ACC ~ Romans 1 v18 - 32

OVERVIEW:

The wrath of God is revealed in the face of sin, not because God is anything other than good, holy and just but because human rebelliousness ensures that these divine attributes will come into conflict with our desires and therefore appear as punishment and retribution for our wrongdoing. The Fathers are sometimes accused of having preached a passionless God who was above such human emotions as wrath (and love, for that matter). But this is not what these readings suggest. God’s wrath is a real and conscious response to our moral failure, though we are responsible for its consequences.

God can be known by the human mind, and every form of wisdom is due to divine revelation of one kind or another. The Fathers generally believed in the possibility of coming to a true, albeit limited, knowledge of God by using the resources of the human mind to contemplate the mysteries of the universe. To their way of thinking, this did not open the door to a form of salvation by works. Rather it merely increased the horror of the condemnation that humanity incurred for having turned away from God.

All the understanding of the truth that had been granted to the wisest of the pagans merely increased their condemnation, because they rejected what they knew and turned to the idols of their own imagination instead. Human pride will make even the wisest person a fool. The supposed wisdom of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans is turned to folly by their idolatry. Idolatry was closely associated with immorality. Fertility cults among the pagans were evidence of this, but the corruption went much deeper. The Fathers were not slow to put the blame for the evils of their time on the errors of paganism. At the same time, they refused to accept the idea that God arbitrarily abandoned those who rebelled against him. Rather they insisted that he left such people alone, so that they would be free to work out the consequences of their disobedience for themselves.

The battle against idolatry was above all a battle for the truth—another instance of how the Fathers raised a particular example to the level of universal principle.

To go against God is to go against nature and to commit the most unnatural sins imaginable. Homosexuality among men was widely practiced, especially among members of the aristocracy and the intellectual class. But true nobility and true intelligence could never practice something that was so clearly contrary to nature, and the Fathers therefore used it as one more example of how corrupt the unbelieving mind had become. The result of sin was to drag people down into ever greater absurdities and a heightened readiness to tolerate other evils. In Romans 1:29-31, Paul defines what he means by sin and shows how extensive it is. The Fathers elaborated his meaning further by showing how these vices interconnect.

To sin is one thing, but to approve of it is far worse. The pagans had corrupted the role of the teacher, which was one of the most highly regarded professions in antiquity. The blind cannot lead the blind. Only those who have been enlightened by the Spirit of God are fit to teach others.

1:18 | God’s Wrath Against Wickedness

THE RELATION OF TRUTH TO WRATH. TERTULLIAN: Whose wrath? The Creator’s, of course! The truth therefore belongs to the Creator, as does the wrath, which has to be revealed in order to vindicate the truth. AGAINST MARCION 5.13.

AGAINST ALL UNGODLINESS. ORIGEN: Here the wrath of God is said to be revealed not in part but against all ungodliness and wickedness; yet not against all men but only against those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. … Ungodliness refers to sin against God; wickedness, to sin against human beings. Those who suppress the truth by their wickedness sin against both God and humanity. Humans know this truth by the natural and God-given powers of the mind. Enough wisdom is given to them so that they might know what is known of God, i.e., what may be known of God, apprehending the invisible things from those things which can be seen, using the powers of human thought. For this reason God’s judgment is just on those who, before the coming of Christ, could have known God but instead turned away from him and fell into worshiping images of men and animals. To sum up: to worship anything at all apart from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the offense of ungodliness. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE REVELATION OF BOTH RIGHTEOUSNESS AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. AMBROSIASTER: Just as the righteousness of God is revealed in the one who believes, as I recalled earlier, so ungodliness and unrighteousness are revealed in the one who does not believe. From the very structure of heaven it appears that God is angry with them. For this reason he made the stars so beautiful that from them he might be known as their great and wonderful Creator, and alone be adored. It is written in the eighteenth psalm: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork,” and so the human race is made guilty by the natural law. For men could learn this by the law of nature, with the structure of the world bearing witness that God its author ought alone to be loved, which Moses put down in writing. But they became ungodly, not worshiping the Creator, and so unrighteousness appeared in them, in that seeing they suppressed the truth, not confessing the one God. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SUPPRESSING THE TRUTH. APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: This means that although the visible creation was sufficient to reveal the invisible God, they nevertheless abandoned God and deified creatures instead, “suppressing the truth of God in unrighteousness.” PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Since the forthcoming punishment of the ungodly and unrighteous has already been decreed, it is essential to walk in the righteousness of faith, in order to avoid the evils to come. Paul rightly said that the wrath of God is being revealed … in this present age, when God restrains himself and does not render the full punishment, so as not to remove the opportunity to repent, with the result that either they will turn around and be saved or else they will turn away and have no excuse. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

FROM GENTLER TO DREADFUL THINGS. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice Paul’s discretion, that after encouraging the Romans by the gentler things he turns to the more dreadful ones. For after saying that the gospel is the cause of salvation and life, that it is the power of God, and that it brings forth salvation and righteousness, he mentions what might well make them fear, if they were heedless of it. For since in general most men are drawn not as much by the promise of what is good as by the fear of what is painful, Paul draws them on both sides. It was because of this that God not only promised a kingdom; he threatened hell as well. The prophets spoke to the Jews in the same way, always mingling the evil with the good. Paul changes tack for the same reason, but not arbitrarily. Notice how he puts the good things first and after them the bad ones, in order to show that the former came from the guiding purpose of God but the latter from the wickedness of their backsliding. The prophet also puts the good first: “If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel you shall be devoured by the sword.”

“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven”—and this often takes place in famines and plagues and wars, for then each person individually and all in common are punished. What will be new then about this coming judgment? The punishment will be greater and common to all, and it will have a different purpose. For what happens now happens for correction, but then it will be for vengeance. Paul showed this elsewhere when he said: “But when we are judged by the Lord we are chastened, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” Another point is that now many of these things seem to come not from the wrath from above but from human malice. But then the punishment from God will be manifest, when the Judge, sitting upon the terrible tribunal, will order some to be dragged to the furnaces, some to the outer darkness, and some to other inexorable and intolerable punishments. Why then does he not speak as clearly as this … but says rather that “the wrath of God is revealed”? This is because his hearers were still new converts, and he wants to win them over by talking in a way they can accept. And besides what is stated here, he seems to me to be aiming at the Greeks. This is why he starts with God’s wrath and only afterwards introduces the subject of Christ’s judgment.

The ways of ungodliness are many, but the way of truth is only one. Error is something various and multiform and compound, but the truth is one. After speaking of doctrines, Paul speaks of life, mentioning the unrighteousness of humanity. For there are also different kinds of unrighteousness. One is in financial affairs, as when someone deals unrighteously with his neighbor in these, and another in regard to women, when a man leaves his own wife and intrudes upon the marriage of another. … Others do not injure wife or property but the reputation of their neighbor, and this too is unrighteousness. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

COUNTERING MANICHEAN FANTASIES ON THE GOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: If, as the Manichees claim, the God of the Old Testament is cruel because he brings vengeance on sinners, how is it said by the apostle here that vengeance will be brought by the God of the New Testament on the ungodly? From this it appears that the God of the Old and the God of the New Testament are one and the same. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

REPROOF OF IDOLATRY. AUGUSTINE: Those whom the apostle reproved knew but did not give thanks and, claiming to be wise, actually became fools and fell into idolatry. For when the apostle spoke to the Athenians, he showed plainly that the wise among the Gentiles had discovered the Creator. … He condemned the unbelief of the Gentiles first, in order to show that they could obtain grace if they converted. For it would be unjust for them to suffer a penalty for unbelief but not obtain the reward of faith. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 3.

TO STUN THOSE WHO REBEL. THEODORET OF CYR: For nature taught them both that God is the Creator of all things and also that they should flee unrighteousness and embrace righteousness. But even when teachers were given to them, they did not live up to this. So God threatened them with future punishment. … This punishment is called the wrath of God, not because God punishes people for any emotional reason but in order to stun those who rebel against him. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

UNGODLINESS AND WICKEDNESS. GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: Generally speaking there are two main types of sin—discord with God and discord with one’s neighbor. Paul mentions them both, putting discord with God first because it is the greater sin, and calling it “ungodliness.” He then mentions the second kind of discord, the one with one’s neighbor, calling it “wickedness.” He even states that our entire race has rightly come under judgment, saying that they have suppressed the truth in wickedness. Nor can they claim to be ignorant, for knowing the truth, they perverted it. … And outlining their sins, Paul lists the one against God first, saying that they had clear and plain knowledge about God because God had revealed himself to them. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

1:19 | Knowledge of God Is Made Plain

WHAT CAN BE KNOWN ABOUT GOD. ORIGEN: Paul says that what can be known about God is plain to them, thereby revealing that there is something about God which can be known, and something about him which is unknown. Therefore he says that the wrath of God is revealed on those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. If something is revealed it must be brought to our notice from something we have not yet noticed. It appears here that the wrath of God is revealed not to those who are ignorant of the truth but to those who already know the truth, however imperfectly.

The apostle also shows that those things which have come to the wise of this world concerning the knowledge of the truth, have come to them by divine revelation. But when they chase after vain glory, or are praised for ancient errors, or are silenced by fear of rulers, they become judges of their own damnation. The truth, which they had learned by divine revelation, is either hidden from them by their loss of freedom or else is denied by their wicked behavior.

So also the wrath of God may sometimes appear in the form of that power which is given to the ministers of justice and which applies punishments to sinners, which is what I think is meant in the passage where it is recorded that the wrath of God moved David to order Joab to number the people.

The invisible things of God may be contemplated by the things which have been made. What is unknown about God is the essence of his very nature, which is in my opinion concealed, not only from humanity but even from the angelic creatures. For only God knows whether there has ever been anyone so perfect in his grasp of things that he has been able to attain to a pure knowledge of God’s very essence. Nonetheless, we may hope that such may in due time be revealed, for this appears in the words of the Savior: “No one knows the Son, except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” And he would not have added this last phrase if he had not known that there were some to whom God wanted to become revealed. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

PLAIN FROM THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD. AMBROSIASTER: The knowledge of God is plain from the structure of the world. For God, who by nature is invisible, may be known even from things which are visible. For his work is made in such a way that it reveals its Maker by its very visibility, so that what is concealed may be known by looking at what is revealed. This is revealed so that everyone might believe that he is God, who made this cosmos, which is impossible for anyone else to do. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

KNOWN THROUGH CREATION. APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: The energies of the divine being have always been invisible by nature, and they are never revealed to anybody directly, but they are made known through the creation. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE VOICE OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY. CHRYSOSTOM: God has placed the knowledge of himself in human hearts from the beginning. But this knowledge they unwisely invested in wood and stone and thus contaminated the truth, at least as far as they were able. Meanwhile the truth abides unchanged, having its own unchanging glory. … How did God reveal himself? By a voice from heaven? Not at all! God made a panoply which was able to draw them more than by a voice. He put before them the immense creation, so that both the wise and the unlearned, the Scythian and the barbarian, might ascend to God, having learned through sight the beauty of the things which they had seen. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

THE INVISIBLE MANIFESTED IN THE VISIBLE. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Paul shows that every person who has a normal intellect recognizes in himself some invisible substance which produces different talents and disciplines in human beings. By this means the invisible God is manifested to them in the works which he has done and is still doing. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

GOD’S EXISTENCE AND JUSTICE PLAIN. PELAGIUS: What can be known about God, i.e., that God exists and that God is just, is plain to their consciences. For every creature knows that it is not God and that it was made by another. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

1:20 | Creation Displays God’s Invisible Nature

THE PALPABLE TRUTH OF THE SENSES. TERTULLIAN: The objects which are touched by the mind are of a higher nature, since they are spiritual, than those which are grasped by the senses. Since these are corporeal, any superiority they may display lies only in the “objects”—e.g., as lofty ones contrasted with humble—not in the “faculties” of the intellect over against the senses. For how can the intellect be considered sovereign above the senses, when it is these which educate it for the discovery of various truths? It is a fact that these truths are learned by means of palpable forms; in other words, invisible things are discovered by the help of visible ones, even as the apostle says in his epistle. A TREATISE ON THE SOUL 18.

BEHOLDING GOD THROUGH CREATURES. ORIGEN: These things apply to all human beings who possess natural reason. Yet they more specifically apply to those called philosophers, who are wise in the things of this world. Their job is to ponder the creatures of this world and everything which is made in it, and from the things which are seen, to perceive in their minds the things which are invisible. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

USE OF THE SENSES UPON SENSIBLE OB-JECTS. ORIGEN: From this we infer that all who live on this earth have to begin with the use of the senses upon sensible objects in order to go on from them to a knowledge of the nature of intellectual things. Yet their knowledge must not stop short with the objects of sense. AGAINST CELSUS 7.37.

THE EYES OF THE MIND. NOVATIAN: The human mind, learning to know the hidden things from those which are manifest, may consider in spirit the greatness of the Maker from the greatness of his works, which it sees with the eyes of the mind. THE TRINITY 3.6.

A TRAINING PLACE FOR SOULS. BASIL: You will find that the world was not devised at random or to no purpose, but to contribute to some useful end and to the great advantage of all beings. It is truly a training place for rational souls and a school for attaining the knowledge of God. Through visible and perceptible objects it provides guidance to the mind for the contemplation of the invisible. HOMILY ONE, CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH 1.6.

REMINDERS OF THE BENEFACTOR. BASIL: In all things visible, clear reminders of the Benefactor grip us. We shall not give any opportunity for sins, nor shall we leave any place in our hearts for the enemy, if we have God as a dweller in us by our constant remembrance of him. HEXAMERON 3.10.

HIS ETERNAL POWER AND DEITY. AMBROSIASTER: Paul here repeats the same thing in order to teach even more absolutely that, although the power and majesty of God cannot by themselves be seen by the eyes of the creature, they may be known by the work of the structure of the world. In this way he indicts those who lived without law, whether natural or Mosaic. For by the habit of sinning they broke the law of nature, wiping out any memory of him. But they did not want to accept the law, which had been given for their reformation, and thus were doubly condemned.

His power and deity are eternal, so that they are without excuse. So that ungodliness might in no way be excused, Paul added that the power of God and his eternal divinity were known by men, who were prevented by some foolishness from honoring God, who they knew existed and provided for their welfare. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CREATION FROM NOTHING. AMBROSE: We can find it easy to understand, then, that the Creator of angels, dominions and powers is he who in a moment of his power made this great beauty of the world out of nothing, which did not itself have existence and gave substance to things or causes which did not themselves exist. SIX DAYS OF CREATION 1.4.16.

THE HEAVENS DECLARE. CHRYSOSTOM: The prophets also said: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Will the heathen say at the judgment that they were ignorant of God? Did they not hear the heaven sending forth a voice while the well-ordered harmony of all things spoke out more clearly than a trumpet? Did you not see the hours of night and day remaining constantly unmoved, the good order of winter, spring and the other seasons remaining both fixed and unmoved? … Yet God did not set so great a system of teaching before the heathen in order to deprive them of any excuse but so that they might come to know him. It was by their failure to recognize him that they deprived themselves of every excuse. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

HIS GLORY BEHELD EVERY DAY. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Because we see the world composed and fashioned by God, in its glory we behold the whole of his work every day. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

CERTAINTY OF THE INVISIBLE. AUGUSTINE: Invisible things are seen in a special and appropriate way. When they are seen they are much more certain than the objects of the bodily sense, but they are said to be invisible because they cannot be seen by mortal eyes. LETTER 120.

KNOWING THE TRUTH. AUGUSTINE: Notice that Paul does not call them ignorant of the truth but says that they held the truth in iniquity, and he does not fail to answer the obvious question: How could those to whom God had not given the law have a knowledge of the truth? For he says that through the visible things of the creation they reached an understanding of the invisible things of the Creator. THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 19.12.

WITHOUT EXCUSE. AUGUSTINE: How does Paul mean that they are without excuse, except by reference to a kind of excuse that usually prompts human pride to voice such protestations as: “If only I had known, I would not have done it.” … This kind of excuse is taken away from them when a precept is given or when the knowledge of how to avoid sin is made clear to them. GRACE AND FREE WILL 2.2.

VISIBLE THINGS SO SPLENDID. PELAGIUS: God’s hidden qualities can be deduced from things which are manifest. For if he made visible things so splendid that some people thought they were gods and tried to maintain that they were eternal, how much more were these people capable of understanding that the one who made these things is everlasting, almighty and boundless? PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

STUDYING THIS WORLD. GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: He created us with such a nature, placing a mind and reason within us and granting us these things so that by studying this world we might come to a knowledge of the invisible things which are his.

Paul says that they are without excuse in order to shut them up. … For God did not deign to reveal himself to human beings in order to give them some excuse but in order to show them that it would be to their advantage to accept him and his mercy. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

CREATION PROCLAIMS GOD’S MAJESTY. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: The very creation, by its harmony and ordering, proclaims the majesty of the divine nature. ORTHODOX FAITH 1.1.

