than when the spirit foresees it as future from afar. Whence Paul was caught up to the third heaven, so that, being about to be the teacher of the Gentiles, he might be fully and particularly taught the manner and practice of converting them, as I said in II Corinthians XII. Thus also St. Peter, in Acts X, far more expressly and particularly than Isaiah or the Prophets, knew this mystery, when he saw the vision of the sheet and the eating of unclean animals actually explained and fulfilled through the legates sent by Cornelius the Gentile, and through the conversion of Cornelius himself with his whole family.
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6. THAT THE GENTILES SHOULD BE COHEIRS (that is to say, The mystery of which I speak is this, namely that the Gentiles should be coheirs, that is, equally with the Jews, heirs) OF THE PROMISE — made to Abraham concerning Christ and the Gospel of Christ, salvation, grace, and glory; for just as the Gentiles, equally with the Jews, through faith in Christ become spiritual children of Abraham, who is the father of the faithful: so also the Gentiles, equally with the Jews, are heirs of the blessing, that is, of the justice and salvation of Abraham and of his seed, that is Christ and Christians, promised, concerning which I have spoken Rom. IV, 17; Gal. III, 7 and 8. AND OF THE SAME BODY, — σύσσωμα, that is, of one and the same body, so that namely one mystical body, namely one Church, the Christian Gentiles and the Jews converted to Christ should constitute. AND PARTAKERS OF HIS PROMISE (so that the Gentiles, equally as the Jews, should be partakers of "his promise," namely of the Holy Spirit, which immediately preceded, as Ambrose says; or rather of his, namely of God, whom he named in verse 2. For from the second verse all these things depend, and explain the grace of God, which verse 2 proclaimed: this therefore promise of God is that one by which God promised his friendship, remission of sins, salvation and possession of the kingdom of heaven to Christians believing and obeying him) IN CHRIST JESUS (that is through Christ Jesus, who promulgated this promise of God) THROUGH (his) GOSPEL, 7. OF WHICH (namely of the Gospel of Christ) I HAVE BEEN MADE A MINISTER, — in Greek διάκονος, that is a deacon of sacred ministry and as it were of liturgy, namely of the preaching of the Gospel: for he called this a liturgy, or the sacrifice of the Mass, Rom. XV, 16.
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ACCORDING TO THE GIFT OF THE GRACE OF GOD — that is, through the gift of the grace of God. For thus the Apostle takes the Greek κατά, that is according to, as it were answering to the Hebrew pal, broadly and variously, now for according to, now for through, now for with. Whence he adds here: ACCORDING TO THE WORKING (in Greek ἐνέργειαν, that is efficacy, and efficacious working) OF HIS POWER (in Greek δυνάμεως, of power). — that is to say, I have received an apostolate not empty, idle and void; but such as works powerfully and efficaciously the conversion of the Gentiles even barbarous. The Apostle notes here two things: first, that he has received the office of ministry or apostolate through the gift and grace of God; second, that the act, use and exercise of that office is powerful, and works powerfully and efficaciously the faith and salvation of the Gentiles through the same force, power and energy of divine grace.
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8. TO ME, THE LEAST OF ALL (not only of the Apostles, says Chrysostom, but also of) THE SAINTS (that is, Christians). — Jerome says, the lowest; in Greek ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ, that is, lower, as if to say, I am lower and lower than the lowest, smaller than the smallest. Note here the wonderful humility of the Apostle: for he not only calls himself the least or the lowest, but smaller than the smallest and lower than the lowest. Hence from the superlative he forms the comparative, namely from ἐλάχιστος ἐλαχιστότερος, just as if from smallest you were to form smaller, from lowest lower: he therefore calls himself lower, so that he might more abase and diminish himself below all; and through this humility Paul merited to be raised to the apostolate, says Jerome. You will say: This humility seems feigned and false; for the Apostle knew and saw that more grace and virtues had been given to him by God than to the Ephesians and other Christians, whom he himself converted. St. Jerome responds that Paul knew himself to be holier than they, but nevertheless conducted and humbled himself as if he were inferior to them. Just as a prince sometimes, for the sake of modesty, gives the first place at table and in procession to friends and other nobles far inferior to himself. But this does not satisfy: for Paul is not speaking of practice and external submission in gesture or procession, but of his own feeling, saying and truly sensing in his mind that he is the least of all the Saints; otherwise indeed he would be lying and would be a hypocrite, which God forbid. I say therefore that the Apostle spoke in that sense in which St. Francis was accustomed to say that he was the greatest sinner, as if to say, Although I have received greater grace from God than others, yet if I consider myself, my negligence, my weakness, my malice both present and past, because I was a persecutor of Christ and the Church (to this especially the Apostle is accustomed to look when he humbles himself), I truly appear to myself the greatest sinner, unworthy of the apostolate, and to be reckoned truly and in reality the least of Christians: for I think that if God were to give to a robber or the greatest sinner that grace which he gave to me, he would cooperate with it more than I, and would be far holier than I. For although this judgment might perhaps not be true speculatively, it was true practically; for each one, considering not others but himself and his own weakness, can and ought to feel thus humbly about himself: for this is the dictate of virtue, which prudent humility suggests and persuades, and he who is truly humble feels thus about himself, and appears to himself such, of which more in Philippians II, 3, and I Timothy I, 13. THIS GRACE WAS GIVEN, TO PREACH AMONG THE GENTILES THE UNSEARCHABLE (in Greek ἀνεξιχνίαστον, inscrutable, incomprehensible, and, as Ambrose says, incomprehensible) RICHES OF CHRIST. — Thus the Apostle everywhere calls the abundance of graces and goods which Christ brought to us. Chrysostom notes in the moral homily 6 that Paul received a threefold grace for preaching, and brought three things marvellously efficacious for persuasion in preaching, first, an eager, daring, fervent and intrepid spirit for all things; second, a certain heavenly wisdom; third, the power of the spirit with a blameless life.
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9. AND TO ENLIGHTEN ALL. — As the offices of angels are three, says St. Dionysius, namely to enlighten man, to purify and to perfect: so not only Christ, but also the Apostles and other Doctors do these three things as it were certain earthly angels and angelic men; to enlighten therefore does not signify to bring into light that which was hidden, as the Syrian and Erasmus translate it; for thus it would be said ineptly to enlighten all, as the Greek and Latin texts have it; but it signifies to teach others, to impart to others the light of truth and faith; for just as the sun illuminates dark places with its light, so doctors illuminate the dark and ignorant minds of men with their clear doctrine. Whence also they will be fittingly rewarded with singular brightness and splendor in heaven. "They that are learned," says Daniel, cap. XII, "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity." WHAT IS THE DISPENSATION OF THE SACRAMENT HIDDEN FROM THE AGES IN GOD, WHO CREATED ALL THINGS. — For dispensatio some Greek texts read κοινωνία, that is to say, What is the communion or communication of the sacrament, namely that this sacrament of the redemption of men was communicated not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. But it should be read here, as above in verse 2, οἰκονομία, which is dispensation, and thus read the Royal Bible, our Interpreter, Chrysostom, Theophylactus and the Greeks. Note here that οἰκονομία, that is dispensation, signifies two things: first, the very disposition and ordering of something to be done or given; second, the very dispensation of the thing disposed or ordered, that is the distribution, donation, allotment. According to the first signification the sense will be: that I may enlighten and teach all how admirable is the economy and eternal disposition of God concerning the calling of the Gentiles through the nativity, death and resurrection of Christ. According to the second, however, the sense here will be, and this the simpler one, as I said cap. I, vers. 10, that is to say, Grace has been given to me to enlighten all the Gentiles, namely that I may teach them how wisely it has been dispensed, that is distributed, and proposed to all at this time by God the sacrament of the redemption of Christ and the calling of the Gentiles to Christ; or rather by hypallage, "what is the dispensation of the sacrament," that is, what, of what kind and how great is this sacrament, or mystery, "which" hitherto through so many ages, indeed from eternity, has been hidden in God," namely in God's mind, counsel and predestination; but now has been dispensed, that is distributed, allotted, and proposed and offered to all. WHO (namely God) CREATED ALL THINGS. — He notes and refutes the dogma of Simon Magus, who taught that the world was made by angels. The Greek texts add, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, through Jesus Christ, and thus read Chrysostom, Theophylactus and the Greeks; but this Jerome does not have, nor Ambrose, nor the ancient Latin codices.
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10. THAT IT MAY BE MADE KNOWN TO THE PRINCIPALITIES (thus the Roman, Greek and Syriac texts read; the Plantin edition however with St. Jerome reads to the principalities) AND POWERS, — namely to those orders of angels which are called Principalities, that is princes; and Powers, that is the mighty, as I said at chapter I, verse 21. Under these by synecdoche understand the other orders of angels. Thus St. Jerome, Chrysostom, Theophylactus. Whence although Ambrose here understands evil angels, who dwell in the heavenly places, that is in the air and this aerial heaven, nevertheless St. Jerome, Chrysostom, and Anselm more rightly take good angels: for these are signified by Principalities and Powers, when they are put absolutely. For when demons are understood, there is usually added, princes of darkness, or of this air, or some similar phrase restricting and distinguishing them. Then this voice properly signifies those dwelling in the heavenly places, namely in places. THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD THROUGH THE CHURCH. — It is asked, how this can be true: for angels illuminate the Church and men, but are not themselves illuminated and taught by them. First, Augustine, in book V of Genesis according to the Letter, chapter XIX, volume III, understands the heavenly Church, which consists of God and angels, as if to say: To the lower angels this mystery of the redemption of Christ and the calling of the Gentiles became known through the revelation of God and the illumination of the higher angels, it became known, I say, from the ages, that is from the beginning of the ages and of the world; but this is opposed by what the Apostle says: "That it may be made known now." If now, then not from the beginning of the world. Second, by "Church" he does not understand the heavenly but the earthly; this is clear, because he says: To me is given grace to preach the gospel and to illuminate all, that the manifold wisdom of God may be made known through the Church, namely to which I preach, and which I illuminate. Second, St. Thomas, First Part, Question LVII, article 5, explains it thus: "That it may be made known to the Principalities," not absolutely, but through vision and experience, as if to say: That they may see; for what the angels knew before through revelation as future, this they saw come to pass in the Church, when the thing was done and accomplished: but then the Apostle would have said: That they may see, or, That it may appear to the angels, as he said in I Timothy III, 16; but not, "that it may be made known:": for to be made known is said when that which was before unknown becomes known. Whence also the Apostle in the preceding verse said this mystery had been hidden in God; therefore it was hidden from the angels. I say therefore, by "Church," that is by those things which were done by Christ and the Apostles in the Church, and through the graces and gifts of the Church communicated by them, many mysteries of Christ and of Christians became known to the angels, which they previously did not know; for although the mystery of the incarnation and our redemption as to its substance they knew from revelation from the beginning of their blessedness, nevertheless they did not know all its parts, forms, causes, effects, modes and circumstances, but they learned them when they saw these things being done, exhibited and carried out in the Church. Such were the institution of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; the mode and manner of justifying sinners; the division and sending of the Apostles into such and such provinces; the hierarchical order of Apostles, Priests, Deacons and other ministers of the Church; the calling of the Gentiles, of which the Apostle properly speaks here. Note here, although Chrysostom and Theophylactus say that the angels did not know that the Gentiles were to be called to Christianity, until they saw them being called by Paul and the Apostles, nevertheless it does not seem doubtful that the angels knew this in general; for if Isaiah and the Prophets knew it, then also the angels, who either revealed this to the Prophets, or easily understood it from the prophecies of the Prophets which were so clear. What therefore the Apostle here says they did not know, understand it in the way in which, at verse 5, he denied that the Prophets knew it, namely in particular, clearly and distinctly, for example how the Gentiles were to be called, whether at the same time as the Jews, or in place of the Jews, when they had rejected the Gospel and had been rejected by God; in what order, through whom, in what modes and means: for the Apostles, especially Paul, knew this before the angels generally from God's revelation, both from the beginning of his conversion, when he was chosen by God before the other Apostles and declared a teacher of the Gentiles, Acts IX, 15; and then more fully and more completely, when about to be sent to the Gentiles, he was caught up to the third heaven, as I said in II Corinthians XII. Thus St. Jerome, Ambrose, Anselm, Theophylactus, Chrysostom. "Paul," says Chrysostom, "the evangelist of the angels here illuminated them;"; and St. Thomas, Opuscule I, chapter XXVI, teaches from Cyril that, with Paul preaching, the angels learned the circumstances of the Gospel and the calling of the Gentiles. Note secondly, this is said against Simon Magus, who, attributing too much to angels, taught that they ought to be adored as if they themselves had been conscious of and mediators of our mystery of redemption, concerning which see Colossians II, 18. THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD. — πολυποίκιλος, that is, multifarious, or exceedingly and multiplicatively varied. Others read παμποίκιλος, all-varied, most varied wisdom of God; so that it is not only varied, but also distinguished by much variety. Thus Jerome: "Behold," he says, "the cradle of Christ, see likewise also heaven. Gaze upon the infant wailing in the manger, but at the same time listen to the angels praising. Herod persecutes, but the Magi adore. The Pharisees are ignorant, but the star demonstrates. He is baptized by a servant, but the voice of God thundering from above is heard. He is plunged in waters, but the dove descends, nay the Spirit in the dove. He comes to passion, and fears to suffer, but wishes to pass by the cup; and he accuses Peter, because Peter feared the cup. What is more prudent than this foolishness, more distinct in variety, more obscure in wisdom, than what God wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord?" Thus far Jerome. Yet properly the Apostle looks to the wisdom of God, which he shows in various ways in the calling of the Gentiles, the rejection of the Jews, the manner and order of calling them, as I have said in the preceding section and in chapter I, verse 11.
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11. ACCORDING TO THE PREDEFINITION OF THE AGES, — κατὰ πρόθεσιν, that is, as Jerome says, according to the purpose of the ages, that is, done from the ages, or before the ages, in other words, According to the eternal decree, by which God had proposed, decreed, and predefined to do and execute this. Whence the Syriac translates, which was to be from the age, but was made in Jesus our Lord. Secondly, "according to the predefinition of the ages," that is, which He made concerning the future ages, concerning the series of ages, and concerning men who in any age from the first to the last are to be, namely, predetermining the age of innocence, then the age of the law of nature, thirdly the age of the law of Moses, fourthly the age of the law of Christ and grace, and decreeing and predetermining in it to call all nations and peoples of those times successively to faith and salvation through Christ; and this is what he means: "Which He made in Christ Jesus." Again, predetermining in the first age of the law of nature to call all the Gentiles to himself, in the second through Moses the Jews alone, leaving the Gentiles, in the third through Christ almost only the Gentiles, whom he had hitherto neglected to call, and conversely to neglect the unbelieving Jews: for this was the circle and conversion of the ages as to faith, grace and salvation, and as it were the secular and circular year of God. Thus Chrysostom and Theophylactus. This second sense is more beautiful and more apt; for in it the manifold and varied wisdom of God is properly beheld. From this multitude and variety of knowledge and wisdom, Christ himself is called πολυόφθαλμος, that is, many-eyed, and the Cherubim, says Anastasius of Sinai, book I of the Hexaemeron. WHICH HE MADE IN CHRIST JESUS. — The pronoun "which" can refer first to "the Church"; secondly to "wisdom," as Jerome does; thirdly and most plainly to "the predefinition," in other words, This predefinition of the ages already mentioned was made through Christ and πρωτομοιχάλωτος, that is, through the merits of Christ. Hence it is clear what I said in chapter I, that not only faith and grace, but also eternal predestination itself, which is in the mind of God (for this is the predefinition of which the Apostle speaks here), was made from the foreseen merits of Christ, in other words, the Apostle means: That in the first age all the Gentiles were to be called to salvation, in the second the Jews, in the third the Gentiles, this was done from the foreseen merits of Christ, on account of which God decreed from eternity to predestine, call, justify and glorify those who believe in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, in any age.
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12. In whom (through whom, namely Christ) WE HAVE CONFIDENCE (in Greek παρρησίαν, that is, as the Syriac has it, boldness of speaking freely, freedom of evangelizing, in other words, By the aid of Christ, namely, I evangelize boldly, freely and intrepidly. Secondly, better here our translator renders it "confidence," by which the mind, through Christ expiated of sins, and now living innocently, being well conscious of itself, trusts that it is in the grace and friendship of God. Whence, when he had said: "In whom we have confidence," he subjoins the effect of this confidence) and access in boldness, — so that namely we may approach God the Father confidently as friends, nay as sons, and say: "Abba Father." THROUGH FAITH IN HIM. — Refer not only to in boldness, in other words, In boldness, whose principle and origin is faith in Christ; but rather to confidence and access, in other words, We have confidence and confident access to the Father through faith in Christ, by which, having obtained remission of sins and justice, we trust that we are in God's grace and favor, and confidently approach God as a most loving father: for faith begets this confidence and boldness. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylactus and the Greeks.
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13. FOR WHICH CAUSE, — namely because we have this confidence and access to God our Father, who is most powerful, that He may strengthen us in all tribulations and drive them away. I BESEECH YOU NOT TO FAINT IN MY TRIBULATIONS FOR YOU (in Greek μὴ ἐγκακεῖν, that is, not to fail, not to grow weary, not to become sluggish, which first can be referred to the first person, as if Paul says of himself, I beseech and pray God that I may not faint in tribulations, that I may not be overcome by them and yield. Thus Jerome and the Syrian. Second, our Interpreter refers it to the second person: that you, namely, O Ephesians, may not faint and lose heart in spirit, seeing me afflicted and bound) FOR YOU, — namely because I preach to you and others Christ and salvation through the Gospel. This second version is the truer: for the Apostle feared more for the Ephesians, weak and new in faith, in persecution, lest they should lose heart in spirit, than for himself, who as a generous fighter and athlete of Christ is accustomed to glory in it. Note: "I beseech," not from God, but from you: for in Greek it is αἰτοῦμαι, that is, I beseech, I demand, I require. Whence St. Augustine, sermon 7 on these words of the Apostle: "I beseech," he says, "from you on account of the judgment of your will; but because this is weak, I pray God that He may give the same to you on account of the aid of His majesty." Whence the Apostle adds: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father." WHICH IS YOUR GLORY. — That is to say, that I, an Apostle and your teacher, am worthy to suffer so much for Christ and your salvation, you ought not to be troubled, ought not to lose heart in spirit, but to exult and glory. Thus Chrysostom. These sufferings are indeed the stigmata and insignia of Christ, Galatians VI, 17, and are preludes of martyrdom.
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14. FOR THIS CAUSE. — He returns after a long hyperbaton (by which he was carried away from the second verse up to this point into the dignity of God and the benefit of the calling of the Gentiles) to the first verse, as I said there. I BOW MY KNEES TO THE FATHER, — with knees bent as a sign of reverence and humility, I pray and beseech God the Father. It is a metalepsis.
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15. FROM WHOM ALL FATHERHOOD IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH IS NAMED. — Note: Just as in Greek from πατήρ, πατριά; and in Syriac from אב ab, אבהותא abahuta: so in Latin from pater, paternitas is said and derived. Whence rightly, whatever Erasmus and Beza may cavil, our Interpreter translated the new Greek name πατριά with the new Latin name paternitas, and thus translated it St. Jerome, Damascenus, lib. I De Fide, cap. IX; the Syrian interpreter of Theophylactus, and others who were most skilled in the Greek language. Whence first, Damascenus thus explains: "The name of fatherhood has been transferred from divine to human fathers." Which understand metonymically, "name," that is the thing signified by the name of fatherhood, or fatherhood itself, which is in men and creatures, descends from God the Father, who first, uncreated and immense Father, communicated to them his fatherhood, so that they too might become and be called fathers; for men themselves first imposed the name of father on men, and thence transferred the same to divine things, and to God the Father: for from human things, as being more known to them, men imposed names on divine things, as other Fathers and Doctors teach everywhere. Therefore Damascenus is to be understood not of the name of Father, but of the thing signified by this name. And this is what St. Thomas and the Scholastics teach, that all created fatherhood is derived from uncreated fatherhood, which is in God the Father. To this St. Jerome agrees: "Just as," he says, "God alone who is good makes good, and God alone who is immortal bestows immortality, and God alone who is true imparts the name of truth: so God alone, the Father, because he is creator of all and the cause of the substance of all things, grants to others that they be called fathers. Let us contemplate heavenly things from earthly. Adam, whom God first formed, and he was his creator and father, certainly knows that he owes to God the Father that he subsisted. Again, those who were born from Adam understand that father from whom they were born. Whence in Luke III, Scripture says: The sons of Seth, the sons of Adam, the sons of God, so as to show that the word of fatherhood on earth originated first from God." And further: "From the fact that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is father according to substance, and the only-begotten is not a son by adoption, but by nature, the other creatures also merited the name of fatherhood by adoption." St. Jerome adds that it is said: "From whom all fatherhood is named, but not born. For it is one thing to merit the appellation of fatherhood, another to have communion by nature," as if to say: The uncreated and divine fatherhood of God cannot be communicated to us, just as neither can God's very essence: for thus we would truly and properly be gods; but only a certain thin participation of the same, from which it comes about that we are called fathers just as God is, but analogically and participatively. Therefore from the lengthy discourse of St. Jerome and the others you may gather this opinion: Fatherhood, he says, in heaven is the generation of the Son, fatherhood on earth is the generation of men and animals, which all flows from God's fatherhood: for all have from him the power of generating, so that they are and are called fathers. You will say, in heaven there is no fatherhood that descends from God's fatherhood. St. Jerome answers that angels equally as men have their own kind of princes, whom they are glad to call fathers: for a prince is and is called the father of his subjects, and principality is a kind of fatherhood. Thus the servants of Naaman call him father, that is lord and prince, IV Kings v, 13. Thus fathers are called by the Latins senators, indeed the Romans scarcely called them by any other name than Conscript Fathers. This sense is appropriate, but not proper and adequate. Whence secondly: Note with St. Jerome, that St. Paul took the Greek πατριά, which our translator renders as paternitas (paternhood), from the Septuagint, who are accustomed to translate the Hebrew משפחה mishpacha, that is family, or tribe (these tribes the Septuagint elsewhere are accustomed to call φυλή), which descends from one head and parent: for since the twelve sons of Jacob among the Jews were the heads and fathers of twelve families and tribes descending from them, hence the Septuagint call the tribe descending from any such father πατριάν, and from πατριά they call the Patriarchs themselves the fathers of tribes and first progenitors, as if to say τῆς πατριάς ἀρχάς, that is the principles of the tribe. Therefore πατριά, or paternhood, or, as the interpreter of Chrysostom translates it, paternal kinship, is a family, or tribe or clan, which is descended from one common father, which St. Jerome against Helvidius calls a kinship group, and thus translates it here. Vatablus does the same. Thus our Interpreter, retaining the Greek πατριά, in Psalm xcv, 7, translates: "Bring unto the Lord, ye families," that is families, tribes, stocks, "of the Gentiles, bring unto the Lord glory and honour." Paternhood therefore is not taken here for the relation of father in the abstract, which Philosophers call paternity: for this in Greek, according to the testimony of Damascene in the place cited, would rather be called πατρότης than πατριά; but metonymically paternhood here is the same as kinship, which descends from the same father, or from paternity. For father or paternhood and kinship are as it were correlative, and one includes the other; for a father is the father of a kinship, and a kinship is the kinship of a father, as if the Apostle said: God the Father is not only the father of Christ, but also the father of all, both of men and of angels, so that Jews and Gentiles, men and angels are related through God as a common parent: for he himself is the father of all families, not only corporeal, but also spiritual, namely of Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones and other orders. For although these families have their own proper and distinct fathers and princes, yet all have a common father and prince, God, from whom all descend: and therefore to God the Father there belongs not only paternity and eternal generation, with respect to his Son, but also temporal generation through creation in all heavenly and earthly tribes and kinships, and consequently by all in heaven and on earth he is to be named, celebrated (as I said in chapter I, verse 21), honoured and loved in return as a Father. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Theodoret, Oecumenius, indeed even St. Jerome. Note thirdly: The Apostle opposes one God the Father to the many principles and gods of Simon Magus and Hesiod (who wrote his Theogony, that is the generation of gods), and of other Poets and Philosophers of the Gentiles. Again, lest the Jews boast that their God is the true God, not the God of the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles ought to seek another God, the Apostle, refuting them, says that God is the common father of all, both Gentiles and Jews; and therefore the Jews ought not to marvel if the Gentiles, equally as the Jews, are now called by the common parent to salvation through Christ and through Christ's Apostles, and conversely the Gentiles ought confidently, equally as the Jews, to approach Christ and God as to a common parent. Is named, — that is exists, has its being and its origin, is derived and descends; so that by right from God the Father a name can be received, and a family, tribe or kinship of God can be named from him, which has God as its father, from whom, as from a first exemplar and efficient cause, all families and kinships, and all fathers and heads of families, and all generative power, fruitfulness and paternity flow forth and emanate as from the great and universal father: for thus the Hebrews take naming or being named metonymically for existence. Thus in Isaiah VII, 14, Christ is said to be called Emmanuel, that is he will be Emmanuel, because God will be with us, which is what Emmanuel signifies. Thus in Isaiah VIII, 3, Christ is said to be called "Make haste to spoil, hasten to take the prey," that is he will be swift in despoiling demons and his enemies, and swift in plundering them. For we do not read anywhere that these two names were imposed on Christ, and that Christ was named thus, but it is most certain that the thing signified by either name befits Christ.
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16. THAT HE WOULD GRANT YOU ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY (that is, of His glorious grace) to be strengthened (in Greek δυνάμει, that is, in fortitude, constancy and strength of spirit against all persecutions and temptations) (namely that you may be strengthened in the weakness of your nature) by His Spirit IN THE INNER MAN, — so that the inner man, that is, the mind regenerated by the grace and spirit of God (for the Apostle calls this the inner man, as I said at Rom. VII, 22), may grow in the same grace and strength of spirit. Note: The preposition in with the accusative signifies increase. Thus we are said to go from virtue to virtue; thus the justice of God is said to be revealed in the Gospel from faith to faith. See what is said at Rom. I, 17. The Royal Bible, however, and some others read, in the inner man; and thus the Greek εἰς with the accusative is often taken for ἐν, that is, in, with the ablative. Then the sense is plain, namely that he wishes them to be strengthened in the inner man, that is, in the mind, intellect, will, and other internal powers and faculties of the soul: for these, or rather man, insofar as he consists of these and lives by these, is called the inner man: just as conversely the same man is called outer, insofar as he consists of external senses and limbs, lives by them, and operates and indulges in them. In this sense, therefore, outer and inner man are taken naturally; in the former sense, supernaturally. See what is said at II Cor. IV, 16.
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17. THAT CHRIST MAY DWELL (repeat, 'may God the Father grant you' that Christ may dwell) BY FAITH, etc. ROOTED AND FOUNDED IN CHARITY, — supply, that you may be; otherwise it should be said, rooted and founded. But the Roman and Anselmus join these with what follows thus: 'Rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend,' etc.
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18. That you may be able to comprehend (that is, to conceive and understand in your mind) with all the saints, — that is, says Ambrose, with the Apostles, Prophets and Christians, both those still warring here, and rather those triumphing in heaven and blessed with the vision of God. WHAT IS THE BREADTH, AND LENGTH, AND HEIGHT, AND DEPTH. — Note first, that the Apostle here joins with dimensions the differences of positions: for there are only three dimensions, length, breadth, thickness; but height and depth correspond to τῷ upward and downward, which are differences of positions; thickness therefore is here resolved into height and depth as into its extremes. Thus these four are to be joined and distinguished, not as they are in a body, but as they are in a house, where depth is the foundation, height is the roof, length is the longer side or wall, breadth is the shorter side. Note second, the Apostle seems to strike at the fables of heretics and poets, such as the βάθος or depth of the gods of Hesiod, and the dimensions attributed to Christ by Elxai, concerning which Epiphanius, lib. I, cap. XIX and XXX: "Elxai," he says, "describes Christ to be a certain power of measure twenty-four schoenoi in length, that is ninety-six miles, in breadth six schoenoi, that is twenty-four miles, and he measures the thickness similarly, and the feet, and the rest of the fables." Such also were the thirty Aeons of Valentinus, as if the Apostle were saying: Poets, Valentinus and heretics boast of their gods' βάθος, that is depth, their πλήρωμα, that is fullness, length, breadth, height; but fabulously: but I truly proclaim and demonstrate these very things to be in Christ the God of Christians. Note third, that the Scriptures are to be taken most generally, because their author, the Holy Spirit, as He has the most ample understanding and conception, so also has the most ample speech. Whence He intends various senses even literal, if they suit the matter and place, especially if they are subordinate and connected, and all conspire and are directed toward one goal as it were. Thus St. Augustine, lib. XII Confess., cap. XXX. Whence the Apostle says generally and indeterminately: "What is the breadth, length, height and depth," not explaining, nor determining of what thing he understands the length, breadth, etc. Wherefore the Fathers explain this passage in various and manifold ways, and all probably. See here the fruitfulness of Holy Scripture. I say therefore first: The Apostle speaks here of the benefit of the economy and redemption of Christ, by which He called not only the Jews, but all the Gentiles to salvation, grace and blessedness, and wishes by this phrase to signify how great this mystery of Christ was, and how absolute in all its numbers and parts; for it follows: "To know also the supereminent charity of Christ." The dimensions of Christ therefore or of the charity of Christ he describes here. The same is evident from the preceding verses 3, 4, 6, 8, 11 and others, in which he does nothing other than proclaim and admire this sacrament and mystery of Christ. Whence it is clear that this sense is genuine and properly intended by the Apostle. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Theodoret, Oecumenius. If you wish to adapt each to each, you can thus: "What is the breadth," that is how widely this mystery, the charity and beneficence of Christ, extends, namely to all nations and men, who were, are and shall be before the law, in the law, after the law; "what is the length," that is how far this mystery was predefined, namely from eternity; "what is the depth," that is how deeply, namely to the lower regions, the power of Christ extends itself; "what is the height," that is how sublimely, namely above all the heavens, Christ has exalted the firstfruits of us and will exalt us. Thus Oecumenius. Second, these dimensions can be understood of Christ as He is God; whence follows: "That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God," where in Greek it is πλήρωμα, which was one of the Aeons, or gods of Valentinus, to which the Apostle opposes its true πλήρωμα, that is, the fullness of God. For although all dimensions in God are one, namely one immensity, and God is as it were a certain intelligible sphere without dimensions, as Ambrose explains; whence also Empedocles, when asked what God was, answered: He is a circle whose center is everywhere, the circumference nowhere; because namely God is everywhere wholly, yet is not enclosed by any boundary of heaven or earth, but His immensity extends beyond the heavens through those immense empty spaces infinitely. Hence Job rightly describing it, cap. XI, vers. 8: "It is higher, he says, than heaven, and what wilt thou do? it is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." And thus Ambrose here by long, broad, high, deep understands the immensity of God. Yet we can distinguish these dimensions in God by analogy and likeness to creatures, or so that those in creatures are distinguished: and thus God's length is eternity; breadth is omnipotence, as St. Thomas, or, as Bernard and Gregory, is charity; sublimity is God's majesty; depth is the abyss of God's judgments and wisdom. Thus Anselm, St. Thomas, Cajetan. And most beautifully St. Bernard, lib. V De Consider., at the end: "The Divine, he says, essence, though it be one thing, is yet length on account of eternity, breadth on account of charity, sublimity on account of majesty, depth on account of wisdom; this is God's chariot; we comprehend this with two arms, of fear and love; fear responds to the sublime and profound, love to the long and broad; or by four virtues: for we hold and comprehend length by perseverance, breadth by charity, majesty by veneration and adoration, wisdom and the abyss of judgments by fear and humility. To these also four kinds of contemplation correspond: for meditation on the promises comprehends length, recollection of benefits breadth, contemplation of majesty sublimity, inspection of judgments depth." Thus Bernard. Somewhat differently St. Gregory, lib. XI Moral., cap. X and XI, in that passage, "Higher than heaven," etc., by breadth understands God's charity; by length, long-suffering; by sublimity, the incomprehensibility of God, by which, though seen most clearly by the Saints in heaven, He cannot be comprehended; by depth, the incomprehensibility of God's judgments in punishing the damned. Third, this passage can be understood of the dimensions of the cross: for the cross was the instrument of Christ's redemption. Where note: There can be only three straight lines which perpendicularly, that is, at right angles intersect one another mutually, namely two lying in a plane, and a third standing upon them, and penetrating both at their meeting point into depth, or downward. And these three lines make a threefold cross: for the other lines besides these three lateral lines intersecting one another make angles not right but acute. And hence Mathematicians collected three dimensions, or species of quantity, long, broad, thick or deep, which the Apostle has here, as our Clavius rightly noted in I Euclid; these dimensions therefore are made by the threefold cross. Whence also here fittingly the cross of Christ can be understood and explained by it. For which reason again note: Gregory of Nyssa, in his first oration On the Resurrection, wishes the Apostle to allude to the four horns of the cross, and the highest horn to be called the height, the lowest to be called the depth, and one transverse to be called the length, the other the breadth. Basil, John of Damascus, and Sedulius add, according to James Gretser, book I On the Cross, chapter III, the reason why the cross had these four dimensions and horns, namely that it might be signified that the four regions of the world and the whole terrestrial globe pertain to the cross or are called to it. And therefore Nyssa calls the cross the bond of the universe. Whence secondly, Sedulius: "The top of the cross or its height, he says, is the East; the depth or the bottom is the West; the right horn is the North; the left is the South." Thirdly and most excellently, the length is the shaft of the cross, the breadth is the smaller transverse wood for the arms; the height is added if you raise up the cross (for height is the summit of the cross raised up); the depth is the bottom of the cross fixed in the earth. Thus nearly Augustine in Psalm CIII, and epistle 102: "There was, he says, breadth in which the hands were stretched out; length rising from the earth, in which the body was fixed; height from that sloping part rising upward which stands out (in this Augustine differs somewhat from us); depth where the cross was fixed, and there is all the hope of our life." From the cross therefore St. Jerome, Nyssa, Bede, Anselm, and most beautifully Augustine, sermon 7 On the Words of the Apostle, understand this passage of the Apostle. And this first, literally according to the genuine sense which I gave in the first place, so that the length of the cross is its eternal predestination; the breadth is its power and virtue, which extends itself to all men of all times; the depth is that the power of the cross descended to hell, when it freed the souls of the fathers from limbo and Purgatory; the sublimity is that it conveyed these and many others into heaven. Again, according to the second sense concerning Christ God given there, we can adapt the same things to the cross, namely that we might regard and admire in the cross the length of God, that is, the eternal decree; the breadth, that is, charity and power; the height, that is, majesty; the depth, that is, wisdom, or all these things as it were affixed to the cross, because the same things were crucified with God. Furthermore, that God communicated to his cross his length, that is, eternity, so that the power of the cross might be eternal, and what many wish, that the cross of Christ as a trophy might endure in the heavens eternally, and that thus God as it were eternalized his cross; thus also God communicated to the cross his breadth, that is, power, because through the weakness of the cross and death he conquered and crushed the most powerful enemies; thus communicated his sublimity, that is, majesty, so that the cross might be adored by all; thus his depth, that is, wisdom, because not by power, but by supreme equity, by wonderful art and wisdom devised, namely by assuming flesh and undergoing the cross and death, Christ satisfied God for our offense, and thus through the cross redeemed man: so that he who conquered in the wood might also be conquered in the wood. Secondly, these dimensions of the cross as the cross is can be understood properly; because indeed in verse 13, the Apostle had said to the Ephesians: "Be not discouraged in my tribulations," but in them, he says in verse 16, "be strengthened with power," hence he adds a stimulus to them by proposing the example of Christ, as if to say: I pray God that in your cross and tribulation he might give you to think and to comprehend in mind the depth of the cross of Christ (so that you might be comforted and encouraged by it), that is, the intensity of the pains and ignominies of Christ crucified; and the length, by which namely through the thirty-four years in which he lived, he suffered this cross, these pains, either in body, or in mind, or in spirit, foreseeing them impending upon him; and the breadth, by which namely in all members and powers of the soul, from all mankind, indeed from God and angels, by whom he was forsaken, and suffered all kinds of punishments Christ, and was despoiled of all goods and fortune and fame and honor and life; and the sublimity, by which Christ crucified with sublime consideration and most perfect knowledge both of God offended and of the gravity of our offense and of the cross, of the punishments inflicted upon him or to be inflicted upon him, and of the many to be damned, for whom all his pains would be useless, not only on the cross but throughout his whole life grieved most heavily and tormented himself. Whence tropologically, deriving these things into us, Anselm, in the book On the Measure of the Cross, toward the end: "The cross," he says, "is the torment of the heart because we do not serve God better. We ought therefore to have torment, because we are not," he says, "humbled, O Lord, as much as we ought, and this is the depth of the cross; because we do not praise and love you as much as your goodness demands, and this is the height; because we are not so faithful as to draw others to your praise, and this is the breadth; because we do not always continue your praise, and this is the length." Thirdly, morally these dimensions of the cross can be understood with St. Augustine, so that the length of the cross, both of Christ's and of ours, is perseverance; the breadth is charity; the height is religion, hope, love, prayer, and all communication and union with God; the depth is the mystery of predestination, why the cross benefits one, not another: whence arises fear and profound humility. These three expositions of the cross can be accommodated in like manner to the other two expositions already mentioned, and to the two following, namely the fourth and fifth to be discussed. Therefore, fourthly, this passage can be understood of the dimensions of a spiritual building, that is, of the fourfold perfection both of the Church of Christ and of the soul of any Christian, and of charity, and consequently of any Christian virtue: for it preceded: "Rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend." And: "That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts," so that namely these dimensions are referred to him. Whence concerning this building, in the preceding chapter, verse 20, he said: "Built upon the foundation of the Apostles," etc., and again he treats of the same in the following chapter, verses 12 and 16. Thus St. Jerome, Augustine, Anselm, Gregory, homily 6 on Ezekiel, at the end. The dimensions of the Church therefore are these: its height is heaven, or the heavenly and blessed Jerusalem; its depth is hell: for this is the Church's prison, whose parts are limbo and Purgatory; the length of the Church is that it is of all times and ages; the breadth is that it is of all lands and nations. Or mathematically, as St. Jerome, the Church's length is its diffusion, by which it extends from East to West; breadth, by which it extends from South to North. Again, as Anselm says, the spiritual Church's length is long-suffering hope; breadth is charity; height is heavenly life among the angels: for our conversation is in heaven; depth is faith, baptism and the other Sacraments of the Church. In like proportion the soul's length is faith, breadth is hope, height is charity, depth is humility. Or secondly, length is perseverance, breadth is charity, height is hope of heaven, depth is fear of God's judgments. Whence St. Augustine, volume X, homily 3 among 50: "I," he says, "am accustomed to understand Paul's words thus, in breadth the good works of charity, in length perseverance unto the end, in height hope of heavenly rewards, in depth the inscrutable judgments of God, whence this grace of God comes to men:" from which arises fear, humility and solidity of any virtue. To this can also be referred another exposition of Jerome concerning the last things: "Height," he says, "is heaven, depth is hell, the middle length, and breadth is access to one or the other." Finally these can be applied to charity; for the Apostle premised concerning it: "Rooted in charity," and immediately subjoins concerning the same: "To know also the surpassing knowledge of the charity of Christ," which namely Christ has in himself and communicates to his Christians. Whence Vatablus thus explains this: "What is the length," etc., that is, how long, broad, deep and high is the goodness of God. The length of charity therefore is its continuance and constant perseverance; breadth is the extension by which charity extends itself to all, both angels and men, both enemies and friends, and all creatures; depth is its intensity and fervor; height is its excellence and heroic acts, for example martyrdom, which is as it were the apex of charity; or height is its object and elevation, by which charity elevates itself to the one God whom it loves, and despises all things under him. Apply all these things in like manner to any other Christian virtue. This passage can fifth be understood here with Anselm almost anagogically (for the preceding was almost tropologically: but in such a way that both, namely both this anagogy and that tropology, is literal) concerning the dimensions of the city and of heavenly beatitude, of which in Apoc. xxi, 16, it is said: "The length, breadth and height thereof are equal." Under height also understand depth: for length signifies the eternity of joys, breadth the extension, height the sublimity, depth the intensity and immersion in the abyss of divinity. These are equal, because they endure always in equal measure. Whence here the Apostle says: "That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints." For this is the property of the Blessed; and these dimensions of the joys of heaven aptly correspond to the dimensions of the sufferings of the cross of Christ, of which we spoke in the third sense. For from the cross, charity and merits of Christ all the aforesaid dimensions flow forth. Wherefore the cross of Christ and his merits are the measure by which that great building is measured. Wherefore he who had clear knowledge of the works and merits of Christ, as Paul had, he would rightly comprehend this manifold breadth, length, sublimity and depth. This Paul insinuates when he said, verse 8: "To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." For the riches of Christ are his merits, by which he merited for us all these dimensions of grace and glory, as Alcazar rightly noted, Apoc. cap. XXI, verse 15. All these senses appear true, all sufficiently apt for this passage and the indefinite proposition of the Apostle. Whence they appear to be all intended by the Holy Spirit and suggested to diverse Fathers: the first however appears most genuine. Thus therefore briefly and in order embrace all, and gather them into one, so that the sense be, and the Apostle speak of the dimensions of Christ, both as God and as man, and particularly of his cross, likewise also of its fruit and conformity in us both in this life and in the future: for the same are the dimensions of Christ and the Church, which dimensions of the Church and of any faithful and holy soul in the Church are communicated by Christ.
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19. TO KNOW ALSO THE SUPEREMINENT CHARITY OF CHRIST EXCEEDING KNOWLEDGE. — St. Augustine, epistle 120, and St. Ambrose read, to know the supereminent knowledge of the charity of Christ: but the Greek and Latin Bible have "of knowledge," not "knowledge." Second, St. Jerome, Erasmus and Vatable take "of knowledge" in the genitive, as if to say, I pray God that he give us an excellent love of knowledge and science, that you may desire to know and understand the mysteries of the Christian faith. Third and better, others commonly take "of knowledge" in the dative; for it is governed by "supereminent," as if to say, the Charity which surpasses and excels knowledge. Whence St. Augustine, in the book On Grace and Free Will, cap. XIX: "When," he says, "the Apostle says, The charity of Christ exceeding knowledge, what is more senseless than to think that from God comes knowledge which is to be subjected to charity; and from men comes charity which surpasses knowledge." Where St. Augustine explains this passage concerning knowledge and charity in general, as if the Apostle said: Charity far surpasses all knowledge; as he taught more fully in 1 Corinthians XIII. But because the Apostle does not say charity absolutely, but limits it by adding: "The charity of Christ," and because throughout this chapter he has spoken of the charity exhibited to us in Christ, hence fourth and most simply, "the charity of Christ," that is which Christ exhibited to us, he calls "exceeding knowledge," that is greater than it can be known, understood and comprehended, as if to say, The charity of Christ is so great that it surpasses all human knowledge and science. Thus Theophylactus, Oecumenius and Ambrose, who says: "After the infinite and incomprehensible knowledge of God the Father, and his unspeakable mercy, he also wishes us to know the charity of Christ, which is supereminent (for thus it seems it should be read in Ambrose, not "of the supereminent") to knowledge: for who can gather the reason of this mystery of charity, that God himself for man's sake becomes man, then dies for men, the Lord for servants, the Creator for creatures, the Merciful for the impious?" THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED UNTO ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. — First, some according to Theophylactus and Oecumenius: The fullness of God, they say, is the holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as if to say, That you may fully know the holy Trinity, its attributes and the dimensions already mentioned, love, adore and please them. Second and better, Theophylactus and others, as if to say, That you may be filled with all wisdom, virtue and perfection, especially with the charity with which God is full; or, that you may be filled with the knowledge of God and the fullness of all divine goods.
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20. TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO ALL THINGS MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN WE ASK OR UNDERSTAND. — The Greek sense is clearer and the spirit more powerful: τῷ καὶ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν, that is, to him who is able to do beyond all things abundantly beyond those things which we ask or understand, that is, who is able to do all things in an excellent manner, more and more abundantly than we ask or understand, as if to say: I hope that God, who is so liberal as to exceed our wishes, will also fulfill and exceed this wish of mine, that you be filled with all the fullness of God; and that he may fulfill and exceed it, I silently ask and beseech him for this. Note the meiosis, "is able," that is, can, and in fact does, and is accustomed to do. A similar passage is II Corinthians, chapter IX, verse 8, as I said there. ACCORDING TO THE VIRTUE WHICH WORKETH IN US. — κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν, according to the force and power, that is, the grace and spirit, which powerfully impels us to the arduous works of virtue, as if to say: That God is able, indeed willing to do more than I ask or understand, is evident from such great force and power of his grace, which he actually gives, and which we experience daily beyond all our hope and thought.
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21. TO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH, AND IN CHRIST JESUS. — The Greek texts do not have the conjunction and, and thus the sense is fuller, as if to say: Let God be glorified in your Church through Christ Jesus, from whom you have received such great goods and such great graces.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Supra commemoravit apostolus multa Dei beneficia humano generi et ipsis apostolis collata, hic commemorat specialia Dei beneficia sibi tradita. Primo ergo proponit intentionem suam in generali; secundo exponit per partes in speciali, ibi quoniam secundum revelationem, et cetera. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponit suam conditionem quantum ad patientiam et tribulationes quas pertulit; secundo quantum ad dona gratiae quae Deus sibi contulit, ibi si tamen audistis, et cetera. Dicit ergo: dixi in quo et vos coaedificamini, etc., huius rei gratia, id est ut aedificemini et convertamini ad Christum, ego Paulus, qui tantus sum, quia apostolus Iesu Christi et magister gentium in fide et veritate, nunc vinctus Romae. Nam hanc epistolam de urbe scripsit, ubi in vinculis tenebatur. II Tim. II, 9: laboro usque ad vincula quasi male operans. Infra IV, 1: obsecro vos itaque ego Paulus vinctus in domino. Ex quo apparet eius tribulatio et passio in squalore carceris. Sed quia poena non facit martyrem sed causa, ideo addit suarum tribulationum causam. Duplex est autem causa pro qua quis martyrii causam prosequitur. Una si patiatur pro fide Christi, vel pro quacumque alia virtute. I Petr. IV, 15: nemo vestrum patiatur quasi homicida, aut maledicus, aut alienorum appetitor, si autem ut Christianus, non erubescat. Et quantum ad hoc dicit vinctus Christi Iesu. Alia, si patiatur pro Ecclesiae utilitate, et quantum ad hoc ait pro vobis gentibus, id est tantum intendo conversionem vestram, et verbum salutis vobis praedico, quod traditus sum carceri. II Cor. I, 6: tribulamur pro vestra exhortatione et salute. Col. I, 24: nunc gaudeo in passionibus pro vobis.
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Consequenter cum dicit si tamen audistis, etc., ponit donum gratiae sibi commissum, quasi dicat: dico quod sum pro vobis gentibus vinctus, si tamen audistis, id est intellexistis, dispensationem gratiae, quae data est mihi pro vobis. Quod potest intelligi dupliciter. Uno modo ut dispensatio accipiatur passive, et sit sensus si tamen audistis dispensationem gratiae, etc., id est si intellexistis quod mihi hoc donum, scilicet apostolatus in gentibus, est dispensatum. Nam, ut dicitur infra IV, 7: unicuique data est gratia secundum mensuram donationis Christi. Et infra: ipse dedit quosdam quidem apostolos, quosdam autem prophetas, et cetera. Unde mihi dispensatum est a domino Christo, id est venit in sortem, gratia Dei haec ut in vobis fructum faciam. Col. I, 23: factus sum ego minister, et cetera. Dico dispensationem Dei quae data est mihi in vobis, id est eorum dispensatio tradita est mihi. Alio modo, ut dispensatio accipiatur active, ut sit sensus si tamen audistis dispensationem, etc., id est si intellexistis quod mihi datum sit, ut dona gratiae dispensem per communicationem sacramentorum, et hoc in vobis. I Cor. IV, 1: sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi.
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Consequenter cum dicit quoniam secundum revelationem, etc., manifestat conditionem suam per partes et in speciali. Circa quod duo facit, quia primo ponit quod pertinet ad dignitatem officii, scilicet dispensationem gratiae; secundo illud quod pertinet ad experientiam patientiae, scilicet tribulationem, ibi quapropter peto ne deficiatis, et cetera. Prima iterum in duas. Primo ostendit gratiae dispensationem quantum ad diversorum mysteriorum cognitionem; secundo quantum ad ipsorum executionem, ibi cuius factus sum minister, et cetera. Prima iterum in duas. Primo ponit mysteriorum Christi sibi datam cognitionem; secundo exponit quod sit istud mysterium, ibi esse gentes cohaeredes, et cetera. Circa cognitionem suam tria facit. Primo quod sit certa, secundo quod sit plena, tertio quod sit excellens. Certa quidem est, quia non est per humanam industriam, nec per humanam intentionem, quae falli potest, Sap. IX, 14: cogitationes enim mortalium timidae, et incertae providentiae nostrae, sed per legem divinam quae certissima est. Et ideo dicit quoniam secundum revelationem, et cetera. Gal. I, v. 12: neque enim ego ab homine accepi illud, neque didici; sed per revelationem Iesu Christi. II Cor. III, 18: nos vero revelata facie gloriam domini speculantes, et cetera. Item plena est, quia perfecte revelatum est mihi, et committo vestro iudicio, quia ego in verbis paucis hoc expressi, in quibus cognoscere potestis quod perfectam cognitionem habeam de mysteriis fidei. Et quantum ad hoc dicit sicut scripsi in brevi, id est in paucis verbis, ita aperte, quod eo modo hoc potestis legentes intelligere. Cant. IV, 11: favus distillans labia tua, et cetera. Labium quidem breve quid est. Et sic labia doctoris sunt favus distillans, quando brevibus et paucis verbis multa et magna insinuat. Sed attende, ut dicit Augustinus, quod debet intendere hoc doctor, quod scilicet intelligatur. Et quamdiu ad hoc laborat, verba sua non sunt superflua, sed si postquam intelligitur, eis immoratur, superflua sunt eius verba. Dicit autem prudentiam meam, secundum illud Prov. IX, 10: scientia sanctorum prudentia.
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Quae quidem non est mundana sed divina et caelestis, propter quod dicit in mysterio Christi.
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Est etiam excellens, quia solis apostolis est revelata; unde subdit quod aliis generationibus non est agnitum. Licet enim mysteria Christi prophetis et patriarchis fuerint revelata, non tamen ita clare sicut apostolis. Nam prophetis et patriarchis fuerunt revelata in quadam generalitate; sed apostolis manifestata sunt quantum ad singulares et determinatas circumstantias. Hoc autem quod dicit quod aliis generationibus, etc., potest dupliciter exponi. Uno modo ut per generationes tempora generationum accipiantur, iuxta illud Ps. CXLIV, v. 13: dominatio tua in omni generatione, et generatione. Et tunc est sensus, quod aliis generationibus, id est temporibus, non est agnitum filiis hominum, id est rationalibus creaturis, scilicet nec hominibus, nec Angelis. Matth. XI, 25: abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. Sicut nunc revelatum est sanctis apostolis eius et prophetis in spiritu, ipsis scilicet in eo spiritu novi testamenti interpretantibus Scripturas, et explanantibus legem. Lc. c. VIII, 9: vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei, caeteris autem, et cetera. Lc. X, 23: beati oculi qui vident quae vos videtis, et infra XXIV: dico autem vobis, quod multi reges et prophetae voluerunt videre quae vos videtis, et non viderunt, et cetera. Alio modo potest exponi ut per generationes accipiantur homines generati, secundum illud Matth. XXIII, 36: venient haec omnia super generationem istam, et cetera. Et tunc est sensus quod aliis generationibus, id est hominibus in praecedentibus generationibus generatis, non est cognitum, etc., sicut prius. Unde Is. LIII, 1: quis credidit auditui nostro, et brachium domini cui revelatum est? Sed hoc quidem sacramentum fidei revelatum est aliquibus patribus veteris testamenti, secundum illud Io. VIII, 56: Abraham pater vester exultavit ut videret diem meum; vidit, et gavisus est. Et etiam prophetis, secundum illud Ioel II, 28: post haec effundam de spiritu meo super omnem carnem, et prophetabunt filii vestri et filiae vestrae. Sed eis quidem revelatum est in quadam generalitate, apostolis vero clare et perfecte. Et hoc propter tria. Primo quia ipsi apostoli habuerunt revelationem immediate a filio Dei, secundum illud Io. I, 18: unigenitus filius qui est in sinu patris, ipse enarravit. Prophetae vero et patres veteris testamenti, ipsi edocti sunt per Angelos, vel per aliquas similitudines. Unde dicitur Is. VI, 6: volavit ad me unus de Seraphim, et in manu eius calculus, quem, et cetera. Et ideo ipsi apostoli clarius acceperunt. Secundo, quia non in figuris et in aenigmatibus, sicut prophetae, viderunt, sed revelata facie gloriam domini speculantes. Lc. X, 23: beati oculi qui vident quae vos videtis. Tertio, quia apostoli constituti fuerunt executores et dispensatores huius sacramenti, et ideo oportebat quod melius ipsi essent instructi quam alii. Io. IV, 38: alii laboraverunt, et vos in labores eorum introistis. Consequenter cum dicit esse gentes, etc., manifestat quid sit illud sacramentum. Circa quod sciendum est quod Iudaei triplicem praerogativam habebant respectu gentilium, scilicet promissionis haereditatis. Rom. c. IV, 13: non enim per legem promissio Abrahae, aut semini eius, ut haeres esset mundi, sed per iustitiam fidei. Ps. XV, 5: dominus pars haereditatis meae, et cetera. Item per specialem a gentibus aliis distinctionem et electionem. Deut. VII, 6: te elegit dominus Deus tuus, ut sis ei populus peculiaris de cunctis populis qui sunt super terram. Unde Ps. XCIX, 3: nos autem populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Cant. VI, 8: una est columba mea, perfecta mea, et cetera. Item per Christi promissionem. Gen. XII, 3: in te benedicentur universae cognationes terrae. Haec autem tria gentes non habebant. Supra II, 12: qui eratis illo tempore sine Christo, alienati a conversatione Israel. Sed ad haec tria recepti sunt per fidem. Primo quidem, quantum ad participationem haereditatis, et, quantum ad hoc, dicit cohaeredes, scilicet ipsis Iudaeis in haereditate caelesti. Matth. VIII, 11: multi ab oriente et occidente venient, et recumbent cum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum, et cetera. Secundo ad speciale collegium fidelium, et, quantum ad hoc, dicit et concorporales, id est in unum corpus. Io. X, 16: alias oves habeo quae non sunt ex hoc ovili, id est gentes, et illas oportet me adducere, et vocem meam audient, et fiet unum ovile et unus pastor. Tertio, ad participationem gratiae repromissae, et quantum ad hoc dicit et comparticipes, scilicet promissionum quae factae sunt Abrahae. Rom. XV, 8: dico autem Christum fuisse ministrum circumcisionis propter veritatem Dei ad confirmandas promissiones patrum, gentes autem super misericordia honorare Deum. Et haec omnia consecutae sunt gentes non per Moysem, sed in Christo. Io. I, 17: lex per Moysem data est, gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est. II Petr. I, 4: per quem maxima et pretiosa nobis promissa donavit, et cetera. Item, nec per impletionem legis, quia hoc est iugum quod neque patres nostri, neque nos portare potuimus, ut dicitur Act. XV, 10, sed per Evangelium, per quod omnes salvantur. Rom. I, 16: non enim erubesco Evangelium, virtus enim Dei est in salutem omni credenti. I Cor. XV, 1: notum vobis facio Evangelium quod praedicavi vobis, quod et accepistis, in quo et statis, per quod et salvamini.
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Postquam ostendit apostolus esse sibi gratiam dispensatam quantum ad mysteriorum divinorum cognitionem, hic ostendit hoc idem quantum ad ipsorum mysteriorum executionem. Et circa hoc duo facit. Primo commemorat auxilium gratiae praestitum sibi ad exequendum; secundo, ostendit sibi commissum officium ministerii, ibi mihi omnium sanctorum minimo, et cetera. Prima in duas. Primo tangit ministeriorum divinorum executionem; secundo ostendit auxilium sibi datum ad exequendum, ibi secundum donum gratiae, et cetera. Executio autem divinorum sibi commissa est per modum ministerii, et quantum ad hoc dicit: dico quod hoc ministerium est mihi commissum, scilicet gentes esse cohaeredes per Evangelium, per quod gentes participes fiunt promissionis Dei in Christo Iesu, cuius ego Paulus factus sum minister, etc.; quasi dicat: non ego impleo vel exequor ut a me vel ut meum, sed sicut ministerium quod Dei est. Act. IX, 15: vas electionis est mihi iste, et cetera. Unde apostolus I Cor. IV, 1: sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei.
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Deinde cum dicit secundum donum gratiae, etc., tangit auxilium sibi praestitum ad ministeriorum executionem. Huiusmodi autem auxilium duplex fuit. Unum quidem ipsa facultas exequendi, aliud ipsa operatio, sive actualitas. Facultatem autem dat Deus infundendo virtutem et gratiam, per quas efficitur homo potens et aptus ad operandum; sed ipsam operationem confert inquantum operatur in nobis interius movendo et instigando ad bonum. Et ideo hoc accipiens apostolus a Deo, dicit quantum ad primum: dico quod factus sum minister, sed certe non meis meritis, nec virtute propria, sed secundum donum gratiae Dei quae data est mihi, quia scilicet idoneus efficior ad executionem divinorum mysteriorum, qui fui prius persecutor. I Cor. XV. 10: plus omnibus laboravi, non ego, sed gratia Dei mecum. Quantum ad secundum dicit secundum operationem, quam Deus efficit, inquantum virtus eius operatur in nobis et velle et perficere pro bona voluntate. Potest autem hoc aliter exponi secundum Glossam, ut quod dictum est modo referatur ad praecedentia, scilicet dicatur quod esse gentes cohaeredes et concorporales, et comparticipes promissionis eius, scilicet Dei patris, hoc quidem donum dedit Deus gentibus in Christo, id est per Christum, et hoc secundum operationem virtutis eius, id est per hoc quod potenter operatus est, suscitando Christum a morte. Consequenter cum dicit mihi enim sanctorum minimo, etc., ostendit officium commissum, cuius quidem commissionis gratia commendatur ex tribus. Primo quidem ex personae suae conditione; secundo ex commissorum magnitudine, ibi evangelizare investigabiles, etc.; tertio ex fructus utilitate, ibi ut innotescat, et cetera. Commendat igitur officium sibi commissum ex personae conditione. Si enim rex aliquis, aliquod quidem magnum officium alicui magno principi et excellenti committeret, non multum ei magnam gratiam faceret, quantum ad hunc magnum, si poneret in magno officio; sed si magnum et arduissimum officium alicui parvo committat, multum eum magnificat, et magnam gratiam facit ei, et tanto magis quanto officii excellentia excedit ipsum.
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Secundum ergo hunc modum Paulus gratiam sibi commissi officii commendat, dicens mihi enim omnium sanctorum minimo data est gratia haec. Et vocat se minimum, non ex potestate sibi commissa, sed ex consideratione status praeteriti. I Cor. XV, 9: ego sum minimus apostolorum, qui non sum dignus vocari apostolus, quoniam persecutus sum Ecclesiam Dei. Is. LX, 22: minimus erit in mille, et parvulus in gentem fortissimam. Et hoc in gentibus, id est inter gentes, Gal. II, 8-9: qui enim operatus est Petro in apostolatum circumcisionis, operatus est et mihi inter gentes. Et cum cognovissent gratiam Dei, quae data est mihi inter gentes, et cetera. Secundo commendatur huiusmodi commissionis gratia ex officii magnitudine, quod est revelare et manifestare secreta Dei, quae sunt magna et occulta, puta, de magnitudine Christi et de salute fidelium facta per eum. De his autem duobus est totum Evangelium. Quantum ad primum dicit evangelizare, etc., quasi dicat: haec gratia data est mihi ut annuntiem bonum. I Cor. I, 17: non misit me Christus baptizare, sed evangelizare. Et ibidem IX, 16: vae enim mihi si non evangelizavero. Et bonum hoc, scilicet investigabiles Christi divitias, quae sunt verae divitiae. Supra c. II, 4: Deus autem qui dives est in misericordia, et cetera. Rom. II, 4: an divitias bonitatis eius, et patientiae, et longanimitatis contemnis? et cetera. Rom. X, 12: dives in omnes qui invocant illum. Quasi dicat: divitiae istae vere investigabiles sunt, quia tanta est misericordia eius, quod intelligi vel investigari non possit. Is. XXXIII, 6: divitiae salutis sapientia, et scientia, timor domini ipse thesaurus eius, scilicet Christi, quia in Christo abundantissime fuit timor domini. Is. XI, 3: replebit eum spiritus timoris domini. In Christo enim sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi Col. II, 3, et haec sunt investigabiles, quia perfecte sapientia et scientia Christi investigari non possunt. Iob XI, 7: reperies forsan vestigia Dei, et usque ad perfecte omnipotentem? Quasi dicat: non. Nam per creaturas, in quibus relucet vestigium creatoris, perveniri non potest ad perfectam eius cognitionem. Huiusmodi autem divitias stupens admiratur apostolus, dicens, Rom. XI, 33, o altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei, quam, et cetera. Eccli. I, 3: sapientiam Dei praecedentem omnia quis investigabit? Quantum ad secundum, id est ad manifestandam salutem fidelibus ex Christo provenientem, dicit et illuminare omnes, non solum Iudaeos, sed etiam gentiles per praedicationem et miracula. Eccli. XXIV, 45: illuminabo omnes sperantes in domino. Act. c. IX, 15: vas electionis est, et cetera. Matth. V, v. 14: vos estis lux mundi. Illuminare, inquam, quantum in me est omnes, scilicet credere volentes. I Tim. II, 4: qui omnes homines vult salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire. Ad hoc scilicet ut intelligant quae sit dispensatio sacramenti, quia nihil valent ista nisi dispensentur; quasi dicat: de hoc illuminabo, scilicet quam mirabilis et ex quanta dilectione sit facta adimpletio arcanae redemptionis. Huiusmodi autem divitiae investigabiles, per Christum vobis dispensatae sunt. Sed quia dici posset: istud quod dicis, etsi sit magnum, omnes tamen hoc sciunt; ideo ad hoc respondet apostolus dicens, quod non, quia absconditi a saeculis. Ubi sciendum est quod omnia quae sunt in effectu, latent virtute in suis causis, sicut in virtute solis continentur omnia quae sunt in generabilibus et corruptibilibus. Sed tamen ibi quaedam sunt abscondita, quaedam manifesta. Nam calor est manifeste in igne; aliquorum vero ratio, quae occulto modo producit, latet in eo. Deus autem est omnium rerum causa efficiens, sed producit quaedam, quorum ratio potest esse manifesta, illa scilicet quae mediantibus causis secundis producit. Aliqua vero sunt in eo abscondita, illa scilicet quae immediate per seipsum producit. Et quia sacramentum humanae redemptionis per seipsum operatus est Deus, ideo in eo solo hoc sacramentum est absconditum.
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Et hoc est quod dicit absconditi a saeculis in Deo, id est in sola notitia Dei. Investigare autem secreta primae causae maximum est. I Cor. II, 6: sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos: sapientiam vero non huius saeculi, neque principum huius saeculi, qui destruuntur, sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio, quae abscondita est, quam praedestinavit Deus ante saecula. Qui, inquam, omnia creavit.
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Posita dignitate officii ex magnitudine commissorum, hic commendat apostolus officii dignitatem ex utilitate effectus, quae quidem est revelatio magnarum rerum magnis personis. Sunt autem circa hoc tria consideranda. Primo quidem quibus sit revelatum, et quantum ad hoc dicit ut innotescat principatibus, etc.; secundo per quem reveletur, quia per Ecclesiam; tertio quid reveletur, quia multiformis sapientia Dei. Ad cuius quidem sapientiae descriptionem quatuor tangit apostolus.
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Primo eius multiplicitatem, ibi multiformis sapientia Dei; secundo modum multiplicitatis, ibi praefinitionem saeculorum; tertio multiplicitatis auctoritatem; unde subdit quam fecit in Christo Iesu domino nostro; quarto auctoritatis effectum, ibi in quo habemus fiduciam et accessum. Est ergo sapientia, quae revelatur, multiformis, et haec quidem multiformitas tangitur Iob XI, 5: utinam Deus loqueretur tecum et aperiret labia sua tibi, ut ostenderet tibi secreta sapientiae, et quam multiplex sit lex eius, et cetera. Sap. VII, 22: est enim in illa, scilicet sapientia divina, spiritus intelligentiae, sanctus, unicus et multiplex, et cetera. Multiplex scilicet in effectibus; unicus, scilicet in essentia. Modus autem multiplicitatis revelatae scientiae est secundum praefinitionem saeculorum, id est distinctionem et determinationem diversorum temporum. Deus enim ordinat alia esse in uno tempore, alia in alio, et secundum hoc huiusmodi sapientia multiformis dicitur secundum praefinitionem saeculorum, quia diversa tempora diversis ornat effectibus. Auctor autem huius multiplicitatis est Christus; unde dicit quam fecit Deus in Christo Iesu domino nostro, id est per Christum. Ipse enim mutat tempora et statum eorum. Hebr. I, 1: multifarie multisque modis, etc., per quem fecit et saecula. Potest autem hoc quod dicit quam fecit, etc., referri vel ad aeternam praedestinationem: nam ipsam fecit pater in filio suo. Supra I, 4: elegit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutionem, ut essemus sancti. Ipse enim filius est sapientia patris, nihil autem diffinit, vel praeordinat aliquid, nisi per sapientiam. Vel potest referri ad praedestinationis aeternae completionem, quam Deus pater per filium consummavit. I Cor. X, 11: in quos fines saeculorum devenerunt, supple sumus.
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Effectus autem auctoris est magnitudo fructus, qui nobis a Christo provenit, quod ponitur, cum dicit in quo habemus fiduciam, et cetera. Circa quod duo facit. Primo ponit bona quae recipimus; secundo appropriatum per quod recipimus, ibi per fidem eius. Bona autem quae recipimus, sunt duo: unum quod pertinet ad spem obtinendi, et quantum ad hoc dicit in quo, scilicet Christo, habemus fiduciam, scilicet veniendi ad caelum et aeternam haereditatem. Io. XVI, 33: confidite, ego vici mundum. II Cor. III, 4: fiduciam talem habemus per Christum ad Deum. Aliud bonum pertinet ad obtinendi facultatem, et quantum ad hoc dicit et accessum in confidentia, scilicet habemus. Hebr. IV, v. 16: adeamus cum fiducia ad thronum gloriae eius. Ier. III, 19: patrem vocabis me, et post me ingredi non cessabis. Rom. V, 2: per quem accessum habemus per fidem in gratia ista, in qua stamus, et gloriamur in spe gloriae filiorum Dei. Per quid autem haec dentur nobis, subdit, dicens per fidem eius, scilicet Christi. Rom. V, 1: iustificati ex fide pacem habemus ad Deum per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum. Ut ergo breviter comprehendamus, dico quod revelata est sapientia Dei multiformis varietatis, secundum distinctionem et praefinitionem saeculorum, quae dedit nobis fiduciam et accessum ad patrem per fidem eius. Quibus autem revelata sit ista multiformis sapientia Dei ostendit, et tunc sumitur ista littera superius dimissa, ut innotescat principatibus et potestatibus, ex qua apparet magnitudo. Et quia etiam in terris sunt principes et potestates, addit in caelestibus, id est in caelo, ubi nos erimus. Notandum est autem hic, quod principatus et potestates sunt duo ordines, qui ex ipsorum nomine praeeminentiam in operando designant. Potestatis ordo ordinatur ad reprimendum impedimenta salutis, sed ordo principatuum praeest et iniungit ad bene exequendum. Quod autem ad ordinem principatus pertineat regulare, patet per illud Ps. LXVII, 26: praevenerunt principes coniuncti psallentibus, et cetera. Item: principes Iuda duces eorum, et cetera. Quod autem ad potestates pertineat reprimere, patet Rom. XIII, 3 s.: vis autem non timere potestatem? Bonum fac, et habebis laudem ex illa; Dei enim minister est tibi in bonum; si autem malefeceris, time. Non enim sine causa gladium portat, et cetera. Magni ergo sunt quibus innotescit: quia sanctis Angelis, per quos diriguntur, et defenduntur sancti. Per quid autem eis innotescat multiformis sapientia Dei subdit, dicens per Ecclesiam, quod quidem habet magnam difficultatem. Nam Glossa habet, id est per apostolos in Ecclesia praedicantes. Unus quidem intellectus esse potest, quod scilicet Angeli didicerunt ab apostolis, et hoc videtur quamdam rationem habere. Videmus enim quod in caelo inter Angelos superiores, qui immediate a Deo illuminantur, illuminant et docent inferiores Angelos, qui non immediate illuminantur a Deo. Non videtur ergo irrationabile dici quod doceant Angelos apostoli, qui immediate a Deo sunt edocti, secundum illud Io. I, 18: unigenitus filius qui est in sinu patris, ipse enarravit. Sed hoc quidem satis sufficienter dici posset, nisi aliud occurreret. Cum enim in Christo sint duae naturae, divina scilicet et humana, edocti quidem sunt apostoli a Christo immediate quantum ad humanam naturam, Angeli autem immediate naturam divinam vident, etiam inferiores, alias non essent beati, cum in sola visione divinae essentiae rationalis creaturae beatitudo consistat. Non est ergo conveniens, nec ratio aliqua, ut dicamus sanctos qui sunt in patria doceri a quantumcumque perfectis viatoribus. Nam licet inter natos mulierum non surrexit maior Ioanne Baptista, tamen qui minor est in regno caelorum maior est illo, ut dicitur Lc. VII, 28. Dicere autem quod Daemones doceantur ab hominibus, hoc absque praeiudicio credibile est. Sed quod beati qui immediate verbum conspiciunt, quod est speculum sine macula, in quo relucent omnia, a viatoribus doceantur, dici non debet, nec conveniens videtur. Dicendum est ergo, quod innotuit Angelis per Ecclesiam, id est per apostolos praedicantes, ut dicit Glossa, non quod Angeli hoc didicerint ab eis, sed in eis. Nam, sicut dicit Augustinus super Genesim ad litteram, Deus antequam creaturas crearet, ante, dico, ordine naturae, non ordine temporis, cum secundum tempus simul omnia creata sint, rationes rerum naturalium indidit mentibus Angelorum, quo fit ut Angeli dupliciter res naturales cognoscerent, quia cognoverunt eas in verbo, et haec cognitio dicitur matutina. Item, cognoverunt eas in naturis propriis, et haec dicitur cognitio vespertina. Ulterius notandum est, quod sunt quaedam rationes mysteriorum gratiae totam creaturam excedentes, et huiusmodi rationes non sunt inditae mentibus Angelorum, sed in solo Deo sunt occultae. Et ideo Angeli non cognoscunt eas in seipsis, nec etiam in Deo, sed cognoscunt eas secundum quod in effectibus explicantur. Cum igitur rationes pertinentes ad multiformem sapientiam Dei, sint huiusmodi, scilicet in solo Deo absconditae, et postmodum in istis forinsecis effectibus explicatae, manifestum est, quod Angeli eas, nec in seipsis, nec in ipso verbo, nec etiam ab apostolis, nec a viatoribus aliis cognoverunt; sed in ipsis apostolis explicatas, prius in mente divina latentes, cognoverunt. Sicut domus quae est in mente artificis, vel conceptu de domo facienda, nullus scire potest quamdiu latet in mente, nisi solum ille qui solus illabitur animabus, scilicet Deus; sed postquam conceptus est iam in effectu extrinseco explicatus, quia domus iam facta est; sic aliquis de domo iam facta, quae prius latebat in mente artificis, edocetur, non autem edocetur per domum, sed in domo. Unde iam restat ut aliter exponatur hoc quod dicit ut innotescat principatibus, etc., ut illa coniunctio ut accipiatur non causaliter, sed quodammodo consecutive, et legatur sic: illuminare quae sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a saeculis in Deo, qui omnia creavit, ita tamen absconditi, ut innotescat principatibus, etc., id est, istud sacramentum ita fuit absconditum in Deo, quod inde innotuit principatibus et potestatibus non ab aeterno, sed a saeculo, quia omnis creatura principium habet; et hoc, non per Ecclesiam terrenam, sed caelestem, quia ibi est vera Ecclesia, quae est mater nostra et ad quam tendimus et a qua nostra Ecclesia militans est exemplata. Et sic ly per, designat ordinem naturae tantum, ut dicatur per Ecclesiam caelestem, id est, de uno in aliud, sicut dicitur: illud factum est notum per totum regnum vel civitatem, quia nova currunt ab uno in alium, secundum quod verba currunt; sicut dicitur Act. c. IX, 42 de suscitatione Thabitae beghinae sancti Petri: notum autem factum est per universam Ioppen, et crediderunt multi, et cetera. Magister tamen, aliter recitat lecturam Augustini, hoc modo illuminare quae sit dispensatio, etc., et hoc per Ecclesiam, id est, omnes qui sunt in Ecclesia terrena, sed hoc non est secundum intentionem Augustini. Hic posset quaeri, utrum Angeli a principio mundi cognoverint mysterium incarnationis. Respondet Magister dicens, quod Angelis maioribus notum fuit, sed non minoribus. Unde ipsi, scilicet Angeli minores, interrogant, Is. LXIII, 1: quis est iste qui venit de Edom tinctis vestibus de Bosra? Sed opinio haec est contra beatum Dionysium. Dionysius enim duas interrogationes Angelorum de Christo factas ex sacra Scriptura accipit. Unam ex Ps. XXIII, 8: quis est iste rex gloriae? Item accipit aliam ex Is. LXIII, v. 1: quis est iste, qui venit de Edom? et cetera. Prima autem interrogatio, secundum eum, est inferiorum Angelorum, secunda supremorum; quod patet, quia primae non Deus respondet, sed alius, unde dicit: dominus virtutum ipse est rex gloriae. Secundae vero respondet ipse Deus immediate, unde dicit: ego qui loquor iustitiam, et propugnator sum ad salvandum. Vult ergo Dionysius, quod utrique aliquid ignoraverunt et aliquid sciverunt: quia a principio omnes sciverunt mysterium incarnationis in generali, sed rationes in speciali didicerunt tempore procedente seu processu temporis, secundum quod in effectibus extrinsecis explicabantur.
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Postquam egit apostolus de dignitate officii, quod pertinet ad suam conditionem, hic consequenter agit de his quae pertinent ad suam afflictionem, scilicet de passionibus suis. Circa quod duo facit. Primo exhortatur eos ne pro suis tribulationibus conturbentur sed habeant patientiam; secundo, quia ad hoc quod homo non conturbetur necessarium est divinum auxilium, praemittit orationem, ut impleant hoc per divinam gratiam, ibi huius rei gratia, et cetera. Dicit ergo primo: ex magnitudine officii mei et firmitate eius, quam habeo per fidem Christi, accidit quod tribulationes patior; nec me conturbant, nec a Christo avellere possunt. Rom. VIII, 35: quis nos separabit a charitate Christi? Tribulatio? etc.; quasi dicat: nihil. Propter quod induco vos et peto, ne deficiatis in tribulationibus meis, ne scilicet occasione tribulationum mearum deficiatis omnino a fide et ab operibus bonis. Hebr. XII, 3: non fatigemini animis vestris deficientes. Dico autem quod vos non debetis deficere, quia sunt pro vobis, id est, pro utilitate vestra. II Cor. I, 6: sive tribulamur pro vestra exhortatione et salute, sive consolamur pro vestra consolatione, sive exhortamur pro vestra exhortatione et salute, quae operatur tolerantiam passionum earumdem, quas et nos patimur, ut spes nostra firma sit pro vobis, scientes quoniam sicut socii passionum estis, sic eritis et consolationum. Vel dicit pro vobis, id est pro vestra probatione. Sap. III, v. 6: tamquam aurum in fornace probavit electos dominus, et cetera. Quae est gloria vestra, etc., scilicet si non deficiatis, sed stetis fortes in tribulationibus. Nam qui perseveraverit usque in finem, et cetera. Alio modo: quae est gloria vestra, id est tolerantia passionum nostrarum, est pro vobis ad gloriam, in hoc quod Deus exposuit apostolos suos et prophetas tribulationibus et passionibus propter salutem vestram. Os. c. VI, 5: propterea dolavi in prophetis, et occidi eos, et cetera. II Cor. I, 14: gloria vestra sumus, sicut vos nostra, et cetera. Consequenter cum dicit huius rei gratia, etc., implorat eis auxilium per orationem, ut per exhortationem suam proficiant. Et primo orationem praemittit; secundo quasi securus de exauditione, gratias agit, ibi ei autem qui potens est, et cetera. Item, prima in tres, quia primo proponit orationis obiectum; secundo orationis intentum, ibi ut det vobis secundum divitias, etc.; tertio orationis fructum, ibi ut possitis comprehendere, et cetera. Oratio autem redditur exaudibilis per humilitatem. Ps. ci, 18: respexit in orationem humilium, et cetera. Eccli. XXXV, 21: oratio humiliantis se, nubes penetrabit, et cetera. Et ideo statim orationem suam ab humilitate incipit, dicens huius rei gratia, scilicet ne deficiatis a fide, flecto genua mea ad patrem, etc., quod est signum humilitatis propter duo. Primo quia qui genua flectit, quodam modo parvificat se, et subiicit se ei, cui genua flectit: unde per huiusmodi ostenditur recognitio propriae fragilitatis et parvitatis. Secundo quia in genu est fortitudo corporis. Quando ergo quis genua flectit, protestatur debilitatem suae virtutis. Et inde est, quod exteriora signa corporalia exhibentur Deo ad conversionem, et exercitium spirituale animae interioris. In oratione Manasses: flecto genua cordis mei, et cetera. Is. XLV, 23: mihi curvabitur omne genu, et cetera. Deinde describit orationis obiectum, quod est Deus, et describit eum ex duobus: primo ex affinitate, secundo ex auctoritate. Ex affinitate enim erigimur ad orandum cum fiducia.
