FEB 2 3 1971
BR 60 .L52 V.29
Augustine,
Homilies on the Gospel
according to St. John
//'
LIBRARY OF FATHERS
OF THE
HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH,
ANTERIOR TO THE DIVISION OF THE EAST AND WEST
TRANSLATED BY MEMBERS OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH.
Yfc:T SHALL NOT THV TEACHERS BE REJIOVED INTO A CORNER ANV MORE, BUT
THINE EVES SilALL SEE THV TEACHERS. Isdidh XSX, 20.
OXFORD,
JOHN HENRY PARKER ;
F. AND J. RIVINGTON, LONDON.
MDCCCXLIX.
TO THE MEMORY
(IF THK
?.IOST KEVEREXD FATHER IX GOD
WILLIAM
LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,
PRIMATE OF ALL ENGLAND,
FORMERLY REGIUS I'ROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORP,
THIS LIBRARY
OF
AXCIENT BISHOPS, FATHERS, DOCTORS, MARTYRS, CONFESSORS,
OF CHRIST'S HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH,
UNDERTAKEN AMID HIS ENCOURAGEMENT,
AND
CARRIED ON FOR TWELVE YEARS UNDER HIS SANCTION,
UNTIL HIS DEPARTURE HENCE IN PEACE,
IS
GRATEFULLY AND REVERENTLY
INSCRIBED.
HOMILIES ' ("EBESlyZl
ON
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
ST. JOHN,
AND HIS FIRST EPISTLE,
BY
S. AUGUSTINE,
BISHOP OF HIPPO,
TRANSLATED,
WITH NOTES AND INDICES.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
HOM. XLIV.— CXXIV. S. JOHN IX.— XXI.
AND HOM. I X. 1 S. JOHN.
OXFORD,
JOHN HENRY PARKER ;
F. AND J. RIVINGTON, LONDON.
1849.
BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD.
--^u
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
Horn.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56,
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
John
ix. 1—41.
X. 1—10.
X. 11— 13.
X. 14—21.
X. 22—42.
xi. 1 — 54.
xi. 55, xii. 11,
xii. 12—26.
xii. 27—36.
xii. 37— 43.
xii. 44 — 50.
xiii. 1 — 5.
xiii. 6—10.
xiii. 6— 10.
xiii. 10—15.
xui. 16—20.
xiii. 21.
xiii. 21—27.
xiii. 26—31.
xiii. 31, 32.
xiii. 3S.
xiii. 34, 35.
xiii. 36—38.
xiv. 1—3.
xiv. 1—3.
xiv. 4 — 6.
xiv. 7—10.
xiv. 10—14.
xiv. 10—14.
xiv. 10—14.
Page
588
599
613
623
636
646
669
679
688
698
708
716
722
726
731
736
740
744
748
753
757
761
765
769
774
778
783
788
792
796
Horn.
74. Jolin
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96. — -
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
xiv. 15—17.
xiv. 18— 21.
xiv. 22—24.
xiv. 25—27.
xiv. 27, 28.
xiv. 29—31.
XV. 1—3.
XV. 4 — 7.
XV. 8— 10.
XV. 11, 12.
XV. 13.
XV. 14, 15.
XV. 15, 16.
XV. 17—19.
XV. 21, 22.
XV. 22, 23.
XV. 23.
XV. 24, 25.
XV. 26, 27.
xvi. 1 — 4.
xvi. 4 — 7.
xvi. 8— 11.
xvi. 12, 13.
xvi. 12, 13.
xvi. 12, 13.
xvi. 13.
xvi. 13—15.
xvi. 16—23.
xvi. 23—28.
xvi. 29—33.
Page
800
805
809
813
817
821
825
829
837
841
845
849
853
857
861
865
869
873
877
883
888
894
900
905
914
924
929
935
941
IV
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
Horn, Page
104. John xvii. 1. 946
105. xvii. 1—5. 951
106. xvii. 6—8. 961
107. xvii. 9—13. 968
108. xvii. 14—19. 974
109. x\ii. 20. 978
110. xvii. 21— 23. 983
111. xvii . 24—26 . 992
112. xviii. 1— 12. JOOO
113. xviii. 13— 27. 1005
114. xviii.28— 32. 1012
Horn. Page
115. John xviii. 33— 40.1017
116. xix. 1— 16. 1023
117. xix. 17— 22. 1029
118.
xix. 23, 24. 1034
119. xix. 24— 30. 1040
120. xix.31.xx.9. 1045
121. XX. 10—29. 1051
122. XX. 30,31,
xxi. 1-
123. xxi. 12— 19. 1070
124. xxi. 19—25. 1078
31.1
llj
1059
FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
Horn.
1. 1 Johni. 1. ii. 11.
2. ii. 12—17.
3. ii. 18— 27.
4. ii. 27. iii. 8.
5. iii. 9—11.
Page
Horn. Page
1093
6. 1 John iii. 19. iv. 3. 1162
1110
7. iv.4— 12. 1179
1125
8. iv.l2— 16. 1189
1138
9. iv. 17—21. 1204
1150
10. V. 1—3. 1218
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
Horn. Page
1. John i. 1 — 5. 3
2. i.6— 14. 19
3. i. 15— 28. 33
4. i. 19—33. 48
5. i. 33. 62
6. i. 33. 80
7. i.34— 51. 101
8. ii. 1— 4. 123
9. ii.l— 11. 137
10. ii.l2— 21. 151
11. ii.23.m. 5. 164
12. iii.6— 21. 181
13. iii.22— 29. 196
14. iii.29— 36. 214
15. iv. 1—42. 228
16. iv.43— 54. 250
17. V. 1—18. 258
18. V. 19. 273
19. V. 19— 30. 287
20. V. 19. 309
21. V. 20—23. 323
2-2. V. 24—30. 340
Horn.
23. John V. 31—40.
24. vi. 1—14.
25. vi. 15— 40.
26. vi.4]— 59.
27. vi. 59—71.
28. vii. 1—13.
29. vii. 14—18.
30. vii. 19—24.
31. vii. 25— 36.
32. vii. 37— 39.
33. vii. 40— 53.
viii. 1— 11.
34. viii. 12.
35. viii. 13, 14.
36. viii. 15—18,
37. viii. 19, 20.
38. viii. 21—25.
39. viii. 26, 27.
40. viii. 28—32.
41. viii. 31— 36.
42. viii. 37— 47.
43. viii. 48— 59.
Page
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372
379
398
415
426
437
444
452
463
472
481
491
500
513
522
533
540
551
564
576
John ix.
And as He passed hy^ He saw a man which was blind from his
birth. And His disciples ashed Him, saying ^ Master, who
did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Jesus answered. Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents :
but that the worhs of God should be made manifest in him,
I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day :
the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am
in the world, I am the Light of the world. When He had
thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the
spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the
clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,
[which is by interpretation^ Sent,) He went his way there-
fore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours there-
fore, and they which before had seen him that he was a beggar,
said, Is not this he that sat and begged ? Some said. This
is he: others. No, but he is like him : but he said, I am he,
Tlierefore said they unto him, How id ere thine eyes opened ?
He answered and said, TJiat man ijoho is called Jesus made
clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me. Go to the
pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I
received sight. Then said they unto him. Where is he ? He
said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that
aforetime was blind. Now it was the sabbath day when
Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the
Pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. He
said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed,
and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man
is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath day. Others
said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And
R r
588
HoMiL. there was a division among tliem. Theij say unto the blind
•^^^^- man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened
thine eyes ? He said. He is a prophet. But the Jews did
not believe concerning him, that he had been bliyid, and re-
ceived his sight, until they called the parents of him that had
received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your
son, who ye say was borii blind ? how then doth he now see ?
His parents ansivered them and said, We know that this is
our son, and that he was born blind : but by what means he
now seeth, ive know not ; or ivho hath opened his eyes, we
know not : he is of age; ask him: let him speak for himself
These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews:
for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess
that He was Christ, he should be fut out of the synagogue.
Therefore said his parents. He is of age ; ask him. Then
again called they the man that ivas blind, and said unto him,
Give God the praise : we know that this man is a sinner.
He answered and said. Whether He be a sinner or no, I
know 7iot ; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now
I see. Then said they to him again, What did He to thee ?
how opened He thine eyes ? He answered them, I have
told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye
hear it again ? will ye also be His disciples ? Then they
cursed him, and said. Be thou his disciple ! But we are
Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses : as
for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man
answered and said unto them. Why herein is a marvellous
thing, that ye know not from whence He is, and yet He hath
ojjened mime eyes. Now ive know that God heareth not
sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth
His ivill, him He heareth. Since the icorld began was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind. If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing.
They answered and said unto him. Thou wast altogether bor7i
in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out,
Jesus heard that they had cast him out ; and when He had
found him. He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son
of God ? He answered and said. Who is He, Lord, that I
might believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him. Thou
hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee.
All are horn blind by Original Sin. 589
jind he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him. John
And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, - -
that they which see not might see ; and that they ivhich see
might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are
we blind also ? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye
should have no sin : but now ye say, We see; therefore your
sin remaineth,
1. This, which has been recited, concerning the man Comp.
born blind, whom the Lord Jesus enlightened, is a longfssjsg,
lesson, and should we attempt to handle the whole narrative
with a fulness answerable to its dignity, by giving to each
part in detail such consideration as we are able, the whole
day would not suffice. Therefore, my beloved, I beg and
advise that in those parts which are open, ye require no
discourse of ours, for it will take too long to dwell upon
all the circumstances one by one. Briefly, then, I bespeak
your attention to the mystery of this blind man's enlight-
ening. For so it is, that those acts of our Lord Jesus Christ
which are astonishing and marvellous, are both works and
words : works, because they were things done ; words,
because they are signs. If then we consider what is
signified by this thing done, this blind man is mankind
in general: for this blindness took place in the first man
through sin, of whom we all have derived the origin not
only of death, but also of iniquity. For if blindness is
unbelief, and enlightenment faith, whom will Christ find
a believer at His coming ? Since indeed the Apostle, born
as he was in the nation of the Prophets, saith. We too Eph. 2,
were sometime by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. ^'
If children of ivrath, children of vengeance, children of
punishment, children of hell. How by nature^ unless as by
the sin of the first man, the Uaint has grown into us to be as ' vitium
nature ? If the taint has grown into us to be as nature, then,
in respect of the mind, every man is born blind. For if he
seeth, he needeth not one to lead him; if he needeth one to
lead and to enlighten him, it follows that he is blind from
his birth.
2. The Lord came: what did He? A great mystery hath He
R r 2
590 Anointing and enlightenment; conversion ixnd baptism,
HoMiL. intimated. He spat upon the ground; of His spittle He made
^r-g — -clay, — because the Word was ynade flesh"" ; — and anointed
John 1, the eyes of the blind man. He was anointed, and still did
V. '7. not yet see. He sent him to the pool which is called Siloe.
It concerned the Evangelist, however, to call our attention
to the name of this pool ; and he saith. Which is by inter-
2Jretation, Sent, Who was the Sent, of course ye know:
had not He been Sent with that mission, none of us should
have had remission of our iniquity. Well, he washed his
eyes in that pool which is by inter jjr elation, Sent; he was
baptized in Christ. If therefore when Christ in some sort
baptized the man in Himself, He then enhghtened him;
when He anointed him, belike He made him a catechumen.
There may indeed be various other ways of expounding this
so great sign in its depth of spiritual meaning, and setting it
forth fully ; but let this suffice, my beloved ; ye have heard
a grand mystery. Ask a man, ' Art thou Christian V He
answercth, * I am not,' if he be Pagan or Jew. But should
he say, ' I am;' thou goest on to question him, ' Catechumen,
or believer?' Should he reply, ' Catechumen;' he is anointed,
not yet washed. But wherewith anointed ? Ask, and he
answereth ; ask him, in Whom he believeth ? in the very
fact of his being a catechumen, he saith, ' In Christ.' Lo,
I am now speaking both to believers and to catechumens.
What said I of the spittle and the clay ? That the Word
wa^ made flesh. This the catechumens do also hear; but
that is not enough for them whereunto they are anointed :
let them haste unto the laver, if they seek light.
3. Now then, because of certain questions in this same
lesson, let us take the words of the Lord and of the whole lesson,
rather in a cursory recital than to handle them in exposition.
Going forth, He saw a man who was blind, not indifferently
in what manner blind, hut fj'om his birth. And His disciples
asked Him, Rabbi — Ye know that Rabbi is. Master. They
addressed Him as Master, because they desired to learn:
namely, they put a question to the Lord, as to a Master, —
who did sin, this ma7i, or his parents, that he should be born
blind? Jesus aiisuered, Neither hath this man si^med, nor
his parents, that he should be born blind. What is this that
» Saliva quasi Verbum est, terra caro est. Serm. 135, 1.
V. 1.
The night comeih when none can work. 591
He hath said ? If there be no man without sin, were the parents John
of this blind man without sin ? Can it be, that this man 2—4.
himself, either was born without original sin, or by his life
had added nothing of sin thereto ? Because he had his eyes
closed, were the lusts not at all awake ? What great evils
do blind men commit ! What evil does an evil mind abstain
from, even when the eyes are closed ? He had not power
to see, but he knew how to think, and haply to lust after
somewhat which a blind man had not power to accomplish,
but for which he might in heart be judged by the Searcher
of the heart. If then his parents had sin and the man had
sin, wherefore did the Lord say. Neither hath this man
sinned, nor his parents, but in reference to the matter about
which He was questioned, that he should be born blind?
For his parents had sin, but it was not caused by their sin
that he was born blind. If then it was not caused by the
parents' sin that he was born blind, why was he born blind }
Hear the Master teaching : He requireth a man to believe,
that He may make him to understand: Neither hath this y. 3.
man sinned, saith He, nor his parents : but that the works
of God may be manifested in him.
4. Thereupon what follows ? / 7niist work the works ofy. 4.
Him that sent Me. Lo, this is that Sent, in Whom the
blind man washed his face. And observe what He saith :
I must work the works of Him, that sent Me, icldle it is day.
Remember how He giveth all the glory to Him, of Whom
He is : because it is of the Father that the Son hath His
being, but the Father Himself hath His being of none. But
wherefore saidst Thou, Lord, while it is day ? Hear where-
fore. Tlie night cometh, when no man can work. Not even
Thou, Lord ? Yea, and shall the force of that night be
so great, that not even Thou shalt be able to work in it.
Thou Whose work the night is ? For 1 suppose, O Lord
Jesu, nay, not suppose, but believe and hold firm, that Thou
wast there, when God said. Let there be light, and there was Gen. i,
light. If with His Word He made, by Thee He made it;"^'
and therefore it is said, All things were made by Him, and John i,
tvithout Him was nothing made. — God divided between the^
light and the darkness: the light He called day, and the ^-5.
darkness called He night.
592 Chrht, the Lifjht of the ivorld, the true Bay.
HoMiL, 5. What is that night, in which, when it is come, none
' shall have power to work ? Hear what the day is, and then
shalt thou understand what night is. Of whom shall we
T. 5. hear what this Day is? Let Himself tell us: As long as
I am in this world, I am the Light of the world. Lo He is
the Day. Let the blind wash his eyes in the Day, that he
may see the Day ! So long, saith He, as I am in the world,
1 am the Ligltt of the world. Therefore, it will be a night,
when Christ shall not be there ; that is the reason why none
will have power to work. It remains to inquire, my brethren ;
do ye patiently receive me as one inquiring : together with
you I seek : together with you let me find Him of Whom
I seek. It is on all hands sure, it is an expressed and
definite truth, that the Lord in this place has called Himself,
' the Day, i. e. the Light of the world : as long, saith He, as
L am in this world, I am the Light of this world. Therefore,
Himself doth work. But how long is He in this world?
Suppose we Him, my brethren, to have been here then, and
now to be not here ? If we suppose this, it follows that
straightway after the Lord's ascension came this fearful
night, when none can work: if after the Lord's ascension
this night came, whence came it that the Apostles did so
great works ? Was this night come, when the Holy Spirit
Acts 2, came, and filled all who were in one place, and gave to
~" ' them to speak with tongues of all nations ? Was it night,
lb. 3, when that lame man was at Peter's word made whole, nay,
rather at the word of the Lord Who dwelt in Peter? Was
Ib.5,i5.it night, when, as the disciples passed by, the sick were
placed with their beds so that they might be touched if only
by the shadow of them as they passed ? Now while the
Lord was here, there was none whom His passing shadow
John 14, made whole: but then He had said to His disciples, Ye
shall do greater works than these. The Lord indeed had
said. Ye shall do greater works than these; but let not flesh
lb. 15,5. and blood extol itself; let it hear Him saying, Without 3Ie
ye can do notJring.
6. What then? what shall we say of this night? When
will be the time that none shall have power to work ? This
will be the night of the ungodly : it will be the night of them
Mat. 26, to whom it will be said in the end of the world, Go into
The night of hell, where Christ is not. 593
everlasting Jire, which is prepared for the devil and his John
angels. But then it is called night, not flame, not fire. — '-^-^
Hear that it is niyjht. Of a certain servant He saith, Bind^^^t.22,
. 13.
him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness.
Then let a man work while he liveth, lest he be prevented
by that night wherein none can work. Now is the time
that faith should work by love ; and if we now work, this is
the Day, this is Christ. Hear Him promising, and do not
imagine Him to be absent. Himself hath said, Lo, I a7n \h.28,20.
with you aluay. How long? Let there be no solicitude
in us which live : if it were possible, we would make even
those also who shall be after us to be fully assured as
concerning this saying, Lo, saith He, / am with you, even
unto the end of the world. The day which is completed by
the circuit of this sun of ours, hath few hours : the day of
the presence of Christ stretches out even unto the end of the
world. But after the resurrection of quick and dead, when
to them that are on His right hand He shall have said,
Come, ye blessed of My Father, receioe the kingdom; andib-25,34.
to them on His left hand shall have said. Go into everlasting ib. 41.
fire, ivhich is prepared for the devil and his angels ; there
will be the night when none can work, but only receive what
he hath wrought. One is the time of work ; other, the time
of receiving: for the Lord will render unto every 7nan'^^.lQ,27»
according to his works. While thou livest, do, if thou
wilt do: for there will then be a mighty night, to wrap
up the ungodly. Howbeit even now, every unbeliever, when
he dies, is received by that night : there is no doing any
thing there 1 In that night Dives burned, and sought a drop
of water from the poor man's finger : he was in pain, he was
in anguish, he confessed, yet was he not succoured ; yea,
he essayed even to do good. For he said to Abraham ;
Father Abraham, send Lazarus to my brethren, to telll^ukeie,
them what is doing here", lest they also come into this place ~ *
of torments. O unhappy one ! when thou livedst, then was
the time for working ; now thou art already in the night, in
which none can work.
* Ut dicat illis quid hie agatur. So from Methodius: '6ti Trevre aSeA^ous
Serro. 41, 4. (Vet. Lat. and Vulg. nt ex<w, Koi 'Iva /xt] e\6co<nv els r'bv Tdirov
testeiur itlis.) So Origen in a fragment tovtov Tr\s IBaadvov, tt^/jxI/ov Ad(apou
cited by Photius Biblioth. Cod. 224. airayy^Wovra avTots to. iuravOa.
694 Grace received, confessed, and preached,
HoMiL. 7. Whe7i He had thus spoken. He spat on the ground,
^^^^'a?id made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of
^' ^' ^* the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash
in the pool of Siloam, [which is by interpretation, Sent.)
He went his tcay therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
As this is plain, let us pass it by.
V. 8, 9. 8. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had
» men^i- seen him that he was a beggar^, said, Is not this he that sat
!^"^^ and begged? Some said. This is he: others. Not so, but
alrvs he is like him. The opened eyes had altered his look.
He said, I am he. A grateful word, that an ungrateful
V. 10,11- should not be condemned. Therefore said they unto him,
How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A
Man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine
eyes, and said unto me. Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash:
and I went and washed, and I saw, Lo, he is become a
preacher of grace; lo, he preacheth the Gospel, he con-
fesseth, now that he seeth. That blind man confessed, and
the heart of the ungodly was broken ; because they had not
V. 12. in their heart that which he now had in his face. They said
to him, Where is He that opened thine eyes? He said, I
know not. In these words, his mind was like one at pre-
sent anointed, but not yet seeing. Let us so put it, my
brethren, as that he had that anointing in his mind. He
preaches, and knows not Whom he preaches.
V.12-1G. 9. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was
blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the
clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also
asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto
them. He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do
see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees. Not all, but
some : for already some were in process of anointing. What
then said they which neither saw nor were anointed? This
man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath. Nay
rather, lie did keep it, Who was without sin. For the
spiritual sabbath is this, to have no sin. Indeed, my brethren,
God doth admonish us of this, when He enjoineth the
23^8.' sabbath: Ye shall do no servile work. These are the words
of God enjoining the sabbath : Ye shall do no servile work,
Horn. Ask the former lessons, what is meant by servile work, and
XX. 2. ^
The true Sabbath, to cease from the slavery of sin. bdo
hear the Lord, Whosoever doeth sin. is the servant of sin, John
• • IX
But these men, neither seeing, as 1 said, nor anointed, i7_2V.
carnally observed the sabbath, spiritually violated it. Others John 8,
said, How can a man that is a sinner do these signs? Lo, ^**
they are men anointed. And there was a division among
them. That Day had divided between the light and the
darkness. They say therefore unto the blind man again, y.\7.
What sayest thou of him who hath opened thine eyes?
What thinkest thou of Him? What esteemest, what judgest
thou Him to be ? They were seeking how they might accuse
the man, that he might be cast out of the synagogue ; yea,
but to be found by Christ. The man, however, constantly
expressed what he thought. For he said. He is a Prophet.
Being at present only anointed in heart, he doth not yet
confess the Son of God; but neither does he speak false of
Him. For the Lord saith it of Himself: a Prophet is wo^Mat.is,
without honour, save only in his own country.
10. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that hey.i8-2i,
had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the
parents of him that had received his sight ^, i. e. who wasiyiderat
once blind, and now saw. And they asked them, saying. Is
this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he
now see ? His parents answered them and said. We know
that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by
what means he now seeth, we know not ; or who hath opened
his eyes, we know not: he is of age ; ask him : let him speak
for himself. It is true, he is our son, but though we might
justly be compelled to speak for an infant, seeing it could
not speak for itself, he has had his speech of old, now he
has his sight: bhnd, we have known him from his birth;
speaking, w^e know him of old; seeing, we see him now:
ask him, that ye may be instructed : why do ye take us to
task? These words spake his parents, because they feared ^-'^'^*
the Jews : for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man
did confess that He was Christ, he should be put out of the
synagogue. Now was it no evil to be put out of the
synagogue : the Jews expelled, Christ received. Therefore v. 23.
said his parents. He is of age, ask him.
IL Then again called they the man that was blind, and x.2i-27.
said unto him, Give God the glory. What meaneth. Give
596 Well for us, that God does hear sinners !
HoMiL. God the glory ? Deny what thou hast received. Clearly, this
-^^^' is not to give glory to God, but rather to blaspheme. Give
glory, say they, to God: we know that this man is a sinner.
He answered and said, Whether He he a sinner or no, I know
not : one thing I knotv, that, whereas I icas blind, now I see.
Then said they to him again. What did he to thee? how
opened he thine eyes ? And he, now rising in anger at the
hardness of the Jews, and, himself once blind, now seeing,
intolerant of their blindness, answered them, I have told you
already, and ye did not hear : where/ore would ye hear it
again ? will ye also be His disciples ?
V. 28,29. ]•>. TJtey cursed him, and said. Be thou His disciple I
Such a curse be upon us and upon our children ! For it is a
curse, if thou scan the heart of the speakers, not if thou
weigh well the words themselves. But we are 3Ioses' dis-
ciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this
fellow, we know not from whence he is. Oh, that ye did
know that God spake unto 3Ioses ! then would ye know that
through Moses was God preached. For ye have the Lord
Johns, saying. If ye believed Moses, ye would believe 3Ie also, for of
3Ie he wrote. Is it thus ye follow the servant, and set your
back against the Lord ? Nay, ye do not even follow the
servant : for through him ye would be led to the Lord.
v.30,31. 13. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein
is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence He is,
and yet He hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that
God heareth not simmers : but if any man be a worshipper
of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth. Still he
Serm. speaks as one only anointed. For God does hear sinners
I36'2.c. ^^^^* Were it so, that God heareth not sinners, in vain
Parmen. would that publican, casting his eyes down to the ground
Lukei8, and smiting his breast, say, God be merciful to me a sinner !
^'^' Even tliis confession obtained justification, just as this blind
V. 32,33. man obtained enlightening. Since the world began was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one born blind.
If this 3Ian were not from God, He could do nothing.
Frankly, firmly, truly spoken ! For these things which were
done by the Lord, by whom should they be done but by
God ? Or how should such things be done by the disciples,
unless the Lord dwelt in them .?
Christ, the Day to divide between light and darkness. 597
14. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether John
horn in sins. What meaneth, altogetJier ? With closed eyes. 34—3*9.
But He Who opened the eyes, saveth the whole man alto-
gether : the Same will give resurrection at His right hand,
Who gave enhghtenment to the face. Tlioii wast altogether'^' 34.
horn in sins, and dost thou teach us ? And they cast him
out. Of their own accord they made him their master, of
their own accord, that they should learn, they questioned
him so oft, and yet ungratefully cast him forth for teaching
them !
15. But, as I have already said, my brethren, they cast
out, the Lord receiveth ; for the man all the more for being
expelled became a Christian. Jesus heard that they hady^^^-^^*
cast him out ; and when He had found him, He said unto
him. Dost thou believe on the Son of Qodf Now He is
washing the face of the heart. He answered and said, as
one at present anointed. Who is He, Lord, that I might
believe on Him ? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both
seen Him, and He that talketh with thee is He. He is that
Sent, even He here that washeth the face in Siloe, which is
by interpretation. Sent. In fine, having now the face of the
heart washed and the conscience cleansed, acknowledging
Him to be not only Son of Man, which thing he before
believed, but now Son of God Who had taken flesh, he said,
I believe. Lord. It is a small matter to say, / believe ;
wouldest thou see what manner of Person he believeth ^
Falling down, he worshipped Him.
16. And Jesus said to him. Here now is that Day, v. 39.
dividing between the light and the darkness ! For Judg-
ment I am come into this world, that they which see not
might see ; and that they which see might be made blind.
What meaneth this, O Lord } A mighty question hast
Thou put upon us, and we are even now weary : but raise
Thou up our strength, that we may be able to understand
what Thou hast said. Thou art come, that they which see
7iot, may see: rightly, for Thou art Light; rightly, for Thou
art Day ; rightly, for Thou deliverest from darkness : this,
every soul receiveth, every soul understandeth. What is
this that follows. And they which see, may he made blind f
Then, because Thou art come, shall they which saw be
598 Light for the humble, night for the proud.
HoMiL. made blind? Hear what follows, and belike thou shalt
' understand.
v.40,41. 17. Startled, then, by these words, some of the Pharisees
said, Are ive blind also ? Hear now what that meaneth which
startled them. And they which see may be made blind.
Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should not have
sin. AVhereas the blindness itself is sin. If ye were blind:
that is, if ye perceived that ye were blind, if ye owned your-
selves to be blind, and ran to the Physician : if then ye
were thus blind, ye should not have sin: because I am come
to take away sin. But now ye say. We see: your sin re-
maineth. Wherefore ? Because by saying, We see, ye seek
not the Physician, ye remain in your blindness. This then
is that which just now we did not understand; that He saith,
/ am come, that they which see not, may see: what meaneth
this, that they which see not, may see ? Those who confess
that they do not see, and seek the Physician that they may
see. And they which see, may be made blind: what
meaneth this, they which see, may be made blind? They
■who think they see, and seek not the Physician, may remain
in their blindness. This woik of discrimination, therefore,
He hath here caMed judgment, when He saith. For judgment
I am come into this world; by which judgment He dis-
cernelh the cause of them which believe and confess Him,
from the proud, who think they see, and are therefore worse
blinded ; as if it should be said unto Him by a sinner who
P8.43,i. confesseth himself and seeketh the Physician, Judge me,
O God, and discern my cause from an unholy nation ; to
wit, of them which say. We see, and their sin remaineth.
The judgment, however, which He hath brought into the
world, is not now that wherewith He shall judge the quick
and dead in the end of the world. For in this regard. He
Johns, had said, I judge no man; seeing He first came, not to
Id.3,i7.y^^.^^ ^^^^ "^orldy but that the world may be saved through
Him.
HOMILY XLV.
John x. 1 — 10.
Verily f verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not hy the door
into the sheepfold, hut climbeth up some other way, the same
is a thief and a robber : but he that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth ;
and the sheep hear his voice : and he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him : for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him : for they know not the voice
of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but
they understood not what things they were which He spake
unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that have
come^ are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear^vid.^.S,
them. I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall^^
he saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The
thief Cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy : I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly.
1. It was from the enlightening of the man who was bom
blind, that the Lord's discourse to the Jews took its rise.
Therefore, my beloved, ye ought to know and be put in
mind of the connexion between that lesson and the lesson
of to-day. Namely, when the Lord had said, For judgment jdhn 9,
lam come into this world, that they which see not might^^'
see ; and that they which see might he made blind: which,
600 -M? good life out of Christ the Life.
HoMTL.when it was read, we expounded as we were able, then some
^^^' of the Pharisees said, Are we blind also ? To whom He
answered : If ye were blind, ye should have no sin : but now
ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. To these
words He hath subjoined these which we heard when they
were read to us to-day.
V. 1. o. Verily, verily, I sny unto you, He that eniereth not by
the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other ivay,
the same is a thief and a robber. For they said that they
were not blind ; now they would have power to see, only
if they were Christ's sheep. What right had they to claim
to themselves light, these men who raged against the Day ?
It was, then, because of their vain and proud and incurable
arrogance, that the Lord Jesus added the present discourse ;
in which, if we mark it well, He hath wholsomely admonished
us also. For there are many, who, according to a certain
common usage of this life, are called good people, good men,
good women, harmless, and, so to say, observing the duties
enjoined in the Law; honouring their parents, not com-
mitting adultery, doing no murder, not stealing, not bearing
false witness against any, and, in a sort, observing the other
duties commanded in the Law ; and yet are not Christians :
and these commonly give themselves airs, like the Pharisees
here, Are we blind also ? But because in all these things
that they do, while they know not to what end they refer
them, they do them to no purpose, the Lord hath pro-
pounded in the lesson of to-day a similitude concerning
His flock and the Door by which is the entering into the
sheepfold. Then let the Pagans say : We lead good lives.
If they enter not by the door, what profiteth them that
whereof they glory ? To each individual who leads a good
life, the profit of it ought to be this, that it should be
given him to live for ever: if it be not given a man to
live for ever, what doth his good life profit him } Because
they cannot be said even to live well, who either through
bUndness know not, or throuf^h inflation of mind despise that
which is the end of good living. Now no man has a true
and sure hope of living for ever, unless he acknowledge the
Life, which is Christ ; and enter by the door into the sheep-
fold.
Heathen and Jeios vainly pretend goodness without Christ. GO I
3. Now it is the aim, generally, of such persons, to persuade John
other men to lead good lives, and yet not to be Christians.
They wish to climb over by another side, to plunder and to
till ; not, as the Shepherd, to preserve and to save. So
there have been certain, philosophers, holding much fine-
spun discourse of virtues and vices, dividing, defining,
reasoning out most acute conclusions, filling whole books,
loud-mouthed in the parade of their ovrn wisdom ; who even
dared to say to men. Follow us ; hold our sect, if ye would
live happily. But they entered not by the door : what they
wished was, to undo men, to slaughter and to kill.
4. What should I say of them ? Lo, the Pharisees them-
selves read, and in that which they read, sounded the name
of Christ, hoped for Christ to come, and, when He was
come, acknowledged Him not : they too boasted that they
were among the seeing, that is, the wise, and denied Christ,
and entered not by the door. Therefore they too, if haply
they did draw any after them, it was to slaughter and kill,
not to deliver, that they would draw them. Let us leave
these also : let us look to those, whether haply they enter
in by the door, who glory in the name of Christ Him-
self.
5. For there are innumerable, who not only boast that
they see, but wish to be thought to have been enlightened
by Christ: but they are heretics. Haply they entered by
the door } God forbid we should say so ! Sabellius says,
" He that is the Son, the Same is the Father." But if
Son, He is not Father. That man enters not in by the
door, who says that the Son is the Father. Arius says,
" One Thing the Father, another Thing the Son." He would
say rightly, if he said Another Perscm {alius); not, " Another
Thing" (aliud). For when he saith, " Another Thing," he
contradicts Him by Whom he is told, I and the Father «/'^Johnio,
one (Substance). Consequently, neither does he enter in by *
the door : for he preaches a Christ such as he makes for
himself, not such as the Truth declares. Thou hast the
name, the thing thou hast not. Christ is the name of a
thing : hold thou the thing itself, if thou wouldest have the
name to profit thee. Another, I know not whence, as
Photinus, says, Christ is man, not God. Neither does
602 Heretics falsely pretend goodness through Christ,
HoMiL. he enter in by the door: for Christ is both Man and God.
XT V
^ And what need to run through many names, and enu-
merate the many vanities of heresies? Hold ye this, that
Christ's fold is the Catholic Church. Whoso would enter
in to the fold, let him enter in by the door, let him preach
very Christ. Not only preach very Christ, but seek Christ's
glory, not his own: for many, by seeking their own glory,
have rather scattered Christ's sheep than gathered them.
For the door is lowly, even Christ the Lord : he that enters
in by this door, must needs stoop and humble himself, that
he may be able to enter in with a whole head. But he that
does not humble, but extols himself, will needs climb over the
wall : now he that climbs over the wall, is exalted only to fall.
6. Thus far, however, the Lord Jesus speaks covertly, and
is not yet understood : He names the door, names the fold,
names the sheep; He gives us to think of all these, but
not yet expounds them. Let us read then, because He
is coming to the words in which He may deign to expound
to us some of the things which He hath said: from the expo-
sition of which it may be that He will give us to understand
those also which He hath not expounded. For He feedeth
V. 21. us by what is clear, exerciseth by what is obscure. He that
enter eth not in by the door into the sheep/old, but climbeth
up some other way. Woe to the miserable man, for he shall
fall ! Then let him be humble, let him enter in by the door :
let him come with his foot planted on the level ground, and
he shall not stumble. The same, saith He, is a thief and a
robber. He will needs call another's sheep his own: his own,
i. e. made his by theft, not to save, but to kill. So he is
a thief, because he calls the property of another his own : a
V. 2, 3. robber, because what he has stolen, he kills. But he that
cntereth in by the door, is the shepherd of the sheep : to him
the porter npeneth. Concerning this porter it will be time
for us to enquire when we shall have heard from the Lord
Himself what the door is, and who the shepherd. And the
sheep hear his roice, and he calleth his own sheep by name.
For He hath their names written in the book of life. His
own sheep he calleth by name. — Hence the Apostle saith,
2 Tim. The Tord hiouelh them that are His. — And leadeth them
v.'Ti. ^"'' "^"^ ^^"^'^'^ ^'^ putteih forth his own sheep, he goeth
Voluntary and involuntary ignorance. 603
before them, and the sheep follow Him : for they knoiv His John
voice. And a stranger will they not follow, hut ivill flee ^'^' ''
from him : for they know not the voice of strangers. These
things are covert, full of questions, big with spiritual mean-
ings. Let us go on then, and hear the Master, whik from
these dark matters He openeth somewhat, perchance by that
which He openeth, making us to enter in.
7. This proverb spake Jesus unto them; but they icnder-^^'Q-
stood nut the things which He spake unto them. As neither,
perchance, do we. Then what difference is there between
them and us, before we come to know these words ourselves ?
This ; we knock, that it may be opened to us ; but they, by
denying Christ, would not enter in to be saved, but chose
to stay without to be lost. Therefore, in that we hear these
words piously, in that we believe them, before we understand
them, to be true and divine words, in this we stand apart
from them by a great diversity. For, when two men hear
the words of the Gospel, the one ungodly, the other godly,
and the words are such that haply both alike understand
them not, the one saith, ' There is nothing in itf the other,
' It is a truth, and good is that which it hath said, only we
do not understand it:' the one, in the very fact of believing
is already knocking, and is worthy that it should be opened
to him if he persist in knocking ; but the other is still one to
whom it is said, Except ye believe, ye shall not understand. Ts. 7, 9.
Why do I insist upon these points ? Because, even when ^^^'
I shall have expounded these obscure words, as I may
have ability ; or, for that their sense is very much hidden,
shall have either failed to apprehend it, or lacked the
ability to explain what I myself do understand ; or should
any of you be so slow as not to be able to follow me while
I expound it; — I would say, Let him not despair of himself:
let him abide in the faith, let him walk in the way, let him
hear the Apostle saying. And if in any thing ye be other- phii.s
wise minded, God shall reveal to you this also : houbeit, ^^'
whereunto ice have attained, therein let us icalk.
8. Let us begin, then, to hear Him expounding. Whom
we have heard propounding. Then said Jesus again toy^l-
them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the Door of the
sheep. Lo, the very door which He had put closed, He
s s
604 Faith of old Saints perceived what ice perceive :
HoMii.hath opened. He is the Door. We know it now; let us
^^^- enter, or rejoice that we have entered. All that have
'^*^' come" are thieves and robbers. What is this, Lord, All
that have come ? For hast not Thou come ? Yea, but un-
derstand. " All that have come,'' I said : meaning, of course,
1 prseterall beside and apart from Me^ Then let us recollect.
^^^' Before His advent the Prophets came; what, were they
thieves and robbers ? God forbid ! They came not beside
or apart from Him, for they came vvilh Him. Himself
about to come. He sent heralds; but ihey whom He sent
were men whose hearts He Himself possessed. Would ye
know that ihey came v/ith Him Who is always the same?
The flesh, ye know. He took unto Him in time. Then
what is He always ? In the beginning was the Word. Con-
sequently, they came with Him, in that they came with
John 14, the Word of God. I am., sailh He, the Way, and the Truth,
^' and the Life. If He is the Truth, they came with Him,
in that they were men of truth. All, then, beside or apart
from Him, thieves and robbers ; that is, to steal and to kill.
9. But the sheep did not hear them. A greater question
this, the sheep did not hear them ! Before the advent of our
Lord Jesus Christ, wherein He came humble in the flesh,
there were just men preceding, believing on Him that was to
come, just as we believe on Him that is come. The times
varied, not the faith. Thus the very words vary according
to tense, i. e. time, when they are variously declined : " is to
come" hath one sound, " is come" another: there is a change
of the sound ; " is to come," and " is come ;" yet the same
faith conjoineth both them, who believed that He was to
* Omnes qxiotquot venerunt fures the Demiurgus opposed to the True
sunt et latrones. Vet. Lat. and Vulg. God. To obviate this impiety, the
The words Trpb eVoO are wanting in a words irpb efx.ov were struck out. (So
con.siderable number of Mss. mostly Mill, in 1.) St. Aug. c. Faustum xvi. 12.
recent ones: also in Syr. Purs. Chrj's. takes the text as cited by the Manichean,
Ba-sil. Cyrill. Al. Euthym. On the and explains it thus: " That they
other band, they are supported by the came, He would have to be understood,
best IVIss. and attested by Clem. Alex., that they were not sent : for those who
Origen, and in the Latin, by Cypr. were sent, as Moses and the holy
and Lucif. The intention of the Prophets, cauie not be/ore Hi?>i, (ante
omission is sufliciently explained by Ipsum) but with Him: in that they
the fact, that the Gnostics and Mani- did not wish through pride to precede
cheans interpreted the words '6<roi?ikeov Him, but did in lowliness carry Him
irph ffxov to be meant of the Old Testa- while by them He spake."
ment Prophets, as the messengers of
theij^ things to come ; ice, things come : 605
come ; and them who believe that He is come. The John
. . X 8.
times were diverse, yet to both there was and is one door of ' ' ' ■
faith, and through it, i. e. through Christ, they both did, as we
see, come in. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, born
of the Virgin, is come in the flesh, hath suffered, hath risen
again, hath ascended into heaven ; all this, even as ye hear
the words to be of time past, we believe to have been akeady
fulfilled. In the fellowship of that faith are with us those
fathers also who believed that He tvoiild be born of a Virgin,
would suffer, would rise again, would ascend into heaven :
for to them the Apostle pointeth when he saith, But having i Cor.
the same spirit of faith, as it is ivritten, I believed, ^'^^Serm!
therefore did I speak, we too believe, and therefore also we 19, 3.
speak. The Prophet said, / believed, and therefore did I^^- ^^^?
speak: the Apostle saith. We too believe, and therefore do
we speak. But, that thou mayest know that the faith is one,
hear him saying. Having the same spirit of faith, we also
believe. So in another place ; Moreover, bretltren, I would ^ Cor.
, 10.1 4.
not tJiat ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers
were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and
were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ;
and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink
the same spiritual drink. The Red Sea signifies Baptism ;
Moses, the leader through the Red Sea, signifies Christ;
the people passing over, signifies the faithful ; the death of
the Egyptians signifies abolition of sins. The signs diverse,
but therein the same faith : and the signs diverse in the
same way as words are diverse, for words change their sounds
according to their times or tenses, and, of course, words are
nothing but signs : it is in virtue of their signifying some-
thing, that they are words: take from the word its signifi-
cation, and it is an empty sound. Well then, all these things
were signified : and did tJiey not believe the same things as
we believe, they by whom these signs were ministered, they
by whom the same things which we believe were prophetically
foretold ? Of course, they believed : only, they believed that
the things were to come; we, that they are come. Accord-
ingly he also saith thus : Tliey drank the same spiritual
drink: spiritually the same, because bodily not the same.
For what was it they drank ? For they drank of that spiritual
s s 2
606 The signs, diverse : thing signijied, the sarrns,
HoMTL.rocA: ichich folloued ihem : and that Rock was Christ. See
-2iIiL tlien the signs varied, while the faith is the same. There,
Supra the rock was Christ: to us that is Christ which is placed on
£ott^^* *^^^ ^^^^^ °^ ^°^- ^^^^ ^^^'^'' ^^ ^ ^'^*^^^ sacrament of the same
Christ, drank water flowing from the rock; we drink, the
faithful know what. If thou look at the visible form, the
thing is another: if at the intelligible signification, theij
drank the same spiritual drink. Therefore, as many as
Aug, c. in those times believed either Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob,
^^""2.' or Moses, or the other Patriarchs and other Prophets fore-
telling Christ, were sheep, and heard Christ; it was not the
voice of strangers, but His own voice that they heard. The
Judge was in the crier. Thus when the judge speaks by the
crier, the notary does not make it, " The crier said," but,
" The judge said." Quite other, then, are they whom the
sheep heard not: men in whom> the voice of Christ was not;
men erring, saying false things, babbling empty things,
feigning vain things, leading miserable men stray.
10. What is it, then, that I said. This is a greater question ?
What hath it obscure and hard to understand } Hear,
I beseech you. Behold, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
came, and preaclied: of course that is much more the voice
of the Shepherd, which was uttered by the Shepherd's own
lips. If, spoken by the Prophets, it was the voice of the
Shepherd, how much more was that the voice of the Shepherd
which the Shepherd's own tongue did utter? Not all heard.
True, but what think we ? because they heard, were they
sheep ? Behold, Judas heard, yet he was a wolf: he followed,
but clad in sheep's clothing he plotted against the Shepherd.
Some, however, of them which crucified Christ, did not hear,
yet w^ere they sheep : for they were the persons whom He
John 8, saw in the multitude, when He said, When ye shall have
lifted np the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am.
Well, how is this question to be solved ? Some that are not
sheep, hear ; and some that are sheep, do not hear ; some
wolves follow the voice of the Shepherd, and some sheep
gainsay it: in fine, sheep kill the Shepherd. The question is to
be solved : thus, one may answer, and say : " True, but when
they did not hear, they were not yet sheep ; then, they were
wolves ; the voice being heard changed them, and of wolves
Some that are not sJieep, i. e. not predestinate, do now hear; 607
made them sheep : so when they became sheep, they heard, John
and found the Shepherd, and followed the Shepherd: they — —
hoped for the Shepherd's promises, because they did His
commands."
11. The question is to a certain extent solved, and perhaps
any one may find this sufficient. But to my mind, there
is still a difficulty : and what my difficulty is, I impart to
you, that in some sort seeking with you, I may by His
revelation obtain mercy together with you to find. By the
prophet Ezekiel, the Lord reproves the shepherds, and says
among other things about His sheep. The sheep that wenfEzek.
astray, ye have not recovered. He bath says that it went '
astray, and calls it sheep. If it was a sheep when it went
astray, whose voice did it hear that it should go astray ? For
doubtless it would not have gone astray, if it had been the
Shepherd's voice that it heard: but the cause that it went
astray, was, that it heard the voice of a stranger; the voice it
heard was the voice of a thief and a robber. Now certainly
the sheep hear not the voice of robbers : Those who came,
saith He, (and we understand, Beside Me,) i. e. those who
came beside Me, are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did
not hear them. Lord, if the sheep did not hear them,
how is it that the sheep go astray ? If the sheep hear
not any save Thee ; and Thou art Truth : whoso heareth
Truth does not, of course, go astray. Now those do go
astray, and yet are called sheep. For if in the midst of
their straying they were not called sheep, it would not be
said by Ezekiel, T}ie sheep which went astray ye have not
recovered. How does it both go astray, and yet is a sheep ?
Has it heard the voice of a stranger ? Assuredly the sheep
did not hear them. Besides, at the present time many are
gathered to the fold of Christ, and of heretics become
catholics ; they are carried otF from the thieves, are restored
to the Shepherd : and sometimes they murmur, they are
annoyed with him that would recover them, and do not
understand that there is one cutting their throats ; but
however, when, even with resistance, they which are sheep
have come, they know the Shepherd's voice, and are glad
that they have come, and are ashamed that they went astray.
Well then ; when in their straying they gloried in their very
error as in the truth, and of course heard not ihe voice of
608 And some thai are such, hear not yet Chrisfs voice :
HoMiL. the Shepherd, and therefore followed the stranger, were they
sheep or were they not ? If they were sheep, how is it said that
the sheep hear not strangers ? If they were not sheep, why
are those reproved to whom it is said, The sheep which went
astray ye have not recovered'^ Nay, even in those who are
now become Catholic Christians, hopeful believers, evil
things sometimes have place : they are seduced into error,
and after error are recovered : when they were seduced into
error and were rebaptized, or, after the fellowship of the
Lord's fold, fell back into their old error, were they sheep or
were they not ? Of course, they were catholics. If they were
catholic believers, they were sheep. If they were sheep,
how could they hear the voice of a stranger, when the Lord
saith, Tlie sheep did not J tear them ?
12. Ye have heard, my brethren, the height of the
2Tim.2, question. I say then: The Lord knoweth them that are
His. Knoweth the foreknown, knoweth the predestinate :
Kom. 8, for of Him it is said. For whom He did foreknow. He also
29 33 , J '
' did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might he the first-horn among many brethren:
moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called:
and whom He called, them He also justified : and whom He
justified, them He also glorified. If God he for us, who can
be against us? Add yet : He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not with Him
1 donavit also freely given ^ us all things ? Yea, but whom does he mean
&Vulg!"^^ «5.^ The foreknown, predestinate, justified, glorified: of
whom it follows, Who shall lay any tiling to the charge of
God's elect ? The Lord, then, knoweth them that are His :
these are the sheep. Sometimes they do not know them-
selves: but the Shepherd knows them, in respect of this
predestination, in respect of this foreknowledge of God, in
respect of the election of the sheep before the foundation
Eph. 1, of the world: for this too saith the Apostle, As He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. In
respect, then, of this foreknowledge and predestination of
God, how many sheep there are without, how many wolves
within ! and, how many sheep within, and how many wolves
without ! What is this that I have said. How many sheep
without ! How many are now wantoning who shall one day
be chaste ! how many blaspheming Christ, that shall believe
But the voice of the Shepherd, " Persevere unto the end,'"'* 609
in Christ! how many drinking themselves drunken, that John
shall be sober ! how many plundering other men's goods, ^' ^'
who shall give away their own ! but at present they hear the
voice of a stranger, they follow strangers. Again, how many
that are within do now praise, who shall one day blaspheme;
are chaste, that will commit fornication ; sober, that will
hereafter bury themselves in wine ; stand, that shall fall !
They are not sheep. (For we speak of the predestinate ; we
speak of these whom the Lord knoweth, who are His.) And
yet even they, so long as they are in their right mind, hear
the voice of Christ. Lo, these hear, and those do not hear;
and yetj in respect of predestination, these are not sheep,
those are.
13. Still the question remains ; and, methinks, it may
now be thus completely solved. There is a voice, there
is, I say, some certain voice of the Shepherd, in regard
of which they that are sheep do not hear the strangers, they
that are not sheep do not hear Christ. What is this voice ? Mat. lo,
He that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall he saved. ^^'
This voice, he that is the Shepherd's own neglecteth not,
he that is not the Shepherd's own heareth not ; for the
Shepherd preacheth this also to him, that he should per-
severe with Him unto the end, but, by not persevering
ivith Him, he doth not hear this voice. He hath come to
Christ, hath heard sundry and several words, now these, now
those, all true, all sound : among which is also that voice,
He that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall be saved.
This voice whoso hears, that person is a sheep. But this or
that person did hear that voice, and he lost his right mind,
waxed cold again, heard the voice of a stranger : if he was
predestinated, he went astray for a time, was not lost for
ever : he returns, to hear that which he neglected, to do that
which he hath heard. For, if he is of these which are pre-
destinated, both his going astray was foreknown to God, and
his future conversion ; if he have strayed away, he returns to
hear that voice of the Shepherd, and to follow Him Who
saith, He that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall be
saved. A good voice, my brethren, and a true; a Shepherd's
voice indeed! yea, the very i;oz>(? of salvation which is ^V^Ps.ll8,
the tents of the righteous! For it is an easy matter to hear
GIO IS heard and fulfilled only hy the predestinate.
HoMTL. Christ, easy to praise the Gospel, easy to shout applause to
^^^' the preacher who reasons thereof: to persevere unto the end,
this is the character of sheep which hear the voice of the
Shepherd. Temptation befals thee; persevere unto the end:
for the temptation does not persevere unto the end. Unto
what end wilt thou persevere? Until thou end thy life. For,
so long as thou dost not hear Christ, thine adversary is in
this way^ i. e. in this mortal life. But what saith the Lord ?
iviatt. 5, Agree with thine adversary quickly^ whiles thou art in the
^^' way with him. Thou hast heard, hast believed, hast agreed.
If thou wast sometime adverse, agree now. If it have been
granted thee to agree, do not wrangle any longer. For thou
knowest not how soon the way shall be ended, but yet He
knoweth. If thou art a sheep, and if thou persevere unto the
end, thou shalt be saved : and for this cause they that are
His despise not, and they that are not His hear not, this
voice. As I had ability, as He hath bestowed the same,
I have either expounded to you, or handled with you, this
very deep question. If any have failed to understand, let
but piety remain, and truth shall be revealed : but those who
have understood, let them not extol themselves as persons
of quicker wit above them that are slower, lest by extolling
themselves they start aside from the course, and the slower
come more easily than they to the goal. And may He bring
Ps. 86, all to the goal, to Whom we say: Lead me, 0 Lord, in Thy
way, and L shall walk in Thy truth.
14. Through this, then, which the Lord hath expounded, to
wit, that He is the Door, let us enter in to those things which
He hath here propounded and not expounded. And as for the
Shepherd, Who He is, albeit He hath not said it in this lesson
which has been recited to-day, yet in that which follows He
saith it most openly, / am the good Shejjherd. Nay, if He
had not said it, yet what other than Him ought w^e to under-
V.2— 4, stand in those words where He saith: LLe that entereth in by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep : to him the porter
b Or, " He (i. e. Christ) is thine ture, which is given to be with us in
adversary." But the other translation the way, during this life, and which it
seems preferable, because in St. Au- behoves us not to gainsay, lest it deliver
gustine's interpretation of this passage us to the Judge, but to consent unto it
" the Judge" means Christ, therefore without delay." De Serm. Dom. in
"the Adversary" some other: viz. Monte 1,32. And more fully Serm,
^' God's commandment, or Holy Scrip- 251 ; also Serm. 109. and 387.
Christ gives life to His sheep, at their coming in, 611
openeth ; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleih his John-
own sheep by name, and leadeth them out: and when he^'^'^^'
putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him : for they know his voice ? For what other
calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them hence to
eternal life, but He Who knowelh the names of the pre-
destinate ? Whence He sailh to His disciples, i?^'6>2ce, Lukeio,
because your names are written in heaven : for it is from
hence that He calleth them by name. And what other
putteth them forth, but He Which putteth away their sins,
that they may be delivered from their hard bonds, and be
able to follow Him ? And Who liath gone Tyefore them to
that place whither they are to follow Him, but He Who
rising from the dead now dieth no more, and death shall Rom. ff,
no more have dominion over Him : and, while He was here
conspicuous in the flesh, said. Father, they whom Thou hast ^ohniT,
given Me, I will that where I am, they also be with Me?
Whereof also is that which He saith, I am the Door : by Me v. 9.
if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in
and out, and find pasture. In this He evidently sheweth
that not only the Shepherd, but the sheep likewise enter in
by the door.
15. But what meaneth, Sliall go in and out, and shall
find pasture ? For to come into the Church through Christ
the Door, is a great good : but to go out from the Church,
as saith this same John the Evangelist in his Epistle, They^"^^^^
went out from us, but tltey were not of us ; is clearly no
good thing. Consequently such a going out could not be
praised by the good Shepherd, that He should say. Shall go
in and out, and find pasture. There is, therefore, not only
a coming in, but a going out, that is good, through the good
Door, which is Christ. But what is this laudable and
blessed going out ? I might indeed say, that we go in, when
we inwardly think some thought ; and go out, when we
outwardly work some work : and since, as the Apostle saith, ^ph. 3,
Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith, that, to go in through
Christ, is, to think according to the faith : and to go out
through Christ, is, to work by faith abroad also, i. e. in the
sight of men. Whence we read in the Psalm, 3Ian shall go^^'^^^^
forth to his ii)ork : and the Lord Himself saith, Ze/ yoi/r Matt.5,
612 And ^' more ahundavtiy'' at their going out, i. e. after death.
HomJ.. tvorks shine before men. But it delighteth me more, that
■ ^^^' Truth Itself, as a good Shepherd, and therefore good
Teacher, hath in some sort admonished us how we ought to
^- 10. understand what He saith, in that He goes on to say, The
thief comeih not, hut for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly. For methinks He meant, 77/«^
they may have life when coming in, and have it more
abundantly when going out. Now a man cannot go out by
the Door, which is Christ, unto eternal life, which will be in
the reality, unless by that very Door, i.e. by the same Christ,
he have entered into His Church, which is His fold, unto
temporal life, which is in faith. Accordingly He saith,
Gal. 5, / (ijji come, that they may have life, i. e. faith which
workeih by love, by which faith they enter into the fold
"Rom. \ , iji^ii ij^gy ^jidy ii^Q^ fQf t]-jg j^g(; ^qi^i^ liyg \yj fai til I aud
may have it rnore abundantly, who, by persevering unto
the end, go out by that door, i. e. by the faith of Christ,
seeing they die true believers ; and shall have life more
abundantly, by coming to that place whither that Shepherd
is gone before, where they shall never thenceforth die.
Albeit then here also, in the fold itself, there lacks not
pasture, since we may understand that which is said, shall
find pasture, of both, i. e. both at the coming in and at the
going out : yet there shall they find true pasture, where they
Matt. 5, shall be satisfied, who hunger and thirst after righteousness :
Luke23, such pasture as he found, to whom it was said. To-day shalt
^'^' thou be with 3Ie in Paradise. But how He is at once Door
and Shepherd, insomuch that even He must in some sort be
understood to go in and out through Himself; and Who is
the Porter; it would take too long to enquire to-day, and by
discoursing, as He shall bestow the ability, to unfold the
same.
HOMILY XLVI.
John x. 11 — 13.
I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life
for the sheep. But he that is an hireling^ and not the
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming,
and leaveth the sheep, and Jleeth: and the wolf catcheth
them, and scatter eth the sheep. The hireling jleeth, because
he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep,
1. The Lord Jesus is speaking to His sheep, both present Comp.
and future, which were then on the spot : for as some there ^^J^'
were akeady sheep, so were there some that would become
sheep : and again, present and future, that is, them and us and
all as many as after us shall become His sheep : and sheweth
Who it was that was sent unto them. All, then, hear the
voice of their Shepherd, saying, / am the good Shepherd»
He would not have added, the good, were there not bad
shepherds too. But the bad shepherds, the same are
thieves and robbers: or at best, hirelings. For we must
look into, and distinguish, and know all the characters
which the Lord has here put forth. He has already opened
two matters which were in some sort shut up as He pro-
pounded them : we know now that He is Himself the Door,
know that He is Himself the Shepherd. Who the thieves
and robbers are, was laid open in the lesson of yesterday ;
but to-day we have heard of the hireling, heard also of the
wolf: yesterday there was mention likewise of the Porter.
We reckon then, as good, the Door, the Porter, the Shep-
herd and the sheep : as bad, thieves and robbers, hirelings,
the wolf.
614 As the Door and the Shepherd, so the Porter, is Christ,
HoMiL. 2. The Door, we are given to understand, is the Lord
^^-^^i^* Christ ; the Shepherd, the Same: the Porter, who? The
two He hath Himself expounded : concerning the Porter He
hath left us to seek. And what saith He of the Porter ?
To Him, saith He, the porter openeth. Openeth to whom?
To the Shepherd. Openeth what to the Shepherd ? The Door.
And who is this same Door ? None other than the Shepherd.
Now, if the Lord Christ had not expounded, had not Him-
self said, / am the Shepherd, and, / am the Door, would
any of us dare to say that Christ is at once both Shepherd
and Door? Had He said, I am the Shepherd, and not said,
/ am the Door, we should have been to seek what the Door
is, and perchance thinking it to be other than it is, we should
be left standing before the door still. His grace and mercy
hath expounded to us the Shepherd, hath told us that it is
Himself: concerning the Porter, He hath left us to seek. Whom
shall we affirm to be the Porter ? Whomsoever we may find,
we must beware that he be not accounted greater than the Door,
just because in the houses of men the porter is greater than
the door: for the porter is preferred to the door, not the door
to the porter, because the porter keeps the door, not the
door the porter. — I dare not affirm any to be greater than
the Door, for I have now heard what the Door is : it is not
hidden from me, I am not sent abroad to mine own con-
jecture, it is not for me to give a loose to human surmise;
God hath said it. Truth hath said it, and that cannot change
which the Unchangeable hath spoken.
3. I will say then what appears to me in the depth of
this question : let each choose what pleases him ; only let
"Wisd.ijhim think piously, as it is written, Think ye of the Lord in
goodness, and in simplicity of heart seek ye Him. By the
Porter, perchance we must understand the Lord Himself.
For in human life, shepherd and door are things much wider
apart than porter and door : and yet the Lord hath called
Himself both Shepherd and Door. Why then may we not
understand Him to be Porter too ? For if we look at the
things as they are in themselves, the Lord Christ is neither
shepherd, such as we are used to see and know shepherds to
be ; nor is He door, for no carpenter made Him ; but if we
take them in respect of a certain likeness, He is both Door
Or, the Porter may he the Holy Spirit. 615
and Shepherd ; nay, I dare to say it, He is Sheep also : true, john
the sheep is under the shepherd, but for all that Christ is both ^^
Shepherd and Sheep. Where is He Shepherd ? Lo, thou —^ — '
hast it here : read the Gospel : / am the good Shepherd.
Where is He Sheep ? Ask the Prophet : As a sheep ivas He Ih.53,7.
led to he imwolated. Ask the friend of the Bridegroom:
Behold the Lamh of God, behold Him Who taketh away the John i,
sin of the world ! Nay, in regard of these similitudes, I will^^'
say what is more marvellous still. For lamb and sheep and
shepherd are friendly together; lions, the sheep use to be
guarded against by their shepherds : and yet of Christ,
being, as He is. Sheep and Shepherd, we read, The Lion of Rev. 5,
the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. All these things, my^*
brethren, ye must take by way of similitudes, not as the
things are in themselves. We use to see shepherds sitting
upon a rock, and thence keeping the flocks entrusted to
their care : now of course the shepherd is better than the
rock on which the shepherd sits, and yet Christ is both
Shepherd and Rock. All this in regard of similitude. If
thou ask me what He is in Himself: — In the bey inniny was john i,
the Word, aud the Word was wiih God, and the Word was ^'
God. If thou ask me what He is in Himself; He is the
Only Son, begotten of the Father for everlasting from ever-
lasting : Equal with the Father begetting : by Whom all
things were made : Unchangeable with the Father, and
unchanged by taking the form of Man : from His Incarna-
tion, Man : Son of Man and Son of God. All this that I
have said, is not similitude but reality.
4. Then let us not be loath, my brethren, to take it, that
in respect of certain resemblances. He is at once Door and
Porter. For what is a door? That by which we enter.
Who is the porter ? He that openeth. Now who openeth
himself, but he that expoundeth himself? Lo, the Lord
spake of the Door, and we understood Him not: when we
did not understand, it was shut: He that opened it, the
same is the Porter. There is then no necessity to seek some
other meaning: no necessity, but perchance there is the will.
If there is the will, do not start aside from the track, quit
not the Trinity. If thou seek some other person to be the
Porter, let the Holy Spirit occur to thee: the Holy Spirit
616 Hirelings^ pastors who seek their own ;
HoMiL. will not disdain to be the Door-keeper, when the Son disdained
^not to be even the Door. See how the Porter perchance may
be the Holy Spirit: the Lord Himself saith to His disciples
Johnie, concerning the Holy Spirit, He shaH teach you all truth,
^- The Door, what is it? Christ. What is Christ? Truth.
Who opens the door, but He Who teacheth all truth ?
5. But what say we of the hireling? Not among the good
V. 11,12. is he mentioned. The good Shepherd giveth His life for the
sheep» But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd^
ivhose own the sheep are not, seeth the uolf coming, and
leaveth the sheep, and Jleeth: and the wolf cat cheth them,
and scattereth the sheep. It is no good character that the
hireling bears here, and yet he is in some regard useful : nor
would he be called hireling, did he not receive hire from an
employer. Who then is this hireling, at once culpable and
needful ? Here indeed, my brethren, let the Lord Himself
shine upon us, that we may both understand the hirelings,
and not be hirelings ourselves. Who then is the hireling ?
There are in the Church certain overseers, of whom the
Phil. 2, Apostle Paul saith, Seeking their own, not the things of
Jesus Christ. What meaneth, Seeking their own? Not
loving Christ freel}-, not seeking God for His own sake; men
pursuing temporal advantages, men open-mouthed for gain,
seeking honours of men. When these things are loved by
one who is set over others, and when for these things' sake
one serves God ; whoso is such, is an hireling, let him not
reckon himself among the sons. Of such, namely, saith the
Matt. 6, Lord also: Verily I say unto you. They have received their
reward. Hear concerning holy Timothy, what the Apostle
Phil. 2, Paul saith : But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheiis
]9 21
' shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when
I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who
will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own,
not the things which are Jesus Christ's. In the midst of
hirelings the shepherd groaned: he sought some one who
would sincerely love the flock of Christ; and about him,
among those who at that time were with him, he found none.
Not that in the Church of Christ there was then, save Paul
the Apostle and Timothy, no man who would naturally care
for the flock : but it so fell out, that at the time when he
But the Shepherd's voice speaks even hy such, 617
sent Timothy, he had not about him any other of his sons; Jc>hn
only hirelings were with him, men seeking their own, not the n^ 12.
things which are Jesus Chrisfs. And yet he, naturally
caring for the flock, chose rather to send his son, and to be
left in the midst of hirelings. We too find hirelings : it
is only the Lord Who knows them thoroughly: He Who
looketh into the heart. He sees through them : yet some-
times they are understood by us. For it is not for nothing
that the Lord hath said concerning wolves likewise, By Mat. 7,
their fruits ye shall know them. Temptations question
many, and then the thoughts appear : but many also remain
hidden. Let the Lord's fold have its overseers, both sons
and hirelings. Now overseers who are sons, are shepherds.
If they be shepherds, how is there but One Shepherd, save
as all those are members of the One Shepherd, W^hose own
the sheep are ? For the same are members of Him Who is
also the One Sheep; since He was led as a sheep to bel3.53,7.
immolated.
6. But hear that hirelings also are necessary. Many in Serm.
the Church, pursuing earthly advantages, do yet preach g_j^
Christ, and through them the voice of Christ is heard :
and the sheep follow, not the hireling, but the voice of the
Shepherd through the hireling. Hear the hirelings pointed
out by the Lord Himself. The Scribes and the Pharisees u^t.^s^
sit in Moses' chair: what they say, do ye ; but what they"' '
do, do not ye. What other hath He said, but. Through
hirelings hear ye the voice of the Shepherd ? For as sitting
in the chair of Moses, they teach God's Law : therefore by
them God doth teach. But if those men want to teach their de
own, hear it not, do it not. For though it be true that such qjjj.. i*v.
do seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's, ^^*
yet no hireling ever dared to say to the people of Christ,
Seek thine own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
The evils which the hireling does, he does not preach
from the chair of Christ: he hurts by the evil that
he does, not by the good he speaks. Pluck the grape,
beware the thorn. 'Tis well, that ye have understood me :
yet for the sake of them who are slower of understanding,
let me say the same thing more plainly. How said I, Pluck
the grape, beware the thorn, when the Lord saith, Z)<9 wze^iMatt. r,
618 so hwg as they preach Christ, hoicever insincerely.
UoMiL. gather grapes of thorns, or Jigs of thistles ? This is quite true :
^^^' yet is that true also which I said, Phick the grape, beware
the thorn. For now and then a bunch of grapes, springing
from the root of the vine, hangs upon a hedge, the vine-
branch grows, becomes entwined among the thorns, and
the thorn bears fruit not its own. It was not that the vine
produced tlie thorn, but that the fruit-bearing branch over-
hung the thorns. Ask thou only what be the roots: seek
the root of the thorn ; thou findest it outside, away from the
vine: seek the origin of the grape ; the vine bore this from
its root. So then, the chair of Moses was the vine ; the
manners of the Pharisees, the thorns. True doctrine by bad
men ; the vine-branch on the hedge, the cluster among thorns.
Gather it cautiously, lest while thou seekest fruit thou tear
thine hand : and when thou hearest the good words he says,
do not imitate the evil things he does. What they say, do
ye, but uhat they do, do iiot ye: beware the thorns! Even
through hirelings, hear ye the voice of the Shepherd, but be
not ye hirelings, seeing ye are members of the Shepherd.
But as for Paul the holy Apostle, who said, / Jiaie no
man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state;
for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus
Chrisfs; hear what the same hath said in another place,
making distinction between hirelings and sons : So7ne of
Enarr. envy and strife ; hut some even of good will do preach Christ;
115 1. some'' out of charity, knowing that I am set for the
defence of the Gospel; but some even of contumacy do preach
Christ, not chastely, thinking that tribulation is thereby
raised up^ for my bonds. These were hirelings; they envied
the Apostle Paul. Wherefore envied, but because they
sought temporal things ? But mark what he adds : What
then ? so in every way, whetJier for occasion sake or in
truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yea, and
will rejoice, Christ is Truth : let Truth be preached by
a Text, recept. transpopes the two ^ S?/5c?Var/, Vulg. i^e suscitare: the
latter members {n\z. some preach Christ best authorities have iyeipetv, which is
o/ contention some, of love, fyc, received by Griesbach, Lachmann, and
as in E. V.) obviously for the sake of others: text, recept. iirKpepeiu (Theo-
conformity with V. 15. but against deei- phyl. Trpo(T(l)epeiy) is only a marginal
sive authority of Mss., versions, and gloss.
Fathers.
Chris fs disciples are allowed to flee from persecution. 619
hirelings for occasion sake, let Truth be preached by sons John
in truth : the sons patiently look for the eternal inheritance — ^ — -
of the Father; the hirehngs eagerly long for the temporal
wages of the Employer that hired them : for me, let man's
glory, which I see the hirehngs envy me, be diminished ;
and yet by the tongues both of hirelings and of sons let the
divine glory of Christ be spread abroad, while, whether for
occasion sake, or in truth, Christ is preached,
7. We have seen who is the hireling likewise. Who is the
wolf, but the devil? And what is said of the hireling?
When he seeth the wolf coming, he fleeth, because ///(?ver. 12.
sheep are not his oivn, and he careth not for the sheep.
Was such the Apostle Paul? God forbid! Such Peter?
God forbid ! Such the other Apostles, save Judas the son of
perdition? God forbid! Then were they shepherds? As-
suredly shepherds. And how then is there One Shepherd?
I have already said, ^ Shepherds, because members of the
Shepherd.' In that Head they rejoiced, under that Head
they were of one heart, by one spirit they lived in the
compactness of one body : and hereby all appertained to
the One Shepherd. If then they were shepherds, not
hirelings, wherefore did they flee when they suffered per-
secution ? Expound to us, O Lord. I have seen Paul
fleeing, in his epistle : he was let down by the wall in a 2 Cor.
basket, that he might escape the hands of the persecutor. ^^'^^'
Then say we that he cared not for the sheep, which he
deserted when the wolf came ? He did care for them,
assuredly ; but he commended them by his prayers to the
Shepherd Who sitteth in heaven, while by fleeing he pre-
served himself for their good, as he saith in a certain place,
To remain in the flesh is necessary for your sakes. ForPhii. i,
from the Shepherd Himself they had all heard, If they per -"^^^^^ ^^
secute you in one city, flee ye to another. This question let the 23.
Lord deign to expound to us. Lord, Thou hast said to them
concerning whom doubtless it was Thy will that they should
be faithful shepherds, to them whom Thou wast forming to be
Thy members, If they per secute you^flee. Then Thou wrongest
them, when Thou reprovest the hirelings, who see the wolf
coming, and flee. We beseech Thee, shew us what the
height of the question hath in it. Let us knock: He will be
T t
620 Unfaithful pastors flee as hirelings,
HcMiL. present to open Himself, Who is the Porter of the Door,
^Himself the Door.
8. Who is the hireling that seeth the wolf coming, and
fleeth ? The man who seeks his own, not the things which
are Jesus Christ's, that man does not frankly reprove him
that sinneth. Lo, some man hath sinned, hath grievously
sinned : he must be rebuked, be excommunicated : yea, but
excommunicated, he will be an enemy, will plot, will do a
mischief when he can. Now the man who seeks his own, not
the things which are Jesus Christ's, this man that he may not
lose that which he follows after, to wit, the advantage of men's
friendship, and incur the annoyance of men's enmity, holds
his peace, does not rebuke. Lo, the wolf is griping the sheep
by the throat: the devil hath seduced a believer into adultery;
thou boldest thy peace, rebukest not: O hireling, thou
sawest the wolf coming, and fleddest ! Perchance he answers,
and says: Lo, here I am; I have not fled. Thou hast fled,
bee u e t) ou hast held thy peace; thou didst hold thy peace,
because thou wast afraid. Fear is the flight of the mind.
In body, thou stoodest; in spirit, thou fleddest: which thing
1 Cor. did not he who said. Though I he absent in body, in spirit I am
^' ^' with you. For how could he be said to have fled in spirit, who,
even being absent in the body, rebuked fornicators by his
epistle ? Our affections are the motions of our minds. Joy,
is a diffusion of the mind ; sorrow, a contraction of the mind ;
desire, a progression of the mind ; fear, a flight of the mind.
For thou art diffused abroad in thy mind when thou art
dehghted; contracted in mind, when thou art in trouble:
thou goest forth in the mind, when thou desirest ought;
fleest in mind, when thou art afraid. Lo, how it is that the
hireling is said to flee at sight of the wolf. Why ? Because
he careth not for the sheep. Why careth not for the sheep ?
Because he is an hireling. How is an hireling? Is one
John 8, seeking temporal hire, and shall not dwell in the house
^^- for ever. 'J 'here are questions here yet to be asked and
discussed with you, but it is not our purpose to burden you.
For we minister the viands of the Lord to our fellow- servants;
in the Lord's pasture we feed the sheep, and ourselves feed
with them. As that ought not to be denied you which is
needful, so the weak heart must not be weighed down with
when they are afraid to rehuhe and punish sin. 6'2l
the quantity of food. Then take it not amiss, beloved, that John
I do not to-day discuss all that is here still to be discussed ; ^^'
but on the Sermon-day the same Lesson shall, in the name
of the Lord, be read to us a second time, and by His aid,
more diligently handled.
T t 2
HOMILY XL VII.
John x. 14 — 21.
/ am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of
Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the
Father : and I la.y down My life for the sheep. And other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I must
bring, and they shall hear My voice ; and there shall he one
fold, and one Shepherd. Therefore doth My Father love
Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from Ale, but I lay it down of Myself
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment have I received of My Father.
There was a division therefore again among the Jews for
these sayings. And many of them said. He hath a devil,
and is mad ; why hear ye him ? Others said, These are not
the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the
eyes of the blind '^
\. Ye who hear the word of our God not only willingly
but diligently, are doubtless mindful of our promise. For
the same Gospel Lesson has been read to-day, which was read
on the last Lord's day : because, having had our time taken up
with certain necessary matters, vve were not able to discuss
all that is due to your understandings. Therefore, what has
been already said and handled, we do not to-day bring in
question ; lest, by still repeating the same things we be not
permitted to come to that which has not been said. Ye now
know in the name of the Lord, Who is the Good Shepherd,
How ChristtheGoodShejjherdentersthrough Christ theDoor: 623
"and how good shepherds are members of Him, and so the John
Shepherd is One : ye know who is the hireling that we must — '- — ^
bear; who the v^olf, and thieves, and robbers of whom we
must beware ; what the sheep, what the Door by which both
sheep and Shepherd enter in ; how the Porter is to be under-
stood : ye know too, that whoso entereth not in by the Door,
is a thief and a robber, and cometh not but for to steal and
to kill and to destroy. All these sayings have, I suppose,
been sufficiently handled. To-day we owe it you to say, as
the Lord aideth, — since Jesus Christ Himself our Saviour hath
said that He is both Shepherd and Door, and hath said that
the Good Shepherd entereth in by the Door, — how He
entereth in through Himself. For if none is a good shep-
herd but he who enters in by the Door, and He is pre-
eminently the Good Shepherd, and Plimself the Door. I
cannot understand otherwise than that He doth through
Himself enter in unto His sheep, and givelh them His voice
that they may follow Him, and they entering in and going
out find pasture, which is everlasting life.
2. Quickly then T say it. I, seeking to enter in unto you,
that is unto your heart, preach Christ: if I preach other than
that, I shall be striving to climb in at some other side. Christ
then is my door unto you : through Christ I enter in, not to
your chambers, but to your hearts. Through Christ I enter,
Christ in me ye have willingly heard. Why have ye wiUingly
heard Christ in me ? Because ye are Christ's sheep, have
been purchased with Christ's blood. Ye know the price
paid for you : which not by me is given but through me is
preached. He bought you. Who shed precious blood:
precious is the blood of Him Who is without sin. Yet hath
He made the blood of His own for whom He gave the price
of His blood, to be also precious : for did He not make the
blood of His own to be precious, it would not be said.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Ps. 116,
Accordingly in this also that He saith, The Good Shepherd^^'
laijeth down His life for the sheep, it is not He alone that
hath done thus : and yet if they who are His members have
done this, it is He alone that hath done it. For He had
power to do it without them : but how should they have
power to do it without Him, seeing Himself hath said,
624 i. e. in the person of His true pastors:
HoMiL. Without Me ye can do 7fothing ? Now we shew that others
J ^^ ^^_ have done it, by this, namely, that the same Evangelist John,
6. 'who preached this Gospel which ye have heard, hath said in
1 John his Epistle, Like as Christ laid down His life for ifs, so
' * ought we to lay down our lives for the brethren. We ought,
he saith ; He Who did it first, hath made us debtors thereto.
Prov. Accordingly in a certain place it is written : If thou sit to
LXX. sup at the table of the mighty, wisely understand what is set
before thee: and put forth thine hand, knowing that it
heJioveth thee to prepare the like. What is the table of the
Mighty, ye know: on it is the body and blood of Christ:
whoso Cometh to such a table, let him prepare the like. And
how " prepare the like ?" As He laid down His life for us,
so we might — for edifying of the people, and assertion of the
faith — to lay down our lives for the brethren. Accordingly,
speaking to Peter, when it was His will to make him a good
shepherd, not in Peter himself, but in His body. He said,
John2i, Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep. This once, this
"~ ' twice, this a third time, even to Peter's grief. And when He
had questioned Peter as much as He judged him meet to be
questioned, that he might thrice confess, who had thrice
denied, and when He had a third time given him charge to
feed His sheep. He said to him, Wlien thou wast young, thou
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest : but
wJien thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. And the Evangelist hath expounded what the
Lord meant, saying: This spake He, signifying by what death
he should glorify God, That charge, then. Feed 3Iy sheep,
comes to this — that thou lay down thy life for My sheep.
T. 15. 8. This now that He saith. As the Father knoweth Me,
even so know I the Father, who but knows it ? He, namely,
knoweth the Father by Himself, we by Him. That He
hath this knowledge by Himself, we know: that we have
it by Him, this also we know: because in fact we have
the knowledge of this very thing by Him. For Himself
John 1, hath said: No man hath seen God at any time, but the
Only-Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom- of the Father,
He hath declared Him. Therefore we know the Father
by Him, being they to whom He hath declared Him.
and Christ the Word enters in hy the Word. Q^^
Again, elsewhere He saith, None knoweth the Son, save the John
Father; neither knoweth ami the Father, save the Son, ^' ^^'
Mat 11
and he to whom the Son shall be pleased to reveal Him, As 27. '
then He by Himself knoweth the Father, but we by Him
know the Father ; so He entereth in to the sheepfold through
Himself, and we through Him. We said that we have a
door through Christ unto you ; why ? because we preach
Christ. We preach Christ, and therefore enter in by the
Door. But Christ preacheth Christ, in that He preacheth
Himself; and therefore the Shepherd entereth in through
Himself. Light, while it sheweth other things which are
seen in light — hatli it need of somewhat beside itself that it
may be shewn ? Light, then, shews other things, and itself.
Whatever we i aderstand, it is by our understanding that we
understand ; r.nd our understanding itself, by what but by
the understanding itself, do we understand it? Dost thou
thus with the eye of flesh perceive other things and the eye
itself? Nay, for though men see by their eyes, yet they do
not see their own eyes. The eye of flesh sees other things,
itself it cannot see : but the understanding understands both
other things, and itself. Like as the understanding sees
itself, so Christ preacheth Himself If He preacheth Him-
self, and by preaching entereth in to thee, by Himself
entereth He in to thee. Also to the Father He is the Door,
because there is no way of coming to the Father, but through
Him. For there is One God, and One 3Iediator between 1 Tim.
God and man, the 3Ian Christ Jesus. By a word many^'^*
things are said : the very things I have been saying, why,
it was by word I said them. If I would needs speak of the
w^ord itself, wherewith should I speak of it but by a word ?
And consequently by the word there are other things said,
which are not what the word is, and the word itself cannot
be spoken but by the word. By the Lord's assistance, we
have abounded in examples. Hold ye then, how the Lord
Jesus Christ is both Door and Shepherd : Door, by opening
Himself: Shepherd, by entering in through Himself And
indeed, my brethren, that He is Shepherd, He hath given to
His members also : thus Peter too is shepherd, and Paul
shepherd, and the other Apostles shepherds, and good
bishops shepherds. But Door, none of us calleth himself:
0*26 To Israel, Christ sent and came;
HoMiL.this He hath kept proper to Himself, that the sheep may
^^^^^' enter in. In fine, Paul the Apostle was fulfilling the office
of a good shepherd, when he preached Christ, because he
entered in by the door. But when undisciplined sheep
began to make schisms, and to sot themselves other doors,
not that they might enter in to be gathered together, but
1 Cor. 1, that they might go astray to be divided, saying, some, / am
of Paul ; others, / am of Cephas ; others, / of A polios ;
others, I of Christ ; taking fright at them who said, I am of
Paul, as if he were crying out to the sheep, Unhap])y
creatures, where are ye going } I am not the Door ! he
saith; Was Paul crucified for you ? either were ye baptized
in the name of Paul? But those who said, / am of Christy
had found the Door.
4. But concerning the one fold and one Shepherd, ye are
wont to hear full oft: for we have much and earnestly spoken
to you of the one fold, preaching unity, that through Christ
all the sheep might enter in, and none should follow Donatus.
Of what, however, the Lord said this in the proper sense, is
sufficiently apparent. He was speaking, namely, among the
Jews, not with a view to certain who pertinaciously held to
their fell hatred and persevered in darkness, but vvith a view
to some in that same nation whom He calls His sheep : of
INIat.iOjwhom He saith, / am not sent hut unto the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. He knew^ them also in the crowd of them
that raged against Him, and foresaw them in the unity of
them that should believe on Him. What meaneth then,
I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
but this, that Flis bodily presence He exhibited not but unto
the people Israel.? To the Gentiles He went not in His own
Person, but sent : to the people Israel Pie both sent and came
in His own Person ; that they which despised, might receive
greater judgment, because His very Presence was exhibited to
them. The Lord Himself was there, there chose He a mother;
there He willed to be conceived, there to be born, there to
shed His blood; there are the prints of His footsteps, they
are even now adored, where He last stood, whence He
ascended into heaven": but to the Gentiles He sent.
^ Of the foot-prinls shewn on the Hieronym., Beda de nom. loc. in Act.
Mount of Olives, as Christ's, there is Apost., Sulpicius Severus Hist. Sacr.
mention in Lib. de locis Hebraicis ap. ii. Ben.
To the Gentiles He sent, hut is in His messengers. 6*27
5. But haply some man deems, because He came not John
personally to us, but sent to us, that we have not heard His — '- — -
voice, but only the voice of them whom He sent. God
forbid! be that thought driven from your hearts: in these
whom He sent. Himself was also present. Hear Paul him-
self, whom He sent : for to the Gentiles He specially sent
Paul as an Apostle : and Paul himself saith, putting men in
fear not of himself, but of Him, Would ye receive a proof of '^. Cor.
Him Who speaketh in me^ even Christ ? Hear also the '
Lord Himself: And other sheep I have, that is, in the
Gentiles: ichich are not of this fold, i. e. of the people
Israel : them also must I bring. Therefore by the ministry
of His servants it is none other than He that bringeth.
Hear further: They shall hear My voice. Lo, by the
ministry of His servants it is He that speaketh, and through
them whom He sendeth. His voice is heard. That there
may he one fold, and one Shepherd. To those two flocks,
as it were to two walls. He was made the Corner-Stone. Eph. 2,
So then He is both Door and Corner-Stone : all these by ~ ^*
way of similitude, nothing of these as the things are in
themselves.
6. For I have already said, and earnestly insisted upon it,
and they who take it are wise, nay rather they who are
wise take it ; and those who are not wise in the under-
standing, let them by faith hold that which they are not
yet able to understand :— By way of similitude, Christ is
many things which He is not in the nature of the things
themselves. By similitude, both is Christ a Rock, and
Christ a Door, and Christ a Corner-stone, and Christ a
Shepherd, and Christ a Lamb, and Christ a Lion. How
many things is He by similitudes ! beside others which it
would take too long to mention. But if thou take strictly
the things as they are in themselves, which thou art used to
see ; neither is He rock, because He is not hard and devoid
of feeling; nor door, because not made by a carpenter; nor
corner-stone, because not fitted by a builder; nor shepherd,
because not a keeper of four-footed sheep; nor lion, because
not a wild-beast ; nor lamb, because not a beast of the field.
All these then He is only by way of similitude. What is
He then as He is in Himself.'^ In the beginning was the John \,
628 Christ^ s poiver to lay doivn and tale again His soul.
HoMiL. Word, and the Woi'd was with God, and the Word was
^±^God. What of the Man Who appeared? And the Word
John 1, . ^^
14. was madejlesh, and dwelt in us.
V. 17. 7. Hear also the rest. Therefore doth the Father love
3Ie, saith He, because I lay down My life that I may take
it again. What saith He? Therefore doth 3Iy Father love
Me; because I die, that I may rise again. For with great
weight it is said, /; Because I, saith He, lay down My lifo:
I lay down. How, / lay doivn? It is I Myself that lay it
down : let not the Jews glory ; to rage they were able, to
have power they were not able: let them rage as much as
they are able ; if I be not willing to lay down My life, what
will they do by their raging? By one single answer they
Johnis, w^ere laid prostrate : when it was said to them, Whom seek yef
" ' they said, Jesus; and He said to them, I am He: they went
backwards, and foil. They that fell at one utterance of the
voice of Christ when He was about to die, what shall they do
beneath His voice when He is about to judge ? /, /, saith He,
lay down My lifo, that I may take it again. Let not the
Jews glory, as though they have prevailed ; Himself hath laid
Ps. 3, 5. down His life. / slept, saith He, — ye know the Psalm, — /
305™ 3 ^^^P^f ^'^^ '^^^ -^^^ ^'^^^' ^'^^ ^ '^'^^^ ^^Pi ^(^cciuse the Lord
will take Me up. What meaneth, /.s/^/>/ ? Because I would,
I slept. What meaneth, slept ? Died. Did not He sleep,
Who, when He would, rose from the sepulchre as from a
bed? But He loveth to give glory to His Father, that He
may edify us to give glory to our Creator. For, that He
hath added, / rose up, because the Lord will take Me up,
suppose ye that here His virtue did as it were fail, so that by
His own power He was able to die, by His own power not
able to rise again? For so the words seem to sound when
they are not attentively understood : / slept^ i. e. because I
would, I slept: and rose, why? because the Lord will take
Me up. What? Thou not of Thyself able to rise? Wert
Thou not able. Thou wouldest not say, / have power to lay
down 3Iy lifo, and power to take it again. Hear in another
place in the Gospel, that not only the Father raised the Son,
John 2, but the Son raised Himself. Destroy, saith He, this Temple,
' ' and in three days I icill raise it up. And the Evangelist
saith, But this He spake of the Temple of His Body. That
The absurd heresy of the Apollinarists, 6W
which was raised was that which died. For the Word did John
not die: that Soul did not die : if not even thy soul dieth, J^ii^
should the Lord's die ?
8. How know I, sayest thou, if my soul does not die ?
By thyself let it not be slain, and it dieth not. How, sayest
thou, have I power to slay my soul ? To say nothing now
of other sins, Vie mouth that lieth, slayeth the soul. WhatWisd.j,
assurance, sayest thou, have I, that it dieth not ? Hear the ^^*
Lord Himself giving His servant assurance: Fear not them'^^t.io,
which kill the body, and after that have no more that they '
can do. Aye, but what saith He ? Fear Him Who hath power
to kill both body and soul in hell. Lo, that it dieth; lo, that
it dieth not. What is its dying ? What is it for thy flesh to
die ? For thy flesh to die, is, to lose its life : for thy soul
to die, is to lose its life. The life of thy flesh is thy soul :
the life of thy soul, thy God. As the flesh dies by losing
the soul which is its life, so the soul dies by losing God,
Who is its life. Certainly then, the soul is immortal. Clearly
immortal, because it liveth even when dead. For what the
Apostle hath said of the widow living in delights, may also
be said of the soul if it have lost its God, Is dead while she i Tim.
liveth. ^' "^*
9. How then doth the Lord lay down His life' (or soul).?» anU
Brethren, let us enquire here rather more attentively. We°^^°^
are not put to straits for time, as is usual on the Lord's day":
we have leisure : let this be their gain who come together
to-day likewise to the word of God. / lay dow?i, saith He,
My life. Who layeth down, layeth do\^nwhat? What is
Christ ? Word and man. And not in such sort man as to
be flesh only : but because man. He consisteth of flesh and
soul, but there is whole man in Christ. For He would not
have taken the worser part, and left the better; and the soul
is a better part of man than the body. Then since whole
man is in Christ, what is Christ ; Word, I say, and man.
* Non nos arctat hora quse solet die statement in the Benedictine * Admo-
Dominico: vacat nobis. In the earlier nitio' should be corrected; "in xlvii
editions, die Dominico is joined with quem die Dominico habuit." The
vacat nobis : " On the Lord's day we former Homily was preached on the
have leisure" for fuller preaching. Sunday, (xlvii. I.) and for that reason,
Wrongly, for the next sentence shews because of the longer service, the
that this Homily was not preached on Sermon was shortened,
the Lord's day. Ben. Hence the
630 It ivas the Flesh that laid dotvn the Soul,
HoMii.What is Word and man ? Word, soul and flesh. Hold this;
^^^^^' for there have not lacked heretics even on this point ; driven
off indeed of old from the Catholic Truth, but yet, as thieves
and robbers not entering in by the Door, they cease not to
plot against the sheepfold. These heretics are called Apol-
linarists, who have dared to assert the dogma, that Christ is
only Word and flesh : they maintain that He did not take
Lib. de miio Him a human soul. For indeed some of them could
qusest. not deny that there was a soul in Christ. See the unbear-
80.de ^|^]g absurdity and madness of the men! An irrational soul,
persev. they were willing He should have, the rational soul they
imp. c!* denied : they gave Him the soul of a beast, withdrew from
Jul. 4, Him the soul of a man! But those men have taken away
47. de . .
Aiiima reason from Christ, by not keeping reason themselves. Far
1, 31. )jQ ti^ig fi'om us, who have been nurtured and grounded in
the Catholic faith. Hence then let me take occasion to
admonish you, my beloved, that, as in the former lessons we
have sufliciently instructed you against Sabellians and
Arians ; Sabellians, who say. The Father is the same Person
as the Son; Arians, who say. One is the Father, other the
Son, meaning that Father and Son are not of the same
Substance : we have instructed you also, as ye remember,
and ought to remember against Photinian heretics, who have
affirmed that Christ is only man without God : against
Manicheans, wdio affirm Him to be only God without man :
that I say, taking this occasion, we may instruct you also
concerning His soul against the Apollinarists, who say that
our Lord Jesus Christ had not a human soul, i. e. rational
soul, intelligent soul, the soul, I say, in which we differ from
the beast, because we are men.
10. How then said the Lord here, / have power to lay
down My life, or, soul.? Who putteih down his soul and
taketh it again.? Doth Christ, for that He is the Word, put
down His soul and take it again.? Or, for that He is a
human soul, doth that soul lay itself down and again take
itself.? Or, for that He is flesh, doth the flesh lay down
the soul and take it again .? I have propounded three things;
let us thoroughly handle them all, and choose that which
suits the rule of Truth. For, should we say that the Word
of God laid down His soul and took it again, it is to be
The fVord, once hicarnate, never forsook either, G31
feared lest a wrono^ notion should enter in, and it should be John
. X 17
said to us, There was a time, then, when that soul was — '- — ^
separated from the Word, and there was a time Avhen that
Word, after that It had taken unto It that soul, was without
the soul. For I see that the Word has been without the
human soul, but this, when in the begimiing was the Word,
and the Word tvas with God, and the Word was God. For,
after that the Word was made flesh that It might dwell in
us, and the Word took unto It man, that is, whole man, soul
and flesh, what did the passion, what did death, but separate
body from soul? But the soul from tlie Word it separated
not. For, if the Lord died, yea rather, because the Lord
died, for He died for us on the Cross, doubtless His flesh
expired or breathed out the soul: for a little time the soul left
the flesh, but that on the soul's return it should rise again. But
that the soul was separated from the Word I do not affirm.
He said to the soul of the thief. To-day shalt thou be ivith Me Luke23,
in Paradise. He abandoned not the believing soul of the^^*
thief, and did He abandon His own ? God forbid ! But
that man's soul He, as Lord, kept in His custody, His own
soul, however. He had with Him inseparably. But should
we say, that the soul laid itself down, and again took itself,
the sense is most absurd: for that which was not separated
from the Word could not be separated from itself.
11. Let us say, then, both what is true, and what can be
easily understood. Take any human being, not consisting
of Word and soul and flesh, but of soul and flesh : in the
case of this man let us ask how any man soever lays down
his soul. Or haply is it so that no man lays down his soul ?
Thou mayest say to me. No man hath power to lay down his
soul and to take it again. If to lay down his soul were not
in man's power, John the Apostle would not say. As Christ i John
laid down His soul for us, so we ought to lag down our souls^' ^^'
for the brethren. Consequently it is permitted us also (if
we also be filled with His virtue, because without Him we
can do nothing.) to lay down our souls for the brethren.
When any holy martyr hath laid down his soul for the
brethren, who laid down, and wdiat laid he down? This if we
understand, there we shall see how it is said of Christ, / have
power to lay down My soul. O man. art thou prepared to
632 The Word is Christ, the Soul Christy the Flesh Christ,
HoMiL.die for Christ? I am prepared, saith he. I will say it in
^^^^^' other words : Art thou prepared to lay down thy soul for
Christ? To these words also he makes me this answer, I
am prepared ; just as he answered me when T said, Art thou
prepared to die ? Consequently, to lay down the soul is the
same as, to die. But for whom is the encounter there ^ ? For all
men when they die, lay down their life, or soul; but not all
lay it down for Christ. And no man hath power to take
what he has laid down ; but Christ, both for us laid it
down ; and when He would, laid it down ; and when He
would, took it up. Well then, to lay down the soul, is, to
Johnis, die. Thus also the Apostle Peter said to the Lord, / will
lay down my life, or, soul, for Thee : i. e. I will die for
Thee. Attribute this to the flesh : the flesh layeth down its
soul, and the flesh taketh it again, only, not by its own
power as flesh, but by the power of Him that inhabiteth
that flesh : the flesh then layeth down the soul by expiring
Johni9,it. See the Lord Himself on the Cross. I thirst, said He:
28—30
' those who stood by, dipped a sponge in vinegar, fastened it
upon a reed, and put it to His mouth : which when He had
received, He said, It is finished. What meaneth, It is
finished? Fulfilled are all things which were prophesied
of Me to be before My death. And, because He had power
to lay down His soul when He would, after He had said, It
is finished, then, what saith the Evangelist ? And he honed
His head, and gave up the ghost. This it is to lay down the
soul. Now mark here, beloved. Bowed the head, and gave
up the ghost. Who gave up ? gave up what ? Gave up the
ghost — the flesh gave it up. How, The flesh gave it up ?
The flesh sent it forth, the flesh expired or breathed it out.
For that is the meaning of the word ' expire' — exspirare, i. e.
extra spiritum fieri, to be out of the spirit (or breath of life).
Just as the word ' exulare' (to be an exile) is ' extra solum
fieri' (to be out of the soil of one's country) ; ' exorbitare,'
* extra orbitam fieri' (to be out of the round or orbit) : so
•j Sed pro quo ibi est certamen ? Such a death answers to Christ's ponere
The meaning seems to be, that, though anwiam pro ovibus : but still with this
ponere animani is " to die," and there- difference, that no man has power
fore all men ponunt anhnam when they sumere animam when he has laid it
die, yet not every death is denoted by down ; but Christ had this power, and
this phrase, but only that which is fro both laid down His life and took it
aliquo, i. e.pro Chrido^ pro fratrihus. again when He would.
yet One Christy as body and soul is one man, 633
* exspirare' is ' extra spiritum fieri,' which spirit (or, ghost) John
is the soul. When therefore the soul goes out from the — *—-—
flesh, and the flesh remains without the soul, then the man
is said to lay down the soul, or, life. When did Christ lay
down His soul ? When the Word willed so to do. For the
rule^ was in the Word ; therein was the power when the flesh ^ princi-
should lay down the soul, and when take it. ^^ "'^
12. If then it was the flesh that laid down the soul, how
is it that Christ laid down His soul, for the flesh is not
Christ.? Yes assuredly: both the flesh is Christ, and the
soul is Christ, and the Word is Christ : and yet are these
three not three Christs, but one Christ. Interrogate man,
and make of thyself a step to the things that are above thee,
although not yet to be understood at least to be believed.
For as soul and body is one man, so Word and man is one
Christ. See what I have said, and understand. Soul and
body are two things, but one man : Word and man are two
things, but one Christ. Ask then concerning man. Where
is Paul the Apostle at this present time ? If one answer, * In
rest with Christ,' he says true. Again, if one answer, 'At
Rome in the sepulchre,' he also says true. The former
answer tells me of his soul, the latter of his flesh. But for
all that, we do not affirm two Apostle Pauls, one, who rests
in Christ, another, who is in the sepulchre : albeit we affirm
that the Apostle Paul liveth in Christ, and affirm the same
Apostle Paul to be lying dead in the sepulchre. A person
dies ; we say, ' A good man, a true believer ; he is in peace
wdth the Lord :' and straightway, ' Let us go to his funeral,
and huYj him.' The man thou art going to bury is the same
whom thou didst affirm to be in peace wath God : seeing the
soul which is quick with immortality is one thing, the body
which lieth lifeless in corruptibihty another. But since the
partnership of flesh and soul hath received the name of man,
thence also singly and severally either of the two hath gotten
the name of man.
13. Let none therefore stumble when he hears the Lord to
have said; I lay down My soul, and take it again. It is the
flesh that lays it down, but by power of the Word : it is the
flesh that takes it, but by power of the Word. Nay, even the
flesh by itself is called the Lord Christ. How, say you, dost
634 The Flesh laid down the Soul hy power of the JVord.
HoMiL. thou prove that? I dare to affirm it: even the flesh by itself
' '- is called Christ. We believe, you know, not in God the
Father only, but in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord :
here now I have said the whole, * In Jesus Christ His only
Son our Lord.' Understand there the whole, both Word
and soul and flesh. But of course thou confessest also as
the same Creed hath it, namely, that the Christ thou believest
in was crucified and buried. Consequently, that Christ was
even buried thou dost not deny : and yet only the flesh was
buried. For if the soul was there, He was not dead: but if
it was a true death, that His may be a true resurrection, He
was without the soul in the sepulchre ; and yet was Christ
buried. Consequently, even the flesh without the soul was
Christ, for only the flesh was buried. Learn this also in the
Phil. 2, Apostolic words. Let this mind, saith he, he in you, which
~ ' was also in Christ Jesus : TVho, being in the form of God,
thought it not rohhery to he equal with God, Who, but
Christ Jesus, in regard that He is the Word, God with God .?
But see what follows : But made Himself of no reputation,
taking upon Him the form of a servant ; made in the
likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man. And
who did this, but the selfsame Christ Jesus .? But here
now are all these — both the Word, in the form of God
which took the form of a servant ; and soul and flesh in the
form of a servant which was taken by the form of God.
He humbled Himself, being made obedient unto death.
Well now, in death, it was the flesh alone that was killed
Mat.10, bv the Jews. For, if He said to the disciples, Fear not
them which kill the body, but cannot kill the soul ; had they
power in Him to kill more than the body } And yet when
the flesh was killed, Christ was killed. So, when the flesh
laid down the soul, Christ laid down His soul ; and when
the flesh, that it might rise again, took the soul, Christ took
His soul. Yet not by power of the flesh was this done, but
by power of Him Who took unto Him both soul and flesh
wherein these things should be fulfilled.
V. 18. 14. Jliis commandment, saith He, have I received of My
c.Maxi- Father. He, the Word, not by a word received command-
u'^'y]'' ment, but in the Only-Begolten Word of the Father is all
commandment. But when the Son is said to receive from
The Son " receives*'' by Eternal Generation. 635
the Father that which He substantially hath, as it is said, John
As the Father hath life In Himself, so hath He given to the ^q 21
Son to have life in Himself, in this is no lessening of power, Jotm 5,
but a betokening of His Generation. For it is not that the^^*
Father hath, as unto the Son begotten imperfect, added
somewhat, but, to the Son, begotten perfect, hath in begetting
given all things. So He gave Equality with Himself to Him
Whom He begat not unequal. But when the Lord spake
these things. There was a division again among the Jews for ^^\^-l\»
these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a devil,
and is mad; why hear ye Him ? This was most thick dark-
ness ! Others said, These are not the words of him that hath
a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? Now had
these men's eyes begun to be opened !
u u
HOMILY XLVIII.
1
JopiN X. 22—42.
^nd it ivas at Jerusalpjn the Enccsnia [or feast of the dedica-
tion'], and it was winter. And Jesus was walking in the
temple in Solomons porch. Then came the Jews round
about Him, and said unto Him, How long dost Thou make
us to doubt ? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus
loquor, answered them, I tell^ you, and ye believe not: the works
that I do in My Father s name, they bear witness of Me,
But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep. My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them^ and they follow Me:
and I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.
What My Father gave Me, is greater than all; and no
man is able to pluck out of My Father'' s hand. I and My
Father are One. Then the Jews took up stones again to
stone Him. Jesus answered them. Many good works have I
shewed you from My Father; for which of those works do
ye stone Me ? The Jews answered Him,, saying. For a good
work we stone thee not ; but for blasphemy ; and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered
them. Is it not written in your laiv, I said. Ye are gods ?
2 Sermo Jf He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came ^,
tuslst.' ^^^ ^'^^^ Scripture cannot he broken: say ye of Him, Whom
the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou
blasphemest ; because I said, I am the Son of God ? If I
do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I
do, thmgli ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye
Faith, the way to insight. 637
may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in J^^hn
Him. Therefore they sought again to take Him : hut He 22—24.
escaped out of their hand, and went away again beyond
Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and
there He abode. And many resorted unto Him, and said,
John did no miracle : but all things that John spake of this
Man were true. And many believed on Him.
1. As I have already told you, my beloved, ye ought to bear
it steadily in mind, that the holy Evangelist John would not
have us to be always nourished with milk, but to feed upon
solid meat. But whoso is at present not strong enough to
take the solid meat of the word of God, let him be nourished
with the milk of faith, and the word which he is not able to
understand, let him not be slow to believe. For faith is the
merit, understanding the prize. The eye of our mind does,
by very dint of exerting itself to see, work itself clear from
the tarnish of our human fogginess, to look unclouded upon
the Word of God. Then let there be no shrinking from
labour, if love is present: for ye know that he who loves
makes nothing of labour: all labour is grievous to them that
love not. If lust helps the avaricious to bear so great
labours, shall not love help us ?
2. Mark the Gospel: And it was the Enccenia at Jeru-y.^^-
salem. The Encsenia was the feast of the dedication of the
Temple. For xaivov {c€sno?i) is Greek for " new." When-
ever any thing new is dedicated, they call it encwnia. In
fact, the word is now in common use : when a man puts on
a new coat, he is said encceniare (to handsel it). The day,
namely, on which the Temple was dedicated, the Jews kept
as an annual solemnity : this same holy-day they were
keeping at the time when the Lord spake what has been
read.
3. // was winter, and Jesus walked in the temple 2>2v.23.24.
Solomons porch. Then came the Jews round about Him,
and said unto Him, How long dost Thou make us to doubt?
If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Not that they desired
tiiith; they wanted only to get matter of accusation. Winter
it was, and cold they were : for they had no mind to come
to that Divine fire. But to come is to believe : he that
u u 2
638 That the Son of David is Son of God, the Jews knew not,
HoMTL. believes, draws near and comes; he that denies, turns bis
back. The soul moves not with feet, but with its affections.
They were chilled from the charity of loving, and were
burning with the lust of doing harm. They were far away,
and yet were there : they did not draw near by believing,
and yet they pressed close by persecuting. They wanted to
hear the Lord say, ' I am Christ:' and belike they conceived
of Christ only as man. The Prophets preached Christ: but
the Godhead of Christ both in the Prophets and in the
2 Cor. Gospel itself not even heretics believe, how much less Jews,
' ^' so long as the veil is upon their hearts ! Accordingly, in a
certain place, the Lord Jesus, knowing that they conceived
of Christ as man, not as God ; as He was man, not as
He was still God after taking our flesh; said to them,
M2.i.22, What think ye of Chrisl? Whose Son is He? They
' answered, in accordance with their way of thinking. The
Sou of David. For so they had read, and this alone they
held : because His Godhead they read indeed, but under-
stood not. But the Lord, that He might put them in
suspense unto seeking after the Divinity of Him Whose
weakness they despised, answered them : How tlien doth
David in spirit call Him J.ord, saying, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit Thou on my right Jiand, till L make Tliine
enemies TJty footstool? Lf David then call Him Lord, how
is Lie his son? He did not deny; He only interrogated.
Let no man, at hearing this, imagine that the Lord Jesus
denied Himself to be David's Son. Had the Lord Christ
denied Himself to be Son of David, He would not have
enlightened the blind, who invoked Him by this name. For
He was passing by, upon a time, and two blind men sitting
Id. 20, by the way-side, cried out, Llave mercy on us, Thou Son of
^~ " LJavid. At hearing which word, He had compassion; He
stood still, healed, gave sight; to shew that He acknowledged
Rom. ], that Name. The Apostle Paul also says, WJio was made
unto Him * of the seed of David according to thejiesh : and
2 Tim. to Timothy, Rememher that Jesus Chrisl rose from the dead,
' ' of the seed of David, according to my gospel. Because it
was from the seed of David that the Virgin Mary derived
* Qui factus est ei. Iren. Ambro^. Hieron. and Vulg. but ci cm. c. Faust, xi.
4. Iron. iii. 32.
The Sheep ^ and they ortly^ believe unto salvation. 639
hev origin, thence comes it that the Lord is of the seed of John
David. 25—28.
4. This, as a great matter, the Jews enquired of Christ; in
order that if He should say, I am Christ, then, upon the con-
ception which alone they entertained of the Seed of David,
they might accuse Him of arrogating to Himself kingly
power. What He told them in reply is more than that:
they wished to make matter of accusation out of the Son
of David: He told them that He was the Son of God. And
how.? Hear. Jesus answered them, I tell yoUy and ?/ev.25,26.
believe not : the tcorks that I do in My Father's Name,
they hear witness of Me. But ye believe not, because ye are
not of My sheep. Ye have already learned above which are
the sheep. Be ye sheep. Sheep are such in believing,
sheep in following the Shepherd, sheep in not despising
the Redeemer, sheep in entering in by the door, sheep in
going out and finding pasture, sheep in enjoying eternal 'eempa-
life. How then said He to these, Ye are not of My sheepf^^^^^'
Because He saw them predestinated to everlasting destruc- Note A,
. . at the
tion, not purchased^ by the price of His blood unto eternal end of
life. fh^ ^°"
lume.
5. My sheep hear 31y voice, and I know them, and theyy.27^2S,
follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life. Lo, here is
the pasture. If ye recollect. He had said above, And shally-^-
go in and out and find pasture. We came in by believing,
go out by dying. But as believing was the door we came in
by, so let us go out from the body believers ; for so we go
out by the Door itself, that we may be able to find pasture.
That good pasture is here called eternal life: there, no herb
withers; there, it is all green, all flourishing: a herb there is
which we use to call * ever-living' '': there, life alone is found.
Life eternal, saith He, will I give them, my sheep. Ye seek
matter of accusation, only because ye are thinking of the
life present.
6. And they shall not perish for ever : v.hich you v/ill
understand as if it had been said to them. Ye shall
perish for ever, because ye are not of My sheep. Neither
shall any 'pluck them out of My hand. — Receive it more
^ ^Ael^cioi', sedum, sempervivuin, Dioscorid. iv. 89. Theophr. Hist. Plant.
i. 16.
