Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans

“Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans” (16 chapters) is one of the voluminous Commentaries on the 14 letters of the Apostle Paul, written by Bl. Theodoret of Cyrus later than all his other comments. In the preface, Bl. Theodoret reveals the purpose of the apostolic letter: “The mystery of the Divine Incarnation is venerable and especially venerable for those who sincerely believe, for in an obvious way it teaches us God’s love for mankind.” The Apostle Paul denounces the Greeks because they damaged their “ability to discern what is good... and transgressed natural laws.” He then denounces the Jews who accepted the “written teaching of the Divine laws,” but did not benefit from it and “became guilty of even greater punishments.” The interpretation emphasizes the fundamental doctrines of salvation, justification by faith, and the grace of God. The concept of sin, the need for atonement, and the role of Christ as Savior are discussed in detail. Salvation is available to all people, regardless of their origin or merit. Blzh. Theodoret draws attention to the importance of living in the spirit, following God's commandments and unity among believers. Particular attention is paid to the paradoxes of the Christian faith, such as weakness leading to strength and death leading to life. Contents SECTION ONE Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 SECTION TWO Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 SECTION THREE Chapter 7 Chapter 8 SECTION FOUR Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 SECTION FIVE Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 In this epistle the divine Apostle expounds various teachings of all kinds; but the whole purpose of the message is as follows; The mystery of the Divine Incarnation is venerable and especially venerable for those who sincerely believe, for in an obvious way it teaches us God’s love for mankind. But those who are surrounded by the darkness of unbelief and who have not yet received the ray of intelligent light laugh at that which even the hosts of Angels cannot worthily praise, and the God-wise Apostle made this clear in his Epistle to the Corinthians: The word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved the power of God is (1 Cor. 1:18). Therefore, writing to the Romans, he proves the necessity of this saving sermon, its benefit and effectiveness for all people, both Jews and Greeks. Therefore, first of all, he denounces the Hellenes that they have clearly damaged the ability to distinguish between good and the opposite, which was put into our nature by the Creator, and have violated natural laws; and then he denounces the Jews that, having accepted the written teaching of the Divine laws, they did not want to benefit from it, but became guilty of even greater punishments. After this, he says that the appearance of our God and Savior did not come to condemn and punish lawbreakers, but grants remission of sins, promises the destruction of death, and preaches eternal life. And since he knew that the Jews were extremely attached to the law and infected with the heresy of Marcion and Valentinus, as well as the Manichaeans, they extremely blamed the law, then just as the valiant leader, surrounded by enemies everywhere, overthrew first one, then the other and gained victory over everyone, so the divine Apostle and the horde of heretics and the squad of Jews scattered with the teaching of the grace of God. For what is he doing? It does not elevate the law too much because of the shamelessness of the Jews, and does not give rise to the accusation of evil heretics, but shows that the law taught what it should, and taught the teaching of truth, but could not succeed in it, due to the weakness of those who accepted the law. Then he teaches that faith brought to fruition the intent of the law. For what the law wanted to succeed in, but could not, faith completed by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. From all this we learn that God, who created us, never ceased to provide for people. For he originally put into nature the ability to distinguish between good and the opposite; then through creation he guided those who wished to piety. For although not everyone wanted to see the truth, those who desired it used what they desired. Moreover, the Apostle teaches us that the God of all was not brought to this method of salvation out of repentance, but from ancient times foretold it through the mouth of the divine prophets. For, explaining the reason for the rejection of the Jews, he advises those who believed among the pagans not to be proud of them, urging them to begin preaching first. The Apostle added to the dogmatic teachings the teaching of active virtue, teaching both the truth and forming morals. This is the content of the message; More precisely, it will be revealed to us through detailed interpretation. You might be interested in: