Thomas Aquinas

"He is a vessel of election to me," and so forth (Acts 9:15). Men are found in Sacred Scripture compared to vessels on account of four things, namely: on account of their constitution, their filling, their use, and their fruit.

First, then, as to constitution. For a vessel is subject to the will of the craftsman. Jeremiah 18:4: "He made it another vessel, as it pleased him." So too the constitution of men is subject to the will of God, concerning which it is said in Psalm 99:3: "He made us, and not we ourselves." Hence Isaiah 45:9 says: "Shall the clay say to its potter, What are you doing?" And further on, Romans 9:20: "Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me thus?" And hence it is that, according to the will of God the craftsman, a diverse constitution of vessels is found. 1 Timothy 2:20: "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth." Now blessed Paul, since he is named a vessel of election in the words set before us, what sort of vessel he was is clear from what is said in Ecclesiasticus 50:10: "like a solid vessel of gold, adorned with every precious stone." It was indeed a golden vessel on account of the brightness of wisdom, concerning which can be understood what is said in Genesis 2:12: "and the gold of that land is the best," because, as is said in Proverbs 3:15, it is "more precious than all riches." Hence also blessed Peter bears witness to him, saying, 1 Peter 3:15: "as also our most beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you." It was solid indeed by the power of charity, concerning which it is said in the last chapter of the Canticle: "love is strong as death." Hence he himself also says, Romans 8:38f: "For I am certain that neither death nor life," etc., "will be able to separate us from the charity of God." But it was adorned with every precious stone, namely with all the virtues, concerning which it is said in 1 Corinthians 3:12: "if anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones," and so forth. Hence he himself also says, 2 Corinthians 1:12: "This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity of heart and in the sincerity of God, and not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in this world." What sort of vessel this was is clear from the fact that he dispensed such things: for he taught the mysteries of the most excellent divinity, which pertain to wisdom, as is clear in 1 Corinthians 2:6: "we speak wisdom among the perfect"; he also commended charity most excellently, in 1 Corinthians 13; he instructed men concerning the diverse virtues, as is clear in Colossians 3:12: "put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy," and so forth.

Second, it also seems to pertain to vessels that they be filled with some liquid, according to that text in 4 Kings 4:5: "they offered the vessels, and she poured out." There is also found among vessels a diversity as to this kind of fullness. For some vessels are found to be of wine, some of oil, and various ones of various kinds. So too men are divinely filled with diverse graces, as it were with diverse liquids, 1 Corinthians 12:8: "to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another," and so forth. But this vessel, of which we now treat, was full of a precious liquid, namely the name of Christ, concerning which it is said in Canticle 1:2: "your name is oil poured out." Hence it is said of him, "that he may carry my name." For he seems to have been wholly full of this name, according to that text in Apocalypse 3:12: "I will write upon him my name." For he had this name in the knowledge of his intellect, according to that in 1 Corinthians 2:2: "for I did not judge that I knew anything among you except Christ." He also had this name in the love of his affection, according to that in Romans 8:35: "who shall separate us from the charity of Christ?" And 1 Corinthians, last chapter: "if anyone does not love our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." He also had it in the whole conduct of his life. Hence he said in Galatians 2:20: "and I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me."

Third, as to use, it must be considered that all vessels are appointed to some use, but some to a more honorable one, some to a baser one, according to that in Romans 9:21: "or does the potter of clay not have power, from the same mass, to make one vessel indeed unto honor, but another unto dishonor?" So too men, according to the divine ordination, are appointed to diverse uses, according to that in Ecclesiasticus 33:10-11: "All men are from the ground, and out of the earth, from which Adam was created. In the fullness of his knowledge the Lord distinguished them, and diversified their ways. Some of them he blessed and exalted, and some he cursed and brought low." But this vessel was appointed to a noble use, for it is a vessel that carries the divine name; for it is said, "that he may carry my name," which name indeed needed to be carried because it was far from men, according to that in Isaiah 30:27: "behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar." Now it is far from us on account of sin, according to Psalm 118:155: "salvation is far from sinners." It is also far from us on account of the obscurity of the intellect, whence it is also said of certain persons, Hebrews 11:13, that they were "beholding from afar," and in Numbers 24:17 it is said: "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near." And therefore, just as the angels bring divine illuminations to us, as being distant from God, so the apostles brought the evangelical doctrine from Christ to us. And just as in the Old Testament, after the law of Moses, the prophets are read, who handed down the doctrine of the law to the people, according to that in Malachi 4:4: "remember the law of Moses my servant" — so too in the New Testament, after the Gospel, the doctrine of the apostles is read, who handed down to the faithful what they had heard from the Lord, according to that in 1 Corinthians 11:23: "I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you."

Now blessed Paul carried the name of Christ: first, indeed, in the body, by imitating his conduct and passion, according to that in Galatians, last chapter: "for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body." Second, in the mouth, which is clear from the fact that in his epistles he most frequently names Christ: "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks," as is said in Matthew 12:34. Hence he can be signified by the dove, of which it is said, Genesis 8:11, that it came to the ark carrying an olive branch in its mouth. For since the olive signifies mercy, fittingly by the olive branch is understood the name of Jesus Christ, which likewise signifies mercy, according to that in Matthew 1:21: "you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." And he brought this branch, with its leaves green, to the ark — namely, the Church — when he set forth its power and meaning in many ways, showing forth the grace and mercy of Christ. Hence he says, 1 Timothy 1:16: "for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all patience." And hence it is that, just as among the Scriptures of the Old Testament the Psalms of David, who obtained pardon after sin, are most frequently used in the Church, so in the New Testament the epistles of Paul, who obtained mercy, are frequently used, so that from this sinners might be raised up to hope; although there could also be another reason, namely that in both Scriptures almost the whole doctrine of theology is contained. Third, he carried it not only to those present but also to the absent and to those to come, by handing down the sense of Scripture, according to that in Isaiah 8:1: "take to yourself a great book, and write in it with a man's pen."

Now in this office of carrying the name of God, his excellence is shown as to three things. First, as to the grace of election, whence he is called "a vessel of election." Ephesians 1:4: "he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." Second, as to fidelity, because he sought nothing of his own but Christ's, according to that in 2 Corinthians 4:5: "for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus." Hence he says: "he is a vessel of election to me." Third, as to singular excellence, whence he himself says, 1 Corinthians 15:10: "I have labored more abundantly than all of them." Hence he says pointedly, "he is a vessel of election to me," as it were singularly above the others.

As to fruit, it must be considered that some are, as it were, useless vessels, either on account of sin or on account of error, according to that in Jeremiah 51:34: "he has made me like an empty vessel." But blessed Paul was pure of sin and of error, hence he was a vessel of election that was useful, according to that in 2 Timothy 2:21: "if anyone cleanses himself from these," namely errors and sins, "he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the Lord." Hence the usefulness or fruit of this vessel is expressed when it is said, "before the Gentiles," whose teacher he was, according to that in 1 Timothy 2:7: "a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth"; "and kings," to whom he announced the faith of Christ, as to Agrippa, as is found in Acts 16:38, and also to Nero and his princes; hence it is said in Philippians 1:12-13: "the things that have happened to me have turned out rather to the advancement of the Gospel, so that my bonds became manifest in Christ in the whole praetorium"; Isaiah 49:7: "kings shall see, and princes shall arise." And "to the children of Israel," against whom he disputed concerning Christ, Acts 9:22: "But Saul increased much more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt at Damascus, affirming that this is the Christ."

Thus, therefore, from the words set forth above we can grasp the four causes of this work, namely of the epistles of Paul, which we have at hand. First, indeed, the author, in the vessel. Second, the matter, in the name of Christ, which is the fullness of the vessel, because this whole doctrine is about the doctrine of Christ. Third, the mode, in the use of carrying; for this doctrine is handed down by way of epistles, which were customarily carried by messengers, according to that in 2 Chronicles 30:6: "the couriers went forth with letters from the royal command," and so forth. Fourth, the distinction of the work, in the aforesaid usefulness. For he wrote fourteen epistles, of which nine instruct the Church of the Gentiles; four, the prelates and princes of the Church, that is, kings; one, the people of Israel, namely the one which is to the Hebrews.

For this doctrine is wholly about the grace of Christ, which indeed can be considered in three ways. In one way, according as it is in the head himself, namely Christ, and thus it is commended in the epistle to the Hebrews. In another way, according as it is in the principal members of the mystical body, and thus it is commended in the epistles which are to the prelates. Third, according as it is in the mystical body itself, which is the Church, and thus it is commended in the epistles which are sent to the Gentiles, whose distinction is this: for the grace of Christ itself can be considered in three ways. In one way according to itself, and thus it is commended in the epistle to the Romans; in another way according as it is in the sacraments of grace, and thus it is commended in the two epistles to the Corinthians, in the first of which the sacraments themselves are treated, in the second the dignity of the ministers, and in the epistle to the Galatians, in which superfluous sacraments are excluded, against those who wished to join the old sacraments to the new; third, the grace of Christ is considered according to the effect of unity which it produced in the Church.

The Apostle, therefore, treats, first, of the institution of ecclesiastical unity in the epistle to the Ephesians; second, of its confirmation and advancement in the epistle to the Philippians; third, of its defense — against errors, indeed, in the epistle to the Colossians; against present persecutions, in the first to the Thessalonians; and against future persecutions, and especially in the time of Antichrist, in the second. But he instructs the prelates of the Churches, both spiritual and temporal. The spiritual, indeed, concerning the institution, instruction, and governance of ecclesiastical unity, in the first to Timothy; concerning firmness against persecutors, in the second; third, concerning defense against heretics, in the epistle to Titus. But the temporal lords he instructs in the epistle to Philemon. And thus the reason for the distinction and order of all the epistles is clear.

But it seems that the epistle to the Romans is not first. For he seems to have written earlier to the Corinthians, according to that in Romans, last chapter: "and I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is in the ministry of the church which is at Cenchreae," where the port of the Corinthians is. But it must be said that the epistle to the Corinthians is prior in the time of its writing. But the epistle to the Romans is placed first, both on account of the dignity of the Romans, who ruled over the other nations — because here pride, which is "the beginning of all sin," as is said in Ecclesiasticus 10:14, was refuted — and also because the order of doctrine requires this, that grace be considered first in itself before it is considered as it is in the sacraments.

Again, it is asked from where the Apostle wrote this epistle. Augustine says that it was from Athens; Jerome, that it was from Corinth. Nor is there a contradiction, because perhaps he began to write it at Athens but finished it at Corinth.

Again, an objection is raised against what is said in the Gloss, that certain of the faithful preached to the Romans before Peter. But in the Ecclesiastical History it is said that Peter was the first to preach to them. But it must be understood: first among the apostles, and with a following of great fruit. For before this, Barnabas had preached at Rome, as is found in the Itinerary of Clement.