Fragments on the Epistle to the Romans

 to say but to impart for this is surely much more than that. submitting he healed again, saying for you to be established For I was eager, he says,

 faith is to believe not only concerning him, but from him also concerning ourselves as those who will be resurrected. What then is the whole meaning o

 indeed also changing because it has come into being by God, who is truly eternal and unchangeable, it teaches, and holding together even in its contin

 of knowledge. Therefore, the master, God, he says, their ignorance harmed in no way, but being without need and having a nature—how might one say it?—

 for which things you condemn some others, on these things to be acquitted of them. And do you think that God the true judge does not exercise as much

 having sinned for those who are within neither action nor a discerning choice, 363 how could they be liable for a transgression? But the phrase unti

 being urged and says: For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, and what follows. For he has now used the conjunction ins

 of him. For he who has died, he says, has been justified from sin. What is this that he says? Stumbling belongs to those who live this life, since hav

 having abstained entirely from those things, to pursue earnestly the holiness of righteousness. For you know that time, he says, in which you were sub

 but through the commandment I have learned this for as this measured for me the desire inherent in my nature, and did not permit its use to be unrest

 often proposed such as also “our God is a consuming fire.” But it is like the “you were slaves of sin” which was said before, and that by the prophet

 and to do it, and again also not to do it, being taught by the divine law, I have, being measured under the knowledge of virtue, but being hindered fr

 bestowing immortality and friendship with God. {Rom 8,7-8} For it is impossible, he says, for the will of the flesh ever to concur with the will of Go

 death of his own death, we have been delivered from that most terrible dread, and being deemed worthy of renewal we are able to call upon God as fathe

 the latter from the former. The evangelist says something like this also concerning the disciples of the Lord, that at first they did not understand t

 That it might speak the things that are beyond human understanding and prayer, these things the given grace of the spirit secretly obtains for us, and

 signifying by this the certainty of the things given to us for we who do not sin will always remain in the things given, whence he said that it is no

 of his relationship to us, which he demonstrated by making it through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. Formerly, then, I was so disposed, but now having been deemed worthy to be called something through

 and indeed I am continually grieved however, it is not possible to say, because these did not accept the gospel, that the word of God, that is to say

 of the inquiry, he knew that he would be speaking the rest of his proposed defense in vain for the hearer would no longer be able to pay attention to

 But, I think, advocating for Christ and the truth, he leaves no pretext to his adversaries for slandering the pious dogma, but just as with all other

 of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory, do you complain of this? Having fulfilled, however, what pertains to the pre

 signifying by this that this is the same as if it were said to us that we should not disbelieve either concerning the descent of the Savior from heave

 being chosen now also from our whole race For just as then according to the word of scripture not even one would have been saved, had God not left fo

 Having admonished and forbidden them to boast against the Jews, he also reveals a certain mystical word 401 to them, which until then was unutterable

 {Rom 12,1} Having concluded all the discourse concerning dogma, he from here shifts to moral teaching, and through the general counsel of things to be

 act with eagerness as fulfilling a service to the Lord, and rejoice while awaiting the reward hoped for on account of these things, for which it is al

 and promising things beyond human conception, and moreover being proclaimed by common, poor, and unlettered men. For this reason, there was at that ti

 you are paying a necessary debt without excuse for having paid each of your other debts, you have freedom from accountability after the payment, but

 But he will be upheld, he says, for God is able to make him stand. {Rom 14,6} For both, he says, this one and that one, have one purpose, the honor th

 such a one, having been eager to show to Christ also his own way of life as such, is both beloved by God and praised by men. 413 {Rom 14,21-22a } It i

 all the nations will be blessed, He himself being born from them according to the flesh and being made under the law, and manifested indeed in the fle

 being of the gospel for it is equal to that is, to be mutually encouraged among you through the faith that is in each other, both yours and mine. o

Fragments on the Epistle to the Romans

Rom 1,5-7a For our nature was at war with God through disobedience, and not keeping the virtue which the law commanded, but being instructed even until old age, yet becoming no better than ourselves, we naturally provoked the lawgiver, learning what must be done and what must not be done, so that not even the pretext of ignorance was left to us, yet doing least of all what was necessary, and most of all what was not necessary, so as to be rendered liable not only for inactivity in good things but also for evil action, and to owe a penalty for both, for those things we held to and for those we abstained from. From this enmity, he says, and from the resulting punishment, it will be possible for you also, O Romans, along with all others, to obtain deliverance, and to partake of the peace with which divine grace has now deemed the human race worthy. He prays, therefore, for them first for the grace of God; for through this all who have believed have enjoyed salvation; then for peace, through which he alludes to the achievement of virtue for all; for he who embraces the evangelical way of life, who is eager to serve him in all things, is at peace with God. {Rom 1,7b } For God, the master of all, has revealed to us a paradoxical adoption. What sort of adoption is this? The one that appeared through Jesus Christ our Lord; for in the name of the Father he indicated the gift of adoption, and by the addition of the Lord Jesus Christ he presented the one in whom first and through whom first this came to be. He calls adoption the restoration of our nature to deathlessness and incorruptibility; for such persons are worthy to be called sons of God, themselves partaking as much as possible of the Father's impassibility. And we have received this, being united through faith, from this point on in the first fruits; for he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has broken down the middle wall of the fence. This, I think, was the mortality of the body and the passibility of the flesh by which, being carried down toward sin, we were walled off from intimacy with God. 353 But now no longer, he says; for he raised our fallen nature in Christ and seated it at his right hand in the heavenly places.{ Rom 1,8} Therefore he does not say "through Jesus Christ" as through some servant, but rather that the matter concerning the Lord Christ is especially suited for thanksgiving to God, and the paradoxical economy that saved our race through him, which also captured us, along with the others, through faith in him. And he makes himself familiar, courting them as much as possible through these words, lest they should ever think either that he had condemned anything about them, or that he had come to write to them as one finding fault with the tradition of Peter, and then, being displeased at this, they might flee from the reading and lose the benefit of the epistle. Beginning, therefore, from thanksgiving and from faith, having praised them on the grounds that it was both true and firm and that they all together held strongly to it, both through the phrase "is proclaimed," which he spoke very appropriately in relation to the preeminence of the city, and through the addition of "in the whole world," sufficiently honoring and exalting them, he immediately moves on to the recommendation of his own person.{ Rom 1 ,9} He said "his spirit," since he was not speaking of the hypostasis of the Spirit, but of the grace of the Spirit given to him for evangelizing, being deemed worthy of whose cooperation he was able to accomplish the work of the apostolate. { Rom 1,10-12} He says these things, suspecting that the hearer might take hold of the saying harshly, and as it were reply, "What are you saying, he is eager to impart to you some spiritual gift? For what is lacking in Peter's teaching? Does he find fault at all with his teachings, as someone he himself is, as a greater apostle than he, as one who had conversed more with the Lord Christ than he and was loved more by him than he was." Suspecting these things, therefore, first, in revealing also in himself the purpose of his coming, he sufficiently checked the assumption of audacity. then the 'what' 354 to add and the not to give

Fragmenta in epistulam ad Romanos

Rom 1,5-7a Ἐκπεπολέμωτο γὰρ τῷ θεῷ ἡ φύσις ἡμῶν διὰ παρακοήν, καὶ ἣν ὁ νόμος ἐπέταττεν ἀρετὴν οὐ φυλάσσοντες, ἀλλὰ παιδευόμενοι μὲν ἕως γήρους, οὐδὲν δὲ μᾶλλον βελτίους ἑαυτῶν γινόμενοι τὸν νομοθέτην ὡς εἰκὸς παροξύνομεν, ἃ μὲν δεῖ ποιεῖν τε καὶ μὴ ποιεῖν ἐκμανθάνοντες ὡς μηδὲ ἀγνοίας σκῆψιν ἡμῖν ὑπολείπεσθαι, ποιοῦντες δὲ ἥκιστα μὲν ἃ χρεών, μάλιστα δὲ ἃ μὴ χρεὼν ὡς μὴ μόνον ἀργίας καλῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ πράξεως κακῆς ἐνόχους καθίστασθαι καὶ δίκην ἀμφοτέρων ὀφείλειν, ὧν τε γὰρ εἰχόμεθα καὶ ὧν ἀπειχόμεθα. ταύτης τοίνυν τῆς ἔχθρας, φησί, καὶ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν κολάσεως ὑπάρξει μετὰ πάντων, ὦ Ῥωμαῖοι, καὶ ὑμῖν κομίσασθαι τὴν ἀπαλλαγήν, καὶ μετασχεῖν τῆς εἰρήνης ἧς τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων νῦν ἡ θεῖα χάρις ἠξίωσεν. ἐπεύχεται οὖν αὐτοῖς πρῶτον μὲν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν χάριν· διὰ ταύτης γὰρ ἅπαντες τῆς σωτηρίας ἀπήλαυσαν οἱ πιστεύσαντες· εἶτα τὴν εἰρήνην δι' ἧς πᾶσιν αἰνίττεται τῆς ἀρετῆς τὴν κατόρθωσιν· εἰρηνεύει γὰρ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὁ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν ἀσπαζόμενος πολιτείαν, ὁ θεραπεύειν αὐτὸν εἰς ἅπαντας προθυμούμενος. {Rom 1,7b } Ὁ γὰρ τοῦ παντὸς δεσπότης θεὸς ἀνέδειξεν ἡμῖν υἱοθεσίας παρά δοξον. ποίαν ταύτην; τὴν ἀναφανεῖσαν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν· τῷ μὲν γὰρ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρὸς τὸ τῆς υἱοθεσίας δῶρον ἐνέφηνεν, τῇ δὲ ἐπαγωγῇ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸν ἐν ᾧ πρῶτον καὶ δι' οὗ πρῶτον γέγονεν αὕτη παρέστησεν. υἱοθεσίαν δὲ λέγει τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν τὴν εἰς θάνατον καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ἀποκατάστασιν· ἄξιοι γὰρ οἱ τοιοῦτοι θεοῦ χρηματίζειν υἱοὶ τῆς πατρικῆς ἀπαθείας καὶ αὐτοὶ μετέχοντες ὅσον οἷόν τε. ταύτης δὲ ἀπελάβομεν ἑνούμενοι διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη τῇ ἀπαρχῇ· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας. τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ἡ θνητότης οἶμαι τοῦ σώματος καὶ τὸ ἐμπαθὲς τῆς σαρκὸς ᾧ πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καταφερόμενοι τῆς πρὸς θεὸν οἰκειώσεως διετειχιζόμεθα. 353 ἀλλὰ νῦν οὐκέτι φησίν· τὴν γὰρ φύσιν ἡμῶν πεπτωκυῖαν ἤγειρεν ἐν Χριστῷ καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπου ρανίοις.{ Rom 1,8} Οὔκουν ὡς διά τινος ὑπηρετοῦ λέγει διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀλλὰ ἀντὶ τοῦ πρὸς εὐχαριστίαν μάλιστα κειμένην θεοῦ τὴν κατὰ τὸν δεσπότην Χριστόν, καὶ ἡ σώσασα δι' αὐτοῦ παράδοξος οἰκονομία τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἤπερ καὶ ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς ἐπ' αὐτὸν πίστεως μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐζώγρησεν. Καὶ οἰκειοῦται θεραπεύων ὡς οἷόν τε διὰ τούτων, μή ποτε νομίσαντες ἢ ὡς αὐτόν τι κατεγνωκέναι κατ' αὐτούς, ἢ ὡς τοῦ Πέτρου παραδόσεως ἐπιλαμβανόμενον ἐληλυθέναι πρὸς τὸ ἐπιστεῖλαι αὐτοῖς, εἶτα δυσανασχετήσαντες ἐπὶ τούτῳ φύγωσι μὲν τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν, ζημιω θῶσι δὲ τὸ ὄφελος τῆς ἐπιστολῆς. ἀρξάμενος οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς εὐχα ριστίας καὶ τῆς πίστεως, ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς ὡς αὐτῆς τε οὔσης ἀψευδοῦς καὶ βεβαίας κἀκείνων ἰσχυρῶς ὁμοῦ πάντων ἀντεχομένων αὐτῆς, διά τε τῆς καταγγέλλεται λέξεως ἣν οἰκείως ἄγαν ἔφη πρὸς τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς πόλεως, καὶ διὰ τῆς προσθήκης τοῦ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ σεμνύνας ἀποχρώντως καὶ ἐξᾶρας αὐτούς, ἐπὶ τὴν σύστασιν εὐθὺς μεταβαίνει τοῦ ἰδίου προσώπου.{ Rom 1 ,9} Ἑαυτοῦ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα εἶπεν, ἐπειδὴ μὴ τὴν ὑπόστασιν τοῦ πνεύματος ἔλεγεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν δεδομένην αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι χάριν τοῦ πνεύματος, οὗ τῆς συνεργείας ἀξιούμενος τὸ τῆς ἀποστολῆς ἔργον διανύειν ἐδύνατο. { Rom 1,10-12 Ταῦτα δὲ λέγει ὑπειδόμενος τὸν ἀκροατὴν τραχέως κρατεῖν τῷ ῥήματι, καὶ οἷον ὑπαντήσεσθαι τί λέγεις, ἐπείγει χαρίσματος ὑμῖν μεταδοῦναι πνευματικοῦ. τί γὰρ ἐνδεῖται τῇ τοῦ Πέτρου διδασκαλίᾳ; μέμφει ὅλως τοῖς ἐκείνου διδάγμασιν ὥς τις ὧν αὐτός, ὡς ἐκείνου μείζων ἀπόστολος, ὡς μᾶλλον ὁμιληκὼς ἐκείνου τῷ δεσπότῃ Χριστῷ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐκείνου φιληθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. ταῦτα τοίνυν ὑπειδό μενος πρῶτον μὲν καὶ ἐν αὑτῷ τὸν σκοπὸν μηνύειν τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, ἐκόλασεν ἱκανῶς τῆς αὐθαδίας τὴν ὑπόληψιν. τότε τὸ τί 354 προσθῆναι καὶ τὸ μὴ δῶ