Romanos 14
Philoxenus of Mabbug
Romanos 14:3
And again, when the Apostle Paul is read, and he heareth from him, "Everything which was created by God is holy, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer;" or another verse, "The belly for meats, and meats for the belly;" or that also which he spake, "Let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth." And in the other things like unto these which are written in the doctrine of Paul, the fool rejoiceth, and receiveth them gladly, without understanding the reason of the words. And the glutton is not pleased to hear the other things which have been written by Paul upon fortitude and asceticism, either when he recounteth his numerous fastings, or when he crieth out to his disciples, saying, "Ye are dead unto the world," or when he writeth, "It is good for a man not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine," or his exhortation, "Through many tribulations it is meet for a man to enter into the kingdom of God," or his saying, "God shall bring both the belly and the food to nought;" and the reading of these and such like passages the glutton considereth unnecessary, and he is not pleased even to hear them. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 10 -- On Gluttony
Romanos 14:3
And Saint Paul, standing upon the height of this freedom, said, "Let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth," neither let him that eateth because of his freedom despise him that eateth not because of the bondage of the law, because he whom the law leadeth is yet a servant, and hath not yet arrived at the perfect freedom of Christ. See then therefore, and think not that thou standest in the freedom of Christ whilst thou still servest in bondage, and dost eat everything without being permitted so to do. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence
Romanos 14:6
For freedom is above the law, and therefore it is the same to thee whether thou eatest, or whether thou eatest not, even as Paul spake concerning this freedom of the spirit, saying, "He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth it not, regardeth it not unto the Lord; and he that eateth not eateth not unto God; and he that eateth, eateth unto God, and giveth thanks unto the Lord;" so then it belongeth unto us by this freedom to eat, or not to eat. And for this reason He did not make a difference between meats severally mentioned by the law, that they might not be distinguished before us by lust or by the absence of lust, and that we should not excuse ourselves from eating that for which we lust as if through uncleanness, whether it be rare or whether it be common, or whether it be permitted to be eaten according to custom or not; so then that from the eating of which lust ariseth not in us we may eat as of that which is clean, without our conscience pricking us during the eating thereof. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence
Romanos 14:21
And the glutton is not pleased to hear the other things which have been written by Paul upon fortitude and asceticism, either when he recounteth his numerous fastings, or when he crieth out to his disciples, saying, "Ye are dead unto the world," or when he writeth, "It is good for a man not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine," or his exhortation, "Through many tribulations it is meet for a man to enter into the kingdom of God," or his saying, "God shall bring both the belly and the food to nought;" and the reading of these and such like passages the glutton considereth unnecessary, and he is not pleased even to hear them. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 10 -- On Gluttony
Romanos 14:21
Now with thee He hath not done thus, but He hath purified and sanctified everything, as it is written, "Everything is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer," that henceforth the patient endurance of thy discretion might appear, and that thou mightest not eat, not because they were impure, but because it hath been said that it is good that thou shouldst not eat flesh nor drink wine, nor anything by which our brother may stumble, and also that thou mightest overcome lust by thine own will, and not by the restriction of the uncleanness of meats. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence