MISCELLANEOUS. COMMENTARY OF THEODORET, Bishop OF CYRUS, IN SYRIA, ON ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. (Continued from page 237.) 1. What shall we then say that Abraham our father hath found, as pertaining to the flesh? What righteousness, says he, before he believed in God, have we heard that Abraham our father had as his own by works? for as pertaining to the flesh means that which is of works, inasmuch as it is by our fleshly bodies that works are done. 2. For if Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.* The full performance of good works crowns the doers with the prize, but does not exhibit the loving-kindness of God; while faith sets forth both the disposition of the believer towards God, and the lovingkindness of God, who by accepting such faith proclaims him who has acquired it, victorious. And this he confirms by the testimony of Scripture, 3. For what saith Scripture? Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. For the blessed Abraham obtained not the divine attestation by living according to the law, but enjoyed the riches of justification by believing on Him that called him. 4. Now to him that earneth it by his works the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt. For the doer of righteousness demands his reward, while the righteousness which is of faith is the free gift of the God of all, as is further exhibited in what follows, 5. But to him that earneth it not by his works, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.† Having thus, in the instance of the patriarch Abraham, demonstrated that faith was older than the law, he now again calls in another trustworthy witness of this,-David the prophet and king, to whom the God of all renewed the promises made to Abraham. For as he had promised to Abraham, (Gen. xxii. 18,) that "in his seed He would bless all nations," in like manner did He proclaim to the most excellent David, (Ps. lxxxix. 35, 38,) "Once have I sworn in my holiness that I will not fail David. His seed remaineth for ever, and His throne as the sun before Me, and as the moon established for ever, and faithful is the witness in heaven :" and again, (v. 25,) “I will set His hand also in the sea, and His right hand in the rivers:" and again, (Ps. lxxii. 11,) "Yea all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him :" and such like. And since then he had shown that the blessed Abraham had obtained justification by faith, but then Abraham lived before the establishment of the law, it was necessary that he should now show that David, who The exposition would seem to interpret, "he indeed might boast, but it would refer not at all to God.” ἀλλ' οὐ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. + See note on chapter iii. v. 24. Our author of course is, with St. Paul, reprobating works as a meritorious cause, but not as indispensable conditions; Mosaic, and not evangelical. See exp. end of this chapter. lived under the law, himself also bore witness to (the covenant of) grace; and accordingly he says, 6. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7. Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8. Blessed is the man, to whom the Lord will not impute sin. The law, says he, brought punishment on such as sinned, but the prophet speaks of the blessedness of those, who have received forgiveness of their sins. It is evident, therefore, that he is speaking of the blessedness of our own condition, and foretelling the free gifts of grace; and this grace he shows is open to all, saying interrogatively, 9. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? And then again he establishes his position by the case of the patriarch Abraham, For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. He proves that faith is older not merely than the law, but than circumcision itself, and that while circumcision was yet unestablished, the patriarch received the testimony of his righteousness, the righteousness which is of faith. How then could he need circumcision, while having already obtained the righteousness which is of faith? This he clearly explains, 11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised. Circumcision itself, says he, is not righteousness, but a testimony of righteousness, and a seal and sign of that faith, which he had exhibited before he was circumcised. That he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. 12. And the father of circumcision. Here we must make a full stop. For herein he shows that the patriarch first was the father of such as believed, being uncircumcised, inasmuch as he himself, while uncircumcised, offered to God the tribute of faith; and then of the Jews also, as of those who were sharers with him in the circumcision; and this he lays down again, yet more clearly, in what follows, Not to them only who are of the circumcision, but to them also who walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had while yet uncircumcised. For if any one sprung from the Gentiles, and not having received circumcision, should follow in the footsteps of that faith of the patriarch, which he had before his own circumcision, he would not fail of relationship to him; in that the God of all, foreseeing, as God, that He would hereafter gather together one people of the Gentiles, and the Jews, and extend to them salvation through faith, represented both of old in the patriarch Abraham. And thus then he calls him the father of the Gentiles, in having shown that he had acquired, before his circumcision, the righteousness which is of faith, and after his circumcision, had not walked under the Mosaic law, but continued under the guidance of the same faith; in order that both Jews and Greeks, looking to him, might in common aim at his faith, neither the one anxious for his circumcision, nor the other his uncircumcision, for it is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but faith which the holy Scripture speaks of as (the mean of v. 3, 5, 9, &c.) righteousness. Having thus shown that faith was both older and more excellent than the law, he now also shows that the law was subsequent to the promise given to Abraham, in order thereby to make it manifest that (the covenant of) grace was itself also anterior to the law, seeing that of this it was, that the promises were given to Abraham; for the promise was, that "in his seed all the nations should be blessed," which promise received its accomplishment in Christ. 13. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith: for it was by believing in God, and not by walking according to the Mosaic law, that he received the promise of the blessing of the nations. 14. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect; for if they who live according to the law obtain the promised blessings, in vain did Abraham believe in God, and false and not true were the promises made to him by God. 15. Because the law worketh wrath; for it is the character of the law to punish the transgressors thereof; by wrath he means punishment; for where no law is there is no transgression, for the law punishes the violators of it, for with the law are connected observance and violation; some through zeal for virtue preferring to keep it, and some through love of ease carelessly suffering themselves to violate it. 16. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. He puts down the arrogance of the Jews by applying the name, seed of Abraham, to such as imitated the faith of Abraham, however aliens in blood. But if then, while the law punishes transgressors, (the covenant of) grace gives forgiveness of sins, it confirms thereby the promise made by God, in bringing that blessing on the nations. And as He had called Abraham, the father both of the nations, and of the Jews, be supports the expression by testimony from Scripture, 17. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, and then he strengthens this testimony by an evidence, Before Him whom he believed, even God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. For as, says he, God is the Maker of all, and the God, and carer for, all, so did He constitute Abraham, the father of all, not of the Jews only, but of all who believe. And he (next) exhibits the greatness of Abraham's faith, 18. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, "So shall thy seed be." 19. And not being weak in faith so as to consider his own body now dead, being about an hundred years old, neither the deadness of Sarah's womb; for while he saw that his wife was barren, that the impotency of old age lay upon both, and that there appeared not, according to human calculation, the smallest hope of child-bearing, and was unable to produce a single similar instance from earlier times for his encouragement, he yet welcomed the divine promise with confidence; for against hope means hope from nature; in hope, confidence in the divine promise. 20. But he staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God: 21. And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. For he looked not to the impotence of nature, but trusted, without doubting, in the Creator of that nature. 22. Wherefore also it was imputed unto him for righteousness; that is, faith was. Having thus shown that faith flourished among those, who were under the law, and those also who lived before it, he turns his discourse to the object proposed. 23. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that faith was reckoned unto him for righteousness, 24. But for us also, to whom it shall be reckoned, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Thus then the patriarch, while he saw the womb of his wife dead, yet believed that it was easy for God to fulfil his promise; and thus then we, while we hear the Jews declaring that our Lord Christ is dead, believe that He is risen again; wherefore we, in our turn, gather the fruits of faith, and enjoy the righteousness springing therefrom. For not for nothing were recorded the things which the Lord God did regarding the patriarch Abraham, but that we, beholding them, might exhibit the like faith ourselves. He that raised up our Lord Christ is spoken of His humanity, for, in the nature in which He suffered, in that it was that He arose, and the suffering was of the flesh, and not of the impassible Godhead. 25. Who was delivered up for our offences, and was raised again for our justification; for for our offences He underwent His passion, that He might pay off our debt, and that His resurrection might work out the common resurrection of all; for by it we both gain the means of our own justification, and, being buried with Him in baptism, receive remission of sins. Having thus shown the power of faith, and displayed the gifts of (the covenant of) grace, he now turns his discourse to exhortation, bidding us also take heed to the practice of virtue; for having said that, when (the covenant of) faith was revealed, the law became superseded, and that the patriarch had attained the righteousness which is of faith, it was necessary that he should add moral counsels, lest such as lived at ease should take occasion from hence to neglect practical virtue, under the plea that faith alone was sufficient* for justification. (To be continued.) DEFECTS OF OUR ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEM, AND THEIR REMEDIES. SIR, I HAVE in my last communications chiefly dwelt on the means whereby an approximation to an equality of income might be arrived. at among the parochial clergy; not so much because I thought that a true reform of our existing system consisted in it, or that it really was a matter of the last importance in itself (for I think quite the contrary); but because it was so esteemed by public opinion, and the recommendations of the Ecclesiastical Commission pointed that way. Now, however, that the tide is beginning to turn, and we may trust that we have escaped the dangers to the Church which those recommendations threatened, I shall content myself with merely having thus shown how, if such schemes are now or at any future time to be insisted on, they may be carried into effect with the greatest advantage, or rather, I should say, with the least inconvenience. The foundation of a sound and healthy reform must be laid, I am convinced, in the five following measures, to which I am now going to advert. Two of these have been already partially considered, viz. :— a revival of Convocation, under its old, or a modified form; and some limitations on the Statute of Præmunire, whereby other considerations than those merely political ones which too generally influence the administration of the time being, might at least be not entirely overlooked. All other alterations, if these be not among them, will assuredly be found worse than useless; at least, such is the opinion of one who has bestowed no small share of attention on these questions in all their bearings. The three remaining points relate respectively to Ecclesiastical Discipline, the Education of the Clergy, and the establishment of a graduated system of control over the Parochial Clergy. Our Ecclesiastical Discipline is admitted without a dissentient voice to be utterly defective. The remedy I would propose is a plan borrowed from the admirable system by which the army and navy are governed; each bishop to have the power to summon a body of clergymen to try the merits of any alleged complaints brought before him against any individual clergyman, similar to a court martial; there being a right of appeal to our supreme courts in order to control, and give uniformity to, the decisions of these inferior tribunals. Nothing can be less adapted to the present state and exigencies of the Church, than the present mode of admission into Holy Orders. The preceding examination varies in almost every diocese. The chaplain of one bishop has the character of being too rigorous-another is blamed for an undue facility—whilst charges are occasionally heard, though probably without the least foundation, from which all such examinations as these, which are in reality private, can never be wholly free, but from which the public ones of our Universities enjoy a noble exemption. The remedy will be found in the appointment by the whole bench of bishops of a certain number of public examiners, who should hold their meetings for that purpose, at very short intervals, in London, the Universities, Durham, and some central part of Wales. They should have to decide on the qualifications of the candidates, physical (which is now entirely overlooked), moral and theological. To fit them for such an ordeal, a portion of the time now devoted to general education should be strictly given to Theology in all its branches, especially Ecclesiastical History, Christian Antiquities, with Dogmatic and Controversial Divinity. Two years thus devoted is surely hardly too much to fit men for a profession. At present, I dare not do more than barely hint at the defects of our system in this respect. A more strictly professional education, bearing some analogy to what takes place in every other profession and calling, is one of the great desiderata to which our attention should be directed, rather than to the mere pecuniary equalization of incomes, and other popular illusions. The Reformation, which abolished so many dignities, and destroyed so much of that graduated machinery whereby the lowest number of the ministry was controlled and united to the highest, happily left us the Cathedrals; and it is well known that these establishments were greatly admired, and designed for the most important purposes, by Cramner and |