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Et quantum ad hoc dicit ad patrem domini nostri Iesu Christi, scilicet cuius nos filii sumus. Iac. I, 17: omne datum optimum, et cetera. Is. LXIII, 16: tu enim, domine, pater noster, et cetera. Ex auctoritate autem confirmatur obtinendi quod petimus fiducia, quia ipse est ex quo omnis paternitas in caelo et in terra nominatur. Hic posset quaeri utrum in caelo sit paternitas. Posset dici breviter, quod in caelo, id est in Deo vel in divinis, est paternitas, quae est principium omnis paternitatis. Sed de hac non quaeritur ad praesens, quia cuilibet fideli nota est. Sed quaeritur utrum in caelis, id est utrum in Angelis sit aliqua paternitas. Ad hoc dico quod paternitas est tantum in viventibus et cognoscentibus. Est autem duplex vita. Una secundum actum, alia secundum potentiam. Vita quidem secundum potentiam, est habere opera vitae in potentia. Unde dormiens quantum ad actus exteriores, dicitur vivere in potentia. Vivere autem secundum actum est, quando exercet quis opera vitae in actu. Sic autem non solum qui dat potentiam vitae, pater est eius cui dat; sed qui dat actum vitae, ille etiam pater dici potest. Quicumque ergo inducit aliquem ad aliquem actum vitae, puta ad bene operandum, intelligendum, volendum, amandum, pater eius dici potest. I Cor. IV, 15: nam si decem millia paedagogorum habeatis in Christo, sed non multos patres, et cetera. Cum ergo inter Angelos unus alterum illuminet, perficiat et purget, et isti sint actus hierarchici, manifestum est quod unus Angelus est pater alterius, sicut magister est pater discipuli. Utrum autem paternitas, quae est in caelis et in terra, derivetur a paternitate, quae est in divinis, dubitatur. Et videtur quod non; quia nomina sic imponimus secundum quod res nominatas cognoscimus; quidquid autem cognoscimus, est per creaturas, ergo nomina imposita a nobis rebus ipsis, plus et prius conveniunt creaturis quam ipsi Deo. Respondeo et dico quod nomen alicuius rei nominatae a nobis dupliciter potest accipi, quia vel est expressivum, aut significativum conceptus intellectus, quia voces sunt notae, vel signa passionum, vel conceptuum qui sunt in anima, et sic nomen prius est in creaturis, quam in Deo. Aut inquantum est manifestativum quidditatis rei nominatae exterius, et sic est prius in Deo. Unde hoc nomen paternitas, secundum quod significat conceptionem intellectus nominantis rem, sic per prius invenitur in creaturis quam in Deo, quia per prius creatura innotescit nobis, quam Deus; secundum autem quod significat ipsam rem nominatam, sic per prius est in Deo quam in nobis, quia certe omnis virtus generativa in nobis est a Deo.
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Et ideo dicit: ex quo omnis paternitas in caelo et in terra nominatur, quasi dicat: paternitas quae est in ipsis creaturis, est quasi nominalis seu vocalis, sed illa paternitas divina, qua pater dat totam naturam filio, absque omni imperfectione, est vera paternitas.
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Consequenter cum dicit ut det vobis, etc., ostendit orationis intentum. Et primo facit hoc; secundo ostendit per quid posset impetrare suum propositum, ibi per spiritum eius, et cetera. Dicit ergo: dico quod peto ne deficiatis, sed stetis viriliter. Scio tamen quod hoc ex vobis facere non potestis sine dono Dei, ideo peto, ut det vobis. Iac. I, 17: omne datum optimum, et cetera. Et hoc quidem secundum divitias gloriae suae, id est secundum copiam maiestatis eius et magnificentiae. Ps. CXI, 3: gloria et divitiae in domo eius. Prov. VIII, 18: mecum sunt divitiae et gloria. Divitiae, inquam, quae faciunt virtute corroborari. Is. XL, 29: qui dat lasso virtutem, et his qui non sunt fortitudinem et robur multiplicat. Et hoc in interiori homine, quia nisi in interioribus fortificetur homo, faciliter ab hoste superatur. Is. IX, 7: confirmet illud et corroboret in iudicio et iustitia, amodo et usque in sempiternum. Tunc resumatur illa particula interposita, scilicet per spiritum, in qua ostendit per quid obtinere potest quod petit. Ipse enim spiritus, qui roborat, est spiritus fortitudinis et est causa non deficiendi in tribulationibus, quem obtinemus per fidem quae est fortissima: quia fides est substantia rerum sperandarum, id est facit in nobis subsistere res sperandas. Unde I Petr. V, 9: cui resistite fortes in fide. Et ideo subiungit habitare Christum per fidem, et hoc in cordibus vestris. I Petr. III, 15: dominum autem Christum sanctificate in cordibus vestris. Per quod? Dico quod non solum per fidem, quae, ut donum est fortissima, sed etiam per charitatem quae est in sanctis.
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Et ideo subdit in charitate radicati et fundati. I Cor. XIII, 7: omnia suffert, omnia credit, omnia sperat, omnia sustinet, charitas numquam excidit. Cant. ult.: fortis est ut mors dilectio. Unde sicut arbor sine radice, et domus sine fundamento de facili ruit, ita spirituale aedificium, nisi sit in charitate fundatum et radicatum, durare non potest.
Supra ostendit apostolus petitionis suae pro Ephesiis, et orationis intentum, scilicet corroborationem spiritus in fide et charitate, hic consequenter ostendit eius quam petiit corroborationis per fidem et charitatem fructum, qui est quaedam cognitio. Ideo primo proponit ipsam notitiam; secundo ipsius notitiae et cognitionis efficaciam, ibi ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei. Dicit ergo: ita sitis, charissimi, in charitate radicati et fundati, ut possitis comprehendere, et cetera. Quod quidem dupliciter legi potest. Primo modo, ut magis sequamur intentionem apostoli. Sciendum est ergo quod tam in futuro quam in praesenti cognitio Dei est nobis necessaria; nam in futuro gaudebimus et de cognitione Dei et de cognitione assumptae humanitatis. Io. XVII, 3: haec est vita aeterna, ut, cognoscant, et cetera. Io. X, 9: ingredietur, scilicet in contemplatione divinitatis, et egredietur, scilicet in contemplatione humanitatis, et pascua inveniet. Et quia fides est inchoatio illius futurae cognitionis, quia est substantia rerum sperandarum, etc., ut dicitur Hebr. XI, v. 1 quasi iam in nobis res sperandas per modum cuiusdam inchoationis facit subsistere. Inde est quod fides nostra in his duobus consistit, scilicet in divinitate et humanitate Christi. I Cor. II, 2: non enim iudicavi me scire aliquid inter vos, nisi Iesum Christum, et cetera. Secundum hoc ergo primo praemittit eis cognitionem divinitatis; secundo cognitionem mysteriorum humanitatis, ibi scire etiam supereminentem scientiae, et cetera. Cognitionem autem divinitatis manifestat eis sub his verbis ut possitis, etc., quasi dicat: corroboramini per fidem et charitatem, quia si sic estis, pervenietis ad vitam aeternam, ubi habebitis Deum praesentem et perfecte eum cognoscetis. Quod autem Deus manifestetur amanti, patet Io. XIV, 21: qui diligit me, diligetur a patre meo, et ego diligam eum, et manifestabo ei meipsum; quod vero manifestetur credenti, patet, prout dicitur Is. VII, 9, secundum aliam litteram: nisi credideritis, non intelligetis. Oportet enim ut secundum fidem et charitatem corroboremini, ut possitis comprehendere. Ubi sciendum est quod comprehendere quandoque ponitur pro includere, et tunc oportet quod comprehendens contineat in se totaliter comprehensum. Quandoque autem ponitur pro apprehendere, et tunc dicit remotionem distantiae et insinuat propinquitatem. Primo autem modo a nullo intellectu creato Deus comprehendi potest. Iob XI, 7: forsitan vestigia Dei comprehendes, et usque ad perfectum omnipotentem reperies? Quasi dicat: non, quia sic posset eum perfecte cognoscere quantum cognoscibilis est.
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Et de hac cognitione non intelligitur quod dicitur ut possitis comprehendere, sed secundo modo. Et est una de tribus dotibus, et de hac loquitur apostolus, cum dicit ut possitis comprehendere, id est Deum habere praesentem et praesentialiter cognoscere. Phil. c. III, 12: sequor autem si quomodo comprehendam, in quo, et cetera. Et haec comprehensio est communis omnibus sanctis eius. Ideo subdit cum omnibus sanctis. Ps. CXLIX, 9: gloria haec est omnibus sanctis eius. Talibus autem dicitur illud I Cor. IX, 24: sic currite ut comprehendatis, et cetera. Quae sit latitudo, et cetera. Notandum quod verba ista videntur ortum habere ex verbis Iob XI, 7: forsan, inquit, vestigia Dei comprehendes? Quasi dicat: incomprehensibilis est; huius autem incomprehensibilitatis causam assignat, dicens: excelsior caelo est, et quid facies? Profundior Inferno est, et unde cognosces? Longior terra mensura eius, et latior mari. Ex quo videtur quod Iob ostendat eum esse comprehensibilem, attribuens ei quadruplicem differentiam dimensionum. His enim verbis alludens apostolus dicit ut possitis comprehendere, quae sit latitudo, etc.; quasi dicat: habeatis tantam fidem et charitatem, ut possitis tandem comprehendere quod comprehensibile est. Et hoc modo exponit Dionysius. Non est tamen aliquo modo intelligendum has dimensiones corporaliter esse in Deo, quia spiritus est Deus, ut dicitur Io. IV, 24. Sunt tamen in Deo metaphorice. Unde per latitudinem designatur dimensio seu extensio virtutis, et sapientiae divinae super omnia. Eccli. I, 10: effudit illam, scilicet sapientiam, super omnia opera sua. Per longitudinem designatur aeterna eius duratio. Ps. ci, 13: tu autem, domine, in aeternum permanes, et cetera. Ps. XCII, 5: domum tuam, domine, decet sanctitudo in longitudinem dierum. Per sublimitatem vel celsitudinem vero, perfectio et nobilitas naturae eius, quae in infinitum excedit creaturam. Ps. CXII, 4: excelsus super omnes gentes dominus. Et profundum, id est incomprehensibilitas sapientiae eius. Eccle. VII, 25: alta profunditas, scilicet sapientiae divinae, quis inveniet eam? Sic ergo patet quod finis fidei et charitatis nostrae est ut perveniamus ad perfectam fidei cognitionem, qua cognoscamus infinitam suae virtutis extensionem, aeternam et infinitam eius durationem, suae perfectissimae naturae celsitudinem, suae sapientiae profunditatem et incomprehensibilitatem, eo modo sicut est attingendum. Consequenter, quia adhuc alia cognitio est necessaria, scilicet cognitio mysteriorum humanitatis, ideo subdit scire etiam supereminentem scientiae, et cetera. Ubi sciendum est quod quidquid est in mysterio redemptionis humanae et incarnationis Christi, totum est opus charitatis. Nam quod incarnatum est, ex charitate processit. Supra II, 4: propter nimiam charitatem suam qua dilexit nos, et cetera. Quia vero mortuus fuit, ex charitate processit Io. XV, 13: maiorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, etc.; infra V, 2: Christus dilexit nos, et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis oblationem et hostiam Deo. Propter hoc dicit Gregorius: o inaestimabilis dilectio charitatis. Ut servum redimeres, filium tradidisti. Et ideo scire charitatem Christi, est scire omnia mysteria incarnationis Christi et redemptionis nostrae, quae ex immensa charitate Dei processerunt, quae quidem charitas excedit omnem intellectum creatum et omnium scientiam, cum sit incomprehensibilis cogitatu. Et ideo dicit supereminentem scientiae, scilicet naturali et omnem intellectum creatum excedentem, Phil. IV, 7: et pax Dei, quae exsuperat omnem sensum; charitatem Christi, id est, quam Deus pater fecit per Christum. II Cor. V, 19: Deus erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi. Alio modo potest legi, ut referatur ad perfectionem charitatis nostrae, quasi dicat: corroboramini in charitate radicati et fundati, et hoc ut possitis comprehendere, non solum cognoscere, cum omnibus sanctis, quia hoc donum, scilicet charitatis, commune est omnibus, cum nullus possit esse sanctus sine charitate, ut dicitur Ephes. c. III. Possitis, inquam, comprehendere quae sit latitudo, scilicet charitatis, quae se extendit usque ad inimicos. Ps. CXVIII, 96: latum mandatum tuum nimis. Lata est enim charitas ad suam diffusionem. Ps. XVII, 20: eduxit me in latitudinem dominus. Longitudo autem eius attenditur quantum ad sui perseverantiam, quia numquam deficit, sed hic incipit et perficitur in gloria. I Cor. XIII, v. 8: charitas numquam excidit. Cant. ult.: aquae multae non potuerunt extinguere charitatem. Sublimitas autem eius attenditur quantum ad intentionem caelestium, ut scilicet Deus non diligatur propter temporalia, quia huiusmodi charitas esset infirma, sed ut diligatur propter se tantum. Iob XL, v. 5: in sublime erigere, et esto gloriosus. Profundum vero attenditur quantum ad originem ipsius charitatis. Nam hoc quod Deum diligimus, non est ex nobis, sed a spiritu sancto, quia, ut dicitur Rom. V, 5, charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum, et cetera. Hoc ergo quod unus habet charitatem longam, latam, sublimem et profundam, et alius non, venit ex profundo divinae praedestinationis. Eccli. I, 2: profundum abyssi quis dimensus est. Ergo, ut possitis comprehendere, id est perfecte consequi cum omnibus sanctis, quae sit latitudo, ut extendatur charitas vestra usque ad inimicos, quae sit longitudo, ut scilicet numquam deficiat, quae sit sublimitas, ut scilicet propter seipsum Deus diligatur, et quid sit profundum, scilicet praedestinationis, et cetera. Sciendum est autem hic quod Christus, in cuius potestate fuit eligere genus mortis quod vellet, quia ex charitate mortem subiit, elegit mortem crucis, in qua praedictae quatuor dimensiones sunt. Ibi est latitudo, scilicet in ligno transverso, cui affixae sunt manus, quia opera nostra debent per charitatem dilatari usque ad inimicos. Ps. XVII, 20: eduxit me in latitudinem dominus. Ibi est longitudo in ligno erecto, cui innititur totum corpus, quia charitas debet esse perseverativa, quae sustinet et salvat hominem. Matth. X, 22: qui autem perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit. Ibi est sublimitas in ligno superiori, cui caput inhaeret, quia spes nostra debet elevari ad aeterna et divina. I Cor. XI, 3: caput viri Christus est. Ibi etiam est profundum in ligno quod latet sub terra et sustinet crucem, et tamen non videtur, quia profundum amoris divini sustinet nos, nec tamen videtur; quia ratio praedestinationis ut dictum est excedit intellectum nostrum. Sic ergo debemus comprehendere virtutem charitatis nostrae et Christi, et adhuc scire charitatem Christi supereminentem scientiae, scilicet humanae, quia nullus potest scire quantum Christus dilexit nos, vel scire etiam charitatem scientiae Christi, quae habetur cum scientia Christi. Charitatem, dico, supereminentem, scilicet alii charitati, quae est sine scientia. Sed numquid est verum quod charitas quae est cum scientia superemineat charitati quae est sine scientia? Et videtur quod non, quia sic malus theologus esset supereminentioris charitatis quam sancta vetula. Respondeo. Dico quod hoc intelligitur de scientia afficiente: nam ex vi cognitionis inducitur ad magis diligendum, quia, quanto Deus magis cognoscitur, tanto et magis diligitur. Propter quod petebat Augustinus: noverim te, noverim me. Vel hoc dicitur propter quosdam qui habent zelum Dei, sed non secundum scientiam. Talium enim charitati supereminet charitas, cum habetur praedicta scientia Christi.
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Consequenter cum dicit ut impleamini, etc., ponit cognitionis divinae efficaciam, dicens ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei, id est ut habeatis perfectam participationem omnium donorum Dei, ut scilicet hic habeatis plenitudinem virtutum, et postea beatitudinis, quae quidem efficit charitas. Eccli. XXIV, 26: transite ad me, omnes qui concupiscitis me, et cetera.
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Consequenter sequitur illa pars ei autem qui potens, et cetera. In qua apostolus agit Deo gratias de suae petitionis exauditione. Circa quod tria facit, quia primo ponit potestatem Dei, qua postulata concedit; secundo potestatis exemplum, ibi secundum virtutem quae operatur in nobis, etc.; tertio materiam gratiarum actionis, ibi ipsi gloria, et cetera. Potestatem autem Dei describit infinitam, dicens ei autem, scilicet Deo Christo et Deo patri, qui potens est omnia facere, et cetera. Ex. XV, 3: omnipotens nomen eius. Rom. ult.: ei autem qui potens est vos confirmare iuxta Evangelium, et cetera. Et hoc superabundanter facere in nobis omnia quam sciamus petere per affectum, aut intelligere per intellectum, et hoc est quod dicit quam petimus, aut intelligimus. Exemplum autem huiusmodi abundantiae in nobis exhibitae ostendit, dicens secundum virtutem quam operatur in nobis, quasi dicat: apparet si attendamus ea quae operatus est in nobis, scilicet hominibus. Nam nec affectus, nec intellectus humanus potuissent considerare, vel intelligere, vel petere a Deo quod fieret homo et homo efficeretur Deus et consors naturae divinae, quae tamen secundum virtutem operatur in nobis, et hoc in incarnatione filii sui. II Petr. I, 4: ut per hoc efficiamini divinae consortes naturae. Unde de his dicitur Eccli. XVIII, 2: quis sufficiet enarrare opera illius? Quis enim investigabit magnalia illius, virtutem autem magnitudinis quis annuntiabit? Vel operatus est in nobis, scilicet apostolis, quibus dedit gratiam evangelizandi investigabiles divitias Christi, et illuminare omnes quae sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a saeculis in Deo, ut supra eodem cap. et ibi dictum est. Materia autem gratiarum actionis dicitur esse duplex beneficium quod nobis contulit Deus. Primum est Ecclesiae institutio; secundum est filii incarnatio. Dicit ergo ipsi, scilicet Deo patri, gloria, sit, supple, in Ecclesia, id est pro his quae fecit in Ecclesia, quam instituit: quo ad primum; in Christo, id est per Christum, vel pro Christo, quem nobis dedit.
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Ipsi, inquam, sit gloria, ut gloriosus appareat, non solum in praesenti sed in omnes generationes saeculi saeculorum, id est saeculi omnia continentis. I Tim. I, 17: regi autem saeculorum immortali, invisibili, soli Deo honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
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1. Hujus rei gratia ego Paulus vinctus Chrisli Jesu pro vobis gentibus. Hoc capite usque ad eum locum, propter quod peto etc, commemorat Apostolus et commendat ministerium sibi demandatum a Deo ad praedicandum gentibus Evangelium Christi. Est autem oratio Pauli vel imperfecta, ut supplendum aliquid sit, vel hyperbato suspensa, nam verbum, quod reddatur illi nomini, ego Paulus vinctus, nusquam apparet. Igiturquidam, ut Erasmus, Cajetanus et Gaignaeus, perficiunt orationem addito verbo sum, ut hic possit esse sensus: Hujus rei gratia, scilicet ut vos coaedificemini in habitaculum Dei, ego Paulus sum uinctus Christi Jesu pro vobis gentibus. Sed huic supplemento, quod alioqui maxime in promptu erat, resistit articulus praepositus vocabulo vinctus in Graeco: utpote trahens suum nomen i^ partem subjecti. Sicenim sonatacsiLatine diceretur: Ego Paulus ille vinctus etc. Commentarius Ambrosianus videtur ita supplere: Ego Paulus vinctus Jesu Christi legatione fungor pro vobis gentibus. Sumptum hoc est ex ult. cap. hujus epist., pro quo, inquit, legatione fungor in catena. Hieronymus hanc partem refert ad illam post paululum sequentem: secundum revelationem notum mihi factum est sacramentum, et soloecisraum esse 23 * putat in verbis Pauli, quasi dixisset: Ego Paulus vinctus Christi Jesu, notum mihi factum est sacramentum, pro eo, quod diceret: Ego Paulus cognovi sacramentum, vel: mihi Paulo notam factum est sacramentum. Sed obstat huic constructioni vocala quoniam interposita; nisi quis eam redundare dicat. Oecumenius hoc exordium suspendit usque ad illam partem vers. 8. Mihi omnium sanctorum minimo data est gratia haec etc, commutationem autem recti in obliquum excusat exemplis etiam summorum oratorum, Thucydidis et Domesthenis. At vero alii longius adhuc hyperbaton faciunt, nimirum usque ad illa verba vers. 14. Hujus rei gratia flecto genua, illic enim videtur Apostolus resumere sententiam et absolvere, quam hic imperfectam reliquerat, dum alia interim, divino spiritu suggerente, tanquam per parenthesim dicenda occurrebant. Ita Theodoretus et quidam recentiores, quod quidem et nobis prae caeteris placet. Ac ne quis miretur, non minus longum hyperbaton est in 1 Cor. 7., ubi cum dixisset: Nam caeteris ego dico, non Dominus, multis aliis interpositis, tandem repetit intermissum sermonem, cum dicit: De virginibus autem praeceptum Domini non habeo etc. Sensus igitur verborum Apostoli est: Hujus rei aratia, quia videlicet estis cives sanctorum et domestici Dei, superaedificati etc, ego Paulus incarceratus et vinctus pro nomine Jesu Christi, et quidem vestri causa, eo quod Evangelium Christi vobis gentibus annuntiaverim: flecto genua mea. Vinctus. Graece Seajuoc nomen est, non participium, quasi dicat: captivus Jesu Christi.
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2. Si tamen audistis dispensationem gratiae Dei, quae data est mihi in vobis. Graece in vos, Ambrosiano suffragante. Quia dixerat pro vobis gentibus, occasionem inde capit digrediendi ad commemorationem Apostolatus sui inter gentes, et revelationis sibi divinitusfactae de mysterio Christi gentibus annuntiando. Nec illud si tamen, vel ut in Graeco ef 7S si quidem, dubitantis est, sed potius aflSrmantis, neque enim ignorare, quod hic dicitur, poterant Ephesii, quibus Paulus ipse Evangelium plusquam biennio praedicaverat. Pro dispensatione Graecis est oixovouia, qua voce etsi proprie significetur prudens dispensatio rei domesticae; solet tamen extendi ad quamcumque legitimam et ordinatam administrationem; qualis inprimis est gratiae Dei. Jam illud quae data est, ad gratiam, non ad dispensationem referendum esse, Graeca manifeste docent. Itaque sensus est: Si tamen audistis vos Ephesii (sicut audisse vos constat), quemadmodum dispensatione ac providentia divina mihi concreditum sit Apostolicum munus Evangelii vobis gentilibus annuntiandi. Munus hoc gratiam Dei vocat, quia gratuito collatum ei fuerat a Deo, quod et alibi inculcat, et hic paulo post repetit.
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3. Quoniam secundum revelationem notum mihi factum est sacramentum. Explicat dispensationem gratiae Dei, quam dixerat. In Graeco sic legitur: quod secundum revelationem notum fecit mihi mysterium; ex proximo subaudi, Deus. Sensus enim est: nempe quod per revelationem mihi Deus patefecit mysterium, sive arcanum. Quodnam fuerit hoc arcanum aperit in sequentibus, ibi maxime, gentes esse cohaeredes etc Revelationem autem intelligit eandem, quam refert Gal. 1., ubi de Evangelio suo loquens: neque enim, inquit, ego ab homine accepi illud, neque didici, sed per revelationem Jesu Christi. Videtur autero revelatio fuisse potissimum de tribus. Primum, de mysterio redemptionis ac justificationis hominum per Christum. Secundum, de vocatione gentium, ac tertium cum mandato conjunctum, scilicet de ipsius Pauli legatione ad gentes. De secundo et tertio peculiariter agitur hoc loco, nam primum mysterium toti doctrinae Apostolicae commune est.
Sicut supra scripsi in brevi. Graece sicut ante scripsi in modico. Noster quoque interpres Act. 26. vertit in modico. Idhocloco exponunt plerique, breviter et paucis verbis. Nam supra fecit mentionem vocationis gentilium: non enim ad revelationem mysterii factam Apostolo referendum est hoc, quod dicit: sicut supra scripsi, cum de ea nihil prorsus supra dictum sit, sed ad ipsum mysterium revelatum, de quo egerat in superioribus. Verum, quia non breviter, sed pluribus in utroque capite praecedente de eo mysterio egit: idcirco et aliter exponit Oecumeniusillud: sicut ante scripsi in modico, id est, sicut scripsi paulo ante, videlicet in fine capitis superioris. Ibi enim clarissime locutus est de gentibus in unam Christi Ecclesiam colligendis. Quae expositio conferenda est cum illis verbis Act. 26. in modico suades me Christianum fieri. Quae a quibusdam sic exponuntur, parum abest, quin persuadeas etc, propemodum persuades. Ab aliis sic: Aliquantulum commovisti me sermone tuo, ut Christianus fiani. Quod autem nonnulli praesentem locum intelligunt de alia quapiam Epistola prius ad Ephesios scripta, merito rejicit Theodoretus.
