Thomas Aquinas

Here he then answers a tacit objection. For someone could say to him: you say that you do not fall short in the manifestation of the truth of Christ, but this does not appear to be so, because many contradict you. He therefore answers this question. And concerning this he does two things. First he answers the aforesaid question; second he excludes a certain doubt which seems to follow from his answer, at *for we do not preach ourselves*, etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows to whom the truth of Christ is hidden; second he assigns the cause of this hiding, at *in whom the God of this world*; third he shows that this is not from any defect of the truth of the Gospel, that it should be hidden, at *that it should not shine*, etc.

He says therefore: I said that we do not fall short in manifestation, *that*, that is *but*, *if our Gospel*, namely which we preach, *is covered*, that is hidden, it is not covered to all, but to those only *who perish*, namely by providing an impediment lest it be manifested to them. 1 Cor. 1:18: *the word of the cross is foolishness to those who perish*, etc. The cause therefore of this hiding is not on the part of the Gospel, but on account of their own fault and malice. And this is what he adds, *in whom the God of this world*, etc.

And this can be expounded in three ways. In the first way thus: *the God of this world*, that is the God who is Lord of this world and of all things by creation and nature, according to that of Ps. 23:1: *the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world*, *has blinded the minds of unbelievers*, not by inducing malice, but deservedly, indeed by the demerit of preceding sins, by withdrawing grace. Is. 6:10: *blind the heart of this people*, etc. Whence he also hints at preceding sins, when he says *of unbelievers*, as though their unbelief had been the cause of this blinding.

In the second way thus: *the God of this world*, that is the Devil, who is called the God of this world, that is of those living worldly, not by creation but by imitation, whereby worldly people imitate him. Wisdom 2:25: *they imitate him, who are*, etc. And he blinds here by suggesting, drawing, and inclining toward sins. And so when they are now in sins, they are covered in the darkness of sins lest they see. Eph. 4:18: *having their understanding darkened*, etc.

In the third way thus: God has the nature of the ultimate end, and the fulfillment of the desires of the whole creature. Whence whatever anyone sets up for himself as an ultimate end, in which his desire rests, can be called his God. Whence when you hold delights as your end, then delights are called your God; likewise also if the pleasures of the flesh, or honors. And then it is expounded thus: *the God of this world*, that is that which men living worldly set up for themselves as an end, as for instance pleasures, or riches and the like. And thus God blinds minds, insofar as he impedes men from being able to see the light of grace here, and of glory in the future. Ps. 57:9: *fire fell upon it*, namely of concupiscence, so that they should not see the sun. So therefore the blinding of unbelievers is not on the part of the Gospel, but from the fault of unbelievers.

And therefore he adds *that it should not shine*, etc. Where it must be known that God the Father is the fount of all light. 1 John 1:5: *God is light, and in him there is no darkness*, etc. From this fontal light, moreover, is derived the image of this light, namely the Son, the Word of God. Heb. 1:3: *who being the brightness*, etc. This brightness of glory therefore, image of the fontal light, took on our flesh and did many glorious and divine works in this world. The declaration therefore of this light is the Gospel, whence the Gospel is also called the knowledge of the clarity of Christ, which knowledge indeed has an illuminative power. Wisdom 6:13: *wisdom is bright, and never fades away*, etc. And indeed, as far as it is in itself, it shines in all and illumines all, but those who provide an impediment are not illumined.

And this is what he says: therefore he has blinded the minds of unbelievers, namely so that it should not shine forth in them, namely in the minds of unbelievers, although in itself it is shining forth, the illumination of the Gospel which illumines. Which indeed is illumining, because it is the glory of Christ, that is the clarity. John 1:14: *we have seen the glory*, etc. Which glory indeed comes to Christ from this, that he is the image of God. Col. 1:15: *who is the image of the invisible God*. Note, according to the Gloss, that Christ is the most perfect image of God. For in order that something be perfectly the image of another, three things are required, and these three are perfectly in Christ. The first is likeness, the second is origin, the third is perfect equality. For if between the image and that of which it is the image there were unlikeness, and the one did not arise from the other, likewise also if there were not perfect equality, which is according to the same nature, there would not there be the perfect nature of an image. For the likeness of the king on a coin is not perfectly called the image of the king, because equality according to the same nature is lacking there; but the likeness of the king in his son is called the perfect image of the king, because those three things which have been mentioned are there. Since therefore these three are in Christ the Son of God, namely that he is like the Father, arises from the Father, and is equal to the Father, he is most greatly and perfectly called the image of God.

