[§25] Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Since nothing is idly either added or diminished in the letters of the Apostle, these who are either of the house or of the family of Aristobulus he names not without purpose neither beloved, nor approved, nor helpers in Christ; but perhaps because they had nothing of the sort in their merits, therefore he honored them with the title of greeting alone.
[§26] Greet Herodion my kinsman. This man too, similarly to Andronicus and Junias, is called a kinsman of Paul; but he is named neither a fellow-captive as they were, nor noble among the apostles, among those who were in Christ before Paul. From which it must be understood that even among these whom Paul calls his kinsmen there is much difference, according to that reasoning, as I judge, which we attempted to open up above.
[§27] Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. It seems indeed that there were several of the house or family of Narcissus, but that not all were in the Lord; and therefore he added that those were to be greeted who are in the Lord.
[§28] Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. He gives a good testimony concerning these women, whose labor he testifies to be not of this world, nor of common life, but in the Lord. For many labor, but it is not established that the labor of all is in the Lord.
[§29] Greet Persis most dear, who has labored much in the Lord. This woman seems to be praised more than Tryphaena and Tryphosa, since indeed he says that those labored in the Lord, but that this one labored much in the Lord, to whom he added also "most dear." 30. Greet Rufus, elect in the Lord, and his mother and mine. I do not think that in these greetings the difference of praise and of greeting through each single person is made emptily. For he who knows that Christ speaks in Paul is certain that according to merit one is indeed called by him approved, another most dear, another laboring in the Lord, another laboring much in the Lord, another elect, just as also this Rufus, of whom our discourse now is, is greeted as elect in the Lord. I believe that Paul knew him to be of the number not of the many who are called, but of the few who are chosen; whose mother also had so much merit that Paul named her his own mother, with whom he too, just as Jesus with John, shares one affection of a mother.
[§31] Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and if there are any brethren with them. Concerning these the greeting is simple, nor is anything distinctive of praise added to them. I think, however, that this Hermas is the writer of that little book which is called The Shepherd, which writing seems to me very useful, and, as I think, divinely inspired. But that he ascribed no praise to him, this, I suppose, is the reason: because he seems, as that writing declares, to have been converted to repentance after many sins; and therefore he wrote no reproach against him either — for he had learned from Scripture not to upbraid a man converting himself from sin — nor did he bestow anything of praise, because he was still placed under the angel of repentance, by whom at the opportune time he ought again to be offered to Christ. Moreover it is understood that those whose greeting is joined together dwelt together. 32. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympias, and all the saints who are with them. It may be that Philologus and Julia were spouses; the rest their household members, to whom a simple greeting is directed.
[§33] Greet one another with a holy kiss. From this saying, and from some others like it, a custom has been handed down to the Churches that after the prayers the brethren receive one another with a kiss. And this kiss the Apostle calls holy. By which name he teaches this first, that the kisses which are given in the churches be chaste; and then next, that they be not feigned, as were those of Judas, who gave a kiss with his lips and was plotting betrayal in his heart. But the kiss of a believer should first, as we have said, be chaste; and then next have in itself peace and simplicity in charity unfeigned.
