370. Then when he says, and he was not weak, he shows Abraham’s firmness. For as temperance is shown not to be weak, because it is not overcome by strong temptations, so faith is shown not to be weak but strong, because it is not overcome by great difficulties: resist him, firm in your faith (1 Pet 5:9).
370. Deinde cum dicit et non infirmatus est, ostendit firmitatem Abrahae, quam primo proponit dicens et non infirmatus est. Sicut enim temperantia ostenditur non esse infirma, quae magnis concupiscibilibus non vincitur, ita fides ostenditur non esse infirma, sed fortis quae a magnis difficultatibus non superatur. I Petr. V, 9: cui resistite fortes in fide.
371. Second, at neither did he consider, he mentions the difficulties from which it is shown that his faith was not weak.
371. Secundo, ibi nec consideravit, etc., ponit difficultates ex quibus ostenditur fides eius non fuisse infirma.
First, on the part of Abraham himself when he says, neither did he consider, namely, to question the promise, his own body, now dead, namely, because the reproductive power in it was slack on account of old age; hence he says, whereas he was almost an hundred years old. For Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born (Gen 21:15) and it was the year before that a son had been promised him: the Lord said: I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son (Gen 18:10).
Et primo quidem ex parte ipsius Abrahae, cum dicit non consideravit, scilicet ad discernendum promissionem, corpus suum emortuum, scilicet quia iam mortificata erat in eo vis generativa propter senectutem, unde dicit cum iam fere centum annorum esset. Abrahae enim centenario existenti natus est Isaac, ut habetur Gen. XXI, 5. Per annum autem ante fuerat sibi filius promissus, secundum illud Gen. XVIII, 10: revertens veniam ad te tempore isto, et erit Sarae filius.
372. But it seems that his body was not dead as far as the reproductive power was concerned, because even after Sarah died he took another wife, Keturah, who bore him a number of sons, as is recorded in Genesis (Gen 25:1).
372. Sed videtur quod non fuit corpus eius emortuum quantum ad vim generativam, quia etiam post mortem Sarae duxit Cethuram uxorem, quae genuit ei filios, ut dicitur Gen. XXV, 1.
Some answer that the reproductive power in him was dead as far as reproducing from an old woman was concerned, but not as far as reproducing from a young woman. For old men are wont to beget offspring from the young but not from old women, who are less fit for conception. However, it seems better to say that Abraham’s reproductive power was miraculously restored both in regard to Sarah and to all women.
Dicunt ergo quidam quod mortua erat in eo vis generativa quantum ad hoc, quod ex muliere antiqua generaret, non quantum ad hoc quod generaret filium ex iuvencula. Solent enim senes ex iuvenculis mulieribus prolem gignere, non autem ex antiquis, quae sunt minus aptae ad concipiendum. Sed melius dicendum videtur quod Abrahae miraculose restituta erat vis generandi et quantum ad Saram et quantum ad omnes mulieres.
373. Second, he mentions a difficulty on the part of the wife when he says, nor the dead womb of Sarah, i.e., he does not consider it so as to question the promise.
373. Secundo ponit difficultatem ex parte uxoris, cum dicit et emortuam vulvam Sarae, scilicet non consideravit ut discrederet.
He says, dead, on account of sterility as well as old age. For it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women (Gen 18:11). Hence in Isaiah, where it is written: look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you (Isa 51:2), the preceding passage says: look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug out, in order to show the feebleness and frigidity of both.
Dicit autem emortuam quantum ad actum generandi, tum propter sterilitatem, tum propter senectutem. Iam enim desierant ei fieri muliebria, ut dicitur Gen. XVIII, 11. Et ideo Is. LI, 2 ubi dicitur: attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum et ad Saram quae vos peperit, ut ostenderet utriusque mortificationem et frigiditatem, praemisit dicens: attendite ad petram unde excisi estis, et ad cavernam laci de qua praecisi estis.
374. Then when he says, in the promise also of God, he commends Abraham’s faith in the repeated promise that his seed would be exalted.
374. Deinde cum dicit in repromissione etiam Dei, etc., commendat fidem Abrahae quantum ad iteratam promissionem de seminis exaltatione.
First, he mentions the firmness of faith;
Et primo ponit fidei firmitatem;
second, the cause of the firmness, at giving glory to God.
secundo, firmitatis causam, ibi dans gloriam Deo.
375. First, therefore, he says: in the promise also of God, i.e., the promise that his seed would be exalted or that it would be multiplied, which was repeated: look toward heaven and number the stars. . . . So shall your descendants be (Gen 15:5); you shall be the father of a multitude of nations (Gen 17:4); I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven (Gen 22:17).
375. Dicit ergo primo in repromissione etiam Dei, id est, in iterata eius promissione, vel de seminis multitudine quam promisit, primo quidem Gen. XV, 5, dicens: suspice caelum et numera stellas si potes, et infra XVII, 4: eris pater multarum gentium, et iterum infra XXII, 17: multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas caeli.
Or, in the promise of God can refer to the exaltation of his descendants, because when he had said: I will multiply your descendants, he added at once: and your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Vel intelligendum est in repromissione Dei, id est, in iterata promissione de exaltatione seminis eius, quia cum dixisset: multiplicabo semen tuum, statim subdit: possidebit semen tuum portas inimicorum tuorum, et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terrae.
Concerning this promise of God he staggered not by distrust, i.e., he did not doubt the truth of the divine promise: he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind (Jas 1:6); but was strengthened in faith, i.e., clung firmly to his belief: resist him, firm in your faith (1 Pet 5:9).
In hac quidem Dei promissione non haesitavit, id est, non dubitavit diffidentia, scilicet, quod diffideret de veritate divinae repromissionis. Iac. I, 6: qui haesitat similis est fluctui maris, et cetera. Sed confortatus est fide, id est, fortiter fidei adhaesit. I Petr. ult.: cui resistite fortes in fide.
376. Then when he says, giving glory to God, he gives the reason why Abraham’s faith was firm, for he grew strong in his faith giving glory to God by considering his omnipotence: great is his power (Ps 147:5).
376. Consequenter cum dicit dans gloriam Deo, assignat rationem firmitatis fidei eius dicens: confortatus est, inquam, fide, dans gloriam Deo, in quantum scilicet consideravit omnipotentiam eius. Ps. CXLVI, 5: magna virtus eius, et cetera.
Hence he continues: most fully knowing that whatsoever he has promised, he is able also to perform: you have power to act whenever you choose (Wis 12:18).
Unde et hic subditur plenissime sciens quia quaecumque promisit Deus, potens est et facere. Sap. XII, 18: subest tibi enim cum volueris posse.
From this it is clear that whoever is not firm in faith detracts from God’s glory either in regard to his veracity or his power.
Ex quo patet quod quicumque non est firmus in fide Dei, quantum est in se divinae gloriae derogat vel quantum ad eius veritatem, vel quantum ad eius potentiam.
377. Then when he says, and therefore it was reputed to him, he commends Abraham’s faith in regard to its effect.
377. Deinde cum dicit et reputatum est ei, commendat fidem Abrahae quantum ad eius effectum.
First, he mentions the effect it had in him, saying, and therefore, namely, because Abraham believed this so firmly, it was reputed to him unto justice: and it was reckoned to him as justice (1 Macc 2:52).
Et primo ponit effectum quem in ipso habuit, dicens: ideo, scilicet quia Abraham tam perfecte hoc ipsum credidit, reputatum est illi ad iustitiam. Mach. II, 52: et reputatum est ei ad iustitiam.
378. Second, he shows the effect which his faith had on others. In regard to this he does three things.
378. Secundo ostendit effectum, quem fides eius habet etiam in aliis. Et circa hoc tria facit.
First, he shows the likeness between the effect it had in him and in others, saying, now it is not written only for him, that it was reputed to him unto justice, so as to make us think that for Abraham alone faith was reckoned as justice, but also for us, to whom it, namely, faith, shall be reputed as justice: what things soever were written were written for our learning (Rom 15:4).
Primo ponit similitudinem effectus, dicens non autem scriptum est tantum propter ipsum, quia reputatum est illi ad iustitiam, ut scilicet reputemus quod soli Abrahae fides ad iustitiam reputata sit, sed, scriptum est, propter nos, quibus reputabitur, scilicet fides, ad iustitiam. Infra XV, 4: quaecumque scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt.
Therefore, it was written for him that he might be an example to us, and for us that he might raise our hope for justice.
Sic ergo scriptum est propter eum ut sit nobis in exemplum, et propter nos ut sit nobis in iustificationis spem.
379. Second, at if we believe in him, he shows a likeness in faith.
379. Secundo, ibi credentibus in eum, ostendit similitudinem fidei.
For what was reckoned as justice was Abraham’s faith in believing that his body, as good as dead, and the barren womb of Sarah could be vivified for procreating children. It shall be reputed also to us if we believe in him that raised up Jesus Christ, our Lord, from the dead and in God the Father, to whom he says in a psalm: but do you, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up (Ps 41:10). And because the power of the Father and of the Son is the same, he also rose by his own power.
Reputata est enim ad iustitiam fides Abrahae credenti, quod corpus suum emortuum, et emortua vulva Sarae posset vivificari ad filiorum procreationem. Reputabitur, et nobis, credentibus in eum, qui suscitavit Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum a mortuis: et in Deum Patrem, cui ipse dicit in Ps. XL, 11: tu autem, Domine, miserere mei et resuscita me. Et quia eadem est virtus Patris et Filii, ipse etiam in propria virtute surrexit.
That this faith justifies is shown below: if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him up from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom 10:9).
Quod autem haec fides iustificet, habetur infra X, 9: si confitearis in ore tuo Dominum Iesum, et in corde tuo credideris quod Deus illum suscitavit a mortuis, salvus eris.
380. Third, at who was delivered up for our sins, he assigns the cause why faith in the resurrection of Christ justifies, saying, who, namely, Christ, was delivered up, namely to death, by God the Father: he that spared not even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all (Rom 8:32), by himself: he gave himself up for us (Eph 5:25), by Judas: he who delivered me to you has the greater sin (John 19:11), and by the Jews: they will deliver him to the gentiles to be mocked (Matt 20:19).
380. Tertio, ibi qui traditus est, etc., assignat causam quare fides resurrectionis Christi iustificet, dicens qui, scilicet Christus, traditus est, scilicet in mortem, a Deo Patre, infra VIII, 31: proprio Filio suo non pepercit Deus, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum; et a seipso, Eph. V, 25: tradidit semetipsum pro nobis; et a Iuda, Io. XIX, 11: qui me tradidit tibi maius peccatum habet; et a Iudaeis, Matth. XX, 19: tradent eum gentibus ad illudendum.
And rose again for our justification, i.e., to justify us by rising: that, as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4).
Et resurrexit propter iustificationem nostram, id est, ut nos resurgendo iustificaret. Infra VI, 4: quomodo Christus resurrexit a mortuis per gloriam Patris, ita et nos in novitate vitae ambulemus.
That he was put to death for our sins seems plain from the fact that by his death he merited the remission of our sins, but he did not merit by rising, because in the risen state he was not a pilgrim but one who had arrived.
Et quod propter delicta nostra sit traditus in mortem, manifestum videtur ex hoc quod sua morte meruit nobis deletionem peccatorum, sed resurgendo non meruit, quia in statu resurrectionis non fuit viator, sed comprehensor.
Therefore, it must be said that Christ’s death was salutary for us not only by way of merit but also by way of effecting it. For since Christ’s human nature was somehow the instrument of his divinity, as Damascene says, all the acts and sufferings of his human nature were salutary for us, considering that they flowed from the power of his divinity. But because an effect has to some extent a similarity to its cause, the Apostle says that Christ’s death, by which mortal life was extinguished in him, is the cause of extinguishing our sins. But his resurrection, by which he returns to a new life of glory, he calls the cause of our justification, by which we return to the new life of justice.
Et ideo dicendum est quod mors Christi fuit nobis salutaris, non solum per modum meriti sed etiam per modum cuiusdam efficientiae. Cum enim humanitas Christi esset quodammodo instrumentum divinitatis eius, ut Damascenus dicit, omnes passiones et actiones humanitatis Christi fuerunt nobis salutiferae, utpote ex virtute divinitatis provenientes. Sed quia effectus habet aliqualiter similitudinem causae, mortem Christi, qua extincta est in eo mortalis vita, dicit esse causam extinctionis peccatorum nostrorum: resurrectionem autem eius qua redit ad novam vitam gloriae, dicit esse causam iustificationis nostrae, per quam redimus ad novitatem iustitiae.
Chapter 5
Caput 5
Redemption from Death by Christ
Redemptio ex Mortem per Christum
Lecture 1
Lectio 1
Glory in hope and tribulation
Gloria in spe et tribulatione
5:1 Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: [n. 381]
5:1 Justificati ergo ex fide, pacem habeamus ad Deum per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum: [n. 381]
5:2 By whom also we have access through faith into this grace wherein we stand: and glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God. [n. 383]
5:2 per quem et habemus accessum per fidem in gratiam istam, in qua stamus, et gloriamur in spe gloriae filiorum Dei. [n. 383]
5:3 And not only so: but we glory also in tribulation, knowing that tribulation works patience;
5:3 Non solum autem, sed et gloriamur in tribulationibus: scientes quod tribulatio patientiam operatur:
5:4 And patience trial; and trial hope;
5:4 patientia autem probationem, probatio vero spem,