Читать толкование: К Титу послание ап. Павла, Глава 1, стих 11. Толкователь — Иероним Стридонский блаженный

And indeed, without the authority of the Scriptures, their garru-lousness would not be believable, if these men did not seem to cor-roborate their perverse doctrine as well by divine testimonies. They are Jews of the circumcision who at that time endeavored to destroy the nascent church of Christ and to introduce the precepts of the law. Paul develops this quite fully both in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians. And a few months ago we dictated three books in explana¬tion of the Epistle to the Galatians. A teacher of the church to whom the souls of the people have been entrusted should overcome such men by means of reasoning from the Scriptures. By the weight of testimo¬nies he should impose silence on those who overturn not one or two homes, but all homes, masters together with their families. These men teach about the differences between foods, about the already long ago abolished Sabbath, about the injury of circumcision. Would that they did this from the zeal of faith; then it could be partly forgiven, since the apostle says, “I confess, they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” But because their belly is god, for the sake of disgrace¬ful profit they want to make their own disciples, so that as teachers they may be taken care of by their adherents.
But we can interpret what has been said in another way: “for the sake of disgraceful profit.” Let us consider that the apostle has used a common saying whereby all the heretics, when they teach perverse things, customarily assert themselves as profiteers of men; though to destroy the souls of the deceived is not profit, but perdition. On the other hand, he who corrects his erring brother in accordance with the gospel, if he is converted, he has gained him. For what greater profit (lucrum) can there be, or what is more precious, than if someone gains a human soul? Every teacher of the church, therefore, who persuades by the right method to faith in Christ is an honest profiteer (lucrator). And every heretic who deceives men by certain tricks and is deceived, “speaks what is not fitting for the sake of disgraceful profit.”