English text used: Pelagius, Commentaries on the Thirteen Epistles of Paul with the Libellus Fidei (trans. Thomas P. Scheck; Ancient Christian Writers 76; New York: The Newman Press, 2022), hereafter “Scheck”
Latin text consulted: Alexander
Souter, Pelagius's Exposition of Thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, II: Text and
Apparatus Criticus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1926), hereafter
“Souter”
Rom 1:23
Not
into the likeness merely of a human being, but [into] the likeness of the image
of a human being, . . . (Scheck, 51)
Cf.
Ambrosiaster (Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians, trans. Bray,
11): “Not into men, but what is worse and is an inexcusable offence, into the
image of men.” (Scheck, 375 n. 14)
Rom 3:28
Some
people misuse this passage for the abolition of works of justice. They assert
that faith alone can be sufficient [for the baptized] (Abutuntur quidam hoc
loco ad destructionem operum iustitiae, solam fidem [baptizato]) . . . He did
not mean without the works of justice, about which blessed James says, “Faith
without works is dead” [Jas 2:26]. But here he is speaking about the one who is
coming to Christ and is saved by faith alone, as soon as he believes.
But by adding works of the law, he shows that there is also a work of
grace [which the baptized ought to undertake] (addendo autem 'operibus legis,'
ostendit esse et[iam] gratiae opera[m] [quae debent facere baptizati]). (Scheck,
64; Souter, 34)
Rom 4:5
By
faith alone God justifies the ungodly person converts, not by the good
works he did not have (per solam fidem iustificat deus, non per opera bona quae
non habuit) (Scheck, 65; Souter, 36)
Ambrosiaster
uses the phrase “faith alone” repeatedly in this section of his commentary. (Scheck,
378 n. 41)
Rom 5:1
For
Abraham was the first to be justified by faith alone (ex sola primum
fide iustifactus est). (Scheck, 69; Souter, 41)
Wiles,
Divine Apostle, 112n7, notes that Pelagius frequently uses the words
“faith alone” without any qualification (cf. Rom 11:25; 2 Cor 5:19; Gal 1:3,
12; 2:2, 14, 17, 20; 3:5, 6, 14, 22, 26; 5:11; 6:16; Eph 2:8, 16; 3:11; Phil
3:3, 9; 4:11). But it is clear from his more detailed statements that he
regards it as a first step which is of no value apart from the subsequent
works” (cf. Rom 3:28; 4:5; 1 Cor 9:21; Gal 3:10). (Scheck, 378-79 n. 44)
Rom 5:12
“Wherefore
as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death.” By example and
model. Just as through Adam sin arrived, when it did not yet exist, so also,
when justice remained in nearly no one, it was revived through Christ. And just
as death entered through the sin of the former, so also life was
restored through the justice of the latter. “And so [death] passed upon all
people, in that (in quo) all have sinned.” As long as they sin in this way, in
a similar way they die for it [i.e., death[ did not pass upon Abraham, Isaac
[and Jacob], [of whom the Lrod says, “for all are alive in him” (Luke 2:30)].
But here he says that all are dead because, among the multitude of
sinners, no exception is made for the few just ones, just as in this verse:
“There is none that does good, no not one” [Ps 14:1; Rom 3:12], [and “every]
person is a liar” [Ps 116:11; Rom 3:4]. Or: It passed upon all those
who were living according to human, not heavenly observance. (Scheck, 71-72;
Souter, 45)
In
quo is the peculiar Old Latin rendering
of the Greek εφ ω, which was incorporated into the Vulgate and
interpreted as a relative clause “in whom” referring to humanity’s presence in
Adam. The Greek construction clearly has a causal or condition sense. Pelagius
understands Paul’s sense to be conditional: Adam’s descendants will die if they
imitate him by sinning. De Bruyn, Pelagius’s Commentary on St. Paul’s
Epsitle to the Romans, 92n23 observes that Pelagius’s view is not unlike
Ambrosiaster’s in spite of the latter’s understanding that in quo means
that all sinned in Adam “as in a lump.” “[Ambrosiaster] explained further that
only physical death is the result of sinning in Adam, whereas spiritual
death is the result of sinning like Adam” (italics in original). (Scheck,
380 n. 54)
Rom 6:3-7
6:3 “or do you not know this, [brethren]?” Or do
you not know this very sacrament of baptism? “That all who are baptized in
Christ Jesus.” Baptism is understood in three ways in the Scriptures: of water,
of the Holy Spirit, who is also called “fire” [cf. >uke 3:16; Acts 1:5], and
of blood in martyrdom, about which [our] Saviour said, “I have a baptism to be
baptized” [Luke 12:50]. “We are baptized in his death.” So that we might die
with him in baptism. 6:4 “For we were buried together with him through
baptism into death that as Christ arose from the dead by the glory of the
Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.” He shows that we are baptized
on account of these things in such a way that, through the mystery, we are
buried together with Christ, dying to sins and renouncing our former life. So
just as [the Father] is glorified in the resurrection of the Son, so also he is
honored by the newness of our manner of life, so that not even the signs
of the old man [cf. Rom 6:6] might be known in us. For we should not want or wish
for anything that those who are not yet baptized, and are still entangled in
the errors of the old life, want or wish for. 6:5 “For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, at the same time we shall be in
the likeness of his resurrection.” If we are buried with him now, then we shall
also be able to be sharers in his resurrection, and if we have become
new and changed in our manner of life, likewise shall we be new and changed in
glory. 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man.” Who was sinning by
imitating the old earthly Adam [cf. 1 Cor 15:47]. “Was crucified
together.” Understand that through baptism you who have been made a member of
the body of Christ [cf. Eph 5:30] have been crucified with Christ. And
he indeed hangs (adpendit) his innocent body, so that [you] might
suspend (suspendas) your guilty body form the vices. In reference to
this mystery, Moses suspends the bronze serpent in the desert [cf. Num 21:9;
John 3:14]. “That the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may
serve sin no longer.” That is, so that all vices might be destroyed, since one
vice is a member of sin, all [of them] are the body. For Christ was crucified
not partially, but wholly. Or: That our body might be destroyed from servitude
to sin, and what was accustomed to being [the possession] of sin might become
the possession of justice. For “whoever commits sin is a salve of sin” [John
8:34]. 6:7 “For one who has died is justified (iustifactus) from sin.”
That is, he has been alienated from sin; for a dead person does not sin at all.
So also “he who is born of God, does not sin” [1 John 3:9]. For he shall
scarcely be ale to sin since he has been crucified and all his members have
been seized with pain (Hoc est, alienatus est a peccato: mortuus enim omnino
non peccat. ita et 'qui natus est de deo, non peccat': cruci fixus enim,
omnibus membris dolore occupatis, peccare uix poterit). (Scheck, 74-75; Souter,
50)
Rom 8:29
[For]
whom he foreknew.” According to which he purposed to save by faith alone (sola
fide salutare) those whom he foreknew would believe, and whom he called freely
to salvation, how much more shall he glorify those who work [toward salvation] ([ad
salutem] operantes). (Scheck 86; Souter, 68)
Rom 10:9
“That
is you confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your hearts that
God has raised him up from the dead.” The testimony of the heart is the
confession of the mouth [cf. Rom 10:10]. “You shall be saved.” Form past transgressions,
not future ones (A delictis praeteritis, not futuris). (Scheck, 95; Souter, 82)
Rom 15:4
By
means of the solaces of the Scriptures (Per scripturarum solacia) we await with
complete patience the coming hope, as it is written, “There is great peace to
those who love your law, and there is no stumbling block for them” [Ps
119:165]. That is, those who take advantage of the consolation of the law
cannot be shaken by any temptation. [Therefore], it is so that we may hope for
consolation even in our present temptations through the examples of patience
[and] consolation of those things that are written, and, as Lazarus [in the
future] [cf. Luke 16:25]. For there is great cause of solace if we know that
our Lord and his saints previously endured the things that we are suffering. (Scheck,
114-15; Souter, 113)
Rom 15:16
“That
I should be the servant of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles.” Servant in
the gospel; that is, summoning back to him slaves who had formerly run away.
“Sanctifying the gospel of God.” Showing by my example that what I carry out
with such great fear is a holy thing. For some despite as a human thing what
they proclaim as divine, and thus it happens that the holy thing seems not to
be holy, when it is not carried out in a holy way. [Whence it is said,
“Sanctify the fast” [Joel 1:14]; that is, make it, or show it to be [holy].
“That the oblation of the Gentiles may be [made acceptable], sanctified in the
Holy Spirit.” So, that by my example [and speech] the Gentiles may become a
sacrifice acceptable to God, sanctified and received not with fire, but with the
Holy Spirit, just as it is written that it “settled upon” the apostles “and
various tongues as if of fire were seen by them” [Acts 2:3]. (Scheck, 116-17)
