Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches that those who are stronger in faith ought to support those who are weak, and that neither these nor those ought to judge one another — if those eat foods forbidden by the old law, while these abstain from the same; but, he says, let each one abound in his own sense. For we all have the same Lord, for whom we live and die, and who alone is the judge of all.
Second, in verse 13, he teaches the stronger that, even though no food is now unclean, no one nevertheless should eat anything by which his neighbor is scandalized.
Third, in verse 22, he teaches the weak not to eat anything, or do anything, against their conscience.
Vulgate Text: Romans 14:1-23
1. Now him that is weak in faith, take unto you, not in disputes about thoughts. 2. For one believes that he may eat all things; but he that is weak, let him eat herbs. 3. Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and he that eats not, let him not judge him that eats: for God has taken him to Him. 4. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own lord he stands or falls; and he shall stand: for God is able to make him stand. 5. For one judges between day and day; and another judges every day: let every one abound in his own sense. 6. He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord. And he that eats, eats to the Lord: for he gives thanks to God. And he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives thanks to God. 7. For none of us lives to himself; and no one dies to himself. 8. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Therefore, whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9. For to this end Christ died and rose again; that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me; and every tongue shall confess to God. 12. Therefore every one of us shall render account to God for himself. 13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge this rather, that you put not a stumbling-block or a scandal in your brother's way. 14. I know, and am confident in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; but to him that thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15. For if, because of thy meat, thy brother be grieved, thou walkest no longer according to charity. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. 16. Let not then our good be evil spoken of. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18. For he that in this serves Christ, pleases God, and is approved of men. 19. Therefore let us follow after the things that are of peace; and keep the things that are of edification one towards another. 20. Destroy not the work of God for meat. All things indeed are clean: but it is evil for that man who eats with offense. 21. It is good not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother is offended, or scandalized, or made weak. 22. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Blessed is he that condemns not himself in that which he allows. 23. But he that distinguishes, if he eats, is condemned; because not of faith. For all that is not of faith is sin.
Verse 1: Him That Is Weak in Faith, Take Unto You
1. HIM THAT IS WEAK IN FAITH, TAKE UNTO YOU. — That is, foster him. So it is often said in the Psalm: "The Lord has upheld me, and the Lord is my upholder"; "upholder," that is, my helper, supporter and protector.
Note: Some Jews converted to Christ thought that according to the old law one ought still to abstain from foods forbidden by the law and from idolothytes — that is, foods which had been offered to idols. These the Apostle calls "weak"; for they were in error, and that either because they were not yet sufficiently instructed in the faith, or surely because they could only with difficulty be drawn away from the ancient gentile persuasion concerning idols and from idolothytes, as if they were sacred and possessed something of divinity, or from Jewish observance and custom: and so they condemned others who acted against it.
But others, perfect and fully instructed in the Christian faith, held the contrary and acted intrepidly — especially the Gentiles, who set the Evangelical liberty against the Jews and Jewish abstinence. And so these often quarreled with the Jews about this abstinence and about free eating; and by eating any foods, even those forbidden by the Mosaic law, they scandalized the Jews; the Jews on the contrary judged and condemned them as acting unjustly against the law and as still having communion with idols. The Apostle takes both groups to task in this chapter, and indeed in this verse he warns the more perfect not to reject the weak but to receive and foster them, and to teach them the Christian truth and liberty. So St. Augustine here, and Clement of Alexandria in The Pedagogue, Book 2, chapter 1, and St. Basil in the Shorter Rules, rule 64.
The Apostle therefore in this chapter cuts away the practical cause of dissension between Jews and Gentiles, namely the difference in Jewish abstinence and observances: just as at the beginning of the epistle and afterwards he cuts away the as-it-were speculative cause of the same dissension, namely the difference in the cause and manner of justification, teaching us that we are justified not by the law but by faith in Christ. Thus just as from this dissension of Jews and Gentiles and the cutting away of the dissension he began this epistle, so in the same he ends it; for this cause, and with this scope and end, he wrote this epistle.
And although in epistles it is not necessary, indeed often not possible, that one chapter be connected with another — because in the epistolary manner they treat plainly diverse and disparate matters — nevertheless these things can be connected with the preceding, as if Paul were saying: I have inculcated to you, O Romans, in chapters 12 and 13, love of neighbor and that you all should put on Jesus Christ; but I want this to be performed by you in such a way that you do not reject those weak in the faith and charity of Christ who have not yet fully put on Christ; but receive, tolerate, foster, teach and care for them with the same charity.
NOT IN DISPUTES OF THOUGHTS, — That is, of opinions, as if to say: Receive the weak, but not in such a way that you contend and dispute with them which side judges well or ill — yourselves, that is, or they. Hence more clearly the Greek, μὴ εἰς διακρίσεις διαλογισμῶν, you may render: not in altercations of disputations.
Verse 2: For One Believes That He May Eat All Things
2. FOR ONE BELIEVES THAT HE MAY EAT ALL THINGS. — As if to say: One thinks it is permitted to eat all things as clean, because in the Evangelical law nothing is legally unclean. For "believes" here does not signify faith, but opinion or credulity, as I shall say at the last verse.
HE THAT IS WEAK, LET HIM EAT HERBS. — Thus the Roman Bibles read; but the Greeks, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Oecumenius, and St. Augustine read, "eats herbs." Now various authors give various meanings here.
First, Origen explains thus: "He that is weak, let him eat herbs," that is, let him follow the easy and common doctrine that is given to the weak.
Second, St. Chrysostom: "He that is weak, properly let him eat only herbs," under pretext of abstinence — lest, if he eats meat and by chance abstains from pork that is set before him, he be detected from his observance of the law to abstain and to be a Jew and to Judaize.
Third, St. Augustine: "He that is weak, let him eat only herbs," lest, if he eats meat, perhaps by error he should happen to eat idolothytes, from which he scrupulously thinks one must abstain. Almost the same in Anselm.
Fourth, Ambrose: "He that is weak, let him eat herbs," because, he says, there were then some who thought that Christians should abstain from all meat.
Fifth, Toletus explains thus, as if to say: There are some who, even if they had no other foods besides herbs to eat, would rather choose them than eat meat forbidden by the law, or sacrificed to idols.
But best and most plainly, Pererius takes "herbs" here as plants and whatever is not forbidden by the old law as unclean. For this the weak Judaizer is allowed to eat. The Apostle particularly names herbs, because nothing among herbs was forbidden to the Jews, while many fish and birds and beasts were forbidden. In herbs therefore there was no danger, no scruple, for the weak; as if to say: A Jew who is weak in the faith and Evangelical liberty, and who thinks one must still abstain from foods forbidden by the old law — let him abstain from them, and let him eat herbs and other things permitted by the law.
Verse 3: Let Him That Eats Not Despise Him That Eats Not
3. LET HIM THAT EATS (anything, that is, the Gentile), NOT DESPISE HIM THAT EATS NOT (certain foods forbidden by the law, that is, the Jew); AND HE THAT EATS NOT (the Jew), LET HIM NOT JUDGE HIM THAT EATS (the Gentile), — Let him not condemn him as a transgressor of the law, or as given to gluttony.
FOR GOD HAS TAKEN HIM TO HIM, — As if to say: God has called him to the faith and grace of the Gospel, through even the sensible charisms which were then visibly given in baptism, such as the gift of tongues, of prophecy, etc.; as if to say: Who therefore should judge and condemn him whom God has approved and called?
The Apostle here proves that rash judgment must be avoided, and that no one ought to judge his neighbor, for four reasons. The first is in this verse, because in the Evangelical law nothing is legally unclean, since the Lord has taken the neighbor for Himself as a servant; but a servant stands or falls to his own master; therefore it does not pertain to thee to judge concerning him. The second is in verse 5, because in things indifferent this rule must be observed: "Let each one abound in his own sense." The third is in verse 6, because both he who eats and he who does not eat does so for the Lord — for to the Lord we die and live; therefore neither is to be blamed, but both are to be praised. The fourth is in verse 10, because Christ the Lord is the one judge of all; therefore it is not for us to judge one another. For if we do this, we usurp from Christ His own judgment.
Verse 4: Who Art Thou That Judgest Another Man's Servant?
4. WHO ART THOU THAT JUDGEST ANOTHER MAN'S SERVANT? — The Apostle addresses the one not eating, "who judges," that is, condemns, the one eating foods forbidden by the law. This is clear from the preceding and following words. For "judges" refers to the one not eating. He therefore commands that the Jew who does not eat should not judge the Gentile who does eat, but should leave him to the judgment of God, whose servant he is. Hence he adds:
TO HIS OWN LORD HE STANDS OR FALLS. — As if to say: Whether he acts ill or well in eating, that pertains to the honor or injury of his lord, namely God. So some. Second and genuinely: "To his own lord he stands or falls," that is, before his lord his case shall fall and be condemned, or shall stand, that is, shall be acquitted; as if to say: It is God's concern, and the judgment belongs to Him whose servant the man is — let Him see and judge whether by eating anything he acts well or ill; it is no concern of thine: thou therefore do not judge him, but leave him to God's judgment; for the Apostle is treating of avoiding rash judgment, which does not pertain to us.
AND HE SHALL STAND: FOR GOD IS ABLE TO MAKE HIM STAND. — As if to say: Do not fear, O weak Jew, that the Gentiles, if they eat idolothytes and foods forbidden by the law, will easily revert to paganism: in turn, O Gentile, do not fear that the Jew, if he keeps the law and abstains from foods forbidden by the law, will revert to Judaism; because if he falls into Judaism or paganism, he does not fall to thee, but to the Lord God, whose servant he is. But I hope for better things, namely that he will not fall, but will stand in faith and sanctity, since his Lord, namely God, is able to set him up and establish him. Therefore do not scrupulously judge or condemn anyone.
Second and more aptly: "He shall stand," that is, he shall be acquitted, and his case shall not fall in the judgment of his Lord, namely because the weak one imposes the false charge of violating the law upon the eater; for the eater has not violated the law, since he knows it has been abolished. For God is able to make him stand, that is, to acquit him, and in fact will acquit him. For "is able" signifies this by meiosis, as I said at chapter 11, verse 23.
Verse 5: For One Judges Between Day and Day
5. FOR ONE JUDGES BETWEEN DAY AND DAY; AND ANOTHER JUDGES EVERY DAY. — The little word "for" does not give a cause, nor is it causal in this place, but distinctive: for in Greek it is μέν, that is, "indeed."
Now various authors give various meanings here. First, Origen, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ambrose, and Anselm explain thus, as if to say: One fasts on alternate days, another on all days, and each acts rightly. But no one at that time was so weak as to think from the law that one had to fast every day.
