Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues to exhort Timothy that, having laid aside secular affairs, he may devote himself wholly to the preaching and propagation of the Gospel, as a soldier, boxer, and husbandman of Christ.
Second, at verse 8, by the hope of the resurrection and heavenly glory He arouses him to undergo for the Gospel any adversities, even martyrdom.
Third, at verse 14, he exhorts him rightly to handle the word of truth, and to avoid profane novelties and heretics denying the resurrection.
Fourth, at verse 19, he warns him not to be troubled if some fall away from the faith, because the rest grounded in the faith will persist, who are sealed by the foreknowledge of God and by flight from sin.
Fifth, from verse 22 to the end, he warns him to avoid youthful self-loves and contentions, and gently to correct and instruct those who err.
Vulgate Text: 2 Timothy 2:1-26
1. Thou therefore, my son, be strengthened in the grace which is in Christ Jesus: 2. and the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also. 3. Labor as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4. No man, being a soldier to God, entangles himself with secular affairs: that he may please Him to whom he has proved himself. 5. For also one who strives in the contest is not crowned unless he strives lawfully. 6. The husbandman who labors must first partake of the fruits. 7. Understand what I say: for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things. 8. Be mindful that the Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel, 9. wherein I labor unto bonds, as if an evil-doer: but the word of God is not bound. 10. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory. 11. A faithful saying: For if we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him: 12. if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He will also deny us. 13. If we believe not, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself. 14. These things admonish, testifying before the Lord. Do not contend with words: for it is useful for nothing, except for the subverting of the hearers. 15. Carefully study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they advance much toward impiety. 17. And their speech spreads like a cancer: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18. who have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and have subverted the faith of some. 19. But the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord has known those who are His, and let everyone depart from iniquity who names the name of the Lord. 20. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware: and some indeed for honor, but some for dishonor. 21. If anyone therefore shall have cleansed himself from these, he shall be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work. 22. Flee youthful desires, but pursue justice, faith, charity, and peace with those who invoke the Lord with a pure heart. 23. But avoid foolish questions and those without discipline: knowing that they beget strifes. 24. The servant of the Lord ought not to quarrel: but to be gentle to all, apt to teach, patient, 25. with modesty correcting those who resist the truth; lest at any time God grant them repentance to acknowledge the truth, 26. and they recover themselves from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive to his will.
Verse 1: Thou Therefore, My Son, Be Strengthened in the Grace Which Is in Christ Jesus
1. Thou therefore, my son, be strengthened (Ambrose reads, "take fortitude") in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, — that is, in the grace of Christ to be announced and preached, says Ambrose and Vatablus, namely that thou announce that God has reconciled us to Himself not through Moses, or Simon Magus, but through Christ. The following words favor this; for it follows: "And the things which thou hast heard of me, these commend to the faithful." Where the Greek distinguishing punctuation places a stop before "these commend," so that the "which thou hast heard" is referred to the preceding, as if to say: Strengthen thyself in those things which thou hast heard, to be preached and taught.
Second and more plainly, Theodoret and Chrysostom connect these to the things said in the preceding chapter, as if to say: I said in the preceding chapter that I am not confounded, not cast down, not troubled in the chains undertaken for the Gospel, although the once-friendly Asians abandon me. Thou therefore, O son Timothy, imitate me thy father, take courage and strength "in the grace," that is, by the grace of Christ, which thou hast fighting with thee, indeed fighting on thy behalf, that thou mayest strongly persist in the Gospel, not only in faith, but also in its preaching and propagation, even if for its cause thou must undergo chains and torments and death itself.
Verse 2: The Things Which Thou Hast Heard of Me by Many Witnesses, Commend to Faithful Men
2. And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also. — Thus the Latin codices, the Syriac and Chrysostom distinguish and join these words. He calls "many witnesses" either the testimonies brought forward from the Law and the Prophets to confirm his doctrine concerning Christ and the Gospel, as Clement explains in book XII of his Hypotyposes; or rather the many hearers of his preaching. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius.
Second, "which thou hast heard by many witnesses; by," that is, among many, with many, before many, who can testify about those things I said, as if to say: I taught not in secret, but openly and publicly. For falsehood seeks corners, truth seeks light; for this is the voice of heretics, says Vincent of Lerins: "Come, learn the true faith newly revealed, but learn it stealthily and secretly; for it will delight you. And when you have learned, teach in secret, lest the world hear, nor the Church know. For to few is it granted to grasp the secrets of so great a mystery." For thus the Greeks take διά, that is "through," for μεταξύ or μετά, that is "among," or "with," as in I Cor. II, 4: "I wrote to you with many tears," that is, with many tears, and II Cor. III, 11: "For if that which is being made void is through glory," that is, with glory, is in glory: for thus the Apostle explains in what follows, when he adds: "Much more that which remains is in glory."
Third, note here again a passage in favor of traditions; for he says, not, What has been written, but, "What thou hast heard, these things commend."
Fourth, he wishes these things to be commended not to any men whatsoever, but to those who are fit to teach others, and who are faithful — not who excel in faith, but in fidelity: for to such, great matters, such as is the doctrine he here treats of, are believed and committed, but not to the timid and inconstant, who easily betray the faith to pagans, either through fear of punishment or hope of rewards. Hence it is clear that the Apostle here is not speaking of the common people and laity, but is commanding that Timothy the Bishop fully and solidly instruct other presbyters and teachers, so that they may firmly hold this sound doctrine as a deposit and after themselves guard and defend it, and teach and confirm others. So Ambrose, Theophylact, Oecumenius.
St. Dionysius teaches that the secret and more sublime mysteries of the faith ought to be entrusted to such, in ch. 1 of his book On the Divine Names, which he dedicates to this same Timothy: "Holy things," he says, "are to be communicated to the holy." And turning to Timothy he says: "O Timothy, it is fitting to keep these things according to the most sacred ordinance, nor to bring forth the sayings among the ignorant."
Verse 3: Labor as a Good Soldier of Christ Jesus
3. Labor as a good (that is, excellent) soldier of Christ Jesus. — For "labor" the Greek is κακοπάθησον, that is, endure evils, bear hard things. He continues to incite Timothy by the example both of soldiers and of Christ: for it belongs to a soldier to suffer many bitter things, and Christ has called us into the militia, to His standard of the cross, and signed and enrolled His soldiers with His cross; therefore to do brave things is Roman, as P. Scaevola used to say; but to suffer brave things is Christian. Beautifully Tertullian, in chapter 50 of his Apology Against the Gentiles: "Although you now call us, he says, faggot-bound and half-axled, because, tied to a stake of half an axle, we are burned with a circle of faggots; this is the dress of our victory, this is the palm-embroidered robe, in such a chariot we triumph. Among you also, O Gentiles, Mucius Scaevola willingly left his right hand on the altar — O sublimity of soul! Empedocles gave his whole self to the Aetnean fires of the Catanians — O vigor of mind! Regulus, lest one should live for many enemies, suffered crosses on his whole body — O strong man, and victor even in captivity! Anaxarchus, when he was being pounded with a pestle for the death of barley, said: Pound, pound the bag of Anaxarchus, you are not pounding Anaxarchus. The Attic prostitute, when the executioner was already exhausted, finally bit off her own tongue and spat it into the face of the raging tyrant, that she might also spit out her voice, lest she could confess her fellow conspirators, even if conquered she had wished. Zeno of Elea, when consulted by Dionysius what philosophy provided, when he had answered: Contempt of death; impassible, exposed to the lashes of the tyrant, sealed his judgment unto death." If pagans did these things, what will Christians and soldiers of Christ do?
Verse 4: No Man, Being a Soldier to God, Entangles Himself With Secular Affairs
4. No man, being a soldier of God, entangles himself with secular affairs: that he may please him to whom he has proved himself. — The word "to God" is not in the Greek, nor in some Latin manuscripts. Whence Chrysostom takes this sentence as a general one, pertaining to any soldiers, from which the Apostle tacitly subsumes that the same applies much more to the soldiers of Christ: which our translator expressed by saying, "no one being a soldier to God."
Note: "Secular affairs," in Greek τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις, that is, the occupations and businesses of life (for βίος signifies not "sustenance," as Erasmus translates, but "life") by which we acquire and seek out food, clothing and the other things suitable for sustaining life; such as trade, agriculture, mechanical arts, as if to say: A soldier does not concern himself with trade, nor with handicraft, nor with affairs pertaining to the governance of house, city, or kingdom; indeed, he does not labor much over food or clothing, because the emperor provides for these things for his soldier: but he attends to one thing — war and the victory of his emperor. Whence Cornelius Tacitus, in book XIV, and Dionysius, in book LX, teach that marriage was once forbidden to soldiers; nay even Tertullian, in his Exhortation to Chastity, teaches that in his time soldiers were celibate. Much more therefore the soldier of Christ ought to do these and more things. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ambrose. See St. Basil in his Ascetic Sermon 4. Hear him in the preface: "If anyone, He says, ministers to Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also let My minister be. Where therefore is Christ as King? In heaven, without doubt. Hither thy course, O soldier of Christ, must be directed. Forget whatever rest can be had here on earth. A soldier does not build houses, does not acquire fields, does not have leisure for trade, sets up his tent in the streets; he measures food only by necessity; drink, water; sleep, only as much as nature requires. Frequent journeys, and likewise vigils; patience to bear the cold and heat of the air; frequent undertaking of dangerous contests with adversaries, and in them often (if so fate brings) death, yet glorious, and which is adorned with royal honors and gifts." Then he applies these to the soldier of Christ: "Come therefore, soldier of Christ, who have already inspected certain meager examples from human things, let the thought of eternal goods come to thy soul: let the kind of life proposed to thee be, lacking house, city and possession of all things. Be unbound, and free from all cares of life, etc. The nature of the body does not conquer thee, nor does it bring force on thee against thy will. For thou dost not seek this, that thou mayest leave offspring on earth, but that thou mayest bring them up to heaven. Imitate the heavenly Spouse; put to flight the invisible enemies often rising against thee; first expel them from thine own soul, and let there be no place for them at all with thee, then also from the soul of those who flee to thee, and take thee as their leader, whom thou keepest safe by thy doctrine."
Second, the soldier does this, "that he may please him to whom he has proved himself," namely the commander, conducting the levy of soldiers (for this is what the Greek στρατολογήσαντι signifies), by whom he was enrolled in the military, approved and chosen. So Chrysostom, Ambrose, Theophylact; less correctly therefore Anselm, "to whom he has proved himself," that is, he says, to whom he has devoted himself.
Note thirdly: The Apostle does not speak here to all Christians and seculars: for these must necessarily and by their office handle secular affairs; but to Timothy the Bishop, and consequently to all Bishops, and their attendants, namely Pastors, priests, clerics: for these must devote themselves wholly to the word of God, and therefore abstain from secular affairs. So Chrysostom, Ambrose and others. The type of these were the Levites of the Old Testament, who in the division of the Holy Land received no part of it equally with the other tribes, lest they be entangled in earthly and secular affairs; but that they might be wholly free for God and the temple, therefore their hereditary portion was the Lord.
Verse 5: He Who Strives in the Contest Is Not Crowned Unless He Strives Lawfully
5. For also he who contends in the game is not crowned, unless he has contended lawfully, — namely unless he contends as a true athlete, athletically (for this is what the Greek ἀθλήσῃ means), and that "lawfully," in Greek νομίμως, that is according to the law, namely of the stadium and the contest, which commands not only that the athlete be anointed with oil and enter the contest; but that he so devote himself entirely to it, and so constantly, generously, and exceptionally contend, that he conquers all his antagonists, if he wishes to obtain the crown and the prize. On athletes see the comments at I Corinthians IX, 24.
Note: As in the preceding verse he incited Timothy to devote himself wholly to the Gospel, rejecting secular affairs, and for it to bear bravely all labors and sorrows, by the example of a soldier; so here he incites him to the same thing a second time by the example of a boxer and athlete contending in the games: for the athlete is wholly intent on his contest, he cares for nothing else, indeed he does not even look at anything else; and he does the same in the following verse, by adducing thirdly the example of the laboring husbandman. See St. Basil rousing us to labors with these and other examples, in his homily on that passage of Deut. XV, according to the Septuagint, "Take heed to thyself," which is extant and placed after the homily on fasting. Furthermore, the Author of the sermon to the Brethren in the desert, found in St. Augustine, sermon 8, explains this "lawfully" thus, as if to say: Persevering even to the end: for perseverance alone is crowned. "It is not therefore a great thing (says the same Author) to begin what is good, but to consummate it; this alone is perfect." And St. Jerome, book I Against Jovinian: "To have begun belongs to many, to have reached the summit belongs to few." The same, in his epistle to Furia: "In Christians the beginnings are not sought, but the end: Paul began badly, but ended well: the beginnings of Judas are praised, but the end is condemned by betrayal." St. Paul, Gal. III, 3: "Are you so foolish, that having begun in the spirit, you would now be consummated by the flesh?"
Verse 6: The Laboring Husbandman Must First Partake of the Fruits
6. The laboring husbandman must first receive of the fruits. — The interpreters explain this passage in two ways. First, the more recent ones, following Erasmus, want it to be a hyperbaton, that is, a disturbed order, and they refer the "first" not to "receive," but to "laboring," as if to say: The husbandman must receive the fruits, but on this condition, if namely he has first labored; for πρῶτον, according to them, here is not a noun, but an adverb meaning the same as "before," "first." But this is an obscure and harsh transposition, especially since another plainer sense presents itself. Second, Ambrose, Theodoret, and others take these words properly, as they sound: for husbandmen, before their masters or the possessors of the fields, are partakers of the fruits. Whence also Augustine in his book On the Work of Monks, and Primasius, thus explain these words and apply them to Timothy, as if the Apostle here meets a tacit objection of his.
For Timothy could have said: If I shall occupy myself wholly with the Gospel, as Thou commandest, O Paul, whence shall I live? Paul anticipates this, and answers that it is fitting that one laboring in the Gospel should live by the same, and from the faithful, whom he teaches, should receive the expenses necessary for life, just as it is fitting that the husbandman who labors in the field should live from the fruits of the field, and indeed should pluck the first fruits of the field.
It seems to me thirdly, preserving the order of the words, that both senses already given are intended by the Apostle, and therefore the Apostle here changes the phrase; for he does not, as he said: "No one is crowned unless he has contended lawfully," so here say: Unless the husbandman labors, he will not receive the fruits; but assertively, as if alluring and soothing, he says: "The laboring husbandman must first receive of the fruits," as if to say: Just as the soldier and athlete contending lawfully must be crowned (for no one is crowned unless he contends lawfully), so the laboring husbandman, if namely he labors strenuously in the field, must enjoy the first fruits of the field; therefore just as the crown rouses the soldier and the athlete to contend, the hope of fruits rouses the husbandman to labor: so let the fruit, O Timothy, of the present nourishment to be received from the catechumens whom thou teachest, and rather the full reward of future and eternal glory rouse thee: let it rouse thee, I say, to contend and labor, and to spend thyself wholly on the Gospel. Chrysostom suggests this sense. For he invites Timothy to labor by a threefold analogy, namely of the soldier, the boxer, and the husbandman, as I have said. Therefore here by the example of the husbandman, who is wholly engaged in his agriculture, and suffers many hard things in it, he incites Timothy to devote himself wholly to the Gospel, and to labor strenuously for it, that is, to bear all afflictions bravely: for this is what the Greek κακοπαθεῖν means, as I said in verse 3; the Greek κοπιῶντα also means the same here, that is, laboring, namely heavily and burdensomely. Therefore the difficult labor of the husbandman is here indicated to be the cause why he deserves to receive the first fruits; labor, I say, both active, such as plowing, sowing, harrowing; as well as passive, such as sweating, being fatigued, suffering frost, cold, heat and other inconveniences, such as in agriculture husbandmen must necessarily tolerate.
Whence Athanasius to Antiochus, Question CLII, thus expounds "the laboring husbandman," etc.: "He said this," he says, "of spiritual teachers, that it is fitting that the teacher, who labors and contends for himself and for his hearers, should first receive his reward from God, then his disciples. For the husbandman who has gathered his fruits first stores them in his house, then distributes them to others, either to his creditors or to the poor." Athanasius adds in the same place another explanation, namely, "the laboring husbandman first," etc., as if to say: Whoever wishes to teach others, or to be of profit to others, it is fitting that he first work that which he teaches, and receive from God the gifts of grace, and bring forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which he may then pour out upon others; for if anyone is about to anoint someone with oil with his own hands, and does not have oil, how will he impart to others that which he himself does not have? In the same way it must be understood concerning those who teach others. But this sense seems to be symbolic and tropological.
Verse 7: Understand What I Say: For the Lord Will Give Thee Understanding in All Things
7. Understand what I say: for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things. — As if to say: I have proposed to thee three parables, of the soldier, the athlete, the husbandman: it is not necessary that I explain and apply them to thee, thou attend to them: which if thou do, God will give thee understanding, so that thou mayest easily understand and apply them. Dost thou wish to know what is the office, what the vocation of a Bishop? Consider what is the office, what the vocation of the soldier, the boxer, the husbandman, namely as the soldier, the athlete, the husbandman, all things omitted, labors, sweats, and is wholly intent on his war, contest, and field: so thou, since thou art a Bishop, that is a soldier, boxer, and husbandman of Christ, with all other things omitted, must devote thyself wholly to the Gospel, and for its sake undergo all labors, dangers, troubles, and torments.
Note: For "will give," Our (interpreter) seems to have read in Greek δώσει; now they read δώῃ, that is "may He give," which is of one praying: and so Chrysostom reads.
Verse 8: Be Mindful That the Lord Jesus Christ Has Risen From the Dead, of the Seed of David
8. Be mindful that the Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel. — Here He proposes and commends to Timothy two articles of our faith especially to be inculcated at that time, namely, first, the article of the incarnation of Christ, when he says, "of the seed of David," supply: incarnate and born. Second, the article of Christ's resurrection. For both Simon Magus with his Gnostics denied: for these said that Christ had not truly assumed flesh, but only showed Himself in it, as an angel shows himself in a body which he assumes; and consequently they asserted that the death, passion, and resurrection of Christ had not truly, but phantastically, taken place. Against these the Apostle inculcates the true and real incarnation and resurrection of Christ. But he places the resurrection before the incarnation by hyperbaton, and to insinuate that Christ rose again according to a nature not divine, but human, by which He was born of the seed of David.
Secondly, with these same words he proceeds to exhort Timothy to undertake labors and martyrdom for the Gospel, as if to say: Remember, just as Christ, having suffered for His Gospel, rose again gloriously, so likewise thou, if thou suffer for the Gospel, wilt rise again gloriously. Suffer therefore and labor with Christ, that with Christ thou mayest rise to glory. So Theodoret, Chrysostom, and others.
Note: He calls it "His Gospel," not as written by himself or his scribe St. Luke, but as preached by himself. "Gospel" therefore is the same as the Evangelical preaching: for thus Paul explains himself in I Cor. XV, 10.
Verse 9: Wherein I Labor Even Unto Bonds, as an Evil-doer; But the Word of God Is Not Bound
9. Wherein I labor even unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound. — For "I labor," the Greek is κακοπαθῶ, that is I am afflicted, I bear evils, and so I sustain bonds; "as a malefactor," in Greek ὡς κακοῦργος, that is as a malefactor, as a criminal. St. Ambrose reads "as a robber." "See," says St. Chrysostom, homily 52 on the Acts of the Apostles, "not only the bonds, but also that being held a malefactor amplified the glory of the bonds; for indeed if he had been bound in the flesh as one acting well, he would have had some consolation: but now he is bound as one apprehended in evil deeds: and the love of God was the cause why he cared nothing for these things."
Note: For "bound," the Greek is δέδεται, which by a beautiful paronomasia corresponds to δεσμά, that is bonds, as if to say: I am bound, but the word of God is not bound: because both I in prison, partly by word, partly by written epistles, and others, fearlessly preach the word of God. "The hands are bound," says Chrysostom, "but the mind remains free, and the tongue free, which no one can bind except fear alone and unfaithfulness; if anyone binds the husbandman, he hinders sowing, for he sows with his hand: but if you bind the teacher, you cannot bind the doctrine; the word is sown by the tongue, not by the hand, and it lies under no bonds." Again, if I, bound, thus strenuously preach the Gospel, how much more does it become thee to do the same, O Timothy, since thou art free? The same Chrysostom here in the moral, treating of the glory of Paul's bonds, exalts the same above the crown and purple of Nero: "Nero," he says, "clothed in purple, and surrounded by so great a band of soldiers, was preventing Paul from preaching the doctrine of virtue; Paul resisted him, saying: I do not yield, the word of God is not bound. The Cilician leather-stitcher, bound, poor, and worn out with hunger, despised the king of Roman opulence ruling over all. Who therefore was more illustrious, he who was conquering in bonds, or he who was being overcome in purple? Bound with a chain, he prostrated the diademed king." And below: "If Paul here, where he was a leather-stitcher, shines forth with so great splendor in bonds; what will it be when he comes in glory, obscuring the very rays of the sun by the force of his brightness? when at the judgment Nero shall stand sad, mourning, cast down?"