[§34] All the Churches of Christ greet you. Is it not the case that Paul writes these things while placed in one Church? And how is it true that he sends to the Roman Church the greetings of all the Churches at once? But we ought to understand it in this way: either that there was one spirit in Paul and in all the Churches of Christ, or that he means they greet through faith, and are joined through the spirit. 35. But I beg you, brethren, that you observe those who make dissensions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and turn aside from them. For such do not serve Christ our Lord, but their own belly; and through sweet words and blessings they seduce the hearts of the innocent. For your obedience is everywhere published abroad. In you therefore I rejoice. Here Paul must be believed to write, through the Holy Spirit, both to those who preside over the Churches and to all believers, that they may more diligently consider and perceive who they are that beget dissensions and offenses in the Churches, and are strangers to that beatitude which the Lord promised, saying: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. For this, he says, that you be peacemakers, you have learned from the Lord through the Gospel; but to stir up dissensions or scandals is contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and therefore let him be a stranger to you, and let him by no means be received among you, who stirs up contentions, who sows quarrels, who excites lawsuits, and practices the pursuits of strife. For those who are such do not serve Christ our Lord, who is our peace, but their own belly. But he also discloses, by the prompting of the divine Spirit, what the cause is by which quarrels and lawsuits are aroused in the Churches. For the sake of the belly, he says; that is, of gain and covetousness. Thence it is that some go about houses speaking for favor with all flattery and deception, not that they may in the word of God build up souls unto virtue, but that by flattering and sweet words they may exhort them to remain, or even to advance, in vices, praising and speaking well of those things which are worthy of rebuke; putting light for darkness, and darkness for light; sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet; and in these things they seduce the hearts of the innocent. And therefore one must diligently attend to with what aim he teaches who teaches: whether seeking favor and honor from his hearers, or hoping for a reward from the Lord for the instruction and progress of the learners. Subtly indeed Paul marks the undiscerning and easy obedience of the Romans, and asserts that it is everywhere not praised, but published abroad. But lest again, if he should chastise them more openly for this, he should make them disobedient, he adds: In you therefore I rejoice. But you will say: How does he mark in them a common obedience, when he says that he rejoices in them? First indeed it is one thing to mark a fault, another to mark men. For it can be that he rejoices in those in whom he had detected many other good things; but that he marks the fault which had displeased him, lest he be thought to have been pleased with it also along with the rest. But the Apostle can also have said that he rejoices in them for this reason, that he who is disobedient can be drawn neither to evil nor to good; but he who is obedient, if indeed he be drawn to useless things, the fault is one of inexperience. For he does not know that those things are useless by which he proves his obedience; but when he has learned what things are useful, having the good of obedience ready at hand, he immediately ascends the road of virtue through it. Paul therefore rejoices over the obedient, being certain that when he has taught them that they ought not to use that common obedience which they incautiously offer to all, but that alone by which one ought to obey God rather than men, they will, leaving the rest aside, use that alone. For in truth it requires no small discernment, but an approved and most practiced judgment, to know to what word or to what work one must be obedient, and to what one must offer resistance. Finally the Lord himself says in the Gospel: Beware of those who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but within are ravening wolves. And therefore a watchful sense and an intent mind is required, which knows how to test either the sheep's simplicity in the open, or the wolf's hidden rapacity. Whence see how near to danger those become who neglect to be exercised in the divine letters, from which alone the discernment of such examination is to be learned. Immediately therefore he shows briefly the appearance of the distinction proposed, and says: Since indeed your obedience is easy and undiscerning, receive what you ought to keep, what you ought to beware of.
[§36] "I want you," he says, "to be wise in what is good, and simple in what is evil." This is similar to that saying which he writes to the Corinthians: "Be children in malice, that you may be perfect in understanding." But that too which the Lord says, "For the sons of this world are more prudent than the sons of light in their generation," accords with this saying. For the sons of this world are more prudent in malice, in that they always find something deeper and subtler in it whereby they may do more harm and injure more violently. But in what is good they are foolish: for they scarcely find what good they might do. Paul, on the contrary, wishes us to be wise in what is good, that is, always to find something more, to search out more, and to think more deeply about what good we may do: so that even if we are hindered by someone's malice from a good work, we, if we are wise, may devise how, if we cannot do a good work, we may at least utter a good word; and if not even this is permitted, that we may at least display a good wish and disposition. So then we ought to be wise in what is good, but simple in what is evil, so that if we are struck by malice, if we are struck by injury, we may not be crafty and cunning, seeking arts and devices by which we may repay evil for evil and wickedness for wickedness. But in such a case we ought to remember that saying which declares: "If anyone wishes to be wise with God, let him become a fool in this world." Let us therefore be fools in receiving injury and not repaying it, that we may be wise with God, who said: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." For concerning the impious Jeremiah too says: "They are wise to do evil; but to do good they know not." To this looks also that which the Lord said, that we ought to be simple as doves and prudent as serpents. But if someone from among the unbelievers should shrewdly confront us and say: How can the same person be both wise and foolish? we shall say to him: Look at those arts which are in common use among men, how he who, for example, is a most wise grammarian is found most unskilled in the smith's craft; or again, how a most wise helmsman is found unskilled in the art of medicine. So then it is possible to be wise in those things which pertain to God, and unwise in those things which pertain to the world. It should certainly be known that when he says there, "For such men do not serve Christ our Lord," it is not that they themselves profess that they do not serve Christ the Lord, but that, departing from the rule of his service, they show by the facts themselves that they do not serve Christ the Lord. For it does not seem that anyone can at the same time serve both Christ and the belly; and be equally a lover of pleasure and of God; just as no one can serve God and mammon at the same time.
[§37] "And the God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet speedily." The question is asked in this passage what Satan he meant, who was to be crushed swiftly by God beneath the feet of those to whom he writes. For if it be referred to one person, namely to him of whom it is said in the Gospel, "Behold, I see Satan falling from heaven like lightning," and who is indicated as the adversary of the human race, it will surely seem, if Paul truly says what he says, that once he is swiftly crushed beneath the feet of those to whom he was then writing, there is no longer any Satan to stir up contests and struggles and persecutions for believers: which the reality of things certainly does not allow. But it seems to me that in this passage he called "Satan" every spirit which opposes believers. For "Satan" in our tongue is rendered "adversary." Whatever, therefore, resists and opposes the soul that is striving toward God, and whatever is contrary to its peace, this is named "satan" for it. Accordingly he therefore prefaced it by saying, "the God of peace," that is, the God to whom peace is pleasing, "shall crush" him who is contrary to peace and works dissensions. So too, finally, we read in the books of Kingdoms that God raised up against Solomon a Satan, Hadad the Idumaean: that is, against Solomon, who was peaceable, he raised up a Satan who is contrary to peace. But just as to those whom the Apostle teaches, if they act thus and show themselves such as his discourse has described, he promises, for the amendment of their life, that Satan shall swiftly be crushed beneath their feet by the God of peace: so no less does the God of peace raise up against him who has not kept his peace in a pure heart and a clean conscience a Satan, that is, an adversary; so that he who has neglected the good of peace may endure the bitterness of assaults, and thus at last, set in the midst of the struggle, may remember the sweetness of the peace he violated. From both passages of divine Scripture, then, let us be edified — that in which God is said to raise up a Satan for the negligent, or to crush and subject him for the zealous — so that he may rouse the former to contests, and to the latter grant the palm of victory over the prostrate adversary, and bestow the rewards of virtue. And we can also say, in each single contest, if we strive lawfully, that God will crush Satan beneath our feet speedily. For example, if someone has undertaken the contest of chastity, if he has persevered to the end with an unstained conscience, it can be said of him that God has crushed Satan beneath his feet, that is, the spirit which was contrary to chastity. Likewise he too who undertakes the contest of faith, if standing before kings and governors he confesses the Lord Jesus Christ with confidence, and remains in that confession to the end, God has crushed Satan beneath his feet, since by steadfast faith he has conquered the spirit of unbelief. So also he who perseveringly cultivates concord crushes the demon of dissension beneath his feet; he who preserves gentleness tramples the Satan of wrath under the footsteps of patience. This surely is what the Lord says in the Gospel: "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy."
[§38] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. The grace of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are to be taken as one and the same grace. For just as the Father gives life to whom he wills, so also the Son gives life to whom he wills; and just as the Father has life in himself, and has granted to the Son to have life in himself, so also the grace which the Father gives, this the Son likewise gives. Yet it must be understood that everything which human beings have from God is grace, for they have nothing by right of debt. For who has first given to him, and it shall be repaid to him? Grace, then, is whatever he possesses who once was not and now is, receiving it from him who always was, and is, and shall be forever.
[§39] Timothy my helper greets you, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater my kinsmen. It seems to me that concerning these men, whom he set apart from the whole catalogue of those sending greetings, he had something more in mind. For he calls Timothy his helper, and all of them together his kinsmen. And indeed concerning Timothy it is reported very fully in the Acts of the Apostles that he was a citizen of Derbe, the son of a believing widow, by a Gentile father; of whom Paul himself also says that for this reason he had asked him to remain at Ephesus, so that he might charge certain persons not to teach otherwise, nor to give heed to fables and endless genealogies. And some maintain that Lucius is that same Luke who wrote the Gospel, on the ground that names are customarily pronounced sometimes according to the inflection of the native tongue, sometimes according to the Greek and Roman. Jason, moreover, is that man of whom it is also written in the Acts of the Apostles that at Thessalonica, when the crowds were stirring up a riot against Paul and Silas, he gave himself up, so as to secure for the apostles the freedom to depart. Sosipater too, who is joined with these, I suspect to be the very man who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as Sosipater son of Pyrrhus, of Beroea. But one who considers Paul's letters rather carefully, as though Christ were speaking in him, will doubtless be troubled at how Paul — who declared himself born at Tarsus in Cilicia, a Hebrew of the Hebrews — is now said to be the kinsman or blood relation either of Timothy, a citizen of Derbe by a Gentile father, or of Jason of Thessalonica, or of Sosipater son of Pyrrhus of Beroea. But if in defense of this someone should say that these men too came in some measure from the circumcision, then he ought not to have spoken of these in particular, but of all who were of the Jews, that they were kinsmen of Paul. As it is, however, since he by no means grants this title to the rest, but assigns it to these and to a few others, it is certain that he is naming some other kinship, one which he holds in common with Timothy and Luke and a few others like them; and this kinship or blood relation he doubtless knows to descend to him along with them from that fatherhood of which he says in another place: For this cause I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. Knowing, therefore, that there is a certain fatherhood in heaven just as there is on earth, it is certain that those who are in no way joined to him according to the kinship of an earthly fatherhood, he knew to be joined to him according to the kinship of the heavenly fatherhood. And for this reason he calls them kinsmen, and fellow captives, and helpers — inasmuch as with them he had received by the lot of birth a single kinship for preaching the gospel, and for enduring the captivity of the Babylon of this world. Or, if anyone will not allow these things to be explained by some such figurative reading, let him explain to us how Timothy and Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, citizens not only of far different cities but even of different provinces, could have been kinsmen and blood relations of Paul according to the flesh — and not only these, but also Andronicus and Junias and Herodion, all of whom he calls both his kinsmen and his fellow captives.
[§40] I Tertius, who wrote this Epistle in the Lord, greet you. As one who had been judged worthy to write out the Epistle to the Romans at Paul's dictation, he inserts his own name into it as well, employing neither rashness nor boastfulness, but because he knew that he had not only rendered the service of a scribe, but had written in the Lord : since indeed the righteous man does all that he does for the glory of God. And so if he writes, he writes for the glory of God, and therefore he writes in the Lord; for which reason it is fitting that he should insert mention of his own name too into the Epistle. Or certainly, since he had taken down the force of the meanings of Paul as he dictated, and had understood that it was not a man but the Lord who was writing, for that reason he records that he wrote in the Lord.
[§41] Gaius my host, and host of the whole Church, greets you. This Gaius is understood to be the one whom he mentions in writing to the Corinthians, saying: I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius. He seems, then, to indicate concerning him that he was a hospitable man, who not only received Paul and each of those arriving at Corinth into his lodging, but himself provided a meeting place in his own house for the whole Church. It is indeed handed down by the tradition of our forebears that this Gaius was the first bishop of the Church of Thessalonica.
[§42] Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus the brother. I think this is the same Erastus of whom he says that he remained at Corinth, and who appears to be designated the steward of the city. But I do not think that Paul would have made such notable mention of this office in his Epistle, unless perhaps he perceived something further in him, and called him treasurer — that is, steward — of that city whose maker and builder is God; and for that reason he did not put down of which city he was, but only named him treasurer of "the city." Whether, then, it is to be taken in some such manner, or rather quite simply, and nothing deeper is to be sought in Paul's writings, consider, you who read.
[§43] Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept in silence through the times of the ages, but now made manifest through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the commandment of the eternal God, made known to all the nations unto the obedience of faith: to God, alone wise, through Jesus Christ, be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen! Marcion, by whom the evangelical and apostolic Scriptures were tampered with, removed this passage entirely from this Epistle; and not only this, but from that place where it is written, but everything that is not of faith is sin, he cut away all that follows to the end. In other copies, however — that is, in those which have not been violated by Marcion — we find this very passage placed differently. For in some codices, immediately after that place which we mentioned above, that is, but everything that is not of faith is sin, there follows directly, now to him who is able to strengthen you. Other codices, however, contain it at the end, as it now stands. But let us come now to the explanation of this passage. Paul seems to me to point out two causes by which those are made strong who are confirmed in the faith of the Gospel: one, by which Paul's preaching, which is also Christ's preaching, becomes known to them; and another, by which there is revealed to them the mystery which was kept in silence through all the times of the ages, but now — that is, at the coming of Christ in bodily presence — has been made manifest and opened, and, so far as concerns the matter, has been declared not without suitable witnesses, but with the prophetic Scriptures giving their attestation. For such was the commandment of the eternal God, that by the preaching of the Gospel the nations should be called to the obedience of faith; while by the revelation of the mystery the wisdom of God should be recognized, and glory and honor rendered to God alone wise unto the ages of ages. But let us go back once more, and consider how it is said: Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept in silence through the times of the ages. It does not seem to me that this strengthening of both kinds pertains to all; but to all believers, at any rate, there pertains the Gospel of Paul and the preaching of Christ, whereas the revelation of the mystery kept in silence through the times of the ages pertains not to the many, but to the few and the elect who can be capable of the wisdom and knowledge of God — of whom it is said: Many are called, but few are chosen. But concerning what he says, of the mystery kept in silence, it must be asked whether he means it was so kept in silence that absolutely no one knew it, not even the prophets themselves who announced it; or whether some deeper account of the silence is to be understood. To me indeed it seems altogether absurd that we should say the prophets wrote about the divine mysteries in such a way that they did not understand the very things they were saying, since Scripture says: The wise man understands what proceeds from his own mouth, and he bears understanding on his lips. If, then, the prophets did not understand what they uttered from their own mouth, they were not wise. But if it is foolish to acknowledge them as prophets and to deny that they were wise, it remains that they were wise, and understood what they uttered from their own mouth, and had understanding on their lips. What, then, is the account of the silence? Let us see whether it is not that which Paul himself fully taught as having been handed down to him for the dispensation of the mysteries, where he says that he was caught up into the third heaven, and from there into paradise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. In which he certainly shows not that he himself is ignorant of what he heard, but that it is not lawful to bring forth and disclose to other men the things that were shown to him. So, then, it can seem to be said in this place also that the mystery was kept in silence through the times of the ages in this sense: that the prophets indeed knew it (for it is made manifest from the prophetic Scriptures), but did not make it manifest or lay it open to men, that is, to the common crowd, but covered it with silence according to the commandment of the eternal God, until the time should come for the Word to be made flesh and to dwell among us, and to be made manifest to all the nations unto the obedience of faith. But as to what he says, to God alone wise, do not take "wise God" as though wisdom had made him wise, as is the case among men. For among men each one is called wise by participation in wisdom; but God is called Wise not as one who has been made wise out of wisdom, but as one who is himself the author and begetter of wisdom. For, as we have said, God is not wise from wisdom, but from God who is wise, wisdom proceeds. Rightly, therefore, is it said: To God alone wise. For God alone is wise in such a way that he himself rather begot wisdom than was made wise out of wisdom. And rightly is the glory referred to him through Jesus Christ, because Christ Jesus, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, declared that God alone is wise in such a way that he himself begot wisdom. But as to his saying unto the ages of ages, it is the custom of divine Scripture to designate by this the immensity of times. And he placed Amen at the end, as if for the confirmation of all that has been written above, signifying thereby, in the native speech of the Hebrews, that the things written are true and trustworthy.
RUFINUS'S CLOSING WORD (on Origen's Exposition of Paul's Epistle to the Romans)
Thus far, in dictating upon the Epistle to the Romans as best we could, we have sweated with very great labor and over a very long time. For I confess, Heraclius, most beloved brother, that in my desire to satisfy your longings I have nearly forgotten the commandment which enjoins: "Lift not a burden beyond your strength" — although in the other works too which we turned into Latin at your insistence (or rather, at the demand of a daily quota of work) there was no lack of very great labor, since we were seeking to supply those things which Origen delivered extempore in the lecture-hall of the Church, with the intention not so much of exposition as of edification: as we did in the homilies, or brief discourses, on Genesis and on Exodus, and especially in those on the book of Leviticus, which were spoken by him indeed in the style of preaching, but were translated by us in the manner of a commentary. We undertook this labor of filling out what was missing for this reason: that questions raised and then left unresolved — which often happens in the homiletic style of speaking — might not breed distaste in the Latin reader. For what we wrote on Joshua son of Nun, and on the book of Judges, and on the thirty-sixth, the thirty-seventh, and the thirty-eighth psalm, we translated plainly as we found it, and without much labor. Therefore, although in the other works mentioned above we did labor at supplying what he had omitted, nevertheless in this work on the Epistle to the Romans, for the reasons we set out in the Preface, an immense and inextricable labor has weighed upon us. Yet it has been a delight to have given ourselves over to these labors — if only, as we have found in other cases, ill-willed minds do not repay our night-watches with insults, if only our efforts are not rewarded with disparagement and our labors with treachery. For among such people we incur a novel kind of blame. They say to me: In these things which you write, since much in them is your own work, give them the title of your own name, and write, for instance, "Books of Rufinus's Expositions on the Epistle to the Romans," just as among secular authors, they say, the title bears not the name of him who was translated out of the Greek, but of him who did the translating. But all this they grant me not out of love for me, but out of hatred for the author. But I, who defer more to my conscience than to my reputation, even if I do seem to add some things and to fill out what is lacking, or to abridge what is overlong, still do not think it right to steal the title from him who laid the foundations of the work and furnished the material for erecting the building. Let it be entirely at the reader's discretion, once he has approved the work, to ascribe the merit of the work to whomever he wishes. For our aim is to seek not the applause of readers, but the profit of those who make progress. After this, indeed, there calls us a work which was enjoined upon us long ago, but which is now more urgently pressed upon us by the blessed bishop Gaudentius: namely, that the books of the Recognitions of Clement, bishop of Rome, companion and successor of the apostles, be turned into Latin. In this work I know well that labor multiplies labor, if I take up the task. In this at least I shall satisfy my friends: I shall give the title my own name, while the author's name nonetheless remains — for it shall be entitled "Rufinus's Clement." And if the Lord permits me to complete it, I shall return again to your desires, so that we may say something, God permitting, either on the books of Numbers or of Deuteronomy (for this alone of the Heptateuch is wanting to us), or may dictate what we can, the Lord directing, on the remaining Epistles of the apostle Paul.