ACC ~ Romans 3 v4

WHETHER THIS MAKES DAVID AND PAUL LIARS. ORIGEN: If one is to be righteous, one must keep the law in every particular, which is almost impossible for human nature to achieve. Therefore every one is a liar. For since every man is a liar, it follows that on that day when the Lord comes to judgment with men, only he will be justified in what he says. For his words are true in everything, because they are the words of truth.

It should also be understood that this saying, i.e., that every man is a liar, is taken from Psalm 115:28 … Now someone might object that if all men are liars, then Paul too, being a man, will also be a liar! But in that case David, who originally said it, would also be a liar, and what he said would be false, just because he was a liar. … The whole statement would thus become nonsense, which is absurd! COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

OBEYING GOD’S PRECEPTS. CYPRIAN: If every man is a liar and God alone is true, what else ought we servants and bishops of God to do except to reject human errors and lies and to remain in the truth of God, obeying the precepts of the Lord? LETTER 67.8.

GOD REMAINS JUST. EUSEBIUS OF EMESA: Even if all men loved a lie before the coming of the truth, the true God nevertheless remained just, holding fast to the things which were proper to God and fulfilling everything which was said that was fitting. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

WHETHER GOD CAN LIE. AMBROSE: Does God tell a lie? He does not. It is impossible for God to tell a lie. Is this an impossibility because of some weakness? Certainly not! How could he be the cause of all things if there were something which he could not cause? What then is impossible to him? Nothing that is difficult for his power but only that which is contrary to his nature. It is impossible, it is said, for him to tell a lie. The impossibility comes not from weakness but from his power and greatness, for truth admits of no lie. LETTER 14.

LET GOD BE TRUE. AMBROSIASTER: Because God is true, he gives what he has promised. To fail is human, for the times and the foolishness of nature make man unstable in that he does not have foreknowledge. But God, for whom there is no future, remains unchanging, as he says: “I the Lord do not change.” Therefore Paul says that all men are liars, and this is true. For nature is fallible and is not unreasonably called a liar. It may be a liar intentionally or accidentally, but we must not expect God to be like that, for he is perfect and full of good will and will accomplish what he has promised. He even confirms this by the prophetic oracle: “Thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.”COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HOW IS GOD JUSTIFIED? CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is saying something like this: “Even if every one of the Jews was an unbeliever … God would only be the more justified.” What does the word justified mean? It means that if there were a trial and an examination of the things which God had done for the Jews and also of what they had done to him, the victory would be with God, and all the right would be on his side. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 6.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: God is said to be true because he does not give to sinners what he has promised to the saints. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THE HERETIC DESTROYS SOULS. JEROME: If everyone who utters a lie has already destroyed his soul, and all of us are liars, are we all going to perish? What Scripture says … we should interpret as referring to heretics. … The doer of the deed has indeed killed his own soul, but the heretic—the liar—has killed as many souls as he has seduced. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 2.

GOD IS TRUE. AUGUSTINE: God in himself is true; you in yourself are a liar—in him you can be true! HOMILIES ON JOHN 1.6.

THOUGH EVERY MAN BE FALSE. PELAGIUS: “Every man” means the majority. Paul’s opponents had quoted this text as if David had meant: “For this reason have I sinned, that thou might appear just in judging me.” But the true meaning is that God promised to punish sinners without showing favoritism and that some thought his delay in doing so amounted to a lie. God prevails when he judges the deeds of those from whom no one thought vengeance would ever be exacted. Or it may also mean that God has shown that he is concerned about mankind … and that he has overthrown those who wrongly suggest that he is not interested in human affairs. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

OPPOSITE PATHS. THEODORET OF CYR: Human beings are thus given over to their own free will. Hence they are divided into two groups: those who prefer the worship of God and those who take the opposite path and come to a dire end, corresponding to their choice. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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