Verse 10: Therefore I Endure All Things for the Sake of the Elect
10. Therefore I bear all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory. — Our Interpreter reads with Ambrose οὐρανίου, that is heavenly; now they read αἰωνίου, that is eternal.
Note: The word "therefore" gives the cause why Paul bears all things, namely lest the word of God be bound, as preceded, but be propagated and bear fruit, and lead very many to salvation; salvation, I say, "which is in Christ Jesus," that is, which has been brought through Christ, which is to be found in the Church and religion of Christ; which salvation is conjoined with, and indeed in reality the same as, the heavenly beatitude and glory, although it may be distinguished from it by connotation, and as it were formally. For it is called "salvation," inasmuch as it frees and saves man from death and hell and other miseries of body and soul, but the same is called "glory," inasmuch as it makes man blessed and glorious.
Morally Chrysostom here praises the charity of Paul, that although he could have lived for himself and looked after his own salvation, he preferred to expose himself to so many labors, dangers and tribulations, that he might save others.
Verses 11 and 12: A Faithful Saying — If We Have Died With Him, We Shall Also Live With Him
Verses 11 and 12. A faithful saying: For if we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we shall endure, we shall also reign with Him. — "Faithful," that is certain, indubitable saying; for this phrase has the same force as that of Christ usually added in weighty matters: "Amen, amen, I say to you." See the comments at Epistle I, chapter I, verse 17.
Chrysostom with his (followers) refers the "faithful" to the preceding, so that "the faithful saying" is this, namely that the elect are saved through Christ; and then the particle "for" which follows is properly taken causally. But better D. Thomas, Vatablus, and others, according to the Apostle's manner, refer this to what follows; for all these things look to this, that he may rouse Timothy and us all to endurance and martyrdom; so that the particle "for" is not causal, but corresponds to the Hebrew כי ki, that is "because," "that," and is one of asseveration and designation, as if to say: Do not say, O Timothy, in thine own person or rather in the person of thine who are weak: I suffer hard things and die for the Gospel; thou, Paul, dost promise me resurrection and future life; perhaps thou art deceived, or thou deceivest us: for thou persuadest us that we should suffer a certain and present evil for an uncertain and future reward. Do not, I say, say these things; because the saying is faithful, true, and certain: that if we here suffer and die for Christ and with Christ, we shall also together with Christ rise and live in the heavenly kingdom. For if a king, when victory and a kingdom have been won, makes his commanders and the soldiers his comrades in war partakers of it likewise: without doubt Christ, the most powerful and most liberal King, will do the same, that He may make those who here have suffered such great and hard things for Him partakers of His glory and kingdom. So Chrysostom with his (followers). Otherwise Ambrose: If, he says, we die to vices, mortify our concupiscences, we shall live and reign with Christ. But the former sense is more genuine, as I have said.
Note: For "if we shall endure," the Greek is εἰ ὑπομένομεν, that is, "if we endure": for it is not enough to suffer or die once, but one must suffer and die daily. "Day by day that blessed one (Paul) was dying," says Chrysostom.
If we shall deny Him (Christ and the faith of Christ through fear of enemies, tyrants, or torments), He (Christ) also will deny us. — For this is a just compensation, as it were, both of punishment and reward, which Christ established Matt. X, 32, saying: "Everyone who shall confess Me before men, I also will confess him before My Father, who is in heaven: but he who shall deny Me before men, I also will deny him before My Father, who is in heaven."
Verse 13: If We Believe Not, He Remains Faithful; He Cannot Deny Himself
13. If we believe not, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself. — That is, as Primasius (says), whether we believe or do not believe, the truth is not changed, God can neither be deceived nor deceive: our unbelief or perfidy cannot overthrow God's faithfulness. In the Greek there is a paronomasia in ἀπιστοῦμεν and πιστός, as if to say: If we are unfaithful, He nevertheless remains faithful. Subtly and beautifully from St. Dionysius, chapter VIII On the Divine Names, Anselm: "God," he says, "is truth, which existing is τὸ ὄν, that is, what is, what exists; and truth is τὸ ὄν; therefore to fall from truth is to fall from God. Hence therefore God cannot deny Himself, that is the truth, because thus He would fall from Himself, and God would not be God."
Whence also St. Athanasius, oration 3 Against the Arians, "Faithful," he says, that is immutable. This is fundamentally true, but not formally: for the immutability of God is the foundation and reason of God's faithfulness, namely why He faithfully fulfills what He has promised, and why He cannot deny, revoke, or fail in Himself, that is in His promises. Whence St. Augustine, on that of Psalm XXX, "All His works are done in faithfulness": "A faithful man," he says, "is one believing God's promise: a faithful God is one exhibiting what He has promised to man. Let us therefore hold our most faithful debtor, because we hold a most merciful promiser."
Secondly, the same Augustine, book V On the City (of God), chapter X, teaches that God is omnipotent, and yet cannot die, deceive, lie: because these are not of power, but of weakness; which if God could (do), He would not be omnipotent, but powerless, weak, infirm.
Verse 14: Admonish These Things, Testifying Before the Lord; Do Not Contend With Words
14. Admonish these things, testifying before the Lord. — That is, protesting before the Lord, or invoking the Lord as witness, and threatening Him as judge and avenger, and adjuring through Him, and binding by sacred religion and fear the consciences of thy subjects, admonish and urge, that they may exactly keep these things which I have written.
Do not contend with words. — In Greek it is μὴ λογομαχεῖν, that is, not to wrangle in words, as Apuleius speaks, not to contend with words: for it is an infinitive; whence Chrysostom with his (followers), the Syriac, Erasmus, Vatablus, and others refer this to the preceding, as if to say: Solemnly testifying to them before the Lord that they should not contend with words. But St. Augustine, book I Against Cresconius, Ambrose, and generally the Latins read it separately as an imperative, "do not contend with words." For often, as we have seen, Paul, just as the Hebrews, places the infinitive for the imperative. "To contend with words," says St. Augustine, book IV On Christian Doctrine, chapter XXVIII, "is not to care how error is conquered by truth, but how thy saying is preferred to the saying of another," namely in disputing not to seek the truth, but to want to show off one's own knowledge, and want to seem more learned, to conquer and prevail: which is characteristic of the young and the proud. See Nazianzen in the oration On the modesty to be preserved in disputation. Wisely and piously the Blessed Aegidius established this Christian paradox: "When anyone contends with thee, if thou wishest to conquer, lose: and thou conquerest thyself, thou conquerest all thine enemies; it is a great virtue, if anyone allows himself to be conquered by all men: because such is the lord of this world." So St. Ephrem in his testament glories that he never contended in words with any Christian. Although the Apostle here forbids not so much contention with Christians, as with heretics, for this is λογομαχία, that is, battle (of words), Epistle I, chapter VI, verse 4. Hence Augustine teaches in epistle 137, and Tertullian in his book On Prescription, that one must not dispute with heretics confirmed in their heresy, because disputation with the obstinate avails nothing, except for the overthrow of the stomach or the brain, says Tertullian.
It is useful for nothing, except for the subverting of the hearers. — namely so that the hearers may be captivated by the contentious smooth-talking of the Innovators, and may go off into parties and schisms, and themselves also learn to contend among themselves. He said the same thing in other words in Epistle I, chapter VI, verse 4: "From which," he says, "arise envies, contentions, blasphemies, evil suspicions, conflicts."
Verse 15: Carefully Study to Show Thyself Approved to God, a Workman Not to Be Ashamed, Rightly Handling the Word of Truth
15. But carefully see that thou present thyself as approved to God, a workman not to be ashamed. — In Greek, σπούδασον σεαυτὸν δόκιμον παραστῆσαι τῷ Θεῷ, that is, busy thyself and strive to present thyself as upright or approved to God, namely that God may approve thee and thy works, and hold them as ratified and pleasing.
Note: For "not to be ashamed" the Greek is ἀνεπαίσχυντον, that is one who is not made ashamed, who does not blush. He calls therefore a "workman not to be ashamed" him who is not confounded in preaching Christ, who is not ashamed of the cross of Christ, but who freely and fearlessly, although the Jews protest and the Gentiles mock, evangelizes Christ crucified, and the whole faith and religion of Christ. So Chrysostom with his (followers).
Secondly, otherwise Anselm, "not to be ashamed," he says, that is, whom his ignorance, bad doctrine, or life does not confound, does not affect with shame, so that in nothing can he be reproved or made ashamed.
Thirdly, "not to be ashamed," that is, one who, examined by God in the day of judgment before the whole world, is not confounded, is not made ashamed. The first sense is most in accordance with the mind and heart of the Apostle.
Rightly handling the word of truth. — In Greek ὀρθοτομοῦντα, that is, rightly cutting the word of truth. Cutting, that is circumcising and cutting away whatever is foreign, useless, and superfluous, says Vatablus, namely so that he may teach and explain only what is proper and useful. Whence Chrysostom with Theophylact thinks that here a metaphor is drawn from leather-workers, who trim leather, as if Paul says: Just as leather-workers cut away whatever is superfluous in straps and thongs: so thou, Timothy, with the sword of the Spirit, cut away what is foreign or superfluous to the word of God. But to cut is one thing, to circumcise another. I say therefore, "rightly cutting," that is, rightly handling and expounding the word of truth. Theodoret thinks that the metaphor is from husbandmen: "We praise," he says, "husbandmen who cut straight furrows: so also the master is worthy of praise who follows the rule of the divine sayings." Others think that this trope is taken from difficult knots, which when we cannot untie, we cut. Thus Alexander the Great cut with a sword the insoluble knot in the wagon of Midas: for in like manner, the knots of questions must be cut and solved by the sharpness of the intellect and faith, and so in these there is need of the Tenedian double axe.
