Глава VIII

Why God Loved Jacob and Hated Esau 34. For who dares to object to God because He, when Rebekah conceived twins in one coitus from Isaac our father, and they had not yet been born and had not done anything good or evil, so that God’s intention would be manifested in election - namely, in the election of grace, not given according to duty, in election in which God did not find someone to be chosen, but made one so - said to her not from works, but from Calling that the elder will serve the younger? 115 In this saying the blessed apostle also inserted the testimony of a prophet who lived much later: I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau 116. It must be understood that it was subsequently revealed through the prophet what was contained in Divine predestination by grace even before they were born. For what did God love in Jacob, before he was born and did something good, if not the free gift of His mercy? And what did He hate in Esau, before he was born and did something evil, if not original sin (originale peccatum)? For even in the first He did not love the righteousness which He had not yet created; and in the second, he did not hate nature, which He Himself created good. The Apostle Paul uses this example to teach free grace 35. And it is surprising, when they are fettered by these difficulties, what snares they suddenly fall into because of their fear of the truth. “Because,” they say, “He loved one more of the unborn, and hated another, because He foresaw their future deeds” 117. It’s amazing why the apostle doesn’t have this insightful thought? Did he really not understand this, since he did not answer himself to the question proposed by the objector so briefly, so clearly, so (as they believe) truly and exhaustively? After all, when he expounded an amazing thing, [namely] how it can be said about those who have not yet been born and have not done anything good or evil in justice that God loved one of them and hated the other, then he asked himself a question expressing the movement of the listener: So, what shall we say? Is it really not true with God? Let there not be 118. Now, here is the right place for him to say, as they think: “For God foreknew things to come when He said that the older would serve the younger.” However, this is not what the apostle says, but, wanting no one to dare to boast about the merits of their deeds, he strives to put everything that is said at the service of instilling God’s grace and glory. After all, when he said: “Let it not be that [we say] that it is not true with God,” we seem to say [in response to him]: “How can you prove this if you claim that it was not said from works, but from the Caller: The elder will serve the younger 119?” And he answers: For [God] says to Moses: “To whom I will be merciful, I will have mercy on him, and to whom I will have compassion, I will show mercy to him.” So, [this depends] not on the one who wishes and not on the one who tries, but on the merciful God 120. Where are the merits now, where are the previous or future deeds that are supposedly accomplished or should be accomplished by the forces of free decision? Didn’t the apostle clearly pronounce a saying affirming free grace, that is, true grace? Has not God turned the wisdom of the heretics into foolishness? 121 God, not man, fulfills what God promises 36. What was it about that the apostle needed to say this and give an example of these twins? What was he trying to convince? What did you want to convey? Isn’t that what the madness [of heretics] struggles with, which the proud cannot accept, which those who, not knowing God’s righteousness and wanting to establish their own, do not submit to the righteousness of God 122 do not want to understand - after all, the apostle talks about grace itself most of all here, and for this reason he remembers the sons of promise. For what God promised, only God does; for there is some sense and truth in a man promising something and God doing it; but when a person says that he has done what God promised, this is a characteristic of proud wickedness and a perverted mind. Why does the Apostle Paul add: In one intercourse 37. So, in teaching the instruction about the sons of promise, the apostle first of all decided to illustrate this by the example of Isaac, the son of Abraham. After all, the work of God was more clearly manifested in the one who was born from a barren and old-age womb, not according to the usual order of nature, so that in the sons of God, whose appearance was foreshadowed, but [birth] was a sign of Divine, and not human action. For [the apostle] says: In Isaac your seed will be called; that is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are recognized as the seed. And the word of promise is this: At this same time I will come, and Sarah will have a son. And not only this,” he says [further], but [this was the case] with Rebekah, when in one intercourse she conceived from Isaac, our father 123. For what purpose did he add: in one intercourse 124, if not so that Jacob would not take it into his head to boast not only of his own merits or the merits of his ancestors, but also that, perhaps, the will of [the