PROF. JOSEPH B. LIGHTFOOT, D. D.—The date of the Epistle to the Romans is fixed with more absolute certainty, and within narrower limits, than that of, any other of St. Paul's epistles—which was in A. D. 58. The internal evidence is so strongly in favor of the genuineness of this Epistle that it has never been seriously questioned. This is confirmed by external testimony, from various sources. Passages from the Romans are found embedded in the Epistles of CLEMENT and POLYCARP (Clem. Cor., C. 35; Poly. Phil., c. 6). It is also quoted in IRENÆUS, "ideo Paulum dixisse." It is alluded to by the writer of the EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS, and by JUSTIN MARTYR. It has a place, moreover, in the MURATORIAN CANON, and in the Syriac and Old Latin Versions. Nor have we the testimony of orthodox writers alone. The Epistle was commonly quoted as an authority by the Heretics of the sub-apostolic age. In the latter part of the second century the evidence in its favor is still fuller. It is obviously alluded to in the letter of the churches of VIENNE and LYONS, by ATHENAGORAS, and THEOPHILUS of Antioch; and is quoted frequently and by name by IRENÆUS, TERTULLIAN, and CLEMENT of Alexandria.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 2748.
The City of Rome
DR. JOHN SAUL HOWSON.—The site and character of the city of Rome, as the metropolis of the world, are too well known to require description. Its population was colossal. Within a circuit of little more than twelve miles, more than two millions of inhabitants were crowded. In this prodigious collection of human beings there were of course all the contrasts which are seen in a modern city-all the painful lines of separation between luxury and squalor, wealth and want. But in Rome all these differences were on an exaggerated scale, and the institution of slavery modified further all social relations. The free citizens were more than a million; the senators were about a thousand; the knights, who filled a great proportion of the public offices, were more than ten thousand; the troops quartered in the city may be reckoned at fifteen thousand; the rest were the Plebs urbana, a vast number of whom were poor, and lived on public or private charity. Yet were these pauper citizens proud of their citizenship, though many of them had no better sleeping-place for the night than the public porticos or the vestibules of temples. They cared for nothing beyond bread for the day, the games of the circus, and the savage delight of gladiatorial shows. Every kind of nationality and religion had its representative in the great capital. In short, Rome was like London, with all its miseries, vices and follies exaggerated, and without Christianity. Beyond the river was a district named "Trastevere;” this was the residence of a low rabble, and the place of the meanest merchandise; and here was the ordinary residence of the Jews. A great part of this district was doubtless squalid and miserable, like the Ghetto of modern Rome, though the Jews were often less oppressed under the Caesars than under the Popes. Here, then, on the level ground, between the windings of the muddy river and the base of the Janiculum hill, was the home of those Israelitish families among whom the Gospel bore its first-fruits in the metropolis of the world. The Jewish community thus established in Rome had its first beginnings in the captives brought by Pompey after his eastern campaign. Many of them were manumitted; and thus a great proportion of the Jews in Rome were freedmen. Frequent accessions to their numbers were made as years went on-chiefly from the mercantile relations which subsisted between Rome and the East. Many of them were wealthy, and large sums were sent annually for religious purposes from Italy to the mother country. Even the proselytes contributed to these sacred funds. In the early years of Nero, which were distinguished for a mild and lenient government of the empire, the Jews in Rome seem to have enjoyed complete toleration, and to have been a numerous, wealthy and influential community.—Life and Epistles of St. Paul, II., 367-369.
Undesigned Coincidence
DR. WILLIAM PALEY.—The purpose of visiting Rome expressed in the Acts, and thus in the epistle, has been shown by this able author, to be one of those undesigned coincidences which strongly shows that both books are genuine. Comp. Rom. 15:2323But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; (Romans 15:23) with Acts 19:2121After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. (Acts 19:21). A forger of these books would. not have thought of such a contrivance as to feign such a purpose of going to Rome at that time, and have mentioned it in that manner. Such coincidences are among the best proofs that could be demanded, that the writers did not intend to impose upon the world.—See Horœ. Polinœ., p. 16, etc.
Debt of Benevolence
EPICTETUS.—The philosopher will make it his business to debate with all mankind; with the Athenians, Corinthians, and Romans equally; not about taxes and revenues, or peace and war, but about happiness and misery, prosperity and adversity, slavery and freedom.—Epict., III., 22.
The Power of the Gospel
DR. WILLIAM FRASER.—The doctrines of the Gospel create a new motive to action, and sustain an ennobling aim. Love and holiness are their natural fruits. This motive to action and this elevating aim were absent from the world. The sublime moral maxims of Oriental nations—the early learning of Egypt—the philosophic and aesthetic culture of Greece—and the jurisprudence of Rome, rising from the midst of an all-embracing idolatry—never produced any results approaching those which the preaching of the Gospel has diffused through every generation. In the doctrines of the cross, revealing the love of God in Christ Jesus, there is the supernatural introduction of a new motive “power"—there is that which is changing the intellectual and moral aspects of the whole world. The triumphs of the Gospel in Asia, Europe and Africa, during the earlier centuries, have arrested the thought of even the most indifferent, and have taxed the philosophy of the skeptic to account for their completeness. In comparatively recent times, the most ferocious and debased cannibal tribes have been subdued by the influence of the Gospel-the most sunken tribes in the world—men of all races, of all grades in society, and of all stages in culture, have rejoiced in the blessing of which, through faith in Jesus Christ, they have become partakers. No tribe has ever yet been found so sunken as to be beyond the power of Divine truth, when presented in the Gospel message. In every part of the habitable globe where the voice of the missionary has been heard, most notable changes have been effected, and the sufficiency of divine grace has been most distinctly manifested.—Blending Lights, chap. xvi.
DR. THOMAS CHALMERS.—The beauty of that holiness which is enshrined in the four brief biographies of the Man of Nazareth, has done more, and will do more to regenerate the world, and bring in an everlasting righteousness, than all other agencies put together.—In A. T. S. Al. for 1850.
God Seen in His Works
CICERO.—Though you see not the Deity, yet by the contemplation of his works, you are led to acknowledge a God.—Disp. Tusc., I., 28.
XENOPHON.—The supreme God holds himself invisible, and it is only in his works that we are capable of admiring him.—Mein., IV., 3.
PLATO.—God the eternal, the chief ruler of the universe and its creator, the mind alone beholds; but that which is produced we behold by sight.—Tim. Loc., C. 5.
BISHOP GEORGE BERKELEY, D. D.-Though I cannot with eyes of flesh behold the invisible God; yet I do in the strictest sense behold and perceive by all my senses such signs and tokens, such effects and operations as suggest, indicate, and demonstrate an invisible God.—Min. Phil., Dial. IV., c. 5.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON.—This beautiful system of sun, planets, and comets, could have its origin in no other way than by the purpose and command of an intelligent and powerful Being. He governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as the Lord of the universe. He is not only God, but Lord or Governor. We know him only by his properties and attributes, by the wise and admirable structure of things around us, and by their final causes; we admire him on account of his perfections, we venerate and worship him on account of his government.—Principia, concluding Note.
DR. WILLIAM BUCKLAND.—The whole course of the Geological inquiry which we have now conducted to its close, has shown that the physical history of our globe, in which some have seen only waste, disorder, and confusion, teems with endless examples of Economy, and Order, and Design; and the result of all our researches, carried back through the unwritten records of past time, has been to fix more steadily our assurance of the Existence of One Supreme Creator of all things, to exalt more highly our conviction of the immensity of his perfections, of his Might and Majesty, his Wisdom and Goodness, and all-sustaining Providence. The Earth from her deep foundations unites with the celestial orbs that roll through boundless space, to declare the glory and show forth the praise of their common Author and Preserver.—Bridgewater Treatise, p. 443.
ROBERT HUNT, ESQ.—The task of wielding the wand of science—of standing a scientific evocator within the charmed circle of its powers, is one which leads the mind through nature up to nature's God.— Poetry of Science, p. 317.
God Known to the Heathen
REV. ALBERT BARNES. —That many of the philosophers of Greece and Rome had a knowledge of one God, there can be no doubt. This was undoubtedly the case with Pythagoras, who had traveled extensively in Egypt, and even in Palestine; and also with Plato and his disciples. This point is clearly shown by Cudworth in his Intellectual System, and by Bishop Warburton in the Divine Legation of Moses.—Note, In loco.
MAXIMUS TYRIUS.—The barbarians, all of them, acknowledge the existence of a deity.—Diss., 38.
CICERO.—All allow that there is a certain Divine Nature and Energy. —Tusc., I., 13.
The Folly and Idolatry of the Wise
DR. ADAM CLARKE. —This is most strikingly true of all the ancient philosophers, whether Greeks or Romans, as their works which remain, sufficiently testify, not excepting Socrates, Plato, or Seneca. I might crowd my page with proofs of this; but this is unnecessary.—In loco.'
DR. JOHN KITTO.—Most of the idols of the classical ancients were in the likeness of men and women; and many of them were in fact intended to represent heroes, benefactors, and inventors who had been deified, and to whom temples, altars, and statues were erected. The worship of men thus deified, Constituted no small part of the ancient idolatry.—Pict. Bib., In loco.
DR. THOMAS DICK.—Instead of worshipping the living and immortal God, they deified a host of dead men, called heroes, distinguished for nothing so much, as for murder, adultery, sodomy, rapine, cruelty, drunkenness, and all kinds of debauchery. To such contemptible divinities, splendid temples were erected, adorations addressed, costly offerings presented, and rites and ceremonies performed, subversive of every principle of decency and morality, and degrading to the reason and character of man.— Philosophy of Religion, Chapter III.
LUCIAN.—If you go into Egypt, you will see Jupiter with the face of a ram, Mercury as a fine dog, Pan is become a goat; another god is Ibis, another the crocodile, and another the ape. There, many shaven priests gravely tell us, that the gods being afraid of the rebellion of the giants, assumed these shapes.— Quoted in Christ. Phil., p. 86.
ANAXANDRIDES.—I cannot agree with you (Egyptians); our customs and laws differ so widely. You adore the ox; I sacrifice it to the gods. You think the eel a great deity; we look upon it as the most delicious dainty. You abstain from the flesh of swine; I delight in it beyond all things. You adore the dog; I give him a good beating whenever I catch him stealing my meat. If you see a cat indisposed, you weep; I am delighted to kill it and take its skin. The mygale with you has great influence; with us none whatever.—Play of the Cities.
JUVENAL.—
Who knows not, Bithynian Volusius, what monsters
Mad Egypt can worship? This place adores a crocodile;
That fears an ibis saturated with serpents.
A golden image of a sacred Cercopithecus shines
Where the magic chords resound from the half Memnon,
And ancient Thebes lies overthrown with its hundred gates.
There a sea-fish, there a river-fish, there
Whole towns worship a dog, nobody Diana.
It is a sin to violate a leek or an onion, or to break them with a bite.
O holy nation! for whom are born in gardens
These deities! Every table abstains from animals bearing
Wool; it is there unlawful to kill the off-spring of a she-goat,
But lawful to be fed with human flesh.
—Satire, XV.
Worshipping the Creature
GIBBON.—The religion of the nations was not merely a speculative doctrine professed in the schools or preached in the temples. The innumerable deities and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or of private life. The important transactions of peace and war were prepared or concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which the magistrate, the senator and the soldier, were obliged to preside or to participate. The public spectacles were an essential part of the cheerful devotion of the Pagans, and the gods were supposed to accept, as the most grateful offering, the games that the prince and people celebrated in honor of their peculiar festivals. The Christian, who with pious honor avoided the abomination of the circus or the theater, found himself encompassed with infernal snares in every convivial entertainment, as often as his friends, invoking the hospitable deities, poured out libations to each other's happiness. When the bride, struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced in hymeneal pomp over the threshold of her new habitation, or when the sad procession of the dead slowly moved toward the funeral pile; the Christian, on these interesting occasions, was compelled to desert the persons who were the dearest to him, rather than contract the guilt inherent in those impious ceremonies. Every art and every trade that was in the least concerned in the framing or adorning of idols was polluted with the stain of idolatry. If we cast our eyes over the numerous remains of antiquity, we shall perceive, that besides the immediate representations of the gods, and the holy instruments of their worship, the elegant forms and agreeable fictions consecrated by the imagination of the Greeks, were introduced as the richest ornaments of the houses, the dress, and the furniture, of the Pagans. Even the arts of music and painting, of eloquence and poetry, flowed from the same impure origin.— Decline and Fall of R. E., Chapter 15
Vile Affections
DR. ADAM CLARKE.—Their system of idolatry necessarily produced all kinds of impurity. How could it be otherwise, when the highest objects of their worship were adulterers, fornicators, and prostitutes of the most infamous kind; such as Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Venus, etc. Of the abominable evils with which the Apostle charges the Gentiles in these verses, I could produce a multitude of proofs from their own writings; but it is needless to make the subject plainer than the Apostle has left it.—In loco.
SENECA.—No other effect could possibly be produced, but that all shame on, account of sin must be taken away from men, if they believed in such gods.—De Vitâ Beatâ, c. 26.
See Martial, ep. I., 90: Cicero, Tusc., Ques. IV., 20, 33, 34; Arist., Pol. II., 10.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—Premature old age, disease, decay, and an early death—the certain effects of such vices; as proved by the history of man. God has marked the indulgence of licentious passions with his frown. Since the time of the Romans and 'the Greeks, as if there had not been sufficient restraints before, he has originated a new disease, which is one of the most loathsome and distressing which has ever afflicted man, and which has swept of millions of victims!—Note, In loco.
Murder
Rom. 1:2929Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, (Romans 1:29).—Full of envy, murder, etc.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—Murder was particularly prevalent in Rome. In proof it is necessary only to refer to the common events in the Roman history of assassinations, deaths by poison, and the destruction of slaves. But in a special manner the charge was properly alleged against them, on account of the inhuman contests of the gladiators in the amphitheaters. “Several hundreds, perhaps several thousands," says Gibbon, " were annually slaughtered in the great cities of the empire."—Note, In loco.
DR. JOHN KITTO.—The paintings of the gladiatorial combats on the walls of Herculaneum and Pompeii are replete with details of the most sickening barbarity.—Pict. Bib.
Infanticide
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—The Apostle doubtless refers here to the practice so common among heathens of exposing their children, or putting them to death. This crime, so abhorrent to all the feelings of humanity, was common among the heathen. The Canaanites, we are told, sacrificed their sons and their daughters. Among the ancient Persians it was a common custom to bury children alive. In most of the Grecian states, infanticide was not merely permitted, but actually enforced by law. But among all the nations of antiquity, the Romans were the most unrelenting in their treatment of infants. Minutius Felix thus describes their barbarity: " I see you exposing your infants to wild beasts and birds, or strangling them after the most miserable manner." (c. 30.) Pliny the Elder defends the right of parents to destroy their children, upon the ground of its being necessary in order to preserve the population within proper bounds. The Phenicians and Carthagenians, likewise, were in the habit of sacrificing infants to their gods.—Note, In loco.
A Law Unto Themselves
Rom. 2:1414For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: (Romans 2:14).—For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.
MAJOR JERVIS.—There are those who always speak the truth; the Santals are the most truthful men I ever met.—In Blend. Lights, p. 176.
MR. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE. —A number of prisoners, taken during the Santa' insurrection, were allowed to go free on parole, to work at a certain spot for wages. After some time cholera attacked them, and they were obliged to leave; but every man of them returned and gave up his earnings to the guard. Two hundred savages, with money in their girdles, walked thirty miles back to prison rather than break their word.—Natural Selection,p. 352.
EPICTETUS.—Who ever came into the world without an idea of good and evil, fair and base, becoming and unbecoming, happiness and misery, proper improper, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done.—Epict., II.,
Conscience
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—Conscience is the judgment which the mind passes on the morality or immorality, the right or wrong, of its own actions, when it instantly approves or condemns them. Its design is to answer the purpose of an ever attendant witness of a man's conduct; to compel him to pronounce on his own doings, and thus to excite him to virtuous deeds, to give comfort and peace when he does right, and to deter from evil actions by making him, whether he will or no, his own executioner. By nature every man thus approves or condemns his own acts; and there is not a profounder principle of the Divine administration, than thus compelling every man to pronounce on the moral character of his own conduct.—Note, In loco.
OVID.—As the mind of each man is conscious of good or evil, so does he conceive within his breast hope or fear according to his actions.—Fast., I., 485.
The Teacher Should Be a Doer
MAXIMUS TYRIUS. —He is not to plead against adulterers who has himself committed adultery, nor to condemn insolent conduct, being himself insolent; but one who is liberated from passions, that he may become a true accuser of injustice.—Diss., 15.
The True Jew
Rom. 2:28, 2928For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28‑29).—For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
EPICTETUS. —Why do you call yourself a Stoic? Why do you act a Jew when you are a Greek? Do you not see on what terms each is a Jew, a Syrian, an Egyptian? And when we see one wavering we say this is not a Jew, but acts one. But when he assumes the sentiments of one who has been baptized and circumcised, then he both really is, and is called a Jew. Thus, we falsify our profession, are Jews in name, but in reality something else.—Epict., II., 9.
One Dying for Another
EURIPIDES. —The Fates permit that Admetus should escape impending death if he can furnish in his place another dead for the powers below; but he found no one, save his wife, who was willing to die for him, and she is now within the house breathing her last. —Ale., v. 12.
ARISTOTLE.—That which is asserted of the worthy man is true, that for the sake of his friends and his country he will even die, if requisite.—Eth., IX., 8.
VALERIUS MAXIMUS. —Dionysius the tyrant condemned Pythias to death for conspiring against him. Pythias begged leave to go for a short period to a neighboring place, in order to arrange some family affairs, and offered to leave one of his friends in the hands of Dionysius as a pledge for his return by an appointed time, and who would be willing, in case Pythias broke his word, to die in his stead. Dionysius, quite skeptical as to the existence of such a friendship, and prompted by strong curiosity, assented to the arrangement, and Damon took the place of Pythias. The day appointed for the return of the latter arrived, and public expectation was highly excited as to the probable issue of this singular affair. The day drew to a close, no Pythias came, and Damon was in the act of being led to execution, when, on a sudden, the absent friend, who had been detained by unforeseen and unavoidable obstacles, presented himself to the eyes of the admiring crowd, and saved the life of Damon. Dionysius was so much struck by this instance of true attachment, that he pardoned Pythias, and entreated the two to allow him to share their friendship.— Val. Max., 4, 7
Dead Unto Sin
PLATO.—As many as rightly apply themselves to philosophy aim at nothing else than to die and be dead.... The true philosopher is occupied not about the body, but separated from it as much as possible and occupied about his soul. —Phædo., C. 9.
CICERO. —The whole life of philosophers is a preparation for death.—Tusc lib. i., c. 31.
Servants of Sin
XENOPHON. —Is it your opinion, said Socrates, that liberty is a fair and valuable possession? So valuable, replied Euthydemus, that I know of nothing more precious. But he who is so far overcome by sensual pleasure that he is not able to practice what is the best and consequently the most eligible, do you count this man free, Euthydemus? Far from it, replied the other. You think then, said Socrates, that freedom consists in being able to do what is right; and slavery, in not being able; whatever may be the cause that deprives us of the power? I do most certainly. The debauchee then you must suppose is in this state of slavery? I do, and with good reason. —Memorab., IV., 5.
SENECA. —Show me the man who is not a slave. One is a slave to lust: another to covetousness; another to ambition: and all to fear. I can show you a man of consular dignity a slave to an old woman; a very rich man a slave to his handmaid; and many a young nobleman the very bond-slave of a player. No slavery is more infamous than that which is voluntary.—Epistle, 47.
Prohibition Stirring up the Spirit of Transgression
REV. T. S. MILLINGTON.—The natural desire which prevails to do that which is forbidden has been noticed in all ages.—Test. of Heath., p. 560.
OVID.—Cease to irritate vices by forbidding them. We always strive after that which is forbidden, and desire those things which have been denied. —Amor., III., eleg. 4.
HORACE.—The human race, bold to endure all things, rushes on through crimes and everything that is forbidden.—Hor., lib. i., carm. 3.
Inward Conflict
EURIPIDES.—I know the ills I am about to dare, but my rage is master of my counsels, which is indeed the cause of the greatest calamities to men. —Med., V. 1074.
XENOPHON.—Araspes says to Cyrus: I have, plainly, two souls; for a single soul cannot be a good one and a bad one at the same time; nor can it, at the same time, affect both noble actions and vile ones. It cannot incline and be averse to the same things at the same time; but it is plain there are two souls, and when the good one prevails it does noble things; when the bad one prevails it attempts vile things.— Cyrop., VI., I.
EPICTETUS.—He is an able speaker who can discover to each man the contradiction by which he errs, and prove clearly to him that what he would, he doth not; and what he would not do, that he doth.—Epict., lib. ii., c. 26.
OVID.—I see the right, and I approve it too, Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong pursue.—Mett., VII., 20.
PHILEMON.—Oh! how corrupt is the nature of man: else there had been no need of laws.—Apud Stob., II.
PROPERTIUS.—Nature in every breast implanted vice.—Lib. ii., eleg. 18, v. 17.
HORACE.—No man is born without vices.—Lib. i., Sat. 3, v. 68.
CICERO.—Whilst we are shut up in this prison of the body, we are fulfilling as it were the function and painful task of destiny: for the heaven-born soul has been degraded from its dwelling place above, and, as it were, buried in the earth, a situation uncongenial to its divine and immortal nature.— De Senec. C. 21.
SENECA.—No one learns virtue before he hath unlearned vice: in this respect we are all pre-engaged.—Epist., 50.
The Body of Death
VIRGIL.—
The living and the dead, at his command
Were coupled, face to face, and hand to hand;
Till choked with stench, in loath’d embraces tied,
The lingering wretches pined away and died.
—Æn., VIII., 485.
Carnal and Spiritual Mind
Rom. 8:66For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6).—To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ARISTOTLE.—As much as possible we should immortalize ourselves, and do everything in order to live according to our most excellent part.—Eth., X., C. 7.
MAXIMUS TYRIUS.—The body is diseased, disturbed, corrupted; but if you place over it as a ruler a robust and healthy soul, it will pay no attention to the disease, and despise the evil.—Diss., 45.
The Glory to Be Revealed
PLATO.—These are the gifts which a just man receives during life; but these things are as nothing, either in number or magnitude, when compared with the happiness which awaits good men, or the sufferings which are reserved for the wicked after death.—De Rep., X., 13.
Ignorance in Prayer
PLATO.—Does it not seem to you that there is need of much forethought, in order that a person may not unconsciously pray for great evils for himself, while he thinks he is praying for good?—Alcid., II., I.
IDEM.—O Jupiter, give us good things, whether we pray for them or no; but withhold evil things from us, even though we pray for them.—Alcid., II, 5.
All Working for Good
PLATO.—To a good man, said Socrates, nothing is evil, neither while living nor when dead, nor are his concerns neglected by the gods; and what has befallen me is not the effect of chance: but this is clear to me, that now to die, and be freed from my cares, is better for me.—Socr. Apol., c. 33.
IDEM.—We are to think thus of the just man-that if he happen to be in poverty, or in disease, or in any other of those seeming evils, these things to him issue in something good, either whilst alive or dead.—De Rep., X., 12.
Olive Grafting
Rom. 11:1717And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; (Romans 11:17).—And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches.
JAHN.—The Cotinus and the Oleaster are both called wild olive trees. They are nevertheless of different kinds. The fruit of the Cotinus is used for no other purpose than coloring; but the Oleaster is that species of wild olive whose branches are grafted into barren olive trees, that are in a state of cultivation, in order that their fruitfulness may be produced.—Bible Arehœology, sect. 71.
All One Body in Christ
SENECA.—We are members of one great body: we are all akin by Nature, who hath formed us of the same elements, and placed us here together for the same end: she hath implanted in us mutual affection, and made us sociable; she hath commanded justice and equity: by her appointment it is more wretched to do an injury than to suffer one; and by her command the hand is ever ready to assist our brother.— Epist., 95.
Individual Talents
Rom. 12:66Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; (Romans 12:6).—Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith: or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth on teaching.
EPICTETUS.—First determine with yourself what you should be; and then do what you have to do. The particular end relates to the study and choice of each individual. A harpist is to act as a harpist; a carpenter as a carpenter; a philosopher as a philosopher; and an orator as an orator.—Epict., III., 23.
Giving With Simplicity
MARTIAL.—I hate the crafty and mischievous arts of presents. Gifts are like fish-hooks; for who does not know that the greedy fish is deceived by the fly which he swallows? When the poor man abstains from making presents to his rich friend, Quintilianus, he shows a liberal spirit.—Mart., lib. v., epig. 18.
Honoring Others
MARTIAL.—Your regard to friendship is sincere, Your own applause than mine you hold less dear.—VIII., 18.
Industry
XENOPHON.—The wise governors of the universe have decreed that nothing great, nothing excellent, shall be obtained without care and labor. They give no real good, no true happiness, on other terms. If then you wish for the fruits of the earth, cultivate it: if for the increase of your flocks and herds, let your flocks and herds have your attention and care.—Socr. Mem., II., I.
Mutual Sympathy
XENOPHON.—It is a matter of great difficulty always to serve those whom one has a desire to serve; but for this very reason we ought to rejoice with them when any good fortune happens to them, and to grieve with them under any adversity, to appear zealous Co assist them in their distresses, and afraid lest any should miscarry in anything, and to endeavor to prevent this by care and circumspection.— Cyrop., I., 6.
CICERO.—We rejoice in the joy of our friends as much as we do in our own, and are equally grieved at their sorrow.—De Fin., I., 20.
SENECA.—Rejoice at the success of every one, and be grieved at their misfortunes.—Epist., 103.
Humility
POLYBIUS.—I exhort thee not to be high-minded.—Polyb., lib. xv.
EPICTETUS.—Let no one ever hear you utter a word about your talents; nor suffer it if any one commends you for them; but think that you are nobody, and that you know nothing.—Epict., II., 1.
Revenge Forbidden
PLUTARCH.—Lycurgus having an eye struck out by Alexander, Without giving way to passion or resentment, stopped and showed the people, who were persecuting him, the injury he had suffered. They were struck with shame and sorrow, and delivered up Alexander to him for punishment: but Lycurgus took him to his house, and treated him with kindness, showing him no ill-treatment, either by word or action, and Alexander, won by the mildness and goodness of his heart, confessed to his friends that Lycurgus was not that proud and severe man he had been taken for, but above all others gentle and engaging in his behavior.—Lycurg., c. I I.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
SENECA.—How happy are you in giving no room to anyone to say a false thing of you.—Epist., 46.
PLUTARCH.—One of Pythagoras' maxims was, Do not stir the fire with a sword, but rather give place to him who is enraged.—De Lib. Educ., c. 17.
POLYBIUS.—To overcome enemies by kindness and just treatment, affords not a less, but a greater benefit than overpowering them by force of arms.—Polyb., lib. v.
M. ANTONY.—The best way of avenging an injury is not to do the like. M. Ant., lib. vi., c. 6.
ISOCRATES.—Be not overcome by infamous passions, avarice, anger, voluptuousness, melancholy, despair. You will overcome covetousness if you think equity and justice the noblest treasures. You will overcome anger if you dispose yourself to be such towards those who commit faults as you would desire others to be towards you in like case.—Ad Demon.
Rulers Appointed of God
PLUTARCH. —When the crown was offered to Numa, his father and his friend Marcius urged him to accept it: Consider, said they, that a king is the minister of God. —Num., c. 6.
ARISTOTLE.—To our relations, and tribesmen, and fellow-citizens, and everyone else, we should always endeavor to give what belongs to them, and to compare the claims of each with respect to relationship, or virtue, or acquaintance.—Eth., IX., 2.
Time to Awake
SENECA.—Let us awake therefore, that we may be sensible of our errors and correct them.— Epist., 53.
None Liveth to Himself
SENECA.—No one can live happily who lives to himself alone, and considers nothing but his own advantage: you must live for others if you would "live honorably for yourself.—Epist., 48.
God the Judge of All
EPICTETUS.—Do not give judgment from another tribunal, till you have been judged yourself at the tribunal of justice.—Fragm., 55.
STATIUS.—
With urn in hand the Cretan Judge appears,
And lives and crimes with his assessor's hears:
The conscious wretch must all his acts reveal,
Loth to confess, unable to conceal.
—Theb., lib. iv., v. 530.
Approving Conscience
CICERO.—Those are wise monitors who teach us to do nothing of which we are doubtful whether it is honest or just; for whatever is honest manifests itself by its own luster, but doubt implies the entertainment of injustice.—De Off., lib. i., c. 9.
God Only Wise
HERODOTUS.—Perfect wisdom is the prerogative of Heaven alone.—Polymnia, c. 10.