Romans 10:11–11:2

On the day of judgment, when everything will be examined and all false opinions and teachings will be overthrown, then those who believe in Christ will rejoice, seeing it revealed to all that what they believed is true and what was thought to be foolish was wise. For they will look at others and see that they alone are glorified and wise, when they had been considered contemptible and crazy. This will be the real test, when rewards and condemnation are decreed.

Israel ought not to suppose that salvation by faith is a blessing peculiar to it. For Scripture says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free. The universal God saves everyone without distinction, because all things belong to him. Thus we say that all things are recapitulated in Christ.

"For the Scripture saith," he proceeds, "Whosoever believeth on Him, shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved."

You see how he produces witnesses, whether to the faith, or to the confession of it. For the words, "Every one that believeth," point out the faith. But the words, "Whosoever shall call upon," set forth confession. Then again to proclaim the universality of the grace, and to lay their boasting low, what he had before demonstrated at length, he here briefly recalls to their memory, showing again that there is no difference between the Jew and the uncircumcised. "For there is," he says, "no difference between the Jew and the Greek." And what he had said about the Father, when he was arguing this point, that he says here about the Son. For as before he said in asserting this, "Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also: seeing it is one God":-So he says here also, "For the same Lord over all is rich unto all (and upon all)." You see how he sets Him forth as exceedingly desiring our salvation, since He even reckons this to be riches to Himself; so that they are not even now to despair, or fancy that, provided they would repent, they were unpardonable. For He who considereth it as riches to Himself to save us, will not cease to be rich. Since even this is riches, the fact of the gift being shed forth unto all.

If no one who believes in him will be put to shame, it is clear that those who sin will be, just as Adam sinned and was ashamed and hid himself. So whoever incurs the shame of sin obviously does not believe.

This applies not only to the Jews but to everyone. Do not put believers to shame, therefore, on account of their former actions, since the Scripture says that they cannot be put to shame.

Having said that with the heart one believes, and with the mouth one confesses, he brings from Scripture testimonies concerning faith and confession or invocation. When he says, "everyone who believes," he points to faith, justified by which one will not be put to shame; and when he says, "everyone who calls upon," he points to confession, which brings about salvation. So now everyone, whether Jew or Gentile, can be accepted by God. "One Lord over all, rich toward all who call upon Him," in other words: this is a king, rich in gold and silver. Therefore, if His wealth consists of the very believers themselves, do not despair, thinking that you have sinned so greatly that you cannot be forgiven. He will accept you, so as to make you too a partaker of His wealth.

Second, he proves his proposition with an authority when he says: for the Scripture, namely Isaiah, says: whosoever believes in him with living faith shall not be confounded (Isa 28:16), i.e., as lacking salvation: you who fears the Lord, believe him, and your reward shall not be made void (Sir 2:8).

But our text has: he who believes will not be in haste, as was said above.

Paul says that in general everyone is lumped together because of unbelief or else exalted together because of their belief, because apart from Christ there is no salvation in God's presence, only punishment or death. For neither the privileges of their ancestors nor the law can do the Jews any good if they do not accept the merit and promise made to them. Neither do the Gentiles have anything to boast about in the flesh, if they do not believe in Christ.…Paul says that God bestows his riches not on those who believe but on those who call upon him, so that after believing the mind will not cease to ask God for what it has been taught to ask the Lord for.

Christ finds his wealth in the salvation of our souls.

There is one Lord of all, who abounds in mercy and possesses salvation, with which he is generous to all.

Third, when he says, there is no distinction, he shows that this applies to all men, when Isaiah asserts this indefinitely.

First, he asserts what he intends, saying: it is the same to say all who believe, and there is no distinction, at least of the Jew and the Greek: here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised (Col 3:11).

Second, he proves this with two reasons. The first is based on the fact that the same is Lord of all. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the gentiles? (Rom 3:29). For God is the king of all the earth (Ps 46:8). Consequently, he provides for the salvation of all. The second is based on the fact that he is rich unto all that call upon him. For if his riches were not sufficient to supply for all, one might suppose that he could not provide for all believers. However, the riches of his goodness and mercy are inexhaustible. Or do you presume upon the riches of his goodness? (Rom 2:4); God, who is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4).

God himself, when he was seen by Moses, said to him: "My name is the Lord." This is the Son of God, who is said to be both a messenger and God. The Son is not to be confused with the Father from whom all things come, but is to be acknowledged as the One through whom all things come and to whom all things belong. He is called God because the Father and the Son are one. He is also called an angel, because he was sent by the Father to announce the promised salvation.

By faith in Jesus Christ is granted to us both possession of the little beginning of salvation and its perfecting, which we await in hope.

Third, he proves the same thing on the authority of Joel: everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32). This is done by calling on him through love and devout worship: when he calls on me, I will answer him (Ps 91:15).

As I said above, you have to believe first if you are going to have the faith to ask for anything. It is obvious that Christ cannot be believed in if he is not obeyed. It is likewise clear that whoever rejects a preacher does not accept the one who sent him either.

Paul says that salvation by the calling of the Lord is common to all but that the above mentioned rejection of this universal grace hardened the Jews, making them unable to receive the common good. As a result the mission and the message did not go to them but to the Gentiles, along with the hearing, the faith and the calling. For just as the light is by nature common to all but becomes something else to those who are blinded, so that the blind cannot see the sun, nor can the deaf hear the message when it is proclaimed, so those who have been sent to preach to the Jews have had little effect. They cannot hear the message because they have become deaf to God's calling.

The preaching of predestination should not hinder the preaching of perseverance and progress in faith, so that those to whom it has been given to obey should hear what they ought to hear. For how will they hear without a preacher?

Those who believe rightly believe that they may call on him in whom they have believed and may be strong to do what they have learned in the precepts of the law, since faith obtains what the law commands.

God sends his angels and gathers together his elect from the four winds, that is, from the whole world. Therefore, the church must necessarily be found among the nations where it does not yet exist, but it does not necessarily follow that all who live there will believe. The promise was to all nations but not to all men of all nations, for not all have faith.

This is why you first learned the creed. Here is a rule of your faith which is both short and long—short in the number of words, long because of the weight of the thoughts.

"Lord, who hath believed our report?" Isaiah says. For "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," saith the apostle. "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those that publish glad tidings of good things!" You see how he brings faith by hearing, and the preaching of the apostles, up to the word of the Lord, and to the Son of God. We do not yet understand the word of the Lord to be demonstration.

"How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written."

Here again he takes from them all excuse. For since he had said, "I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge," and that "being ignorant of God's righteousness, they submitted not themselves" to it: he next shows, that for this ignorance itself they were punishable before God. This he does not say indeed so, but he makes it good by carrying on his discourse in the way of question, and so convicting them more clearly, by framing the whole passage out of objections and answers. But look further back. The Prophet, saith he, said, "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." Now somebody might say perhaps, "But how could they call upon Him Whom they had not believed? Then there is a question from him after the objection; And why did they not believe? Then an objection again. A person certainly may say, And how could they believe, since they had not heard? Yet hear they did, he implies. Then another objection again. "And how could they hear without a preacher?" Then an answer again. Yet preach they did, and there were many sent forth for this very purpose. And whence does it appear that these are those persons sent? Then he brings the prophet in next, who says, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" You see how by the kind of preaching he points out the preachers. For there was nothing else that these men went about telling everywhere, but those unspeakable good things, and the peace made by God with men. And so by disbelieving, it is not we, he implies, whom you disbelieve, but Isaiah the prophet, who spake many years ago, that we were to be sent, and to preach, and to say what we do say. If the being saved, then, came of calling upon Him, and calling upon Him from believing, and believing from hearing, and hearing from preaching, and preaching from being sent, and if they were sent, and did preach, and the prophet went round with them to point them out, and proclaim them, and say that these were they whom they showed of so many ages ago, whose feet even they praised because of the matter of their preaching; then it is quite clear that the not believing was their own fault only. And that because God's part had been fulfilled completely.

Here we have an objection raised by the Jews concerning the Gentiles, viz., that they could not call upon God.

For "a people," he says, "whom I knew not hath served me; in obedience of the ear it hath obeyed me." Prophets made the announcement.

He said above that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Now he reproaches the Jews for not having called on the name of the Lord. Why then did they not call? Because they did not believe. And why did they not believe? Was it because they had not heard? No, they heard. Then the objection: how could they hear without a preacher?

Then when he says, how then shall they call on him, he presents the order in which one is called to salvation, which is from faith.

In regard to this he does two things:

first, he shows that the later steps in this order cannot occur without the earlier;

second, he shows that after the earlier steps have been taken, the later do not necessarily follow, at but all do not obey the Gospel.

In regard to the first he does two things:

first, he presents the order of things required for salvation;

second, he supports what he had supposed, at as it is written.

First, therefore, he presents five things in order, beginning with the step which calls upon God, according to the authority of the prophet.

Therefore, he says, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? As if to say: it is certainly true that unless faith is present, one cannot call on God to save him. This calling upon God pertains to confession with the lips, which proceeds from faith in the heart. I have believed, therefore have I spoken (Ps 115:10). We believed, and so we spoke (1 Cor 4:13).

Nobody can be a true apostle unless he is sent by Christ, nor will he be able to preach without a mandate to do so, for his testimony will not reflect his signs of power.Paul quotes the prophet Nahum. By talking about feet he means the coming of the apostles who went round the world preaching the coming of the kingdom of God. For their appearance enlightened mankind by showing them the way toward peace with God, which John the Baptist had come to prepare. This is the peace to which those who believe in Christ are hastening. Then St. Simeon, seeing the discord in the world, rejoiced at the coming of the Savior, saying: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace," because the kingdom of God is peace, and all discord is taken away when everyone bows the knee to the one God.

It is clear even from the prophets that it is impossible to believe if nobody preaches the gospel.

It came on the world with a wind and rush of running messengers proclaiming that apocalyptic portent; and it is not unduly fanciful to say they are running still. What puzzles the world, and its wise philosophers and fanciful pagan poets, about the priests and people of the Catholic Church is that they still behave as if they were messengers. A messenger does not dream about what his message might be, or argue about what it probably would be; he delivers it as it is. It is not a theory or a fancy but a fact. It is not relevant to this intentionally rudimentary outline to prove in detail that it is a fact; but merely to point out that these messengers do deal with it as men deal with a fact. All that is condemned in Catholic tradition, authority, and dogmatism and the refusal to retract and modify, are but the natural human attributes of a man with a message relating to a fact. I desire to avoid in this last summary all the controversial complexities that may once more cloud the simple lines of that strange story; which I have already called, in words that are much too weak, the strangest story in the world. I desire merely to mark those main lines and specially to mark where the great line is really to be drawn. The religion of the world, in its right proportions, is not divided into fine shades of mysticism or more or less rational forms of mythology. It is divided by the line between the men who are bringing that message and the men who have not yet heard it, or cannot yet believe it.

With regard to those (the Marcionites) who allege that Paul alone knew the truth, and that to him the mystery was manifested by revelation, let Paul himself convict them, when he says, that one and the same God wrought in Peter for the apostolate of the circumcision, and in himself for the Gentiles. Peter, therefore, was an apostle of that very God whose was also Paul; and Him whom Peter preached as God among those of the circumcision, and likewise the Son of God, did Paul [declare] also among the Gentiles. For our Lord never came to save Paul alone, nor is God so limited in means, that He should have but one apostle who knew the dispensation of His Son. And again, when Paul says, "How beautiful are the feet of those bringing glad tidings of good things, and preaching the Gospel of peace," he shows clearly that it was not merely one, but there were many who used to preach the truth. And again, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he had recounted all those who had seen God after the resurrection, he says in continuation, "But whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed," acknowledging as one and the same, the preaching of all those who saw God after the resurrection from the dead.

It seems to me that there is some difficulty with this [verse]. For if we understand it to mean that nobody preaches because nobody is sent … then it would appear that the reason they are not saved is ultimately the fault of Christ for not having sent them.But it is better for us to understand this as follows. It is as if the apostle were saying: "We, the heralds and preachers of Christ, would not be able to preach, nor would we have any power to proclaim, if he who sent us were not also present with us. So if you do not want to listen to us when we preach, that is your problem, if hearing you do not believe, and not believing, you do not call on him, and not calling on him, you are not saved." The beauty of the preacher's feet must be understood in a spiritual, not in a physical sense. For it would make a mockery of the apostle's meaning to suppose that the feet of the evangelists, which can be seen with the physical eye, should be regarded as beautiful in themselves.… Only those feet which walk in the way of life can make this claim. Given that Christ said that he is the way, you should understand that it is the feet of those evangelists who walk according to that way which deserve to be called beautiful.

You have the work of the apostles also predicted: "How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, which bring good tidings of good," not of war nor evil tidings.

If the heralds of these things are deemed worthy of such great admiration, how essential and how advantageous a thing the teaching of the apostles must be.

The answer follows again: no, there were preachers, many such were sent to them. From what is it evident that these who were sent were preachers? In response to this he cites the words of the prophet: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace, who preach good things" (Isa. 52:7). The apostles, going throughout the world, proclaimed nothing other than the ineffable blessings and the peace of God with mankind. Therefore unbelief is the personal fault of those who did not accept the preachers.

Second, he moves from faith to hearing when he adds: or how shall they believe him of whom they have not heard? For one is said to believe things which are said to him by others and which he does not see: it is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world (John 4:42).

But hearing is twofold: one is internal, by which one hears from God revealing: let me hear what God the Lord will speak (Ps 85:8); the other is that by which someone hears another man speaking in his presence: while Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word (Acts 10:44).

The first kind of hearing does not pertain to all in common, but pertains properly to the grace of prophecy, which is a grace freely given to certain definite persons, but not to all: there are varieties of gifts (1 Cor 12:4).

But because he is now speaking of something that can pertain to all without distinction, as was said above, at for there is no distinction, it is the second kind of hearing that he has in mind. That is why he adds, and how shall they hear without a preacher? For outward hearing in the listener cannot occur without an action of the speaker. This is why the Lord commanded the disciples: go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Matt 28:19).

But preachers do not possess the truths of faith of themselves but from God: what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you (Isa 21:10); for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you (1 Cor 11:23). Therefore, he adds, and how shall they preach unless they be sent? As if to say: not worthily: I did not send the prophets, yet they ran (Jer 23:21).

But some are sent by the Lord in two ways.

In one way, immediately by God himself through internal inspiration: and now the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit (Jer 48:16). Sometimes the sign of this sending is the authority of Holy Scripture; hence, when John the Baptist was asked who he was, he invoked the authority of a prophet: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said (John 1:23). Sometimes it is the truth of what is announced. Hence, in contrast to this it is said: when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken (Deut 18:22). Sometimes the sign of this sending is the working of a miracle. Hence it says in Exodus that when Moses said to the Lord: they will not believe me or listen to my voice (Exod 4:1), the Lord gave him power to perform signs.

Nevertheless, the last two are not sufficient proof of a divine mission, especially when someone says something contrary to the faith. For it says in Deuteronomy: if a prophet arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder comes to pass, and if he says, 'let us go after other gods,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet (Deut 13:1ff.).

Second, some are sent by God mediately on the authority of prelates, who take God's place: with him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the Gospel (2 Cor 8:18).

Then when he says, as it is written, he quotes an authority to prove what he had said about the need for preachers to be sent. He says, as it is written, namely, in Isaiah: how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them preaching good things (Isa 52:7). Here our text has: how beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who preach and announce peace, announcing good. And something similar is found in Nahum: behold on the mountains the feet of those who evangelize and announce peace (Nah 1:15).

In these words, first, the procedure of the preachers is commended when he says, how beautiful are the feet. This can be interpreted in two ways: in one way, so that by feet is understood their procedure, namely, because they proceed according to due order, not usurping the office of preachers: how graceful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden (Song 7:1).

In another way, by feet are understood their affections which are right, as long as they announce God's word not with the intention of praise or gain but for the salvation of men and the glory of God: their feet were straight (Ezek 1:7).

Second, he touches on the preacher's subject matter, which is twofold.

For they preach things useful for the present life. These he designates when he says, the gospel of peace, which is of three kinds. First, they announce the peace which Christ made between men and God: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, entrusting to us the word of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19); let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1). Second, he announces peace to be had with all men: if possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all (Rom 12:18). Third, they announce the way a man can have peace within himself: much peace to them that love your law (Ps 119:165). Under these three are contained everything useful in this life for salvation with respect to God, to one's neighbor, and to one's self.

They also preach the things we hope to have in the other life. In regard to these he says, preaching good things: he will set him over all his goods (Luke 12:44).

Above, when He saith, "The hour is coming, and now is," I beseech you give earnest heed. Above, then, when He said, "The hour is coming," and added, "and now is," what did He subjoin? "When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." He did not say, "All the dead shall hear, and they that hear shall live;" for He meant the unrighteous to be understood. And is it so, that all the unrighteous obey the gospel? The apostle says openly, "But not all obey the gospel." But they that hear shall live, because all that obey the gospel shall pass to eternal life by faith: yet all do not obey; and this is now. But certainly, in the end, "All that are in the graves," both the just and the unjust, "shall hear His voice, and come forth."

"But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Since they pressed him with another objection again to this effect, that if these were the persons sent upon the mission by God, all ought to have hearkened to them: observe Paul's judgment, and see how he shows that this very thing which made the confusion, did in fact do away with confusion and embarrassment. What offends you, O Jew, he would say, after so great and abundant evidence, and demonstration of the points? that all did not submit to the Gospel? Why this very thing, when taken along with the others, is of force to certify thee of the truth of my statements, even in that some do not believe. For this too the prophet foretold. Notice his unspeakable wisdom too; how he shows more than they were looking for, or expected him to have to say in reply. For what is it that you say? he means. Is it that all have not believed the Gospel? Well! Isaiah foretold this too from of old. Or rather, not this only, but even much more than this. For the complaint you make is Why did not all believe? But Isaiah goes further than this. For what is it he says? "Lord, who hath believed our report?" Then since he had rid himself of this embarrassment by making the Prophet a bulwark against them, he again keeps to the line he was before upon. For as he had said that they must call upon Him, but that they who call must believe, and they who believe must hear first, but they who are to hear must have preachers, and the preachers be sent, and as he had shown that they were sent, and had preached; as he is going to bring in another objection again, taking occasion first of another quotation from the Prophet, by which he had met the objection a little back, he thus interweaves it, and connects it with what went before. For since he had produced the Prophet as saying, "Lord, who hath believed our report"? he happily seizes on the quotation, as proving what he says, "So then faith cometh by hearing." And this he makes not a mere naked statement. But as the Jews were forever seeking a sign, and the sight of the Resurrection, and were gaping after the thing much; he says, Yet the Prophet promised no such thing, but that it was by hearing that we were to believe. Hence he makes this good first, and says, "so then faith cometh by hearing." And then since this seemed a mean thing to say, see how he elevates it. For he says, I was not speaking of mere hearing, nor of the need of hearing men's words and believing them, but I mean a great sort of hearing. For the hearing is "by the word of God." They were not speaking their own, but they were telling what they learnt from God. And this is a higher thing than miracles. For we are equally bound to believe and to obey God, whether speaking or working miracles. Since both works and miracles come of His words. For both the heaven and everything else was established in this way.

Not all the Gentiles have believed the gospel nor have all the Jews, but many have, and many more Gentiles have believed than Jews. In this passage, "who has believed really means few have believed." … Isaiah here is speaking prophetically in the person of the apostles, to whom the work of preaching was entrusted. It was they, when they saw how few believers there were in Israel, who exclaimed: "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?"

The prophets were never sent to the Gentiles. If not all those to whom the prophets were sent obeyed, how much less those to whom no one was sent!

The first part of this [verse] ought to be read as a question to which the second part is the apostle's answer.… There is nothing surprising about this, for Isaiah also testifies to the small number of believers.

The Apostle said that the prophets testify that God sent these evangelists. Therefore, lest anyone object: if they were from God, then it follows that all should have heeded them, he affirms that, indeed, not all heeded the good news, but this does no harm to the truth. Isaiah spoke of this many years before: "Who has believed our report?" (Isa. 53:1). The word "who" is used here in place of "few" believed our report.

Then when he says, but all do not obey the Gospel, he shows that the later steps do not always follow.

For although one cannot believe, unless he hears the word of the preacher, nevertheless, not everyone who hears believes; and this is what he says: but all do not obey the Gospel: not all have faith (2 Thess 3:2).

He says this to show that the outwardly spoken word of the preacher is not sufficient to cause faith, unless a man's heart is attracted inwardly by the power of God speaking: everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me (John 6:45). Consequently, if men believe, it should not be attributed to the industry of the preacher.

It also shows that not all unbelievers are excused from sin, but those who do not hear: if I had not come and spoken to them they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin (John 15:22).

And this is more consonant with what the Apostle will say further on.

Second, he cites his authority for this, when he says, for Isaiah says: Lord, who has believed our report? As if to say: a few; you are among unbelievers and destroyers (Ezek 2:6); for I have become as one who gleans in autumn the grapes of the vintage (Mic 7:1). Isaiah said this because he foresaw the future unbelief of the Jews: with a great spirit he saw the last things (Sir 48:27).

And he says, our report, referring either to what they heard from God: we have heard a heard thing from the Lord, and sent messengers to the nations (Obad 5:1); or referring to what men heard from the apostles: they heard your words, and they did not do them (Ezek 33:32).

It is obvious that unless something is said, it can neither be heard nor believed.

It is not said, God saw the firmament, but called it, because the solidity of faith consists rather in belief than in contemplation. For belief is through the ear, because, as the Apostle wrote to the Romans, "faith depends on hearing."

There first I became an effective believer. As far as I know, the instrument was the church to which we were taken twice every Sunday. This was high "Anglo-Catholic". On the conscious level I reacted strongly against its peculiarities--was I not an Ulster Protestant, and were not these unfamiliar rituals an essential part of the hated English atmosphere? Unconsciously, I suspect, the candles and incense, the vestments and the hymns sung on our knees, may have had a considerable, and opposite, effect on me. But I do not think they were the important thing. What really mattered was that I here heard the doctrines of Christianity (as distinct from general "uplift") taught by men who obviously believed them. As I had no scepticism, the effect was to bring to life what I would already have said that I believed.

Believing things on authority only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine per cent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I have not seen it myself. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary man believes in the Solar System, atoms, evolution, and the circulation of the blood on authority—because the scientists say so. Every historical statement in the world is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Armada. None of us could prove them by pure logic as you prove a thing in mathematics. We believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them: in fact, on authority. A man who jibbed at authority in other things as some people do in religion would have to be content to know nothing all his life.

Faith comes by hearing, because when we hear the holy Scriptures we believe in the teaching of the Holy Spirit. This faith is made perfect by all the things which Christ has ordained; it believes truly, it is devout and it keeps the commandments of him who has renewed us. For he who does not believe in accordance with the traditions of the catholic church or who through untoward works holds communion with the devil is without faith.

From here on we have the apostle's reply to the above questions.

And for this reason also when our Lord gave us this blessing of perceiving Him, He delivered unto us first of all faith, with which we might perceive Him, and then He revealed to us concerning Himself, and for this reason the blessed Paul said that "Faith [cometh] from the hearing of the ear, and the hearing of the ear from the word of God." By the hearing of the word of God Paul taught us to receive faith, and although faith hath been implanted in our construction by God our Creator, yet hath it been corrupted and changed from faith to error, and after the manner of that natural wisdom which hath also been given to us in our construction we have changed it, and instead of the wisdom of God we have gathered together the wisdom of [this] world with it.

Because all the nations that dwell under heaven were called by hearing and believing upon the name of the Son of God. Having, therefore, received the seal, they had one understanding and one mind; and their faith became one, and their love one.

For where had been their sin, if they only maintained the righteousness of their own God against one of whom they were ignorant? But he exclaims: "O the depth of the riches and the wisdom of God; how unsearchable also are His ways!" Whence this outburst of feeling? Surely from the recollection of the Scriptures, which he had been previously turning over, as well as from his contemplation of the mysteries which he had been setting forth above, in relation to the faith of Christ coming from the law. If Marcion had an object in his erasures, why does his apostle utter such an exclamation, because his god has no riches for him to contemplate? So poor and indigent was he, that he created nothing, predicted nothing-in short, possessed nothing; for it was into the world of another God that he descended.

It is perfectly clear to us, says Paul, following the voice of the prophet and what we have said, that there can be no faith without teaching, and the teaching of godliness is impossible unless it shows the truth about God.

These words are connected with what precedes and represent, as it were, a conclusion from something said before. But with them the apostle also expresses something else. The Jews incessantly sought miracles, and even desired to see the resurrection. Therefore he says that faith comes from hearing, and one should not demand anything more than this hearing; for this hearing is not simple, not of ordinary speeches, but of the words of God. Therefore, if you seek miracles, which come from God, then believe also the words that are spoken from God.

Then when he says, faith therefore comes by hearing, he draws his conclusion from the foregoing, saying: therefore, since they do not believe unless they hear: faith comes from hearing: as soon as they heard of me they obeyed me (Ps 18:44).

But if faith comes from hearing, how can it be a divinely infused virtue? For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him (Phil 1:29).

The answer is that two things are required for faith: one is the inclining of the heart to believe; and this does not come from hearing, but from the gift of grace; the other is a decision about what to believe, and this comes from hearing. Thus, Cornelius, whose heart was inclined toward belief, needed Peter to be sent to him to point out what he should believe.

From that which he said—how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent?—he concludes: that which is heard, namely by believers, is through the word of the preachers, which is the word of Christ, either because it is about Christ: we preach Christ (1 Cor 1:23), or because the preachers have been sent by Christ: for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you (1 Cor 11:23).

They heard but they did not want to believe. For there are some who, in spite of the fact that they hear, do not believe. For they hear but do not understand, because their heart is blinded by wickedness. … If the sound of the gospel has gone out to the entire world, it is not possible that the Jews have not heard it, and so none of them can be pardoned from the sin of unbelief.

This may be a symbol of the Lord's teaching, and of His suffering. For the feet anointed with fragrant ointment mean divine instruction travelling with renown to the ends of the earth. "For their sound hath gone forth to the ends of the earth." And if I seem not to insist too much, the feet of the Lord which were anointed are the apostles, having, according to prophecy, received the fragrant unction of the Holy Ghost. Those, therefore, who travelled over the world and preached the Gospel, are figuratively called the feet of the Lord, of whom also the Holy Spirit foretells in the psalm, "Let us adore at the place where His feet stood," that is, where the apostles, His feet, arrived; since, preached by them, He came to the ends of the earth.

This is the Christ who, he says, in all that have been generated, is the portrayed Son of Man from the unportrayable Logos. This, he says, is the great and unspeakable mystery of the Eleusinian rites, Hye, Cye. And he affirms that all things have been subjected unto him, and this is that which has been spoken, "Their sound is gone forth unto all the earth," just as it agrees with the expressions, "Mercury waving his wand, guides the souls, but they twittering follow." I mean the disembodied spirits follow continuously in such a way as the poet by his imagery delineates, using these words:-

"And as when in the magic cave's recess

Bats humming fly, and when one drops

From ridge of rock, and each to other closely clings."

"But I say, Have they not heard?"

What, he means, if the preachers were sent, and did preach what they were bid, and these did not hear? Then comes a most perfect reply to the objection.

"Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

What do you say? he means. They have not heard? Why the whole world, and the ends of the earth, have heard. And have you, amongst whom the heralds abode such a long time, and of whose land they were, not heard? Now can this ever be? Sure if the ends of the world heard, much more must you.

This passage, taken from Psalm 19[: 4], must refer to the Gentiles.

Paul wants this passage to be understood allegorically to refer to the cries of the prophets.

Who else have the nations of the world believed in but Christ, who has already come?

Again, in the Pslams, David says: "Bring to God, ye countries of the nations"-undoubtedly because "unto every land" the preaching of the apostles had to "go out" -"bring to God fame and honour; bring to God the sacrifices of His name: take up victims and enter into His courts.

For whose right hand does God the Father hold but Christ's, His Son?-whom all nations have heard, that is, whom all nations have believed,-whose preachers, withal, the apostles, are pointed to in the Psalms of David: "Into the universal earth," says he, "is gone out their sound, and unto the ends of the earth their words." For upon whom else have the universal nations believed, but upon the Christ who is already come? For whom have the nations believed,-Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and they who inhabit Mesopotamia, Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, and they who dwell in Pontus, and Asia, and Pamphylia, tarriers in Egypt, and inhabiters of the region of Africa which is beyond Cyrene, Romans and sojourners, yes, and in Jerusalem Jews, and all other nations; as, for instance, by this time, the varied races of the Gµtulians, and manifold confines of the Moors, all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons-inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ, and of the Sarmatians, and Dacians, and Germans, and Scythians, and of many remote nations, and of provinces and islands many, to us unknown, and which we can scarce enumerate? In all which places the name of the Christ who is already come reigns, as of Him before whom the gates of all cities have been opened, and to whom none are closed, before whom iron bars have been crumbled, and brazen gates opened.

It is clear that Paul did not put this here as a kind of prophecy but rather as a statement of what was actually going on at the time.

Someone might ask: what does it matter to the Jews if the evangelists were sent, but the Jews did not hear? The Apostle answers: the whole world heard; how then did those not hear, among whom the apostles spent so much time and from whom they originated? Is such a thing possible?

After showing that the fall of the Jews is pitiable, because they sinned from ignorance, here the Apostle shows that their fall is not entirely excusable; because their ignorance was not invincible or rooted in necessity, but somehow voluntary.

He shows this in two ways.

First, because they heard the teaching of the apostles;

second, from what they knew from the teachings of the law and of the prophets, at but I say: has not Israel known?

In regard to the first he does two things.

First, he asks a question, saying: we have said that faith comes from hearing and that men cannot believe a person whom they have not heard. But I say, have they not heard? so as to be totally excused for their unbelief, according to what is said in John: if I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin (John 15:22).

Second, he answers the question by interjecting the authority of the Psalm: their sound has gone forth into all the earth (Ps 19:4); i.e., the voice of the apostles whose fame has reached every land, both of Jews and of gentiles: destruction and death have said: with our ears we have heard the fame thereof (Job 28:22), namely, the wisdom preached by the apostles. For the Lord had commanded them: go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Matt 28:19). And their words, i.e., their distinctive message, has gone out unto the ends of the whole world: from the ends of the earth we have heard praises (Isa 24:16); I have given you to be the light of the gentiles, to be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth (Isa 49:6).

It should be noted that, according to Augustine, these words had not yet been fulfilled when the Apostle spoke them, but he foresaw that they would be fulfilled. So he uses the past for the future, because divine pre-ordination is certain of fulfillment; for David, whose words he employed, also used the past for the future. Augustine said this because even in his own day there were certain parts of Africa where the faith of Christ had not been preached.

Chrysostom, on the other hand, says that what is said here had been fulfilled in the time of the apostles. He draws this from Matthew: and this Gospel must be preached in the whole world, and then will come the consummation (Matt 24:14), i.e., the destruction of Jerusalem.

Each is correct in his own way. For in the days of the apostles, some report that their preaching had reached all nations, even to the ends of the world, at least through their disciples and even through the apostles themselves. For Matthew preached in Ethiopia, Thomas in India, Peter and Paul in the west. And this is what Chrysostom means. However, during the times of the apostles it had not been fulfilled in such a way that the Church had been built up in all nations, but it would be fulfilled before the end of the world, as Augustine says.

Yet Chrysostom's explanation is more in keeping with the Apostle's intention than is Augustine's. For the basic excuse of their unbelief is not undercut by the fact that these unbelievers would hear something in the future. However, this does not imply that a report of the apostles' preaching had reached every individual, although it had reached all nations.

Does this mean that those it has not reached, for example if they were raised in the jungle, have an excuse for their sin of unbelief?

The answer is that according to the Lord's statement (John 15:22) those who have not heard the Lord speaking either in person or through his disciples are excused from the sin of unbelief. However, they will not obtain God's blessing, namely, removal of original sin or any sin added by leading an evil life; for these, they are deservedly condemned. But if any of them did what was in his power, the Lord would provide for him according to his mercy by sending a preacher of the faith as he sent Peter to Cornelius (Acts 10:5ff.) and Paul into Macedonia (Acts 16:9ff.). Nevertheless, the fact that they do what is in their power, namely, by turning to God, proceeds from God's moving their hearts to the good: turn us to you, O Lord, that we may be turned (Lam 5:19).

Paul means here that of course Israel knew.… They all heard but they did not all believe.The jealousy of the Jews arose from their envy at seeing a people which earlier had been without God and barbarous claim the Jewish God as their own and receive the promise which had originally been made to the Jews.… Nothing destroys a man so much as jealousy, which is why God made it the avenger of unbelief, because that is a great sin.

By calling a people "foolish" Paul explained what he meant by "those who are not a people," viz., a foolish people ought not to be called a people at all. But he says that the Jewish people will be angered by the Gentiles' faith, because they have received what the Jews have rejected.… Even though entire peoples were foolish idol worshipers, they nevertheless put away their paganism by believing. Thus Paul said: "If a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?" Thus he means: "I will make you jealous of those who once were not a people but were made a people," because although they were once a foolish idol-worshiping people, they put aside their paganism through their faith in Christ.

And the same apostle owns that he bears witness to the Jews, "that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." For they did not know and do the will of the law; but what they supposed, that they thought the law wished. And they did not believe the law as prophesying, but the bare word; and they followed through fear, not through disposition and faith. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," who was prophesied by the law to every one that believeth. Whence it was said to them by Moses, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are not a people; and I will anger you by a foolish nation, that is, by one that has become disposed to obedience." And by Isaiah it is said, "I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest to them that inquired not after Me," -manifestly previous to the coming of the Lord; after which to Israel, the things prophesied, are now appropriately spoken: "I have stretched out My hands all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people." Do you see the cause of the calling from among the nations, clearly declared, by the prophet, to be the disobedience and gainsaying of the people?

"But I say, Did not Israel know?"

For what if they heard, he means, but did not know what was said, nor understand that these were the persons sent? Are they not to be forgiven for their ignorance? By no means. For Isaiah had described their character in the words, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace." And before him the Lawgiver himself. Hence he proceeds.

"First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you."

And so they ought even from him to have been able to distinguish the preachers, not from the fact of these disbelieving only, not from the fact of their preaching peace, not from the fact of their bringing the glad tidings of those good things, not from the word being sown in every part of the world, but from the very fact of their seeing their inferiors, those of the Gentiles, in greater honor. For what they had never heard, nor their forefathers, that wisdom did these on a sudden embrace. And this was a mark of such intense honor, as should gall them, and lead them to jealousy, and to recollection of the prophecy of Moses, which said, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people." For it was not the greatness of the honor alone that was enough to throw them upon jealousy, but the fact too that a nation had come to enjoy these things which was of so little account that it could hardly be considered a nation at all. "For I will provoke you to jealousy, by them which are no nation, and by a foolish nation will I anger you." For what more foolish than the Greeks (Heathen)? or what of less account? See how by every means God had given from of old indications and clear signs of these times, in order to remove their blindness. For it was not any little corner in which the thing was done, but in land, and in sea, and in every quarter of the globe.

Having just spoken of the Gentiles Paul goes on, as is his custom, to talk about Israel as well. His intention is to demonstrate by suitable quotations that Israel has no excuse for its rejection of Christ.In this passage it is true that Moses the friend of God wanted to attach blame to the people of God, but he also foresaw in the Spirit that if someone wants to be wise in this world he must become foolish, in order to be wise in the sight of God.

Israel did not understand that the Gentiles were to be called to faith. Moses is first because the prophets after him spoke of the salvation of the Gentiles. Before they believed in God, they were not God's people. Therefore it is as if he says: "I shall call those who are not my people, and they will believe in me in order to provoke you, so that although you should have been better than they are, you will be glad to be their equals." It is just as if someone has a disobedient son and in order to reform him gives half his inheritance to his slave, so that when he finally repents he may be glad if he deserves to receive even that much.

I raise again a new objection: if the apostles preached, but the Jews did not understand, do they not deserve to be excused? He resolves this objection as well. They, he says, should have understood that Christ was being preached, if not from anything else, then at least from the honor that the Gentiles were deemed worthy of. They saw that idolaters were suddenly deemed worthy of such blessings, and therefore should have been moved to emulation and concluded that this is the very people of whom Moses spoke. Not only was the greatness of the honor sufficient to move the Jews to emulation, but also the fact that a people so lowly as to not even deserve to be considered a people was deemed worthy of honor. "I will provoke you to jealousy," it is said, "by a foolish nation." For what is more senseless than the Gentiles, who worshiped wood and stone?

Then when he says, but I say: has not Israel known, he shows that they were inexcusable, because of the knowledge they had from the law and the prophets.

First, he raises the question, saying: but I say: has not Israel, i.e., the Jewish people, known the things which pertain to the mystery of Christ and to the calling of the gentiles and the fall of the Jews? They knew fully: instructed by the law (Rom 2:18); he has not dealt thus with another nation (Ps 147:20); we are happy, O Israel, because the things that are pleasing to God are made known to us (Bar 4:4).

Second, he says, first Moses says, he answers the question and shows that they did know: first, through the teaching of the law, saying, first, Moses, who is the lawgiver. By the fact that he says, first, it must not be understood as though there were two Moses, of whom he spoke of the first; but because Moses was the first, i.e., the chief teacher of the Jews: there has not risen a prophet since in Israel like Moses (Deut 34:12) or because he was the first among others to say this.

I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a nation: by a foolish nation I will anger you. Here our text has this: I will provoke them by that which is not a people and by a foolish nation I will anger them (Deut 32:21).

Two differences should be noted here.

The first in regard to gentiles, since he says, not a nation, as though unworthy to be called a nation, because the gentiles were not united in the worship of one god: there are two nations which my soul abhors, and the third is no nation, which I hate (Sir 50:27). But he called the same nation a foolish nation. If in some sense it could be called a nation, inasmuch as it is united and governed by human law, it is, nevertheless, called foolish, as though lacking true wisdom, which consists in the knowledge and worship of God: you must no longer live as the gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their minds, alienated from the life of God (Eph 4:17). And in this way it refers to the gentiles, namely in their state before conversion.

These two things can also be applied to the gentiles after conversion. They are called not a nation, i.e., not living in a gentile manner, as the Apostle says in the same place: that henceforward you walk not as also the gentiles walk (Eph 4:17). And converted gentiles are also called foolish by those who do not believe: if anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become foolish that he may be wise (1 Cor 3:18).

The second difference consists in the fact that he first mentions the jealousy, i.e., the envy with which the Jews envied the converted gentiles: they make much of you, but for no good purpose (Gal 4:17); second, he mentions the anger with which they were irked against them: the wicked man makes plots against the just man, and gnashes his teeth at him (Ps 37:12).

These two are fittingly joined, because from envy springs anger: anger kills the foolish, and envy slays the little one (Job 5:2).

But God is said to produce jealousy and stir to anger, not by causing the malice in them but by withdrawing grace, or rather by effecting the conversion of the gentiles from which the Jews take occasion for jealousy and anger.

Having made us aware of the words of Moses to talk about the rejection of the Jews, Paul here adds the testimony of the prophet Isaiah in order to make his point clearer still.… Isaiah here is speaking in the role of Christ.

"But Esaias is very bold, and saith."

Now what he means is something of this kind. He put a violence on himself, and was ambitious to speak, not something veiled over, but to set things even naked before your eyes, and choosing rather to run into dangers from being plain spoken, than by looking to his own safety, to leave you any shelter for your impenetrableness; although it was not the manner of prophecy to say this so clearly; but still to stop your mouths most completely, he tells the whole beforehand clearly and distinctly. The whole! what whole? Why your being cast out, and also their being brought in; speaking as follows, "I was found of them that sought Me not, I was made manifest of them that asked not after Me." Who then are they that sought not? who they that asked not after Him? Clearly not the Jews, but they of the Gentiles, who hitherto had not known Him. As then Moses gave their characteristic mark in the words, "no people" and "a foolish nation," so here also he takes the same ground to point them out from, viz. their extreme ignorance. And this was a very great blame to attach to the Jews, that they who sought Him not found Him, and they who sought Him lost Him.

From the context, it is obvious that this must refer to the Gentiles.

The Gentiles did not enquire after God in the law but after idols in ignorance. They asked not of God but of demons through the augurs, astrologers and haruspices of the idols.

Having said that Moses speaks first, he mentions also another prophet, who says the same thing more clearly and openly. Isaiah, he says, "is very bold," that is, he strove to express the truth in all its nakedness and preferred to expose himself to danger rather than remain silent. "I was found," it says in him, "by those who did not seek Me" and who did not ask for Me (Isa. 65:1). Those whom Moses called a foolish nation, Isaiah named as those who neither sought nor asked, that is, ignorant people and enemies of knowledge. So from all this the Jews should have understood that some were rejected and others were accepted.

Second, he shows that they knew through the teaching of the prophets, and first he quotes Isaiah as foretelling the conversion of the gentiles, saying, but Isaiah is bold and says, i.e., Isaiah boldly declares the truth, although this would put him in danger of death: he goes forth boldly to meet armed men (Job 39:21). And says: I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly to those who did not ask for me; here our text has: they have sought me who before asked not for me, they have found me who sought me not (Isa 65:1).