Second, Theodoret and Theophylact explain thus, as if to say: Some abstain only on a certain day from pork and other unclean flesh, but others abstain from the same on every day; but the former is not likely, since the law forbade pork and the like on every day and absolutely.
Third, Augustine here in his Propositions explains thus: Another, namely man, since he judges present things, "judges between day and day," because the neighbor whom today he judges to be evil, tomorrow he will find and judge to be good and corrected, or the contrary — as if to say: Man changes his judgment from day to day; "but another," that is, God, "judges every day," because He foreknows and knows not only what each one is today, but also what he will be on every day; and therefore we ought to judge no one, not even the wicked: because what he will be we do not know. This sense is subtler and loftier; but it is not according to the mind and purpose of the Apostle: for the Apostle is treating of various judgments of various men, not of the differing judgments of God and of men.
Fourth, St. Jerome in Book 2 Against Jovinian, and Salmeron, give this sense: "Another," namely a Jew, judges one day above another to be feast and more sacred according to the prescription of the law — for example the sabbath, the new moon, the day of atonement; but another, namely a Gentile, thinks and judges every day to be equal, equally feast and holy. This exposition is very probable. But because the Apostle in the preceding and following is not treating of feasts but only of choice of foods, hence you may better take "days" here not as feast days but as days of fasting and abstinence.
That you may understand this, note: A double abstinence of foods was prescribed to the Jews — one perpetual, namely that they should always abstain from pork, hare, and every animal which does not divide the hoof or chew the cud, Leviticus 11.
The second temporary, by which on certain days they fasted or abstained from certain foods — as at Passover they abstained from leaven; on the days when they had the vow of the Nazirate they abstained from wine, vinegar, and grapes, Numbers 6. The Apostle therefore speaks of this second abstinence. The Jew, still weak in the faith of Christ, on one day according to the prescription of the old law abstains from certain foods, on other days does not abstain; but the Gentile judges every day to be equal, and on every day eats indifferently any food, enjoying the liberty of the Gospel: and each does well. It is a Hebraism: for the Hebrews take the simple verb for compounds which they lack: so here κρίνω, that is "I judge," is taken for διακρίνω, that is "I discern," just as in verse 13 it is taken for κατακρίνω, that is "I condemn." Therefore the sense is, as if to say: One judges, that is, discerns and separates one day as holy and dedicated to abstinence, from another as if less holy and not dedicated to abstinence; but another judges all days to be equally holy, on which it is permitted to eat or to fast at each one's pleasure.
Note that the Apostle is speaking only of Jewish feasts and fasts, as Melanchthon, Bucer, and Beza acknowledge; this is clear from the preceding verses, and because at that time no feasts of the Saints or fasts had yet been imposed and instituted upon Christians by the Church. Hence the Novatians wrongly twist these passages against them. For if such things had then been instituted and prescribed by the Church, the Apostle would certainly have absolutely commanded them to be observed, as elsewhere he commanded similar Apostolic decrees to be kept (Acts 16:4).
LET EACH ONE ABOUND IN HIS OWN SENSE. — For abundet, the Greek has πληροφορείσθω; Budaeus, Erasmus and others render it, "let him be fully persuaded, let him have full proof and certainty." Our translator, more properly and faithfully according to the word almost everywhere, as Ribera shows well on Hebrews 6:11, renders it, "let him be full, let him have fullness, let him fulfill, let him abound." For the Greek πληροφορείν is not derived from πλήρης (full) and φωρᾶν (to discover, detect), as Erasmus claims; for φωρᾶν is written with ω, but πληροφορείν with omicron. Rather, it comes from πλήρος and φέρειν, that is, to bear what is full, to have fullness. In the same way are derived and compounded καρποφορείν (to bear fruit), κερατοφορείν (to bear horns), βιβλιοφορείν (to bear a book), δαφνοφορείν (to bear laurel), δωροφορείν (to bear a gift), and many similar words. In like manner therefore πληροφορείσθαι is the same as to be full, or (actively) to fill, to abound; and πληροφορία is the same as fullness.
This is the first and genuine signification of this word; yet from this the Greeks, attributing this word to the intellect and to the act of the mind, take it for full persuasion, faith, certainty; because the fullness of intellect, of reason, and of judgment is its full persuasion. For just as a purse is filled with money and a stomach is filled with food, so the capacity of the intellect and the eagerness of knowing is filled with such proof as may bring full conviction to the intellect and persuade it of the matter, and thus may satisfy and fulfill its desire for the truth which it has for knowing the truth: as if πληροφορείσθαι meant πλήρη πίστιν φέρειν, that is, to bring full faith and persuasion.
LET EACH ONE THEREFORE ABOUND IN HIS OWN SENSE, — That is, let each enjoy his own judgment, let him fully follow it, let each abundantly fulfill his own sense; for this, as I said, is properly the Greek πληροφορείσθαι, that is, to be full, and the Latin to abound in one's own sense. And so in indifferent matters we commonly say: "Let each one abound in his own sense," that is, let each follow his own judgment, his own sense. For in other matters which are not indifferent, this is not lawful to recommend or do. That this is the sense of this passage is clear from the following verse, where the Apostle praises both the one who eats and the one who does not. For each acts well by following his own sense, since each either eats or does not eat unto the Lord. So Basil in Morals, rule LIV, ch. 1, and Ambrose: "Let each one," he says, "be left to his own counsel."
Yet secondly it can be rendered, with Erasmus, Budaeus, Vatablus and others, certus esto (let him be certain), as if Paul were saying: Let each one be certain in his own mind, and fully persuaded, namely, that what he does in eating or not eating is lawful and pleasing to God. Hence the Syriac: "Let each one," he says, "be confirmed in the knowledge of his own soul." So too our "abundet" may be taken to mean the same thing, namely that he be fully and abundantly certain, as if to say: Let each be abundantly and fully certain that what he does is good and lawful; let him do nothing with a half-full, that is, fluctuating and doubting conscience. But the former sense, which I just brought forward, is more apt and significant.
Thirdly, St. Augustine expounds it thus: "Let each one abound in his own sense," that is, let each one dare to judge only as much as is granted to the human intellect; let him not presume to know or judge those higher things which surpass men.
Fourthly, some more recent interpreters explain it thus: "Let each in his own sense" — that is, whether he holds this or that opinion — "abound," namely in charity, so that out of charity for the edification of others he may both hold and act upon his view. But this does not correspond to the Greek πληροφορείσθω.
Note: the Apostle is speaking of indifferent matters, as if to say: Let each follow his own opinion, whether by eating any foods (if he is perfect in faith), even unclean ones, and either always or on a particular day forbidden by the Law, just as freely as foods clean and permitted under the Law; or by abstaining from those same foods (if he is weak in faith and scrupulous), either out of reverence for the Mosaic Law or because of inculpable ignorance whereby he believes the Law still binds.
Hence note secondly: Although the legal ceremonies and the obligation of the Law were abrogated and dead after the death of Christ at Pentecost, nevertheless those legal ceremonies and observances were not immediately deadly everywhere and for all, but only after the sufficient promulgation, explanation, and confirmation of the Gospel and of the Christian faith. They could therefore still be observed up to that point, on account of the scandal of the weak and to bury the Synagogue with honor, but not as necessary for salvation, nor as binding by the Old Law, unless this were done from inculpable ignorance — under which many labored at that time, even the Apostles, until St. Peter's vision narrated in Acts 10.
Note thirdly: Although these Jews were in error, the Apostle nevertheless wishes them to be permitted in this error in this chapter, on account of the immaturity of the time, until they should be more fully instructed in the faith — lest, if they were suddenly recalled from their accustomed rites and observances, they should be disturbed and fall back from the faith because of their weakness. Hence the Apostles permitted the Jews to observe the Law of Moses together with the Gospel for a time, both that they might gradually exchange the Law (otherwise good and holy) for the Gospel with honor, and that they might more easily draw to Christianity those Jews who were accustomed to the Law.
You will say: Why then does the Apostle so harshly rebuke the Galatians in chapter 1 for keeping the Old Law? I answer: Because the Galatians were Gentiles, not Jews; whence they themselves had taken on foreign sacred rites, namely Jewish ones, as if they were necessary for salvation — which was a clear error, and one to be cut off by the Apostle. See therefore how contrary to the Apostle's mind the libertines drag these words to a freedom of faith, so that each may be permitted to believe what he wishes. Others drag them to a freedom of not fasting and not obeying the precepts of the Church: whereas these are precepts, as is supposed; while the Apostle is speaking of things not commanded but indifferent, as I have already shown.
Verse 6: He That Regards the Day, Regards It Unto the Lord
6. HE THAT REGARDS THE DAY, REGARDS IT UNTO THE LORD. — "He who esteems" — that is, who judges and discerns the day of abstinence from a day on which one is not to abstain. It is a metalepsis. For by taste we discern foods: hence to taste here means to discern, and by discerning to observe the day of abstinence. He therefore who thus esteems and discerns the day of abstinence, "esteems it unto the Lord," that is, he does this and discerns it for the obedient service of God the lawgiver. So St. Chrysostom. The Greek adds καὶ ὁ μὴ φρονῶν τὴν ἡμέραν Κυρίῳ οὐ φρονεῖ, "and he who does not esteem, or discern the day, does not discern it unto the Lord," as if to say: Whether one discerns the day or not, he is to be thought well of, and to be interpreted favorably (unless the contrary be established), namely that he does this for the honor of God; the sign of which is that he gives thanks to God. Hence explaining further the Apostle adds:
AND HE THAT EATS (foods sacrificed to idols and foods forbidden by the Law), TO THE LORD (for the honor of the Lord God) HE EATS. AND HE THAT EATS NOT (who abstains from foods sacrificed to idols and foods forbidden by the Law), TO THE LORD HE EATS NOT (that is, for the honor of the Lord he abstains from them): AND HE GIVES THANKS TO GOD, — Not so much because he abstains from forbidden things, as because he uses things permitted by the Law.
Where note: "not eating" is not a pure negation, but contains a mixed affirmation, and is the same as eating food permitted by the Law while rejecting the forbidden — for this reason he gives thanks. Note that the Jews, by ancient custom of the fathers, used the action of giving thanks at the taking of food: of which I shall say more on 1 Timothy 4:4.
Verses 7-8: For None of Us Lives to Himself
7. FOR NONE OF US LIVES TO HIMSELF, AND NO ONE DIES TO HIMSELF. — As if to say: Not chiefly for our own use and convenience, but for the obedience of God we live and die; for He is the Lord of our life and death, to whose use and praise all that is ours — and consequently all our abstinence as well as our eating — must tend: just as servants are accustomed and obliged to refer all that is theirs to the use and convenience of their masters.
8. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord. WHETHER THEREFORE WE LIVE OR DIE, WE ARE THE LORD'S. — As if to say: We, as servants, refer our life, death, and all things to God as Lord, our creator and redeemer; if all things, then also the observance and discrimination of days and foods, or their differentiation and freedom: therefore these are not sins. For sin is against the honor of the Lord, and it is disobedience against the Lord. As if to say: Everything that we are, that we do, that we live, that we die, belongs to Christ the Lord; for we are His servants. To His service and use, therefore, our life, death, and all that is ours yield and tend, and to Him as His servants we willingly refer all things: for He is our Lord and judge; we are to be judged by Him: therefore let us not judge one another. That the Apostle has both points in view — first, that in this choice of foods or abstinence there is no sin, because both are done for the honor of the Lord, to whom we live and die — is clear from the preceding verse: "He eats or does not eat unto the Lord; for he gives thanks to God." And secondly, that in this choice the faithful ought not to judge one another, since they are servants, but should leave the whole judgment to Christ the Lord — is clear from verse 10.
Secondly, Anselm not badly expounds it thus, as if to say: By living and dying we seek the glory of the Lord, that we may be possessed by Him as servants, whether we are alive or dead. Hence for His glory we willingly spend our life and all our things, and pour out death and blood: therefore let us not minutely and anxiously dispute or quibble about foods and the free choice of foods. This sense follows from the former, and perfects and completes it. Hence also St. Chrysostom: "By these words," he says, "Paul shows that God has greater care of us than we have of ourselves, and esteems our life as His riches, and our death as His loss; for we do not die only for ourselves, but if we die, we die unto the Lord — and here he calls death that which is by faith."
Tropologically Gregory, in Homily 22 on Ezechiel: "The saints," he says, "neither live nor die for themselves. They do not live for themselves, because in everything they do they pant after spiritual gain, and by praying, preaching, and applying themselves to holy works, they desire to multiply the citizens of the heavenly country. They by no means die for themselves, because in the sight of men they glorify God by their death, and even by dying they hasten to attain to Him."
Verse 9: For to This End Christ Died and Rose Again
9. FOR TO THIS END CHRIST DIED AND ROSE AGAIN; THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD BOTH OF THE DEAD AND OF THE LIVING. — The Apostle proves what went before: "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; whether we die, we die unto the Lord"; that is, he proves that the living and the dead belong to the Lord, or that Christ the Lord rules over the living and the dead. He proves it, I say, from the cause; for it is for this cause that Christ died and rose again, that from His death and resurrection He might gain dominion over the living and the dead, or rather the use and exercise of this His dominion, and that He might be Lord of all.
It is to be noted that he does not say: "that He may become Lord," namely that He may receive the right and power of ruling, but "that He may rule," that is, that He may exercise the use of the power and dominion received. For Christ, from the first moment of His incarnation, by reason of the hypostatic union, was Lord of all; but after His death He received the full exercise of this dominion. In like manner Christ merited judicial power, just as the glory of His body — although due to Him by reason of the hypostatic union — by suffering and dying, and obtained it as the reward of His humility and death after the resurrection. Add that the Apostle remembers Christ's resurrection here, because this is the exemplar of our resurrection. For just as Christ died that He might be Lord of the dead, so He rose again that He might be Lord of the living: therefore we shall rise to eternal life, that Christ may rule over us as living for ever.
Verse 10: We Shall All Stand Before the Tribunal of Christ
10. BUT THOU, WHY JUDGEST THOU THY BROTHER? FOR WE SHALL ALL STAND BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL OF CHRIST. — As if to say: There will be one judge, namely Christ: therefore let us not judge one another. For we are not our own masters, or of others; but we are all under another's power, all servants of Christ, and consequently all to be judged by Him — not appointed as judges of others. Morally St. Chrysostom: "Let us remember," he says, "perpetually that terrible tribunal, the river of fire, the inseverable bonds, the deep darkness, the gnashing of teeth, and the venomous worm."
Verse 11: As I Live, Says the Lord, Every Knee Shall Bow to Me
11. FOR IT IS WRITTEN (Isaiah 45:24): AS I LIVE (I swear by My life), says the Lord, that EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME (all nations will worship and adore Me; for this passage is a prophecy of the conversion of all nations to Christ), AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD. — As if to say: All men shall acknowledge Me, Christ the man, as God and supreme judge, and shall praise My mercy or justice — the good willingly, the evil unwillingly and under compulsion. Isaiah has: "Every tongue shall swear to Me." Shall swear, that is, shall confess. For an oath is the true and open profession of that God whom we call as witness and avenger of perjury; so that sometimes by synecdoche an oath signifies the whole worship of God, and to swear in God, or by the true God, is the same as to worship the true God, as is clear from Isaiah 19:18; Psalm 62, verse 12: "They shall be praised," says the Psalmist, "all who swear in Him," that is, all who worship Him.
Verse 13: Put Not a Stumbling-Block or a Scandal in Your Brother's Way
13. RATHER JUDGE (decide, decree) THIS, NOT TO PUT A STUMBLING-BLOCK OR SCANDAL BEFORE A BROTHER. — The Syriac takes these two as the same, but the Apostle disjoins and distinguishes them. "Stumbling-block," therefore, in Greek πρόσκομμα, is that against which you strike, offend, fall and sin. Hence πρόσκομμα, says Budaeus, is πταίσμα, that is, a fall, an offense, a sin. "Scandal," however, is that against which you strike, that is, you stagger, are disturbed and tempted, but you do not fall, you do not crash, you do not sin.
Note: σκάνδαλον from σκαμβός (crooked) means among the Greeks a curved or oblique piece of wood by which a mousetrap is held up, to which bait is attached, so that the mouse, gnawing at it, overturns the trap upon itself. Hence theologians call "scandal" that which is to another an occasion of sin and ruin — as here, eating things sacrificed to idols, or foods forbidden by the Old Law, before Jews newly come to the faith of Christ, who think it unlawful.
Verse 14: Nothing Is Unclean of Itself
14. I KNOW AND AM CONFIDENT (πέπεισμαι, that is, as Chrysostom says, I am persuaded, I hold it most fully ascertained, or I trust, I confidently hold and teach, I am secure that I am not deceived) IN THE LORD JESUS (from whom I have learned and know what I say and teach) THAT (which) NOTHING IS COMMON IN ITSELF (as if to say: I know through Christ, that is, through Christ's law and freedom, that no food is common, that is, unclean), EXCEPT TO HIM WHO (through error or an erroneous conscience) JUDGES SOMETHING TO BE COMMON, TO HIM IT IS COMMON (that is, unclean and forbidden). — For since the foods that were unclean among the Jews by the Mosaic Law were used and eaten promiscuously and in common by all Gentiles, these things unclean to the Jews were common to the Gentiles. Hence "common" is the same as unclean; and to communicate, or to make common, is the same as to pollute and profane, as is clear from Acts 10:14, Mark 7:18. See Jerome on Matthew 15.
Secondly, Origen, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and the Syriac explain it thus: per ipsum, that is, by the food itself, as if to say: No food is unclean by itself. Note here that food clean in itself was unclean because it was forbidden by the Law; but the more uneducated thought that foods were forbidden because they were unclean in themselves. They erred, however, because they did not know the true mind and cause of the Law, namely the moral and mystical signification of this abstinence, of which I have spoken on Leviticus 11. See St. Augustine, Against Faustus, book VI, ch. 7.
Verse 15: Destroy Not Him With Thy Meat, for Whom Christ Died
15. FOR IF (in Greek εἰ δέ, "but if") BECAUSE OF FOOD YOUR BROTHER IS GRIEVED, YOU NO LONGER WALK ACCORDING TO CHARITY. — As if to say: If your brother considers the food common and to be avoided, and yet you eat it, and so grieve and scandalize your brother, you sin against charity. For you provoke him either to eat the same food against his conscience, or, offended by this scandal of yours, to fall away from you and your faith and religion, and return to his former Judaism or paganism.
DO NOT BY YOUR FOOD DESTROY HIM FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED. — Here is a sharp goad and sting by which Paul pricks the faithful, that they may most diligently guard against scandals, as if to say: Christ gave His life for your brother; for him, give up — or rather forgo — your food. Christ restored life to him when dead by His own death; do not take this away from him by your worthless food, do not destroy him.
Verse 16: Let Not Then Our Good Be Evil Spoken Of
16. THEREFORE LET NOT OUR GOOD (be blasphemed by the Gentiles on account of your discord and scandal). — So read the Roman Bibles and the Syriac; but the Greek reads ὑμῶν, that is, "your." You ask what this good is? First, Origen answers it is the Christian religion; second, Theodoret, it is faith; third, Ambrose, it is the doctrine of Christ; fourth, Chrysostom, it is the hope of future reward, or perfect piety; fifth, Anselm, it is the eating of good and lawful things. All these come back to the same thing. Namely, the good is the freedom and Christian faith, which the Apostle warns and urges that the faithful should not, by scandal, expose to the blasphemy of the Gentiles. So Anselm and St. Thomas. For the Gentiles were scandalized and turned away from Christianity, when they saw Christians thus contending among themselves about foods and the choice of foods.
Verse 17: The Kingdom of God Is Not Meat and Drink
17. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT FOOD AND DRINK; BUT JUSTICE, AND PEACE, AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. — As if to say: Piety, faith, and charity, by which God reigns in us, do not consist in themselves in a particular food and drink, as if these were necessary in themselves for obtaining grace and beatitude, and as if through them we became pleasing to God — since they are in themselves indifferent. I say, "in themselves," because by obedience they can be necessary, as is evident in Adam, to whom the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden and other foods permitted; the same is clear in the fasts of the Church, for when these are commanded by the Church, then as objects or acts of obedience and temperance they give birth to justice, peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit, in which the kingdom of God just spoken of properly and in itself consists.
Add: Paul does not say, "The kingdom of God is not abstinence," but "The kingdom of God is not food." Let the Novatians take note of this, who, in fighting for their foods, attack the fasts of the Church. So in 1 Cor. ch. 8, verse 8: "Food," he says, "does not commend us to God."