1:21 | Futile Thinking and Darkened Minds

KNOWING GOD THEY WORSHIPED IDOLS. AMBROSIASTER: They were so far from being ignorant that they confessed that there was a single principle from which all things heavenly, earthly and infernal derived their origin, and that there was only one being who decreed what properties and duties would belong to everything by nature. Yet knowing this they did not give thanks. Paul is speaking of the ancients in order to correct his contemporaries and future generations.

Truly this is futility, that knowing the truth they decided to worship something else which they knew was not true, so that hiding from God they might worship idols. A cloud of error covered their hearts. Although they should have honored the Creator all the more from the beautiful things which he made, they clung to what they had, saying that the things which they could see were sufficient for their salvation. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE RANGE OF IDOLATRY. EUSEBIUS OF EMESA: It may seem that Paul has simplified his argument against the Greeks, because he condemns idolatry as the only kind of ungodliness. But to those who look more carefully at what he says, things will appear not this way but rather that Paul has broadened his horizons, so as not to overlook any kind of impiety. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

MISTAKING WHAT IS NOT FOR WHAT IS. APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: It is futile to conceive of nonbeing as if it were being, as do those who worship vanity as if it were God. For this reason their minds have been rendered senseless and darkness has entered their souls. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THEY DESTROYED THE LIGHT THAT WAS IN THEM. CHRYSOSTOM: This is the greatest charge against the heathen, and the second is the fact that they worshiped idols. … The heathen tried to get to heaven, but having destroyed the light that was in them, instead entrusted themselves to the darkness of their own reasoning. They looked for the incorporeal in bodies and for the infinite in creaturely shapes, and so lost their congruity with the light. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

APPLIES TO THE PHILOSOPHERS. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: This applies to Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Democritus, Epicurus and all the philosophers who considered themselves wise. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THE DESIRES OF THEIR HEARTS. AUGUSTINE: If they had given thanks to God who gave this wisdom, they would not have claimed any credit for their own ideas. Therefore they were given over by the Lord to the desires of their own hearts, and did improper things. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 4.

THE DARKENING OF THE HEART. AUGUSTINE: Surely that darkening of the heart was already a penalty and punishment, and by that penalty, that is by the blinding of the heart because of the abandonment by the light of wisdom, they fell into more and more serious sins. ON NATURE AND GRACE 22.24.

WORSHIPING CREATURES. PELAGIUS: Imagining that they could grasp God with their minds, they fell away from their natural instinct and worshiped creatures instead of the Creator. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

DIFFERENT GODS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: In the hearts of the Gentiles, the purest honoring of the one God was changed into the bloody worship of different gods. SERMON 100A.2.

FUTILE IN THEIR THINKING. PROSPER OF AQUITAINE: It is well known how Greek schools and Roman eloquence and the search of the whole world in the quest of the supreme good, with the most penetrating study and outstanding ability, accomplished nothing by their labor except to become “futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.” GRACE AND FREE WILL 12.4.

NO CONDEMNATION FOR IGNORANCE. GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: The pagans knew that there was a God, and it is clear that they did not receive judgment because of this. For it was not for want of knowledge that they were condemned, but the opposite. For each one glorified God in the sense that whatever he thought God was, that he served. Thus they corrupted the whole matter by their peculiar and mistaken ideas. They abandoned God’s way of knowing him and preferred their own, falling into the deepest imbecility, outdoing themselves in their so-called wisdom by adding to their foolishness, descending to the worship of reptiles and inanimate objects. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

1:22 | The Wise Became Fools

CLAIMING TO BE WISE. AMBROSIASTER: They imagined that they were wise because they thought they had explored the natural sciences, investigating the courses of the stars and the quantities of the elements, while rejecting the God who made them. Therefore they are fools, for if these things are worthy of praise, how much more is their Creator! COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SENSELESS THINKING. CHRYSOSTOM: Having some high opinion of themselves and not being patient enough to go the way that God had commanded them, they were immersed in a way of thinking which made no sense. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

PRIDE LEADS TO FOLLY. AUGUSTINE: It is pride that turns man away from wisdom, and folly is the consequence of turning away from wisdom. ON FREE WILL 24.72.

THE INVISIBLE GOD, VISIBLE IDOLS. PELAGIUS: They thought they were wise because they had “discovered” how the invisible God can be honored by means of a visible idol! PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEY BECAME FOOLS. THEODORET OF CYR: They increased their guilt by their claim, for in calling themselves wise they showed that in fact they were fools. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

1:23 | The Immortal God, Mortal Beings

WHETHER THE BODILY IMAGE OF MAN IS THE IMAGE OF GOD. ORIGEN: We ought not to overlook this passage. The apostle is not merely complaining about those who worship idols, but he should also be understood to be refuting the Anthropomorphites, who are found inside the church, who say that the bodily image of man is as such the image of God, ignoring the fact that it is written in Genesis that the whole person is created in the image of God, which must be understood as it is interpreted by the apostle, when he said: “You have put off the old man with his behavior and you have put on the new man, which is created according to God.” … Elsewhere Paul calls this the “inner man” and regards the corrupt bodily image as the “outer man.” … The mistake of those who think that it is this outer man which is the image of God is therefore obvious. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

BODY WITHOUT SOUL. ORIGEN: These people have lowered to a body without soul or sense the identity of the One who gives to all sentient and rational beings not only the power of sentience but also of sensing rationally, and to some even the power of sensing and thinking perfectly and virtuously. ON PRAYER 29.15.

EXCHANGING THE IMMORTAL GOD FOR IMAGES. AMBROSIASTER: So blinded were their hearts that they altered the majesty of the invisible God, which they knew from the things which he had made, not into men but, what is worse and is an inexcusable offense, into the image of men, so that the form of a corruptible man was called a god by them, i.e., a depiction of a man. Moreover, they did not dare honor living people with this name but elevated the images of dead men to the glory of God! What great idiocy, what great stupidity, in that they knew they were calling them to their damnation, among whom an image was more powerful than the truth, and the dead were mightier than the living! Turning away from the living God they preferred dead men, among whose number they found themselves.

They so diminished the majesty and glory of God that they gave the title of “god” to the images of things which were small and tiny. For the Babylonians were the first to deify a notion of Bel, who was portrayed as a dead man, who supposedly had once been one of their kings. They also worshiped the dragon serpent, which Daniel the man of God killed and of which they had an image. The Egyptians also worshiped a quadruped which they called Apis and which was in the form of a bull. Jeroboam copied this evil by setting up calves in Samaria, to which the Jews were expected to offer sacrifices. … By doing this, those who knew the invisible God did not honor him. They were unable to be wise in the things which are visible. For one who has problems with the big things will not be wise in the little things either. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

IDOLATERS INFERIOR TO THEIR IDOLS. GREGORY NAZIANZEN: People like this make it hard to tell which was the more contemptible, the worshipers or the worshiped. Perhaps the worshipers by far, since as rational beings and recipients of God’s grace, they chose their inferior for patron and better. ORATION 28: ON GOD 28.15.

HOLDING THEIR WISDOM UP TO RIDICULE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul’s first charge against the heathen was that they failed to find God. His second was that, although they had great and clear means of doing it they did not; the third is that they nevertheless claimed to be wise; the fourth was that not only did they not find the supreme being, they lowered him to the level of devils, stones and wood. Paul also pulls down their pride in 1 Corinthians but not in the same way as here. There it is from the cross that he deals them the blow, saying that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. But here he does not make any comparison, merely holding their wisdom up to ridicule by itself, showing it to be no more than folly and a display of vain boasting.

The heathen ought to have known that God is Lord of all, that he made them out of nothing, that he works by his providence and that he cares about them. For these things are the glory of God. To whom then did they ascribe it? Not even to men, but to an image made like corruptible man! Nor did they stop there but sank to the level of beasts, or rather to the images of beasts. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

BOASTFUL OF WISDOM. AUGUSTINE: Here the apostle has in mind the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians, all boastful of their renown for wisdom. THE CITY OF GOD 8.10.

NO SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE MORTAL AND IMMORTAL. PELAGIUS: They did not understand that there is no similarity between the mortal and the immortal, the corruptible and the eternal. … Here Paul addresses the worshipers of Jupiter, who maintain that he was transformed into the likeness of animals and therefore dedicate to him images of the kind in which he satisfied his sexual desire. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

1:24 | Dishonoring the Body

GIVEN OVER TO THE LUST OF THEIR HEARTS. ORIGEN: The details here seem to correspond to the faith of the church, in that for the above-mentioned reasons, for just cause those who in their wickedness suppress the truth revealed by God are abandoned by God, and because they are abandoned they are given over to the desires of their heart. The desires of their heart were that they should disgrace their bodies in uncleanness and abuse and that, with similar lack of discernment toward the worship of God, they should abandon the glory of the incorruptible God for the wicked and base forms of men and animals and think so little of themselves as to live like irrational beasts when in fact they were rational persons.

To those who deny that the good God is also the just judge, we ask what they might say about these words of the apostle: “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.”

Therefore Marcion and all those of his school who have sprung forth like the offspring of serpents will not dare to touch the answers to these questions, even with the tips of their fingers. Due to this blunder they have already rejected the Old Testament, where such matters are commonplace. But what good did that do them? For they are no less discomfited by similar problems in the New Testament. But we, who say that the one good and just God of the law and prophets and Gospels is the Father of Christ, give the same explanation in the New as in the Old Testament, calling on him who has placed in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to reveal to us by the Holy Spirit his own offense and the scandal of the apostolic text, by which irresolute minds appear to be offended. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

HANDED OVER TO UNCLEANNESS. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says that because the Gentiles had deified relics and images of things, so as to dishonor the Creator God, they were given over to illusions. They were given over, not so that they could do what they did not want to do, but so that they could carry out exactly what they desired. And this is the goodness of God.

To “hand over” means to permit, not to encourage or to force, so that they were helped by the devil to carry out in practice the things which they conceived in their lusts. For they never thought of doing anything good. Therefore they were handed over to uncleanness that they might willingly damage each other’s bodies with abuse. For even now there are men of this type who are said to dishonor each other’s bodies. When the thought of the mind is wrong, the bodies are said to be dishonored. Is not a stain on the body a sign of sin in the soul? When the body is contaminated, nobody doubts that there is sin in the soul. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GOD GAVE THEM UP. CHRYSOSTOM: “God gave them up” means simply that he left them to their own concoctions. For as an army commander if forced to retreat abandons his deserting soldiers to the enemy, he does not thereby actively push them into the enemy camp but passively withdraws his own protection over them. In the same way, God left those who were not ready to receive what comes from him but were the first to desert him, even though he had fully done his part. After all, he set before them, as a form of teaching, the world. He gave them reason and an understanding capable of perceiving what they needed to understand. Yet the people of that time did not use any of those things in order to obtain salvation, but rather they perverted what they had received into its opposite. What could God have done about this? Could he have forced them to do what was right? Yes, but that would not have made them virtuous. All he could do then was to leave them to their own devices, which is what he did, so that in that way, if in no other, having tried and discovered the things they lusted after, they might turn away from what was so shameful. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

THE PERMISSION OF GOD. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: In saying that God gave them up to their own lusts, Paul is not claiming that God is the direct cause of this but merely that since God did not bring vengeance on them after much longsuffering and patience, he allowed them to act according to their own desires. He did this, wanting them to be converted to repentance. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

ABANDONED TO THEIR OWN DESIRES. AUGUSTINE: This means that God abandoned them to the desires of their own hearts. For Paul says that they got what they deserved from God. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 5.

SIN COMMITTED WILLINGLY. AUGUSTINE: When the evil will receives power to accomplish its purpose, this comes from the judgment of God, in whom there is no unrighteousness. His punishment is carried out in this way as well as in other ways. It is not less just merely because it is hidden. The wicked man only knows that he is being punished when some manifest penalty makes him feel, against his will, the evil of the sin which he committed willingly. THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 54.

LEFT TO THEMSELVES. AUGUSTINE: Many are left to themselves, to their own hurt. … A man that has asked for great wealth may have received it to his own hurt. While he was without it he had little to fear; as soon as he has possession of it he has become a prey to the stronger. HOMILIES ON 1 JOHN 6.8.

ABANDONED BY GOD. THEODORET OF CYR: By “gave them up” Paul means that God permitted this to happen. He simply abandoned them because they had fallen into extreme ungodliness. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

1:25 | Worshiping the Creature, Not the Creator

EXCHANGING THE TRUTH FOR A LIE. AMBROSIASTER: They changed the truth about God into a lie. They gave the name of the true God to these things, which are false gods. Ignoring what rocks and wood and other metals really are, they attriubuted to them something which does not belong to them. The truth of God is turned into a lie when a rock is called God. This fact drove out the God who is true, and since true and false shared a common name, it was easy for the true God to be regarded as false. This is what it means to change what is true into falsehood. For those things were not called rock or wood, but God. This is to worship the creature rather than the Creator, which is what they did. They did not deny God but worshiped a creature as God. In order to justify this, they gave these things the honor due to God, so that their worship rendered dishonor to God. For that reason he hastened to punish them, because although they knew God, they did not honor him “who is blessed for ever. Amen.” This is true! COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

WORSHIP OF DEVILS. ATHANASIUS: So far did their impiety go that they proceeded to worship devils and proclaimed them as gods, fulfilling their own lusts. ON THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD 11.

TREATING THE IDOL AS TRUTH. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The truth about God is that he is the true God. But human beings have made idols and falsely called them gods. They have transferred the truth of God to idols. In other words, they have changed what could rightly be said and thought about God into a lie by applying it to idols instead. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

WORSHIPING THE CREATURE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul lists out in detail things which were a matter for utter scorn, but the more serious things he dealt with in general terms. … Look how strong his condemnation is, for he does not say merely that they served the creature but that they did so more than the Creator, thereby giving fresh force to the charge against them and removing any plea for mitigation.

God is blessed for ever, for even if the heathen treated him insolently, he was not overwhelmed, nor was any harm done to his glory, for he remains forever blessed. It may happen that someone may become philosophical about the insults others heap upon him, yet he does not even feel them. How much less would the true God ignore them and not feel them? For God’s nature is imperishable and unalterable. His glory is neither changeable nor erratic. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3.

SERVING THE CREATURE. AUGUSTINE: For by worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator they have not wished to be a temple of the one true God. By wishing to have him along with many other things, they have been more successful in not having him at all than in having him along with many false gods. LETTER 187.29.

PELAGIUS: They not only loved the creature but served it; indeed, anyone who is overwhelmed by a desire for some creature serves that creature. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

UNGODLINESS PRODUCES WICKEDNESS. THEODORET OF CYR: Ungodliness is the root of wickedness. These people were deprived of God’s grace for both of these things. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

SUBJECT TO CORRUPTION. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: Sun and moon are subject to change and variation, as is evident in an eclipse. This refutes the folly of those who worship the creature. Now, anything that is subject to change is not God, for by its very nature it is subject to corruption and change. ORTHODOX FAITH 2.13.

1:26 | Dishonorable Passions

NATURAL MALE-FEMALE SEXUALITY VALIDATED. TERTULLIAN: When Paul asserts that males and females changed among themselves the natural use of the creature into that which is unnatural, he validates the natural way. THE CHAPLET 6.

GIVING THEM UP TO GODLESSNESS. ORIGEN: This is the third time that the apostle uses the phrase “God gave them up.” Each time he gives reasons for this, but the reasons do not seem to correspond to the causes. … It is therefore better to take all three instances together and regard them as a single cause for the abandonment of men to their lusts. … And similarly, all of these lusts are found in every case of abandonment. … It seems that in these three points the apostle has enumerated every kind of godlessness—one group worships idols, another serves the creation instead of the Creator, and the third has refused to pay attention to God. The first group must be the pagans, the second group includes the wise men and philosophers, while in my opinion, the third group refers to the heretics who either deny God or utter different blasphemies against the Most High. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

DISHONORABLE PASSIONS. ORIGEN: Would those so condemned not have remained in the lusts of their hearts, even if they had not been given up to them by God? Would they not have fallen into dishonorable passions, even if they had not been given up to them by God? Would they not have fallen into an unfit mind quite apart from being given up to it by God? ON PRAYER 29.12.

WOMEN EXCHANGED NATURAL RELATIONS FOR UNNATURAL. AMBROSIASTER: Paul tells us that these things came about, that a woman should lust after another woman, because God was angry at the human race because of its idolatry. Those who interpret this differently do not understand the force of the argument. For what is it to change the use of nature into a use which is contrary to nature, if not to take away the former and adopt the latter, so that the same part of the body should be used by each of the sexes in a way for which it was not intended? Therefore, if this is the part of the body which they think it is, how could they have changed the natural use of it if they had not had this use given to them by nature? This is why he said earlier that they had been handed over to uncleanness, even though he did not explain in detail what he meant by that. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

TRUE PLEASURE ACCORDING TO NATURE. CHRYSOSTOM: No one can say that it was by being prevented from legitimate intercourse that they came to this pass or that it was from having no means to fulfill their desire that they were driven into this monstrous insanity. … What is contrary to nature has something irritating and displeasing in it, so that they could not even claim to be getting pleasure out of it. For genuine pleasure comes from following what is according to nature. But when God abandons a person to his own devices, then everything is turned upside down. Thus not only was their doctrine satanic, but their life was too. … How disgraceful it is when even the women sought after these things, when they ought to have a greater sense of shame than men have. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 4.

