Fragments on Romans · §16 · Diodorus of Tarsus

The Proclamation of Christ's Knowledge

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It is being handed down, and is almost known by them alone. Since at one time the nations were instructed through the mingling with the Jews to know the God over all, so also our Savior Jesus Christ, having come to dwell in the flesh among the world, sends his own disciples as his heralds of the knowledge.

While it was being obscured in the times, it is to be preached in the last times, who also, wandering everywhere, were announcing Christ God, begotten of God without beginning and without time, testifying at the same time by the holy and illuminating Spirit, that he completes the consubstantial Trinity, providing it from the Father through the Son unto men. Having been struck by the wisdom of his dispensation, he sends back the glory which is owed to God.

Greek

παραδιδόμενον, σχεδὸν δὲ ὑπὸ μόνων αὐτῶν γνωριζόμενον. ἐπειδὴ δήποτε ἐπαιδεύθη τὰ ἔθνη διὰ τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐπιμιξίας τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων γνωρίζειν θεόν, 14 τηνικαῦτα καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐν σαρκὶ ἐπιδημήσας τῷ κόσμῳ, τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς ἀποστέλλει κήρυκας αὐτοῦ τῆς γνώσεως. διαλανθανούσης μὲν ἐν χρόνοις, κηρυχθησομένης δὲ ἐν ἐσχάτοις καιροῖς, οἳ καὶ πανταχόσε φοιτῶντες κατήγγελλον τὸν Χριστὸν θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ ἀνάρχως καὶ ἀχρόνως γεγεννημένον, μαρτυροῦντες ἅμα καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ φωτιστικῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι τὴν ὁμοούσιον τριάδα συμπληροῖ ἐκ πατρὸς δι' υἱοῦ εἰς ἀνθρώπους χορηγούμενον. τῆς οἰκονομίας οὖν αὐτοῦ τὴν σοφίαν καταπλαγεὶς τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἀναπέμπει δόξαν τῷ θεῷ. 15

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About this text

Notes on Romans, chiefly on Adam and the law of nature, the Law that exposes sin, adoption and election, and the calling of the nations.

Diodorus of Tarsus (c. 330–c. 390) wrote this commentary for Christian readers interpreting Paul's Letter to the Romans. He was a bishop of Tarsus, originally from Antioch, where he spent most of his early life and taught. He wrote to explain difficult passages in Romans, especially where Paul's language about Adam, the law, sin, election, and Israel could be misunderstood.

Diodorus reads Romans as a sustained argument that sin and death entered through Adam, while grace and life come through Christ. The Mosaic law was given as a temporary, educative measure that exposed sin but could not save; the natural law already made humans responsible. God's election is based on foreknowledge of each person's disposition, so Pharaoh, Esau, and Jacob were treated according to what God foresaw in them. Israel's fall served God's plan by bringing the nations to faith, yet a remnant of Israel will also be saved. The commentary closes with praise for the revelation of the Trinity.

A reader will meet Adam, whose disobedience brought death to all and who serves as a type of Christ; Moses, the lawgiver; Abraham, whose true children are those of the promise; Isaac, Jacob, Esau, and Pharaoh as examples of election based on foreknowledge; Elijah, whose seven thousand faithful men prefigure the remnant of Israel; and Eve, Cain, and Aaron in brief illustrations. Paul's words are quoted and argued against throughout, along with quotations from the Old Testament and imagined objections. Old Testament citations follow the Greek text, and modern citations use standard English Bible names and numbering.

Datebefore c. 390 AD (written before Diodorus died; no closer date is known)

Printed text used

Translated from PG (Greek)

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