But better others judge that this metaphor is taken from nurses, cooks, and from those who set out banquets, or from the masters of the tables, who in ancient times were called modimperators or symposiarchs: for it belongs to these to cut meats and foods rightly, and from them to distribute to each one what they know to be suitable, savory, and pleasing to each. Hence Plato calls a tasteless Dialectician a bad cook, because he did not know how to divide rightly. Again, just as a thing, e.g. a closed nut, if it is rightly cut, is plainly opened, so that its inner parts may lie open, and the kernel may be taken and eaten, and from this it is said to be "enucleated": so Scripture or obscure and as it were closed doctrine is said to be rightly cut, when it is so opened, expounded, enucleated, that the sense hidden in it as a kernel may lie open, may be taken and understood. The Bishop therefore, the doctor and preacher, as it were a cook, or rather as a symposiarch and modimperator, ought not to mutilate his doctrine and the word of God, not to tear it asunder, not to twist it; but to cut it rightly, divide, distinguish, and as it were rightly to open a nut, enucleate it and expound it; namely so that he may distinguish the true sense from the false and twisted, and present and communicate it aptly to each according to his capacity and taste: that he may bring forth and present learned things to the learned, common things to the rude and to the people; that he may not dispute about marriage among virgins, nor about virginity among the married; that he may not propose judgment and hell to the faint-hearted; that he may not offer the promise of heavenly glory to the bold and puffed up, and so for the rest. Those who treat and dispute about the Trinity, about predestination, about efficacious grace before women and the common people sin against this.
It could secondly, this "right cutting," that is, handling of the word of God, be opposed to its adulteration, by which namely someone seeks and hunts not God's glory and the salvation of souls, but his own gains or glory from preaching the word of God: which the Apostle censures in II Cor. chapter II, last verse, as if to say: See, O Timothy, that thou dost not mix vain things, curious things, avarice, ambition into thy preaching, and so as it were adulterate it: but sincerely, simply, with right intention preach the word of God, namely so that thou seek nothing else from it, than to lead souls back to their Creator.
Whence thirdly, Primasius: They preach rightly, he says, who confirm what they preach by their own example and by the conduct of their life. But the first sense is most genuine. Our translator therefore, instead of "rightly dividing," clearly renders it "rightly handling," that is, rightly expounding and setting forth the word of truth. Hence the Latin Fathers call their expositions of Sacred Scripture "Tracts," which in Greek the Greeks call "Tomes," or sections.
Verses 16 and 17: They Will Advance Greatly in Impiety, and Their Speech Spreads Like a Cancer
Verses 16 and 17. For they will advance greatly in impiety, and their speech spreads like a cancer. — The Greek lacks the conjunction "and": for thus they have, τὰς δὲ βεβήλους κενοφωνίας, that is, shun profane babblings, or profane novelties of words. Note here, that for κενοφωνίας with ε, Ambrose and Chrysostom read καινοφωνίας with αι, that is novelties of words, just as our translator also reads in epistle I, ch. VI, vs. 20; for this second epistle to Timothy is most similar to the first epistle. From which passage it again appears that in this place the Apostle is censuring not new words devised by Catholics to explain matters of faith more clearly, but new words of heretics, by which they introduce new errors: for these are profane and false, indeed sacrilegious; such are the foreign terms of the Simonians, Gnostics, Valentinians, and of Hymenaeus and Philetus, who deny the resurrection, as follows. So Primasius. Beautifully Augustine, book III Against Julian, ch. III: "The things you say, O Pelagians, are wonderful; the things you say are new; the things you say are false: the wonderful we are amazed at, the new we beware of, the false we refute." See what was said in epistle I, ch. VI, vs. 20.
Note: For "shun" the Greek is περιΐστασο, which Vatablus renders "pass over"; Oecumenius, "keep silent," or "insist vehemently that they be restrained"; Erasmus, "cut off," so that our "shun" is the same as "take from life, remove from the midst." But περιΐσταμαι also means to avoid, to flee, to turn away, as Henricus Stephanus and Scapula note from Lucian in the Lexicon; therefore that it should here be rendered "shun," that is flee and turn away, is clear from two similar passages. For the same is said here as in I epist. ch. VI, vs. 20; there however he says thus: "Shunning the profane novelties of words." Again to Titus III, 9: "Quarrels of the law, he says, περιΐστασο," that is shun and flee, not so much on thine own account as for thy subjects, so that when they see thee their Bishop flee, they too may flee likewise. Hence through the Hebraism in the hiphil signification it can thus be expounded: "shun," that is by thy example and command make others shun. For the Hebrews speak thus: the wind blows away the chaff, that is makes it fly away; the fire burns, that is makes burn; flee the flies, that is make to flee, or put to flight. For the qal is put for the hiphil, that is the neuter or simple and absolute active verb, for the double active which makes others act.
It could secondly, with Budaeus, properly be rendered περιΐστασο as "stand around, encompass," namely so that thou mayest restrain and suppress these profane babblings, lest, as follows, they spread more widely like a cancer and infect many more.
Their speech spreads like a cancer, — namely of the heretics, who teach profane babblings. For by a Hebraism from the abstract "babblings," he understands and repeats the concrete contained in it, namely "of them," that is of the babblers and profane persons, namely the heretics.
Note: "Cancer" here signifies not an animal but a disease, which is called gangrene (as the Greek has here); which unless it be met, ever creeps onward, and, as the Greek is, νομὴν ἕξει, that is, will have pasture, or will feed upon, namely upon neighboring members, so that it gradually infects and destroys the whole man. Such is heresy, which always creeps, now from one error to another, and from bad to worse always creeps onward and slips: "for evil, says St. Dionysius, ch. IV On the Divine Names, since it is a defection from the good, by its own weakness and weight always advances to one evil after another;" then more so and more aptly does heresy creep like a cancer from one man to another, from one city and province to another, as we have seen and see by the experience of neighboring regions in this age. "Thus Arius, says St. Jerome, was a single spark, but because he was not at once suppressed, his flame ravaged the whole world." Nor is it any wonder that heresy creeps, just as it is no wonder that leprosy or gangrene creeps, especially because it brings new, curious, pleasing dogmas, which scratch the flesh and carnal ears, and are most agreeable to them; such as that one need not fast, that virginity is not to be cultivated, that penance is not to be performed to satisfy for sins, because Christ did all these things for us. Wherefore to Luther who demanded that it be considered a miracle that so many in a brief time had gone over to his sect, B. Thomas More replied, writing to Pomeranus: "That the people should rush to the licentiousness of life proposed has as great an appearance of a miracle as that stones should fall downward." On which matter I shall say more in the following chapter, vs. 4.
How heresy creeps, St. Augustine declares by a beautiful example of a certain Manichaean, tract 1 on John: "A certain man, he says, was suffering annoyance from flies: a Manichaean found him in this state of annoyance, and when he said he could not bear the flies and hated them vehemently; at once the other said: Who made these? and because he was vexed and hated them, he did not dare to say: God made them. For he was a Catholic. The other immediately added: If God did not make them, who made them? Plainly, said he, I believe that the devil made the flies. And the other at once: If the devil made the fly, as I see thee confess, since thou wisely understandest, who made the bee, which is a little larger than a fly? He did not dare to say that God made the bee and did not make the fly, since the matter was very close. From the bee he led him to the locust, from the locust to the lizard, from the lizard to the bird, from the bird he led him to cattle, thence to the ox, thence to the elephant, finally to man, and he persuaded the man that he was not made by God. So that wretch, when he had suffered annoyance from flies, became a fly whom the devil had possessed." Thus far Augustine.
Hence all the Holy Fathers taught that heretics are to be fled like plagues. So St. John, epist. II, vs. 10: "If anyone, he says, comes to you, and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor say to him, Hail;" and that John might confirm this doctrine by his own example, he refused to bathe in the same bath with Cerinthus. And St. Polycarp, meeting Marcion, when asked by him, Dost thou not recognize me? answered: "I recognize thee as the firstborn of the devil." So from Irenaeus reports Eusebius, book IV of his History, ch. XIII: "So great, he says, was the fear of the Apostles and their disciples, that they would not even share a word with any of those who had adulterated the truth." St. Anthony, says Athanasius, so abhorred the Arians that he proclaimed to his own: "Avoid the poisons of the heretics and schismatics, and follow my hatred toward them. You yourselves know that I never had any peaceful conversation with them." St. Cyprian, book I, epist. 3 to Cornelius: "Let our most beloved brethren strongly turn aside and avoid the words and conversations of those whose speech spreads like a cancer, let no dealings, no banquets, no conversations be mingled with such, and let them be as separated from them as those are fugitives from the Church." St. Leo, serm. 5 On the Fast of the Tenth Month, teaches that heretics are to be guarded against like serpents: "Because, he says, their speech creeps like a cancer: humbly they steal in, blandly they catch, softly they bind, secretly they kill," etc.
Note: Just as the speech of heretics uttered by voice, so also when written or printed it creeps. Rightly therefore to restrain this plague the Church, on the advice of the Apostle, forbids under grave censure the reading of the books of heretics: and this it forbade long ago, as is plain from the Council of Nicaea, which forbade to all the reading of the books of Arius and the Arians, and ordered them burned. The witness is Nicephorus, book VIII, ch. XVI. Which decree of the Council the Emperor Constantine so put into execution, that he ordered those who had concealed the books of Arius to be beheaded. The witness is Socrates, book I, ch. VI. The same Socrates, ch. XXIV, relates that Marcellus of Ancyra was condemned, because he refused to deliver the books of his heresy to the flames. So also Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 2 On the Faith, teaches that the books of heretics are to be destroyed, as the eggs of asps, since they would naturally generate asps and basilisks. The Council of Trent therefore decreed nothing new in forbidding the reading of heretical books, but renewed an ancient decree of the Church. Indeed even the heathens, led by nature, did the same. For Philostratus in the Sophists teaches that the books of the atheist Protagoras were publicly burned in the forum. In like manner Livy teaches, book X, that books opposed to religion were burned at Rome. Valerius Maximus also teaches, book VI, ch. III, that the Lacedaemonians expelled from the city the writings of Archilochus, not because they were not extensive, but because they were shameless. Plato in book VII On the Republic teaches that all books before they are published should be examined, lest perchance they contain anything contrary to religion or good morals.
Verses 17 and 18: Hymenaeus and Philetus, Who Have Fallen From the Truth, Saying the Resurrection Has Already Taken Place
Verses 17 and 18. Of whom (the profane and babblers, namely the heretics) is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have fallen away from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place. — For "have fallen away" the Greek is ἠστόχησαν, as if to say: aiming at the mark of truth they have wandered from it. See what was said in epist. I, ch. I, vs. 6. Namely these proud Innovators boasted themselves to be most acute and most exact searchers of Sacred Scripture and of the truth, and were lying.
It is asked how these Innovators said "the resurrection has taken place?" Theophylact responds first that by resurrection they understood the renewal of all things, which happens yearly in spring around Pascha; for of all things which are under the sun, there is a cycle, so that in winter they as it were die, in summer they as it were rise with Christ.
Secondly, Epiphanius, heresy 40, which is that of the Archontics, Ambrose and Theodoret think that by "resurrection" they understood generation and propagation, by which a father begetting a son lives and rises again as it were in him. For since each thing always desires to be and seeks a certain eternity, and cannot attain it by itself in its own individual being; hence it communicates itself by propagation, that it may remain in its seed and offspring, and always, if it be possible, endure.
Thirdly and more aptly, St. Thomas thinks they denied the resurrection of bodies, not of souls, but asserted the latter, namely that by "resurrection" they understood the glorification and beatitude of the soul, which has already happened and daily happens when someone who is faithful and pious dies. Hence Tertullian, in the book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, calls them Partiarii, because they said that only a part of man rises.
Fourthly and more probably, the same St. Thomas thinks they taught that the resurrection has taken place, namely literally in Christ rising from the dead, but in us not literally but mystically the same takes place, when we are baptized and rise from sins, and enter upon a holy and Christian life: so that the resurrection is the same as justification, in which we rise from the death of sin to the life of grace, and is a change of life and morals, says Anselm: so that this resurrection is Christianity itself and the Christian life, in which freed from sins and the servitude of the old law, in the delights and sweetness of Christian life we lead a blessed life. For thus Cerinthus, as a Judaizer, taught that the carnal delights of this life are the resurrection and beatitude, and that no other is to be expected; the same even now teach some Naturalists in Holland. Therefore Christianity and the freedom and joy of Christian life, which Christ introduced and sanctioned, is the resurrection according to Hymenaeus and Philetus; for that has already been accomplished by Christ: for the other resurrections brought forward by others have not so much been accomplished as they daily continue.
Morally Chrysostom notes that the Apostle has rightly said: "They make much progress toward impiety;" for no error is more harmful and more inciting to men toward the concupiscences of the flesh and to the perfection of all impiety, than the one which denies the resurrection: for once the resurrection and heavenly glory are removed, hell and eternal punishment are likewise removed, and consequently the immortality and eternity of the soul: from which follows that saying of Epicurus, Eat, drink, play, after death there is no pleasure. For who without hope of reward would freely here pursue abstinence, continence, the mortification of vices? who would offer his body to be torn for death and martyrdom, if it is not to rise in glory? who here would not gorge himself with gluttony, lust and every pleasure, if he did not fear hell, nor hope for heaven? Truly and excellently Tertullian: "The hope of Christians is the resurrection of the dead."
And they have overthrown the faith of some. — For "have overthrown" the Greek is ἀνατρέπουσι, that is, they overthrow, by which Paul signifies that they persist in their perversity and in their zeal to pervert others.
Verse 19: The Firm Foundation of God Stands, Having This Seal: The Lord Knows Who Are His
Verse 19. But the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows who are His; and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. — The Apostle opposes this "foundation" to the faith of some that has been overthrown, as preceded, and meets the fear and tacit objection of some. For some more timid persons could say: If, with the Church beginning and consisting of few faithful, the faith of some has been overthrown by heretics, whose speech creeps like a cancer, it will come to pass at length, with heresy creeping and growing, that in a short time the whole faith and Church will be overthrown. To these the Apostle here responds, that this is not to be feared, because "the firm foundation of God stands."
Note here: He opposes the word "stands" to the word "have overthrown." Thou wilt ask, what is this "firm foundation of God." Ambrose replies that it is God's promises, by which through the Prophets He promised to redeem and save men, as if to say with the Apostle: These promises of God stand firm, which have this seal, namely faith, by which by believing God we seal and confirm the words and promises of God.
Secondly, Theodoret takes this "foundation" as faith: for faith is the basis and foundation of truth; and the seal of faith is the hope of the resurrection, which Philetus denies.
Thirdly and best, this "firm foundation of God" is God's counsel, decree and predestination, by which He decreed to call the faithful first to faith, then to grace and perseverance, and finally to glory: for this predestination consists firm, immovable and unchangeable in God: and conversely consequently and more aptly, as St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, St. Thomas and St. Augustine (soon to be cited) rightly teach, the "firm foundation of God," not as the subject but as the agent and the one laying this foundation, are the very faithful predestined by God to faith, grace and glory. For these will not be unstable in faith, so as to fall from it, as Hymenaeus, Philetus and others fell, shaken by them like reeds and overthrown; but founded in faith they stand and shall stand unmoved as firm foundations of God. That the faithful predestined themselves are rather called "foundation," than the predestination itself of God, appears first, because he opposes this foundation to those who have been overthrown by Hymenaeus: therefore he calls those constant in faith "foundation;" for he opposes these to the inconstant and overthrown.
Secondly, because everywhere else in Scripture the Church itself, that is the people and the faithful who are in the Church, are called "foundation," or a house or temple of God well-founded, as in Psalm LXXXVI: "Its foundations (namely of the spiritual Sion, that is of the Church) are in the holy mountains," to which the Apostle here alludes; Isaiah II, 2: "Shall be prepared," that is founded, made firm (for this is what the Hebrew nachon means) "the mount of the Lord's house (that is of the Church) in the top of the mountains." Hence Christ, Matt. ch. XVI, vs. 18, says that He will found and build His Church upon Peter as on a firm rock, and Eph. II, 20, Paul called the Apostles and Prophets the foundation of the house of God, namely of the Church. So Matt. VII, 24, He compares a man constant in faith and virtue to a house, of which He says: "When the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, it did not fall: for it was founded upon a rock." Therefore in just the same way here he calls men constant in faith "a firm foundation." Whether therefore by this "foundation" thou take the predestination of God itself, or rather the predestined faithful themselves, the meaning comes to the same: for the firmness of this foundation is partly in us, partly in God. For predestination is firm in God, because the predestined will be firm in faith and grace: for these are the object of firm predestination. And conversely the predestined will be firm, because God's predestination is firm: for, as St. Thomas teaches, this firmness of the faithful depends partly on God's predestination and grace, partly on the very free will of the faithful, which will freely and constantly retain faith and grace. That this may be better understood, it is to be noted that the efficacy and certitude of predestination and grace depend on, and are to be sought from, foreknowledge (as it were from a seal, as I shall say presently), or from the foreseen future event, namely from our future cooperation, by which we shall freely embrace the faith, and constantly persevere in it.
Hence from St. Augustine the Theologians define "predestination as the foreknowledge and preparation of the graces by which most certainly those are saved who are saved." For God is said to predestine, e.g. Peter, when out of the infinite modes, species, orders of graces which He could give to Peter, He decreed to give him this one order and series of graces, with which He foresaw Peter would cooperate and would persevere in faith and grace, and so to be saved: therefore the grace of predestination certainly saves the predestined man, because God certainly foreknows that with it the free will of man will freely operate well unto the end of life.
Whence it follows that the grace of predestination as to its effect depends on our future cooperation, as it were from its own proorism, which is the object of divine foreknowledge, and our cooperation completes and fulfills God's predestination and grace. And this the Apostle signifies, when of this firm foundation he subjoins these two seals confirming and sealing it, as it were corresponding to one another, saying: "The Lord knows who are His:" behold God's foreknowledge; "And let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity:" behold the cooperation of our free will, which is the object of foreknowledge. For God's foreknowledge is therefore certain and firm, by which He foreknows, e.g., that Peter will be His, that is faithful, just, departing from iniquity, because in fact Peter cooperating with the grace of God by his free will will be faithful, just, and will depart from iniquity.
Note secondly, that the Apostle is speaking primarily of the foundation of faith and of the faithful, or of predestination and of the predestined to a strong and constant faith: for these faithful, as firm foundations of God, he opposes to Hymenaeus and Philetus, heretics, and to others overthrown by them in the faith. Hence Theodoret, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm understand by "firm foundation" faith: for faith is properly the foundation of the spiritual house, which is built up by the aggregation of the other virtues, as if to say with the Apostle: Be it that some reeds and stakes in the Church are torn out, be it that some seduced by Hymenaeus and Philetus fall from the faith into heresy; yet the firm foundation of the Church and of the faithful stands and shall always stand, unconquered against all heretics and enemies, indeed through them as by a kind of antiperistasis it shall come out stronger and purer. For, as Tertullian teaches, book On Prescription, ch. III, the Church is purged by heresies.
Secondarily however the Apostle extends this foundation to grace and the other virtues, and indeed to all the effects of predestination: for this he signifies, when he reckons the second seal of this foundation, saying: "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." For he alone is fully and perfectly faithful, who, namely, lives piously and holily according to faith, and constantly perseveres in it until death. So St. Augustine, Anselm, Bede. Hence St. Augustine, book X On the City, ch. VII, and elsewhere, refers these things to the Church of the saints, or to the elect to glory: for these he holds to be called by the Apostle here "the firm foundation of God."
Having this seal: The Lord knows who are His. — Here the Apostle sets down two seals of the foundation just mentioned. The first is God's foreknowledge, the latter the flight from sin, as if to say: God has marked, fortified, sealed this His foundation of predestination and of the faithful constant in the faith and of the predestined, with two seals. The first is this: "The Lord knows who are His," as if to say: The first seal of the faithful founded in faith is, that they are foreknown and pre-known, as being His, namely God's; because, namely, God foresees that they will remain in faith and grace, and consequently will come to glory, as friends of God and elect. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm and St. Augustine, tract 42 on John: "The Lord knows, he says, who shall remain unto the crown, who shall remain unto the flame; He knows the wheat in His threshing-floor, He knows the chaff; He knows the harvest, He knows the tares."
The Apostle alludes to Numbers XVI, 5 and 26, where in the schism of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, contending with Aaron for the priesthood, Moses said: "In the morning the Lord will make known who pertain to Him," in Hebrew את אשר לו et ascer lo, that is, who are His, "and the holy ones He will draw to Himself, and those whom He has chosen shall draw near to Him;" namely by the gaping of the earth absorbing Korah, Dathan and Abiram, God will show them to be rebels and factious; but Aaron to be the legitimate priest, chosen, sanctified and consecrated by Him. Hence here: "He knew" can similarly be taken in the hiphil, for "made known," that is, will make known, as if to say: God so knows His own faithful, that He will make them known, indeed celebrated, to other men and to the whole world, namely when He will declare their faith in this life through their constancy, piety, and other works of faith and grace, then in the future judgment through the public sentence, praise and glory. For this plainly answers to that which Moses said, Numbers XVI: "The Lord will make known." So Christ, John X, 27, says that He knows His sheep, and they hear His voice and follow Him.
Note: God's foreknowledge, which precedes all times and the things which at any time are or come to pass, by foreseeing as it were marks all who throughout the whole course of future time will be God's own; namely will be constant in faith and will live piously and holily: for these God as it were enrolls and consigns in His book of life, that is, in the catalogue of the elect, whom He has destined and chosen for eternal life, which He as it were enrolls and consigns in His mind and memory, and thence the elect from each of the tribes are called "sealed," Apoc. VII. Hence here and John XVII, vss. 6 and 20, Christ calls those who would afterwards believe "His own," not because they were really such then, but because most certainly they would be such, and they were such not in themselves, but in His own and the Father's foreknowledge. Hence too St. Augustine, on Psalm XXV: "According to that, he says, foreknowledge of God and predestination, how many sheep are now without, and how many wolves within; and how many sheep within, and how many wolves without!"
Hence note secondly: Predestination differs from the common preparation of grace, which God has from eternity decreed to give even to reprobates, in this: that the grace of predestination is sealed by God's foreknowledge, that is, has been foreseen by God to be efficacious, and to have its effect: namely that free will will consent to it, when it operates freely, will be converted, will undertake a holy life, and will persevere in it, and this God intends. Hence the Apostle does not say: He predefines, or predetermines, but: "The Lord knows who are His." But the grace which is given to reprobates, or rather to those to be reproved, is foreseen as going to be inefficacious, because namely the reprobates will not consent to grace, nor cooperate with it; whereas otherwise the grace, which is given to reprobates, can be physically equal to the grace which is given to the predestined, indeed greater than it, and not rarely in fact is greater; so that the reprobates can as easily, indeed more easily than the predestined, be converted and saved: yet in fact they will not be converted, because they will not be willing to be converted, or certainly will not be willing to persevere in their conversion and grace. This however God foreknew from eternity, whence too He reprobated them, and consigned them to hell; because, namely, He foresaw their malice, by which they would not be willing to be converted, but would will to persevere in unbelief, or in their sins; but others, whom He foresaw would embrace the faith and persevere in that grace, He chose and destined for glory.
Whence it follows that the grace of the predestined is sealed, as I was saying, by the foreknowledge of God, because God foreknows that it will obtain its effect through the consent of free will; but that of the reprobates is not sealed. And hence St. Augustine often calls the grace and vocation of the elect and predestined deep and secret, because, namely, it is sealed by the secret and hidden seal of God's foreknowledge.
Note here that this foreknowledge and cognition of God is conjoined with His love and election: for those whom God foreknows will be faithful, constant and holy, He intends to make such, He loves them, destines them and chooses them for His friendship, inheritance and glory. Hence Psalm I says: "He knows," that is, knowing He loves and approves, "the Lord the way of the just." So likewise here it is said: "The Lord knows who are His:" He knew, that is, knowing He chooses and loves them as His own, and them, because He sees they will persevere in faith, He chooses and destines for His kingdom. So St. Augustine. Hence it is plain that every Christian must assiduously and with the highest vows pray for this grace, namely that God may give us congruous grace, with which He foresees we shall in fact attain salvation. For on this matter the hinge of our salvation turns.
Otherwise St. Anselm: "This seal," he says, "is the presence of God, or rather the constant thought of the presence of God," as if to say with the Apostle: These faithful stand firm in faith and grace, they do nothing in pretense or perversely: but they do all things as if in the presence of God, thinking that God knows and sees all things and all His own: Him therefore seeing them and all that is theirs they fear and reverence, to Him they strive to approve themselves and their things, because they bear this seal of the presence of God as if engraved in their mind. But this sense is not literal, but tropological.
And let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. — This is the second seal of the firm foundation, which is in us, namely the flight from iniquity; for the former, namely God's knowledge and foreknowledge, is not in us, but in God. For "iniquity" the Greek is ἀδικία, that is injustice. Antonomastically here injustice or iniquity can be taken for heresy and unbelief: for this is the greatest iniquity and injury to God. Whence in this sense the Apostle said, Rom. I, vs. 18, of the Philosophers, who, although they recognized God, yet did not worship God but idols: "The wrath of God is revealed, he says, against all impiety and injustice of those men who hold the truth of God in injustice." For the Apostle here opposes heresy to the foundation of faith, as if to say: If anyone wishes to stabilize and seal the firm foundation of his faith, "let him depart from iniquity," that is, from the heresy of Hymenaeus, Philetus and the other Innovators. Again he alludes to Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Num. XVI, of whom Moses says, vs. 26: "Depart from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in their sins." For in the same way the Apostle here commands the faithful to flee the company of heretics.
Secondly, however, more plainly and fully, "iniquity" here can be taken properly and generally. For the flight from all iniquity is the seal of the firm foundation, that is, of faith: for he who flees iniquity will never fall into heresy: for it is impossible that a just and holy man, so long as he remains holy, should become a heretic. For heresy is never the first sin, but it is always necessary that there precede either ambition, or lust, or some other iniquity, before a man falls into such impiety as is heresy.
Again the flight from iniquity is the seal of the firm foundation, namely of predestination, grace, constancy and perseverance of the faithful and of the elect, and so completes and perfects the foundation of God's predestination, and is the cause of election to glory (for to this the Apostle rises and extends himself, as I have said): for those who flee lust and iniquity, live purely and holily, and persevere in it; these are the firm foundations of God to be chosen and placed by God in the heavenly Jerusalem, that they may shine for all eternity. The Apostle here notes that it does not suffice for salvation to profess and invoke the name of the Lord, as the Simonians taught, and our heretics teach; but moreover it is required that one turn away from evil, and do good. So Chrysostom, Theophylact and others.
Hence it follows first, that, although God's predestination in this sense is not in our power, namely that it is not in my power to bring it about that God predestine me, that is, decree to give, prepare from eternity, and in time actually give me the grace of predestination, namely such with which He foresees that I shall in fact freely cooperate, persevere, and be saved, but does not decree to give, nor give that other grace with which He foresees that I shall not cooperate, and shall therefore be damned: yet eternal salvation and election to glory are in our power. For nothing whatever in the firm foundation of God's predestination prevents that it be in the power of every adult to depart from iniquity, and to cleanse himself from sins: or to cling to iniquity, and to defile himself with sins; and consequently, that it be in everyone's power to be saved or damned, chosen or reprobated. This will appear more in vs. 21. So Chrysostom and Theophylact.
By this consideration is to be dispelled that fantasy by which some torment themselves and drive themselves to despair: If I am predestined to glory, I cannot fall from it; if I am not predestined, whatever I do, I cannot attain predestination. The matter is already done, all things are defined by God; whichever of the two has been defined concerning me by God is immutable, nor can it be reversed by me, or bent to the other side. For this is false argumentation, since both its propositions in the antecedent are false, for it sets up a certain inevitable fate. Rather let them argue thus: If I shall depart from iniquity, and shall live well, I shall be chosen and predestined to glory; if I shall live badly, I shall be reprobated and predestined to gehenna: therefore let me live well, that I may not be reprobated, but predestined to glory and saved. For on a good life depends election to glory, just as on a bad life depends reprobation and damnation; and so a good life is the cause of election, just as a bad one is of reprobation. Now a good and bad life is in the will and power of each: for each can through the grace of God live well, can also live badly, if he wills; therefore election to glory also, and reprobation, is in the will and power of each. For in whose will and power the cause is, in his will and power is also the effect of that cause.
Hence secondly, morally we learn, with how great zeal we ought to flee sins, namely with as great as we pursue our eternal salvation. For not only the most certain sign, but also the most efficacious cause of our predestination and election to glory is, if we most studiously avoid sins, and overcome them through the exercises of the contrary virtues and holy works. Whence St. Peter, epist. II, ch. I, 10: "Be diligent, he says, that through good works you may make sure your calling and election: for doing these things, you will not sin at any time." And Paul, I Corinth. IX, 27: "I chastise, he says, my body, and bring it into servitude, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself become a castaway."
Verse 20: In a Great House There Are Not Only Vessels of Gold and Silver, But Also of Wood and Earthenware
Verse 20. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earthenware. — Adam and others think that this is a second response to the tacit objection of the preceding verse, namely why God in so great a paucity of the faithful has permitted some, overthrown by Hymenaeus, to fall from the faith, as if to say: This is not to be wondered at. For just as it is no wonder, indeed it is ordinary, in one and the same house to find various vessels, some golden and silver, others wooden and earthen: so it is no wonder that in one and the same Church some are good, others bad; some to be saved, others to be damned. But from this application it follows that not only the bad, but also the heretics are in the Church. For thus in the same house are certain vessels of gold, but certain of earthenware, by which are here signified the heretics drawn into heresy by Hymenaeus, as they themselves wish. Add that this exposition seems too remote, and fetched from afar; especially since the Apostle's words signify nothing of the sort, but are plain, and plainly connected with what precedes.
I say therefore, these words cohere with what immediately precedes; for the Apostle had said: "Let everyone who invokes the name of the Lord depart from iniquity;" now lest anyone wonder and object: If it is so, and ought to be so, as Thou sayest, how then among Christians who invoke the name of the Lord, are some wicked, who do not depart, but follow iniquity? The Apostle replies, this ought to seem strange to no one: for if no one wonders that in a great house are found earthen as well as golden vessels, vile as well as honorable, basins and chamber pots as well as platters and cups: in like manner no one ought to wonder, if in the same Church which worships, adores and invokes God, some are good who depart from iniquity, others are bad who follow iniquity. That this may be better understood.
It is asked, what does this "great house" signify? Chrysostom with his followers, and Theodoret, reply first, that by "house" is understood the whole world, not the Church, because in the Church, he says, there are no wooden and earthen vessels, that is, the wicked: but only golden and silver, that is, only the good and just: but in the world both kinds are present — the same was the sense and exposition of Novatus formerly the heresiarch, whom Ambrose here rejects. Lest anyone however think that Chrysostom here agrees with Novatus, that only the just are in the Church, let him know that the same Chrysostom teaches the contrary on Psalm XXXIX, and asserts against Novatus and Calvin, that not only the good and elect, but also the bad and reprobate are in the Church. What therefore he here says, that only the good belong to the Church, understand of themselves as it were as parts and living members. For the bad are members of the Church, but half-dead, because they lack the soul and primary life of the Church, which is charity. For the Church is as it were one political person, whose body is the exterior profession of faith, and communion with other faithful in the Sacraments and sacrifices under one head, the Roman Pontiff: but the soul of the Church, in its general and imperfect sense, is faith; in its special and perfect sense, it is charity. For just as the form of man is the soul, both vegetative and sensitive, and rational; and a man properly lives by his rational soul, insofar as he is a man, and so only the head lives properly by the rational soul: so too only the just live by charity; others, though wicked, still live by faith and hope; just as in a man the other members, though they do not reason like the head, nevertheless feel and are nourished, and seem to live only by the vegetative and sensitive soul. See the comments on Ephesians chapter IV, verse 16. To this can be related the exposition of St. Basil in his homily That God is not the author of evils: "A golden vessel," he says, "is one who is simple in mind and morals and without deceit. A silver vessel is one who is a little inferior to him in the estimation of dignity and value. An earthen vessel is one who savors of earthly things, and is apt to be broken and worn down. A wooden vessel is one who easily becomes soiled through sin, and provides material for the eternal fire."
But secondly, much more aptly we understand by this house not the world, but the Church. For this is the house of those who call upon the name of the Lord, as preceded; and so often elsewhere the Apostle calls the Church "the house of God," as in I Timothy chapter III, verse 15: "That thou mayest know," he says, "how thou oughtest to behave in the house of God, which is the Church." To the Hebrews III, 5: "Moses was faithful in His house," that is, in the Church and faithful people of the Jews. Hence the Apostle calls the faithful, as those dwelling in the same house, namely the Church, "members of the household of the faith," Galatians chapter VI, verse 10. So St. Augustine, book IV On Baptism against the Donatists, chapter XII, and others throughout.
Thou wilt ask secondly, what in this house, namely the Church, are the gold and silver vessels, and what are the wooden and earthen vessels? St. Augustine, in the place cited, replies first that the gold and silver vessels are the faithful, while the wooden and earthen vessels are the heretics.
Thou wilt say: Therefore St. Augustine thinks heretics are in the house, that is, in the Church. I reply: He thinks they are in the Church not properly, but according to something, namely, because they retain the character of baptism, administer the true Sacraments of the Church, and can be punished by the Church as in some way subjects. Finally, before they separate themselves from the Church by public separation and obstinacy, they live with the faithful in the Church, and retain the dignity and jurisdiction which they had in the Church. For St. Augustine acts against the Donatists, who wanted baptism conferred by heretics, as by those exiled from the Church, to be invalid and to be repeated. So too St. Cyprian, in his epistle to Antonianus, judges that Hymenaeus and Philetus had not yet publicly departed from the Church, nor had been condemned and ejected by the judgment of the Church up to then, but had still been hidden in it as earthen vessels.
But secondly and more aptly, thou mayest explain this thus: the "house" is the Church; the "vessels" are the faithful; the "gold and silver" are those firm and illustrious in faith and justice; the "wooden" and "earthen," or, as the Greek has it, ostrakina, that is earthenware, are the common, fragile, weak in faith and charity: for heretics are neither golden vessels nor earthen ones, but rather broken vessels cast out and ejected from the house.
And some indeed unto honor, but some unto dishonor. — In the Greek there is a paronomasia, timēn eis atimian, as if to say: Some unto honor, some unto disgrace. Again note the Hebraism: "a vessel unto honor," that is, an honorable vessel; "a vessel unto dishonor," that is, a vile and inglorious vessel, such as pots and chamber-pots. Thirdly, Paul alludes to the deed of Jeremiah, who in chapter XVIII, by command of the Lord, made a fragile earthen vessel, which when broken by a fall was unto dishonor, but when repaired by Jeremiah was made unto honor, to signify that the same would happen to the Jews, if they cleansed themselves from their sins. See the comments on Romans IX, verse 21. Now fourthly, as to the meaning, St. Augustine at one time thought, following St. Cyprian, that all and only the gold and silver vessels were unto honor, and conversely all and only the wooden and earthen unto dishonor: but examining the matter more accurately he retracts this following Tichonius, in book II of his Retractations, chapter XVI, and rightly so. For the Greek has it thus, kai ha men eis timēn, ha de eis atimian, that is, these indeed unto honor, but these unto dishonor, as if to say: Of the vessels both gold and silver, and wooden and earthen, some are unto honor, namely those faithful who persist in faith and justice and are truly constant, whether they be illustrious or common and fragile; but the others, both gold and earthen, namely all sinners who have fallen into mortal sin, whether they be illustrious or common, are vessels unto dishonor. The same is clearly shown from the example of Jeremiah and from Paul to the Romans IX, just cited. For from the same clay these make one earthen vessel unto honor, another unto dishonor. And so in a great house even of nobles and princes, we see chamber-pots and basins often made of silver; and conversely some earthen vessels serving the tables of princes, so that they make from them platters and dishes. Hence formerly Samian vessels, and now porcelain and Chinese ware, because they are clean and polished, though made of clay, are valued highly. Hence Ausonius sings thus of Agathocles:
They say King Agathocles dined on earthenware,
And often loaded his sideboard with Samian clay;
namely so that he might perpetually remember that he was the son of a potter. The same can here be gathered from what Paul has set forth before: for with these words, he explains that of the preceding verse: "Let everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord depart from iniquity," so that it may be clear who are the firm foundations of God, whom God has, as it were, marked as His own; and now He commands them to depart from iniquity, both those who are earthen vessels and those who are golden. Hence fifthly, it is most clearly proved that in the great house, that is the Church, there are not only the good, the holy, and, as Calvin wishes, the predestined; but also the wicked, sinners, and the reprobate: just as in Noah's ark there were animals both unclean and clean, so in Christ's house and family Judas was a golden vessel, but was made a vessel unto dishonor when he began to be a thief, and finally betrayed faith and Christ; Thomas, however, doubting Christ's resurrection, was an earthen vessel, but being confirmed by Christ, was made a vessel unto honor.
Verse 21: If Anyone Shall Cleanse Himself From These, He Shall Be a Vessel Unto Honor
21. If therefore anyone shall cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and useful to the Lord, prepared unto every good work. — "From these," namely from the heretics, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and their followers. So some interpret. But the word "heretics" is here repeated and recalled too remotely and unsuitably; nor is anyone properly said to cleanse himself from a heretic, but from heresy. "From these," therefore, supply: vessels of dishonor, which immediately preceded, so that namely he may depart from all iniquity: for to this all these things pertain, as I have said.
Note the word "emundaverit," that is, that he should wholly cleanse himself: for it does not suffice to purge or remove from the soul one or another sin, but all things absolutely must be swept out and cleansed, that the soul may be clean and pure: just as some, and especially the Dutch, so cleanse and purify their houses and their furniture that no dirt, but all brightness and beauty may appear in them, indeed shine forth. Thus St. Magdalene cleansed herself, to whom many sins were forgiven because she loved much. Of whom the Church sings: "After the scandals of frail flesh, from a kettle she becomes a chalice, transferred into a vessel of glory from a vessel of dishonor."
Note secondly, the word "he shall cleanse himself." Hence against the Novators it is clear that there is free will, and that a man through it, instructed and strengthened by God's grace, can not only live morally well, but also cleanse and sanctify himself from sins. Nor is satisfactory the response of Beza saying that a man cleanses himself not through free will, but through the efficacious impression of God, by which God Himself alone effectively and powerfully causes in a man that he should cleanse himself: namely, that God alone in a man brings about the good and efficacious will of cleansing himself, and that this is wholly to be attributed to God alone. For if God alone performs this whole cleansing, so that man's free will does nothing, the Apostle exhorts men here in vain, that they should depart from all iniquity, and cleanse themselves from it. Just as it would be said in vain to the sea: Cleanse thyself of corpses: and to beer: Cleanse thyself of dregs: for both the sea and beer perform this necessarily and naturally. So St. Ambrose and Chrysostom, who says: "Thou seest," he says, "that it is not of nature, nor of carnal necessity, that one is golden or earthen, but only of our will." So Christ in Matthew XII, 33: "Either make," He says, "the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad." Which St. Augustine explains, in his book On the Acts with Felix the Manichaean, chapter IV: "No one," he says, "except the Lord can make a tree: but each one has it in his own will, either to choose what is good, and be a good tree, or what is evil, and be an evil tree."
Note thirdly, that the just who cleanse themselves from sins are called vessels sanctified unto honor, and useful to the Lord: namely, because they are fit and prepared for every good work, e.g., to live piously, chastely, soberly, to exercise the acts of patience, humility, charity, and of all the other virtues. For this is the fruit of justice and of God's friendship, namely, that God, as it were, instructs, strengthens, stirs up, and prevents them as His friends by His grace, to perform any works of the virtues; and the more a man justifies and sanctifies himself, the more to greater and more heroic good works God stirs up and strengthens the man, and so consequently to the working of miracles. On the contrary, the unjust, who are in mortal sin, are vessels unto dishonor, polluted, useless, prone and disposed to every evil. See therefore how we must flee from sin, and, if we have fallen into sin, how solicitously and quickly we should cleanse ourselves from sins, lest they by their weight drag us down into one sin after another, and finally into the abyss.
Note fourthly: By the earthen vessels and vessels unto dishonor, he does not understand Hymenaeus, Philetus, and other heretics, but any wicked persons and sinners whatsoever, as I have said. Yet from this the Apostle leaves it to be remotely concluded that it should not seem strange, if among so many varied people, some most fragile and inconstant, just as they fall away from justice and sanctity, so finally fall away from faith and from the Church, namely Hymenaeus, Philetus, and their followers subverted by them: just as it is not strange, that in a great house, where there are many gold and earthen vessels, prepared partly for the elegant and partly for the vile and disgraceful services of a man, some of them, especially the earthen ones, are broken and cast out of the house; which can be repaired and restored by none other than God.
Verse 22: Flee Youthful Desires; Follow Justice, Faith, Charity, and Peace
22. Flee youthful desires: but follow justice, faith, charity and peace. — "Youthful desires," or, as the Greek has it, epithymias, that is desires, he calls levity, gluttony, lust, rashness of mind, impulses, and all the vices of adolescence, to which young men (such as Timothy was when he was made Bishop) are inclined: for to these he opposes justice, faith, charity. So Chrysostom, Ambrose and others. But more properly and directly the Apostle had regard to curiosity, ambition and vain glory, which young men pursue, especially the learned, who wish to seem subtle, wise, and more learned than the rest, and therefore seek out and propose new, curious, but foolish and undisciplined questions, from which arise disputes and fights, as follows: to which the Apostle opposes charity and peace, and all justice, that is integrity of life, as if to say: Do not, as a young man, seek the name of wise man and teacher, but seek integrity of life, and especially charity and peace, that thou mayest excel in these. For the Apostle returns to verse 15 and 16, where he warned Timothy to show himself a workman not to be ashamed, who rightly handles the word of truth, and to avoid profane and empty novelties of words, such as Hymenaeus and Philetus pursued: to whom on that occasion he has digressed up to this point, and now returns to the interrupted discourse and his original purpose: namely, to teach Timothy the Bishop, what and how, and with what equity, gravity, modesty, charity, he ought to teach the people and correct and recall those who err.
Verse 23: Avoid Foolish and Undisciplined Questions: Knowing That They Beget Strifes
23. Avoid foolish and undisciplined questions: knowing that they beget strifes. — For "without discipline" the Greek has apaideutous, that is, as Ambrose says, uninstructed, senseless, namely those which have no sense, contribute nothing to true discipline and wisdom, such as the futile questions of the Jews about their genealogies; and of the Gentiles about their fables of the gods, as he said in epistle I, chapter I, verse 4. Secondly, for "avoid" the Greek has paraitou, that is, reject and refuse. Thirdly, for "strifes" the Greek has machas, that is fights: for strifes are nothing other than fights not of blows, but of words.
Verses 24 and 25: The Servant of the Lord Must Not Quarrel, but Be Gentle to All, Apt to Teach, Patient
24. The servant of the Lord must not quarrel. — In Greek machesthai, that is to fight and contend, namely with words, that is to quarrel. Thus St. Ephrem dying in his testament glories that he never contended or quarreled in words with any Christian. Thus Isaiah foretold of Christ, as Matthew has it, chapter XII, verse 19: "He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets."
24. But to be gentle toward all men, apt to teach, patient, 25. with modesty correcting those who resist the truth. — Note here four qualities necessary for a good pastor and teacher. For first it is fitting for him to be "gentle." Second, to be "docible," that is one who does not quarrel, but is teachable and allows himself to be taught, says Anselm and Cyprian, in his epistle to Pope Stephen. But this is not so much the virtue of a teacher as of a disciple; but Cyprian replies: "It is fitting," he says, "that a bishop not only teach, but also learn, because he teaches better who daily advances and grows by learning better things." But although this is so, this sense does not correspond to the Greek. For in Greek it is didaktikon, that is, suitable and ready for teaching. So the Syriac and Theophylact.
Thirdly, "patient," understand this not of diseases or adversities, but of the manners and infirmities of one's neighbor: namely, that he should tolerate the insolence of his hearer or detractor, the hardness of one, the gibes of another, just as the physician tolerates the abuse and ineptitudes of a sick man in delirium; and not despair, but patiently and long-sufferingly await their conversion and the fruit of his constant teaching and exhortation, just as fishermen fish all day, and await the catch of fish even at evening; and just as husbandmen after so many labors and months patiently await the harvest, says Chrysostom, and this is makrothymia (long-suffering).
Fourthly, for "modesty" the Greek has en praotēti, that is, gentleness and mildness. See Chrysostom, hom. On Gentleness, tom. V, and St. Dionysius, epistle 8 to Demophilus, where he says: "The history of the Hebrews relates that Moses, by the merit of his exceptional gentleness, was deemed worthy of divine friendship and familiarity; and whenever it commemorates that he fell away from the divine vision, it describes that this did not happen to him until he had departed from gentleness. For he was, he says, very gentle, and therefore is called the servant of God, and more worthy than all the Prophets, that God should bestow on him the grace of His vision." And below: "For he knew that he who is familiarly joined to the good God should strive as much as possible to become most like Him according to his ability." Then he teaches that such also were Job, Joseph, Abel and David, of whom God said: "I have found a man after My own heart." Hence David himself sings: "Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness." Finally he teaches that such was Christ, who was surrounded with infirmity, and willed to be made like to His brethren in all things, that He might learn to have compassion and to condole with those who are ignorant and err. "And this (says St. Dionysius) He (Christ) takes as a proof of His exceptional love, if we feed His sheep with most modest governance; and He calls him wicked, who had not forgiven the debt to his fellow-servant." Finally toward the end of the Epistle, he relates a wonderful vision on this matter, which was shown to St. Carpus.
Fifthly, for "those who resist the truth," the Greek has only tous antidiatithemenous, that is, tous enantia phronountas, that is, those who think contrary things, and, as Ambrose reads, who feel differently, who are of another opinion. He is not dealing here with formed and obstinate heretics (for he commands these to be avoided), but with those who, either from poor instruction, or from association with evil men, or from elsewhere, have imbibed depraved opinions: for he teaches that these must be healed by gentle correction, as by medicine. Hence it is clear that the word "truth" is not in the Greek, but our Translator rightly expressed it, as being implied; as also St. Augustine, in his book On Correction and Grace, chapter V. The Syriac has for "truth" לקובלה lecubele, that is to himself, or against him, as if to say: The Bishop and doctor should gently correct those who contradict him in his teaching. Beautifully and piously St. Chrysostom: "Dost thou not see," he says, "how parents, although despairing of the life of their children, sit by them weeping, lamenting, kissing, admonishing them with everything they can up to the last breath; do thou also do these things for thy brothers. And yet they cannot drive away the disease or banish imminent death by tears and laments: but thou canst frequently call back and revive a soul that is despaired of, by assiduity and earnest entreaty through laments."
Lest perhaps God may give them repentance, to know the truth. — "Lest perhaps," that is, if perchance, if at any time: for the Greek mēpote signifies both "if at any time" and "lest perhaps." For mē does not always belong to one denying, but also to one doubting. So Theophylact: Understand, that he may try, as if to say: That the bishop should patiently tolerate and gently correct those who oppose him, that he may try, if perchance, or whether perchance, at some time "God may give them repentance," that is, that He may move them by His grace, prick them, and convert them.
Note: God does not give repentance, faith, and charity in the way a fruit is given to a child, or a horse to a soldier; for repentance is not like a fruit or a horse, but is a free act of the will, which cannot properly be given by another, but must be freely elicited by the will itself. Therefore God is said to give repentance and other virtues, because by His grace He stirs up and impels the free will, so that it of its own accord, of itself, with God's grace cooperating, may elicit the acts of repentance and other virtues. See the comments on I Corinthians VII, 7.
Hence note secondly, that no one can rise from sins and do penance, unless God has given this to him and stirred him up to it by His grace. Whence St. Augustine, Enchiridion, chapter LXXXII: "Not only," he says, "when penance is performed, but also that it may be performed, God's mercy is necessary; otherwise the Apostle would not say of certain ones: Lest perhaps God give them penance."
Anselm explains this passage differently, as if the Apostle were saying: We must not lose heart, nor cease from correcting those who err, even if they refuse to correct themselves: lest perhaps sometime, when we have ceased and cast aside their care, God should take up their care, and give them repentance, and so God by His charity confound and shame our lukewarmness. This sense is more pious and moral than literal and genuine.
Verse 26: That They May Recover Themselves From the Snares of the Devil
26. And that they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive at his will. — For "recover" the Greek has ananēpsōsin, which signifies two things: First, that they may return to sobriety; second, that they may awaken or rouse themselves: for it signifies both to awake and to be sober. Hence it follows that sinners, and especially those who fall away from the faith, are drunken and sleeping, and are as it were of disturbed mind, so that they cannot see and gaze upon the truth and the true way to beatitude.
Note: For "snares of the devil," Theophylact translates, "from the net of the devil," because, he says, the devil has many arts and snares like the meshes of a net, with which he ensnares and entangles the minds of men, especially of sinners.
Thirdly, for "by whom they are held captive," the Greek is ezōgrēmena, which is properly said of those who are taken alive; like soldiers conquered in war, or like wild beasts caught in a net. Hence it is clear that a sinner is a captive of the devil, because by sin, as by a rope by which he is dragged, he has voluntarily handed himself over to the devil. And this first, because from the power of sin and the devil he can be delivered by no natural force or virtue of his own, but only by God's grace. Secondly, because the devil drives and impels the sinner like his slave wherever he wishes, to one sin after another; yet so that the sinner remains alive, that is free: because he can be tempted, vexed, impelled by the devil, but he cannot be driven or compelled into consent and new sin, unless he freely yields to and consents to the tempter and the temptation, as often happens in the great weakness of men, especially of sinners.
Fourthly, the phrase "at his will," Beza understands thus: at the will of God, namely, to be performed. But this is too remote, that the name God should be recalled here from the preceding verse; especially since the name of the devil immediately precedes, to which the pronoun "his" can be much more conveniently referred. Nor does the diversity of the relatives in Greek autou and ekeinō stand in the way, as if the former pertained to the devil, the latter to God. For the Apostle, for the sake of variety, did not wish to repeat to autō, but substituted for it ekeinō, even though he was speaking of the same person, namely the devil; and then the sense will be more effective and penetrating, which deters sinners from sin, and incites them to swift repentance; namely if they consider that as long as they remain in a state of sin, they are so held captive by the devil, that they are driven to and fro at his will and pleasure to whatever vices. For just as a ship, with its rudder broken, is led wherever the storm wishes: so too man, having lost the help of divine grace through sin, does and works not what he himself wishes, but what the devil wishes, says Chrysostom. The same is illustrated by St. Anselm with the beautiful simile of a boy who holds a little bird tied with a string, and lets it fly here and there, but soon draws it back with the string, in his book On Similitudes, chapter CLXXXIX: "Like this boy," he says, "the devil sports with sinners, whom, ensnared in his snares, he drags according to his will into the various impediments of vices. For there are many greedy, drunken, lustful men, who propose to abandon greed, gluttony, lust, and think they will fly away freely like a bird: but because they are ensnared by depraved habit and held by the enemy, they are cast down unwillingly into the same vices, and this happens often, nor are they delivered in every way, unless by great effort and God's grace the rope of depraved habit is broken."