LEAVING PEOPLE TO THEIR OWN DEVICES. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: God gives no one up; the word is used only when he leaves people to their own devices. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

FORSAKING THE AUTHOR OF NATURE. PELAGIUS: Because of the reasons given above, they were abandoned to their disgraceful behavior. Those who turned against God turned everything on its head. For those who forsook the author of nature could not keep to the order of nature. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

WHAT THEY WANTED. OECUMENIUS: God gave them up because that is what they wanted. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

1:27 | Shameless Acts

MEN CONSUMED WITH PASSION FOR ONE ANOTHER. CYPRIAN: If you were able … to direct your eyes into secret places, to unfasten the locked doors of sleeping chambers and to open these hidden recesses to the perception of sight, you would behold that being carried on by the unchaste which a chaste countenance could not behold. You would see what it is an indignity even to see. … Men with frenzied lusts rush against men. Things are done which cannot even give pleasure to those who do them. TO DONATUS 9.

CHANGING THE NATURAL USE. AMBROSIASTER: It is clear that, because they changed the truth of God into a lie, they changed the natural use (of sexuality) into that use by which they were dishonored and were condemned to the second death. For since Satan cannot make another law, having no power to do so, it must be said that they changed to another order and by doing things which were not allowed, fell into sin.

Paul says that the due penalty comes from contempt of God, and that it is wickedness and obscenity. For this is the prime cause of sin. What is worse, what is more harmful than that sin which deceives even the devil and binds man to death? COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SEVERIAN: Paul did not say this lightly, but because he had heard that there was a homosexual community at Rome. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

ABANDONING THE UNITY OF THE SEXES. CHRYSOSTOM: This is clear proof of the ultimate degree of corruption, when both sexes are abandoned. Both he who was called to be the leader of the woman and she who was told to become a helper to the man now behave as enemies to one another. Notice how deliberately Paul measures his words. For he does not say that they were enamored of one another but that they were consumed by lust for one another! You see that the whole of desire comes from an excess which cannot contain itself within its proper limits. For everything which transgresses God’s appointed laws lusts after monstrous things which are not normal.

The normal desire for sexual intercourse united the sexes to one another, but by taking this away and turning it into something else, the devil divided the sexes from each other and forced what was one to become two, in opposition to the law of God. … The devil was bent on destroying the human race, not only by preventing them from copulating lawfully but by stirring them up to war and subversion against each other.

Paul goes straight to the source of sexual evil: ungodliness which comes from twisted teaching and lawlessness which is its reward. For since it seemed that the ungodly would not believe him if he spoke of hell and punishment but they might even scorn him, Paul simply states that the punishment came from the lust itself. But if they still fail to perceive it, do not be surprised. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 4.

UNBRIDLED LUST KNOWS NO LIMIT. PELAGIUS: Once lust is unbridled, it knows no limit. In the order of nature, those who forgot God did not understand themselves either. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

1:28 | Base Minds, Improper Conduct

THE FANTASY THAT GOD WOULD LOOK THE OTHER WAY. AMBROSIASTER: Because of the error of idolatry they were handed over to doing evil things with each other, as has already been said. And because they thought they could get away with it and that God would look the other way, and were therefore prone to neglect what they were doing, Paul adds here that they were more and more reduced to idiocy and became ever readier to tolerate all kinds of evils, to the point that they imagined that God would never avenge things which no one doubted were offensive to humanity as well. He now lists all the evils that were added to these, so that if they should be converted to normal reason, they might recognize that these evils befell them because of God’s wrath. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT FROM IGNORANCE BUT PRACTICE. CHRYSOSTOM: Here too Paul shows that the heathen were responsible for their own sins, and he deprives them of all excuse. For he says that their evil deeds did not come from ignorance but from willful practice. This is why he did not say “because they did not know God,” but rather “they did not see fit to acknowledge God.” In other words, their sin was one of a perverted determination of obstinacy more than of a sudden ravishment, and it was not in the flesh (as some heretics say) but in the mind, to whose wicked lust the sins belonged and from which the fount of evils flowed. For if the mind becomes undiscerning, everything else is dragged off course and overturned. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

PERNICIOUS LUSTS. AUGUSTINE: Whoever follows the pernicious attractiveness of his lusts and tries to push aside those who would stop him heads straight into sin. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 6.

GIVEN OVER TO A BASE MIND. PELAGIUS: Not only did they not know God, they did not want to know him. … So they were given over to a base mind. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

DENYING THE CREATOR. THEODORET OF CYR: If they had wanted to know him, they would have followed the divine laws. But because they denied their Creator, he stopped looking after them. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

GOD DOES NOT UNILATERALLY DESTROY ANYONE. GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: Paul does not say that God destroyed them because of their loathsome outrages. For God is not responsible for destroying anyone. … Paul says rather that God went away from them and left them to their own devices, so that their false understanding of God might appear to be the cause of their evil life. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

1:29 | Filled with Wickedness

WICKEDNESS THE SOURCE OF OTHER SINS. AMBROSIASTER: Paul put wickedness at the head of the list, because he thought that evil and covetousness depended on it. He then added malice, from which flows envy, murder, strife and deceit. After this he put malignity, which generates gossip and slander. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE INTENSITY OF WICKEDNESS. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice how everything here is intensive—”filled” and “with all.” Having named maliciousness in general, Paul goes on to discuss the particulars, and these too he mentions in excess—”full of envy,” etc. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

VICES LINKED TO EACH OTHER. PELAGIUS: Paul shows that wickedness and evil are the chief causes of the vices. Envy is rightly linked to murder, since it is the chief cause of this crime. Strife exists when something is defended, not by reason but by a proud spirit. Deceit is secret malice covered in flattering speech. Malignity is a wish or a work of malice. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

1:30 | Things Displeasing to God

HATERS OF GOD. AMBROSIASTER: Because these things were displeasing to God, Paul says that they were hateful to God, and because they are also displeasing to men, he adds that they are insolent, haughty, boastful and inventors of evil, not just followers of it. For, becoming true imitators of their father the devil, they invented the evil of idolatry, through which all the vices in the world originated, as well as the greatest perdition. For the devil, whom Scripture says was a sinner from the beginning, although he gloried in his tyrannical presumption, never dared go so far as to call himself God. For among other things he says to God: “All these things have been given to me,” not: “All these things are from me.” In the book of Job the devil asks for power to be given to him, and in the prophet Zechariah he thinks that he can contradict the priest but does not claim power for himself. For this reason the idolaters are even worse, because they proclaim the divinity not only of the elements but also of imaginary things.