He mentions first the conversion of the gentiles, saying, I was found by those who did not seek me. This shows that the conversion of the gentiles was beyond their merits and intention: Christ became a servant in order that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy (Rom 15:9). About this finding Matthew says: the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field, which a man found (Matt 13:44).

Second, he shows the cause and manner of their conversion.

The cause, indeed, because it was not by chance that they found what they were not seeking but by the grace of him who willed to appear to them. This is indicated, when he says: I appeared; the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men (Titus 2:11).

The manner was that Christ did not appear to the gentiles in the enigmas and figures of the law but in plain truth; hence he says: I appeared openly. Behold, now you speak plainly and do not speak a proverb (John 16:29). I appeared openly to those, i.e., the gentiles, who did not ask after me, i.e., who did not ask for my doctrine: they keep on praying to a god that cannot save (Isa 45:20).

Here Israel refers to the Israel of the flesh, those who are children of Abraham but not according to faith. For the true Israel is spiritual and sees God by believing in him. "All day long" means "always."This passage may also refer to the Savior, who held out his hands on the cross to plead forgiveness for those who were killing him.

It appears from the holding out of his hands that God is calling the people to himself. It is also a sign pointing toward the form of the cross.

The hands of the Lord lifted up to heaven were not begging for help but were sheltering us, his miserable creatures.

"But unto Israel He saith, All the day long have I stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people."

Observe now that difficulty, which so many make a subject of question, is discovered laid up from of old in the words of the Prophet, and with a clear solution to it too. And what is this? You heard Paul say before. "What shall we say then? That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained unto righteousness. But Israel which followed after the law of righteousness hath not attained to the law of righteousness." This Esaias also says here. For to say, "I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest unto them which asked not after me," is the same with saying, "that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained unto righteousness." Then to show that what was happening was not of God's grace only, but also of the temper of those who came to Him, as also the casting off of the others came of the disputatiousness of those who disobeyed, hear what he proceeds with. "But to Israel He saith, All the day long have I stretched forth My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people;" here meaning by the day the whole period of the former dispensation. But the stretching out of the hands, means calling and drawing them to Him, and inviting them. Then to show that the fault was all their own, he says "to a disobedient and gainsaying people." You see what a great charge this is against them! For they did not obey Him even when He invited them, but they gainsaid Him, and that when they saw Him doing so, not once or twice or thrice, but the whole period. But others who had never known Him, had the power to draw Him to them. Not that he says they themselves had the power to do it, but to take away lofty imaginings even from those of the Gentiles, and to show that it was His grace that wrought the whole, He says, I was made manifest, and I was found. It may be said, Were they then void of everything? By no means, for the taking of the things found, and the getting a knowledge of what was manifested to them, was what they contributed themselves.

And Isaiah likewise mentions concerning Him the manner in which He would die, thus: "I have spread out My hands unto a people disobedient, and gainsaying, that walk in a way which is not good."

The Hebrew text does not contain the words and contrary, but here the apostle has followed the Septuagint and quoted the passage as they understood it.

The same prophet who made promises of this sort to the Gentiles issues similar warnings here to the Jews, so that you may know that both were foretold. The holding out of the hands means, allegorically, the cross.

Whence, again, it is manifest that "the city must simultaneously be exterminated" at the time when its "Leader" had to suffer in it, (as foretold) through the Scriptures of the prophets, who say: "I have outstretched my hands the whole day unto a People contumacious and gainsaying Me, who walketh in a way not good, but after their own sins." And in the Psalms, David says: "They exterminated my hands and feet: they counted all my bones; they themselves, moreover, contemplated and saw me, and in my thirst slaked me with vinegar.

Lest the Jews should have the right to say to God: You were found by the Gentiles, but You did not wish to deal with us, the prophet adds: I "all day long," that is, at all times, "stretched out My hands," that is, I drew you to Myself, but you proved to be a disobedient and obstinate people. Therefore, you are to blame, not I. I stretched out My hands to you and called you, but you did not listen. From this it is evident that the Israelites both heard and knew, but did not wish to submit.

Then he shows that Isaiah foretold the unbelief of the Jews, saying: but to Israel, i.e., against Israel, he says: all the day long have I spread my hands to a people that does not believe and contradicts me. Here our text has this: I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts. A people that continually provoke me to anger (Isa 65:2).

That he says, I have spread my hands, can be understood of Christ's hands held out on the cross, which are said to have been held out all the day long, i.e., the principal part of a whole day, namely, from the sixth hour until evening (Matt 27:45). And although during that time the sun was darkened, the rocks rent, and the graves opened, the Jews persisted in their unbelief, blaspheming him, as it says in Matthew (Matt 28:39). Hence he adds, a people that does not believe and contradicts me: consider him who endured such contradiction against himself from sinners (Heb 12:3).

In another way, it can be taken as referring to God stretching out his hands to do miracles: when you stretch out your hand to cures and signs and prodigies to be worked through the holy name of your Son Jesus (Acts 4:30). The meaning then would be: all the day, i.e., through the whole time of my preaching, I have spread my hands, by working miracles, to a people that does not believe, even when they see miracles: if I had not done the works which no other man has done, they would not have sin (John 15:24); and contradicts me, i.e., slanders my miracles: by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons (Matt 12:24); your people are like those who contradict a priest (Hos 4:4).

Third, it can be understood of God stretching out his hands to give benefits to his people, in accord with Proverbs: I stretched out my hands, and there was none who paid attention (Prov 1:24). The meaning would then be: all the day, i.e., through the whole time of the law and the prophets, I spread my hands to give benefits to a people that does not believe and contradicts me: always you have been rebellious against the Lord (Deut 31:27).

Since Paul has shown that the people of Israel did not believe, now, in order that it should not be thought that he has said that they were all unbelievers, he shows that God has not rejected the inheritance which he promised to the descendants of Abraham. For he would not have promised them a kingdom if he knew that none of them would believe.… By using himself as an example, he shows that the part of Israel which God foreknew would be saved had in fact been saved and that the part which had been consigned to perdition because of its constant unbelief might yet be saved.

This refers to what Paul said above. Only those Jews who have believed in the Lord will be counted as descendants.

Wisely, Paul does not make the plight of Israel appear worse than it is. Even though he says that the nation is struggling in its blindness, he manages to say something positive at this point.

Fearing once again that exaggerating the rejection of the Jews might lead to a choice of disobedience, Paul turns to the small remnant of the election—the apostles and their fellow believers.

"I say then, Hath God cast away His people whom He foreknew? God forbid."

And he introduces the form a person would use in doubt, as though taking occasion from what had been said, and after making this alarming statement, by the denial of it he causes the sequel to be allowed with readiness; and what by all the former arguments he had been laboring to show that he makes good here also. What then is this? That even if there be but a few saved, the promise yet stands good. This is why he does not merely say "people," but "people which He foreknew." Then proceeding with the proof that the "people" were not cast off, "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."