Then, when he says *for we do not preach ourselves*, etc., the Apostle removes a certain doubt. For someone could say to the Apostle, against the aforesaid: above you said that your Gospel is covered, now you say that the Gospel of Christ illumines; if therefore it be granted that the Gospel of Christ is illumining, it cannot follow from this that your Gospel is covered. And therefore to remove this, he does two things. First, he shows that his own Gospel and Christ's are the same; second, he shows whence it is that his Gospel is illuminative, at *for God who said*, etc.

He says therefore first: I say that the manifestation of the clarity of Christ is the Gospel of Christ and ours. Ours indeed as preached by us; Christ's indeed, as preached in that very Gospel. And this is what *we do not preach ourselves*, that is we do not commend ourselves, nor do we turn our preaching to ourselves, that is to our own praise or profit, but we refer everything to Christ and his praise. 1 Cor. 1:23: *but we preach Christ*, etc. Ps. 72:28: *that I may declare all your works*, not mine, *in the gates*, etc. *But Jesus our Lord, and ourselves your servants through Jesus*. As if he were to say: we preach Jesus as Lord, but ourselves as servants. And the reason for this is that we principally seek the praise of Christ and not our own. For a servant is one who exists for the advantage of his lord. And hence it is that a minister of the Church who does not seek the honor of God and the advantage of his subjects is not called a true ruler, but a tyrant. For whoever rules well ought to be like a servant, seeking the honor and advantage of his subjects. Gen. 25:23: *the elder shall serve the younger*. 1 Cor. 9:19: *whereas I was free, I made myself the servant of all of you*.

Then, when he says *for God who said*, etc., he shows whence his Gospel has illuminative power. Here note the order of proceeding kept by the Apostle, which is this: we formerly, namely before we were converted to Christ, were in darkness just as you and others, in whom the clarity of the glory of Christ does not shine. But now, after Christ has called us through his grace to himself, that darkness has been removed from us, and now the power of the glory of the clarity of Christ shines in us; and it shines forth in us to such a degree that we are not only illumined so that we can see, but also so that we illumine others. From spiritual grace, therefore, and the abundant shining-forth of the clarity of the glory of Christ in us, our Gospel has illuminative power.

And this is what he says: I say that our Gospel illumines for this reason, that God, who said, that is by precept alone made, light to shine forth, which was in the separation of the elements, when he illumined the dark chaos by the light which he made. Gen. 1:3: *he said, let there be light*. Ecclus. 24:6: *I made that light should arise in the heavens*, etc. This same God, I say, has shone in our hearts, that is in our minds, previously darkened through the absence of the light of grace and the obscurity of sin. Luke 1:79: *to enlighten those who are in darkness*, etc. He has shone, I say, not only that we should be illumined, but *unto illumination*, that is that we should also illumine others. Eph. 3:8: *to me, the least of all the saints, is given*, etc. Matt. 5:14: *you are the light*, etc.

*Unto illumination*, I say, *of the knowledge*, that is that we may make others know. I say, *of the clarity of God*, that is of the clear divine vision, *in the face of Jesus Christ*. The Gloss: that is through Jesus Christ, who is the face of the Father, because without him the Father is not known. But it is better said thus: unto the illumination of the holy clarity of God, which clarity indeed shines in the face of Christ Jesus, that is that through that very glory and clarity, Christ Jesus may be known. As if he were to say: in sum, God has shone upon us unto illumination, to this end, that from this Jesus Christ may be known and preached among the nations.