Commentary on Romans, Biblical exegesis 1 · Chapter 9 · Section 3 · Subsection 18 – Subsection 20
Quest. 18. How the Lord is said to harden whom he will, v. 18.
1. Origen thinketh that this sentence is part of an obiection propounded in the person of some other: and so also Chrysostome. But it appeareth to be the Apostles owne assertion, both by the note of illation, therefore he hath merciemercy, &c. and because the obiection followeth in the next words, v. 19. thou wilt say vntounto me then: which sheweth this to be no part of the obiection; Beza, Gryneus.
2. Some thinke that God hardneth by permission onelyonly, as Oecumen, indurat. i. dur… esse permittit, he hardeneth, that is, suffereth and permitteth to be hardened: so also Bellarmine, permittit eos male agere, he permitteth them to doe euill. But this permission, doth suppose God,Bellarm. lib. 2. de amiss. grat. cap. 13. either otiosum, vel invitum, either to be idle and negligent, or against his will to suffer things: so it will cast vponupon God either an imputation of negligence or indulgence, as Heli permitted his sonnes to sinne; or of impotencie, in permitting things, which he cannot hinder: therefore this deuise of bare permission, doth not satisfie.
3. Nor yet did God harden him, per patientiam, by his patience, in sparing to punish him, Origen: dilatione poenae, by deferring of his punishment, Basil in Oecumen. for in this sense Pharaoh rather hardened his owne heart, in abusing Gods longsuffering, as the Apostle speaketh of those, which through their hardnesse of heart despise the bountifulnesse of God, Rom. 2.42. God cannot be said this way to harden it.
4. Hierome thinketh that God doth harden the vessels of wrath, and mal…fieth the vessels of merciemercy, causis praecedentibus, vponupon causes proceeding or going before, because some beleeued in Christ, some beleeued not, Hierome epist. 150. resp. ad qu. 10. But Pererius refuseth this opinion, and vponupon good ground; because he maketh the wills and dispositions of men, to be the first cause, why God sheweth merciemercy on some, and hardeneth others: as the same heate of the Sunne mollifieth the wax, and hardneth the clay: whereas the Apostle soli voluntati diuinae aperte assignat, doth manifestly assigne the cause to the onelyonly will of God: Pere. disput. 10. numer. 55.
5. And farre be it from any to thinke, that God is the proper efficient cause of the hardening of mans heart, which is the worke of Sathan: as Pererius slaundereth Calvin to say, Deum causam esse efficientem indurationis, that God is the efficient cause of the hardening of the heart, &c. And thus he challenging Calvin, because he saith, that this word to burden in Scripture signifieth not onelyonly permission, sed diuinae irae actionem, but an action of the diuine wrath: which is most true; but yet as the hardning and hardnesse of the heart is sinne, the Lord hath nothing to doe with it.
6. Pererius thinketh that by hardening here we may vnderstand, ipsam reprobationis originem, the verie beginning of reprobation, that is the will and purpose of God, non miserandi, not to shew merciemercy: But hardening of the heart is an effect or consequence rather of reprobation, then reprobation it selfe: and thus he will make God the proper cause of this induration and hardening, which he charged Calvin with before.
7. To vnderstand therefore how God is said to harden the heart: it must be considered, that there are two degrees thereof, desertio induritae, the leauing and forsaking of men in their hardnes of heart; which is either non apponendo, vel subtrahendo gratiam, in not giuing, or in subtracting his grace: as Augustine saith, he hardeneth not, impertiendo malitiam, sed non impertiendo gratiam, not by imparting malice, but by not imparting his merciemercy and grace: epistol. 105. ad Sixtumi non quia irrogatur aliquod quo fit homo deterior, sed quo ferrer melior, non irrogatur: not because any thing is irrogated to make man worse, but nothing is irrogated, to make him better, …lib. 1. ad Simplici. qu. 2. and he likeneth it to the freezing and congealing of the water by the absence of the Sunne, which is done, non impretiendo frigiditatem, sed non apponendo calorem, not by imparting coldnesse, but in not putting to heat. The other degree in hardening, is inflictio grautoris duritiae, the inflicting of a greater blindnesse, and hardnes of heart: which is done three wayes, either immediately, by God himselfe, or mediately by Sathan, or by themselues, that are hardened: and so we reade in Exodus, that God is said 8. times to hauehave hardened Pharaohs heart, and thrice Pharaoh hardened his owne heart, and fiue times his heart is said simply to be hardened, Pareus.
First God inflicteth the hardnesse of heart as a punishment, when either inwardly, he giueth them vp to their owne desires, not onelyonly in denying vntounto them necessarie graces, but so working by his invisible power that their corrupt wills are more and more hardened: as it is said, Reuel. 22.11. He that is filthie, let him be filthie still: hardnesse then of heart, as it is a punishment of former sinnes, is iustly inflicted by God, as Augustine saith,de natur. S…g…. cap. 12. prioribus meritia, &c. hoc redditum est Pharaoni, vt cor eius induraretur, this was giuen as a iust recompence to Pharaohs former euill merits, in afflicting the people of God, that his heart was hardened, &c. As hardnesse of heart is a punishment of former sinnes, so it is of God. And God by his immediate power hardeneth the heart two wayes: 1. the generall facultio, whereby euerie one mooueth and willeth this or that, is of God: Luther vseth this similitude, as Pet. Martyr alleadgeth him: like as the rider that forceth a lame and halting horse is the cause of his going: but his halting pase proceedeth from the lamenesse of the horse: so God hardeneth as the generall moouer, but the euillnes of the action proceedeth from the corruption of man. 2. But more then this, God doth by a more speciall prouidence so ouerrule euen the hearts of wicked men, that they are ordered vntounto that ende, which the Lord will himselfe: and so Hugo well saith, that God invisibili operatione, malas voluntates ad suum arbitrium temperat & ordinat, Hug. de S. Vict. lib. 1. de sacram. par. 5. c. 27.&c. by his invisible operation doth temper and order euen wicked wills according to his owne mind, &c. yet God giueth vntounto euill and perverse wills, non corruptionem sed ordinem, not corruption but order, &c. and he sheweth it by this similitude: like as when one is cast downe headlong, and is readie to fall, if one make a way seeing he must needes fall, that he tumble downe one way rather then an other, he in some sort may be said to incline and make a way for him to fall: and yet causeth or procureth not, but onelyonly disposeth his fall: And thus God may be said to harden …erly.
Outwardly also God hardeneth by his workes, as either his mercies shewed vponupon others, as the Egyptians hated Gods people, because the Lord blessed them: and in this sense it is said, that God turned their heart to hate his people, Psal. 105.25. that is, by creation of those benefits, which he bestowed vponupon them: or by his iudgements inflicted vponupon the wicked themselues, as Pharaohs heart was the more hardened by the plagues which were sent: of this kind also it is, that the wicked are many times hardened by the ministerie and preaching of the word, which is sent to conuert them, but they peruert it to their destruction: so it is said vntounto the Prophet Isay, 6.9. Goe, &c. and shut the eyes of … people, make their heart fatt: the Prophet is said to harden their heart, because it was hardened by occasion of his preaching.
Secondly, God hardeneth by his instruments: as when he deliuereth vp men vntounto Sathan to be seduced by him, and giueth them ouer into his power: as God is said to hauehave stirred vp Dauid to number the people, 2. Sam. 24.1. which was indeede the worke of Sathan, 1. Chron. 21.1. so God bid the lying spirit to goe and deceiue Baals Prophets, 1. Kin. 22.21. and the Apostle saith of the wicked, that the God of this world hath blinded their minds, 2. Cor. 4.4.
Thirdly, the wicked doe harden their owne hearts, when God giueth them ouer vntounto their owne wicked and corrupt desires; as the Apostle speaketh of the heathen, that God g…e them vp to their owne hearts lusts, Rom. 1.24. And thus Pharaoh is said to hauehave hardened his owne heart: And thus, as hath beene shewed, God is said to harden the heart: But it will thus be obiected on the contrarie.
1. Obiect. To tempt man is all one as to harden him, but God tempteth none, Iam. 1.13. therefore neither doth he harden them.
Answ. God tempteth not with any such temptation, as proceedeth from a corrupt beg…ing: such as are the tentations which are caused by mans own concupiscence: for as God not tempted, he hath no corrupt affections to be tempted, so neither doth he tempt by inciting or stirring men vp to euill: neither doth he in this manner harden: but as God may tempt externally for the triall of mens faith and obedience, as he tempted Abraham, and so he tempted Israel in the desert: so the Lord by externall meanes, and in such manner as he hauehave said, hardeneth in his iustice without any iniustice at all, Martyr.
2. Obiect. If God hardened Pharaohs heart, why then did he send Moses so often vntounto him, to bid him let his people goe? God should seeme herein to be contrarie to himselfe, in making shewe of one thing, and yet intending an other.
Answ. Pet. Martyr here vseth this distinction: Gods will is to be considered two waies; there is voluntas signi vel antecedens, the will of the signe, or the wil going before: and there is voluntas consequens seu beneplaciti, the will following, or of Gods good pleasure: As when Ionas was sent to preach to the Niniuites, that they should within 40. dayes be destroyed, that was the will of the signe, or the reuealed will of God: but yet the Lord vponupon their repentance purposed to spare them, that was the secret wil, and good pleasure of God: yet were not these wills the one contrarie to the other: but the one wrought for the other: as Ionas preaching brought them to repentance, that Gods pleasure might be fulfilled in spring of the citie: so Moses was sent to Pharaoh, to make him without excuse, that Gods iustice might be manifest in giuing him ouer to the hardnes of heart.
3. Obiect. Hardnes of heart is of God, hardnes of heart is sinne, therefore is would hence followe that sinne is of God.
Ans. Hardnes of heart is not of God simply, or as it is sinne, but accidentally onelyonly … it is the punishment of sinne: hardnesse of heart is then ascribed vntounto God, as the Iudge to Sathan as the tormentor and executioner, to the wicked themselues, as to the partie guiltie, Pareus, dub. 16.
4. God is not angrie with his owne worke: but he is angrie with men for their hardnes of heart: therefore it is no way Gods worke.
Answ. Hardnes of heart as it is sinne, or the cause of sinne it is not of God, but the Lord is offended with it: but as it is a punishment of sinne, so is it of God, and the Lord is pleased that the obstinacie of the wicked should be punished, Gryneus.
Quest. 19. Of the obiection propounded, v. 19. Thou wilt say, why doth he yet complaine, &c.
1. This is the third obiection: the first was of inconstancie, which might seeme to be imputed vntounto God in reiecting the Iewes, which was answeared before v. 6. the second of iniustice, in casting off some and choosing others, before they had done any good or euill, 5.14. now the third is of crueltie, which might be furmised in God, i… beeing an … those that are hardened, which notwithstanding is according to his owne will: this ph…ion the Apostle now beginneth to answear.
2. Why doth he yet complaine, or is angrie, foreign the word signifieth both: the latine readeth queritur, complaineth: by the mistaking of which word, some taking it for … ritur, with a dipthong, which signifieth to be sought or enquired: some hauehave here … threefold sense; as first it may be taken impersonally, why is it enquired, whence it … one is good an other euill; or passively, wherefore is it sought for, or why should any seeke to be good, seeing all is as God will; or actiuely, why doth God complaine of sinners, seeing all is according to his will: so Gorrhan and the ordin. gloss. but the last onelyonly is the right meaning, the other two senses doe arise by the mistaking of the word.
3. God complaineth in many places in the Scriptures of the wickednesse of men, as Isa. 1.26. How is the faithfull citie become an harlot: so our Sauiour taketh vp this complaint ouer Ierusalem; how often would I hauehave gathered together, &c. Matth. 23. now the obiection is, why God should thus complaine, seeing herein his will is not gainsaied or resisted.
4. And the force of the obiection consisteth in these two points. 1. Ob. That which … according to Gods will, he cannot iustly be offended with; but that some are hardened … agreeable to Gods will: here we must answear by a distinction of Gods will; for that which is not contrarie to Gods reuealed will, he cannot be displeased withall, but if the question be of his secret, and hid will, the proposition is not true.
2. Ob. That which cannot be avoided, is not iustly punished, but the hardening of … reprobate cannot be avoided, therefore, &c.
Answ. Here must be admitted a distinction of necessitie, there is necessitas coactia…, compelling and enforcing necessitie, when the will is not free, but vrged and compelled, and necessitas naturae, the necessitie of nature: as men considering their naturall corruption cannot but sinne, there is necessitas infallibilitatis, a necessitie infallible: as that which God hath decreed, cannot otherwise be, Martyr: of the two latter kinds of necessitie, the proposition is not true, but onelyonly of the first: that which cannot be avoided, is not iustly punished, if a man be willing to avoide it: seeing then the will of wicked … is wholly … ried after sinne, howsoeuer there is a necessitie in their nature, and in respect of Gods decree not to doe otherwise: yet because they are not compelled, but they sinne willingly, they are notwithstanding iustly punished.
Quest. 20. Of the Apostles answer to the former obiection, who art thou O man that pleadest, &c. v. 20.
1. The Apostles answear is first personall, shewing the insolencie and presumption of man, that dare take vponupon him, thus as it were to call the creator to account for his workes: of such the Prophet Isay saith, 49.10. Woe vntounto him that striueth with his maker: the other? answear is reall, that is, concerning the thing it selfe: which consisteth of a secret concession, that both are true, that God hardeneth whom he will, and that none can resist Gods will; or doe otherwise then he hath determined: and these is a nogation insinuated, that yet notwithstanding God is not vniust, which he sheweth by the absolute power that God hath euer his creature, by the similitude of the potter, Gryneus: Tolet maketh here two answears of the Apostle in this similitude proposed, one to stay the curiositie of such gain sayers, v. 20. the other to satisfie the humble and willing to learne, that God casteth off none without their owne demerits, v. 22.
2. Origen well obserueth here a difference betweene those which aske questions, and make obiections of curiositie, for they deserue no other answear but this, tu quis es, who are thou man, &c. and such as desire to be satisfied for their own instruction, non puio, quod si fidelis servus & prudens interroget, &c. I doe not thinke that if a faithfull and wise seruant should hauehave asked any question beeing desirous to vnderstand; that it should hauehave beene so answeared him: but his desire should hauehave beene satisfied as Daniels was, c. 9.
3. Augustine concerning this answear of the Apostle, lib. 83. qu. 68. maketh mention of two cauils of certaine heretikes here obiected, the one of the Marcionites and Manichees, that Paul hauing nothing to answearto these obiections, fell to chiding: some other thought the Scriptures were corrupted, and that these words were inferred by others: To both these cauils Augustine answeareth thus in effect: to the first, that seeing the Apostle spake by the spirit of God, it were blasphemie to thinke that he had nothing to say: and to the other, if this be admitted, that the Scriptures are corrupted, we shold hauehave no certainty of any thing.