I, he says, the instructor, the preacher. Now since this seemed contrary to what was said before in the words, "Who hath believed our report?" and, "All the day long have I stretched forth My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people;" and, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them which are no people;" he was not satisfied with the deprecation, nor with having said, "God forbid," but makes it good by taking it up again and saying, "God hath not cast away His people." But this is not a confirmation, men may say, but an assertion. Observe then the confirmation, both the first, and that which follows it. For the first is that he was himself of that race. But He would not, if on the point of casting them off, have chosen from them him to whom He entrusted all the preaching, and the affairs of the world, and all mysteries, and the whole economy. This then is one proof, but the next, after it, is his saying, that "people whom He foreknew," that is, who He knew clearly were suited to it, and would receive the faith. For three, five, even ten thousand were believers from among them. And so to prevent any from saying, Art thou the people, then? And because thou hast been called, hath the nation been called? he proceeds.

Paul has mentioned not only his first ancestor but also the head of his tribe in order to show that he is not fabricating his claim.

Paul says that, if God had rejected his people, he would have been one of those rejected as well.

Paul could have supported his statement by referring to the 3, who believed at Jerusalem and to the many thousands spoken of by St. James, not to mention all those Jews of the diaspora who believed the message. But instead he uses himself as an example.

Having called the Jews a disobedient people, he presents himself as doubting, saying: have the promises of God not been fulfilled because the people of Israel became disobedient? No, he answers. God has not rejected His people, "whom He foreknew," that is, whom He knew to be capable of receiving the faith. "For I also am an Israelite." Then, lest anyone object: are you alone the people? he adds: God has not rejected His people, that is, others besides me—there are three thousand, there are five thousand, there is a great multitude from the people who believed, as the Acts of the Apostles show (Acts 2:41, 4:4, 5:14).

After showing that the fall of the Jews is deplorable, though not entirely excusable, the Apostle now shows that it is not universal. First, he raises a question; second, he answers it, at God forbid; third, he draws a conclusion, at what then.

First, therefore, he says: I say then: has God entirely cast away his people? i.e., the Jews, because he calls them unbelieving and contrary. Even the Psalmist asks: O God, why dost you cast us forever? (Ps 74:1); the Lord has scorned his altar (Lam 2:7).

Then when he says, God forbid, he answers the question and shows that God has not totally rejected the Jewish people. And this is what he says: God forbid that the Jewish people be rejected in their entirety. He proves this, first of all, with respect to himself, saying: for I also, living in the faith of Christ, am an Israelite by race: are they Israelites? So am I (2 Cor 11:22).

And because there were among the people of Israel some proselytes not descended in the flesh from the patriarchs, he says that this is not so of him, adding: of the seed of Abraham: are they descendants of Abraham? So am I (2 Cor 11:23).

Furthermore, among the Jewish people the tribes were distinguished according to the sons of Jacob, some of whom were sons of slaves and some of wives. Joseph and Benjamin were sons of Rachel, Jacob's fondest wife. Hence he shows his eminence among the Jewish people, saying: of the tribe of Benjamin: of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil 3:5). Hence, some apply to Paul what is in Genesis: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey, and at evening dividing the spoil (Gen 49:27).

This is what the Savior says: "Father, I have kept those whom thou didst give to me, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition."

Predestination is sometimes designated by the name of foreknowledge, as here, where "he foreknew" can only mean "he predestined," as the context of what follows demonstrates.

"He hath not cast off His people, whom He foreknew."

As though he said, I have with me three, five, or ten thousand. What then? has the people come to be three, five, or ten thousand? that seed that compared with the stars of heaven for multitude, or the sand of the sea? Is this the way you deceive us and put a cheat upon us, by making the whole people thyself and the few that are with thee; and didst thou inflate us with idle hopes, and say that the promise has been fulfilled, when all are lost, and the salvation comes down to a few? This is all bombast and vanity! we cannot away with such sophistry as this. Now, that they may not say this, see how in the sequel he proceeds to the answer, not giving the objection indeed, but before it grounding the answer to it upon ancient history. What then is the answer?

"Wot ye not," he says, "what the Scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace."

What he means is nearly this. "God hath not cast off His people." For had He done so, He would have admitted none of them. But if He did admit some, He hath not cast them off. Still it is said, if He had not cast off, He would have admitted all. This does not follow; since in Elijah's time the part to be saved had come down to "seven thousand:" and now also there are probably many that believe. But if you do not know who they are, this is no wonder, for that prophet, who was so great and good a man, did not know. But God ordered things for Himself when even the prophet knew them not. But consider his judgment. Now in proving what was before him, he covertly augments the charge against them. For this is why he gave the whole passage, that he might parade before them their untowardness, and show that they had been so from of old. For if he had not wished this, but had directed his whole attention to prove that the people lay in the few, he would have said that even in Elijah's time, seven thousand were left. But now he reads to them the passage further back, as having been throughout at pains to show that it was no strange thing that they did with Christ, and the Apostles, but their habitual practice. For to prevent their saying that it was as a deceiver we put Christ to death, and as impostors that we persecute the Apostles, he brings forward the text which says, "Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down thine altars." Then in order not to make his discourse galling to them, he attaches another reason to the bringing forward of the text. For he quotes it not as if it was on purpose to accuse them, but as if intent upon showing some other things. And he leaves them without any excuse even by what had before been done.

God has not rejected those whom he knew in advance would believe. Paul eliminates any occasion for pride among the Gentiles, in case they become boastful because so few of the Jews believed.

Second, when he says: God has not cast away, he shows that his people has not been rejected by God in regard to many chosen ones. First, he states his proposition; second, he recalls a similar situation, saying do you not know; third, he adapts it, at even so then, at this present time.

First, therefore, he says: not only have I not been rejected, but God has not cast away his people which he foreknew, i.e., the predestined ones. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined (Rom 8:29). For the Lord will not reject his people (Ps 94:14). The Apostle applies this to the predestined.

Then when he says, do you not know, he recalls a similar situation which occurred during the time of Elijah, when all the people seemed to have turned from the worship of the one God. First, he presents Elijah's plea; second, the Lord's reply, at but what does the divine answer say.

First, therefore, he says: do you not know what the Scripture says of Elias, i.e., in 1 Kings (1 Kgs 19:10). Or, of Elias, i.e., in the book written about Elijah.

For the entire book of Kings was written mainly to make known the sayings and deeds of the prophets. That is why it is counted among the prophetic books, as Jerome says. How he, namely Elijah himself, calls on God against Israel.

The word of Samuel seems to be contrary to this when he says: far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you (1 Sam 12:23). Much less, then, should one intervene against the people.

But it should be noted that prophets intervene against the people in three ways: in one way by conforming their wills to the divine will revealed to them, as it says in a psalm: the just will rejoice when he sees the vengeance (Ps 58:10). In another way by intervening against the kingdom of sin, in order that men's sins but not men be destroyed. In a third way that the intervention or prayer be construed as a denunciation, as in Jeremiah: let them that persecute me be confounded (Jer 17:18), i.e., they will be confounded.