640 The Gift ^'greater than all^'' is the Eternal Generation^
HoMiL. attentively : That which My Father hath given Me is greater
than all\ What can the wolf do? What can the thief and
the robber? They destroy only them that are predestined
to destruction. But those sheep of which the Apostle saith,
2 Tim. The Lord knoweth them that are His: and, Whom He did
-^iom'.^foreloioiv, He also did predestinate, and ivhom He did pre-
29.30. destinate, them He also called: and whom He called^ them
He also justijied : and whom He justified, them He also
glorified: of these sheep neither wolf seizeth, nor thief
stealeth, nor robber Idlleth, He is sure of their number,
Who knoweth what He gave for them. And this it is that
He saith, None shall pluck them out of My hand; and again,
1 ad Pa- with regard to the Father*, That which My Father hath given
trem. jj^ ^^ greater than all. What is that greater than all, that the
Father hath given to the Son? That He should be His Only-
begotten Son. Then what meaneth, hath given? Was He
already in being to Whom the Father should give, or did
the Father give by begetting ? For if He was in being, to
Whom the Father should give that He should be Son, there
was a time when He was in being and yet was not Son : but
far be it from us to imagine, that the Lord Christ was ever in
being, yet was not Son. Of us this may be said : once we
were sons of men, not sons of God. Us, grace made sons
of God; Him nature, because He was begotten so. And
thou mayest not say, He w^as not in being, before He was
begotten: for there never was a time when He was not
begotten, W^ho was coeternal with the Father. Whoso is
wise, let him take it ; whoso takes it not, let him believe ;
let him be nourished, and he shall take it. The Word of
God ever with the Father and ever Word: and because
Word, therefore Son. Consequently, ever Son, and ever
Equal. For not by growing, but by being begotten, is He
Equal,Who was Ever-begotten, Son of the Father, God of God,
of Eternal Coeternal. Howbeit, that the Father is God, is
not of the Son: that the Son is God, is of the Father; there-
fore the Father hath by begetting given to the Son that He
should be God ; by begetting given that He should be Co-
eternal with Himself; by begetting given that He shoidd be
«= Pater mens quod dedit mihi niajns dedit mihi majus est omnibus.) Cyril,
omnibus est. Vulg. (Hilar. Pater (juod Al. & SeSw/ce ^loi jx^l^ov.
hy which the Son is God of God from everlasting. 641
Equal. This it is that is greater than all. How is the Son John
Life, and yet the Son One that hath Hfe ? What He hath, ^' ^^'
that He is: what thou art is one thing, what thou hast
another. For example ; thou hast wisdom ; but art thou
Wisdom itself? Accordingly, because thou art not thyself
the thing thou hast, if thou lose what thou hast, thou goest
back to not-having : and at one time resumest, at another
time losest. Just as our eye hath not in itself inseparable
light; it opens and takes, shuts and loses. Not so God
the Son of God ; not so the Word of the Father ; not so
the Word which not by sounding passeth away, but by
being begotten abideth. So hath Me wisdom that He is
Himself Wisdom and maketh wise ; so hath Life, that He is
Himself Life and maketh alive. This it is that is greater
than all. John the Evangelist himself took note of heaven
and earth, when he would speak of the Son of God; took
note of them, and mounted beyond them. He thought of the
things above the heaven, the thousands of armies of angels ;
he thought of these, and as an eagle soars above the clouds,
so mounted he in his mind beyond the universe of creation :
mounted beyond all that is great, came at last to That
Which is greater than all ; and said, In the beginning was John i,
the Word. But because He Whose is the Word, is not of ^*
the Word, but the Word is of Him Whose is the Word,
therefore saith He, What the Father hath given Me, that is,
that I should be His Word, that I should be His Only-
Begotten Son, that I should be the Brightness of His Light,
is greater than all. Therefore, None pliicketh, saith He,
My sheep out of My hand. None is able to pluck out of
My Father'' s hand.
1 . Out of My hand, and, out of My Father'' s hand: what
is this, None plucketh out of My hand, and. None plucketh
out of My Father'' s hand? Is the hand of the Father and
the Son one, or haply is the Son Himself the Hand of His
Father? If by ' hand' we understand power, the power of
the Father and the Son is one, because one their Godhead:
but if we understand the expression, ' hand,^ as it is said by
the Prophet, And to whom is the Ann of the Lord revealed? Is.53,i.
the Hand of the Father is none other than the Son. Which
is not so meant as though God had a human form and
642 Chrisfs Hand and the Father' s. One, because one Power.
HoMiL. members as it were of a body, but, that by the Son were all
- '- things made. Thus men also use to call other men their
hands, namely, those by whom they do what they will.
Sometimes also a man's work is called the man's hand,
because made by his hand : as one is said to acknowledge
his own hand when he acknowledges what he has written.
Since then there are many ways of speaking of the hand
even of a man, who hath, hterally, a hand among the
members of his body, how much rather is it to be taken
not merely in one way when we read of the hand of God,
Who hath no form of body ? And consequently, we do better
in this place to understand by the hand of the Father and
the Sou the power of the Father and the Son ; lest haply
when we have taken the hand of the Father here to mean
the Son, the carnal thought begin to seek even of the Son
Himself a Son, whom it may in like manner believe to be
the hand of Christ. Therefore, No man phicketh out of My
Father's hand, is thisj No man plucketh from Me.
8. But lest haply thou yet stumble, hear what follows;
V. 30. I and 3Iy Father are One. Thus far the Jews were able to
tolerate : they heard, / and My Father are One, and they
could not bear it ; and as usual, stony-hearted, flew to the
Y. 31. stones. They took up stones to stone Him, The Lord, because
it was not for Him to suffer what He was unwilling to suffer, and
He did not suffer save what He willed to suffer"^, still speaks
Y.31-33. to them while they are desiring to stone Him. The Jews
took up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many
good works have I shewed you from My Father ; for which
of those works do ye stone 3Ie ? The Jews answered Him,
saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blas-
phemy ; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself
God. This they said in answer to that He had said, / and
My Father are one. Lo, the Jews understood what Arians
understand not ! For that they were wroth, it was because
they felt that it could not be said, / and 3Iy Father are
One, unless where is equality of the Father and the Son.
9. But see how the Lord answered these men of slow
hearts. He saw that they could not bear the brightness of
V. 34. Truth, and He tempered it in words. Is it not written in
^ Quia noD patiebatur quod nolebat pati, et uon est passus nisi quod voluit pati.
The Deity of the Word sheivn by Its deifying Power. 643
your Law, i. e. in the Law given to yon, / have said, Ye are John
Gods? God speaking by the Prophet in the Psahn, saith to 35 gg^
men, / have said, Ye are Gods. And by the appellation, Ps^82,6.
Law, the Lord denoted generally all the old Scriptures,
although elsewhere He speaks of the Law specially, distin-
guishing it from the Prophets; as is that saying. The iaz^Lukeie,
and the Prophets until John; and, On these two command- ^'^^^^^
merits hang all the Law and the Prophets. Sometimes, 40.
however, He distributes the same Scriptures into three,
where He saith. Needs miLst all things he fulfilled which areLuke24,
written in the Law and Prophets and Psalms concerning Me.^^'
But now He has named even the Psalms by the term, Law,
where it is written, I have said, Ye are Gods. If he called y.S5,36,
them Gods, unto whom the speech^ of God was made, and^sermo
the Scripture cannot he broken ; say ye of Him, Whom the
Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou bias-
phemesi ; because I said, I am the Son of God ? If the
speech of God was made unto men, that they should be
called Gods, the Very Word of God Which is with God,
how should It not be God ? If by the speech of God
men are made gods, if by participating they are made
gods, shall not That whereof they participate be God? If
lights lighted are gods, shall not the Light that lighteth
be God ? If they that are in some sort warmed by the Fire
of Salvation are made gods, shall that whereby they are
warmed be not God ? Thou comest to the Light and art
enlightened, and thou art numbered among the sons of God :
if thou turnest back from the Light, thou becomest dark, and
art reckoned among the darkness : whereas that Light goeth
not back from Itself, and therefore neither cometh It to Itself.
If then the speech of God makes even you gods, how shall
the Word of God not be God? The Father, then, sanctified
His own Son, and sent Him into the world. Perhaps some
one may say : If the Father sanctified, i. e. made Him holy,
was there then a time when He was not holy ? So ' sancti-
fied,' as He begat. For by begetting, He gave to Him that
He should be holy, because He begat Him holy. If because
a thing is ' sanctified,' it follows that it was not holy before,
in what sense say we to God the Father, Hallowed (or, Matt, 6,
sanctified) be Thy Name ?
644 TheFatheriii the Son, the Soni?i the Father, hi/Equal Godhead:
HoMiL. 10. If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not.
^^^"^' But if I do, though ye believe not 3Ie, believe the works :
' that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in Ble, and
I in Him. Not in such sort saithr the Son, The Father is in
Me, and I in Him, as men may say it. Namely, if we
think good thoughts, we are in God, and if we live good
lives, God is in us : as believers, participating His grace,
enlightened by Him, we are in Him and He is in us. But
not so the Ouly-begotten Son: He is in the Father and the
Father is in Him, as the Equal in Him to Whom He is
Equal. In short, we are sometimes able to say, We are in
God, and God in us : but are we able to say, I and God are
one.? Thou art in God, because God containeth thee; God
is in thee, because thou art made a temple of God : but
because thou art in God and God in thee, canst thou say,
Johni4, Whoso seeth me, seeth God, as the Only-Begotten said,
He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father also; and, I
and 3Iy Father are one? Acknowledge the property of the
Lord, and the boon bestowed upon the servant. The
property of the Lord is. Equality with the Father: the boon
bestowed upon the servant is, participation of the Saviour.
V. 39. 11. They sought therefore to apprehend Him. Oh that
they would apprehend, but with believing and understanding,
not raging and killing ! For at this moment, my brethren,
while 1 speak such things — weak as I am, and small, and
frail, and the things so strong, and great, and solid ! — both
ye, as being of the same lump that I am of, and I myself
who speak to you, do together all of us wish to apprehend
Christ. What is it to ' apprehend?' Thou hast understood ;
thou hast apprehended. But not so the Jews. Thou hast
apprehended that thou may est have, they wished to appre-
hend that they might not have. And because they wished
thus to apprehend, what did He to them ? He escaped out of
their hands. They did not apprehend Him, because they
had not hands of faith. The Word was made flesh: but it
was no great matter for the Word to rescue His flesh from
hands of flesh. To apprehend the Word with the mind,
this it is to apprehend Christ aright.
v.40,41. 12. And went away again beyond Jordan into the place
where John at first baptized ; and there He abode. And
God in us, we in God, by grace, 645
many resorted unto Him, and said, John did no sign. Ye John
remember it was told you concerning John, that he was a 41^ 42.
lamp, and bare witness to the Day. Then how said these
among themselves, John did no sign? No miracle, they John 5,
mean, was shewn by John : he did not put demons to flight, ^^* ^^*
not cast out fever, not give sight to the blind, not raise the
dead, not feed so many thousands of men with five or with
seven loaves, not walk upon the sea, not command the winds
and waves : none of these did John : and in all that he said,
he did but bear witness to this Man. By means of the lamp
let us come to the Day. John did no sign. But all things
that John spake of this Man ivere true. Lo here men who
have apprehended, not as the Jews ! The Jews wished to
apprehend Him while departing, these apprehended Him
while abiding. In fine, what follows? And many believed \. 42.
on Him.
HOMILY XLIX.
John xi. 1 — 54.
Now a cet'tain man nas sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the
town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary
which anointed the Lord nith ointment, and wiped His feet
with her hair, whose brother Lazarus ivas sick. Therefore
his sisters sent unto Him, saying. Lord, behold, he whom
Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, He said. This
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the
Son of God may be glorified. Now Jesus loved Martha, and
her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that
he was sick, then indeed He abode tivo days still in the same
place. Then after that saith He to His disciples, Let us go
into Judea again. His disciples say unto Him, Master, the
Jews of late sought to stone Thee ; and goest Thou thither
again ? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the
day ? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because
he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the
night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These
things said He : aiid after that He saith unto them. Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth ; but I go, that I may awake him
out of sleep. TJien said His disciples. Lord, if he sleep, he
shall do well. Hoivbeit Jesus spake of his death : but they
thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then
therefore said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the
intent ye may believe: nevertheless let us go unto him.
Then said Thomas, which is called Hidymus, imto his
The Resurrection of Lazarus, 647
fellow -disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. John
Then Jesus came, and found that he had lain in the grave 1-54.
four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem,
about fifteen furlongs off : and many of the Jews came to
Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus uas coming,
w^nt and met Him : but Mary sat still in the house. Then
said Martha unto Jesus, L.ord, if Thou hadst been here, my
brother had not died. But I know, that even now, what-
soever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. Jesus
saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again, Martha said
unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrectio?i
at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection,
and the Life : he that believeth in Me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me
shall never die. Believest thou this ? She saith unto Him,
Yea, Lord : I have believed that Thou art the Christ, the
Son of God, Which art come into the world. And when she
had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister
in silence, saying. The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came U7ito
Llim. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was
in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which
were ivith her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw
Mary, that she rose up hastily and weiit out, followed her,
saying. She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when
Mary was come ivhere Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down
at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been
here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw
her weeping, and the Jeivs also weeping which came ivith her.
He groaned ^ in the spi^^it, and troid)led Himself, and said, ^fremuit
Where have ye laid him ? They said unto Him, Lord, cojne^[ ^gj®
a7id see. Jesus tvept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He
loved him ! But some of them said. Could not this Man,
Which opejied the eyes of the blind, have caused that even
this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again
groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave,
and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said. Take ye away the
stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto
Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he hath been dead
648 accounted the greatest of Chrisfs miracles.
HoMiL. four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that,
^ if thou ivouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ?
Then they took awat/ the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes,
and said. Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me,
And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: hut because of the
people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that
Thou hast sent Me. And when He thus had spoken. He cried
with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth, hound hand and foot ivith graveclothes : and his
face tvas bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them,
Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which
came to 3Iary, and had seen the things ivhich Jesus did,
believed on Him. But some of them ivent their ways to the
Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then
gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and
said. What do we ? for this man doeth many miracles. Lf
we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him : and the
Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
And one of them, named Caiphas, being the high priest that
same year, said unto them. Ye know nothing at all, nor
consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die
for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And
this spake he not of himself : but being high priest that year,
he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation ; and not
for that nation only, but that also He should gather together
in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then
from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him
to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the
Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness,
into a city called Ephrem^ and there continued with His
disciples,
1. Among all the miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus
Christ, the raising of Lazarus is held to be the most
wonderful. But, if we mark Whose work it was, deliglit
ought to be our feeliug, rather than wonder. He raised a
man to life again, Who made man : for this is none other
than the Only-Begotten of the Father, by Whom, as ye know,
all things were made. If then by Him were all things made,
what wonder is it if one was raised to life by Him, when so
The mystery of the three miracles of resurrection, 649
many are every day brought into existence l)y Him ? It is John
more, to create men than to resuscitate. Yet He deigned i_54,
both to create and to resuscitate: to create all, to resuscitate
some. For, albeit the Lord Jesus did many things, not all
are written : as this same Saint John the Evangelist testifies,
that the Lord Christ both said and did many things which
are not written : only those were selected to be written,
which were seen to suffice for the salvation of them that John 20,
believe. Thus thou hast heard that the Lord Jesus raised*'^'
a dead man to life again : this sufficeth to let thee know,
that if He would. He could raise all the dead. And
this, in fact, He hath reserved for Himself unto the end of
the world. For whereas ye have heard, how by a great
miracle He raised from the tomb one who had been four
days dead, tlie hour will come, as Himself saith, when all John 5,
that are in ihe graves shall hear His voice, and shall come^^' ^^*
forth. He raised to life one that already stank ; yet in
the carcase, albeit stinking, there was still the form of the
members: but He in the last day will at one word make
ashes start into flesh. It was meet, how^ever, that He should
even now do some works, by which, as given tokens of His
power, we may be brought to believe on Him, and be
prepared for that resurrection which shall be unto life, and
not unto judgment. For so He saith; The hour shall come,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,
and shall come forth; they that hare done good, unto the
resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of judgment,
•2. But we read in the Gospel, of three dead persons
raised to life by our Lord: and perhaps not without a
meaning. For the Lord's deeds are not only deeds, but
signs. If then they be signs, beside being wonderful, they
are doubtless significant of something: and to find out the
signification of these deeds, requires much more pains than
to read or hear them. With wonder we heard, just as if the
spectacle of the mighty miracle were before our eyes, while
the Gospel was read, how Lazarus came to life again. If we
mark well what are more wonderful works of Christ, — every
one who believes undergoes a resurrection : if we mark well,
all of us, and understand, what are more dreadful deaths, —
650 AH fear death of the body, few the death of the souL
HoMTL. every one who sins dies". But the death of the flesh every
XLIX
'- man fears, few the death of the soul. Though the death of
the flesh without doubt must come at last, all men have a
care that it may not come: this it is that they take pains for.
Man, destined to die, takes pains that he may not die, and
yet man destined to live for ever, takes no pains that he may
not sin ! And when he takes pains that he may not die, he
takes them to no purpose; for his aim is, that death may be
a long while deferred, not that it may be escaped from :
whereas, if he refuse to sin, he will have no pains, and will
Serra. live for ever. Oh that we could rouse men, and with them
' ' be alike roused, to be such lovers of the life that abideth, as
men are of the life that fleeteth ! What is there that a man
wdll not do in peril of death ? With the sword hanging over
their necks, men have given up what they kept secret in
store for their own living. What man ever refused to give
up his secret straightway, that he might not be put to death.''
And yet perhaps after giving it up, he was still put to death.
What man ever refused to lose straightway, for the sake of
living, all that he had for his living, choosing a life of beggary
rather than a speedy death ? To whom was it ever said, Go
to sea, that thou mayest not die, and he delayed to do it ?
To whom was it ever said. Labour, that thou mayest not die,
and he was idle ? They be easy things that God bids us do,
that we may live for ever, and yet we neglect to obey.
God saith not to thee. Lose whatever thou hast, that thou
mayest live a poor brief space in labour, full of care ; but,
Give to the poor of what thou hast, that thou mayest live for
ever without labour, free from care. They that are enamoured
of this temporal life accuse us, albeit they have it neither
when they would, nor for so long as they would : and yet we
do not accuse ourselves, so sluggish as we are, so lukewarm
* Si atiendaraus mirabiliora opera more detestable death, every one who
Christi, omnis qui credit rrsurgit: si sius, dies." But the plural expression
attendaraus omnes, et intelligaraus de- opera, mortes, is explained by the con-
testabiliores mortes, omnis qui peccat text in §. 3. where the thread of the
moritur. The Benedictine editors sug- discourse is resumed after the practical
gest as an emendation, mirabiliore reflections interposed. " Those three
opere Christi omnis qui ci edit resurgit: miracles of resurrection are signs of
and, detestabiliore morte omnis qui more uwiderful works of C/irist taking
peccat moritur. " By a more wonder- place every day, as those three dead
ful work of Christ, every one who be- are signs of deaths viore to he dreaded
lieves, is raised to life again by a than the death of the body."
T^hree degrees of spiritual death. 651
in layiDg hold of life eternal, which, if we be willing, we shall '^^^
have, and having, shall not lose: whereas this death which we i— 3.
dread, although we be unwilling, we shall have.
3. If then the Lord by His great grace and His great
mercy raiseth souls to life again, that we may not die
eternally, we do well to understand those three dead persons ^ ^^^'
whom He raised to life again in their bodies, to be signs and 98.
figures of something concerning the resurrections of souls,
which are effected by faith. He raised the daughter of the^j^^^^^'
ruler of the synagogue, while yet she lay in the house : Luke 7,
raised the young man, the widow's son, as he was carried ^^* *
out at the gates of the city ; raised Lazarus, when he had
been four days buried. Let each look into his own soul : if
it sins, it dies : sin is a death of the soul. But sometimes
the sin is in thought. That which is evil hath delighted
thee: thou hast consented thereto, hast sinned^ that con-
senting slew thee: but the death is within, because the evil
conceived in thy thonght has not yet come forth into a deed.
To signify His raising a soul in this condition, the Lord
raised that girl who was not yet carried out to her burial, but
lay dead in the house : that was, so to say, sin latent. If,
however, thou hast not only consented to evil delight, but
also done the evil itself; thou hast, as it were, carried thy
dead out at the gate : now art thou abroad, and art the dead
man carried out to burial. Yet even him the Lord raised, and
restored to the widow his mother. If thou hast sinned,
repent: and the Lord raiseth thee up, and will restore thee
to the Church thy mother. The third dead is Lazarus.
There is a dreadful kind of death, it is called evil custom.
For it is one thing to sin, another to make a custom of
sinning. He that sins and is forthwith corrected, soon
comes to life again ; because he is not yet entangled with
custom, he is not buried. But he that has accustomed
himself to sin, is buried, and it is well said of him. He
stinketh : for he is beginning to have a very ill report, which
is as a most noisome odour. Such are all that are inured to
crimes, men of abandoned manners. Thou sayest to him,
Do not so 1 How should he hear thee, while the earth lies
so heavy upon him, and he is rotting away in corruption,
and weighed down by the load of custom ? And yet was
X X
65*2 Lazarus denotes an habitual sinner.
HoMiL. there no less virtue in Christ even to raise him. We have
^ known, have seen, do daily see, men brought by thorough
De change from most evil custom, to live better lives than they
Doin,*indid who reproved them. Thou didst once detest the man.
Monte, Lo, the very sister of Lazarus (if indeed it was she that
i. 35. ' ./ V
Luke 7, anointed the Lord's feet with ointment, and wiped with her
^^* hair what she had washed with her tears) was raised by a
better resurrection than her brother: from a huge load of
evil custom was she delivered. For she was once a notorious
ib. 47. sinner: yet of her it was said, Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven her, for she loved much. We see many, we know
many. Let none despair, none be self-confident. It is evil
both to despair and to be self-confident. Despair not, but
so that thou make Him thy choice in Whom thou oughtest
to be confident.
4. Well, even Lazarus the Lord raised. Ye have heard
what sort of person He raised; i, e. what is signified by the
raising of Lazarus. Then let us read now : and since many
things in this Lesson are plain, let us not require exposition
in every single point, that we may fully handle what is
necessary.
In the former Lesson, ye remember, the Lord escaped
from the hands of them who wished to stone Him : and went
Johnio, away beyond Jordan, where John was once baptizino-. Well,
the Lord being there, Lazarus was taken sick at Bethany
which was a town very near Jerusalem.
V. 2. 3. 5. It teas that Mary which anointed the Lord icith oint-
ment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother
Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto Him^
saying — We already understand to what place they sent, the
place where the Lord was: because He was absent, beyond
Jordan, to wit. They sent to the Lord, to announce the
illness of their brother: in order that, if He should vouchsafe,
He should come and release him of his sickness. The Lord
delayed to heal, that He might raise to life again. Well,
what was the message the sisters sent? — Lord^ behold lie
whom Thou loves t is sick. They said not, Come : to one
that loved, it needed but to send tidings. They durst not
say, Come and heal : durst not say, Command there, and it
shall be done here. For why should not these women have
Christ waited until the completion of four days. 653
said this, if the faith of that Centurion is praised on this very John
account? For he said, I am not laorthy that Thou shouldest 4_7^
come under my roof, hut only say the word, and my servant Matt. 8,
shall be healed. Nothing of the sort did these women say, ^'""^^*
but only, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. Enough
that Thou know it : for Thou dost not love and forsake.
Some man will say : How should it be that by Lazarus a
sinner was denoted, and yet he was so loved by the Lord ?
Let him hear Him saying, / am not come to call the just, ^^-^j^^-
but sinners. For if God loved not sinners, He had not
descended from heaven to earth.
6. When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not^-^-
unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Sou of God
might be glorified thereby. That He should be thus glori-
fied, was no gain to Him, but only for our good. That He
saith then, Is not unto death, is this, that the death itself was
not for death, but rather for a miracle, which being wrought,
men should believe in Christ, and avoid the true death. See,
withal, how, by a kind of side hint, the Lord hath intimated
that He is God : because of certain who deny the Son to
be God. For there are heretics who deny this, that the Son
of God is God. Lo, let them hear : This sickness, He saith,
is not unto death, but for the glory of God. What glory?
of what God ? Hear what follows : that the Son of God may
be glorified. This sickness then. He saith, is not unto death,
but for the glory of God, that the Son of God 7nay be
glorified thereby. Whereby ? By that sickness.
17. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, aiid^-^»
Lazarus. He sick, they sorrowful, all beloved : but He
that loved them was both Saviour of the sick, nay, even
Raiser of the dead, and Comforter of the sorrowful. TF//e;^v. 6.
therefore He heard that he was sick, then indeed He
remained in the same place two days. So then, they
brought the tidings, and yet He remained there still: the
time was drawn on until the space of four days should be
completed. Not without a meaning, but because perchance,
nay, because certainly, the very number of days hath a
certain* inward and spiritual meanins^. Then, after this. He ^ ^acra-
• 7 ^ TT ,..77 . X 7 . 7 mentum.
sailli to His disciples, let us go into Juacea again: where v. 7.
He had been well nigh stoned. He Who, as it seemed, had
X X 2
654 The Day loith its ticelve hours^ Christ and His Apostles :
HoMiL. departed thence on purpose that He might not be stoned.
-'For He departed, as Man; but in returning, as it were
forgetting His weakness. He shewed His power. Let us go,
saith He, iiito Judcea.
8. Then at this saying, see how the disciples were put in
V. 8. 9. fear. His disciples say U)do Him, Blaster, the Jeivs of late
sought to stone Tliee ; and goest Thou thither again? Jesus
answered^ Are there not twelve hours in the day? What
meaneth this answer ? They have said, The Jews of late
sought to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again, \hdX they
V. 9. lO.ii^ay stone Thee? And the Lord: Are there not twelve
hours in the day ? If any man walk in the day, he stum-
hleth not, because lie seeth the light of this world. But if a
man walk in the night, he stumhlelh, because there is no
light in him. Of day indeed He hath spoken, but in our
understanding it is (so to say) yet night. Let us invoke
the Day, to expel the night, and make it light in our heart.
For what would the Lord say ? In so far as it appears to
me, in so far as T have a glimmering perception of the
height and depth of His meaning, He was minded to reprove
their doubting and unbelief. For they would needs give
counsel to their Lord that He should not die, He, Who was
come to die that they might not die ! So too in a certain
other place, vSaint Peter, loving the Lord, but not yet fully
understanding wherefore He was come, feared lest He
should die, and so displeased the Life, that is to say, the
Lord Himself. For, when He was pointing out to the
disciples what He was about to suffer at Jerusalem under
the hands of the Jews, Peter made answer among the rest,
Mat.16, and said; Be it far from. Thee, Lord: be propitious to
16—23. Xhyselp: this shall not be ! And forthwith the Lord answers :
Get thee behind Me, Satan ; for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but the tilings that be of men. Yet,
* Absit a tc, Domine, propitius tibi remarking, " non dixisset, propitius
esto: so Serm. 29G, 2. Hil. de Trin. vi. tibiesto, nisi agnosceret verum Deum :"
38. and Cod. Vercellens. propitius tibi but Origen in Matt. t. xii. 21. renders
Domine : but id. Comm. in M.2Xt. absit it in the third person; '' As though
a te Domine, and so Cod. Colbertin. the Lord needed propitiation — for
The two renderings of 'iKews (rot are Peter knew not yet that God hath
combined in Cod. Veronensis, as in set Wnn Jorth as a propitiation throttgh
Augustine's copy. St. Aug. u.s. takes faith in His blood — he said, [God] be
propitius tibi esto in the second person, propitious to Thee, Lord,
They must not counsel Him, hut follow Him, 655
a little while before, confessing Him to be Son of God, he John
had obtained praise : for it was said to him. Blessed art q -^q^
thou, Simon Bcw Jona, because not flesh and blood Jiath
revealed it to thee, but My Father Which is in heaven.
Lo, what it is whereof thou art blessed ! not of that which is
thine, but of that which is Mine. Not that I am the
Father, but because all things that the Father hath are JohnlGy
Mine. If that he is blessed is of that which is the Lord's; *
that he is Satan, of whose is it? He says it there: for He
hath assigned the reason of the blessedness, in saying, Not
flesh and blood hath revealed this to thee, but My Father
Which is in heaven : this is the cause of thy blessedness.
But, that I said, Get thee behind Me, Srttan, hear thou the
cause of this : /or thou savourest not the things that be God^s,
but the things that be of man. Then let no man flatter
himself; of his own, he is Satan; it is of that which is God's,
that he is blessed. For what hath he ' of his own,' but what
he hath of sin ? Take away sin, and what is tliine ? " Righte-
ousness," saith He, " is Mine^." For, what hast thou, thati Cor.
thou hast not received? When therefore they would needs ^' ^'
be tendering counsel to Him, men to God, disciples to their
Master, servants to their Lord, sick folk to their Physician,
He rebuked them, and said. Are there not twelve hours in
the Day ? If any icalk in the Day, he shimhleth not.
Follow Me, if ye would not stumble: do not give counsel to
Me, ye whom it behoveth to receive counsel of Me. Then
what meaneth. Are there not twelve hours in the Day?
Because, that He might shew Himself to be the Day, there- Enarr.
fore He chose twelve disciples. If I, saith He, am the^'^^g•
Day, and ye the hours, do the hours give counsel to the
Day? The hours follow the day, not the day the hours.
But then if those were the hours, what did Judas there ?
Was he one of the twelve hours ? If he was an hour, he
shone ; if he shone, how was it that he delivered up the Day
unto death } True, but the Lord in this word looked not to
Judas himself, but looked forward to his successor. For
upon the fall of Judas, Matthias succeeded, and the number
b Tolle peccatum, quod est tuum ? away (or, take to thyself, tolle tibi ?)
justitia, inquit, de meo est. The earlier sin which is thine own : righteousness,
editions, Tolle peccatum quod est tuum: saith (the Lord), is Mine."
justitia inquit de meo est: "Take
656 Death is called sleep because of the Resurrection.
HoMiL. twelve remained. So then it was not without a meaniner that
XLIX
^'the Lord elected twelve disciples, but because He is Him-
self the spiritual Day. Then let the hours follow the Day,
the hours preach the Day, the hours be shone upon by the Day,
the hours be enlightened by the Day, and by the preaching of
the hours let the world believe on the Day. What He saith
then is briefly this, Follow Me, if ye would not stumble.
V. 11. 9. And after that He saith unto tJiem, Our friend Lazarus
sleepeth; hut 1 go, that I may awake him out of sleep. He
said true. To the sisters, Lazarus w^as dead ; to the Lord,
he was asleep. To men he was dead, seeing they could not
raise him. For the Lord waked him from the grave with
as great ease as thou wakest a sleeping man from his bed.
Therefore in respect of His powder He spoke of Lazarus as
sleeping, as indeed other dead are often in the Scriptures
] Thess. spoken of as sleeping; as the Apostle says. But concerning
' * tJteni that sleep I would not have you ignorant, hrethren,
that ye sorrow net, even as the rest ivho have no hope.
And in fact the Apostle too spoke of them by the term,
them that sleep, as foretelling their rising again. Con-
sequently, every dead person sleepeth, both good and bad.
But just as in our daily sleeping and rising from sleep, it
makes a difference, what one sees in his sleep : some have
joyful dreams, some tormenting, so that, on awaking, the man
fears to go to sleep lest he fall back upon the same dreams :
1 causa so every man sleeps with his 'account which he must render,
and with his account rises. It makes a difference too, into
what sort of custody the man is taken, to be after produced
before the Judge. For the bestowal of persons to be tried
varies according to the merits of the causes for which they
are to be tried : some are ordered into custody of the lictors,
whose business is to treat their prisoners humanely and
mildly and as citizens; others are handed over to the
bailiffs ' ; others are sent to prison : and even in the
prison not all fare alike, but some, as the graver complexion
of the charges against them may require, are thrust into the
«= Optiones, originally a military carceris, which is the expression used
terra, denoting the deputies chosen by in Comment, in Ephes. c. iv. ap.
centurions and other officers to assist S. Ambros. opp. as equivalent to custos
them in their duties, in later times has carceris, Acts IC, 27. " ueque Paulus
a more extended signification ; as optio et Silas tempus distulerunt quo optio-
fabxicsp, " overseer of works;'' optio nem carceris baptizarent."
Souls of the departed fare not all alike, 657
lowest dungeons. As then the descriptions of custody exer- John
cised by* officers are diverse, so there are diverse sorts ofu^j'-
custody into which the dead are taken, and diverse the merits i agen-
of them that rise again. The poor man was taken into*'-!i"^. ^^
custody, the rich man was also taken; but the one into Abra- Lukeie,
ham's bosom, the other into a place where he shoidd thirst, "^"^^*
and find not a drop of water.
10. All souls then, my beloved, — that I may take this occasion
to instruct you, — all souls, I say, when they depart this life,
have their diverse receptions. The good souls have joy, the
bad have torments. But when the resurrection shall take
place, both good men''s joy shall be more ample, and bad men's
torments more grievous; when they shall be tormented with
the body. Received in peace were holy Patriarchs, Prophets,
Apostles, Martyrs, good believers ; all however yet waiting
to receive in the end that which God hath promised : for the
promise is resurrection of the flesh also, the destruction of
death, eternal life with the Angels. This we shall all receive
together: but that rest which is given immediately after Comp.
death, if a man is worthy of it, each receives just when he J^ ^JJj*
dies. First the Patriarchs received it ; see what a time it is 13.
since they have been at rest : afterward the Prophets : more
recently the Apostles, much more recent the holy Martyrs,
every day good believers. And some have now been long
in this rest, others not so long, others a few years, others
scarce any w hile ^. But when from this sleep they shall
awake, they shall all together receive that which is promised.
11. Our friend Lazarus sleej^eth; but I go, that I may y.U-\ 5.
awake him out of sleep. Then said His disciples — as they
understood, so they answered — Lord, if he sleep, he shall do
well. For the sleep of the sick is a symptom of recovery.
Hoivbeit Jesus spake of his death : but they thought that
Lie had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus
unto them plainly: — for He had said somewhat darkly,
Sleepeih: He said therefore plainly, — Lazarus is dead. And
L am glad for your sakes that L teas not there, to the
intent ye may believe. I both know that he is dead, and
^ Alii nee recenti tempore : the * alii recenti.' Recens, non quod nunc
earlier editions omit wee, Vor which primum ; sed quod nuper. Manutius
some Mss. have iii. Ben. Bodl. e Mus. ad Cic. Famm. xi. 21.
6, has ' alii nee recenti ;' Laud. 143,
658 The four days of death : sin original,
HoMiL. I was not there : for he had been reported sick, not dead. But
^^what should be hidden from Him Who had created, and to
Whose hands the soul of the dying had gone forth ? This it
is that He saith, / a?n glad for your sakes that I was not
there, to the intent ye may believe ; that they should now
begin to wonder that the Lord was able to affirm him to be
dead, which thing He had neither seen nor heard. Where,
however, we ought to bear in mind, that as yet, even for the
disciples who had already believed on Him, their faith was
built up by miracles : not so, that the faith which was not,
should begin to be, but that the failh which had already
begun to be, should grow ; although the word He used was
such as if they were but then beginning to believe. For He
does not say, / am glad for your sakes, that your faith may
be increased or strengthened ; but He saith, that ye may
believe: which must be understood to mean, that ye may
more fully and stoutly believe.
V.I 5-1 7. 12. Nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas,
whieh is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples. Let us
also go, that ice may die icilh Htm. TJien when Jesus came,
He found that he had lain in the grave four days already,
Qusest. Concerning the four days, many things, indeed, may be said,
nJ G5 " such being the case with the dark sayings of the Scripture,
that, according to the diversity of the persons understanding
them, they beget many senses. Let us also say what seems
to us to be signified by the circumstance, that he had been four
days dead. For, as in that blind man we understand, in some
sort, all mankind, so perchance also in this dead man we
are to understand many : for it is possible for one thing to
be signified in diverse ways. Man, when he is born, is born
straightway with death; for he contracts sin from Adam.
Rom. 5, Whence the Apostle says; By one man sin entered into the
^^' world, and death by sin : and so [the sin] passed through
unto all 7nen, [the sin of him] in whom all sinned\ Lo,
e The words inserted in the brackets the latter construction. " In the words
are necessary to convey St. Angus- in oymies homines pertransiit, the Pela-
tine's rendering of this text. In the gians will have it, that not siti is
treatise de Peccatorum Meritis et meant, but death. At that rate, what
Remissione i. 11. he leaves it open, is the meaning of the following words,
whether the antecedent of in quo be in quo omncs peccaverunt? For the
peccatuvi or nmts homo: but Contra Apostle must mean, either that all
duas Epist. Pelagianorum, he rests in " ' ' " '
sin against natural Laiv, revealed Laiv, Gospel. 659
there hast thou one day of death : that which man contracts John
of the stock of death. Then he grows, he begins t0jj-_22
come to years of discretion, so as to have a sense of the
natural law, which is fixed in all men's hearts, ' What thou
likest not to be done to thee, do not thou to another.' Is
this learnt from pages of books, and not, in a sort, read in
nature itself? Dost thou like to be robbed ? Of course thou
dost not. Behold, the law in thy heart : What thou dost not
like to suffer, that do not. And this law, too, men transgress.
Behold, a second day of death. Then further was the Law
given from God through Moses the servant of God : it was
said there, Thou shall not kill; Thou shall vot commit E-^od.
adultery; Thou shall not hear false witness; Honour t]ty^^'^'^~
father and mother; Thou shall not covet thy neighhour'' s
goods; Thou shall not covet thy neighbour'' s wife. Lo, the
Law is written : and even this is despised. Behold, a third
day of death. What remains? There comes also the Gospel,
the Kingdom of Heaven is preached, Christ is every where
noised abroad. He threatens hell, promises eternal life : and
even this is despised : men transgress the Gospel. Behold,
a fourth day of death. Well may the corpse now stink.
Even then, shall mercy be denied to such ? God forbid !
The Lord disdaineth not to draw near for the raising of even
such as these.
13. And many of the Jews tcere come to Martha and Mary, \.]9-22.
to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as
ssiy s J bi/ one jnan sin entered into the introisse ; mortem vero non in mun-
world; or, in that sin ; or, in death : dum sed in omnes homines, et non in-
which last is grammatically possihle, troisse, sed pertransisse." Comment,
because " death" in Greek is masculine, in ep. ad Rom. lib. v. The Latin
But how this last can be his meaning, 1 rendering of icp' ^ by in quo is also re-
cannot see : for all men die in sin, not raarkable: for i(f ^ (aurl rov diori,
sin in death And if sin cannot be Phavorin. Thom. Mag.') is " for that,"
meant, because in the Gr^k the word E. V. and so Syr. Pesh., Theodoret.
" sin" is feminine, it remains that we propterea quod Pelag. Origen u. s. (in
should understand it to be said, that in the Latin of S. Jerome), " In omnes
that first man all men sinned, because pertransiit mors ; in quo omnes pec-
all men were in him when he sinned," caverunt. Absoluta sententia prc-
&c. Comp. Op. Imperf. c. Julian, ii. nuntiavit Apostolus in omnes homines
50. 63. Hence it appears that Vet. mortem pertransisse peccati, in eo in
Lat. omitted the second mors; so y?/o omnes peecaverunt:" where Origen
several Mss. Gr. and Lat. ; Syr. Pesh. probably wrote e(^' ^ in the sense ''for
has it with an asterisk; but most of that:" for he proceeds, " sicut alibi
the authorities are for it, among these dictum est, Omnes enim peccaverunty
Origen, though Mill cites him for the ^-c." which he expounds of actiml sins
omission : " Peccatum quidem non and imperfections, citing Abel, Enoch,
dixit in omnes homines sed in mvndum Noah, &c. as examples^
660 Renewal of wicked Christians, a Lazarus-resurrection,
HoMiL. soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met
" " ' • Him : but Mary sat still in the house. Tlten said Martha
unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, 7ny brother had
not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever Tliou
wilt ask of God, God will give it Tiiee. She said not, But
now I ask Thee that Thou wouldest raise my brother to life
again : for how knew she whether it would be expedient for
her brother to rise again ? This only she said, 1 know that
Thou art able; if Thou wilt, Thou doest it: for whether
Thou shouldest do it, is for Thee to judge, not for me to
])resume. But even now I know, that ivhatever Thou shalt
ask of God, God will give it Tltee.
V. 23. 14. Jesus saith to Iter, Tliy brother shall rise again.
This was ambiguous. For He saith not. Even now I do
raise thy brother to life again; but, Thy brother shall rise
V. 24. again. Martlta saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise
again in the resurrection, at the last day. Of that resur-
rection I am sure, of this I am uncertain. Jesus saith unto
her, I am the Resurrection. Thou sayest, My brother shall
rise again at the last day : it is true ; but He by Whom he
will then be raised, can do this even now, because / am,
saith He, tJte Resurrection and the Life. Hear, my brethren,
hear what He saith ! Doubtless the whole ex])ectation of the
by-standers was only the revival of Lazarus, a single in-
dividual four days dead. Let us hear and rise to life
again ! How many there are in this people, who are
pressed down by the load of custom ! Perchance some hear
Eph. 5, n]e, to whom it is said. Be not drunk with wine, in ivhich is
^^' excess. They say, We cannot help it. Perchance some
hear me, unclean, polluted with lascivious and wicked deeds,
to whom it is said. Do not this, that ye perish not. And
they answer. We cannot part with our custom. O Lord,
raise these men to life ! / am, saith He, the Resurrection
and the Life. The Resurrection, because The Life.
V. 25.26. 1^- ^^ tJtat believeth in 3Ie, though he be dead, yet shall he
live ; and every one that liveth and believeth in Me shall 7iot
die for ever. What is this .^ He that believeth in Me, though he
be dead, as Lazarus is dead, shall live ; because God is not
the God of the dead, but of the living. Concerning the
fathers that were dead of old, that is, Abraham, Isaac, and
Faith the life of the soul. 661
Jacob, He gave this answer to the Jews : / ajti the God of John
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob : ^o^sy
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living : for all ^1^22^
live unto Him. Believe therefore; and if thou be dead,?^\ „^
' _ ' Luke20
thou shalt live: but if thou believest not, even while thou37. 38. '
livest thou art dead. To one who deferred to follow the
Lord, saying, Let me first go and bury my father, the Lord Matt. 8,
said, Leave the dead to bury their dead; come thou, follow
Me. A dead man was there to be buried, and dead men
too were there to bury that dead : he, dead in the flesh, they,
dead in soul. Whence death in the soul ? Because there is
no faith. Whence death in the body ? Because there is no
life in it. Consequently, the life* of thy soul is faith. //,? 1 anima,
tJiat believeth in Me, saith He, though he be dead in the
flesh, shall live in the soul : until the flesh also rise again
never afterward to die. This is the meaning of. He that
believeth in Me, albeit he die, shall live» And every
one that liveih in the flesh, and believeth in Me, though
he shall die for a time by reason of the death of the
flesh, shall not die for ever, by reason of the life of the
Spirit, and immortality of the Resurrection. This it isv.26.27.
that He saith, And ichosoever liveth and believeth in Me
shall never die. Believest thou iliis? She saitJt tinto Him,
Yea, Lord : I have believe,d^ that Thou art the Christ, the Son'^ tt^ttI-
of God, Who art come ^ into the world. When 1 believed this, llenidi:
I believed that Thou art the Resurrection, I believed thatsoHilar.
Thou art the Life ; I believed that whoso believeth in Thee,
though He die, shall live; and whoso liveth and believeth in
Thee, shall not die for ever.
16. And when she had so said, she went her way, andr-^s.
called 3Iary Iter sister in silence, saying. The Master is come,
and calleth for thee. It is to be remarked that by silence the
Evangelist meant a low voice. For how should she be said
to have been silent, i. e. to have held her peace, who said,
The Master is come, and calleth for thee ? It is to be
remarked also, that he has not told us where, or when, or
how, the Lord called for Mary, choosing rather to leave
this circumstance to be gathered from Martha's words, so as
to preserve the brevity of the narrative.
17. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came v.29-3i.
unto Him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but
66*2 Christ " troubled Himself;''^ the Godhead willed the emotion,
'RoM^i-L. was in that place where MartKa met Him. The Jews then
XLIX
— - — -which were with her in the house ^ and comforted her, when
they satv Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out,
followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
To what purpose has the Evangelist related this ? That we
may see what brought it about that there were many there
when Lazarus was raised. The Jews, namely, thinking that
she went forth in haste to seek solace of her grief in tears,
followed her: that so great a miracle, of one who had been four
days dead rising to life again, might have very many witnesses.
18. 77/^/? when Mary was come where Jesus was, and
y.32.34,saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord,
if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When
Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also
weeping which came iviih her, He groaned in the spirit,
and troubled Himself, and said. Where have ye laid
him f Something He hath intimated to us, by groaning in
spirit and troubling Himself. For who indeed could trouble
Him, but Himself.? Therefore, my brethren, in the first
place mark here His power, and then enquire the significa-
tion. Thou art troubled, against thy will ; Christ, because
He willed to be troubled. Jesus hungered, it is true, but
because He willed it : Jesus slept, it is true, but because He
willed it : Jesus was sorrowful, it is true, but because He
willed it : Jesus died, it is true, but because He willed it :
it rested in His power to be thus or thus afiected or not
aff'ected. For the Word took soul and flesh, fitting to Itself
the nature of whole Man in the Unity of Person. Thus the
Apostle's soul also was enlightened by the Word, Peter's
soul was enlightened by the Word, Paul's soul, the souls of
Johnl, the other Apostles, of the holy Prophets, all were by the
lb! 10, Word enlightened : but of none of them is it said, The
30. Word was made flesh ; of none is it said, I and the Father
are One. Soul and Flesh of Christ with the Word of God
is One Person, is one Christ. And consequently, where
supreme Power is, there the weakness is handled'' according
to the sovereign pleasure of the Will : this is the meaning of,
Troubled Himself.
19. I have spoken of the Power, now mark the signification.
d One Ms. and cit. ap. Alcuin tnr- e Mus. 6, 'tractatur;' Laud 143,
^«^wr instead of tractatur. Ben. Bodl. ' turbatur.'
Christ groans and is troubled in the heart of the penitent^ 663
That person is an heinous sinner, whom the four clays John
death and that burial betoken. What meaneth it then, that3.2_34.
Christ troubleth Himself, but to betoken to thee how thou
oughtest to be troubled when thou art weighed and pressed
down by so huge a load of sin ? For thou hast taken note of
thyself, hast seen thyself to be guilty, hast taken account
with thyself: ' This have I done, and God spared me: this
have I committed, and He forbore me: I heard the Gospel,
and despised it : I was baptized, and fell back again to the
same wdckedness : what am I to do ? whither to go ? which
way to escape ?' While thou thus speakest, it is even Christ
that groans in indignation within thee, because it is the groan
of faith. In that groan of displeasure it is shewn that there is
hope of resurrection ^ If faith itself be within, in it Christ
groaneth : if faith in us, Christ in us. For what else saith
the Apostle, That Christ may dicell by faith in your heartsf^-v^- 3,
Consequently, thy faith concerning Christ is Christ in thy
heart. Of a piece with this, is that incident of His sleeping
in the ship : when the disciples were in jeopardy, at the very
point of being shipwrecked, they came to Him and awaked
Him : Christ arose and rebuked the winds and the waves, Mat. 8,
and there was a great calm. So fares it also with thee. ^^"~^^*
The winds enter thy heart, wherein thou art on a voyage,
wherein thou art passing this life, like as it were a stormy
and perilous sea : the winds enter, they stir up the waves,
they trouble the ship. What are the winds? Thou hast
been reproached, thou art angry ; the reproach is the wind,
thine anger the waves : thou art in jeopardy, ait setting thyself
to answer, setting thyself to render railing for railing; even
e In voce frementis apparet spes re- See Suicer Thes. s. v. iiJ.$pifxdo/LLai. St.
surgentis. — The word iv^^piiJ.-r](Taro, Augustine seems to understand this
fremebat, constantly denotes indigna- ' fremitus' as the expression of Christ's
tion or displeasure, not sorrow, and so indignation at sin : viz. When Hb saw
it seems to have been generally under- the women weeping &c. He groaned
stood by the ancients. The Greek indignantly in His Spirit because of
expositors take it to mean that Christ man's sin which brought death into the
by His Godhead (t^ Trj/eu/LtaTt) sternly world. This interpretation of the
rebuked the natural ensiotion of His matter of fact is not expressed in words,
human feelings: thus Cyril. e7rt7rA7]TT€i but is implied in the spiritual ex-
T^ Ma. (xapKl, " He chides His own position : fremat Christus, increpet se
flesh." Euthym. Zigab. eVertjaTja-e to? homo: fremuit (Christus), quia fides
irdO^i, ayaxaiTL^ctit/ avrh, SpL/xv tl koX hominis (and faith in the heart is
av<TTT]p})v iv€^\e\p€ rfj avyx^'^^h " He Christ in the heart) merito sibi dis-
rebuked the passion (of tears), check- ^\\ceui\s fremere quodammodo debet in
ing it, cast a stern and austere look accKsatione malorum opernm,
upon the commotion within Him."
664 when faith awakes, and the sinner is indignant at himself,
HoMiL. now the ship is nigh to be wrecked: wake the sleeping
1 Christ ! For the reason why thou art tossed with waves,
and preparing to render evil for evil, is, that Christ is
asleep in the ship. To wit, that Christ is asleep in thy
heart, is, thy forgetfulness of thy faith. For if thou wake
Christ, that is, recollect thy faith, then, when Christ as
it were awaketh in thy heart, what saith He ? * To Me
John 7, they said. Thou hast a devil, and T prayed for them : the
Lord is reviled and suffereth it; the servant is reviled,
and is indignant ! But thou wouldest be avenged. What ?
Am I avenged ?' When thy faith saith these things to thee,
it is as it were a command given to the winds and waves,
and there is a great calm. As then to wake Christ in the
ship, is, to wake up thy faith ; so, in the heart of a man who
is pressed by a great load and custom of sin, in the heart of
a man who hath transgressed even the holy Gospel, who
hath set at nought eternal punishments, let Christ groan
indignantly, let the man rebuke himself Hear yet more :
Aug. c. Christ wept, let the man weep for himself. For why did
i,V3^.rf. Christ weep, but to teach man to weep } Wherefore did He
Serra. groan for indignation and trouble Himself, but to shew that
1 73 2.
' ' the faith of a man who has good cause to be displeased v^ith
himself ought to groan, as one may say, indignantly, in self-
accusation for his evil works, that so the custom of sinning
may be forced to give way to the violence of repentance ?
20. And said. Where have ye laid him? Thou knowest
that he is dead, and where he is buried art Thou ignorant ?
This again is significant : to shew that when a man is in
this undone condition, God, so to say, knoweth him not.
I durst not say outright, Knoweth not: for what is there
that He knoweth not .? but, * So to say, knoweth not.' How
prove we this } Hear the Lord, as He will speak in the
Matt. 7, Judgment, I know you not; depart from Me, How, Know
you not? I do not see you in My light, do not see you in
that Righteousness which I know. So here also, as though
not knowing a sinner of this sort. He said, Where have ye
laid him ? Such is that voice of God in Paradise, when
Gen. 3, man had sinned, Adam, where art thou? — They say unto
^' Him., Lord, come and see. What meaneth, See"^ Have
mercy. For the Lord seeth, when He hath mercy. Whence
The stone on the grave is the Law. 665
it is said to Him, See mine hiimiliiy and my labour, and John
forgive all my sins. 35_40.
21. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He Ps. 24,
loved him ! What nieaneth, Loved him F — / am net come ^o^^^^g^
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. — But some q/Matt.9,
iJiem said. Could not this Man, Which opened the eyes of the
blind, have caused that even this mafi should not have died?
Though it was not His will to cause that Lazarus should not
die, it is more that He is about to do, to cause that the dead
shall be raised to life again.
22. Jesus then, again groaning {for displeasure] within ^* 38.
Himself, cometh to the grave — And let Him so groan in
thee, if thou art minded to come to life again : this is said to
every man, whoever has a load of most wicked custom
weighing uj^on him — cometh to the grave: it teas a cave,
and a stone lay npon it. The dead man beneath the stone,
is, the guilty sinner beneath the liaw. For ye know that the Exod.
Law which was given to the Jews was written on stone. ^ ' *
Now all that are guilty are under the Law : they that live
good lives are with the Law. The Law was not given for a 1 Tim.
rigJiteous man. What meaneth, then. Take ye away the ^^9.
stone? Preach grace. For the Apostle saith of himself
that he is a minisler of the New Testament, not of the letter, 2 Cor.
but of the spirit ; for the letter, he saith, killeth, the spirit^^^'
giveth life. The letter killing is as it were the stone pressing
down. Take away, saith He, tlie stone. Take away the
weight of the Law : preach grace. For if there had been a Gal. 3,
law given ichich could have given life, verily righteousness^^' ^^'
should have been by the Law. But the Scripture hath con-
eluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe.
23. Then, take ye away the stone. 3Iartha, the sister o/"v.39.40.
him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time lie
stinketh: fur he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith
unto her. Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe,
thou shouldest see the glory of God 9 How, TIiou shall see
the glory of God? In that, although stinking and four days
dead. He raiseth him to life asrain. For all have sifined, Rom. 3,
23.
and lack the glory of God: and, Where sin abounded, grace i^'q 10.
also abounded more.
666 " Loose him and let him go^'' by ministerial absolution.
HoMiL. Q4. Then iheij took away the stone^. A?id Jesus lifted up
■«7- T 1 V ^^ ^^ '
'His eijes. and said. Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast
V. 41-43. J J » ?
heard 3Ie. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but
because of the people which stand by I said it, that they
may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And when He thus
had spoken, He cried with a loud voice. Groaned, wept,
cried with a loud voice. With what difficulty does he rise
whom the load of evil custom presseth down ! But yet he
does rise : the hidden grace within is quickened ; he riseth
V. 43.44. after the loud voice. What came to pass? With a loud
voice He cried, Lazarus, come forth. And immediately he
that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-
clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.
Enarr. Dost thou marvel how he came forth with his feet bound,
101 ^21 ^^^ ^^* marvel that he rose being four days dead } In both
S. Amb. vvas the power of the Lord, not the strength of the dead
Res. 2* man. He came forth, and yet was he still bound: still
'^^' wrapped round, and yet already he hath come abroad. What
cf. does this betoken } When thou despisest, tiiou liest dead ;
Queest. ^^^ ^£ thou despisest these so great things of which I have
n. 65. spoken, thou liest buried: when thou confessest, thou comest
forth. For what is it to come forth, but, by issuing as it
were from what is hidden, to be made manifest? But then
that thou shouldest confess is (jod's doing, by crying with a
S. Aug. mighty voice, that is, by calling with mighty grace. Accord-
Serm. ingly, when the dead man had come forth, still bound;
confessing, yet still guilty ; in order that his sins should be
loosed, the Lord said this to His ministers. Loose him, and
Mat. 16, ^^^ him go. How, loose him and let him go? — What ye shall
^^' loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.
V. 46.46. 25. TJien many of the Jews which came to Mary, and
had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him.
But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and
told them ichat things Jesus had done. Not all of the .lews
who had come together to Mary believed, but yet many
did. Some, howtver, of them, whether of the Jews who
had come together, or of them which had believed, went
their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things
^ The words, ov i\v b t^Ovtjkws Ke'i- best copies of the Greek. Cod. Alex.
fxepos, Elz. are unknown to the Latin, ov -fiv.
as also to Syr., Origen, Chrys., and the
The Jews lost their temporal things, despising things eternal. 667
Jesus had done : whether to announce it to them, that John
they too might believe; or rather, for betrayal, to excite ^j.^^'
their rage against Him. But be it how it may, and by
whom it may, to the Pharisees the intelligence of these
things was brought.
26. TJw chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council^^^-^l.
and said, What do we ? And yet they said not, Let us
believe. For these lost undone men thought more how they
might do Him hurt to His undoing, than how they might
consult their own interests, that they might not themselves be
undone: and yet they feared, and did in a sort consult. For v. 47.48.
they said, What do we ? for this man doetlt many miracles.
If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him : and
the Romans will comeand take away both our place and nation.
They feared to lose their temporal things , eternal life they
thou-^ht not of, and so lost both. For the Romans, after the
Lord's passion and glorifying, did take away from them both
place and nation, by conquering the city, and carrying away
the people : and that follows them which is elsewhere said,
But the children of this kingdom shall go into outer darkness. Mat. 8,
What they feared, however, was this, that, if all should *
believe in Christ, there would remain none to defend against
the Romans the City and Temple of God ; because they felt
the doctrine of Christ to be against that same temple, and
against their laws inherited from their fathers.
27. And one of them, named Caiphas, being the highvA9-5i.
priest of that year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at
all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high
priest of that year, he prophesied. Here we are taught, that
even by bad men the Spirit of Prophecy predicts things to
come : which thing, however, the Evangelist attributes to a
Divine Sacrament, in that he was pontiff, i. e. high priest.
Possibly it may strike us as a difficulty, how he should be
called high priest of that year, seeing God appointed but
one high priest, upon whose death one other should succeed.
But it is to be understood, that in consequence of rivalries
and contentions among the Jews, it was afterwards settled
that there should be many high priests, and that they
668 Christ set an example of withdrawing Jrom persecution.
HoMiL. should minister bv turns, each one year^. Thus of Zacharias
XL]X ..."
, ' also this is said: And it came io pass, that while he
8. 9. executed the priest's office hefore God in the order of his
course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his
lot was to hum incense when he went into the temple of
the Lord. Hence it appears that there were many of them,
and that they had each his turn : for to burn incense was not
lawful but for the high priest. And perhaps even for one
year there were several in office, to whom in another year
others succeeded, of whom one was drawn by lot, to burn
V. 51.52. incense. Well then, what did Caiphas prophesy? That
Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation
only, hut thai also He should gather together in one the
children of God, that were scattered abroad. This the
Evangelist has added : for Caiphas prophesied only of the
nation of the Jews, in which were the sheep whereof the
Mat. 15, Lord Himself saith, / am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. But the P>vangelist knev/ there were
other sheep, which were not of this fold, which must be
Johnio, brought, that there might be one fold and one Shepherd.
These things, however, are said in respect of predestination:
for they wTre neither His sheep, nor sons of God as yet, who
had not yet believed.
V. 53.54. 28. Then from that day forth they took counsel together
for to put Him io death. Jesus therefore walked no more
openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country
near to the iciWerness, into a city called Ephrem, and there
continued ivith His discipjles. Not for any defect of power,
since it was in His power, had it been His will, to have gone
about openly among the Jews, and they should do nothing to
Him: but in the weakness of the Man He held forth to His
disciples an example of living, wherein it should appear that
it is no sin if His believers, who are His members, should
withdraw themselves from the eyes of their persecutors, and
by hiding rather avoid the rage of wicked men, than by
offering themselves inflame it all the more.
g This statement, perhaps taken merely from the fact of his burning
from Euseb. H. E. i. 10. (vol. i. p. 69. incense, probably having in view Exod.
ed. Heinichen,) rests, as there, upon a 30, /• where it is said, '■'■Aaron shall
mistaken inference from Josephus, Ant. burn thereon sweet incense every
xviii. 2, 1. 2. That Zacharias was morning."
high priest, St. Augustine concludes
H 0 M I L Y L.
John xi. 55. xii. 11.
Now the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand: and many loent out
of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to sanctify
themselves. Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among
themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that
He will not come to the feast ? Now both the chief piiests
and the Pharisees had given a commandment^ that, if ayiy
man knew ivhere He were, he should shew it, that they might
take Him. Then Jesus six days before the passover came to
Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom He
raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and
Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the
table with Him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of
spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
wiped His feet with her hair : and the house was filled with
the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of His disciples,
Judas Lscariot, which should betray Him, Why was not this
ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
This he said, not that he cared for the poor ,- but because he
was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was 'put therein.
Then said Jesus, Let her alone, that against the day of My
burying she should keep that. For the poor always ye shall
have with you; but Me ye shall not always have. Much
people of the Jews therefore knew that He was tJiere : and
they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see
Lazarus also, ivhom He had raised from the dead. But the
chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death;
because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away,
and believed on Jesus.
vy 2
070 The Jews' Passover a prophecy of Christ.
HoMiL. 1. Yesterday's Lesson of the Holy Gospel, of which we
'— spake that which the Lord gave, this of to-day follows, of
which we are about to speak that which the Lord shall give.
Some things in the Scriptures are so plain, that a hearer
rather than an expositor is all they require: on these it
behoves us not to dwell, that so there may be time enough
for necessary matters which need to be dwelt upon.
V. 55. 2. Now the Jews' Passover icas near. The Jews desired
to have that holy-day stained with the Lord's blood. On that
holy-day was slain the Lamb, Which hath consecrated to us
even that same holy-day by His blood. There was among the
Jews a design for putting Jesus to death : as He was come from
heaven to suffer, it was His will to draw near to the place of
His Passion, because the hour of His Passion was close at
hand. Many therefore went out of the country up to Jerusalem
before the Passover, to sanctify themselves. This the Jews
did, in accordance with the precept of the Lord given by
holy Moses in the Law, that, on the feast day w^hich was
the Passover, all should assemble from all parts, and be
sanctified by the celebration of that day. But that cele-
bration was a shadow of a thing future. How, a shadow of
a thing future } A prophecy of Christ Who was to come, a
prophecy of Him Who was for us on that day to suffer:
1 trans- that the shadow should pass away^ and the light should
Horn come; that the sign should pass away, and the truth be kept.
55, 1. The Jews, then, had the Passover in the shadow, we in the
light. For what needed the Lord to enjoin them on this
same feast day to kill a sheep, but because that sheep was
Is.63,7. He of whom it is prophesied. As a sheep was He led to be
immolated ? The blood of the slain animal was put for a
sign upon the Jews' door-posts : with the blood of Christ our
foreheads are signed. And that signing, because it was a
significant representation, is said to have kept off the destroyer
from the houses marked therewith : the sign of Christ drives
off from us the destroyer, if our heart receive the Saviour.
Why have I said this ? Because many have their doorposts
marked, and yet the Indweller abidetli not within : it may
easily be that men have on the forehead the mark of Christ,
while yet in the heart they receive not the Word of Christ.
Therefore, my brethren, 1 said, and I repeat it : Christ's mark
Let the Church tell the Jews where Christ is! 671
drives from us the destroyer, if our heart have Christ for its John
Indweller. These things I have said, in case any should be ^^j:
thinking what could be the meaning of those feasts of the
Jews. The Lord, then, came as it were for a victim ^ that we' advic-
might have the true Passover, when we should celebrate Hisr™— q
Passion, as it were the slaying of the sheep for sacrifice. 7. Vulg.
3. TJien sought tJiey for Jesus: but in evil wise. For v. 56.
blessed are they that seek for Jesus, but in a good way.
Those men sought for Jesus, that neither they might have
Him, nar we : but as He withdrew Himself from them, we
received Him. Men are reprehended for seeking, men are
praised for seeking : for it is the temper of the seeker that
finds either praise or condemnation. Thus thou hast it also
in the Psalms, Let them be confounded mid ashamed thai Ps. 40,
seek after my soul: these are they that sought in evil
manner. But in another place, He saith. Flight is perished 'P^- '^^'2,
from Me, and there is none that uill seek after My soul.
They are blamed that sought, blamed they that sought not.
Then let us seek after Christ, to have Him; seek, to hold,
but not in order to kill : for even those sought to hold,
but to hold, in order that they might soon cease to have.
They sought, then, and spake among themselves. What
think ye, that He is not coming to ihe feast-day?
4. Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given com-x.SI.
mandment, that if any man knew uhere He was, he should
shew it, that they might take Him. Let us even now shew
the Jews, where Christ is ! Oh that they would hear and
apprehend, whosoever are of the seed of those who gave
commandment that it should be shewn them where Christ
was ! Let them come to the Church, let them hear where
Christ is, and apprehend Him. From us let them hear, out
of the Gospel let them hear. He was put to death by their
fathers, was buried, rose again, was acknowledged by His
disciples, before their eyes ascended into heaven, there
sitteth at the right hand of the Father; He Who was judged
shall come to be Judge : let them hear, and lay hold on
Him! They answer: How shall I lay hold on one who is
absent, how dart forth an hand unto heaven, to lay hold on
Him that sitteth there ? Dart forth thy faith, and thou hast
laid hold. Thv fathers laid fleshly hold on Him : do thou
67*2 The mystery of the anointing of Christ's feet.
HoMiL.lay hold with the heart: for Christ being absent is also
'- — present. Were He not present, He could not even by us
Maf28, be hoklen. But since that is true which He saith, Behold^
20
I a)n ivilli you alway, even unto the end of the world ; He
is gone and yet is here; is gone back, and yet quits us not;
for His body He hath taken with Him into Heaven, His
Majesty He hath not taken away from the world.
ch. 12, 5. Then Jesus six days before the passover came to
Bethany, uhere Lazarus icas ichich had been dead, whom
He raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper ;
and Martha served: but Lazarus v:as one of them that sat
at meat. Lest men should think it was but in a phantom-
show that a dead man rose to life again, he was one of them
which reclined at the board: there was he living, talking,
partaking of the meal : so the truth was she^vn, the unbelief
of the Jews confounded. The Lord then sat at meat,
together with Lazarus and the rest, and waiting on them
was Martha one of the sisters of Lazarus.
"^- ^- 6. But Mary, the other sister of Lazarus, took a pound
of ointment of spikenard^ very costly, and anointed the
feet of Jesus, and iiiped His feet ivith her hair: and
the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. We
have heard the fact, let us enquire into the mystery. O
thou, whosoever wouldest be a fliithful soul, with Mary
anoint thou the Lord's feet with precious ointment ! That
ointment was righteousness, therefore was it libra [pound,
and, balance] : moreover it was ointment of costly spike-
nard, nardum pisticum. That he calls it pisticum, we
ought to take it to mean some place from which this costly
ointment came : yet neither is this expression idle, but
chijnes in excellently with the inward and spiritual meaning.
T\i(TTis (pistis) is Greek for ' faith ^' Thou wast seeking to
Rom. 1, work righteousness: the righteous liveth by faith. Anoint
the feet of Jesus: by good living follow the Lord's footsteps.
* The notion, that TTio-TiKT? means the 26, 7. Enthym. 7rio-Tj/c?V KaXS>u Cus
name of some place from which this %oiKe, t^v &KpaTov kol KaTaTmria-rev-
kind of nard came, is peculiar to St. fjLevnV ^ kuI irpocn^yopia ^v rodro /j-vpov.
Augustine. _ St. Jerome i-^ satisfied Similarly, Theophy). " Either a kind
with the derivation from ttlttis. Nar- of nard so called, ^ tV &So\oj/ j/dpdoi/
dum pisticam posuit, h. e. veram et kol /lkto, -TrtVrews KaTaa-Kevaadela-av."
absque dole, ut fidem Ecclesiee et See Suicer. Thes. 2, 391. also Greswell,
gentium demonstraret. Comm. in Matt. Diss, on Harmony.
17.
The good odour of Christ, the holy living of Saints. 673
Wipe His feet with thine hair: if thou hast superfluities, John
give to the poor, and thou hast wiped the feet of the Lord : '- — -
for the hair seems to be the superfluity of the body. Thou
hast what thou maj'est do with thy superfluity : to thee it is
superfluous, but to the Lord's feet necessary. Perchance on
earth the Lord's feet suffer need. For of whom but His
members will He say in the end of the world, While ye did Msit.25,
it to one of the least of Mine, ye did it unto Me? Your *
superfluities ye bestowed, but it was to My feet that ye
shewed the kindness.
7. But the house was filled icith the odour ; the world was
filled with the good fame : for good odour is, good fame. They
that live ill, and are called Christians, do wrong to Christ:
such are they of whom it is said, that through them the Name Rom. 2,
of the Lord is blasphemed. If through such the Name of
God is blasphemed, through the good the Name of the Lord
is praised. Hear the Apostle: We are a good odour of 2Cor. 2,
Christ, saith He, in every place. It is also said in the Song ^^— ^^*
of Songs, Thy Name is ointment poured forth. But call Cant. 1,
back thy attention to the Apostle : We are, saith he, a good '
odour of Christ in every place, both in them that are saved,
and in them that perish; to some we are an odour of life
unto life, to others an odour of death unto death: and icho
is sufficient for these things ? The present lesson of the Holy Enarr.
Gospel gives us occasion to speak of this odour in such sort, 44^^^22.
that both by us it may be suflSciently spoken, and by youSerm.
diligently heard, the Apostle himself thus speaking, And who '
is sufficient for these things? That we, then, should essay to
speak thereof, are we suflicient, or are ye sufficient to hear
these things ? We indeed are not sufficient ; but He is
sufficient, Who by us may deign to speak that which may
profit you to hear. Behold, the Apostle is a good odour, as
he saith himself: but the same good odour is to some an
odour of life unto life, but to others an odour of death unto
death: and yet a good odour. For does he say, To some we
are a good odour unto life, to others an evil odour unto
death ? He hath called himself a good odour, not a bad,
and hath said that this same good odour is to some unto
life, to others unto death. Happy they who by the good
odour live : but what more unhappy than they who by the
'>-ood odour die ?
674 It is death to the wicked, by exciting their envy,
HoMiL. 8. And who is that, may some one say, whom the good
'- — odour kills ? This it is that the Apostle saith, And who is
sufficient for these tilings ? How God brings it about in
wonderful ways, that by the good odour both the good live
and the bad die ; how that may be'', in so far as the Lord
deigns to inspire me (for belike there may be some higher
sense latent there which by me cannot be penetrated) ;
however, in so far as I have been able to penetrate, you
ought not to be denied the benefit. That Paul the Apostle
was a man doing good, living a good life, in word preaching
righteousness, in work setting a pattern of righteousness; a
wonderful teacher, a faithful dispenser : such was the report
which fame on every hand disseminated concerning him :
and some loved him, some envied. For he saith himself in
a certain place of some persons, that they preached Christ
Phil. 1, not sincerely, hut of envy : thinking, saith he, to raise up
ll'pm' tribulation upon mg bonds. But what saith he ? Whether
p. 618, for occasion'' sake, or whether of truth, let Christ be preached.
They preach who love me, they preach who envy : those by
the good odour live, and those by the good odour die : yet
by the preaching of both let Christ be announced, the
world filled with that best odour. Hast thou loved him for
doing good, thou hast lived by the good odour : hast thou
envied him for doing good, thou hast died by the good
odour. Because thou hast chosen to die, does it follow that
thou hast made that odour bad ? Envy not, and the good
odour shall not kill thee.
9. And indeed, hear even in this place, from this same
ointment, how to some it was a good odour unto life, to
some a good odour unto death. When religious Mary had
V. 4. 6. done this kindness to her Lord, straightway saith one of His
disciples, Judas Iscariot, which should betray Him, Why
was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and
given to the poor ? Woe to thee, wretched man I the good
odour hath killed thee ! For why he said this, the holy
Evangelist hath laid open. But even we should have
supj^osed, had not his mind been disclosed to us by the
Gospel, that he might have said this, out of regard to the
V. G. poor. Jt is not so. But how } Hear a true witness ; This
^ Quomodosit. Perhaps Aug. said, Quo- facit preceding ; but Oxf. Mss. also read
modo Jit^ corresponding with quomodo 'sit/ making the former clause a question.
Why the Lord chose Judas to he an Apostle. 675
lie said, tioi that he cared for the poor ; but hecause he was John
a thief and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Bare, '- — ^
or bare off? Nav, but by office he bare, by theft bare off =.
10. Lo, hear ye that this Judas was not then for the first
time perverted, when bribed by the Jews he delivered up
the Lord. For most persons, paying little attention to the
Gospel, imagine that Judas then first fell into perdition,
when he received money of the Jews to deliver up the Lord.
Not then was the instant of his perdition : already he was a
thief; a lost man, even while he was following the Lord;
because not in heart, but only in body, he followed Him.
He made up the count of the Apostles to the number twelve,
the Apostolic blessedness he had not ; only for semblance
was he the twelfth ; and when he went off and another
came in his stead, both the truth of Apostleship was supplied,
and the number was preserved entire. What then was it
the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, my brethren, to admonish
His Church, when it was His will to have one lost man
among the twelve ; what, but that w^e should tolerate evil
men, and not divide the body of Christ? Lo, among the
saints is a Judas, lo, he is a thief, this Judas : and, that thou
make not light of that, a thief and sacrilegious, not any
common kind of thief: a thief who stole from the bag, yea
but that bag the Lord's ; the bag, but that bag sacred ! If
in the courts of law a difference is put between the crime of
common theft and peculation ; for it is called peculation
when it is a stealing of the public property ; and stealing of
private property is not judged so heinous as that of the
public : how much more sternly shall that sacrilegious thief
be judged, who has dared to rob, not in any common sort,
but to rob the Church ! He who steals ought from the
Church, is fellow to Judas the lost. Such was this Judas,
and yet he went in and out together with the holy eleven
disciples. Even to the Supper of the Lord he came alike Horn,
with them. To go about with them, he had power : to ^^"
defile them, he had not power. Of one bread both Peter
and Judas received ; and yet what part hath a believer
with an infidel ? For Peter received unto life, Judas unto
c Ministerio portabat, furto ex- i^daTa^^i/ in the sense, " carried off,
portabat. See Epist. 108, 8. Origen, stole."
Nonnus, Theophylact also understand
676 The wicked, represented by Judas, have not Christ always.
HoMiL. death. Thus as it was with that good odour, so with that
'- — good food. As then the good odour, so also the good food
I Cor. is life to the good, death to the bad. For whoso shall eat
II 29. ...
' * unworthily, ealeth and drinketh judgment to himself: judg-
ment io himself, not to thee. \i judgment to himself, not to
thee, then do thou, the good, bear the bad, that thou mayest
come unto the rewards of the good, that thou be not cast into
the punishment of the bad.
11. Take pattern of the Lord as He conversed here on
earth. Why had He a bag, He to Whom Angels ministered,
but to shew that His Church should have its bag? Why
admitted He a thief, but in order that His Church may suffer
thieves patiently? But the man who had accustomed himself
to pilfer money from the bag, did not hesitate to receive
money to sell the very Lord. — Let us see what the Lord
says in answer to these words of his. See, my brethren:
He saith not, * With an eye to thy thefts thou say est this.'
He knew him to be a thief, yet exposed him not; but rather
tolerated him, and set us an example of patience in enduring
V. 7. bad men in the Church. Then said Jesus to him: Let her
alone, that unto the day of My burial she may keep tltal"^ : —
thus declaring that He was about to die.
V- 8. 12. But what is that which follows? TJie poor ye will have
with you always, but Me ye will not always have. We
understand indeed, 77/e poor ye will always have : what He
hath said, is true. When is the Church ever without poor ?
But Me ye icill not always have — what can this mean ?
How is it to be understood. Me ye will not always have ?
Fear not. To Judas this was spoken. Then why said He,
not, Thou wilt not have, but. Ye will not ? Because Judas is
not one man. One bad man denotes the body of bad men ;
just as Peter denotes the body of the good, nay rather the
body of the Church, howbeit in the good. For if in Peter
the Church were not spiritually denoted, the Lord would not
Mat.l6, have said to him, / will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven : whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt hind
'' Ut in diem scpultura; mece servct Mark 14, 8. The other reading may
illud: 'iva. . . .rripiicrr) avrh, many Mss. have originated with some who did not
and authors : but text rec. is supported perceive that our Lord spoke pro-
by Cod. Alex, and by tlie parallel leptically, not of the actual interment.
Neither have the good, in respect of His bodily Presence. 677
on earth shall he hound in heaven. If this was spoken only John
to Peter, then the Church doeth not this. But if this thing ^^ ' ^'
is done in the Church also, that what things are bound on
earth are bound in heaven, and what things loosed on earth
are loosed in heaven : because, when the Church excom-
municates, the person excommunicated is bound in heaven ;
when one is reconciled by the Church, the person reconciled
is loosed in heaven : if, 1 say, this thing is done in the
Church, then Peter, what time he received the keys, denoted
the Holy Church. If in the person of Peter were denoted
the good men in the Church, in the person of Judas were
denoted the bad men in the Church ; to them is it said. But
Me ye will not always have. For what is, Not always? and
what is, Always ? If thou art a good man, thou belongest to
the bod}', which Peter denotes : thou hast Christ both in the
present and in the future : in this present by faith, in the
present by the sign^, in the present by the Sacrament ofiSee§.2.
Baptism, in the present by the meat and drink of the Altar.
Thou hast Christ in the present, but wilt have Him always:
because when thou shalt depart hence thou wilt come to
Him Who said to the thief. To-day shalt thou he with i!/eLul^e23,
in Paradise. But if thou livest ill, thou seemest in the
present to have Christ, because thou enterest into the
Churchy signest thyself with the sign of Christ, art baptized
with the baptism of Christ, minglest among the members of
Christ, comest up to the Altar of Christ: in the present, thou
hast Christ, but by living an evil life thou wilt not always
have Him.
13. It may also be thus understood: Tlie poor ye icill
always have with you, hut Me ye ivill not always have. Let
the good also take this, but let them not be alarmed : for He
was speaking of His bodily presence. For, in respect of
His Majesty, in res])ect of His Providence, in respect of the
ineffable and invisible Grace, that is in fulfilling which
was spoken by Him, Lo, I am with you, even unto the Mat. 28,
consummation of the ivorld. But in respect of the flesh ^^*
which the Word assumed, in respect that He was born of
the Virgin, in respect that He was laid hold on by the Jews,
that He was nailed to the tree, that He was taken down from
the cross, that He was wrapped in linen cloths, that He was
678 But His Divine Presence is with them alioay.
HoMiL.laid in the sepulchre, that He was manifested in the resur-
'— rection, ye will not always have Him ivith you. Why ?
Because He conversed, in respect of His bodily presence,
forty days with His disciples, and, by them attended home-
ward, their eyes following, not themselves, ascended into
heaven ; and is not here. For He is there ; He sitteth at
the right hand of the Father: and yet is here, for the
presence of the Majesty hath not quitted us. In other
words : in respect of the presence of the Majesty we have
Christ always ; in respect of the presence of the flesh, it was
rightly said to the disciples, But Me ye will not always have.
For the Church had Him in respect of the presence of the
flesh, for a few days; now, by faith it holds, not with eyes
beholds Him. Therefore whether it be thus meant, But Me
ye will not always Jiave, methinks, there remains no further
question, seeing it has been in two ways solved.
V. 9. 14. The rest, what little is left of it, let us hear: Much
people of ike Jews therefore knew thai He uas there : and
they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see
Lazarus also, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Curiosity
brought them, not charity : they came and saw. Hear a
marvellous counsel of vanity. At sight of Lazarus, the
raised from the dead, — because so great a miracle of the Lord
was with so great evidence noised abroad, with so great
manifestation declared, that it was impossible for them either
to conceal that it was wrought, or to deny it, — see what they
V. 10.11. devised. But the chief priests thought how they might put
Lazarus also to death ; hecause that by reason of him many
of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. O foolish
thought, and blind rage ! If the Lord Christ had power to
raise him being dead, had He not power to raise him being
put to death ? In putting Lazarus to death, could ye put
away the Lord's power? If it seems to you that a dead man
is one thing, a man put to death another: behold, the Lord
did both : both Lazarus who was dead, and Himself Who
was put to death, He raised to life again.
H O M I L Y LI.
John xii. 12 — 26.
On the next day much people that were come to the feast ^
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took
branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and
cried, Hosanna : Blessed is He that cometh in the name of
the Lord, the King of Israel, And Jesus had found a
young ass, and sat thereon; as it is written. Fear not,
daughter of Sion : behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an
ass's colt. These things understood not His disciples at the
first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they
that these things tvere written of Him, and that they had
done these things unto Him. The people therefore that was
luith Him when He called Lazarus out of his grave, and
raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the
people also met Him, for that they heard that He had done
this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among them-
selves. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? behold, the
world is gone after Him. And there ivere certain Gentiles
among them that came up to worship at the feast: the same
came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee,
and desired him, saying. Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip
cometh and telleth Andrew : again Andrew and Philip tell
Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying. The hour is come,
that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit. He that loveth his life shall lo$e it; and he that
hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
680 Chris fs triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
HoMiL. If any man serve Me, let Mm follow Me ; and where I am,
'— there shall also My servant he : if any man serve Me, him
uill My Father honour.
1. After that the Lord had raised to life him that had been
four days dead, to the araazeraent of the Jews, of whom
some by seeing believed, others by envying were undone,
because of the good odour which is to some unto life, to
2 Cor. others unto death ; after He sat at meat in the house
2 15. .
' * with Lazarus now sitting at the board, who had been dead
and was raised to life ; after the ointment poured upon His
feet, whereof the whole house was filled with the odour;
after that vain rage, and most foolish and frantic wickedness,
which the Jews in their accursed hearts conceived, even for
the putting of Lazarus to death ; of all which matters, as we
were able, we have in the former discourses spoken what the
Lord gave; now mark, my beloved, how great fruit of His
preaching appeared, and hov/ great a flock of the lost sheep
of the House of Israel heard the voice of the Shepherd.
2. For thus speaks the Gospel, which ye heard even now
V. 12.13. when it was read; On the next day much people that were
come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to
meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is He that cometh
in the name of the Lord, the 'King of Israel. Palm branches
are praises, signifying victory, in token that the Lord was
by dying to overcome death, and with the trophy of the
Cross to triumph over the devil, the prince of death*
Hosanna, however, is an exclamation of entreaty, as some
say who know the Hebrew tongue, rather denoting an affec-
tion than signifying any notion : such as in our tongue are
what they call interjections, as when being in pain we say,
Alas! or when we are delighted, Aha! or when we wonder,
and say, Oh how great ! for then this Oh signifies nothing,
but only the affection of wonder. And that such is the case
is likely, because neither the Greek nor the Latin has been
able to render the word by another : just as in that expres-
Matt. 5, sion, Whosoever shall say to his brother, Racha, For this
too is said to be an interjection, denoting the affection of
indignation.
The King of all icorhls stoops to be King of Israel. 081
3. But, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the John
Lord., the King of Israel^ is rather to be so taken, that in ^_{^^
the name of the Lord., should be understood to mean, in the
name of God the Father: although it may be also taken to
mean, in His own name, because He too is Lord. Whence
also it is elsewhere written, The Lord rained from the Lord. Gen. 19,
But His own words are a better guide for our understanding,
where He saith, I am come in the name of My Father., andSohxi 5,
ye have not received Me; another will come in his own
name^ him ye will receive. For Christ is the Master of
humility, as He that humbled Himself, being made obedient FhW. 2,
unto death, even the death of the Cross. We are not to
imagine then, that He foregoeth His Godhead, what time as
He teacheth us humihty: in that. He is equal with the
Father; in this, like unto us: thereby that He is equal with
the Father, He created us that we should have our being:
thereby that He is like unto us, He redeemed us, that we
should not lose our being.
4. Thus lauded Him the multitude, Hosanna, Blessed is
He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!
Well might it be a mental crucifying for the envy of the
rulers of the Jews to endure, when so great a multitude was
shouting oat Christ their King! But what was it for the Lord
to be King of Israel } what great matter for the King of all
worlds to become King of men ? For Christ was not King
of Israel, for exacting of tribute, or arming a host vvith the
sword, and visibly subduing enemies ; but King of Israel,
that He should rule minds, that He should counsel for
eternity, that He should bring unto the Kingdom of Heaven
them that believe, hope, and love. Being then Son of God, the
Word by Which all things were made, that it should be His
will to be King of Israel is a condescension, not preferment;
a betokening of mercy, not an increasing of power. For
He Who was called on earth King of the Jews, is in heaven
Lord of Angels.
5. And Jesus found a young ass, and sat thereon. Here v. 14.
it is told briefly, for how the thing was done, is to be read
most fully in the other Evangelists. But to this fact is
applied a prophetic testimony, that it might appear that the
malignant rulers of the Jews did not read aright Him in
682 What is denoted hy the ass^ and the colt,
HoMiL. Whom the things they read were havnig their fulfilment.
:^^-j^^ Jesus i then, found a young ass, and sat thereon; as
Zech. 9, ^7 is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy
. King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. In that people, then,
was the Daughter of Zion ; Jerusalem is the same as Zion.
I say, in that reprobate and blind people was nevertheless
the Daughter of Zion, to whom it should be said. Fear not:
behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. This
Daughter of Sion, to whom these things are spoken of
God, was in those sheep which heard the voice of the
Shepherd ; was in that multitude which with so great
devotion praised the Lord at His coming, with so great a
train escorted Him. To her it was said, Fear not : acknow-
ledge Him Who from thee is receiving praise, and be not
alarmed when He suffereth ; because that Blood is then in
shedding, by which thy sin may be blotted out, and thy life
restored. But by the ass's colt, on which no man hcid sat,
(for this we find in the other Evangelists,) we understand the
people of the Gentiles, which had not received the Law of
the Lord : by the ass, however, (for both the beasts were
brought to the Lord,) His congregation which was coming
out of the people Israel, not altogether unbroken, but which
Is. 1, 3. knew her Master's crib.
V. 16. 6. These things understood not His disciples at the first,
but when Jesus was glorified, i.e. when He shewed the
virtue of His Resurrection, then remembered they that these
things were written of Him, and that they had done these
things unto Him, i.e. that they had done none other things
to Him, than those which were written of Him. Namely,
going over in their minds according to the Scripture, the
things which were completed before the Lord's Passion, or
in the Lord's Passion, there they found this also, that,
agreeably with the utterances of the Prophets, He had sat
on an ass's colt.
V. 17-19. 7. The people^ therefore that was with Him when He
called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the
dead, bare record. For this cause the people^ also met Him,
for that they heard that He had done this miracle. The
Pharisees therefore said among themselves. Perceive ye how
ye prevail noUiing? behold, the world is gone after Him.
Gentiles at tlie feast^an earnest of the fulness of the Gentiles. 683
The people put them in sore perturbation: turhd turhavit John
turham. But why enviest thou, O blind turbulent crew, that2o_24.
the world goeth after Him, by Whom the world was made ?
8. And there were certain Gentiles among them that ^-'20.22.
came up to worship at the feast : the same came therefore to
Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him,
saying. Sir, we tcould see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth
Andrew: again Andrew and Philip iell Jesus. Let us hear
what the Lord said in answer to this. Lo, Jews wish to kill
Him, Gentiles to see Him: yea, but of the Jews were those
also who cried, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of
the Lord, the King of Israel. Lo, these from the circum-
cision, those from the uncircumcision, like two walls coming
from different sides, and in the one faith of Christ meeting
in the kiss of peace : hear we then the voice of the Corner
Stone. But Jesus answered them, saying. The hour is comey- 23.
iJiat the Son of Man should be glorified. Here, perhaps,
it may be thought that He spoke of being glorified only
in regard that Gentiles were wishing to see Him. It is
not so. Cut He saw how the Gentiles themselves after
His Passion and Resurrection would in all nations believe :
because, as the Apostle sailh, Blind)iess in part hath come Rom.
upon Israel, until the fulwdss oflJie Gentiles should come in. ' '
By occasion therefore of these Gentiles who desired to see
Him, He announcelh the future fulness of the Gentiles, and
promiseth that now, even now, the hour of His glorifying
is at hand, which when it should have taken place in heaven,
then the Gentiles should believe. Of which it is foretold,
Be TIiou exalted above the heavens, O God, and Thy glory Ps. io8,
above all the earth. This is the fulness of the Gentiles, of *
which the Apostle saith, Blindness in part is come npon
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in.
9. But thfe loftiness of the glorifying behoved to be
preceded by the lowliness of the passion : accordingly. He
went on to say : Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a v. 24.
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it ahideth
alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He
meant Himself. That was the grain of wheat that must be
mortified and multiplied: mortified by the unbelief of the
Jews, multiplied by the faith of the nations.
z z
684 Hoio, and lohen, Christians must hate their own life,
HoMiL. 10. But now, exhorting men to follow in the footsteps of
^ 25. •^^^ Passion, He that loveth, saith He, his life, shall lose it.
Which may be understood in two ways. He thai lovelh,
shall lose: that is, If thou lovest, lose : if thou desirest to
keep life in Christ, fear not death for Christ. Also in
another way : He that loveth his life, shall lose it. Love not,
lest thou lose : love it not in this life, lest thou lose it in the life
eternal. But this that I have put last seems more agreeable
to the mind of the Gospel^; for the Lord goes on to say, And
he that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life
eternal. Therefore, in what was said above, He that loveth,
we are to supply, in. this world; the same, of course, shall
lose it: but lie that hateth it, of course in this world, the
same shall keep it unto life eternal. A great and marvellous
thought, how to love one's own soul should be to lose it ;
and to hate it, not to lose it ! If thou have loved it ill, then
hast thou hated ; if hated well, then hast thou loved. Happy
they that hate their souls, to the keeping thereof, that they may
not lose them by the loving thereof. But take heed lest there
steal upon thee a wish to make away with thyself, while thou
takest it in that sense, that it is thy duty to hate in this
world thine own life. For hence certain malignant and
supra perverse men, who are in their own persons a more cruel and
note. * wicked sort of murderers, give themselves to the flames,
choke themselves in the waters, dash themselves in pieces
by casting themselves headlong, and perish. Christ taught
not this : nay, when the devil suggested that He should cast
Matt. 4, Himself headlong, He answered; Get thee behind Me,
Satan : it is written, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy
ffi^Jq^' e'er/. But to Peter He said, signifying by what death he
should glorify God; When thou wast young, thou girdedst
^ Yet de Doct. Chr. iii. 24. St. Au- atque prseposterum, quo inclinatur tem-
gustine cites the text in the former poralibus, ut geterna non quserat. So
sense. Si jyrcpceptiva locutio .... fla- Epist. 243, 5. he takes perckt earn in
gitium aut facinus videtur jubere aut the sense of a command. There is a
utiiitatem ant beoeficentiam vetare, Sermon on this text (368) which some
tigurata est Cum ait Dominus, of the Editors consider doubtful, others
Qui amat animam suam perdet earn, reject as spurious, but the Benedictines
non utiiitatem vetare putandus est, qua retain, which proceeds entirely upon
debet quisqueconservare animam suam, the latter and commonly received inter-
sed figurate dictum, perdat animam^ pretation: Si amo perdo; ergo, non
i.e. perimat atque amittat usum ejus, amem, ne perdam: without even
quern nunc habet, perversum scilicet noticing the other.
To minister unto Christ is to do all for His sake; 685
thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest : hut when thoit John
shalt he old, another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither 26.
thou wouldest not. Where He hath said expressly enough,
that not by himself but by another must that man be put to
death, who would follow in Christ's footsteps. When there-
fore it comes to this pointy that one must either do contrary ' caus^
to God's commandment, or depart this life, of which twojus
the man is compelled to choose one, while the persecutor
threatens him with death ; when it comes to this, there let
him choose to die for loving God, rather than to live by
offending Him; there let him hate in this world his own life,
that he may keep it unto life eternal.
11. If any man minister unto Me, lei him follow Me.y-'iG.
What is, Follow Me, but, Imitate Me ? For Christ suffered i Pet.
for us, saith the Apostle Peter, leaving us an ensample that we ' *
should follow His steps. Lo this it is that was meant in that
saying, If any man minister unto Me, let him follow Me.
With what profit ? what wages ? what reward } And where I
am, saith He, thei'e shall also My servant (or, minister) he. Let
Him be freely loved, that of the work wherein one ministers
unto Him, the recompense should be, to be with Him.
For how shall it be well with us where He is not, or how can
it be ill with us, where He is } Hear what is more evident.
If any man minister unto Me, him will 3Iy Father honour.
With what honour, but that of being with His Son? For
what He saith above. Where 1 am, there shall also My
servant he, this we are to understand Him to have expounded
when He saith, Hi^n will My Father honour. For what
greater honour can an adopted son receive, than to be where
the Only-Begotten is ; not indeed made equal with His
Godhead, but made partaker of His Eternity ?
12. But what it is to serve, or, minister unto, Christ, to
which work so great a reward is attached, this we ought
rather to inquire. For if we suppose that to minister unto
Christ is, to prepare those things which are necessary for the
body, or to cook food, or serve it up, that He may sup, or
to give the cup and mix the drink ; this thing they did who
were able to have Him present in the body, as Martha and
Mary, what time Lazarus also was one of them that sat at
meat. But in that way even Judas the lost ministered unto
z z 2
686 to walk in ClirisCs tcai/s, not in his own.
HoMiL. Christ; for even the bag was in his keeping, and though he
most wickedly stole what was put therein, yet it was even by
him that necessaries were provided. Hence, when the
John] 3, Lord said to him, That thou doest, do quickly, some sup-
posed that He bade him provide what was needed for the
feast, or that he should give someivliat to the poor. In no
wise then would the Lord say of servants of this kind, Where
I am, there shall be my servant also ; and, If any man serve,
or minister unto, Me, him will My Father honour: since
we see Judas ministering in such things, reprobate, not
honoured. Why then seek we elsewhere what it is to
minister unto Christ, and not rather in the very words before
us take note what it is ? For when He said, If any minister
unto 3le, let him follow Me, He would have it to be under-
stood as if He had said. If any follows not Me, he ministers
not unto Me. Consequently, they minister unto Jesus
Phil. 2, Christ, who seek not their own, but the things which are
Jesus Chiist's. For the meaning of, Follow 3Ie, is this; let
him walk in My ways, not in his own ; as it is elsewhere
1 John written, He that saith he ahideth in Christ, ought himself
' ' also so to walk even as He walked. He ought also, if he
deal his bread to the hungry, to do it of mercy, not of vain-
glory; not to seek therein ought other than a good work,
Matt. 6, while the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doeth,
that is, that all aim of cupidity be kept aloof from the work
of charity. Whoso thus ministers, ministers unto Christ; and
rightly will it be said to him, When thou didst it to one of
the least of Mine, thou didst it unto Me. And not only in
those works which pertain to the shewing of mercy to men's
bodies, but in all his works, doing them for Christ's sake,
Rom. (for then will they be good ; because Christ is the end of the
' * Law for righteousness to every one that believeth,) he is the
minister of Christ, even up to that work of great charity,
that a man lay down his life for the brethren: for this is to
lay it down for Christ too. Because He will say this also on
behalf of llis members; When for these thou didst it, thou
didst it for Me. As indeed in virtue of a work of this kind,
He hath deigned to make and to call Himself a minister,
Mat.20, ^ijgyg \{q saith; Even as the Son of Ida n is not come to
28
he ministered unto, hut to minister, and to lay down His
All Christians are ministers^ not Bishops and Clerks only. 687
life for many. Consequently, each individual is a minister John
of Christ in that regard in which Christ also is a minister. 26.
Him that thus ministers unto Christ, His Father will honour,
with that great honour, that he should be with His Son, and
his felicity never come to an end.
13. When therefore, my brethren, ye hear the Lord
saying, Where I am^ there shall My minister also he, do not
think only of good bishops and clerks. Do ye also, accord-
ing to your measure, minister unto Christ, by good living, by
doing alms, by preaching His name and doctrine to whom-
soever ye shall be able ; so that even each several father of
a family should acknowledge that he does in virtue of this
name owe a fatherly affection to his family. For Christ and
for eternal hfe, let him admonish, teach, exhort, rebuke, all
that belong to him; let him shew benevolence, let him
exercise discipline: so in his house shall he discharge an
ecclesiastical, and, in some sort, episcopal office, ministering
unto Christ that he may be for ever with Him. For even
that greatest of ministrations, the ministry of suffering for
Him, many of your sort have rendered : many that are
not bishops or clerks, young men and virgins, the old with
the young together, many wedded men and wedded women,
many fathers and mothers of families, ministering unto Christ,
have even laid down their lives in martyrdom for Him, and,
honoured by the Father, have had most glorious crowns for
their reward.
HOMILY LII.
John xii. 27—36.
Now is My soul troubled : and what shall I say ? Father,
save Me fror)i this hour : hut for this cause came I unto this
hour. Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a
voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will
glorify it again. The people therefore that stood by, and
heard it, said that it thundered. Others said. An angel
spahe to Him. Jesus answered and said. This voice came
not because of Me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment
of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast
out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto Me. [This He said, signifying what death He
should die.) The people ansivered Him, We have heard out
of the Law that Christ abideth for ever : and how say est
Thou, The Son of 31 an must be lifted up ? who is this Son of
3Ian? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little light is with
' § 13. you'^. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon
you : for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not ichither he
goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye
may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus,
and departed, and did hide Himself from them.
1. After that the Lord Jesus Christ, in the words of
yesterday's Lesson, had exhorted His ministers that they
should follow Him, having first foretold His Passion in this
v. 24. wise, that except a corn of ich eat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone; hut if it die, it hriugeth forth much
fruit: where He stirred up them who would fain follow Him
into the kingdom of Heaven, to hate their own soul in this
world, if they thought to keep it unto life eternal : again. He
Christ's soul was troubled, not through loeakness, 68.9
tempers His affection down to our infirmity, and saith, what John
the Lesson of to-day begins with, Now is My soul troubled, ^l^'
Whence, O Lord, was Thy soul troubled? For a little ^^"^7^ —
before Thou saidst, He that hateth his own soul in this
world, keepeth it unto life eternal. Then is Thy soul in
this world loved, and for that reason is it troubled by the
coming of the hour at which it is to depart out of this world?
Who would dare affirm this of the Lord's soul ? No, but
He hath transferred us into Himself, hath taken us upon
Himself, He, our Head, hath taken upon Him the affection
of His members : and therefore was not troubled by some
other, but, as it was said of Him, when He raised Lazarus,
He troubled Himself, For it was meet, that the O/ig'Johnii,
Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesics,^^'
as He raised us to that which is highest, so should with
us suffer also that which is lowest \
2. I hear Him above saying. The hour is come, that the
Son of Man should be glorified: if the grain be made to die,
it bringeth forth much fruit. I hear. He that hateth his
own soul in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal. Nor
am I permitted only to wonder, but am bidden to imitate.
Then in the following words. If any man minister unto Me,
let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My minister
be; I am set on fire to despise the world, and as for this life,
which is but a vapour, be it ever so lengthened vapour, the
whole of it is, in my sight, nothing: for the love of eternal
things, all things temporal become vile in my regard. And
then again I hear the self-same my Lord, Who by those
words rapt me up from my weakness into His strength, saying.
Now is My soul troubled. What is this ? How orderest
Thou my soul to follow, if I see Thy soul troubled ? how am
I to bear up under that which so great Strength feels heavy ?
What foundation am I to seek, if the Rock gives way ? But
I seem to myself to hear in my musing the Lord answering
me, and in a manner saying. Thou wilt all the more follow,
because I so interpose Myself that thou mayest bear up;
thou hast heard uttered unto thee the voice of My Strength ;
a Pateretur et infima: nearly all the Laud. 143, ' infima.' E. Mus. 6, ' in-
Mss. have patereturet infirma, " should
also suffer infirmities." Ben. Ms.
690 hut of mercy, for a j^attern to troubled souls,
HoMiL.hear uttered in Me the voice of thy weakness: I impart
^^ • strength that thou mayest run, nor do I check thee in thy
speeding ; but I transfer into Myself thy trepidation, and lay
down a way for thee to pass over. O Lord our Mediator,
God above us, Man for us, 1 acknowledge Thy mercy ! For
in tliat Thou being so great art troubled by the free-will of
Thy charity, therein Thou consolest the many in Thy Body
who are troubled by the necessity of their infirmity, lest
despairing they perish.
3. Well then, let the man who wishes to follow, hear
which way he is to follow. Perchance a dreadful hour is
come : it is put to thy choice, that thou must either do
iniquity, or undergo the suffering of death ; the weak soul is
troubled, for whose sake the invincible Soul was of Its own
accord troubled: prefer to thine own will the will of God.
For mark what He says next; He, thy Creator and Master,
"Who made thee, and, that He might teach thee, was even
Himself made the thing He made: for He was made man.
He that made man, but He remained God unchangeable,
and changed man for the better. Hear then what He goes
v.27.28. on to say. After He had said, Now is 31y soul troubled, He
sailh. And what shall I say f Father, save Me from this hour :
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify
Thy Name. He hath taught thee what to think, taught thee
what to say, Whom to invoke, in Whom to hope. Whose
will to prefer to thine own, the will sure and Divine to the
human and weak will. Let Him not seem to thee to have
descended from the height to His loss, only for that He
wisheth thee to rise from the depth to thy gain. Thus He
deigned also to be tevnpted of the devil, of v>^hom assuredly it
was not for Him to be tempted if He would not, just as if He
would not, it was not for Him to suffer: and made those
answers to the devil, which thou must make in thy temptations.
Matt. 4, And He indeed was tempted, but not put in peril; that He
~ * might teach thee when in temptation thou art in peril, to
give the tempter his answer, and not to go after tlie tempter,
but to come out of the peril of his tempting. But as He
hath here said, Now is My soul troubled, so likewise where
Mat.2G, \\q saith. My soul is sorrowful even unto death, and. Father,
if it be possible let this cup pass from Me, He hath taken
that they should resign their will to the will of God. 691
upon Him the infirmity of man, that He may teach him John
that is thus put in sorrow and trouble, to say what follows, 28—30.
Nevertheless, not what I will, but lohat Thou wilt, Father \
For so is man directed from the things human to the things
Divine, when to the human will the will Divine is preferred.
But what meaneth, Glorify Thy Name, save, in His Passion
and Resurrection ? What else then doth it mean, but that
the Father should glorify the Son, seeing He doth also
glorify His Name in the like sufferings of His servants?
Whence it is written concerning Peter, that, in saying of him,
Another shall gird tJiee, and carry thee whither thou tfoiild- John 21,
est not, the Lord meant to signify by tvhat death he should
glorify God. Consequently, in him also God glorified His
Name, because He doth thus glorify Christ in His members
likewise.
4. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have\.i%.
both glorified it, and will glorify it again. Have both
glorified it, before I made the world ; and will glorify it
again, when He shall rise from the dead and ascend into
heaven. It may also be understood otherwise. Haoe both
glorified it, when He was born of a Virgin, when He wrought
^ mighty works ^*, when, the heaven pointing to Him by a star,ivirtutes
He was adored by the Magi, when by the saints filled with
the Holy Ghost He was acknowledged, when by the Spirit
descending in the form of a dove He was declared, when by
the Voice sounding from heaven He was shewn, when on
the Mount He was transfigured, when He did many miracles,
when He healed and cleansed many, when with a very few
loaves He fed so great a multitude, when He commanded
the winds and the waves, when He raised the dead : and
will glorify it again, when He shall rise from the dead,
when death shall no more have dominion over Him, when
He, as God, shall be exalted above the heavens, and His^°"^*^>
glory above all the earth. Ps. los,
5. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said^'
that il thundered: others said. An angel spake to Him.
Jesus answered and said. This voice came not because of
* Non quod ego volo, sed quod t a vis, culiar to An.^ustine's copy.)
Pater. So injra Horn. Ill, I. and *> Serm. 200, 1; 201, 1. cf. S. Ignat.
Enarr. in Ps. 100. $. 6. (perhaps pe- Ep. ad Eph. 19.
692 " Noivis the judgment of this world^'* not the JtnalJudgment,
HoMi-L.Me, but /or your sakes. Here He shews that that voice was
^^' not to make known to Him what He ah'eady knew, but to
them, to whom it was meet to be made known. But as that
voice was not for His sake, but for others' sake, uttered by
the Godhead, so His soul, not for His own, but for others'
sake, was troubled by His Will.
V. 31. 6. Mark the rest. Now, saith He, is the judgment of the
world. What then is it that we look for in the end of the
age ? But the judgment which we look for at the end,
will be for the judging of quick and dead, will be the
judgment of rewards and punishments eternal. Then what
sort of judgment is it now? Already in the former Lessons
1 have, as T was able, made you to understand, my beloved,
that there is a judgment spoken of, which is not of con-
demnation but of discrimination ; of which it is written,
VsA3,\. Judge me, 0 God, and discern my cause from an unholy
nation. Many, however, are the judgments of God: whence
labyssusit is Said in the Psalm, Thy judgments are a^ great deep.
Ps.367.^^^° the Apostle saith, O the depth of the riches of the
Rom. wisdom and knoivledqe of God! How unsearchable are His
11 33 . V ^
' * judgments. Of which judgments is also this that the Lord
here saith, Noiv is the judgment of the world: apart from
that final judgment, wherein the quick and dead shall at
the last be judged. Well then : there was the devil,
possessing mankind, holding men as criminals bound over
to punishment by the handwriting of their sins ; having
dominion in the hearts of the unbelieving, dragging them,
deceived and captive, to the worship of the creature, for
which they had deserted the Creator: but by the faith of
Christ, which was confirmed by His death and resurrection,
through His blood which was shed for the remission of sins,
thousands of believing persons are obtaining deliverance
from the dominion of the devil, are joined to the body of
Christ, and quickened by His one Spirit as faithful members
under so great a Head. This it was that He called
judgment, this discrimination, this expulsion of the devil
from His redeemed.
7. In short, mark what He saith. As if we asked what it
meant that He said. Now is the judgment of the tvorld. He
has gone on to expound it, Now shall the prince of this
but the expulsion of Satan from Christ's redeemed. 693
norld he cast out. We have heard what kind of judgment John
He means. Not, then, that judgment which is to come at^^l^—
the end of the world, wherein quick and dead are to be
judged, some being set apart on the right hand, others on
the left; but the judgment in which the prince of this world
shall be cast out. Then how was he within, and whither
does He mean that he is to be cast out ? Is it meant, that
he was in the world, and is cast out beyond the world ? For,
were the Lord speaking of that final judgment which is to
come, one might opine that the fire everlasting into which
the devil is to be sent with all his angels and all who are of
his part (not by nature, but by fault ; not that he created or
begot, but that he persuaded and got) ; I say, one might
opine that that fire everlasting is without the world, and that
this is the meaning of, shall he cast out. But, seeing He
saith, Now is the judgment of the world, and, expounding
what He meant, saith. Now shall the prince of this world
he cast out : what we are to understand is this that is now
taking place, not what is to take place so long after in the
last day. The Lord, in fact, was foretelling that which He
knew, that after His passion and glorifying, throughout the
whole world, many a people should believe, within whose
hearts the devil was once, whom when they by faith renounce,
then is he cast out.
8. But some man will say. What, was he not cast out from
the hearts of the Patriarchs and Prophets and righteous
men of old ? He was, assuredly. Then in what sense is
it said, Now shall be cast out? In what sense think we,
but that what then took place in a very few individuals, is
foretold now to take place in many a great people } So too
that saying, The Spirit was not yet given,^ because Jesus was John 7,
not yet glorified, admits of the like question and the like^ *
solution. For it was not without the Holy Spirit that the
Prophets foretold things to come; not but in the Holy Spirit
that the aged Simeon and Anna the widow knew the Infant Luke 2,
Lord : not but by the Holy Spirit that Zacharias and Elisa-^^"^^*
beth predicted so great things concerning Him, not yet born,
but now conceived. But the Spirit was not yet given : i. e.
that abundance of spiritual grace, by which they that were
gathered together should speak with tongues of all nations,
694 Beware lest he regain his place in the heart.
HoMiL. and so should be foreshewn the Church that was to be in the
'— tongues of all nations : by which spiritual grace congregations
should be gathered together; by which, far and wide, sins
should be forgiven, and thousands of thousands reconciled to
God.
9. What then? (saith one) because the devil shall be cast
out from the hearts of them that believe, doth he thenceforth
tempt none of the faithful ? Nay verily, he never ceaseth to
tempt. But it is one thing to reign within, another to assault
without ; thus even the most strongly fortified city sometimes
an enemy assaults, yet does not carry by assault. And though
some of his missiles reach, the Apostle adviseth how they
iThess.niay be kept from hurting; he tells us of the breastplate and
Epb. 6, shield of faith. And though he sometimes wounds, there is
^^- One at hand to heal. For, as it is written to them that are
1 John fighting. These things write I unto you, that ye siJi not : so
' ' ' they that are wounded hear what follows: a7id if any man
sin, ue have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
Righteous: and He is the propitiation /or our sins. Indeed
Matt. 6, what do we pray for when we say. Forgive us our debts, but
^^' ^^' that our wounds may be healed? And what else ask we for
when we say, Lead us not into temptation, but, that he who
is laying wait for us, or fighting without, may on no side
break in upon us, by no fraud, by no strength be able to
overcome us ? Yet let him raise against us as mighty
engines as he will, when he holdeth not the place of the
Ps. 127, heart where faith dwelleth, he is cast out. But, Except the
Lord keep the city, in vain shall he watch that keepeth it.
Then do not presume upon yourselves, if ye would not call
back within you the devil who has been cast out,
10. But God forbid we should imagine that the devil is
called jyrince of the world in such a sense as that we should
suppose him to have dominion over heaven and earth. Nay,
the term world is used to denote evil men, who are diffused
over the whole earth: just as the term, 'house,' is used to
signify them by whom it is inhabited ; as we say. It is a good
house, or. It is a bad house, not when we blame or praise the
edifice of walls and roofs, but when we speak of the characters
either of good or of bad men. So then it is said. Prince of
this world: i. c. prince of all the bad who inhabit the world
What are the " alV that Christ draws unto Himself, 605
The term world is also used of the good, wlio in like manner John
• U 1 T
are diffused over the whole earth : of them saith the Apostle, 32—34
God was in Christ, recottciling the world to Himself. These 2 Cor7~
are they, from whose hearts the prince of this world is cast^' ^^*
out.
11. When therefore He had said, Now shall the prince of v. ^2.
this world he cast out; and /, saith He, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all^ after Me. " AW what? but' omnia,
what he is cast out from? But He hath not said 0/72/^^5, La t. and
all men, but omnia, all thinsrs : for all (men) have not faith, ^f^^-
Not then to the universality of men did He refer this, but to Cod.
the entire of the creature, i.e. spirit and soul and t)ody;2j^gyg
both that by which we understand, and that by which we 3, 2.
live, and that by which we are capable of being seen and omnium
touched. For He that said, Not a hair of your head shall ^^^fif^<^s
perish, does draw after Him all [that they are]. Or, if by is. '
omnia we are to understand men themselves, we may say.
All that is predestined unto salvation, of which " all" He
said there should nothing perish, above when He was speak- John 10,
mg of His sheep. Or, however, all kinds of men, be it in
all tongues, or in all ages, or all degrees of honours, or all
diversities of natural abilities, or all professions of lawful and
useful crafts, and whatever else may be said as touching the
innumerable differences by which men differ one from
another, save only as regards sins, from the highest even to
the lowest, from the king even to the beggar: all [sorts]
saith He, / will dtaw after Me: that He should be their
Hear], and they His members. But He saith, If I he
exalted; that is, when I shall be exalted: for He doubteth
not that that shall come to pass which He is come to bring
to pass. This relates to that which He said above. But if
the grain die, it bringeth forth much fruit : for by His
being lifted up, what else did He mean, but His suffering on
the Cross ? Which also the Evangelist himself hath not left
unsaid: for he has gone on to say. But this He said, signify- y, 33.
ing hy what death He should die.
12. The people answered Him, We have heard out of t]iev.3i.
Law that Christ abideth for ever : and how sayest Thou, The
Son of Man must be lifted up? who is this Son of Man?
They kept it in memory that the Lord was ever and anon
696 The Jeivs stumbled at Christ,
HoMiL. calling Himself Son of 3Ian. For in this place He does not
'~ say, If the Son of Man be lifted up from the earth : but
above He had said, what was yesterday read and handled,
when word was brought to Him of the Gentiles who desired
v.23-25. to see Him, The hour is come that the Son of Man shall
be glorified. Accordingly, bearing this in mind, and in that
which He now saith, When I shall be lifted up from the
earthy understanding the death of the Cross, these men asked
of Him and said, We have heard out of the Law that Christ
abideth for ever: and how say est Thou, The Son of Man
must be lifted up ? Why, who is this Son of 3Ian ? For if
He is Christ, say they, He abideth for ever ; if He abideth
for ever, how shall He be lifted up from the earth ? i. e. how
shall He die by the suffering of the Cross ? For they under-
stood Him to mean the thing that they were thinking to do. So
then, what opened to them the obscurity of these words was not
wisdom infused into them, but their own goaded conscience.
V. 35. 13. Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little light is
in you\ Hence it is that ye understand that Christ
abideth for ever. Then walk while ye have the Light, that
the darkness come not upon you. Walk, draw near, under-
stand the whole, a Christ that shall both die, and live for
ever, both shed the blood wherewith He may redeem, and
ascend to the heights whither He may bring you. But the
darkness shall come upon you, if ye in such wise believe
Christ's eternity, as to deny in Him the humiliation of death.
And he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he
goeth. So he may stumble at the Stone of stumbling, and
Rock of offence, which the Lord w^as to the blind Jews:
J. ^^*" 2' whereas, to the believing, the Stone which the builders
disallowed, is made the head of the corner. Hence they
scorned to believe in Christ, because their impiety despised
Him dead, derided Him put to death : and that same was
the death of the grain that w^as to be multiplied, and the
V. 36. lifting up of Him that draws all after Him. While, saith
He, ye have the Light, believe in the Light, that ye may be
c Adhuc modicum lumen. Not con- 53, 1), because of the different wording,
suiting the Greek, (ert /miKphv xP^vov viz. in this clause modicum lumen
rh (pus) Augustine might the rather (shining of the Light), in the next
be led to take it as above (comp. Hom. Lucein, the Light itself, i. e. Christ.
because their hands Idlled Him, 697
the children of Light. When ye have heard ought true, John
believe in the Truth, that je may be born again in the Truth. 5IH^*
14. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide
Himself from them. Not from them who had begun to
believe and love, not from them who had met Him with
palm-branches and praises: but from them who saw* Him • vide-
with their eyes, and whose eye was evil: evil, because ^^°.*,®'^
iiivide*
indeed they did not see, but by their blindness stumbled at^^ant
that Stone. But in that Jesus hid Himself from them who
wished to kill Him (a point ye must often be reminded of,
because of your forgetfulness), herein He consulted for our
weakness, not derogated from His power.
PxOMlLY Llir.
John xii. 37 — 43.
But though He had done so mmiy miracles hefore them, yet
they believed not on Him: that the saying of Esaias the
prophet might he fulfilled, tvhich he spake, Lord, who
hath believed our re'port ? and to whom hath the Arm of
the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their
eyes, and hardened their heart ; that they should not see
with their eyes, nor understand with their Jieart, and be
concerted, and L should heal them. These things said
Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him. Never-
theless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him;
but because of the Pharisees they did not cotfess Him, lest
they should be put out of the synagogue : for they loved
the praise of men more than the praise of God.
1. Tee Lord Christ, having foretold His Passion and
fruitful Death in the exaltation of the Cross, where He said
He would draw all after Him, whereupon the Jews, under-
standing that He said it of His death, put to Him a question,
in what sense He spake of dying, seeing they had heard out
of the Law that Christ abidethfor ever; exhorted them that
while yet there was in them that little Hght by which they
had learned that Christ is eternal, they should walk so as to
learn the whole, that they might not be overtaken of the
darkness. And uhoi He had thus spoken, He hid Himself
from them. These things ye have learned in the foregoing
lessons and words of the Lord.
How Christ is " the Arm of the Lardy 699
2. Thereafter the Evangelist brings in that, with which John
the portion^ read to-day began, and saith. But though He 3^33
had done so mmiy miracles before tJiern, yet they believed not icapitu-
on Him: that the saying of Esaias the prophet ynight Sc^"^*
fulfilled^ which he spake, Lord, ivho hath believed our Is. 53, 1,
report ? and to whom hath the Arm of the Lord been
revealed? Where he hath sufficiently shewn, that by the
Arm of the Lord is meant none other than the Son of God :
not that God the Father is bounded by a figure of human
flesh, and the Son adheres to Him as a member of the body:
but, because all things were made by Him, therefore is He
called Arm of the Lord. For as thy arm is that by which
thou workest, so the Word of God is called His Arm, because
by the Word He wrought the world. For why does a man,
in order to work any thing, stretch forth his arm, but
because the thing he spake is not by speaking forthwith
done ? But if his power were so great, that without any
motion of his body, whatever he should speak should
thereby be done, then would his word be his arm. Onlyj
the Lord Jesus^ the Only-Begotten Son of the Father, as He
is not a bodily member of His Father, so is He not the word
which may be thought or sounded and passeth away;
because, when all things were made by Him, He was the
Word of God.
3. When therefore we hear that the Son of God is the Arm
of God the Father, let not the customary notions of the flesh
confuse our hearing : but as much as by His gift we are able,
let us think of the Power and Wisdom of God, by Which alM^^^-^
things were made. For such an Arm is neither stretched
forth and extended, nor gathered in and contracted ^ For
He is not the Same (Person) as the Father, but He and the
Father are One ; and Equal to the Father, He is every where
whole as the Father: lest there be any occasion given for
the detestable error of those who say that the Father alone
* It seems from this passage that revelation or mode of being to another,
the image of the out-stretched arm, by gathering and drawing Itself in
drawn back in order to its being anew from the preceding act or form. (In
stretched out, was used hy^Sabellius in S. Epiphan. Hser. 62, 1. the illustration
illustration of his doctrine of the Divine is a ray of light emitted from the sun,
TrAoTua-^ot or e/cToo-ets (self- ex tensions), and then drawn back: ws v-rib r)\iov
and (TvcTToXal (self-contractions) : -viz. Tre/xcpdeicrau aKT^va, koI irdXiv els rhv
that the fjiovhs passes from one act of 7\\iov avaSpajxovaav.)
3 A
700 SahelUan perversion of this text.
HoMiL. is ; only, according to the diversity of exigencies ^ the Same is
— — ^called Son, the Same called Holy Ghost; and so upon
occasion of these words they should dare to say, Lo, ye see
that the Father alone is, if His Arm be the Son ; for a man
and his arm is not two, but one person. Not understanding
nor observing how words are transferred from things of one
sort to things of another sort by reason of a certain likeness,
even in every-day expressions about visible and well-known
things ; how much more, in order that things ineffable may
be in whatever sort spoken, which to be spoken as they are
in themselves is in no sort possible ? Thus one man calls
another man his arm, by whom he uses to do whatever
he does: and if the other be taken from him, he says
sorrowing, I have lost my arm ; and to him who has bereft
him, he says, You have taken my arm from me. Then let
them understand how the Son is said to be the Arm of the
Father, by Which the Father wrought all things ; lest, by
not understanding this and by remaining in the darkness of
their error, they be like these very Jews, of whom it is said,
And to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?
4. Here another question meets us, to reason of which,
in any competent measure, searching out all its dark
corners and clearing up its difficulties, as the importance of
the subject demands, neither my strength, I take it, nor
the narrow limits of our time, nor your capacity, will serve.
Yet, because your expectation will not allow us to pass on
to other matters without saying something of this, accept
what we may be able to give : and where we do not come
up to your expectations, ask the increase of Him Who hath
set us to plant and to water, because, as the Apostle saith,
1 CovA, Neither he that planteth is any thing, nor he that water eth ;
hut God that giveth the increase. Some, then, mutter in
themselves, and where they may, now and then cry out and
wrangle with turbulent disputation, saying, What did the
*> Pro diversilate causariim. Sabel- God, being one in hypostasis (or per-
lius's expression seems to have been son), does, according to the several
TTphs Tas eKcio-TOTe XP^'«*- S. Basil, emergencies as they occur, change His
Ep. 210. rhv avrhu &ehv et/a rcf vtto- form, now as Father, and now as Son,
KeifjL€vc{} ui'ra Trphs ras eKacrroTe irapa- now as Holy Ghost, and so utter Himself
TrnrTOvaas XP^'"^ iJuraixopcpovix^vov vvv tomankind:") Cf. id. Ep. 214.285, and
IJ.h' ws waTipa, vvv Se ws vihj/, vvv ws rh S. Athanas. c. Arian. 4, 25.
ayicf TTUivfia dia\4j€(r6ai : (" the same
37,
God's Foreknowledge not the cause of the foreknown sin, 701
Jews, or what was their fault, if it was necessary that the John
XII
word of Esaias the Prophet should he fid filled, which he 39.40.
spake, Lord, ivho hath believed our report, and to whom is
the Arm of the Lord revealed? To whom we answer, that
the Lord, as prescient of things future, did by the Prophet
predict the unbelief of the Jews : predict, however, not
cause. For it does not follow that the Lord compels any
man to sin, because He knows already men's future sins. For
it was their sins that He foreknew, not His own : not any
other person's, but theirs* Wherefore, if the sins He fore-
knew as theirs, be not theirs, then did He not truly foreknow:
but, because His foreknowledge cannot be deceived, without
doubt not another sinneth, but those very persons sin, of
whom God foreknew that they would sin. Consequently,
what the Jews did, was sin ; which they were not compelled
to do by Him Who hath no pleasure in sin ; it was but
predicted that they would do it, by Flim from Whom
nothing is hid. And therefore if they had wished to do not
evil, but good, they would not have been hindered, and that
they would do this would have been foreseen by Him Who
know^eth what every man will do, and what He will render
unto him for his work.
5. But also the words of the Gospel which follow, are
even more urgent and raise a still deeper question : for it
goes on to say. Therefore they could not believe, because thatv.^dAQ-
Esaias said again. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened
their heart ; that they shoxdd not see with their eyes, nor
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them. For it is said to us : If they could not believe,
what sin is it for a man not to do what he cannot do t but if
by not believing they sinned, then they could believe, and did
it not : if then they could, how saith the Gospel, Therefore
they could not believe, because that Esaias said again. He
hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart : thereby
(which is a more serious matter) making God the cause of
their not believing, seeing that He hath Himself blinded their
eyes, and hardened their heart ? For it is not of the devil that
this is said, (which even so were a serious matter,) but of God,
as the prophetical Scripture itself witnesseth. For suppose
it even to be said of the devil; that he hath blinded their eyes,
3 A 2
702 "If God hardeneth, why doth He yet find fault?'''
■HoMiT.. and hardened their heart; still one must take pains to be
-^^^^' able to shew that their not believing was their fault, when it
is said of them, They could not believe. Besides, what shall
we say to another testimony of the same Prophet, which the
Eora. Apostle Paul hath alleged, saying, Israel hath not obtained
(Is. 29, that ivhich he seeketh for ; but the election hath obtained it,
\^' and the rest were blinded, according as it is written, God
29, 3.) hath given them the spirit of compunction", eyes that they
should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto
this day.
6. Ye have heard, brethren, the question propounded :
truly, ye see how deep it is: howbeit, we answer as we may,
They could not believe, because Isaiah the Prophet foretold
this : but the Prophet foretold this, because God foreknew
that this would be. But if I be asked, Why they could not,
I answer at a word, because they would not : for, that their
will was evil, God foresaw, and by the Prophet foretold,
even He from Whom things future cannot be hid. But,
sayest thou, the Prophet mentions a different cause, not
their will. What cause does the Prophet mention? That
God hath given them the spirit of compunction ; eyes that
they should not see, and ears that they should not hear : and,
Hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart. I reply,
that their will merited this also. For thus doth God blind
men, thus harden; by forsaking, by not helping: which
thing He doth by a judgment which may be secret, but un-
just cannot be. This, from first to last, the piety of religious
men is bound to hold unshaken and inviolate: even as the
Apostle, while handling this self-same most difficult question,
Rom. 9, saith, What shall we say then ? Is there unrigliteousness with
14.
<= ^pirihcm conqyunctionis^ Karavv- not clear how the word obtained this
|€ws, which the old English versions signification : for Karavvcrcreiy is used
render ''compunction," "unquietiiess:" by the LXX to denote acute sorrow,
auth. E. V. " slumber:" Marg. " re- Gen. 34, 7. Psa. 109, 16. Ecclus. 12,
morse." There is no question that the 12: 14, 1 : 20, 21 : 47, 20: once, the
original Hebrew word, Isaiah 29, 10. stimulus of lust. Hist. Susann. 10.
means " stupor, deep sleep :" the same S. Chrysost. explains Kardw^is here to
word is rendered in the LXX by e/c- mean that " habit of the mind in which
a-raa-is, Gen. 2, 21: 15, 12. ed/x^os, it is incurably and immovably set upon
1 Sam. 26, 12: and it is equally clear evil, for Karavvyrivai (he says) is all
that the LXX use the word Kardvvlis one as to be transfixed and rivetted."
in this sense here, and in Psa. 60, 5. Others assume a distinct derivation,
where oTj'oj/ KOTa;/v|e&Js represents Heb. from vv^iv (Grot.) or wcnd^iiv (Le
'* wine of astonishment." Only it is Clerc.)
He hardens by leaving the evil will to itself. 703
God? That be far ! If then that be far from us to think that John
there should be unrighteousness with God, then, whether He ^^Iq
helpeth, He doth it in mercy, or whether He helpeth not, He
doth it in righteousness: because He doth all things not
unadvisedly, but in judgment. Moreover, if the judgments
of the saints are just, how much more the judgments of God,
Who maketh them saints and just ? Just therefore they are,
but secret. Therefore, when questions of this sort come
before us, why one man thus, another thus : why the one man
is blinded by God's abandoning him, the other enlightened
by God's aiding him: let us not take upon us to sit in judg-
ment upon the judgment of so great a Judge, but let us,
trembling with awe, exclaim with the Apostle, O the depth of 'Rom.
the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Hoiv^^' '
unsearchable are His judgments , and His ways past finding
out I Whence it is said in the Psalm, Thy judgments are as
a great abyss !
7. Then let not your expectation, my beloved, thrust it
upon me that I should attempt to penetrate this depth, to
sound this abyss, to search out things unsearchable. 1 know
what my measure is, I seem to myself to feel also ^Yhat yours
is. This is higher than my growth, and mightier than my
strength: and I suppose, than yours also. Let us then
together hear the Scripture admonishing and saying. Tilings Ecclus.
higher than thou ^ seek thou not; and things stronger than^'''^'^'
thou, search thou not. Not that these are denied us, seeing
God our Master saith. There is nothing hidden that shall ??c^Mat.io,
be revealed: but if ^hereunto we have attained, therein we^ '
walk, as saith the Apostle, not only what we know not and Phil. 3,
ought to know, but also if in any thing we be otherwise ^^' ^^'
minded, that also shall God reveal unto us. Now we have
attained unto the way of faith : this let us most perseveringly
hold: the same shall bring us to the chamber of the King m Col. 2,3.
Whom are laid up all the treasures of ivisdom and know-
ledge. For it was not because our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
begrudged ought to those His own great and specially elect
disciples, that He said, / have many things to say unto you, Johnie,
but ye cannot bear them now. We must walk, must make^^*
progress, must grow, that our hearts may be capable of
receiving those things which we cannot at present receive.
704 '' Could nof' is " icoulcl noti" as God's '^ cannot" is '^ivill wo^.''
HoMTL. And if the last day find us making progress, there we shall
learn, what here we could not learn.
8. But if any knows himself able, and confides to give us
a clearer and better exposition of this question, God forbid
that I should not be more ready to learn than to teach.
Only let not any man dare so to defend free-will, as to
Matt. 6, attempt to rob us of the prayer in which we say. Lead us
not into temptation : again, let not any deny the freedom of
the will, so as to excuse sin. But let us hear the Lord,
both commanding and helping; both ordering what we
ought to do, and aiding that we may be able to fulfil the
same. For as there are som^e whom too great confidence
in their own will hath lifted up into pride, so some there
are whom too great difiidence in their own will hath cast
down into negligence. Those say, Why should we ask
it of God that we be not overcome of temptation, seeing it
is in our own power not to be overcome.? These say. Why
should we endeavour ourselves to live well, seeing it rests with
God's power how we shall live ^ O Lord, O Father Which
art in heaven, lead us not into any of these temptations, but
1^x11.622, deliver us from evil! Hear we the Lord savinp:, / have
32 "07
asked for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not: lest we
imagine our faith so to depend on free-will as not to need
John 1, the Divine aid. Hear we also the Evangelist saying, He
gave them pouer to become sons of God: that we may not
imagine it not to depend at all upon our own power that we
should believe : nevertheless, in both let us know His benefits.
For we must both thank Him because the power is given,
Gal. 5, and pray to Him that our weakness sink not. This i^ faith
Rom. f^'hicJi tcorketh by love, as the Lord hath distributed the
12,3. meavSUie thereof to each; that whoso glorieth may glory, not
31. * 'in himself, but in the Lord,
9. No marvel, then, that tliey could not believe, whose
will was so proud, that, being ignorant of God's righteous-
ness, they would needs establish their own : as saith of them
Eom. the Apostle, To the ricjhteousne^s of God they are not
1 /-« q '
' • subject. For because, not of faith, but as it were of works,
they were puffed up ; being by their very swelling blinded,
they stumbled at the Stone of offence. Moreover, as for
this ^' could noiy' meaning " would not," it is used in the
Those who unduly exalt free-will ^ cannot helieve. 705
same way as it is said of our Lord God, If ive believe not, John
He contitiueih faithful, He cannot deny Himself. Of the '^^'
Omnipotent it is said, He cannot. As therefore that the 2,13.*
Lord cannot deny Himself, is the praise of the Divine Will ;
so, that they could not believe, is the fault of the human will.
10. Behold, I too say, that they who are so high minded
as to think fit to attribute so much to the strength of their
own will that they deny their need of the Divine aid in order
to good living, " cannot believe in Christ." For not the
syllables of the name of Christ profit ought, nor the Sacra-
ments of Christ, where men resist the faith of Christ. Now
the faith of Christ is, to believe on Him that justijieth the'^om.i,
ungodly ; to believe on the Mediator, without Whose inter-
position, we are not reconciled to God ; to believe on the
Saviour Who came to seek and to save that which was lost ; Lukei9,
to believe on Him Who said. Without Me ye can do]^^^^^^
nothing. Because then, being ignorant of God's righteous- 5.
ness, by which the ungodly is justified, he will needs
establish his own, by which he shall be convicted of over-
weening, he cannot believe on Him. Hence also those
could not believe: not that men cannot be changed to the
better; but that, so long as they are thus minded, they cannot
believe. Hence they are blinded and hardened ; because
by denying the Divine aid, they are left unaided. This,
concerning the Jews who were blinded and hardened, God
foreknew, and in His Spirit the Prophet foretold.
11. But in that which he hath added, Et convertantur et
sanem eos: are we to understand 7ion, i. e. non convertantur,
and not be converted, as reaching from the preceding context,
where it is said, nt non videant oculis et intelligant corde,
as in fact here too the meaning of course is'^, ut non intelli-
gant corde, that they should not see with their eyes, and not
^ Quia et hie utique dictum est. course is, that non before intelligant is
" Perhaps the reading should be dictum to be supplied from non videant: and
non est: unless the meaning be, that the words, et hie utique dictum est,
the negative prefixed to videant is to express this meaning in virtue of the
be mentally adjoined to intelligant. particle utique: i. e. " though the
And indeed the printed Vulgate has et negative is not expressed, yet here also
non intelligant corde: but in ancient the thing said is, et non intelligant:"
copies of the Bible at Corbie, in agree- if the other had been his meaning, he
raent with the Greek, the negative is would rather have said, quia nee hie
not repeated. Ben. (Lachmann finds dictum est. (e Mus. 6, ' dictum est ut
et iiUelligant \xi all the old copies and intelligant,' Laud. 143, 'ut non,' as Ed,
anthers.) Augustine's meaning of Both omit the rest of the quotation.)
706 Some are blinded for a time, for their good,
Ho^iL. understand with their heart: conversion itself being of the
p ' grace of Him, to Whom it is said, O God of hosts^, convert
^ virtu- Thou us? Or perchance are we to understand this also to
have been done by the mercy of the Healing which is from
above, that, because they were of proud and perverse will, and
would needs establish their own righteousness, they should
be left to themselves, to the intent they might be blinded j
blinded, to the intent they should stumble at the Stone of
offence, and that their countenance should be covered with
ignominy; and so being brought low they should seek the
name of the Lord, and not their own righteousness where-
with the proud is puffed up, but the righteousness of God
whereby the ungodly is justified ? For this profited many of
th^ni to their good, who, being pricked to the heart for their
wickedness, did afterwards believe on Christ : for whom
Luke23, Himself had prayed, saying, Father, forgive them, /or they
know not what they do. Of which their ignorance the
Rom. Apostle also saith, / hear them record, that they have
' ' 'a zeal of God, hut 22ot according to knowledge; for then
indeed it is that he goes on to say, For, being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and wishing to establish their own,
they are not subject to the righteousness of God.
V- 41. 19. These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and
spake of Him* What Esaias saw, and in what sort this
concerns the Lord Christ, is to be read and understood in
his book. Namely, he saw Him, not as He is, but in a
certain significative sort, as the vision of the Prophet behoved
to be informed. Thus Moses also saw, and yet to Him
Exod. Whom he saw, he said. If I have found grace in Thy sight,
shew me Thyself openly, that I may see Thee; because he
did not see Him as He is. But when it shall so be with us,
the same Saint John the Evangelist tells us in his Epistle ;
1 John Beloved, we are sons of God, and it hath not yet appeared
what ue shall be: we know that, when He shall appear, ive
shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. He might
have said, We shall see Him, without adding, as He is: but,
knowing that He was seen by some fathers and prophets,
only not as He is, therefore, having said, we shall see Him,
he adds, as He is. For let no man deceive you, brethren,
of them which say that the Father is invisible, and the Son
Faith overcomes love of human glory. 707
visible. For they which assert this are they which suppose John
Him to be a creature ; neither do they understand in what 42 43
regard it is said, / and the Father are One. Nay, in virtue JohiTio^
oi the form of God in which He is equal with the Father, p^j^jj 2
the Son too is invisible ; but, in order that He might be seen 7.
by men. He took the form of a servant, and being made in
the Uheneas of men, was made visible. Therefore in shewing
Himself also, before He took flesh, to the eyes of men. He
did this as it pleased Him, in the creature subject unto Him,
not as He is. Let us cleanse our heart by faith, that we
may be prepared for that ineffable, and, so to say, invisible
vision. Since, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall ^■^^^•^»
see God.
13. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed ^» 42 43.
on Him; bnt because of the Pharisees they did not coif ess
Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue : for they
loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. See
how the Evangelist hath marked, and disapproved of certain
persons, of whom however he saith that they believed on Him:
who, if in this entering upon the way of faith they should
go forward, would by going forward overcome the love of
human glory, which the Apostle had overcome, where he
saith, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross Gq\,g,
of our Lord Jesus CJirist, by Whom the world is crucified^^'
to me and I to the world. For to this end the Lord Himself
willed that His cross, on which the madness of proud impiety
derided Him, should be fixed on the forehead of them
which should believe on Him — that being, in a sort, the seat
of shame — that faith may not blush for His Name, and may
love the glory of God more than the glory of men.
II O M 1 L Y Llf L
John xii. 44 — 50.
Jesus cried and said, He that helieveth on Me, helieveth not
on Me, hut on Him that sent Me, And he that seeth Me,
seeth Him that sent Me. I am come a light into the
tvorld, that whosoever helieveth on 3Ie should not ahide
^(pvxdiri, Iyi darkness. And if any manhear 3Iy words.and keepHhem
erit. not, 1 judge htm not : for I came not to judge the world,
hut to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth
not My words, hath One that j ad get Ji him: the word that
I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last dag.
For I have not sjwken of Myself; but the Father which
sent Me, He gave Ale a commandment, what I should say,
and what I should speak. And I know that His com-
niandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak there-
fore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak.
1. While our Lord Jesus Christ spake among the Jews,
and wrought such mighty signs of miracles, some believed,
who were predestinated to eternal life, v/hom He hath also
called His sheep ; but some believed not, and could not
believe, because by God's hidden but not unjust judgment
they had been blinded and liardened, as being forsaken by
James Him Who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble,
'^' Of those moreover w^ho believed, some did even to that
degree confess Him, that Ihey took palm-branches and met
Him at His coming, rejoicing in the same confession of
To believe on Christ is to believe Him Co-equal God, 709
praise: but others, of the chief men, durst not confess Him, John
lest they should be cast out of the synagogue ; whom the 44 45^
Evangelist hath noted, saying, that they loved the glory o/v. 43.
7nen more than the glory of God. And even of those who
beheved not, there were some that would afterwards believe,
whom He foresaw vt^here He said, When ye shall have lifted 3 ohnS;
up the Son of Man, then ye shall acknowledge that I am"^^"
He : but others that would remain in the same unbelief, who
are imitated also by this present nation of the Jews, which,
being afterward subdued, in testimony of the prophecy
which was written concerning Christ, is dispersed well nigh
throughout the whole world.
2. These things being so, and His Passion now drawing
nigh, Jesus cried and said, — what the lesson of to-day begins v. 44.45.
with, — He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, hut on
Him that sent Me, And he that seeth 3Ie, seeth Him that
sent 3Ie. He had already said in a certain place, My doctrine id.7,i6.
is not Mine, hat His that sent Me: where we understood ^^^JJJ''
Him to mean by 'His doctrine' the Word of the Father, 29.
Which is Himself; and that in saying. My doctrine is not
3Iine, but His that sent Me, He signified that He is not of
Himself, but hath His being of Another. For He is ^ God of
God,' the Son of the Father: — but the Father is not God of
God, but God the Father of the Son. And what He now saith.
He that believeth on 3Ie, believeth not on 3Ie, but on Hiin that
sent 3Ie, how are we to understand but that the Man appeared
unto men, the God being latent.? And lest they should
imagine Him to be but what they saw, therefore, wishing to
be believed to be such and so great as the Father is. He
saith, He that believeth on 3Ie, believeth not on 3Ie, i. e. on
this that he seeth, but on Him that sent 3Ie, i. e. on the
Father. But he that believeth on the Father must of neces-
sity believe Him to be Father; and he that believeth Him to
be Father, must of necessity believe that He hath a Son ;
and therefore he that believeth on the Father must of necessity
believe on the Son. But then, lest any should believe con-
cerning the Only-Begotten Son just what he doth concerning
them which are sons by grace not by nature, (as the Evan-
gelist saith. Gave them power to become sons of God, to which John 1,
also pertains that which the Lord hath mentioned as said in '
710 and to see in Him the Father Which sent Hinu
HoMTL. the Law, I said. Ye are Gods, and all of you sons of the
--^-^ 3Iost Hiqh :) therefore said He, Whoso believeth on 3Ie,
JohnlO, . , . .
34. believeth not on Me; lest the wliole of one s believing con-
Q^' ^^' cerning Christ should be believed of Him as Man only. He
then, saith He, believeth on Me, who believeth on Me not as
that which He seeth Me to be, but on Him that sent Me :
so that, while believing on the Father, he believeth Him to
have a Son Equal to Himself, and then truly believeth on
Me. For if he account Him to have but sons by grace,
who are of course His creatures, not the Word but things
made by the Word, and not to have a Son Equal with
Himself and Coeternal, Ever-begotten, alike Unchangeable,
in no regard unlike and unequal ; then he believeth not on
the Father that sent Him, because the Father that sent Him
is not this that He imagines.
3. And accordingly when He had said. He that believeth
on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me, lest
He should be thought to have meant the Father to be
understood as Father of many sons regenerate by grace, not
of One Only Son Equal with Himself, He straightway sub-
joined. And he that seeth Me, seetli Him that sent Me.
Doth He say. He that seeth Me, seeth not Me, but Him
that sent Me, as He had said, He that believeth on Me,
believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me? No: for
He said that, lest, as He was seen to be Son of Man, He
should be believed to be only that : but this He said, that
He might be believed Equal with the Father. He that
believeth on Me, saith He, believeth not on this that he seeth
Me to be, but believeth on Him that sent 3Ie, Or, while he
believeth on the Father which begat Me Equal with Himself,
not as he seeth Me, but as he believeth on Him that sent
Me, so let him believe on Me ; for between Him and Me
there is no difference, insomuch that whoso seeth Me, seeth
Him that sent Me. Certainly our Lord Jesus Christ sent
His Apostles, as their very name shews: for, as in Greek
*' angels" are in our tongue " messengers," so in Greek
" Apostles" are in our tongue " sent." Yet never would any
J^°"J' of the Apostles dare to say, He that believeth on me, believeth
29,' 6. on Him that sent me: indeed, he w^ould not even say, He
144™2. '^*^'^ believeth on me. For we believe, or give credence to,
We " believe" the Jpostles, " believe on'' Christ. 711
an Apostle, but not believe on an Apostle ; because it is not John
for an Apostle to justify the ungodly, and. To him that ^^^•^^'-
believeih on Him tJiat justijielh the ungodly, his faith is 5.
counted unto him for righteousness. An Apostle might say,
He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent me, or, He
that heareth me, heareth Him that sent me: this being in
fact what the Lord Himself said to them, He that receiveth Mat. lo,
you, receiveth Me; and lie that receiveth Me, receiveth Him '
that sent Me. Because the Lord is honoured in the servant,
and the Father in the Son ; only, the Father as in the Son,
the Lord as in the servant. But the Only-Begotten Son
could rightly say, Believe'' on God, and believe on 3Ie; and Johni4,
what He now saith. He that believeth on 3fe, believeth not on '
Me, but on Him that sent Me. Not that He hath taken off
from Himself the belief of the believing, but LEc would not
that the believing should stop at the form of a servant: since
when one believes on the Father which sent Him, of course
he believes on the Son, without Whom he knows that the
Father is not Father; and so believes as to believe Him
Equal, since it follows, And he that seeth Me, seeth Him
that sent Me.
4. Mark the rest. / am come a light into the world, thaty, 46. .
whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.
He said in a certain place to His disciples. Ye are the light M2itt.5,
of the world. A city that is set on aii hill cannot be hid. ^^~^^'
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are
in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good tvorks, and glorify your Father Which is
in heaven. Yet He said not to them. Ye are come a light
into the world, that whosoever believeth on you, should not
abide in darkness. It is impossible this should any w'here
be read, I do assure you. Lights then, all the saints
enim, Et in me credife, cum dixisset,
67. in 1. where however some few Mss, in Deiim credite : anne per id quod
hdt.\e credifis. Of the ancients, Chrys. ait, m 7ne, uon et suam intelligitur
makes TritrTeueTe in both clauses indi- signilicasse naturam ? . . . Deum se per
cative,Euthyin. imperative in both. So id docens, cum credendura in eura sit
Hilar, de Trin. ix. 19. Cum enim ait, ab his qui in Deum credant. — Lach-
Credite in Deum et in me credite, mann gives creditis in Deiim as the
qusero in quo se in natura discreverit accredited reading, citing only Hilary
qui non discrevit in honore ? Dicens for credite.
712 Christ the end, the Apostles means, of faith,
HoMiL. are; but, bj believing, they are made light by Him from
^ Whom if any man depart he will be made dark : whereas
that Light by which they are lighted cannot depart from
Itself because It is unchangeable altogether. AVe believe
then (or, give credence to) the light which is lighted, as
a Prophet, as an Apostle : but to that end believe him, that
we may believe not on the man himself, being that which is
lighted, but with him on that Light by Which he is made
light; that we also may be made light, not by him, but with
him, by the Same of Whom he was enlightened. Moreover,
in saying, that ivhosoever helievetli on Me should not abide
in darkness, He makes it plain enough that He found all
men in darkness : but, that they may not abide in the darkness
in which they were found, they ought to believe on the
Light Which is come into the world, because by it the world
Avas made.
V. 41. 5. And if any man, saith He, hear My icords, and keep
them not, I judge him not, Kemember what I know you
were told on the former Lessons ; and you who may have
forgotten, recal it to mind; and you who were not then but
are now present, hear it now. In what sense saith the Son,
John 5, I judge him not, seeing He saith in another place. Hie Father
JadgetJi no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son?
bow, but that we are to understand, At present judge him
not**.? Why not judge at present? Mark what follows:
For I am not come, saith He, to judge the world, but " iit
salrijlceni munduni^'' i. e. " ut salvum faciam mundum," to
save the world. Now therefore is the time of mercy : after-
Ps. 101, ward will be the time of judgment: for, Of mercy, saith He,
and of judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord.
6. But concerning this same Last Judgment which is to
V. 48. be, see what He saith. He that rejecteth 3Ie, and receiveth
not My words, hath one that judgeth him : the word that I
have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. He
^ Qui non adfuistis sed adestis, au- Here are three sorts of people, and
dite. Quomodo dicit Filius, Ego 7ion Aug. has one word for each: raemen-
Judieo nisi quia intelligendum tote, recolite; audite. Then he puts
est, Modo non judico eum ? But Ed. the question in the oratio directa,
Ben. and earlier editions, audite quo- Quomodo dicit Filius <fec, ? as in §.7;
modo dicit Filius &e: nisi quia, intel- qui audita meminerunt. Quomodo dat
ligendum est, Modo non judico eum. &c.? (so Oxf. Mss.)
The Word that Christ spake is Himself. 713
saith not, He that rejectetlt Me, and receiveth not My John
words^ I judge hira not in the last day. For Lad He said 48.49.
thisj I do not see how it could but be contrary to that
sentence in which Fie saith, The Father judgeth no man,
hilt hath given all judgment to the Son. But when He said.
He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My ivords, hath One
that judgeth Him, and, while they were waiting to know
who that should be, went on to say. The word icliich I
have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day, He
hath made it manifest enough that it is He Himself that will
judge in the last day. For it was Himself that He spake.
Himself that He preached, Himself that He set as the Door
by which Himself should as Shepherd enter in to His sheep.
So then they will be judged in one way, who have not heard,
in another they who have heard and have despised. For 'Rom. 2,
they that have sinned ivithout Taw, saith the Apostle, icith-
out Law will also perish : and they that have sinned in the
Law, shall hy the Law he judged.
7. For /, saith He, have nut spoken of Myself . In saying v. 49.
that He hath not spoken of Himself, He means, that He is
not of Himself Already we have often said this ; this as
already well known, we need not teach you, but only put you
in mind of it. Bat the Father Which sent 3Ie, the Same
gave Me a commandment what L should say, and what L
should speak. We should have no difficulty if we knew our-
selves to be speaking with those with whom we spake in the
former discourses, and indeed not with all of them either,
but with those who retain in their memory the things they
heard ; but now because it is likely that some are present
who did not hear, and like to them are those who have
forgotten what they heard, for their sakes let those who
heard and remember, put up with our delays. How does
the Father give commandment to the Only Son? With what
word speaketh He to the Word, when the Son is Himself
the Only-Begotten Word? By an Angel, when by Him
were the Angels created ? By the thunder-cloud ? which
when it sounded to the Son, sounded not for His own sake,
as Himself elsewhere saith, but for others' sake,w^ho behoved
so to hear ? By a sound emitted from the lips ? whereas He
hath no body, neither by any interval between place and
714 The Commandment given to the Son is, HisBeing of the Father,
HoMiL. place is the Son separated from the Father, that there should
y^^' be between them the intermediate air, by percussion of
which a voice should be made and come into the ear ? Far
from us be such surmises concerning that incorporeal
and ineffable Substance! The Only Son is the Word of
the Father, and the Wisdom of the Father: in That are all
the commandments of the Father. For it is not to be
thought that what the Father commandeth, the Son
somewhile knew not, that it should be necessary for Him
after a while to have what erewhile He had not. That
which He hath from the Father He received in that sort,
that He by being begotten received, the Father by be-
getting gave. Thus He both is Life, and received life, of
course by being begotten, not as first existing without life.
Because both the Father hath Life, and what He hath, He
is: yet not received it, seeing the Father is of none. But
the Son received life, by gift of the Father, from Whom He
is: and He too, what He hath, that is He ; for He hath life,
JohnSj and is Life. Hear Himself speaking: As the Father, saith
He, hath life in Himself, so hath He given also to the So7i
to have life in Himself. Was it to one existing and not
having, that He gave ? No, but in that He begat, He gave,
He that begat Life : and Life begat Life. And, to shew
that He begat Equal Life, not unequal, therefore it is said,
As Himself hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the
Son also to have life in Himself. Life He gave, for, in
begetting Life, what gave He but to be Life } And because
the begetting itself is eternal, at no time was the Son not in
being. Who is Life ; at no time was the Son without life :
and as the begetting is eternal, so is He that was begotten.
Life eternal. So too in respect of the commandment : not
what the Son had not, did the Father give ; but, as I said,
in the Wisdom of the Father, Which is the Word of the
Father, are all commandments of the Father. Moreover, the
commandment is said to be given, in regard that He to
Whom it is said to be given is not of Himself: and, to giv^e
to the Son that which the Son never was without, is the
same as, to beget the Son Who never was without His
being.
V. 60. 8. But it follows : And I know that His commandment
Eternal Word made known hy the spoken and written tvord. 715
is life eternal. If then the Son Himself is Life eternal, and John
the Father's commandment is Life eternal, what other is '■ — '-
said but, I am the Father's commandment? Accordingly,
in that which He goes on to say, What things I sjjeak, as
the Father told Ale, so f speak, let us not take that expression,
told 3Ie, as if the Father spake words to the Only Word, or
there could be need of God's words to the Word of God. The
Father then told the Son, just as He gave life to the Son : not
what the Son knew not or had not, but what the Son Himself
was. But what is. As He told 3Ie, so I speak, but, I speak the
Truth ? The Father so told as He that is True, the Son so
speaketh as He that is Truth. But the True begat the Truth.
What then should He now tell to the Truth ? For the Truth
was not imperfect, that It should need some true thing to
be added to It. Consequently, told to the Truth, meaning
that He begat the Truth. Moreover, the Truth Itself so
speaketh as It is spoken unto : howbeit, to them that under-
stand, whom It teacheth as It is begotten. But, that men
might believe what to understand they are not yet able, from
the mouth of flesh words sounded and passed away: the
sounds, as they fleeted by, made a noise, accomplishing their
little moments: but the things themselves of which the sounds
are signs, being in some sort conveyed into the memory of
them that heard, have, by the medium of letters, which are
visible signs, come to us likewise. Not so speaketh the
Truth : to understanding minds It speaketh inwardly, with-
out sound instructeth, with intellectual light irradiateth them.
Whoso then is able to see in It the eternity of Its begetting,
the same heareth It so speaking even as the Father told It
what It should speak. It hath roused us to great longing
after Its own inner sweetness: but by growing we take It
in, by walking we grow, by making progress we walk, that
we may be able to attain.
3b
HOMILY LV.
John xiii. 1 — 5.
Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that
His hour was come that He should depart out of this world
unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the
world. He loved them unto the end. And supper being
made, the devil having now put into the heart that Judas
Iscariot, Simon's son^ should betray him; Jesus knowing
that the Father had given all things into His hands, and
that He was come from God, and went to God ; He riseth
from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a
towel, and girded Himself After that He poureth water
into a bason, and began to wash the disciples'' feet, and to
wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.
1. The Supper of the Lord according to John, is by His
aid to be unfolded in the discourses which we owe you, and,
V. ]. as He shall bestow on us the ability, to be explained. Now
before the feast of Pascha, when Jesus kneiv that His hour
was come that He should pass out of this loorld unto the
Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He
loved thein unto the end. Pascha, my brethren, is not, as
some imagine, a Greek, but a Hebrew word : though as it
most opportunely happens this word has somewhat to match
iTertul.it in both tongues. For because " to suffer" is in Greek
jud 10 "^^^X^^^ (paschein), therefore Pascha has been supposed to
So be " passion, or, suffering," as if this name had been given
in/ii^m.fi'om passion : but in its own tongue, that is, in the Hebrew,
^^^' ^- Pascha is " transitus, a passing over:" accordingly* the first
time that the people of God celebrated the Pascha or Pass-
Exod. over, was when in their flight out of Egypt they passed over^
14,29.
* Propterea tunc primum &c. But transitus oi Israel out of Egypt; inys-
Ed. Par. 1555. propterea quia tunc tically, in connexion with this text, as
primum &c. Because the lirst cele- Christ's transitus through the death of
bration &c. (Oxf. Mss. have ' quia.') the Cross, and His people's from the
b So St. Augustine constantly inter- house of hondage and the sword of the
prets the Pascha, historically as the Destroying Angel : e.g. Enarr. in Ps,
The spiritual Passover: Christ passing from the world. 717
the Red Sea. Now therefore that prophetical figure is John
fulfilled in the truth, when Christ is led as a sheep to be^^^^'l'
immolated, with Whose blood our door-posts being marked,
i.e. our foreheads signed with the sign of His Cross, we are
delivered from the perdition of this world as from an Egyptian Exod.
captivity or destruction, and make a most salutary transition ^^' ^^*
when from the devil we pass over unto Christ, and from this
unstable world to His most surely founded kingdom. For
that we pass unto God Who abideth, it is that we may not
pass away with the passing world. Of this grace bestowed
upon us the Apostle, praising God, saith, Who hath delivered Co], i,
us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the ^^'
kingdom of the Son of His love. Touching this word
Pascha, then, which in Latin, as I have said, is transitus, i.e.
" passing over," the blessed Evangelist, as if intei-preting it
to us, saith, Before the feast of Pascha, Jesus, knowing that
His hour was come, {^^ut trajiseaf^) that He should 2^ciss
from the world unto the Father ; — lo, here is the Pascha,
here the " transitus" or passing over. Whence, and whither?
From this world, to wit, imto the Father. Thus there is hope
68, 2: 120, 6: 138, 8; de Civ. Dei 16, and their migration into the Land of
43: Epist. 55,2. seeming to overlook Canaan: spiritually, to our transition
the interpretation of the word given in from lower to higher, and our entering
Exod. xii. It is the Lord's Passover, into the Land of Promise. Now as in
riDD, V. 1 1 . And when I see the blood, ^^^J Scripture it is often the case that
I will pass over you, ^nODD, v. 13. It °)''""''^ expressions are exchanged for
is the sacrifice of the Lord^s Passover, P^'.^/'f''' I ""?'" J S '"^
Who passed over the houses of the \] }^ ^^'^) ^ome namely have aken
children of Israel in Egypt rvhen He t'' '1 f^^^^ ^'-^ 1i ''^T^
smote the Egyptians and delivered our f,''''^^ and have given t/w word a
houses, V. 27 With respect to the de- f f^f >7 ^ changing ph into p, and
^- „.. c n 1 fi r rr c into en \pliasec into pascha] . And
nvation of Pai'tV^a from Trao-yeir, Ter- .i- i '- e^ ^j u"^
x„iT 1 i. J • ^1 ^ v" 1 this word was aiterwards by usaare
tullian perhaps rested ID that etymology. „<.„ +i. i • ^i,- • ^ i -i .?
c„„ r^-i '1, .•'-,. f/ strengthened in this import, whie the
bee, besides the passage noted in the „ ° vt- e i i. i -i. i
^„' • A A n/T • 4 4r. 1 1- generality ot people took it on v m
margin. Adv. Marcion. 4, 40. where he fi^- ;_ , ^ ^^ . ,, ^ •' r,
quotes Luke 22, 15. " With desire have '^'! more reverend meaning (cos .vae^e-
I desired to eat this Pascha with you ^J^ ^'oixari). See Id Ep 53 M.
5e/bre 7 suffer-" nerh-,i.s also S Tr^n ^^^"^ ^°"^- Q^^^^^ages. (t. vil. 373.)
A%^ u '^ • P^r^^.V^ ^'^0 ^- -^^en. u Pascha, in the Hebrew Phase, is de-
4, 23. Uiem pass'ionis non isnoravit • i ' , ^^^
TVT^c^-, , J 4j J-- J.-' •,. rived, not as many suppose a passwne,
Moses, sed hguratim pronuntiavit eum v , '^ v u i.i_ j 7^ ' "'
T),^ 1 ' 9, „ '■\ ^, but a transitu, because the destroyer
Fascha appei ans. ' In many other i ^-u ^ c «^i-'^^^ci
r.ior>r.c o.^ V • c • rr.. passed ovcr thc doors, &c But the
places, as may be seen m Suicer Thes. V- r 4. t i, ^i, .
c ^ l\.r. „ • i 1 TT / u -1 Evangelist John expresses the mystery
s. v., the ancients place Uaava beside <• ^1 j v.\- i ■ ^
7racrxe:.,butwhetherasetymol?gy,orfor f. '^\Tl\ ^^^«"blimely, saymg
accommodation, is not ce tain. S. Greg. /°^^ ^^^ ^'^ ^'^ Y"'" l ^T^ <
Naz. Orat. 42. 'expounds thus: " This thePas^over,&c^^^f he makes it
great and venerable Feast is called by T,l ^T^'"'' . r ^'1 according
the Hebrews in their tongue Paschl, *^f^^ ,^"^ '^ its mystica sense was
^\,rr.\f.Ar.n. ^ Poo.;^ .1, ^ ' Called transitus, because therein the
signifying a Passing through, or over -r v c /-. i i, .1, tt- i^ j
(S:c£)3«.r.s). This relates historically to Y .^ ^k ' ' ^Y t ^'f
the flight of the Israelites outof Egypt, ^'"""^ the world, and was our Leaderin
•^ n J " ./ ^aJl' 1 our passing from Egyptian bondage."
3 B 2
718 Christ's love unto the end, that is, unto Hiinself,
HoMiL. given to the members in their Head, that, when He passed,
* they should without doubt follo^v. What then will they do,
that are unbelievers, and aliens from this Head and Its Body?
Truly, they also pass : but it is one thing to pass from the
world, another to pass with the world ; one thing, unto the
Father, another, unto an enemy. Thus the Egyptians also
passed over, but they passed not through the sea to a king-
dom, but in the sea to destruction.
2. Jesus, then, knowing that His hour was come that He
should pass out of this world unto the Father, having loved
His own which were in the world. He loved them %into the
end: of course, that they also should, in virtue of His love of
them, pass from this world wherein they were, unto their
Head, Which had passed hence. For what meaneth, JJnto
Rom. the end, but. Unto Christ ? For, Christ, saith the Apostle, is
' ' the end of the Law for righteousness unto every one that
believeth. The end, for perfection, not for destruction : the
end which we are to gain, not where we are to be lost ". So,
1 Cor. in short, we are to understand, Christ our Passover is sacri-
' ' feed. He is our end, to Him as our goal do we pass over.
For I see that these words of the Gospel can be taken in a
certain human sort, namely, that as even unto death Christ
loved His own, this should be taken to be the meaning of.
Loved them unto the end. This is a human thought, not a
Divine : for indeed it was not but thus far that He loved us,
Who doth always and without end love us. Far be it from
us to imagine that He made death the end of His loving. Who
made not death the end of His living. Even after death that
Luteie, proud and impious Dives loved his five brothers, and shall
27.28. Christ be thought to have loved us but unto death .^ That
be far, my beloved ! In vain would He in loving us have
come even unto death, if of His loving us He had made an
end in death. Unless perchance we are thus to understand.
He loved them unto the end, namely, that He loved them so
greatly as to die for them. For this He hath witnessed,
Johni5, saying. Greater love than this hath no man, that a man lay
^^' down his life for his friends. In this way indeed we do not
forbid it to be understood that He loved unto the end, that
is, even unto death did this love bring Him.
<= Finis perficiens non interficiens ; linis quo usque eamus non ubi pereamus.
Spiritual suggestions act directly upon the thoughts. 719
3. And supper being made, the devil having noio put into John
the heart that Judas Iscariot, Simoii's son, shoidd betray 2—5.'
Him; Jesus knowiJig that the Father had given all things v. 2—5.
into His hands, and that He was come from Qod, and loent
to God; He risethfrom supper, and laid aside His gar merits ;
and took a towel, and girded Himself, After that He
lioureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples'
feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was
girded. We are not to understand '' cceiia facta''' as if the
supper was finished and over*^, for the supper was yet going
on when the Lord rose up and washed the feet of His
disciples. For after this He sat down, and it was after this
that He gave the morsel to His betrayer ; the supper there-
fore, of course, being not yet over, that is, the bread being
yet on the table. '' Coena facta^'' then, means, the supper
being now made ready and brought to the table for the use
of the guests.
4. But whereas the Gospel saith, The devil having now
put into the heart that Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, shoidd
betray Him^: if thou ask what was sent (or, put) into the
heart of Judas: why, this, that he should betray Him.
This " sending" is spiritual suggestion: it takes place not
through the ear, but through the thought : and therefore not
corporeally but spiritually. For that a thing is called
spiritual is not always to be taken for praise. The Apostle
knoweth certain spiritual (powers) of wickedness in heavenly Eph. 6,
places, against which, he testifieth, we have our wrestling.
Now there could not be also wicked spiritual powers, were
^ AetTTj/ou yevofievov (Cod. B. and should mean the devil's own heart.
Origen in I. yivofxeuov) : compare the Perhaps, however, the earlier form of
expressions, bypias yevofi^vris, y^uofxeyov this reading was 'tua tt. avrhy, 'lovda
<ra;8)8aTou, " when evening was come, St^uwj'os'Io-KapicoTot;: and it is remarkable
&c.'' That the meaning is not, "sup- that Origen, though his text gives the
per being ended," is shewn by the nominative, interprets as if it were the
subsequent context, v. 12. 26. 27. genitive, and also (Comm. in Ev. Joann.
« Citm diabohis jam mlsisset in cor t. xxxii. 2.) has this comment: toutoj
rit traderet eum Judas Simonis Isca- Se olkoXovQcxis \eyois ti,]/ irepl eKacrrov rwv
rio^e^jVet. Lat. and Vulg. in agreement vTrh rod diafiuAov els rr]v /capStW Terpco-
with Cod. B. and Origen, jSc^Atj/cc^tos fxeucoy' tov SLafi6Aov/]Sr] fie^A.T]K6Tos els
els Tr]v KapUav 'Ivairapadw avToy'lovdas rrjy KapSiay, 'lya Tropyevcrr}, tov
2.'I. so Copt, and Arm. Modern critics 8e7ya' Kal, 'lya airoa-reprjcrr}, tov 5e7ya'
have supposed that the text was thus k.t.K not els ttji/ Kupdiay tou 5e7ya,
altered with the intention of reconciling nor '{ya iropyevaii 6 delya.
V. 2. with v. 27. so that els rrjy KapUav
720 Christ, laying aside His garments,
HoMiL. there not also wicked spirits. For it is from spirit that
_ilZ:_ things spiritual have their name. But how these things are
brought to pass, that diabolical suggestions should be sent
in and blended with human thoughts, so that the man
accounts them to be his own, how should man know ? Nor
is it to be doubted that good suggestions likewise are wrought
by the good Spirit in this latent and spiritual manner: but it
makes a difference to which of them the human mind con-
sents, whether as being of the Divine Aid deservedly for-
saken, or, gi'aciously assisted thereby. It had been brought
to pass, then, already in the heart of Judas, being sent there-
into by the devil, that he, the disciple, should betray his Master,
but a Master whom he had not learned to be God. Already
such, he had come to the banquet, to dog the steps of the
Shepherd, to plot against the Saviour, to sell the Redeemer :
already such he had come, and was seen, and was tolerated,
and imagined that he was not known : because in Him
Whom he wished to deceive, he was himself deceived. But
He, Who saw into his very heart, wittingly used this man as
the unwitting instrument of His purposes.
5. Knowing that the Father had given all things into His
hands: and therefore the traitor too : for had He him not in
His hands. He could not have used him as He would.
Accordingly, the traitor was himself delivered unto Him
whom He wished to deliver up, that from delivering Him
up there should be brought to pass the good he wist not of.
For the Lord knew what He would do for His friends, while
He patiently made use of His foes : and thus had the Father
given all things into His hands, both evil things for using,
and good things for effecting. Knowing also that He came
from God and went to God: quitting neither God in coming
thence, nor us in going hence.
V.4. 5. 6. Knowing, then, all this, He riseth from supper, and
layeth aside His garments ; and took a towel, and girded
Himself After that He poureth water into a bason, and
began to wash the disciples'' feet, and to wipe them with the
towel wherewith He was girded. We ought, my beloved, to
mark most diligently the meaning of the Evangelist. Being to
speak, namely, of the Lord's so great lowliness, He would
first lay well to our hearts His loftiness. With this view he
TheSame Wholaid by His Glory and fut ontheform of a servant.l^ 1
saith, Knoicing that the Father had given all things into His John
hands, and that He came from God and went to God. — '—
Whereas then the Father had given all things into His
hands, He washed, not the hands, but the feet of the dis-
ciples : and whereas He knew that He came from God and
went to God, he fulfilled the office not of God and Lord, but
of man and a servant. With this view also, he chose to
preface his story with mention of the traitor, who, being
already such as he was, had come, and not unknown by the
Lord; that this too might go to enhance still more His
sui-passing lowliness, that He disdained not even to wash
the feet of him, whose hands He already saw in the act of
wickedness.
7. But what marvel that He rose from supper and laid
aside His garments, Who, being in the form of God, emptied Phil. 2 ,
Himself? And what marvel that He girded Himself with a
towel. Who, taking upon Him the form of a servant^ was
foundin fashion as a man? What marvel that He poured
water in a bason wherewith to wash the disciples' feet. Who
shed His blood upon the earth wherewith to wash out the
filthiness of sins ? What marvel that with the towel, where-
with He was girded. He wiped the feet He had washed.
Who by the flesh He had j^ut on, confirmed the footsteps of
the Evangelists? And truly, that He might gird Himself
with the towel, He laid aside the garments He had on : but,
that He might take upon Him the form of a servant, when
He emptied Himself, not what He had He laid aside, but what
He had not, took. About to be crucified. He was stripped
indeed of His garments, and being dead, was wrapped in linen
cloths, and all that passion of His is our cleansing. Being
then to suffer the extreme of man's hatred. He first performed
the lowly services of love^, not only to them for whom He^P^ssu-
was about to undergo death, but even to him who was about juaprffi-
to deliver Him up to death. So great, trulv, is the benefit "l^^'*^ .
/. , , . ^ ,, J. obsequia
01 man s lowliness, that even God s loftiness was pleased to
enforce it by His own pattern : because proud man should
be for ever lost, had not a lowly God found him. For ^/^^Lukeio,
Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Lost by following the pride of the deceiver, let him follow
the lowliness of the Redeemer, being found.
HOMILY LVI.
John xiii. 6 — 10.
Then cometh He to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto Kim.,
Lord J dost Thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said
unto him^ What I do thou knowest not now; hut thou shalt
know hereafter, Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt not
wash my feet, for ever! Jesus answered him. If I wash thee
not, thou hast no part with Me. Simon Peter saith unto
Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my
head! Jesus saith to him. He that is washed needeth not
save to wash his feet, hut is clean every whit.
6. 1. When the Lord washed the feet of the disciples, He
cometh to Simon Peter; and Peter saith to Him, Lord, dost
Thou wash my feet? For who would not shrink back in
dismay from having his feet washed by the Son of God ?
Although therefore it was great audacity for a servant to
gainsay his Lord, a man his God, yet Peter chose rather to
do this than suffer his feet to be washed by his Lord and his
God. And we are not to suppose that Peter, of all his
fellows, quailed at and refused this, when others before him
had willingly or with equanimity permitted it to be done to
them. It is easier, no doubt, so to take these words of the
Gospel, (since after saying, He began to wash the disciples'*
feet, and to icipe them loith the towel wherewith He was
girded, then it goes on to say, He cometh therefore to Simon
Peter,) as meaning, that He had already washed some, and
Christ must wash all that are His. 723
after them came to their chief: for who can deny that the John
"K TTT
chief of the Apostles is the most blessed Peter ? Yet we are 7_io'.
not so to understand the matter, that, after some. He came
to him, but, that He began with him. When therefore He
began to wash the disciples* feet. He came to him at whom
He began, i.e. to Peter: and then Peter, just as any of them
would have done, shrunk back in dismay, and said. Lord,
dost Thou wash my feet? Thou, for me? What is Thou?
what is. For Me? Things to be thought rather than spoken:
lest haply what from these words the soul conceiveth in any
measure worthily, the tongue fail to unfold.
2. But Jesus answered and said, unto him, What I do, v. 7.
thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. And
still will not he, dismayed by the depth of the Lord's action,
permit that to be done, which why it was done he knew not:
but, that Christ should be low even at his feet, as yet
he will not see it done ; he cannot bear it. Thou shalt not v. 8.
wash my feet, saith he, /or ever. What meaneth,yb/- ever?
* Never will I bear this, never suffer, never let it be \ to say
that a thing shall not be done for ever, means that it shall
never be done. Then the Saviour, scaring the sick man out
of his reluctance with the peril of his salvation, saith. If I
wash thee not, thou wilt have no part with 3Ie. That it is
said. If 1 wash thee not, in a matter which concerned only
the feet, is just as people use to say, ' Thou treadest on me,'
when it is but the foot that is trodden upon. But he, in the
perturbation of love and fear, and more dismayed by the
thought of Christ denied him, than of Christ humbled even
to his feet, saith. Lord, not my feet only, but also hands and^- 9.
head! Since upon this threat Thou dost enforce it that my
members must needs be washed by Thee, not only the lowest
do I not draw from under Thy hands, but the chiefest I lay
down beneath Thy feet. Lest Thou deny it me that I should
have any part with Thee, I deny it not to Thee that thou
shouldest wash any part of my body.
3. Jesus saith to him. He that is washed, needeth not save v. lo.
to wash his feet, but is clean every uhit. Here perchance
some one may be staggered, and say, ' Nay, if he is clean
every whit, what need even to wash his feet?' But the Lord
knew what He was saying, although our infirmity cannot
724 Made clean every whit in Holy Baptism^
HoMiL. penetrate His secrets. Nevertheless, in so far as He deigneth
'- to instruct and teach us out of His Law, according to my
reach, according to my measure, even I may, with His
assistance, have somewhat to answer concerning the depth
of this question: and first, that the expression does not
contradict itself, I can most easily shew. For why should it
not be quite correctly said, ' He is clean every whit, " prseter
pedes," except the feet?' Though it is spoken more elegantly
if he say, * He is clean every whit, " nisi pedes," unless it be
the feet ;' which comes to the same thing ". This then it is
that the Lord saith, Needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean every ichit; of course, every whit except the feet, or,
unless it be the feet, which he needeth to wash.
4. But what is this ? what does it mean ? what is this
Enarr. necessary thing that we must seek ? The Lord saith it, the
92. J.3. Truth speaketh it, that one needeth to wash his feet, even he
that is washed. What should it be, my brethren, what think
ye.? but, that the man in holy Baptism, indeed, is washed
every whit, not " except the feet," but the whole man
altogether: yet, seeing thereafter one has to live in the
midst of human affairs, of course one treads upon the earth.
Therefore our human affections themselves, without which
in this mortal state we cannot live, are as the feet wherein
1 John we are affected by human affairs, and so affected that, if we
' • say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. Every day therefore He washeth our feet, Who
Rom. 8, intercedeth for us : and that v^e do every day need to wash
our feet, that is, to direct the ways of our spiritual steps, we
Matt. 6, confess also in the Lord'*s prayer, when we say. Forgive us
1 John ^''^' debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if, as it is VATitten,
i>9. ^c confess our sins, doubtless He Who washed the feet of
His disciples, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that is, even to the
feet, wherewith we move to and fro on earth.
Eph^s, 5. Accordingly, the Church which Christ cleanseth with
the laver of water in the word, is not only in them without
spot and wrinkle, who after the laver of regeneration are
forthwith taken from the contagion of this life, and do not
« Quod tantumdem valet. One Ms. needs wash." Ben. (Oxf. Mss. as
quos tantum lavet, " which only he Ed.)
26. 27.
They must wash their feet from daily transgressions, 725
tread upon the earth that they should need to wash their John
feet; but also in them whom the Lord, affording them this ^H^'
mercy, hath made to depart from this world with feet also
washen. But as for these who tarry here, albeit in them she
be clean, because they live righteously, yet they have need
to wash their feet, because without sin in any wise they are
not. For this reason she saith in the Song of Songs, I have Cant. 5,
washed my feet, how shall I defile them f For she saith '
this, when she is constrained to come to Christ, and to tread
upon the earth when she cometh. Again, another question
arises. Is not Christ above? Is He not ascended into
heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father ? Doth
not the Apostle cry, saying, If ye then be risen ivith Christ, Col. 3,
set your affections on those things that are above, where is ' ^'
Christ, sitting on the right hand of God : seek those tilings
that are above, not the things that are on the earth ? How
then, that we may go to Christ, are we forced to tread upon
the earth, when we have rather to lift up our heart unto the
Lord, that we may be with Him ? Ye see, my brethren,
that the limits of our time to-day are too narrow for this
question. Or if perchance ye do not see it, I at any rate
see how much discourse it craveth. Wherefore I beg that
you would suffer it to be rather suspended, than handled
negligently, or within too narrow limits; not that your
expectation should be defrauded, but only deferred. For
the Lord will be with us to aid, that as He maketh us to
owe, so He shall make us able to pay.
HOMILY LVII.
HOW THE CHURCH FEARS TO DEFILE HER FEET, WHILE SHE IS
ON HER WAY TO CHRIST.
1. Not unmindful of my debt, I acknowledge that now is
the time of payment. May He give me wherewith to pay,
Who gave me to owe. For He hath given me that love
Rom. of which it is said. Owe no man any tiling^ hut to love one
' ' another : may He also give the discourse which 1 see that
I owe to you whom I love. I had deferred, namely, to
satisfy your expectation, to the end I might unfold as I
should be able, how we do also walk upon the earth to come
Col. 3, unto Christ, albeit we are rather bidden to seek the things
' ' that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For
Christ is above, sitting on the right hand of the Father : but
doubtless He is also here ; as also He saith to Saul, while on
Acts 9, earth he raged against Him, WJiy persecuiest thou Me 7
Now, that we should take in hand this enquiry, the reason
was, that we were discoursing of the Lord's washing the
disciples' feet, when the disciples themselves were already
washed, and needed not save to wash their feet. Where it
seemed we must understand that in Baptism, it is true, the
man is every whit washed ; but then, while he thereafter
lives in this world, his human affections being as the feet
with which he treads upon the earth, he does in the
very moving to and fro in this life contract that which
Matt. 6, gives him cause to say. Forgive us our debts. And so is he
Rom. 8 cleansed from that also, by Him Who washed the feet of
3« His disciples, and ceaseth not to make intercession for us.
Hereupon there occurred to us, out of the Song of Songs,
Danger of self-conceit in preaching the word. I'll
the words of the Church where she saith, I have washed my John
feel: hoiv shall 1 defile them ? when she would fain go, and
open to Him Who had come unto her, and had knocked and
demanded that it should be opened unto Him, even He that
is fairer than the children of men. Hence arose a question Ps.45,2.
which, being loath to crowd it within the narrow limits of our
time, we deferred : namely, how the Church fears to defile
her feet, while on her way to Christ, having washed them
with the Baptism of Christ.
2. For thus saith she : / sleep., and my heart waketh ; it Cant. 5,
is the voice of my Kinsman^ knocking at the door. And then ff^j^^^.^
He saith ; Open to Me, 3Iy sister, My nearest, My dove, My eiis,
perfect one ; for My head is filled with the dew, and My\^- ^^'
locks with the drops of night. And she makes answer: /
have put off my coat, how shall I put it on ? I have washed
my feet, how shall I defile them ? O admirable sacrament !
O grand mystery! Then doth she fear to defile her feet in
coming unto Him Who washed the feet of His disciples ?
She does fear assuredly, because her way lieth over the earth
to Him, Who also on earth is present, because He forsaketh
not His that be here. Or saith He not Himself, Lo, I am Mat.28,
with you alway, even unto the end of the world? saith He *
not. Ye shall see the heavens open, and the Angels of God John i,
ascending and descending on the Son of 3Ian f If they ascend
unto Him because He is above, how should they descend
if He is not also here ? The Church, then, saith : / have
washed my feet, how shall I defile them? She saith this in
them, who being cleansed from all their dregs are able to
say, / desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, but ^oPhil. i,
continue in the fiesh is more necessary for your sakes. She * *
saith this in them who preach Christ and open to Him the
door, that He may dwell by faith in the hearts of men. In Ephes.
these she saith this, when they deliberate whether they shall ' ^''
take upon them such a ministry, to which they feel them-
selves unequal, that they may fulfil it without blame, lest
haply, preaching unto others, they themselves be cast-aways. i Cor.
For it is safer hearing the truth than preaching it : because '
in hearing it, one may keep humility; but in preaching, it
shall hardly fail, be the preacher who he may of human
beings, but there shall creep into his mind some little, how-
728 Some are set in the Church for study and contemplation.
HoMiL. ever little, of self-conceit, whereby in any wise the feet are
defiled.
James 3. Therefore, as the Apostle James saith. Let every man
' * be swift to hear, but slow to speak. Another man of God
Ps.6i,8.also saith, To mine hearing thou shall give joy and gladness,
and the bones that were humbled shall exult. This it is
that I said. In hearing the truth, humility is kept. Also
John 3, another saith, But the friend of the Bridegroom standeth
and heareth Him, and rejoiceth with joy because of the
Bridegroom^ s voice. Let us enjoy the hearing, while noise-
lessly the Truth speaketh to us from within. Though when
also it is sounded from without by the voice of him that
reads, of him that bringeth tidings, him that preacheth,
that reasoneth, comraandeth, comforteth, exhorteth, nay
even by his that chanteth and singeth psalms: let them
whose business it is to do these things, fear to defile their
feet, while through love of man's praise creeping into their
minds, they make it their aim to please men. He, however,
that hears them gladly and piously, has no place for boast-
Mnflatising in another man's labours; and, not with elated', but
" humbled bones," rejoiceth ivith joy because of the voice of
the Lord's Truth. Therefore in the persons of them who
know how to hear gladly and humbly, and pass a quiet life
in sweet and wholesome studies, let holy Church take her
delight and say, / sleep, and my heart waketh. What
meaneth, I sleep, and my heart waketh, but, I so rest that I
hear? My leisure is not bestowed on the pampering of
sloth, but on the getting of wisdom. / sleep, and my heart
waketh : I am unoccupied, and see that Thou art the Lord :
Eccius. because the wisdom of the scribe cometh in time of leisure.
2mino:-'^^^^ ^^^ /Afl'^^ hath little business, the same shall get wisdom.
I sleep, and my heart waketh: I rest from the hurry of
business, and my mind bends itself up for godly affections.
4. But in them who in this manner sweetly and humbly
rest, while in their persons the Church doth leisurely take
Mat. 10, her delight, behold, He knocketh Who saith. What things
I speak to you in darkness, speak ye in the lights and that
which ye hear in the ear, preach ye upon the house-tops.
His voice, I say, knocketh at the door, and saith, Open to
Me, My sister. My nearest. My dove. My perfect one;
atur
actu
And some are called to the ministry of action. 7*29
because My head is Jllled with the dew, and My locks with John
the drops of night. As if He should say, Thou art unoc- ^^^^*
cupied, and the door is shut against Me ; thou studiest for
the leisure of the ^^dw, and by the abounding of iniquity the
love of the many waxeth cold. For the night is, iniquity :
but the dew and drops thereof, are these who wax cold and
fall, and cause that the Head of Christ waxeth cold, namely,
that God is not loved. For, the Head of Christ is God. i Cor.
But they are borne upon His locks, i. e. in visible sacra- ^^' ^*
ments are tolerated: by no means reach the inner seat of
feeling. He knocketh therefore, to break the repose of the
saints which live in leisure, and crieth, Open to Me, thou
who of My blood art My sister ; in virtue of My drawing
nigh, My nearest; in virtue of My Spirit, 3Iy dove; in
virtue of My word, which of thy leisure thou hast more
fully learnt, My perfect one; open to Me, preach Me. For
unto them which have shut the door against Me, how shall
I enter in, without one to open ? how shall they hear without Rom.
a preacher ? ^^' ^^'
5. Hence it comes to pass, that also these who love the
leisure of virtuous studies, and are loath to have to bear the
troubles of laborious active duties, because they feel them-
selves ill-suited to minister in these things, and to do them
without blame; would rather, if it were possible, that holy
Apostles and preachers of truth, which were of old, should
be roused up against the abounding of iniquity, whereby the
fervour of charity is waxen cold. But in them which are
now departed from the body and stripped of the clothing of
the flesh, the Church (for they are not separated from her)
maketh answer, / have put off my coat, how shall I put it
on? That coat indeed shall be taken again, and in the
persons of them who have now put it off, the Church shall
again be clad with flesh : yet not now, when the cold need
to be warmed ; but then, when the dead shall rise. Being
then put to difiiculties for lack of preachers, and calling
to mind those her members, sound in discourse, holy in
manners, but now stripped of their bodies, the Church groans
and says, / have put off my coat, how shall I put it on ?
Those my members which were of most excellent ability to
open unto Christ by preaching the Gospel, to the bodies
they are stripped of, how can they now return ?
730 And Christ will wash their feet from worldly defilements.
HoMiL. 6. Then turning her regard to them who have, m what-
i^^^ ever sort, the ability to preach, to win new flocks and to rule
them, and so to open unto Christ, but in the difficulties of
these active duties fear to sin, she saith, / have washed my
James feet ; how shall I defile them ? For whosoever in word
^'^'^' offendeth not, the same is a perfect man. And who is
perfect ? who is there that offendeth not in such abounding
of iniquity, such waxing cold of charity ? / have washed
my feet ; how shall I defile them ? While I read, and hear,
My brethren, he not many masters, since ye receive greater
condemnation ; for in many things we offend all: — / have
washed my feet ; how shall I defile them? But behold,
Matt. 6, 1 arise and open. O Christ, wash them: Forgive us our
^^' debts, seeing our charity is not extinct, for we also forgive
Ps. 51, our debtors. When we hear Thee, the bones that were
^' humbled exult with Thee in the heavenly places. But
when we preach Thee, we tread upon earth that we may
open unto Thee : so, if we are blamed, we are troubled ;
if praised, puffed up. Wash our feet, once cleansed, but
while we walk through earth to open unto Thee, again
defiled. Let this content you for to-day, my dearly beloved.
If in any thing, speaking otherwise than was meet, we have
belike offended, or by your praises have more than was
meet been elevated; obtain ye cleansing for our feet, by
your God-pleasing prayers.
HOMILY LVIII.
John xiii. 10 — 15.
And ye are clean^ hat not all. For He knew who should
betray Him ; therefore said He^ Ye are not all clean.
So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His
garments, and was set down again, He said unto them,
Know ye uhat I have done to you ? Ye call Me Master
and Lord: and ye say well ; for so I am. If I then,
your Lord and Master, have washed your feet ; ye also
ought to wash one an other'' s feet . For I have given you an
example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
1. Those words of the Gospel, where the Lord, washing
the feet of His disciples, said, He that is once washed,
needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit,
we have already expounded to you, ray beloved, as the Lord
vouchsafed to bestow : now let us see what follows : And ye, v. lo.
saith He, are clean, but not all. That we should not have
to ask what this means, the Evangelist himself hath opened
it, adding, For He knew who should betray Him: therefore^- H-
said He, Ye are not all clean. What can be plainer than
this ? Then let us pass on to what follows.
2. So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His v. 12.
garments, and was set down again. He said unto them.
Know ye what I have done to you ? Now is the time that
blessed Peter should receive the payment of that which was
promised ; for he was put off, when, as he shrunk back and
3 c
732 Self-praise is odious in man :
HoMiL. said, Thoic shall not wash mi/ feet, for ever, it was said to
^ Q n him in answer, JVhat I do thou knowest not now, hut thou
shall know hereafter. Behold, now is that " hereafter" :
now is tlie time that he should he told that, which a little
while before was deferred. Accordingly, the Lord, mindful
that He has all along promised them the knowledge of
that which He has done, an action so unthought of, so
marvellous, which they must needs recoil from in such
dismay, and, had He not put them in great fear, could in no
wise have suffered — that the Master, not of them only but
of Angels, and the Lord, not only of them but of all things,
should wash the feet of His own disciples and servants : I say
then, because He had promised them the knowledge of this
so astonishing action, saying. But thou shall know hereafter;
He now begins to teach them what this thing was that He
had done.
V. 13. 3. Ye, saith He, call Me blaster and Lord: and ye say
well, for so I am. Ye say icell, because ye say true ; for
Prov. I am that which ye say. To man the precept is given. Let
not thine oivn mouth praise thee, but let the mouth of thy neigh-
bour praise thee. For, to be pleased with himself is perilous
to one who has need to beware lest he w^ax proud. But how
much soever He that is above all may praise Himself, to
extol or lift Himself higher is not for the Most High : and
" arrogant" is not a word that can be rightly applied to God.
For, that we know Him, is good for us, not for Him : nor can
one get to know H im, unless He thatknoweth Him, thatis, unless
God, Himself make Him known. If then it should be His will,
by not praising Himself, to shun the appearance of arrogancy,
then must He deny us wisdom. And this, indeed, that He
calls Himself Master, none even though accounting Him
to be no more than man, would take amiss, since therein
He professes but what even men in their sundry crafts pro-
fess, and are so far from being thought arrogant for professing,
that they are even called professors. But, that one should
affirm himself to be Lord of his disciples, whereas they too,
in respect of this world, are free-born men, who would bear
this in a mere man ? But it is God that speaketh. Here is no
self-elation in Him Whose Highness is so great, no lie in Him
Who is the Truth : His is an Highness to which it is for
27,2.
hut there can be no over-weening in the Most High. 783
our own good that we be subject, for our own good that we John
be servants to the Truth. That He calleth Himself Lord is j^^Jg
in Him no wrong, but is to us a benefit. A certain secular
author is praised for his words, where he saith*, " While all J Cicero
arrogancy is odious, the arrogancy of v\it and eloquence iscadL^'
most especially annoying:" and yet the same person, speak-
ing of his own eloquence, says ^ " I would say that it is per- ^ Id. de
feet, if I judged it to be so; nor would I shrink from the
truth for fear of being called arrogant." If then that most
eloquent man on behalf of truth would not fear to be thought
arrogant, how should Truth Itself be afraid of the charge of
arrogancy ? Let Him call Himself Lord, Who is Lord ; let
Him call Himself True, Who is Truth : lest I learn not the
thing that is good for me, while He forbears to speak the
thing that He is. The most blessed Paul, not indeed the
Only-Begotten Son of God, but of God's Only-Begotten Son
a servant and an apostle; not the Truth, but a partaker of
the Truth ; saith frankly and firmly, And though I were fain 2 Cor.
to glory, I should not he a fool, for I say the truth. For not ^^' ^*
in himself, but in the Truth Itself, Which is higher than he,
would he both humbly and truly glory; since he has himself
enjoined, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. What, i Cor.
should he not fear to be thought unwise, were he fain to^^^^*
glory, who was a lover of wisdom, and should Wisdom Itself
in its own glory fear to be thought unwise ? He feared not
to be thought arrogant, who said. In the Lord shall my soul Fs.Z4,2.
be praised : and should the power of the Lord, in which the
soul of the servant is praised, fear to be thought arrogant in
Its own praise ? Ye, saith He, call Me Master and Lord,
and ye say well : for so I am. Ye say well, because I am
so : for were I not what ye say, ye would say ill, although ye
praised Me. How then should the Truth deny what the
Truth's disciples' affirm ? how, what they affirm which have
learned, should That deny fiom Which they learned ?
How shall the Fountain deny what he that drinks thereof
doth tell forth ? how the Light hide what he that sees
thereby doth make known ?
4. If I then, your Lord and Blaster, have washed yourv-14^15.
feet; ye also ought to wash one another'' s feet. For I have
given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to
3 c 2
734 TVe ^' ivash one anothcr'^sfeet^^ hy hvmiUty,
HoMiL. ?yow. This is that, O blessed Peter, which thou knewestnot,
^ when thou wouldest not suffer it to be done. This it is, that
He promised thou shouldest know thereafter, when He
frightened thee into suffering it, He, thy Master and thy
Lord, washing thy feet. We have learnt, my brethren, low-
liness from the Most High ; let us lowly do one to another,
what was lowly done by the Most High, Great is this com-
mendation of humility: and in fact the brethren do this one
to another, even in the visible work itself, when they receive
one another to be their guests : for the most make a custom
of this humility, even to the action in which it is beheld
expressed. Whence the Apostle, commending a well-
1 Tim. deserving widow, saith. If she have entertained strangers^ if
' ' she have washed the saints' feet. And among the saints,
wheresoever this custom is not, yet, what they do not with
hand, they do in heart, if they be of the number of those to
Hymn \^'hom we say in the hymn of the three blessed men, 0 ye
dicite' holy and humble men of hearty bless ye the Lord. But it is
^^^"" much better, and without controversy truer, that it should
LXX.) also be done with the hands : and what Christ did, let not a
Christian man disdain to do. For when the body is bowed
even to the feet of a brother, then in the heart itself the affec-
tion of humility is either excited, or if it was there already,
is confirmed \
5. But, apart from this moral sense, we remember that we
bade you lay to heart the depth of meaning in this action of
the Lord, in this way, that in washing the feet of the disciples
already washed and clean, the Lord signified, in respect of
the human affections wherewith we move about on earth, that,
how great soever may be the progress we have made in the
apprehending of righteousness, we should know ourselves to
be not without sin : which, ever and anon. He washeth off
by making intercession for us, \vhen we pray our Father
]Vlatt.6,Wl]ich is in heaven to forgive us our debts, as ice forgive
our debtors. Tlicn what can it have to do with this sense,
f' S. Aug. <le Cnra pro MortuiSj%.7. in outward sort made, that inward
(" Seventeen Short Ireatises,'^ p. 524.) invisible one which made them is in-
" And I know not how it is that, while creased : and thereby the heart's aifec-
these motions of the body cannot be tioo which preceded that they might
made but by a motion of the mind pre- be made, groweth because they are
ceding, yet' by the same being visibly made."
J2
and by mutual intercession and forgiveness, 735
that, thereafter He hath Himself tauffht thus, where He hath John
XIII
expounded the reason of that which He did, saying, (//14.15'.
then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye
ought also to wash orie another' s feet: for I have given you
an example, that ye should do as I have done to you ? Can
we say that it shall even be possible for brother to cleanse
brother from the contagion of sin ? Nay, but let us know
that we are taught this lesson also, in the depth of meaning
which is in this action of the liOrd, that, having confessed
our sins one to another, we should pray each for other, even Rom. 8,
' 0 4
as Christ maketh intercession for us. Hear we the Apostle
James most manifestly enjoining this, and saying, Confess
your sins one to another, and pray each for other. Because
hereunto also hath the Lord given us an example. For if
He Who neither hath, nor had, nor will have, any sin,prayeth
for our sins, how much more ought we to pray for our sins,
each for other ? And if He forgiveth our sins. Whom we
have nothing to forgive, how much more ought we to forgive
each other, who cannot live here without sin ? For what
doth the Lord seem to signify in this depth of inward and
spiritual meaning, when He saith, 1 have given you an ex-
ample, that ye should do as I have done to you, save what
the Apostle saith most openly, Forgiving 07ie another, if any Coi. 3,
man have a quarrel against any; as the Lord hath forgiven
you, so also do ye? Let us then forgive one another his
sins, and for our sins pray one for another, and so in some
sort wash one another's feet. It is ours, by His gift, to apply
the ministry of charity and humility : it is Flis, to hear our
prayers, and to cleanse us from all contamination of sins
through Christ and in Christ; that, what we also forgive
others, that is, loose on earth, may be loosed in heaven.
HOMILY LIX.
John xiii. 16—20.
Verily , verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than
^ Jpo' his Lord; neither'^ he that is sent greater than He that sent
^'^ '^* him. If ye know these things, blessed shall ye he if ye do them,
I speah not of you all: 1 know whom I have chosen: hut
that the Scripture may he fulfilled, He that eateth hread
with Me will lift up his heel against Me. Now I tell you
hefore it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may helieve
that I am He. Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that
receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me; and he that
receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.
1. We have heard in the holy Gospel the Lord speaking
V. 16.17. and saying, Verily, verily, 1 say unto you. The servant is not
greater than his Lord; neither he that is sent greater than
He that sent him. If ye knoiv these things, blessed shall ye
he if ye do them. This He said, because He had washed
the disciples' feet, a Master of humility both by word and by
example : but we shall be able to discourse, with His assist-
ance, on those parts which need to be discoursed upon with
greater pains, if we do not spend much time on those that
are manifest. The Lord then, having promised this, went
y,\^, on to say, / speak not of you all: I know whom I Juive
chosen: but that the Scripture may he fulfilled. He that
eateth bread uith Me uill lift up his It eel against 3Ie.
What does this mean, but, Will tread upon Me ? We know
of whom He speaks: Judas His betrayer is here touched.
Consequently, him He had not chosen ; whence, by this
Judas ate the Lord's bread, not that which is the Lord, 737
word, He sets him apart from those whom He has chosen. John
XIII
' What I say therefore,' saith He, ' Blessed shall ye he if ye do 19. 20*.
them, I say not of you all: there is among you one who
will not be blessed, neither will do them. / know whom I
have chosen.'' Whom, but those who shall be blessed by
doing the things which He hath enjoined, and shewn them
how to do; He, Who hath power to make blessed? The
traitor Judas, He saith, is not chosen. Then how saith He
in another place. Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you ch.6,7l,
is a devil? Or, was he too chosen unto something; some-
thing, namely, whereunto he was necessary; but not unto
the blessedness of which He now saith, Blessed shall ye be
if ye do them ? This He saith not of all, for He knows
whom He has chosen unto the fellowship of this blessedness.
Not of their number is this man, who, while he fed upon
His bread, lifted up his heel against Him. They ale the
Bread, the Lord ; he, the bread of the Lord against the
Lord : they, Life, he, punishment. For he that eaieth un- ^ Cor.
worthily, saith the Apostle, eateth judgment to himself. '
Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to 'pass,'^. 19.
ye may believe that I am He: i. e. / am He of Whom that
Scripture went before, where it is written. He that eateth
bread with Me, will lift up the heel against Me.
2. Then He goes on to say. Verily, verily ^ I say unto you,"^-^^»
He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me; but he
that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent 3Ie. Did He
wish it to be understood that the difference between him
whom He sendeth and Himself is the same as between Him-
self and God the Father ? If we take it in this way, we shall,
after the manner of the Arians, which God forbid, make I
know not what steps of gradation. They, namely, when
they hear these words of the Gospel, or read them, straight-
way betake them to those gradations of their dogma, those
steps by which they, not ascend unto life, but go headlong
unto death. For forthwith they say. By how much an
Apostle of the Son differs from the Son, although He saith.
He that receiveth uhomsoever I shall send, receiveth Me, by
so much the Son differs from the Father, although He saith,
But he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent 3Ie. But
if thou sayest this, thou hast forgotten, O heretic, thy grada-
738 The vanity of the Arian dogma of gradations.
HoMiL.tions. For if, on account of these words of the Lord, thou
LIX
puttest betwixt Son and Father the same interval as between
an Apostle and the Son, where wilt thou place the Holy
Ghost ? Has it dropped from thy memory that ye are wont to
place Him after the Son ? Consequently He will be between
Apostle and Son, and the Son shall be much further off from
the Apostle, than the Father from the Son. Or haply, that
between Son and Apostle, and between Father and Son, this
distinction by equal intervals may hold good, shall the Holy
Spirit be equal to the Son ? But neither will ye have it so.
Then where will ye place Him, if by what severance ye
place Son below Father, by the same ye place Apostle
below Son ? Restrain ye therefore the audacity of your
presumption, and in these words go not about to seek the
same distance between Son and Father as between Son and
ch. 10, Apostle. Hear ye rather the Son Himself saying, / and the
Father are One. Where the Truth hath left you not a
surmise of any distance between the Begetter and the Only-
Begotten, where Christ hath dashed in pieces your steps,
where the Rock hath broken your ladders to shivers.
3. But, the heretics' calumny being refuted, ho-w are we
to take these words of our Lord, He thai receiveth whom-
soever I shall send receiveth Me; but he that receiveth Me
receiveth Him that sent Me? For if we be minded to
understand the saying. He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him
that sent Me, in this regard, that the Father and the Son
are of one Nature, it will seem to follow by rule of the same
words whereby it is said, He that receiveth whomsoever I
shall send, receiveth Me, that Son and Apostle should be of
one nature. Even this could indeed be not inconveniently
understood, in virtue of the twofold Substance of Him, that
ch.iM' Giant Who rejoiced to run His way: for, The Word was
' ' made jiesh, i.e. God was made Man. Therefore, He might
be thought to have said it thus, He that receiveth whom-
soever I shall send, receiveth Me as Man : hut he that
receiveth Me as God, receiveth Him that sent Me. But then,
in speaking these words. He was not enforcing the oneness
of nature, but this, that in him that is sent, is the authority of
Him that sent. Therefore, let each so receive him that is
sent, as to fix his regard on Him that sent him. If then
In him that is sent receive Him that sent. 739
in Peter thou fix thy regard on Christ, thou wilt find the John
Teacher of the disciple ; but if in the Son thou fix thy 20 *
regard on the Father, thou wilt find the Begetter of the
Only-Begotten : and so in the person sent thou receivest
without any error the Person sending. What follows in the
Gospel, must not be crowded by shortness of time. And
therefore, my dearly beloved, if this present discourse, as the
food of the holy sheep, be enough, let them take it to their
health j if it be scanty, let them with desire ruminate upon
it.
HOMILY LX.
John xiii. 21.
When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit, and
testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one
of you shall betray Me.
1. It is no slight question, my brethren, that is pro-
pounded unto us from the Gospel of blessed John, where he
V. 21. saith, When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in sjoirit,
and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that
mie of you shall betray Me. Was it by this that Jesus was
troubled, not in flesh, but in spirit, because He was about to
say, One of you shall betray Me? What, did this then first
come into His mind, or was it then first suddenly revealed to
Him, and He troubled by the surprise and novelty of so
great an evil } Was He not speaking of this just before, when
V. 18. He said, He that eateth bread with Me, will lift up his heel
V. 10. against Me? Had He not even before that said, And ye
are clean, but not all? where the Evangelist added, For He
knew who should betray Him: whom also He had erewhile
ch. 6,71. signified, saying, Have not I chosen you twelve, aiid one of
you is a devil? What meaneth it then, that now He is
troubled in spirit, when He testified and said. Verily, verily ,
1 say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me? Or, because
He was now about to make him expressly known, so as he
should not lurk unknown among the rest, but should be dis-
tinctly marked from the rest, was it for this that He was
troubled in spirit? Or, because the traitor was now on the
point of going out to bring the Jews to whom the Lord
Christ was troubled in spirit because of Judas. 741
should of him be betrayed, was it that His Passion, now im- John
minent, troubled Him, and the closeness of the danger, and .^j *
the traitor's now impending hand, of whose mind He was
cognizant before ? This, namely, that is said here, that Jesus
was troubled in spirit, is like what He said before, Now isch. 12,
My soul troubled: and what shall I say? Father, save Me ''
from tills hour: but therefore came I unto this hour. As
then His soid was then troubled by the hour of His Passion
drawing near, so likewise now, by the fact that Judas was
about to go forth and to come, and by the near approach of
that great wickedness of the traitor, He was troubled in
spirit.
2. He was troubled then, though having power to laych. 10,
down His life, and having power to take it again. Troubled,
that mighty Power ; troubled, the firmness of the Rock : or
rather, is it our infirmity that in Him is troubled ? Yes,
verily: let not the servants believe ought unworthy concern-
ing their Lord; but let them acknowledge themselves
members in their Head. He that died for us, the self-same
was troubled for us. He therefore Who of His own povver
died, of His own power was troubled: He Who transfigured
the body of our humility that it should be conformed to the Phil. 3,
body of His glory, transfigured also in Himself the affections
of our infirmity, sympathizing with us by the affection of
His soul. Therefore, when He is troubled ; the Great, the
Strong, the Sure, the Invincible ; let us not fear for Him lest
He faint: He is not lost. He does but seek us : us, I say, us
entirely, is He in this sort seeking: in His perturbation let
us see our own selves : that so, when we are troubled we
may not, by despairing, be lost. When He is troubled,
Who could not be troubled were He not willing, therein He
comforts him who is troubled though he be not willing.
3. Perish the arguments of philosophers who deny that
the wise man is liable to the perturbations of the mind.
God hath made foolish the ivisdom of this world ; and thei Cor.
Lord knoweih the thoughts of men, that they are vain.^^^^^^
Yes, let the Christian mind be troubled, not by sense of hisH.
own, but by pity for others' misery; let Him fear, lest men
be lost to Christ; sorrow, when any is lost to Christ; desire,
that men may be won to Christ ; be glad, when men are won
742 True wisdom not exempt from perturbation,
HoMiL. to Christ. Let him fear also for himself, lest he be lost to
Christ; sorrow that he is far away from Christ; desire to
reign with Christ; be glad, while he hopes that he shall reign
with Christ. These, I trow, are the four perturbations, as
they call them : fear and sorrow, love and gladness. Let Chris-
tian minds have them, upon just causes; and as for the
Philosophers, Stoics, or any such, let us not consent to their
error : who doubtless, as they conceit vanity to be truth, so
» stupo- account ' apathy to be health ; being ignorant that it is with
the mind of man as with any member of the body: its
disease more desperate, when it has even lost the sense of
pain.
4. But some man will say: Is it right for the Christian
mind to be troubled even by the near approach of death }
For what becomes of that saying of the Apostle, that he has
P^il- ^ a desire to he dissolved and to be with Christ, if that which
23.
he desires can trouble him when it is come ? It is easy
indeed for them to make answer to this, who call even
gladness a perturbation. For what if the reason of His
being troubled by the near approach of death, is, that
the near approach of death makes Him glad ? But this, say
they, is to be called joy, not gladness \ What is this
but, where the thing felt is the same, to want to change
the names of the things ? But let us give ear to the Sacred
Writings, and rather according to them, with the Lord's
assistance, solve this question: and, since it is written, When
Jesus had said these words, He was troubled in spirit ^
" That is, the feeling here spoken of it is seemly to rejoice, but not to be
is not to be called Icelitia, which is a glad.'' But even Cicero makes a kind
perturbing affection, but ^«w//;<wi,which of apology for the distinction: quo-
is not so. Cic. Tusc. iv. 6. Quum niam docendi causa a gaudio laetitiara
ratione animus movetur placide atque distinguiraus: and Augustine rejects
constanter, turn illud gaudium dicitur : it as a quibble. In fact, as Doderlein
quum autem inaniter et eff"usa animus remarks, Lat. Synonym, u. Etym. 3.
exultat, turn ilia Isetitia gestiens vel 242. gaudium is the inward feeling,
nimia dici potest. '• When the mind Isetitia the outward expression of joy,
is moved by reason in a placid and (so Tac. Hist. 2. 29. Ut Yalens pro-
staid manner, that is called Joy: but cessit, gaudium, miseratio, favor ; versi
when the mind exults without matter in li^titiam .... laudantes gratantes-
and without restraint, then it may be que) j though this grammarian after-
called eager or excessive gladness " ib. wards somewhat inconsistently attempts
31. Atque ut cavere decet, timere non to shew that " icptari denotes a more
decet, sic quidem gaudere decet, Itetari subdued feeling akin to contentment,
non decet. " And just as it is seemly hut gaudere a more lively joy bordering
to be cautious, but not to be afraid, so on enthusiasm."
Christ with our nature took its liahility to perturbation. 74S
let us not say that it was by gladness that He was troubled, John
lest He reprove us by His own words, where He saith, 3Iy 21. '
soul is sorrowful even, unto death. Something of this sort isMat726^
also here to be understood, when, His betrayer being even *
then about to go forth by himself, and to return straightway
with his fellows, Jesus was troubled in spirit.
5. Those indeed are most strong Christians, who are not
a whit troubled by the near approach of death: but are
they stronger than Christ? Who, though ever so mad,
would say this? Why then was He troubled, but for the
sake of the weak in His Body, i. e. in His Church, whom,
by voluntarily malting Himself like us in His infirmity,
He would console: that so, if any of His are still troubled
in spirit by the near approach of death, they may look
unto Him, lest, for this very thing counting themselves
reprobates, they by a worse desperation be swallowed up of
death ? How great good then ought we to expect and hope
for, from the participation of His Godhead, when both His
perturbation makes us calm, and His weakness strong!
Whether therefore, in this place, it was by pitying that
perishing Judas, that He was troubled : or whether it was by
the approach of His own death that He was troubled: yet is
it not by any means to be doubted that not by weakness of
mind was He troubled, but of His own power; lest to us
there arise despair of our salvation, when not of our own
power but by weakness we are troubled. For though indeed
He had yet on Him the weakness of the flesh, which weak-
ness was by the Resurrection consumed aw^ay; yet, seeing
He was not only Man but God too. He did by an ineffable
distance surpass all of human kind in fortitude of mind.
Therefore not by compulsion of any was He troubled, but
troubled Himself: which thing is openly expressed concern-
ing Him, when He raised Lazarus : for there it is written
that He troubled Himself that the same may be understood eh. 11,
also where we do not read this written and yet do read that
He was troubled. For, as touching the emotions of man's
nature, He, when He judged it meet, did of His own power
raise them in Himself, Who of His power took upon Him
the whole nature of man.
HOMILY LXI.
John xiii. 21 — 27.
Verily^ verily , I say unto you, that one of you shall hetray Me,
Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom
He spake, Noiv there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of
His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore
beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of
whom He spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast said unto
Him, Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I
shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And after the sop,
Satan entered into him,
capita- 1. This^ portion of the Gospel, my brethren, is so pro-
^"^ pounded to us to be in the present lecture expounded, that
we must needs say somewhat also of the Lord's betrayer,
evidently enough exposed by the bread dipped and reached
forth to him. And touching that matter, indeed, that the
Lord, at the instant He was about to point him out, was
troubled in spirit, I have discoursed in the foregoing sermon:
but belike, which I did not say then, the Lord by His
perturbation deigned to signify to us this also: I mean, as
touching false brethren, those tares in the Lord's field, that
the necessity of tolerating them among the wheat even until
the harvest-time is such, that when urgent cause compels
the separation of some of them even before the harvest, this
thing cannot take place but with perturbation to the Church.
This perturbation of His saints, to be caused by schismatics
and heretics, the Lord, in a sort foretelling, did prefigure in
Himself, vvhen, at the moment Judas, that bad man, was
The Church is troubled by separation of false brethren. 745
about to go forth, and by most open severance to leave the John
wheat among which he had long been tolerated, He was^x—^i.
troubled, not in the flesh, but in spirit. For His spiritual
ones, in scandals of this kind, not through perversity, but of
charity, are troubled, lest haply in the separation of some
tares, there be rooted up therewith some wheat likewise.
Q. Jesus then ivas troubled in spirit, and testified, and^^'i^*
said. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall
betray Me. One of you, in number, not in merit; in appear-
ance, not in virtue; by corporeal blending, not by spiritual
bond; by adjunction of the flesh, not associated by oneness
of heart : therefore not one who is of you, but who is about
to go out from you. For how shall that be true which the
Lord testified, and said, One of you; if that be true which
the same whose Gospel this is, saith in his Epistle : TJiey i Jotn
went out from us, but they were not of us: for, if they had '
been of us, they would have continued with us? Judas,
then, was not of them ; for he would have continued
with them, if he had been of them. What meaneth, then,
One of you shall betray Me, but, One is about to go forth of
you, who shall betray Me.^ For even he who saith. If
they had been of us, they would have C07itinued with us,
had already said, They went forth from us. And con-
sequently, both sayings are true: both ex nobis, and non ex
nobis; in one regard o/" m5, in another wo^ of us: in respect of
their having the Sacraments in common with us, of us; in
respect of their sole ownership of crimes, not of us.
3. The disciples therefore looked one upon another, doubt- v. 22.
ing of whom He spake. For though there was in them
towards their Master pious charity, yet was there human
infirmity to put them on thorns one concerning another.
Known truly to each was his own conscience ; but then,
because his neighbours were unknown, while each was sure
for himself, yet were they not sure, each one concerning the
rest, the rest concerning each one.
4. Now there was leaning on Jesus^ bosom one of His ^'- 23.
disciples whom Jesus loved. The word is, in sinu, and what
that means appears shortly after, where he says, supra pectus
Jesu, on the breast of Jesus. This is John himself, he whose
Gospel this is, as he afterward makes manifest. Such, ch. 21,
20—24.
7i0 The modesty of the Sacred Writers in mentioning themselves.
HoMiL. namely, was tlie custom of those who have ministered unto
—us the Sacred Writings, that, when any of them in narrating"
some Divine History, came to the mention of himself,
he would speak as of another person ; so inserting himself
in the order of his narrative as though he were but the
writer of the history, not as telling something about himself.
Thus Saint Matthew has done this ; who having in the
Matt. 9, pi-Qgi-ess Qf jiis narration come to himself, saith, He saw
sitting at the receipt of custom a certain publican^ by name
Matthew^ and saith to him. Follow Me: not, " He saw me,
and said to me." This also blessed Moses has done: in this
way he has narrated all about himself as if it were about
Ex.6, another, saying. The Lord said unto Moses. In a more
pkssim. unusual manner the Apostle Paul has done this, not in a
history, where one takes in hand to unfold a narrative of
facts, but in an Epistle. For he saith, and of course
2 Cor. meaning himself, / knew a man in Christ fourteen years
12' 2. (^gg^ {whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell ;
God knoweth,) such an one caught up even unto the third
heaven. Wherefore, that here also the blessed Evangelist
saith not, " I was lying on Jesus' bosom," but. There was
lying one of the disciples, in this let us rather recognise the
wont of our authors than marvel at it. For what is lost to
the truth, when both the thing itself is told, and, by a certain
way of telling it, all self-display is avoided? For, in fact,
the thing he was telling was greatly to his own praise.
5. But what meaneth, Whom Jesus loved? As if He did
^ not love others ; those, of whom the same John saith above. He
ch. 15 loved them unto the end: and the Lord Himself, Greater
1^- love than this hath no man, that one lay down his life for
his friend. And who can enumerate all the testimonies con-
tained in the divine pages, whereby the Lord Jesus is shewn
to have been the Lover not of him only, nor only of those
which then were, but also of them that should after be His
members, and of His whole Church? But doubtless there is
something latent here, and relating to that bosom in which
he lay, who said this. For what is signified by ' bosom,'
but secresy? But there is another more suitable passage, on
which the Lord may give us to speak concerning this
secresy as much as may suffice.
To evil men good things turn to evil. 747
6. Simon Peter therefore beckoneth and saith to him. John
XIII.
Note the expression, of saying a thing, not by articulate 24—27.
sonnd, but simply by beckoning: Beckoneth and saith; of v. 24.
course, saith by beckoning. For, if a thing is said by think-
ing, as the Scripture speaketh, They said in themselves: Whd.2f
how much more by beckoning, where that is in fact by signs
of whatever sort outwardly put forth, which was conceived
in the heart.? Well, what said he by beckoning? What but
that which follows.? Who is it of whom He speaketh?
These words Peter beckoned : because not by sound of the
voice but by motion of the body he said this. He ^/i<??e, v.25-27.
reclining on Jesus'' breast — here is the sinus of the breast,
the secret retreat of wisdom — saith unto Hirn, Lord, who
is itf Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give
a sop, when I have dipped it. And lohen He had dip-
ped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. The
traitor is declared, the hiding-places of darkness laid open.
Good is that which he received, but to his own evil received
he it, because in evil manner he being evil received that
which is good. But concerning this sop which was given to
the feigned disciple, and concerning what follows, there is
much to be said, which needs more time than we have now
just at the end of this sermon.
3 D
HOMILY LXIL
JoHNxiii. 26—31.
And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas
Iscariot, the son of Simon, And after the sop, then Satan
entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou
doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what
intent He spake this unto him. For some of them thought,
because Judas had the hag, that Jesus had said unto him,
Buy those things that ice have need of against the feast; or,
that he should give something to the poor. He then having
received the sop went immediately out,- and it was night.
Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Noiv is the Son
of Man glorified.
1. I KNOW, my beloved, that some may be moved, if godly,
to ask the reason, if ungodly, to find fault with the fact, that
when the Lord had given the sop to His betrayer, Satan
\. 26.27. entered into hi?n. For so it is written: And when He had
dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon: and after the sop, then Satan entered into him.
They say, namely: What? was this the effect of the bread of
Christ handed from the table of Christ, that after it Satan
should enter into His disciple ? To whom we answer, that
hence rather we are taught what need there is to beware of
receiving a good thing in an evil way. For indeed it makes
a great difference, not what one receives, but "who receives :
and not what sort of thing it is that is given, but what sort
of person he is to whom it is given. For both good things
are a bane, and evil things a boon, according as the persons
Good out of evil to the good : evil out of good to the had. 749
may be to whom they are giv^en. Sin, saith the Apostle, thai John
it may he shewn to be sin, wrought death to me by that which ^q. 27*
is good. See there of a good thing evil brought about, while RomTr^
the good is taken in an evil way. And again the same saith : ' *
In the greatness of my revelations, that I may not be uplifted, 2Cor,i2,
there was give?i me a goad in my flesh, an angel of Satan^ to
buffet me. For which cause I thrice besought the Lord, to
take it from me, and He said to me, My grace is sufficient
for thee ; for strength*^ is made perfect in weakness. See
there of an evil thing good brought about, while the evil
thing is taken in a good way. Why marvellest thou then
that there was given to Judas the bread of Christ, that by
it he should be made over to the devil, when thou seest on
the contrary how there was given to Paul an angel of the
devil, that by it he should be made perfect in Christ ? Thus
both to the evil man the good was a bane, and to the good
the evil was a boon. Ye remember of what it is written.
Whoso shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the LordiCor.ii,
unworthily, shall he guilty of the body and blood of ihe^*'
Lord. And when the Apostle said this, the discourse was
upon the subject of those who, treating the Lord's Body like
any other food, took it in an undiscriminating and negligent
way. If then this man is rebuked who does not discrimi-
nate *, that is, see the difference of^ the Lord's Body from^dijudi-
other meats, how must he be damned, who, feigning himself 2 jjscer-
a friend, comes to His table a foe ! If the touch of reproof i"t
is laid upon the negligence of the guest, with what punish-
ment shall he be smitten through who sells the Entertainer !
And the sop given to the betrayer, what was it meant for, but
to shew to what a grace be had been ungratefid ?
2. Well then, after this bread Satan entered into the
traitor who would deliver up his liord, that, being in fact
already delivered over to him, he might more fully possess
him, into whom he had already entered that he might beguile
him. For the case is not so, that the devil was not in him
when he went straight to the Jews and covenanted for the
price of the betrayal, since this the Evangelist Luke most
* So Vet. Lat. (Iren. Tertull. Cypr. versions and Fathers : hence rejected
Ambros.) and Vulg. Mow is omitted in by Bengel and Lachmann.
some good Greek Mss. and several
3 D 2
750 Judas^ before the sop, had partaken of the Sacrament.
HoMiL. expressly witnesselb, saying, But Satan entered into Judas,
■^^^^* surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve, and he went his way,
'S^^T^'and spake ivitli the chief priests. Lo, where it is shewn
that Satan had ah-eady entered into Judas. Consequently,
he had before entered, by putting into his heart the thought
ch. 13,1. of betraying Christ: for such was he when he came to partake
of the supper. But now, after the sop, he has entered into
him, not to tempt him, as being still another's, but to possess
him for his own.
3. But it was not then, as some think who read negli-
gently, that Judas received Christ's Body. For it is to be
understood that the Lord had already distributed to them all
the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, among whom was
Luke22, Judas also, as Saint Luke most evidently relates the matter:
19—21. ^^j ^^^^^ ^1^^^^ ^,^ came to this, where, according to the
relation of John, the Lord by dipping and handing the sop
does most openly declare His betrayer ; belike by the dip-
ping of the bread betokening his feigning. For not all
dipping is meant for washing ; some things are dipped only
to dye them. If however the dipping here signifies some-
thing good, his ingratitude to that same good was not
undeservedly followed by damnation.
4. As yet however, in this Judas, possessed as he was, not
by the Lord but by the devil, while there had entered into
this ingrate, the bread into the belly, the enemy into his
mind : as yet I say, of this so huge wickedness already
conceived in the heart, the after effect yet remained
that it should be fully wrought out, whereas the foregone
design had fully wrought in him to his damnation''. There-
fore, when the Lord, the Living Bread, had delivered the
bread to the dead, and by delivering the bread had pointed
out the traitor u ho should deliver up that Bread : What
thou doest, said He, do quickly: which is not preceptive of
a crime, but predictive of that which was to Judas evil, to
us good. For what greater evil to Judas, to us what
greater good, than Christ delivered up, by him to his
hurt, to our good not by him"^.? What thou doest, do
^ Plenus restabat effectus, eujus jam prseter ilium. As prseter ilium is here
prsecesserat damnandus ettectus. opposed toab illo,so Horn. 72, l.prEeter
c Ah illo adversus ilium, pro nobis eum to per eum.
Judas the instrument of Christ for our salvation. 751
quickly. O word, rather of glad readiness than of anger ! tfoHN
O word, not so much expressing the punishment of the 28—31.
traitor, as betokening the reward of the Redeemer! For
that He said, IVliat thou doest, do quickly, was not so much
in wrathful eagerness for the perdition of the faithless traitor,
as in joyful eagerness for the salvation of the faithful followers; Rom. 4,
for. He teas deliiered up for our offences, and loved '/'^Eph. 5
Church, and delivered up Himsef for her. Whence also 25.
the Apostle saith of himself, Who loved me, and delivered ^^^^'^2,,
. ^ , . ,20.
lip Himself for vie. Unless, therefore, Christ had delivered
up Himself, no man could have delivered up Christ. What
hath Judas, but sin ? For in delivering up Christ, he did
not design our salvation, for the sake of which Christ was
delivered up, but designed the gain of money, and got
loss of his own soul. He received the wages which he
wished, but tliere was given him, what he wished not, the
wages he deserved. Judas delivered up Christ, Christ
delivered up Himself: the one transacting the business of his
sale*; the Other, the business of our redemption. What^ ^^^^
thou doest, do quickly: not because thou hast the power, tionis.
but because it is His will Whose is all the power.
5. Now no man at the table knew for what intent ^<?v.28.29.
spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because
Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those
things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he
should give something to the 2^oor. You see then, the Lord
too had a bag, and keeping in store the offerings of the faith-
ful, distributed thereof both to the necessities of His own,
and to others who were in need. Then first was instituted
the pattern of a Church-fund^, whereby we should understand - eccle-
that His precept, of taking 710 thought for the morrow, waspecu-
not given to this end, that no money should be kept in store '^'
by the saints, but, that we should not serve God for the sake 34.
of this, and for fear of want forsake righteousness. Thus
the Apostle also, making provision for an after-time, saith,
If any believer have widows, let him give them sufficient ' ^'^^•
maintenance, that the Church be not burthened, that it '
may have enough for them that are widoivs indeed.
8. He then having received the sop, went immediately ^''^^'^^'
out: and it was night. And the same who went out, was
752 Christ's last discourse be/ore His Passion,
HoMiL. night. Therefore whe7i he, when the night, was gone out,
-Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified. So Day unto
day uttered the word, that is, Christ to the faithful disciples,
that they should hear Him, and love by following Him, and
Fs.i9,3.night unto night told knowledge, that is, Judas to the faith-
less Jews, that they should come to Him, and lay hold upon
Him to persecute Him^ But here now, the Lord's discourse,
which was made to the godly ere He should be laid hold
upon by the ungodly, craves more attentive heed of him that
hears it, and therefore he must not hurry but rather defer it,
who would reason thereof.
c Enarr. in Psa. 18. §. 4. " Let us the Lord Christ spake to the Apostles,
also mention one sense in particular, then Day unto day uttered the word;
which some have opened as if by way when Judas betrayed the Lord Christ
of conjecture i^(/uod quidam velut con- to the Jews, then night unto night told
Jicientes aperuerunt) : When (say they) knowledge.''^
HOMILY LXIII.
John xiii. 81, 32.
Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
If God he glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in
Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him,
1. Let us strain our mental gaze, and, with the Lord's
aid, seek after God: it is the voice of the Divine Song,
Seek ye after God, and your soul shall live: let us seek to Ps. 69,
find, let us seek having found: that to be found He must be
sought, is because He is hidden : that being found He must
still be sought, is because of His immensity : and accord-
ingly it is said elsewhere, Seek His face evermore. For He Ps los,
satisfies the seeker in proportion to his capacity, and the "^*
finder He makes to be of more capacity, that he may once
more seek to fill where he has begun to have more capacity:
it is not therefore so said, Seek His face evermore, as it is
said of certain, Ever learning, and never coming to the know- 2 Tim.
ledge of the truth: but rather, as one saith, When a man^'J-
hasfi,nished, then he heginneth ; until we come unto that life i8, 6.
where we shall be so filled, that we cannot be made capable
of more, because we shall be so perfect that thenceforth we
can make no more progress: for then shall that be shewn us
which sufficeth us. But here, we must seek evermore, and
the fruit of finding must not be an end of seeking. For it
does not follow, that we are not to be evermore seeking
because we must seek here only, but in saying that here we
are to be evermore seeking, we mean that we must not at any
754 Christ left with His Saints when Judas went forth,
HoMiL.lime here think we are to cease from seeking. Thus when
3 XIII . . •
^^ * it is said, Erer learning, and never coming to the knowledge
of the truth, why, it is here that they are ever learning;
when they shall depart this life, then shall they be not
learning, but receiving the reward of their error. In fact,
the saying. Ever learning, never coming to the knowledge
of the truth, is just as if one should say, Ever walking, and
never getting to the way. But let us ever walk in the way,
imtil we come to that place whither the way leadeth ; let us
no where stay behind in it, until it bring us to the place where
we may stay : and so, both by seeking we aim, and by
finding attain, and by seeking and finding pass unto that
which still remains to be sought and found, even until there
come an end of seeking there, where perfect attainment hath
no more left to aim at^. Let this preface, my most dearly
beloved, bespeak your earnest attention to this sermon of the
Lord, which He held to His disciples before His Passion :
for it is deep, and where there must be great pains on the
part of the preacher, surely there ought to be no remissness
on the part of the hearer.
2. What then said the Lord, when Judas was gone out to
do quickly what he was to do, i.e. to betray the Lord ? What
said the Day, when the night was gone out? What said the
Redeemer, when the seller was gone out? Now, saith He, is
the Son of Man glorified. Why now? Because he is gone
out that shall betray, because they are at hand that shall
take and kill ? Is it so, that now is He glorified, because it
is near that He should be humbled yet more, He over Whom
it is even now impending that He should be bound, that He
should be judged, that He should be condemned, mocked,
crucified, killed? Is this a glorifying, or rather an humbling?
W'hen He was working miracles, saith not of Him this John,
ch. 7,39. 77^<? Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not glorified?
What, was He then not glorified when He raised the dead,
and now is He glorified when He is drawing near to the dead?
not yet glorified while doing what God alone could do, and
glorified when about to suffer what man could do ? Marvel-
lous it were if this were what God, our Master, signified and
taught in these words. We must go higher to search into
^' Uhi perfection! non superest intentio proficiendi.
a type of His glory in the end of the ivorld. 755
this sayiiiff of the Most High, Who manifests Himself in John
some measure that we may find, and then again hides Him- gj^ 32^
self that we may seek, and from things found to things remain-
ing to be found may as it were by steps struggle onward.
Something I see here that may prefigure some great thing.
Judas is gone out, and Jesus is glorified; gone out, the son of
perdition; and glorified, the Son of Man. He was gone out,
because of whom it was said to them. And ye are clean, but v. 10.
not all. On the going out therefore of the unclean, all that
were left were clean, and were left with their Cleanser. Some-
what like this shall be, when, conquered by Christ, this world
shall have passed away, and there shall be none unclean left
in the people of Christ; when, the tares being parted from
the wheat, the just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of Mat. 13,
their Father. The Lord foreseeing this about to be, and
declaring it to be now signified; the departure of Judas
being as the separating of the tares, the holy Apostles left
as the wheat; Now, saith He, i? the Son of Man glorified:
as though He should say, Lo, what shall be in that glorifying
of Me, where none of the bad shall be, where none of the
good shall cease to be ^ It is not, however, said thus : Now ' ent,
is signified the glorifying of the Son of Man; but it is said,^^"^^ *
Now is the Son of Man glorified: just as it is not said, The
Kock sisrnified Christ, but, The Rock was Christ: neither is 1 Cor.
Tn A
it said. The good seed signifies the children of the kingdom, '
or, The tares signify the children of the wicked one, but it
is said. The good seed, these are the children of the kingdom, Mat. 13,
hut the tares the children of the wicked one. As then
Scripture is wont to speak, calling the things signifying as
if they were the things signified, so the Lord spake, saying,
Now is the Son of Man glorified: when, that most wicked
one being separated thence, and the saints being left with
Him, signified His glorifying which is to be, when, the un-
righteous being separated, He shall be left in eternity with
the saints.
3. But, having said, Noiv is the Son of Man glorified. He
added. And God is glorified in Him. For this is the glorify-
ing of the Son of Man, that God should be glorified in Him.
For if it be not in Himself that He is glorified, but God in
Him, then doth God glorify Him in Himself. In fact, as if
756 Christ for eteh His Resurrection.
HoMiL. expounding these words, He goes on to say, If God he
' glorijied ifi Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself.
This is the meaning of, If God be glorified in Him : that
He is not come to do His own will, but the will of Him that
sent Him ; and God shall glorifg Him in Himself, that the
nature of man in which He is the Son of Man, which nature
was assumed by the Eternal Word, may also be gifted with
immortal eternity. And, saith He, shall straightway glorify
Him. By this attestation, to wit. He foretelleth His resur-
rection, not as ours at the end of the world, but straightway
to be. For this is the glorifying of which the Evangelist
had already said, what I have mentioned above, that for this
cause was the Holy Spirit not yet given in that new way in
them to whom He was in that way, after the resurrection,
upon their belief, to be given; namely, because Jesus was not
yet glorified : i. e. not yet was mortality clothed with immor-
tality, and temporal weakness changed into strength eternal.
It may also be thought to be of this glorifying that it is said,
Now is the Son of Man glorified, that this word Now should
be supposed to relate not to the imminence of the Passion,
but to the nearness of the Resurrection, as if that had
already taken place which was so very near to take place.
Let this suffice you, beloved, for to-day : when the Lord
shall grant, we will discourse of that which follows.
HOMILY LXIV.
John xiii. 33,
Xittle cMldi'en, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall
seek Me : and as I said unto the Jens, Whither I go, ye
cannot come; so I say to you now.
1. We should mark, beloved, the orderly connexion of
the Lord's words. Namely, when He had said above, after
Judas was gone out, and was severed even from the bodily
conversation of the saints, Now is the Son of Man glorified^
and God is glorified in Him : (which He said, whether to
betoken the future kingdom, when the evil shall be severed
from the good ; or, because His resurrection was then to
take place, i. e. not to be deferred, as ours is, to the end of
the world:) and then had added, If God be glorified in Him,
God shall glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway
glorify Him; (which without any ambiguity He spake in
witness of His resurrection straightway to be;) He went on to
say, Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Lest v. 33.
therefore they should imagine that God's glorifying of Him
would be in such sort, that He should not be joined with
them any longer by that conversation whereby He is on
earth, He saith, Yet a little while I am with you: as much
as to say. Straightway indeed I shall be glorified by resur-
rection, yet not straightway am I to ascend into heaven, but,
yet a little while I am with you. For, as it is written in the
Acts of the Apostles, He spent with them after His resur- Acts
rection forty days, going in and out, eating and drinking:'*
not indeed having need, by hungering and thirsting, but
758 ^'A little ivhile:''^ in the hodily Presence until the Ascension:
HoMiL. going even so far as this in intimating to us the verity of His
'- flesh, which to eat and drink had now no more need, but
had the power. Did He then mean these forty days in
saying, Yet a Utile ivhile I am with you, or something else?
For we may also thus understand. Yet a Hitle tthile I am
with you : as yet, like you, am I also in this infirmity of the
flesh: to wit, until He should die and rise again: because
after He rose, He was with them indeed, as was said, forty
days by exhibition of bodily presence ; not with them by
fellowship of human infirmity.
2. There is also another Divine Presence unknown to the
Mat.28, mortal senses, of which moreover He saith, Lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world. 'J'h is certainly
is not, Yet a little while am I with you : for it is not a little
while unto the end of the world. Or if this also be a little
» eetas. while, (for time^ flies, and in God's eyes a thousand years
' 'are as one day, or, as a watch in the night,) yet we are not to
suppose He meant to signify this now, since He went on to
say, Ye shall seek Me, and, as I said to the Jews, Whither I go
ye cannot come. That is, after this little while that I am
icith you, ye shall seek Me, and lohither I go ye cannot come.
Does this mean, that after the end of the world, whither
He goeth they shall not be able to come ? Nay, for then
what becomes of that which some while after He is about to
c. 17,24. gay in this very discourse, Father, I will that where I am, they
shall be with 31e? Not therefore of that His presence with
His own, whereby He is with them even unto the end of the
world, hath He now spoken, where He saith, Yet a little
while I am with you: but either of the infirmity of the
mortal nature whereby He w^as with them until His passion,
or of His presence in the body whereby He would be with
them until His ascension. Let a man choose which he
will of these, with the faith neither is at variance.
3. T3ut lest any imagine this sense to be abhorrent from
the truth, namely, when we say that the Lord may have
meant to signify the communion of mortal flesh in which He
was with His disciples until His passion, in saying, Yet a
little while I am tcith you; let Him mark Plis words in
^]^^^^^"^' another Evangelist also, where He saith, These things 1
spake to you ichile 1 teas yet ivith you: as if at that time
or, in mortal Jlesh until the Passion, 759
He was not with them, though they were standing by, seeing, John
touching, talking with Him. What meaneth then, While I 33 *
ivas yet witli you, but, While I was yet in mortal flesh in"
which are ye also ? For though He was then indeed in the
same flesh raised to life again, yet with them in the same
mortality was He now no longer. Wherefore as there, being
now clothed with immortality of the flesh. He truly saith,
While I ivas yet witli you; where we can understand nothing
else but, "While I was yet with you in mortality of the flesh:
so here too without absurdity we understand Him to have
said, Yet a little while 1 am with you, as meaning, Yet a
little while as ye are, am T, mortal. Then let us see what
follows.
4. Ye shall seek Me, and, as I said to the Jews, Whither
I go, ye cannot come, so say I to you now. That is, Now ye
cannot. But when He said this to the Jews, He did not
add, Now. These therefore could not at that time come
whither He was going, but they could afterwards : for this a
little after He saith most openly to the Apostle Peter. For,
on his saying, Lord, ivhither goest Tiiou? He answered.
Whither I go, thou shalt not follow Me now, hut Thou shall ch. 13,
follow Me afterward. But what this means, must not be
negligently passed by. Whither could not the disciples
then follow the Lord, but could afterward ? If we say. To
death : to man, once born, where shall we find the time that
he is not in a condition to die; since such is, in the cor-
ruptible body, the lot of m,en, that therein it can never be
easier to live than to die ? It was not therefore that they
were as yet less in a condition to follow the Lord unto
death, but only that they were less in a condition to follow
the Lord unto the life which hath not death. For that was
the goal to which the Lord was going : that, rising from the
dead, He should die no more, and death should have no Rom. 6,
. 9.
more dominion over Him. In fact, seeing the Lord was
going to die for righteousness. How should they follow Him
now, being as yet not ripe for martyrdom ? Or, seeing the
Lord was going to immortality of the flesh, how should they
follow Him now, who, die when they might, would not rise
again until the end of the world? Or, seeing the Lord was going
to the bosom of the Father, and yet not to leave them, to that
760 The disciples not yet ripe for death, resurrection, glory.
HoMiL. bosom which neither did He quit when He came to them,
XLIV
*hovv should they follow Him now, since none can be in that
felicity but he that is perfect in charity? And therefore
teaching how they may become able to go whither He was
ch. 13, going before, He saith, A new commandment give I unto
^'*- you, that ye love one another. These are the steps by which
Christ is to be followed : but concerning these the fuller
discourse must be deferred to another time.
HOMILY LXV.
John xiii. 34, 35.
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another:
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know that ye are My discij^les, if ye have love
one to another.
I. The Lord Jesus witnesseth that He giveth His disciples
a 7iew commandment, that they love one another. A new
commandment, saith He, give I unto you, that ye love one
another. Was there not already this commandment in the
old Law of God, where it is written, Thou shalt love thy i,ey.l9
neighbour as thyself? Why then is that called new by'^*
the Lord, which is proved to be so old ? Or is it there-
fore a ncAV commandment, because having put off the old
He putteth on us the New Man ? For in fact not all love
reneweth him that hears, or rather him that hearkens and
obeys, but this love, to distinguish w^hich from carnal love
the Lord hath added. As I have loved you. For husbands
and wives love one another, parents and children, and what-
ever other tie of human relationship binds men one to
another: to say nothing of the culjjable and damnable love,
by which adulterers and adulteresses, fornicators and harlots,
love one another ; and whosoever else there be, whom not
the tie of human relationship, but the noisome foulness of
human life, joins together. A new commandment, then,
giveth Christ unto us, that we love one another, es He also
76*2 Tlie old commandment made new in Christ and in us.
H^MTL. hath loved us. This love renews us, to be nevv men, heirs
LXV
of the New Testament, singers of the new song-. This love,
my dear brethren, did even of old renew the righteous men
that then were, the Patriarchs and Prophets, as afterwards it
renewed the blessed Apostles: the same also now renews the
nations, and from the whole race of mankind which is dif-
fused over the whole earth, makes and collects a new people,
the body of the new Spouse, the Bride of the Only-Begotten
Cant. 8, Son of God, of whom it is said in the Soncr of Son^s, IVJio
Ft T "^X o o ^
dealbata ^^ ^^'^^ ^^^^^ cometJi Up all in white ? in white,, that is, because
made new: whereby, but by the new commandment? By
reason of which, the members in her are solicitous one for
1 Cor. another, and, if one member suffer, all the members suffer
2g' ' ' witlt. it, and if one member be glorijied, all the members
rejoice with it. For they hear and keep the saying, A new
commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another : not
as they love which corrupt one another, nor as men love one
another because they are men; but as they love one another,
Ps.82,6. because they are gods, and all of them sons of the Most High,
that they may be brothers to His Only Son, loving one
another with that love wherewith He hath loved them, Who
Ps.103, shall bring them to that end which shall suffice them, where
their desire shall be satisfied with good things. For then
1 Cor. shall there not be anything lacking to their desire, when God
' * sliall be ad in all. Such an End hath no end. None dies there,
whither none cometh unless he die to this world, not by the
death of all men, wherein the body is deserted by the soul, but
by the death of the elect, whereby, even when one yet abides
in mortal flesh, the heart is set on high. Of which kind of
Col. 3,3. death the Apostle said, For ye are dead^ and your life is hid
6. ^ with Christ in God. Hence perhaps it is said. Love is
strong as death. For by this love it comes to pass that
being in this yet corruptible body we die to this vvorld, and
our life is hid with Christ in God; nay, love itself is our
death unto the world, and our life with God. For if it be
death, when the soul goes forth from the body, how is it not
a death when our love goes forth from the world } Strong
therefore as death is love. What stronger than that, by
which the world is overcome ?
2. Do not then, my brethren, think that in this which the
The two precepts of Love are 'mseparahle. 763
Lord saith, A new commandment give I unto you, that ye John
love one another, no regard is had of that greater command- ss—si.
ment by which we are charged to love the Lord our God
with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind: for it
looks as if this saying, that ye love one a?iother, were spoken
without any regard had of this, as though this first com-
mandment were not paired with that other in which it is
said, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself: for on these MRt.22y
two commandments, saith He, hang all the Law and the
Prophets. But by those who understand aright, both are
found in each. For he that loves God, cannot despise Him
commanding him to love his neighbour ; and, he that holily
and spiritually loves his neighbour, what loveth he in him,
but God ? It is a love, discriminated from all worldly
love, for distinction of which the Lord hath added, As L
have loved you. For what but God did He love in us ?
Not that we had, but in order that we might have : that He
may bring us, as I said before, where God shall be all in all.
So likewise the physician is rightly said to love the sick:
and what loves he in them but the health which he desires
to bring back, not the disease which he comes to drive out ?
So therefore let us also love one another, that as much as we
may, by care of love we may draw one another to the having
God in us. This love giveth He to us, Who saith, As I have
loved you, that ye also love one another. To this end there-
fore loved He us, that we also should love one another;
bestowing this upon us by loving us, that by mutual love we
should be bound one to another, and, while by so sweet a
bond the members are knit together, should be the Body of
so great a Head.
3. By this, saith He, shall all men know that ye are Myv.zb.
disciples, if ye have love one to another. As though He
should say, Other gifts of Mine in common with you have
they also that are not Mine; not only nature, life, sense,
reason, and that salvation which is common to men and Ps.36,6.
beasts ; but also tongues, sacraments, prophecy, knowledge,
faith, the distributing of their goods to the poor, and giving
up of their body to be burned: but, since they have noticor.
charity, they are as tinkling cymbals, they are nothing, iti^'^—^*
profiteth them nothing. Not then in those My gifts, how-
3 E
764 Love, the badge of the Church.
HoMiL. ever good, which even they can have that are not My dis-
'- ciples ; but in this shall all men knoiv that ye are 3Iy
disciples, if ye have love one to another, O spouse of
Christ, fair among women ! O thou that comest up all in
ifratru- white, and leanest upon thy ^beloved ! since by Whose light
^ ^^ thou art shone upon that thou mayest shine, by His aid art
thou supported that thou mayest not fall: oh! how well is it
sung to thee in that Song of Songs, which is as it were thy
Cant. 7, bridal lay, that Love is thy dear delight! This, even this,
Ps.26,9*'loseth not thy soul with the ungodly;' this ' discerneth thy
^ ^'-^j ^- cause,' and is strong as death, and is thy dear delight. Of
how wondrous a kind is the death which, as if it were a small
matter that it should not be thy pain, must also be thy
delight ! But here now let this Sermon be closed : we are
to set out from another point in handling that which follows.
HOMILY LXVT.
John xiii. 36 — 38.
Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest Thou ! Jesus
answered him^ Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now;
hut thou shalt follow Me afterwards. Peter said unto Him,
Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now ? I will lay down my
life for Thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down
thy life for My sake ? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The
cock shall not crow, till thou hast de^iied Me thrice.
1. When the Lord Jesus was giving in charge to His
disciples the holy love wherewith they should love one
another, Simoji Peter saitJt unto Him, Lord, whither goest
Thou? In so speaking, the disciple to the Master and
servant to his Lord, of course he said it as one prepared to
follow Him. For that in fact is the reason why the Lord, who
saw his mind, and what made him ask this question, thus
answered him ; Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now:
as much as to say. By reason of thine asking, thou canst not
now. He said not, Canst not, but. Canst not now: putting in
a delay, not putting away hope ; and the same hope which He
put not away but rather gave, he confirmed by the word
following, in going on to sa.y, But thou shalt follow after-
wards. Why art thou in haste, Peter? Not yet hath the
Rock by His Spirit made thee strong. Be not lifted up by
presuming, Canst not now; be not cast down by despairing,
Shalt follow afterwards. But what saith the other yet?
Why cannot I follow Thee now? Twill lay down my life for
Thee. What there was in his mind, of desire, he saw:
what of strength, he saw not. He, the ailing man, boasted
3 e2
766 Peters sin not to he extenuated.
HoMiL. of his will, but the Ph\'sician saw into the state of his
— ^ 1 health : this promised, That foreknew : he that knew not,
dared; He that foreknew, taught. How much Peter took
upon himself, in that he saw what he would, but knew not
what he could ! how much he took upon himself, that,
whereas the Lord was come to lay down His life for His
friends, and therefore for him also, he should have the con-
fidence to offer this to the Lord, and, ere yet Christ's life
was laid down for him, should undertake to lay down his
life for Christ 1 Jesus therefore answered, Wilt thou lay
down thy life for Me? Wilt thou do for Me what I
have not yet done for thee ? Canst thou lead the way,
who canst not follow ? Why takest thou so much upon
thee? What thinkest thou of thyself? What conceitest thou
thyself to be ? Hear what thou art. Verily, verily ^ I say
unto thee, The cock shall not crow, until thou thrice deny
3Ie. Lo, in what sort thou shalt full soon appear unto
thyself, who speakest great things of thyself, and knowest not
thyself to be little. Thou who promisest Me thy death,
shalt thrice deny thy life. Thou who now thinkest thou
canst die for Me, first live for thyself, for in fearing the
death of thy flesh, thou wilt give the death of thy soul. For
how great life it is to confess Christ, so great death is it to
deny Christ.
2. Or say we that the Apostle Peter (as some" with perverse
favour strive to excuse him) did not deny Christ, in that,
being questioned by the maid he answered that he knew not
the Blan, as the other Evangelists do more expressly witness
" The allusion is to St. Ambrose grace of God He said, J/:;«ou'
Comm. in Luc. lib. 10. §. 72 If. who not the Man: and he did well to deny-
after alleging sundry extenuating cir- Him to be man [only] Whom he knew
cumstances, explains the several ex- to be God. Besides, he said this with
pressions used by St. Peter as equivo- an oath : therefore was perjured if he
cation rather than renegation. " T spake false, but Peter is not charged
kiiuiv not what thou sayest: it is the with perjury He says in St. John,
■first word of denial: in which however I am not : and in fact he was not an
he seems not to deny Christ, but to apostle of man but of Christ: as Paul
hold himself aloof from the woman calls himself, An apostle not of men,
who betrayed him. Moreover he de- neither by man, ^-c. ... He says, I do
nied that he had been with Jesus of not know Him : and rightly,' for wo
Nazareth, not that he had been with man knoiveth the Son but the Father. ..
the Son of God He said, / am Aq?Jix\, I know not what thou sayest:
not : for only God can say, / am. I know not your sacrilegious doings.
He said that he was not of them : de- Howbeit we excuse him, not he hath
Dying the fellowship of men, not the excused himself, de-c."
It was not equivocation, hut denial of Christ. 767
together? As if, forsooth, to deny the man Christ were john
not to deny Christ ; yes, and to deny this in Him that He o^^JL*
was made for oar sakes, lest that should be undone which
He had made us to be ! Therefore, whoso in confessing
Christ to be God denies Him to be man, for that man
Christ died not: for as man Christ died. Whoso denies the
Man Christ, is not reconciled by the Mediator to God : For \ xim.
there is One God, and one Mediator between God and 7nen,'^y^-
the Maji Christ Jesus. Whoso denies the Man Christ, is
not justified: for, as by the disobedience of one man, '^nany -^^^ ^
were made sinners, so by the obedience of One Man shall 19.
many be made righteous. Whoso denies the Man Christ,
shall not rise again unto resurrection of life: because by man j qqj..
came death, and by man the resurrection of the dead: ^^>^^'
for as ill Adam all die, so likewise in Christ shall all
be made alive. By what moreover is He Head of the
Church, but by Man, in that the Word was made flesh,
i. e. the only-begotten Son of God was made Man ?
How then can he be in the body of Christ, who denies
the Man Christ ? for, whoso denies the Head, how can he
be a member? But why should I take up time with
many words, when the Lord Himself hath left human wit
no room for quibbling? For He saith not, The cock shall
not crow until thou have denied the man : or, as by more
familiar condescension to men He was wont to speak, Until
thou have thrice denied the Son of Man ; but He saith,
Uittil thou have thrice denied Me. What meaneth Me, but
what He was; and what was He, but Christ? Wliatever
therefore of Him he denied, he denied Him, denied Christ,
denied the Lord his God. For thus when his fellow-disciple
exclaimed. My Lord and my God, it was not the Word eh. 20,
that he touched, but the flesh ; with curious hands he handled, '^^. 28.
not the incorporeal nature of God, but the body of Man.
The Man, therefore, he touched, and yet knew the God.
If then what he touched, the same did Peter deny ; what he
exclaimed, at the same did Peter stumble. The cock shall ^^^^^q
not crow, until thou have thrice denied 3Ie. Thou mayest 34.69—
say, / knoiv not the man: thou mayest say, Man, I knotv i^^^q22,
not what thou sayest : mayest say, /«m not of His disciples: 56—60.
thou wilt deny Me. If, which it were impious to deny.
768 His fall, a warning against self-confidence.
HoMiL. Christ said this, and foretold a truth, without doubt Peter
^^^^- denied Christ. Let us not accuse Christ, while we defend
Peter. Let infirmity acknowledge sin : for the Truth hath
no lie. For, in fact, the infirmity of Peter did acknowledge
his sin, yea, did quite acknowledge : and how great evil he
committed in denying Christ, he shewed by his w^eeping.
He refutes his own defenders, and, to convict them, produces
his tears as witnesses. Nor in saying these things does it
delight us to accuse the chief of the Apostles ; but in looking
at him it behoves us to be admonished, that no man
should trust in man's strength. For what else had our
Teacher and vSaviour in view, but only to demonstrate to us
by example in the very chief of the Apostles, that a man
ought under no circumstances whatever to presume upon
himself? And so in Peter's soul that came to pass which
he offered in his body. Yet not for the Lord, as he rashly
presumed : he went before, but otherwise than he thought.
For before the death and resurrection of the Lord, he both
died by denying, and came to life again by weeping: but
then, he died because he proudly presumed upon himself,
and came to life again, because the Lord benignly turned
and looked upon him.
HOMILY LXVIL
John xiv. 1 — 3.
Let not your heart he troubled: ^believe in God, believe also in'^ supra,
3Ie. In My Father s house are many mansions : if it were J^^g^
not so, I would have told you, that I go to p^epare a 'place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come
again, and will receive you unto Myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also,
1. We must lift ourselves up, my brethren, to God with
greater intentness, that as the words of the holy Gospel have
now sounded in our ears, we may also in whatever sort be
able to take them in with the mind. For the Lord Jesus
saith, Let not your heart he troubled. Believe in God,v,i.
helieve also in 3Ie. That they might not as men fear death,
and therefore be troubled, He consoles them, assuring them
that He is also God. Believe, saith He, in God, and helieve
in Me, For it follows, that if ye believe in God, ye ought
also to believe in Me : which would not follow, if Christ
were not God, Believe in God, and helieve in Him to
Whom it is nature, not robbery, to be equal with God : for
He emptied Himself, yet not losing the form of God, but phii. 2,
taking the form of a servant. Ye fear death for this form^*'-
of a servant: let not your heart he troubled; the form of
God shall raise that to life again.
2. But what is this that follovv^s. In My Father's house are v. 2.
many mansions, but, that they were also afraid for them-
selves? Wherefore it was meet to be said to them, Let not
your heart be troubled. For which of them would not be
770 In tlie Life Eternal which is common to all the saved,
HoMiL. afraid, when to Peter, the more coDfident and forward, it
LXYIT
J , ^ ' was said. The cock shall not crow until thou have denied Me
en. 13, ^ '
38. thrice? As if then they must perish from Him, with good
reason were they troubled : but when they are told. In the
house of My Father are many mansions: if it were not so,
I would have told you, that I go to prepare a place for you;
they are refreshed from their perturbation, assured and con-
fident that even after perils of temptations they shall dwell
where Christ is, with God. For albeit one be stronger than
another, one wiser than another, one more righteous than
another, one holier than another; iti t/ie Father's house are
many mansions ; none of them shall be estranged from that
house ; where there shall be a mansion for each according
Mat.20, to his deserving. True, they all equally receive that penny
which the Householder commands to be given to all them
which have wrought in the vineyard ; in that, making no
Mat 20, distinction who have laboured less and w^ho more: by which
penny of course is signified eternal life, where none lives
more than other, because living hath no diverse measure
in eternity. But the many mansions signify the diverse
1 Cor. dignities of merits in the one life eternal. For there is
15,41. Qj^g glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another
glory of the stars : for one star dijfereth from another star
in glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead. As the
stars, the saints have allotted unto them diverse mansions of
diverse glory ; as those in the firmament, so they in the
kingdom ; but as touching tlie one penny, none is separated
ib. 28. from the kingdom : and so shall God he all in all, that,
1 John since God is love, by love it shall come to pass, that what
^' ^' they severally have shall be common to all. For so is each
one himself the haver, when he loves in the other what
himself hath not. So shall there not be any invidiousness
of unequal glory, since the unity of charity shall reign in all.
3. Therefore they are to be rejected from a Christian
heart, who imagine that this saying of the many mansio7is
means, that without the kingdom of heaven there will be
some condition wherein may dwell the blessed innocents who
have departed this life without baptism, seeing that without
it they shall not be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This faith is not faith, because it is not the true and catholic
are * mdmj mansions^ or divers degrees of glory and bUss. 771
faith. What? ye foolish people and blinded with carnal John
imaginations, whereas ye would deserve to be reprobated, if 3 4 '
ye should separate from the kingdom of heaven the mansion, "" '
I do not say of Peter or of Paul or of any of the Apostles,
but of any soever baptized little one, do ye not think ye
deserve to be reprobated, that ye separate therefrom the
House of God the Father ? For the Lord saith not, In the
whole vrorld, or. In the whole creation, or, In the Life or
Bliss everlasting, are many mansions, but, In My Falhei's
house are many mansions. Is not this the house where we^Cov.d,
have a huildlng of God, an house not made ivith hands , ^'
eternal in the heavens ? Is not this the house, of which we
sing to the Lord, Blessed are they that dwell in Thine house; Ps.84,4.
for ever and ever they shall praise Thee? And will ye then
dare to separate from the kingdom of heaven, not the house
of any baptized brother, but the house of God the Father
Himself, to Whom all we the brethren say, Our Father,
Which art in heaven; or dare so to divide it, that some
of its mansions shall be in the kingdom of heaven, others out
of the kingdom of heaven ? God forbid 1 forbid it, that they
who wish to dwell in the kingdom of heaven, should wish
to dwell with you in this foolishness ; forbid it, I say, that
whereas every house of reigning sons cannot be elsewhere
than in the kingdom, of the royal house itself there should
be some part not in the kingdom S
a Such was the doctrine of Vincen- remarks : " You see how the man
tius Victor, whose two books written separates Paradise and the mansions
against St. Augustine gave occasion which are in the Father's house from
to the treatise de Anima et ejus origine. the kingdom of heaven, that there may
" I may take upon me (says Vincen- be room even for the unbaptized to have
tius) to say, that these (viz. infants pre- places of eternal felicity. He does not
destinated to baptism but missing it) see while he says this, that though he
may obtain forgiveness of original sins, would not separate the mansion of any
yet not so as to come into the kingdom baptized little one from the kingdom of
of heaven: just as in the case of the heaven, he is not afraid to separate
thief to whom, confessing but not being thence the very House of God the
baptized, the Lord assigns not the Father, or some parts of it. For the
kingdom of heaven but paradise : be- Lord Jesus saith not, In the whole
cause it was now a settled truth. Ex- universe, or, In some part of the uni-
cept a man be born again, &^'C. Espe- verse, but. In My Father s house are
cially as the Lord declares that with many mansions. How then shall the
His Father are many mansions: which unbaptized be in the house of God the
implies the many and diverse merits of Father, when he cannot have God to
the dwellers in those mansions : so that his Father except he be born again ?
here the unbaptized may attain unto Let him not be so ungrateful to God,
pardon, the baptized to the palm, which Who hath vouchsafed to deliver him
is of grace." On which Augustine (Vincentius) from the split of the
772
No separate mansions /or unhaptized infants f
HoMiL. 4. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will cotne
-~^r-y^ again , and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there
ye may he also. And whither 1 go ye know, and the way ye
know, O Lord Jesiis, how goest Thou to prepare a place,
if already there are many mansions in Thy Father's house,
where Thine shall dwell with Thee ? Or, if Thou receivest
them to Thyself, how comest Thou again, Who goest not
hence ? These things, my beloved, if we shall essay to
expound briefly, as much as seems enough for to-day's
discourse, being crowded they will surely not be cleared up,
and the very brevity will be fresh obscurity : therefore let us
Donatists or Rogatists, as to go about
to split the very house of God, and
place some part of it out of the kingdom
of heaven, that the unbaptized may-
dwell there. And how shall he pre-
sume to think of entering into the king-
dom of heaven, from which kingdom he
shuts out, to what extent he will, the
house of the King Himself?" And
iii. 15. " Believe not thou, nor say,
nor teach, thtit ' there are some mansions
without the kingdom of God, which
the Lord saith are in His Father's
house,' if thou wouldest be a Catholic.
For He saith not, as thou hast cited
the text, There are many jnansions
" apud Patrem meum," though even
so we must have understood them to be
in the house of His Father: but He
saith expressly, In domo Patris, fyc.
"Who then shall dare to separate some
parts of the house of God from the
kingdom of God: which is as much
as to say that, while we find the
kings of the earth reigning not only
in their own house, nor only in their
own country, but far and wide even be-
yond the sea, the King Who made
heaven and earth does not reign in the
whole even of His own house! But
perhaps you may say that the ki?igdom
o/ Gorf indeed is over all, because He
reignsin heaven, in earth, in the deeps,
in paradise, in hell . . . but that the
kingdom of heaven, to which, in virtue
of the Lord's true and immovable sen-
tence, none come but they that are
washed by the laver of regeneration, is
different from this .... being a more
excellent and blessed state of the king-
dom of God : so that no mansions are
separated from the kingdom of God,
but not all are in the kingdom of
heaven : and in these which are not in
the kingdom of heaven, God may grant
the unbaptized to dwell in happiness,
though in the kingdom of heaven, be-
cause they are not baptized, they cannot
be. Those who say this, conceit them-
selves to say something only because
they do not understand what is meant
by "the kingdom of God": namely,
the place where with Him His whole
faithful family shall reign in everlasting
blessedness Even the wicked in
hell will be under His power, but not
therefore in His kingdom : for it is one
thing to be honoured by the rewards,
another to be coerced by the laws of
God's kingdom Moreover the Lord
does not say. Except a man be born
again of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but, i7ito the kingdom of God .... He
repeats it, and yet the phrase is the
same, The kingdom of God. And it is
not our business now to go into a dis-
quisition whether ' kingdom of God*
and ' kingdom of heaven' are to be
understood with a difference, or whether
they be two names for one thing :
enough, that he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God who is not washed by
the laver of regeneration. I suppose,
however, you will by this time under-
stand how wide it is of the truth to
separate some mansions in the house of
God from the kingdom of God."
As our Homily was delivered in the
year 416, and Augustine wrote his
Treatise not earlier than the close of
A.D. 419, at Aivhich time (de An. i.
tin.) he had but just received the work
of Vincentius, it is scarcely probable
that Vincentius was the first who
broached this opinion (as Wall repre-
sents, Hist, of Infant Baptism, ch. xx.
vol. i. p. 480). In fact, the Pelagians
as the Pelagians vainly talk.
773
defer this debt, to pay it you at a more convenient season, as Johw
the Father of our household shall bestow the ability. 3 ^ '
held the same thing : datis enim eis
(parvulis) extra regnum Dei locum
salutiset vitae seternse, etiamsi non fue-
rint baptizati : " Ye give infants though
they be unbaptized a place of salva-
tion and eternal life v^ithout the kingdom
of God :" 0. duas Epist. Pelagian. T, 40.
Theie is extant in a very ancient copy,
(" quidam pervetustus codex," Surius
ap. Mansi) of the Acts of the Council
held at Carthage in May, A. D. 418,
Contra heeresim Pelagii et Ceelestii,
the follovring Canon (Codex Eccl.
Africanse, post num. 110): " If any
man shall say, that the saying of our
Lord, In my Father'' s house ^ &c.
means that in the kingdom of heaven
there will be some middle place, or
any place wherever it be, in which
infants may live in bliss that departed
this life without baptism, without which
they cannot enter into the kingdom of
heaven, i. e. eternal life, let him be
anathema. For seeing the Lord hath
said, Except a man, &c. what catholic
can doubt that that person will have
his part with the devil, who meriteth
not to be joint-heir with Christ: since
he who is not on the right, without
doubt must fall to the left hand?"
This Canon is absent from most of the
MSS : " but Du Pin mentions an old
MS. [Surius's?] that has it, and saya
that Photius cites it" [Cod. 53],
"Wall u. s. p. 494. who thinks it was
added to the original canons of A.D.
418, by a Council which met in A.D.
419 : " This new fancy of Vincentius
was published and canvassed in the
time that passed between these two
Councils, viz. in the latter end of 418,
or in the beginning of the year 419."
But this learned writer seems to have
overlooked the passage in the Homily
before us : from which it appears that
this notion, whether taken up by
Vincentius, or first broached by him,
had been canvassed by St. Augustine
considerably more than a year before
the Council of May, 418 (Of the
medieval doctrine concerning the Um-
biis infanttim,^\i.erQ unbaptized infant»
suffer no torments but only poena
damn'i^ or eternal exclusion from the
vision of God, a full account may be
seen in the second part of the Eluci-
darium ap.opp. S. Anselmi, Append, p.
457 sqq.]
HOMILY LXVIII.
ON THE SAME TEXT.
1. That we owe you, beloved brethren, and that we must
now pay you that which we had defeiTed, we acknowledge :
namely, how these two sayings can be understood to be not
contrary the one to the other: that, whereas the Lord had
said, In My Fathers house are many mansions: if it were
not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place
for you — where He shews plainly enough, that in saying this
to them He affirmed that there are already many mansions
there, and that there is no need to prepare any — again He
saith, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again
and will receive you unto Myself, that where I ain ye may
he also. How go and prepare a place, if already there are
many mansions? Had it not been so. He would have said,
I go to prepare. Or, if it is yet to be prepared, why should
He not with good reason have said, / go to prepare ? Is it
so, that these mansions both are in being, and yet are to be
prepared ? For were they not in being, He would have said,
/ go to prepare. And yet, because though they are in
being, they are yet to be prepared, it is not as they are that
He goes to prepare them ; but if He go away and pre-
pare them as they are to be, then at His coming again He will
receive His own unto Himself, that where He is, they may be
also. Then in what sense is it that the mansions in the
Father's house, not others but the same, both without doubt
already are as they are not to be prepared, and not yet are as
they are to be prepared ? In what sense suppose we this
to be, but as the Prophet also saith of God that He hath
done what is yet future? For He saith not, Who is about to
How the mansions already are, and yet must he prepared. 11 o
do the things that are future, but, Who hath done the things John
that are future. Therefore, both hath done, and is about to i_3/
do them. For neither are they done if He hath not done Is 45,
them, nor are they future if He shall not do them. He didj^^x.
them therefore by predestinating, is about to do them by
working. Just as concerning the disciples, at what time He
chose them, the Gospel sufficiently declares; namely, at that
time when He called them: and yet the Apostle saith, i/ej^uke G,
chose us before the foundation of the world: by predes-Eph. i,
tinating, to wit, not by calling. But uhom He predestinated, ^^^^ g
them He also called: chose, by predestinating before the3o.
foundation of the world ; chose, by calling before the consum-
mation of the world. So likewise the mansions, He both
hath prepared and is preparing ; and not others, but those
which He hath prepared the same He is preparing. Who
hath done the things that are future : the same which He
hath prepared by predestinating He is preparing by working.
Already therefore they are, in predestination : were it not so,
He would have said, / will go and prepare, i. e. will predes-
tinate. But, because they do not yet exist in working. He
saith, And if I go aicay, and prepare a place for you, I come
again, and will receive you unto Myself,
2. But, in some sort, He prepares the mansions (or, dwell-
ings) by preparing dwellers for the dwellings. For, in fact,
seeing He hath said, In My Father's house are many man-
sions, what take we the house of God to be but the temple of
God ? But what that is, let the Apostle be interrogated and
make answer: For the temple of Qod is holy, which temple iCor.5,
are ye. This is also the kingdom of God, which the Son is ^'
to deliver to the Father: whence saith this same Apostle,
The beginning, Christ ; afterward, they that are Chrisfs at ih. 15,
His coming : then the end, ivhen He shall have delivered up
the kingdom to God, even the Father ; i. e. whom He hath
redeemed by His blood. He shall have delivered up to His
Father for ^ beholding Him also. This is the kingdom of ^ con-
heaven, of which it is said, The kingdom of heaven is like ^o^iando
a man which sowed good seed in his field. Now the good^^^-^^f
seed, these are the children of the kingdom : and albeit now38_43.
they have the tares mixed with them, the King Himself in
the end shall send His Angels, and they shall gather out of
776 He pr&pares the mansions hy preparing us for them:
HoMTL. His kingdom all offences. Then shall the just shine as the
-sun in the kingdom of their Father. The kingdom shall
shine in the kingdom, when to the kingdom shall have come
Matt. 6, the kingdom, which now we pray for and say, Thy kingdom
come. Therefore now it is already called the kingdom, but
as yet it is in process of being called together : for were it
not called kingdom, it should not be said, They shall gather
out of the kingdom all offences. But it doth not yet reign,
this same kingdom. Consequently it is in such sort a king-
dom already, that, when from it all offences shall be gathered,
then it shall come to be a kingdom : so as to have not only
the name of kingdom, but also the power of reigning. For
to this kingdom, standing at the right hand, it shall be said
Mat.25,in the end, Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive ye the
kingdom : i. e. Ye who were a kingdom, yet did not reign,
come, reign; that what ye were in hope, ye may be able
also to be in reality. This house, therefore, of God, this
temple of God, this kingdom of God, and kingdom of heaven,
is yet in building, yet in fashioning, yet in preparing, yet in
being gathered together. In that, there wnll be mansions, so
as the Lord is as yet preparing them : in that, already they
are, so as the Lord hath predestinated them already.
3. But what meaneth it, that to prepare He Avent away,
since doubtless we are that which He was to prepare : which
thing He will not do, if He leave us ? I take Thy meaning.
Lord, as I am able: in truth thou signifiest this, that, in order
Rom. 1, to the preparing of these mansions, the just must live by faith.
2 Cor 5 -^^^ ^^ *^^^ ^^ absent from the Lord hath need to live by
6—8. faith ; because by this he is prepared for the beholding of
8. * ' the seen reality. 'For, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
Actsl5, gjidil g^Q God: and. By faith He purifieth their hearts.
The former w^e read in the Gospel, the latter in the Acts,
Now the faith by which they which shall see God, so long as
they are absent from the Lord, have their hearts purified,
believes what it does not see: for if thou seest, it is not faith.
In believing, he is gathering merit; in seeing, he is paid his
^ reward. Then let the Lord go and prepare a place : go,
that He be not seen : be hidden, that He may be believed
on. For then hath one a place in preparing, if he be living
by faith. Believed, let Him be desired, that desired, He may
He went hence, because we are prepared hj faith, 777
be had: the desire of love is the preparing of a mansion. So, John
Lord, prepare that which Thou preparest : for Thou pre- i_^'
parest us for Thee, and Thee for us : since Thou preparest
a place both for Thee in us and for us in Thee. For Thou
hast said. Abide in Me, and I in you. In what degree eachch. 15,
shall be partaker of Thee, one less, another more, this shall
be the diversity of rewards in proportion to the diversity of
merits: this shall be the multitude of mansions, according to
the inequality of the dwellers therein, who nevertheless all
alike have eternity of life and endlessness of bliss. What
meaneth it that Thou goest ? What meaneth it that Thou
comest.? If I understand Thee aright, neither whence Thou
goest, nor whence Thou comest, departest Thou : Thou goest
by being unseen, comest by appearing. But unless Thou abide
by ruling that we may make progress in well living, how
shall there be a place prepared where we may abide by
enjoying } Let it be enough to have said thus much con-
cerning the words of the Gospel which have been read, as far
as to where the Lord saith, I come again, and will receive
you unto Myself. But what that means which follows, that
where I am, ye may be also ; and whither I go ye know,
and the way ye know : this, after the question then ensuing,
put by the disciple, as if we also asked by him, we shall
better hear, and more seasonably handle.
HOMILY LXTX.
John xiv. 4 — 6.
And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas
saith unto Him, Lord, we knoiv not whither Thou goest ; and
how can we know the way ? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the
Father, hut hy Me.
1. Now is the time, my beloved, that, as much as we are
able, we should understand by the latter words of the Lord
the former, and from the words following, those which go
before, in that which ye have heard spoken in answer to the
question put by the Apostle Thomas. For the Lord had
said above, when He was speaking concerning the mansions,
of which He said both that they are in His Father's house,
and that He goeth to prepare them; where we understood,
both that the same mansions already are, in predestination,
and that the preparing of them is when they that are to
dwell there, have their hearts purified by faith, seeing the
house of God is itself none other than they ; and what is it
to dwell in the house of God, but to be in the people of God,
seeing the same people is in God and God in it ? to prepare
this then, the Lord went hence ; that by believing on Him
Who is not seen, that mansion which in the reality is ever-
more to be, may now by faith be prepared: in this regard
therefore He had said. And if I go away and prepare a
place for you, I come again and will receive you unto
Myself, thai where I am ye may he also; and whither I go
Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 779
ye know, and the way ye know. Hereupon saith Thomas to John
Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can ^^J*
ice know the way ? The Lord had said they knew both, and ^,
this man saith they are ignorant of both : both the goal, and
the way of this going. But He knoweth not how to lie :
therefore these did know, and knew not that they knew.
Let Him convince them that they already know that which
they account themselves even yet not to know. Jesus saith v. 6.
to him, L am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. What is
this, my brethren ? Lo, we have heard the disciple ques-
tioning, have heard also the Master teaching; and we do not
yet take in, even after the sounding voice, the sense which
keeps itself latent. But what is it we are not able to take
in? Could His Apostles with whom He spake, say to Him,
We know not Thee ? Then if they knew Him and He is
the Way, they knew the Way : if they knew Him and He is
the Truth, they knew the Truth : if they knew Him and He
is the Life, they knew the Life. Lo, they are convicted of
knowing that which they knew^ not that they knew.
2. What is it then that we also in this discourse have not
taken in ? What trow ye, my brethren ; save that He hath
said. And whither L go ye know, and the way ye know? And
lo, we have learned that they knew the way, in that they
knew Him Who is the Way : but the way is that hy which
one goeth ; is the way also that to which one goeth ? Now
He had said they knew both : both whither He goeth, and
the way. There was need then that He should say, / am the
Way, to shew that in knowing Him they knew the way
which they thought they did not know : but what need was
there to say, / am the Way, and the Truths and the Life,
since, the way being known by which He went, it yet
remained to be known whither He went ; unless it were to
shew that He was going to the Truth, going to the Life .?
Going therefore to Himself through Himself. And whither
go we, but to Him ? and which way go we, but by Him ?
Himself therefore, to Himself, through Himself; we, to Him,
through Him: yea, and to the Father, both He and we.
For of Himself He saith elsewhere, L go to the Father : and
in this place with regard to us, No man, saith He, cometh to
the Father hut hy Me. And consequently, both He by
3 F
780 Hoiv Christ goes to Himself.
HoMiT,. Himself, botli to Himself and to the Father, and we by Him
LXIX. .
-^ ^both to Him and to the Father. Who can receive these
things but he that spiritually conceives ? And how much is
it that he does here receive, although he do spiritually
conceive ? Brethren, why would ye that these things should
be expounded to you by me ? Think how lofty they are !
Wisd.9, Ye see what I am, I see what ye are: in all us, the cor-
^* ruptihle hody pressetJi down the soul, and the earthy
habitation iveiglieth down the mind that museth upon many
Ps. 123, things. Can we say, think we, To thee have I lifted up my
soul, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens? But, beneath
2 Cor. 5. so great a weight, where ire groan being biirthened, how
shall I lift up my soul unless He lift it up with me. Who for
me laid down His own.^ Let me say therefore what I can,
let him of you receive it who can. By Whose gift I speak,
by His gift receiveth he that receiveth, and by His gift
Is. 7, 9. believeth he that not yet receiveth. For, except ye believe,
saith the Prophet, ye shall not understand.
3. Say Thou to me, O my Lord, what I may say to Thy
servants my fellow-servants. Thomas the Apostle, that he
might question Thee, had Thee before him ; yet for all that,
he should not have understood Thee, unless he had Thee
in himself: I question Thee, because I know Thee to be
Ps.42,4. above me ; but question Thee in so far as I am able to pour
3i9,DoteOUt above mysel minef own soul, where though Thou make
no sound but yet teachest, I may hear Thee. Tell me, I
beseech Thee, how goest Thou to Thyself? Hadst Thou,
in order that Thou mightest come to us, left Thyself: espe-
cially seeing Thou camest not of Thyself, but the Father sent
Thee ? I know indeed that Thou didst empty Thyself; but
in that Thou tookest the form of a servant, not because Thou
didst either * let go the form of God to return thereto again,
or ^forego it to receive it again: and yet Thou didst come,
yea, didst come not only within reach of eyes of flesh, but
even within the grasp of the hands of men. How, but in
flesh ? By this Thou camest, remaining where Thou wast :
by this wentest back, not leaving that whereto Thou hadst
come. If then by this Thou camest and wentest back: by
this without doubt Thou wast the Way not only for us to
come to Thee, but for Thyself to come and to go back.
' demi-
sisti
through the flesh He went hack to His own Life and Truth. ?81
But seems: Thou vventest to Life, which is Thyself; as- JoHt*
XIV
suredly that same flesh of Thine Thou leddest from death 5, g/
to hfe. For the Word of God is one thing; man, another;
but then the Word was made fleshji. e. man. Consequently,
not one is the Person of the Word, other the person of man,
seeing both is Christ, one Person : and therefore, just as
when the flesh died, Christ died ; and when the flesh was
buried, Christ was buried (for so we believe with the heart Rom.
unto righteousness, so make confession with the mouth unto ' '
salvation); so, when the flesh came from death unto life,
Christ came unto life: and yet because Christ is the Word of
God, Christ is Life. Thus in some wondrous and ineffable
manner, He, Who did never let go or forego Himself, came
unto Himself. But He had come, as we said, through the
flesh : God to men, the Truth to liars : for God is true, but Rom. 3,
every man a liar : when therefore He took away His flesh
from among men and lifted it up to that place where no man
lieth, Ho did also, in that the Word tvas made flesh, through
Himself, i. e. through the flesh, go back to the Truth, which
is Himself. Which Truth indeed, albeit among liars, He
even in death preserved : for Christ did once die, but never
was He false.
4. Take an example, albeit wide apart and far from
like, yet in some sort suitable for the understanding of
God, from the things which are more nearly subject to God.
Behold I myself, as it regards my mind, seeing I am what
ye are, if I hold my peace, am with myself; but if I speak
to you that which ye may understand, I do in some sort
come forth to you, and not leave myself, but both come unto
you and not come away from that whence I come forth.
But when I cease speaking, I do in some sort return to
myself and in some sort remain with you, if ye hold that
which ye heard in the discourse I utter. If this be possible
for the image which God made, what must be possible for
the Image not made by God but begotten out of God, the
Image of God, Which is God! since That, by Which He
came out to us, and in which He went back from us, — His
Body, — hath not, like the sound of my words, glided away,
but abideth there where henceforth it dieth not, and death Rom. 6,
shall no more have dominion over it. Perhaps there might ^'
3 F 2
782 An illustralion taken from the human word.
HoMiL. and ought to be yet many things spoken concerning these
1^ words of the Gospel: but however sweet the spiritual meats
may be, it is not fit that your hearts should be burthened
Mat.26, therewith : especially as the spirit is willing, but the flesh is
^^' weak.
HOMILY LXX.
John xiv. 7 — 10.
If ye have known Me, ye have known My Father also: and
from henceforth ye shall know Him, and have seen Him,
Philip saith unto Him, Lord, sheio us the Father, and it
sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I heen so long
time with you, and yet have ye not known Me, Philip ? he
that seeth Me, seeth the Father also; and how say est thou
then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in
the Father, and the Father in Me?
1. The words of the holy Gospel, my brethren, are then
rightly understood, if they are found to be in harmony with
what was said above : for those which precede must needs
match those which follow when the Truth speaketh. Above,
the Lord had said. And if I go away and prepare a place ^r. 3.
for you, again I come, and will receive you unto Myself, that
where 1 am ye may he also: thereupon He had added. And
whither I go ye knoiv, and the ivay ye know : and shewed
that what He said was none other than this, that they knew
Him. What then it was to go to Himself through Himself,
which thing also He maketh good to His disciples, that they
should go to Him through Him, this, as we were able, we
have already spoken in the former discourse. Then that
He saith. That where I am, ye may he also, where were
they to be but in Him ? And consequently He also is in
Himself, and accordingly they are there where He is, that
is, in Him. He then is Himself the Eternal Life, in which
we are to be when He shall have received us unto Himself:
784 Christ hath and is the Life: we have life in Him.
HoMiL. and that same Eternal Life, Which is Himself, is in Himj
LXX
* that where He is, there may we be also, that is, in Hnn.
ch.5,26. iTo;- as the Father hath life in Himself, and assuredly the
Life He hath is none other than the thing He is Who hath
it: so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
while He is Himself the same Life which He hath in
Himself. But shall we be the Life that He is when we
have begun to be in that Life, that is, in Him ? No, verily :
because by existing. He, the Life, hath life, and Himself is
the thing He hath, and what thing the Life is in Him, He is
in Himself: but we are not tJie Life, but partakers of the
Life; and though we shall be there, yet in ourselves we
cannot be the thing that He is, but, being ourselves not
life, shall have Him as our life Who hath Himself as
Life, in that Himself is Life. In fine. He is both in
Himself immutably, and in the Father inseparably : but
iturbatiwe, because we would needs be in ourselves, were cast^
P3.42,6.down to ourselves, (whence that saying. Unto Myself is
My soul cast doivn :) and, changed to the worse, could
not continue to be even what we were. But w-hen by
Him we come unto the Father, as He saith. No man
cometh unto the Father but by Me ; while we remain in Him,
neither from the Father shall any be able to separate us, nor
from Him.
2. Connecting then the following with the foregoing. He
saith: If ye have knoicn Me, tit en have ye known My Father
also^. This is that He saith: iVb 7?ia}i cometh to the Father
but by 3Ie. Then He subjoins: And from hencefYth ye shall
knoio^ Him, and have seen Him. But Philip_\one of the
Apostles, not understanding w^hat he has heard, i^yith, Lord^
shew us the Father, and it suffice th us. To whom the Lord
saith, Am I so long time with you, and have ye not known''
Me, Philip 9 He that seeth Me, sceth'^ also the Father.
» Here the Mss. had, Si cognovistis Hil, scitis. Iren. cognovistis. Cod. Can-
aiid utiqut cognoscetis, but in many, tab. cognopcite. Fuld. Laurent, cog-
cognovisst'tis is substituted as aeorrec- noseitis. (Lachinann, cognoscetis.)
tion in both clauses. Ben. The oldest <= Oldest Mss. cognovistis, Hil. nostis.
Latin Mss. have cognovistis in both Iren. cognovisti. (Lachmann, cogno-
clauses: Hil, scitis in both: Iren. cog- vistis.)
uovissetis. Cod. Cantab, cognovistis. . . ^ Videt me videt Mss. and Iren. me
scietis. (Lachinann, cognovissetis.) vidit vidit. Hil. and Cod. Fuld.
^ Cognoscetis: oldest Ml^s, nostis.
To know the Son is io know the Father: 785
Behold, He chideth them, for that He was so long time with John
them, and yet was not known. Had not Himself said. And ^Jq'
whither I go ye know, and the way ye know; and, when they ~
said they knew it not, convicted them that they did know, by
going on to say, lam the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
How saith He now, Am I so long time with you, and have
ye not known Me? when assuredly both whither He went,
and the way, they knew, simply on the ground that in any
wise they knew Him ? But this question is easily solved, if
we say that some of them knew Him, others knew Him not,
and of these that knew Him not, was Philip: so that this
saying. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know^
He should be understood to have said to them that knew
Him, not to Philip, to whom it is said. Am I so long time
with you, and have ye not known Me, Philip ? To these,
then, who already knew the Son, is that also said concerning
the Father, And from, henceforth ye shall know Him, and
have seen Hhn : it was said, namely, in respect of the
universal likeness which He hath with the Father, that they
should be therefore said henceforth to know the Father
because they knew His like, the Son. Therefore they did
already know the Son, although not all, at least some of
them, to whom it is said, And whither I go ye know, and
the way ye know : for He is Himself the Way. But they
knew not the Father, therefore it is said to them, Ifije have
known. Me, ye have known also My Father: by Me,
to wit. Him also. For one Person am I, another He. But
lest they should think Him unlike, He saith, And from
henceforth ye shall know Him, and have seen Him. For
they saw His very like, the Son ; but they needed to be
admonished that such is also the Father Whom they did not
yet see, as is the Son Whom they did see. And this is the
meaning of that which is afterward said to Phihp, He that
seeth Me, seeth also the Father. Not that the Same was
Father and Son ; which thing in the Sabelhans, wdio are
called also Patripassians, the Catholic faith denies: but
that the Father and Son are so alike, that who knows the
One, knows Both. For we are wont in speaking of two
persons very like each other, to say to those who see the
one, and wish to know what sort of person the other is.
786 Not only because Christ is the Way^
HoMiL. Having seen this one, ye have seen that. Such then is
the meaning of, He that seeth Me, seeth also the Father:
not in any wise that the Father is the same Person as
the Son, but that the Son in nothing at all differs from
the likeness of the Father. For unless the Father and the
Son were two, it would not be said, If ye have known Me,
ye have known also My Father. Now were it only because
no man, as He saith, cometh to the Father hut htj Me; so, if
ye have known Me, ye have known also My Father ; since
I, by Whom men come to the Father, w^ll bring you to Him,
that ye may know Him also. But I am entirely like to
Him, and so, from henceforth ye shall know Him, while ye
know Me : and have seen Him, if with the eyes of the heart
ye have seen Me.
3. Why then say est \\ou, Philip, Shew us the Father, and
it sufficeth lis ? Am I, . lith He, so long time with you, and
have ye not known Me, Philip? He that seeth 3Ie, seeth
also the Father, But if it be much for thee to see this,
at least believe what thou seest not. For how sayest thou.
Shew us the Father? If thou hast seen Me, Who am every
way like, thou hast seen Him to Whom I am like. Which
if thou canst not see, dost thou not at least believe that
I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? Here Philip
might say ; I see indeed Thee, and believe Thee to be most
like unto the Father : but is he to be reproved and chidden,
who, when he seeth the person like, would fain also see the
person he is like unto ? True, I know him that is like, but
as yet I know not the one without the other; it sufficeth me
not, vmless T also know the other to whom this one is like.
Therefore shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. But the
reason why the Master reproved the disciple was, that He
saw the heart of him that made this demand. For it was as
if the Father were better than the Son, that Philip desired
to know the Father : and for that reason knew not the Son,
than Whom he believed there could be aught better. To
correct this feeling, it is said. He that seeth Me, seeth also
the Father. How sayest thou, Shew us the Father? 1 see
how thou sayest it: it is not that thou seekest to see Another
to Whom I am like, but that thou supposest Him to be
better than I. Believes t thou not, that I am in the Father,
But because of Their inseparable Unity. 787
and the Father in Me? Why wishest thou to discern a John
difference in Them that are hke ? why desirest thou to know ?f^*
separately Them that are inseparable? Thereupon He speaks ~
not to Philip alone, but to them in the plural : words which
must not be crowded into a narrow compass, that so, by His
aid, they may be more diligently expounded.
HOMILY LXXI.
John xiv. 10 — 14.
The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: hut
the Father that divelleih in Me, He doeth the works.
Believe Me that I am in the FatJier, and the Father in Me :
or else believe Me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that helieveth on Me, the ivorks that I
do shall he do also ; and greater works than these shall he
do; because I go unto My Father. And luhatsoever ye
shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in My
name, I ivill do it,
1. Hear with your ears, receive with your minds, clearly
beloved, while we indeed speak, but He teacheth Who
quitteth us not. The Lord saith, what ye have just heard
when it was read, TJie words that I speak unto you I speak
not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He
doeth the works. Then are words also works ? Assuredly,
it is so. For doubtless, he that by speaking edifieth his
neighboiu- doelh a good work. But what meaneth, I speak
not of Myself but, I that speak am not of Myself? For
truly. He, of Whom the Doer hath His being, doth give Him
that which He doeth. For the Father is God not of some
other, but the Son is God, equal indeed with the Father,
but of God the Father. Therefore the Father is God, but
not of God, and Light, but not of Light : but the Son is God
of God, Light of Light.
Sahellkis and Arms ivitness each against other. 789
2. For, in these two sentences, the one in which it is John
said, / speak not of Myself ; the other, in which it is said, ^q— 14.
But the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works:
holding severally one, different heretics oppose ns, who,
striving not on one side but contrary ways, swerve wide from
the way of truth. For the Arians say. Behold, the Son is
not Equal with the Father; He speaketh not of Himself
On the other hand, the Sabellians, i. e. the Fatripassians,
say, ' Lo, Who the Father, He the Son,' for what meaneth,
The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doe tit, the works, but,
I that do them, d\\ ell in Myself? Ye say contrary things,
but not in that way as false is contrary to true, but as two
false things are contrary one to another. By erring ye
have gone in different directions, the way ye have left is in
the middle. Ye are separated by a wider distance one from
another than from the way itself which ye have forsaken.
Ye from this side, and ye from that, come hither: do not
pass each to other, but from this side and from that coming
to us, reciprocally find yourselves. Sabellians, acknowledge
Him Whom ye pass by : Arians, make Him equal, Whom ye
make inferior, so shall ye walk with us in the true way.
For there is that which both of you ought reciprocally to
learn each from the other. Flear, Sabellian : so true is it
that the Son is not the Father but Another, that the Arian
even asserts Him to be unequal with the Father. Hear,
Arian: so true is it that the Son is equal with the Father,
that the Sabellian even affirms Him identical with the
Father. Add thou Whom thou takest away ; fill up thou
Whom thou diminishest ; so shall ye both agree with us:
because neither thou takest away, nor thou diminishest.
Him Who is both Other from the Father, that thou raayest
convict the Sabellian, and equal with the Father, that thou
mayest convict the Arian. For to them both He cries, /ch. lo,
and the Father are One. That He saith One, let the Arians ^^*
hear: that He sailh, Are, let the Sabellians hear: and let
neither those be vain by denying Him to be Equal, nor these
by denying Him to be Other. If then, because He said,
The words which I speak to you, I speak not of My self ^
He is therefore accounted to be of so unequal power that
He doeth not what Himself wills, let that be heard which
TiH^ The Son speaketh not, i. e. is nof, of Himself-
HoMiL. He said, .tl5 the Father raheth the dead and qtiiekefieth
}i^^^^ them, so also the Son quiekeneth tchont He tci/f. Again, if
because He said. The Father whieh dicelieth in Ale, He
doeth the tcorl'^. therefore it is thought that the Father is not
One, and He Another, let that be heard wliich He said,
JVJiaisoever the Father doeth, these also the Son in like
manner doeth ; and let it be understood to be not twice one
(person), but two ^persons) one (thing)*. But, because thongh
One is equal witli Other, nevertheless One is from Other,
therefore, ' He speakelh not of Himself,' because He is not
of Himself: and, ' the Father that dwellolh in Him, He
doeth the works,' because He by Whom and with Whom
llie Father doeth them hath His being only of Him. In
line, He goes on to say : Believe ye not that I am in the
Father and the Father is in Mc :' Or eke, believe Me for
the very tcorks^ sake. Before, Philip alone was reproved:
but now it is shewn that he was not the only person there
who needed to be reproved. For the very tcorks'' sake, saith
He, believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me :
for, if We were separated, We could not by any means
work iusepvirably.
T. 11-13. 3. But what is that which follows? Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on Me, the tcorks that I do shall
he do also; and greater itorks than these shall he do ;
because I yo unto My Father. And whatsoever ye shall a^k
in My name, that tcill I do: that the Father may be ylorijied
in the Son, if ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do
it. Therefore even those greater works, He promised that
ch. 13, He would do them. Let not the servant lilt himself up
^^' above his lord, and the disciple above his master: greater
than He doeth. He saith they should do ; howbeit, by His
doing in them or by them, not themselves as of themselves.
Ps.18,1. For to Him we sing, 1 will love Thee, ^\ Lord, my strength,
^_ct* o, jj^^ sx\y;xX are these greater works? Thai, as they passed by,
their very shadow healed the sick ? For it is greater that a
Mat, 14, shadow should heal, ihau the hem oi a garment. This He
^^' did by Himself; that, by them : but yet He did both.
When however Ho said these words, it was the works of His
words that He spake o(: for so He had said. The words
* lutelliiiatur non bis uuus sed duo miuin.
How Chri8t\H disciples do '^ rjr eater works'' 791
which I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; hut the John
10-
Father that dweileth in 3Ie, He doeth the works. What ^^^^*
works did Ho at that time mean, but the words He was
speakiDg ? Those heard and believed, and the fruit of those
same words was their faith : but when the diseiples preached
the Gospel, not some few like those, but the very nations
believed ; these are without doubt greater works. Nor yet
doth lie say, Greater titan these shall ye do, that we should
suppose only the Apostles would do them ; but, He that
helieveth in Me, the works that I do shall he do, and greater
works than these shall he do. What? Whosoever believeth
in Christ, doth he what Christ, or even greater than Christ,
doeth ? Thes<; are matters not to be handled in passing, nor
to be precipitately hurried over : but these, the need of
closing the present sermon compels us to defer.
HOMILY LXXir.
ON THE SAME TEXT.
]. What it means, or how it is to be taken, that the Lord
saith, He that helieveth in Me, the works iJtat I do shall he
also do, it is not easy to conj]n-ehend: and, most difficult as
this is to understand, what He hath added is still more
difficult. And greater than these shall he do. What
is this? One that should do the works which Christ did,
we found not: and are we like to find one that shall do even
greater? But we said in the former discourse that it was a
Acts 6, greater thing to heal the sick by the passing by of one's
Mat. 14 shadow, as the Apostles did, than by touch of the hem of
36. one's garment, as the Lord did ; and, that more believed
the Apostles, than believed when the Lord by His own
mouth preached ; not that the disciple was greater than his
Master, or the servant than his Lord, or the adopted son
than the Only-Begotten, or man than God ; but that by
them He deigned to do these same greater works. Who
ch.15,6. saith to them in another place. Without Me ye can do nothing.
For He, truly, (to omit other things which are innumerable,)
without them made them, without them made this world;
and, in that He even deigned to be made man, without them
m.ade also Himself. But what did they make without Him,
but sin ? And in short even here, that which might stagger
us, He hath presently taken away : for when He had said,
He that helieveth in Me, the works which I do shall he also
do, and greater works than these shall he do, He imme-
Christ promised to all believers 793
diately follows this up by saying, Because I go to the Father, John
and whatever ye shall ask in 31y name, that will I do. He iJlTi
Who had said, he shall do, saith afterward, / will do; as
much as to say. Let not this seem impossible to you : for it
is not that he who believeth in Me can be greater than I,
but only that / shall then do greater works than now;
greater, by him that believeth in Me, than Uvithout him i prater
by Myself: yet I the same Uvithout him, I the same by him :
but when without him, it will not be he that doeth ; when
by him, although not by himself, yet will it be he also that
doeth. But now, to do greater things by him than without
him, is no defect, but only condescension. For what canps. ii6,
servants render unto the Lord for all that He has rendered ^^*
to them ? Since among other benefits He hath deigned
to bestow upon them even this, that He should do greater
works by them than without them. Did not that rich man
go away sorrowful, when He sought at His lips counsel of
eternal life? He heard, he rejected; and yet afterward
what one individual, having heard from Him, did not, that
did many, when He spake by the mouths of His disciples ;
He, that Good Master; contemptible in the eyes of him,
the rich man whom by His own lips He warned, amiable
in the sight of them whom He of rich made poor by
poor men's ministry. Behold, He did greater works when
spoken of by men believing, that when speaking to men
hearing.
2. But there is yet this difficulty : that He did these
greater works by the Apostles : whereas he does not say
as meaning only them, TJie works which I do shall ye also
do, and greater than these shall ye do : but, wishing it to
be understood of all that belong to His family. He that
helieveih in Me, saith He, the works which I do shall he
also do, and greater than these shall lie do. If then he that
believes, shall do, then he that shall not do, believes not:
just as, He that loveth Me, keepeth My cominandments.-ch.u,
whence assuredly, he that keepeth not, loveth not. Again,
as He saith in another place. He that heareih these JiyMatt. 7,
words and doeth them, 1 will liken him to a prudent man
who huildeih his house upon a rock: consequently, he that
is not like this prudent man, without doubt either heareth
794 that they should do greater ivcrks than He.
HoMiL. these words and doeth them not, or, does not even hear
i^^™:them at all. He that helieveth, saith He, in Me, though
25. * he die, shall live: consequently, he that shall not live,
of course does not believe. Such is also this saying;
He that believeih in 31e, shall do: of course then he
belie veth not, who shall not do. How is this, my brethren ?
What, is he not to be reckoned among the believing in
Christ, who doeth not greater works than Christ did ? It is
hard, it is absurd, it is not to be borne. No; one cannot bear
Rom. 4, it, unless one understand it. Hear we then the Apostle : To
^* him that beliereth, saith he, 07i Him that justijleih the
ungodly, his faith is counted unto him for righteousness.
In this work, let us do the works of Christ ; since the very
believing on Christ is the work of Christ. This He worketh
in us, not of course without us. Hear therefore now and
understand : He that helieveth in 3Ie, the works that I do
shall he also do: first I do, then he also shall do; because
I do that he may do. What works, but that of ungodly he
should be made righteous ?
3. A?id greater than these shall he do. Than what,
I pray ? What ? is that man doing greater than all Christ's
Phil 2 works, who with fear and trembling worketh out his own
12. salvation.? Which thing Christ worketh in him, truly, but not
without him. Yes, I may affirm this to be greater altogether
than heaven and earth, and whatsoever things are seen in
heaven and earth. For both heaven and earth shall pass
away; but of the predestinate, i. e. of them whom He fore-
knows, the salvation and justification shall remain. In those
are but the works of God, whereas in these is also the image
of God. But also in the heavens, are Thrones, Dominions,
Principalities, Powers, Archangels, Angels, all works of
Christ: and is that man doing works greater even than
these, who, with Christ working in him, together works out
his own eternal salvation and justification? I dare not give
a precipitate sentence here : let him understand w^ho can,
him judge who can, whether it be greater to create righteous
beings than to justify the ungodly. For certainly if both are
works of equal power, the latter is a work of greater mercy.
1 Tim. Foi' this is the great mystery of godliness, which was mani-
3, iG. Jested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, appeared unto
How this is fulfilled.
795
Angels, was preached among the Gentiles, was believed in John
the vjorld, was taken up in glory". But there is no necessity lo— u*.
to understand all the works of Christ, where He saith,
Greater than these shall he do. For by these He meant,
it may be, those which He was doing in that hour: now at
that time He was speaking words of faith, and of these
works He had before spoken, saying, The words which
I speak to you, I speak not of Myself; hut the Father which
dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. At that lime therefore
His words were His works. And certainly it is less to
preach words of righteousness, which thing He did without
us, than to justify the ungodly, which though He doeth in
us, yet we also do it ourselves. It remains for us to enquire
how it is to be taken, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name,
I will do it. For, seeing there are many things which His
believers ask and do not receive, there arises hence no
small question : but since this sermon must now be closed, let
at least a little delay be allowed for the considering and treat-
ing of this matter.
* Hoc est magnum pietatis sacra-
mentum^ QUOD manifestahim est in
carne^ jif&tificatum est in spiritu^ ap-
paruit angeliSy prcedicatum est in
gentibus, ci'editum est in mundo, as-
sumptum est in gloria. Hil. de Trin.
xi. 9. raagnam est pietatis sacramentum
quod manifestatum est, tfec. So all the
Latins, and Vulg. : also Syr. and Aeth.
Yet of all the three readings, h is the
least accredited by the Greek autho-
rities : and whatever weight is due to
the consensus of the Latins, belongs to
&s, which may have been first rendered
qui (of which however there are no
traces) but would soon be replaced by
quod, for the sake of congruity with the
neuter noun preceding.
3g
HOMILY LXXIII.
ON THE SAME TEXT.
1. A GREAT hope hath the Lord promised to His own that
hope^ in Him, saying, Because I goto the Father ^ and wliaU
soever ye shall ask in My name^ I tvill do it. In such
manner therefore went He to the Father, that He would not
leave them in need, but would hear their requests. But
what means, Whatsoever ye shall ask, when we see that
full oft His believers ask and do not receive ? Is it because
they ask amiss ? For herewith the Apostle James hath
James reproached them, saying, Ye ask, and receive not, because
"*' ye ask amiss, that ye may sjyend it upon your lusts. When
therefore a person would make a bad use of that which he
would fain receive, it is rather by the mercy of God that he does
not receive. Therefore if the thing asked of Him be such
that the man would be hurt thereby, being heard, one should
rather fear lest what He might in mercy not give. He should
in anger give. Do we not see that the Israelites to their
hurt obtained what by culpable lust they asked for ? They
lusted to have flesh to eat, they who had manna rained upon
them from heaven. They loathed what they had, and what
they had not, they impudently asked to have : as if they
would not have done better to ask, not that the good which
was wanting should be supplied to their unseemly longing,
but that, healed of their loathing, they might take the good
which was there. For when evil things delight us, and good
» Sperantibus: but three IV] ss. orantibus, " that pray." Ben. Also one Oxf.
Not whatsoever we ask, indiscriminately, 797
things delight us not; we ought rather to ask of God that good Jobn
things may delight us, than that evil things may be granted io_i4.
to us. Not that it is an evil thing to cat flesh, since the ~
Apostle, speaking of this thing, saith, Every creature of God ]^^^'^'
is good, and notldng is to he rejected that is received with
thanksgiving : but that, as the same also saith, It is evil forlorn.
the man who eateth with offence ; and if so, when it is with ' " '
offence to man, how much more, when with offence to God !
To Whom it was no small offence on the part of the Israelites,
to reject that which Wisdom gave, and to ask for that which
lust craved : though they indeed did not even ask, but only
murmured because it was not there. Howbeit, that we might
know that not the creature of God is in fault, but contu-
macious disobedience and inordinate lust ; not for swines-
flesh but for an apple did the first man find death, and not ^^n.
for pullet but for pulse did Esau lose his birthright. u* 2*5^
2. Then how is it to be understood. Whatsoever ye shatl^^'
ask, I will do it, if there be some things which God of very
kindness doeth not for the faithful when they ask Him } Or
must we take this to have been said only to Apostles ? God
forbid ! For the occasion which led to this saying was, that
He had said above. He that believeth in Me, the works that
I do shall he do, and greater than these shall he do : of
which we have treated in the former discourse. And, lest
any should attribute this to himself, to shew that even those
greater works were His doing, He further said, Because I go
to the Father, and whatsoever ye shall ask in My name,
I will do it. Have only Apostles believed in Him .? Then
in saying. He that believeth in Me, He spake to those among
whom, by His gift, are we also, who certainly do not receive
whatsoever we ask. Nay, and if we call to mind the blessed
Apostles themselves, we find that he who laboured more 1 Cor,
than they all, yet not he, hut the grace of God which was '
with Hiin, besought the Lord thrice, that the messenger ofl Cor.
Satan might depart from him, and yet did not receive what^ '
he asked for. What shall w^e say, beloved ? Shall we think
that this promise, where He saith. Whatsoever ye shall ask
I will do it, was not even fulfilled by Him to Apostles .?
And yet to whom shall He fulfil what He promiseth, if in
His promising He hath disappointed His own Apostles ?
3 G 2
798 But whatsoever ice ask in His Name.^
HoMiL. 3. Wake up, then, O man of faith, and wakefully hear
^^^"^- what is there set clown: In My Name: for touching that
same Whatsoever, He saith not, what ye shall ask in what-
soever manner, but, in 3Iy Name. He then that hath
promised so great a benefit, what is He called? Why, Christ
Jesus : ' Christ' signifies King, ' Jesus' signifies Saviour : not
a king of whatsoever kind, shall save us, but a King who is
Saviour : and consequently whatsoever we ask contrary to that
which is expedient for salvation, we ask not in the name of the
Saviour. And yet the Same is Saviour, not only when He
doeth what we ask, but also when He doeth it not ; since,
what He seeth to be asked contrary to salvation, it is by not
doing it that He rather shews Himself a Saviour. For the
Physician knoweth what the sick man craves to his health,
what against his health; and therefore when he craves things
contrary, he doeth not his will, that he may effect his weal.
Wherefore, when we wish that He should do whatsoever we
ask, let us not ask as if it mattered not how, but in His
Name, i. e. in the name of the Saviour, let us ask. Then
let us not ask contrary to our salvation : which thing if He
do. He doeth not as Saviour, which is His name to His
believers. For truly, to the ungodly He is also a Judge to
condemn. Who to the faithful deigneth to be Saviour.
Therefore whatsoever he that believeth in Him shall ask
in that Name which He is to them that believe in Him,
this He doeth ; because this He as Saviour doeth. But if
he that believeth in Him does through ignorance ask any
thing contrary to his salvation, he asks not in the name of
the Saviour ; seeing He shall not be his Saviour if He shall
do that which impedes his salvation. Whence it is then
expedient rather, that, by not doing the thing for which He
is called upon. He should do the thing He is called.
Accordingly, being not only Saviour but Good Master, in
order that He may do whatsoever we ask, in the very prayer
which He hath given us He hath taught us what to ask:
that even so we may understand that we do not ask in the
name of the Master what we ask beside the rule of the
Master's teaching.
4. True, there be some things which, albeit we ask in His
name, i. e. ask as He is Saviour and as He is Master, He
i» e, as he is Saviour and Teacher. 799
doeth not then when we ask, but nevertheless doeth. Thus, John
• • XIV
whereas we ask that the kingdom of God may come, it is not lo— 14.
to be said that He doeth not the thing which we ask, because we
do not straightway reign with Him in eternity : for the thing
we ask is deferred, not denied. Nevertheless, in praying, as
in sowing, let us not faint : for in due season we shall reap. Gal. 6,
And withal, let us ask when we ask aright, that He would
not do what we ask not aright; for this also is meant in that
which we say in the same Lord's prayer. Lead us not into Matt. 6,
temptation. For it is no small temptation, if thy request ~
be contrary to thine own cause. But we must not negligently
hear that further sajing, when the Lord, lest any should
imagine that what He hath promised to do for them that
ask, He will do without the Father, therefore after He had
said, Whatsoever ye shall ask in Mij name, I will do z7,v.i3.i4.
straightway adds, TItat the Father may he glorified in the
Son, if ye shall ask any tiling in My name, I will do it. In
no wise therefore doth the Son this without the Father, since
He doth it that the Father may be glorified in Him. Con-
sequently, the Father doeth in the Son, that the Son may be
glorified in the Father, and the Son doeth in the Father, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son : because the Father
and the Son are One.
HOMILY LXXIV
John xiv. 15 — 17.
If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the
Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He
may abide ivith you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth;
Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not,
neither knoweth Him : but ye know Him ; for He dwelleth
with you, aiid shall be in you»
1. We have heard, my brethren, when the Gospel was
read, the Lord saying, If ye love Me, keep My command-
menls. And I will pray the Father^ and He shall give you
another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever;
even the Spirit of Truth ; Whom the tcorld cannot receive,
because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him : but ye
know Hhn; for He dwelleth iviih you, and shall be in you.
There are many things, which in these few words of the
Lord need to be sought into: but it is too much for us
either to seek all that is here to be sought, or to find all that
we here seek. Nevertheless, in so far as the Lord deigns to
bestow upon us, according to our capacity and yours, marking
what we ought to say and what ye ought to hear, through us,
beloved, receive ye what we are able to give, and ask of Him
what we are not able. The Spirit, the Paraclete, Christ
promised to His Apostles, but in what way He promised let
us note. If, sailh He, ye love 3Ie, keep My commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever ; even the
Spirit of Truth. This is in the Trinity the Holy Ghost,
No love, mid no obedience without the Holij Ghost : 801
Whom the Catholic Faith confesseth Consubstaiitial and John
Co-eternal with the Father and the Son: this is He of Whom i5_i7.
saith the Apostle, The love of God is shed abroad in our'Ro^d',
hearts by the Holy Qhost Which is given us. How then^*
saith the Lord, J/ ye love 3Ie, keep 3fy commandments:
and I will ask the Father^ and He shall give you another
Paraclete, seeing He saith this of the Holy Spirit, Whom
except we have, we can neither love God, nor keep His
commandments ? How are we to love, in order to receive
Him, when except we have Him, we cannot love? or how
shall we keep His commandments, in order to receive Him,
when except we have Him, we cannot keep the command-
ments ? Or haply doth there come first in us the charity by
which we love Christ, so that, by loving Christ and doing
His commandments, we merit to receive the Holy Ghost, and
so the charity, not of Christ, which had already preceded,
but of God the Father, is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Spirit Which is given to us? This is a wrong
sentence. For he that thinks he loves the Son, and yet
loves not the Father, assuredly loveth not even the Son,
but only a fiction of His own devising. Then it is the voice
of the Apostle, No man saith, Jesus is Lord, but in the iCor.
Holy Ghost: and who saith that Jesus is Lord, save he that^^'^*
loves Him, if he say it in that sense in which the Apostle
would be understood ? For many say it with the voice, but
in heart and deeds deny it: as of such he saith. They Tit. I,
confess that they know God, but in their deeds deny Him.
If by deeds He is denied, without doubt He is also by deeds
affirmed. No man therefore saith, Jesus is Lord, with mind,
word, deed, heart, mouth, work, no man saith, Jesus is
Lord, but in the Holy Ghost : and no man so saith it, but
he that loves. Now the Apostles already said, Jesus is
Lord; and, if they in that sort said it, that they said it not
feignedly, confessing with the mouth, in heart and deeds
denying: in short, if they said this truly, without doubt they
loved. Then how loved they but in the Holy Ghost .? And
yet are they first commanded to love Him, and keep His
commandments, that they may receive the Holy Ghost:
when, except they had the Holy Ghost, assuredly they could
not love, and keep the commandments.
80*2 But to them that have Him already,
HoMiL. 2. It remains therefore that we should understand, that he
LXXIV. '
who loves hath the Holy Spirit, and by having deserves to
have more, and by more having to love more. Already then
the disciples had the Spirit Which the Lord was promising,
the Spirit without Whom they could not call Him Lord :
but still they had Him not as yet in that sort in which the
Lord promised Him. They both had therefore, and had
not, in that they had Him not yet as much as He ought to
be had. They had Him therefore less: He was to be given
to them more. They had Him secretly, were to receive
openly; because this also pertained to the greater gift of
the Holy Spirit, that what Xhey had should become known
1 Cor.2,to them. Speaking of which gift, the Apostle saith, Now we
have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit
Which is of God, that we may know the things which are
given us of God, For even the manifest imparting of the
Holy Spirit the Lord enacted not once for all, but two
several times. For presently after He was risen from the
John20, dead, He said, breathing upon them, Receive ye the Holy
Ghost. Then, because He at that time gave, did He there-
1 misit fore not also afterwards send Him Whom He promised*?
promi- Or is it not one and the same Holy Spirit Which both then
sit- was breathed by Him, and afterward was sent by Him from
heaven ? Wherefore, as touching this same bestowal, made in
evident manner, of the Holy Spirit, why it was twice made, is
another question : thus it may be, that it was with reference to
the two precepts of love, i. e. love of our neighbour and of God,
to shew that love is of the province of the Holy Ghost, that
the bestowal of Him in manifestation was thus twice enacted.
And if we are to seek another cause, the present discourse
must not, by now pursuing this inquiry, be drawn to greater
length than is meet : enough that it be understood, that
without the Holy Spirit we cannot love Christ and keep His
commandments ; and that we can do, and actually do, this the
less, the less we partake of Him ; and the more, the more we
partake of Him. And therefore, it is not without cause that
He is promised not only to him that hath not, but to him
that hatli : to him that hath not, that He may be had; to him
that hath, that He may be had more. For unless He were
had by one less, by another more, holy Eliseus would not
He is given in more abundant measure : ' 803
have said to holy Elias, Let the Spirit that is in thee, be in John
me in double measure. I5_i7
3. But when John the Baptist said, For not by measure 2 Kings
giveth God the Spirit, he spake of none other than the Son^'^'o.
of God, to Whom the Spirit was not given by measure,
because in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead. Col. 2,
For not without the grace of the Holy Spirit is He Ihe^r^-^^
Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus : as 2, 5.
He afhrmeth of Himself the fulfilment of that prophetic
word. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ; for that He hath I^uke 4,
anointed Me, He hath sent Me to preach the Gospel to the ^^"^^*
poor. That He is the Only-begotten, Equal with the Father,
is not of grace, but of nature : but the taking of man into
Unity of Person with the Only-Begotten, is of grace, not of
nature, as the Gospel confesseth and saith. But the ChildLul.e2,
grew, and was strengthened, filled with wisdom; and the '
grace of God was in Him» But to the rest He is given by
measure, and being given is more given, until each one,
according to the measure of his perfection, hath his proper
measure completed. Whence also the Apostle admonisheth
each not to think of himself more highly than he ought ^0 Rom. 7,
think ; but to think soberly, according as God hath given to^'
each the measure of faith. Not that the Spirit Himself is
divided, but only the gifts bestowed by the Spirit: fori Cor.
tliere are divisions of gifts, but the same Spirit, 12,14.
4. Moreover, in saying, 7 will ask the Father, and He will
give you another Paraclete, He shews that He is Himself a
Paraclete. And indeed Paraclete in our tongue is 'Advocate';
and it is said of Christ, We have an Advocate with the Father, 1 John
Jesus Christ the Riqhteous. And, that tJie ivorld cannot'b^'
. . . . Tlapa-
receive the Holy Spirit, He said in the same regard as it is KX-nrSv.
said. The wisdom of the flesh is at enmity uith God: for ^0 Rom. 8,
the Law of God it is not subject, neither indeed can be : li^^H^
just as if we should say, Unrighteousness cannot be righteous. ^«''^2"*-
In fact, by ' world' in this place He means lovers of the world, sapien-
which love is not of the Father. And therefore, to the love ^^ j ,
of this world (which it is our business to get diminished and 2, 16.
consumed away in us) the love of God is contrary, which love
is shed abroad in our liearts by the Holy Spirit which is
given to us. The world then cannot receive Him, because it
804 Unhwicu li/ Ihe icorld, dwdltnc/ in the faithful.
HoMii.. seeth Him ?iot, neither knoiceth Him. For worldly love Lath
LXXIV
— '- not the invisible eyes by which the Holy Spirit can only be
invisibly beheld.
5. But ye, saith He, shall know Him, because He shall
dwell with you, and shall he in you. Shall be in them that
He may dwell, not dwell that He may be: for to be some-
where comes before dwelling. Only, lest they should think
the saying, Shall divell tvith you, to be spoken in the cus-
tomary sense of a guest visibly dwelling with a man, He
expounded what He meant by, Shall dwell icith you, when
He further said. Shall be in you. Therefore He is invisibly
seen : nor, if He be not in us, can the knowledge of Hira be
in us. For in this way is our own conscience seen by us in
ourselves: we see another's face, our own we cannot see:
our conscience we see, another's we see not. But then,
conscience never is any where but in us, whereas the Holy
Spirit can also be without us, as in fact He is given to be also
in us. But seen and known as He ought to be seen and
known, by us He cannot be, if He be not in us.
HOMILY LXXV,
John xiv. 18 — 2L
I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you. Yet a little
while, and the world seeth Me no more; hut ye shall see Me:
because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know
that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He
that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall he loved of My
Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to
1. After making promise of the Holy Ghost, lest any
should imagine that the Lord meant to give Him as if in
stead of Himself, so that He should not also Himself be
with them, He went on to say, I will not leave you orplians;^. 18.
/ will come to you. *' Orphans," in our tongue " pupilli,"
fatherless children : the former is a Greek word, the other a
Latin, of the same meaning : thus in the Psalm, where we
read, Pupillo Tu eris adjutor, Thou wilt he a Helper to the Vs. lo,
fatherless, the Greek hath it, " Orphano.^'' Albeit therefore ^^*
the Son of God hath adopted us to be sons to His Father,
and willed us to have the Same to be our Father by grace
Which is His by nature, yet even He in some sort sheweth
towards us a fatherly affection, when He saith, / will not
leave you orphans, I ivill come to you. Hence it is also that
He calleth us children of the Bridegroom, when He saith,
The hour cometh that the Bridegroom shall he taken from MKit.d,
them, and then shall the children of the Bridegroom'' fast. ^^'
Now who is the Bridegroom but the Lord Jesus Christ ?
» Filii sponsi, Vet. Lat. and Vulg. Cod. Cantab. j/v[Ji.<piou.
806 Christ^ s Resurrection the came and pledge of ours.
HoMiL. 2. Then He goes on to say: Yet a little while, and
T XXV (-> ^
^ the world seeth Me no more. How ? did the world at
V. 19.
that time see Him: since by the word ' world' He
would have them to be understood, of whom He spake
V. 17. above, saying. Whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him? Yes truly: the
world did with fleshly eyes see Him conspicuous in the
flesh, but did not see the Word which was latent in the
flesh: saw the Man, saw not the God; saw the clothing,
saw not Him that was clad therewith. But, since after the
Resurrection, even that same Flesh which He shewed to
His own, to be not only seen but handled. He would not
shew to them that were not His, of this perhaps we are to
understand it to have been said. Yet a little while, and the
• vide- world seeth Me no more: but ye shall^ see Me; because I
^ll^ live, ye shall lire also.
Lat. & 3. What medineth, Because I live, ye shall live also? Why
^ ^* said He, in the present, that He liveth, but in the future,
that those shall live, except as promising that the life even of
the flesh, that is, in its rising again, such as it went before in
Him should in them follow after ? And because His own
Resurrection was presently to take place, He used a verb of
present tense to signify the speediness thereof: whereas
since theirs is deferred to the end of the world. He said not,
ye live, but, ye shall Hue. Two resurrections then, to wit.
His own presently to take place, and ours to come in the
end of the world, by two verbs of present and future tense,
He hath elegantly and briefly promised. Because I, saith He,
live, ye shall live also: because He liveth, therefore shall we
1 Cor. live also. For by man came death, and by Man the resiir-
22'^^' rection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ
shall all be made alive. Since no man comes to death but
by Adam, no man to life but by Christ. Because we have
lived'', we died: because He liveth, we shall live. We died
to Him, when we lived to ourselves : but because He died
for us, both to Himself He liveth and to us. Because He
liveth, we shall live also. By ourselves indeed we were able
'* The earlier editions, quia nobis selves," but most of the Mssj quia wos
iximus, " because we lived to our- vixiinus. Ben. Also 2 Oxf,
The mutual indwelling of Christ and His people begun now. 807
to have death, but not so are we able also by ourselves to John
have life. 2^^2i'.
4. At that day, saith He, ye shall know that I am in My ^^~20.
Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. What day, but that
of which He saith, Ye shall live also ? For then it shall be,
that we shall have power to see that which we believe.
For even now He is in us, and we in Him : only, we believe
this now, then we shall also know : although even now we
know by believing, but then we shall know by beholding.
For as long as we are in the body such as it now is, i. e.
corruptible, which weighetJt down the soul, we are absent Y^'isd. 9,
from the Lord: for ue walk by faith, not by sight. Theug'cor.
therefore it shall be by sight, because we shall see Him as^»^-
He is. For were not Christ in us even now, the Apostles, 2.
would not say, But if Christ be in you, the body indeed 2Sliom. 8,
dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righte-^^'
ousness. But that we also are even now in Him, He suffi-
ciently shews where He saith, / am the Vine, ye are the ch. 15, 5.
branches. At that day, then, when we shall live by that
life, by which death shall be swallowed up, we shall know
that He is in the Father, and we in Him, and He in us ;
because then shall be perfected this same thing which is
begun already by Him, that He should be in us, and we in
Him.
5. He that hath, saith He, My commandments, and^-^^.
keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me. He that hath in the
memory, and keepeth in the life ; that hath in the discourse,
and keepeth iu the manners; that hath in hearing, and
keepeth in doing; or, that hath in doing, and keepeth in
persevering, he it is, saith He, that loveth Me. By work
must the love be shewn, that the appellation in name be not
unfruitful. And he that loveth Me, saith He, shall be loved
by 3Iy Father : and I will love Him, and manifest Myself
to Him. How, will lovef As if He will love then, and
loveth not now ? God forbid ! For how should the Father
without the Son, or the Son without the Father love us.?
How, since They work inseparably, should They be sepa-
rable in loving us ? But this, / will love, He said to the
same purport as that which follows, And will manifest
Myself unto him. Will love, and will manifest ; i. e. will love
808 By Christ's love comes faith now, hereafter sight.
Lxxv'*^ this end, that I should manifest. For now, He hath
' \owQ^ us to this end, that we should believe and keep the
commandment of faith ; then, He will love us to this end,
that we should see, and in that seeing receive the reward of
our faith : because even we do now love by believing that which
we shall see ; but shall then love, by seemg that which we
believe.
HOMILY LXXVI.
John xiv. 22—24.
Judas saith unto Him, not that Iscariot, Lord, hoio is it that
Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the worlds
Jesus aiisivered and said unto him. If a man love Me, he will
keep My words : and My Father will love him, and We will
come unto hhn, and make Our abode loith him. He that
loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings : and the word which
ye hear is not Mine, hut the Fathefs Which sent Me.
1. While the disciples question, and their Master, Jesus,
makes answer to them, we also do as it were leani with them,
when we either read or hear the holy Gospel. Well then,
because the Lord had said, Yet a little while and the world
seeth Me no more, but ye shall see Me, concerning this same
thing He is questioned by Judas, not that Judas, His
betrayer, who is surnamed Iscariot, but him whose Epistle is
read among the canonical Scriptures : Lord, how is it that
Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us^ and not unto the world?
Let us be with them like disciples questioning, and let us
too hear our common Master. Judas namely, a holy man,
not one unclean, not a persecutor but a follower of the Lord,
asked the reason why Jesus would manifest Himself not
unto the world, but unto His own : why, yet a little while
and the w^orld should not see Him, but they should see
Him?
2. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me,\. 23.
he will keep My words : and My Father will love him, and
810 Love distinguishes saints from the world.
HoMiL. We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
-He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings. Lo, the
cause is expounded why He will manifest Himself to His
own, not to aliens whom He calleth by the name of ' the
world' : and the cause is this, because these love, those
love not. This is the cause concerning which the sacred
Ps.43,1. Psalm maketh utterance. Judge me, O God, and discern my
cause from an unholy people. For they that love% because
they love, are chosen : but they that love not, though they
1 Cor. speak with the tongues of men and of angels, become
' ' sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal ; and though they
have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and have all faith so that they can remove mountains ; they
are nothing : and though they deal out all their substance,
and deliver up their body to be burned ; it proflteth them
nothing. Love discerneth saints from the world : love,
Ps.68,6. which maketh men of one mind to dwell in an house. In
which house maketh Father and Son Their abode : Who
give the love itself to them, to whom in the end They would
give the manifestation of Themselves : concerning which
manifestation the disciple questioned the Master, that not
only they which then heard by His own lips, but we also by
His Gospel, might be able to know this. He asked, namely,
concerning Christ's manifesting of Himself, and heard con-
cerning loving and abiding. There is then a certain inner
manifestation, which the ungodly know not at all, seeing to
them there is no manifestation of God the Father and the
Holy Ghost : of the Son, there could be, but in flesh : which
neither is such as that other is, neither can be always present
to them, of whatever kind it be, but only for a little while ;
and this, for judgment, not for joy : for punishment, not for
reward.
3. Now therefore is the time for us to understand, in so
far as the Lord deigns to open it, in what sense it is said,
Yet a little ivJiile and the world seeth Me no more, but ye
shall see Me. True it is indeed, that after a brief space He
was about to withdraw from their eyes even His body, in
which the ungodly too were able to see Him ; since after the
Resurrection none of those saw Him. But, seeing it is said
* Qui enim diligunt: ten Mss. diliguntur, " they that are loved." Bf.n.
" A little ivJiilcj'^ and the toorld, i. e. the ungodly, 811
by the witness of Angels, He shall so come, in like manner John
as ye have seen Him going into Heaven ; and we believe 23. 24'.
none other than that He will come in the same body to the Acts 1,
judgment of quick and dead : without doubt the world will
see Him then; meaning by that name the aliens from His
kingdom. And therefore it is far better to understand Him
to have meant this saying, Yet a little while, and the world
seeth Me no more^ of that time when, in the end of the world,
He shall be taken away from the eyes of the damned, that
those may thenceforth see Him, with whom, because they love
Him, the Father and He make Their abode. That He said,
a Utile while, was because that which seems ever so long to
men, is very short before the eyes of God : as in fact con-
cerning this little while this same John the Evangelist saith,
Little children, it is the last hour. 1 John
4. Lest any moreover should imagine that the Father ' *
only and the Son witliout the Holy Spirit make I'heir abode
with them that love Him, let him recollect what was said
above concerning the Holy Spirit, Whora the tvorld cannot s,\1.
receive^ because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him :
but ye shall knoio Him, because He shall dwell loith you and
shall be in you. Behold, in the saints together with Father
and Son maketh the Holy Spirit also His abode : within,
namely ; as God in His Temple. God the Trinity, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, come to us, while we come to Them :
They come, by succouring^, we by obeying; They by'veniunt
enlightening, we by seeing ; They by filling, we by receiving : Jndr"'"
so that They are present to us not by outward sight, but by
internal vision; and present in us not for a transitory visit,
but by an eternal abiding. So not unto the world manifcsteth
the Son Himself: for ' the world' in this place is meant of
them, of whom He says directly after, He tJiat loretJt Me
not, keepeth not My sayings. These are they who see the
Father and the Holy Spirit never ; the Son indeed, not
however to be blessed by Him, but to be judged, they do see
for a little while : yet not Him either, in the form of God,
wherein He is with the Father and the Holy Ghost alike
invisible : but in the form of man, wherein it was His will
to be to the world contemptible by suffering, terrible by
judging,
3 H
812 toill see Christ for the last time^ in the Judgment.
HoMiL. 5. But whereas He hath further added, And the tvord which
-^ '- ye have heard is not Mine, hut the Father'^s Which sent Me,
let us not marvel, let us not be dismayed : He is not less
than the Father, but He is only of the Father : He is not
unequal with Him, but His Being is not of Himself. For
He lied not in saying, He that loveth Me not, keepeth not
My words, Lo, He calleth them His words. Does He
contradict Himself, where again He saith, And the tcord
which ye have heard., is not Mine? And indeed it may be
for the sake of some distinction, that where He called them
His, He said it in the plural, sermones; but where He said
that the Word, sermonem, i. e. Verbum, is not His but the
ch. 1, 1. Father's, there He meant it of Himself. For in the begin-
ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. And clearly He is not His own, but the
Father's Word, as neither is He His own Son, but the
Father's. Rightly therefore assigns He whatever He the
Equal doeth, to the Author of Whom Fie hath this very
attribute, to be without difference Equal unto Him.
HOMILY LXXVn
John xiv. 25 — 27.
77iese things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with
you. But the Comforter, Which is the Holy Ghost, WJwm
the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace
I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
1. In the foregoing Lesson of the Holy Gospel, which
this follows which has just been read, the Lord Jesus said,
that He and His Father would come to them that love Him,
and with them would make Their abode. Now He had
said above, concerning the Holy Spirit, But ye shall knows. 17.
Him^ because He shall dwell with you, and shall he in
you: whence we understood, that in the saints as in a
temple dwelleth God the Trinity. Now however He saith,
These things have I spoken, unto you, while yet abiding with v. 5.
you. That therefore is one abiding, which He promised as
future, but this another of which He testifieth as present.
That is spiritual, and is made good inwardly to minds : this
bodily, is outwardly exhibited to eyes and ears. That to
eternity makes them blessed that are delivered ; this in time
visits them that are to be delivered. In respect of that, the
Lord quitteth not them that love Him ; in respect of this^
He goeth and quitteth. These things, saith He, have I
spoken to you, ichile yet abiding with you: to wit, by
corporal presence, in which He visibly spake with them.
3 H 2
811 The Peace vhich Christ leaves with His Church noiv.
HoMTL. o. But the Comforter, Which is the Holy Ghost, Whom
\72G. t^^^ Father will send in 3Iy Name, He shall teach you all
things, and bring all tilings to your remembrance, what-
soever I have said unto you. What ? doth the Son say, and
the Holy Spirit teach, so that by the Son's saying, we receive
the words, but by the Holy Spirit's teaching, understand the
same ? As if the Son could be said to speak without the
Holy Spirit, or the Holy Spirit to teach without the Son, and
the truth were not this, that the Son also teaches and the Holy
Spirit also speaks, and, when God speaks and teaches anything,
it is the Trinity that speaks and teaches : only, being Trinity,
there was need to intimate Its several Persons, and that we
should both hear Them in Their distinctness, and understand
Them in Their inseparableness. Hear of the Father as
Ps. 2, 7. speaking, where thou readest. The Lord said to Me, Thou art
My Son : hear of Him also as teaching where thou readest,
John 6, Every man that hath heard of the Father and learned, cometh
unto Me. The Son, thou hast now heard speaking : for of
Himself He saith, Whatsoever I have said unto you: Whom
if thou wouldest know also as teaching, call to mind the
Mat. 23, Master: One, saith He, is your Master, even Christ. And
moreover, as thou hast now heard of the Holy Spirit as teach-
ing, where it is said, He shall teach you all things, hear of Him
also as speaking, where thou readest in the Acts of the Apostles,
Acts 10, that the Holy Spirit said to blessed Peter, Qo with them,
for I have sent them. Hence all the Trinity both speaks
and teaches : but unless It were also presented to us Person
by Person, human infirmity would in no sort be able to con-
ceive It. Being therefore altogether inseparable, the Trinity
would never be known if It were always spoken of in Its
inseparableness: for when we speak of Father and Son and
Holy Ghost, we do not speak of Them in one, albeit They
cannot but be in one. But in regard that He hath added,
Shall bring all things to your remembrance, we ought to
understand also what we are commanded not to forget, that
' Oxf. the most wholesome monitions pertain to the grace by ^ which
' quL' the Spirit calls to our remembrance.
V. 27. 3. Peace, saith He, / leave with you, My peace I give
Isa. 57, uyito you. This it is that we read in the Prophet, Peace
LXX. ^ipon peace: peace He leaves us at His going His peace
and His own Peace lohich He gives in the end, S15
He will give us in the end at His coming. Peace He leaves John
us in this world; His peace He will give us in the world ^27 "
to come. Peace He leaves us, in which, by abiding
therein, we overcome the enemy; His peace He will give
us when we shall reign without an enemy. Peace He leaves
us, that even here we may love one another; His peace He
will give us, where it shall never more be possible for us to
disagree. Peace He leaves us, that we may not concerning our
hidden things judge one another, while we are in this world;
His peace He will give us, when He shall make manifest the l Cor.
ihoughts of the heart, and then shall every man have praise '
of God. Yet in Him and from Him have we our peace,
whether that which He leaves us at His going to the Father,
or that which He will give us at His bringing us to the
Father. Now what does He leave us at His ascending from
us, but Himself, while He quitteth us not ? For He is our^l?^^- 2,
. . 14.
Peace Who hath made both one. Himself then is our
Peace, both when we believe that He is, and when we see
Him as He is. For if, so long as we are in the corruptible Wisd. 9,
body that weigheth down the soul, while we walk hf/ faith ^coi- 5
not by sight, He forsaketh not His that be far away from ^- 7.
Him in a strange land ; how much more when we shall come
to the sight, shall He fill us from Himself!
4. But what meaneth it, that, where He saith. Peace I
leave unto you^ He hath not added. My ; but where He saith,
/ give unto you, there He hath said. My peace? Is the
word My to be understood also where it is not said, because
that which is once said can be referred to both ? Or per-
chance is there something here also latent, to be asked, and
sought, and to be opened to them that knock ? For what
if by His peace He would have us understand the peace
which is such as Himself hath, while this present peace
which He leaves us in this world is rather to be called ours
than His ? For He hath nothing warring in Himself, Who
hath no sin at all : whereas the peace we now hr.v^e is such
that therein we must still say. Forgive us our debts. We Matt. 6,
have therefore some peace, since we delight in the law of
God after the inner man : but it is not full, because we see I^om. 7,
. 22 23.
another law in our members, tvarring against the law o/'our
mind. Also, one with another we have peace, because we
816 Tliat^ in the midst of conflict: this, unalloyed.
HoMiL. mutually trust that we love one another; but neither is this
full, because we do not see the thoughts of the heart, one of
another : and we surmise some things concerning ourselves
which are not in us, either thinking too well one of another,
or too ill. Therefore this, although it was left us by Him, is
our peace : for were it not from Him we should not have
even such ; but not such is that which He Himself hath. If
we keep it unto the end such as we have received it, such as
He hath we shall have, where nothing from ourselves shall
war against us, and nothing shall be hidden in our hearts
among ourselves. Nor am I ignorant that these words of
the Lord can also be so taken, that it should seem to be a
repetition of the same sentence; Peace I leave nnio you, My
peace I give tmio you : that, having said Peace, this He should
be understood to have repeated in ^2iym^, My peace : and
having said, / leave unto you, to have repeated this in say-
ing, 1 give unto you. Let each take it as he will: me, how-
ever, it delights, and methinks you also, my beloved brethren,
so to hold this peace, wherein, being of one heart, we conquer
the adversary, as yet to long for that peace wherein we shall
have no adversary.
5. But whereas the Lord goes on to say, Not as the world
giveth, give I unto you ; what else is it, but. Not as men
give who love the world, so give I unto you ? Who give
peace one to another, only that without molestation of strifes
and wars, they may enjoy, not God, but their friend the
world : and when they give peace to the righteous, that cannot
be a true peace where is not true concord ; because their
hearts are disunited. For as he is called ' consors,' i. e.
consort, or partner, * qui sortem jungit,' who unites his lot or
part; so is he to be called ' concors,' 'qui corda jungit,'
who unites heart with heart. Let us then, my beloved, to
whom Christ leaves peace, and gives His peace, not as
the world, but as He by Whom the world was made, that
we may be of one heart: let us unite our hearts one to
another, and lift up our one heart on high, that it be not
corrupted on earth.
HOMILY LXXVIll
John xiv. 27, 28.
Let not your heart he troubled, neither let it he afraid. Ye
have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again
unto you. If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, hecause I said,
I go unto the Father : for My Father is greater than I.
1. We have received, my brethren, the words of the Lord,
saying to His disciples, Let not your heart he trouhled,
9wither let it he a/raid. Ye have heard how I said unto
you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved Me
ye ivould rejoice, hecause I said, I go unto the Father : for
My Father is greater than I, By this then, it was possible,
their heart might be troubled and made? afraid, namely, that
He was going from them, albeit to come to them: lest perad-
ventm-e the wolf should in this interval invade the flock, in the
Shepherd's absence. But whom the Man was quitting, the
God was not forsaking : and one selfsame Christ is Man and
God, Therefore He was both going, in that He was Man,
and. remaining, in that He was God : going, in that He was
in one place, remaining, in that He was every where. Why
then should the heart be troubled and be afraid, when in
quitting their eyes. He quitted not their heart ? Albeit God
also, Who is bounded by no place, departs from the hearts of
them who go away from Him, in manners not with feet ; and
comes to them who turn to Him, not with face but with faith
and come to Him, in mind not in the flesh. But, that they
might understand it to be in regard of His being man that He
818 The Son as incarnate less than the Father.
HcMiL.had said, I go, and come to you; He further said. If ye loved
—Me, ye would rejoice, because I go to the Father: for the
Father is greater than I. It was therefore in regard that the
Son is not equal to the Father, that He was about to go to
the Father, from Whom He shall come to judge the quick
and the dead : while in regard that the Only-Begotten is
equal to Him that begat. He never quitteth the Father, but
is with Him everywhere whole by equal Godhead, Which no
Phil. 2, place containeth. For, being in the form of God, as the
Apostle speaketh, He thought it not robbery to be equal with
God: for how could that be robbery, which was nature, and
not by usurpation, but by nativity ? bitt emptied Himself
taking the for7n of a servant ; therefore not losing that, but
only taking this : in that sort emptying Himself, that He
appeared less here than He remained with the Father: for in
truth the form of a servant was taken, not the form of God
forsaken : this was assumed, not that consumed. In regard
of this He saith, The Father is greater than I: but in regard
of that, 1 and the Father are One.
2. Let the Arian attend to this, and by attending be sane;
not by contending be vain, or what is worse, insane. Such is
this form of a servant, that in it the Son of God is less, not
than the Father only, but also than the Holy Ghost: nor only
that, but even than Himself: because in the form of God He
is greater than Himself. For think not that the Man Christ
is not called Son of God : by which name even His flesh in
the tomb had a right to be called. For what other do we
confess, when we say that we believe on the Only-Begotten
Son of God, Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and
buried? And w^hat of Him was buried, but the flesh without
the soul ? And therefore, when we believe on the Son of
God Who was buried, without doubt we give the name Son
of God even to the flesh which by itself was buried. There-
fore the same Christ, Son of God, Equal with the Father in
the form of God, in that He emptied Himself, not by fore-
going the form of God, but by undergoing the form of a
servant, is greater even than Himself: because greater is the
form of God which was not foregone, than that of a servant
which was undergone. Where is the wonder then, or where
the unworthiness, if speaking in regard of this form of a
His Soul and Body, severally^ Christ, Son of God. 819
servant, the Son of God saith, The Father is greater than I, John
while yet speaking in regard of the form of God, the self- 27. 28.
same Son of God saith, / and the Father are One? For
They are One, in regard that the Word ivas God; the Father
is greater, in regard that the Word ivas made flesh. 1 will
say also, what Arians and Eunomians cannot deny: in regard
of this form of a servant, the child Christ was even less than
His parents, when being a little one, as it is written, He was Luke 2,
subject unto His elders. What then, O heretic, seeing Christ ^^*
is God and Man, doth He speak as Man, and dost thou
calumniate Him as God ? Doth He enhance to our regard
the Human Nature in Himself, and dost thou dare to deform
in Him the Divine Nature ? Infidel, ingrate, dost thou
diminish Him that made thee, only because He telleth what
He became for thy sake ? For that He, the Father''s Equal
Son by Whom man was made, should be less than the Father,
was because He became man: which had He not become,
what would have become of man ?
3. Then let our Lord and Master by all means say,
If ye loved Me, ye woidd rejoice that I go to the Father,
because the Father is greater than I. With the disciples let
us hear the words of the Teacher, not with the aliens follow
the craft of the deceiver. Let us acknowledge the twofold
substance of Christ : the Divine, to wit, by which He is
equal with the Father ; the Human, than which the Father
is greater. But the one and the other are together not two,
but one Christ : lest God be quaternity, not Trinity. For
as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is
one Christ : and therefore Christ is God, rational soul, and
flesh. We confess Christ in all these, Christ in these seve-
rally. Who then is He by Whom the world was made ?
Christ Jesus, but in the form of God. Who was crucified
under Pontius Pilate ? Christ Jesus, but in the form of a
servant. Again, as touching the several parts of which man
consists : Who was not left in hell ? Christ Jesus; but in the
soul by itself. Who, being to rise again, lay three days in
the tomb ? Christ Jesus, but in the flesh by itself. Conse-
quently, the name Christ is given to each of these several
parts likewise. But all these are not two, or three, but is one
Christ, Therefore in saying, If ye loved 3Ie, ye would rejoice
820 Christ's Ascension the exaltation of man's nature.
UoMih. that I go to the Father, He said it in regard that it is a
Lxxvin.g^i^j^^^ ^£ gratiilation to the nature of man, that it is so
assumed by the Word Only-Begotten, as to be placed
immortal in heaven, and that earth should become so sub-
lime, that dust incorruptible should sit at the right hand
of the Father. In this sense spake He of His going to the
Father. He indeed to Whom He was going was with
Him : but the going to Him, and departing from us, was
this : to change and make immortal that mortal which He
took of us, and to lift it up into heaven by His having
been on earth for us. Who would not rejoice at this, who,
loving Christ, congratulates withal His own nature now
made immortal in Christ, and hopes himself to become
such through Christ ?
HOMILY LXXIX.
John xiv. 29 — 31.
And now 1 have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is
come to pass, ye may believe. Hereafter I ivill not talk
much with you : for the prince of this world cometh, and
hath nothing in Me. But that the world may know that
I love the Father ; and as the Father gave Me command-
ment, even so I do ; arise, let us go hence,
1. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had said to His
disciples, If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice because I go to
the Father ; because the Father is greater than I. Which
that He said in the form of a servant, not in the form of
God, is well known to the faith which is fixed in religious
minds, not feigned by calumnious and frantic minds.
Thereupon He adds : And now I have told you before it
come to 2^^iss, that, ivhen it is come to jmss, ye may believe.
What is this, seeing if a thing is to be believed, one
ought rather to believe it before it come to pass ? Why, this
is the praise of faith, that the thing believed is not seen.
For what great matter is it, if one believes what one sees,
according to that sentence of the same Lord, when He
reproveth the disciple, saying, Because thou hast seen, thou ch. 20,
hast believed: blessed are Ihey that see not, yet believe? '
Indeed I know not whether a person can be said to
believe what he sees : for faith is thus defined in the
Epistle to the Hebrews; Now faith is the substance of^oh.ii
8 2 2 Things seen help to faith of thin gs not seen.
HoMiL. them that hope^ the conviction of things that are not seen".
-^ ^ Wherefore, if faith be of things that are believed, and the
same faith be of things that are not seen, what meaneth it that
the Lord saith, And noiv I have told you before it come to pass,
that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe ? Should it not
rather have been said, And now I have told you before it come
to pass, that ye may believe that which, when it is come to pass,
ye shall see ? Thus even he to whom it was said, Because thou
hast seen, thou hast believed, did not believe the thing that he
saw : it was one thing that he saw, another, that he believed :
he saw the Man, believed the God. He perceived, namely,
and touched that flesh living, which he had seen dying ; and
he believed the God latent in that same flesh. He was helped,
then, to believe with his mind what he did not see, by means of
that which appeared to the senses of the body. But, although
things are said to be believed that are seen, as a person may
say that he has believed his own eyes; yet this is not the
faith which in us is edified ; but our concern with the things
that are seen, is only that by the means thereof the things that
are not seen may be believed. Wherefore, my well-beloved,
in this saying of the Lord upon which the present discourse
turns. And now I have told you before it be come to pass, that,
when it is come to pass, ye may believe. He means surely by
when it is come to pass, that they should see Him after His
death, living and ascending to the Father : which having
seen, they should believe that He was Christ the Son of
the Living God, Who had power to do this when He had
foretold it, and to foretel it before He did it : and believe
this, not by a new, but by an increased faith ; or however, by
a faith which, though when He died it failed, was repaired
when He rose again. Not that they did not even before
believe Him to be Son of God : but when that which He
before predicted came to pass in Him, that faith which
when He spake to them was small, and when He died was
almost none at all, both revived and grew.
M. 28. 2. And what saith He next ? Hereafter I will not talk
a Est autcm fides sperantiiim sub- and most of the Mss. spercmiium,^^
stantia, convictio reruvi (juce non vi- Ben. Oxf. Mss. ' speraudarum,' Vulg.
dentur : so infra, Horn. 95. §. 2. Speraudarum substantia rcrum, argti-
" Three Mss. sperandorum, Am. et mcntum 7ion apparentiuyn.
Bad. sperandarum: Erasm. I.ouvain.
In what sense Satan is prince of this icorld. 823
much with you : for the prince of this world cometh — who, John
but the devil ? — and hath nothing in Me : that is^ no sin at ^g^'
all. For thus He sheweth the devil to be prince not of the
creatures, but of sinners whom He now calls by the name of
this world. And so often as the term ' world' is used to
signify an evil thing, it denotes only the lovers of this world,
of whom it is elsewhere written, Whosoever will he the friend^ ^^^^^^^
of this icorld^, shall he made the enemy of God. Be it faristeculi
from us then to understand the devil to be prince of this
world^, as though he bore rule over the whole world, i.e.-mundi
heaven and earth, and all that therein is ; of which world it
was said, when the discourse was concerning Christ the
Word, And the world was made by Him. Consequently, ch.i.io.
the whole world, from highest heavens to lowest earth, is
subject to the Creator, not to the deserter; to the Redeemer,
not to the slayer^; to the Deliverer, not to the enslaver; to^re-
the Teacher, not to the deceiver. But in what sense thetor^non
devil is to be understood to be the prince of this world, the^"^*^^-
Apostle Paul hath more clearly opened, when, having said, ^^
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, i.e. against men, Eph. 6,
he goes on to say. But against princes a?id powers of the *
world of this darkness. For he hath expounded what he
meant by world, by the word following, when he subjoins,
of this darkness : lest any should take the * world' to mean
the whole creation, of which the angels that deserted are in
no sort rulers. Q/ this darkness, saith he : i. e. of the lovers
of this world : out of whom nevertheless are they, not for
their own merit, but by the grace of God, elected, to whom
he saith, For ye were sometime darkness, but now light in Itl- 5, 8.
the Lord. For they all were under the rulers of this darkness,
that is, of ungodly men, as darkness under darkness : but.
Thanks be to God Who hath delivered us, saith the same Col. i,
Apostle, from the power of darkness^ and hath translated "' ^^*
ns into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In Whom the
prince of this world, that is, of this darkness, had nothing;
because neither with sin did He come as God, nor of the
stock of sin did the Virgin bear His flesh. And, as though
He were asked, Why then diest Thou, if Thou hast not
sin, to which death is due as punishment? He forthwith
added. But that the world may know that I love the Father; ^'- 31.
8*24 Christ paid the death we oiced,
UoMiL.and as the Father gave Me commandment, eien so I do:
LXXIX '
-^ — — arise, let its go hence. For it was while they sat at meat
that He had spoken these words. But in this, let us go,
whither meant lie that they should go, but to that place
whence He was to be delivered up unto death, He that had
nothing worthy of death ? Yea, but He had a commandment
of the Father that He should die, as of Whom it was
Ps. C9, foretold, What I robbed not, then I paid : He was to pay
death where it was not due, and to redeem us from the
death which was our due. But Adam had robbed, making
sin his booty, when deceived by presmnption he stretched
out his hand to the tree, with intent to invade the incom-
'Gen.3, uiunicable name of unpermitted ^ Deity, Which was the Son
of God's by nature, not by robbery.
HOMILY LXXX.
/ am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman,
Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He will take
away : and every branch that beareth fruit, He will purge
it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean
through the word which I have spoken unto you.
1. This place of the Gospel, my brethren, where the
Lord calleth Himself the Vine, and His disciples the
branches, saith it in regard that He is the Head of the
Church, and we His members, He, the Mediator between \Tim,2,
God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. For vine and^*
branches are of one nature: and therefore, being God, of
which Nature we are not, He was made man, to the intent
that in Him our human nature should be the Vine, that so it
should be possible for us men also to be branches of that
Vine. What meaueth then, / am the true Vine ? Surely
in adding the word true. He could not mean to refer this
to the (literal) vine, from which this similitude is taken ?
For He is called Vine, by similitude, not in strictness of
speech, just as He is called Sheep, Lamb, Lion, Rock,
Corner-Stone, and other such like ; and the true things here
are rather the objects themselves, from which these same
metaphorical, not literal, appellations are derived. Yea,
but He saith, / am the true Vine, to discriminate Himself
from that to which it is said. How art thou turned i/ftoJer.2,
21.
bitterness, O strange vine! For how should that be the true
vine, which, when one looked that it should bring forth ^^-^^"^ -
grapes, bore thorns ? 7^' 16^^^*
8*26 Christ as Licarnate, the Vine,
HoMiL. 2. /, sailh He, am the true Vi?ie, and My Father is the
Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit
He vnll take aivay: and every branch that beareth fruity
He will purge it, that it may briny forth more fruit. Are
Husbandman and Vine one ? Nay : and therefore that
ch. 14, Christ is the Vine, is in that regard in which He saith. The
28
Father is greater than I : while in regard that He saith,
ch. 10, / and the Father are One. He too is the Husbandman.
30
And not such as they are, who by working from without lend
their ministry: but such, that He also giveth the increase
1 Cor. 3, from within. For neitlter he that planteth is any thing,
neither he that ivatereth ; but He that givetlt the increase,
even God. Yea, but Christ is assuredly God, because the
Word icas God; whence He and the Father are one: and
though the Word tvas made fleshy which once He was not,
yet He remains what He was. And, in fact, when, speaking
of the Father as the Husbandman, He had said, that He
taketh away the unfruitful branches, but purgeth the fruitful
that they may bear more fruit, He straightway shews that
He doth Himself also purge the branches, saying, Now are
ye clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Lo, He too doth purge the branches : which is the office of
the Husbandman, not of the Vine : He, Who maketh even
branches to be His workmen. For though they do not give
the increase, yet they bestow some help, but not of their
own : For without Me, saith He, ye can do nothhig. Hear
their own confession : But what is Apollos ? but ivhat is
Paul? Ministers, by whom ye believed, and according as
God hath given to each one. I have planted, Apollos
watered. Therefore this also, according as God hath given
to each one : not then of his own. But that which follows,
God gave the increase ; this indeed He doth, not by them,
but by Himself: this exceedeth man's lew estate, exceedeth
the high estate of angels, and pertaineth to none soever but
the Husbandman, the Trinity. Noiv are ye clean : clean,
to wit, and to be made clean. For were ihey not clean,
they could not have borne fruit : and yet every one that
beareth Iruit, the Husbandman purgeth that lie may bear
more fruit. He bears friut, because he is clean : and that
he may bear more fruity he is purged still. For who in this
Tlie Church cleansed hy the word of ChHst. 8*27
life is so clean, that he does not need to be cleansed more Jf>HN
and more? Where, If we say that ice have no sin, we \_^,
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: if we confess I'ohni,
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness : yes, to cleanse the
clean, i. e. the fruitful, that they may be the more fruitful,
the more they be clean.
3. Now are ye clean because of the "word which I have
spoken unto you. Why saith He not, Are clean because of
the Baptism wherewith ye are washed, but. Clean because of
the word which I have spoken unto you, but, because in the
water also it is the word that cleanseth ? Take away the
Word, and what is the water but water ? The word is added
to the element, and it becomes a Sacrament, itself, as it were,
a visible word^ As indeed He had said this also when He '^ Aug.
washed the disciples' feet: He that is washed, needeth noti^ n. *
save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. Whence hath ^^' ^^'
water this so great virtue, to touch the body and wash the
heart, but by the word doing it, not because it is spoken, but
because it is believed ? For in the word itself, the passing
sound is one thing, the abiding virtue another. This, saith Rom.io,
the Apostle, is the word of faith, which we preach ; that ?f^~'^^'
thou shalt confess with tliy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shatt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man helieveth
unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Whence in the Acts of the Apostles we read.
Cleansing their hearts hy faith : and in his Epistle blessed Acts 15,
Peter saith, So baptism doth also now save you: not the^'
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation 2\.
of a good conscience. This is the word of faith, which we
preach, by which % without doubt, Baptism itself is conse-
» S. Chrys. in 1. eV prj/maTi' eV irolcp; ratorura mundentur, &c, " Which is
iv ov6imTi rod Uarphs Kal rov Tlov Kal so to be taten, that by the same laver
rev ayiov Ui/evfiaros. " Bj^ what word ? of regeneration and word of sanctifi-
by the name of the Father, and of the cation, all the ills of men regenerate
Son, and of theHoly Ghost.'' SoTheo- are cleansed. &c." De Bapt. c. Dona-
doret. Theophyl. <Eeumen. and of the tist. 6,47. Certa ilia evangelica \erba,
earlier Latins, S. Ambrose. S. Aug. de sine quibns non potest Bapiismus con-
Nupt. 1,38. Sic hoc (Eph. 5, 25— 27.) secrari : "those prescribed Gospel
accipiendum est, ut eodem lavacro re- words which are essential to the con-
generationis et verbo s-anctifirationis secration of Baptism.'' C.Crescon.4,
omnia prorsug mala hominum regene- ] 5. verbis evargelicis t« «ow?me Pla/m
3 I
828 Bajptism cleanses hy virtue of the Word,
HoMiL. crated that it should have power to cleanse. For Christ, the
■^. g' Vine with us, the Husbandman with the Father, loved the
25. 26. Church, and delivered Himself up for her: — read the Apostle,
and see what he goes on to say: — that He might sanctify
her, cleansing her with the laver of water by the word. The
cleansing therefore would by no means be ascribed to the fluid
unstable element, were there not added, by the word. This
word of faith avails so much in the Church of God, that
through her'', believing, offering, blessing, baptizing, it
cleanses the merest babe, although not as yet able with the
heart to believe unto righteousness, and with the mouth to
confess unto salvation. All this is done through the Word, of
which the Lord saith, Now are ye clean because of the word
which I have spoken to you.
et Filii et Spiritus Sancti conse- Ep. 98. §. 5. "Infants are ofifered to
crata est aqua. " By the Gospel words, receive spiritual grace not so much by
In the Name of the Father^ and of the those in whose hands they are borne.
So», and of the Holy Ghost,. .. .the albeit by them also if they be good and
water is consecrated." faithful men, as by the whole society
^ Per ipsam credentem, offerentem, of saints and believers. . . . The Uni-
benedicentem, tingentem. The Bene- versal Mother, the Church which is of
dictines read per ipsum, and note that the saints doeth this : for the whole
ed. Louvain has per ipsam, the other Church beareth all, and beareth them
editions per ipsum, " in agreement severally.") Of Oxf. Mss. E Mus. 6.
with the Mss. which also want of- reads 'ipsam,' omitting 'offerentem;'
ferentem :" yet Ben. retain this word, Laud. 143, ' ipsum,' and has ' offeren-
which certainly is better omitted if per tem.'
ipsum be the true reading. (Comp.
HOMILY LXXXI.
John xv. 4 — 7.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except
ye abide in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the branches : He
that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man
abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and
withered; and men shall gather it, and cast it into the
fire, and it is burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you.
1. Jesus hath said that He is the Vine, and His disciples
the branches, and the Father the Husbandman : of which we
have already discoursed as we were able. But in the present
Lesson, still speaking of Himself, Who is the Vine, and of
His branches, i. e. His disciples. He saith. Abide in Me,
and I in you. Not so they in Him, as He in them. Of both
these things, the benefit is not to Him, but to them. For
so are the branches in the Vine, that they confer not upon
the Vine, but of it receive ^\hereby they may live : whereas
so is the Vine in the branches, that it ministers vital aliment
to them, not takes it of them. And therefore the benefit
both to have Christ abiding in them, and to abide in Christ,
is to the disciples, not to Christ. For the branch being cut
off, another can sprout from the living root: but that which
is cut off, without the root cannot live.
3 I 2
830 No good icorks ivitliout the grace of Christ,
HoMiL. 2. As indeed He goes on to say: As the branch cannot
^^^^^' bear fruit of itself except it abide in the Vine ; so neither
can ye, except ye abide in 3Ie. A great commendation of
grace, my brethren : He instructs the hearts of the humble,
obstructs the mouths of the proud. Let those look here and
Eom.io, answer Him, if they dare, who, beiiig ignorant of the righ-
^' teonsness of God, and going about to establish their own, are
not subject to the righteousness of God. Let those answer
Him that please themselves, and fancy that to do good works
2Tim.3,they have no need of God ! Do they not resist this truth,
men of corrupt mind, reprobate concerning the faith ; who
. answer and speak iniquity, saying. We have it of God that
. we are men, of ourselves that we are righteous ? What say
\Q who deceive your own selves, ye upholders, nay, not so,
but down-throwers, of free will, hurling it headlong, from the
height of elation, through the emptiness of presumption, down
to the de})ths of overwhelming ? For your saying, forsooth, is,
that man of himself doeth righteousness: this is the height of
your elation. But the Truth contradicts you, and saith. The
branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the Vine.
Go now down the sheer precipice, and having no place to
fix your hold, flutter with windy loquacity. This is the
emptiness of your presumption. But mark the consequence
that follows you, and if there be any feeling in you, be horribly-
afraid. He that thinks to bear fruit by himself, is not in
the Vine ; he that is not in the Vine, is not in Christ : he
that is not in Christ, is not a Christian. These are the depths
of your overwhelming.
3. Again and again consider what the Truth yet further
V. 5. saith : /, saith He, am the Vine, ye are the branches. He
that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same br in geth forth
much fruit - because uithout 3Ie ye can do nothing. Lest
any should imagine that a branch can at least bear some
little fruit, therefore, having said. The same br in geth forth
much fruit, He adds not, because without Me ye can do
little, but, ye can do nothing. Be it little then, or be it
much, without Him it cannot be done, without Whom can
nothing be done. Because though if the branch bear little, the
Husbandman purgeth it that it may bear more, yet, except
it remain in the Vine and live by the root, it cannot bear any
The doom of them that abide not in Christ. 831
fruit, how much or how little soever, of itself. But although John
Christ would not be the Vine except He were man ; yet this g^ ^*
grace He would not bestow upon the branches, except He
were also God. Because, however, while there can be no
life without this grace, yet death is in the power of free-will,
therefore He saith. If auy man abide not in Me, he shall bey- 6.
cast out as a branch; and shall he withered, and men shall
gather it, and cast it into the fire, and it is burned. So
then, the wood of the Vine is the more contemptible, if it
abide not in the Vine, the more glorious it is if it do abide :
for, in fact, as the Lord saith by the prophet Ezekiel, the wood Ez. 15,
of the vine, being cut off is profitable for no uses of the
husbandmen, is had in no account for the works of the
carpenter. One of these two is fit for the vine-branch : either
Vine, or fire ; if it be not in the vine, it shall be in the fire :
therefore, that it may not be in the fire, let it be in the Vine.
4. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall^' '^'
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. For, abiding
in Christ, how can they wish any thing but what befits Christ?
how can they wish any thing while abiding in the Saviour,
but what is not alien from salvation ? It is one thing that we
wish because we are in Christ, another that we wish because
we are in this world. Thus, sometimes from our abiding in
this world the thought steals into our minds to ask that
which we know not to be inexpedient for us. But God
forbid it should be done for us if we abide in Christ, Who
doelh, when we ask, only that which is expedient for us.
Abiding therefore in Him, while His words abide in us, we
shall ask what we will, and it shall be done for us. For if
we ask, and it be not done, the thing we ask is not such as
comes of our abiding in Him, nor of His words abiding in us:
but is only of lust, and weakness of the flesh, which is not
in Him, and in which His words abide not. For of course
we reckon among His words the prayer which He taught us,
wherein we say. Our Father, Which art in heaven. From^^^ ' '
the words and from the sense of this prayer let us not depart
in our petitions, and whatsoever we ask, it shall be done for
us. For then may His words be said to abide in us, when
we do the things He commanded, and love the things He
promised: but when His words abide in the memory and are
83*2 In whom Christ's ivords abide.
LXXXl' "°^ ^^^^^ i" t^e life, the branch is not reckoned to be in the
■ Vine, because it draws not life from the root. Of this dif-
Ps. I03,ference holds that which is written, And to them that retain
His commandments in memory, that they may do them. For
many retain them in memory, to despise, or even deride and
oppose them. The words of Christ abide not in these, who
in some sort touch Him, not cohere with Him: and therefore
they will not be a benefit to such, but a witness against them.
And because, though they are in them, they do not abide
in them, to no other purpose are they held by them, but that
they shall thereby be judged.
HOMILY LXXXII.
John xv. 8 — 10.
Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and be
made My disciples. As the Father hath loved Me, so have
I loved you : continue ye in My love. If ye keep My com-
mandmentSi-ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept
My Father's commandments, and abide in His love,
1. The Saviour, commending to His disciples more and
more, as He speaks to them, the grace by which we are
saved, saith, Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear v. 8.
much fruit, and be made My disciples. ^ la hoc clarificatus
est Pater metis.'' Whether the word be glorificatas or clari-
ficatus, both represent one and the same Greek word, which
isj So^a^sjv. For So|a is Greek for ' glory.' Which I have
thought fit to mention, because the Apostle saith, If Abraham Rom. 4,
wa^ justified by works, he hath glory, but not unto God. ^*
Glory unto God is that by which not man but God is glorified,
if he is justified not by works but by faith, so that he hath it
of God that he doth good works: since the branch, as I have
already said above, cannot bear fruit of itself. For if herein Hom.
is God the Father glorified that we bear much fruit, and be ^^* ^* ^'
made Christ's disciples, let us not ascribe this to our own
glory as if we had it of ourselves. For His is this grace, and
therefore in this not ours but His is the glory. Whence
also in another place, having said. Let your light so shine^3itt.5,
before men, that they may see your good works: lest they *
should think the good works their own, He presently added,
834 Love, the spring of obedience, obedience the proof of love.
Hf^^i-L. And glorify your Father Which is in heaven. For herein is
'' our Father glorified, that we bear much fruit and be made
Christ's disciples. By Whom are we made so, but by Him
Eph.2, Whose mercy prevented us? For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus in good works.
V. 9. 2. As the Father, saith He, hath loved Me, I also have
loved you : continue ye in My love. Behold whence are our
Gal. 5 good works ! For whence should they be, but as faith
^' xvorketh by lore'^ But whence should we love, except we
were first loved ? This same Evangelist hath most openly
1 John said this in his Epistle; Let us love God"", because He first
^' ^^' loved us. But in this that He saith. As the Father hath loved
Me, I also have loved you. He shews, not equality of nature
in us and Him, as in the Father and Him, but the grace by
1 Tim. which He is the Mediator between God and men, the Man.
' ' Christ Jesus. For the Mediator is shewn when He saith,
Me the Father, and I you. For doubtless the Father also
loves us, but in Him: because in this is the Father glorified
that we bear fruit in the Vine, i, e. in the Son, and be made
His disciples.
3. Continue, saith He, in My love. How shall we continue ?
Hear what follows. Jf, saith He, ye keep My commandments,
ye shall continue in My love. Does love make us keep
the commandments, or does the keeping of the command-
ments make us love ? Nay, who can doubt that love comes
first? For he that loves not, has not that whereby he may
keep the commandments. Therefore in saying, If ye keep
My commandments, ye shall continue in My lore, He points
out, not whence love is generated, but by what it is shewn.
As though He would say, Think not that ye continue in My
love, if ye keep not My commandments: for if ye keep them,
ye shall continue. This is the point : hence shall it be seen
that ye shall continue in My love, if ye shall keep My com-
mandments : that no man may deceive himself by saying
that he loves Him, if he keep not His commandments. For
we love Him in so far as we keep His commandments, and in
so far as we fail to keep them, we fail to love Him. Though
" Nos diligamiis Deum, quoniam dU'tgumns quia. Both the Syr. ver-
hsC. Vulg. Nos ergo diligamns Deum. sions, and Copr. Armen. and several
But Aug. tr. ix. in 1 Ep. Joann, Nos Mss. have rhv ®i6v.
Christ'' s love of us the cause of our love and ohedience. 835
in saying, Continue ye in My love, it does not appear what John
love He meant, whether that by which we love Him, or that ^^{q
by which He loves us, yet it is decided by the word pre-
ceding. Namely, He had said, / also have loved you : to
which word He forthwith subjoined. Continue ye in My love:
consequently, in that love with which He loved us. What
meaneth then. Continue ye in My love, but, Continue ye in
My grace ? And what meaneth, If ye shall keep My com-
mandments ye shall continue in 3Iy love, but, From this ye
shall know, that in My love wherewith I love you, ye shall
continue, if ye shall keep My commandments? Not there-
fore that He may love us, do we first keep His command-
ments ; but, except He love us, we cannot keep His com-
mandments. This is the grace which is open to the humble,
hidden from the proud.
4. But what is that which He says next ; As I also have
kept My Fathefs commandments, and continue in His love?
Clearly here also by this love of the Father He means that
with which the Father loveth Him. For He had said, As
the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you : and to
these words subjoined those, Continue ye in My love:
doubtless that, with which I have loved you. Therefore in
saying also of the Father, I continue in His love, of course
it must be taken to be that love with which the Father hath
loved Him. But are we to understand it here also to be
grace, wherewith the Father loves the Son, just as it is grace
wherewith the Son loves us, seeing we are sons by grace not
by nature, whereas the Only-Begotten is so by nature, not by
grace ? Or must this also in the Son Himself be referred to
the Man ? Yes, surely. For in saying, As the Father hath
loved Me, I also have loved you. He betokens the grace of the
Mediator. Now He is Blediator between God and men, not
in that He is God, but in that He is tJie Man, Christ Jesus,
And unquestionably it is in regard that He is Man, that we
read of Him, And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in age, 'Luke 2,
and in grace with God and men. In this regard therefore ^^*
we can rightly say, that albeit human nature pertaineth not
to the Nature of God, yet to the Person of the Only-Begotten
Son of God human nature doth pertain by grace, and grace
so great, that none can be greater, none at all equal. For
836 The taking of the Manhood into God is of grace.
HoMiL.no merits preceded that susception of the Manhood, but
^with that susception began all Christ's merits. The Son
therefore continueth in the love wherewith the Father loved
Ps. 8,4. Him, and so hath kept His commandments. For trhat is
ch. 1, i.ma?i, even that Man, save only as taken into God? For the
Word was God: the Only-Begotten, Co-eternal with Him
that begat : but, in order that a Mediator might be given to
ib. 14. us, by ineffable grace the Word was made Jlesh, and dwelt
in us.
HOMILY LXXXIII.
John xv. 11, 12.
These things have I spoken unto you^ that My joy may remain
in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My command-
ment<i That ye love one another, as I have loved you,
1. Ye have heard, my beloved, the Lord saying to His
disciples, TJiese things have I spoken unto you, that My joy v. ii.
may remain in you, and that your joy may he full. What
is the joy of Christ in us, except that He deigns to rejoice
on behalf of us ? And what is our joy, which He saith must
be made full, but to have fellowship with Him ? As He had
said to blessed Peter; If I wash thee not, thou wilt have 7/och.i3,8.
part with Me, Now His joy in us is, the grace which He
hath bestowed upon us : the same grace ^ is our joy likewise.
But on behalf of this. He rejoiced even from eternity, when
He chose us before the foundation of the world. Nor can Eph. i,
we rightly say that His joy was not full : for God could not *
at any time rejoice with an imperfect joy. But that joy of
His was not in us, because neither were we in being that it
should be possible for it to be in us, nor when we began to
be, did we begin to be with Him. But in Him it always
was, because by most certain truth of foreknowledge He
rejoiced over us that were to be His. Consequently, His
joy on our behalf was already perfect when He rejoiced in
foreknowing and predestinating us ; nor was it possible that
in His joy there should be any fear lest haply that should
a The earlier editions, Ipse est, Mss. ipsa est. Ben.
"He, Christ, is our joy;" but the
838 Christ's joy from eternity in the saitits.
HoMiL. not be, which He foreknew that He would make to be. But
LXXXIII. 1 1 Tx 1 11
we are not to suppose that wuen He began to make that to
be which He foreknew that He would make to be, His joy,
wherewith He is blessed, increased: else He was made
more blessed because He made us. God forbid we should
think this, my brethren: God's blessedness, because it was
not less without us, becomes not greater because of us.
Therefore, His joy on behalf of our salvation, which joy was
always in Him when He foreknew and predestinated us,
began to be in us when He called us; and this joy we may
with reason call ours, because with it we shall be blessed :
but this our joy increases and grows, and by persevering
holds on to its own perfection. It begins then, in the faith
of them that are born again, it will be fultilled in the reward
of them that rise again. It is of this that I lake it to be
said. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy may
be in you, and that your joy may be full. For Mine was
always full, even before ye were called, when ye were fore-
known of Me to be called ; and it is made to be in you,
when ye come to be that which I foreknew concerning you:
but, that your joy may befall; because ye shall be blessed,
which ye are not yet; as ye are created, who once were not
in being.
V. 12. 2. This, saith He, is My commandment, that ye love one
another, as I have loved you. * Hoc est prceceptiim meum:'
but w^hether it be prceceptum or mandatum, both render the
same Greek word, which is IvxoA^, commandment. Now He
had already spoken this sentence once before, of which ye
should remember that I have discoursed to you as I was
able: namely. He then said thus, * Mandatum novum do
ch. 13, vobis,"* A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one
another; as 1 have loved you, that ye also love one another.
The repetition therefore of this commandment is for"*
enhancing it to our regard : only there He saith, A new
commandment give I unto you; but here, TItis is My com-
mandment; there, as if no such commandment existed
before ; here, as if no other w^ere His commandment. True,
but there it is called New, that we may not persevere in our
oldness: here it is called 3Iy commandment, thsit we ma^
not think it can be despised.
They only love one another after Christ's example, 839
3. But whereas He here saith thus, Tliis is 3Ii/ command- Johp?
meni; this, as if no other were His, what think we of this, n. 12.
my brethren ? Is His one only commandment this con-
cerning the love wherewith we love one another? Is there
not another greater commandment, that we love God ?
Yea, or hath God given us commandments concerning love
only, so that we need look for no others ? Surely the Apostle
commendeth to our regard three things, saying, But there 1 Cor.
remain faith, hope, charity; these three: but the greater of^^^^^'
these is charity. And though in charity, i. e. in love, those
two precepts are shut up together; yet it is said to be the
greater, not the only one. Then concerning faith how many
things are commanded us, how many concerning hope ! who
is able to collect them all, who can suffice to enumerate
them? Yea, but let us look at that saying of the same
Apostle, Charity is the fulfilling of the Law, Then where Rom.
charity is, what can be wanting ? where it is not, what can ^^' ^^'
be profitable? A demon believes, yet loves not; none loves James
that believes not. It is in vain indeed, but yet it is pos- ^' ^^*
sible, for him to hope for pardon who does not love: but
none can despair that loves. Therefore, where love is,
there of necessity is faith and hope : and where love of
neighbour, there is necessarily love of God likewise. For
he that loveth not God, how can he love his neighbour
as himself, seeing he does not love himself even ? For in
fact he is ungodly and unrighteous: now he that loveth Ps.U6,
unrighteousness, does not at all love, but hateth his own &'|-^"
souL This commandment therefore of the Lord let us hold,
that we love one another, and whatever else He hath com-
manded, we shall do*: because whatever else there is, we
have it here. For this love is distinct from the love where-
with men, as men, love one another, since, on purpose to
distinguish it, it is added. As I have loved you. Now to
what end doth Christ love us but that we may be able to
reign with Christ? To this end therefore let us love one
another, that we may distinguish our love from that of
others, who do not to this end love one another, because
* Faciemus : but the editions except amus, ' let us do/ Ben.
Louvain, and most of the Mss, faci-
840 who first make God all in all.
HoMiL.they do not love at all. But they who love one another in
LXXXIII.
order to the having God, they do love one another: there-
fore, to love one another, they love God. This love is not
1 Cor. in all men : few love one another to that end that God may
^^'^^- heallinall.
HOMILY LXXXIV.
John xv. 13.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends,
1. The fulness of love wherewith we ought to love one
another, my dear brethren, the Lord hath defined, saying,
Greater love hath no man than this^ that a man lay down
his life for his friends. Because then He had said above,
This is My commandment, that ye love one another^ as
1 have loved you: to which words He hath added what ye
have now heard. Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends : the consequence of
this is, what the same Evangelist John saith in his Epistle,
that, as Christ laid down His life for us, so we also ought i John
to lay down our lives for the brethren ; namely, loving one ' ^^'
another as He hath loved us. Who for us laid down His life.
For this is what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon, If thou^^^^-
23 1 "2
sit to sup at the table of the Mighty, consider and under- lxx. *
stand the things that are set before thee ; and so put forth ^°^^et-
thy hand, knowhig that it behoves thee to prepare the like.
For what is the table of the Mighty, but that from which we^Joi"-
receive the Body and Blood of Him Who laid down His lifcprap.*
for us ? And what is it to sit thereat, but humbly to draw^^^-
near thereto? And what to consider and understand the 30i/i;
things that are set before thee, but to think worthily of sogg^'g'
great grace ? And what so to put forth thine hand as knov:ing
that thou must prepare the like, but, as I have already said,
842 The hlood of the martyrs not shed for remission of sins.
HoMiL. that, as Christ laid down His life /or iis, ice ought also to lay
— '- doivn our lives for the brethren ? For, as saith also the Apostle
1 Pet. Peter, Christ suffered for us, leaving us an ensample, that we
^' ^^' should follow His steps. This it is, to prepare the like. This
clid, of ardent love, the blessed raaityis ; whose memorials if
we honour with no empty celebration, and in the banquet
wherewith they were filled, draw near to the table of the
Lord, it behoves that as they did, so should we, prepare the
like. For, that at this same Table, we commemorate them,
not hl^e others who rest in peace, so that we pray for them,
but rather that they should pray for us% that we may keep
close to their footsteps ; the reason is, because they have
fulfilled the charity, than which the Lord saith there can be
none greater. For they bestowed upon their brethren the
like to that which from the table of the Lord they alike
received.
2. And let not this be taken as if it meant that it is
possible for iis to be on a par with the Lord Christ, if we be
ch. 10, His martyrs (or witnesses) even unto blood. He had power
^^' to lay down His life and to take it again ; w^e cannot live as
long as we wish, and must die though we would not : He by
dying presently slew death in Himself; we in His death are
Acts 2, delivered from death : His flesh saw no corruption ; ours
after corruption shall in the end of the world by Him be clad
with incorruption : He needed not us, that He should save
us; we, without Him, can do nothing : He gave Himself to
»vitem be the Vine* to us branches; we, without Him, cannot have
«vitam life^. Lastly, albeit brethren die for brethren, yet unto re-
mission of a brother^s sins no martyr's blood is shed, which
thing He did for us: not in this regard giving us an example
that w^e should imitate, but a benefit for which we should be
grateful. In so far then as the martyrs did shed their blood
for the brethren, in so far they bestowed on others the like
« Iiijuriaest enim pro martyre orare, the ancient prayer, nt animce famuli
eujus nos debemus orationibns com- tui Leoiiis hcec inosit oblatio. Comp.
niendari. S. Aug. Serm. 17. cited by S. Chrysost. in Act. Ap. Horn. 21, 4.
Innocent III. Decretal. Gregor. iii. where he seeks to reconcile the ancient
41.6. to justify the alteration by which form of the prayer of oblation (still in
the form, Annue nobis queesumus Do- use), /cat/ fxdprvpes &cn k&v virep fxap-
raine ut intercessione beati Leonis ha^c rvpwj/, with the views at that time
nobis prosit oblatio, was substituted for prevalent»
The Saints must he prepared to die for their hrethren: 843
to that whereof they partook from the Lord's Table". For in John
the other particulars which I have mentioned, though I could '—^
not mention all, a martyr of Christ is far from being on a
par with Christ. But if any will put himself upon a par,
I say not with Christ's power, but with His innocence ; by
thinking, I will not say, to heal another's sin, but at least to
have no sin of his own : even so he is greedier than he should
be for his soul's health : it is too much for him, he cannot
hold so much. And it is well that he is admonished by this
sentence of the Proverbs, which goes on to say ; But if thou Prov.
he more greedy, covet thou not His meats, for it is better that^-j^^^ *
thou take nothing thereof, than that thou take upon theeandVet.
more than is meet: for these things^ saith the text, ^have a\ %-^^rai
deceitful life, i.e. hypocrisy. For, by saying that he is^^^^^
without sin, he cannot exhibit himself to be righteous, butLXX.
only feign it. Therefore it is said. For these things have a
deceitful life. There is One alone to Whom it was possible
both to have flesh of man and not have sin. With good reason
is that which follows enjoined us, and by such a word and
proverb human infirmity is well met, and to it is said. Do not
stretch thyself, heing poor, against the Rich. For the Rich is
He, Who, liable neither to hereditary debt, nor at any time to
any debt of His own, both is Himself just, and justifieth others;
even Christ. Stretch not thyself against Him, thou who art
poor to that degree, that thou art every day in prayer seen
to be a beggar craving remission of sins. But of thine own
counsel^, ahstain : from what, but from deceitful presumption ?
For that He was never guilty, was because He was not only
man, but God. For if thou direct thine eye to Him, He
will no where appear". Thine eye, to wit, the eye of man
wherewith thou beholdest the things of man : if thou direct it
unto Him, He will no where appear, because He cannot be
seen in what sort thou hast power to see. For He will pre-
pare Himself^ wings as of an eagle, and will go into the
^ Here six Mss. add, Tmitari quis repeating ' potuit' before ' redimentem.'
morientem potuit, nemo autem redi- ^ Tuo autem consilio, not A tuo :
mentem: "Like Him a man might L X X, tt? 5e cr^ eVwia dTrt^trxou.
die, but none like Him redeem:'' which '^ Ntisquam parebit : jvSafiov (pa-
in three other copies is found before the ye7raL.
sentence, Quod si quisquam, ''But if '^ Parabit enim sibi : but LXX,
any, &c." Ben. So Ms. e Mus. 6, KOTeff/ceuacrTat yap avrc^.
3 K
844 But none must think to compare with Christ.
HoMiL. house of His Ruler : that is, whence He came to us, came and
Gal 2 fo"^^ "0^ ^^y si^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ -^^ ^^^^^ came^ Then let us love
20. ' one another, as Christ loved us, and delivered Himself up for
us. Greater love, truly, hath no man than this, that one lay
down his life for his friends. And while we imitate Him
with pious obedience, let us not by any audacity presume
to compare ourselves to Him.
•-' Ad nos utique venit, nee tales qualis venit invenit.
HOMILY LXXXV.
John xv. 14, 15.
Ye are my friends.^ if ye do whatsoever I command you. Hence-
forth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth.
1. When the Lord Jesus, to enhance the love He shewed
in dying for us, had said, Greater love hath no man than v, 14.
this, that one should lay down his life for his friends, then
said He, Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command
you. Great condescension ! that, while a good servant can
be such only by doing his lord's commands, He would have
His friends to be "known by this which is the proof that
servants can give of their goodness ! But as I said, this is
condescension, that whom the Lord knows to be His servants.
He deigns to call His friends. For, that ye may know that
it is the duty of servants to do their lord's commandments,
in another place, addressing them as servants. He chideth
them, saying. But why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do ?io^Luke6,
the things that L say ? When therefore (saith He) ye say, ^^*
Lord: shew that ye mean what ye say, by doing what ye
are bidden. Will not He say to the obedient servant, WellMa.t.25,
done, good servant! because thou hast been faithful in a '
few things, I will set thee over many things: enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord? It is possible therefore to be both
servant and friend, when one is a good servant.
2. But let us mark what follows. LLenceforih I call you ^- 1^-
not servants; because the servant knoweth not what his
3 K 2
846 Christ's true servants, not servants hut friends :
HoMiT.. lord doeth. How then are we to understand the good
^^^^^- servant to be both servant and friend, seeing He saith,
Henceforth I call you not servants, because the servant
knoweth not luhat his lord doeth ? He establisheth the name
of friend in such sort that He taketh away the name of
servant: not so that in the one both it and the other
remain, but so that upon surcease of the one the other
succeedeth. What is this ? Is it so, that when we have done
the Lord's commandments, we shall be no more servants? Shall
we thenceforth be no more servants, when we shall have become
good servants? And yet, who can contradict the Truth^
Which saith, Henceforth I call you not servants ? And why
He said this, He teacheth us : Because, ^oiih He, the servant
knoweth not what his lord doeth. To a good and proved
servant doth not his lord entrust also his secrets? Then
what is it that He saith, The servant knoweth not what his
lord doeth? But be it so, knoweth not wJiat he doeth; is it
also, knoweth not what he commandeth ? Why, not knowing
this, how can he serve? or not serving, how can he be ser-
vant? And yet the Lord speaketh : Ye are My friends, if ye
do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not
servants. O marvellous thing! Whereas we cannot serve
except we do the Lord's commandments, how by doing His
commandments shall we be no more servants? If I shall
be no more servant by doing the commandment, and, except
I do the commandment, I cannot serve ; it follows that by
serving I shall be no servant!
3. Let us understand, brethren, let us understand; and
let this be the Lord's doing in us, that we should under-
stand ; His doing also, that having understood, we should
do. Now this if we know, without doubt we know what our
Lord doeth, because our being such is only the Lord's
doing, and by this we come to have part in His friend-
ship. Namely, as there are two kinds of fear, which make
two sorts of persons that fear, so there are two kinds of
servitude, which make two sorts of servants. There is a fear
] jolin which iierfect love casteth out, and there is another fear,
^ ^^' which is cliasie, abiding for ever and ever. That fear which
10. is not in love, the Apostle had in his eye when He said,
Rom. 8, p^^^ ^^ y-^^^ ^^^^ received the spirit of servitude again in
serving not m the spirit of bondage hut of His holy fear: 847
fear. But that chaste fear he had in his eye, when he said, John
Be not high-minded, but fear. In that fear which love ^^^2
casteth out there is also servitude to be cast out along with Rom.20,
the fear: for the Apostle has joined both together, i. e. the^^'
servitude and the fear, in saying, For we have not received
the spirit of servitude again in fear. And the Lord had in
view the servant who pertains to this kind of servitude,
saying. Henceforth I call you not servants ,- for the servant
knoweth not ivhat his lord doelh» Not, truly, the servant
in relation to the chaste fear, to whom it is said, Well done,
thou good servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;
but the servant in relation to the fear that is to be cast
out by love, of whom He elsewhere saith. The servant ^^-^i^^-
ahideth not in the house for ever, hut the Son ahideth for
ever. Seeing then He hath given us power to become sons
of God, let us be not servants but sons : that in a certain
wonderful and ineffable but yet true manner, it may be pos-
sible for us to be servants and yet not servants ; servants,
to wit, by the chaste fear, to which pertaineth the servant
that entereth into the joy of his Lord; but not servants, in
regard of the fear that is to be cast out, to which pertaineth
the servant that abideth not in the house for ever. Now, that
we should be such servants and yet not servants, Met us know 1 ai.
that it is the Lord's doina^. But this that servant knoweth ^^^^^^^
o we
not, who^ knoweth not ivhat his Lord doeth, and, when he know.
does any thing good, is lifted up as if it were his own
doing, not his Lord's, and glories in himself, not in the Lord?
having deceived his own self, because he glories as though 1 Cor. 4,
he had not received. But that we, beloved, may be friends '
of the Lord, let us know what our Lord doeth. It is
His doing, not our own, that we are not only men, but just.
And that we should know this, whose doing is it but His }
For we have not received the spirit of this world, i^^/ id. 2, 12.
the Spirit Which is of God, that we may know the things
that have been given us of God. Whatever there is of good,
it is of Plis giving. Consequently, of His giving it is, for
this also is good, that one should know by Whom all good
* Servus ille nescit, qui nescit. In abideth not, <fee.] knoweth not this*
most of the Mss. the words qui nescit that his Lord doeth." Ben.
are wanting. " But that servant [who
848 and conscious that all good in them is His doing.
HoMiL. is given : that, concerning all good things whatsoever, he that
^ ' ' gloiieth may glory in the Lord. But that which follows,
' But I have called you friends^ because all things that I have
heard of My Father I have made known to you, is so deep,
that it must by no means be crowded into the present dis-
course, but must be deferred lo another.
HOMILY LXXXVl.
John xv. 15, 16.
But I have called you friends ; for all things that I have
heard of My Father I have made known unto you. Ye
have not chosen Me, hut I have chosen you, and set
you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain : that whatsoever ye shall ask of the
Father in My name. He may give it you.
1. One may well ask, Low it is to be taken that the Lord
saith. But I have called you friends, for all things that I
have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. For
who can dare affirm or believe that any human being knows
all things that the Only-Begotten Son hath heard of the
Father: when even this is more than any man is able to
conceive, namely, how He hears any word from the Father,
being Himself the Father's One and Only Word? Nay, saith
He not some while after, but yet in this same discourse
which He held to His disciples after the supper before His
Passion, / have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot^^- ^^'
bear them noiv ? How then are we to understand Him to
have made known to His disciples all things that He has
heard of the Father, when there are certain many things that
He purposely leaves unsaid, because He knows they cannot
bear them now ? But the truth is, that what He is about to
do He saith He has done. He Who hath done the things that is, 45,
are future. For, just as He saith by the Prophet; They ^^^^2%
pierced 3Iy hands and My feet, not, They will pierce ; speaking i^.
850 Chris fs future acts spoken of as present for certainty.
HoMTL. of it as past and yet predicting it as future : so likewise in
^^^^^^ this place He saitb He hath made known to His disciples all
things which He knoweth that He will make known in that
1 Cor. fulness of knowledge, of which the Apostle saith, But when
\l\ ^^' that ivhich is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall
be done away. For he saith there : Now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known ; and now
through a glass darkly: but then face to face. Thus also the
Tit.3,5.same Apostle saith we are saved by the laver of regeneration,
Rom. 8, who yet saith in another place, For we are saved by hope:
^^' ^^* but hope that is sebn is not hope : for what a man seeth, why
doth he tjet hope for ? but if we hope for that we see not, then
do we with patience wait for it. Whence also his fellow-
1 Pet.i, apostle Peter saith : In Whom, though now ye see Him not, ije
^* ^* believe ; Whom when ye shall see, ye shall rejoice with joy
unspjeakable and full of honour: receiving the wages of your
faith, even the salvation of your soids"". If then now is the
time of faith, and salvation of souls is the wages of faith, who
Gal.5,6. can doubt that in faith ivhich worketh by love, we must pass
the day, and at the end of the day receive the wages, not
only redemption of our body, of which the Apostle Paul
Rom. 8, speaks, but also salvation of our souls, of which speaks the
^^* Apostle Peter \ For of both these things the felicity at this
present time and in this mortal state is rather had in hope
than held in reaUty. But there is this difference, that our
outward man, i. e. our body, is still undergoing corruption,
2 Cor. 4, while the inner man, i. e. the soul, is already renewed from
^^' day to day. Therefore, just as we look for future immortality
of the flesh and salvation of our souls, albeit by reason of the
a In quern modo non tidentes creditis ; glorificato : ds hv ovk ISoutcs Tna-Tevere,
quem cum videritis eocultaUtis gaudio TviaTevovT^s Se ayaXXiaaOe (^ which word
inenarrabili et honorato, percipientes here and in v. 6. — where Origen has
mercedem fidei^ salutem animarum ayaWidcrea-Oe — is taken as future by Vet.
vestrarum. In the spurious Sermo ad Lat. Vulg. Syr. and so CEcumen. in 1.)
Catechum. (vulg. Ad Cateeh. lib. 2.) S. Clem. Alex. Strom, iv. 20. ets %v
^AQ.Credentesin eumquemiLonvidetis dpri /xr] bpiavT^s iriar^vovTes 5e ary.
gaudcte inenarrabili gaudio. S. Iren. NxiXs,. in quem nunc qiioque non viden-
iv. 22. vet. vers. In quem nunc non tes creditis^ crcdcnles autem exultahitis
videntes credidistis, gaudcbitis gandio Icetitia inenarrabili ct g lor ificata.repor-
inenarrahili. v. 7. in quem nunc quoque iantes fincm fidei vestrce^ salutem ani-
non videntes creditis, credenfes autem marum. That Augustine cites it ^?^em
e.xuliabitis gaudio inenarrabili. S. Po- ctnn videritis^ is probably only a lapse
lycarp. ad Phil. $. 1. vet. vers, in quem of memory. And so of mercedem for
nunc non aspicientes creditis, credentes Jinem.
autem gaudcbitis gaudio inenarrabili ct
His election is of free grace, 851
pledge we have received thereof, we be said to be already John
saved, so must we hope for a future knowledge of all things that | J^g
the Only-Begotten halh heard of the Father, albeit Christ saith
that He hath caused this to have place even now.
2. Not ye have chosen Me, saith He, but I have chosen y. i6.
you. This is that ineffable grace. For what were we when
we had not yet chosen Christ, and therefore did not love
Him ? since if one have not chosen Him, how can he love **
Him ? Was that already in us, which we sing in the Psalm,
/ have chosen to be a cast-away *= in the house of the Lord, Ps. 84,
more than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners f No, ^^'
assuredly. Then what were we, but unrighteous and lost?
For we had not already believed on Him, that therefore He
should elect, or choose, us : since if He chose us as already
believing, He chose us as being Himself chosen of us*^.
Then why should He say, Not ye have chosen 31e, butPs. 84,
because His mercy prevented us ? Here at any rate there is ^^'
no room for the vain presumption of those who uphold
God's foreknowledge against His grace, and say that the
ground of our being elected before the foundation of theEph. 1,
world, was this, that God foreknew that we should be good,^*
not that He would make us good. Not this saith He Who
saith. Not ye have chosen 3Ie. For if He chose us on this
ground, that He foreknew that we should be good, He would
at the same time have foreknown that we should first choose
Him. For in no other way was it possible for us to be good :
unless perchance that person can be called good who hath
not chosen the Good. Then what chose He in them that
were not good ? For they were not chosen, because they
were good, who would not have been good, had they not
been chosen. Otherwise, grace is no more grace, if weRom.li
contend that merits preceded. In fact, this is the election ^•^*
of grace, of which the Apostle saith, 8o then at this time also
the remnant by election of grace is saved: whereupon He
b Qui eum non elegit, quomodo dili- elegi abjectus esse in domo Dei mei.
git? The English language does not LXX. i^eKe^afXTfuirapappnTTeTa-eai.
furnish two words of like meaning, *^ Nam si jam credentes elegit, e/ec^ws
connected by etymology, like eligere elegit. " All the Mss. except Cod.
and diligere. Eemig. have elecfos. The Louvaiu
<= E(egi abjectus esse. Comp, Enarr. editors had restored electus by conjec-
in Ps. 83. §. 15: elegi ahjici, Vulg. tural emendation." Bei^. Oxf. electos.
852 Faith and love the fruits, not the cause, of election,
HoMiL. adds, Now if it be grace, it is no more of works, otherwise
— grace is no more grace. Hear, ingrate, hear : Not ye have
chosen 3fe, but I have chosen you. Thou mayest not say,
I was elected, because I ah-eady believed on Hun. For if
thou believedst on Him, then hadst thou chosen Him.
But hear. Not ye have chosen 3Ie. Thou mayest not say,
Ere I believed, I already did good works, therefore was
I elected. For how can there be any good work before
Eom. faith, when the Apostle saith. Whatsoever is not of faith,
' * is sin ? Then what are we to say at hearing, Not ye have
chosen 3Ie^ but, that we were evil, and were elected that
we might be good through the grace of Him that elected
us ? For it is not grace, if merits had preceded : but it is
grace ; this therefore did not find, but made the merits.
3. And see, beloved, how not as being good He electeth
them, but maketh them good as having elected them. /,
saith He, have chosen you, and have set yoit that ye
should go, and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit shoidd
remain. Is not this fruit that of which He had already
ch.l 5,5. said, Without Me ye can do nothing^ He chose us
therefore, and set us that we should go and bring forth
fruit ; consequently, we had no fruit for which He should
elect us. That ye may go, saith He, and bring forth fruit.
We go that we may bring forth, and He is Himself the Way
by which we go, in which He hath set us. Therefore, in all
things His mercy preventeth us. And that your fruit, saith
He, 7nay remain : that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in
My name, He may give it you. Let love then remain : for
this is our fruit. Which love is now in longing, not yet in
fulness : and by this very longing, whatsoever we ask in the
name of the Only-Begotten Son, the Father giveth us.
That, however, which is not expedient for our salvation to
receive, we must not think we ask in the name of the Saviour :
but we then ask in the Saviour's name, when the thing we
ask has to do with our being saved.
HOMILY LXXXVII.
John xv. 17 — 19.
These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the
world hate you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love what was his
own: hut because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
1. In the Gospel Lesson which comes before ibis, the Lord
had said, Ye have not chosen Me, hut I have chosen you, and^. 16.
set you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the
Father in 3Iy name, He may give it you» Of which words
ye remember \Ye have ah'eady discoursed what the Lord
gave. But here He saith, namely in the following Lesson,
which ye have just heard read, These tilings I command you, v. 17.
that ye love one another. And by this we are to understand
that this is our fruit, of which He saith, / have chosen you
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit
should remain. Whereas also He further said, That what-
soever ye shall ask the Father in My name. He may give it
you, it means, He will give it us if we love one another,
albeit this very thing is His giving to us. Who chose us not
having fruit, for we had not chosen Him, and set us that we
should bring forth fruit, i. e. love one another : which fruit
without Him we cannot have, even as the branches without
the Vine can do nothing. Our fruit therefore is charitv,
854 Charity the ground of all virtues,
HoMiL. which the Apostle defineth, of a pure heart a?id a good con-
1 Tl^ 56*2Vwc^, and faith unfeigned* By this we love one another,
5. by this we love God. For we could not with a true love
love one another, except we loved God. For one loves his
neighbour as himself, if he love God: since if he love not
Mat.22, God, he loves not himself. For on these two commandments
of charity hang all the Law and the Prophets: this is
our fruit. Giving therefore a commandment concerning
fruit, He saith, These things I command you, that ye love
one another, AVhence also the Apostle Paul, when with the
works of the flesh he would contrast the fruit of the Spirit,
Gal. 5, put this as the head of all: The fruit, saith he, of the Spirit
^^- is love : and then strings the rest together in their connexion,
as all rising out of that as their head: namely, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper-
ance. In fact, who rejoices aright, that loves not the good
whereof he rejoices? Who can have true peace but with
Him Whom he truly loveth .? Who is long-suffering by per-
1 One severingly continuing in ^ that which is good, except he be
nen'do, fervent in love ? Who is good, except he be made so by
^^^J'^/'^S loving ? Who savingly faithful, except by the faith which
worketh by love } Who serviceably gentle, that is not tamed
to the discipline of love? Who continent from that which
debaseth, except he love that which ennobleth ? With
good reason therefore does our Good Master so often
insist upon love, as if it alone needed to be enjoined, as that
without which other good things cannot profit, and which one
cannot have without having the other good things by which
a man is made good.
2. Moreover, for this love we ought patiently to bear also
the world's hatred. For it must needs hate us, when it
perceives that we like not what it loves. But the Lord
gives us very great consolation from Himself, in that, having
said, These things I command you, that ye love one another.
He goes on to say. If the world hate you, know'' that it
hated Me before it hated you. Then why does the member
set up itself above its Head ? Thou refusest to be in the
Body, if thou wilt not bear the world's hatred with thy
Head. Jf ye were of the world, saith He, the icorld would
* Scitolc. Vet. Lat. Cypr. (but once rnementote, p. 92.) and Vulg.
The world of the elect hated by the reprobate world. 855
love what ivas its own. It is of course to the universal John
Church that He saith this: which moreover is often called by y\. 15.
this term, ' world.' As in that saying, God uas in Christ 2 Cor.
reconciling the world unto Himself. And again, TJie Son ^l^^'ie,
of Man is 7iot come to judge the worlds but that the world
may he saved through Him. And in his Epistle John
saith, We have an Advocate with the FatJter, Jesus Christ 1 John
the Bighteous, and He is the propitiator^ of our sins ; 7iot^^^'^'
only of ours, but also of the whole world. The Church then
is the whole world, and the whole world hates the Church:
so then, world hates world : the world at enmity, the world
reconciled, the condemned the saved, the polluted the
cleansed ".
3. But this world which God in Christ reconcileth to
Himself, and which is saved through Christ, and which
through Christ hath all its sin forgiven, is elected out of the
world which is at enmity, condemned, contaminated. For
out of that lamp which perished, the whole of it, in Adam,
^ Propitiator: Aug. elsewhere cites
it propitiatio.
^ S. Aug. tr. 1. in Ep. Joann. 1.
§. 8. Toiius mimdi. Quid est hoc, fra-
tres ? Certe .... invenimus Ecclesiam
in omnibus gentibus. Ecce Christus
propitiatio est peccatorum nostrorum :
non tantum nostrorum, sed et totius
Tnundi. Ecce habes Ecclesiam per
totum mundum .... In illo raonte esto
qui implevit orbem terrarum, quia
Christus y;ro/;///rt^w est peccatorum . . .
totius mundi quem suo sanguine com-
paravit. ^'- Of the whole world.'^ What
is this, brethren? "Why assuredly . . .
we find the Church in all nations.
Behold, Christ is the propitiation of
our sins : not of ours only^ hut of the
sins of the whole world. Lo, there
hast thou the Church throughout the
whole world .... Be thou therefore in
that Mountain which hath filled the
whole earth, because Christ is the pro-
pitiation of the sins of the whole ivorld
which He purchased with His own
blood." Ad Donatist. post Collat. §. 9.
Nos autem mundum pro Ecolesije
significatione positum dicebamus, sicut
etiam Cyprianus intellexit, quia per
totum mundum futura prsefigurabatur
Ecclesia. Unde illi dieebant "mun-
dum semper in malam significationem
positum ;" et testimonia de Scripturis
dabant, quia scriptum est, Si quis di-
lexerit mundum, non est Charitas
Patris in illo: et csetera talia. Nos
vero non solum in malam, sed etiam in
bonam significationem mundum iu
Scripturis positum respondebamus, et
commemorabamus inter alia etiam illud
quod scriptum est, Deus erat in Christo
mundum reco7icilians sibi : qui utique
non sibi reconciliat nisi Ecclesiam.
" We alleged [against the Donatists]
that ' the world' [in the Parable of the
Tares] is put to denote the Church, as
Cyprian understood it, in regard that
herein was prefigured the future dif-
fusion of the Church throughout the
whole world. Whereupon they said.
' The ' world' is always put in a bad
sense/ and alleged proofs from Scrip-
ture : that it is written, If any man
love the vmrld <fec. (1 John 2, 15.) and
other such like texts. We answered,
that the word ' world' is put in Scrip-
ture not only in a bad but also in a
good sense, and mentioned among
others that also which is written, God
was in Christy reconciling the world
to Himself: whereas of course it is
only the Church that He reconciles to
Himself." (In like manner St. Augus-
tine contends for a limited sense of
the expression omnes homines, 1 Tim.
2, 4. See Enchirid. ad Laurent.
§. 24—27. c. Julian. 4, 42—44, 4?!
de Civ. Dei 22, 2. Serm. 292, 4.)
856 Hoiv toe are both to love and to hate the world,
HcMiL. are made vessels of mercy, of which consists the world that
— — — is destined for reconciliation; which that world hateth,
which of the same lump is destined for vessels of wrath
tvholly made for perdition^. As in fact, after He had said,
If ye were of the world, the loorld icould love what toas its
own, He directly added, But because ye are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of tJte world, therefore the world
hateth you* Therefore they too were of it, and that they
might not be of it, were chosen from it, not by their own
merits, seeing no good works of theirs had preceded ; not by
nature, which through free will was wholly vitiated at the
very root: but by gratuitous, i. e. true grace. For He that
elected a world out of the world, made the thing He would
elect, not fomid it: since a remnant by election of grace is
'Rom.u, saved. Now if it be grace, saith he, then is it no more of
works; otherivise grace is no more grace.
4. But if it be asked, how the world of perdition loves
itself, which hates the world of redemption ; why, of course
it loves itself with a false, not with a true love. Therefore it
I*s. H, falsely loves itself, and truly hates. For he that loveth
LXX. unrighteousness, hateth his own soul, Howbeit, the world is
" ^'said to love itself in that it loves the unrighteousness by which
it is unrighteous : and again it is said to hate itself, in
that it loves the thing that hurts it. Therefore it hates
1 vitium in itself its nature, loves its * corruption : hates the thing
it was made by the goodness of God, loves the thing that
was made in it by free-will. Whence we also are both
forbidden to love the world, (if we understand aright,) and are
1 John bidden to love it : forbidden, where it is said to us, Love not
Luke 6 ^^^ world; bidden, >Yhere it is said to us. Love your enemies :
27. these are the world that hates us. Therefore, we are both
forbidden to love in it what it loves in itself, and bidden to
love in it what it hates in itself, to wit, God's handiwork, and
the divers consolations of His goodness. For indeed it is
2 vitium that^ which mars it that we are forbidden to love, and are
bidden to love what it is by nature, while the world loves in
itself that which mars it and hates its own nature : so may
we both love and hate it in a right manner, while it loves
and hates itself in a wrong.
^ Quae perfecta sunt in perditionem : a'pta in interitum,
so Propos. ex Ep. ad Rom, 63. Vulg.
HOMILY LXXXVIII.
John xv. 21, 22.
Remember the word that I said unto you^ The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they
will also persecute you ; if they have kept My saying , they
will keep your's also. But all these things will they do unto
you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that
sent Me.
1. The Lord, exhorting His servants to suffer patiently
the world's hatred, sets before them an example, than which
there could be none greater and better ; namely, His own :
since, as the Apostle Peter saith, Christ suffered for ?«*, iPet.2,
leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. ^^'
Which thing, however, if we do, we do by His aid, Who
hath said. Without Me ye can do nothing. In fact, as He
had already said to them. If the world hate you, know that
it hated Me before it hated you : now also He says what ye
heard when the Gospel was read. Remember the word thai y. 20.
I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.
If they have persecuted 31 e, they will also persecute you; if
they have kept My saying, they ivill keep youfs also. Now
in saying. The servant is not greater than his Lord, does He
not plainly shew how we are to understand what He had
said above. Henceforth I call you not servants? For behold
here He does call them servants : for what but this is meant
in this saying, The servant is not greater than his Lord;
if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you ?
858 The W07'ld persecutes for Christ's Name, i. e. for righteousness,
HoMiL. Therefore it is manifest, that we are to understand it con-
^^^^^^"cerning that servant who ahidetJt 7iot in the house for ever,
Horn.' the servant who stands in relation to the fear which love
^^' ^' _ casteth out; when it is said, Henceforth I call you not
ij^^^^' servants : but here where it is said, The servant is not
18. greater than his Lord; if they have persecuted Me, they
Fs.)9.9. will also persecute you, the servant meant is he who is such
in relation to that chaste fear which abideth for ever and
Mat.25, ever. For to this servant it shall be said, Well done, good
servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord.
V. 21. 2. But all these things, saith He, will they do unto you
for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent
Me. All these things: all what, but what He has men-
tioned, namely, hating, persecuting, despising their saying ?
Since, suppose they kept not their saying, and yet did not
hate nor persecute them : or suppose they also hated, yet did
not persecute : that would not be to do all these things. But
All these things will they do unto you for 3Iy name's sake ;
what is this but to say. They will hate Me in you. Me in you
they will persecute, and your saying, because it is Mine, for
that very reason they will not keep ? For all these things
they will do unto you for My name's sake : not your name,
but Mine. So much the more wretched they that for this
Name's sake do these things, the more blessed they are
that for this Name''s sake suffer these things : as He saith
Matt. 5, in another place, Blessed are they that are persecuted
for righteousness'' sake: for this is the same as. For My sake,
1 Cor. 1, or. For My name's sake : since, as the Apostle teacheth, He
is made unto us Wisdom of God, and Righteousness and
Sane tijicat ion and Redemption ; that, as it is written, He
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. In fact, bad men
do these things to bad, but not for righteousness' sake; and
for that reason alike wretched are both they that do, and
they that suffer. Good men also do them to bad : in which
case, though these do it for righteousness' sake, yet those do
not for righteousness' sake suffer.
3. But some man will say : If when the bad persecute the
good for Christ's name's sake, the good suffer for righteous-
ness' sake, then, of course, for righteousness' sake the bad
do these things to them ; but if so, then it follows, that when
For the had hate Chrisfs name. 859
the good punish' the bad for righteousness' sake", for John
righteousness' sake the bad suffer. For if it be possible ^\{
for bad men to persecute good on behalf of Christ's name, i perse-
why should it not be possible for bad men to be persecuted 'l^^^*'"''*
by good on behalf of Christ's name ; and what is that but on
behalf of righteousness ? For if the behalf on which the
bad suffer be not the behalf on which the good do, since
the good do it on behalf of righteousness, the bad suffer
on behalf of unrighteousness: it follov/s, that neither can the
behalf on which the bad do, be that on which the good suffer,
seeing the bad do on behalf of unrighteousness, the good
suffer on behalf of righteousness. Then how shall it be true,
All these things will they do unto you for My name's sake,
seeing those do it not for Christ's name's sake, i. e. for
righteousness, but for their own iniquity's sake ? This
question is solved, if we understand the saying, All these
things uill they do unto you for My name's sake, so as to
refer the whole to the righteous: as If it were said, All these
things ye will suffer from them for My name's sake : so that,
they will do unto you, should mean. Ye will suffer from them.
But if, For My name''s sake, be taken as if He said, For the
sake of My name which they hate in you, so we may also
take. For righteousness' sake, which righteousness they hate
in you^ : and so, when the good punish- the bad. they canSpersp.
rightly be said both to do it for righteousness' sake, for love *^"'^"*"^*
of which they punish^ the bad, and for unrighteousness' sake,
which they hate in the bad : consequently, in this way the
bad also may be said to suffer both for the unrighteousness
which is punished in them, and for the righteousness which
in their punishment is exercised.
4. Also, it may be asked. If the bad also persecute the
bad; as ungodly kings and judges, while they were per-
secutors of the godly, did, however, also punish murderers
* Against the Donatists, who made Donatistarum :) ad Donatist. post Col-
it one of the notes of the Church: lat. 21.23. " Either not all persecution
Ecclesia vera est quae persecutionem is to he called unjust, or it is not to be
patitur, non quae facit: " the true called persecution when it is just."
Church is that which is persecuted, C. Crescon. 4, 55.
not that which persecutes :" St. Au- *> Most of the Mss. omit the clause,
gustine frequently insists upon the dis- Ita potest accipi et propter justitiam
tinction between just and unjust per- quara in vobis oderunt. Ben,
eecution. Epist. 185, 10. 11. (de Correct.
3 L
860 Even in punishing the had the ivorld loves its own,
HoMiL.and adulterers and whatsoever evil-doers they knew to have
— ^ — done ought against the public laws ; then how are we to
understand the Lord's saying, If ye were of the world, the
world would love its own : — for the world does not love the
persons it punishes, and we see the aforesaid kinds of crimes
commonly punished by the world : — how, but thus ; that the
w^orld is in them by whom such crimes are punished, and
the world is in them by whom such crimes are loved ? There-
fore, that world which is understood to consist of the bad and
ungodly, both hates its own^ on that part of mankind by which
it hurts those who are guilty of crimes, and loves its own, on
that part of mankind by which it favours the same its ac-
complices in crime. So then, All these things tvlll they do
unto you for My name's sake, either means. For which
name's sake ye suffer : or. For which name's sake they do :
because this it is that they hate in you while they persecute.
He adds also : Because they know not Him that sent Me.
This is to be understood in respect of that knowledge of
Wisd.c, which it is elsewhere written. But to know Thee is perfect
understanding^. For they who by this knowledge know the
Father by Whom Christ was sent, do in no sort persecute
them whom Christ gathereth ; because they themselves with
them are gathered by Christ.
^ Scire autem ie^ seiisus est consum- E. V. To think therefore upon her is
matus. Vulg. Cogitare ergo de ilia, perfection of^visdom.
HOMILY LXXXIX.
John xv. 22, 23.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin : hut now they have no excuse for their sin. He that
hateth Me, hateth My Father also.
1. Above, the Lord had said, If they have persecuted 3Ie,Y.2o.2i.
they will also persecute you ; if they have kept 3Iy saying,
they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do
unto you for My name's sake, because they knoiv not Him
that sent Me. Now if we ask, of whom Pie said this, we
find Him to have come to these words from that He had
said, If the world hate you, know that it hated Me before ity. is.
hated you; but now, in that He hath added. If I had not y. 11.
come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, He more
expressly points to the Jews. Of these therefore He said
those former words also, for this the very context of the
words indicates. Of the same He saith, If I had not come
and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, of whom He
said, If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute
you ; if they have fiept 3Iy saying, they icill keej? yours also.
But all these things tvill they do unto you for My name^
sake, because they know not Him that sent Me; for to these
words He subjoins the present saying. If I had not come
and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. Now it was
the Jews that persecuted Christ, as indeed the Gospel most
evidently shews ; to the Jews Christ spake, not to the other
nations : therefore of them He meant the * world' which hates
Christ and His disciples ; or rather, not of them only, but
He shewed that these Jews are of this same ' world.' Then
what meaneth it. If I had not come and spoken unto them,
they had not had sin f Were the Jews without sin before
Christ came to them in the flesh ? Who so utterly foolish
3 l2
862 Unbelievers to loliom C/irist has come are ivitliout excuse,
HoMTL. as to say this ? But under the general name He would have
— — to be understood not all sin, but one great sin in particular.
For this is the sin by which all sins are held fast, which sin
if one have not, then all sins are forgiven him: and this is,
that they did not believe in Christ, Who came on purpose to
be believed on. This sin of course they would not have
had, if He had not come. For in fact His coming, as saving
as it is to the believing, so deadly is it made to the un-
believing : as though He also, the Head and Chief of the
2 Cor. Apostles, became (what they have said of themselves) to
' ' some indeed an odour of life unto life, but to some an odour
of death unto death.
V. 22. o. But that which He goes on to say, But noiv they have
no excuse for their sin, may raise a question, whether they
to whom Christ hath not come nor spoken to them, have an
excuse for their sin. For if they have not, why is it said
here, that the reason why these have none, is that He
came and spake to them ? Bui if they have, does it avail
them for exemption from punishment, or only for more
gentle punishment } To these inquiries, according to my
comprehension, as the Lord giveth, 1 answer, that such have
excuse not for all their sin, but for the sin of not believing
in Christ, since to them Fie never came, and to them never
spake. But not of the number of such are these to whom
He in His disciples hath come, and by His disciples hath
spoken : which thing He is even now doing, for by His
Church He comes to the Gentiles, and by the Church
Mat.io. speaks to the Gentiles. For in this regard He saith, He
Lukeio, that receivcth you, receiveth Me ; and. He that despiseth you,
2^Cor ^^^V^^^lh Me. Will ye needs, saith the Apostle, receive a
13, 3. 2^ro(f of Him that speaketh in Me, even Christ?
3. It remains that we should enquire, whether such as before
Christ did in the Church come to the Gentiles, and before
they heard His Gospel, were prevented by the end of this
life, or are now prevented, can have this excuse ? They can,
certainly, but not for that cause can they escape damnation.
Rom. 2, For as many as have sinned icithout law shall also perish
without laic : and as many as have sinned in the law shall
be Judged by the law. Which words indeed of the Apostle,
since that word, shall jjerish, sounds more terrible ihsin, shall
Of the rest, without Christ all perish. 863
be judged, seem not only to shew that this excuse is no help, John
but even to make their case worse. For they who shall ^ — -^— '
excuse themselves with the plea that they have not heard,
shall perish ivithout law.
4. But then, whether these, who when they heard, despised
or even resisted, and that, not only by contradicting but by
hating and persecuting those from whom they heard, can be
reckoned among those of whom it is said in words seemingly
of less heavy import, they shall be judged by the Law : this
may well be asked. Yes, but if it be one thing to perish
without the Law, and a different thing to be judged by the
Laic, and that is heavier, this lighter : without doubt, these
cannot be set down to this lighter punishment, because they
cannot be said to have sinned in the Law ; on the con-
trary, they would not receive Christ's Law at all, and, for
their part, would not even have it exist at all. But those
sin in the Law who are in the Law, i. e. who take it upon
them, and confess that tJte Law is holy, and the command- Rom, 7,
ment holy and just and good: only, through infirmity they do^^*
not fulfil what they cannot doubt to be of it most rightly
enjoined. These are the persons who are perhaps in some
sort to be distinguished from the perdition of them that are
without the Law : provided however that saying of the
Apostle, shall be judged by the Law, may be taken as if he
had said, shall not perish : which would be marvellous were
it so% For the discourse in which he is led to say this, was
* St. Augustine in Enarr. in Ps. 118, And certainly the unbelieving Jews
Serm. 25, §, 3. reproves it as a miscon- have not the foundation, i. e. Christ,
ception of the Apostle's meaning, into Now what Christian will say that the
which " some, even Catholics, have Jew, not believing in Christ, does not
fallen from not attending to the con- perish, but is only judged, as if this
text; who say that, whereas those who were lighter? Especially as Christ
have sinned without h3,w perish, those Himself affirms, that the sheep of the
who have sinned in the Law are only House of Israel to which He was sent
Judged, Dot Tperlsh: and tate this latter were (osf, i. e. perished (penercmf);
case to be the same with that of which and that it will be more tolerable in the
St. Paul says, Btd he Jiimself shall be day of judgment for the men of Sodom,
saved, yet so as by fire : i.e. these shall whoof course perished without the Law,
be purged by transitory punishments, than for the unbelieving Jews." There-
But (he says) in the latter passage the fore in the text he must be understood
Apostle is speaking of such as do truly to say, that ?y' to " perish without Law'^
hold the foundation, i.e. Christ: whereas be a heavier doom than to " be judged
in the former, the context clearly shews in the Law,'' clearly the haters and
that he is speaking of Gentiles, who persecutors of Christ cannot be meant
having sinned without the Law of in the latter expression: but to have
Moses, shall perish without that Law ; " sinned in the Law" must in tliat case
and of Jews, who having sinned in the be taken to denote the condition of them
Law, shall be judged by that Law. who acknowledge and reverence the
864 But the perdition varies in degree,
HoMiL.not concerning believers and unbelievers, but concerning
Lxxxix. Qg^i^ji^g ryj^^ Jews : and certainly both the one and the
other, except they be saved in that Saviour Who came to
Lukel9»seek that which vi'as lost, or, had perished, shall without
doubt have perdition for their portion ; however it may be
said, that some will perish with a heavier, others with a
lighter perdition, i. e. that some in their perdition will suffer
heavier, others lighter pains. For that person is said to
perish from God, who by way of punishment is separated
from the blessedness He giveth to His saints : but the diversity
of punishment is as great as is the diversity of sin. And
what is the nature of this diversity, the Divine Wisdom
judgeth more deeply than human conjecture can explore or
express. At all events, these to whom Christ hath come
and to whom He hath spoken, have not that excuse for the
great sin of unbelief, that they should be able to say, We
have not seen, we have not heard : whether that excuse
Rom. could in no case be accepted by Him, Whose judgments
' ^ * are iinsearchahle, or whether it could be accepted, if not so
that tbey should be delivered from all damnation, at least
that they should suffer a considerably less severe damnation.
V. 23. 5. He that hateth Me, saith He, hateth My Father also.
Here w^e may be asked, How is it possible to hate whom
one knows not? And yet before He said, If I had not come
and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, He had told
His disciples, Tliese things will they do unto you, because
they know not Him that sent Me. Then how can they not
know, and yet hate? For if they think of Him not the thing
He is, but some other thing, no matter what: they are found
to have hated not God Himself, but a notion of their own
framing, or rather their own erroneous surmise. iVnd yet if
it were not possible for men to hate what they know not,
He Who is the Truth would not have affirmed both these
things, that they know not His Father, and, that they hate
Him. But how that can be, if by the Lord's aid it can be
shewn by us, yet, because this discourse must now be
closed, it cannot be shewn now.
Law, but transgress it by sins of in- because the Apostle manifestly denotes
firmity. That all this, however, holds heathen by the one phrase, and Jews
only ?/■ there be a distinction such as is by the other: and it is certain that
alleged : but that this is not the case, without Christ both alike perish.
HOMILY XC.
John xv. 23.
He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also.
1. Ye have heard the Lord saying, He that hateth 3Ie,
hateth 3Iy Father also: when He had said above, These
things will they do unto you, because they know not Him
that sent Me. There arises therefore a question which we
must not pretend to make light of, How they can hate whom
they know not ? For if their notion of God is not what He
is, but some sort of surmise or behef of their own, and this
is the thing they hate, why, they hate not God Himself» but
the conception which they form by their own lying surmise
or vain credulity : if, however, vfhat they think of God is
what He is, how can they be said not to know Him ? And
in the case of our fellow-men indeed, it is possible for ns
often to love persons we never saw, and therefore neither is
it on the contrary impossible for us to hate persons we never
saw. For according as report speaks well or ill of a person,
the consequence not inireasonably is, that we love or hate a
person unknown. But if the report be true, how can that
person, of whom we have learned what is true, be called
unknown ? Because we have not seen his face ? Why, he
does not himself see that, and yet he cannot be better known
to any man than he is to himself. It is not therefore in the
bodily face of the man that our knowledge of him con-
sists: but he is open to our cognizance when his character
and doings are not hidden from us. Otherwise a person
cannot know himself, because he cannot sec his own face.
866 As, by reason of inahiUty to see into men's hearts,
HoMiL. But of course he hath in that clesree a more assured know-
'— ledge of hmiself than he is known withal to others, in what
degree he is able with an inner beholding more assuredly to
see Avhat his own way of thinking is, what his own desire,
what his own life : and it is only when these things are
opened to us also, that he becomes truly known to us. Now
since these things are very often brought to our knowledge,
be it by report or by writing, concerning persons absent, or
even dead ; hence it often comes to pass, that those whom
we have never seen personally by face, (yet not those w^hom
we do not know at all,) we either hate or love.
2. But very commonly we are mistaken in our belief
concerning them ; for sometimes even history, and much
more fame, tells lies. It is our concern, however, in order
that we may not be deceived by a pernicious opinion, to
take care that, seeing we cannot search out the conscience
of men, we have at least a true and sure judgment^ about
the things themselves. That is to say, that, if we know not
whether this or that individual be unchaste or chaste, never-
theless we should hate unchaslity, and love chastity: and if
we know not this or that man to be unjust or just, yet we
should love justice and detest injustice : not the qualities
which we imagine by our ov/n erroneous surmise, but those
which we by faith behold in the truth of God, the one to
be sought after, the other to be eschewed : that so, while as
it regards the things themselves we seek what we ought to
seek and eschew what we ought to eschew, it may be forgiven
us that as it regards the hidden things of men we sometimes,
nay perpetually, have thoughts that are not true. Indeed,
I take this to be a part of the temptation common to men,
which is inseparable from this present life, insomuch that
1 Cor. the Apostle saith. Let ?io temptation take you bid such as is
10, 13. (.QfjifjiQji iq jnen^. For what so common to men as this, that
we have not power to look into the heart of man, and con-
sequently do not search out thoroughly its hidden retreats,
and for the most part suspect something other than is
* Sententiam: eight Mss. scientiam. other versions: retained by the Yulg.
Ben. from Vet. Lat. (Ambros., Aug., eomp.
* Tentatio vo.s non apprehendat ttisi de Serm. T)om. in Monte, 2, 34 : Pri-
humana : a reading of which there are masius) bnr censured by Sedulius.
no traces in the Greek copies or the
good men may hate eveji good, supposed to he bad, 867
actually going on there ? Though at the same time, being John
thus in the dark about the things of man, i. e. the thoughts — —
of others, if we cannot understand '^ our suspicions, because
we are men, yet our judgments, i. e. definite and positive
conclusions we ought to withhold, and to judge nothing \ Cor.
before the time, until the Lord come, and bring to light the '
hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the thoughts of
the heart, and then shall every man have praise of God,
When therefore one does not err in the things themselves, so
that there be the right disapproval of vices and approval of
virtues, doubtless if one err in the persons, the error is venial,
a temptation common to men.
3. From the fact, however, that men's hearts are thus in
the dark to us, there results a very strange and very sad
consequence, namely, that sometimes, accounting a man to
be unjust when nevertheless he is just, and we do in him
unwittingly love justice, we shun him, turn from him, forbid
him access to us, refuse to have with him the common inter-
course of life ; nay, if necessity enforce the exercise of
discipline, whether that he may not hurt others or in order
to his own correction, we even pursue^ him with wholesome ' perse-
asperity of punishment, and afflict as if he were bad, the ^"^""""^
good man whom unwittingly we love. So it is, if while,
for example, he is chaste, he is thought by us to be un-
chaste. For without doubt if I love the chaste, this man
is the thing that I love, therefore I do also love him, and yet
know it not. And if 1 hate the unchaste, I do not therefore
hate this man, for he is not the thing that I hate: and yet to
my beloved, with whom in love of chastity my soul dwelleth,
1 unknowingly do a wrong, not erring in my discrimination
between virtues and vices, but in that the hearts of men are
in the dark to me. And therefore as it is possible for a good
man to hate a good man unwittingly (or rather, to love him
unwittingly — for he loves him while he loves the good,
because the one is the very thing that the other loves — ) ;
but he hates unwittingly not him, but the thing he lakes him
to be : so too it is possible for an unjust man to hate a just,
e Etsi suspiciones intelligere non in the margin, al. ?;eVare ; '^ though we
possumus, Ben. without mention of a cannot help having suspicions." Oxf.
various reading : but ed. Par. ] 555 has Mss. ' iutelhgere.'
868 much more, the had hate God, Whom they know not,
HoMiL. and, while he fancies that he loves a supposed unjust person
^ who is like himself, unwittingly to love the just; and yet
while he thinks him unjust, he loves not him, but the thing
he takes him to be. And as it is when man, so when God is
the object. Thus if the Jews were asked whether they loved
God, what answer would they make but that they did love
Him, and that, not purposely lying, but of erroneous opinion }
For how should they love the Father of Truth, while they
hated the Truth } For they would not have their deeds
condemned, and Truth carries in Itself the condemning of
such deeds : consequently, they hate the Truth in the same
proportion as they hate their own punishment which Truth
inflicts on such as they. Only they do not know this to be
the Truth which condemns such men as they are : therefore
they hate what they know not ; and hating It, assuredly they
cannot but hate Him of Whom the Truth is begotten. And
so, because they know not that the Truth, by Whose judg-
ment they are condemned, is begotten of God the Father ;
doubtless they know Him not, and yet hate Him. O
miserable men, who while they would be evil, would not
that the Truth should exist, by which the evil are con-
demned ! For they do not like It to be the thing It is, while
they ought not to like themselves to be the thing they are ;
so while It should abide might they be thereby changed,
that they be not condemned thereby when It judgeth.
H O M I L Y XCL
John xv. 24, 25.
If I had not done in them the works which none other did,
they had 7iot had sin : hut noiv have they both seen and
hated both Me and My Father. But this cometh to pass,
that the ivord might be fulfilled that is ivritten in their Law,
They hated Me ivithout a cause.
1. The Lord had said, He that hateth Me, hateth My
Father also: for he that hates the Truth, must needs hate
Him also of Whom the Truth is begotten: of which we have
ah-eady spoken so much as was given us. Thereupon He
adds that of whicli we must now speak: If I had not done y. 24.
in them the .works which none other did, they had not
had sin : to wit, that great sin, of which He said above,
I/' I had not come and spoken to them, they had not hady.22.
sin. This is the sin, that they believed not on Him when
He was speaking and working. For we are not to suppose
that they had no sin before He spake to them, and did
w orks in them : but this sin, their not believing on Him,
is mentioned in this way, because by this all other sins are
held fast. For, if they had not this sin, and believed on
Him, the rest would be forgiven.
2. But what means this, that after saying, If I had not
done works in them. He presently added, ichich none other
did? For none among the works of Christ seem to
be greater than the raising of the dead : which thing we
870 Chrisfs inlraclea aurjjass all others:
HnMiL.know the ancient Prophets also did. Elias did this:
XCl . . . .
, , ■ ' Eliseus did it, both while he lived in this flesh, and when
1 Kings _ '
17, 21. he lay buried in the tomb. For once when certain persons
2 gjj^gg bearing a dead body, upon a sudden onset of their enemies
4,35; took refuge at the tomb, and there deposited the body,
' " ' straightway it arose. Yet Christ did some works which
Mat. 14, ??o/?e other did: that He fed five thousand men with five,
]5^2— ^"^ four thousand with seven, loaves; that He walked upon
38; 14, the water, and gave Peter power to do this; that He
25 99. 7 o I
ch. 2" 9. changed water into wine; that He opened the eyes of one
ch. 9, 7. tj^at was born blind; and many other things which it were
long to rehearse. But we are told in answer, that others
did w^orks which He did not, and v*'hich none other did.
Exod. Thus, who but Moses smote the Egyptians with so many
Id. 14 ^"^ great plagues, divided the sea and led the people over,
21—29. obtained manna from heaven for their hunger, poured out
Id. 17,6. water fi'om the rock for their thirst? Who but Joshua son
^°*^^-^- of Nun divided the streams of Jordan for the people to pass
12—14. over, and by prayer sent up to God, arrested the sun in his
l^fr course, and fixed him there? For whom but Samson did
the jawbone of an ass gush with water for the satisfying of
2 Kings his thirst? Who but Elias was in a fiery chariot borne up
211 . .
' * on high? Who but Eliseus, as I mentioned just now, by
his buried corpse restored another's corpse to life ? Who
Dan. 6, but Daniel, among the mouths of hungiy lions shut up with
him, lived unharmed? Who but the three men, Ananias,
Id.3,27. Azarias, and Misael, in the midst of flames that blazed yet
burned not, walked unhurt ?
3. I pass the rest, because I account these enough to
shew that some saints too have done certain wonderful
works which none other man did. True, but to heal with
so great power so many defects, and illnesses, and grievances
of mortal men, this we read concerning none soever of
the men of old. To say nothing of those whom by His
bidding, as ihey came in His way. He severally made
Mark 1, whole, the Evangelist Mark in a certain place saith, And
32 34. 7 D 17
' at eren, when the sun did set, iheij hionght unto Him all
that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
And all the city was gathered together at the door. And He
healed many that were sick of dicers diseases, and cast out
chiefly His works of healing wrought in men's bodies. 871
many devils. And Matthew, after mentioning this, adds John
also a prophetic testimony, saying, That it might he fid- 2J25
filled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Matt. 8
Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.^' '
Also in another place Mark saith: And ivhithersoever ^e Mark 6,
entered, into villages, or cities^ or country, they laid the
sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch
if it ivere but the border of His garment : and as many as
touched Him were made whole. These things none other
did in them: for when He saith, In them, it is not to be
understood to mean, Among them, or, Before their faces,
but wholly in them, because He healed them. The works
He meant were not such as only to cause wonder, but also
to confer manifest healing : for which benefits they ought to
have returned love, not hatred. It does indeed surpass all
miracles of all besides Him, that He was born of a Virgin,
that for Him alone it was possible both in His conception
and in His birth to keep unhurt the integrity of His mother's
body: but this was neither done before them nor in them.
For to the truth of this miracle, not by beholding in common
with them, butby discipleship distinct from them, the Apostles
attained. And then, that on the third day, in the flesh
wherein He was put to death. He from the tomb brought
back Himself alive, and, thenceforth never more to die, with
it ascended into heaven, this surpasseth all His other doings:
but neither was this done in the Jews or before them ;
moreover He had not yet done this when He said, If I had
not done in them works which none other did.
4. Doubtless then the works are those miracles of healing
which He shewed in their diseases, miracles so great as none
bestowed on them before, and with this He reproacheth
them when He goes on to say. But now have they both seen ^.2i.25.
and hated both Me and My Father ; but, that it may he
fulfilled that is written in their Law, They hated Me
without a cause. Their Law He calls it, not as invented
by them, but as given to them: just as we say, Our daily
bread, while yet we ask it of God, saying, Give us. But he
that hateth gratis, i. e. without a cause, is he who of his hate
neither seeks advantage nor shuns disadvantage: so the
ungodly hate the Lord, so the just love, gratis, i. e. gra-
872 All Divine works '^ none other did" than Christ.
HoMiL. tuitously, that other goods beside Him they expect not,
— '- since He shall be all in all. Howbeit, whoso will ponder
more deeply the meaning of Christ's saying, If I had not
done in them works which none other did, fand indeed even
if the Father or the Holy Spirit have done the same, still it is
true that none other did them, because the whole Trinity is
of one Substance,) will find that Christ Himself was the doer,
if at any time any man of God did any such work. For He
can in Himself do all things by Himself; but no man can
do any thing without Him. Christ, namely, with the Father
and the Holy Ghost are not three Gods, but One God, of
Ps. 7i, Whom it is written. Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, Who
alone doeth wondrous things. Therefore whatever works
He did in them, are works that none other ever did ; since if
ever any other man did some one or other of them, by His
doing did he it : whereas these works He did, not by their
doing, but by Himself.
HOMILY XCII
John xv. 26, 27.
But when the Paraclete is coiner Whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, Which proceedeth
from the Father, He shall hear witness of Me : and ye also
shall hear witness, hecause ye have been with Me from the
beginning.
1. The Lord Jesus in the discourse which He spake to
His disciples after the supper, now close upon His Passion,
as being about to go and leave them in regard of bodily
Presence, yet by spiritual Presence to be with all His own
even unto the end of the world, exhorted them to bear the
persecutions of the ungodly, whom he designates by the
term, ' world' : out of which world, however, He saith He
had elected the disciples themselves, that they might know
that by the grace of God they are what they are, but by i Con
their own fault have been what they have been. Then, as ^^' ^^'
His persecutors and theirs. He evidently and expressly
marked the Jews, that it might be quite apparent that they
too were shut up in the appellation of the condemned world
which persecutes the saints =*. And saying of them that they
knew not Him by Whom He was sent, and yet hated both
the Son and the Father, i. e. both Him that was sent, and
Him by Whom He was sent, of all which matters we have
in other Sermons already discoursed, He came to this where
* Five Mss. qui persequuntur saoc- saints are shut up," &c. Ben. and
tos : " that they who persecute the so Oxf. Mss.
S74 How mightily the Paraclete bore witness of Christ:
HoMiL. He saith, But that the saying may he fulfilled which is
^——1 written in their Law; They hated 3Ie without a cause.
Then, as following this up, He subjoined this of which we
v.26.2/. have now taken in hand to discourse: But when the Para-
clete is come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of Truth, Which proceedeth from the Father,
He shall bear witness of Me: and ye also shall bear witness,
because ye have been with Me from the beginning. What
has this to do with what He had said, But now they have
seen and hated both Me and My Father; but that the
saying may be fulfilled which is written in their Law:
They hated Me without a cause ? Is it because when the
Paraclete came, the Spirit of Truth, He by more manifest
testimony convicted them that they had seen and hated ? Nay,
but even some of them that saw and as yet hated. He, by mani-
Gal. 5, festation of Himself, converted to the faith which worketh
by love. That we may thus understand it, we recal to mind
that thus it came to pass. Namely, on the day of Pentecost
Acts ii, the Holy Spirit came upon the hundred and twenty as-
sembled persons, among whom were all the Aposdes ; and
when these, filled with the Spirit, spake with tongues of all
nations, many of those who had hated", astounded by so
great a miracle, (while in Peter's speaking they saw so
mighty and Divine a testimony borne concerning Christ,
that He, Whom having put to death they counted among
the dead, was proved to have risen again and to be alive,)
being pricked in heart, they were converted, and received
pardon, for that so precious blood by them so impiously and
heinously shed, themselves redeemed by the very blood
which they had shed. For Christ's blood was so shed
for redemption of all sins, that it had power to blot out
the very sin by which it was shed. Having this therefore
v.25.26.in His regard, the Lord was now saying. They hated Me
without a cause : but when the Paraclete is come, He shall
hear witness of 3Ie : as much as to say. They hated Me,
and killed Me when they saw Me ; but such witness shall
the Paraclete bear concerning Me, that He shall make them
believe on Me when they do not see Me.
b Qui oderant. Mss. aderant, " who were present," Ben. Ed. Par. 1555.
oderant. Oxf. Mss. ' aderant.'
And how He made the Apostles ivitn esses : 875
2. And ye, saith He, shall hear witness, because ye have John
been with Me from the beginning. For, because tje have^^^'^
been with Me from the beginning, ye are able to preach that v. 27.
which ye know : and that ye do not this now, is because that
Spirit's fuhjess is not yet with you. He, then, shall hear
witness of Me, and ye shall bear it; for to give you con-
fidence to bear witness, there shall be the love of God shed Eom. 5,
abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit Which shall be^'
given you. Which truly was lacking yet to Peter, when,
frightened by the question of the woman-servant, he had notMat.26,
power to bear true witness ; but, contrary to his own eager ~'
promising, was by great fear compelled thrice to deny Him.
Now this fear is not in love, but perfect love casteth out 1 John
fear. In fact, before the Lord's Passion, his servile fear ' '^"
was interrogated by the woman of servitude, but after the
Resurrection his free love was interrogated by the Prince ofch. 21,
liberty: and that is the reason why he there denied W^hom
he loved, and here loved Whom he had denied. Howbeit,
even then this same love of his w^as still weak and straitened,
until the Holy Spirit should strengthen and enlarge it.
Which Spirit, when It was by abundance of larger grace
infused into him, did so set on fire his once cold breast to
bear witness of Christ, and so unlocked those aforetime
trembling lips which had suppressed the truth, that, while all
on whom the Holy Spirit came spake with tongues of all
nations, among the crowds of Jews that stood around, he alone
more promptly than the rest put himself forward to bear
witness of Christ, and by testifying of His resurrection con-
founded His slayers. Whoso loves to look upon such a
sweetly holy ^ spectacle, let him read the Acts of the xlpostles:
there be amazed at blessed Peter preaching, for whom he
had grieved in his denying ; there see that tongue, translated
to boldness from cowardice, and to liberty from servitude,
turning so many tongues of enemies to the confessing of
Christ, of which same tongues because it had not strength
to bear a single one, itself had turned to the denying of
Him ! Such brightness of grace, such fulness of the Holy
Spirit, appeared in him, such weight of most precious truth
^ Tam suaviter sanctum; three Mss. tam suaviter sapiium: " so svveetly
savoury." Ben. e Mus. 6. ' sapidum.'
3 M
876 is shewn hy the example uj Peter.
HoMiL. proceeded from his moulh as he preached, that of that huge
^multitade he made Christ's slayers the Jews ready to die
for Him, even them by whom he once dreaded with Him
to be put to death. This did the Holy Ghost, then sent,
aforetime promised ^ These His own great and marvellous
benefits the Lord foresaw when He said, They have both
seen and hated both Me and My Father: that the word
miglit be fuljilled that is written in their laii\ They hated
Me without a cause. But when the Paraclete is come,
Whom- I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear
witness of 3Ie; and ye shall bear witness. For He, bearing
witness and making most courageous witnesses, hath rid
Christ's friends of their fear, and turned the hate of His
enemies into love.
* tunc missus, antea promissus.
HOMILY XCIII.
John xvi. 1 — 4.
Tliese things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be
offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues : yea,
the time coineth, that tvhosoever killeth you will think that
he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto
you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But
these things have I told you, that when their hour is come, ye
may remember that I told you.
1. In tlie words which precede this portion of the Gospel,
the Lord, strengthening His disciples to bear the hatred of
their enemies, prepared them also by His example, that by
imitating Him they might become the more courageous:
further promising them, that the Holy Ghost should come to
bear witness of Him; and adding, that they also should be
made His witnesses, that is, by the Holy Ghost working this
in them. For so He said: He shall bear witness of Me, and ch. 15,
ye shall bear witness. Namely, because He shall bear wit- ^^* ^''*
ness, ye shall bear witness likewise: He in your hearts, ye
by your voices ; He by inspiring, ye by uttering : so may
that be fulfilled. Their sound is gone out into all the earth. Ps. 19,
It was not enough to cheer them on by His example, but He^*
must also fill them with His Spirit. Thus the Apostle Peter,
though he had already heard His words where He had said,
The servant is not greater than his Lord: if they have per-^^Q ^^»
secuted Me, they will also persecute you; and though he saw
3 M 2
878 Chrisfs example sufficed not icithout the SpirWs aid.
HoAJiL.this already havinsr its fulfilment in Him, wherein it was his
XCIII ^ o -'
'- duty to imitate, if example were enough, the patience of his
Lord : yet succumbed, and denied Him, because he could
not bear what he saw Him bearing. When he indeed re-
ceived the gift of the Holy Spirit, he preached Whom he
had denied, and Whom he had feared to confess, he feared
not to profess. For before, he was indeed taught by example,
so that he knew the thing which was meet to be done ; but
he was not stayed up with virtue, so that he should do the
thing which he knew: he was instructed that he might
stand, but not strengthened that he might not fall. When
this was done for him by the Holy Spirit, he preached even
unto death Whom he had denied for fear of death. There-
fore the Lord in this next ensuing portion, of which we are
V. 1. now to speak to you, saith, These tilings have I spoken unto
you, that ye he not offended. Thus we sing in the Psalm,
Ps. 119, Great peace have they that love Thy Law, and there is none
^^^' offence to them. With reason then, after promising the Holy
Spirit, by Whose operation in them they should be made
His witnesses. He goes on to say, These things have 1 spoken
Eom. 5, to you, that ye he not offended. For, when tJte love of God
^' is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is
giveti us, great becomes their peace who love God's Law,
so that there is none offence to them.
