97. Corpus enim dividitur contra umbram. Infra eodem: quae sunt umbra futurorum, et cetera. Et sic Deum contingit dupliciter inhabitare, vel secundum umbram, vel corporaliter, id est realiter. Primo modo inhabitabat in veteri lege, sed in Christo inhabitabat corporaliter, id est realiter et secundum veritatem.
97. A body is distinguished from its shadow: which are a shadow of things to come: but the body is of Christ (Col 2:17). And so God can indwell in two ways, either as a shadow or bodily, that is, really. The first way is the way he dwelt in the old law, but in Christ he dwells bodily, that is, really and truly.
Secundo modo exponitur, quia alii sancti inhabitantur solum secundum animam, non secundum corpus. Rom. VII, 18: scio quod non habitat in me, id est in carne mea, bonum; sed in Christo divinitas inhabitat corporaliter: quia inhabitatio Dei, qua sanctos inhabitat, est per operationem, idest per amorem et cognitionem, quod est opus solius mentis rationalis; sed in Christo inhabitat per assumptionem hominis in unitatem personae. Unde quidquid pertinet ad hominem, totum inhabitatur a Deo: et ideo caro et mens inhabitatur, quia ambo sunt unita Verbo. Io. c. I, 14: et, Verbum caro factum est.
This passage is explained in a second way by saying that God dwells in the other saints only with respect to their souls, and not in their bodies: for I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh (Rom 7:18). But the divinity dwells in Christ bodily, because the indwelling of God in the saints is by an activity, that is, by love and knowledge, which are actions of a rational mind alone, but God dwells in Christ by assuming a man into the unity of his person. And thus whatever relates to this man is indwelt by God; and thus his flesh and mind are indwelt because both are united to the Word: and the Word became flesh (John 1:14).
Sed tertio modo est sensus. Tribus enim modis est Deus in rebus. Unus est communis per potentiam, praesentiam, et essentiam; alius per gratiam in sanctis; tertius modus est singularis in Christo per unionem. Corpus autem tres dimensiones habet. Et plenitudo divinitatis his modis in Christo superabundat; ideo corporaliter dicitur in eo esse. Et primus quidem modus est quasi longitudo, quia se extendit ad omnia; item latitudo est per caritatem; item quantum ad profundum, incomprehensibilis.
The third explanation of this passage is as follows: God is in things in three ways. One way is common, that is, by his power, presence and essence. He is present in another way in the saints, that is, by grace. The third way is found only in Christ, and he is present here by union. Now a body has three dimensions, and the fullness of the divinity superabounds in Christ in these ways. And so the deity is said to be in him bodily. The fullness of the divinity is in Christ, as it were, by length, because it extends to all things; it is in him by breadth, that is, in its charity, and it is in him in its depth, that is, in its incomprehensibility.
98. Sed ex hoc Nestorius errat, dicens unionem factam per inhabitationem tantum, dicens Verbum inhabitasse carnem. Sed contra hoc est quod Apostolus dicit, Phil. II, 7: exinanivit semetipsum, et cetera. Habitare autem hominem non est exinanire, sed hominem fieri, et subdit: in similitudinem hominum factus, et ideo habitabilis dicitur Christus, non quasi alius sit qui habitat et qui inhabitatur, sed ipse est et homo et Deus, in quo habitat plenitudo divinitatis.
98. Nestorius was mistaken on this point: he said that this union was brought about entirely by an indwelling, the Word dwelling in the flesh. But the Apostle does not agree with this, for he says in Philippians: he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:7). Now when one dwells in a man he does not empty himself; one empties oneself by becoming man. And so Paul continues, being born in the likeness of man. And so Christ is indwelt, but not in the sense that the one indwelling and the one dwelt in are distinct, but in the sense that Christ is both man and God, in whom dwells the fullness of the deity.
99. Deinde cum dicit et estis in illo, etc., ostendit idem per comparationem ad alios. Quasi dicat: omnia accepistis. Io. I, v. 16: de plenitudine eius, et cetera.
99. Then when he says, and you are filled in him, he shows the same thing by relating Christ to others. He is saying, in effect: you have received all things: from his fullness have we all received (John 1:16).
Sciendum est autem quod Platonici dicunt, quod divina dona perveniunt ad homines mediantibus substantiis separatis. Et hoc est verum etiam secundum Dionysium, sed hoc est quoddam speciale, quia ab eo immediate qui replet angelos. Io. I, 18: unigenitus Dei Filius, qui est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit, et cetera. Hebr. II, 3: cum initium accepisset enarrari per Dominum ab his qui audierunt, et cetera.
We should note that the Platonists teach that all divine gifts come to men by the mediation of the separated substances; and this is true even according to Dionysius. But this is something special, that we receive divine gifts immediately from him who is the fullness of the angels: the only Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known (John 1:18); it was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him (Heb 2:3).