Note: the Apostle here and elsewhere calls grace "the kingdom of God," by which God reigns in us, by which sins are blotted out, by which we are reconciled to God, or made more pleasing, and by which we acquire a right to the eternal kingdom and beatitude — as is clear from what follows. Grace, therefore, is called "the kingdom of God" inchoatively, because through grace God begins to reign in us, and because grace is the beginning of the glory and the heavenly kingdom in which God will reign fully and perfectly in us. It is a metonymy. For "kingdom" here is the same as the mode, manner, form of the rule and government of God; for this form and norm is not placed in food and drink, but in justice, peace, and the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, by another metonymy, "kingdom" here could be taken for the subjects who are ruled, so that the "kingdom of God" would here mean Christians themselves and the saints, whom God rules and governs. These are not food and drink, that is, they do not come into being through food and drink — taking the word not formally but causally, by metonymy — as if to say: We are not made holy and good Christians, in whom God reigns, by freely eating foods forbidden by the Law; but by justice, peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit we are made holy and true Christians, and consequently we become the kingdom of God.
Thirdly, Anselm takes "the kingdom of heaven" properly, in this sense, as if to say: In heaven there will be no carnal delights, no food, no drink; but justice, peace, and joy. But this is an anagogical interpretation.
Morally hear St. Bernard, Sermon 2 on these very words of the Apostle: "Sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Because of a fat body; why do you love vanity and neglect truth? The fatness of the flesh, the delights of the body, the satiety of the belly, will either desert you before death, or you will leave them in death. For (says the saint) when he dies, he shall not take all things, nor shall his glory descend with him. Like sheep they are placed in hell, death shall feed upon them. How aptly, like sheep? Because, when the fleece of worldly riches has been stripped off, hard-shorn and closely sheared they shall be assigned naked to everlasting fires. Death shall feed upon them, because they shall always be dying to life, and always living to death. Therefore here flesh is assigned to worms, there the soul to fires, until again they are bound in unhappy fellowship and joined to penal torments, those who were companions in vices. O luxurious one, who, surrounded and confused by delights and riches, await confusion and death — the kingdom of God is not food and drink, not purple and fine linen: for that rich man, flowing with both, descended in a moment into hell; but justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Verse 18: He That in This Serves Christ, Pleases God
18. HE WHO IN THIS (in those things I have spoken of, namely in peace, justice, and the joy of the Holy Spirit, in which the kingdom of God consists) SERVES CHRIST, PLEASES GOD.
Verse 20: Destroy Not the Work of God for Meat
20. DO NOT FOR THE SAKE OF FOOD DESTROY THE WORK OF GOD. — "Work," namely God's edifice, that is, faith, charity, and Christian religion in one's neighbor. Or "the work of God," that is, the neighbor himself, whom God has made a Christian, faithful, pious, indeed His home and temple. See what was said on verse 16. So Ephesians 2:10 says: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works," etc.
Verse 21: It Is Good Not to Eat Flesh, and Not to Drink Wine
21. IT IS GOOD NOT TO EAT MEAT AND NOT TO DRINK WINE, NOR (do anything else similar) BY WHICH YOUR BROTHER (neighbor) IS OFFENDED. — So read the Roman Bibles; others read "offends": for in Greek it is προσκόπτει, that is, offends, strikes against, that is, is scandalized. Therefore here "offends" and "is offended" mean the same; for he who is scandalized offends and is offended.
Verse 22: Hast Thou Faith? Have It to Thyself Before God
22. HAST THOU FAITH? KEEP IT TO THYSELF BEFORE GOD. — First, Toletus takes "faith" here properly, namely true and Christian faith, by which you rightly believe that every food is clean, and accordingly eat it.
Secondly, and better: faith is the same as a certain and secure persuasion. "You have faith," then, means: you are certain and secure in conscience that nothing is legally unclean among Christians, and that all foods, even those forbidden by the Old Law, are permitted to them. So St. Chrysostom and Ambrose, and this is according to the mind of the Apostle, as will be clear in the last verse. Here the Apostle meets the unspoken objection of those who say: My faith dictates to me that the legal ceremonies have been abolished, and that I may lawfully eat any food; therefore I shall follow my faith, I shall eat foods forbidden by the Law, even though the weak are offended thereby. The Apostle answers: You have faith, but —
KEEP IT TO THYSELF, — As if to say: Do not boast of it nor use it with scandal to your brother. For faith must always be confessed, but not always professed; "to profess is to publish one's faith spontaneously, while to confess is to reply when asked," says St. Cyprian, epistle 83. I say the same about faith, that is, the persuasion or credulity of conscience, of which the Apostle is properly speaking here.
BLESSED IS HE WHO DOES NOT JUDGE HIMSELF IN THAT WHICH HE APPROVES. — On the occasion of what he said, "You have faith," the Apostle here passes to the instruction of the weak, who either by the example of a teacher who eats, or led by appetite, ate pork or some other thing forbidden by the Law against his conscience, and so sinned. He says therefore: "Blessed is he who does not judge" (does not scrupulously condemn: so Ambrose and Theodoret) "himself in what he approves," what he chooses, what he embraces — as if to say: Blessed is he who does nothing against his conscience, who does not raise for himself doubts and scruples in a matter otherwise lawful and indifferent, such as eating things sacrificed to idols, or foods forbidden to the Jews.
Secondly, Salmeron: "Blessed is he," he says, "who does not judge himself" to act well, so as to flatter himself about his virtue, to reckon himself just and holy — but rather says with the Apostle: "I am not conscious to myself of anything; yet I am not hereby justified: but He who judges me is the Lord."
Thirdly, others expound it thus, as if to say: Blessed is he who, in performing and carrying out the judgment of the matter which he approves, does not take it from himself and his own head, but from skilled, upright, and wise men; for in matters to be done it is the part of the prudent man to lean not on his own, but on the counsel of the wise.
Fourthly, Toletus: "Blessed," he says, "is he who does not judge himself to act rightly while he eats — to the scandal of his neighbor — that which otherwise he approves," that is, which he otherwise approves by faith, namely that this food which he eats, like any other, is permitted and lawful. But the first sense is required by what follows.
Verse 23: All That Is Not of Faith Is Sin
23. HE WHO DISCERNS (one food from another, as if unlawful and forbidden from lawful and permitted), IF HE EATS, IS CONDEMNED (incurs the guilt of sin and damnation), BECAUSE NOT OF FAITH, — That is, because not from the dictate and credulity of conscience by which he believes it is lawful to eat this food, supply, he eats — as if to say: Because he eats and acts against his conscience, he thereby binds himself to sin and damnation. So St. Chrysostom. Instead of "he who discerns," the Greek has διακρινόμενος, which may also be rendered "he who deliberates," "he who doubts" whether it is lawful, e.g., to eat pork or not. So St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Œcumenius.
EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT OF FAITH IS SIN. — Note that "faith" here includes not only general and speculative truth, but also particular and practical truth. Faith therefore is the dictate of conscience, or the persuasion and credulity by which, according to the rules of faith and prudence, you believe that you here — for example, in eating things sacrificed to idols, or foods forbidden by the Old Law — are acting not badly but rightly and pleasing to God. For whatever is not according to this credulity, that is, whatever is against conscience, is sin. So St. Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ambrose, Theophylact, Œcumenius.
That this is the sense, and that faith here means this, is clear both from the Greek πίστις: for faith is called in Greek πίστις, that is, persuasion, from πείθειν, to advise, to persuade; and from the very course of the Apostle's discourse. For the Apostle is speaking to the weak, that is, to the erring and scrupulous, who from an error of conscience thought it was not lawful for them to eat foods forbidden by the Law. To these he says: He who discerns this food as unlawful from another lawful one, if he eats what he discerns as unlawful, is condemned; because not of faith — that is, because he eats not from the credulity that this is lawful, but against the dictate of conscience. The same is clear from 1 Cor. 8:1, where the Apostle, explaining this faith, calls it knowledge. For he says: "Concerning those things that are sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge." And in verse 4: "Concerning the foods that are immolated to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one." Faith therefore is the knowledge by which one knows that an idol is nothing, and consequently that things sacrificed to idols contract nothing of false divinity, or of the vice of the idol to which they are sacrificed, that on this account their eating should be unlawful for the faithful; and consequently that the faithful can lawfully eat them, just as if they had not been sacrificed to an idol.
Again, just as faith is called the credulity by which one believes something to be true and revealed by God; so likewise faith may be called (as is here said) the credulity by which one believes something to be lawful; for this is a practical truth, which this practical faith regards as its object — just as the former speculative faith has speculative truth for its object. Moreover, Cicero, in book I of De Officiis: "Faith," he says, "is the constancy and truth of statements and agreements. From which we believe that faith is so called because what is said is done." By a like reasoning then, when what is said in the mind is done — namely, what the mind and reason dictate ought to be done — that is, and ought to be called, faith; and he who does this is said to act faithfully and from faith, and in good faith.
Hence theologians teach that conscience, even if erroneous, always binds, so that one may never act against it; but it must be laid aside by the prudent counsel of reason or of a wise man; or, if that cannot be done, one must follow it, if indeed the resolution and matter itself cannot be deferred.
You will say: St. Augustine, in Against Julian book IV, ch. 3, and in De Gratia Christi, ch. 26, and Epistle 105; Prosper also in De Vita Contemplativa book VIII, chs. 1 and 5; Bernard in De Praecepto et Dispensatione — take faith here properly; therefore when the Apostle says, "Everything that is not of faith is sin," hence I rightly infer that all works of all infidels, even good ones, such as alms, since they are not, nor are done from faith, are sins. Some scholastic doctors admit this inference, such as Gregory of Rimini, Capreolus, Catharinus.
But I answer: St. Augustine and his followers take "that which is not of faith" by μείωσις (meiosis) thus, as if the Apostle were saying: That which is from infidelity, or which is against faith, or which is done for the worship of an idol — this is sin, as is clear. And because St. Augustine thought that most works are done by infidels with this end, namely to worship an idol, he consequently thought that most of their works were sins. But this is not true of all; indeed it is certain that infidels can do and in fact do many works that are morally good — such as to honor parents, give alms, keep promises — not for the worship of their idol (about which they often do not think), but only for this reason, that those things are honorable, that right reason dictates them, so that these works of theirs are morally good and are not vitiated by any evil end or circumstance.
Again, Origen, Anselm, St. Leo (sermon 2 On the Fast of Pentecost), and Prosper expound by auxesis (amplification) thus: "Everything that is not of faith is sin," that is, joined with sin: because every virtue of infidels is vain, empty, and false virtue, and is not able to free a man from sin or to make him absolutely good before God. "All the life of infidels," says Prosper in the Sentences excerpted from St. Augustine, sentence 106, "is sin, and nothing is good without the highest good. For where the recognition of eternal and unchangeable truth is lacking, virtue is false, even in the best morals."
But, as I have said, these are not the genuine sense in this passage, nor according to the Apostle's mind: for here the Apostle by "faith" does not understand Christian faith, but the credulity, persuasion, and dictate of conscience.