Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Giving thanks and praising the Thessalonians' constancy in the persecutions endured for the faith, he exhorts them. Hence, in verse 6, he sets before them both the horrible punishments of their persecutors and the wondrous reward of glory which they and all the Saints are to receive on the day of judgment. Finally, in verse 11, he prays to God to complete in them this work of faith.
Vulgate Text: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you toward each other abounds: 4. so that we ourselves also glory in you in the Churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations which you endure, 5. for an example of the just judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also you suffer. 6. If indeed it is just with God to repay tribulation to those who trouble you; 7. and to you who are troubled, rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power, 8. in a flame of fire taking vengeance on those who have not known God, and who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9. Who shall pay the penalties of eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His power: 10. when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be made admirable in all those who have believed: because our testimony to you was believed in that day. 11. In which we also pray always for you, that our God would deem you worthy of His calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith in power, 12. that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus.
Verse 1: To the Church of the Thessalonians in God Our Father
1. To the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father. — Supply: gathered together and united. See Epistle I, chapter I, verse 1.
Verse 3: Your Faith Grows Exceedingly
3. Grows exceedingly, — hyperauxanei, that is, your faith greatly and beyond measure increases.
Verses 4 and 5: Which You Endure, for an Example of the Just Judgment of God
4 and 5. Which you endure, for an example of the just judgment of God. — For "example" the Greek is endeigma, that is, a proof, and, as the Syriac has it, a demonstration and declaration. As if to say: You endure persecutions and tribulations with this hope and consolation, with this end and fruit, that one day (namely on the day of judgment) the justice and just judgment of God may be shown and demonstrated, by which He will hold you worthy on account of your patience, that is, will judge you worthy of the kingdom of God and will crown you with the crown of glory; while He will condemn your persecutors, who here rejoice in your affliction. So Theophylact, and it is plain from what follows. Hence Tertullian in the Scorpiace, chapter XIII, reads it thus: "In the pressures which you endure, there is a token of the just judgment of God."
Note: In Greek it is not in exemplum, but only endeigma, that is, a proof, an example. The preposition in or ad is therefore understood; though without the preposition, in the nominative case it could be referred to those suffering themselves, as if to say: You who suffer so much are a proof and show that the judgment of God is right, since on account of such great tribulations He repays you with the eternal kingdom: for this by God's just judgment is owed to those who suffer so greatly.
Verse 6: If Indeed It Is Just with God to Repay
6. If indeed it is just with God to repay. — "If" here is asseverative, not doubtful. Hence Ambrose and some others read siquidem (since indeed): so also the Syriac and Vatablus translate: and so the Greeks expound eiper as epeideper, that is, since indeed.
It is just. — Note here that God in justice repays both the wicked, on account of their crimes, with eternal punishments; and the good and the patient, on account of their patience, with eternal rest and glory. For this Paul here asserts. Therefore this patience merits this glory. Just as wickedness merits punishment, so therefore there is a merit of good works.
Verse 7: At the Revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, with the Angels of His Power
7. At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, — when Christ will appear as judge on the day of judgment.
With the angels of His power. — In Greek dynameos, that is, of power. For these angels precede Christ the Judge as He comes, and will display His power and majesty by their very great number, by their trumpets, by their splendor, and by His sentence. The Syriac translates: with the host, that is, the army, of angels; for hence in Hebrew God is called Sabaoth, in Greek dynameon, in Latin "of hosts": by which name we read that Anna, the mother of Samuel, first of all addressed God, 1 Kings I, 11. As if to say: Come, O Christians, bear persecutions courageously; the day will come on which Christ, for whom you suffer, will be present as judge, and will lead with Him most mighty ranks of angels to the judgment and vengeance of the wicked: that they may, namely, avenge you and your injuries, and may hand over to fire those who persecute you and cast them down into the depths of hell.
Verse 8: In a Flame of Fire Taking Vengeance on Those Who Have Not Known God
8. In a flame of fire taking vengeance on those who have not known God. — In Greek en pyri phlogos, that is, in a fire, or burning of flame, that is, flaming and shooting forth flames.
Secondly, the participle "giving" cannot be referred to "fire," but to "the Lord Jesus." For the Greek didontos is masculine; hence it cannot be referred to phlogos, which is feminine, but to Kyriou, which is masculine. As if to say: The Lord Jesus through the flame of fire will give vengeance to the wicked.
Note: He understands the fire of the world's conflagration; for although some, with Francisco Suárez, think that the Saints who are then found alive will not die in this fire, on the ground that such a death seems too harsh and unworthy of the Saints, yet that the wicked will die in this fire Scripture sufficiently signifies both here and elsewhere. This fire, therefore, will punish the reprobate with death, and will roll them up and snatch them away into Gehenna and eternal fire.
Morally St. Chrysostom: "If you see," he says, "anything pleasant and magnificent in the present life, think of the kingdom of God, and you will reckon it as nothing: if you see anything terrible, think of Gehenna, and you will also deride it: if at any time bodily concupiscence has seized you, think of the fire of Gehenna; for if the fear of secular laws restrains us from evils, much more does the recollection of things to come, immortal torment, everlasting punishment."
Verse 9: Who Shall Pay the Penalties of Eternal Destruction
9. Who shall pay the penalties of eternal destruction. — In Greek olethron aionion, that is, they shall pay eternal destruction and death, as a penalty merited and owed for their own crimes, to which penalty they will be condemned and banished.
Hear concerning this penalty St. Cyprian, treatise On the Ascension of the Lord: "How great are the lamentations that will follow that edict (the sentence of Christ the Judge)! How horrible will be the blast of that final trumpet! There will be a continuous and overflowing course of tears, that gnashing of teeth inextinguishable flames will keep up: the wretched will live as immortals, burnings and unconsuming flames will lick the naked body. The purple-clad rich man will burn, and there will be none to pour a drop of water on his parched tongue. Lusts fried in their own fat will boil, and miserable bodies will be burned among flaming pans, and despair, more terrible than every torment, will afflict the condemned. God will no longer have mercy: there will be there no refreshment, no remedy."
From the face of the Lord, — that is, from the presence, or from the sentence, of Christ the Judge.
The word "face" denotes the ease of vengeance. "For there will be no difficulty," says Theophylact, "but it will be enough merely to have been seen, and so for God to have appeared, and all the disobedient and unbelieving will be in their punishment: for only His face and coming, or presence, will to some indeed be light, but to others punishment: for He will be present not simply, but with the glory of His power and strength; nor will His glory lack strength, nor will His strength be inglorious, that is, He will be beheld as a mighty king."
Secondly, the phrase "from the face" signifies that the wicked will be so struck back by the terrible face and glory of Christ, that they will not be able to gaze on it; but, as it were prostrated and turned away by a thunderbolt from it, will fall headlong into Gehenna.
Thirdly, the word "face" signifies the mouth, and the sentence pronounced by the mouth and face of Christ, as it were a thunderbolt going forth from the mouth of Christ, and punishing and blasting the wicked; and this is what Daniel says, chapter VII, verse 10: "A swift fiery stream went out from before His face." Where "fiery stream" signifies, says Jerome, the most efficacious and swiftest sentence of the judge, which, like a fiery and most rapid river, will snatch the wicked away into hell and plunge them in.
And from the glory of His power (in Greek ischyos, that is, of strength and might). — That is, from the glorious, terrible, and most mighty majesty (for this He calls glory) of Christ the Judge.
Verse 10: When He Shall Come to Be Glorified in His Saints, and to Be Made Admirable in All Who Have Believed
10. When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be made admirable in all who have believed. — For "to be made admirable," the Greek is thaumasthenai, which Ambrose translates "to be made wondrous"; the Syriac, "to show His miracles to unbelievers"; but properly it means to be made admirable, or worthy of being admired by others.
Note: Admiration, as St. Thomas teaches from Aristotle, is a wonder proceeding from some thing which surpasses the imagination and opinion of men: for example, when men see some prodigy, miracle, or something unexpected, they admire it. Hence the rude and ignorant, who have but little of wisdom or spirit, admire many things which the wise and magnanimous do not admire. For Cyrus used to say that it was the mark of kings to admire nothing; and he so instructed his princes that they might learn to admire nothing, for he kept saying this was the sign and effect of a lofty, heroic, and wise spirit, which a prince ought to have.
Christ therefore on the day of judgment will be made to all admirable in His Saints: first, because then He will lay open to all the wondrous grace and strength which here He bestowed upon His faithful and just, that they might bravely endure for the faith persecutions, plunderings, exiles, and martyrdoms. For then will be made manifest to all and celebrated the wondrous fortitude which He bestowed on St. Lawrence, that, roasted on the gridiron, mocking Decius, he gave thanks to God and said: "You have tested me by fire, and no iniquity has been found in me." Then will appear to all the admirable spirit of St. Stephen, by which he braved the obstinate Jews and received stones as if they were jewels. Then all will see and admire the invincible love of virginity given by Christ to tender little maidens, Agnes, Cecilia, Catherine, by which they most courageously overcame all love of flesh and the world, all torments, all tyrants, so that in death and martyrdom they sang: "I have despised the kingdom of the world and all the adornment of the age, for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ, whom I have loved, in whom I have believed, whom I have cherished." Then the wondrous zeal of the Apostles, the rigor of the Hermits, the wondrous penitence of Magdalene and of others, the wondrous labor of the Doctors — indeed, in every Saint a certain wondrous and proper virtue will shine forth, by which Christ will appear admirable in each Saint.
Secondly, and more genuinely according to the mind of the Apostle, Christ on the day of judgment will confer upon His Saints, especially those who have suffered for His faith, so great a glory that it will surpass the opinion, intellect, and capacity of all men and angels, and will be naturally admirable to all: "For eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him," 1 Cor. II, 9. And as in each Saint a certain proper and admirable grace and virtue shone forth in this life, as I have said, so in each one a certain new and admirable glory will shine forth; so much so that the just themselves will then admire both their own glory and that of all the others. The reprobate themselves will also be astonished at the Saints, whom they here despised, heaped with such great glory and goods; whence Wisdom V, 2: "Seeing, it says, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of the unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, doing penance: These are they whom we had sometime in derision and as a parable of reproach. We senseless ones esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor: behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints." So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm.
Paul here alludes to Psalm LXVII, 36: "Wonderful is God in His Saints;" and Psalm IV, 4: "The Lord has made wonderful His holy one," namely David, consecrated and sanctified by Him as king. The Hebrew adds lo, that is, "to Himself," as if to say: "unto His own glory, praise, and honor"; and Psalm XV, 3: "To His saints who are in the earth, He has made wonderful all my desires in them;" because, as Theodoret explains, He gave them wondrous virtue and strength and brought forth great miracles through them, for example, that the few and unschooled Apostles converted the whole world, that the Martyrs overcame all torments, that virgins stood unmoved and unhurt in the midst of flames. And Psalm LXXXVIII, 8: "God who shall be glorified in the assembly of the Saints, great and terrible above all who are around Him:" and verse 6: "The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord, and Your truth in the Church of the saints." On which passage St. Augustine, beautifully and piously understanding by "heavens" in a mystic sense "heavenly men": "In every mercy shown to the lost," he says, "in the justification of the wicked, what do you praise, if not the wonders of God? You praise because the dead have risen; praise more because the lost have been redeemed. What grace! What mercy of God! You see a man yesterday a chasm of drunkenness, today an ornament of sobriety; you see a man yesterday a slough of luxury, today a glory of temperance; you see a man yesterday a blasphemer, today a praiser of God; you see a man yesterday a slave of the creature, today a servant of the Creator. Let men not look back to their own merits, let them become heavens: let the heavens confess Your wonders, O Lord." All these things will most clearly and chiefly be made manifest in all the Saints together, on the day of judgment, when not only their grace and virtues, but also their glory and the gifts of beatitude, so admirable and manifold, will become resplendent to the whole world. Hence the name of Christ is pele, that is, "Wonderful," Isaiah IX, 6.
In all who have believed, — namely with faith formed by charity, that is, with faith which works through love, that is, those who have believed and, according to what they have believed, have lived well and performed good works. This is plain: for in this whole chapter Paul commends not the bare faith of the Thessalonians, but their patience in so many persecutions, and exhorts them to persevere constantly in it. See Canons 2 and 3.
Because our testimony (that is, the preaching of the Gospel, by which testimony was borne by me, was believed) upon you (by you) in that day, — concerning that day. As if to say: Because you believed my preaching, by which I bore testimony concerning that day, namely that God will then give to His faithful saints so great and so ineffable and admirable a glory, and therefore, being constant in this faith, you have suffered such great tribulations for it; for this cause God will give you a glorious rest in heaven, as he said in verse 7, for it comes to that: or rather, the Apostle here leaves "in you" to be understood from the preceding. For he omits this, because it is tacitly contained in "in all." Thus, then, this sentence is easily and plainly to be filled out: "When He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be made admirable in all who have believed, and consequently in you, because our testimony has been believed," etc., that is, because you believed my preaching and testimony concerning that day, namely the day of judgment.
Verse 11: In Which We Also Pray
11. In which we also pray. — In Greek eis ho, that is, "unto which," or "unto which thing we pray"; namely that you may continue to have faith in our testimony and preaching, and may bravely bear adversities for it, so that on the day of judgment you may be made glorious and admirable through Christ. Hence in explanation he adds:
That our God may deem you worthy of His calling. — Here "calling" means the beatitude to which you have been called, which is the end of your calling, says Anselm. Secondly, more simply, "calling" means the preservation and increase of your calling: for the calling here is taken in act, not inchoate, since the Thessalonians had this long ago before baptism; but in its continuation and perfection. See Canon 32. As if to say: I pray that God may preserve, increase, perfect, and through patience and good works more and more confirm His calling and the calling grace by which He has called you to the faith, salvation, and Christianity of Christ; and that He may call you and lift you up to a more perfect virtue or state, and may bestow and grant to you the very summit of Christian perfection. So St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and St. Thomas, and it is plain from what follows. For there follows: "May He fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith in power." For Christian perfection consists in the will of God being fully fulfilled.
