2:1 Dead in Trespasses and Sins
Dead in Sin. Marius
Victorinus: Death is
understood in two ways. The first is the familiar definition—when the soul is
separated from the body at the end of life. The second is that, while abiding
in that same body, the soul pursues the desires of the flesh and lives in sin. Epistle
to the Ephesians 1.2.1–2.
The Soul Sins from Choice,
Not Nature. Chrysostom:
There is a distinction between the death of the body and the death of the soul.
There is no reproach in the death of the body as such and hence no moral danger
since there is no reproach. The body’s death is merely a matter of nature, not
of choice. This death had its origin in the transgression of the first human
being, and thereafter it has had its subsequent effect on nature. Its release
will be swift. But the death of the soul is the result of free choice. Hence it
entails reproach, from which there is no easy release. It is a much weightier
task to heal a deadened soul than to raise a dead body, as Paul has already
shown. Yet this is what has now happened, incredible as it may be. Homily on
Ephesians 4.2.1–3.
Trespass Distinguished from
Sin. Jerome: [The Greeks]
speak of trespass as the first step toward sin. It is when a secret thought
steals in, and, though we offer a measure of collusion, it does not yet drive
us on to ruin.… But sin is something else. It is when the collusion is actually
completed and reaches its goal. Epistle to the Ephesians 1.2.1 seq. (Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, ed. M. J. Edwards [Ancient
Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press,
1999], 127-28)