ACC ~ Romans 11 v36

THE FATHER FROM WHOM AND THE SON THROUGH WHOM AND THE SPIRIT TO WHOM. ORIGEN: You see how here, [as in the previous verses,] Paul indicates the mystery of the Trinity. For when he says from him and through him and to him, this corresponds to the one God and Father, from whom are all things, and our one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things. Likewise he says that all things are revealed by the Spirit of God, thus indicating that the providence of the Trinity is present in everything. When he talks about the height of riches he means the Father, from whom all things come; when he talks about the height of wisdom he means Christ, who is the wisdom of God; and when he talks about the depth of knowledge he is referring to the Holy Spirit, who knows the deep things of God.

Paul adds “forever” to indicate that the perfection of all things is not bound by time but will extend to eternity and even be increased. He further adds “Amen” so that we might understand that we are coming to that blessedness through him, of whom it is written in the Apocalypse: “These are the words of the Amen.” COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

ORIGEN: Paul declares that God is the beginning of the substance of all things by the words “of him” and the bond of their subsistence by the expression “through him” and their final end by the term “to him.”AGAINST CELSUS 6.65.

NOVATIAN: All things exist by God’s command, so that they are “from him”; they are set in order by his Word and therefore “through him.” Finally, all things have recourse to his judgment so that, while they long for freedom “in him,” after corruption has been done away with they appear to be recalled “to him.” THE TRINITY 3.7.

GREGORY OF NYSSA: What person who believes that he lives “from him and through him and to him” will dare to make the One who encompasses in himself the life of each of us a witness of a life which does not reflect him? ON PERFECTION.

BEGINNING, CONTINUING AND CONSUMMATING PROVIDENCE. AMBROSE: “From him” means the beginning and origin of the substance of the universe, i.e., by his will and power. … “Through him” means the continuation of the universe; “unto him” means its end. SIX DAYS OF CREATION 5.19.

THE SAVING WORK OF THE TRIUNE GOD. AMBROSIASTER: By saying this Paul revealed a meaning which had been hidden from the world. For because God is the Creator of all things, everything comes from him. And because everything comes from him, it comes through his Son, who is of the same substance and whose work is the Father’s work as well. … And because what is from God and through God is then born again in the Holy Spirit, everything is in him as well, because the Holy Spirit is from God the Father, which is why he knows what is in God. … Here Paul laid bare the mystery of God, which he said above should not be unknown to them. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

AUGUSTINE: Paul is referring to the Trinity when he says this. FAITH AND THE CREED 16.

COUNTERING ARIANISM. PELAGIUS: From him all creation received its beginning, through him it is governed, and in him are all things contained, whereas he is not contained by any created thing. He alone should receive glory, for it is from him that we live and move.

At the same time, this passage also contradicts the Arians when it is said that it is one and the same God from whom and through whom all things are revealed to have been made, since the Evangelist indicated that in the beginning everything was made through the Word.The apostle here teaches that what the Evangelist testifies concerning the Son should be understood and believed of the Father, through the mystery of the unity. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

IN HIM ARE ALL THINGS. THEODORET OF CYR: God himself made all things and he rules in perpetuity over everything which he has made. Everyone ought to turn to him, to thank him for what they asked for and to put their trust in him for the future. They ought to honor him as well. In this way the holy apostle shows that there is no difference between the prepositions from and through, as if the former, which might mean something greater, should apply to the Father and the latter, which might mean something less, to the Son. In fact, both apply equally to both persons. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

JOHN OF DAMASCUS: “In him are all things” not only because he has brought them from nothing into being but because it is by his operation that all things he made are kept in existence and held together. Living things, however, participate more abundantly, because they participate in the good both by their being and by their living. But rational beings, while they participate in the good in the aforementioned ways, do so still more by their very rationality. For in a way they are more akin to him, although of course he is immeasurably superior to them. ORTHODOX FAITH 4.13.