Romans 2:15 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

In their hearts, &c.— This is the force and stress of the Apostle's argument. He is proving that the Gentiles have a rule of action; and where is that rule?—It is written in their hearts, inscribed upon their mental faculties; a sense of moral good and evil is common to all mankind; and a secret power offered by divine grace to embrace the one and to avoid the other. The last clause literally rendered is, and their reasonings between one another, accusing or else defending. This interpreters in general understand of the workings of the conscience in one and the same person, alternately accusing the actions which are bad, and justifying those which are good. But here it is proper to observe, I. That κατηγορουντων, accusing, and απολογουμενων, defending or answering for themselves, are forensic terms, and correspond to plaintiff and defendant in legal process. Now plaintiff and defendant suppose a disputation, and are correlates, which exist together at the same time; but to say that the single principle of conscience forms two litigant parties in itself, the one accusing, the other defending, is incongruous. Conscience is a law, not a litigant, unless it be with a different principle, lust, (of which the Apostle says nothing here,) but never with itself, or its own reflections upon a person's conduct. II. The copulative και, and, as it stands here, points to a distinct head; "their conscience also bearing witness, that the work of the law is written in their hearts; and their reasonings between one another, accusing or answering for themselves, bearing witness that the work of the law is written in their hearts." This is the proper structure and construction of the Greek. But if this last clause be understood of the workings of conscience, it will be a tautology; for the Apostle must be supposed to say, their conscience bearing witness, and the workings of their conscience, alternately accusing or defending, bearing witness. III. The phrase μεταξυ αλληλων, between one another, denotes the litigant parties, accusing or else defending; and who should those be but the Gentiles, the persons concerning whom the Apostle is arguing? The word 'Αλληλοι, one another, always, it is conceived, denotes parties existing at the same time. But we cannot suppose that litigant parties exist at the same time in the conscience, one accusing, and the other excusing a man's conduct. To whom then does the word αυτων, their, in the preceding clause refer, but to the Gentiles? — And not only the sense, but the like position of the words, directs us to refer αλληλων, one another, to the same antecedent: for the words lie in this order, their consciences bearing witness, and their between-one-another-debates [bearing witness]. IV. The Greek word λογιζω signifies to reckon, reason, debate; (see Mark 11:31. 2 Corinthians 10:5; 2 Corinthians 10:18.); agreeably whereto the original word λογισμων, in the present passage, should have been rendered,—their reasonings, debates, disputes one with another, when one party was plaintiff, and the other defendant. This proves that they both had, and knew they had, a law or rule of action among them: for as plaintiff and defendant necessarily suppose each other, so do they necessarily suppose a law, determining some actions to be true, just, and good; others to be false, unjust, and evil: for if there were no difference of actions, there could be no accusation of wrong, nor defence of right. The Apostle says, accusing or else answering for themselves; because either of these is sufficient to his purpose: either their accusing others of wrong, or defending themselves as in the right, (whichever of the parties was really in the right or in the wrong,) proved that they had a law among them,—a law written in their hearts