(Verse 1.) Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. Among our forefathers names were given for a reason, as Isaac was named for laughter and Jacob for the heel; so this man too was called Saul because of his restlessness. But after he had believed, he calls himself Paul in place of Saul, that is, a changed man. And since Saul, in the sense given above, is interpreted as restlessness or trial, when he came to the faith of Christ he calls himself Paul — as if to say that from a troubler he had been made quiet and humble, or little; for our faith is peace. For whereas before, out of the restlessness of Judaism, he brought trials on the servants of God, afterwards he himself suffered trials for the sake of the hope which he had once denied out of love for Judaism. In professing himself a servant of Christ Jesus, he shows that he has been stripped of the Law. And he set down both names, that is, Jesus Christ, in order to mark the person both of God and of man; for in both He is Lord, as the apostle Peter also testifies, saying: He is Lord of all. Since, then, He is both Lord and God — for David says, For the Lord, He is God (Psalm 100:3) — this is what the heresies deny. Marcion, out of hatred of the Law, sees fit to deny the Christ and His body while professing Jesus; the Jews and Photinus, out of zeal for the Law, deny that Jesus is God. For whenever he says either Jesus or Christ, he sometimes means God and sometimes man; as in this place among others: And one Lord Jesus, through whom are all things (1 Corinthians 8:6), which certainly belongs to the Son of God in respect of His being God; and in another place: But Jesus increased in age and wisdom (Luke 2:52), which certainly befits a man.

Called to be an apostle. Because he has come to know God and confesses Him, and has been made a fit servant, he shows that he has been advanced, saying, Called to be an apostle, that is, sent by the Lord to carry out His affairs. By this he shows that he has merit with God who serves not the Law but Christ; for the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath (Matthew 12:8).

Separated unto the Gospel of God. The Gospel of God is the good tidings of God, by which sinners are called together to pardon. Now the Apostle, since in Judaism he held the place of a teacher, as being a Pharisee, says that he has been separated from preaching Judaism unto the Gospel of God; so that, leaving the Law aside, he might preach Christ, who justifies those who believe in Him, which the Law could not do. Yet this is not against the Law but for it; for the Law itself says that this would come, as the prophet Isaiah says: There shall come out of Sion He that shall deliver, and turn away captivity from Jacob; and this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins. If, then, the law of God was given through Moses, and the preaching of the new Law is also of God, what difference is there, that he should say he has been transferred from the Law which God gave into the Gospel of God? It is like one who passes from the second rank to the first, and from good to better. For the Law was given by God for the correction of conduct; but the Gospel of God is that through which is made manifest the mystery of God which lay hidden in God from the ages, which is Christ. All who are invited to it carry away a twofold gift: they receive the remission of sins, and they become sons of God, so that they can no longer die the second death. Hence the Lord says in the Gospel: This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent (John 17:3).

(Verse 2.) Which He had promised afore. To prove that the hope of faith in Christ is sure and whole, he says that His Gospel had already been promised by God beforehand; and to teach from this that Christ is a fit guarantor of life, he shows that testimony had been given Him before He came. The apostle Peter bears witness to the same, saying: For there is none other name under heaven given, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

By His prophets. To signify more plainly that the coming of Christ is for salvation, he also points out the persons through whom God put His seal on the promise, so that from them it might be seen how true and how splendid the promise is. For no one announces a trifling thing by great forerunners.

In the holy Scriptures. This he added to crown his true testimony, to give believers greater confidence and to commend the Law. For those Scriptures are holy which also condemn vices; and in them is contained the mystery of the one God and of the incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of mankind, with wonders and signs as witnesses.

(Verse 3.) Concerning His Son. It was fitting that, since God was promising His own Son to the world, He should promise Him through illustrious men; so that from them it might be known how mighty He was who was being proclaimed; so that He might set His future coming in the holy Scriptures; and so that what the holy Scriptures had proclaimed could not be thought false.

Who was made unto Him of the seed of David according to the flesh. He says that He who was the Son of God according to the Holy Spirit, that is, according to God — for God is spirit, and without doubt He is holy — was made the Son of God according to the flesh, of the seed of David; as it is written, And the Word was made flesh (John 1:14). So that now Christ Jesus is one, the Son of God and of man; so that as He is true God, He should also be true man. But He would not be true man unless He were of flesh and soul, so as to be complete. For He who was the Son of God from eternity was unknown to the creation; and when He willed to be made manifest for the salvation of mankind, He had to become visible and bodily, since He willed both to be known through His power and to wash man from his sins in the flesh, by conquering death. And for this reason He is made of the seed of David: so that, as He was born of God a King before the ages, so also according to the flesh He might take a royal descent, springing from a king, being made by the working of the Holy Spirit of a virgin, that is, born; so that, reverence being kept for Him, He might by this be recognised as more than man, since His birth differed from that of human law, as had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah: Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb (Isaiah 7:14). Thus, since a new thing, and one worthy of praise, was seen to have come about, some providence of God concerning a future visitation of the human race might be discerned.

(Verse 4.) Who was predestinated the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. In saying “the Son of God” he signified that God is the Father; and by adding “the spirit of sanctification” he set forth the mystery of the Trinity. This One, then, being incarnate, what He was lay hidden; and He was predestined to be manifested in power as the Son of God, according to the spirit of sanctification, at the time when He rose from the dead; as it is written in the eighty-fourth psalm: Truth is sprung out of the earth (Psalm 85:11). For by His resurrection all doubt and distrust was trampled down and crushed. True, while He was still hanging on the cross, the centurion, seeing the mighty works, confessed Him to be the Son of God (Matthew 27:54); but even the disciples wavered at His death, as Cleopas said at Emmaus: We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel (Luke 24:21). And the Lord Himself says: When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He (John 8:28); and again: When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things unto me (John 12:32), that is, then I shall be known to be Lord of all. He did not say “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” but “by the resurrection of the dead”, because the resurrection of Christ bestows a general resurrection. For this seems the greater power and victory in Christ: that when dead He worked by the same power by which He had worked while alive. By this it became plain that He had made a mockery of death in order to redeem us; and so he calls Him our Lord.

(Verse 5.) By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name. After the resurrection the Son of God, made manifest in power, gave grace, justifying sinners, and named the apostles, among whom Paul here counts himself a companion; so that the apostleship, together with grace, should be of God’s gift, and not such as the apostles of the Jews are. From God the Father, then, through Christ the Lord, they received this power: that, standing in the Lord’s place, they should make the Lord’s teaching acceptable by signs; so that the faithless Jews, who had been jealous of that power in the Saviour, might be the more sharply tormented on seeing the same power in His servants admired by the crowds. For power is the witness of teaching: since what is preached is incredible to the world, it was made credible by deeds. So he speaks of the apostles as sent to preach the faith to all nations, that they might obey and be saved; so that the gift of God might be seen to be granted no longer to the Jews alone but to all nations as well; and that this is the will of God, to have mercy on all in Christ and through Christ, as His deputies preach — that is, “for His name”; as he says elsewhere: For whom we are ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).

(Verse 6.) Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. That is: as we discharge our embassy among all nations for the name of Jesus Christ, among them you too have been called. For the gift of God has been sent to all; so that, hearing that they have been called along with the rest, they might know that they ought not to live under the Law, since the other nations received the law of Christ without the law of Moses.

(Verse 7.) To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Although he writes to the Romans, he indicates that he is writing to those who are in the love of God. And who are these, if not those who think rightly about the Son of God? These are both holy and called. For those who live under the Law understand Christ wrongly, and their mind does injury to God the Father, since they doubt whether the hope of salvation is perfect in Christ. Therefore they are not holy, nor are they said to be called.

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. He says that grace and peace are with those who believe rightly. It is grace, because they have been loosed from their sins; and peace, because from enemies they have been reconciled to the Creator; as the Lord says: Into whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you, say, Peace be to this house (Luke 10:5). And to teach that without Christ there is no peace and no hope, he added that grace and peace are not only from God the Father but also from Christ Jesus. He calls God our Father on account of our origin, since from Him are all things; and Christ our Lord, because, redeemed by His blood, we have been made sons of God.

(Verse 8.) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. The preface being finished, he declares before all else his joy, as Apostle of the Gentiles, that the Romans, while ruling over the world, had submitted themselves to the Christian faith, which to the wise of this world seems lowly and foolish. Though there was much in the Romans to give him joy — for they were memorable for their learning, eager for good works, and more concerned to act well than to speak well, which is not far from divine religion — yet he says he rejoices first in this, that their faith was running abroad in every place. Although it was not according to the rule of the truth handed down by its founders, still, because they had begun to venerate what is from the one God, with the name of Christ brought in, he rejoices, knowing that they could make progress. By this too he shows his love towards them, when he rejoices with them in their good beginning and urges them on to progress. He says, then, that he gives thanks to his God only, because God was not yet fully theirs; for of Him is all fatherhood (Ephesians 3:15). But since the whole ordering of our salvation is from God indeed, but through Christ — not through the Law, nor through any prophet — he says that he gives thanks to God, but through Christ; because the report of their faith was the advancement of many, so that he refers this very thing to the providence of God through Christ. For either those who had believed rejoiced and were strengthened, and the rest rejoiced because they saw their rulers become believers; or at least those who had not believed could believe by their example. For the lesser readily does what he has seen done by his superior.

(Verse 9.) For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. To persuade them of his love, he calls as witness the God whom he serves and to whom he also prays for them; serving not in the Law but in the Gospel of His Son — that is, not in what Moses the servant handed down, but in what the most beloved Son taught. For as far as the servant is from the master, so far is the Gospel from the Law: not that the Law is evil, but that the Gospel is better. He serves God, then, in the Gospel of His Son, to show that it is the will of God that men believe in Christ. Whom also I serve. How? With my spirit, he says; not in circumcision made with hands, nor in new moons and sabbaths and the distinction of foods, but in the spirit, that is, in the mind. Since God is spirit, He ought to be served with the spirit, or rather with the mind; for He who is served with the mind is served from faith. This is what the Lord said to the Samaritan woman, who thought that God wished to be worshipped on a mountain: The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit (John 4:23–24). Those who worship, then, must worship in spirit and in truth; and it is not the place that commends the prayer, but the devout mind. That is, to worship in truth is to worship in spirit God, who is spirit, and Christ: the one from whom are all things, and the one through whom are all things (1 Corinthians 8:6). Such worshippers the Father seeks. He insists, then, that he remembers them in his prayers, in order to sow love in them; for he makes them long for him. Who would not love one whom he hears to be mindful of him? For if they had gladly received teaching under the name of Christ, with its words corrupted, from men who had not been sent, how much more would they long to hear one whom they knew to be an apostle, and whose words were accompanied by power!

(Verse 10.) Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God, to come unto you. He shows the sense of his prayer for them: he says that he asks God that he might come to the City for their advancement, with the will of God, whose gift he preaches. For there is advancement when what has to be done is done with the will of God. He prays, then, that by whatever means an occasion might now be given him to come to the City, for he was occupied in preaching to others; and he reckons the journey prosperous if he comes by God’s will, since the will of God is provident. A prosperous journey, then, is one in which the toil of travelling is not undergone in vain. So he asks that God may bring it to fulfilment by calling them to His grace. He speaks out of the eagerness of his heart; he longs for them, knowing that it will profit both them and himself; as he says elsewhere: What is our joy, or crown? Are not even ye, at the coming of the Lord? (1 Thessalonians 2:19). For the Apostle’s fruit is the richer if he gains many. Besides, the joy is greater when the powerful of the world are converted to God; for the more formidable they are as enemies, the more needful they are once reconciled. And so an occasion was given to his wish in such a way that he was compelled to appeal to Caesar, and was sent to the city of Rome for another reason, God so willing, so that he might fulfil the purpose of his own will. Indeed, when he was in the shipwreck the Lord stood by him and said: Fear not, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome (Acts 27:24).

(Verse 11.) For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual grace, to the end ye may be established. This establishing requires three persons: God who consents, the Apostle who imparts, and the people who receive. Now, then, he shows the desire of his longing and what he wished for them. For when he says, That I may impart unto you spiritual grace, he signifies that they had arrived at a carnal understanding; for under the name of Christ they had come to hold not what Christ had taught but what had been handed down by the Jews. He shows that he longs to come quickly so as to draw them away from this tradition and hand on to them the spiritual gift, gaining them for God by making them partakers of spiritual grace, so that they might be perfect in their profession and their faith. From this we are given to understand that above he praised not their faith but their readiness and their devotion towards Christ; for while professing themselves Christians, they lived under the Law in simplicity, as it had been handed to them. For the mercy of God was given to this end, that the Law should cease, as I have often said already; since God, taking thought for human weakness, decreed to save the human race by faith alone added to the natural law. Why, then, when he is correcting them by letter and drawing them away from a carnal understanding, does he say that his presence is needed in order to impart spiritual grace to them, since what he writes is spiritual? Only because words spoken in one sense are commonly wrested to another, as the heretics do. So he desires, by being present, to hand on to them the teaching of the Gospel in the sense in which he writes it; lest, under the authority of his letter, error should not be removed but strengthened. For present among them he could persuade by power what he could not persuade by words, so that, with this added, he might profit them the more.

(Verse 12.) That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the faith which we have in common, both yours and mine. He says that he will be comforted together with them if they lay hold of spiritual things; for though he rejoices with them in their faith, he grieves that it was not a right faith that they had received. Such was the Apostle’s affection that he grieved over the faults of others as if they were his own. “And so let us be comforted,” he says, “by one and the same faith”; so that there might be one comfort, if they were made of one faith in Christ, and the imparting of spiritual grace through the Apostle’s preaching of the Gospel might bring this about.

(Verse 13.) Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto. He shows his purpose and his wish, which he has no doubt they know through those brethren who came to the City from Jerusalem or the neighbouring cities on account of their religion, such as Aquila and Priscilla, and who made his wish known to the Romans. Since he had often wished to come and was prevented, it came about that he wrote the letter, lest, held too long in a bad way of life, they should not easily be corrected. And he calls them brethren not only because they had been born again, but also because there were among them some, though few, who thought rightly. That is why he said, Called to be saints (Romans 1:7). But what does called to be saints mean? If they are saints already, how are they called in order to be sanctified? This belongs to the foreknowledge of God: those whom God knows will be saints are already saints in His sight, and remain called. He says, however, that he was prevented up to the time when the letter was sent — prevented by God, certainly, who, knowing that they were not yet prepared, directed the Apostle to other cities which were by then able to receive the truth. For although they lived under the name of the Saviour, they were held back by carnal faults, so that they were not yet worthy to learn spiritual things. Thus, when Paul and Silas wished at one time to go into Bithynia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:7) — why, unless He knew that the right disposition was still lacking? But at Corinth the Apostle is admonished by the Lord, who says: Speak, and hold not thy peace; for I have much people in this city (Acts 18:9–10). Not idly, then, does he say that he was prevented; he has also distinguished the reasons for his wishes, and exhorted them to prepare themselves, so that, hearing that spiritual grace was to be imparted to them, they might make themselves worthy to receive it by abstaining from carnal faults.

That I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. He declares that he is eager to come to them for the common good, so that they too may obtain the salvation of spiritual grace, holding the profession of their faith as valid; and so that he may have the fruit of his ministry before God, by which he stirs them up to the right faith by the example of the other nations. For a man becomes readier to embrace what is handed to him if he sees many agreeing with it.

(Verse 14.) I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise. He says that he is a debtor to those whom he mentions, because he was sent for this purpose, to preach to all. By this he also signifies that all are debtors; for to confess God the Creator, from whom are all things and through whom are all things, is both the honour that is owed and the salvation of the one who confesses. By the Greeks, then, he meant Gentiles, but those who are called Romans, whether by birth or by adoption; by the Barbarians, those who are not Romans, whose race is hostile, and who are Gentiles. And he called wise those who, trained in worldly learning, are called wise in this world, being either observers of the stars, or students of measures, or numbers, or the arts of grammar, rhetoric or music. To all these he shows that such things profit nothing, and that they are not truly wise unless they believe in Christ. And he called foolish those who, following simplicity, are unskilled in these matters. He testifies that he has been sent to preach to all of these. Of the Jews he says nothing, because he is the teacher of the Gentiles. And therefore he professes himself a debtor, because he received the teaching for this purpose, that he should hand it on; and in handing it on he gains.

(Verse 15.) So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also. Though he says that he was sent to preach to all nations, he declares that he is ready to deliver the Gospel of the grace of God to the Romans, among whom are the head and the seat of the Roman empire. For it makes for the welfare and the quiet of the members if the head is not disturbed. So he wishes for the peace of the Romans, so that Satan may not vaunt himself greatly and reap a richer harvest from his work.

(Verse 16.) For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. With these words he touches those from whom they had received a faith that was not right. The teaching of the apostles was commended by power: since what they preached seemed incredible, the signs and wonders done by the apostles were a testimony that men should not distrust what was said by those in whom so great a power dwelt. (For no one doubts that words give way to power; and so, since no wonders had been seen to come from those other men, their preaching was without the power of God.) And therefore he says that he is not ashamed of the Gospel of God, but that they are ashamed; because what they had handed on was coming under reproach, was confirmed by no testimony, and disagreed with the apostolic teaching. It is the power of God, then, that invites men to faith and gives salvation to everyone who believes, forgiving sins and justifying; so that one who has been sealed with the mystery of the cross cannot be held by the second death. For the preaching of the cross of Christ is the token of death overthrown; as the apostle John says: For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8); so that no believer is held by death, because he has the sign that death has been conquered.

To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. That is, to him who is of the race of Abraham and to him who is of the Gentiles; for by the Greek he means the Gentile, and by the Jew him who is of the race of Abraham. For they began to be called Jews from the time of Judas Maccabaeus, who in a time of disaster resisted the sacrileges of the Gentiles, and, trusting in God, gathered the people together and defended his race. He was of the sons of Aaron. Although, then, he puts the Jew first for the sake of the fathers, he nonetheless says that he too stands in need of the gift of the Gospel of Christ. If, then, even the Jew is not justified except through faith in Christ Jesus, what need is there to be under the Law?

(Verse 17.) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. He says this because in him who believes, whether Jew or Greek, the righteousness of God is revealed. He speaks of the righteousness of God because God freely justifies the ungodly by faith, without the works of the Law; as he says elsewhere: That I may be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is of faith (Philippians 3:9). The righteousness which is from God in faith — this is the righteousness which he says is revealed in the Gospel, when God gives man the faith by which he may be justified. For in him who believes and confesses, the truth and the righteousness of God are shown: it is the righteousness of God because He gave what He had promised. And so the believer, who has obtained what God had promised through His prophets, proves God righteous and is a witness to His righteousness. From faith to faith. What else is “from faith to faith” but that there is the faith of God in what He promised concerning Himself, and the faith of man who believes Him that promises; so that from the faith of God who promises to the faith of man who believes, the righteousness of God is revealed? For in the believer God is seen to be righteous; but in him who does not believe He is made to seem unrighteous; for he who does not believe that God has given what He promised denies that God is true. This he says against the Jews, who deny that this is the Christ whom God promised.

As it is written, The just liveth by faith (Habakkuk 2:4). He turns to the example of the prophet Habakkuk in order to declare that it had long ago been shown that the just man lives by faith and not by the Law; that is, that a man is justified before God not through the Law but through faith. For the life that comes from faith is not this present life but the life to come; for the just man lives by faith, but with God.

(Verse 18.) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those men who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness. For as the righteousness of God is revealed in him who believes, as I said above, so also ungodliness and unrighteousness are revealed in him who does not believe. For from the very fabric of the heaven God is seen to be angry with them. The reason He made the stars so beautiful was that from them it might be recognised how great and how wonderful their Creator is, and that He alone might be worshipped. Hence it is written in the psalm: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). Through the natural law, therefore, he holds the human race guilty; for by the law of nature, with the fabric of the world bearing witness, they could have grasped that God the Maker alone is to be loved, which Moses committed to writing (Deuteronomy 6:5). But they became ungodly by not worshipping the Creator, and unrighteousness appears in them, since, seeing the truth, they turn a blind eye to it, and do not confess the one God.

(Verse 19.) Because that which is known of God is manifest in them. The knowledge of God is made manifest by the fabric of the world. For in order that God, who by nature is invisible, might be known also through visible things, He made a work which by its visibility should manifest its Maker, so that through what is certain what is uncertain might be known; and so that He who made this work, which is impossible to all others, might be believed to be the God of all. For God hath shewed it unto them; that is, He made a work through which He might be recognised by faith.

(Verse 20.) For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. It is the same sense, which he repeats in order to teach more completely that, though the power and majesty of God cannot in themselves be beheld by the eyes of a creature, they are understood and seen through the work of the world. In this way, then, he makes guilty those who lived without both the law of nature and the law of Moses. For by the habit of sinning they buried the law of nature and forgot its memory, and the law which had been given to restore it they would not receive; so that they became liable to condemnation on a double count. Even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. So that ungodliness should have no excuse at all, he added that the power of God and His eternal Godhead had also been known by men, and that they had grown dull, through a kind of stupor, to honouring God, though they were not ignorant that He exists and that He works for their benefit. For no one doubts that He decreed the things that are brought forth for human use as the year comes round. His eternal power, then, is Christ, through whom He established the things that were not, and they abide in Him. Even if His person was not known long ago, His works nevertheless are manifest. And His Godhead is seen in this, that the elements of things continue in the work appointed for them. So that they are without excuse. For one who is convicted of guilt on many counts cannot be excused.

(Verse 21.) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful. So far were they from being ignorant that they confessed there is one first principle, from which all things took their beginning — things in heaven, on earth and below the earth — and that it is He alone who appointed to all things their properties and their functions by nature; and knowing this, they did not give thanks. He speaks of those who went before, in order to correct those of the present and those to come. But became vain in their imaginations. They became vain; for seeing the world fitted out with wondrous adornment by Him whom they had known to be its Maker, they turned a blind eye. And their foolish heart was darkened. A cloud of error covered their heart; for whereas they ought to have honoured the Creator all the more on account of the beautiful things He made, they grew dull, abandoned Him, and said that these visible things alone were enough for them to worship.

(Verse 22.) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. They consider themselves wise because they think they have investigated the reasons of nature, examining the courses of the stars and the qualities of the elements, while despising the Lord of them all; and so they are fools, since, if these things are to be praised, how much more their Creator! Yet, ashamed of having neglected God, they commonly resort to a wretched excuse, saying that through these they can go to God, just as one comes to the king through his officers. Come now: is anyone so mad, or so unmindful of his own safety, as to claim the king’s honour for an officer — when, if any are found even to have discussed such a thing, they are rightly condemned as guilty of treason? And these men do not think themselves guilty, who give the honour of the name of God to a creature, and, forsaking the Lord, worship their fellow servants — as though there were anything more left to be kept for God! For the reason one goes to the king through tribunes or officers is that the king is, after all, a man, and does not know to whom he should entrust the affairs of state. But to win the favour of God, from whom nothing is hidden — for He knows the merits of all — there is no need of a patron, but of a devout mind. Wherever such a one speaks to Him, He will answer him.

(Verse 23.) And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man. So blinded was their heart that the majesty of the invisible God, whom they had come to know from the things He made, they changed not into men but — what is worse, and an inexcusable crime — into the likeness of men; so that the form of corruptible man, that is, a man’s statue, is called God by them; so that those whom they dare not honour with this name while living, they receive as images of the dead into the glory of God. What dullness, what folly, to call these men wise — to their own condemnation — with whom an image counts for more than the truth, and the dead are preferred to the living! For departing from the living God they favour the dead, of whose number they are; as it is written in the Wisdom of Solomon: Being mortal, he worketh a dead thing with wicked hands (Wisdom 15:17).

And to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. By adding these he heaped up the reproach of their dullness, showing such men to be beyond folly and vanity. For they so diminished the majesty and glory of God that they gave the honour due to God to images of these, the least and smallest of things. The Babylonians were the first to call God the image of one Bel, a man once dead, who is said to have ruled over them. They also worshipped the serpent, the dragon which Daniel the man of God killed (Daniel 14:26), whose likeness they keep. The Egyptians worshipped a four-footed beast which they called Apis, in the likeness of a heifer; and this evil Jeroboam imitated (1 Kings 12:28), setting up heifers in Samaria for the Jews to sacrifice to. Birds too, since the pagans had the rites of the Raven. Of all these things that I have mentioned the Egyptians worshipped images, and others besides which there is no need to mention now. These things were done by those who thought themselves wise in the world. For since, knowing the invisible God, they did not honour Him, but did these things, they could not be wise even in the things that are visible. For it is hard for one who is prudent in greater matters to be unwise in lesser ones.

(Verse 24.) Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their own hearts, to uncleanness, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves. Because, he says, to the injury of God the Creator they made gods of figments and likenesses of things, they were given up to be made sport of; and given up, not to do what they did not wish, but to accomplish what they desired. And here too is the goodness of God. For it would have been just for them to be made subject so as to do what they did not wish, and to be tormented by it; for even a good thing, if it is done against the will, is bitter and evil. But these men, turning away from God, were handed over to the devil. To hand over, however, is to permit, not to incite or to send in; so that what they had conceived in their desires they carried out in deed, with the devil’s help; for such men could not have a good thought. They were given up, then, to uncleanness, to dishonour their bodies between themselves. In recalling the past he also signifies the evils of the present time; for to this day men are given up to dishonour their bodies. For to this day there are men of that stock, who are said to dishonour their bodies with one another. Though the guilt lies in the thought of the soul, it is the bodies that are said to be dishonoured. Why, unless because the stain of the body is the token of the soul’s sin? For when the body is defiled, no one doubts that the soul has sinned.

(Verse 25.) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. He says that they changed the truth of God into a lie: that is, they gave the name of God, who is true, to those who are not gods. For taking away from stones and wood and other metals what they are, they give them what they are not; and this is to change the true into the false. For they are no longer called stone or wood, but God. This is to serve the creature rather than the Creator. For they do not deny God, but they serve the creature; and by this they are not excused but rather accused, because, knowing God, they do not honour Him. Who is blessed for ever. Amen, that is, truly. Of God, then, he says, “blessed for ever”, because God abides; but the gods of the Gentiles receive honour only for a time of ungodliness, and so that is not true. But in God truth abides. In another place he assigns this blessing to the Son of God, saying among other things: And of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen (Romans 9:5). Either both belong to Christ, or he said of the Son the same things that he said of the Father.

(Verse 26.) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. He testifies that this befell the human race through the anger of God on account of idolatry, so that woman sought woman for use with a shameful desire. Some interpret this otherwise, not perceiving the force of what is said. For what is it to change the natural use into that which is against nature, except to set aside the use that is permitted and to use otherwise; so that one and the same part of the body of each sex offers itself for use to the other otherwise than has been permitted? For if it is the part of the body which they suppose, how did they change the use of nature, when they have no such use given them by nature? Above he had already said that they were given up to uncleanness, but had not shown what kind of work that uncleanness was; and this he now declares:

(Verse 27.) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly. Now he has made plain how what he said above about the women ought to be understood. For when he went on to say, And likewise also the men burned in their lust, he showed openly the sin of the women. Indeed, he did not say of the men that they changed the natural use one toward another, because such use was not granted to that part; he said it of the women. And what wonder, when even today such women are found, so that as the one vice was invented by men, so the other was by women? Indeed, women bring such charges against one another, and men likewise. It is plain, then, that those who had already changed the truth of God into a lie should also change the natural use into a use by which they would be dishonoured, becoming guilty of the second death. For since Satan cannot give another law — for he has nothing of his own — he turns what is granted and lawful into another order, so that when men use things otherwise than they were granted, they become sin.

And receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. He says that this is the recompense for despising God, namely shamefulness and defilement; for this is the first cause of this sin. For what is worse, what is lower, than this sin? For as idolatry is a most impious and most grievous offence, so its recompense is a dreadful thing and a most filthy passion.

(Verse 28.) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. On account of the errors of idols they were given over to do shameful things with one another, as has already been said. And because they reckoned that these things went unpunished, judging God to be unconcerned and therefore to be disregarded, this further thing was added: that, growing duller and duller, they became readier to commit every evil; so that deeds which they did not doubt displeased men they believed God did not punish. Now he lists all the evils that were heaped upon them, so that, turned back at least in this way to natural understanding, they might perceive that these things had befallen them through the anger of God.

(Verses 29–30.) Being filled, he says, with all unrighteousness. Here he has spoken in summary, and goes on to give the members of unrighteousness: with malice, he says, unchastity, covetousness, wickedness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things. He called malice the head of unrighteousness, and set down fornication and covetousness as its work. This fornication includes adultery as well; for if he had said adultery, he would have seemed to excuse fornication, as the Roman laws do; so he set down the lesser, so that the greater could not be believed to go unpunished. Then he added wickedness, whose disposition gives birth to envy and murders, strife and deceit. After these he put malignity, which begets whisperings and backbitings; and since these cannot but displease God, he says, hateful to God; and since they do not please men either, despiteful, he says, proud, boasters, inventors — that is, authors — of evil things. So evil has not always been. But these men, becoming imitators of their father the devil, invented the evil of idolatry, through which all vices and the greatest ruin were born into the world. For the devil, whom Scripture testifies to have sinned from the beginning (1 John 3:8), though he is bent on tyrannical presumption, has not yet dared to profess this, so as to say, “I am God.” Indeed, among other things he said to the Lord: All these things are delivered unto me (Luke 4:6). He does not say, “They are from me,” or “They are mine.” And in the book of Job he asks that power be given him (Job 1:12). Therefore these men are worse, who ascribe deity not only to the elements but to figments as well.

(Verse 31.) Disobedient to parents. With what insolence they were seized, that they would not acknowledge even their own parents, whom they have as the authors of their birth! They were glad to have been born, and yet they despised those through whom they had come to be. This is to be without understanding, without love — but without love of God, for there was in them the love of the flesh. These men knew the righteousness of God through the law of nature (for they knew that these things displease God, but would not take to heart that they which commit such things are worthy of death); they knew the righteousness of God so well that they do not deny that all these things which they do are deserving of punishment and of death. And not only they who do them, but also they who consent to those that do them. For consent is a form of sharing.

(Verse 32.) Who, knowing the righteousness of God, did not understand that they which commit such things are worthy of death: and not only do them, but also consent to them that do them. All these evils are the body of sins; enslaved to it, they have come under its power, so as to do things that deserve punishment. This cause of evils began with the Sodomites, through offence given to God, as has been said above, and it has spread its branches into almost every part of the world. And he declares that the cause of God’s wrath is idolatry, which is the first part of error and ungodliness, and which he condemns first; so that once this is amended, the vices of conduct too may easily be corrected. For when the seed of malice is taken away, the fruits of wickedness wither; a tree whose roots have been cut out yields no fruit. For this reason too Moses recorded the deeds of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24 ff.), and did not pass over their destruction in silence, so as to instil fear and make men shun this thing. This vice, then, and the defilement of a dishonoured life are not committed by one who keeps God in his mind. There are some who do not think themselves guilty if they do not do what is evil, but agree with those who do. To agree is to keep silent when one could reprove, or to flatter when one hears of these doings. For the impure and malicious man, knowing that what he does is not unknown, and that he is not shunned in the least but is even held in honour, perhaps glories in being what he is; nor can he be put to shame in these things when he sees himself favoured and humoured by those who are not such as he. And so it is that they supply fuel to his offences, and it is therefore right that they should be held guilty of the same crime. Again, there are others who not only do evil things but also consent to those who do them; so that they not only do them but also agree with such men. The wickedness of these is twofold. For those who do such things and yet oppose those who do them are not so bad; for knowing them to be wicked, they do not stand up for them. But those are utterly wicked who both do them and consent to those who do them, so that they do not even fear God; and, wishing evils to increase, they do not punish them at all, in order to persuade men that they need not be avoided.