Note: Those who aspire to a more perfect virtue or state, or desire that they themselves and others aspire and advance to it, ought to pray much for this. For this perfection, e.g., the state of virginity or of Religion, is obtained not so much by merits (since it surpasses and transcends all merits) as by humble and fervent prayer. And this the Apostle signifies when he says: "We always pray for you, that our God may deem you worthy of His calling."
May He fulfill all the good pleasure of goodness, — that is, I pray that God may make you wholly willing every good thing. So Anselm and Vatablus. Secondly, more genuinely, "the good pleasure of goodness," that is, may God fulfill in you His kindly and good will. For in Greek the word is eudokia, which throughout Scripture, as here, is attributed to God, not to man, and signifies either benevolence toward men, a kindly disposition, and good pleasure. It would have sufficed for the Apostle to say eudokian, that is, a kindly and good will: but because the Apostle can never sufficiently grasp and proclaim the goodness of God shown through Christ, hence he adds agathosynes, as if to say: May God fulfill in you the good will of His goodness or benevolence: and this is the most benevolent will of God, that we should do every good thing, says Theophylact, that we should be good, pure, holy, as God is good, pure, holy; and that in these things we should daily grow, and more and more participate in and imitate the goodness, purity, and holiness of God.
And (supply: may God fulfill in you) the work of faith in power. — "Work," that is, the good works (by an enallage of number) which the faith of Christ urges and dictates as to be done, and especially the constant profession of faith in adversities, so that our works may be conformable to our faith, and our life as Christian as our faith is. Hence Theophylact, following Chrysostom, takes "the work of faith" as patience in persecutions endured for the faith: for he who has not patience has not the work of faith. Secondly, more simply and clearly (though in substance it comes to the same thing and is the same as the former sense), he calls it "the work of faith" in the sense in which we call the work of construction the very fabric of the construction, the work of the farmer agriculture, the work of the cobbler a shoe, the work of genius a book ingeniously composed, the work of the weaver the cloth woven by him. As, then, in any matter we say: This work must be finished by me; so Paul here wishes that God may complete in the Thessalonians the work and, as it were, the fabric of faith, so that it may be filled out and perfected in all its parts and proportions: for they began this fabric or web in baptism, and have continued to weave it through good works and patience. Paul wishes that they may go on, and, with God as author, finish this work, and weave this web more fully and better by acting and suffering.
Note here that faith is only the beginning of this work of Christ and of God; and that good works are required to advance and perfect this work: just as in a house it is not enough to have laid the foundations, unless you build walls and roof upon them: for in Christian perfection faith has the place of a foundation, the other virtues and good works the place of walls and roof.
Let the Innovators (i.e. the Reformers) note this, so that, when they read elsewhere in Paul that faith justifies and saves, they may know from this passage that Paul under "faith" embraces the works of faith, as I said in Canons 2 and 3.
In power, — en dynamei, that is, in strength, that is, mightily and powerfully (for this is the Hebrew baccoach), so that, namely, while God is powerfully and mightily working in you and fulfilling the work and fabric of your faith, you yourselves may complete and finish that very work by powerful and heroic works of patience and of the other virtues. For "in power" is to be referred both to God, who in strength and might, that is, strengthening and comforting, as Theophylact says, fulfills this work of your faith, and to the work of faith.
Note secondly, that God fulfills the work of our faith, not as though He alone wholly works the act of faith in us and infuses it into us as wine is poured into a vessel, so that we in this work do nothing freely or cooperate at all, as Beza will have it; but as a teacher is said to complete the study and knowledge of his disciple when he teaches and instructs him, so that the disciple ought to listen to his teacher, weigh his words, penetrate them, and impress them upon himself: so also God as it were a Master fulfills the work of our faith, while He gently prevents us, persuades and entices us, both by enlightening our intellect and by softening our affection; but in such a way that we ought freely to listen, consent, and cooperate with Him as He enlightens and soothes us by His grace, as the Council of Trent teaches, session VI, from St. Augustine.
Verse 12: That the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ May Be Glorified in You, and You in Him
12. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him. — "For if they see you tolerating no temptation without endurance," says Theophylact, "from the love which you bear toward God, pray, is this not His glory — that He is so good that even servants die for Him; and that He is so powerful that He strengthens you unto patience? Indeed you also are glorified in Him, because you have been found so faithful that you suffer all things: for it is the glory of a servant that he is found faithful concerning his Lord. Most of all, however, affliction for Christ is glory; for it makes more splendid those who are at every moment delivered to death, yet shown to be stronger and superior to death."
According to the grace of our God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. — As if to say: This very thing — that you produce works of faith, by which God is glorified in you, and you in God — all this is the work and effect of the grace of Christ. For you do everything by the grace of Christ, not by your own strength.