twins’ common] one father had changed for the better, and did not say that the Creator loved him, since his father, when he sowed him, had better and more praiseworthy morals? In one intercourse, says the apostle; So, there was one merit of the father when he sowed them, one merit of the mother when she conceived them; since even if their mother, carrying them imprisoned in her womb before birth, was exposed to various desires and feelings, she, of course, changed not only for one, but for both equally, for she carried them equally in the womb. The Reason for Prevenient Grace and Judgment 38. So, we need to pay attention to the intention of the apostle, to how he, striving to impart grace, wished that the one about whom it was said: I loved Jacob 125 should boast only in the Lord. Therefore, if [of two twins born] from the same father, from the same mother, in one coitus, before they did anything good or evil, God loved one and hated the other, then Jacob must understand that only by grace could he be separated from the mixture of original wickedness (priginalis inquitatis), in which he sees his brother, with whom they were in exactly the same circumstances, in justice deserving of condemnation. For when they were not yet born and had not done anything good or evil, so that the intention of God would be manifested in election, it was not from works, but from the Caller that it was told to her that the elder would serve the younger 126. The election of grace does not depend on any merit 39. And the fact that the election of grace is accomplished without any previous merit of works is clearly shown in another place by the same apostle, saying: So at the present time, according to the election of grace, a remnant has been preserved. But if by grace, then it is no longer by works, otherwise grace is no longer grace 127. Bearing in mind this very grace, he quite consistently adds prophetic testimony and says: As it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated, and then continues: What shall we say? Is it really not true with God? It won't happen. But why: Yes, it won’t? Is it because of the future deeds of both of them, which He foreknew? No, let it not be either: For He says to Moses: “To whom I will be merciful, I will have mercy on him; and whoever I have pity on, I will show him mercy.” So, [this depends] not on the one who wishes and not on the one who tries, but on the merciful God 128. And so that, by the example of the vessels ready for the destruction due to the condemned mixture, 129 other vessels from the same mixture, created for honor, would understand how much Divine mercy has bestowed upon them, the apostle continues: For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this purpose I have appointed you, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be glorified throughout all the earth.” Finally, the apostle concludes with words about both [kinds of people]: Therefore, he has mercy on whomever he wants; but he hardens whomever he wants 130: and He who has no iniquity does this. He has mercy according to a free gift, but He hardens according to the most just merit. Everyone is bitter through his own fault, but receives help through grace 40. But the exaltation of an unbelieving proud man or the apology of a punished and condemned person can still say: What else does he reproach for? For who can resist His will? Let him say this and hear what is fitting [to hear] for a man: And who are you, man, that you object to God? 131 and everything that follows, which I have already spoken about as much and often as I could. Let him hear this and let him not despise these words. If he despises this, he will find that he is just hardened to despise it; and if he does not despise, then let him believe that help has been given to him so as not to despise. But bitterness comes from duty, and help comes from grace. J.-P. Migne. Paris, 1845. T. 33. Col. 874–891. Places with discrepancies were verified with the publication: Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Vindobonae, 1911. Vo1. 57. R. 176–214. Rom 9:10–12; Gen 25:21–23. It should be noted that this is precisely the usual point of view of the Greek Fathers of the Church on this difficulty. Yes, St. John Chrysostom, in his interpretation of this passage from the Epistle to the Romans, says: “Why was one loved and the other hated? Why did one serve and the other accept services? Was it because one was vicious and the other good? But when they were not yet born, one was honored, and the other was condemned, since even before their birth God said that the greater would be enslaved by the younger. So why did God say this? Because He does not wait, like a man, for the end of deeds to see who is good and who is not, but even before deeds He knows (πρό τούτων οίδε) who is vicious and who is not” (Homiliae in epistulam ad Pomanos, 16.5 // RG T. 60. Col. 555). – Editor's note. Rom 9:11–12; Wed: Gen 25:23. Rom 9:15–16; Compare: Exodus 33:19. Rom 9:10. In Synod.trans.: And this is not the only thing; but so it was with Rebekah, when she conceived at the same time two sons from Isaac our father. Rom 9:11–12; cf.: Gen 25:23. You might be interested in: