Zanchi’s Prolegomena to Ephesians
Edited by David Attebury, July 26, 2023. This is a compound work: I use a customized ChatGPT 4 to assist in the first translation draft, but check each line to the original and make changes.
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From Girolamo (Jerome) Zanchi’s 1594 Commentary on Ephesians.
It is commonly agreed upon among nearly all literary professors that those who are about to interpret a book present some things about the praises of the author and the book: about the reasons for undertaking the book to be explained, and also something about the method they intend to use, in advance to their listeners.
But for me, who is about to interpret this letter, to say anything about the author and the author's praises not only seems unnecessary but also plainly absurd. For the true and primary author, just like in other scriptures, is the Holy Spirit, the true God, the author and distributor of all gifts in holy men; and who used Paul as an amanuensis for writing this. What, I ask, could be more inappropriate among Christians, endowed with true piety, than if I were to desire to deliver a long speech either praising the Holy Spirit in the manner of orators or about the Apostle Paul, his character, life, office, dignity, and virtues?
Let the rhetoricians provide this, especially among those for whom these things are unknown. Certainly, to me, as I write for devout readers and theologians, not for one performing the role of an orator, these things do not accord. The teaching of the Apostle (or rather that delivered through the Apostle by the Holy Spirit) should be explained sincerely and diligently, rather than celebrating the praises of any individual. And if something needs to be said about Paul, I will say it in the explanation of the inscription (τῆς ἐπιγραφής).
As for the praises of the Epistle itself, there is no reason why many words should be expected from me, as it neither requires my commendation nor would anyone moderately acquainted with Apostolic doctrine be unaware of the great dignity and authority of all Sacred Scriptures as a whole, and of each individual part. All Scripture is divinely inspired and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. Therefore, we should embrace this letter as the certain word of God, to be read and listened to with true faith, utmost diligence, and attention.
However, this should by no means be overlooked: for what reasons have I undertaken the task of explaining and publishing this letter of Paul to the Ephesians from among so many books of the New Testament? These reasons are many and weighty, and their observation seems to contribute significantly both to our purpose and to understanding and retaining the essence and majesty of the Epistle itself. All these reasons are drawn from the Epistle itself, gathered in connection with our own times.
And first, indeed, the Apostle's purpose in this Epistle is derived. For it was to exhort and encourage the Church of Ephesus, and each of its members, to persevere steadfastly in the faith of Christ, and in obedience to His commandments, and indeed, also to promote growth in both aspects. Nor should they allow themselves to be led astray by any mortal, either due to their own persecutions and hardships or because of the multitude of teachers propagating different doctrines and authority, from the Apostolic teaching they have already received. What could be more relevant and necessary for our times than this exhortation?
For we see indeed how great is the multitude and authority of false teachers: and on the other hand, how serious are the persecutions and crosses of the pious teachers and their disciples: so that we may observe not a few shamefully deviating from the purity of the doctrine previously received. It would, therefore, be worth the effort in this Epistle to observe the reasons and arguments by which we may be stirred to perseverance in faith and obedience. For this Epistle concerns us no less than it did the Ephesians.
Another reason is drawn from the subject matter contained in this Epistle. This Epistle is like an epitome of the entirety of Christian doctrine, and a comprehensive summary of almost all the main commonplaces usually treated in Theology. The Apostle, aiming to strengthen the Ephesians, whom he had instructed in the true Gospel doctrine, and to encourage them to remain steadfast in the faith they had learned from him, reminds them of the essence of the entire teaching:
He begins from God the Father, from whom all good things flow into us through Christ as the source. Among these blessings, the first is our eternal and gratuitous election and predestination in Christ. Then, he moves on to redemption, accomplished in the person of the Son, and explains how it is communicated to us. He emphasizes that we truly become participants in Him through the preaching of the Gospel, if we embrace it with faith and hold firmly to the end. And indeed, he urges all the chosen ones to firmly hold on to the fact that they are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who serves as the guarantee of our certain heavenly inheritance, abiding in us until the day of complete redemption, which will occur at the end of the world.
Meanwhile, he also teaches that we should take care and nurture our faith through prayers, and by exercises of faith and charity, and by the zeal of good works, so that we may grow in true piety and in the knowledge of God and Christ, whom the Father has appointed as the head of the entire Church. We are all born in sin and children of wrath, but saved by the grace of God and gifted with faith, and regenerated in order that in good works, to which we have been created in Christ, we may walk.
Therefore, the law of commandments, which was established in various decrees, was abolished so that both the Jewish and Gentile people, with the barriers broken down, might unite and become one new man, through the same Holy Spirit, under one head, Christ, from whom we receive life and growth.
Who for this very purpose, having ascended into heaven, above all angels having been exalted, having sent the Holy Spirit, did establish the public ministry of the Church, for the restoration of the saints and to build up His body, which is the Church, and that we may grow in Him into all things, with Christ as the head. No longer should we walk like the rest of the Gentiles, in sin and in the vanity of our understanding, but daily putting off the old self and putting on the new, we may, in view of our calling, worthily walk.
To sum it up, in this Epistle, we find almost all the main topics of Theology: the one God, subsisting in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the omnipotence, wisdom, goodness, mercy, philanthropy (Φιλανθρωπία), and grace of God. It also covers the eternal and gratuitous predestination, the creation of the world, the angels, and their various ranks, above whom Christ is exalted (chapter 1).
Moreover, in this Epistle, there are passages about original sin and actual sin, about the promises of future salvation in Christ, and about the covenant made with the Fathers. There is also mention of the Law and its abolition (chapter 2). Additionally, it covers the advent of Christ in the flesh at the fullness of time, His two natures, true Deity, and true humanity, His true death, resurrection, and His true and actual ascension into heaven (chapters 1, 2, and 4).
Again, there are passages in this Epistle about redemption and reconciliation accomplished in the person of Christ (chapter 1 and elsewhere). It also speaks about the communication of this redemption and eternal salvation: how it is offered through the Gospel, received through faith, and sealed by the Holy Spirit (chapters 1, 2, 3, and elsewhere). Received, I say, through living faith, which cannot exist without the pursuit of good works. Therefore, it deals with true faith and good works (chapter 2).
It covers the preaching of the Gospel, on which faith relies (chapters 1 and 2). It also discusses the ministry of the Word and the ministers chosen and called for this purpose (chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4). Additionally, it talks about the Sacraments, through which not only the promises of the Gospel are sealed but also the things signified by them are exhibited to believers (chapter 5). For it says that the Church is cleansed by the washing of water with the Word. Therefore, it deals with the Church, which consists of the Elect, both Gentiles and Jews, and which alone becomes a participant in the redemption and eternal salvation (chapters 1, 2, and 5).
It discusses the true union of the Church and individual believers with Christ (chapters 2 and 5). It also covers the continual growth in piety and perseverance of the saints in Christ (chapters 1, 2, and 4). Furthermore, it emphasizes the unity of the Church to be maintained through harmony among its members. It addresses the Christian life and the pursuit of various virtues while avoiding vices (chapters 4, 5, and 6).
It discusses the sum of Christian piety that is required of us: faith in Christ and love for the saints (chapter 1). Finally, it covers the resurrection from the dead and the universal judgment, where each one will receive from the Lord according to what they have done, whether good or bad (chapter 6). It also addresses the ascension of the righteous to heaven and the eternal life, to which all who believe in Christ are elected and called, where we will praise the Lord forever.
For all the other preceding and subsequent benefits aim towards this end: that we may be to the praise of His glorious grace; perpetual praise, I say (chapters 1 and 2). Therefore, since the Apostle has encompassed the sum of the whole Christian doctrine in this brief Epistle, I, however, having been called by God for interpreting sacred letters, judged that I would do a worthwhile work for all the pious, if I were to undertake the interpretation of this truly divine Epistle, and either briefly explain or at least indicate the theological points that present themselves in each chapter.
This is the second reason for my undertaking. There is also a third reason: that if any other of Paul's epistles contains strong and numerous arguments against the most harmful heresies of this time, certainly this one to the Ephesians does. It contains solid refutations against the most harmful heresies of our time, including the new Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, Pelagians, as we shall see in their respective places.
For what could be clearer against the Pelagians, the enemies of God's grace (chapters 1 and 2)? In this letter, he abundantly discusses the free election and the free redemption, as well as our calling to Christ and justification. He demonstrates that our entire salvation and everything pertaining to it, whether it be faith or works, are not from us but from the pure grace of God.
What could be more effective against the Nestorians than what he writes in chapter 4? Is it not entirely the same, or the same person of the Son of God, who ascended to heaven and had also descended before? What could more effectively refute the dream of a ubiquitous heaven than the antithesis, which is mentioned there, between the lower parts of the earth and the highest heaven into which Christ ascended? Furthermore, nothing explains more clearly what it means for Christ to be seated at the right hand of the Father than what is held in chapter 1.
In that passage, he teaches that Christ (not before but after being raised from the dead) ascended to heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father. He is not seated everywhere, or on earth—but in the heavenly realms. And this is nothing other than Him having been made Lord and King of all, established above every principality, power, and virtue. That is, He is not only above all humans but also above all orders of angels, insofar as He is the Mediator. Therefore, the human nature of Christ is not equal to the divine nature (by which the Son has always been equal to the Father), but only above all created things and exalted above all angels in the person of the Mediator.
Therefore, not without reason, I have undertaken to narrate and explain this Epistle. I will also add this, that this Epistle is full of consolations against all kinds of temptations. For the believers in the Church of Ephesus needed them, especially when they knew their Apostle was a captive in Rome, and for this reason, he also sent Tychicus to them.
Certainly, we also need consolations no less, as we are pressed by various calamities, and exposed to different dangers for the sake of Christ and the truth of the doctrine: we are afflicted at home and outside. Therefore, the explanation of this Epistle will be most useful to everyone. I earnestly pray and entreat God to do so, with my whole heart.
Nor would it be out of place if we say something about the method we will use, both in explaining this Epistle and in others. Since there are two methods of teaching and transmitting knowledge and disciplines, as Aristotle wisely taught, the synthetic (συνθετιχή) and the analytic (καί ἀναλυτιχή), I must also use both, but each in its appropriate place.
In explaining scriptures, there is a need for analysis (ἀναλύσει): by which, first and foremost, the author's aim and purpose, to which all that is written refers, are demonstrated, and the entire body of the Epistle is broken down into its parts, and the whole summary of doctrine is resolved into specific propositions and the confirmations of these propositions, as into its constituent parts.
However, in collecting theological passages from the sacred scriptures already explained, the method of synthesis (συνθετιχή) is necessary. By this method, we are taught to bring together and compose various propositions and their confirmations concerning the same doctrine distinctly, in a certain and orderly manner suitable for teaching, from the context we are interpreting. We also use other arguments from various sources, if necessary, for supporting these propositions.
As Augustine wisely taught, we should interpret the scriptures by comparing them with other scriptures, having explained first the genuine meaning of words and expressions. We examine everything in light of the analogy and rule of faith, and also, as far as it can be done, not departing from pious antiquity.
Yet, we do not wish to be bound, because it is not expedient, by the interpretations of the Fathers: just as we do not easily or rashly reject them. The Fathers themselves prescribe to us a rule, as to how much we ought to attribute to their writings: namely, if something is consistent with the sacred scriptures, that should be retained; if something is inconsistent, that should be rejected.
Let several canons in Decretum, Distinction 9. be read about this matter. Augustine himself followed and taught this rule; therefore, as we have in canon 10 there, he concluded in this way: 'I am in my writings as I want my readers to be: namely, free, so that they may approve what is praiseworthy and disapprove what is disapprovable.'*
*Aug., De Trin. 3, Prologue. Quoted in Gratian’s Decretum, Distinction 9, c.3. (Gratian, c.1140; aka Decretum Gratiani)
However, something can only be proven in Theology to the extent that it is in accordance with the sacred scriptures. But let it be far from us, and from the mind and lips of every Christian, to embrace that blasphemy some write about, claiming that the sacred scriptures are so obscure and ambiguous that their meaning should not be sought from the scriptures themselves, but from the writings of the Fathers and from the authority of the Church. As if indeed God, in the sacred scriptures, which St. Gregory calls the 'Epistle of God to all,' either did not want or was unable to speak in a way that we could understand.
Nevertheless, we do not reject, as we said before, the interpretations of the Fathers and other Doctors. But having kept that rule, which we mentioned a little earlier from Augustine, and which we said to be the rule of all the Fathers: For we must believe simply in the scriptures alone.