They were seized with such insolence that they did not even acknowledge their parents, who had given them birth! They rejoiced in their children but despised those by whom they had come into being. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

INVENTORS OF EVIL. CHRYSOSTOM: Classing things which to many seem to be matters of indifference among his accusations of sin, Paul further strengthens his case, going up to the stronghold of their wickedness and styling them “boastful.” For although sinning is high-minded, boasting is even worse. … Furthermore, they were “inventors of evil.” Not content with the evil which already exists in the world, they went and invented more! Again, this is the behavior of those who are determined and in earnest, not of those who are distracted and forced off course. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

SELF-DESTRUCTION. PELAGIUS: The Scriptures link slander to idolatry by stipulating the same penalty for it—destruction. The haughty are those who want to be more than they are. The devil was like this, and so destroyed himself. For one who seeks to lord it over others will end up beneath them. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

1:31 | No Feelings for God or Man

HEARTLESS, RUTHLESS. AMBROSIASTER: They were foolish and faithless and had no feelings either for God or for men. That is why they were heartless and ruthless. For someone who is cruel to his own family will be that much more cruel to others! COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

TRAITORS TO NATURE. CHRYSOSTOM: Christ himself mentions this as the cause of wickedness, saying: “Because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold.” Paul says here that they were … traitors to nature. For most of us have a kind of family feeling to one another, which even the beasts share among themselves. … But these men became even more ferocious than the beasts. The disorder which resulted in the world by evil teachings he proves to us by these witnesses and clearly shows that in each case the malady came from the negligence of those who were disordered. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

ABANDONING GOD, ABANDONED BY GOD. PELAGIUS: Paul mentions all these sins, set out one by one, with respect to those who have been abandoned by God because they have abandoned him. Let us therefore take care, lest we also be abandoned for embracing one of these evils. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

1:32 | Doing and Approving Evil

THOSE WHO TAKE PLEASURE IN THOSE WHO DO EVIL. CLEMENT OF ROME: Those who do such things are hateful to God—and not only those who do them but those who take pleasure in those who do them. THE FIRST EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 35.

CONSENT IMPLIES COMPLICITY. AMBROSIASTER: Those who knew by the law of nature that God requires righteousness realized that these things were displeasing to God, but they did not want to think about it, because those who do such things are worthy of death, and not only those who do them but those who allow them to be done, for consent is participation. Their wickedness is double, for those who do such things but prevent others are not so bad, because they realize that these things are evil and do not justify them. But the worst people are those who do these things and approve of others doing them as well, not fearing God but desiring the increase of evil. They do not seek to justify them either, but in their case it is because they want to persuade people that there is nothing wrong in doing them. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

LEADING OTHERS INTO WRONG. APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: Here again we see the innocence of God and the guilt of man and the justice of the judgment which is brought. For men do these things, not being unaware that they are worthy of punishment by God the judge. For it is clear that they are not unaware of this when they judge others and hand those who do such things over to death. For when evil men have knowledge of the good and make use of it as if they are not given over to pleasures, they bear witness that God’s creation is good. … But those who lead men into wrong, as well as those who follow what is wrong, are both evil. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE NEGLECT OF ADMONITION. BASIL: Perverted human tradition is the source of great evil for us, in that some sins are denounced while others are viewed with indifference. Crimes like homicide and adultery are the object of a violent but feigned indignation while others, like anger, reviling, drunkenness or avarice, are not considered deserving of even a simple admonition. ON THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.

DESERVING TO DIE. SEVERIAN: When Paul talks about the “judgment of God” he means the just recompense which God gives to everyone according to their deserts. For men know by their natural reasoning that transgressors will be punished by God, but instead of ceasing from their wicked ways they are actually pleased with those who do such things! … Therefore God will judge those who do such things as absolutely and without question worthy of death. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

APPROVING THOSE WHO PRACTICE EVIL. CHRYSOSTOM: Having assumed two objections, Paul here removes them. For what reason does anyone have to say that he does not know what he should do? Even if he does not know, he is still to blame, because he has turned away from the God who teaches him. But Paul has shown by many arguments that he does know and transgresses willingly. But is such a person drawn by passion? Why in that case does he cooperate with it and even praise it? For they not only do such things themselves, says Paul, but they “approve those who practice them.” Paul thus puts the more serious sin first, in order to get it out of the way (for the one who praises the sin of others is far worse than the one who sins himself), and then he gets ready to deal more firmly with the sinner [in chapter 2]. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

CONSENTING TO EVIL DEEDS. AUGUSTINE: Whatever they had done they did without compulsion. For when they give their consent to evil deeds, they approve even of things which they did not do themselves. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 7-8.

IDOLATRY AS THE SOURCE OF ALL WICKEDNESS. PELAGIUS: Even people who did not agree with these doings … nevertheless seem to have accepted them, because they agreed to idolatry, which is the source and cause of them all. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

FAILURE OF REPROOF. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Those who do not admonish adulterers make us suspect that the reason for this failure of reproof is that they commit similar sins themselves. SERMON 42.2.