Commentary on Romans

The Letter to the Romans has fascinated and perplexed readers ever since antiquity, when the Church Fathers commented extensively on it. St. Thomas’s Commentary on Romans, the first in his series of majestic commentaries on Paul’s letters, stands out among commentaries on Paul’s letters, both ancient and modern, as uniquely ample and refined. Expansive in its broad theological concerns, incisive in its attention to the nuances of Paul’s elaborate and complex argument, the Commentary on Romans shows the Angelic Doctor to be a singularly perceptive and insightful reader of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Inheritor of the great centuries of Patristic exegesis, tranquilly free from assumptions of later doctrinal disputes, and bringing to bear a mind saturated with Scripture, St. Thomas was able to lecture on Romans with an accuracy and thoroughness of interpretation that has never been equaled.

 

“Thomas Aquinas saw himself primarily as a teacher of the Word (magister in sacra pagina), and his Commentary on Romans offers his mature understanding of St. Paul’s proclamation of Christ and our life in Christ. For Aquinas, Romans proclaims the centrality of the grace of Christ and of the action of the Spirit in our vocations to grow by adoption from grace to glory. By making Fr. Larcher’s elegant translation available to the general reader, this beautifully formatted edition of Aquinas’s Commentary renders scholarship a real service.”

Michael S. Sherwin, O.P.

University of Fribourg

“‘What! Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones it has reached?’ Aquinas’s Commentary on Romans reminds us that the Word of God has reached many holy men and women over the centuries.  In a medieval format, he gathers up the wisdom of the Church Fathers.  Any serious reader of St. Paul must know this commentary.”

Matthew Levering

Mundelein Seminary

“For centuries Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on Romans was a neglected masterpiece, but in recent years scholars have begun to give it the attention it deserves. Aquinas’s exegetical skill and unparalleled theological acuity are on display as he spares no effort to unfold the Apostle Paul’s communicative intention. At the same time, the Angelic Doctor ranges over the whole of Scripture with his uncanny ability to find illuminative parallels to Paul’s words, often in forgotten corners of the Old Testament. In this way he helps his readers appreciate the unity of the Canon and the coherence of the truths of the faith. This beautifully printed English edition from Emmaus Academic makes all of this available in a reader-friendly format.”

Gregory R. Vall

Notre Dame Seminary

“With this volume we are provided a three-fold benefit: one of St. Thomas’s finest commentaries on Scripture lucidly translated by Fr. Fabian Larcher and insightfully introduced by Dr. John Boyle. This volume will ensure that St. Thomas’s reflections on Romans will continue to contribute to our thinking about and living out Paul’s teaching in Romans today. The reader will find Aquinas’s comments to be surprisingly relevant for contemporary conversations around interpreting Romans.”

Chad Raith

John Brown University