Thomas Aquinas, on Rom 3:12

“All have turned out of the way; they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, there is not so much as one.”

“Then he removes the good works themselves. First, he cites offenses against the divine law when he says, all have turned out of the way, namely, from regulation by divine law: they have all turned to their own way (Isa 56:11). Second, failure to pursue the end; hence he adds, they have become unprofitable together. For we call unprofitable whatever does not attain its end. Therefore, when men turn from God for whom they were made, they are rendered unprofitable: the brood of the ungodly will be of no use (Wis 4:3). Third, he excludes the good works themselves, when he adds, there is none who does good: they are skilled in doing evil, but how to do good they know not (Jer 4:22). He adds, not so much as one. This can be taken exclusively, to mean: except the one who alone did good by redeeming the human race: one man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found (Eccl 7:28). Or it can be taken inclusively, to mean: there is not even one pure man doing good, i.e., what is perfect: search the squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth (Jer 5:1).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.