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4. Prout potestis legentes intelligere prudentiam meam in mysterio Christi. Prudentiam, Graece ouveotv, intellectum, sive intelligentiam: pro quo Hieronymus legit sensum, et interpretatur sapientiam, nimirum secundum rem subjectam. Sic enim alibi de ea Apostolus: Loquimur, inquit, Dei sapientiam in mysterio, quae abscondita est, 1 Cor. 2. Dupliciter autem haec pars exponitur. Uno modo: Prout potestis ex iis, quae supra scripsi, perlectis, intelligere ac percipere, quam scientiam habeam de mysterio Christi, quod dico per revelationem me didicisse. Aliter: Scripsi vobis non secundum rei magnitudinem, sed juxta quod potestis legentes capere intelligentiam meam, id est, id, quod ego intelligo et capio, de mysterio Christi. Haec Graecorum expositio est, pro qua nonnihil facit particula Graeca 7tp6(; 6, ad quod vel juxta quod, cujus loco nos legimus, prout, tametsi possit et ad priorem sensum, qui simplicior est, facile accommodari.
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5. Quod aliis generationibus non est agnitum filiis hominum, Graece: Quod in aliis generationibus non fuit notificatum filiis hominum. Ambrosianus legit hoc modo: Quod in aliis saeculis non fuit notum filiis hominum. Et recte saeculis, pro quo alii vertunt aetatibus, non enim de alii3 nationibus, sed de aliis temporibus loquitur Apostolus: et per generationes saecula, vel aetates solere significari in Scripturis, nemo vel mediocriter in iis versatus ignorat. Igitur sensus est: Quod mysterium aliis retro saeculis non fuit notum factum hominibus. Laborant hic commentatores, ut explicent, quomodo verum sit, mysterium hoc vocationis gentium (nam de eo sermonem esse, liquet ex sequentibus) non fuisse olim notum hominibus: quandoquidem nec illum latuit, cui dictum est: Jn semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes, nec caeteros Prophetas, a quibus multipliciter praenuntiatum fuit hoc mysterium. Hieronymus et alii quidam urgent, quod dicitur: filiis hominum, et dicunt sanctos Patriarchas et Prophetas, quibus illud mysterium revelatum fuit, consdetudine Scripturae magis filios Dei, quam filios hominum vocari. Verum hoc pacto non consistet discrimen, cum eadem ratione nec illi, quibus tandem revelatum esse dicitur mysterium, id est, Apostoli et Prophetae novi testamenti, numerandi sint inter filios hominum. Adde, quod haec de filiis hominum violenta est et coacta interpretatio. Quod cum Hieronymus ipse animadvertat: aliam quaerit explicandae difiicultatis viam. Et quidem in eo ferme omnes conveniunt, quod dicant, veteres illos aliquid ignorasse in hoc mysterio vocationis gentium, quod Apostolis revelatum sit. Non enim simpliciter negat Paulus, olim filiis hominum fuisse cognitum hoc mysterium, sed certa comparatione: Sicut, inquit, nunc revelatum est sanctis Apostolis ejus etc. Proinde relinquitur quaerendum, quomodo vel qua parte mysterium hoc non fuerit antiquis cognitum, sicut Apostolis revelatum et cognitum fuit. Hic autem variae exfstunt sententiae. Ambrosianus existimat, latuisse Prophetas antiquos, quod sine observatione legis Mosaicae gentes futurae essent gratiae Dei participes. Alii putant eos nescivisse, quod gentiles futuri essent eodem prorsus loco cum Judaeis, quantum ad consortium gratiae Dei. Sic Primasius et Graecorum nonnulli, ponderantes illud, quod dicit Apostolus: Gentes esse cohaeredes etc, scilicet ex aequo. Sed bi duo commentarii ex ipsis Prophetis refelluntur. Prior quidem ex Jeremia et aliis, qui de veteris legis abrogatione prophetaverunt: posterior autem ex illis, quorum testimoniis Paulus Rom. 10. probat, non esse distinctionem Judaei et Graeci. Rursus alii dicunt, antiquis non fuisse cognitum hoc mysterium coiporaliter, id est, ipsarum rerum exhibitione, quomodo coeptum est agnosci, quando gentes coeperunt Apostolorum praedicatione converti ad fidem. Ita Hieronymus et Chrysostomus cum aliis nonnullis. Alii vero negant, olim fuisse palam et publice cognitum, quomodo cognoscitur tempore novi testamenti. Verum nec hi commentarii soliditatem habent, non enim dicit Apostolus: Sicut nunc per experientiam et publice cognoscitur a fidelibus, sed: sicut nunc revelatum est sanctis Apostolis. Restat igitur eorum sententia, quantum mihi videtur, caeteris anteponenda, qui dicunt antiquos non ita clare, plene et perfecte mysterium hoc vocationis gentium cognovisse, sicut per revelationem cognitum est Apostolis Christi: utpote quibus multae, singulares ac determinatae circumstantiae hujus mysterii, partim a Christo cum ipsis adhuc conversante, partim a Spiritu sancto post Christi ascensionem in coelum, revelatae sunt, quas vel obscure tantum et sub velamine cognoverant olim Prophetae, vel omnino non cognoverant. Unde Petrus de illis dicit 1 Epist. 1. Scrutantes in quod vel quale tempus significaret in eis spiritus Christi. Apostolis autem factas fuisse revelationes de particularibus illius mysterii circumstantiis, quoad modum, tempus, locum, personas etc, probant exempla Petri et Pauli et Philippi diaconi in Act. 8. 10. 13. 16. 18. et 23. Hoc modo difficultatem expedit B. Thomas in comm. et 1. q. 57. art. 5. ad 3. Item Cajetanus, aliique recentiores, hunc sensum colligentes ex eo, quod sequitur:
Sicuti nunc revelatum est sanctis Apostolis ejus et Prophetis in spiritu. Id est, eo modo, quo nunc idem Christi mysterium per Spiritum sanctum revelatum est sanctis Apostolis ejus et Prophetis, qui sunt in Ecclesia. Manifeste enim hic loquitur de Prophetis novi testamenti, de quibus et capite sequenti et in prima ad Cor. epist, quales Agabus et alii, qui nominantur Act. 13. Verisimile est autem hos Prophetas non solum novas accepisse revelationes ad hoc Christi mysterium pertinentes, verum etiam in exponendis Scripturis antiquorum Prophetarum instructos fuisse a spiritu divino, ut ea clarius explicarent, quae ab illis dicta vel etiam intellecta fuerant obscurius. Jam sequitur mysterium:
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6. Gentes esse cohaeredes } et concorporales et comparticipes promissionis ejus in Christo Jesu per Evangelium. Cohaeredes y id est, una cum Judaeis ejusdem haereditatis coelestis consortes, tanquam Dei filios. Et concorporales, id est, ejusdem corporis membra sub uno capite Chrisco. Et comparticipes promissionis, hoc est, promissae benedictionis ejus } scilicet Dei, vel Spiritus sancti, idque in Christo } id est, per meritum Christi, et per Evangelium gentibus annuntiandum, id est, per Evangelii praedicationem in omnes gentes. Porro benedictionem promissam intellige, de qua dictum est ad Abrahanij, in semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes. Quae quidem benedictio comprehendit omnia bona novi testamenti, breviter significata nomine gratiae et gloriae.
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7. Cujus factus sum minister secundum donum gratiae Dei. Redit ad commemorationem Apostolatus sui, quo fungebatur inter gentes. Cujus, inquit, Evangelii gentibus annuntiandi factus sum ego minister et praeco, non meis meritis, sed ex liberali et gratuito dono Dei, qui me indignum ad tantam dignitatem assumpsit.
Quae data est mihi secundum operationem virtutis ejus. Graece: Quod datum est mihi. Refertur enim paiticipium Graecum ad donum, tametsi sensus eodem recidit, hoc enim est, quod dicit: Quod gratuitum donum Apostolici muneris ita mihi concessum est a Deo, ut etiam, ad ejusdem doni administrationem, efficax sit in me divinae virtutis operatio. Nam hujusmodi operationem significat Graeca vox svepfsia. Quam quidem a Deo sibi adfuisse in Evangelio gentibus praedicandu, etiam alibi testatur. Qui, inquit, operatus est Petro in Apostolatum circumcisionis, operatus est et mihi inter gentes. Gal. 2. Intelligit autem efficaciam operationis divinae non solum quoad interiorem mentium conversionem eorum, quibus praedicabat, de qua Dominus ait in Evangelio: Potens est Deus de lapidibus suscitare filios Abrahae. Matth. 3. Verum etiam quoad miracula pro confirmatione Evangelii foris exhibita, juxta illud, quod de Apostolis dicitur Marc. ult. Praedicaverunt ubique, Domino cooperante et sermonem confirmante sequentibus signis. De qua cooperatione divkia sibi facta praeclare loquitur Paulus ad Rom. 15.
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8. Mihi omnium sanctorum minimo data est gratia haec. Repetitio est ejus, quod dixerat, quae data est mihi, sed cum incremento rhetorico, tam ex parte pronominis, mihi, quam ex parte gratiae sibi datae. Utrumque enim exaggerat, alterum hic, alterum subsequentibus verbis. Nec quaerenda est conjunctio, qua connectitur haec periodus cum superiori, quasi enim sic dicit: Mihi, inquam, omnium sanctorum minimo etc. Ut autem intelligatur, quanto cum affectu humilitatis, ac sui depressione, dictum hoc sit a Paulo, conferatur hic locus cum illo 1 Cor. 15., ubi vocat se minimum Apostolorum, et ex collatione aestimari poterit, quantum post illam ad Corinthios scriptam epistolam, postque tam multos interea labores pro Christo susceptos, in humilitate profecerit. Nam illic se postponit omnibus Apostolis; hic vero omnibus sanctis, id est, Christianis. Et illic quidem se minimum vocat, Graece bXoc- ~/\z~w, hic autem, ut ita dicam, minimissimum. Nam in Graeco comparativus est ex superlativo formatus, sAa^iaTOTSpo\, ac si dicas, mihi infimiori omnium sanctorum. Similia extant apud alios maltos maximae sanctitatis electos Dei, inter quos B. Ignatius in epist. ad Smjrnenses: Omnes salute, et non sum dignus esse ultimus eorum. Sed secundum Dei voluntatem dignus effectus sum, non ex mea providentia, sed ex gratia Dei. Jam quo sensu minimum, sive ut legit Hieronymus, infimum omnium sanctorum seipsum vocet Apostolus, idque non mendaciter, neque enim in mendacio consistit humilitas, sed veraciter: discimus ex eodem loco ad Cor., ubi rationem hanc ejus, quod dixerat se minimum Apostolorum, subjungit: Quoniam, inquit, persecutus sum Ecclesiam Dei. Nam ea ratio quadrat etiam in hunc locum, ut propterea se dicat omnium sanctorum minimum, quia si considerentur ejus merita fidem praecedentia, causam non habebat se praeferendi cuiquam Christiano, sed omnibus postponendi, quia nimirum persecutus fuerat Ecclesiam Dei, quod nullus alius Christianus tanto animo et studio fecerat. Eadem ratione se vocat primum inter peccatores 1 Tim. 1. Sic autem de se loquitur Apostolus, tum ut ex comparatione suae indignitatis, magnitudinem divini er^a se beneficii commendet, tum ut seipsum, ad tantum excellentiam gratiae, de qua hic disserit, vocatum, muniat adversus tentationem superbiae. Jam vero cum hujusmodi sermo veritate nitatur, ut ex dictis patet; illud etiam manifestum est, Apostolum hic non incurrere in vitium, quod mora» les Philosophi ironiam vocant, dum quis dicit de seipso minora, quam animo sentiat. De quo S. Thomas 2. 2. q. 113. Quaeritur autem, an similiter unusquisque Christianus de se loqui ac sentire debeat, se minimum esse omnium sanctorum, vel etiam omnium hominum. Respondeo debere; non quidem ea ratione, qua hoc dixit Apostolus, scilicet ex consideratione pristini status; sed eo sensu, quo Dominus in Evangelio praecipit unicuique, dicens: Vade, recumbe in novissimo loco, Luc. 14. et quo dictum est a Paulo Phil. 2. In humilitate superiores sibi invicem arbitrantes: cujus praecepti sensus explicabitur suo loco. Porro quod ait: Data est gratia haec; munus Apostolicum gratuito sibi collatum intelligit, de quo sequitur:
In gentilus evangelizare investigabiles divitias Christi. Investigabiles dixit interpres negative, non vestigabiles, sicut Rom. 11., pro quo Hieronymus ininvestigabiles, Ambrosianus autem, incomprehensibiles. Sic enim, et quidem explicatius, legit: ZJt in gentibus evangelizem incomprehensibiles divitias Christij et illuminem etc. Per investigabiles sive incomprehensibiles divitias Christi significat immensitatem beneficiorum Christi, id est, eorum, quae per Christi meritum abundantissime, velut ex infinito thesauro, nobis a Deo conferuntur. Alii interpretantur investigabiles, eo quod superent omnem naturalem inquisitionem.
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9. Et illuminare omnes. Quamvis Christo proprie et principaliter competat illuminare homines, juxta illud Joan. 1. Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem, qui et de seipso praedicat: Ego sum lux mundi, Joan. 8., attamen participatione ac ministerio etiam Apostoli, sicut lux mundi vocantur a Domino M&tth. 5., sic et illuminare dicuntur hoc loco. Unde et Dionysius, coelestem et ecclesiasticam describens hierarchiam, docet, tam angelos, quam homines Ecclesiae ministros, alios purgare, alios illuminare, alios perficere. Notanda sunt haec contra haereticos, qui quoties aliquid tale sanctis tribuitur, Christi interpretantur injuriam. Quare nec placet improba cura Erasmi, qui vertere maluit: Et in lucem proferam omnibus; quique in annotationibus suis ita scribit: neque Paulus illuminat homines, sed in lucem profert, et perspicuum facit omnibus, quod antea reconditum erat. Nonplacet, inquam, quia Paulus diserte affirmat se illuminare omnes, usus eodem verbo Graeco, quo Joannes evangelista scribens de Chiisto: Qui illuminat omnem hominem. Quare negandum hoc de Paulo non erat; nec in textu quidquam mutandum, sed in commentario exponendum. Vere enim Paulus illuminat, non quomodo Christus, fidem operando in cordibus hominum; sed ut dictum est, externo ministerio praedicationis evangelicae. Dicit autem omnes, quia sic jussus erat Evangelium gentibus praedicare, ut nullum genus hominum, nec ullum omnino hominem ab Evangelio repelleret.
Quae sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a saeculis in Deo. Pro dispensalione Erasmus communionem vertit, secutus codicem Graecum mendosum, ut arbitror, in quo legebatur xotvtovta, pro otxovouia, nam codices emendatiores, et interpretes omnes tam Graeci, quam Latini otxovoutav, dispensationem, legunt: quam et supra nominavit, dicens: Si tamen audistis dispensationem gratiae Dei etc. Atque ex hoc loco videtur sumptum, quod Theologi veteres Christi incarnationem passim vocant oeconomiam, ac sub eo nomine comprehendunt quaecunque in carne assumpta gessit aut passus est Christus; quod nimirum ea omnia pertineant ad sapientissimam procurationem salutis humanae, quae per Christum est. Unde Hieronymus in epist. ad Pammach. et Oceanum, de Apollinari loquens, qui Christo adimebat animam rationalem, quae est altera pars humanae naturae, dicit eum dimidiatam Christi introduxisse oeconomiam. Porro sensus Apostoli est: Ut omnibus manifestem, quomodo visum fuerit Deo in hoc tempore exsequi mysterium sive arcanum illud admirabile, quod apud ipsum a saeculis, id est, toto superiori tempore, erat absconditum, hoc est, ei soli notum. Quod intellige quoad notitiam particularium circumstantiarum; quomodo supra interpretati sumus illud: Quod aliis generationibus non est agnitum filiis hominum.
Qui omnia creavit. Omnia, nulla re prorsus excepta, quae vel sit, vel fuerit in rerum natura. Hoc adjectum putant propter scholam Simonis magi, quae docebat, mundum corporeum factum esse ab angelis. Graeci codices hic addunt: Per Jesum Christum. Quod si referatur ad particulam proxime praecedentem, intelligi debet de Christo, ut Deo, ac Dei filio; sicut illud in Evangelio: Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Ita de Christo loquitur Apostolus Col. 1. Quoniam in ipso condita sunt universa etc. Si quis autem prcpter expressa nomina: Jesum Christum, magis putet significari meritum passionis Christi, ut fere in similibus; poterit referre ad illa verba: Quae sit dispensatio sacramenti, nam iMius mysterii executio fit per meritum Christi hominis.
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10. Ut innotescat principibus et potestatibus in coelestibus, per ecclesiam, multiformis sapientia Dei. Graece: Ut innotescat nunc principatibus et potestatibus etc, nec secus legit Hieronymus. Cum his, in vocabulo principatibus, consentiunt Latina quaedam manuscripta, quibus et Clementina suffragatur editio: vox etiam Syriaca principatus, non principes significat. Certe Apostolus et hic et alibi nomina hujusmodi recensens, semper ap^ag, id est, principatus, scribit, ut 1. et ult. cap. hujus epist. Rom. 8. Col. 1. 2. Principatus autem et potestates esse nomina ordinum angelicorum, et sub iis caeteros angelorum ordines comprehendi, ex aliorum locorum collatione facile patet. Sed quaeritur, boni an mali intelligantur hoc loco, nam haec nomina principa- i tus et potestates etiam malis spiritibus aliquando tribui, constat ex ult. cap. praesentis epistolae, et ex Col. 2. nec non ex 1 Cor. 15. Itaque commentarius Ambrosio inscriptus etiam hunc locum de malis exponit. Didicerunt enim et illi per experientiam myeteria sapientiae Dei, de quibus hic sermo, tunc quando completa sunt: quemadmodum satis declarat evangelica et Apostolica historia. Verum quod in eodem commentario additur, ideo malignis spiritibus hanc Dei sapientiam innotescere, ut exemplo Ecclesiae per Christum salvatae, etiam ipsi ab errore resiliant, et assensum tyrannidis diaboli deseranl: id nullo modo recipiendum est; utpote Catholicae doctrinae contrarium, atque in Origene damnatum. Hieronymus quoque commentarium de malis angelis absolute rejicit. Porro de bonis cum Hieronymo locum hunc interpretantur alii pene omnes tam Latini, quam Graeci, nisi quod Chrysostomus ad utrosque referre videtur. Similis est apud Apostolum locus 1 Tim. 3., ubi de hoc eodem mysterio verba faciens, dicit ipsum angelis apparuisse, id est, innotuisse. Sed et illum locum, etsi communiter de bonis angelis intellectum: auctor memorati commentarii de angelis errore imbutis, id est, malis interpretatur. Neque ex loci circumstantia certo colligi potest praecise de bonis intelligendum esse; sed pro his manifestior locus est in prima epist. Petri 1., ubi de mysteriis per Apostolos annunciatis dicit: In quae desiderant angeli prospicere, id est, quorum mysteriorum cognitione angeli mirifice delectantur, cum desiderio, quo adhuc amplius et plenius ea cognoscere cupiant. Quod sane ad malos angelos, qui ob illa cognita dolent et cruciantur, referri nullo modo potest. Igitur et hunc locum de solis bonis accipi consentaneum est; tametsi generalem commentarium utrosque comprehendentem non omnino rejicimus; non obstante eo quod additur, in coelestibus, nam et malos esse in coelestibus, ex ult. cap. hujus epist. manifestum est. Quaerendum, quomodo multiformis sapientia Dei bonis angelis innotuerit demum tempore Apostolorum, cum dubitari non possit, angelos omnia cognovisse quaecunque de mysterio Christi fuerunt antiquis patribus revelata, et quidem eo tempore quo revelabantur, nam ut docent Dionysius lib. coelestis Hierarchia cap. 4. et 7. et Augustinus 1. 7. de civit. cap. 32., non aliter quam per angelos divina mysteria hominibus innotescunt. Unde non consistit eorum opinio, qui simpliciter affirmant, incarnationis Christi mysterium angelos in universum latuisse, donec reipsa compleretur; ut nec eorum, qui dicunt, angelos ignorasse mysterium gloriae gentium, de qua supra, gentes esse cohaeredes etc., quae videtur esse sententia Graecorum. At ea facile refellitur ratione jam dicta, quia memorata mysteria Prophetis revelata fuerunt, utique non nisi per angelos. Alii respondent, angelis superioribus haec mysteria cognita fuisse, quatenus per eos erant hominibus revelanda; inferioribus autem prorsus incognita. Ita sentiunt Haimo scribens in hunc locum, et Petrus Lombardus 1. 2. Sent. dist. 11. Sed haec responsio textui repugnare videtur. Non enim dicit Apostolus, ut innotescat angelis et archangelis, sed principatibus et potestatibus, qui sunt ordines superiores. Quod et a Graecis tractatoribus observatum est: qui quidem Pauli verba sic accipiunt, ut nec superiores angeli mysterium vocationis gentium cognoverint, priusquam inciperet impleri; et hujus suae sententiae auctorem citant Gregorium Nyssenum hom. 8. interpretationis Canticorum; sed hoc jam improbatum est. Dicendum igitur omnes angelos ab initio, quo beati facti sunt, cognovisse mysterium incarnationis Christi, quoad ejus substantiam: ac deinde progressu temporis accepisse cognitionem multorum mysteriorum ad Christum et Ecclesiam pertinentium (nominatim ejus, quod de gentium vocatione), prout ea per ipsorum ministerium innotescere debebant hominibus. Quod profecto de quibusdam angelis negari non potest, scilicet iis, per quos revelationes fiebant: licet et de caeteris omnibus valde probabile sit. Non enim homines, quamvis Prophetae, mysteriorum scientia superabant angelos. At vero quoad particulares rationes et circumstantias, multa de mysteriis Christi et Ecclesiae nescierunt angeli tam superiores quam inferiores, donec ea rebus ipsis jam compleri inciperent. Quemadmodum et supra de Prophetis veteris testamenti diximus, multas mysteriorum circumstantias Apostolis postea cognitas eos latuisse. Haec sententia est B. Thomae in hujus loci comment., quam et plenius explicat in summa p. 1. q. 57. art. 5., de qua nos etiam pluribus egimus in 2. Sent dist. 11. Atque hanc sententiam, antea ab Hieronymo iudicatam, plerique posteriores sequuntur. Restat exponendum, quomodo dicat Apostolus sapientiam Dei angelis innotescere per Ecclesiam. Hinc enim opinati sunt quidam, angelos ab hominibus, qui in Ecclesia sunt, id est, ab Apostolis, edoctos fuisse quaedam mysteria, ut hoc pacto Apostoli non tantum hominum, sed etiam angelorum doctores ac magistri fuerint. Sed hoc bene refellit S. Thomas in comment. et p. 1. q. 117. art. 2. Item Cajetanus et alii. Nonnulli illud, per Ecclesiam, jungunt sequentibus, hoc sensu, ut multiformis Dei sapientia per Ecclesiam sparsa vel declarata, innotescat principatibus etc. Verum huic constructioni obstat articuli collocatio in Graeco, dicendum enim fuisset: rj 6\a tyjc; ixxXyjotag rcoXuTCOixiAoq oocpia. Quare non alio quam ad verbum innotescat, referri posse videtur particula, per Ecclesiam: non ut significetur, Dei sapientiam angelis innotescere per Ecclesiam docentem, sed per ea, quae in Ecclesia geruntur, sive per exsecutionem mysteriorum in Ecclesia. Tota igitur Apostoli sententia sensum hunc habet: Mihi data est haec gratia praedicandi et manifestandi omnibus dispensationem sacramenti absconditi in Deo: unde fit, ut etiam principatibus ac potestatibus, caeterisque ordinibus angelicis, quorum habitatio est in locis coelestibus, nota fiat illa multiplex ac varia Dei sapientia quoad arcana mysteria Christi et Ecclesiae per eam disposita: fiat (inquam) nota per Ecclesiam, dum in ea quotidie complentur tot et tanta, tamque multiplicia divinae sapientiae opera, prius in Dei mente recondita. Particulam ut consecutive, non causaliter exponimus, Thomam secuti: non enim praedicationis Apostolicae finis est, ut angelis innotescant mysteria, sed hoc bonum inter alia ex illa praedicatione consequitur. Liquet etiam, quo sensu Dei sapientia, quae in se una est et simplicissima, vocetur multiformis, Graece, multivaria: nimirum propter operum, sive effectuum ejus multiplicem varietatem: in quibus illa relucens quodammodo multiplex et varia apparet.
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11. Secundum praefinitionem, saeculorum, quam fecit in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. Graece, secundum propositum saeculorum: sicque Hieronymus et Ambrosianus legunt. Sensus est: Innotescere et aperiri mysteria suis temporibus, quibus implentur; idque secundum propositum Dei, quo ab aeterno constituit ac praefinivit in Christo certa saecula 6eu tempora, quibus illa mysteria exsequeretur. Dicitur autem haec saecula pfaefinivisse in Christo, quia sicut tota salus nostra per Christum est, ita et tota salutis dispositio. quant.um ad loca, tempora, modum, ordinem etc. Sciendum est autem, textum, quo Hieronymus utitur, sic habere: Secundum propositum saeculorum, quam fecit in Christo. Juxta, quam versionem relativum quam non potest ad propositum referri, genere repugnante, sed vel ad Ecclesiam, vel ad sapientiam referri debet. Atque hoc posterius eligit Hieronymus: qui existimat significari, quod multiformis sapient tia Dei, non illa increata, sed quam I Deus fecit, id est, creavit in Christo homine, innotescat angelis. At aliis plerisque magis placet, ut relativum Graecum referatur ad rcpoOeoiv, sensu jam dato: ut potius vertendum fuerit, secundum propositum saeculorum, quod fecit in Christo. Noster interpres cum vertit: Secundum praefinitionem saeculorum, quam fecit, ambiguitatem Graecae lectionis consulto retinuit, ut liberam expositori electionem trium sensuum, quos enumerat Hieronymus, relinqueret. Quod si Paulus scripsisset, quae fecit in Christo, nempe saecula, quomodo Chrysostomum legisse Theophylactus afnrmat, unus et expeditus esset sensus, quo similiter de Christo dictum est ad Hebr. 1. Per quem fecit et saecula.
3:12
12. In quo habemus fiduciam et accessum in confidentia per fidem ejus. Id est, per quem Christum nos fideles habemus audaciamaccedendi, seu liberum ac intrepidum accessum (Graece upoaaywfTp, admissionem) ad Deum, cum fiducia impetrandi, quam fides in nobis parit. Parit autem fides Christi fiduciam impetrandi: quia per fidem cognoscimus Christum nobis a Patre datum ut mediatorem ac propitiatOxem nostrum: quae res fiduciam divinae propitiationis innobis excitat. Ex hoc loco sequitur, fidem et fiduciam non idem esse, quod volunt haeretici: sed hanc ex illa oriri. Nonnulli fiduciam priori loco interpretantur libertatem et audaciam praedicandi Evangelii apud quoscunque^nainGraecadictioTiappV^aiaJibertatem loquendi significat, quam interpres modofiduciam, modo cmstantiam vertit, ut Act. 4. et hujus epist. ult. cap. Quibus locis sermo est de Evangelio libere atque intrepide praedicando apud homines. Verum huic loco magis congruit illa loquendi libertas, qua Deum sine trepidatione ac metu serrili orantes alloquimur, confisi meritis intercessoris Christi filii ejus; facitque hic sensus ad perstringendos Simonianos, qui per angelos tanquam mediatores purgari nos oportere dicebant, ofncium, quod soli Christo competit, in illos transferentes, sicut expressius indicatur in epist. ad Col. 2. Quaeres, cur non in eandem reprehensionem incidant catholici, dum sanctos invocant? Respondeo, catholicos nequaquam aliis sanctis tribuere, quod Christo proprium est: sicut Simoniani faciebant: sed sanctos invocando tantum adhibent eos ut comprecatores, quorum orationes, perinde ut nostrae, non valeant, nisi per Christum, qui solus per seipsum gratus est Deo. Sic Paulus aliorum fidelium pro se orationes passim flagitat, absque injuria Christi mediatoris. Id autem faciendum nobis est, tum ne quis vultu Dei indignus, non cum fiducia, sed cum impudentia accedat, tum ut per orantium multitudinem et merita crescat nobis apud Deum impetrandi per Christum fiducia.
3:13
13. Propter quod peto, ne dificiatis in tribulationibus meis pro vobis. Cum igitur, inquit, ad tantam dignitatem vocati sitis, ejusque consequendae fiduciam habeatis per Christum: rogo vos, ne animo deficiatis propter afilictiones meas et vincula, quae patior vestri causa, scilicet ut, pro munere mihi delegato, vos gentiles adducam ad participationem tantorum bonorum in Christo. Hieronymus annotat, infinitivum Graecum utj IxxaxsTv, non deficere, posse etiam reddi verbo primae personae, ne deficiam in tribulationibus meis. Quod etsi ita sit, et Hieronymus etiam de prima persona exponat: ipsa tamen sententia ac loci contextus, sicut Hieronymus fatetur, secundam personam magis exigit: quomodo et Graeci omnes interpretantur.
Quae est gloria vestra. Id est, quae tribulationes cedunt in gloriam vestram: tantum alest ut vinculorum meorum vos pudere debeat. Afflictiones et vincula Pauli erant gloria eorum, pro quibus patiebatur, quia inde apparebat, quanti Deus eos faceret, qui non modo Filium suum, sed et Apostolos ejus pro salute illorum pateretur affligi. Huc usque hyperbaton. Nunc redit ad absolvendam sententiam, quam initio capitis suspensam reliquerat.
3:14
14. Hujus rei gratia flecto genua mea ad patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Hujus, inquam, rei gratia, quia scilicet estis cives sanctorum et domestici Dei etc. Rursum, quia cohaeredes estis et concorporales et comparticipes promissionum: ego Paulus vinctus Jesu Christi pro vobis gentibus, flecto genua mea ad patrem, id est, humiliter oro Deum patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, nam genuflexio humilitatem significat orantis. Quid autem oret, paulo post dicet.
3:15
15. Ex quo omnis paternitas in coelis et in terra nominatur. Multi codices habent, coelo, sed coelis germana lectio est, quam et Clementina probat editio. Porro Graeca vox TCaxpia, quam interpres v ertit paternitatem, significat familiam seu cognationem eorum, qui ab uno patre, ceu principe generis, orti sunt. Parentelam quidam dicere malunt. Idipsum autem etiam vocabulo paternitatis apud Latinos significari, satis indicat Hieronymus in comm. et libro contra Helvidium. Vulgata versio pro Graeca dictione aliquando familiam, aliquando patriam reponit: ut Psalm. 21. et 95. et alibi: sed eadem semper significatione, quam dixi. Illud ex quo, licet ad Christum referri I possit: multo tamen convenientius, quod J omnes interpretes faciunt, ad patrem refertur, ut sensus sit: Ex quo patre omnis familia sive angelorum in coelis, sive ho- i minum in terra, quantumcunque ea magna sit ac celebris, existit, et originem accipit: ad quem, ut patrem et caput, omnes familiae, etiam nominatissimae revocanclae sunt. Dictum hoc contra scholam Simonis, qui plura principia, velut plures Deos introducebat, ubi vicissim cavendus error Valentini, qui, teste Hieronymo, saeculorum suorum parabolas atque conjugia ex hoc vel maxime loco confirmanda putavit. Non enim familias in coelis carnaliter intelligere debemus, ut ex conjugiis ortas: sed metaphorice pro certis ordinibus seu classibus, in quas velut illustres familias angeli pulcherrimo ordine distributi sunt: quorum tamen komnium princeps et pater est Deus. Sequitur nunc, quid oret patrem:
3:16
16. Ut det vobis secundum divitiat gloriae suae. Id est, secundum immensam largitatem ac bonitatem suam, in qua glorificatur. Nonnulli gloriam interpretantur gratiam, parum solide.
Virtutem corroborari per spiritum ejus in interiori homine. Veram lectionem arbitror casibus commutatis: Virtute corroborari per spiritum ejus in interiorem hominem. Sic enim habent Clementina Biblia, suffragantibus manuscriptis et Graeco textu, a quo nec Latini Hieronymus et Ambrosianus dissentiunt. Primasius quoque virtute legit ablativo casu. Sensus autem est: Oro, det vobis, ut virtute seu fortitudine ab eo accepta corroboremini adversus omnes tentationes,, per spiritum ipsius, ad profectum interioris hominis: scilicet ejus, qui dum exterior homo corrumpitur, renovandus est de die in diem, 2 Cor. 4. Est enim interior homo, quemadmodum eo loco declaratum est, mens hominis vel ipse homo, secundum mentem et eas potentias, quae sunt animae rctionali propriae.
3:17
17. Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris. Item oro det vobis, inquit, ut Christus habitet per fidem in cordibus vestris, id est, ut Christus internum hominem vestrum inhabitet, et in eo maneat, ut sitis habitaculum ac templum Christi: idque per fidem, qua in eum creditis, non quod fides sine caeteris virtutibus sufficiat hominem constituere templum Dei: sed quia fides fundamentum est caeterarum, et professionem habet totius justitiae. Per fidem ergo sic demum Christus in nobis habitat, si fundamento structura, et professioni opera respondeant: hocautem praestat charitas, de qua sequitur:
In charitate radicati et fundati. Ut oratio constet, supplendum aliquid, hoc aut simili modo: Ut sitis in charitate radicati et fundati, id est: Det etiam vobis, ut in charitate sitis bene firmati, ut charitas vestra firma sit et constans. Quae firmitas radicationis et fundationis nomine per tropum significatur. Theophylactus hanc partem cum ea, qua proxime antecedit, ita connectit, Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris: quod assequemini, si in charitate radicati sitis et fundati. Alii per hyperbaton particulam ut, quae continuo sequitur, huc transferunt: ut in charitate radicati et fundati possitis comprehendere etc. Sic Cajetanus, eandemque constructionem, post alias, adfert Oecumenius. Quin et ipsum textum Apostoli legit ad hunc modum Ambrosianus. Sed quod primum posui, simplicius est ac probabilius.
3:18
18. Ut possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis. Hoc inquit, etiam oro, det vobis, ut possitis, sive quod Graeca vox sonat, valeatis animo comprehendere et assequi, maxime quoad affectum, id est, serio perpendere, ac digne aestimare cum caeteris omnibus fidelibus, seu Christianis, hos enim ubique sanctos vocat:
Quae sit latitudo et longitudo et sublimitas et profundum. Duo postrema commutant ordinem in Graeco, nec non apud Hieronymum: Et profunditas et altitudo. Videtur autem Apostolus his verbis significare mysteriorum Christi magnitudinem sub typo quodam quatuor extensionum^corporalium ac sensibilium. Quas easdem, sed contrario ordine enumeratas, Deo tributas legimus Job. 11. his verbis: Excelsior coelo est, profundior inferno, longior terra, latior mari; quod est uno verbo dicere: immensus est et infinitus; ad quem locum S. Thomas arbitratur Apostolum hic allusisse. Breviter ergo sensus hic reddi potest: Ut possitis comprehendere, quae sit et quanta ejus mysterii, quod vobis praedicavi, magnitudo, dignitas, majestas. Atque ita fere Graeci commentatores. Caeterum existimandum est, Apostolum, sicut alibi mysterium baptismi, mortis, sepulturae, ac resurrectionis Christi tractat allegorice, ut Rom. 6. Col. 2. et 3., ita hoc loco innuere voluisse quandam allegoriam fundatam in figura crucis dominicae: cujus Jongitudo consideratur in ligno erecto a terra sursum usque ad lignum transversum, latitudo in ipso ligno transverso, sublimitas, sive altitudo in ea parte, quae ligno transverso eupereminet, et cui affixa erat tabella causam crucifixionis Domini indicans: profundum denique in ea parte ligni, quae infixa terrae videri non poterat. Porro juxta mysterium longitudo temporum est, latitudo locorum, altitudo gloriae, profunditas discretionis. Comprehendit ergo longitudinem crucis, qui didicit ab initio mundi usque ad finem neminem justificari aut salvari nisi per crucem et passionem Christi. Comprehendit ejus latitudinem, qui cogitat Ecclesiam toto orbe diffusam processisse ex latere Christi in cruce mortui; velut Evam aedificatam ex latere viri dormientis. Comprehendit ejus altitudinem, qui secum reputat, quanta sit coelestis gloriae sublimitas et excellentia, ad quam nos provehit humilitas crucis Christi. Denique comprehendit ejus profundum, qui considerans arcanum divinae electionis ac discretionis hominum e massa communi, et signum Tau paucorum frontibus inscriptum, cum Apostolo exclamat: O profunditas divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei: quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ejus! Hanc crucis allegoriam paulo aliter explicat Augustinus in epist. 112. de videndo Deo cap. 14. Ego, inquit, haec verba Apostoli sic intelligere soleo: in latitudine, bona opera charitatis: in longitudine, perseverantiam in bonis usque in finem: in altitudine, spem coelestium praemiorum: in profundo, inscrutabilia judicia Dei, unde ista gratia in homines venit: et hunc intellectum coaptare etiam sacramento crucis etc, quae latius ibi prosequihir, ac similia tradit epist. 120. cap. 26. et 36. De doct. Christian. lib. 2. cap. 41. et supra Joan. tract. 118. Augustini interpretationem sequuntur Anselmus et Thomas in comment., licet tam apud hos auctores, quam apud Hieronymum Oecumenium Cajetanum et alios aliis adhuc modis nonimprobandis hujus loci mysterium explicatum inveniatur.
3:19
19. Scire etiam supereminentem scientiae charitatem Christi. Scientiae genitivus est in Graeco; unde alii tollendae causa ambiguitatis vertere malunt cognitionis. Nihil tamen obstat, quo minus vocabulum genitivi casus in Graeco per dativum reddatur in Latino, servata nimirum utriusque linguae proprietate: quomodo genitivus per dativum redditur Jacob. 2. Superexultat misericordia judicio, secundum citationem veterum. Hoc modo sensus est: Et tit possitis scire, id est, animo complecti, ac pro dignitate aestimare charitatem Christi, qua nos dilexit; eamque supereminentem scientiae, id est, excedentem notitiam nostram ac majorem, quam ut penitus a nobis intelligi possit. Ita paulo inferius dicitur, Deum posse omnia facere supra quam intelligimus. Et Phil. 4. Pax Christi, quae exsuperat omnem sensum. Haec Graecorum expositio est, eademque facilis et perspicua, ut non sit opus aliorum duriores ac minus probabiles interpretationes huc adferre. Videri autem potest Apostolus respicere ad Gnosticos, qui hoc superbo nomine sese nuncupaverunt a scientia, quam sibi peculiariter vendicabant. Utitur enim vocabulo yvojosojg, unde yvooTtxot. Atqui longe majus est scire charitatem Christi: utpote quae universam Gnosticorum, omniumque Philosophorum scientiam excedit: quia mysterium charitatis Christi, qua semetipsum pro nobis tradidit, in cor hominis cujusquam non ascendit: sicut in genere de hujusmodi mysteriis sapientiae Christianae testatur Apostolus 1 Cor. 2.
Ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei. Cohaeret cum proxime dictis. Refertur autem ad omnia simul sumpta, quae jam dixit se pro Ephesiis Deum orare; per illa enim fiet, ut impleantur etc. Sensus est: Ut omnium donorum Dei perfectione repleamini: ut omnibus Dei donis abundetis. Hoc accipiendum juxta modum et profectum hujus vitae: quomodo dicit ad Cor. 1. Epist. 1. In omnibus divites facti estis in illo, in omni verbo et in omni scientia, ita ut nihU vobis desit in ulla gratia. Nam et initio hujus Epistolae dixit: Qui benedixit nos in omni benedictione spirituali in coelestibus in Christo.
3:20
20. Ei autem, qui potens est omnia facere superabundanter quam petimus, aut intelligimu3. Concludit superiorem sermonem hac coronide glorificationis Dei. In Graeco est: Super omnia facere superabundanter. Similiter Hieronymus, nisi quod comparative legat, abundantius, quomodo et Graeca verti possunt. Sensus est: Ei, qui potens est, superabundanter et cumulate facere ultra om-
quae petimus aut mente concipimus. nia
Secundum virtutem, quae operatur in nobis. Graece, secundum potentiam operatam in nobis, id est, quam Deus operatur in nobis. Itaque operatur in nostra versione passivum est. Refertur autem haec pars ad verbum facere: et significatur virtus seu potentia, quae in nobis est effectus potentiae divinae, et per quam ipsi etiam agimus.
3:21
21. Ipsi gloria in Ecclesia et in Christo Jesu, in omnes generationes saeculi saeculorum. Amen. Explet sententiam: Ei, qui potens est etc. Ipsi, inquam, sit gloria in Ecclesia, id est, ipsum glorificet universa Ecclesia tantis beneficiis ab eo affecta; idque per Christum Jesum, et in omnes aetates omnium saeculorum usque in aeternum. Conjunctio et, licet in Graecis non addatur, Latini tamen veteres eam legunt: quanquam ad sensum non est necessaria.
3:1
ad petitionem, ut fideles intime cognoscerent spem vocationis (1,16-18). Magnitudinem ac certitudinem huius spei descripsit in iis quae Deus pro Christo praestitit (1,19-22), dein in iis quae Deus iam in ipsis fidelibus operatus est (2,1-10) ; tum singulari ratione exponit, quid speciali modo Christus pro fidelibus ex gentibus exhibuit, ita ut hi in eandem cum aliis dignitatem in regno Dei assumantur; unde novum colligitur argumentum pro magnificentia et certitudine spei ex iis, quae peculiariter pro gentibus acta sunt (2, 11-21). Cum itaque Deus tanta iam praestiterit pro fidelibus — quanta haec sint, illustratur ex eorum conditione pristina (2,2-4 ; 2,11-12) — revertitur apostolus ad petitionem (1,17), ut fideles virtute confirmentur, et superna sapientia impleantur (3,1. 14 seq.). i Bonis itaque et beneficiis salutis expositis petitionem 1,16. 17 inceptam apostolus iterum assumit: 3,1 huius rei gratia ; sententia hic incepta manet suspensa et absolvitur tandem in v. 14 et seq. tovtov ydptv iam ob numerum singularem facillimeadnectitur ad 2,22 quod immediate praeceditet directe id enuntiat, cuius progressum apostolus pro fidelibus efflagitat; nam 2,22 fideles dicuntur coaedificari in habitaculum Dei; iam ut haec aedificatio in dies magis crescat templumque exsurgat splendidum, Auiusrei gratia apostolus orat ad Patrem 3,14. Et eo modo v. 4 demum absolvi in v. 14 iam bene agnoverunt Theod. ThdM. Tust. Lap. Est. Nat. et generatim recentiores; et commendatur quia in v. 14 eadem dictione toútov 74e quasi remittimur ad v. 1. Sententiam complet Chrys. explanans 9i& toto xat éyo 9£0euot, qnot», propterea ego vinctus sum; itidem syrus supplet : ego Paulus vinctus sum); idem supplent Cai. Henle; at vix habetur nexus aptus cum antecedentibus; nam ut illi coaedificentur in habitaculum Dei seu ut illi proficiant in cognitione divina, Paulum esse vinctum dici nequit. Suspensa manente sententia ad alia transgressus est, scribit Hier. et cum Origene (cat. 15*) sententiam complere vult ex v. 3 ego cognovi mysterium, ut vobis traderem. Tamquam glossa additur xgeofeio in DE, item d e postulo; illud legisse videtur Ambrst. : nunc se legatione huius doni fungi Dei provisione Christo mittente declarat; in paucis minusculis additur xexaó; a1. Sententiam ex v. 8 compleri censet Oec. in eo versu apodosin ad toótov y&gw inveniens ; alii recurrerunt ad v. 13, imo alii ad 4,1! Longam suppletionem praebet Dam. : huius in vos gratiae ego minister sum. et &ywviotrs (propugnator) usque ad vincula. Nomen suum ponit ego Paulus, sicut solet facere, quando de se peculiare quidquam vult in medium proferre (cf. 2 Cor. 10,1. Gal. 5,2. Col. 1,23. 1 Thess. 2,18); hic vero iam obversatur ei magnum illud mysterium, cuius minister et apostolus ipse factus est; vinctus Christi, eius scil. causa, pro eius nomine, quia testificatus est de Christo (Act. 23,11) in vincula coniectus est, pro vobis gentibus: quia gentibus annuntiavit evangelium, odium incurrit Iudaeorum et demum in captivitatem tracare intendit. Cum emphasi effert se gentium causa in re Christi Iesu esse vinctum ; ne tamen quibusdam forte: mirum videatur, quod speciali ralione gentium causam adducat, et non potius causam fidelium in universum, incipitloqui de sua peculiari vocalione, de suo speciali apostolatu; inde autem abripitur ad longiorem expositionem de mysterio vocationis gentium ad fidem et de suo apostolatu (v. 2-13), unde obliviscitur sententiam inceptam. Cur praecipue de gentibus mentionem faciat, idque merito, causam addit
3:2
v. 2 si tamen stye : particula hac res per se non necessario in dubium vocatur, imo certum est adhiberi eam posse cum quadam urbanitate de certa affirmatione, ita ut sensus evadat : sine dubio ; et certe hoc loco apostolus non vult generatim in dubium vocare eos ad quos scribit audisse quidquam de suo apostolatu ; unde erit sensus : si quidem, vel sine dubio audistis, istud audistis minime congruere cum illo iriennio patet, per quod nocte et die non cessavit apostolus monere unumquemque presbyterum ephesinum (Act. 20,17.31) ; istienim quam maxime experli sunt eius apostolatum, non solum de eo audierunt ; audistis dispensationem thy oixovosíav, quae gratia mihi sit administrata et data cic pç erga vos; nam dispositio gratiae ei datae erat ab initio illa, de qua Act. 9,15 : vas electionis est mihi, ut portet nomen meum coram gentibus, et sicut ipsi dictum est : vade quoniam ego in nationes longe mittam te (Act. 22,21). Intelligitur itaque gratia apostolatus in gentes, quae divina dispositione Paulo collata sit. Hane vocationem gentium explicat v. 3-6; sibi istum apostolatum esse commissum declarat v. 7-13. Incipit apostolus declarare quod v. 2dixerat v. 3. quoniam v1, apte dices nempe, nam tota explicatio antecedentis minime hoc versu 3 absolvitur; per revelationem, quomodo ei data sitgratia illa cic óu3c, exponit, cf. Gal. 1,15.16; notum mihi factum est sacramentum tò wuothprov scil, salulis et vocationis gentium, et quomodo hoc mysterium cognoverit et intellexerit (TAph), hac ipsa epistola iam disci potest, prout potestis degentes intelligere, scil. sicut supra scripsi in brevi, npoéypawa de iis quae antea scripserat; £v OXyo, à Bpazéwov (Chrys.) paucis; si «5 Uo prov refers solum ad vocationem gentium, pauca illa habes 2,13 sq. et hoc sensu certe explicatur a v. 5; si magis generaliter conceperis prudentiam meam tùy oóvscfv pov intelligentiam meam in mysterio Christi, de opere redemptionis et de omnibus quae Deus per Christum praestitit, iam tota haec epistola eousque scripta intelligi poterit, uti mysterium Christi Paulo revelatum ipse describit in oratione ad Agrippam habita (Act. 26,16-18.. Nota quoque, Ephesios quibus per triennium doctrinam Christi exposuerat, non opus erat remittere ad paucas has lineas ex quibus discerent ipsius intelligentiam in mysterio Christi, cur illis adeo explicite exponeret vocationem gentium et se esse gentium apostolum? In usu positum est-coviévat £y. civi, unde oóvects vov £y 7. muotnpiw facile fluit, similis locutio habetur 3 Esd. 4,33 (Esd. A 1,31 (33) Swete) «ic GUVECEWCÇ QuTOU EV TW VOUW, Quid revelatione cognitum sit, exponitur in sequentibus;
3:5
v. 5 quod aliis generationibus &xéoxis yeveais scil. praeteritis temporibus in eorumque generationibus nom est agnitum ox &vwocíc0n non est cognitum filiis hominum, quae dictio in vetere testamento satis frequens est (in novo cenda oratoria quaedam sollemnitas? sicut nunc revelatum est sanctis apostolis etus et prophetis in Spiritu : tépas vevexic dici de temporibus praeteritis ex oppositione nune quoque patet etiam; hic uno articulo «oic comprehenduntur apostoli et. prophetae, vide ad 2,20, unus consideratur ordo electus ad revelationem hanc promulgandam; unde sancti &w:, electt ex mundo ad sacrum ministerium ideoque Deo singulari modo consecrali sunt ; attende oppositionem : olim non cognitum, nunc revelatum, olim ignotum omnibus, nunc non industria humana inventum aut excogitatum, sed peculiari Dei manifestatione tamquam consilium Dei absconditum communicatum electis apostolis et prophetis in Spiritu Scil. qui sunt prophetae in spiritu, vel potest referri ad 4zexo1óg0s de conditione animorum et inspiratione superna et illustratione, in qua receperunt revelationem. Notat Ca. : et dixit haec ad declarandum quod dixerat super fundamentum apostolorum et prophetarum. Quid in saeculis praeteritis non fuerit cognitum, nunc autem revelatum, indicatur
3:6
v. 6 gentes esse coheredes et concorporales aóvcoy.a corpori Christo mystico iunctae sunt, in unum corpus adunitae, eiusdem corporis membra sub capite Christo, comparticipes promissionis, quam clarissime exprimitur gentes collocari in eodem dignitatis et ordinis gradu cum populo electo, eos consortes esse eiusdem hereditatis, in idem corpus assumi i. e. simul cum Iudaeis unum idemque corpus constitui; - eodem iure cum aliis et simul cum eis gentes habere easdem partes de rebus promissis. Quae omnia gentibus pleno iure et modo conveniunt in Christo Tesu, quatenus haec beneficia in. Christo eiusque meritis sunt reposita, per Christi mortem acquisita (cf. 2,15.16) et illis qui per baptismum cum Christo complantantur revera donantur. Ad hanc autem unionem cum Christo perducti sunt per evangelium, quatenus nuntius iste salutaris messianus eis est allatus, praedicatus, fide acceptus. — De mysterio antea abscondito apostolus saepius sermonem infert ; Rom. 16,95 secundum revelationem mysterii temporibus aeternis taciti; 1 Cor. 2,7; 2 Tim. 4,9.10. Ex altera autem parte satis enuntiat aliquam vocationem gentium ex prophetis antiquis notam fuisse; cf. Rom.9,24; 15,9312; Gal. 3,8. Inveniunt aliqui nodum quendam quod in v. 5 mysterium dicitur revelatum apostolis et prophetis, dum tamen in.v. 3 et 8 sq. apostolus hanc revelationem tamquam sibi factam et sibi propriam ad se vindicet; insuner Gal. 2,8.9 ostendi alios apostolos nondum apostolatum gentium suscepisse. Quare Reuss tamquam glossam delere vult secundam partem v. 5. Sed omnia facile conciliantur. Apostolus loquitur de sua vocatione speciali, de qua refertur Act. 9,15; 22,21; 26,17; Gal. 4,16 ut evangelizarem gentibus, et quae erat vocatio ad praedicandum gentibus. Etiam Gal. 2,7.9 apostoli agnoscunt et approbant apostolatum gentium, quem approbant Act. 45. Dein attendere oportet rationem temporis; etsi apostoli non statim ab initio apostolatum gentium susceperunt, tamen decursu temporis ipso Christi mandato obsecuti gentibus praedicabant (cf. Matth. 28,19. Marc. 16,20. Luc. 24,47. Act. 1,8). Ipsi actus apocryphi apostolorum testimonium praebent pro apostolatu gentium. Ceterum iam omnino sufficit quod Act. 13,1.2 narratur; et vide Act. 10,45-47. Ex v. 5 et 6 id solum affirmatur tamquam nune revelatum gentesesse prorsus aequales i. e. coheredes etc. in Christo ; et hoc praeteritis saeculis non fuisse cognitum. Ita sententiam etiam intellexerunt Chrys. Euith. At plerumque movent quaestionem de vocatione gentium. ad regnum messianum et inde oritur dubium, quia gentes adductum iri ad regnum Dei prophetae veteres clare annuntiarunt et iam ipsis patriarchis dictum fuit: in semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes, « quae quidem benedictio comprehendit omnia bona novi testamenti » (Est.). Unde inquirunt, quomodo verum sit id antea fuisse ignotum, et respondent istud mysterium quidem non latuisse prophetas veteres, at non fuisse adeo clare et distincte iis notum, sicut nunc; sic quomodo nunc revelatum sit nescisse prophetas ; aliud esse in spiritu ventura cognoscere, aliud res ipsas cernere opere completas (Hier. Thph.) et eodem modo de cognitione obscura antea, nunc plene clara sententiam concipiunt (cf. Theod. Dam. Cat. Est. Lap. Tust. Nat. Bels. Henle). Sed tota haec quaeslio versatur extra rem hic ab apostolo propositam. Nam unum quod affirmat est mysterium de perfecta aequalitate gentium cum populo electo, et haec certe erat antea ignota. Nam apud prophetas vocantur quidem gentes ad regnum Dei sed plerumque ut subditi, servi, famuli Iudaeorum (cf. Is. 14,2 ; 49,22.23; 60,10.12.14 ; 61,5; 66,20. Dan. 7,414.27. Am. 9,12. Mich. 7,16.17). Ergo ex eiusmodi locutionibus poterat videri, fore ut gentes in regno messiano inferiore quodam loco consisterent, Iudaei aulem principatum quendam obtinerent. Quomodo igitur et quo dignitatis gradu gentes essent assumendae, non erat a prophetis praedictum neque in praeteritis saeculis filii hominum quidquam de ea re cognoscebant; ergo nulla est difficultas in v. 5, neque illud óç sieut erit vi et notione sua spoliandum, dummodo attendatur, de qua re sola agatur in v. 6 et quid solum in Christo demum et per evangelium extra dubium sit positum. - Dixit apostolus se accepisse graliam apostolatus pro gentibus-v. 2, et revelationem mysterii, quod mysterium qua in re consisteret declaravit - (v. 3-6) ; iam revertitur ad v. 2, ad sui apostolátus gratiam
3:7
v. 7 cuius factus sum minister : eus scil. evangelii in v. 6 delineati factus est praeco et minister, qui secundum hanc cognitionem munere suo fungitur, officium evangelii inter gentes propagandi exsequitur ; idque ei commissum est secundum donum gratiae Dei quae data est mihi; cf. v. 2 donum apostolatus gratuito ei a Deo collatum est; gratia Dei ei data est vocatio ad apostolatum efficax, et ad hanc gratiam, ad apostolatum accipiendum et exsequendum ei praesto eratpotens operatio divina, secundum operationem xatà thyėvěpysiav secundum efficaciam virtutis eius, , cf. 1,19; sibi nihil attribuit; effert efficaciam virtutis Dei, qua ipsi ut donum illud conferretur factum est et qua efficacia pariter omnis effectus et fructus apostolatus procreatus est; cf. Gal. 2.8 èvýpyncev xato cis tà 10v ; cf. 9 Cor. 3,5 ; 4,10. gs - Explicat apostolus illud factus sum v. 7 et simul admiratur el notam facit efficaciam virtutis Dei qua ipse creatüs sit apostolus v)
3:8
8 mihi omnium sanctorum minimo, cui scil. tamquam persecutori olim spiranti minarum et caedis (Act. 9,1) infimus locus in coetu sanclorum, i. e. fidelium debebatur, ¿ħay:otótepos lingua vulgari ex ¿hdyotog perexiguus ' formatur quasi infimior ex infimus, veluti minor quam minimus. Animum ` profitetur apostolus gratissimum, et simul maxime stupet de gratia apostolatus sibi facta; nam fieri ex persecutore fidelem, iam est magna gralia; sed ex furente persecutore evehi ad talem apostolatum, nonne res est plane miranda? ceterum vide quomodo alias de se loquatur 4 Cor. 43,9. 1 Tim. 1,15. Iste animi sensus hoc loco gignitur etiam ex -sublimi notione apostolatus quam enuntiat : in gentibus evangelizare dnvestigabiles divitias Christi, áàvstvyviíaesov id quod nequit investigari, explorarij quod mente comprehendi, inveniri non potest; cf. Rom, 11,33; « vere investügabiles divitiae sunt, quia tanta est misericordia eius, quod intelligi, vel inyestigari non posset» { Thom.) ; est enim dives in omnes qui invocant eum (Hom. 10,12). Legendum est cum Hier. gratiarum et donorum; in addito connotatur inter alia, quantae sint sublimitatis, utpote superantes omnem naturalem inquisitionem (£st). Hae divitiae inscrutabiles magis declarantur sequentibus v. 9 et illuminare omnes, illustrare, mentes omniuñ clara luce cognitionis perfundere; ea dictione videtur innui apud complures etiam tum remansisse sit dispositio, ordinatio, in quanam re consistat exsecutio sacramentz zoò pvornolov absconditi a saeculis in Deo, illius scil. mysterii quod v. 5.6 est descriptum; commendatur mysterium ab antiquitate, aderat ab aeterno in consilio ac mente Dei, sed in secreto servabatur, in sola notitia Dei absconditum (cf. 1 Cor. 2,6), et mansit absconditum in Deo qut | omnia creavit «à tà ndvra xtígavti : ipsa creatione quidem non est manifestatum, at in ipso creationis consilio et opere Deus etiam hoc mysterium eiusque oixovouíxv ob oculos habuit. Haud immerito notat Est. : « ex hoc loco videtur sumptum, quod theologi veteres Christi incarnationem passim vocant oeconomiam, ac sub eo nomine comprehendunt, quaecumque in carne assumpta gessit et passus est Christus; quod nimirum ea omnia pertineant ad sapientissimam procurationem salutis humanae, quae per Christum est ». Ceterum vide quae ad 1,10 dicta sunt de voce olxovop.ta. Mysterium istud absconditum erat in Deo eo fine
3:10
v. 10 ut innotescat ta yvoets07; viv ut nune innotesceret, in plenitudine scil. lemporis qua Deus consilium suum exsequi statuerat, principatibus et potestatibus in coelestibus, ipsis sublimibus angelorum ordinibus in coelo nota fieret per ecclesiam per ea quae fiunt in ecclesia, per ipsam illam exsecutionem mysterii ac consilii Dei in'ecclesia, multiformis sapientia. Dei, multiplex illa et varia sapientia; hanc cognoscunt et admirantur in variis donis et gratiis, quibus Deus pro supernaturali sua providentia ecclesiam exornat seu in conversione singulorum multiplicia divinae sapientiae et misericordiae opera cernuntur, quibus multiformis sapientia Dei in dies magis manifestatur, secundum praefinitionem saeculorum, secundum propositum quod Deus ab aeterno concepit et statuit in Christo Tesu; totum enim consilium supernaturalis providentiae in gubernatione et redemptione hominum fundatur in Christo ; vide 1,3.4.5; et secundum hoc Dei propositum etiam nobis patet accessus ad Deum
3:12
v. 12 in quo habemus fiduciam «ny Tappnolav, fiducia nostra firma collocata estin Christo, itemque accessum in confidentia: in Christo simul data est nobis adductio Tpos- «yov, (cf. 2,18) aditus animo fidenti ad Deum per fidem eius, nam fide in Christum aperitur nobis via ad accessum illum familiarem ad Deum. Quod Christus per mortem nobis meruit et quod propterea in eo repositum consideratur, ad hoc ut pertingamus, nobis opus est fides in ipsum. qua et angelorum ordinibus maior quaedam cognitio sapientiae Dei suppeditatur, nobis autem laeta animi fiducia appropinquandi ad Deum (v: 2-12), unde infert conclusionem bene fundatam
3:13
v. 13 propter quod. peto, ne deficiatis, animo cadatis in tribulationibus meis occasione tribulationum quae mihi obtingunt pro votis in apostolatu meo pro gentibus (cf. 3,0), quae mea tribulatio est gloria vestra, *«:; quippe quae : est #rs conformatio seu attractio ad 3óz« et-referlur ad immediate antecedens; tribulationes subit pro gentibus (cf. 3,1 ózip $póov); illae autem non debent esse pro fidelibus causa et occasio tristitiae seu pusillanimitatis, sed sunt titulus gloriae; « nam ut isti tam multa bona consequerentur, Paulus eratàn vinculis ; hoc est multae Dei in ipsos caritatis » (Chrys). Graece habetur zizo9y.xt wh &yxoxsiv, sicut in vulg. etiam accipiunt Chrys. Ephr. Thph. Euth. et recentiorum plerique (cf. Bels. Henle, Ew.)scil. tamquam petitionem, ne illi animos despondeant. Nam, ut Hier. advertit, solent homines hac vel maxime quaestione tentari, quare sanctis viris et Deo servientibus multa adversa eveniant. Apostolum autem tot persecutionibus fuisse impetitum a Iudaeis et tandem in vincula datum facile potuit esse occasio pro gentibus timiditatis seu diffidentiae vel moeroris et tristitiae. GE Prout iam notat Hier. polest iuxta graecum legi: propter quod peto ne deficiam, idemque notant Tust. Est. Lap. Nat. eic..et hanc acceptionem amplectuntur Theod. ThdM : rogo ut divino potiar auxilio, ut fortiter feram incidentes àerumnas propter vestram salutem; eam quoque praefert Zpt.; at profecto magis suadetur prior explicatio ; « magis enim Ephesiis pusillis et novellis in fide timebat apostolus in et athleta Christi in ea solet gloriari » (Lap. sim. Cai. Just. Est. etc.). deesse patet ex explicatione Chrys. Thph. Euth. et in cat. p. 158 (Orig. ?) LP. i e. T 100 EPH. 3,10. M. 3* 335) : « ita fuit absconditum in Deo, quod inde innotuit principatibus | non ab aeterno, sed a saeculo, quia omnis creatura principium habet. Et hoc non per ecclesiam terrenam, sed coelestem » ; nam secundum Augustinum ibi Secundum hanc sententiam (de qua Thom. agit-etiam in Summa I qu. 117, culis; ergo secundum illam scientiam angelorum quam vocat Augustinus matutinam ; cognoverunt illud antea in Deo et illud eis apparuit in effectibus illam sententiam proponit. / Secundum S. Gregorium nyss. prioribus temporibus supramundanae potestates
3:14
Digressionem hanc de vocalione genlium et suo apostolatu (v. 2-12) absolvit petitione v. 14. Redit nunc ipsa formula uius rei gratia ad initium, 3,1 unde orta est digressio. Qui reditus eo facilius concipitur, quia commemoralis suis tribulationibus pro vobis iam fere recolit 3,1 vinctus pro vobis et ipsa digressio exhibet argumentum ab illo 2,11-22 haud alienum. Magno animi affectu petit apostolus duo, ut spiritu Dei robo- ' rati fide et caritate emineant v. 16.17, ex qua in vita sese disponant, et ut rite aestiment consilium Dei universale et caritatem Chrisli incomprehensibilem v. 18.19; quae est altera petitio. Inde cernitur apostólum expositione de vocatione gentium et beneficiis redemptionis finita redire ad illam pelitionem!quam iam supra proposuit 1,17-19. Apostolus ferventem et instantem petitionem declarat (Euth.) dicens : flecto genua mea, quae genuflexio simul est signum magnae reverentiae in Deum et animi demissi in adoratione Deo exhibenda; cf. Is. 45,24 Rom. 14,11. Phil. 2,10. Oratio dirigitur ad Patrem, uti 1,47 ad Deum, patrem gloriae; agitur enim id, ut divitias gratiae Dei, mysterium consilii salutis, et opera Dei de Christo et per Christum facta fideles rite percipiant el aestiment (cf. 1,7 seq. 17 seq. 2,4 seq. 2,18 etc.); Patrem nominat, quia per Christum accessum acquisivimus ad Patrem (2,18), et — ratio, peculiaris interpellandi Patrem, videtur afferri v. 48 ev quo omnis zatot, omne genus, quaevis slirps, quaevis familia, in coelis et in terris nominatur; nato a graecis explicatur quA, ysve&, unde dicunt : tàs vw xxi tàs x40 gUA&s nomos, intelligi quemvis ordinem angelorum et quamvis nationem populorum; eodem:modo vocem graecam Hier. cognationem, familiam declarat. Ipso nomine ma ptd in memoriam revocatur ille demum Pater qui est fons et origo omnis creaturae, ex quo quidquid in coelo et in terra nominatur, nomine quodam designatur, quidquid exsistit, suum esse, suam naturam habet et continuo ab eo conservatur et in quocumque momento ab eo: pendet. Exhibetur itaque sollemnitate qua- - dam maiestas Dei creatoris familiarum omnium coelestium aeque ac ` terrestrium, a quo tamquam a Patre iuremerito sperantur bona quae- Thom. assumit, uti magister sit pater discipuli, ita anpotot superiores, qui illuminent inferiores, dici patres illorum, et comparat 1 Cor. 4,15. Ex graecis Theod. zatpıà&v ifa exponit, ut notio paternitatis voci indatur, Deum vere esse patrem, qui non ab alio hoc acceptum habeat &AXA'aoc0g Tois dios uecabéboxe voüxo, sed ipsealiis id tribuit, singularem lectionem praebet ThdM , vult enim legendum esse cdd — AERE UU exponit; naTpIĂ uy Y&p f sork AMéezat, gpacpía 0€ TÒ ciotnua, èv BE tois odpavol; ovyyéveta iv. od0spía, ovotýpata òè xal mohd. Inversione latina haec habentur : « quidam paternitas legerunt, non intelligentes quod positum erat ab apostolo; est autem congregatio; nam patria vel paternitas cognatio dicitur, congregatio autem collectio esse insinuatur; in coelis namque cognatio quidem est nulla, congregationes autem sunt plurimae » (Swete l. c. p. 159). Etiam Chrys. miratur quod z«zgié dicatur : évc&0o. piv yàp natpıal eio tà yévn, £v òè ojpav& móc, vla ovðeis &£ od0evOg yéyovev; in coelo autem quomodo sunt genera, ubi nullus ex altero est genitus ? 7| éxetxà coat cd gnor racpiág ; an illuc coetus vocat xacptác ? dpi xai èy T l'eagii Egit) EM XELUEVOV, TATLO åuattapet (2 fortasse Mepapei, Num. 4,29 viot Megapst, xaT’ olxoue maTpiy aUrOy). Alii notionem zc aov ita restringunt, ut illi soli intelligantur, qui filiatione adoptiva (sensu novi testamenti) revera sint filii Dei (cf. Bels. Henle). Sed ila zca zov niinis recedit ab usu et notione in Scriptura assumpta, in qua valde frequenter occurrit (cf. Ex. 6,15.19. Ps. 21,27; 93,7 ; 106,4. Is2,4; 3,14; 25,9 etc. pro hebr. nnzw;et Luc. 2,4. Act. 3,95 — pro vetere testamento plurimos locos vide apud Hatch). Sicut 3,9 .dictum est de Deo qui omnia creavit, ita simili modo hoc loco eius maiestas ex universali dominatione declaratur. Neque haec paronomasia nátýp— xx:p:* ob notionem patris, qui solo sensu novi testamenti pater vocari possit, est restringenda ad iustos. Nam in vetere testamento etiam populi dicuntur filii Dei; cum enim Israel vocetur primogenitus filius Dei (Ex. 4,22), reliquos populos nomine filiorum comprehendi sequitur; idem indicatur Ier. 3,19 : quomodo ponam-te in filios i. e. quo- -modo te volui exaltare prae aliis filiis, prae aliis populis! Quare nihil obstat quominus «ex m«:pií notione generali retineatur. Idque hoc loco eo magis erit observandum, quia in antecedentibus apostolus adeo explicite de vocatione gentium disputavit" el suum esse apostolatum affirmavit gentibus evangelizare divitias Christi et omnes illuminare de isto mysterio vocationis gentium (cf. 2,41; 3,6.8-10). Quae si ob oculos habentur, etiam nomen Patris plane intelligitur. Prius quidem Hier. genu flectereexposuit ansa capta ex Phil.-2,10 notione spirituali de subiectione mentis et inclinatione animae et obsequio cordis; at reversus ad locum nostrum monet : « haec autem spiritualiter exponentes non statim iuxtá litteram "orandi consuetudinem , tollimus, qua Deum genu posito suppliciter adoramus; legimus enim Paulum in littore sic orasse »; cf. Áct. 20,36; 91,5 et Petrus oravit ponens genua Act. 9,40. Ad Deum, cuius gloria est divitias gratiae nobis largiri, magno. animi affectu petitionem dirigit : ut det vobis secundum divitias gloriae suae, ut in initio petitionis Deum invocaverat Patrem gloriae (1,17), ita nune petit, ut det secundum immensam largitatem et interiorem hominem: 6 tow &v0pozos ille est qui condelectatur legi Dei (Rom. 7,22), est mens hominis, voXc, sana ratio, quae per se rectum et -bonum intelligit et appetit, sed repugnantiam carnis eiusque impetum vincere per se non valet (cf. Rom. 7,23). Unde homo quam maxime indigel, ut contra desideria carnis huic/interiori homini, eius menti, addatur robur, ut firmetur 9uvcue:, ut crescat virtute; talis autem virtus tale robur confertur homini interiori per Spiritum eius, quae doctrina exponitur Rom. 7,6.25; 8,2; haec est circumcisio cordis in spiritu Rom. 2,29 et si spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis Rom. 8,13. Auxilio gratiae divinae opus est; hanc illis adprecatur apostolus, ut ex divitiis gloriae gratiarum interior homo 6 £s» čvðgonos renovetur de die in diem (2 Cor. 4,16). Dicitur homo interior, quatenus homo mente, intellectu, voluntate ceterisque internis animae viribus ac potentiis constat el vivit, sicut e contrario exterior homo, idem homo, quatenus sensibus membrisque externis constat, vivit, lisque operatur, indulget (Lap.); ita quidem ratione habita 2 Cor. 4,16; hic vero potius sagxt - opponitur ó £co &v0pozoc. Praeterea efflagitat illis:v.
3:17
47 Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris, ut viva fide Christum eiusque doctrinam complectantur; ita in eorum animis efficietur illud : hoc sentite in vobis, quod: et in Christo Iesu (Phil. 2,5), ut tandem dicere possint cum apostolo : vivit in me Christus, in fide vivo Filii Dei (Gal. 2,20) ; si apostolus corpora fidelium dicit membra Christi (4 Cor. 6,15), in eorum animis Christum vivere, rima continet, ita haec altera quoque, qua Deus imploratur, ut tota eorum agendi ratio regatur a Christo inhabitante, scil. ut secundum Christi exemplum et doctrinam cuncta disponantur, ut efficiantur Christi habitaculum. De modo scribendi adverte: primum sequitur post tvz 5 infinitivus v. 16, dein accusativus c. inf. v. 47 ; iam tertio mutatur constructio ; in caritate radicati, ut sitis etc. ; continetur tertium quod pro iispetit ad perfectionem vitae. Eiusmodi mutatio constructionis in longiore expositione facile occurrit; vide Rom. 12,9-19. Iam Oec. adnotat poni nominalivum pro accusalivo eumque morem praecipue reperiri apud Thucydidem, vel adhibendum esse hyperbaton et iungendum cum complures assumunt ; at ea destruitur ipsa concinnitas petitionum. . - Tertio enim illis exoptat reginam virtutum (cf. 1 Cor. 13), caritatem. Quam acquirere debeant firmitatem et, constantiam, exprimit duabus similitudinibus, arboris quae altis radicibus actis firmiter innititur, et aedificii stabiliter. fundati; firmiter itaque et constanter consistant in exercitio caritatis, in eius usu et operibus quasi altas agant radices, et aedificium vitae erigatur super fundamentum caritatis. Utramque similitudinem tangit apostolus : Dei agricultura ysópy!ov estis, Dei aedificatio oixoboy/, (1 Cor. 3,9). Hisce tribus summa quaedam et perfectio vitae continetur : corroborari per Spiritum ad perpessiones vincendas, Christum induere, et esse fundatum et stabilitum in caritate. Atque hisce consistit petitio apostoli pro fidelibus ratione hábita vitae quam agere debent. Atque in textu tres proponi petitiones, Nat. Est. Just. iam bene exposuerunt: De modo quo v. 17 referatur ad v. 16, disceptatur. Per se iste accusativus corroborari v. 16 enuntiaretur, ut Christus habitaret in cordibus. Vel v. 17 potest considerari tamquam explicatio quaedam seu declaratio aut determinatio ad v. 16. Prior illa acceptio sententiae finalis ex regulis grammaticae iam non commendatur, quia subiectum mutatur; neque altera placet, quia difficile intelligitur, quomodo Christum habitare in corde nihil aliud sit, nisi explicatio quaedam pro « virtute corroborari ». Unde optime sumitur v. 17 independenter a v. 16 tamquam altera petitio (Ephr.). In modo scribendi : in caritate firmati tppitopévot etc. iterum mutatur constructio, quae tamen mutatio apud apostolum vide Col. 2,2 ut consolentur corda ipsorum (ai xapi a3cóv) instructi copQigasbévtes etc. Coactum est iooiCouévor nescio qua constructione praegnante explicare (oce vevécUo. Dude èv ayánn £ppu;ouífvovs. Cum « in caritate radicati » non possit esse conditio quasi praevia ad « Christum habitare per fidém », certe optime intelligitur ut tertia petitio. In secunda petitione postulat pro illis bonum quoddam intellectuale (cf. 1,17.18). Hoc autem bonum ita proponitur, ut simul appareat, vitam in fide et caritate. perfecta actam. esse necessariam praeparationem ad Thom. : « supra ostendit apostolus petitionis suae et orationis intentum, sc. corroborationem spiritus in fide et caritate; hic consequenter ostendit eius quam petit corroborationis in fide et caritate fructum, qui est quaedam cognitio ». Vitam bene actam plurimum conferre ad intelligentiam spiritualem ostenditur ipsa particula tva, qua sententia dependens exhibetur ab antecedentibus; illa scil. in idtendunt ac diriguntur v.18 ut possitis iva 5l oes, ut valeatis, ut efficiamini potentes, comprehendere aestimationem omnes perveniant fideles, et simul indicat eiusmodi et ad eam attingere studeant, quae sit latitudo et longitudo. Ad quid hoc referendum sit patet, si consideramus, unde ipsa haec petitio apostoli enata sit. Est autem orta, uti-3,1.44 indicatur toútov j*e, exantecedente expositione, qua mysterium in Deo absconditum de omnium gentium salute per Christum largienda describitur; huius ergo mysterii, huius consilii divini magnitudo per quattuor illas dimensiones quasi ad oculum et plastice exhibetur. ~ Ita graeci rem conceperunt ; tò wuothprov Tò nio Ül.OV olxovounÂèv petà &xpiBefac stdevæ: (Chrys.), magnitudo mysterii declaratur (Euth. Oec. Thph. Ephr.), vel quae sit et quanta eius my sterii, quod vobis praedicavi, magnitudo, dignitas, maieslas (Est.). Adnotavit T/om., verba haec videntur ortum habere ex verbis : excelsior coelo est, profundior inferno longior terra mensura eius et latior mari (Iob 11, 8.9), ad quae alludens apostolus dicit etc. Bene etiam Lap., apostolus loquitur hic de beneficio oeconomiae et redemptionis Christi, quanon tantum Iudaeos, sed et gentes omnes vocavit ad salutem, graliam el beatitudinem. Praeter eam explicationem, quae sola contextui congruit, veteres praeeunte Hier. varia alia addere solent easque dimensiones applicare ad crucem, vitam beatam, naturam divinam, bonitatem divinam elc. : quae videri possunt apud Just. Lap. Nat., neque hic exponenda sunt. Cum hoc mysterio salutis intime connexa est caritas Chrisli qui dilexit nos et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis (Gal. 2,20), cuius caritatis quasi immensitas in redemptione pro omnibus peracta ostenditur. Quam caritatem, excedentem noslram notitiam, saltem cum admiratione ut summopere aestiment, apostolus rogat v.19 scire etiam supereminentem. scientiae thy oxegBd)Jousxv the yYOcswg dyay quae cognitionem superat caritatem Christi ; sed si-superat nostram scientiam, quomodo rogat ut eani sciamus? non dicit: cognoscetis eam quanta sit, sed hoc ipsum quod magna sil et quod exsuperet omnem cognitionem( Thph.). Recte monent Cai. Lap. Est. latinum scientiae esse per dativum explicandum : supercminet, praestat scientiae, caritas Christi maior est captu nostro, maior quam ut penitus a nobis intelligi possit, cf. 1,10; 2,13-18. Nam, ut ait Thom., quidquid est in mysterio redemptionis humanae et incarnatione Christi, totum est opus caritatis ; cf. Ioan. 3,16; 15,9 sieut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos, et vide infra in epistola nostra 3,2. Id scire per- Hanc ipsam caritatem Christi etiam describi iam in v.18 et magnitudinem eius et amplitudinem designari per quattuor illas dimensiones existimat Abbott, eainductus ratione, quia in antecedentibus a v.14 nova quaedam pars sit incepta, in qua iam non reperiatur posrgtov, alias 106 EPH. 3,18-19. & aulem explicaliones v. g. depromptas ex imagine templi, vel complectentes cuneta quae. Deus revelaverit et fecerit, pro nobis, admitti non posse, unde infert ex ipso contextu, id est, ex ipso illo quod immediate sequitur, explicationem esse repetendam; describi prius ambitum caritatis, dein eius incomprehensibilitatem. Verum in hac acceptione concinnitate sententiarum requireretur, ut ipsa haec supereminenlia seu incomprehensibilitas non per modum attributi seu adiectivi exprimeretur, sed per substantivuminsuper mirum est, id de quo agatur non suo loco poni, scil. in v. 18, sed prius'quasi in ambiguo relinqui et demum suppleri in v.19. Dein iam e xpoeruntp ent v.A4 huius rei gratia etc. intime-necti cum antecedentibus. Sine definito obiecto v.18 concipit Ew., cognitionem sal fidelium quasi in omnem directionem et in omnem veluti dimensionem extendendam esse, cognitionem utique christianam, cognitionem fidei, ita scil. ut non tantum haec vel illa pars aut tantum haec vel illa ratio veritatis aut doctrinae ob oculos habeatur. Putat hanc acceptionem commendari prae illa de mysterio, eo quod uno articulo tò quattuor i illae enuntiationes tò «Adxoc xa} wixos etc. designentur. Verum ipsa haec scientia ulterius tendit, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei: plenitudo Dei est vel illa plenitudo quam Deus habet, vel illa plenitudo cuius est auctor, quam datvel hominibus inesse vult, sicut iustitia Dei est vel illa qua Deus iustus est vel quam hominibus largitur. Si priore notione intelligitur, erit sensus similis verbis Christi : estote vos perfecti sicut et Pater vester coelestis perfectus est (Matth. 5,48), et eo modo intelligit Chrys. exouBdGewy wete mAnpoUüc0at cone pérs, Tic mX(pns omiy) b Oecós et Lap. « ul sitis pleni omni sapientia, virtute et perfectione, maxime caritate qua plenus est Deus» et similiter Cai. Bels. Henle, Hpt ; ita meta altissima perfectionis praefigitur. Alii magis efferunt pleomnium donorum Dei, ut scil. hic habeatis plenitudinem virtutum, et postea beatitudinis, quae quidem ' efficit caritas » (Thom.); similiter Est. ut repleamini perfectione omnium donorum Dei ; et ita Nat. quoque ; alii uti Lap. Ew. utramque acceptionem plenitudinis proponunt. Singularis est opinio Severiani in cat. proposita : z)oepa yào thy ovest Jes (ot p. 163). In utraque acceptione plenitudinis id statuitur, ut ex cognitione magnitudinis mysterii divini de salute et ex aestimatione summa caricatur quoque mutua illa habitudo inter vitam et cognitionem ; vita enim proba conducit ad faciliorem cognitionem rerum spiritualium; maior vero cognitio rerum divinarum iterum stimulus quidam est maioris virlutis, uti in v. 46-19 declaratur. Uti apostolus 1 3 cum doxologia incepit, ita hanc partem doxologia sollemniore concludit, qua "el petitionem suam convenientissime absolvit et maximam suam fiduciam de immensa Dei liberalitate praeclare profitelur idque eo magis consentaneum est, quia, ut Thd M. notat, sub tali specie gratiarum actionis sermonum dogmaticorum expositionem fecisse videtur;
3:20
v. 20 e? autem qui potens est omnia facere brio ndyta norca super omnia facerei. e. potens est multo plus facere quam omnia illa quae nos petimus aut mente concipimus, el insuper superabundanter quam. petimus oxspsxnspusco9, nova fingit verba, ut superabundantiam divinae potestatis exprimat, ėxrsptocoù iam includit notionem superlativi; hanc etiam augere studet voce composita, valde ultra modum plus àv versio latina apud Hier. : ei autem qui potest super omnia facere abundantius quam petimusaut intelligimus; « ceterum quantum ad reiipsius pertinet veritatem, plus Deum valere tribuere:quam rogatur el spes nostras vinci effectibus ». Comparanda sunt quae scribit alias : quod oculus non vidit nec auris audivit nec in cor hominis ascendit (homo ne mente et cogitatione quidem sibi fingere potest), quae Deus praeparavit diligentibus se (1 Cor. 2,9). Et ut tam magnam concipiamus spem, jam in nobismetipsis habemus: pignus certum et documentum; nam Deus potens est super omnia facere et etiam multo maiora quam petimus aut mente excogitamus (7, voo9p.ev) secundum virtutem quae operatur in nobis, quae in nobis est efficax xav thy àóvayav Thy &vepyoup.£ny &v huty, haec enim virtus efficax est Spiritus Dei; v. 46 virtute corroborari per Spiritum eius et 1,13 Spiritus est arrha eoque signati sumus et 2,21 etin Spiritu coaedificatio fitin Dei habitaculum. Impulsu et operatione Spiż ritus sancti in animis iustorum miri producuntur ' effectus virtutum heroicarum, sublimis inditur rerum coelestium cognitio, amor Christi accenditur stupendus. Cum itaque fideles iam habeant arrham Spiritus sancli, maxima fiducia petitiones suas Deo offerre possunt, et exspectare laetaspe illa bona, quorum pignus et arrha est idem ille Spiritus. Pulchre concludit precibus et glorificatione ; oportebat enim eum glorificare qui tanta praebuit (Chrys.)
3:21
v. 21 ipsi gloria in ecclesia, et in Christo Iesu in omnes generationes saeculi saeculorum, facilem sensum praebetlectio varians : in ecclesia in Christo Iesu reddatur Deo gloria, “in ecclesia quae constituta est et vivit in Christo Iesu. Sed critice retinenda erit lectio e£ in Christo, unde sensus erit eruendus : sit Deo gloria agnita et praedicata in ecclesia, et innotescat haec gloria Dei nobis exhibita in Christo; mediatore et redemptore; Deus quippe immensam suam erga nos caritatem et benignitatem quam praeclarissime manifes- - tat in Christo nobis misso et dato (cf. Ioan. 3,16. Rom. 8,32). Veteres plerumque explicant : sit gloria, eum glorificet ecclesia tantis beneficiis affecta, idque per Christum, in omnes aetates toù aiovoc vv aloyov: usque in aeternum ; yeve& ponitur, uli saepe apud LXX pro 17 notione aevi, aetatis, spatii temporis; unde ad litteram «à «iðvı töv oióvov (ultimo aevo? ita Hpt. vel aevo omnium aevorum maximo seu longissimo) assignantur iterum spatia temporum in omnes aetates; ita cumulantur notiones ad exprimendam seu deliheandam aeternitatem. Secundum in-* Lerpunctionem vulg. sit ipsi gloria in ecclesia, et in Christo Iesu, in omnes generationes eic. sensus polest esse : in Christo datum est ut Deo sit gloria in aeternum ; in Christo enim adepti sunt quotquot ex hominibus unquam futuri sunt in coelo beatitudinem, in qua habetur gloria Dei externa, quae sola ei dari polest a creaturis. De gloria Dei | quae resideat in ecclesia et in Christo videtur Mier. explicare : « ipsi itaque Deo sit gloria; primum in ecclesia quae est pura, non habens maculam neque rugam et quae propterea gloriam Dei recipere potest, quia corpus est Christi. Deinde in Christo Iesu, quia in corpore assumpti | hominis, cuius sunt universa membra credentium, omnis divinitas inha- bitet corporaliter. Quae quidem gloria non in praesens tantum tempus extenditur et futuris saeculis terminatur; sed in omnes generationes et saeculum saeculorum, ineffabili aeternitate permanet, crescit, augetur » ; cf. 2 Petr. 3,18 : ipsi gloria et nunc et in diem aeternitatis. In v. 6 ev nasv nuy DEFGKL syr arm Thph. \ 3 &,1. Tapazar® oby bug évo ó Oéoutoc iy xupito, loc xeptratijgat tjs xAroeos, Tie bojenre, 2. PET% máongc TaAetyoppooUyie xal TpaúTNTos, petà uaxpolvuiac, vey dusvot &XMXov è èv &yánm, 3. orovdářovtes cmpeiv : TRY évótnTæ toU nveúuavos év và gvvdéouy TG eterne. 4. Ev có) xa £y zveŭua, xaÜoc aD ëy p Pies tie xXdatoc buy. 5. elc xóptoc, pia niotte, Ev Bántioua. 6. ets Otos xal nathp návtwv, ó nl vtov xal ðr TÁVTWY xal ÈV n&oty. 7. Evi òè ixáoto fige» £000 5 y &otg xax TÒ pétpoy vic Dwpečç toU Xpıotoŭ. 8.910 Ayer avaßac eic Uoc NY [a óc eucev aiy pahwoiay, Edwxev Õduata xoig avipwnrorc. 1&6, TOLG Ob evayyehiotáç, toüc 0B mowiéyae xal BrbnoxdA ous, 12. npóg TOV xataptiopðv pio) s ete čpyov 8taxov(ac, elc oixoðouny t0U sup ros toU XpiacoU, 13. utypi XATÆV- Thowuev ol náviee Eis Thy évdtnta TIS Tto- Tews xal Tc êniyvósews TOU vio toù (cog, tig &vðpa céÀetov, elg uécpoy iuxtas 100 xÀnod aros voU XotsroU, 44. iva pnxéti Ouev vrjrtot xXuboviCO[.evot xad zeptpspop.evot xayiidvép. tis rdaczahias év TÅ xuBelo tõv -&yÜptóxtov, v mavoupyía mpócctn» peloðelav tis nàáyns. 49. aùnlecúovtes OE èv &yámm avțrowpev ets aùŬtov tà Távtæ, Og Eotw f zepa, Xeiotds, 10..8E 00 này tò oõpa ovvappohoyoúpevoy xai ouvptBakouevoy Sta náons pis tijg Ext opi viae xat évépyetav. čv uétpo ÉvOg éxáorou pépoug Thv agno 100 cdipatOg motéirat elg olxoboyTy aóroU £v &&nm. go Hil Viot Ambr; vpiv Chrys Theod Occ. capite ecclesiae (1,19-21) quae egit pro ipsis fidelibus (2,4-24), unde apostolus admiratus mysterium vocalionis gentium petitiones pro fidelibus (quas inceperat 1,17-18) Deo Patri offert (3,1-21). Exposuit itaque, quae beneficia et quae spes illis exhibita essent. Restat igitur ut ipsi fideles ex sua parte hisce respondeant. Quare apostolus, ut in aliis epistolis proposita et declarata doctrina, transit ad admonitiones et praecepta vitae (cf. Rom. 42,1 ; 4 Thess. 4,1-12; 2 Thess. 3,1-15; Gal. 5,1- 6,10). Et quantopere eius animo obversetur excellentia et dignitas vocatiodenuo manifestat, quas hac vocatione commemorata praecipue inculcare intendit ; v. 1 obsecro, napaxai®, adhortor, admoneo itaque oo», quae particula facile adnectitur ad antecedentia, ad. ipsam petitionem quam pro fidelibus Deo proposuit 3,15 seq. praesertim ad 3,19, et insuper istas aperto est. Nam postquam beneficia Dei iis collata descripsit, per se consequitur, quid istis beneficiis rependant; « divino beneficio iniqua vita ne faciatis iniuriam » ( Theod.). Alias quoque particula oov exhortationes inducere solet, quippe quae sint conclusiones et supplementa doctrinae expositae (1 Thess. 4,1. Rom. 12,1. Gal, 5,1); ego vinctus in Domino, fere eodem, Philm. 1.9.23; «meminit vinculorum suorum ad excitandum affectum, quo sit efficacior exhortatio » (Est); cf. 3,13; ut digne ambuletis, conversemini, vitam agaUs, vocatione qua vocati estis, vocali sunt, ut essent sancti et immaculati in conspectu Dei eligentis et vocantis, vocali ad adoptionem filiorum in laudem gloriae graliae eius (1,4-6), ut coaedificarentur in habitaculum Dei (2,22), ut implerentur in. omnem Uti 1,3 in omni benedictione spirituali compendium quoddam et quasi summa continetur beneficiorum Dei quae deinceps exponuntur, ita in efficaci confirmatione cuncta monita comprehenduntur, quae in sequenlibus singillatim explicantur. Secundum verborum sententiarumque dispositionem in v. 2.3 quattuor praescriptiones exhibentur ; primum : cum omni humilitate et mansuetudine, animum exhibeant demissum, non alta sapientem, sed debito modo se subiicientem, qui eo ipso etiam erit mansuetus xozivrc, abiecta omni duritie et insolentia in omni re agant cum suavitate; postulatur haec animi demissio, haec virtus humilitatis et suavitatis in universum, in quacumque re, in tota conversatione. Et EPH. 4,2-3. 111 quantopere vi vocationis alieni esse debeant ab omni superbia et animi elatione, satis ostensum est ex conditione pristina ex qua sola gratia Dei erepti sunt (2,2-12), ex beneficiis plane gratuito collatis (1,4-44; 2,4-8.13-22; 3,6). Quae si perpendant, de se humiliter sentient, de Deo vero magnifice eumque sumra animi demissione colent, et aliis pariter animum humilem, suavem exhibebunt. Bene monet Hier. : « omnis humilitas non tam in sermone quam in mente est, ut humiles nos essé conscientia noverit, nunquam nos vel scire vel intelligere vek esse aliquid aestimemus ». / Repetitione praepositionis secunda inducitur virtus cum patientia, petà uaxpoðuulxçs cum longanimitate, animi lenitate ac moderatione, qua ira et vindicta coercetur, si qua offensio vel iniuria illata est. Discrimen ab antecedente notat Thom. : quandoque enim aliquis humilis est et mansuetus in se, abstinens a molestiis inferendis, non tamen patienter sustinet molestias sibi illatas vel attentatas ; ideo subdit cum patientia». Habet longanimitas aliquid affine cum magnanimilate (uti vertit Amórst.); magnanimi sunt quippe etiam longanimes, sicut Lap. ex Senecae libro de clementia affert, nulla re turbantur vel offenduntur, laesi non se vindicant, sed potius clementiam exhibent; contra qui sunt;.animo contracto, rebus parvis, parva iniuria, verbo asperiore concitantur ad iram et vindictam erumpuntque in iurgia. Tertium monitum spectat illud &AXákew tà don Baotačere alter alterius onera portate (Gal. 6,2), supportantes invicem idque non aegre, cum murmuratione, sed zn caritate : ita, iungi debebit, iam ut modus et ralio istius supportantes describatur, dein ut cum v. 3 habeatur concinnitas quaedam conformatioque sententiae. Quivis sibi conscius esse debet se habere defectus quibus alteri molestia quaedam .creetur; unde ipse quoque aliorum defectus seu mores asperos supportet in caritate, quae omnia suffert, omnia susti- . net, quae non irritatur, non cogitat malum (1. Cor. 13,5.7). Haec admonitio dirigitur secundum Thom. contra inordinatum zelum, qui statim iudicat, nec tempus nec locum servat. Ad hanc autem caritatem impelli debent filiatione adoptiva, qua velut fratres inter se iunguntur (1,5), eadem sorte et spe vocati, el arrha Spiritus signati et tamquam membra unius eorporis sub Christo capite (2,11.13.22 etc.). Quartum monitum effertur simili cum tertio sententiae fórma v. a solliciti crovòdķovteç sollicite operam dantes seu curantes servare unitatem spiritus, unitatem mentis et animi (Lap.), proutapostolus alibi - monet : obsecro vos ut idipsum ‘dicatis omnes et non sint in vobis schismata, sitis perfecti in eodem sensu et in eadem sententia (1 Cor..4 ,10), idem sapite (Rom. 12, 16; 2 Cor. 13,11), implete gaudium meum, ut idem sapiatis (Phil. 2,2; 4,2); hanc unitatem spiritus servavit multitudo credentium, quorum erat cor unum et anima una (Act. 4,32). Haec unitas servatur et in tuto collocatur in vinculo pacis, ut scil. pace et amore pacis animi eorum connectantur; si omnes pacem amant, iurgia vilantur, néque in diversitate opinionum concordia et animorum consensio turbantur. Assignatur itaque, uti Thom. ait, modus servandae unitatis ; est enim pax ligamen animorum; pacis auctorem iis exhibuit apostolus Christum (2,15); hanc pacem omnibus evangelizavit Christus, ea pace habent accessum in uno spiritu ad Patrem (2,17-18); proinde hanc pacem quam maxime fovere debent, ut conversentur secundum vocationem. Non desunt qui spiritum etiam hoc loco intelligant de Spiritu. sancto (Chrys. Just. Bels. Henle); verun$ admonitio, uti legitur per se, mirum istud sonat: servate unitatem Spiritus sancti, de qua unitate nobis sane non est curandum; ulique explicant : servale unitatem, cuius auctor est Spiritus sanctus. At simplicius est et sententiae unice consonum, ut sequamur id quod Hier. a plerisque accipi dicit, ut scil. spiritum dicamus affectum mentis atque sententiam ; ita etiam Cai. Est. : « spiritum intelligimus humanum, 1. e. animos hominum inter se consentientium, secuti commentarium Thomae et Ambrosiani; non ut graeci, Spiritum sanctum, quia quod sequitur ; unus spiritus, de spiritu humano convenientius aecipi putamus ». Sed potior ratio est ipse modus loquendi : unitas Spiritus-sancli non a nobis est servanda vel custodienda; et prorsus aliud est affirmare unum esse Spiritum, non plures! Quae unitas Spiritus v. 4-6 ter ternis modis describitur, quibus simul rationes et subsidia et causae illius unitatis delineantur
3:1
EPISTLES OF THE CAPTIVITY. - The Pauline letters to the Colossians (v.), Ephesians (v.), Philippians (v.) and to Philemon (v.), which presuppose Paul as a prisoner (Col. 4, 3. 10. 18; Eph. 3, 1; 4, 1; 6, 20; Phil. 1, 7. 13 f. 17; Philem. 1. 9 f. 13). The first two, above all, present notable affinities of form and content (v. EFESINI, epistola agli, III).
… only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he himself has spoken" (Jn. 1:18). The same clear awareness of a divine revelation, concerning especially God's designs for humanity, is found in St. Paul (cf. 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Cor. 2:10-16; Gal. 1:12-13; Eph. 3:1-9). The author of the letter to the Hebrews summarizes the common thought: "At many moments and in many ways, in times past, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets; last of all, …
3:2
… episcopum cognovi"), though his name is passed over in silence; Ignatius himself presents himself as the sole bishop of Antioch (Rom. 2, 2, 9, 1), and indeed holds that in every part of the world, wherever a Church has been founded, there is a bishop (Eph. 3, 2; v. ORDINE E ORDINAZIONE). …
… St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine and later St. Gregory the Great take up in their works definitions and arguments of the Stoics and other pagan philosophers: but they always bring out the supernatural character of Christian virtue: 1) this is a gratuitous gift of God (cf. St. Polycarp, Ad Eph. 3, 2; St. Augustine, In Ps. 55, enarr. 19: PL 36, 695); 2) it is a habit of the soul (id., De moribus Eccl. cath., l. 1, n. 9: PL 32, 1314); 3) it is a good habit, that is, one that leads …
3:3
… In St. Paul it means especially the divine plan of salvation, hidden from eternity in God, and now manifested by the Apostle (e.g., Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:3-6, 9).
… visions, such as that of Peter (Acts 10:19-23), or simply through the communication of ideas that the recipient is conscious of receiving directly from God (thus most of the "revelations" had by St. Paul are probably to be understood: cf. Gal. 1:12; Eph. 3:3). The essential element of passive revelation is the certain consciousness that the recipient acquires that this truth is communicated to him directly by God. Without this certain …
3:4
… [Verbum Salutis, 8], Paris 1935, pp. 153-61). This divine plan of salvation embraces all, even the pagans, who, no less than the Jews, are destined to be co-heirs, concorporate [σύσσωμα], partakers of the goods promised to the Hebrews in Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:4-6). This is the great mystery that Paul must proclaim to the world (D. Deden, Le «Mystère» paulinien, in Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses, 13 [1936], pp. 20-22; C. Spicq, p. 116 ff.).
… as a great gift of God: «God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son» (Io. 3, 16). «But God, who is rich in mercy, for the immense love with which He has loved us, even when we were dead through sin, has brought us to life in Christ» (Eph. 3, 4). The voice of tradition is found, for example, in Epiphanius (Adv. haer., 69, 52): «God the Word, creator, not subject to any cause...
… Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 68, a. 2); a knowledge which, moreover, is realized predominantly, according to Pseudo-Dionysius, through the Eucharistic liturgy, as the term of the "Mystery of Christ" of which St. Paul speaks (Eph. 3, 4), thus revealing its essential connections with the meanings indicated above. …
3:5
In the list of charisms, in the early Church, the prophets hold the place of honor, after the Apostles: I Cor. 12:28 ff.; 14:1-5, 24, 29, 31 f.; Eph. 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; several times, in the New Testament, these interpreters of God appear, giving predictions, reading the secrets of hearts; bearers of the divine word (Acts 11:27; 19:6; 21:9 …
3:6
… More than on the necessity of the rite (cf. Act. 19, 5), P. insists on pointing out its symbolism; it represents also externally death to the world and the incorporation of the new creature into the Mystical Christ (cf. Rom. 6, 3; Gal. 3, 27; Eph. 3, 6). The Apostle recalls at length the Eucharist (I Cor. 11, 20-32). He speaks of Holy Orders, pointing out its capacity to confer Grace (Act. 20, 28; I Tim. 4, 14; II Tim. 1, 6). Finally …
3:8
… This is the great hidden mystery, dimly illuminated by the ancient prophets, but inconceivable for the great majority of contemporary Jews; P. glories in being destined to proclaim it (Eph. 3, 8, 9).
3:9
… affert, certe crucis mysterium difficillimum existimandum est vixque percipi a nobis potest, salutem nostram ex cruce ipsa et ex co qui pro nobis ligne illi affixus est pendere ». It is the mysterium absconditum a saeculis, of which St. Paul speaks (Eph. 3, 9; Col. 1, 26; Rom. 16, 25).
As code, testimony (Deut. 31:26), synthesis and foundation of Yahweh's covenant with Israel, the t. of Moses, that is, the first 5 books of the Bible, unfolds around a general unifying theme, which can be expressed in the following thesis: there exists an eternal divine plan (cf. Eph. 1:10; 3:9: "economy") that is progressively realized, against all obstacles, and whose end is the creation of the chosen people as a theocratic nation, with the Mosaic law as its directive and …
3:10
… happiness of the elect is assimilated to that of the a. and will be in their company, a company already begun here below, so that we are their fellow citizens (Heb. 22, 12). The knowledge of the a. is limited and admits of progress (Mt. 24, 36; Mk. 13, 32; Eph. 3, 10; I Tim. 3, 16). Their number is very great (Heb. 12, 22; Rev. 5, 11). There is also a certain diversity among them; named are: a., archangels, thrones, dominions, virtues, principalities, …
… One angel takes particularly to heart the rebuilding of Jerusalem and of the other cities destroyed during the Babylonian exile (Zech. 1:12). Others take part in the conversion of sinners (Luke 15:10), in the growth of the Church (1 Cor. 4:9; Eph. 3:10), protect the poor (Matt. 18:10), the Apostles (Acts 12:15). Every people, every city, community, or Church has its own guardian angel (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6, 17; Origen, …
3:13
… This life, which is born in the soul through the sanctifying Grace conferred by Baptism, must therefore grow, like every other life, until it reaches "the perfect manhood," as St. Paul says, "the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 3, 13; cf. Sum. Theol., 3a, q. 72, a. 5). On the other hand, in Baptism the Christian has committed himself to renounce evil, the devil and all the enticements of which the latter makes …
3:14
… example of a prayer to the Father that he may obtain for the Christian, through the Holy Spirit, the strengthening of the inner man, the rooting of the divine life in his heart, and consequently the acquiring of the taste and savor of the divine mysteries (Eph. 3, 14-21). 2. To the Christian considered in his social dimension, C. gives the strength always to do honor to his own flag; never to blush at his own faith; to know how, when the occasion …
… The consolidation of the inner man ardently invoked by St. Paul for the new Christians in his prayers (Eph. 3, 14-16; Col. 1, 6 ff.) is, in the very words of the Apostle, a development of the faith: St. Peter imposes it in categorical form: "Crescite in gratia et cognitione Domini nostri I. Christi" …
… The former presents it under the soteriological light as a redemptive force from sin. A restoration begun with Baptism, which is rebirth in the risen Christ (Rom. 6, 4-11), a new life nourished by faith and charity (I Cor. 13; Eph. 3, 14-19), whereby a new creation is brought about (II Cor. 5, 17), the new man clothed in Christ (Col. 3, 9; Gal. 3, 27), living of Christ (Gal. 2, 20). The synthesis of St. Paul's thought, …
… himself, and in general in the mysteries of God, cannot come about through natural intelligence alone, but presupposes an interior influence of God, the communication of a new principle of knowledge (1 Cor. 2:16; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; cf. Mt. 16:17; Eph. 1:17-18; 3:14-19).
3:16
… enduring quality that affects the operative principles of the man who wishes to please God. 2) These qualities are infused by God into our hearts (II Cor. 5:5); charity comes from God and is a communication of the Holy Spirit who works in us (Rom. 5:5; Eph. 3:16-19). 3) The character of true virtues of these stable qualities infused by God into man is given by the fact that with explicit activity through them the new life is realized in man, …
3:17
… Χριστῷ (34 times) or ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (48 times), to which ἐν Κυρίῳ (50 times) or ἐν αὐτοῦ-ἐν ᾧ (29 times) is equivalent; St. Paul willingly uses the name Χριστός when he highlights the divine influence of Jesus in the soul (Rom. 8:10; II Cor. 13:5; Eph. 3:17; etc.), which is itself "anointed" (II Cor. 1:21), in which He goes about "being formed" (Gal. 4:19).
3:18
… and above all by the types of the Old Testament applied by the Fathers: Gen. 47, 14-19, Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh with crossed arms; Ex. 17, 11, Moses prays with raised hands for the fighting people; Is. 65, 2, "I have spread out my hands." In Eph. 3, 18, the Fathers find the four dimensions of the cross.
3:19
… The Apostle constantly uses τοῦ Χριστοῦ (with the article) after terms of soteriological import: Ἰεσσαγγέλων (8 times), "the cross" (I Cor. 1:17; Gal. 6:12; Phil. 3:18), "the sufferings" (II Cor. 1:5 and Col. 1:24; cf. Act. 3:18; 17:3; 26:23), Ἰάγιπτη (Rom. 8:35; II Cor. 5:14; Eph. 3:19), "the Blood" and "the Body" of his sacrifice (I Cor. 10:16; Rom. 7:4; Eph. 2:13; τοῦ Κυρίου in I Cor. 11:27). The equivalence Σωτήρ = Χριστός is openly affirmed in Lk. 2:11. …
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.