2. Thereupon, He now expressly tells them what they
V. 2. should suffer: They shall put you out of the synagogues.
But what harm was it to the Apostles to be expelled from
the Jewish synagogues, as if they were not about to separate
themselves therefrom, even though none should expel them }
Trae : but He would apprise them of this, that the Jews
would not receive Christ, Whom they themselves would not
leave ; and so it would come to pass that they would be cast
out with Him, these who could not be without Him, by those
who would not be in Him. For doubtless, seeing there was
none other people of God than that seed of Abraham, if they
would acknowledge and receive Christ, they would as natural
Rom. 1], branches remain in the Olive-tree, and there would not be
^'' the Churches of Christ as one body, the synagogues of the
Jews as another : for indeed they would be the same, if they
would be in the Same. Which because they would not, what
Self -right eoumess and ignorant zeal made the Jews persecutors. 879
remained, but that, continuing out of Christ, they would needs John
put out of the synagogues those who would not forsahe j_3 *
Christ ? For assuredly, having received the Holy Ghost
and being thereby made His witnesses, they would not be
such as those of whom it is said. Nevertheless among the chief ch. 12,
rulers also many believed on Him; hut because of the Pita-
risees they did not confess Him^ lest they should be put out
of the synagogue : for they loved the glory of men more than
the glory of God. Ye see, these believe on Him, but not
so as He would have them believe, Who said. How can 2/ech.5,44.
believe, who look for glory ^ one of another, and seek not the
glory which is from God only? When therefore the dis-
ciples so believe on Him, that, being filled with the Holy
Ghost, that is, with the gift of the grace of God, they are not
of the number of them who, being ignorant of God's rigJite- Eom.io,
ousness and going about to establish their otcn, are not
subject to the righteousness of God; nor of those of whom
it is said. They loved the glory of men more tlian the glory
of God, then that prophecy accords with them, which in
their persons is found fulfilled, Lord, in the light of Thy Ps. 89,
countenance shall they icalk, and in Thy name exult all day ^~
long, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted ; because
Thou art the glory of their strength. With good reason is
it said to them, TJiey shall put you out of the synagogues :
those, to wit, wJto have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge ; for which cause being ignorant of God's righte-
ousness, and going about to establish their own, they expel
them, who not in their own but in God's righteousness are
exalted, and when they are expelled by men are not
ashamed, because He is the glory of their strength.
3. And then, having said this to them. He added, But v. 2. 3.
the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that
he doeth God service ; and these things ivill they do to you,
because they have not known the Father nor 3Ie. That is,
they have not known God nor His Son, to Whom in killing
you they think they do service. Which words the Lord
hath added, as if by this to console His own, who should be
» Gloriam ab invicem expectantes : ^ in these Homilies, but are the text
reading peculiar to Augustine's copy, of Serm. 129. (al. de Verbis Domini
The concluding verses of ch. 5. are 45.) where this passage is cited as
by some accident left unexpounded above.
8S0 Ho2o it was a comfort to the disciples to know that the Jeivs
HoMiL. expelled from the Jewish synagogues. For, foretelling what
-'evils they should suffer in witnessing for Him, He said,
T/iey shall put you out of the synagogues. And He does
not say. And the hour cometh, that whosoever Mlleth you
shall think that he doeth God service. Then what does He
say ? But the hour cometh : just as He would have said it,
were He foretelling them some good to come after those
evils. Then what means this, They shall put you out of the
synagogues, but the hour cometh ? which is put just as if He
would have said. They indeed shall separate, hut I will
gather you ; or, They indeed shall separate you, hut the hour
of your joy cometh. Then what hath this word to do there,
that He saith. But the hour cometh, as though He were
promising them consolation after tribulation, when it should
seem that He ought rather to have said in the indicative
manner''. And the hour cometh ? But He saith not, And the
hour cometh, albeit it is tribulation upon tribulation, not
consolation after tribulation, that He predicts about to come
to them. Or may it be, that their being so separated from
the synagogues would so trouble them, that they would
choose rather to die than to linger in this life apart from the
congregations of the Jews ? Be it far from us to think they
would be so troubled, who sought the glory of God, not the
glory of men. Then what meaneth it. They shall put you out of
the synagogues, but the hour cometh ; when it would seem He
should rather have said, And the hour cometh, that whosoever
killeth you, shall think that he doeth God service ? For
neither is it simply said, But the hour cometh that they shall
kill you, as if meaning that death should befaP them by way
of consolation for that separation : but. The hour cometh,
saith He, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God service. Well then, He seems to me to have meant
simply this, that they should understand, and rejoice thereat,
that they would gain so many for Christ when they should
be driven out of the synagogues, that it would not be
sufficient'' to expel them ; no, they would not suffer them ta
b Indicativo modo ; meaning, not be added to them"). Ben.
adversatively, but in the tenour of con- d Non sufficeret, ten Mss. But the
secutive recital. [In the Greek, 'AAA' earlier printed texts, non sufficerent
epx^Taj, which may be rendered " and (" they would not suffice, or, not fiad
not onlv so, but, 8fc.^'] it enough"). Ben.
* Accideret. Mss accederet, (" would
tvoidd even kill them, thinking to do God service : 88 1
live, lest by llieir preaching they should turn all men to the John
name of Christ and from the observance of Judaism, as if —
that were the Truth of God. For this we must take to be
said of the Jews, of whom He had said, Thei/ will put you
out of the synagogues. For, though the witnesses, i. e.
martyrs of Christ, were put to death by the Gentiles, yet Aug. c.
those did not think to do God service, but their own false ^g^'J' ^
gods, when they did these things. But of the Jews, who- 26.
soever killed the preachers of Christ,accounted that he did God
service, believing that to be converted to Christ was to forsake
the God of Israel. For, in killing Christ Himself, they were
moved by this consideration : as indeed their own words on
this matter are on record: Ye see that the whole world is ch.ii,
gone after Him : if we let Him live, the Romans will come,
and take away both our place and nation : and, what
Caiphas said: It is expedient for us that one man die, and ih. 50.
not the whole nation perish. Therefore in this saying also
He raised up His disciples by His own example, to whom
He had said, If they have persecuted Me, they tvill also
persecute you; that as by killing Him they thought to do
God service, so likewise by killing them.
4. This therefore is the meaning in these words: They
will put you out of the synagogues; but fear ye not solitude:
for, being separated from their congregation, ye will gather
together so many in My name, that those, fearing lest the
Temple which was with them, and all the sacraments of the
old Law, shall be forsaken, will kill you ; so shedding your
blood, that therein they will think to do God service. See
here what the Apostle hath said of them, They have a zeal B.om.
for God^ hut not according to knowledge ; they think they ' *
do God service in killing them of God's household. O
awful error ! So, to please God dost thou smite him that
pleases God, and is the living temple of God by thy stroke
laid low, lest God's temple of stone be forsaken } O execra-
ble blindness ! Howbeit it is in part come upon Israel, thatib. ii,
the fulness of the Gentiles may come in : in part, I say, hath ^^*
*t befallen, not on the whole body. For not all, but some of\h. 17.
the brandies were broken off, that the wild-olive might be
graffed in. For, through the Holy Spirit filling Christ's
disciples, when they spake with tongues of all nations, when,
882 because this bespoke the wonderful success of their mission.
HoMii. through them, Divine miracles were made frequent, and
^Divine utterances scattered abroad, even the slain Christ
was so beloved, that His disciples, expelled from the con-
gregations of the Jews, did from among the very Jews /
Acts,ch. gather together a vast multitude, and had no solitude to fear/
Therefore, incensed at this, the rest, reprobate and blind,
having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, and
thinking they were doing God service, killed them. But
He that was slain for them did gather them : He, Who,
before He was slain, had instructed tbem concerning these
future things, that they might not, being ignorant and un-
prepared, have their minds thrown into confusion by the
shock of evils unthought of and unforeseen, however speedily
to pass away, but might by these evils, foreknown and taken
patiently, be brought safe through to good things everlasting.
For that this was the cause of His foretelling them of these
things. He has Himself shewn, in what He further saith :
V. 4. But these things have I spoken to you, that^ when their
hour" is come, ye may remember that I told you. Their
hour, an hour of darkness, an hour of night. But in the day
Ps.42,8. the Lord commanded His mercy, and in the night declared
it: then, when the night of the Jews, with the day of the
Christians now parted from it, could by no confusion bedim
it ; and when though it had power over the flesh to kill, it
had none over the faith to make it darkness.
^ Ut cum venerit hora eorum, remi- Calso Vulg. ; but in the printed copies
niscammi quia. Cod. Vat. and Alex, cum venerit hora, eoncmreminiscamitii:)
7] clipa avTcav, /uLvrj/xovev-qre avrccv '6ti. the first by Elzev. gr. : both by Cod.
The second avTccy {eorum) is omitted Cantab, and Yercell. lat.
by Cypr. and Codd. Veron. Colbert ;
HOMILY XCTV.
John xvi. 4 — 7.
And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, hecause
I was with you. But now I go My way to Him that sent
Me; and none of you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou? But
hecause I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath
filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth ; It is
expedient for you that I go away : for if I go not away, the
Paraclete will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I ivill
send Him unto you,
1. When the Lord Jesus had foretold to His disciples the
persecutions they would suffer after His departure, He went
on to say; But these things I said not unto you from they. ^'Q-
beginning, hecause I was with you: hut now I go My way
unto Him that sent Me. Where first we are to see whether
He had before this foretold to them their future sufferings.
But the other three Evangelists do sufficiently prove that
He had foretold these things, before we come to the men-Mat.24,
tion of the supper: and it was when this was over, that, jjij-^^. ^^
according to John, He spake these words where He saith, 9— is.
Luke21
But these things I said not unto you from the beginning, i2_i>jl
because I was with you. Or perhaps is the solution of this
question to be had from this, that those also relate Him to
have been very near to His Passion, when He spake these
words? Therefore, not from the beginning of His being with
them : seeing He was even now about to depart, even now to
go His way to the Father, when He said these things : and
so according to those Evangelists also this is true that is
here said. But these things I said not unto you from the
beginning. But then what make we of the credit of the
Gospel according to Matthew, who relates that these things
were made known to them not only when He was at the
884 What things Christ " said not from the 'beginning.^''
HoMiL. point to hold the Paschal Supper with His disciples, im-
mediately before His Passion, but also from the beginning,
Matth. where the twelve Apostles are for the first lime expressed
name by name, and sent to Divine works ? Then what means
it that He here saith, But these things I said not unto you
from the beginning^ because I was ivitJi you : what, but that,
the things which He here sailh of the Holy Spirit, how He
shall come unto them and bear witness, when they shall
suffer these evils, these are the things He said not unto them
from the beginning, because He was with them ^* ?
2. That Comforter, then, or Advocate, (for both terms
render that which in the Greek is Paraclete,) was necessary
when Christ departed ; and the reason why He had not told
them of Him from the beginning of His being with them,
was, because they were comforted by His own bodily Presence :
but now that He was about to depart. He behoved to tell
them of that Spirit's coming, through Whom it should come
to pass, that, by love shed abroad in their hearts, they should
preach the Word of God with boldness ; and while He in-
wardly within them bore witness of Christ, they also should
bear witness ; and not be offended when their enemies the
Jews should put them out of the synagogues, and kill them,
1 Cor. thinking to do God service: since, Charily endureth all
i?'m 5 ^^'^^9^i which charity was to be shed abroad in their hearts
6. by the gift of the Holy Spirit. This, then, is the whole issue
of the discourse ; that He would make them His martyrs,
i. e. witnesses, by the Holy Spirit : so that by His working
in them they should endure no matter what severities of
persecutions, and not wax cold from charity in preaching,
V. 4. being kindled by that Divine fire. These things therefore,
saith tie, I have spoken unto you, that when their hour is
come, ye may remember that I told you. These things, to
wit, 1 have spoken unto you : not only that ye shall suffer
such things ; but that, when that Paraclete is come. He shall
bear witness of Me, that ye may not thror.gh fear keep
silence from speaking them, whence it shall come to pass,
that ye also shall bear witness. But these things I said not
unto you from the beginning, because I was with you, and
* Euthym. Zig. in loc. reconciles this other than the things foretold in St.
passage with Matt. JO, 16— 18. 22. 28. Matthew; being more dreadful than
by remarking that " the raCra here are those."
Inner and spiritual vision better than bodily sight, 885
did Myself comfort you by My bodily Presence, exhibited John
7.
to your human senses, which Presence ye, being babes, were 5_7*
able to receive.
8. But now I go My way unto Him that sent Me, and v. 5.
none of you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou? He intimates,
that He is in such wise about to go, that none should ask
what, openly coming to pass, they with sight of the body
should behold: for above they had asked Him whither Hech. 13,
was going, and He had answered them, that He was goings/ '
whither they at that time could not come. But now He
promiseth that His going shall be in such manner, that none
of them should ask whither He goeth ^. For a cloud received Acts ),
Him when He ascended from them ; and as He went into
heaven, they not in words asked whither, but with their eyes
escorted Him thither.
4. But because I have spoken these things unto yow, saith v. 6.
He, sorrow J tath filled your heart. He saw what those words
of His wrought in their hearts : for indeed, not yet having
the spiritual consolation which through His Holy Spirit they
were to have, that which they outwardly saw in Christ they
feared to lose ; and because they could not doubt that they
should lose Him, for that He spake truth, the human affec-
tion was saddened, because the fleshly sight was left desolate.
But He knew what was rather expedient for them, because
that inner sight is assuredly better, wherewith the Holy
Spirit should console them : Who would not present a human
body before men's bodies that they should see Him, but
infuse Himself into men's breasts while they believe : as in
fact He goes on to say : Nevertheless I tell you the truth ; v. 7.
It is expedient for you that I go aaay : for if I go not away,
the Paraclete will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will
^ Greet interpreters, represented by the same expression is equivalent to,
Euthymius: " Seeing them so over- ri Troteis ; " What aileth Thee to do
come by despondency, that they could this?'' (for when men are grievously
not even speak to Him, He reproacheth distressed for a friend who is .set upon
them with their silence arising from dying, they commonly use this sort of
such despondency, saying : And none exclamation :) and so the disciples
of you J &c:" and concerning the appa- ought to have been moved to cry out,
rent contradiction between this place W kit her goest Thou f i. e. What aileth
and 13, 36: 14, 5; " there are two Thee thus to leave us?) or else, as
ways in which this difficulty may be Peter when he put this same question,
solved : viz. either, it must be assumed got no positive answer, therefore the
that Peter's question, Whither goest Lord would have them ask it afresh
ThoxL 9 only asks after the place to that He might more fully answer the
■which the Lord was going, but here question.''
886 Christ must depart^ to ivean them from His Bodily Presence.
Uouih. send Him unto you. Which is as though He had said. It is
^^ expedient for yon that this form of a servant be taken from
you: I indeed, the Word made flesh, dwell in you; but I
would not that ye should still love Me carnally, and, content
with this milk, desire to be always babes. It is e.vpedient
for you that I go away. For if I depart not, the Paraclete
will not come unto you. If I withdraw not from you the
tender aliments with which I have fed you, ye will not;
hunger for solid meat; if in fleshly sort ye cleave to the flesh,
ye will not be fit to receive the Spirits For what meaneth
this, If I depart not, the Paraclete will not come unto you ;
hut if I depart, I will send Him unto you? Could He not,
being here, send Him ? Who would say this ? For it must
not be imagined that He had left the place where that Spirit
was, and was in such manner come from the Father as not to
abide in the Father. In short, how should He not have
power, even being here, to send Him Whom we know to
have come upon Him at His baptism, and to have remained
with Him ; nay indeed, from Whom we know He was at no
time separable ? Then what meaneth it. If I depart not.,
the Comforter will not come unto ?/ow,but, Ye cannot receive
the Spirit, so long as ye persist in knowing Christ after the
flesh ? Whence he w^ho had now received the Spirit saith,
2 Cor. 5 Though we have known Christ after thejlesh, yet henceforth
16.
c S.Aug. Serm. 143. on Jolin 16, 16.) For even the flesh of Christ that
7 — 11. (al. de Verb. Dora. 70.) §. 3. person knoweth not after the flesh, but
Non autem esset raeritum &c. "Now after the Spirit, who ackn owl edge th
there would be no great merit or the virtue of His resurrection not by
glorious blessedness of believing, if the curiously handling, but by assuredly
Lord were always in His risen body believing: not saying in his heart,
visible to human eyes. The Holy Who ascendeth into heaven ? &c.
Ghost therefore brought this great (Rom. 10, 6 — 10.) .... Since then this
boon to them which should believe, blessedness of not seeing, yet believing,
that Him Whom with fleshly eyes they we should in no wise have, did we not
should not see, they should sigh after, receive it from the Holy Ghost ; with
with a mind sober from fleshly lusts good reason it is said, It is expedient
and inebriated with spiritual longings... for you, &c. By His Godhead indeed
This blessedness (John 20, 29.) the He is ever with us: but unless He
Holy Ghost the Paraclete hath brought, had departed bodily from us, we should
that, the form of a servant which the always See His body carnally, aud
Lord took of the Virgin's womb, being never spiritually believe: by which
removed from the eyes of the flesh, the faith being justified and blessed, we
purged eye-sight of the mind should be should be meet with cleansed heart to
directed to the very form of God in behold that self-same Word, God with
which He continued to be equal with God, by Which all things were made,
the Father, even when He deigned to and Which was made flesh, to dwell
appear in the flesh: so might the Apo- in us." Comp. Serm. 270, 2. de Trin.
stle, filled with that Spirit, say, Yea i, 18. de Peccat. merit, et remiss, ii,
though we have knoivn, &c. (2 Cor. 5, 62.
The Spirit to he in them with, not instead of, Christ. 887
know we Him no more. For even the flesh of Christ that J<hn
man knoweth not after the flesh, who spiritually knoweth the §_ ii!
Word made flesh. This surely our Good Master would
intimate, in saying. For if I depart not, the Comforter will
not come unto you : but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.
5. But when Christ withdrew bodily, not only the Holy
Spirit, but both Father and Son was present with them
spiritually. For if Christ departed from them in such
manner, that the Holy Spirit was in them, instead of Him,
not with Him; what becomes of His promise when He saith,
Lo, I am with you alway unto the end of the v>orld ; and, Mat.28,
We will come unto Him, I and the Father, and will make ^jj* j^
Our abode with Him; seeing He hath promised in such '-^3.
manner to send the Holy Ghost, as Himself to be with them
for ever.? And therefore, since of carnal or animal they were
to be made spiritual, doubtless they were to have both Father
and Son and Holy Ghost in more capacious measure. Only,
we mnst not imagine that the Father is in any man without
the Son and the Holy Ghost, or the Father and the Son
without the Holy Ghost, or the Son without the Father and
the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Ghost without the Father and
the Son, or the Father and the Holy Ghost without the Son ;
but where any One of Them is, there is the Trinity, One God.
It was necessary, however, that the notion of Trinity should
be in such manner conveyed to us, that, though there
be no diversity of Substances, yet by several mention we
should be apprised of the distinction of the Persons; in
which, to them who rightly understand, there can never
seem to be a separation of the Natures.
6. But that which follows: And ivhen He is come, Hey-S-U.
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me: of righte-
ousness, because I go to the Father, and ye shall see Me no
more; of judgment, because the prince of this icorld is
judged: as if the only sin were not to believe on Christ, as
if the essence of righteousness were not to see Christ, and of
judgment, that the Prince of this world, that is the devil, is
judged : all this is exceeding dark, and must not be crowded
into the present sermon, lest it be made even more obscure
by brevity; but rather must be unfolded in another dis-
course, as the Lord shall aid.
HOMILY XCV.
John xvi. 8 — 11.
And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and
of righteousness, and of judgment : of sin, because they have
not believed on Me ; of righteousness, because I go to the
Father, and ye shall see Me no more ; of judgment, because
the prince of this world is judged.
Comp. 1. The Lord, promising to send the Holy Ghost, saith,
Serm5 Wh£n He is come, Hewillreprove the world of sin, and ofright-
143,144. eousness, and of judgment. What is this ? Dolh not the Lord
ch. 15 Christ reprove the world of sin, where He saith, // / had
^2- not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin ; but
now have they no excuse for their sin? But lest haply any
should say that this pertains properly to the Jews, not to the
ib.i9. world : saith He not in another place. If ye were of the world,
the uorld would love his own? Doth He not reprove of
ch. 17 righteousness, where He saith, O righteous Father, the
^^' world hath not known Thee? Doth He not reprove of judg-
ment, where He sailh, that to them on the left hand He
l^^t 25, will say, Go into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the
41- devil and his angels? And many other places are found in
the holy Gospel, where of these things Christ reproveth the
world. How is it then that He attributes this to the Holy
Ghost, as if it properly belonged to Him? Think we, per-
chance, that, because Christ spake only in the nation of the
Jews, therefore He did not reprove the world, so that only
he should be understood to be reproved, who hears the
Reprover; whereas the Holy Ghost, in Christ's disciples
when they were spread abroad throughout the world, is
understood to have reproved not one nation, but the world .?
Tlie sin of unheliej binds all other sins. 8S9
For this said He to them, when about to ascend into John
Heaven, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, 8_ii*.
which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye Acts i ,
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come tipon^'^'
you: and ye shall he ivilnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem
and in all Judcra, and in Samaria, and unto the ends
of the earth. This it is to reprove the world. But who
would dare to say that by the discijDles of Christ the Holy
Ghost reproves the world, and not Christ Himself reproves,
when the Apostle cries. Would ye receive the proof of Him'i- Cox.
that speaheth in me, even Christ? Whom therefore the '
Holy Ghost reproves, assuredly Christ also reproves. But
in so far as it appears to me, because there was to be shed riom. 5,
abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, the love which i' john
casteth out fear, by which fear they might be hindered'^' ^^*
from daring to reprove the world which roared at them with
persecutions ; therefore He said. He shall reprove the world :
as much as to say. He shall shed abroad love in your hearts;
for so, fear being driven away, ye will have freedom for
reproving. But we have often told you, that the works of
the Trinity are inseparable ; only, that there w^as need to
mention the Persons one by one, so that not only without
separation, but also without confusion, It may be understood
to be both Unity and Trinity.
2. Thereupon he expounds what He meant by saying,
Of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin,
saith He, because they have not believed'' on 3fe. For this
sin, as if it were the only sin. He hath put before the rest; Serm.
because while this remains, the rest are retained ; and when ^**' '^*
this departs, the rest are remitted. Of righteousness, saith
He, because I go to the Father, and ye shall see^ Me no
more. Here in the first place we are to see, how, if a person
be rightly reproved of sin, he can be righdy reproved also of
righteousness. For if the sinner must be reproved because
he is a sinner, will any man think the righteous also must
be reproved because he is righteous? God forbid! For
though sometimes the righteous is reproved, that he is
a Non crediilertmt^ and so Vercell. ^ Videbitis : so the oldest Latin
Colbert, but supra Horn. xciv. 6. non copies, but the principal Gr. autho-
credunt^ so Cod. Veron. and most of rities, aewp6?Te,
the Greek authorities.
890 The righteousness of which the world is reproved^
HoMiL. rightly reproved, is only because, as it is written. There is
Eccl 7 ^^^^ ^^^^ righteous ma7i upon earth who will do good, and
21. will not sin. Wherefore even when. the righteous is re-
proved, it is of sin that he is reproved, not of righteousness,
ib. 17. Since even in that which we read to be said of God, Be not
righteous overmuch^ not the righteousness of the wise is
marked, but the overweening of the presumptuous. There-
fore to be righteous overmuch is by that very excess to be
unrighteous. Namely, that person makes himself righteous
overmuch, who saith that he has no sin ; or who thinks that
he is made righteous not by the grace of God, but by his
own will sufficing thereto : nor is he righteous by living
aright, but rather puffed up by thinking himself to be what
Serm. he is not. Then how is the world to be reproved of righte-
144'3.6. ousness, except of the righteousness of the believing ^?
Therefore it is reproved of sin, in that it believes not on
Christ ; and reproved of the righteousness of them that
believe. For even to put the faithful beside the unfaithful,
is to put the unfaithful to shame. This the very exposition
sufficiently shews. For wishing to open what He meant,
He saith, Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and
ye shall see Me no more. He saith not. And they shall see
Me no more; meaning them of whom He had said. Because
they have not believed on Me, But, expounding what He
called sin, He spake of them, saying. Because they have not
believed on Me; on the other hand, expounding what He
meant by the righteousness of which the world is reproved. He
turns to the very persons with whom He spake, and saith,
Because I go unto the Father, and ye shall see Me no more.
^ So St. Cyril Ales, in loc, taking, phylact. in Land more fully, Euthymius.
as does Aug., the word diKaioavvr] in " For the proof that He was righteous
St. Paul's sense, i. e. the justifying was. His going to God and being with
righteousness of faith. St. Chrysostom Him Were I not righteous, I
agreeably with his usual historical should not go to the Father. For how
manner of exposition refers it to the should one that is a sinner and an im-
Person of Christ, " Convince the ivorld postor, a transgressor of the Law and
of righteonsness: i. e. that My life was adversary of God, go to Him that is
irreproachable. And the proof of this, righteous and true, the Law-giver and
is the going to the Father For God?" ^^ Of sin, then; that the}'
since they w^ere ever alleging against H\n,nothe]ie\mg yet: of rig/iieonsness ;
Him that He was not of God, and that 1 am righteous and not a sinner,
consequently affirmed that He was a as they say; of judgment, i. e. con-
sinner and transgressor of the Law, demnation; that the prince of the devils
the Holy Spirit (saith He) shall do is condemned, as My eaemy and not
away with this allegation." So Theo- My friend."
is the righteousness of faith in Christ not seen. 891
Wherefore the world is reproved indeed of its own sin, but of John
a righteousness not its own, just as darkness is reproved of 9— il.
light. For all things that are reproved, saith the Apostle, Eph. 5,
are made manifest hy the light. For how great is the evil of
them that believe not, may be seen not only of itself, but
also from the good of them that believe. And since this is
wont to be the cry of the infidels, How should we believe
what we do not see ? therefore it was necessary that the
righteousness of the believing should be thus defined :
Because I go unto the Father, and ye shall see Me no more. ch. 20,
For blessed are they that see not, yet believe. Thus even
the faith of them that saw Christ is not praised for this, that
they believed what they saw, that is, the Son of Man ; but
that they believed what they saw not, that is, the Son of God.
When, however, the very form of a servant was withdrawn
from their sight, then indeed was it in every part fulfilled,
TJie just liveth by faith. For Faith, as it is defined in the Hab.2,
Epistle to the Hebrews, is the substance of them that hope, j' ^j.^™*
tlie conviction of tilings that are not seen. Heb 11,
3. But what is this, Ye shall see 3Ie no more? For Hcp* §22,^
saith not, I go unto the Father, and ye shall not see Me ; so ^ote )
that He might be understood to have meant an interval of
time, during which He will not be seen, an interval whether
short or lon^, yet in any wise one that hath an end : but in
saying. Ye shall see Me no more, it is as if He, the Truth,
foretold to them, that they should thenceforth never again see
Christ. Is this righteousness, never to see Christ, and yet to
believe on Him, when the very praise of the faith by which
the righteous liveth is this, that he believes he shall one day
see that Christ Whom now he seeth not ? In short, are we
to say that, as touching this righteousness, Paul the Apostle
was not righteous, seeing he confesses to have seen Christ after
His ascension into heaven, which was clearly the time of which
He had said. Ye shall see me no more? Was that most glorious
martyr Stephen, as touching this righteousness, not righteous,
because, while they were stoning him, he said. Behold, I see ^cts 7,
heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at the right^^-
hand of God? Then what is this, I go unto the Father, and
ye shall see Me no more, but, In what manner I am, while 1
am with you? For at that time He was still mortal in the-^Q^ g
3 N 3- * '
892 The unheliemng world i^eproved of judgment,
f^^ih. likeness of sinful flesk, such that it was possible for Him to
hunger and thirst, to be wearied and to sleep: this Christ
then, i. e. such a Christ as this, when He should have
passed from this world unto the Father, they should see no
more ; and this same is the righteousness of faith, of which
2CoT.5,(]jQ Apostle saith. Though we have knoivn Christ after the
flesh, get henceforth know we Him no more. It shall be
therefore, saith He, your righteousness, by which the world
shall be reproved, that / go unto the Father, and ye shall
see Me no more : because believing on Me ye will believe on
one whom ye will not see: and when ye shall see Me, as I
shall then be, ye will not see Me as I am with you now :
not see Me lowly, but lofty ; not see Me mortal, but eternal;
not see Me as one to be judged, but as Him that shall judge :
and of this your faith, i. e. your righteousness, shall the
Holy Spirit reprove the unbelieving w^orld.
4. He shall reprove also of judgment, because the prince
of this world is judged. Who is this, but he of whom in
John 14, another place He saith. Behold, the prince of this ivorld
Cometh, and will find nothing in Me: i. e. nothing that he
has a right to, nothing that belongs to him, to wit, no sin at
all ? For by this is the devil the prince of the world. For it
is not of the heaven and earth and all that is therein, that the
devil is the prince, in which signification we understand 'the
ch.1,10. world,' where it is said, A7id the tcorld was made by Him: but
the world of which the devil is prince, is that world of which
the Evangelist there goes on to say, And the world knew Him
not, i. e. unbelieving men, of whom throughout the earth the
world is full: in the midst of whom groans the faithful world,
which He, by Whom the world was made, elected out of the
ch.3, 17. world: of which world Himself saith. The Son of 3Ian is not
come to judge the world, but that the v.orld may be saved by
Him. The world by Him as Judge is condemned, the world
by Him as Helper saved: since, even as a tree is full of leaves
and fruit, as the threshing-floor of chaff and grain, so is the
world full of unbelievers and believers. The prince, then, of
this world, namely, the prince of this darkness, i. e. of unbe-
lievers; from among whom is rescued the world of them to
Eph. 5, whom it is said. Ye were once darkness, but now light in the
Lord: the prince of this world, of whom He saith elsewhere,
hy being apprised of the doom of its prince, the devil. 893
Now is the prince of this world cast out, is assuredly judged, John
since to the judgment of eternal fire he is irrevocably doomed. 9_ii]
Therefore of this judgment also, by which the prince of the ch. 12,
world is judged, is the world reproved by the Holy Spirit ;'^^'
seeing it is judged with its prince, whom in its pride and
ungodliness it imitates. For if God^ as saith the Apostle 2 Pet, 2^
Peter, spared not the angels that fell, hut thrusti?ig them
down delivered them over to prisons of infernal darkness, to
he kept for punishment in the Judgment ; how is the world
but reproved of this judgment by the Holy Spirit, seeing it is
in the Holy Spirit that the Apostle speaketh these things ?
Then let men believe in Christ, that they be not reproved of
the sin of their unbelief, by which all sins are held fast: let
them pass into the number of the faithful, that they be not
reproved of the righteousness of them, the justified whom
they do not imitate: let them beware of the future judgment,
that they be not judged with him, the doomed prince of the
world, whom they do imitate. For that the obdurate pride
of mortal men may not think to be spared, by the doom of
proud angels it must be scared.
3 N 2
HOMILY XCVL
John xvi. 12, 13.
/ have yet many things to say unto you, hut ye cannot hear
them now. Howheit when that Spirit of Truth is come, He
will teach you all truth.
1. In this portion of the Holy Gospel, where the Lord
saith to His disciples, / have yet ma^iy things to say unto
you, but ye cannot bear them now, first, this question comes
ch. 15, in our way ; namely, how it is that He said above. All things
that I have heard of My Father I have inade known unto
you; yet here He saith, / have yet rnany things to say unto
you, hut ye cannot hear them now. But in what sense He
said the former, speaking of that which He had not yet
done, as if He had done it, just as the Prophet testifieth
of those things which are future, that God hath done them,
Isa. 45, where he saith. Who hath done the things that are to he:
Lat^^* this, when we were handling those same words, we have
LXX. already expounded as we were enabled. Now therefore ye
wish, perhaps, to know what these things are which the
Apostles could not bear at that time. But who of us shall
dare to affirm himself already able to receive what they were
not able } And therefore you must neither expect me to say,
what perchance I myself could not receive were the things told
me by another; nor would ye be able to bear them, even
though I were so great, that by me ye could be told things
which are higher than you. And it is possible indeed that
IVhat are the truths which Christ forbore to speak, 895
there may be among you some already in a condition to John
receive what others cannot yet receive; though not all the 12.13*.
things of which our Master and God was saying, / have yet
many things to say to you, yet perchance some of them : but
what these things are which Himself hath not said, it were
presumptuous temerity to take upon us to say. Thus also
at that time to die for Christ was a task to which the
Apostles were not equal, as He said to them, Ye cannot follow ch. 13,
* ^ *^ , gg Qg
Me now; whence their chief, Peter, who presumed to think
he could even now do this, found it by experience to be
other than he thought for. And yet afterward both men
and women, boys and girls, young men and virgins, the old
with the young, innumerable, were crowned with martyrdom;
and sheep were found able to do, what, when the Lord
forbore to speak these things, the shepherds were not able
to bear. Would it then have been right to say to those
sheep, in the very crisis of their trial, when it behoved them
to contend for the truth even unto death, and for Christ's
name or doctrine to shed their blood : I say, would it have been
right to say to them, ' Who of you shall dare^to think himself
equal to martyrdom, to which Peter was not yet equal, when
the Lord Himself was instructing him face to face ?' In the
same way then one may say, that when Christian congrega-
tions would fain hear what are the things of which the Lord
at that time said, I have many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot hear them now; we have no right to say to them, ' If the
Apostles were not yet able, much less are ye able ;' because
it ma}' be, that many are able to hear, what at that time
Peter was not able, in the same way as many are able to be
crowned with martyrdom, though at that time Peter was not
yet able: especially now that the Holy Spirit is sent, Who
at that time was not yet sent : of Whom He immediately
goes on to say. But when that Spirit of Truth is come, He
shall teach you all truth; thus at all events shewing, that the
reason why they could not then bear the things Which He
had to say, was only because the Holy Spirit was not yet
come unto them.
2. Lo, let us grant that it may be so, that many, now that
the Holy Spirit is sent, are able to bear, what at that time,
ere He was yet sent, the disciples were not able to bear : do
896 it is presumptuous to define.
HoMiL.we therefore know what the things are that He did not
XCVI. .
'- choose to say, which we should know if we read or heard
them spoken by Him? For it is one thing to know whether
they can be borne by us or by you; but another thing to
know what they are, whether they can be borne or no.
And since He left them unsaid, who of us shall say. They
are such and such things ? Or, should he dare to say it, how
would he prove it ? For what man would be so vain or rash,
that let him have said even truths, to whom he will, what he
will, he would take upon him without any Divine testimony
to affirm them to be the very things which the Lord did not
choose to say? Who of us could do this, and not incur the
charge of most culpable temerity, when he has neither pro-
plietical nor apostolical authority to set him above others?
For doubtless, even suppose we had read any of these matters
in books confirmed by canonical authority, written after the
Lord's ascension, it would not be enough to have read
them, unless this also were there to be read, that this was one
of the matters which at that time the Lord did not choose to
say to the disciples, because they were not able to bear them.
As if, for example, 1 should say, that this which we read in
eh. 1,1. the front of this Gospel: In the beginning was the Word,
^' and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, the
Same teas in the beginning with God, and the rest which
follows : because it was written afterwards, and it is not
related that the Lord said these things while He was here in
the flesh, but one of his Apostles put them in writing, and
this, by His Spirit revealing them to him : that this is one of
the matters which the Lord did not choose at that time to
say, because the disciples were not able to bear them : who
would listen to me, had I the temerity to affirm this ? But
if where we find this written, there we found the other also
written, who would not believe so great an Apostle ?
3. Again, it seems to me most absurd to say, that the
things the disciples were not at that time able to bear were
those which, concerning invisible and most high things, w^e
find in Apostolic Writings indited afterwards, and which the
Lord is not recorded to have said while He was visibly with
them. For why should they not be able to bear things
which now in their Books who but can read, who but can
The Holy Ghost teaches, hy love. 897
bear, though he understand not ? Some things there are John
indeed in Holy Scripture, which unbelieving men both 22. 13*,
understand not when they read or hear, and, having read or
heard, cannot bear : as the Pagans, that He Who was crucified
is the Same by Whom the world was made ; as the Jews,
that He is Son of God, Who broke the Sabbath, in the way
they keep it; as the Sabellians, that Father and Son and
Holy Spirit is a Trinity; as the Arians, that the Son is
equal with the Father, and the Holy Ghost with the Father
and the Son; as the Photinians, that Christ is not merely
Man like unto us, but also God equal unto God the Father ;
as the Manichees, that Christ Jesus, through Whom we must
be delivered, deigned to be born in flesh and of flesh ; and so
with all the other men of perverse and diverse sects: why of
course they cannot bear whatever is found in Holy Scripture,
and in the Catholic Faith, that may be brought forward against
their errors; just as we cannot bear their sacrilegious
vanities and lying ravings. For what means it, not to be
able to bear, but not to take with an even mind ? But what-
ever things subsequent to the Lord's Ascension are recorded
with Canonical truth and authority, what believer, or even
catechumen before he is baptized and receives the Holy
Ghost, does not read and hear with an even mind, although
he does not yet understand them as they ought to be under-
stood ? Then how should the disciples not be able to bear
any of those things which were written after the Lord's
Ascension, although the Holy Ghost was not yet sent to
them, seeing catechumens now can bear them all, notwith-
standing that they have not yet received the Holy Ghost ?
For what though the Sacraments of the faithful are not
divulged to them ? it is not because they cannot bear them ;
but to make them to be the more ardently desired, the more
reverently they are concealed.
4. Wherefore, my beloved, ye must not look to hear from
us, v/hat were the things which the Lord at that time did not
choose to say to the disciples, because they were not yet able
to bear them : but rather do ye go forward in the love which
is shed abroad in your hearts hy the Holy Spirit which is Rom. 5
give)i unto you: that, being fervent in spirit and loving^*
spiritual things, the spiritual light and spiritual voice, which
898 TVhile yet in the hody^ toe cannot bear all truth»
HoMiL. carnal men are not able to bear, ye, not by some sign
appearing to the bodily eyes ; neither by some utterance
sounded in the bodily ears, but by an inward beholding and
hearing, may be able to know. For we do not love that of
which we are utterly ignorant. But when we love what
we know in ever so small a degree, by very love we are
made to know it better and more fully. If then ye go for-
ward in the charity which the Holy Ghost sheds abroad in
our hearts, He will teach you all truth; or, as other copies
Ps. 86, have it, He will lead you in all truth''; as it is said. Lead me,
^^* O Lord, in Thy way, and L will walk in Thy truth. So
shall it come to pass, that not from outward teachers shall
ye learn those things, which the Lord at that time did not
ch. 6, 45. choose to say, but shall be cdl taught of God; that so, that
which by lessons and sermons applied from without ye
have learned and believed concerning the Nature of God,
not corporeal, nor enclosed in any place, nor extended,
as it were by magnitude, through all directions of infinite
space, but everywhere whole and perfect and infinite: not
as gleaming with colours, not as shaped with lines, not as
denoted by letters, not as ranged in syllables, but by the
mind itself ye may be able to get sight thereof. Lo I have
told you somewhat, that peradventure may be of the number
of these things, and yet ye have received it ; and not only
have been able to bear it, but also have heard it with pleasure.
But if the Master within. Who, while as yet He spake to the
disciples from without, said, I have yet many things to say unto
you, but ye cannot bear them now; if He should be pleased to
say to us what I have said concerning God's incorporeal Na-
ture, in that inward manner in which He speaks to the Holy
Mat. 18, Angels, vi'ho always see the face of the Father ; we should not
^^* yet be able to bear it. Therefore what He saith, He shall
teach you all truth, or, shall lead you in all truth, I do not
suppose can be completely fulfilled in this life in the mind of
Wisd.9, any; (for who, living in this corruptible body which presseth
!»• down the soiU, can know all truth ; seeing the Apostle saith, we
J 3, 9.
* 'OS7j77}(ref v}xas els ttjj/ aKrjdeiav tatem : Colbert, docebit in omni veritate :
Tzaffav. Cod. Cantab. eV rfi aArtdeia Vulg. docebit [in, Fuld. Laur.] omnem
Trda-r). Cod. Vercell. deducet (Hil. and veritatem. Lachmann in loc.
Cantab, lat. diriget) in omnem veri-
The promised teaching fulfilled in the life to come. 899
know in part ?) but it means that it is by the Holy Ghost, John
whereof we have now received the earnest, that we come {^ ^^'
also to the fuhiess itself (of which the same Apostle saith, i Cor. i,
But then face to face ; and, Noiv I know in part, but then '^iq^^
shall I know as also I am known): not that in this life 13, 12.
one knows the whole of that which the Lord hath promised
shall be done for us even unto that perfection, through
the love of the Spirit, when He saith, He shall teach you all
truth; or. Shall lead you in all truth.
5. Since these things are so, dearly beloved, I warn you
by the love of Christ, that ye beware of impure seducers and
sects of obscene filthiness, of which the Apostle saith, But Eph. 6,
the things that are done of them in secret it is a shame even ''^*
to speak of ; lest, when they have begun to teach you
horrible uucleannesses, too bad for any sort of human ears
to bear, they tell you that these are the very things of
which the Lord saith, / have yet many things to say unto
you, hut ye cannot hear them now ; and assert that it is
by the Holy Spirit that one is made able to bear these
foul and dreadful impieties. It is one thing, that there
are things so bad that no sort of human modesty can
bear them; and another, that there are things so good
that our human sense is too weak to bear them ; those
are done in unchaste bodies, these are remote from all
bodies whatsoever; the one is committed by impure flesh,
the other by the pure mind is with difficulty seen. There-
fore, Be ye renewed in the spirit of your rnind, and U7iderstand Eph. 4,
what is the will of God, that good and well- pleasing and perfect '
thing ; that heiyig rooted and grounded in love, ye may he able Rom.
to comprehend with all saints what is the length, the breadth, ^^— 19.
the height, and deep ; to knoiu also the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled into all the fulness of
God. For in this way shall the Holy Spirit teach you all
truth, when He shall more and more shed abroad love in your
hearts.
HOMILY XCVII.
ON THE SAME TEXT.
1. The Holy Spirit, Whom the Lord promised to send to
His disciples, to leach them all the truth, which at the time
of His speaking to them they were not able to bear: of
which Holy Spirit, as the Apostle saith, we have now received
iCor.i, the earnest, by which word we should understand that His
fulness is reserved for us in another life : this Holy Spirit,
then, both now teacheth the faithful, as much of spiritual
things as each is able to receive ; and setteth their hearts on
fire with greater longing, if each grows in that charity whereby
he boih loves the things he knows, and longs for the things
that are to be known : insomuch that even the things which
now in whatever sort he knows, he knows that he doth not
yet know, so as they are to be known in that life which
1 Cor. 2, neither' eye hath seen^ nor ear heard, nor hath ascended into
the heart of men. In which sort of knowing, if the Master
within should now be pleased to say them, that is, to
open and shew them to our mind, our human infirmity
would not be able to bear them. Of which, my beloved, ye
remember I have already spoken, when we were handling the
words of the Holy Gospel, where the Lord saith, I have yet
many things to say to you, hut ye carinot bear them now.
Not that in those words of the Lord we should sm'mise I know
not what most recondite secrets, such that, though they might
be said by the teacher, they cannot be borne by the learner :
but the very things which in doctrine of Religion, as within
scope of the knowledge of any sort of men, we read and write,
hear and say : if Christ should be pleased to say these things
to us in the same way as he says them to the Holy Angels,
in Himself, the Only-Begotten Word of the Father, and Co-
IVe cannot yet hear the truth as known hy Angels. 901
eternal with the Father ; what men could bear them, even John,
XVT
though they were already spiritual as the Apostles were not 12. 13*.
as yet, when the Lord spoke these words to them, and as
they afterwards became, at the coming of the Holy Ghost ?
For assuredly, whatever can be known concerning the
creature, is less than the Creator Himself, Who is the supreme
and true and unchangeable God. And who but speaks of
Him? Where, whether men read, or reason, or ask, or answer,
or praise, or sing, or preach (after whatever fashion), nay, or
even blaspheme, where is He not named ? And while there
is none but speaks of Him, who can receive Him so as He
ought to be understood, albeit He be never absent from the
mouths and ears of men ? Where is the man, whose mental
eye can reach Him ? Where the man, who would have known
Him to be Trinity, unless it had been His OTfn will to be
known as such ? And who of mankind is now silent of that
Trinity, and yet who of mankind can conceive of the Trinity
as do the Angels? The very things, then, that concerning
God's eternity, truth, holiness, are evermore unreservedly
and openly spoken, by some are understood aright, by others
amiss : nay, by some are understood, by others not under-
stood. For to understand amiss, is not to understand. But
even by them of whom they are understood aright, they are
seen by some with less, by others with more of mental vivid-
ness, yet by none of mankind are they received as they are
by the Angels. Therefore, in the very mind, i. e. in the inner
man, there is a sort of growth, not only to the passing from
milk to meat, but also to the taking of that meat more and
more abundantly. A growth, however, not in dimensions of
size, but in luminous intelligence ; because the meat itself
is intellectual light. That ye may grow, then, and the more
ye grow, may receive more and more, ye must ask and hope
not of the teacher who makes a sound in your ears, i. e. who
from without planteth and watereth, but of Him Who giveth 1 Cor. 3,
the increase.
2. Therefore, as in the past discourse I warned you, be-
ware, especially ye who are babes and still indulge in milky
aliments, of men deceived themselves and deceiving others by
occasion of this that the Lord saith, I have yet many things
to say ujitoyoiiy hut ye cannot hear them now ; beware that ye
902 Heretics pretend that their esoteric doctrines
HoMiL. lend them not a curious ear to get knowledge of unknown
'- things, while your minds are not strong to judge betwixt
true and false : especially as concerning those most obscene
filthinesses which Satan hath taught to unstable and carnal
souls: God to this end suffering him, that His judgments
may be everywhere had in awe, and by contrast of most im-
pure wickedness, His most pure discipline become s\veet to
our taste; and that every man may give honour to Him, but
to himself fear or shame, who either under His rule hath not
fallen into those evils, or by His help hath risen up there-
from. Take good heed, by fearing and by praying, that ye
Prov. 9, fall not to your ruin into that riddle of Solomon, where the
'foolish and hold woman, which hath come to lack bread,
calls the passers-by, saying. Lay hold with delight upon
secret breads and the sweets of stolen water. This woman,
namely, denotes the vanity of the ungodly, who, while they
are most foolish, conceit themselves to know somewhat, as
of this woman it is said. Which hath come to lack bread:
who, while she lacketh bread, promiseth bread ; i. e. while
ignorant of the truth, promiseth knowledge of the truth.
She promiseth, however, secret bread, which she saith is
pleasant to touch, and siceetness of stolen water ; meaning,
that those things are pleasanter and sweeter to hear and to
practise, which are forbidden to be openly said and believed
in the Church. For by their very secretness these nefarious
teachers make their poisons in a manner more relishing to
the curious ; so that they imagine they are learning some
great thing only because it had the merit to be kept
secret, and drink in more sweetly the folly which they
account science, when they, in a manner, snatch by stealth
the forbidden hearing.
3. Hence also the doctrine of magical arts recommends its
nefarious rites to men by sacrilegious curiosity deceived or
to be deceived. Hence it is that those unlawful divinations,
by inspection of the entrails of slain beasts, or by the cries and
flight of birds, or by this or that form of devils' tokens, are whis-
pered into the ears of men that shall be undone through the
conversation of them that are undone already. In respect
of these unlawful and punishable secrets, that woman is
called not only foolish, but also bold. Howbeit, these things
are the truths which CJirist forbore to speak. 903
are alien not only from the reality but from the very name of John
our Religion. Nay, this foolish and hold womariy hath she ^h
not under the Christian name founded a multitude of wicked
heresies, invented a multitude of detestable fables? Would
to God they w^ere only such fables as in the theatres are
either sung or danced, or by mimic buffoonery provoke
laughter ; and not of such a kind, that much as we grieve at
the foolishness, we wonder no less at the audacity which could
invent them against God. But all those most foolish heretics,
who would fain be called Christians, in putting forth the auda-
cious figments at which the common sense of mankind is
most horrified, attempt to put a colouring upon them, by
taking advantage of the evangelic sentence, where the Lord
saith, / have yet many things to say to yoit^ hut ye cannot
hear them now : as if these were the things which the
disciples at that time could not bear, and as if the Holy
Spirit taught, what even an unclean spirit, by how great
audacity soever it be actuated, is ashamed to teach and
preach openly !
4. The Apostle foreseeing them in the Holy Spirit, saith. For 2 Tim.
the time will come ivhen they will not endure sound doctrine ; ^' ^* ^*
hut after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears ; and shall turn aivay their ears from the
truth, and he turned unto fahles. For that hint of secresy and
stealthiness, with which it is said. Lay hold with delight on
secret hread, and the sweetfiess of stolen water, causes an itching
to the hearers, in ears committing spiritual fornication, just
as by a certain itching of lust in the flesh the integrity
of chastity is corrupted. Hear ye therefore the Apostle,
how, foreseeing such things, he wholesomely admonisheth
to shun them : Avoid, saith he, profane novelties of words ; ch. 2,
for they help much to the increase of impiety, and their ^^* ^^'
speech doth creep like a canker. And he saith not, novelties
of words; but hath added, profane. For there are also
novelties of words which agree with the doctrine of religion,
as indeed it is written at what time the very name of Christians
was first used. Namely, it was in Antioch, after the Lord's
Ascension, that the disciples were first called Christians, as we Actsil,
read in the Acts of the Apostles; and xenodochia, or hospitals ^^'
and monasteries were afterwards so called by new names, yet
904 Their mysteries, profane novelties
HoMiL. the things existed before the names were sjiven, and are con-
XCVII o '
-— — ' firmed by the truth of religion, by which also they are upheld
against the wicked. Also against the impiety of the Arian
heretics the Fathers established that new terra, Homousion,
but the thing was not new that they marked by this name ;
ch. 10, for ^Yhat we call Homoiision is just this, / and the Father are
One, namely, of one and the same Substance. For if all
novelty were profane, neither would it be said by the Lord,
ch. 13, A new commandment give I unto you ; nor would the Testa-
Ps.98 i.'inent be called JVeiv, nor would the new song be sung in all
the earth. But those are profane novelties of words, where
the foolish and hold woman saith. Lay hold with delight upon
secret bread, and the sweetness of stolen water. From this
promising of false science the Apostle debars us also in that
fi QfT* P^^^^ where he saith, O Timothy, guard the deposit, avoiding
profane novelties of words, and contradictions of science falsely
so called, which some promising have fallen concerning the
faith. For these men love nothing so much as to promise
science ; and to deride as foolishness the faith of those true
things which babes are commanded to believe.
5. Some man will say : Ts there nothing in the doctrine
of spiritual men, which they forbear to speak to carnal, and
do utter to spiritual men ? If I should answer, There is
nothing, it will immediately be said to me from the Apostle
1 Cor. 3, Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians, And I, brethren, could not
speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal^ even as
unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not
with meat : for hither'to ye were not able to bear it, neither
Id. 2, Q,yet now are ye able: for ye are yet carnal: and again, We
' • speak wisdom among the perfect : and again, Co??iparitig
spiritual things with spiritual: for the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness
to him. What all this means; lest here again, on account of
these words of the Apostle, men must needs ask for secret
lore couched in profane novelties of words, and it shall be
said of things which the spirit and the body of the chaste
ought to shun, that they are things which the carnal are not
able to bear: hereof we must discourse in another sermon, if
the Lord shall grant it; that now at least we may bring the
present discourse to a close.
HOMILY XCVIII,
ON THE SAME TEXT.
1. From the words of our Lord, where He saith, / have
yet many things to say unto yon, but ye cannot bear them
now, there arose a difficult question, which, I remember,
I deferred, to be handled more at leisure % because, having
reached our limits for that time, we were obliged to bring
the sermon to an end. Now therefore that the time is come
to make good our promise, let it be fully handled as the
Lord shall bestow the ability. Who put into our heart to
propound the same. Now the question is this : Whether
spiritual men have any thing in their doctrine, which they
must keep back from the carnal, and speak only to the
spiritual ? Because, if we shall say. They have not ; it will
be said to us in answer, What means it then that the Apostle
said, when writing to the Corinthians, And I, brethren, could ^ Cor.3,
not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even ~ '
as unto babes in Christ: I have fed you with milk, and not
with meat : for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither
yet now are ye able: for ye are yet carnal? But if we
shall say. They have : we must fear and beware lest a handle
be given herein for the teaching of abominable things in
secret, and, under the name of spiritual things, which forsooth
the carnal cannot receive, people shall think fit not only by
pleading their excuse to wash them white, but even to preach
them up as praiseworthy.
2. First then, my beloved, ye must know, that even ChTist
crucified, with which, as with milk, the Apostle saith he fed
a Otiosius tractaretur. Nearly all be handled at large")- Ben. Oxf.
the Mss. de spatio tractaretur (" might Mss. ' de spatio.'
906 The Church has no esoteric doctrine.
HoMiL. the babes : even His true^ flesh, m which He was made to
^^^"^' have a true death, and true wounds being nailed, and blood
being pierced : this is not conceived in the same way by the
carnal as it is by the spiritual, and is to those milk, to these
meat; since though these hear not more, they understand more.
For a thing is not in equal degree mentally perceived, although
it be in like sort believingly received, by both. Hence it is,
1 Cor. 1, that Christ crwc/^eo?, preached by the Apostles, was to the Jews
^^•'^^' a stumbling-block, and to the Gentiles foolishness, and to
them that are called, Jews and Greeks, the Power of God
and the Wisdom of God : but then, while the carnal babes
only hold this by believing, whereas the spiritual, being of
greater capacity, also by understanding behold the same ; to
those therefore it is as milky drink, to these as solid meat : not
that those did in the congregation get to know it in one way,
these in their chambers in another way ; but what they both
in the same measure heard when it was openly spoken, they
received each according to his own measure. For, seeing
Christ was crucified that He might shed His blood for the
remission of sins, by which passion of that Only-Begotten
Son the Divine grace is shewn forth, that no man may glory
in man ; in what measure did those understand Christ
1 Cor. crucified, who still said, / am of Paul? Surely not in the
^Jj^g same measure as Paul did, who said, Bat God forbid that I
14. should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ?
Thus then from the same Christ crucified, Paul both himself
derived meat, according to his capacity, and nourished them
with milk, according to their infirmity. As in fact, knowing
that even what he was writing to the Corinthians might be
understood in one way by the babes, in another way by
1 Cor. those of greater capacity, he saith. If any man among you
\g' he a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
tilings that I write unto you are the commandments of the
Lord. But if any man be unknowing, Ite shall be unknown,
^ Ipsa vera caro ejus : but Ben. a'^vo^lrai (received by Lachmann)
ipsa vero : which is probably a typo- which is found in some good Mss, the
graphical error. In the preceding Coptic, and Origen : two copies of Lat.
sentence the earlier editions have (Clar. and Germ.) ignorafnr. Perhaps
Christus est crucifixus, but the Mss. the reading ayvoe7rai is due to the
Christus crucifixus. accidental omission of a in the scriptio
•= Ignorabitur : so Vulg. and the contimia ayroeirnriare.
Latins generally : representing the Gr.
The babes and the fall-grown hear the. self-same truths. 907
Doubtless he wished the knowledge of spiritual men to be John
that solid knowledge, where not only faith should be yielded, ^^
but sure cognizance should be held ; and by this it appears
that the things which those believed were the selfsame that
the spiritual moreover acknowledged. But, he saith, he that
is unknowing^ shall be unknown ; meaning that it is not yet
revealed to him, that what he believes, he may know. When
this is brought to pass in a man's mind, he is said to be
known of God, because God makes him knowing : as he
saith elsewhere, Bat now that ye knovj God, or rather a/^Gal. 4,
known of God. For it was not then first that God knew^*
them, the foreknown and elected before the foundation of
the world ; but then first He made them to know Him.
3. This point then being known to begin with, that those
same things which spiritual and carnal together alike hear,
they take in, each according to his measure ; these as babes,
those as persons of greater growth ; these as milk to nourish,
those as meat to strengthen; there seems to be no necessity
that there should be some secrets of doctrine left unspoken
and hidden from the little ones which believe, to be spoken
apart to those of greater age, i. e. of more intelligence : and
that it should be thought necessary to do this, because the
Apostle hath said, / could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal. For this, that he determined \ Cor,
to know nothing among them but Jesus Christy and Him'^^^'
crucified, this and none other it was that he could not speak
unto them as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, because
they had not power to receive it as spiritual. But whoever
among them were spiritual, the same thing that those heard
as carnal, these with spiritual understanding took in: so
that we are to understand this saying, / coidd not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, just as if he
had said, Ye could not as spiritual, but only as carnal, take
in what I spake. For the natural man (i. e. he who con- 1 Cor.
ceives of things as man, called natural, or properly, animal,'^^ ^^'
from ' anima,' soul, as the carnal is so called ' a carne/ from
the flesh, because the whole man is made up of soul and
flesh,) perceiveth not the tilings of the Spirit of God; that
is, what is the grace v*hich the Cross of Christ confers on them
that believe; and accounts that merely this was effected by that
3 o
908 What those believe^ these also know.
HoMiL. Cross, that we, in striving for the truth unto death should
■ 'have an example afforded us for our imitation. For if men
of this sort, who do not wish to be any thing but men**, knew
1 Cor. 1, how Christ crucified is made unto us of God Wisdom, and
30 31 .
Rigliteousness, and Sanctijication, and Redemption^ that,
as it is uritten, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord;
ch. 12. without doubt, they would not glory in men, nor carnally
say, I am of Paul; hut I of Apollos ; /, truly, of Cephas;
but spiritually, / am of Christ.
4. But then a question arises from this also that we read
Heb. o, in the Epistle to the Hebrews : For when for the time ye
' otight to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you agaiii
which he the first iJiinciples of the oracles of God; and are
become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of
righteousness : for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth
to them that are perfect, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to separate good from evil. For
here we see as it were defined, what he means by the solid
meat of the perfect, and that this is what is written to the
1 Cor. 2, Corinthians, We speak wisdom among them that are perfect.
Moreover, whom he would have us understand as the perfect
in this place, he has further explained, saying. Who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to separate good
from evil. Those therefore, who by reason of weak and
unexercised mind cannot do this, without doubt unless by
the milk, so to say, of faith, they be held fast to believe both
the invisible things which they see not, and the intelligible
things which they understand not, are easily led on to vain
and sacrilegious fables by the promise of knowledge; so that
they represent to themselves both good and evil only under
corporeal images, and imagine God Himself to be only some
body, and can form no notion of evil but as being a sub-
stance: whereas it is but the defect from the immutable
Substance, of the mutable substances which were made out
of nothing by the immutable and supreme Substance, which
is God. Which assuredly whoso not only believes, but
also, being exercised in the inner senses of the mind, under-
stands, perceives, knows, there is thenceforth no reason to
^ Alluding to 1 Cor. 3, 4. nonne homines estis ? supra Horn. i. p. 5.
The weak musf not be overbnrfhened. 909
fear lest he be seduced by those, who, by accounting evil to John
be a substance which God did not make, make God Himself ^12, *
a mutable substance, as do the Manichees, or whatever other
pests there be that thus rave.
5. But to them that are as yet babes in mind, whom the
Apostle calls carnal, needing to be nourished with milk, all
discourse upon this matter, which has for its aim that what
is spoken should be not only believed, but also understood
and known, is burthensome, because they are not able to
take in such representations, and is more likely to oppress
than to feed them. Whence it comes, that the spiritual,
though in conference with the carnal they do not leave these
things altogether unspoken, because of the Catholic Faith
which must be preached to all; yet they do not so enlarge
upon them, that, while they will needs bring them home to
an understanding that lacks the capacity for them, they shall
more easily make their discourse in the truth to be loathed,
than the truth in their discom'se to be received. Therefore,
writing to the Colossians, he saith: Though I he absent in Co\. 2y
the body, in spirit I am with yoic, rejoicing and seeing your^'
order, and that which is lacking'' to your faith in Christ:
and to the Thessalonians ; Night and day, saith he, praying 1 Thess.
more abundantly, that we may see your face, and supply^''^^'
the things which are lacking to your faith. They are to be
understood, therefore, to have been first in such sort cate-
chized, that they were fed with milk, not on solid meat :
of which milk the rich flow is shewn in the recital to the
Hebrews, to those whom he wished now to feed with solid-
ness of meat. Wherefore he saith, Therefore leaving the Heb. 6,
word of the first beginnings of Christ, let us look to the^'^'
perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God ; of the doctrine
of the laver, and of laying on of hands, of resurrection
also of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Such is the
« Id quod deest fidei vestrce in the ancient Lat. was derived from a
Christo: so Ep. 149, 25. S. Ambros. faulty copy, wiiich, instead of KaX rh
et supplens id quod deest utilitati fidei arepeufxa t7?s els Xpicrrhv niaTecos
vestrcB. Facund. 12, 1. id quod deest vfj.u>i/, had, koI rh v(rT€pr}iuta els xpf^a»'
ntilitatis fidei vestrcB : two copies Ttiarews vfxoiv. Which, however, as it
(Clar. and Germ.) of Lat. et id quod appears from Augustine's citations, is
deest necessitatibus fidei vestrce. Whence partly corrected in the African copies
it appears (as Mill remarks in I.) that by restoring in Christo.
3o 2
910 Growing Christians go on to fuller knoiuledge,
HoMiL.rich flow of the milk, without which they cannot live, who
^"already indeed have the enjoyment of reason, so that they
are able to believe, but to separate good from evil, not only
in believing, but also in understanding, (which thing hath
relation to solid meat,) they are not able. But that in
what he says of the milk, he includes doctrine^ also; this
is merely that which is delivered by the Creed and the
Lord's Prayer.
6. But God forbid we should imagine any contrariety
between this milk and that meat of spiritual things which is to
be taken by firm understanding, which meat was lacking to the
Colossians and Thessalonians, and behoved to be supplied.
For in the very aliments which we take, so far is solid meat
from being contrary to milk, that it turns into milk, that it
may be fit for babes, to whom it comes through the flesh of
the mother or the nurse : even as did the Mother Wisdom
Itself, Which, though It be the solid meat of angels on high,
yet deigned, in a manner, to become milk for the little ones,
ch. 1, when the Word teas made fleshy and dwelt in us. But that
same Man Christy Who, in His true flesh, true cross, true
death, true resurrection, is called the milk of babes, when
He is received aright by the spiritual, is found Lord of
Angels. Therefore the babes must neither be so suckled, as
never to understand Christ's Godhead; nor so weaned as to
forsake Christ's Manhood. Which selfsame thing may in
another way be thus expressed : they must neither be so
suckled, as never to understand Christ, that He is Creator ;
nor so weaned, as ever to forsake Christ as He is Mediator.
In fact, in this respect the similitude of mother's milk and
solid meat does not match this thing, but that of the found-
ation is more apt; in respect, namely, that the child, when it
is weaned, that it may thenceforth forsake the nourishment
of infancy, does not, among its solid meats, seek anew the
f In the African Churches the traditio petentes. The practice in this respect
si/mboli, or delivery of the Creed to the varied in diflferent Churches. — In the
Compefentes, took place during the text cited here, and in the treatise *' de
season of Lent: the redditio syyuboli^or Fide et Operibus" §. 17, it is not clear
rehearsal of the Creed by the persons whether St. Augustine may not have
to he baptized, was made, a first time, taken doctrine as a distinct term of the
on Falm Sunday, after which the Lord's enumeration, tavacri, doctrince, et im-
Prayer was delivered to them ; both to positmiis manuian : but this does not
he said at the time of Baptism on Easter materially affect the sense.
Eve. S. Aug. Serm. 5G — 59, ad Com-
1. 14.
not go off to knowledge of another kind. 911
breasts which it used to suck ; whereas Christ crucified is John.
both milk to the suckling, and meat to the growing. But ^jV*
what makes the simiUtude of the foundation more apt, is,
that ill order to the perfecting of that which is in building,
the superstructure is added, not the foundation is with-
drawn.
7. Which things being so, O ye, whosoever ye be, who
without doubt are many of you babes in Christ, grow ye
unto the solid meat of the mind, not of the belly. Grow,
unto the separating of good from evil, and more and more
cleave to the Mediator, through Whom ye are delivered from
the evil ; which is not to be locally separated from you, but
rather in you to be healed. But whoso shall say to you,
' Do not believe Christ to be true man ; or, do not believe
that the body of any man or any living creature was created
by the true God ; or that the Old Testament was given by
the true God; and whatever else there be such like: for that
these things were not told you sooner, was only because ye
were nourished with milk, for that your heart was not yet
equal to receive the truth :' this man prepares not meat for
you, but poison. For which reason, the blessed Apostle,
addressing them who conceited themselves to be already
perfect, when he had affirmed himself to be imperfect, saith,
As many therefore of us as be perfect, let us be thus ininded: Phil. 3,
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, this also shall^^' ^^'
God reveal unto you. And lest haply they should run into
the hands of seducers, who should wish to turn them from the
faith by promising knowledge of the truth, and should take this
to be what the Apostle meant in saying, This also shall God
reveal unto you, he straightway goes on to say, Nevertheless
whereunto we have attained, therein let us icalk. If then
thou have understood any thing that is not against the rule
of the Catholic faith, whereunto thou hast attained, as unto
the way which shall lead thee to thine own country; and
have so understood it, that thou must not doubt at all thereof:
add the superstructure, yet leave not the foundation. So
ought the elder to teach the little ones, that they take care
not to affirm that Christ the Lord of all, and the Prophets
and Apostles who are much older than they, said any thing
falsely. Yet not only must ye be on your guard against tlic
9 1 2 Preachers of a neiv Gospel, accursed.
HoMiL. vain talkers and seducers of the mind, who babble fabulous
^and false things, and in those vanities pretend to promise a
lofty science contrary to that which ye have received as the
Catholic rule of faith : but those also who, while they reason
truly concerning the immutability of the Divine Nature, or the
incorporeal creature, or the Creator, and entirely prove what
they say by most sure evidence and reasons, yet endeavour
to turn you away from the One Mediator between God and
men, flee ye these as a pest more insidious than all besides.
Rom. ijFor such are they of whom the Apostle saith, Because when
they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. For what
doth it profit that man to have true understanding concerning
the unchangeable Good, who holds not Him by Whom he must
Gal.i,9.be delivered from evil? Never let the admonition of the
blessed Apostle depart from your hearts; If any preach unto
you a Gospel beside that ye have received, let him be ana-
thema. He saith not. More than ye have received, but,
Beside that ye have received. For to have said the other,
had been to foredoom himself, in that he desired to come unto
the Thessalonians, that he might supply what was lacking to
their faith. But then, to supply is to add what was deficient,
not to take av^ay what was already there ; whereas to go beside
the rule of faith, is not to go forward in the way, but to go
§. 8. back from the way. Therefore, that the Lord saith, / liave
yet many tilings to say unto you, hut ye cannot hear them
now : it means, that there were to be added to them what
things they knew not, not that the things they had learned
must be overthrown. And He indeed, as I expounded to you
in the former discourse, may have said it in this sense ;
namely, that if it were His will to open to them even the
things He had taught, in that manner in which they are con-
ceived in Him by the Angels ; the weakness of man under
which they still laboured, could not have borne it. But any
spiritual man has power to teach another man what he him-
self knows, if the taught by growing be made capable of more
by that Holy Spirit in Whom the teacher also was enabled
John 6, iQ learn somewhat more, so that they both may be taught of
God, Though indeed even among the spiritual, some, of
course, are of more capacity and better than others, in-
2 Cor. somuch that one of them attained unto thinos which it is not
12, 2-4. -^
The truth one for all^ according to the measure of each. 913
lawful for man to utter. Of which certain vain persons John
■* V -y T
have taken advantage with most fooHsh presumption to forge j2. '
an " Apocalypse of Paul %" which the sound Church receiveth
not, a writing full of I know not what fables ; affirming this
to be the Revelation of which he had said, that he was caught
up into the third heaven^ and there heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawfid for man to utter. However their
audacity might have been tolerable, if he had said that he
heard what as yet it is not lawful for man to utter : yet, seemg
he has ^oxdi, which it is not lawful for man to utter; who are
these that impudently and unhappily dare to speak these
things ? But here now I will make an end of this discourse :
by which I desire you to he wise indeed in that which is good, Eom.ie,
btit sound from that which is evil.
« This Apocalypse of Paul seems Theodosius Alex, in a fragment first
to have heen the same work with that published in part by Grabe Spicil. Patr.
which is mentioned by S. Epiphan. i. 375. and more fully by Fabriciusu.s.
Haer. 38, 2. under the title 'Aj/aj8aTiKJ)j/ ii. 954. This Theodosius says it was
UavXov, held in high esteem by the written by Paul of Samosata, "from
Gnostic sect of the Caiani or Cainites. whom the Paalicians took their name."
It is mentioned by the name " Apo- Grabe u, s. i. 85. speaks of an Oxford
calypse"by Theophylact and CEcumen. manuscript, 'Revelatio S. Pauli,' which
on 2 Cor. 12, 4. and by Nicephorus, a however is quite a diiferent work and
writer of the ninth century, Fabric, of much later date than the apocryphal
Cod. Apocr. N. T. ii. 951, also by production noted by the ancients.
HOMILY XCIX.
John xvi. 13.
For He shall not speak of Himself , hat whatsoever He shall
hear, He ivill si^eak.
1. What meaneth it, that the Lord saith concemmg the
Holy Ghostj while promising that He should come, and
teach His disciples all truths or lead them in all truth:
For He shall not speak of Himself but whatsoever He shall
hear, He will speak. For this is like what He hath said
ch. 5,30. concerning Himself, / can do nothing of Myself ; as I hear,
xix-xxii ^ j^dge. But when we expounded that saying, we said
it might be taken in regard that He is Man : so that it
should be considered as the Son's announcement of this,
Phil. 2, that the obedience, wherewith He became obedient unto
death, even the death of the Cross, would also have place ^ in
the judgment wherewith He will judge the quick and the
dead ; because He will do this as He is Son of Man. Where-
ch. 5,22. fore He said, TJie Father judgeth not any, but hath given all
judgment to the Son : because in the judgment, not the
Form of God in which He is equal with the Father and
cannot be seen by the ungodly, but the form of man shall
Heb, 2. appear, in which He was made less, yea a little less than the
I' ^*^' Angels ; when, albeit He shall now come in glory, not in the
former humility, yet He shall be conspicuous to both good
ch. 5,27. and bad. Hence also that saying: And hath given Him
power to execute judgment, because He is Son of Man. In
which words of His, it is manifested, that the form to be
^ Et in judicio futuram. Ben. But futurum, " and of the future judgment
Erasm. Lugd. and Ven. et judicium wherewith, &c." And so Oxf. Mss.
No created nature assumed by the Holy Ghost. 915
presented of Him in the judgaient will be, not that in which Jchn
because He was, He thought it not robbery to be equal with ^^ '
God; but that which He took, when He had emptied Him- phil. 2,
self. For He emptied Himself^ talcing the form of a servant:^' '^*
and it is His obedience in that form, unto executing judg-
ment also, that He seems to have intimated, when He saith,
/ cannot of Myself do any thing : as I hear, I judge. For
Adam, by which one man^s disobedience many ivere made Rom. 5,
sinners, judged not as he heard ; for what he heard, that he
transgressed, and did of himself the evil that he did; because
he did not God's will but his own : but He, by the obedience
o/* which one Man^ many are made righteous, was not only
obedient unto the death of the Cross, in which He the Living
was judged by the dead, but, promising that He will be
obedient in that judgment also in which He shall judge con-
cerning the quick and the dead, Yie ^dMh, I cannot of Myself
do any thing : as 1 hear, I judge. But when it is said of
the Holy Spirit, For He shall not speak of Himself, hut
whatsoever He shall hear, He will speak : surely we shall
not dare to imagine that this is said of Him as man, or in
respect of His having taken upon Him any created nature ?
For in the Trinity, the Son alone took the form of a servant,
which form was fitted to Him unto unity of Person, i. e. so
that the One Christ Jesus shall be both Son of God and Son
of Man ; lest not Trinity but quaternity be preached by us :
which be far from us ! By reason of which One Person con-
sisting of two Substances, the Divine and the human, some-
times He speaks as He is God, as in that saying, land the c^- lo,
Father are One : sometimes as He is Man, as in that, Because ^j,] 14
the Father is greater than I ; in which regard we have taken ^S-
this also to have been said by Him, of which I am now
reasoning ; / cannot of Myself do any thing ; as I hear,
I judge. But how in respect of the Person of the Holy
Spirit, we are to take this saying, For He shall not speak of
Himself, hut whatsoever He shall hear. He will speak;
seeing in that Person there is not one Substance of Godhead,
another of Manhood or of some other creature: hence arises
a great difficulty.
2. For, that the Holy Spirit appeared in a hodily for7n^\^^^'^,
like a dove, was a vision which was caused to have place
916 The dove and fiery tongues^ transient manifestations.
HoMiL. for the time and so to pass away: as also when He came
XCIX. .
^ 'upon the disciples, the^-e appeared unto them cloven tongues
3. as it had been of fire, and it sat upon each of them. He
then who says that the dove was conjoined with the Holy
Spirit unto unity of Person, so that the One Person of the
Holy Spirit should consist of it and of God (because the
Holy Spirit is God) ; is forced to say the same also of that
fire ; and so may understand that he ought to say nothing
of the kind. For these appearances which, in order that the
Substance of God might be in whatever sort betokened, as
need was, have therefrom presented themselves to the bodily
senses of men and passed away, were caused of God to have
place for a time from the subservient creature, not from the
commanding Nature Itself; while It abiding in Itself moves
what It will, and what It will It changes. Itself unchangeable.
Just as it was with that voice from the cloud; it touched
the bodily ears, and the sense which is called hearing : yet
it is by no means to be supposed that the Word of God,
Which is the Only-Begotten Son, because It is called Word,
is therefore bounded by syllables and sounds : since in the
process of speaking, these cannot be all sounded at the same
instant, but whatever they be, succeed each other in their
order, the new-born, as it were, taking the place of the dying,
so that the whole of what we speak is completed by the last
syllable. Be it far from us to imagine that the Father
speaks in this way to the Son, i. e. God to His own Word,
Which is God ! But to receive this, so far as it can be
received by man, is for them to whom belongeth not milk
but solid meat. Since then the Holy Spirit by no susception
of the nature of man became man, by no susception of the
nature of an Angel became Angel, by no susception of the
nature of any creature became a creature, how is that to be
understood concerning Him which the Lord saith : For He
shall not speak uf Himself hut whatsoever He shall hear,
He will speak ? An arduous question, exceeding arduous !
May the Spirit Himself be present to aid, that at least in
such sort as we are able to conceive it, we may be able to
utter it, and so, according to the faculty of my measure, it
may come to your understanding.
3. First then ye must know, and understand, ye who can:
In the Divine Nature^ knowledge is not hy perceptions, 917
but believe, ye who cannot yet understand : that in that John
Substance which is God, there are not senses distributed, as "^J^*
it were, over the bulk of the body, each in its proper place,
just as in the mortal flesh of any animals in one place is the
sight, in another the hearing, in another the taste, in another
the smelling, but throughout the whole, the touch : be it far
from us to suppose this in that incorporeal and immutable
Essence ! In It, therefore, to hear and to see is the self-same
thing. We are told also of the sense of smelling in God :
as the Apostle saith. Even as also Christ loved us, and E^h. 5,
delivered Himself up for ns, an oblation and sacrifice to^'
God for a sweet-smelling odour. The sense of taste also
may be understood, in respect of which God both hates
them that are bitter, and such as are neither cold nor hot, At^oc. 3,
hut lukewarm, He spews out of His mouth : and Christ Who is ^ '
God, saith, Mg meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me. ch.4,34.
There is also that Divine touch, of which the bride saith
concerning the Bridegroom, His left hand is under mg head. Cant. 2,
and His right hand shall embrace me. These exist not in
God in divers parts of a body. For when He is said to
know, in it are they all; both to see, and to hear, and to
smell, and to taste, and to touch ; without any mutation of
substance in Him ; without any magnitude to be in one part
greater, in another less: even in the old, to think of God in
this way, is to think with the heart of a child.
4. And marvel not that the ineffable knowledge of God
by which He knoweth all things, is, by various modes of
human expression, made to receive the names of all
these corporeal senses : seeing that our own mind, i. e. the
inner man — which, while it knows with an uniform knowledge,
yet has divers kinds of intelligence conveyed to it through
these five, so to say, messengers of the body — when it under-
stands, chooses, and loves* the immutable Truth, both seesi^^^c^.
the Light of Which it is said, That was the true Light; and^'|!*^.'
hears the Word of Which it is said, In the beginning teas diiigU.
the Word; and takes in the smell of which it is said, We^^'l^^'
will run after the odour of Thine ointments; and drinks of Cant. 1,
the Fountain, of which it is said, With Thee is the Fountain Ps.36 9.
of Life; and enjoys the touch of which it is said. But it is Ps. 73,
good for me to cleave unto God: and these are not sundry *
918 hut uniform, and one with the Essence,
HoMiL. and clivers things, but one intelligence is made to take the
names of all these senses. When, therefore, it is said of the
Holy Spirit, For He shall not speak of Himself, hut what-
soever He shall hear. He will speak, much more must we
either understand or believe the essence to be simple in that
Being wherein it is most truly simple, an Essence which is
far and high above the essence of our mind. For our mind
is mutable ; while it takes in by learning what it knew not
once, and loses by unlearning what once it knew, and by
semblance of truth is deceived into approving the false
instead of the true ; and by its own dimness, as it were by a
kind of darkness, is hindered from attaining unto the true.
And therefore this is not a substance most truly simple,
because here, ' to be' is not the same as ' to know :' for to it,
it is possible to be and yet not to know. But to that Divine
Substance this is not possible, because what It hath. It is.
And therefore It hath not knowledge in such sort, that the
knowledge whereby it knows is one thing, the essence
whereby it exists another; but both, one. Indeed we must
ch.5 26. not use the word "both" of that which is simply one. As
the Father hath life in Himself, and is not Himself other
than the Life that is in Him ; He hath also given unto the Son
to have life in Himself, i. e. hath begotten the Son to be
Himself also Life. Therefore, we must so take this saying
concerning the Holy Ghost, For He shall not speak of Him-
self, hut whatsoever He shall hear. He will speak, as to
understand thereby, that He is not of Himself. For the
Father alone is not of other. Thus both the Son is begotten
of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the
Father : but the Father neither is begotten of other, nor
proceedeth. But let not on this account any notion of dis-
parity occur to our human thought: for both the Son is equal
to Him of Whom He is begotten, and the Holy Ghost to Him
from Whom He proceedeth. What, however, is the difference
in that Being, between proceeding and being begotten, would
both take long to discuss as a subject of enquiry; and would
be rash to define when you have discussed ; because this
is both exceeding difficult for the mind in any sort whatever
to comprehend, and even if perchance the mind have com-
prehended somewhat thereof, most difficult for the tongue
and eternal^ i. e. without time. 919
to explain ; however great the ability of the teacher, and Jo«n
how great soever the capacity of ihe hearer. Shall not speak jg *
o/ Himself (hen ; because, Is not of Himself; but ?v /i a t soe ver s7Au\3.
He shall hea?-, that shall He speak; shall hear, of Him from^^ j^"^*
Whom He proceedeth. To Him, to hear is to know ; but
to know is to Be, as was reasoned above. Because therefore
He is not of Himself, but of Him from Whom He pro-
ceedeth ; from Whom His Being is, from the Same is His
knowing : from the Same therefore His hearing, which is
none other than His knowing.
5. Nor let it raise any difficulty, that a verb of future tense
is used: namely, that it is not said, Whatever He hath heard,
or. Whatever He heareth ; but, Whatever He shall hear,
He ivill speak. For in truth that hearing is eternal,
because eternal the knowing. Now in that which is eternal,
without beginning and without end, let the verb be put in
what tense you will, whether past, or present, or future, it is
not falsely put. For albeit that immutable and unchangeable
Essence admitteth not Hatli been, and ^hall be, but only
Is : for It truly Is, because It is incapable of change ; and
therefore it beseemed It alone to say, I am that am; and, Ex. 3,
Thou shalt say to ihe children of Israel, He that is hath
sent me unto you : yet, by reason of the mutability of the
times in which our mortality and our mutability moves to and
fro, we speak not falsely when we say both Hath been, and
Shall be, and Is. Hath been, in ages past ; Is, in ages
present; Shall be, in ages to come. Hath been, because
hath never been wanting ; Shall be, because never shall be
wanting; Is, because ever is. For He has never, with the
things that are past, gone down, as one that is no more ;
not He, with the things that are present, is going down as
one that abideth not; not He, as one that once was not, is to
arise. Therefore when human expression varies according
to the revolutions of times, since to Him it never was, nor is,
nor shall be possible to be wanting through any times, of
Him we may truly use verbs of any time or tense we will.
Therefore the Holy Ghost ever heareth, because ever knoweth :
consequently, both hath known, and knoweth, and shall
know; and therefore both hath heard, and heareth, and shall
hear ; because, as we have already said, to Him to hear ia
920 The Holy Spirit hears by being, and is by proceeding.
HoMiL. the same as to know, and to know is to Him the same as to
xcix
Be. From Him then He hath heard, heareth, and shall
hear, from Whom He Is : from Him Is, from Whom He
proceedeth.
6. Plere, it is likely, some man may ask whether the Holy
Ghost proceedeth also from the Son. The Son, namely, is
Son of the Father alone, and the Father is Father of the Son
alone: but the Holy Spirit is not the Spirit of One of Them,
but of Them Both. Thou hast the Lord Himself saying,
Mat. 10, For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that
Gal. 4 speaketh in you : thou hast also the Apostle : God hath sent
6- the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. Are there two, one
Eph. 4, of the Father, one of the Son? God forbid! For, one body,
~ ' saith he, meaning the Church, and presently adds, a?id one
Spirit, And see how he there fills up the Trinity. As ye
are called, saith he, in one hope of your calling: one Lord —
here of course he means Christ : for it yet remains to name
the Father: he proceeds then — one faith ^ one baptism: one
God and Father of all. Who is above all, and through all,
and in us all^. Seeing therefore, as there is one Father and
one Lord, i. e. Son, so there is also one Sjmit ; without
doubt He is the Spirit of Both : since Christ Jesus Himself
saith. The Spirit of your Father Which speakcth in you :
and the Apostle saith, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son
into your hearts. Thou hast in another place the same
Rom. 8, Apostle saving, But if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus
from the dead, dwell in you ; here of course He meant the
^ Per omnes et in omnibus nobis, ter: Et sic unus Deus ostenditur, y/n'
The earlier editions, per omnio.^ but est super omnia, Sec. Super omnia
Mss. per omnes ; nnd only a few have y?«V/ew Pater, et ipse caput est Christi;
nobis at the end of the sentence. Ben. per omnia autem Verbum, et ipse est
Y\i\g. Per 07nnia, ei i?i omnibus nobis ; cii]^ut Ecelesise ; m omnibus autera
but Ben. remark that their old copies nobis Spiritus. " And so is shewn the
of Vulg.have vobis. In the Greek (text One God, Whois above a// (things) &c.
recept. vfuf,) the authorities of Mss, Above all, the Father, and He is the
Versions, and Fathers are divided be- Head ofChrist : /Arow^i «//(things), the
tween r/yttti/ ( Griesbach and Seholz.) and Word, and He is Head of the Church :
the omission of the pronoun (Lach- in all us, the Spirit." — This reference
mann).— That the adj. in all three of the three clauses to the three Per-
clauses is masculine, is recognised by sons of the Trinity is also taught by
Ambrosiast. Theophylact, and perhaps S. Jerome and other of the Ancients,
Theodoret : (comp. Traj/Twj' preceding, and so S. Thomas Aquin. : rejected as
and the antithesis v. 7. But to every arbitrary by Theophylact : and, as it
one of us, <fec.) But S. Iren. 5, 18, 2. seems from our passage, not acknow-
makes the two former adjectives neu- ledged by S. Augustine.
As the Spirit of the Father, and Spirit of the Son, 921
Spirit of the Father, of Which Spirit however He saith John
in another place, But whoso hath not the Spirit of Christ, 13, '
he is none of His. And there are many other proofs by Kom. 8,
■which that is evidently shewn to be the Spirit of the Father
and the Son, Which in the Trinity is called the Holy Spirit.
7. And for no other cause do I consider Him to be dis-
tinctively called Spirit, while, if we be questioned concerning
each Person severally, we cannot but affirm both Father and
Son to be Spirit; since God is a Spirit, i. e. God is notch.4,24.
body but Spirit. What therefore They each in common are s. Epi-
severally called, by that name behoved He to be called, P^^"-
Who is not one of Them, but in Whom appeareth the com- 74, 7.
munity of Both. Then why should we not believe that the
Holy Ghost proceeds also from the Son, seeing the Same is
Spirit of the Son also.? For did He not proceed from Him,ch.20,
He would not, when He presented Himself to His disciples
after His resurrection, have breathed upon them, saying,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost. For what other did that insuffla-
tion signify, but that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from Him
also } To this pertaineth that also which He said concerning
the woman who had a flux of blood: Some person hath touched'Lnke s,
46
3Ie,for I perceived virtue go out of Me. For that the Holy
Ghost is likewise called by that term, virtue, is manifest also
in that place where, when Mary said, Hoiv shall this be,\d.i,
seeing I know not a man ? the Angel answered, TJie Holy ' '
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Virtue of tlie Highest
shall overshadow thee: and the Lord Himself, promising
Him to His disciples, saith, But tarry ye in the city, until'ui. 24,
ye be endued with virtue from on high; and again, Ye shall ^^^^ j
receive, saith He, the virtue of the Holy Ghost coming upon^-
you, and ye shall he witnesses to 3Ie. Of this virtue the
Evangelist must be believed to speak, in saying, TJiere wentl^v^^e 6,
out virtue from Him, and healed them all,
8. If*" then the Holy Ghost proceedeth both from the
<= St. Augustine has transferred this gation, and having spoken, put in
section and the following one down to, writing. For, among other things,
"as it proceedeth from Himself," into when 1 had shewn by proofs of Holy
his Treatise de Trinitate, xv. 48. Scripture that the Holj Ghost pro-
" Let that suffice in the mean while, ceeds from both Father and Son, ' If
which we have spoken concerning this then,^ said I, * the Holy Ghost pro-
matter in a certain sermon, preached ceedeth/ &c."
to the ears of the Christian congre-
922 He proceeds from the Father and the Son.
HoMiL. Father and from the Son, wherefore said the Son, Proceedeth
^^^from the Father? What should be the reason, thinkest thou,
26. ' except as He is wont to refer what belongeth to Himself to
Him from Whom He hath Himself His being ? Whence
ch.7,16. that saying, Mi/ doctrine is not Mine, hut His that sent Me.
If then it is here understood to be His doctrine, notwith-
standing that He saitli it is not His but the Father's; how
much must we there understand the Holy Spirit to proceed
from Him also, where, while He saith, Proceedeth from the
Father, yet He doth not say, Proceedeth not from Me ?
Now from Whom the Son hath it that He is God (for He is
God of God), from the Same hath He it, that from Him also
should proceed the Holy Ghost : and consequently the
Holy Ghost hath it from the Father Himself, that He should
proceed from the Son also, as He proceedeth from the
Father.
9. Here, in some sort, we get to understand also, so far as
it can be understood by such as we, why the Holy Ghost is
not said to be begotten, but rather to proceed. Since, were
He too called son, He should be called son of Them Both,
which is most absurd. For there can be no son of two
except of father and mother. But be it far from us to
imagine ought such to have place between God the Father
and God the Son. Since even as Son of Man He pro-
ceedeth not at once from both Father and Mother : but
when He proceedeth unto the Mother from the Father, He
doth not at that time proceed from the Mother; and when
He proceedeth into this light from the Mother, He doth not
at that time proceed from the Father. But the Holy Ghost
doth not proceed from the Father into the Son, and from
the Son proceed to the creature to sanctify the same ; but
proceedeth at once from Both : albeit it is by the Father's
gift to the Son, that He should proceed as from the Father
Himself, so from the Son also. For we cannot say that the
Moly Ghost is not Life, while the Father is Life, and the
Son Life. And therefore, as the Father, having Life in
Himself, hath given also to the Son to have Life in Himself,
so hath He given Him Life to proceed from Him, as it pro-
ceedeth from Himself. Next follow the words of the Lord,
V. 13-15. saying, And He will tell you things to come. He shall
All that the Father hath, is given trj the Son.
923
glorify Me : for He shall take of Mine, and shall tell it John
unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore ]3. *
said T, that He shall take of Mine, and shall tell it unto you^.
But since the present sermon has akeady gone to a great
length, these words must be deferred for another discourse.
^ From the time of St, Augustine
the Latin Church has expressly held
that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the
Father and the Son : which doctrine
rests on the theological ground derived
from John 16, 14: that by Eternal
Generation the Father has given to
the Son all that Himself is, Paternity
alone excepted (so the Greek Fathers :
e. g. S. Basil, de Fide 19, S. Cyril. Al.
de Trin. Kara, iravra Sfxoios Kal "icros rcf
liarpi x^P^^ "^^^ TTaTp6r7]Tos) : but the
production of the Holy Gh'st is not
Paternity, else were the Holy Ghost
Son : consequently th-e Son hath it of
the Father that the Holy Ghost should
proceed from Him. Petnv. de Trin.
vii. 9. $. 1 1. The earlier Greeks, espe-
cially S. Epiphanius, held the doctrine
in substance, but kept close to the lan-
guage of Scripture: e. g. Ancor. §. 67.
el de Xpicrrhs iK tov Uarphs TZLcrreverai,
€)€i>s e/c 0€oi5, Koi rh rii/eO/xa e/c tov Xpicr-
Tov, ^ Trap' au(pOT€pau, ws (pTjcrlv 6
XpiaTSs' h irapa rov IlaTphs eKiropeve-
Tai' Kal, ovTos iK rov efioG Kr\^erai.
" Since we believe Christ to be of the
Father, God of God. and the Spirit to
be ofChrist, or from Both, as Christ saith,
Which proceedeth from the Father,
and. He shall take of Mine.' ^ v. Petav.
u. s. vii. 3. and Bp. Pearson on the
Creed, Art. vii. notes (m) — (r.) That
the Fathers in the Constantinopolitan
Creed affirmed the procession from the
Father without mention of the Son,
arose partly from the wish to keep to
the language of Scripture, partly from
the design of that addition to the Ni-
cene symbol, as directed against the
heresies which affirmed the Holy Ghost
to be a creature of the Son, comp. the
following Homily §. 4. In the Western
Church, before St. Augustine, we find
St. Hilary not only affirming the Son
to be largitor and auctor of the Holy
Ghost, (de Trin. ii. 4.) and that the
Holy Ghost is " Patre et Filio auctori-
bus,''ib. 29., but also teaching, though
he leaves it still open for discussion,
that "to proceed from the Father,"
and " to receive from the Son," is one
and the same thing. Neque in hoc
nunc calumnior libertati intelligentiae,
ntrum ex Patre, an ex Filio Spiritura
Paracletum putent esse: non enim in
incerto Dominus reliquit; nam. .heec
3
ita locutus est : Adhuc multa habeo, &c.
Job. 16, 12—15. A Filio igitur acci-
pit, qui et ab eo mittitur, et a Patre
procedit. Et interrogo utrum idipsum
sit a Filio accipere, quod a Patre pro-
cedere. Quod si difFerre eredetur inter
accipere a Filio et a Patre procedere,
certe idipsum atque unum esse existi-
mabitur, a Filio accipere quod sit acci-
pere a Patre. Ipse enim Dominus
ait: Qiioniam de meo, &c. v. 14, 15.
'•'■ I do not in this point now gainsay
the liberty of opinion, whether they
[the Arians] should account the Spirit
the Paraclete to be of the Father or of
the Son. For the Lord hath not left
this at an uncertainty: for thus has
He spoken : " I have yet many things,
cfec. John 16, 12 — 15. Consequently
from the Son receiveth He Who both
is sent by Him and proceedeth from the
Father. And I ask whether to receive
from the Son be the self-same thing as
to proceed from the Father. But if it
shall be thought that these things differ,
at least it will be accounted one and the
self-same thing to receive from the Son,
and to receive from the Father, <fec."
Petavius u, s. also cites as from S. Am-
brose the expressions, " Pater coaeter-
num sibi et coomnipotens genuit Ver-
bum, cum quo Spiritum sanctum pro-
duxit." " Spiritus S, vere spiritus est,
procedens a Patre et Filio : sed non
est ipse Filius, quia non generatur : ne-
que Pater, quia procedit ab utroque,
nongenitus, non ingenitus,non factus,"
'' The Father begat co-eternal and
co-omnipotent with Himself the Word,
with Whom He produced the Holy
Spirit." " The Holy Spirit is truly
Spirit, proceeding from the Father and
the Son, but is not the Son Himself
because not begotten : nor the Father,
because He proceedeth from Both: not
begotten, not unbegotten, not made."
(" Non ingenitus" as in Aug. de Trin.
XV. 47. dicere tamen non audemus
ingenitum, ne in hoc vocabulo vel duos
Patres in ilia Trinitate, vel duos qui
non sunt de alio quispiam suspicetur."
For the doctrine of St. Augustine comp.
de Trin. XV. 29. 45 — 48. c. Maximin. iii.
14. c. Serm. Arian. iii. 23. lib. de Symb.
ii. 9. Vid. supra p. 534, note: also
S. Greg. Mor. xxix. 74. and note Tr,
p. 359."
HOMILY C.
John xvi. 13 — 15.
And He will tell you things to come. He shall glorify Me :
for He shall take of Mine, and shall tell it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are Mine : therefore said I,
that He shall take of Mine, and shall tell it unto you.
]. When the Lord promised the coming of the Holy
Ghost, He will teach you, said He, all truth: or, as we
read in some copies, He will lead you in all truth. For
He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall
hear, that shall He speak. Of which evangelic words we
have already reasoned, what the Lord gave : now mark what
T. 13. follows. And He will tell you, saith He, things to come.
Neither upon this need we spend time, for it is plain, and
involves no question, that an exposition should be
y- 14. demanded of us. But what He next saith. He shall glorify
3Ie; because He shall take of 3Iine, and shall tell it unto
you, this must not be passed over negligently. For that He
saith. Shall glorify Me, may be understood of this : that
the Spirit, by shedding abroad love in the hearts of the
believing, and by making them spiritual, hath declared to
them, how the Son was equal with the Father, even He
AVhom erewhile they knew only after the flesh, and, as men,
thought of Him as man. Or else, of this : that the disciples,
being by that same love filled with boldness % and having
their fear driven away, preached Christ unto men, and so
His fame was spread abroad over all the earth: so that in
* Per ipsam charitatera fiducia re- with love and boldness.") Ben. Oxf.
pleti. Four Mss. Per ipsum charitate * ipsam.'
et fiducia repleti ("being filled by Him
The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ in the ivorld. 925
saying, He shall glorify Me, it should be as though He John
had said, He shall take away your fear, and shall give you i^Zis
love, wherewith being kindled to preach Me with more
ardour, ye shall spread the savour, shall enhance the favour,
of My glory throughout the world. For wdiat they would do
in the Holy Spirit, of this He spake as the doing of the
Spirit Himself; just as also in that saying. For it is not ye thatM-^tAO,
speak, but the Spirit of My Father that speaketh in you. ^^*
The Greek word is lo^uasi, which the Latin interpreters in
their several translations have rendered, one by clarificahit
(shall make bright or renowned), another by glorijicabit
(shall glorify); as indeed the same Greek word So'^a, from
which comes the verb ^o^xgsi, is rendered both by claritas
(brightness), and by gloria. And in fact by glory a person
is made bright or renowned, and by brightness or renown is
made glorious; consequently the thing signified is one and
the same for both words. Now ' glory,' as the most renowned
ancient authors of this Latin tongue have defined the word,
is ' frequent talk concerning a person, together with praise.'
But when this talk is made concerning Christ in this world,
we are not to think it has conferred any great benefit upon
Christ; but only upon the world. For to praise the
Good, is profitable not to the praised but to them that
praise.
2. But there is also a false or mistaken glory, when they
that praise are by a false estimate deceived either in things,
or in persons, or in both. Thus people are deceived in
things, when they think that to be good which is evil : in
men, when they think him to be good who is evil : in both,
when that which is a vice is thought to be a virtue; and the
person who is praised for this, has not the thing he is
thought to have, whether he be good, or whether he be evil.
Thus to bestow one's substance upon players, is a huge vice,
not a virtue : yet ye know what frequent talk together with
praise is made concerning such ; because, as it is written, The Ps. lo,
sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and he that ^y^^ °
practiseth iniquity is called blessed. Here the praisers are
not deceived in the persons, but in the things : the thing is
evil which they suppose to be good ; but those who are
vicious with this evil of profusion, are of course such as
3 p 2
i)'26 Three ki?ids offahe glory.
HoMiL. these that praise them do not surmise, btu actually see
'— them to be. Further: if a person feign himself just while he
is not such, but all that in the sight of men he seems to do
laudably, he does not for God's sake, i. e. for true righteous-
ness' sake, but only seeks and loves glory of men; while
those in whose mouths there is frequent talk of him together
with praise, think it to be only for God's sake that he lives
laudably: they are not deceived in the thing, but are
deceived in the man. For tlie thing they suppose to be
good is good: but the person they suppose to be good is not
good. But again : if, for example, skill in magical arts is
thought a good thing, and because a person is supposed to
have given liberty to his country by the said arts, of which
in fact he knows nothing at all, therefore he obtains with
ungodly men that frequent talk together with praise in
which glorv is defined to consist : they that praise him err
in both points : both in the thing, because they think lliat
good which is evil ; and in the man, because he is not what
they think. Wherefore of false glory we find these three
kinds. But when a person is righteous through God and for
God, that is, truly righteous, and, for the sake of this very
righteousness, there is frequent talk of him together with
praise ; it is indeed true glory, but we must not imagine that
by it the righteous is made blessed ; it is only matter of
gratulation to them that praise him, that they judge aright,
and love the righteous. How much more then hath the
Lord Christ by His glory profited not Himself, but them
whom He profited by His death :
3. But that is not true glory which He hath with the
heretics, among whom nevertheless He seems to have fre-
quent talk made of Him together with praise. This is not
true glory : because they are deceived in both points : for
they both think that to be good which is not good, and think
Christ to be tliat which He is not. For that the Only-
Begotten Son should not be equal to Him that begat, is not
good : that the Only-Begotten Son of God should be only
man, not God, is not good : that the flesh of Him Who is
the Truth should not be true flesh, is not good. Of these
three points which I have mentioned, Arians hold the first,
Photinians the second, Manichees the third. But, because
Christ's true glory is 0)ily in the Church. 927
both none of tliese things is good, and Christ is none of them, John
they are deceived in both points : nor do they give true gh^ry ii_]5\
to Christ, however there may seem to be among them much
talk of Christ together with praise. And, in short, all heretics,
(for it would take too long to rehearse them,) who think
not aright of Christ, do therefore err, because they also think
concerning good things and bad that which is not true. The
Pagans also, for even of them there are very many that praise
Christ, are mistaken in both points, while, not according to
the truth of God, but only according to their own surmise,
they affirm Him to have been a magician. The Christians,
truly, they vilify as silly, but Christ they praise as a magi-
cian, and so betray what it is they love ; Christ however they
love not, because what Christ was not, this they love. For
that reason then, they are deceived in both points : because
both to be a magician is evil ; and Christ was not a magician,
because He is good. Wherefore, since there is nothing to
be said in this place concerning those who vilify and blas-
pheme Christ ; for we speak of His glory, wherewith He is
glorified in the world : that the Holy Spirit hath glorified
Him with true glory, is only in the Holy Catholic Church.
For elsewhere, i. e. either among heretics, or among cenain
of the pagans, there can be no true glory of Hiin on earth,
even where there seeuis to be fi'equent talk of Him together
with praise. His true glory, then, in the Catholic Church,
is thus sung of by the Prophet: Be thou exalted above the Ps.los,
heaiens, O God, and Thy glory above all the earth. Because ^*
therefore it was to be after His exaltation that the Holy Spirit
should come and glorify Him, that which the holy Psalm,
that which the Only-Begotten Himself hath promised should
be, is even this which we see fulfilled.
4. But this that He saith, He shall take of Mine, and
shall tell it unto you; hear ye it with catholic ears, with
catholic minds take ye it in. For it does not follow from
this, that, as some heretics have thought, the Holy Ghost is Coll. c
less than the Son: as if the Son receives from the Father, JJ^^'
and the Holy Ghost from the Sou, with certain gradations of Athan.
their natures. Far be it from us to believe this, far be it from Orat.T*
us to say this, far be it from Christian hearts to think this. ^*
In fact, He Himself has straightway solved the question, and Emio'm.*
iii. 5.
9*28 No gradations of essence hi ihe Trinity,
HoMiL. explained in what sense He said this. All things (sailh He)
- — ^ that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said /, that He shall
iahe of Mine^and shall tell it unto you. What would ye have
more ? Therefore the Holy Ghost receiveth of the Father, of
Whom receiveth the Son : because in this Trinity, of the
Father is begotten the Son, of the Father proceedeth the
Holy Ghost: whereas, to be begotten of none, to proceed
from none, is for the Father alone. But in what sense
the Only -Begotten Son saith. All things that the Father
hath are Mine, (because of course it is not said in the same
sense as it was said to that son, not only-begotten, but
Lukei5, the elder-born of twain, Thou art with me always, and all
^\' ^^ Mine are thine:) this (if the Lord \\\\\) shall be handled
10. with more diligent consideration in that place where the Only-
Begotten saith to the Father, And all 3Iine are Thine, and
Tiiine are Mine : that here the present sermon may be closed;
because the words which follow, require that we should set
out from another point to discuss the same.
HOMILY CI.
John xvi. 16—23.
A little while ^ and ye shall see Me no more: and again, a
little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father.
Then said some of His disciples among themselves. What is
this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not
see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me:
and. Because I go to the Father? TJiey said therefore,
What is this that He saith, A little while? ive cannot tell
what He saith. Noiv Jesus knew that they were desirous to
ask Him, and said unto them. Do ye enquire among your-
selves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see Me :
and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me? Verily,
verily, I say unto you. That ye shall iveep and lament, hut
the world shall rejoice : and ye shall he sorrowful, hut your
sorrow shall he turned into joy ". A ivoman when she is in
travail hath sorrow, hecause her hour is come : hut as soon
as she is delivered of the child, she rememhereth no more the
anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye
now therefore have sorrow : but I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from
you. And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily,
verily, I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father
in My name, He will give it you.
These words of the Lord where He saith, A little while
and ye shall not see Me, and again, a little while and ye
shall see Me, hecause I go unto the Father, were so obscure
» In gaudium erit. So the Mss. veniet : two copies, convertetur. Vulg.
But the earlier printed copies, vertetur vertetur.
in gaudium. Ben. Cypr. and one M?.
930 " A little whiley' S^'c, may he understood of Christ's death,
HoMiL. to the disciples, before that which He saith was fulfilled,
CI . .
'— that, in asking among themselves what it was that He said,
they confessed that they did not at all know. For the
V. 17.18. Gospel goes on: Then said some of His discijjles among
themselves, What is this that He saith unto us, A little
while, and ye shall not see 3Ie; and again, a little while,
and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father?
They said therefore. What is this that He saith, A little ichile?
We cannot tell what He saith. For this was the difficulty that
staggered them; that He said, A little while, and ye shall
not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me.
For in the foregoing words, because He had not said, A
little nit He, but had said, I go unto the Father, and ye shall
see Me no more ; He seemed to have spoken to them openly,
and they made no question among themselves about this.
Now therefore, what to them at that time was obscure, and
was presently made manifest, is of course manifest to us: for
after a little while He suffered, and they did not see Him;
again, after a little while He rose again, and they saw Him.
But that in the saying, Jam non videbitis 3Ie, He meant by
this word Jam, that they should see Him no more, how this is
to be taken, we expounded in the place where He said. The
Holy Ghost shall reprove the world of righteousness, because
I go unto the Father, " et jam non videbitis Me :"" meaning
that they should see Christ mortal no more.
V. 19.20. 2. Now, as the P'vangelist goes on to say, Jesus knew
that they were desirous to ask Him, and said unto them. Do
ye enquire among ^fourselves of that I said, A little ivhile,
and ye shall not see Me : and again, a little while, and ye
shall see Me? Verily, verily, I say unto you. That ye shall
ireep and lament, hut the world shall rejoice : and ye shall
he sorroivfid, hut your sorrow shall he turned into joy.
'J'his also may be taken to mean that the disciples were made
sorrowful by the Lord's death, and anon were made glad by
His Resurrection : but the world, by which name are signified
the enemies by w hom Christ was killed, was made glad, we
know, by Christ's being put to death, at the very time when
the disciples were made sorrowful. For by the name of the
world, may be understood the wickedness of this world, that
is, of the men who are friends of this world. Whence James
and the joy of the disciples in His Resurrection: 931
the Apostle saith in his Epistle, Whosoever will be the John
friend of this worlds is made the enemy of God: of which 21.22*
enmities against God it came to pass that not even His James
Onlj-Begotten Son was spared. ' "
3. Then He proceeds to say: A woman when she is mv.21,22.
travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come : but as soon
as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the
anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye
now therefore have sorrow : but I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take
from you. Neither does this similitude seem hard to un-
derstand ; since the point of comparison is seen at once,
while He Himself expounds why this is said. Namely,
the travail is compared to sorrow, the birth to joy ; which
joy is wont to be greater, when not a girl, but a boy is
born. But that He saith. Your joy no man shall take from
you, their joy being Jesus Himself, herein is signified what
the Apostle saith, Christ rising from the dead dieth no 7nore,'Rom.6,
and death shall no more have doininion over Him.
4. Thus far in the portion of the Gospel, of which we dis-
course to-day, all has run on as it were with easiness of under-
standing: a more keen attention is necessary in tliese words
that follow. For what meaneth it that He saith, And in that
day ye shall ask Me nothing ? The word here used, which
is rogare, means not only iiefere, " to make a request," but
also interrogare, " to put a question ;" in the Greek
Gospel, from which this is translated, the word is also such
as may be understood in both senses, so that neither is the
ambiguity solved there'': though even if it were solved, it
would not follow that there would remain no question. For
in fact we read that the Lord Christ, after He was risen, was
both questioned and besought. Thus, He was questioned g ^ ^ '
by the disciples when as He was about to ascend into
Heaven they asked. When would He become present ^ and^pr®-
when should be the kingdom of Israel ? but when He was retur
now in Heaven, He was besought by Saint Stephen to^'^"'"'^^*
receive his spirit. And who shall dare either to think or to
say, that Christ sitting in Heaven ought not to be besought,
'' 'EpwTTjtreTe. S. Hilar, and some S. Chrys. in loc. seems to take it in
old Mss. interrogabltis or interrogatis. the other sense.
932 hut is better understood of His Ascension,-
HoMiL. though when remaining on earth He was besought ? that He
—51:— is not to be besought being immortal, and ought to be
besought being mortal ? Nay, clearly beloved, let us beseech
Him, that He will Himself unloose the knot of this question,
by shining in our hearts, that we may see the things He
saith.
5. For I suppose that the saying, But I will see you again^
and your heart shall rejoice, and your Joy no man shall take
from you, is not to be referred to the time when He was
risen and shewed them His flesh to behold and touch it :
ch. 14, but rather to that time of which He had already said, He
^^' that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father ; and I will love
him, and will manifest Myself unto him. For in fact He
was already risen, already had shewn Himself to them in the
flesh, already was sitting at the right hand of the Father,
when this same Apostle John, whose this Gospel is, said in
1 John his Epistle : Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
' ' doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we
shall see Him as He is. This vision is not for this life,
but for the life to come ; is not temporal, but eternal.
chA7,3. But this is life eternal, saith He Who is the Life Itself, that
they may know Thee the One True God, and Whom Thou
hast sent, Jesus Christ, Of this seeing and knowing
1 Cor. saith the Apostle: JVe see through a glass darkly, but
' ■ then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I
know as also I am known. This fruit of the Church's whole
labour she now in longing travaileth withal, then is she
to bring it to the birth in beholding ; now travaileth in
groaning, then to bring forth in rejoicing; now travaileth in
prayer, then to bring forth in praise. And that it is a
male child, is because to this fruit of contemplation are
referred all the duties of action. For this alone is free, because
it is sought for its own sake and not referred to something
else. To this, action is subservient : for to this is referred what-
ever is done aright, because it is done with a view to this ;
whereas it is not with a view to something else, but for its own
sake, that this is held and had. In it therefore is the end
which suflficeth us. It will thcrei'ore be eternal : for no end can
suflice us save that of which there is no end. This was
and tlie '^ Utile while''' of the Church's travail, 933
inspired into Philip when he said. Shew us the Father, and John
it sitfficeth us. In which shewing, the Son also promised 21.22'.
Himself, saying, Bellevest thou not that I am in the Father^ ch. u,
a7id the Father in Me ? Concerning this therefore which ^' ^^'
sufficeth us, we are most rightly told. Your joy no man shall
take from. you.
6. Of this also I suppose it is better to understand what is
said above ; A Utile while and ye shall see Me no more, and
again, a little while and ye shall see Me. For it is but a little
while, the whole space through the age of this world fleeteth
by: as also the same Evangelist saith in his Epistle, It 25 1 John
the last hour. For that He has added, Because I go imto"^^ ^^'
the Father, is to be referred to the former sentence, A
little while and ye shall see Me no more ; not to the latter
where He saith, And again, a little ivhile and ye shall see
Me: for by going unto the Father, He would cause that
they should not see Him. And therefore, it was not said in
regard that He was about to die, and, until He should rise
again, to be withdrawn from their view ; but that He was to
go unto the Father, which thing He did after He was risen,
when, having conversed with them forty days, He ascended into
heaven. This therefore, A little while and ye shall see Me
no more. He said to those who at that time saw Him bodily,
meaning that He was to go unto the Father, and they were
thenceforth not to see Him mortal, such as they saw Him while
He spake these words. But what He added, And again, a little
while and ye shall see Me, He promised to the whole Church :
as to the whole He promised, Lo, I am with you, even untoM.B.t.2S,
the consummation of the world. The Lord is not slack con- 2 p^t 3
cerning His proynise : a little while, and we shall see Him,^-
where we shall need no more to make request, no more
to put questions : because there shall be nothing left to
be desired, nothing hidden to be required. This little ivhile
seems long to us, because it is yet going on : when it
shall be ended, then shall we feel how little it has been.
Then let not our joy be such as the world hath, of which it
is said, But the world shall rejoice: yet let us not in our
travailing with this desire be without joy, sorrowful, but, as
the Apostle saith, Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation ; Rom.\2f
because the very mother, to whom we are likened, rejoiceth ^^'
934 in hope of the final glory at His Coming.
HoMiL.raore for the offspring which presently shall be, than she is
— sorrowful for the present grief. But of this discourse let this
be the end: for in what follows there is a very difficult
question, and it must not be crowded by brevity, that it may,
if the Lord will, be more conveniently explained.
HOMILY CIL
John xvi. 23—28.
Verily^ verily^ I say unto you, If ye shall ask a7iy thing of
the Father in My Name, He will give it you. Until now,
ye have asked nothing in My Name : ask, and ye shall
receive, that your joy may be full. These things hav€ I
spoken unto you in proverbs: hut the time cometh, when
I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall
shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask
in My name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray
the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you;
because ye have loved Me, and hare believed that I came
out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am
come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to
the Father.
1. The words of the Lord of which we are now to treat
are these: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask'^-'^^-
any thing of the Father in My Name, He will give it you.
It has been ah'eady said on the former parts of this discourse Supra
of our Lord, with regard to those who ask some things of 73,
the Father in Christ's name and do not receive, that that
thing is not asked in the name of the Saviour, whatever it be
that is asked contrary to the meaning of salvation. " For not
the sound of letters and syllables, but what that sound
signifies, and what by that sound is rightly and truly under-
stood, this it is that He must be taken to say when He saith.
In My Name. Whence, he that thinks of Christ that which
ought not to be thought of the Only Son of God, does not
ask in His Name, although in letters and syllables he leave
not Christ unspoken; since he asks in the name of him
936 The disciples would truly ask in Chrisfs name,
HoMTL. of whom he thmks when he asks. But he who thinks of
CII
— Him what ought to be thouglit, he it is that asks in His
Name, and he receives what he asks, if he ask not contrary
to his own everlasting salvation. He receives, hov>^ever, at such
time as it is right for him to receive. For some things are not
denied, but deferred, that they may be given at the fitting
time. That He sailh, Will give it you, is however to be
taken with the understanding, that the benefits signified
by these words are such as properly pertain to the persons
asking. For all the saints are heard for themselves, but they
are not heard for all, either their friends or enemies, or any
others : because it is not said, Will give, any -how, but, Will
give it you.
V. 24. 2. Until now, saith He, ye have asked nothing in My
Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
This which He calleth full joy, we know, is not carnal, but
spiritual joy: and when it shall be so great that there can
no more be aught added thereto, without doubt it will then
he full. Whatever, therefore, is asked that hath to do with
the obtaining of this joy, this is to be asked in the name of
Christ, if we understand the grace of God, if we crave the
life which is truly blessed. To ask any thing else whatsoever,
is to ask nothing: not that it is altogether a thing that is not,
but, because in comparison with so great a thing, whatever else
is coveted is nothing. For neither is man a thing that is not.
Gal. 6, though the Apostle saith of him. Who thinks himself io be
sometJiing, when he is nothing : but the fact is, that in com-
1 Cor. parison with the spiritual man who knows that by the grace of
' ^^' God he is what he is, whoever entertains vain presumptions is
nothing. Therefore in this way also we may rightly understand
the saying. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask any
thing of the Father in My Name, He will give it you, so that
this Any thing should not be understood to mean any thing
that we please, but any thing that is not such that, in com-
paiison with a blessed life, it is nothing. And that which
follows, Until now ye have not asked any thing in My Name,
may be understood in two ways: either as meaning. Ye have
not asked in My Name, which Name ye have not known as
it ought to be known; or. Have not asked any thing, because
in comparison with the thing ye ought to ask, the thing ye
3.
wlien tauglii no more in proverbs, but openly, 937
have asked is to be accounted as nothing. That in His John
Name therefore they should ask, not nothing, but full joy, 25 '
(since if they ask any thing else, that ^ any thing' is ' nothing',) "
this it is that He exhorteth, saying, Ank, and ye shall receive,
that your joy may be full: i. e. ask this in My Name,
namely, that your joy may be full, and ye shall receive it.
For of this boon, the mercy of God will by no means
disappoint His Saints that persevere in seeking it.
3. Tliese tilings, saith He, have I spoken unto you in pro- v. 25.
verbs: the hour cometli, when I shall no more speak unto
you in proverbs, but I shall tell you openly of the Father. I
might say that the hour of which He speaketh, must be
understood to mean the world to come, where we shall see
openly, as blessed Paul saith, /<ice to face; so that the say-
ing. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs, should 1 Cor.
be the same that is said by the same Apostle, Now we see ^^' ^^*
through a glass darkly: but, / will tell you; because
it will be through the Son that the Father shall be seen,
according to that which He saith elsewhere. Neither knowelh Mat. 11,
27.
any man the Father, save the Son, and to whom the Son shall
be pleased to reveal Him. This sense, however, seems to be
hindered by that which follows : At that day ye shall ask in
My Name. For in the world to come, when we shall have
attained unto the kingdom, where we shall he like Him, 1 John
because we shall see Him as He is, what shall we have to ask, '
when our desire shall be satisfied in good things ? Whence Ps. 103,
it is said in another Psalm, I shall be satisfied, when Thy p^. 17
glory shall be made manifest. For the asking of any thing ^^*
implies need, of which there shall be none there, where shall
be this fulness of satisfaction.
4. It remains therefore, so far as I am able to conceive
the matter, that Jesus should be understood to have promised
His disciples that, of carnal or animal, He will make them
spiritual, although not yet such as we shall be, when we
shall have our body also spiritual ; but such as he was who
said. He speak wisdom among them that are perfect ; and, I Cor. 2,
1 could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto ^^ 3 |
carnal; and, l^Ve have not received the Spirit of this world, ^^•'^,
but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things ~~
that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we
938 they should spiritually apprehend His Intercession
HoMiL. speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth *, comparing
spiritual things with spirit ual. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. Therefore, not receiving
the things of the Spirit of God, the natural (or, animal) mari
so hears whatever he does hear of the Nature of God, that
he cannot conceive of other than a body, however ample
or immense, however bright and beautiful, a body neverthe-
less : therefore they are proverbs to liim, whatever be the
sayings of Wisdom concerning the incorporeal and immutable
substance, not that he accounts them to be proverbs, but
because he thinks of them just as persons who use to hear
proverbs and not understand them. But when, being spiri-
ib. 15. tual, he has begun to judge all things, but himself to be
judged of none, although in this life it be still as through a
glass, in part, he sees nevertheless, not by any sense of the
body, not by any conception of the imagination which lakes
in, or fancies, the likenesses of any manner of bodies, but by
most sure intelligence of the mind, that God is not body but
Spirit : the Son in such sort openly telling of the Father,
that He Which lelleth is seen to be of the same Substance.
Then in His Name ask they that ask ; because in the sound
of that Name they understand none other than the Reality
itself wdiich is called by this Name: and not of the vanity or
weakness of their mind fancy to themselves as it were in one
place the Father, in another place the Son standing before
the Father and asking on our behalf. Each with His own
magnitude occupying His own space, and the Word making
words on our behalf to Him Whose Word He is, with
an interval between the mouth of the Speaker and the ears of
the Hearer: and other such imaginations which animal men,
and carnal withal, fabricate for themselves in their own hearts.
For whenever any such conception doth, in consequence of
our being so accustomed to bodies, occur to spiritual men
in their thoughts concerning God, they deny and reject
such thoughts, driving them away, like troublesome flies,
» Non in sapientiie hmnana; doctis Spiritu spiritualibus, &c. " (ourselves)
verhis^sed doctis Spiritus^spiritualibus taught in the Spirit, with spiritual
spiritualia conipar antes. But Erasm. things comparing spiritual.'' Ben.
sed docti Spiritu a spiritna/ibus, " but (Vulg. in doctrina Spiritus, agreeing
being (ourselves) taught in spirit by with the reading eVSiSax??) Oxf. Mss.
the spiritual ;" Lugd. and Ven. docti ' in doctrina Spiritus.'
in the Unity of the Godhead. 939
from the inner eyes ; and rest in the sincerity of that Light, John
by which, as ^Yitness and judge, they prove how utterly false 27. 28.
are these same images of bodies that haunt their inward view.
These can, in whatever sort, conceive of our Lord Jesus
Christ, as Man, interceding for us with the Father ; but as
God, hearing our prayers with the Father. Which I suppose
He signified, where He said, And I say not unto you, that
I will iiray the Father for you. Indeed to the beholding of
this, how, not the Son asks the Father, but. Father and Son
together hear them that ask, to this, only the spiritual eye of
the mind ascendeth.
5. For the Father Himself, saith He, loveth you, because v, 27.
ye have loved Me. Does He love, because we love ? or
rather because He loves, therefore love we ? Let the same
Evangelist answer from his Epistle: We love, saith He, 1 John
because He first loved us. Therefore, that we loved, came '
of this, that we were beloved. It is altogether the gift of
God, to love God, That He was beloved was His own gift,
Who, not being beloved, loved us. When we w^ere dis-
pleasing, we were loved, that so there should be that in us
whereby we might be pleasing. For we should not love the
Son, except we loved the Father also. The Father loveth us
because we love the Son ; since of Father and Son we have
received it that we love both Father and Son : for He that
sheddeth abroad love in our hearts, is the Spirit of Them
Both, by which Spirit we love both the Father and the Son,
and which Spirit we love together with the Father and
the Son. Our pious love therefore, wherewith we worship
God, God made, and saw that it is good : for therefore
loved He what Himself made. But in us He would not
have made what He should love, unless He had loved us
before He made it.
6. And ye have believed that I came out from God,\.27.2s^
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the ivorld:
again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. Yea, we
have indeed believed. For it ought not to be thought
incredible, only because in coming to the world He in such
manner came out from the Father as not to quit the Father ;
and in leaving the world in such manner goeth unto the
Father as not to quit the w^orld. For that He came out
3q
940 The Father loves His own work in us.
HoMiL.from the Father, means that He is of the Father: that He
• ^ came into the world, means that He shevved to the world the
Body which He took unto Him of the Virgin. He left the
world by corporal departure; He went His way unto the
Father by ascension of the Manhood ; yet quitted not the
world by governance of His Presence.
HOMILY Clir.
John xvi. 29—33.
His disciples said unto Him, Lo, now speakest Thou openly,
and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that Thou
ktioiuest all things, and needest not that any man should ask
Thee : hy this we believe that Thou earnest forth from God,
Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe ? Behold, the hour
Cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every
man to his own, and shall leave Me alone : and yet I am
not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things
I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.
1. What manner of persons Christ's disciples were when
before His Passion He spake with them, discoursing great
things with small persons, but so as it was meet that great
things should be spoken even to small persons, because,
having not yet received the Holy Ghost in such sort as they
received Him after the Resurrection, either by the Lord's
breathing upon them, or from above, they savoured the
things of men more than the things of Godt this is declared
by many indications throughout the whole Gospel: whereof
is this also that they said in the present Lesson. For saith
the Evangelist, His disciples said mito Him, Lo, now speakest v. 29,30.
Thou openly, and speakest no proverb. Now are ive sure
that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man
should ask Thee: by this we believe that Thou earnest forth
from God. The Lord Himself had said just before, These v. 25.
things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: the hour cometh
3 Q 2
942 Christ spoke to the Apostles as to babes,
HoMiL. when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs. How
'- then say these> Lo, now Thou speakest openly and speakest
no proverb"^ Was the hour now come, at which He had
promised that He would no more speak in proverbs? nay,
that that hour was not yet come is shewn by the whole con-
v.25-28. text of His words, which is as follows, These things have
I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the hour cometh, when
I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs^ but I shall shew
you openly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in My
Name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father
for you : for the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have
loved 3Ie, and have believed that I came out from God.
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the ivorld :
again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. Since
throughout these words He is all along promising that hour,
at which He shall no more speak in proverbs, but shall
openly tell them of the Father; at which hour. He saith,
they shall ask in His Name, and that He will not pray the
Father for them, because the Father Himself loveth them,
for that they have loved Christ, and believed that He came
forth from the Father and came into the world, again to
leave the world and go unto the Father : I say then, since
He is throughout still promising that hour in which He
shall speak without proverbs, why do these say, Lo, now
Thou speakest openly, and sayest no proverb; except
because the things which He knows to be proverbs to them
that understand not, those are so far from understanding,
that they do not so much as understand that they understand
them not ? For they were babes, and did not spiritually
discern what they heard of things pertaining not to body,
but to Spirit.
2. And in fact admonishing them of the littleness and
V. 3], 32. weakness of their age as touching the inner man, Jesus
answered them. Do ye now believe ? Behold, the hour
Cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every
man to his own, and shall leave Me alone: and yet I am
not alone, because the Father is with Me. He had said
just before, / leave the world, and go unto the Father ; now
He saith, TJie Father is with Me. Who goeth to him that
is with him ? True, but this is a word to him that under-
How He needed not that any should ask Him : 943
stands, Si proverb to him that understands not: so, however, John
that which now is not understood by babes, they in some sort 29—33.
suck in: and even though He does not give them solid ^
meat, because they cannot yet receive it, at any rate, He does
not deny them milky aliment. Of this aliment it came, that
they were sure that He knew all things, and that He needed
not that any should ask Him : though what they meant by
this, may well be enquired. For it seems they should rather
have said. Thou needest not to ask any man : not, thai any
man ask Thee. For they had said, We know that Thou
knowest all things : and of course one that knows all things
is rather wont to be asked by them that know not, that
asking they may hear what they wish to know from him that
knows all things ; and not himself to ask as if he wished to
know something, when he knows all things. What means it
then, that, being sure that He knew all things, when it should
seem they ought to have said to Him, Thou needest not to
ask any man, they thought fit rather to say, Thou needest not
that any man ash Thee f And in fact, we read of both these
things, i. e. that the Lord both asked and was asked. But
this is soon solved : namely, the need was not to Him, but
only to them whom He asked, or by whom He was asked.
For it was not to learn any thing, that He asked questions of
any, but only to teach them : and when people asked Him,
wishing to learn something from Him, the need of this
was to them, in order that they might know some things
from Him Who knew all things. Clearly then this was the
reason why He needed not that any should ask Him. Since we
indeed, when we are asked by those who wish to know some-
thing from us, are enabled by their very questioning to know
what they wish to learn ; we therefore do need to be asked by
them whom we wish to teach something, in order that we may
know their inquiries to which we must answer : whereas He
needed not even that, Who knew all things, and needed not
to learn by means of interrogations put to Him, what the
interrogator wished to know from Him, because before ever [see v.
He was asked. He knew the asker's will. But He suffered *^
Himself to be asked, for the sake either of those who were
there at the time, or of those who should either hear the
things spoken, or read them when written; that He might
944 and why He suffered Himself lo he questioned.
HoMiL. shew them what sort of persons were those by whom He
cm .
^was interrogated; and so we should know, either by
what frauds He was not circumvented, or what sort of
approaches profited the comers unto Him. But to foresee
the thoughts of men, and therefore not to need that any
should ask Him, was no great thing for God, but was a great
thing for the babes who said to Him, /)^ this we believe that
thou earnest forth from God, That, however, was a much
greater thing, to the understanding of which He wished them
to reach forth and grow, that when they had said, and truly
said, Thou earnest forth from God, He said, TJie Father is
with Me ; lest they should in such sort imagine the Son to
have come forth from the Father, as to suppose He had also
quitted Him.
3. And then, bringing this great and lengthened discourse
T. 33. to a close. He said: TJiese things 1 hare spoken unto you,
that in Me ye may have peaee. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but he of good cheer ; I have overcome the ivorld.
The beginning of this tribulation would be that which He said
above (when He would shew them that they were babes, to
whom as yet not understanding, but thinking one thing where
another was meant, whatever great and Divine things He had
said would be a kind of proverbs) : Do ye noiv believe ?
V. 32. Behold, the hour cometli, yea, is now come, that ye shall be
scattered, every man to his own. Behold the beginning of the
tribulation, which however was not to last in that manner
to the end. For whereas He adds, And leave Me alone,
He does not mean them to be such in the tribulation which
they would have in the world after His Ascension, as to
leave Him; but that in Him they should have peace, by
abiding in Him. For when He was apprehended, it was not
merely that they with their flesh left His flesh, but also with
their mind they left the faith of Him. In this regard it is
that He saith. Do ye noiv believe 'i Behold, the hour cometJi,
that ye shall be scattered to your own and leave Me:
as much as lo say, Then ye will be thrown into such per-
turbation, that even what ye now believe, ye will forsake.
For tlicy were reduced to such desperation, yea, to such a
death (so to say) of their former faith, as appeared in
*^liat Cleophas, who, after the Resurrection, not witting that
Peace in Christ, the end of His teaching. 945
he spake with the Lord, and relating what had befallen, John
said, We hoped that it had been He which shoidd have 29II33
redeemed Israel. Lo, how they had left Him by deserting Luke24,
even the very faith whereby they once believed on Him. ^
In that tribulation, however, which they endured, when, after
He was glorified, they had received the Holy Ghost, they
did not leave Him : and although they fled from city to city,
they fled not as deserters from Him ; but that having tribula*
tion in the world, they held fast their peace in Him, the
reason was this, that they were not as deserters seeking
refuge away from Him, but had Him for their refuge. For
when the Holy Ghost was given them, that was wrought in
them which now was said to them, Be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. They were of good cheer, and they
overcame. In whom, but in Him ? For He would not have
overcome the world, could the world overcome His members.
Whence the Apostle saith, Thanks he to God Who giveth us
the victory; and straightway adds, through our Lord Jesus
Christ: Who had said to His own. Be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.
HOMILY CIV.
John xvii. 1.
These words spake Jesus^ and lifted up His eyes to heaven^
and said, Father, the hour is come ; glorify Thy Son, that
Thy Son also may glorify Thee.
1. Before these words which we are now, with the Lord's
ch. 16, help, to handle, Jesus had said, These things have 1 spoken
unto yon, that in Me ye may have peace : which we must
take to mean, not the more recent words which He had just
before said, but all that He had spoken, whether from the
time that He began to have them for disciples, or at least
from the time that after the Supper He commenced this
wonderful and lengthened discourse. For what He has
mentioned as the reason why He spake to them, is such that
to that end we may most justly refer either all that He spake
to them, or chiefly what He said, as His last words, spoken
when He was at the point to die for them, when he that was
to betray Him was gone out from that holy feast. For what
He gave them to lay to heart as the purpose of His discourse
was this, that in Him they might have peace, vvhich is in
fact the end of our whole being as Christians : as indeed this
peace, while it «hall have no end of time, shall be of all our
pious aims and doings itself the end. For the sake of this
peace we are imbued with His Sacraments, for the sake of
this are instructed in His marvellous works and words, for
the sake of this we have received the earnest of His Spirit,
for the sake of this we believe and hope on Him, and are
kindled with His love, as much as He gives thereof: by
this peace we are comforted under the pressure of all
Peace in Christ, the end of our whole Christian calling, 947
troubles, by this are delivered from the pressure of all John
troubles, for the sake of this we brav^ely bear up agaiust all
tribulation, that in this we may blissfully reign without
any tribulations. Well might He make this the close of
His words, which to the disciples, while they little understood
them, were proverbs : though they should understand them
when He should have given them the promised Holy Spirit,
of Whom He said above: These things have I spoken unto ch.i'k,
you, being yet present with you. But the Paraclete, Which
is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My
Name, He shall teach you all things, and suggest to you
all things that I have said unto you. This truly was that
hour that vshould be, at which according to His promise He
would no more speak to them in proverbs, but would tell
them openly of the Father. For those same words of
His by revelation of the Holy Ghost should be understood
by them, and then be no more proverbs. For it was not
meant, that while the Holy Ghost spake in their hearts, the
Only-Begotten Son would cease to speak ; Who said, that in
that hour He would tell them of the Father, what, being now
understood, should be to them no proverb. But this very
thing likewise, how both the Son of God and the Holy
Spirit do together speak in the hearts of Their spiritual
ones, or rather the Trinity Itself Which worketh inseparably,
this to them that understand is a word, to them that under-
stand not, a proverb.
2. When therefore He had told them to what end He had
spoken all, to wit, that in Him they might have peace, who
in the world had tribulation; and when He had exhorted
them to be of good cheer because He hath overcome the
world; having ended His discourse to them. He thereupon
directed FJis words unto the Father, and now began to pray.
For thus the Evangelist goes on, saying, These ivords spake ch. 17, i.
Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said. Father,
the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also
may glorify Thee. The Lord, the Only-Begotteu and Co-
eternal with the Father, if, in the form of a servant and from
the form of a servant, need were that He should pray, might
have prayed in silence: but then it was His will, while
exhibiting Himself to the Father in the attitude of prayer,
948 ChrisVs hour fixed hy Himself in the Divine counsels.
HoMiL. to remember that He was our Teacher. Accordingly, the
CIV •
prayer which He made for us, He hath also made known to
us: because being so great a Master, not only what He
saith in discoursing to His disciples, but also what He saith
to the Father in praying for them, is their edification. And
if theirs, who were there to hear these things when they were
said, doubtless ours also, who should read them when put in
writing. Wherefore this saying, Fafher, the hour is come :
glorify Thy Son: denotes that all time, and what thing, at
what time. He would do or suffer to be done, was all
disposed by Him Who is not subject to time; because the
things that were to be at each several instant throughout the
times, have their efficient causes in the Wisdom of God, in
which are no times. Then let it not be thought that this
hour came by urgency of fate, but only by God's ordering.
Neither did sidereal necessity bind Christ to an enforced
passion : far be it from us to imagine that the stars could
compel the Maker of the stars to die ! Therefore not time
forced Christ to die, but Christ chose a time to die : as also
the time at which He was born of the Virgin He settled
with the Father, of Whom He was begotten without time.
Agreeably with which true and sound doctrine, the Apostle
Gal. 4, Paul also saith ; But when the fulness of time was come,
^- God seyit forth His So7i : and God saith by the Prophet, At
an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of
2 Cov.Q, salvation have I helped thee; and again the Apostle, Behold,
^' now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of sal-
vation. Then let Him say, Father, the hour is come, which
We have together ordained for men's sake, and among men
in order to My glorifying; the hour is come; glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee,
3. The Father's glorifying of the Son some take to consist
Eom. 8,in this, that He spared Him not, but delivered Him up for
us all. But if He be said to be glorified by Passion, how
much more by Resurrection ? For in the Passion it is more
His humility than His glory that is shewn forth ; witness the
Phil. 2, Apostle, who saith. He humbled Himself, being made obedient
~ ' unto death, even the death of the Cross: then he goes on,
and speaks now of His glorifying ; Wherefore God also hath
exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every
The glorifying of the Lord Jesus in the form of a servant 949
name: that at the Name of Jems every knee should how^ of John-
things in heaven, and things in earthy and things under the " j *
earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ the Lord is in the glory of God the Father. This
is the glorifying of our Lord Jesus Christ, which took its
beginning from His Resurrection. His humility, therefore,
begins in the discourse of the Apostle at that point where
he saith, He emptied Himself taking the form of a servant;
and reaches to the death of the Cross, But His glory
begins at the place where he saith, Wherefore also God
hath exalted Him, and reaches to, Li the glory of God the
Father. For as it regards the word, if we look into the Greek
copies, from which tongue the Apostolic Epistles were
translated into the Latin — the same word which here is
* gloria' [in gloria Dei Patris], is there So^a: from which
the verb is derived, so that in the Greek it is So^acrov,
which the Latin interpreter makes clarifica, whereas he
might have said glorifca, which means just the same
thing. And therefore in the Epistle of the Apostle, where
the word is gloria, one might put claritas: which were
it done, the meaning would be just the same. But not
to leave the sound of the words, just as from claritas is
derived clarificatio, so from gloria is derived glorificatio.
Now in order that the mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus, might be^ glorified, He was first humbled» clarifi-
by suffering; for He should not have risen from the dead,^p[®^"^
had He not died. The humility is the earning of the glory, giorifi-
the glory the reward of the humility. Howbeit this was*^^^^*^^
done in the form of a servant : but in the form of God, there
always was, always will be, glory: nay, not 'was' as if it
were now no more, nor ' will be,' as if it were not yet ; but
without beginning, without end, always is glory. Therefore,
that He saith. Father, the hour is come: glorify Thy Son;
is to be understood as if Pie had said, The hour is come for
sowing in humility ; delay not Thou the reaping in glory.
But what meaneth this that follows: That Thy Son may
glorify Thee? Did God the Father also undergo humility
of the flesh or of suffering, that thereby He behoved to be
glorified ? Then how should the Son glorify Him, Whose
950 hegan at His Resurrection.
HoMiL. everlasting glory could neither from the form of man seem to
i-be less, nor from the form of God could be greater? But
this question I am unwilling to crowd into the present sermon,
or by it to make the sermon longer than is meet.
HOMILY CV.
John xvii. 1 — 5.
That Thy Son also may glorify Thee. As Thou hast given
Him power over alljlesh, that he should give eternal life
to all that Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, Whom Thou hast sent, 1 have glorified Thee on
the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest
Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with
Thine own Self with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was.
1. That the Son was glorified by the Father as touching
the form of a servant, which the Father raised from the dead,
and set at His own right hand ; the fact itself declares, and
no Christian doubts. But since He not only said, Father,
glorify Thy Son, but added also, that TJiy Son may glorify
Thee ; there is good reason for asking how the Son glorified
the Father, seeing the Father's everlasting glory neither in
human form underwent diminution, nor in its own Divine
perfection could be augmented. True, but though in itself
the Father's glory can be neither diminished nor increased,
yet among men it was without doubt less, when only ^wps.76J.
Jewry was God known: ere yet from the rising of the sun even^^- ^^^?
to the going down of the same, the children praised the name
of the Lord. Now seeing it was by the Gospel of Christ
that this was brought about, that through the Son the Father
became known to the nations ; doubtless the Son also hath
glorified the Father. But if the Son had only died and not
95*2 The Father glorified hy the preaching of Christ Risen:
HoMiL. risen, without doubt He v/ould neither have been o-lorified
CV •
^ by the Father, nor have glorified the Father: whereas now
being by Resurrection glorified by the Father, by the preach-
ing of His Resurrection He doth glorify the Father. As
indeed the very order of the words doth open this : Glorify,
saith He, Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee: as
much as to say. Raise Thou Me up, that Thou mayest be
made known to the whole world through Me.
2. Then more and more opening how the Son glorifieth
^' 2. the Father, He saith : As Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh, that He should give eternal life to all that Thou
hast given Him. By all flesh. He means, every man; by
the part denoting the whole : just as again by the superior
Eom. part the whole man is denoted, where the Apostle saith. Let
^*^' ^" every soul he subject to the higlier poivers: for what means
he by every soid but every man ? But this also, that power
is given to Christ by the Father over all flesh, is to be
ch. 1, 3. understood of Him as man: for as God, all things were
^°^- ^' made hy Him, and in Him were created all things in heaven
and in earth, visible and invisible. As then, saith He, Thou
hast given Him power over all flesh, so may Thy Son glorify
Thee, i. e. make Thee known to all flesh which Thou hast
given Him. For in such sort gavest Thou, that He should
give eternal life to all that Thou hast given Him.
V. 3. 3. But this, saith He, is life eternal, that they may know
Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom. Thou hast
sent. The order of the words is : That Thee and Jesus Christ
Whom Thou hast sent, they may know to be the only true God.
For consequently the Holy Ghost also is understood, because
He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, as being the
essential and co-essential Love of Them Both. Since Father
and Son are not two Gods, neither Father and Son and
Holy Ghost three Gods; but the Trinity is the One only
true God. Nevertheless the Father is not the same as the
Son, nor the Son the same as the Father, nor the Holy
Ghost the same as the Father and the Son ; since Father
and Son and Holy Ghost are three ; but the Trinity is One
God. If then the Son doth in that sort glorify Thee, as
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, and Thou hast
in that sort given it, that He should give eternal life to all
being made known, for endless praise, to His elect. 953
that Thou hast given Him, und, this is eternal life, that they John
may know Thee; consequently the Son doth in that sort 4^
glorify Thee, that He makes Thee known to all that Thou
hast given Him. Furthermore, if the knowledge of God is
life eternal, we the more tend unto life, the more we advance
in this knowledge. But we shall not die in the life eternal :
therefore the knowledge of God shall be perfect then, when
there shall be no death. Then shall be the highest glorify-
ing of God, because the highest glory: which in Greek is
called Soja, whence comes the verb U^adov, which some of
the Latins have rendered, clarijica ; some, glorifica. Now
by the ancients, glory, from which men are called glorious,
is thus defined: glory is frequent talk of a person with
praise. But if man is praised, w^ien common talk is
believed, how shall God be praised when He shall Himself
be seen? Wherefore it is written. Blessed are they that ^s.84,4.
dwell in Thy house ; for ever and ever they shall praise
Thee, There shall be praise of God without end, where
shall be full knowledge of God; and because full knowledge,
therefore highest glorifying.
4. But first God is glorified here, while being announced
He becomes known unto men, and is preached by the faith
of them that believe. Wherefore He ^d^wh, I Jiave glorified y. 4.
Thee on the earth : I have finished the ivork which Thou
gavest Me to do. He saith not, Commandedst; hwXgavest:
where' evident grace is betokened. For what hath human
nature that it did not receive, yea even human nature in the
Only Begotten ? Or did it not receive that it should do
nothing of evil, but all things good, when it was taken into
Unity of Person by the Word, by Which all things were
made ? But how hath He finished the work which He
received to do, seeing there yet remains the experience of
Passion, wherein to His martyrs especially He held out an
example for them to follow ; as saith the Apostle Peter,
Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should 1 Pet. 2,
follow His steps: how, but as He saith that He has finished"' '
that which He most surely knows that He will finish ?
Even as long before in Prophecy He used verbs of past
tense, when that which He said was to come to pass after very
many years. They pierced, saith He, My hands and My P^- 22,
16. 17-
954 Predestination makes the future as sure as the past.
HoMiij./eet, they counted all My bones; not, They will pierce and
, ' will count. And in this very Gospel He saith, All things
15. that I have heard from My Father^ I have made known
ch. 16, unto you: to whom He saith afterward, I have yet many
^^' things to say unto you; hut ye cannot bear them now.
For He Who by certain and immutable causes hath
predestined all future things, hath done whatever He will
Isa. 45, do: as also by the Prophet it is said of Him: Who hath
LXX. ^^^«^^ t^^^ things vjhich are future.
y. 5. 5. In this regard also He saith what follows : And now,
O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with the
glory which I had with Thee before the world was. For
above He had said, Father, the hour is come, glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee: where He had shewn
by the order of the words, that the Son must be first glorified
by the Father, in order that the Son might glorify the
Father. But now He hath said, / have glorified Thee upon
earth, I have finished the icork which Thou gavest Me to do :
and now glorify Me ; as if He had first glorified the Father,
from Whom He then asks to be glorified. Therefore we
must understand that He used both verbs above in regard of
that which was to be, and in the order in which it was to be;
Glorify the Son that the Son may glorify Thee: but now has
used a verb of past tense concerning a future thing : where
He saith, / have glorified Thee upon earth, I have finished
the work which Thou gavest Me to do. Then by saying.
And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self,
as if He was to be glorified afterward by the Father Whom
He had Himself first glorified ; w^hat does He shew, but
that above where He saith, / have glorified Thee upon earth.
He so spake, as if He had already done what He was to do ;
but here has asked that the Father should do that, by which
the Son was to do this; i. e. that the Father should glorify
the Son, by which glorifying of the Son the Son also was to
glorify the Father? In fact, if concerning a thing which
was future we put also a verb of future tense, where instead
of future He has put the past tense, there will be no obscurity
left in the sentence ; just as if He had said, I will glorify
Thee upon earth, I will finish the work which Thou gavest
Me to do : and now glorify Thou Me, Father, with Thine
Christ praps to be glorified tvith the Father, 955
own Self. For so it is plain, just as that is where He saitli, John
Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee: and the ^M^-
meaning is altogether the same, except that here the manner
of the said glorifying is expressed, but there is left unsaid:
as if the one were expounded by the other to them who might
be at a loss to understand in what manner the Father should
glorify the Son, and especially in what manner the Son also
should glorify the Father. For by saying that the glorifying
of the Father by Him takes place upon earth, but the glori-
fying of Him by the Father takes place with the Father,
clearly He shews the manner of either glorifying. In fact,
He glorified the Father upon earth by preaching Him to the
nations; the Father Him, with His own Self, by setting Him
at His right hand. But the reason why in speaking after-
wards of glorifying the Father, / have glorified Thee, He
chose to put the verb in the past tense, was, to shew that in
predestination this is already done, and is to be accounted as
already done, which was most surely to be; i. e. that being-
glorified by the Father with the Father, the Son also should
glorify the Father upon earth.
6. But this predestination in His own glorifying wherewith
the Father hath glorified Him, He hath more manifestly
opened in that which He hath added : With the glory which
I had before the world was, with Thee. The order of the
words is. Which I had with Thee, before the world was. Of
this is meant what He saith. And 7iow glorify Me; that is,
As then, so now; as then in predestination, so now in ac-
complishment : do Thou in the world, what already was
with Thee before the world; do Thou in its time, what Thou
hast ordained before all times. This, some have thought,
must be so understood, as if the human nature which was
suscepted by the Word were converted into the Word, and
the Man were changed into God ; or ratlier, if we consider
more closely the opinion which these have entertained, as if
the Man were lost in the God ^ For no man will say that by
» Probably the allusion is to St. of an absorption or extinction of the
Hilary, by whom the text John xvii. Human Nature: i. e. to lie open to the
6. is more than once cited in the sense inference here drawn by St. Augustine,
which St. Augustine here disallows, Ergo homo perit. Thus, Tr. in Psa. ii.
and in support of a statement concern- 27. Cum enim ait, A modo videbitis
ing the Glorification of Christ which filium hominis sedentem a dextris vir-
has been thought to invoHe the notion tutis Dei^ tempus quo filius hominis,
3 R
956 with the glory which He had before the world was;
HoMiL.this changing of the Man the Woid of God is either made
'— double or increased, so that either what was one should be
qui et Chrisbis et Dei filius est, con-
sessu Dei dignandus esset, ostendit:
ut quia antea Dei filius, turn quoque et
hominis filius ess:et ; et id quod mm
filius hominis est ad perfectum Dei
filium, i. e. ad resumendam indulgen-
damque corpori BRternltatis suse gloriam
per resurrectionis potentiam gignere-
tur: quam gloriam a Patre corpoieus
reposcebat. Qui enim in forma Dei
erat, formam servi acceperat: et ac-
eeptae huic formce servi gloriam Dei in
qua mansit postuiat, dicens, Pater
glorifica me apiid te ipsum ea claritate
quam habui priusqiiam mundus esset
apud te : i. e. " For when He saith,
Hereafter ye shall see the Sou of Man
sitting on the right hand of the potver
of God^ He intimates a time when the
Son of Man ^ Who is both Christ and
Son "of God, should be raised to the
dignity of being seated with God : so
that whereas He was before Son of
God, then also Son of Man, that also
which is then Son of Man should by
the power of His resurrection be be-
gotten unto the perfect Son of God, i.e.
unto the resuming, and granting to the
Body, the glory of His Eternity: which
glory He being in the body demanded
again of the Father. For He Who
was in the form of God, had taken
the form of a servant: and for this
form of a servant He asks the glory
of God in which He still abode,
saying, Father, glorify Thou Me icith
the glory which I had with Thee be-
fore the world teas.'" De Trin. ix. 38.
Sed dispensatione assumpta; carnis et
per exinanientis se ex forma Dei
obedientiam, naturse sibi novitatem
Christus homo natus intulerat, non vir-
tutis naturseque damno, sed habitus
demutatione. Exinaniens se igitur ex
Dei forma, servi formam natus acce-
perat: sed banc carnis assumptionem,
cum qua sibi naturalis unitas erat, Pa-
trisnaturanon senserat: etnovitas tem-
poralis, licet maneret in virtute naturce,
amiserat tamen cum forma Dei naturce
Dei secundum assumptum hominem
vnitatem. [Here in several Mss. non
is inserted by a later hand, anxious to
remove the apparent otfence against
sound doctrine : and another has the
marginal caution, Nota novum dogma.']
Sed summa dispensationis haec erat, ut
fotus nunc Filius, homo scilicet et
Deus, per indulgentiam paternse vo-
luntatis, unitati paternse naturae in-
esset: et qui manebat in virtute naturse,
maneret quoque in genere naturce. Id
enim homini acquirebatur, ut Deus
esset. Sed manere in Dei unitate as-
suraptus homo nuUo modo poterat, nisi
per unitatem Dei in unitatem Dei
naturalis evaderet : ut per hoc, quod
in natura Dei erat Deus Terbum,
Verbum quoque caro factum rursum in
natura Dei inesset ; atque ita homo
" Jesus Christus" maneret " in gloria
Dei patris,'' (Phil. 2, 11.) si in Verbi
gloriam caro esset uuita: rediretque
tunc in naturse paternse etiam secun-
dum hominem unitatem Verbum cara
factum, cum gloriam Verbi caro as-
sumpta tenuisset. Reddenda igitur
" apud seipsum" (cf. Joh. 1", 5.)
Patri erat unitas sua, ut naturae suae
nativitas in se rursum glorificanda
resideret : quia dispetisationis novitas
offensionem iinitatis intulerat ; et uni-
tas ut perfecta antea fueratj nulla
esse nunc poterat, nisi gloriticata apud
se fuisset carnis assumptio. (39) Et
idcirco .... cum dixisset, Hcec est
autem vita ceterna cfec. (John 17, 3.)
subjecit secundum dispensationis suse
obedientiam, Ego te glorificavi &c.
(ib. 4.): post quse, ut raeritum obedi-
entise et sacramentura totius dispensa-
tionis intelligerenius, adjecit, Et nunc
glorifica me &c. (v. 5 ) i. e. " But by
incarnation and exinanition of the
Form of God, Christ in taking man's
nature had brought into Himself a new
condition of nature, not with damage
to His Virtue and Nature [i. e. the
Godhead which in Its own virtue sub-
sisted all along] but b}' change of habit.
Emptying Himself therefore of the
Form of God, He, begotten as man,
had taken the form of a servant : but
this assumption of flesh was not felt by
that Nature of the Father, with which
He had natural unity: and the tem-
poral newness [i. e. the newly-adopted
state of being] though all along in the
Virtue of that Nature [though Christ
Incarnate still retained all the force of
Godhead] had yet lost, along ivith the
Form of God, the unity, as touching
the assumed Manhood, ivith the Nature
of God. But the purport of the In-
carnation was this, that now the ruhole
Son, viz. man and God, by indulgence
of the Father's will, should subsist in
the unity of the Father's Nature, and
not by conversion of the Manhood into God,
957
twain, or what was less should be more. Furthermore, if John
after change and conversion of the human nature into the 5 *
He which had all along the Virtue of
that Nature, should permanently have
It also in kind. For to the Man there
was to accrue this gain, viz. to he God.
But the assumed Man could in no wise
have permanent unity with God, but
by issuing, through unity with God,
into unity with God natural: namely,
in this way ; that because God the Word
subsisted in the Nature of God, through
that subsistence the Word even made
flesh should again subsist in the Nature
of God, and so the man " Jesus Christ''
should permanently be "in the glory
of God the Father," [alluding to Phil.
2, 11,] if the flesh should be taken into
oneness with the glory of the Word ;
and the Word should return, to wit,
the Word made flesh, into oneness even
as touching the assumed Manhood with
the Nature of the Father, then, when
the assumed Flesh should have for its
own the glory of the Word. Conse-
quently, the Father must restoi-e His
oneness to be '' with His own Self" [as
John 17, 5. i. e. the Father must rein-
state the Word Incarnate into the
original unity], so that the Nativity
[or so to say, ' Begotten-ness'J of the
Father's Nature should fall back into
Itself [as Hil. usually speaks of the
Glorification as Christ's third Nativity]
to be glorified : because the new con-
dition introduced by Incarnation had
given a kind of shock or disturbance to
the Unity [of the Word with the Father] ,
and that Unity, as it was perfect before^
could now be none at all, unless the
Father " glorified with Himself" the
Flesh which was assumed. Accord-
ingly, having said, But this is life
eternal &c." And then the text v. 5.
is explained at large. That the
teaching of St. Hilary on this point
(couched as it is in an unusual phrase-
ology), has raised some misgivings, is
shewn, as the Benedictine Editors
remark, by the frequent alterations
inserted in the text of these and similar
passages, by later hands, for the purpose
of removing the seeming offence against
sound doctrine, and by notes of warning
in the margin, Caufe lege. And indeed
it needs a careful study of St. Hilary's
Theology to justify it from the impu-
tation of anticipative Entychianism,
or the error against which St. Au-
gustine has given the caution, Ne
ita Divinitatem adstruamus hominis, ut
3 R
veritatem corporis destruamus. Epist.
187, 10. Thus, de Trin. xi. 40. explain-
ing the text 1 Cor. 15, 28. Hilary
says, Natura assumpti corporis nostri
naturae paternse Divinitatis invecta. Per
id enim erit " omnia in omnibus Deus,"
quia Mediator, habens in se ex dispen-
satione, quod carnis est, adepturus est in
omnibus ex subjectione, quod Dei est, ne
ex parte Deus sit, sed Deus totus. Non
alia itaque subjectionis causa est,quam
ut "omnia in omnibus Deus sit," nulla
ex parte terreni i?i eo corporis residente
natura, nt ante in se duos continens,
nunc Deus tantum sit. Yet clearly
it cannot be his meaning to teach that
the Body of Christ is utterly absorbed
or extinguished in the Godhead, when
he goes on to say, Non abjecto corpore,
sed ex subjectione translato, neque per
defectionem abolito^sedi ex clarificatione
mutato, acquirens sibi Deo potius
hominem, quam Deum per hominem
amittens. Subjectus vero ob id, non
ut non sit, sed ut omnia in omnibus
Deus sit, habens in Sacramento sub-
jectionis esse ac manere quod non est,
non habens in defectione ita se carere
ne non sit. But the Benedictine
Editors in their annotations have vin-
dicated the Catholic sense of St. Hilary
on this point of doctrine, and most
fully in the Pra^fatio §. 5 : where it is
shewn at large that " when he affirms
that Christ, as Man, by being glorified,
is made to subsist " in forma," or " in
natura," or " in genere naturce," or
" in unitate naturee Dei,'' so that in
Him God and Man, "jam ambo unum
sint," or that by glory of E,e?urrection
He is begotten, "ad id quod ante
tempora erat sed quod in tempore
totum non erat," or that He " in
spiritualem redire naturam," and " to-
tum Deum fieri," he means to affirm
a full and perfect agreement with God,
so far as this is possible for man : which
" consensio" he makes to consist in
this, that corruptibility, mortality and
infirmity give place to incorruption,
immortality, power and brightness of
eternal glory — which are altogether
properties of Divine, not of human
nature. Which properties, as every
man obtains by being made partaker
of the Divine Nature, so the Man
Christ would have obtained them from
the moment of assumption by the Word,
had not the Word, in order to the
958 but with the glory wliich It had,
HoMiL. Word, the Word of God shall be just so great as It was, and
^just what It was : where shall the Man be, if not lost?
7. But to this opinion, which I cannot at all see to be
agreeable to the Truth, there is nothing to compel us, if,
when the Son saith. And now, 0 Father, glorify Thou Me
with Thine own Self loith the glory lohich I had, before the
world was, with Thee, we understand Him to mean the pre-
desdnation of the glory of the human nature which is in Him,
that of mortal it should become immortal with the Father ;
and that by being predestined before the world was, this
same thing was already done, which should also be done in
the world in its own time. For if the Apostle hath said of
Eph. 1, us. As He chose 'iis in Him before the foundation of the
world; why should it be thought abhorrent from the truth,
that the Father should have then glorified our Head when
He chose us in Him to be His members ? For we were
chosen in just the same way as He was glorified : because,
1 Tim. before the world was, neither we were in being, nor was the
^' ^' Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus Eiim-
self in being. But He, Who through Him, as His Word,
Is. 45, both hath made the things that are future, and, calleth the
Rom. 4 l^^^^^G^ I'^^^l ^^'^ '^'^ot as though they were : He, God the
17. Father, doubtless did for our sakes glorify Him as man, the
Mediator between God and man, if He then also chose us
Rom. 8, in Him. For what saith the Apostle.^ But we know that all
^~ ^' things work together for good to them that love God, to them
mystery of the Dispensation, restrained be remarked, that St. Augustine in
the Virtue of His Godhead. But the another place tacitly disallows the
Dispensation being fulfilled, the Virtue language of St. Hilary on a point of
of Godhead being so to say let loose, doctrine connected with this : comp.
so immensely surpassed the Human Hil. de Trin. ii. 35. Subjectio enim ea
Nature, that this, deeply absorbed with- est, &.c. with Aug. c. Serm. Arian. §.
in It, i. e. on every side environed 37. Quamvis non defuerint, «fee.
round witii the aforesaid Divine proper- To Origen also it has been imputed
ties, gave nothing to view that is not that he taught the abolition of Christ's
Divine. Then the rest of mankind, as Humanity alter His Resurrection : (see
conjoined with Christ by fellowship of Hom. in Luc. 29. c. Cels. iii. 41.) and
the flesh, shall receive from that glori- not only this, but that after the
fied Humanity those Divine qualities general Resurrection all corporeal
which stream as it were around It; nature will come to an end: S. Jerom.
and so shall they be conformed to the Epist. 69. But the latter charge, as
glory of Christ, and God shall be all in even Petavius allows, is unfounded (de
all. Such is the sum of St. Hilary's Tncarnat. xii. 18. §. 2. 3.) and Huet
doctrine concerning the gl'jry of Christ Origeniana ii. 2. Qu. 3. §. 27. has
and of men: in nothing repugnant to shewn that his language on the former
the Catholic faith, though enuntiated point is more in fault than his doc-
iu a singular phraseology." It may trine.
ue.from everlasting was predestinate to Jiave^ 959
who are the called according to His purpose. For whom J^hn
He did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed 5.
to the image of His Son, that He might be the First- Born
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called..
8. Unless perchance we shall fear to say that He was pre-
destinated, because the Apostle seemeth to have said this of
us, only as being predestined to be conformed to His image.
As if, truly, any that stedfastly looks to the rule of faith,
would deny that the Son of God was predestinated, when he
cannot deny that He is man! Rightly indeed is He said to
be not predestinated, in regard that He is the Word of God,
God with God. For to what should He be predestinated,
seeing He already was what He was, without beginning,
without bound, from everlasting to everlasting? Whereas
there was need to predestinate that which was not yet, that
it might be done in its time in that way in which it was
before all times predestinated to be done. Therefore to deny
that the Son of God was predestinated, is to deny that the
same was Son of Man. But because of those who are con-
tentious, let us also upon this point hear the Apostle in the
very opening of his, writings. For in the first of his Epistles,
which is that to the Romans, and in the very beginning of
that same Epistle, is this passage where we read: Paul, aHom. 1,
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated ~ '
unto the Gospel of God, which He had promised afore by
His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son Who
was made unto Him of the seed of David according to the
Jlesh ; Who was predestinated the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection,
from the dead. In respect therefore of this predestination
He was also glorified before the world was, that His glory
should be by the resurrection from the dead, with the Father,
at Whose right hand He sitteth. When therefore He saw
that the time of that His predestined glorifying was now
come, that now that should be done in accomplishment
which in predestination was already done. He prayed, saying.
And now glorify Hum Me, Father, with Thine own self, with
the glory which I had with. Thee, before the world was : as
if He had said. The glory which I had with Thee, i. e. that
960 vi%. that It should he immortal with the Father.
HoMiL. glory which 1 had with Thee in Thy predestination, the time
—is come that I should also have with Thee, living at Thy
right hand. But since the discussion of this question has
held us long, the sequel must be handled in another dis-
course.
HOMILY CVI.
John xvii. 6 — 8.
/ have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou
gavest 3Ie out of the world: Thine they were, and to Me
Thou gavest them ; and they have kept Thy word. Now
they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast
given Me are of Thee, For I have given unto them the
words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received
them, and have kriown verily that I came out from Thee,
and they have believed that Thou didst send Me.
1. In the present discourse we are to reason concerning the
words of the Lord, as He shall enable us; which are these ;
T have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest ^f. 6.
3Ie out of the world. Now if He saith this only of these dis-
ciples with whom He has supped, and to whom, before He
began to pray, He has spoken so many words: this does
not come up to that glorifying (for such is the meaning of
the word clarificatio, for which other interpreters hare glo-
rificatio) of which He spake above, wherewith the Son
glorifies [clarificat or glorificat) the Father. For how great
glory is it, or what sort of glory, to have become known
to twelve or rather eleven mortals ? But if in saying, /
have manifested Thy name to the men which Thou gavest
Me out of the world, He meant all, even those who should
afterwards believe in Him, all that pertain to His great Church
which was to be gathered from all nations, of which we sing
in the Psalm, In the great Church I tmll confess unto Thee, p^,, 35
plainly this is a glorifying meet for the Son to glorify the Father ^^-
96-2 ^^I hare manifested Thy name, S^c'' .
HoMiL. withal, in makino: His name known to all nations, and to so
cvi. °
many generations of mankind. And when He saith, / have
man if est ed Thy name to the men which Thou gavest Me
out of the tcortdy it is just as He had said a little above.
T. 4. I have (jtorijied Thee upon the earth: instead of the future
tense putting both there and here the past, as knowing
that this was predestinated to be done ; and therefore say-
ing that He has done what without all doubt He was to
do.
•2. Howbeit, that He spake of His then present disciples,
and not of all who should afterwards believe in Hira, in
this saying, I have manifested Thy name to the men which
Thou gavest Me out of the worlds is shewn to be more likely
by the words following. For having said this, He proceeded ;
V. 6— s. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have
kept Thy word. Xow they have known that all things what-
soever Thou hast given Me are of Thee. For I have given
unto them the words which Thou gavest Me ; and they have
received them, and have known verily that T came out from
Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me.
Though all this too might possibly be spoken of all future
believers, as if it were in hope already perfected'' though still
future. Nevertheless, that we should understand Him to
speak these words only of these who were then His dis-
ciples, is more urgently required by that which He says
V. 12. shortly afterwards: While I was with them, I kept them in
Thy name : those that TJtou gavest Me I have kept, and none
of them is lost, but the son of perdition ; that the Scripture
may be fulflted : meaning Judas who betrayed Him ; for of
the Apostolic twelve, he alone was lost: and then He adds,
T. 13. But now come I to Thee : whence it is manifest that He said
it of His corporal presence, TThile T icas xcith them 1 kept
them, as if He were now no more with them by that presence.
For He was pleased in that way to denote His Ascension
which was presently to take place: it being of this that He
said, But now cofne I to Thee: as in fact He was about to
go to the right hand of the Father, whence He shall come to
judge the quick and the dead, once more in bodily presence,
* Spe jam perfecta : so three Mss. ; specie perfecta ("visibly perfected."}
bat the rest, and the printed copies, Ben, One Oxf. Ms. ' spe.'
18 spoken ofChrist\s then present disciples: 963
accordinff to the rule of faith and sound doctrine : for by John
. , . XVII.
spiritual presence He was, we know, to be with them after 6—8.*
His Ascension, and with His whole Church in this world even \iatt.
unto the end of the age. Therefore we do not rightly under- ^8, 20.
stand Him to have spoken these words. While I was with
ihemy I kept thetn, save of these whom, believing on Him,
He had already begun to keep by bodily presence, and whom
He was about to leave by bodily absence, that He might
together with the Father keep them by spiritual presence.
Afterwards, however, He adds to these the rest of His
people, where He saith : Neither pray I for these alone^ but"^-^^'
for them also which shall believe on Me through their wm'd :
in this shewing more manifestly that above He did not
speak of all that belong to Him, from the place where He
saith, / hare manifested Thy name to the men which Thou
hast given Me ; but only of these which heard Him at the
time when He spake those words.
3. Therefore, from the very beginning of His prayer, where,
having lifted up His eyes to heaven, He said. Father^ the\.\.
hour is come ; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify
Thee : to that which He saith shortly after : And now^ O v. 5.
Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with the glory
which I had uith Thee before the world was : He meant all
that are His, to whom He maketh known .the Father, and
thereby glorificth Him. For when He had said. That Thy Son
may glorify Thee ; how that would be done, He hath presently
shewn, saying. As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, v. l.z.
that He sJiouldgive eternal life to as many as Thou hast given
Him : aiul (his is life eternal, thai ihey might know Thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, IVhom Thou hast sent.
For by men's knowledge the Father cannot be glorified, unless
He also be known through Whom the Father is glorified, i. e.
through Whom He is made known to the nations. This is
the glorifying of the Father, which not only took place in
those Apostles, but is taking place in all, to whom as
members Christ is Head. For this cannot be meant of the
Apostles alone. As Thou hast given Him power over allfesh,
that He may give eternal life to all that Thou hast given
Him, but clearly is meant of all to whom, believing on Him,
eternal life is given.
964 not the name " God;' but " the Father:''
HoMiL. 4. Now therefore let us see what He saith concerning
^ those His disciples by whom He was at that time heard.
V. 6. / have manifested, saith He, Thy name to the men which
Thou hast given Me. Then did they not know God's Name,
while they were Jews ? And what becomes of that which we
Psa. 76, read, In Jeivrij is God known: His name is great in Israel?
Well then : / have manifested Thy name to the men, these
present, whom Thou hast given Me out of the world, who
hear Me speaking these words : not that name of Thine,
whereby Thou art called God ; but that, whereby Thou art
called My Father ; which name to be manifested without
manifesting of the Son Himself, was not possible. For that
He is called God, this is a name which could not but in
Mark some way be known to every creature, even to all nations
Mat 2*8 b^^ore they believed on Christ. For such is the force of tiTie
19. Godhead, that it cannot be altogether and utterly hidden
from the rational creature, once having use of reason.
Except a few in whom nature is excessively depraved, the
whole race of man confesseth God to be the Author of the
world. In regard therefore that He made this world, this
conspicuous frame of heaven and earth, in all nations was
God known, even before they were imbued with the faith
of Christ: while in regard that He is not to be wTonged
by being worshipped together with false Gods, in Jewry is
God known. But in regard that He is the Father of this
Christ through Whom He taketh away the sin of the world,
this His name, once hidden from all. He hath now mani-
fested to them whom the Father Himself hath given Him
from the world. But how manifested, if the hour is not yet
come of which He said above, that the hour was coming,
ch. 16, when, said He, / shall no more speak unto you in proverbs,
hut shall tell you openly of My Father? Shall that be
thought a telling manifestly, which is in proverbs ? Then
why is it said, / will tell you openly, except as ' in proverbs' is
not ' openly ; while that which is not hidden in proverbs, but
manifested by words, without doubt is spoken openly ? How
then can He be said to have manifested that which He hath
not yet openly spoken ? Therefore it must be understood,
that the past tense is put instead of the future, just as in
^^- i^j that saying, All things that I have heard of My Father ^
The elect were given to the Son as Man. 965
/ have made known unto you : which thing He had not yet John
done, but spake as if He had done what He knew im- 6—8.*
moveably fixed beforehand that He should do it.
5. But what meaneih, Which Thou gavest 3Iefronithe world?
For it is said of them that they were not of the world. Yea, but
they had this by regeneration, not by natural generation. What
meaneth also that which follows : Thine were they, and to
Me gavest Thou them ? Were they sometime the Father's,
what time they were not His Only -Begotten Son's ; and had
the Father sometime somewhat without the Son } God
forbid. But in truth God the Son had sometime somewhat,
which the Selfsame as Son of Man had not yet; because He
was not yet made Man of a mother, what time nevertheless
He held all things together with the Father. Wherefore in
the saying, Thine were they. He hath not from that ownership
separated Himself, God the Son, without Whom the Father
had nothing at any time ; but He is wont to ascribe all that
He hath of power, to Him from Whom He which hath the
power, hath His being. For, from Whom He hath His
being, from the Same hath He His power ; and always had
them both together, because never had He being and had
not power. Wherefore, whatever power the Father had,
always together with Him had the Son the same power:
since He Who never had being and had not power, had
never being without the Father, never the Father had being
without Him. And consequently, as the Father is Eternal
Almighty, so the Son Co-eternal Almighty ; and if Almighty,
of course All-possessing^ For so we rather render the i omni-
phrase word for word, if we would strictly express what in *^"^°^
Greek is called TrctvToxgotToog : which ours would not have
rendered by calling it ' omnipotens,' Almighty, whereas
TTccvToxguTajg is * omnitenens,' All-possessing, unless they had
felt that the meaning is just the same. Then what could the s. Aug.
Eternal All-possessing ever have, that the Co-eternal All- ^^ y^^^'
possessinar had not together with Him? Therefore in saying, ^^'. 22. cf.
^ , XX 1 1 XX T» /r Pearson
And to Me gavest Thou them, He shews that He as Man on the
received this power to have them ; since though always ^^^.^^f '
Almighty, He was not always man. Wherefore, though He and vi.
seems rather to have ascribed it to the Father that He
received them from Him, since He is whatever He is from
19.
966 The disciples verily knew by verily believing,
HoMiL. that Same from Whom He is ; He also Himself gave them
CVI. .
^to Himself, i. e. Christ God with the Father gave the men
to Christ Man not with the Father. In fact, He Who saith
in this place, TJiine itere they, and to 3Ie gavest Thou them,
had already said above to the same disciples, I have chosen
you from the world. Here let all carnal imagining be crushed
and perish utterly. From the world the Son saith were given
Flim by the Father the men, to whom He saith in another
place, / chose you from the world. Whom God the Son
chose from the world together with the Father, the selfsame
Son as Man did from the world receive them of the Father,
for the Father would not have given them to the Son, unless
He had chosen them. And consequently as the Son when
He said, / chose you from the world, did not separate
the Father from that choosing ; so when He said. Thine
were they. He did not separate Himself from that having,
because they were equally the Son's also. But now as Man,
the selfsame Son received them who were not His, because
as God the Same also received the form of a servant which
was not His.
6. He goes on, and saith : And they have kept Thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast
given Me are of Tliee ; i. e. have known that I am from
Thee. For the Father's giving all things was one with His
V. 8. begetting Him that should have all things. For I have
given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me ; and
they have received them : i. e. have understood and held.
For then is the W'ord received, when by the mind per-
ceived. And have known verily that I came out from Thee,
and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. Here
also is to be understood, verily: for what He meant by.
Have known verily. He would expound by joining thereto,
And have believed. Therefore, have verily believed this same,
which they have verily known: iox,I came out from Thee, is
the same as, Titou hast sent Me, When therefore He had
said, Have verily known, lest any should imagine this knowing
to be by sight, not by faith; for the sake of exposition He
added. And believed, so that we should understand, verily,
and take this, have verily known, to mean the same as,
verily believed; not in that manner which He signified a
V. 7.
hut not iititil the Holy Ghoat was sent. 967
little before, when He said, Do ye now believe f behold, John
the hour comeih, yea, is now come, that ye shall he scat- ^L.^*
iered, every man to Ids own, and shall leave Me alone :ch.i6,
but, have verily believed, i. e. as it ought to be believed, ^^' ^^'
unshakenly, firmly, stedfastly, boldly; no more to return
unto their own, and leave Christ. As yet therefore, the
disciples were not such as He affirms them to be in words of
past time, as if they already were such, foretelling what
manner of men they would be, namely, when they had
received the Holy Ghost, Who, as it was promised, should
teach them all things. For before they received the Spirit,
how can they be said to have kept Christ's word (the thing
that He spake of them as if they had done it); when the
foremost of them denied Him thrice, though he had heard Mat.26,
from His mouth what should be done to the man who should io~33. '
deny Him before men ? Therefore, He hath given them, as He
says, the words which the Father gave Him: but when they
received those words not outwardly in their ears, but inwardly
in their hearts, then they verily received, because they
verily knew, and verily knew, because they verily believed.
7. But how to the Son Himself the Father gave these
words, in what words shall man be able to unfold ^ The
question does indeed seem easier, if He be supposed to have
received those words from the Father as Son of Man.
Though even as begotten of the Virgin, at what time and
in what manner He learned them, who shall declare : since
even His generatioti, which was of the Virgin, who shallls3i.53,
declare? If however in regard that He is of the Father^'
begotten, and with the Father co-eternal, He be con-
ceived to have received these words of the Father, let no
notion of time be conceived there, as if erewhile He had
not, and, that He might have what once He had not, there-
fore did receive ; since whatever God the Father has given
to God the Son, He gave by begetting. For the Father
gave to the Son the things without which He could not be,
even as He gave Him to be. For how else should He give
any words to the Word, in Whom He ineffably spake all
things? But what follows next, must be looked for in
another discourse.
HOMILY CVII.
John xvii. 9 — 13.
r pray f 07' them : I pray not for the worlds hut for them
which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And
all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine ; and I am
glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world,
hut these are in the worlds and I come to Thee. Holy
Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou
hast given Me, that they may he one, as We are. While
I was liitli them in the world, I kept them in Thy name;
those that Tliou gavest Me, I have kept, and none of them
is lost, hut the son of perdition, that the Scripture may he
fulfilled. And noiv come I to Thee ; and these things
I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled
in themselves.
1. When the Lord was speaking to the Father concerning
these who were ah'eady His disciples, among other things He
said also this: / pray for them : I pray not for the world,
hut for them which Thou hast given Me. By the world He
now means those who live after the lust of the world, and
arc not in that lot of grace to have been by Him chosen out
of the world. Not then for the world, but for these whom
the Father hath given Him, He saith that He prays : for by
the very fact, that the Father has already given them to
Him, it comes to pass that they do not belong to that world
for which He prayeth not.
2. Then He subjoins, For they are Thine. For the
Father did not, because He gave them to the Son, Himself
lose whom He gave : seeing the Son still goes on to say.
Christ's co-equal ownership of all holy creatures 969
And all Mine are Thine, and Tliine are Mine. Where it John
sufficiently appears, how all things that are the Father's are 9 ^l'
the Only-Begotten Son's ; namely, because He also is God, VTv^,
and begotten of the Father equal to the Father : not as
it is said to one of two sons, the elder namely, 77io?/ Lukei5,
art ever with Me, and all Mine are thine. For that was*^^*
meant of all these creatures which are below the holy
rational creature, which things, we know, are put in sub-
jection to the Church; which universal Church we under-
stand to be made up of those two sons, the elder and the
younger, together wdth all the holy Angels, to whom we
shall be equal in the kingdom of Christ and of God^:Mat.22,
whereas what is here said. And all Mine are Thine, and^^'
Tliine are Mine, is meant of the rational creature itself also,
which is subject only to God, while all things beneath it are
put in subjection to it. Now this being God the Father's,
would not at the same time be the Son's also, were He not
equal to the Father : since, in fact, it was on behalf of this
same creature that He pleaded, when He said, I pray 7iot^-^.^o.
for the world, hut for them uhich Thou hast given Me i for
they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are
Mine. Nor indeed is it pious to conceive that the saints, of
whom He spake these words, should be the possession of
any, but of Him by Whom they were created and sanctified:
^ St. Augustine's detailed interpre- sion ? If by possession one understands
tation of this Parable may be seen in lordship, in that sense certainly not all
Qi((Est. Evang. n. 33. The two sons things. For they shall not be lords of,
are the two peoples, or two stocks of but partners with, the Holy Angels;
mankind : the elder, the people which as it is said of them, They shall be
preserved the worship of the true God ; equal to the Angels of God. But if
the younger, that which lapsed to the term " possession" be used in the
idolatry. . . . Thou art with Me always : same sense as when we speak of souls
this is said, as allowing and commend- possessing the truth, I see no reason
ing the perseverance of the elder son, why where the word is all things we
i. e. of the elect of Israel, in the ways should not take it to be truly and
of God. And all Mine are Thine : not properly all things. .. .'Not that they
that the younger brother is excluded, are his as they are God's. Thus the
for in the heavenly inheritance, what money that is ours can be our family's
one hath, all have. "Made perfect, for food or ornament, or the like. And
and throughly purged, and now im- certainly seeing he has a right to call
mortal, the sons in such wise have all God his Father, I do not see what there
things, that each thing is had by all, can be that he has not a right to call
and all things by each. But in what his, only in different ways. For when
sense, all things ? the Angels, the we come to that bliss, ours shall be all
Virtues and Powers on high, and all things superior, to behold them ; ours
God's heavenly Ministries — -is it to be all things equal, to live with; ours
thought that God should have put these all things inferior, to have dominion
in subjection to such a son for posses- over."
970 shews His co-equal Godhead.
HoMiL. and consequently all things also that are theirs, must of
'- necessity be His Whose are they themselves. Therefore in
that they are both the Father's and the Son's, therein they
prove the Equality of Them to Whom they equally belong.
That, however, which He said while speaking of the Holy
V. 15. Ghost, All things that the Father hath are 3Iine : therefore
said /, that He shall take of Mlne^ and shall shew it unto
you, He spake of the things which pertain to the very God-
head of the Father, in which things the Holy Ghost is equal
to Him, by having all things that He hath. For it was not
of the creature, which is subject to the Father and the Son,
that the Holy Ghost was to receive that of which the Son
saith. He shall receive of Mine: but of the Father, of Whom
proceedeth the Spirit, and of Whom is begotten also the
Son.
V. 10. 3. And I am glorified , saith He, in them. Novv He
speaks of His glorifying, as if it had taken place already,
though it was yet future : whereas above, He asked of the
Father that it should take place. But whether this be the
T. 5. same glorifying, of which He had said, A?id now, O Father,
glorify Thou Me with Thine onn Self with the glory whicli
I had with Thee before the world was : clearly this needs
enquiry. For if, with Thee, how in them ? Is it, while this
same thing becomes known to them, and through them to all
who believe them. His witnesses .'' Unquestionably we may
understand the Lord to have said in this sense, concerning
the Apostles, that He is glorified in them: for in saying that
it has already come to pass. He shews that it was already
predestinated, and He would have it held for certain that it
should come to pass.
^' 1^- 4. And now, saith He, / am no more in the world, and
these are in the world. If thou regard only the identical
hour at which He spake, they both were still in the world ;
both He, to wit, and those of whom He said this : for we
cannot and must not take this to be said of a progress of
heart and life, namely, that those are said to be still in the
world, only because they still savour the things of the world ;
but He to be now not in the world, as savouring the things
of God. For there is here one word which will not at all
suffer us to understand the matter in this way : namely. He
Christ " no more in the iiorld,'' after His Ascension. 971
saith not, And I am not in the world ; but, Notv I am not in John
lite world: by this shewing that He has been in the world, "^j^"^'
and now is not. Then is it to be thought of Him, that He
somewhile savoured the things of the world, and being de-
livered from this error, is now no more so minded ? Such
an impious sentiment who can put up with ? It remains
therefore, that He means it only as having Himself also
been erewhile in the world, that He is now no more in
the world ; of course in respect of bodily presence, meaning
that His absence from the world should now speedily take
place, but theirs not so soon, which thing He intimates
by saying, that He is now no more here, but they are here,
though in fact both He and they were still here. For in
so expressing Himself, He adapted Himself as Man to
men, speaking in man's way of speaking. Do we not every
day use this phrase. Jam non est hie, " Such an one is
now no more here," of a person now at the point of
departure ? And especially is this wont to be said of persons
at the point to die. Though in fact the Lord, as if in the
foresight of the difficulty that might strike those who should
afterwards read His words. Himself has added. And I come
to Thee: thus expounding in some sort what He meant by
saying, Now I am no more in the world.
5. So then He commendeth to the Father them whom He
is by bodily absence about to leave; saying, Holy Father, .j,i\,
keep through Tliine own name those whom Thou hast yiven
Me. Namely, as Man, He prays God for His disciples
whom He received from God. But mark what follows :
That, saith He, they may he one, even as We are. He
saith not. That they may be one with Us, or. That they
and We may be one, even as We are One ; but He saith.
That they may he one even as We are : they, of course, one
in their nature, even as We one in Ours. Which doubtless
would not have been true for Him to say, unless He said it
as being God, of the same nature as the Father, in which
regard He hath elsewhere said, / and the Father are One : ch. lo,
not as being also Man, for in this regard He hath said, The^^'
Father is greater than /. But since one and the same ch. 14,
Person is God and Man, we understand the Man in that He ^^*
prayeth : but understand the God, in that Himself and He
3 s
97*2 The Son as 3Ian empowered hy the whole Trinity >
HoMiL.to Whom He prayeth are One. In the sequel, however^
'- there is yet a passage where we shall have to discourse of
this matter more diligently.
T. 12. 6. Here however He goes on : While I was with them,
I kept them in Thy Name. When I, saith He, come to
Thee, keep them in Thy Name, in which, when I was with
them, I also kept them. In the name of the Father, the
Son kept His disciples as Man, being with them by human
presence ; howbeit the Father also kept in the name of the
Son those whose prayers He heard when they asked in the
c^- ^^) Son's name. Since to these the same Son had said. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask any thing of the Father
in My Name, He will give it you. Nor must we take this sc
carnally as to imagine that They take turnsin keeping us. Father
and Son, alternately receiving us into Their custody, one suc-
ceeding as the other leaves: for both Father and Son and Holy
Ghost do together guard us, that is, the one, true, and blessed
God. But the Scripture doth not lift us up, except it come
down to us: even as the Word made Flesh came down to lift
us up, not fell to be Itself laid low. If we have known Him
coming down, let us rise with Him when He lifteth up; and
let us understand that, in so speaking. He distinguisheth the
Persons, not separateth the Natures. What time therefore
as the Son in bodily presence was keeping His disciples,
the Father was not waiting to succeed to the guarding of
them when the Son should depart ; but Both kept them by
spiritual power: and when the Son withdrew from them His
bodily presence, He still with the Father retained the
spiritual custody. Because both when the Son as Man
received them into His custody. He did not take them away
from the Father's custody; and when the Father gave them
into custody of the Son, He did it not without Him to Whom
He gave them; but gave them to the Man His Son, not
without the God Who is that self-same Son.
V. 12. 7. The Son therefore goes on to say: Those that Thou
gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, hut the son
of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. By the
son of perdition is meant the betrayer of Christ, predestinated
Ps. 100. to perdition, according to the Scripture which in the hundred
^^^*s ^ and eighth Psalm prophesieth chiefly concerning him.
As man He received the electa as God He gave. 973
8, But now, saitb He, come I to Thee: and these things John
1 speak in the world, that they may have My joy fut filled "^™'
in themselves. Lo, He saitb that He speaketh in the worlds y. 13.
Who a little before had said, Now am I not in the world:
which why He said, we there expounded, or rather shewed
that He has Himself expounded. So then, both because
He was not yet gone, He was yet here; and because He
was soon about to go away. He was in some sort now not
here. But what this joy is, of which He saitb, That they
may have My joy fulfilled in themselves,!^ already expressed
above, where He saith, That they may be one, even as IVe
are. This His joy, i. e. bestowed on them by Him, He
saith must he fulfilled in them; to which end, He saith, He
spake in this world. This is that peace and blessedness in
the world to come, to obtain which we must live temperately Tit. 2
and righteously and godly in this tvorld. ^^'
3 s -2
HOMILY CVIIL
John xvii. 14 — 19.
I have given them Thy ivord; and the ivorld hath hated
them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. I prai/ not that Thou shouldest take them
out of the ivorld, but that Thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of
the ivorld. Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is
truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have
I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I
sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified through
the truth.
1. The Lord, still speaking to the Father and prayiDg for
V. 14. His disciples, saith, / have given them Thy word, and the
world hath hated them. They had not yet experienced
this by sufferings of their own, which ensued to them after-
wards : but, as His manner is, He saith these things, by
words of past time foretelling things future. Then subjoin-
ing the cause why the world hated them. He saith, Because
they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
This was conferred upon them by regeneration : for by
natural generation they were of the world, wherefore He had
eh. 15, said to them, / Jiave chosen you out of the world. It was
given them therefore to be, as He was, not of the ivorld, by
His delivering them Himself from the world. But He Him-
self was never of the world : because even in regard of the
form of a servant He was begotten of the Holy Ghost, of
Whom those were begotten again. For if they were there-
19
The Saints " not of the tvorld,^^ but still need sanctification. 975
fore not of the world, because begotten again of the Holy John
Ghost, He was never of the world, because begotten of the {q_^>^'
Holy Ghost. '"
2. / prai/ not, saith He, that Thou shoiildest take them v. 15.
from the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the
evil. For though they were now no more of the world, yet
they must of necessity be still in the world. He saith the
same sentence over again : Of the world, saith He, they <Y?'ev.l6.i7.
not, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify tJiem in tlie
Truth. For so are they kept from the evil : which above
He prayed might be done for them. But it may be asked,
how they were now not of the world, if they were not yet
sanctified in the Truth : or, if they were sanctified already,
why He asks that they may be sanctified ? Is it because
even being sanctified they make progress in that holiness,
and become more holy, nor this without aid of the grace of
God, but by His sanctifying their advancement, Who sancti-
fied their beginning ? Whence also the Apostle saith. He Phil, i,
that hatli begun a good work in you, shall perfect it even '
unto the day of Christ Jesus. To be sanctified, therefore, in
the Truth is for the heirs of the New Testament, of which
Truth the sanctifications of the Old Testament were shadows:
and, in being sanctified in the Truth, clearly their sanctify-
ing is in Christ, Who truly said, / am the Way, and Me ch. 14,6.
Truth, and the Life. Also when He saith, The Truth shall ^^- 8,
. . 32. 36.
make you free, a little after, expounding what He meant He
saith, If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free
indeed; to shew that what He before called the Truth, is
none other than what He afterwards calls tiie Son. Then
what other hath He said in this place also, Sanctify thetn in
the Truth, but. Sanctify them in Me?
3. As indeed in going on He forbears not to intimate this
more openly: Thy ivord, saith Pie, is Truth. For [where
the Latin hath, Sermo tuus,] the Greek Gospel hath Aoyog,
which is the expression in the place where it is said, In the^^^- 1? ^*
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And we know of course that the Word,
Which was made Jlesh and dwelt in us, is none other than^b. 14.
the Only-Begotten Son of God. Whence it might here also
have been expressed, and in some copies is expressed,
976 Chriai as God sanctified Himself as Man,
HoMiL. Verbum tuum Veritas est; as in some copies the expression
— ^in the other passage is, In principio erat Sermo : while in
the Greek, without any variation of the phrase, both there
and here it is Aoyoj. Therefore the Father sanctifieth in
Rom. 8, the Truth, i.e. in His Word, in His Only-Begotten, the
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,
4. But now He still speaks of the Apostles; for He goes
V. 18. on and adds, As Thou hast sent Me into the world, I also
have sent them into the world. Whom hath He sent, but
His Apostles? For the very name 'Apostles,' being Greek,
signifies in our tongue, 'persons sent.' So then, God sent
Rom. 8, His Son, not in flesh of sin, but in the likeness of flesh of sin ;
and His Son sent those whom, being born in flesh of sin,
He hath sanctified from the taint of sin.
1 Tim. 6. But since by reason that the Mediator betneen God
' • and men, the 3Ian Christ Jesus, is made Head of the Church,
those are members of Him; hence it is that He saith
V. 19. what follows. And for their sakes 1 sanctify Myself. For
what meaneth. And for their sakes, but, I sanctify them in
Myself, seeing they are Myself? Since they of whom He
saith this, are, as I have said, His members, and Head and
Body is one Christ; as the Apostle teacheth, saying of the
Gal. 3, Seed of Abraham, But if ye are Chrisfs, then are ye Ahra-
ib. 16. ^'«^^*'*' Seed; when he had said above. He saith not. And to
Serm. seeds, as of many; but as of one. And to thy Seed, which is
' ' Christ. If then the Seed of Abraham is Christ; when it is
said, Then are ye Abrahani's Seed, what other is said to
them but. Then are ye Christ? Thence is it that in another
Col. 1, place the same Apostle saith ; 1 now rejoice in my
sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh. He saith not, Of my
afflictions, but. Of Christ's : because He was a member of
Christ; and in his persecutions, the like of which Christ
behoved to suffer in His whole Body, he also in his propor-
tion was filling up the afflictions of Christ. But that this
may be certain from this passage also, mark the words
V. 19. following. For when He had said. And for their sakes I
sanctify Myself, then, in order that we might understand
that in Himself He sanctified them, He presently adds,
That they also may be sanctified in the Truth. And what
and in Himself sanctifies the Saints, His mystical Body. 977
else is this, but, In Me, in regard that the Truth is that John
Word in the beginning. Which was God? In Whom the 19
Son of Man Himself also was sanctified from the beginning
of His creation, when the Word was made flesh ; since
Word and Man was made one Person. Then therefore He
sanctified Himself in Himself; i. e. Himself the Man, in
Himself the Word ; because Word and Man is one Christ,
sanctifying the Man in the Word. On behalf however of
His members, He saith, And for- them I — i. e. what may be
for the good of them also, because they also are Myself;
even as it was for the good of Me in Myself, because I am
Man without them — and I sanctify Myself: i. e. them in Me
as Myself I sanctify, because in Me they also are Myself.
That they also may he sanctified in the Truth. What
meaneth They also, but, even as I ; in the Truth, which I
Myself am? Thereupon He begins to speak, now not only
of the Apostles, but also of His other members, what, if He
grant, is to be handled in another sermon.
HOMILY CIX.
John xvii. 20.
But not for these only do I pray ^ hut also for them ixhich shall
through their ivord believe on Me.
1. The Lord Jesus, His Passion being now near at hand,
having prayed for His disciples whom He also called Apo-
stles, with whom He had taken that Last Supper, from
which tlis betrayer, made manifest by the sop, had gone out,
and with whom after the betrayer was gone forth, the Lord
before He prayed for them, had spoken many things : then
joined with them the rest also which should believe on Him,
V. 20. and said to the Father, But not for these only do I pray ^ i. e.
for the disciples who were with Him at the time, 6m^ /or them
also, saith He, which shall through their word believe on Me,
Where He would have to be understood all His ; not only
those who were then in the flesh, but also those who were to
be. For as many as have since believed on Him, without
doubt it was through the Apostles' word that they believed,
and, until He come, shall hereafter believe : for to them He
ch. 15, had said. And ye shall hear witness^ because ye have been with
Me from the beginning ; and by these the Gospel was minis-
tered, even before it was written, and to believe on Christ is,
of course, to believe the Gospel. Therefore we are to understand
by the persons of whom He saith that they shall believe in Him
through their word, not only those who heard the Apostles
themselves while they lived in the flesh; but after their death
also, even we, born long after, have through their word
believed on Christ. Since the same who were then with
27
Christ prayed not only for the Apostles, 979
Him, preached to the rest what they heard from Him : and John
. . . -1 XVII
so their word, in order that we too might believe, hath 20. '
reached even to us, wheresoever His Church is ; and shall
reach to those who come after us, whosoever they be and
wheresoever, that shall hereafter believe on Him.
2. It may seem then that Jesus in this prayer did not pray
for some that are His: unless we carefully examine His words
in this same prayer. For if He first prayed, as we have
shewn, for those who were then with Him, but afterwards
for those who through their word should believe on Him ;
He may be said not to have prayed for those who neither
were then with Him when He spoke these words, nor believed
on Him afterward through their word, but, whether through
them, or in what way soever, had already believed on Him.
Thus, was Nathanael then with Him ? Or that Joseph oisupra p.
Arimathea who begged His Body of Pilate, whom this same eh. 19,
John the Evangelist witnesseth to have been already His dis-^^*
ciple } Was His mother Mary then with Him, and the other
women of whom we have learned in the Gospel that they were
even then His disciples? Were those then with Him, of whom
the same John the Evangelist often saith, Many believed on\ 23*.
Him? For whence was that multitude of those who with 4, 39:"
branches partly went before, partly followed after Him sitting g', 30':
on the beast, saying. Blessed is He that cometh in the Name ^^' ^2.
Mat.2\
of the Lord; and with them the children of whom He saith 7_i6. '
it was foretold. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou Ps. 8, 2.
hast perfected praise ^ Whence those ^t-e hundred brethren,! Cor.
to whom at once He would not have appeared after His^^'^^*
resurrection, unless they had before believed on Him ?
Whence those hundred and nine, who together with the Acts 1,
eleven made a hundred and twenty, when being assembled 4^ ' '
togeth.er after His Ascension, they waited and received the
promised Holy Ghost .? Whence were all these, but of those
of whom it is said, Many believed on Hir/i ? Therefore for
them the Saviour did not then pray ; since He prayed for
those who were then with Him, and for others who through
their word, not already had believed, but should believe on
Him. But these were not then with Him, and had already
beUeved on Him. ^ omit to speak of old Simeon, who
believed on Him when yet a Babe; of Anna the Prophetess ; Luke 2
25—38.
980 hut for all His, who either then or afterwards
HoMiL. of Zacharias and Elisabeth, who prophesied of Him before
* He was born of the Virgin; of their son John His precursor,
4i_45.' the friend of the Bridegroom, who both in the Holy Spirit
^'"t"'^^* acknowledged Him, and preached Him being absent, and
19—36'. pointed Him out being present, to be acknowledged by
26^6.' o^^iers : I omit these, because it may be answered that it
was not meet to pray for such being dead, as with great
merits had departed hence, and were resting in peace ; for
the same answer holds in like manner for the just men of
old. For which of them could have been saved from the
damnation of the whole mass of perdition which was caused
by one man, except by revelation of the Spirit he had
believed on the One Mediator between God and men, about
to come in the Flesh } But did He need to pray for the
Apostles ; and not need to pray for the many who were still
in this life, and not then with Him, and had already believed ?
Who w^ould say this ?
3. We must understand, therefore, that they had not yet
believed on Him, so as He would be believed on; since even
Mat. 16, Peter, to whom when he confessed and said, Thou art Christy
16 23
the Son of the living God, He had borne so great witness,
rather was unwilling that He should die, than believed that
being dead He would rise again ; whence he vvas presently
by Him called Satan. And therefore those are found more
faithful, who were already deceased, and by revelation of the
Spirit had not at all doubted that Christ would rise again,
Lute24,than those who having believed that it was He who should
^^* redeem Israel, at sight of His death lost all the hope they
once had concerning Him. And therefore we can do no
better than believe that, the Holy Spirit being imparted after
the Resurrection, and the Apostles being taught and con-
firmed, and the same being from the first ordained teachers
in the Church, through their word others so believed, as
Christ ought to be believed on, i. e. so as to hold the faith of
His Resurrection. And consequently that all those also
who seemed to have already believed on Him, were of the
number of them for whom He prayed, saying, Neither pray
I for these alone, hut for them also which shall helieve on 3Ie
through their word.
4. But we have still on hand for the further solution of the
believed on Him " through their word?': 981
present question, the case of the blessed Apostle, and that of john
the thief, cruel in crime, faithful on the cross. For Paul the ^^H-
Apostle saith of himself that he was made an Apostle, not of — -
men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ; and speaking of his 1. 12. '
own Gospel, saith, For I neither received it of man, neither
was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. How
then was he among them of whom it is said, shall believe
on Me through their word f And as for the thief, he then
believed when in the very teachers the faith, whatever it
were, which had been in them, had failed. Therefore neither
did he through their word believe on Christ Jesus : and yet
he so believed that Whom he saw crucified, he confessed
should not only rise again, but also reign, when he said,
Remember me ithen Thou contest into Thy kingdom. Luke23,
5. Consequently, it remains that if the Lord Jesus must^^*
be believed to have prayed in this prayer for all His, who-
soever in this life which is temptation upo7i earth"", either
were then, or were to be afterwards, we must understand the
saying. Through their word, to signify none other than the
very word of faith which they preached in the world ; called
their word, because it was first and chiefly by them preached.
For it was already preached by them on earth, when by
revelation of Jesus Christ, Paul received the same, which was
their word. Whence he both conferred with them upon Gal. 2
the Gospel, lest haply he should liave run, or be run-^~^-
ning in vain; and they gave him their right hands, because
they found in him also, although not given him by them,
yet still their word which they now preached, and on
which they were grounded. Of which word of the Resur-
rection of Christ the same Apostle saith, Whether it were /1 Cor.
or they, so we preach, and so ye have believed: and again, ' ^ '
This, saith he, is the word of faith, which we preach ; That Rom.
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and ' ' *
shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shall be saved. And in the Acts of the
Apostles we read, that in Christ God hath determined theActsl?,
faith for all men, by raising Him from the dead. This^^'
* Job vii. 1. Numquid non tentatio Treiparripiov. Militia est vita hominis
est vita humana super terram ? Vet. super terram, Vulg.
Lat. (Aug. Serm. 351, 3.) from LXX.
i)S2 i. e. through " the word ofjaith^'' by whomsoever preached.
UoMih. wo)'d of faith, because it was principally and from the first
^-^ preached by the Apostles who had clea\^ed to Him, is there-
fore called, their word. For it does not follow that it is not
the word of God, because it is called their word; seeing the
same Apostle sailh, that the Thessalonians received it from
him, Not as the word of ?na)i, hut as it is, saith he, in truth,
the Word of God. Of God then, on the ground that He
gave it; but called their word, because to them first and
chiefly God gave it in charge to preach it. x4.nd conse-
quently even the thief in his faith had tlteir word: which is
therefore called theirs, because the preaching thereof per-
tained first and chiefly to their ofiice. As in fact when there
arose a murmuring concerning the ministry of tables, on the
part of the widows of the Greeks, before Paul had believed
on Christ; the Apostles, who had before cleaved to the
Acts 6, Lord, answered; It is not good that we shoidd leave the
~~ ' word of God, and serve tables. Then they provided for the
ordaining of deacons, that they themselves might not be
called away from their office of preaching the word. Whence
that is with good reason called their word, which is tlie word
of faith, by which all, from what quarter soever heard, have
believed on Christ, or shall hear and believe. Therefore in
that prayer, our Redeemer prayed for all whom He hath
redeemed, whether then living in the flesh, or to be there-
after: when, praying for the Apostles who were then with
Him, He joined to them those also who should through their
word believe on Him. But what, after joining them on. He
next proceeds to say, must be handled in another discourse.
HOMILY ex.
John xvii. 21 — 2S.
That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and
I in Thee, that ihey also may he one in Us: that the
world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the
glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them ; that they
may be one, even as We are one : I in them, and Thou in
Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved
them, as Thou hast loved Me,
1. When the Lord Jesus had prayed for His disciples
whom He had at that time with Him, and had joined to
them His other disciples, ^a.ym^, NeiiJier pray I for these \> 20.
alone, hut for them also which shall believe on Me through
their luord ; as if we had asked what He prayed for, or why,
He hath straightway introduced this, saying, That they ally. 21.
may he one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Ihee,
that they also may he one in Us. And above, when as yet
He was praying only for the disciples whom He had with
Him, He said. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name^.n.
those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may he one, as We
are. Consequently He has now asked the same thing for
us which He then asked for them, that all, that is both we
and they, may be one. Where we must take diligent heed
to this, that the Lord did not say. That we all may be one ;
but. That they all may he one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and
I in Thee (understand, are One ; which is more openly
984 All believers morally one with God in Christ.
HoMiL. expressed afterwards) : because He had also before said of
'— the disciples who were with Him, That they may he one,
even as We. Wherefore so is the Father in the Son, and
the Son in the Father, that They are One, as being of
one Substance; whereas we can indeed be in Them, but
one with Them we cannot be; because we and they are not
of one substance, in so far as the Son is God with the
Father. For in so far as He is Man, He is of the same
substance that we are of. But now He would rather
commend to our regard that which He saith in another
ch. 10, place; I and the Father are One; where He hath signified
that the Father's Nature and His is the same. And con-
sequently even when the Father and the Son or the
Holy Ghost also are in us, we ought not to think Them
to be of one nature with us. So therefore are They in us,
or we in Them, that They are one in Their nature, we one in
ours. They, namely, are in us, as God in His Temple ; but
we in Them, as the creature in its Creator.
2. Thereupon when He had said. That they also may be
one in Us, He added, that the world may believe that Thou
hast sent 3Ie. What is this } Will the world then believe,
when in the Father and the Son we all shall be one ? Is not
this that perpetual peace, and rather the reward of faith than
faith itself.? For that we shall be one, is not in order that
we may believe, but because we have believed. But although
in this life in virtue of our common faith itself all we who
believe on One are one, according to that saying of the
Gal. 3, Apostle, For all ye are one in Christ Jesus ; even so not in
order that we may believe, but because we do believe, are we
one. Then what is this. All may be one, that the world may
believe"^ For in fact these same All are the believing world.
For they are not different parties, those who shall be one,
and the world which shall believe because those shall be
one ; since without doubt those of whom He saith. That
they all may be one, are the same of whom He had said,
V. 20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on 3Ie through their word; straightway adding,
That they all may be one. Now this All, what is it but the
world, not of course hostile, but believing ? For behold, He
who had said, I pray not for the world, here prays for the
The ^^tvorW'* which believes is the elect world: 985
world that it may believe. Since there is a world of which John
it is written, That ice be not condemned with this y^orld. 2\_23'
For this world He prays not: for He is not ignorant to what i Cor.
it is predestined. And there is a world of which it is written, ^^' ^'*
For the Son of 3Ian is not come to judge the world, but that ch.3,17.
the world may be saved through Him : of which also the
Apostle saith, God icas in Christ reconciling the world to2Cov.5,
Himself. For this world He prays, saying, That the world '
may believe that Thou hast sent Me. For by this faith the
world is reconciled to God, when it believes on Christ Who
was sent from God. How then are we to understand the
saying, That they also may be one in Us, that the world may
believe that Tliou hast sent Me: bat thus, that He has not
put this, viz. that those are one, as the cause of the world's
believing, as if the world believed on the ground that it sees
them to be one ; since the world is itself the All who by
believing are made one: but in praying said. That the uorld
may believe ; just as in praying He said. That they all may
be one ; in praying said. That they also may be one in Us?
For the expression, All may be one, is the same as, The
world may believe, since by believing they are made one;
perfectly one, who being by nature one, by disagreeing from
One were no more one. In short, if we understand the word,
1 j)ray, a third time, or rather, in order that it may be more
complete, supply that word in each clause ; the exposition of
this passage will be more manifest: I pray that they all may
be one, as TJiou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee : I pray that
they also may be one in Us; 1 pray that the ivorld may
believe that Thou hast sent Me. For that He added, in Us,
was that we might know that our being made one by most
faithful charity is to be ascribed to the grace of God, not to
ourselves; just as the Apostle, when he had said. For y^Eph. 6,
iveie once darkness, saith, but now light; and, lest they^'
should ascribe this to themselves, he hath added, in the
Lord.
3. Furthermore, our Saviour in praying to the Father proved
Himself to be Man : and now, proving that He also, as
God with the Father, Himself doeth the thing that He asks.
He saith, And 1 have given them the glory which Thou hast v. 22.
given Me. What glory, but the immortality which human
986 To this He ^'r« the glory of immortolily
HoMiL. nature was to receive in Him : For neither had He Himself
— — :- as yet received it, but, as His manner is, bv reason of the
immoveable certainty of predestination, by words of past
time He signideth {uture things; that being now about to be
glorified, that is, to be raised up by the Father, Himself
shall in the end raise up us to that glor}-. This is like that
ch.5,21. which He saith elsewhere. As the Father raiselh the dead
and quickeueth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He
n». 19. triU. And whom, but the same as doth the Father : For
whatsoever the Father doth, not others, but these also the
Son doth, and not in other manner, but in like manner doeth.
And hence it follows, that the raising up of Himself was His
<*.2,19. own act also. For of this it is that He said. Destroy this
Temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And therefore,
the glory of immortality which He saith is given Him by the
Father. He must be imderstood to have also given to Himself,
although He does not say this. Indeed the reason why He
often speaks of the Father alone, as doing that which He
Himself doeth with the Father, is. that whatever He is, He may
ascribe it to Him of whom He is. Howbeit, sometimes also,
without mention of the Father, He speaks of Himself as doing
that which He doeth with the Father: that we may understand
that the Son is not to be separated from the work uf the
Father, when, without mention of Himself, He saith that the
Father worketh anv thin?, anv more than the Father is
separated firom the work of the Son, when, without mention
of the Father, the Son is said to work, what nevertheless
They alike work. WTien therefore the Son in the work of the
Father is silent touching His own working, it is that
we may lay to heart His humility, that so He may be more
wholesome to us. But when, on the other hand, in His
* own work He is silent of the Father's working, it is
that we may lay to heart His Equality, that He may not be
thought inferior to the Father. In this way therefore, in this
place also. He neither estrangeth Himself from the work of
Uie Father, although He said. The glory which Thou gavest
Me ; whereas He also Himself gave it : nor eslrangeth the
Father from His work, although He sinxh, I hare given them;
whereas the Father also gave it them. For the works are
inseparable, not only of the Father and the Son, but also of
God in CkrUt, reeomcUing the world : 987
the Holy Ghost. Bat as from His praying to the Father for Joh»
all His people. He wished this effect to follow. That tfiey ~^^'
all may be one : so He nevertheless wished it also to follow '~~
as the effect of this His oun boon, of which He saith, Tfie
glory which Thou gatest 3Ie, I hate given them; for He
hath straightway subjoined, Ttiat they may be one, ezen as
JVe are one.
4 TherenpoB He added, / in them, and Thmi in^.^.
Me. that they may 6^ made perfect in one. ^Tiere He hath
briefly intimated that He is the Mediator between God and
men. For this is not so meant, as if the Father were not in
us, or we not in the Father : seeing He bath both said in
another place. We will come unto him, and make Our abode <^ 14,
uith him: and hath said in this place a little before, not,^'
/ in them, and Tliou in Me, which He hath jost now said ;t.23.
or, They in Me. and I in Thee ; tot. Thou in Me, and I in ^- 21-
Thee, and they in Us. Therefore that He now saith, / in
them, and Thou in J/e, is spoken in the character of
Mediator, just as that which the Apostle saith, Te are^CoF.3,
ChrisVs, but Christ is God's. That He hath added, how-^*
ever, That they may be made perfect in one, is to
shew, that the reconciliation wrought by the Mediator is to
be carried even up to the point of onr enjoying that per-
feciion of bliss to which there can now nothing more be
added. Whence that which follows, That the world may
know that Thou hast sent Me, is not, I think, to be taken as
if He said over again, That the world may heliere: as some-
times • to know' is put in the sense of * to believe', as in what
He said some way above. And hare known that I came outx, s.
from TJiee, and hare believed that Thou didst send Me;
where in the latter word, hare believed, He savs the same
thing as in the former word, hare known : but here, since
He is speaking of the consummation, the knowledge must
be understood to be such as shall be by sight, not such as is
now by faith. For there seems to be a gradation observed
in His saviDg a little above. That the world may believe, but
here. That the world may know. F«jr there, although He
said. That they all may be one, and, be one in Us, vet He
said not, May be made perfect in one; and accordinglv He
there subjoined, That the world may believe that Thou hast
3t
988 Christ in the Saints, hringitig them to perfect bliss.
HoMiL. sent 3Ie: but here it is, TJiat they may he made perfect in one ;
— tJ— and tliereupon it is added, not That the icorld may believe, but,
That the world may know that Thou hast sent Me. For so long
as we believe that which we see not, we are not yet so made
perfect as w^e shall be when we shall have attained to see
that which we believe. JNIost rightly therefore is it said
there. That the world may believe ; here, That the world
may know : yet both there and here, That Thou hast sent
Me: that we may know, as touching the inseparable love of
the Father and the Son, that what we now believe, the same
we by believing are on the way to know. But if He had
said. That they may know that Thou hast sent Me, it
would mean just the same as that which He saith. That the
icorld may know : for they are themselves the world, not
that which remaineth at enmity, such as is the world pre-
destined to damnation ; bnt that which of an enemy is made
2 Cor. a friend ; that for which God icas in Christ reconciling the
"^' ' world to Himself . Theve^ovo ssLid He, I in them, and Thou
in Me: as much as to say: 1 in them to whom Thou hast
sent Me ; and Thou in Me, reconciling the world to Thyself
through Me.
5. Therefore also next follows this that which He saith. And
hast loved them, as also Thou hast loved Me. Tn tlie Son,
Eph. 1, namely, the Father loveth us, because in Him He chose us
^- before the foundation of the world. For He that loveth the
Only-Begotten doubtless loveth also His members which He
hath adopted into Him througli Him. And it does not
follow that we are equal wdth the Only-Begotten Son, by
Whom we were created and new-created, because it is said.
Hast loved them, as also Me. For one does not always
mean to denote equality when one says, ' As this, so that' :
but sometimes only, * Because this, therefore that': or, ' This,
in order to that'. For who would say that the Apostles were
sent into the w^orld by Christ in precisely the same way as
He was sent by the Father? Not to mention other points of
difference, which it were long to rehearse : those were sent,
we know, being already men; He was sent, to be man : and
V. 18. yet He saith above, As Thou hast sent Me into the world,
I also hive sent them into the world; as much as to say,
Because Thou hast sent Me, I have sent them. So also
God loved the elect yet unreconciled. 989
in this place : Hast loved them, saitli He, as Thou hast loved John
Me; which is none other than, ^a^^ loved them, because 23.
Thou hast loved Me. For, loving the Son, He could not
but love the members of the Son ; nor can there be any
other reason for loving His members, than that He loveth
Him. Howbeit He loveth the Son as touching His Godhead,
because He begat Him equal to Himself; loveth Him also
as man, because the same Only-Begotten Word was made
flesh, and for the Word's sake the flesh of the Word is dear
to Him : but loveth us, because we are the members of Him
Whom He loveth : and that we might be this, for this He
loved us before we were.
6. Wherefore incomprehensible is the love wherewith
God loveth, neither changeable. For He did not begin to
love us then first when we were reconciled to Him by the
blood of His Son ; not so, but before the foundation of
the world He loved us, that together with His Only-
Begotten we also should be His sons, before we were
any thing at all. Therefore, that we are reconciled to
Qod by the death of His Son, must not be so heard, not
so taken, as if the intent of the Son's reconciling us to
Him were, that thenceforth He might begin to love where
He had hated; just as enemy is reconciled to enemy
that thereafter they may be friends, and those love one
another who had hated one another: we were reconciled
to One that did already love us, but we by reason of sin
had enmity against Him. Which thing whether I say truly,
let the Apostle witness: God, saith he, commendetli His 'Rom. 5,
love toward us, in that, while we ivere yet sinners, Christ
died for us. He, therefore, had love toward us, even when
we, exercising enmity against Him, wrought iniquity: and
yet it is most truly said to Him, Thou hatest. Lord, all that P^?,^, 6.
work iniqnitfj. And so, in a wonderful and divine manner,
even when He hated us. He loved us: for He hated us as
being such as He had not made us ; and because our
iniquity had not consumed His work in every part. He knew
how at once to hate in each one of us what we had made,
and to love what Himself had made. And this indeed may
be understood to hold for all mankind, on the part of Him,
to Whom it is truly said. Thou hatest nothing of the things ^^sq}.
3t2 ' "'''■
990 In all His creatures He loves His own work,
B-oMih. which Thou hast made. For whatever He had hated, He
ex
— —^ could not have willed that it should be, nor could
that have at all had being which the Almighty would not
have to be, unless in the thing He hated there had been
something for Him to love. Well may He hate, and
J vitiuin reject as alien from the rule of His Art, that^ which is
faulty ; but yet He loveth even in the vitiated or faulty,
either the good He doeth in healing, or the doom He
speaketh in condemning the same. So God both hateth
nothing of the things He hath made : for being the Maker
2 natu- of the natures of things, not of the faults which mar them^,
jjQjJ ^i. the evils which He hateth were not of His own making ;
tiorum and of these same evils, whether in healing them by mercy,
or in ordering them by judgment, good are the very things
He maketh to be. Seeing then of the things He hath made
He hateth nothing, who can worthily utter how greatly He
loves the members of His Only-Begotten; and how much
more abundantly the Only-Begotten Himself, in Whom all
things were made, visible and invisible, which, ordered in
their kinds. He loveth with a perfectly ordered love ! For by
the largeness of His grace He bringeth the members of the
Only-Begotten unto equality with the Holy Angels ; whereas
the Only-Begotten, seeing He is Lord of all, is without
doubt Lord of Angels, He, Who, in the nature whereby He
is God, is equal not to Angels, but to the Father : while by
the grace whereby He is Man, how doth He not surpass the
excellency of any Angel soever, seeing that Flesh and the
Word make One Person .?
7. Albeit there lack not that put us too before the Angels;
because for us, say they, not for Angels, Christ died. What
is this but to wish to glory in ungodliness ? For Christy saith
Rom. 5, the Apostle, in due time died for the ungodly. Here therefore
not our merit, but God's mercy is shewn. For what sort of
thing is it, for a man to wish to be praised on the ground
that by his own fault he became so dreadfully diseased,
that he could no otherwise be healed but by the death of
the Physician ! This is not the glory of our merits, but the
medicine of our diseases. Or do we put ourselves before
the Angels on the ground that though Angels also sinned,
nothing of the like kind was bestowed upon them whereby
Chrisfs memhers equal to, not greater than, Angels. 991
they might be healed ? As if there were some at least small John
boon bestowed upon them, and uj^on us a much greater: '
23.
when even if this had been the case, it might still be
asked whether it was because we stood more excellently, or
because we were more desperately cast down. But when
we know that the Creator of all things good bestowed no
grace at all upon the evil angels for their reparation, why
do we not rather understand, that their fault was judged to
be the more damnable, because their nature was more sub-
lime? For by so much ought they to have sinned less
than we, by how much they were better than we. Whereas
now in offending their Creator they became the more ex-
ecrably ungrateful for His benefit, the more beneficently
they were created; nor did it satisfy them to be deserters
fi'om Him, but they must needs also be deceivers of us.
This great good, then, shall He confer upon us, Who loved
us as He loved Christ, that for His sake Whose members Luke20,
He willed us to be, we shall be equal to the holy Angels, ^^*
than whom we both by nature were created lower, and by
sin were made more unw^orthy of their fellowship, when we
ought to have become, in whatever sort, their companions.
HOMILY CXI.
John xvii. 24 — 26.
Faiher, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, he
tvith Me where I am; that they may behold My glory,
which Thou hast given Me : for Thou lovedst Me be/ore
the foundation of the world. O righteous Fattier, the
it'orld hath not known TJiee : but I have known Thee, and
these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have
declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it ; that
the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them,
and I in them.
I. Great is the hope to which the Lord Jesus raiseth up
His people, a hope than which there can be none greater.
Rom.i2,Hear ye, and he joyful in hope, because this hfe is not to be
^^- loved, but to be endured, that so ye may be patient in tribu-
lation. Hear, I say, and mark to what our hope is lifted
up. Christ Jesus saith, tlie Only-Begotten Son of God,
Co-eternal and Equal with the Father, saith ; He Who for
Ps. 116, our sakes was made Man, but not made like every man a
^\' ^A li^^i saith; the Way, the Life, the Truth saith; He that
0. overcame the world, He, concerning them for whom He
33* ' hath overcome, saith — hear, believe, hope, desire, that which
V. 24. He saith : — Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast
given Me, be icith Me where I am. Who are these that He
saith were given Him by the Father ? Are they not those
ch. 6, of whom in another place He saith. No man comeih unto
^^' Me, except the Father which sent Me draw him? How the
things of which He saith that they arc done by the Father,
Father and Son have one Will as one Spirit. 993
He doetb also Himself with the Father, we know by this time, John
\ V I r
if we have at all profited in this Gospel. These then whom 24_26*
He received from the Father are the same whom He Himself
also chose from the world, and chose that they should be no
more of the world, even as He is not of the world: that they
should nevertheless themselves be a world believing and
knowing that Christ was sent of God the Father, that so
there should be a world delivered out of the world, that the
world to be reconciled to God should not be condemned
with the world which is utterly at enmity. For so He saith
in the opening of this prayer : Thou hast (jiven Him powers- 2.
over all flesh ; i.e. over every man ; that He may give
eternal life to all that Thou hast given Him. Where He
sheweth that He has received power indeed over every man,
to deliver whom He will, condemn whom Fie \\ill, Who
shall judge the quick and dead; but that those are given
to Him, that to them all He should give eternal life.
For so He saith : That He may give eternal life to all that
Thou hast given Him. Consequently those were not given
to Him, to whom He shall not give eternal life : although
power over them also is given Him to Whom is given power
over all flesh, i. e. over every man. So shall the world
reconciled be delivered out of the world at enmity, when
over that He putteth forth His power to cast it into eternal
death : but maketh this His own to give it eternal life.
Wherefore to all His sheep, without exception, hath the
Good Shepherd, to all His members hath the great Head,
promised this reward, that wdiere He is w^e also shall be with
Him : nor can that but be done which the Almighty Son
hath told the Almighty Father that He willeth to be done.
For where They are is also the Holy Ghost, alike eternal, alike
God, One Spirit of Them twain, and the Substance of the
Will of Them both. For that which we read that He said
on the approach of His Passion, Howbeit not what I ivill, M^t.26,
but what Thou icilt, Father; as if there were or had been one ^^'
will of the Father, another of the Son; is but the utterance of
our weak nature, (weak still, however coupled with faith,)
which our Head transfigured into Himself, when also He
bore our sins. But that there is one Will of the Father and
the Son, as Their Spirit also is one, Which being joined to
994 " With Me where I am .•" in the glorified Humanity ;
HoMiL. Them we get the knowledge of the Trinity; this though weak-
ness do not yet suffer us to understand, let piety believe.
2. But since we have already mentioned, as the briefness
of our discourse allowed, who they are to whom He promised,
and how firm the promise is, let us see, as far as we are able,
V. 24. what this thing is that He deigned to promise. 1 will,
saith He, that they ivhom Thou hast given Me he with Me
where I am. As touching the created nature in which He
'Rom.ijWas made of the seed of David after the Jlesh, neither was
^* He Himself as yet where He was to be : but in saying,
Where I am, He may have meant us to understand it of His
being soon to ascend into Heaven, as affirming Himself to be
already there where He was soon to be. He may also have
meant it in the same sense as He had spoken to Nicodemus,
ch.3,i3.iVo man hath ascended into Heaven, save He which descended
from Heaven, the Son of Man which is in Heaven. For there
also He said not. Shall be, but. Is; by reason of the Unity
of Person, in which both God is Man, and Man is God. It
is a promise therefore that we shall be in heaven : for thilner
was that form of a servant which He took of the Virgin
lifted up and placed at the right hand of the Father. By
reason of the hope of this so great good, the Apostle also
Ep^- 2, saith ; But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love
wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together ivith Christ, hy Whose grace we
are saved: and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly jilaces in Christ Jesus. This then, the
Lord Jesus may be understood to have said in the v/ords,
That where I am they may he with Me. And of Himself
indeed He hath said that He was already there, but of us
He hath said that He willeth that we should be there with
Him, not shewn that we were already there. But the Apostle
speaks of that as if it were already done, of which the Lord
hath said that He willed it to be done. For the Apostle
saith not. Will raise up, and make to sit in heavenly places ;
but Hath raised up, and made to sit in heavenly places:
because he not vainly but faithfully accounts that to be
already done, of which he doubteth not that it shall be done.
On the other hand, if we would understand the Lord to speak
in respect of the form of God in which He is equal with
or, 171 respect of His Godhead, with Him, 995
tlie Father, in this saying, / will that where I am ihey John
xvir.
24—26.
may he with Me; let all conception of bodily images depart ^^^^
from the mind; whatever shall occur to the thought as long,
broad, thick ; coloured with any soever corporeal light,
diffused through any soever dimensions of space, whether
finite or infinite; from all these, as much as it is possible,
let the mind avert its regard or aim. And concerning the
Son Equal with the Father let it not be asked where He
is, since none can find where He is not. But he that
will needs seek, let him seek rather to be with Him ; not
everywhere as He is, but wherever it is possible for man
to be. For He Who said to the man who even on the cross
of his punishment made saving confession. To-day shalt thou
he with Me in Paradise; as He was Man, His soul was
that same day to be in hell. His flesh in the tomb ; but as
God, He was also in Paradise. And therefore the soul of
that thief, absolved from its old misdeeds, and by His gift
already blessed, although it had not power to be everywhere
as He was ; yet even that same day it had power to be with
Him in Paradise, whence He Who is always everywhere
had never departed. For this reason, clearly. He thought it
not enough to say, / will that where I am^ they may be
also; but He added, with Me. For to be with Him, this is
the great good ; since even wretches can be where He is,
because whosoever and wheresoever they be, there is He
also : but only the blessed are w4th Him, because they
cannot be blessed but by Him. Is it not truly said to God,
If I ascend into Heaven, Thou art there; and if I go downpg^j^g
into hell, Thou art there ? Or truly is not Christ the Wisdom ^*
of God which reach eth every where hy reason of its clear- y^^^^ ^
ness? Howbeit, the Light sidneth in darkness, and the'^^-
darkness comprehendeth it not. And therefore, to take some
sort of example from a thing visible, albeit widely dissimilar ;
just as a blind man, although he is where the light is, yet is
he not with the light, but he is absent from it present; so
the unbelieving and ungodly, or the man who though
believing and godly, is not at present in a condition to
behold the light of Wisdom, although he cannot be where
Christ is not, yet is he not with Christ, at least, not by sight:
for by faith the pious believer is, no doubt, with Christ:
996 hy visloji of ''the Only True God;' the Trinity:
HoMiL. as He saith, He that is not ivlth Me is against Hie. But
^^^* when He said to God the Father, / will that they ichom
30. ' Thou hasl given Me, he uilh Me where I am ; He spake
1 John it altogether of that sight, whereby ice shall see Him as
^' ^- He is.
3. Where the sense is clear and unclouded, let no man
trouble it with a mist of contradiction ; let the words follow-
ing bear witness to those which go before. Namely, when
He had said, / will that ichere I am they also be with Me,
immediately He goes on to say, that they may see My
glory, which Thou hast given Me: for thou lovedst Me
before the foundation of the world. That they may see,
saith He; not, that they may believe. This is the wages of
faith, not faith itself. For if faith is rightly defined in the
Heb.li, Epistle to the Hebrews, tlie conviction of things ichich are
^' not seen; why should not the wages of faith be defined,
The seeing of things which being believed were hoped for.^^
For when we shall see the glory which the Father gave to
the Son, although we understand Him to speak in this
place, not of that glory which the Father gave to His Equal
Son by begetting Him, but which, when He was made Son
of Man, the Father gave Him after the death of the Cross :
when, I say, we shall see that glory of the Son, assuredly,
then shall be the judgment of the quick and dead, then
Isa. 26, shall the ungodly be taken away that he may not see the
^^' glory of the Lord. What glory, but that whereby He is
Matt. 5, God.? For blessed are ihe imre in heart, for they shall see
God: and the ungodly are not pure in heart, therefore sliall
not see. Then shall they go into everlasting punishment;
for so shall the ungodly be taken away, that he may not see
Id. 25, the glory of the Lord, but the righteous shall go into life
^^3^ eternal. And what is life eternal ? That they may know,
saith He, Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom
Thou hast sent: certainly, not as those knew Him, w ho though
not pure in heart, yet in the glorified form of a servant had
power to see Him judging ; but as He is to be known by the
pure in heart, ihe only true God, the Son together with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, because the Trinity Itself is the
only true God. If then we take this to be said in regard that He,
the Son of God, is God equal and coeternal with the Father:
ivhen the Saints shall he with Christ in God, 997
I will that where I am they may be with Me,- we shall be John
in the Father with Christ ; but He as He, vve as we, where- 24Z26*
soever we may be in the body. For if the name of place is
to be given even where no bodies are contained, and the
place of a thing is the where of that thing, the eternal place
of Christ, where He always is, is the Father Himself, and
the place of the Father is the Son ; because /, saith He, am ch. 14,
in the Father, and the Father is in Me ; and in this prayer, '
as Thou^ Father, saith He, art in Me, and I in Thee : and
They are our place, because it is added, that they also may
be one in Us : and we are the place of God, because we are
His Temple ; as He prays for us, Who died for us, and
liveth for us, that we may be one in Them j because HisPs.76,2.
place was made in^ peace, and His dicelling in Zion: which ^ Heb.
dwelling are we. But what man is able to conceive those ^^'^'
places, or the things that are in those* places, apart from
all capacity of space and all magnitude of body ? Yet
one is making no small progress, if at least whatever notion
of this kind occurs to the eye of the heart, is denied, repu-
diated, disallowed ; and one has a conception of a kind of
light in which it is seen that these things must be denied,
repudiated, disallowed ; and one feels how sure that light is,
and loves it, so as to rise therefrom and press onward to that
which is within : which, when the mind, because it is weak
and less pure than that inward truth, cannot penetrate into,
yet not without groans of love and tears of longing desire
does it perforce retire thence ; and bears patiently, so long
as it is in process of being purified by faith, and by sanctity
of manners prepared that it may be able to dwell there.
4. How then shall we not be w^ith Christ where He is,
when with Him we shall be in the Father in Whom He is ?
Nor hath the Apostle forborne to speak of this to us, who
though not yet possessed of the reality, still have hope
thereof. For he saith, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek Col. 3,
those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the ^**
right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not
on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is
hid ivith Christ in God. Lo, in the mean while, by faith
and hope, where Christ is, there is our life with Him;
because it is with Christ in God. Lo, that is as it were
998 Kriowledge of God justly withheld from the reprobate,
HoMiL. already done which the Lord prayed might be done, saying,
^^^- / ivill that ivhere I am they also may be ivith Me : howbeit,
now by faith. But when shall it be by sight ? When Christ
saith He, Who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also
appear tvith Him in glory. Then shall we appear as the
thing which then we shall be ; because it shall then appear
that we not in vain believed and hoped for it before we were
that thing. He shall do this, to Whom when the Son had
said, That they may see My glory which Thou hast given Me,
He straightway subjoined, Because Thou lovedst Me before
the foundation of the world. For in Him He loved also us
before the foundation of the world, and then predestinated
that which in the end of the world He shall make us to be.
V. 25. ^« ^ righteous Father, saith He, the world hath not knotmi
Thee. Because Thou art righteous, therefore hath not
known Thee. For that world predestinated to condemnation
1 merito ' deservedly hath not known : but the world which by Christ
He hath reconciled to Himself hath known, not deservedly,
but of grace. For what is it to know Him but life eternal ?
which assuredly to the condemned world He hath not given,
to the reconciled world hath given. Therefore the reason
why the ivorld hath not known Thee is, because Thou art
righteous, and hast allotted to its deserts that it should
not know Thee. And the reason why the reconciled world
hath known Thee is, because Thou art merciful, and, not
for its deserts but of grace, didst come to its help, that it
should know Thee. As it is further said: But I have
known Thee. The very Fountain of Grace is God by nature,
but Man of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin by ineffable
■Rom. 7, grace : and so, because of Him, for that the grace of God is
2^- through Jesus Christ our Lord, And these, saith He, have
known because Thou didst send Me. This is the reconciled
world. But because Thou didst send Me, therefore have
they known : consequently, by grace have known.
V. 2G. 6. And I have made known to //lem, saith He, Thy Xame,
and will make it known. Have made known by faith, will
make known by sight: have made known to them sojourn-
ing with an end, will make known to them reigning without
end. That the love, saith He, tvhich Thou hast loved Me
[willial], may be in them, and I in them. It is not a usual
mercifully given through Christ to the electa His memhers, 999
form of expression, " ut clilectio quam dilexisti Me, in ipsis John
sit^ et Ego in ipsis:'" for in the usual form it would be said, 26 '
" dilectio qua dilexisti ilfe." This expression indeed is
translated from the Greek'': but there are also similar Latin
phrases; as we say'', ^' Fidelem servitutem servivit," " stre-
nuam militiam militavit," when it should seem that it should
have been said, " Fideli servitute servivit," " strenua militia
militavit." And such as this expression, " Dilectio quam
dilexisti Me^'' such also the Apostle has used, " Bonum cer-
tamen certavi,'" I have fought a good fight : he saith not, 2 Tim.
" Bono certamine," [" with a good fight,"] which would be '
the more usual, and, so to say, the more correct expression. —
But the love which the Father hath loved the Son withal,
how is it in us also, but because we are His members, and
are loved in Him seeing He is loved whole, i. e. Head and
Body? Therefore He hath added, JwfZ / in them; as much
as to say. Because I am also in them. For it is in one way
that He is in us as in His Temple ; but in another way that
we also are He, since in regard that He was made man to
be our Head, we are His Body. — The Saviour's Prayer is
ended, the Passion begins : therefore let the present dis-
course also be ended, that, touching the Passion, that which
Himself shall grant, may in other sermons be discoursed.
* ^a7a7n7V TJTaTTTjcras/xe. Cod. Alex. Cant. Gr. 57.
Vat. and Elz. ^j»/. Cod. Cant. Lat. y?/a;«. ^ "He served a faithful service,"
But the oldest copies of the Latin (Ver- "He warred an active warfare," for,
cell. Veron. Colb.) qua: and Cod.
H O M I L Y CXIL
John xviii. 1 — 12.
When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His
disciples over the hrooJc Cedron, ivhere was a garden, into
the which He entered, and His disciples. And Judas also,
which betrayed Him, knew the place: for Jesus had ofttimes
resorted thither loith His disciples. Judas then, having
received a hand of men, and officers from the chief priests
and Pharisees, cometh thither ivith lanterns and torches and
tveapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should
come upon Him, went forth, and said unto them. Whom seek
ye ? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith
unto them, I am He. And Judas also, which betrayed Him,
stood with them. As soon then as He had said unto them,
I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
Then asked He them again. Whom seek ye ? And they
said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, 1 have told you
that I am He : if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
way : that the saying might be fulfilled, which He spake,
Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none. Then
Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high
priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. Tlie servant's
name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up
thy sword into the sheath: the cup which My Father hath
given Me, shall I not drink it ? Then the band and the
captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound Him.
\. Having brought to an end the great and lengthened
discourse which the Lord after the supper, now on the point
The Canonical Gospels perfectly consistetit. lOOl
of slieddinpf His blood for us, held to the disciples who wore John
XVIII
there with Him, and having added thereto the prayer which j 2. *
He directed to the Father, then, proceeding to the Passion,
the EvangeUst John thus begins: IV/ien Jesns had spoken^. 1.2.
these icords, He went forth with His disciples over the brook
Cedron^ where was a (jarden^ into the ivhich He entered^ and
His disciples. And Judas also, ichich betrayed Him^ knew
the place : for Jesus had ofttimes resorted thither with His
disciples. This which He relates of the Lord's entering with
His disciples into the garden did not take place immediately
after His prayer was ended, of the words of which prayer he
saith. When Jesns had spoken these words : but certain
other things intervened, which are left out by this Evan-
gelist, but are read in the others; just as there are many cir-
cumstances found in this Evangelist, which those in like man-
ner have left untold. But how they all agree together, and
nothing in any one Evangelist is at variance with the truth
put forth by another: this whoso desires to know, let him
seek not in these discourses, but in other laborious writings; S. Aug.
and not by standing and hearing, but rather by sitting andsgJ^g^
reading", or by lendinoj a most attentive ear and mind to hiniEvan-
^^ J ° . ^ . . gelista-
that readeth, let him learn these things. Yet let him believe rum:
before he knows whether it be so — be it that he can come to^jf'^^'
Horn.
know it in this life, or be it that by reason of some impedi-ii7, 2.
ments he cannot get this knowledge — that there is nothing
written by any one Evangelist, so far as regards these whom
the Church hath received into canonical authority, that can
possibly be contrary either to his own, or to another's no less
veracious narration. At this time therefore, as we have taken
in hand the narrative of this blessed John, let us look to it,
without comparison of the others, not dwelling on those
points which are manifest, that, vrhere need is, we may do
this as cause requires. Well then, whereas he saith, When
Jesus had spoken these uords. He went forth with His
discip)les over the brook Cedron, where teas a garden, into
the which He entered, and His disciples ; we are not to take
this as if He entered into that garden immediately after
those words ; but the saying, When Jesus had spoken these
words, must mean this, that we should not suppose Him to
have entered before He had ended those words.
100*2 Christ's Divine Poicer latent in the flesh
HoMiL. 2. " Sciebat et Judas, qui tradebat euin, locum.'''' The
V. 27
ex I T
-— — '- order of the words is, sciebat locum, qui tradebat eum : And
Judas, which betrayed Him, knew the place ; because, saith
he, Jesus had ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples.
There then the wolf clad in sheep's clothing, and tolerated
among the sheep by the deep counsel of the Master of the
house, learned where, for a short time, he might scatter the
^' 3. flock, by treacherously attacking the Shepherd. Judas then,
saiih he, having received a band of men, and officers from
the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns
and torches and weapons. The band was composed, not of
Jews, but of soldiers. Let it be understood therefore to have
been received from the governor, as for the purpose of
arresting a criminal, with due observance of the order of
lawful authority, that none might dare oppose the arrest:
though that both so large a band had been drawn together,
and that it came so fully armed, was in order either to deter
from, or also to quell, all opposition, should any dare to
defend Christ. For in such sort was His power hidden and
veiled with infirmity, that His enemies could deem these
precautions necessary against Him, against Whom nothing-
would have availed, but what He Himself would ; He, the
Good, Who putteth the bad to good use, and bringeth good
things out of bad, in order to make good men of bad, and to
distinguish good from bad.
V.4— 6. 3. Jesus therefore, as the Evangelist goes on to say,
Imowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth,
and said unto them, Whom seek ye ? They answered Him,
Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He. And
Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood tvith them. As soon
then as He had said unto them, I am He, they went back-
ward, and fell to the ground. Where now is the band of
soldiers, and the officers of the chief men and Pharisees?
Where the terror and defence of weapons ? For though
that was so great a crowd, fierce in hate and terrible with
arms, yet did that one w^ord, / am He, spoken by Him,
without any weapon smite them through, drive back, lay
them prostrate. For God was latent in that Flesh; and the
Eternal Day was so hidden by the members of that humanity,
that it needed to be sought with lanterns and torches, to be
at times dismayed His enemies. 1003
put to death by the darkness! / am He, saith He; and John
beats down the ungodly. What shall He do when He comes 7_io.*
to judge, Who did this when about to be judged? What
shall be His might when He comes to reign, Who had this
might when He was at the point to die ? And now also
everywhere by the Gospel Christ saith, I am He; and the
Jews are looking for Antichrist that they may go backward
and fall to the ground, because forsaking heavenly things
they desire earthly ! Surely it was to lay hold on Jesus
that the persecutors came with the traitor. Whom they
sought they found; they heard the word / am He,- then
why did they not lay hold on Him, but went backward and
fell; but because so He would, who could whatever He
would ? But then, had He never suffered Himself to be
taken by them, they indeed would not have done the thing
they came for, but neither would He have done that for
which He came. They in their rage sought Him to put
Him to death; but He also sought us by dying for us.
And therefore, because when they would hold Him and
could not. He shewed His power, let them hold Him now,
that by means of them, all unwitting. He may do His will.
4. Then asked He them again, Whom seek ye ? And they v. 7—9.
said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am He : if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
way : that the saying might he fulfilled, which He spake.
Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none. If, saith
He, ye seek Me, let these go their way. He bids^ His
enemies, and they do the thing He bids them ; they suffer
those to go their way whom He wishes not to go to destruc-
tion ^ But were they not to die afterward? Then why, if ' ire,
they died then, would it be their destruction, but because Hon',^
they did not yet so believe on Him as those believe who goii3.§.2.
not to destruction ?
5. Then Simon Peter having a sword dreiv it, and smote^- lo.
the high priest's servant, and cut off his rigid ear. The
servant's name was Malchus. Only this Evangelist has
expressly mentioned the name of this servant, just as LukeLuke22,
a Inimicos videt. Morel. Element, read in the Catena Aarea of Thorn.
Crit. p. 129, 130. conjectures that it Aquin. Ed. Par. This has been adopted
should be inimicos jubet. And so it is with the authority of Ms. Laud. 143.
3 u
1004 The mystery of the wounding and healing of Blalchus.
HoMiL. only, that the Lord touched his ear and healed him. But
CXII .
^ Malchus is by interpretation, " one that shall reign." What
then is the significance of the cutting off and healing of the
ear, but the renewal of the hearing by cutting off the old-
Rom. 7, ness, that it may be in newness of the Spirit, not in oldness
of the letter? And who can doubt that he to whom this is
done by Christ shall reign with Christ ? Moreover, that he
was found a servant, this also pertaineth to that oldness
Cral. 4, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. But when
soundness was imparted, therein was liberty prefigured. Yet
the Lord reproved the deed of Peter, and forbade him to go
further, saying, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup
which 3Iy Father hath given Me, shall 1 not drink it? For
in his own deed, the disciple wished only to defend his
Master, and had no thought of a thing to be signified.
Therefore must both he be admonished unto patience, and
this thing be written for our understanding. That He saith
the cup of suffering was given Him by the Father, is just
Rom. 8, what the Apostle saith. If God be for us, ivho is against
' ' us ? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all. Yet is He also the Author of this cup that
drank it : whence the sauie Apostle also saith, Christ loved
Ept. 5, .ns^ (ind delive7'ed Himself tip for us an oblation and sacrifice
unto God for an odour of a sweet smell.
T. 12. 6. Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews
laid hold upon Jesus, and bound Him. Laid hold upon^
Him Whom they came not near unto : since He is the Day,
whereas they continued to be the darkness ; nor was it said
P>5. 34, to them, Draw near to Him, and be enlightened. For had
&LXx!*^^y thus drawn near, they would have laid hold upon Him
not with hands to kill Him, but with the heart to receive
Him. But now when they laid hold on Him in that way,
then they went further from Him; and bound Him by Whom
they should rather have wished to be loosed. And there
were perchance among them those who then put their
bonds upon Christ, and afterward, being delivered by Him,
Ps. 116, said. Thou hast broke?! my bonds in sunder. Let this be
enough for to-day; that which follows shall be handled,
(jod willing, in another discourse.
b Comprehendcrunt : Aug. alludes to John 1,5. et tenebree earn non compre-
henderunt.
HOMILY CXm.
John xviii. 13 — 27,
And led Him away to Annas first : for he was father-in-law to
CaiphaSf which was the high priest that same year, Noiu
Caiphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was
expedient that one man should die for the people. But
Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple :
that disciple was knowii unto the high priest, and went in
with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter
stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple,
which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her
that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the
damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one
of this mans disciples? He saith, I am not. And the
servants and officers stood there, by a fire of coals; for it
was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood
with them, and warmed himself. The high priest then
asked Jesus of His disciples , and of His doctrine. Jesus
answered him, I spake openly to the world: I ever taught
in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always
resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest
thou Me? ask them which heard Me, what I have said unto
them: behold, they know what I said. And when He had
thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus
with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high
priest so ? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear
witness of the evil : but if well, why smitest thou Me P Now
Annas had sent Him bound unto Caiphas the high priest,
3 u 2
1 006 Peter's denial of Christ
HoMiL. But Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They
said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his dis-
ciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. One of the
servants of the high priest, being his Mnsman whose ear
Peter cut off, saith. Did not I see thee in the garden with
him f Peter then denied again : and immediately the cock
crew.
1. When the persecutors had taken and bound, delivered
Eph. 5, up by Judas, the same Lord, Who loved us, and delivered
^ g Himself up for us, and Whom the Father spared not, hut
32. delivered Him up for us all; (that, as for Judas, it may be
understood, that far from being laudable for the good we
have by this delivering up, he is damnable for the wicked-
V. 13.14. ness which he had in his wish;) they led Him, John the
Evangelist relates, to Annas first. Nor does he omit to
mention why this was done : for, saith he, lie was father-in-
law to Caiphas, which was the high priest that same yea?'.
Noiv Caiphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that
it was expedient that one man should die for the people. It
Mat.26,is but natural that Matthew, as wishing to relate the cir-
cumstances more briefly, mentions only His being takeu to
Caiphas ; for in fact the reason why He was taken to Annas
first, was, that this person was father-in-law to Caiphas :
where it is to be understood that the said Caiphas wished it
so to be.
V. 15. 2. But, saith he, Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did
another disciple. Who this disciple was, is not to be rashly
aflSrmed, seeing it is not mentioned. It is the wont however
ch, 13, of this same John thus to signify himself, and to add, whom
2g' ^^' Jesus loved. Perhaps then, he may be the person here :
but be who it may, let us look to what follows. But Peter
v.161.7. stood at the door without. Then went out that other dis-
ciple, uhich was known unto the high priest, and spake unto
her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith
the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also
one of this mart's disciples? He saith, I am not. Behold,
that most firm pillar, touched but by one breath of air, trembles
all over! Where is now that boldness of promising, and con-
fident vaunting of himself? Where now those words that he
contrasted ivitk the constancy of the Martyrs. 1007
sp ake, Why ca n not I folio w Thee now: J wi II lay do wn my life J * h n
for Thee? To follow the Master, is it to deny oneself to be i5_i8.
His disciple at all ? to lay down one's life for the Lord, ch, 13,
is it for fear of this very thing to quake at the voice of a
servant woman ? But what wonder if that proved true which
God predicted, that false which man presumed ? Of course,
in this matter of the Apostle Peter's denial, which has now
begun, we should bear it in mind, that Christ is not only
denied by that person who saith that He is not Christ; hut supra
by that person also, who being a Christian denies that he is^ote.
such. For the Lord said not to Peter, Thou shalt deny that
thou art My disciple, but. Thou shalt deny Me. Con- Mat. 26,
sequently, he denied Him, when he denied that he was His .
disciple. Now in so doing, what did he but deny himself
to be a Christian ? For though Christ's disciples were
not yet called by this name: because it was after His ascen-
sion that the disciijles wereflrst called Christians at Antloch : Acts ii,
yet the thing already existed that was afterwards to be called
by that name ; already disciples existed, who were after-
wards called Christians, and by whom this common name,
as also the common faith, was transmitted to those that came
after. Consequently in denying himself to be Christ's dis-
ciple, he denied the thing itself of which the being called
'^ Christians" is the name. How many since then, I say not
of old men and old women, in whom very satiety of this life
might make it easier to despise death in confessing Christ ;
nor only of those of either sex who are yet in the prime of
life, of which age one naturally expects fortitude ; but how
many even boys and girls have been able to do this, and what
an innumerable fellowship of holy martyrs courageously and
with violence hath entered into the kingdom of heaven, which
thing at that time he was not able to do, who received the
keys of that kingdom ! See here of whom it is said. Let
these go their way, when He delivered Himself up for us,
Who by His blood redeemed us; that the saying might
he fulfilled which He spake, Of them which Thou gavest Me,
have I lost none. Since, for Peter to go hence straight from
denying Christ, what were it but to go to perdition* ? i iret,
3. And the servants and officers stood there, hy a Jive o/*vY8-2l
coals ; for it was cold : and they warmed themselves. It was
1008 Christ '^ spake openly to the world^''
HoMiL.not winter, but yet it was cold : as it is sometimes wont to
CXIII.
^be even at the time of the vernal equinox. And ivith them
was Peter also standing, and warming himself. The high
priest then asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His doctrine.
Jesus answered him, I spake op)enly to the world ; I ever
taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the
Jews resort ; and in secret have I spoken nothing. Why
askest thou Me ? ask them which heard 3Ie, what I have said
unto them : behold, they know what I said. A question
arises here which must not be passed by, how the Lord Jesus
said, / spake openly to the world ; and especially, that He
saith, In secret have I spoken nothing. Even in this more
recent discourse, which He spake to His disciples after the
ch. 16 supper, did He not say to them. These things have I spoken
25' iinto you in proverbs: the hour cometh tvhen I shall no
more speak to you in proverbs, but shall tell you openly of
My Father ? If then even with His own more intimate dis-
ciples He spake not openly, but promised an hour when He
should speak openly, how can He have spoken openly to
the world? Moreover, as the authority of the other Evan-
gelists doth witness, even to those His own disciples He
certainly did speak much more plainly, in comparison with
Mat. 13, those who were not His disciples, when He was with them
Mark 4 ^ilone, apart from the multitudes: for then He opened to
33. 34. them the parables which He put forth closed to others.
What means it then, In secret have I spoken nothitig? But
we must understand this, / spake openly to the loorld, to be
all one as if He had said, Many heard Me. Moreover, that
same openly, was in some sense openly, in some sense not
openly. Openly it was, because many heard : and again it
was not openly, because they did not understand. And even
what He spake to the disciples, certainl}- He spake it not
in secret. For how can a man be said to speak in secret,
when he speaks in the presence of so many men : seeing it
Deut is written, ///. the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
' * shall stand: especially if what He speaks to few he wishes
through them to become known to many ; as the Lord Him-
Mat.io, self said to those as yet few whom He had with Him, What
I say unto you in darkness, that say ye in the light: and
what ye hear in the ear, that p?'each ye upon the house- lops?
i. e. Many heard, tlioughfeio understood. 1009
Consequently even what seemed to be said by Him secretly, John
in some sense was not said in secret: because it was not so2i_23
said, that they to whom it was said, should hold their peace
thereof; nay, but that they should on every hand preach it
abroad. Therefore a thing can be said to be spoken at once
openly and not openly, or at once in secret and not in secret,
in the same sense in which it is said. That seeing they may Mark 4,
see, and not see. For how should they see, except as it was
spoken openly, not in secret ? and how again should the same
persons not see, except as not openly, but in secret ? Yet the
very things which they had heard and not understood, were
such that they could not justly and truly criminate Him
withal: and as often as by putting questions they essayed to
find whereof they might accuse Him, He so answered them,
that all their wiles were beaten back and their calumnies
frustrated. Therefore He said. Why askest Tliou Ble? Ask y. 21.
them which heard what I spake to them: behold, these know
what I said.
4. And when He had thus spoken, one of the o^Ve;-.s v.22.23.
which stood by struck Jesus tcitli the palm of his hand,
saying., Answerest Thou the high-priest so? Jesus answered
him, If I have spoken evil, bear ivitness of the evil : but
if well, why smitest thou 3Ie? What could be more true,
more gentle, more just, than this answer ? For it is His,
concerning Whom that prophetic word had gone before :
Speed Thee, and prosperously go forward'', and reign .-Fs.id^i.
because of truth, and gentleness, and righteousness. If
we bethink us Who He was that received that blow,
should we not \\ish either fire from heaven to consume
the smiter, or for the earth to cleave asunder and swallow
him up, or that he should be caught up and whirled away
by a demon, or smitten with whatever suchlike or any even
more dreadful punishment ? For what was there of all these
that He could not by His power have commanded, by
Whom the world was made, were it not that He chose rather
to teach us the patience by which the world is overcome ?
Here some man will say : Why did He not what Himself
hath enjoined ? For instead of thus answering the smiter, Matt. 5,
He should have turned to him the other cheek. Yea, but^^*
* Intende et prospere proccde, Vulg. ^vt^ivov koX KaTcvoSov.
1010 Christ's precept of furinng the other cheek
HoMiT.. did He not both answer truly, gently, and righteously, and,
* not merely turn the other cheek to the smiter for a second
blow, but yield His whole body in a readiness to be fixed
upon the tree ? And hereby He rather shewed, what needed
to be shewn, namely, that those His own great precepts of
patience are to be put in practice, not by outward shew of the
body, but by preparedness of the heart. For visibly to present
the other cheek, is no more than even an angry man can do^
How much better then, that He both with mild answer
speaks the truth, and with tranquil mind is prepared to
endure even worse outrages ? For blessed is he who in all
the unrighteous dealing that he suffers for righteousness'
Ps.57,7. sake, can truly say. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is
1 Paul 'i'^f^dy- foi' of tl^is comes that which there follows, / will sing
and and give praise ; which Paul and Barnabas even in hardest
Silas^ , -
Acts 16, bonds were able to do.
^^' 5. But let us see to the sequel of the Gospel narrative.
V. 24. And Annas sent Him bound unto Caiphas the high priest.
Mat. 26, To him, as Matthew tells, they were leading Him from the
first, because he was the chief of the priests of that
year. Namely, it is to be understood that the office was
supra held in alternate years by the two high priests, i. e. chiefs of
Joseph. ^^^^ priests, which at that time were Annas and Caiphas,
Ant. 18, whom Luke the Evanselist mentions, when relatinp- at what
22. and
43*. time the Lord's forerunner John began to preach the kingdom
Luke 3, of heaven, and to gather disciples. For so he saith : 77/6-
chief of the priests being Annas and Caiphas, the word of the
Lord came upon John son of Zacharias in the wilderness,
8fc. Consequently, those two high priests held office by turns,
each for his year : and it was the year of Caiphas when
^ Comp. de Mendacio, 27. C' Seven- the Lord Jesus, that great pattern of
teen Short Treatises," p. 410.) Also patience, being smitten on the cheek,
de Serm. Dora, in Monte, i. 58 tf. made ajiswer. If T /lave spoken ill, Sfc.
Epist. 138. §, 12 ff. (" In fact, that So that He by no means fulfilled His
these precepts are meant more of the own precept, if we look only to the
preparedness of the heart, which is words of it. For He did not present
within, than of the overt act: that in the other side to the smiter, nay with-
the hidden temper of the mind we held it, lest he who had done the wrong
should keep patience together with be- should aggravate his guilt: and yet
nevolence, and in the outward conduct He was come, ready not only to be
do that which seems likely to do good smitten on the face, but even to be
to those to whom we ought to wish crucified, &c."
well; is clearly shewn by this, that
2.
how explained by His own example. 1011
Christ suffered. To him therefore, accordinaj to Matthew, John
XVIII.
the Lord was taken when He was arrested : only first, ac- 25—27.'
cording to John, they came with Him to Annas: not because
he was the other's colleague, but as he was his father-in-law.
And we must take it that this was done agreeably with the
will of Caiphas : or else that their houses were so situated,
that it was not right to pass by Annas on their way.
6. But the Evangelist having told how Annas sent Him
bound to Caiphas, returns to that point of the story at which
he had left Peter, to give the full account of what had befallen
in the house of Annas concerning his threefold denial. But v. 25.
Simon Peter, saith he, icas standing and warming himself: in
this he recapitulates what he had said before : thereupon he
joins on what followed. They said therefore unto liim, Art
not thou also one of His disciples? He denied it, and said,
I am not. Already he had once denied : behold here the
second time. Then that the third denial may be completed,
One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsmaii"^-^^'^'^'
ivhose ear Peter cut off, saith. Did not I see thee in the
garden with Him? Peter then denied again: and im-
mediately the cock crew. Behold, the prediction of the
Physician is fulfilled : the presumption of the sick man is
brought home to him. For not that came to pass, which Peter
had told of himself, I will lay down my life for Thee; but^^-i^»
that did come to pass which the Lord had foretold. Thou
wilt deny Me thrice. Howbeit, Peter's threefold denial
being now completed, here let this sermon be completed ;
that what thereafter was done concerning the Lord before
Pontius Pilate the governor, w^e may set out to consider from
another commencement.
HOMILY CXIV.
John xv. 28—32.
Then bring they Jesus unto Caiphas into the hall of judgment :
and it "was early; and they themselves went not into the
judgment hall, lest they should be dejiled ; but that they
might eat the passover. Pilate then went out unto them, and
said. What accusation bring ye against this man ? They
answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we
would not have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate
unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law.
The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to
put any man to death : that the saying of Jesus might be
fulfilled, which He spake, signifying what death He should
die.
I. What was done with or concerniug our Lord Jesus
Christ in the house of Pontius Pilate the governor, so far as
John the Evangelist relates the facts, this let us in the next
place see. He returns, namely, to that point of his recital
where he had left it for the purpose of giving the whole
V. 24. account of Peter's denial. For he had already said, Aiid
Annas sent Him hound to Caiphas the high-priest : and
having from that point gone back to where he had left Peter
warming himself at the fire in the hall, first brings to a close
the whole story of Peter's denial, in its three acts, and then
"^•28. says, So they bring Jesus unto Caiphas'' into the preetorium
a ^f/ Cazja/iam, and so in the treatise Latin Mss. have it: so has the old
de Consensu Evang. iii. 27. where, Saxon version: Lachmann cites Cod.
vrithout mention of any other reading, YQVceW.Viissmnad Caiphamprincipem
Aug. offers a brief explanation of the sacerdotum: CoVoext. ad Caipham et ad
diffteulty arising from this, certainly Pilatum. No trace of it is found in
erroneous, reading. Mill says on the the Greek authorities,
testimony of Lucas Brug. that many
The Jews, infatuated by their wickedness : 1013
(or judgment-hall): unto Caiphas, as he had mentioned that John
XVlIi
28—30
the Lord was sent to hun by Annas, his colleague and-^^ *
father-in-law. But if to Caiphas, why into the prcBtoj'ium
for by this he means none other than the place where the
governor Pilate dwelt. Either therefore, upon some urgent
cause, Caiphas had gone from the house of Annas, where
both had come together to hear Jesus, to the prsetorium or
residence of the gov^ernor, leaving Jesus to be heard by his
father-in-law : or else Pilate had his prsetorium in the house
of Caiphas, and the house was large enough to allow its own
master to dwell apart, and the judge apart.
2. Now it was early, and they themselves, i. e. those who v. 28.
brought Jesus, ivent not into ilie prcBtorlum, i. e. into that
part of the house which Pilate occupied, if the same was the
house of Caiphas. But the reason why they went not in, he
explains, saying, TJiat they might not he defiled^ hut that
they might eat the passover. For they had begun to keep
the days of unleavened bread: during which days it was
defilement for them to enter the dwelling of one of another
nation. O impious blindness! They would be defiled, for-
sooth, by a dwelling which was another's, and not be defiled
by a crime which was their own ! They feared to be defiled
by the praetorium of an alien judge, and feared not to be
defiled by the blood of an innocent brother : to speak for the
present only of this in which those bad men's conscience was
guilty : for that He was also the Lord, Whom their impiety
was leading to execution, the Giver of life, Whom they were
putting to death, is not to be put to the score of conscience,
but of ignorance.
3. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accu- v.29.30.
sation bring ye against this man? They answered and said
unto him. If he were not a malefactor, we would not have
delivered him up unto thee. Let those be questioned and
make answer, who are deliverd from unclean spirits, the sick
that are made whole, the lepers that are cleansed, the deaf
that hear, the dumb that speak, the blind that see, the dead
that rise again, and, that which surpasses all, the fools that
are wise : let these say whether Jesus be a malefactor. But
they that said this were those of whom He had already fore-
told by the Prophet, They rewarded Me evil for good. ^^' ^^'
1014 pretend that they did not put Christ to death :
HoMiL. 4. Tlien said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge
' him according to your law. The Jews there/ore said unto
him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. What
is this that their frantic cruelty speaketh ? Were they not
putting Him to death Whom they put forward to be put to
death ? or peradventure is the cross not a putting to death ?
So beside themselves are they who pursue with hate the
Wisdom which they should ensue with love ! But what
meaneth this, It is not latvful for us to put any man to
death i If the man is a malefactor, why is it not lawful ?
Did not the Law enjoin concerning malefactors, especially
Deut. such as they accounted Him to be, namely, seducers from
^^' ^* their God, that they should not spare them? But it is to be
understood that they spoke of its being not lawful for them
to put any man to death, in respect of the holiness of the
feast-day, which they had now begun to celebrate ; in which
regard also they dreaded to be defiled by entering into the
judgment-hall. Are ye so hardened, ye false Israelites ?
have ye so lost all feeling by excessive wickedness as to think
yourselves unpolluted by the blood of an innocent man only
because ye have made over the shedding of it to another ?
Will Pilate any more than yourselves slay Him with his own
hands Whom ye have thrust upon his hands to be slain ? If
ye have not wished Him to be slain, if ye have not laid wait
against Him, not bought with money that He should be
betrayed to you, if ye have not seized, bound, haled Him, if
your hands put Him not forward to be slain, your voices
demanded not that He should be slain, then prate that He was
not put to death by you. But if by all these your own foregone
ch. 19, deeds, withal, ye cried. Crucify Him, Crucify Him, hear what
p'g 57 the prophet also crieth against you : As for the children of
4- men, their teeth are as weapons and arrows, and their tongue
a sharp sword. See here with what weapons, with what
arrows, with what sword ye put the Righteous to death, when
ye said it was not lawful for you to put any man to death !
Hence also, whereas the chief priests came not, but sent, to
take Jesus, yet Luke the Evangelist in that part of his
Luke22, narrative saith. But Jesus said unto those who were come
^^' unlo Him, the chief priests, and magistrates of the temple,
and elders; As against a thief are ye come out, c^'c. As then
themselves far more guilty than the Gentiles^ 1015
in the case of the chief priests, though they came not in their John
own persons to take Jesus, yet, in the persons of those whom " 32.
they sent for this purpose, what did they but virtually come
themselves in the power of their bidding ? so all who with
impious voices clamoured for Christ to be crucified, did,
though not by themselves, yet by him who by their clamour
was driven on to this wickedness, themselves kill Him.
5. But in this which John the Evangelist subjoins, 77/a^v. 32.
the saying of Jesus might he fulfilled which He spake,
signifying by ivliat death He should die^ if we will take this
to be spoken of the death of the cross, as if the reason why
the Jews said, It is not lawful for us to put any 7nan to
death, (or, to kill any man,) were this, that to be killed is one
thing, to be crucified another : I do not see how this can be
suitably taken to be the meaning, seeing this was spoken by
the Jews in reply to the words of Pilate, in which he had
said to them. Take ye Him, and judge Him according to
your Laiv. Then could they not have taken Him and
themselves crucified Him, if by this sort of execution they
wished to avoid killing any man ? But who can fail to see
how absurd it would be that it should be lawful for them to
crucify any man, and not lawful to kill any man ? Moreover,
the Lord Himself calls this same death of His, namely, the
death of the cross, by this term of killing or putting to death,
as we read in Mark, where He saith. Behold, ive go vp /oMark
Jerusalem: and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the ^-J^
chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn
Him to death, and shall deliver Him to ilie Gentiles: and
they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit
upon Him, and shall kill Him; and the third day He shall
rise again. Surely then in thus speaking, the Lord signified
by what death He should die, not that He here meant the
death of the cross, but that the Jews should deliver Him to
the Gentiles, I.e. to the Romans: for Pilate was a Roman,
and the Jews had sent Him iivto Jndcca as governor. It
was therefore in order that this saying of Jesus might be
fulfilled, namely, that He should be delivered to the Gentiles,
and they should kill Him, which Jesus had foretold shoidd
come to pass, that when Pilate, who was the Roman judge,
would have given Him back to the Jews that they might
1016 to ivhom, as He fore fold, they delivered Him.
HoMiL. judge Him according to Uieir Law, they refused to take Him,
^^^— 'saying, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.
And so was fulfilled the saying of Jesus which He spake
before concerning His death, that He should be delivered
up by the Jews to the Gentiles, and these should kill Him ;
an act of less wickedness than the Jews committed, who in
this way would fain make themselves as it were to have no
hand in the putting of Him to death; thereby shewing not
that they were innocent, but that they had lost their wits.
HOMILY CXV.
John xviii. 33 — 40.
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called
Jesus, and said unto Him, Art thou the King of the Jews ?
Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did
others tell it thee of Me ? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew f
Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee
unto me : ivhat hast thou done ? Jesus answered, My king-
dom is not of this world : if My kingdom were of this world,
then would My servants fight, that I should not he delivered
to the Jews: hut now is My kingdom not from hence.
Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art thou a King then ? Jesus
answered.. Thou sayest that I am a King. To this end was
I horn, and for this cause came I into the world, that I
should hear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the
truth heareth My voice. Pilate saith unto Him, What is
truth? And when he had said this, he ivent out again unto
the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at
the passover : will ye therefore that I release unto you the
King of the Jews ? TJien cried they all again, sayijig. Not
this Man, hut Barahhas. Now Barahhas was a rohher.
1. What Pilate said to Christ, or what answer He made
to Pilate, is in the present sermon to be considered and
handled. Namely, when it had been said to the Jews, Take
ye him, and judge him according to your Law: and they
had made answer, It is not lawful/or us to put any man to
death: Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, y. 33,34.
1018 Christ's kingdom not of tins world.
Uo.Mih.and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Art thou the King of
—- — 1 the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of
thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me? Undoubtedly
the Lord knew both the thing He asked, and the answer
Pilate would make : but yet it was His will that it should be
spoken, not that He might know, but that it might be written,
V. 35.36. because it was His will that we should know it. Pilate
answered, Am I a Jew? Thine ouii nation and the chief
priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My
kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews; hut now is My
kingdom 71 ot from hence. This it is which it was the will of
our Good Master that we should know: but first we were to
be shewn the vanity of the opinion concerning His kingdom,
entertained by men, whether Gentiles or Jews, from whom
Pilate had heard that: as if the reason why He must be
punished with death were, that He had affected a kingdom
to which He had no right; or because the reigning are wont
to look with an evil eye upon those destined to reign; and
forsooth there were need to beware lest His kingdom should
be adverse either to the Komans or to the Jews. Now the
Lord might have answered at once, 3Iy kingdom is not from
hence, 8fc. to the first question put by the governor, A7't thou
the King of the Jews ? but in putting a question in return,
namely, whether he spake this of himself, or had been told
it by others, it was His will to shew by Pilate'*s reply that
this had been laid to Him as a crime by the Jews in their
Ps. 94 conference with the governor : thus laying open to us tlie
^^' thoughts of men which He knew, that they are vain; and
to them after Pilate's answer, making a reply which now
both to Jews and Gentiles was more seasonable and suitable,
My kingdom is not of this world. But if He had im-
mediately made this answer to Pilate's interrogatory, He
might have seemed to have made it, not to the Jews as
•well, but only to the Gentiles as holding this opinion con-
cerning Him. Now, however, Pilate in answering. Thine
own nation and high-priests delivered thee unto me,
has removed from himself the surmise which might have
been entertained of him, that he had spoken of himself
Chris fs Kingdom is in tJie world, not of it. 1019
what he had said about Jesus being King of the Jews ; John
proving that by the Jews he was told this thing. Then, in ^q
going on to say, What hast thou done? he makes it plain ~
enough that such was the crime laid to the charge of Jesus:
as much as to say. If thou deniest that thou art a King, what
hast than done to be delivered up to me? As if it would be
no wonder that He were delivered up to the judge to be
punished, should He say that He was a King : but if He
should not say this, there was need to ask of Him what else
He perchance had done, for which He would deserve to be
delivered up to the judge.
2. Hear therefore, Jews and Gentiles ; hear, Circumcision ;
hear, Uncircumcision ; hear, all ye kingdoms of the earth :
I bar not your domination in this world. Mi/ kingdom is not v. 36.
of this world. Fear ye not with that most vain fear, which
the elder Herod, when it was told him that Christ was born, Matt. 2,
3 — 16.
was dismayed withal, and slew so many infants to make sure
that death might reach Him, being more of fear than of
wrath made ruthless : My kingdom, saith He, is not of this
world. What would ye more ? Come to the kingdom which
is not of this world; come, by believing; and not be fierce
by being afraid. He saith indeed in the prophecy, concern-
ing God the Father, But I am set by Him as King upon Ps. 2, 6.
Sion His holy inountain : but that Sion and that mountain ^^^^'^
is not of this world. For what is His kingdom, but they
that believe on Him, to whom He saith, Ye are not of the ch. 17,
world, even as I am not of the world? Though He would ^^*
have them to be in the world: wherefore He said of them to
the Father, I pray not that Thou shouldest take them from \h. 15.
the world, hut that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Accordingly in this place also He saith not. My kingdom is
not in this world, but, is not of this world. And when in
proof of this He 'added, If My kingdom were of the ivorld,
then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered
to the Jews, He said not, But now is My kingdom not here,
but, not from hence. For His kingdom is here even unto the
end of the world, having the tares mixed up with it even until
the harvest: for the harvest is the end of the world, when theM.9A.i3,
reapers shall come, i. e. the Angels, a?id shall gather out of^^~'^^'
His kingdom all offences ; which of course could not be, if
3 X
10*20 Christ horn into the world,
HoMiL. His kingdom were not here. But yet it is not from hence ;
^because it sojourns as a stranger in the world: for to His
ch. 15, kingdom He saith, Ye are not of the ivorld, but I have chosen
you out of the ivorld. They were therefore of the world,
when they were not His kingdom, but belonging to the
prince cf this world. * Of this world,' then, is, whatever of
mankind, created indeed by the true God, is begotten from
Adam of a vitiated and condemned stock : and that is become
a kingdom no more of the world, whatever thereof in Christ
Co'- ij is begotten again. For so hath God delivered us from the
power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the
Son of His love : of which kingdom He saith, My kingdom
is not of this world, or. My kingdom is not from hence.
^- 37. 3. Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art thou a king tlien?
Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. Not that
He was afraid to own Himself a king ; but, ' Tliou sayest^ is
so balanced, as neither to deny that He is a king, for He is
a king having a kingdom not of this world ; nor to own that
He is such a king as could be thought to have a kingdom
of this world. For that sort of king was meant by the in-
terrogator in saying, Art thou a king then ? And this say-
ing, Thou sayest, is us much as to say, Carnal, thou carnally
sayest.
4, And then He adds: To this end ivas I horn, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should hear witness
unto the truth. In the words, ' In hoc naius sum,^ the
syllable of the pronoun hoc is not to be made long, as if [it
were the ablative case, and] the meaning were. In hac re
natus sum, in this thing was I born : but it is to be made
short [as accusative] % and is as if He had said. Ad hanc rem
natus sum, or Ad hoc natus sum. To this end was I born; just
as He saith. Ad hoc veni in mundum, For this cause came Unto
the world. For in the Greek Gospel there is no ambiguity in
' ^i^ the word^ Whence it is manifest, that He here spake of his
TOVTO ...
temporal nativity by which He came incarnate into the world;
not of that Generation without beginning, by which He was
G od by Whom the Father made the world. Unto this then, i. e.
» Meaning that the syllable hoc, where both the syllable and the vowel
though long, has its vowel short, as arc long.
being accusative, not as in the ablative.
to hear ^witness to the Truth, i. e. to Himself. 10*21
to this end, said He that He was horn, and for this purpose John
came into the world, of course by His birth of the Virgin, 38. 39/
that He should bear witness to the truth. But because «//2Thess.
3 2
men hare not faith. He further said, Every one that is of the '
truth heareth My voice. Hears with the inner ears, i. e.
^ obediently hears My voice : which is as much as to say, 1 obau-
Believeth Me. When therefore Christ bears witness to the
Truth, undoubtedly He bears witness to Himself, seeing it is
His word, / am the Truth: and indeed He hath said inch. 14,6.
another place, 1 hear witness of Myself . But in that Heib.8,18.
saith, Every one tit at is of the Truth, heareth 3Iy voice. He
hath commended the grace by which He calleth according
to the purpose. Of which purpose the Apostle saith, TVe know Rom. 8,
that all thinys work toy ether for good to them that love God, ^'
to them who are called according to the purpose, the purpose,
to wit, of the Caller, not of the called : which is elsewhere
put more openly thus, Be thou partaker of the afflictions o/2Tim.l,
the Gospel according to the power of God; Who saveth us,
and calleth us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His purpose and grace. For if we
consider the nature in which we were created, seeing He
Who is the Truth created all men, who is there that is not of
the Truth ? But not all men have this bestowed on them by
the Truth Itself, that they should hear the Truth, i. e.
2 obediently hear the Truth, and believe on the Truth ;"obau-
clearly, with no foregoing merits, lest grace be no more grace. -^^^
For if He had said. Every one that heareth My voice is ofi^j^-
the Truth, it might be thought that a person is said to be of
the Truth, because he obeys the Truth : now He saith not
this, but, Every one that is of the Truth obeyeth My voice :
and consequently, a person is not of the Truth by reason
that he hears His voice, but hears His voice by reason that
he is of the Truth ; i. e. because this very thing was by the
Truth as a gift bestowed upon him. And what is this, but
that by the gift of Christ he believes on Christ.^
5. Pilate said unto Him, What is Truth? and waited notv.38.39.
to hear the answer, but when he had said this, he went out
again unto the Jews, and said unto them, I find in him no
fault at all. But ye have a custom, that I should release
unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release
3x2
1022 Christ the True Passover,
HoMiL. iwto you the King of the Jews? I suppose that just when
— ^ — ^PiUite said, What is Truth? the Jews' custom, that one
should be released to them at the Passover, came into his
mind at that instant, and that for this reason he did not wait
for Jesus to tell him in answer what Truth is, that no time
might be lost, when once he had called to mind this custom,
which made it possible by means of the Passover to set Him
at liberty : which thing it is manifest he greatly wished to do.
Still he could not get this out of his thoughts, that Jesus was
the King of the Jews; as if the Truth itself, of which he
asked what It was, had fixed this notion in his heart just as
V- 40. in the title of the Cross. But hearing this, they cried all
again, saying. Not this man, hut Barahhas. Now Barahhas
was a rohher. We blame you not, O Jews, that because of
the Passover ye release the guilty, but only that ye kill the
innocent : and yet were not this done, the Passover would
not be made true. Howbeit, the shadow of the truth w^as
held fast by the erring Jews, and, by a marvellous dispensa-
tion of the Divine Wisdom, through deceitful men was the
truth of that same shadow receiving its fulfilment, while, in
Ts.53,/. order that the Passover might be made, Christ as a sheep
was led to the slaughter. Hereupon follows the injurious
treatment put upon Christ by Pilate and his band ; but this
must be handled in another discourse.
HOMILY CXVL
John xix. 1 — 16.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him. And
the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on His head,
and they put on Him a purple robe, aud they came to Him,
and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote Him with
their hands. Pilate went forth again, and saith unto them,
Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I
find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the
crow7i of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith
unto them. Behold the Man ! When the chief priests there-
fore and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying. Crucify
him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them. Take ye him,
and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews
answered him. We have a law, and by our law he ought to
die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate
therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid; and
went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus,
Whence art thou ? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then
saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest
thou not that I have power to crucify thee, a7id have power
to release thee? Jesus answered. Thou couldest have no
power at all against Me, except it were given thee from
above: therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the
greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release
Him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man
go, thou art not Ccesars friend : for whosoever maketh him-
self a king speaketh against Ccesar. When Pilate therefore
heard these sayings, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in
10*24 Pilate sought to content the malice of the Jews,
HoMiL. the judgment seat in a place that is called Lithostrotos
^ {the Pavement), hut in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was
the Parasceue of the Passover, about the sixth hour: and
he saith unto the Jews, Beliold your King ! But they cried
out. Away with him, away with him, crucify him, Pilate
saith unto them. Shall I crucify your King ? The chief
priests answered. We have no king but Ccesar, Then
delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified. And
they took Jesus, and led Him forth.
1. When the Jews had cried that not Jesus would they
have released unto them because of the Passover, but
Barabbas the robber ; not the Saviour, but the slayer ; not
y. 1. the Giver of life, but the taker away thereof; Then Pilate
took Jesus, and scourged Him. Pilate must be thought to
have done this for no other purpose but only that the Jews,
glutted with the injurious treatment inflicted, might think
they had enough, and give over raging even unto death. To
the same end it was that the governor permitted his band to
do what follows ; or perhaps even ordered it to be done,
though the Evangelist does not mention this. For he tells
us what the soldiers next did, but not that Pilate ordered
V. 2. 3. them to do it. And the soldiers,, saith he, platted a crown
of thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on Him a
purple robe, and came to Him'', and said. Hail, King of the
Jews! and they smote Him with their hands. Thus were
the things fulfilled which Jesus had foretold concerning
Himself; thus was a pattern set to the martyrs for bearing
all that the persecutors should list to do unto them ; thus,
hiding for a little space His dread power, did He commend
His patience to be first imitated: thus did the kingdom
which was not of this world overcome the proud world, not
with fierceness of fighting but with lowliness of suffering:
ch. 12, thus was that grain of wheat which was to be multiplied,
sown in horrible disgrace to sprout forth in marvellous glory.
T. 4. 6. 2. Pilate went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold,
I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no
* Et vaniehant ed eum : oldest copies is accredited by maiiy other Mss, most
of Lat. and the Vulg. in agreement of the versions, Cyril. Alex, and Non-
with Cod. \''at. koX ^pxovToirphs avr6v, nus.
which, though omitted by Cod. Alex.
without delivering Jesus to death. 10 2 3
fault in him. Then came Jesus forth , wearing the crown of John
thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate sailh unto them, 6—9.
Behold the Man ! Hence it appears that these things were
not done by the soldiers without Pilate's knowledge, whether
ordered or only permitted by him ; his purpose being, as we
mentioned above, that Christ's enemies might revel to their
hearts* content in these mockeries, and not go on to thirst
for blood. Jesus comes forth, wearing the crown of thorns
and the purple role; not bright with imperial glory, but
covered with reproach ; and it is said to them. Behold the
Man : if upon the King ye look with an evil eye, now spare
because ye see Him cast down ; He is scourged, crowned
with thorns, clad with a garment of mockery, scoffed at with
bitter taunts, smitten with the palms of men's hands; His
disgrace boils, let your hate cool. But it does not cool ;
rather it burns and increases.
3. When the chief priests therefore and officers saw Him, v. 6. 7.
they cried out, saying. Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate
saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify Mm : for I find
no fault in him. Tlie Jews answered him, We have a law,
and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself
the Son of God. Behold another greater cause of ill-will.
For the former seemed a small matter, as that of unlawfully
daring to affect sovereignty : and yet on the part of Jesus
neither of these was an act of lying usurpation, but both are
true ; He both is the Only-Begotten Son of God, and is KingPs.2, 6.
set by Him upon His holy hill of Sion : and both would now
be proved, but that the mightier He was, the more patient
He chose to be.
4. When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the v. 8. 9.
more afraid; and went again into the judgment hall, and
saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no
answer. This silence of our Lord Jesus is found by com-
paring the narratives of all the Evangelists to have had place
not on one occasion only, but as well before the chief priests
and before Herod, to whom, as Luke shews, Pilate had sent
Him for audience, as before Pilate himself: so that not in
vain did the prophecy go before concerning Him : as a la?/ibIsF.\. 53,
before his shearer was without voice, so He opened not His ''
mouth ; then, namely, when to His questioners He made no
10*26 Christ as a Lamb dumb before the shearer.
HoMiL. answer. For although to some interrogations He often did
make answer, yet, with a regard to those occasions on which
He would make no answer, was this similitude of the lamb
given, that His might be seen to be the silence not of guilt
but of innocence. Therefore, on whatever occasion during
His trial He opened not His mouth, as a lamb He opened it
not, not as one of evil conscience, whom men were convicting
of sins of his own, but as the Meek One, Who was undergoing
immolation for the sins of others.
^.lo.ii. 5, Then saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest thou 7iot unto
me ? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, arid
ha\^e j)ower to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou coiddest
have no 2)ower at all against Me, except it were given thee
from above : therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath
the greater sin. Behold, He hath made answer: and yet,
wheresoever He answered not, not as of guilt or in guile, but
as a lamb, i. e. as simple and innocent, He opened not His
mouth. Consequently, where He answered not, as a sheep
He held His peace ; where He answered, as the Shepherd
He taught. Let us learn therefore what He hath said, which
Eom.is.also He hath taught by the Apostle : ihdii there is no p oner
but of God ; and that he sins worse who of ill-will delivers
up the innocent to the power to be put to death, than doth
the power itself, if for fear of another greater power it puts
the innocent to death. For the power which God had given
to Pilate was such, that he also was subject to this power of
Caesar. Wherefore, Thou wouldest not have, saith He,
against 3le any power, i. e. however little thou hast, utiless
this same, whatever it be, were given thee from above. But
since I know how much it is, for it is not so much that it
should be free to thee to exercise it in every way : therefore
he that delivered 3Ie unto thee hath the greater sin. For
he delivered Me to thy power as having ill-will against Me,
but thou art about to exercise the same power against Me as
being afraid for thyself. Not indeed because of fear has a
man a right to put a man, specially the innocent, to death :
but yet to do this out of jealousy is much more evil than to
do it out of fear. And therefore He, the True Master, saith
not. He that delivered Me unto thee, he hath the sin, as if
th^ hither had it not: but He saith, Hath the greater sin;
Why Pilate's sin was less than the Jews\ 1027
that Pilate miglit understand that he too had sin. For it John
does not follow that the one is none at all, because the other j2_i4^
is greater.
6. From thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him. What v. 12.
means this saying, From thenceforth, as if till then he did not
seek it? Read what goes before, and thou wilt find that he
has been all along seeking to release Jesus. Froin thence-
forth, therefore, is to be understood to mean, Because of this,
i. e. to this intent, that he might not have sin by putting to
death an innocent man delivered unto him, albeit a less sin
than the Jews had, who had delivered the same unto him to
be put to death. Fro7n thenceforth, then, i.e. in order that
he might not do this sin, he, not now first, but as he had
done from the first, sought to release Him.
7. But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, v. 12.
thou art not Cesar's friend: whosoever maheth himself a
king speaketh against Cesar, They thought to make Pilate
more afraid, by holding out the terror of Caesar, that he might
put Christ to death, than above when they said. We have a
Law, and by our Law he ought to die, because he made
himself the Son of God. For it was not their Law that he
was afraid of, that therefore he should put Christ to death:
but he was more afraid of the Son of God, lest he should put
Him to death. But now, he could not despise Caesar, the
author of his power, as he despised the Law of an alien
nation.
8. Yet the Evangelist still goes on, and says: When^'^^.u.
Pilate therefore heard these sayings, he brought Jesus forth,
and sat down in the Judgment seat in a place that is called
Lithostrotos {the Pavement), but in the Hebrew Gabbatha. And
it was the Parasceue of the passover^ about the sixth hour.
Concerning the hour at which the Lord was crucified, since,
because of the testimony of another Evangelist, who hath said, Mark
And itwas the third hour, and they crucified Him, there is wont ' *
to arise much discussion, when we come to the place where the
crucifying is related, if the Lord will, we will discourse upon
this question as we shall be enabled. When Pilate, therefore,
sat down in the judgment seat, he saith unto the Jews,
Behold your King ! But they cried out. Away with him,
away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I
1028 The Jews, the true crucifiers of Christ.
cx^T' ^^'^^'^fy y^'^'^ ^^^^9 ^ He still wishes to get the better of the
fear they had suggested as concerning Caesar, desiring to
break their purpose by the consideration of the ignominy to
themselves, in saying. Your King shall I crucify f when
he could not soften them by the consideration of the ignominy
of Christ : but he is presently overcome by fear.
v.15.16. 9. For the chief priests answered, We have no king but
Ccesar. Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be
crucified. For indeed it would seem to be a most open
contravening of Caesar, if, when they professed to have none
other king but Caesar, he should wish to thrust upon them
another king, by dismissing unpunished the person whom,
for daring this, they had delivered up to him to be put to
death. He delivered Him, therefore, unto them to be crucified.
But did he desire any thing else before; when he said, Take
ye him, and crucify him ; or even still earlier, Take ye him,
and judge him according to your Law ? And why were they
so unwilling; saying, It is not lawful for us to put any man
ch. 18, to death ; in every way shewing an eagerness that He
should be killed not by them, but by the governor, and
therefore refusing to receive Him to kill Him, if they do
now receive Him to kill Him ? Or if this be not the fact,
why is it said, Then delivered he Him therefore unto them
to be crucified? Or is there a difference ? Certainly there
is. For it is not said, Then delivered he Him therefore
unto them, to crucify Him, but, to be crucified: i. e. to be
crucified upon the doom and by the power of the governor.
Howbeit, that the Evangelist hath said that He w^as delivered
unto them, is to shew them implicated in the crime from
which they essayed to hold themselves aloof: for Pilate
would not have done this, save to fulfil the thing which he
perceived they desired. What follows, however. And they
took Jesus, and led Him forth, may be referred now to the
soldiers, the governor's oflScers. For afterwards it is said
ch. 19, more clearly. When therefore the soldiers had crucified Him:
though even if the Evangelist attributes the whole to the
Jews, he does no more than right ; for they themselves took
the boon they had most eagerly craved, and were themselves
the doers of whatever they extorted from Pilate that it
should be done. But these matters w^hich follow must be
treated of in another discourse.
HOMILY CXVIT.
John xix. 17 — 22.
And He hearing His own cross went forth into a place called
the i^lace of Calvary^ in the Hebrew Golgotha: where they
crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one,
(ind Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put
it on the cross. Atid the writing luas, JESUS OF NAZA-
RETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then
read many of the Jews: for the place ivhere Jesus was cruci-
fied was nigh to the city: and it was ivritten in Hebrew,
and Greek, and Latin: KING OF THE JEWS, Then
said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Wi^ite not. The
King of the Jews; hut that he said, I am King of the Jews.
Pilate answered. What I have written I have written.
1. When Pilate had judged and condemned the Lord
Jesus Christ at his judgment seat, they took Him at about
the sixth houv, and led Him forth. And He hearing His y.^^-
own cross went forth into a place called, the place of Calvary,
in the Hebrew, Golgotha, vjhere they crucified Him. What
is it then that Mark the Evangelist saith, And it was ///eMark
third hour, and they crucified Him; except it be that at the '
third hour the Lord was crucified by the tongues of the
Jews, at the sixth by the hands of the soldiers ? That we
may understand that the fifth hour was now past, and some-
what of the sixth begun, at the time when Pilate sat on the
judgment seat, which is called by John, about the sixth
hour; and that when He was led forth and nailed to the
tree with the two thieves, and those things took place beside
His cross which are related to have taken place, then the Mat.27,
sixth hour was fully complete; from which hour even until ^'^^^
the ninth that there was darkness by the hiding of the sun, 15, 33.
the authority of the three Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and
1 030 An apparent discrepancy between St. Mark and St. John :
HoMiL.Luke, doth jointly testify. But since the Jews essayed to
Luke23 ^^^^^ ^^® Clime of pulling Christ to death from themselves to
44. the Romans, i. e. to Pilate and his soldiers, therefore Mark,
suppressing the menlion of the hour at which Christ was
crucified by the soldiers, which was the beginning of the
sixth hour, chose rather expressly to record the third hour,
being that at which we may understand them to have cried
ch. 19,G. out before Pilate, Crucify him, crucify him: that so it may
be seen that not those alone crucified Jesus, i. e. the soldiers
who at the sixth hour hanged Him to the tree; but the Jews
also, who at the third hour clamoured for His crucifying.
2. There is also another solution of this question, namely,
that the hour here should not be taken to be the sixth hour
of the day, as in fact John does not say, " And it was about
ch. 19, the sixth hour of the day," or simply, "about the sixth
hour;" but he says, Aiid it was the Parasceue of the Pass-
over, about the sixth hour. Now Parasceue in our tongue
means Preparation; only in observances of this kind the
Jews like better to use the Greek word, even those of them
1 Cor. 5, ^v 1^0 speak more in Latin than in Greek. Well, it was the
Preparation of the Passover. Now, as the Apostle saith,
Christ our Passover is sacrificed: and if we reckon the
preparation of ///is Passover from the ninth hour of the night,
(for that seems to be the time when the chief priests pro-
Mat.26,nounced sentence of sacrificing the hoYd,saymg,He is yuilty
of death ; when He was still under audience in the house of
the High Priest : whence we may suitably take it that at
that point of time began tJie preparation of the true Passover,
of which the Passover of the Jews was a shadow, i. e. of the
sacrifice of Christ, from the instant of His being sentenced
by the Priests to be sacrificed,) undoubtedly from that hour
of the night, which is conjectured to have been the ninth, to
the third hour of the day, at which Mark the Evangelist
lestifieth that Clnist was crucified, there are six hours, three
of the night and three of the day. Whence in this Parasceue
of the Passover, i. e. this preparation of the sacrifice of
Christ, which had begun at the ninth hour of the night, it
was now about the sixth hour; i. e. the fifth was past, and
the sixth had now begun to run its course, when Pilate
ascended the judgment seat: for the Preparation, which
how to he reconciled, 1031
had begun at the ninth hour of the night, was still going on John
until the doing of the thing which was in preparation, i.e. ^^ *
the sacrificing of Christ; which thing was done at the third
hour according to Mark, not of the Preparation, but of the
day; and the same was also the sixth, not of the day but of
the Preparation; namely, reckoning six hours from the ninth
of the night to the third of the day. Of these two solutions
of the present difficult question, let each choose which he
likes. But he will be better a,ble to judge which to choose,
if he reads what with great pains has been reasoned '' Con-
cerning the Agreement of the Evangelists %"" And if it should
be possible to find other solutions of the question, the con-
sistency of Evangelic truth will only be more abundantly
defended against the calumnies of infidel and impious vanity.
Now, having thus briefly handled this matter, let us return
to the narrative of John the Evangelist.
3. And, saith he, they took Jesus, and led Him out: and^-^^-^
bearing His own. cross He went forth info a place called the
place of Calvary, in the Hebrew GolgotJia, where they cruci-
fied Him. He was going therefore to the place where He
was to be crucified ; Jesus, bearing His own cross. A great
spectacle! but then to impiety, a great disport to look upon;
to piety a great mystery : impiety sees in it a great display
of ignominy; piety, a great strengthening of faith: impiety
looks on, and laughs at a King bearing, instead of the rod of
sovereignty, the wood of his punishment ; piety looks on and
sees the King bearing that Cross for Himself to be fixed
thereon, which He would thereafter fix even on the brows
of kings; an object of contempt in the eyes of the impious,
* De Consensu Evans:elistarum iii. Severus, and Theophylact explain that
13. (§.40 — 50.) where St. Augustine the error consisted in a mistake between
proposes the two solutions above given, the numeral signs for three and six,
and expresses his confident persuasion, namely the letters gamma and digamma
that by one or other of them " procul (Vau episemon, or Gabex) r and F.
dubio soluta est qucestio quce maxime Of the more important Mss, two (D, L)
solet et contentiosorum concitare inipu- in place of e/cxTj have Tpirr], which is
dentiam, et infirmoruin imperitiam per- doubtless due to the copyists : and the
tiirbare.''^ Comp. Enarr. in Ps. Ixiii. assertion of the Alexandrine Chronicle
§. 6. Eusebius, as reported by Save- (p. 411.), that such was the reading of
rus in the Catena, seeing no way of the best copies, and indeed of St. John's
reconciling the two statements, sought autograph {l^iSx^i.pov) preserved at
to set aside the difficulty by the as- Ephesus, is little deserving of credit,
sumption of an error in the earliest See Dr. Townson's Discourses on the
copies of St. John's Gospel : in further- Gospels,<\.x\(\.h\x.GiX&?,viQ\X^Dissertations
ance of which hypothesis, Ammonius, on the Harmony of the Gospels, \\\. 229.
1032 ^'Destroy not the title^'' King of the Jews :
HoMiL.in that same thing in which thereafter the hearts of the saints
^^i-^' should glory. Thus to that Paul who should one day say,
Gal. 6, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
^** Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord commended that very cross by
Matt. 5, bearing it on His shoulders; aud for that caudle which
^^' was to be lighted and not to be put under a bushel, the Lord
V. 17.18. bore the candlestick. Well then, He hearing His own cross
went forth into a place called the place of Calvary, in the
Hebrew Golgotha : where they crucified Him, and two other
with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. These,
Mat.27, as we have learned from the recital of the other Evangelists,
?J- were the two thieves with whom Christ was crucified, and
15, 27. between whom He was fixed : He, of Whom the prophecy
33"^^^^' which went before had said. And He was numbered with the
Is. 53, wicked.
v.i9.20. 4. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And
the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING
OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews:
for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, KING
OF THE JEJVS^. These three tongues, namely, were
S. Aug. there eminent before all others; the Hebrew, because
218™*6. of the Jews who gloried in God's law ; the Greek, because
of the wise men of the Gentiles ; the Latin, because of the
Romans, at that time bearing rule over many and indeed
almost all nations.
v.21.22. 5. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write
not. The King of the Jews ; but that he said, I am King of
the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have tvritten I have
written. O ineffable power of the working of God even in
the hearts of the ignorant ! Did not some hidden voice in
the heart of Pilate inwardly, with (if one may so say) a sort
of loud-voiced silence, make that to be heard, which so long
Tit. Ps.time before was prophesied in the writing of the Psalms,
IvHi Destroy not the inscription of the title? Behold! he does
(Al-tas- not destroy the inscription of the title ; what he hath written
he hath written. But even the chief priests who wished this
to be destroyed, what said they? Write not, say they, the
^ This addition seems to have been not noticed by Lachmann.
peculiar to St. Augustine's copy: it is
Christ King of ihe true Israel, 1033
King of the Jews; but that he said, I am the King of the John
Jews. What speak ye, ye madmen? Why do ye gainsay 21.22.
the doing of that which ye can in no wise change ? For
shall it therefore be not true, because Jesus said, / am the
King of the Jews ? Tf that cannot be destroyed which Pilate
hath written, can that be destroyed which the Truth hath
spoken ? But is Christ King of the Jews only, or also of the
Gentiles ? Yea, of the Gentiles also. For when He had
said in the prophecy. But I am set by Him as King upon Ps. 2, 6.
Zion His holy mountain, preaching the precepts of the Lord:
lest, on account of the Mount Zion, any should say that He
was set as King only of the Jews, He hath straightway sub-
joined. The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son;
this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give
Thee the heatheii for TJiine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for Thy possession. Whence also Himself
by His own mouth, speaking among the Jews, saith, And^^-^^i
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold ; them also I
must bring, and they shall hear My voice ; and there shall
be onefold, and one Shepherd. Why then would we have a
great mystery to be understood in this title, in which it was
written, The King of the Jews, if Christ is King of the Rom.
Gentiles also? Because truly the wild olive is made par- '
taker of the fatness of the olive, not the olive made partaker
of the bitterness of the wild olive. For in that the title was
written according to truth concerning Christ, The King of the
Jews, what Jews are to be understood but the seed of Abraham,
the sons of promise, who are also sons of God } Since, Not l^o™. 9,
they who are sons of the flesh, saith the Apostle, these are the
sons of God ; but they ivho are sons of promise are counted
for the seed. And those were Gentiles to whom he said, But Gal. 3,
. 29
if ye are Chrisfs, then are ye Abraliani's seed, heirs accord-
ing to ihe promise. King therefore of the Jews is Christ, but Rom. 2,
of the Jews who are such by circumcision of the heart, in the
spirit, notin the letter; whose praiseis not of men, but of God;
of them who belong to the Jerusalem which is free, our Gal. 4,
mother, eternal in the Heavens ; the spiritual Sarah, who
casts from the house of liberty the bondwoman and her sons.
For therefore, what Pilate hath written, he hath written ;
because what the Lord hath said. He hath said.
HOMILY CXVIII.
John xix. 23, 24.
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus , look His
gar77?enfs, and made /our parts, to every soldier apart;
and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven
from the top throughout. They said therefore among
themselves. Let us not rend it, hut cast lots for it, whose it
shall be : that the Scripture might he fulfilled, which
saith. They parted My raiment among them, and for My
vesture they did cast lots.
1. The things which were done beside the Lord's cross,
we are to handle, as He shall aid, in the present discourse.
23.24. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His
garments, and made four jjorts, to every soldier a part ; and
also His coat : now the coat was without seam, woven from
the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves,
Let us not rend it, hut cast lots for it, whose it shall be : that
the Scripture might he fulfilled, which saith. They parted
My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast
lots. It is done, as the Jews wished : not they themselves,
but the soldiers who executed Pilate's orders, upon his doom
have crucified Jesus : and yet if the wills, if the plottings,
if the pains, in fine, if the extorting clamours of the Jews be
taken into account, clearly the Jews, more than the soldiers,
have crucified Jesus.
2. But the parting and casting lots upon His raiment must
not be spoken of merely in passing. For though all four
The dividing of Christ's garments. 1035
Evangelists have mentioned this circumstance, yet the rest John
have done it more briefly than John : and those have left 23. 24.
it shut up, but he has unfolded the matter most openly.
Thus Matthew says: And when they had crucijied Him,^^^\
they divided His garments^ casting lots (sortem mitten tes).
Mark : And crucifying Him, they divided His garments, Mark
casting lots (sortem mitten tes) upon them^ what each should '
take, Luke : But dividing His garments, they cast lots (mi- Luke23,
serunt sortes). But John has also told how many parts they
made of His garments, i. e. four, that they should have one
each. Whence it appears that there were four soldiers who
in crucifying Him executed the governor's orders. As in
fact He says plainly. Then the soldiers, when they had y, 23.
crucijied Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to
every soldier a part; and also His coat ; understand, They
took : so that the meaning is, They took His garments, and
made four parts, to every soldier a part ; and also they took
His coat. And he has so expressed himself, that we see there
was no casting of lots for the other garments, but only for
the coat which they took along with the rest, but did not
in like manner share among them. For of this he goes on
to say, in explanation, Now the coat was without seam, woven
from the top throughout. And relating why they cast lots
for that, he saith, They said therefore among themselves. Let v. 24.
us not rend it, hut cast lots for it whose it shall he. It
appears therefore that in respect of the other garments they
had equal shares, so that there was no need to cast lots:
but in respect of that one, they could not have each a share,
except it were rent, that each should uselessly have a rag of
it: which that they might not do, they chose rather that it
should come to one of them by lottery. With the relation of
this Evangelist agrees moreover the prophetic testimony, which
also he straightway subjoins, saying. That the Scripture might Ps. 22,
be fulfilled, which saith. They parted My raiment among^^'
them, and for My vesture they did cast lots. For it saith
not [of the garments generally], They cast lots (sortiti),
but, They parted (partiti) : neither saith it, Casting lots
they parted ; but while in respect of the other garments
it makes no mention at all of lots, it then says, And upon
My vesture they did cast lots; meaning, for that remain-
3y
1036 The agreement of the Gospels proved.
cxvin. °
HoMiL.iug coat. Of which matter I will say what He shall give,
when first, considering the cavil which may spring up here,
as if the Evangelists were at variance among themselves, I
shall have driven it out of the field by demonstrating that
in none of the other Evangelists' words is there any contra-
diction to John's account.
3. For Matthew, in saying, Theij divided His garments,
casting the lot, would have it to be understood, that among
the particulars of the whole affair of dividing the garments,
one was that of the coat for which they cast lots ; because,
certainly, in dividing among them all the garments, of which
that was one, for it they cast lots. Of the like kind also is the
saying of Luke, Dividing His garments, they cast lots: namely,
in making the division, they came to the coat, for which the
lottery was made, thus completing the whole business of the
division of His garments among them. And what difference
does it make, whether it be said. Dividing^ they cast lots, as
Luke hath it, or. They divided, casting the lot, as Matthew ;
except that Luke in saying, lots, hath put the plural for the
singular; which manner of speech is not unusual in holy
Scripture ; though it appears that some copies have sortem
[the lot), not sortes" {tots). Only Mark, then, seems to have
brought in some matter of questioning: namely, in saying,
Casting the lot upon them, what each should take, he seems
to have spoken as if the lot were cast for all the garments,
not for the coat only. But here also, it is the brevity that
makes the obscurity : for the saying. Casting the lot upon
them, is all one as if it were said, Casting the lot while the
division was taking place : which was the fact. For the
whole affair of the division of the garments would not be
complete, unless it were shewn by the lot who should take
the coat also, that so the contention of the sharers might be
put an end to, or rather, that none might arise at all. There-
fore the saying. What each should take, since this is the
object of the lottery, is not to be referred to all the garments
which were divided; for the lot was cast to shew who should
take the coat: concerning which, as he has forborne to
* Of the Latin copies, Luke 23, 34. Cod. Veron. and Colbert, sor^ew, agree-
Cod. Vercell. has rniserunt sortes, in ing with the received and best accredited
agreement with Cod. Alex. KX-fjpovs: reading K\7}pov.
The spiritual meaning of the four parts : 1037
mention what sort of coat it was, and how it came that, after John
the division into equal parts, it alone^remained, to be put to ^4. '
the lot that it might not be rent; on that account is this
saying put, What each should take (quis quid toUeret, tiho
should take what), i. e. who should take that: as if the whole
had been said thus : T/iei/ divided His garments, casting the
lot upon them, who should take the coat which remained
over and above after the equal shares.
4. Haply some man may ask what is signified by the
dividing of the garments into that number of parts, and by
the casting of lots for the coat. The four-parted raiment of
the Lord Jesus was a figure of His four-parted Church,
diffused, that is, throughout the whole world as consisting of
four parts, and to each of the said parts distributed equally,
i. e. in concord. In which regard He saith elsewhere that
He will send His angels to gather His elect from the four m^tt.
winds : and what is that, but from the four parts of the world, ^^' ^^'
East, West, North, South ? But that coat which went by lot,
signifies the unity of all the parts, which unity is held together
by the bond of charity. Now concerning charity, the Apostle,
being to speak thereof, saith, / shew you a super eminent, or i Cor.
surpassing, way: and in another place he hath, To knoio^^^^^'
also the charity of Christ which surpasseth knowledge (super- Eph. 3,
eminentem sciential) ; and again elsewhere, -Sz^^ above (super) *
all these things, charity which is the bond ofperfectness. If Coi. 3,
then charity both hath the more surpassing way, and sur-
passeth knowledge, and is above all the commandments, well
may the garment by which it is signified be said to be woven
from the top (desuper). It is without seam, moreover, that it
be not at any time unseamed: and it comes to one person,
because into One it gathereth all. Just as in the Apostles,
though the number twelve itself had place, i. e. parted into
four of three each, and they all were questioned, only Peter
made answer, Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God; and
to him it is said. To thee Iioill give the keys of the kingdom «9/ Matt.
heaven, as if he alone received power of binding and loosing: ig] 19]
whereas both in that confession he spake as one for them all,
andthisgift he received with them alias representative of unity infra
itself: one for all, on the ground that unity is in all. Whence i24°§.5:
also the Evangelist here, when he had said, Woven from the top, ^^""*
^ , ^ ^'149,7.
8 Y 2
1038 The seamless coat of unity*
UoMii.. desuper contexta, hath added, per totum, throughout, or
-through the whole piece, which if we refer to the thing
signified, none is without his part thereof, that is found to
^'6kov belong to the whole : from which whole^, as the Greek tongue
sheweth, the Church is called Catholic. In the lot, moreover,
what is meant but the shewing forth of the grace of God ?
For that in the person of one it came to all, seeing the lot
was agreed upon by them all, is so, that the grace of God
comes in unity to all : and when men cast lots, they yield
not to the person or merits of any, but to the secret judg-
ment of God.
5. Nor let any say that these things did not signify ought
good, because they were done by evil men, to wit, not by
followers bat by persecutors of Christ. For then what shall
we say of the Cross itself, which certainly was in like manner
made and fastened by enemies and men impious against
Christ ? And yet we rightly understand to be signified by it
^P^- 3> that which the Apostle saith, What is the breadth, and
length, and height, and deep. It is broad, namely, in the
cross beam, on which the hands of the suspended are
stretched forth, and signifies good works in the breadth of
charity : it is long, from the cross beam to the ground, where
the back and the feet are fixed, and signifies perseverance
in length of time even unto the end ; it is high in the top
part, which rises upward from the cross beam, and signifies
the supernal end to which all works are referred : because
all that in breadth and length are well and perseveringly
done, are to be done with a regard to the height of the
Divine rewards : it is deep in that part which is fixed
in the earth; for there it is hidden and cannot be seen,
howbeit all of it that is apparent and eminent arises thence,
just as our good things do one and all proceed from the
depth of the grace of God, which cannot be comprehended
and judged. But even if the Cross of Christ signify only
Gal. 5, this that the Apostle saith. But they that are Jesus ChrisVs
have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts, how
great a good is it ! Yet neither is this the w^ork of any, save
ib. 5,16. of that which lusteth against the flesh, the Good Spirit;
whereas that cross is the work of the enemy, i. e. the evil
spirit. In fine, what is, as all know, the sign of Christ, save
The works of evil men may he signs of good things. 1039
the Cross of Christ ? Which sign unless it be applied John
whether to the brows of the believing, or to the very water 24. '
out of which they are regenerated, or to the oil wherewith
they are anointed with the chrism, or to the sacrifice whereby
they are fed, none of these is duly^ performed. Then how 'rite
shall it be said that no good is signified by that which evil
men do, when by the Cross of Christ which evil men made,
in the celebration of His Sacraments every good w^e get
thereby is signed? — But let this suffice thus far: what
follows, at another time, as God shall aid, we shall see as we
discourse thereof.
HOMILY CXIX.
John xix. 24 — 30.
These things therpfore the soldiers did. Now there were
standing by the cross of Jesus His mother and His another's
sister, 3Iary [the wife] of Cleophas, and 3Iary Magdalene.
When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple
standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother,
Woman, behold thy son I Then saith He to the disciple.
Behold thy mother ! And from that hour that disciple took
her unto his own [Jiome']. After this, Jesus knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a
vessel full of vinegar : and they filled a spunge with vinegar,
and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth. When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said. It is
finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost,
1. After the Lord was crucified, and after that the dividing
of PI is garments was completed by also casting lots, let us
T.24-27.see what the Evangelist relates next. And the soldiers
indeed, saith he, did these things. Now there stood by the
cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother^s sister, Mary
{the wife) of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus
therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom
He loved. He saith unto His mother. Woman, behold thy
son I Then saith He to the disciple. Behold thy mother !
And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own
(home). This surely is the hour of which Jesus, when about
ch. 2, 4. to turn the water into wine, had said to His mother. What
have I to do with thee, woman 5^ 3Iine hour is not yet come.
Christ on the Cross inculcates the duty of filial piety. 1041
This then was the hour, at that time not yet come, the hour John
in which it would be right for Him, being at the point to <^^j
die, to acknowledge her of whom He was in mortal manner
bora. At that time therefore, being about to work as God,
her who was the mother not of His Godhead but of His
infirmity, He repulsed as one unknown : but now already
suffering as man, with man's affection He commended her of
whom He was made Man. For at that time. He that created
Mary was making Himself known by power; but now^, Thoii supra
to which Mary had given birth was hanging on the Cross. viii!"'
2. Here then a subject of morals comes in. He is doing
that which He admonisheth to be done, and by His own
example hath, as the Good Teacher, instructed His own, that
it is the duty of pious sons to have a care of their parents :
as though the wood on which were fixed the members of
Him that was dying, were even the chair of the Master that
was teaching. Out of this sound doctrine had Paul the
Apostle learned that which he taught, when he said : But if\ Tim.
any provide not for his own^ and chiefly for them of his owu^' ^'
household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an
infidel. And what so pertains to one^s own household, as
parents to sons, or sons to parents ? Of this most whole-
some precept, I say, the Master of the Saints was
setting an example in His own practice, when, not as
God for the servant whom He had created and was ruling,
but as Man for the mother of whom He was born and
whom He was leaving, He provided another to be, in some
sort, a son to her in His stead. For why He did thus, that
which follows shews: the Evangelist, namely, saith. And
from that hour that disciple took her unto his own:
by that disciple meaning himself. For in this way he
is wont to make mention of himself, that Jesus loved him :
Who, we know, loved them all, but him above the rest and
with a more familiar love : insomuch that at their common
meal He caused him to lie on His bosom: I suppose thatch. 1 3,
He might thereby more loftily enhance the excellency ol ^^*
this present Gospel which He would preach through that
disciple.
3. But to what " his own" did John receive the mother
1042 How John received the Blessed Virgin " unto his own.''
HoMiL. of the Lord ? For it cannot be supposed that he was not of
CXIX
' the number of them who said to Him, Lo, isoe have left all,
11— 1^1 (ind followed Thee. True: but among them it was said to
him also, Whosoever shall forego these for My sake, shall
receive in this world an hundredfold as much. That dis-
ciple had therefore an hundredfold more than he had fore-
gone, unto which he might receive the mother of Him Who
bestowed the same. But then this hundredfold more which
the blessed John received, he received in that society, in
Acts 4, which no man said that any thing was his own^ hut they
~ ' had all things common; as it is written in the Acts of the
2 Cor. Apostles. For in that way were the Apostles as men having
' ' nothing, and possessing all things. In what sense then did
the disciple and servant receive the mother of his Master
and Lord unto his own, where no man said that any thing
itrns his own? Or, because we read shortly after in the same
book: For as many as were possessors of lands or houses
sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were
sold, and laid them down at the Apostles' feet: and dis-
tribution was made unto every man according as he Imd
need: are we to understand that in such manner was dis-
tribution made to this disciple as he had need, that blessed
Mary had her portion there as being his mother; and must
we rather take that which is here said, From that hour that
disciple took her unto his own, in this sense, that to him it
pertained to care for all her necessities ? He received ^er, then,
unto his own, not house and land, of which he possessed
none of his own, but offices of duty, which by special ap-
pointment he was charged to execute.
V. 28-30. 4. Then he subjoins: After this, Jesus knowing that all
thi?2gs were now accomplished, that the Scripture might he
fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of
vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon
hyssop, and put it to His mouth. When Jesus therefore had
received the vinegar. He said. It is finished: and he boived His
head, and gave up the ghost. Who can so dispose the things
which he does, as this Man disposed the things which He
suffered ? Yea, but the Man, the Mediator between God and
men: the Man of whom we read it foretold, He is Man, and
The JewSf giving Him vinegar to drinJc, 1043
who shall know Him^? Since the men by whom these things John
were done knew not the Man to be God. For He was Man 2f^3o
apparent, Who was God latent ; He was suffering all these
things as He was apparent; and the Same was disposing all
these things as He was latent. He saw then, that all things
were finished which behoved to be done ere He should
receive the vinegar and give up the ghost ; and that this
also might be finished which the Scripture had foretold,
And in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink, He said, /Ps.69,
thirst: as much as to say. This ye have left undone, give
what ye are. For indeed the Jews themselves were theEnarr.
vinegar, in their degeneracy from the wine of the Patriarchs g^j ^^^9
and Prophets; and as it were from a full vessel, filled full ofSerm.
the iniquity of this world, having an heart as a sponge, frau- '
dulent, so to say, with its hollow and tortuous hiding-places.
But the hyssop on which they put the sponge full of vinegar,
seeing it is a lowly herb and purges the breast, we suitably
take to mean the lowliness of Christ; which they surrounded
and imagined themselves to have circumvented. Whence
that saying in the Psalm, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall psM 7.
be cleansed. For by Christ's humility we are cleansed;
because, unless He had humbled Himself, being made obediejit Phil. 2,
even unto the death of the cross. His blood had not been shed^*
for the remission of sins, that is, for our cleansing.
5. Nor let it make a difficulty, how the sponge could be
brought to the mouth of Him that on the cross was lifted up
from the earth. For, as in the other Evangelists we read Mat.27,
what this Evangelist has passed by, this was done upon a^;^j^
reed, that so in the sponge such a draught might be lifted up 15, 36.
to the heights of the cross. By the reed, however, was signified
the Scripture which in the doing of this thing was receiving
its fulfilment. For as we speak-of the tongue, as the Greek or
a Jerem. 17, 9. LXX. ^aOeia rj through all, and He is Man: taking
KapUairapaTTdvra,Ka\6.vBp(inr6s i<TTi Kcd tlie form of a servant. And who ac-
ris yva)(T€Tai avrSu; Vet. Lat. ap. Aug. knowledgeth Him? Who, being in the
c. Faust. 13, 8. Grave (fiapeia) cor per form of God, &c. And of a truth the
07nnia et Homo est, et quis agnoscet heart is heavy through all: thus even
Eum ? f" Man, in order that the in His ovrn disciples was this same
heavy-hearted might through the form heavy heart, when He said to them,
of a servant by faith be made whole, Am T so long time with you, and have
and acknowledge Him as God, Who ye not known Me?") Vulg. after S.
for them was made Man, that their Jerome: Pravutn est cor onmiu7n et
faith might not be in man, but in Man inscrntabile, qiiis cognoscet illud?
Who is God. A nd yet the heart is heavy
1044 an acted parable of their oivn wickedness,
HoMiL. Latin or any other, meaning the sound which is produced
'- by the tongue, so may the reed mean the writing which is
made by a reed. Only, it is a most common usage by
which we call the significant sounds of the human voice by
the name of tongues: but then, that the Scripture should be
called a reed, the less it is in common use, the more is it
mystically figurative. The doers of these things were the
impious people ; the Sufferer, the merciful Christ. The
Luke23, doers knew not what they did; but the Sufferer not only
knew what was done and why done, but also by the means
of them that were doing evil, Himself was doing good.
6. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said^
It is finished. What, save what the prophecy had predicted
so long before? Then, because nothing remained that yet ere
ch. 10, He died behoved to be done, as He that had power to lay
down His life, and to take it again, now that all was accom-
plished of which He had been waiting for the accomplishment,
He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. Who so sleeps
when he will, as Jesus died when He would ? who so lays
aside his clothing when he will, as He put off the flesh when
' abit. He would? Who so Meparts from a place when he will, as
2obiit. He ^departed this life when He would? What must we hope
or fear to find His power when He judgeth, if it was seen to
be so great when He died !
HOMILY CXX.
John xix. 31. — xx. 9.
The Jeics therefore, because it was the Parasceue, that the
bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day,
(for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that
their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and
of the other which xo as crucified ivith him. But when they
came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake
not His legs : but one of the soldiers with a spear opened
His side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water. And
he that saio it bare record, and his record is true : and he
knoweth that he saiih true, that ye also may believe. For
these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled,
A bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another
Scripture saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced.
And after this Joseph of Arimathcea, being a disciple of
Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jeivs, besought Pilate that
he might take away the body of Jesus : and Pilate gave him
leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And
there came also Nicodemus, which came to Jesus by night
first, bearing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an
hundred pound iveight. Then took they the body of Jesus,
and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner
of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was
crucified there was a gardeii ; and in the garden a new
sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid
they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' Parasceue ; for
the sepulchre was nigh at hand. The first day of the week
1 046 The water and the blood from Chrisfs opened side.
Cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto
the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the
sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter,
and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith
ufito them, They have taken away the Lord out of the
sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him,
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and
came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together : and
the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the
sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw
the linen clothes lying ; yet went he not in. Then cometh
Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre,
and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was
about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but
wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in
also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre,
and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the
Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
1. The Lord Jesus, all things being accomplished which
He foreknew must be accomplished before His death, having
given up the ghost when He would, let us see what comes
v. 31. next in the narrative of the Evangelist. The Jews therefore,
saith he, because it was the Parasceue, that the bodies should
not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that
sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs
might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Not
meaning that their legs might be taken away, but the persons
whose legs were broken, which was done that they might die
and be removed from the tree; lest by hanging on the crosses
they should make the great holy-day hideous with the horror
1 diurnijof an excruciating death, lasting all through^ the day.
vaincUu^ 2. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first,
turni. and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they
3^, came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake
not His legs : but one of the soldiers with a spear opened
His side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water. It
is an heedful expression that the Evangelist has used; that he
does not say. Pierced His side, or wounded, or the like, but
opened : that therein might, as it were, be thrown wide the door
The spiritual Eve formed oui of the side of the Second Adam. 1047
of life, from which the Sacraments of the Church have flowed John
out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is35_37
true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins: that s^f^^T"
water tempers the cup of salvation; this gives both laver and^'^'^*
drink. In fore-announcement of this it was that Noe was Gen. 6,
bidden to make a door in the side of the ark, by which ^^'
should enter thereinto the living creatures that should not
perish in the flood, by which creatures the Church was pre-
figured. With regard to this it was, that the first woman Gen. 2,
was made out of the side of the man as he slept, and was
called Life, and Mother of all living. Significant she was,
truly, of a great good before the great evil of her transgression. Enarr.
Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon thcj^gj^y,
cross, that thence might be formed for Him a wife, eveni38.§.2.
that which flowed forth from His side as He slept. O death, Hom.
by which the dead come to life again! What cleaner than ^^gl^^*
this blood ! What than this wound more healing!
3. A?id, saith the Evangelist, he that saw it bare record^y-^^'
and his record is true : and he knoweth that he saith true,
that ye also might believe. He says not, That ye also may know ;
but, that ye may believe; for that person knows who has
seen, and let him that has not seen believe his testimony.
Now, to believe is more a matter of faith than to see is. For
what is it to believe, but to have faith or trust? For these \. 36,37.
things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A
bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another Scrip-
ture saith. They shall look on Him, Whom they pierced. Here
are two testimonies from the Scriptures, referred to the two
several matters which he relates to have taken place. Thus,
because he had said, But when they came to Jesus and saw
that He was dead already, they brake not His legs, to this
pertains the testimony, Ye shall not break a bone thereof: Exod.
which precept was given to those who were commanded to '
celebrate the Passover by the sacrificing of a sheep in the
old Law, which was the shadow going before of the Lord's
Passion. Accordingly, Christ our Passover is sacrificed: of l Cor.
Whom also Esaias the Prophet had foretold; As a sheep il^^ 7^
He was led to be sacrificed. Again, because he had further
said, But one of the soldiers with a lance opened His side ;
to this pertains the other testimony, They shall look on Him Zech.
12, 10.
1048 The progressive faith of Nicodemus.
KoMiL. Whom they pierced: which is a promise of Christ, to come
■ in that flesh which they crucified.
V. 38.39. 4. And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple
of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate
that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave
him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
And there came also Nicodemus, which came to Jesus by
night first, bearing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about
an hundred pound weight. The sentence is not to be pointed
so as to mean,^r5^ bearing a mixture of myrrh, but so that
the expression first pertains to the preceding words. Nico-
ch.3,1.2. demus namely had come to Jesus by night first, as the same
John hath related in the former part of his Gospel. Here
therefore it is to be understood that Nicodemus came to Jesus
not then for the only time, but then for the first time ; and
that he afterwards often came, that he might by hearing
become His disciple : which fact, in our times at least, in
the revelation of the body of the most blessed Stephen, is
V. 40. declared welnigh to all nations \ Then took they the body
of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as
the manner of the Jews is to bury. The Evangelist seems
to me to say it not without a meaning, as the manner of the
Jews is to bury: for in so saying he hath admonished us, if I
mistake not, that in ofhces of this kind which are performed
for the dead, the custom of each nation ought to be ob-
served.
V. 41. 5. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a
garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was
never man yet laid. Even as in the womb of the Virgin
Mary none was conceived before Him, none after Him ; so
in this tomb none before Him none after Him was buried.
V. 42. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews'* Para-
scene ; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. He means that
» He alludes to the then recent history S. Augustine. See alsoSerm.3I6 — 324.
of the discovery of the reliques of S. (In the allusion to this history in
Stephen, together with those of Nico- Serm. 316 §. 3. it is said, that the dis-
demus and Gamaliel, as related by covery was made by means of Nieode-
Lucian the Presbyter to have taken mus, qui ibi sepeliri meruit ubi et iste
place in the month of December, A.D. (Stephanus), quia per ilium et iste in-
415. Lucian's Epistle containing his ventus est : but in Luoian's own narra-
account of the discovery will be found tive it is said to have been Gamaliel
together with the other documents in who appeared to him in the vision, and
the Appendix to the Seventh Volume of directed him to the place of sepulture.)
S. Mary Magdalene first at the sepulchre. 1049
the burying was hastened, that the evening might not come John
on first ; when now because of the Parasceue (which the Jews i_7*
in our parts more usually call in Latin Coena pura , " the
pure supper") it was not lawful to do any thing of this kind.
6. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene ch.xn.i,
early, when it was yet dark^ unto the sepulchre, and seeth
the stone taken away from the sepulchre. It is the first day
of the week, (una sabbati,) which the Christian custom now,
because of the Lord's Resurrection, calls the Lord's Day :
which Matthew alone of the Evangelists has called prima
sahhati % Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and v. 2.
to the other disciple^ whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them,
They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and
we know 7iot where they have laid Him. Some copies also
of the Greek have, They have taken away my Lord^, which
may seem to have been said in more eager affection of love
or service ; but this we do not find in most of the copies
which we have at hand.
7. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and^- 3. 4.
came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together : and the
other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepul-
chre. Here we must remark, and bid you to observe, the
recapitulation, how there is a going back to that which had
been omitted; while yet this is joined on as if it were the
sequel. For, having said. They came to the sepulchre,
he went back to relate how they came ; and says, So they
ran both together^ &c. Where he shews how that other
disciple, outrunning his fellow, came first to the sepulchre ;
by that other disciple meaning himself, but relating all as if it
were of a different person.
8. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the Ii7ienv.5—1.
clothes lying; yel ivent he not in. Then cometh Simon
Peter following him, and uent into the sepulchre, and seeth
b S.Iren. adv. Haer. 1,10. fin. Vers. <= So in the Latin of Matt. 28, 1. 6<s
Lat. Homineni factum in sexta die [xiav ffafi^aroiv, in prima sahhati: l;ut
quae est in ccena pura. TertuU. adv. in Mark 16,9. irpurri aafi^aTov, the
Nat. 2. 13. Judeei enim festi, sabbata Latin also \\a.s prima sahhati.
et ceena pura^ ike. Adv. Marcion, ^ Codex Fuldensis Vulg. tulerunt
5, 4. Dies obseivatis et menses et Dowmww wewm: but it does not appear
tempora et annos et sabbata, ut opinor, that any of the extant Greek copies
et C(^wa5 j07<ras et jejunia et dies mag- recognises the pronoun,
nos.
1050 The Apostles expected not the Lord^s Resurrection.
HoMiL. ^//^ linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about His
1 head, not lying with the linen clothes, hut wrapped together
in a place hy itself. Think we these things are without
significance ? Let me not be supposed to think so. But we
are hastening on to other matters on which we are compelled to
dwell by necessity of some question or obscurity. For as
for these things which in themselves are plain, to enquire
what they severally signify is indeed a holy delight, but
for them who have leisure ; which we have not.
V. 8. 9. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first
to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. He came first,
and entered in last. Neither does this, truly, lack a meaning,
but I lack the leisure for it. And, he saw, saith he, and
Serm. believed. Here some, not enough attending, suppose that
* ■ the thing which John believed w^as this, that Jesus was risen ;
but what follows shews that it was not so. For what means it
V. 9. that he has straightway added, For as yet they knew not the
Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead? Conse-
quently, he could not believe the Lord to have risen, when
he knew not even that He must rise again. I'hen sawwhdii}
believed what ? Saw, surely, the empty tomb, and believed,
what the woman had said, that He was taken from the tomb.
Luke For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise
' ' again from the dead. And accordingly when they were told
it by the Lord Himself, although it was most openly spoken,
yet they understood not, and, as being accustomed to be
spoken to in parables by Him, they supposed Him to be
signifying thereby some other thing. But what follows let
us defer for another discourse.
HOMILY (XXI.
John xx. 10—29.
Tlien the disciples went away again unto their own home.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping ; and
as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the
sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one
at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of
Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why
ueepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid Him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself
hack, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was
Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, lohy weepest thou?
whom seekest thou f She, supposing him to be the gardener,
saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne Hi>n hence, tell
me where thou liast laid Him, and I ivill take Him away,
Jesus saith unto her., Mary. She turned herself, and saith
unto him, Babboni; which is to say, 3Iaster. Jesus saith
unto her, Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to
My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I
ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My
God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told
the disciples, £ have seen the Lord, and these things
spake He unto me. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, ichen the doors tcere
shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus and stood in the n/idst, and saith unto
them, Peace be uuto you. And ivhen He had so said.
He shewed unto them. His hands and His side. Then were
the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord, Then said
Jesus to them again. Peace be unto you: as My Father
hath sent Me, even so send I you. And tvhen He had
3 z
1052 S. Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre.
HoMiL. said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them,
• Receive ye the Holy Ghost: ichose soever sins ye remit,
they are remitted unto them; and whose soerer sins ye
retain, they are retained. Bat TJiomas, one of the tuelve,
called Didijmus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, JVe have seen
the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see
in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger
into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His
side, I tvill not believe. And after eight days again His
disciples were within, and TJiomas ivith them : then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and
said. Peace be unto you. Tlien saith He to Thomas,
Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach
hitJter thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not
faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto Him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
1. That the Lord was taken away from the sepulchre,
Mary Magdalene had brought tidings to His disciples Peter
and John: and they coming thither found only the linen
clothes in which the body had been wrapped : what else
then could they believe, but what she had told; what she
V. 10. herself had believed ? Then the disciples went away again
unto their own home: '^ ad semetipsos,^'' i.e. to the place
where they dwelt, and whence they had run to the sepulchre.
V. 11. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping. The
men went away again, but stronger affection kept the weaker
sex there on the spot. And the eyes which had sought the
Lord and found Him not, had now nought to do but to
weep, sorrowing more that He was taken away from the
sepulchre, than that He had been put to death on the tree ;
since of so great a Master, Whose life was taken from thera,
not even the burial-place was left them for a memorial*. And so
this sorrow held the woman fast at the sepulchre. While
* Nee memoria reinanebat : "not de Cura pro mortais gerenda §. 6.
even a memoria" i. e. the tomb con- (" Seventeen Short Treatises," p.
taining the dead body. See St. Aug. 532.)
The Angels preach consolation to her. 1053
therefore she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the John
sepulchre. Why she did this, I know not. For she was iioti2_i6.
ignorant that He was not there Whom shfe sought: since it was
she that brought tidings to His disciples that He was taken
thence ; and they had come to the sepulchre, and not only by
looking in but by going in had sought the Lord, and not found
Him. What means it then, that as she vvept she once more
stooped down and looked into the sepulchre ? Was it because
in the excess of her sorrow she knew not how to trust either their
eyes or her own ? Or rather was it caused by a divine in-
stinct in her mind that she should look in } For she looked
in, and saw two Angt^ls in white sitting, one at the head^ v. 12.
and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. What
means it that the one was sitting at the head and the other
at the feet? Is it that, because what in Greek are called
Angels, in our tongue are Messengers, they in this manner
signified that Christ's Gospel is to be preached from the
head to the feet, from the beginning even unto the end }
They say unto her. Woman, ichy weepest thou? She saith\.\3.
unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and 1
know not where they have laid Him. The Angels would
stay her tears : in so saying, what did they but in a sort
speak to her a message of joy to come? For that they said,
Why weepest thou? was as much as to say, Weep not.
But she supposing them to have questioned her as not
knowing, discloses to them the cause of her tears. Because,
saith she, they have taken away my Lord : calling her Lord,
the lifeless body of her Lord, from the whole denoting the
part; just as we all confess Jesus Christ God's Only Son our
Lord, which means the Word and soul and flesh in one,
nevertheless to have been crucified and buried, albeit His
flesh alone was buried. And L knoiv not, saith she, ichere
they hace laid Him. This was the greater cause of sorrow,
because she knew not whither to go for consolation of her
sorrow. But the hour was now come in which, even as was
in a sort announced to her by the Angels' forbidding her to
weep, joy should succeed to weeping.
2. In short, When she had thus said, she turned her self ^'M-\q.
hack, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was
Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Wo7nan, why weepest thou ?
3 z 2
1054 JVhy C hr I st forbids her to touch Him.
HoMIL.^^/^o;;^ seekest thou? She, supposing Him to be the gardener,
^ — '-saitJi unto Him, Sir, if thou Jtave home Him hence, tell me
ivhcre thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away,
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saiih
unto Him, Rahboni; ichich is to say, blaster. Let none
take it amiss ol' the woman that she called the gardener, Sir,
or, My Lord, and Jesus, blaster. For in the one case she
was beseeching, in the other, she recognised : there, she was
honouring a man from whom she craved a favour, here she
knew again the Teacher from Whom she was learning to
discern between things human and things divine. She
called liim. Lord, whose servant she was not, that by his
means she might come unto the Lord Whose she was. It
was in one sense therefore that she spake that word Lord,
when she said. They have taken away my Lord; in another
that she said, 3Iy lord, if thou liave borne Him hence.
Thus also the Propliets called them lords, who were men ;
Ps.68,5.but in another sense. Him of Whom it is written, The Lord
is His name. But seeing this woman had already turned
herself back to see Jesus when she supposed Him to be the
gardener, and certainly was speaking with Him at the time,
what means it that she is again said to have turned herself io
say to Him, Rabboni; what, but that, having then turned in
body she supposed Him to be what He was not, and now
turned in heart, she recognised Him for what He was ?
■V- 17. 3. Jesus saiih unto her. