Romans 1:20

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and deity; so that they are without excuse:
Read Chapter 1

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397
We can find it easy to understand, then, that the Creator of angels, dominions and powers is he who in a moment of his power made this great beauty of the world out of nothing, which did not itself have existence and gave substance to things or causes which did not themselves exist. .
< 1 min1/17

Ambrosiaster

AD 400
Paul here repeats the same thing in order to teach even more absolutely that, although the power and majesty of God cannot by themselves be seen by the eyes of the creature, they may be known by the work of the structure of the world. In this way he indicts those who lived without law, whether natural or Mosaic. For by the habit of sinning they broke the law of nature, wiping out any memory of him. But they did not want to accept the law, which had been given for their reformation, and thus were doubly condemned. His power and deity are eternal, so that they are without excuse. So that ungodliness might in no way be excused, Paul added that the power of God and his eternal divinity were known by men, who were prevented by some foolishness from honoring God, who they knew existed and provided for their welfare. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
How does Paul mean that they are without excuse, except by reference to a kind of excuse that usually prompts human pride to voice such protestations as: “If only I had known, I would not have done it.” … This kind of excuse is taken away from them when a precept is given or when the knowledge of how to avoid sin is made clear to them.
< 1 min3/17

Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
Notice that Paul does not call them ignorant of the truth but says that they held the truth in iniquity, and he does not fail to answer the obvious question: How could those to whom God had not given the law have a knowledge of the truth? For he says that through the visible things of the creation they reached an understanding of the invisible things of the Creator.
< 1 min4/17

Augustine of Hippo

AD 430
Invisible things are seen in a special and appropriate way. When they are seen they are much more certain than the objects of the bodily sense, but they are said to be invisible because they cannot be seen by mortal eyes.
< 1 min5/17

Basil the Great

AD 379
You will find that the world was not devised at random or to no purpose, but to contribute to some useful end and to the great advantage of all beings. It is truly a training place for rational souls and a school for attaining the knowledge of God. Through visible and perceptible objects it provides guidance to the mind for the contemplation of the invisible. Homily One, Creation of the Heavens and Earth
< 1 min6/17

Basil the Great

AD 379
In all things visible, clear reminders of the Benefactor grip us. We shall not give any opportunity for sins, nor shall we leave any place in our hearts for the enemy, if we have God as a dweller in us by our constant remembrance of him.
< 1 min7/17

Clement Of Rome

AD 99
For to those who think aright, God is manifest even by the operations of the world which He hat made, using the evidence of His creation;
< 1 min8/17

Gennadius of Constantinople

AD 471
He created us with such a nature, placing a mind and reason within us and granting us these things so that by studying this world we might come to a knowledge of the invisible things which are his. Paul says that they are without excuse in order to shut them up…. For God did not deign to reveal himself to human beings in order to give them some excuse but in order to show them that it would be to their advantage to accept him and his mercy. .
< 1 min9/17

Hippolytus of Rome

AD 235
"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly"-now the expression that which is unseemly signifies, according to these (Naasseni), the first and blessed substance, figureless, the cause of all figures to those things that are moulded into shapes,-"and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."
< 1 min10/17

John Chrysostom

AD 407
The prophets also said: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Will the heathen say at the judgment that they were ignorant of God? Did they not hear the heaven sending forth a voice while the wellordered harmony of all things spoke out more clearly than a trumpet? Did you not see the hours of night and day remaining constantly unmoved, the good order of winter, spring and the other seasons remaining both fixed and unmoved? … Yet God did not set so great a system of teaching before the heathen in order to deprive them of any excuse but so that they might come to know him. It was by their failure to recognize him that they deprived themselves of every excuse.

John Chrysostom

AD 407
Which also the prophet said, The heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1 For what will the Greeks (i.e. Heathen) say in that day? That we were ignorant of You? Did ye then not hear the heaven sending forth a voice by the sight, while the well-ordered harmony of all things spoke out more clearly than a trumpet? Did ye not see the hours of night and day abiding unmoved continually, the goodly order of winter, spring, and the other seasons remaining both sure and unmoved, the tractableness (εὐγνωμοσύνην) of the sea amid all its turbulence and waves? All things abiding in order and by their beauty and their grandeur, preaching aloud of the Creator? For all these things and more than these does Paul sum up in saying, The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal Power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. And yet it is not for this God has made these things, even if this came of it. F...

John of Damascus

AD 749
The very creation, by its harmony and ordering, proclaims the majesty of the divine nature.
< 1 min13/17

Tatian the Assyrian

AD 180
And of the forms that are in matter; He is invisible, impalpable, being Himself the Father of both sensible and invisible things. Him we know from His creation, and apprehend His invisible power by His works.
< 1 min14/17

Tertullian of Carthage

AD 220
The objects which are touched by the mind are of a higher nature, since they are spiritual, than those which are grasped by the senses. Since these are corporeal, any superiority they may display lies only in the “objects”—e.g., as lofty ones contrasted with humble—not in the “faculties” of the intellect over against the senses. For how can the intellect be considered sovereign above the senses, when it is these which educate it for the discovery of various truths? It is a fact that these truths are learned by means of palpable forms; in other words, invisible things are discovered by the help of visible ones, even as the apostle says in his epistle.

Tertullian of Carthage

AD 220
For how can the intellect be superior to the senses, when it is these which educate it for the discovery of various truths? It is a fact, that these truths are learned by means of palpable forms; in other words, invisible things are discovered by the help of visible ones, even as the apostle tells us in his epistle: "For the invisible things of Him are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made; ". Is guilty both of impudence and malignity: of impudence, in aspiring after a belief which is not due to him, and for which he has provided no foundation;. ); and He had offenders in those wise and prudent ones who would not seek after God, although He was to be discovered in His so many and mighty works. and indications (of His divinity). They are, however, His "invisible things "which, according to the apostle, "are from the creation of the world clearly seen by the things that are made;

Thomas Aquinas

AD 1274
123. After showing that truth about God was known by the Gentiles [n. 113], he now states that they were guilty of the sins of ungodliness. 68 First, he shows this with regard to the sin of impiety; secondly, in regard to injustice, there [v. 28; n. 152] at And since they did not see fit. But someone might believe that they would be excludes from the sin of ungodliness on account of ignorance, as the Apostle says of himself in 1 Tim (1:13): "I received mercy, because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief." First, therefore, he shows that they are without excuse; secondly, he states their sin, there [v.23; n. 132] at And they changed the glory. 124. In regard to the first it should be noted that ignorance excuses from guilt, when it precedes and causes guilt in such a way that the ignorance itself is not the result of guilt; for example, when a person, after exercising due caution, thinks he is striking a foe, when he is really striking his father. But if the ignorance is caused by guilt, ...
16 mins17/17

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation - 2 Peter 1:20

App Store LogoPlay Store Logo