100. Et ideo dicit qui est caput omnis principatus et potestatis, inquantum est rex eorum et Dominus, non per conformitatem naturae, quia sic caput est hominum. Et tangit istos ordines, qui videntur habere quamdam praeeminentiam.
100. And so Paul continues, who is the head of all principality and power, insofar as he is their king and Lord, not by a likeness of nature, because that is the way he is the head of man. And Paul mentions those orders which seem to have a certain preeminence.
Lectio 3
Lecture 3
Consepulti et resurrecti cum Christo
Buried and raised with Christ
2:11 in quo et circumcisi estis circumcisione non manu facta in expoliatione corporis carnis, sed in circumcisione Christi: [n. 101]
2:11 In whom also you are circumcised with circumcision not made with hands in despoiling of the body of the flesh: but in the circumcision of Christ. [n. 101]
2:12 consepulti ei in baptismo, in quo et resurrexistis per fidem operationis Dei, qui suscitavit illum a mortuis. [n. 106]
2:12 Buried with him in baptism: in whom also you are risen again by the faith of the operation of God who has raised him up from the dead. [n. 106]
2:13 Et vos cum mortui essetis in delictis, et praeputio carnis vestrae, convivificavit cum illo, donans vobis omnia delicta: [n. 109]
2:13 And you, when you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, forgiving you all offences: [n. 109]
2:14 delens quod adversus nos erat chirographum decreti, quod erat contrarium nobis, et ipsum tulit de medio, affigens illud cruci: [n. 112]
2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross. [n. 112]
2:15 et expolians principatus, et potestates traduxit confidenter, palam triumphans illos in semetipso. [n. 116]
2:15 And despoiling the principalities and powers, he has exposed them confidently in open show, triumphing over them in himself. [n. 116]
101. Supra munivit fideles contra deceptiones saecularis sapientiae, hic instruit et munit eos contra haereticos, volentes eos ad legalia trahere, quos
101. Above, Paul warned the faithful against the deceptions of the worldly philosophers; here he instructs and warns them against those heretics who wanted to drag them into the observances of the law.
primo docet vitare;
First, he instructs them to avoid such persons;
secundo excludit eorum falsam seductionem, ibi nemo, et cetera.
second, he rejects the false enticements they used, at let no man seduce (Col 2:18).
Iterum prima in duas, quia
In regard to the first, he does two things:
primo ostendit legalia esse impleta in Christo;
first, he shows that the observances of the law were completed in Christ;
secundo ea excludit, ostendens quod non tenentur ad ipsa, ibi nemo vos.
and second, he rejects these observances, showing that they are not bound to follow them, at let no man therefore judge (Col 2:16).
102. Inter legalia autem primum est circumcisio, in qua Iudaei profitebantur observantiam veteris legis: sicut nos in baptismo profitemur observantiam novae legis. Gal. V, 3: testificor omni circumcidenti se, quoniam debitor est universae legis faciendae. Unde dicit quod fideles sunt circumcisi quadam spirituali circumcisione. Ex quo sequitur quod illa cessat. Unde
102. Among the observances of the law, the first was circumcision. By this, the Jews professed their observance of the old law, just as we profess our observance of the new law by baptism: I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law (Gal 5:3). So Paul says that the faithful have been circumcised with a certain spiritual circumcision, from which it follows that the other has ceased.
primo ostendit quali circumcisione sunt circumcisi;
First, he shows what kind of circumcision they have received;
secundo in quo accipitur haec circumcisio, ibi consepulti;
and second, how it was received, at buried with him.
tertio assignat rationem huius circumcisionis, ibi et vos cum mortui.
Finally, he tells why they were circumcised in this way, at and you, when you were dead.
103. Circa primum sciendum est quod duplex est circumcisio, scilicet carnalis et spiritualis. Per Christum vero sumus circumcisi, non circumcisione carnali, sed spirituali. Et ideo primo excludit carnalem; secundo adstruit spiritualem.
103. In regard to the first, we should note that there are two kinds of circumcision, bodily and spiritual. We have been circumcised by Christ with a spiritual circumcision, and not by the bodily kind. So first Paul eliminates such a bodily circumcision, and then explains about this spiritual circumcision.
Dicit ergo: in quo, scilicet Christo, circumcisi estis circumcisione non manufacta. Rom. II, 28: non enim qui in manifesto Iudaeus est; neque quae in manifesto in carne est circumcisio, sed qui in abscondito Iudaeus est, et circumcisio cordis in spiritu, non littera, et cetera.
Paul continues: in whom, that is, in Christ, also you are circumcised with circumcision not made with hands: for he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal (Rom 2:28).
104. In expoliatione corporis carnis. Hoc dupliciter potest legi. Uno modo sic. Dico: circumcisi, non manufacta circumcisione, vos dico manentes, in expoliatione, etc., id est, carnalis corruptionis, secundum illud I Cor. XV, 50: caro et sanguis regnum Dei non possidebunt, etc.; quasi dicat: ideo circumcisi, quia non habetis iam vitia carnis. Infra III, 9: expoliantes vos veterem hominem cum actibus suis, et cetera.
104. In despoiling of the body of the flesh. This can be understood in two ways. In the first way Paul says that you are circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in despoiling of the body of the flesh, that is, by putting off the corruption of the flesh: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (1 Cor 15:50). He is saying in effect: you have been circumcised because you no longer have the vices of the flesh: stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds (Col 3:9).
Vel, dico, circumcisione non manufacta, quae circumcisio manufacta consistit in expoliatione corporis carnis, quae abscinditur ab alia. Unde alia littera habet: cutis carnis, scilicet corporis carnis, id est particulae corporis, quae est caro, non quod aliud sit corpus et aliud caro. Et dicit carnis, alludens legi, ubi fit mentio de carne. Gen. XVII, 11: circumcidetis carnem praeputii vestri, et cetera. Et hoc ut ostenderet, quod est quaedam carnalis observantia.
Another explanation would be: you have been circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, which circumcision made with hands consists in a despoiling of the body of the flesh which is cut from it. And so in another version of this passage we find skin of the flesh, instead of body of flesh, that is, putting off a small part of the body which is flesh. The meaning is not that the body is one thing and the flesh another. Paul uses the word flesh to refer us back to the law, where it speaks of flesh: you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins (Gen 17:11). He uses this word also to show that it is a carnal observance.
105. Sed nos non tali sumus circumcisi, sed circumcisione Christi. Sicut enim Christus assumpsit similitudinem carnis peccati, id est carnem passibilem, ut a peccato liberaret; ita et remedia legis, ut a legis observantia liberaret. Vel quam Christus facit in nobis, quae est spiritualis circumcisio, ut dicitur Rom. II, 29, non littera, sed spiritu.
105. But we are not circumcised in that way, but with the circumcision of Christ. For just as Christ accepted a likeness to sinful flesh, that is, flesh that could suffer, in order to free us from sin, so he also accepted the remedies contained in the law, so that he could free us from the observances of the law. Or, we could interpret the circumcision of Christ to mean the circumcision which Christ accomplishes in us, which is a spiritual circumcision: spiritual and not literal (Rom 2:29).
106. Secundo ostendit quod adepti sumus eam in Baptismo, et sic Baptismus est spiritualis circumcisio. Et
106. Second, he shows that we have received this circumcision in baptism, and so baptism is a spiritual circumcision.
primo ostendit quod in Baptismo exhibetur figura mortis Christi;
And first, he shows that in baptism we have a symbol of Christ’s death;
secundo quod in eo accipitur conformitas ad resurrectionem Christi, ibi in quo et resurrexistis.
second, that in baptism we receive a likeness to his resurrection, at in whom also you are risen.
107. Dicit ergo consepulti, et cetera. Quia in eo exprimitur similitudo mortis Christi, ut sicut Christus ponitur primo in cruce, et postea in sepulchro: ita qui baptizatur, ponitur sub aqua, et ter, sicut stetit Christus triduo in sepulchro. Consepulti etiam, id est, baptizati ad similitudinem mortis Christi, ut sicut in ea destruxit peccatum, ita et in Baptismo.
107. So Paul says: buried with him in baptism, because in our baptism we find a likeness to Christ’s death, and it is this: just as Christ was put into the tomb, after having been put on the cross, so a person who is baptized is put under the water, and this is done three times, just as Christ was three days in the tomb. Again, you were buried with him in baptism, that is, your baptism was like the death of Christ, for as his death destroyed sin, so also does your baptism.
108. Et sicut resurrexit de sepulchro, ita et nos a peccatis in re, et a corruptione carnis in spe. Et hoc per fidem operationis Dei, quia virtute Dei resuscitatus est. Ps. XL, 11: resuscita me, et retribuam eis, et cetera. Et credens hanc resurrectionem fit particeps huius resurrectionis. Rom. VIII, 11: qui suscitavit Iesum Christum a mortuis, vivificabit et mortalia corpora vestra. Sed et Christus resuscitavit se. Eadem est enim operatio Patris et Filii. Ps. CVII, 3: exurgam diluculo, et cetera.
108. And just as Christ rose from the tomb, so we rise from our sins in the present, and from the corruption of the flesh in hope. This is accomplished by the faith of the operation of God, because it was by the power of God that Christ was raised: raise me up, that I may requite them (Ps 41:10). And by believing in this resurrection we come to share in it: he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies (Rom 8:11). But Christ also raised himself, because the action of the Father and of the Son is the same: I will awake the dawn (Ps 108:2).
109. Deinde cum dicit et vos cum, etc., ostendit rationem similitudinis; et
109. Then when he says, and you, when you were dead, he shows the nature of this likeness.
primo ostendit similitudinem;
First, he states the likeness;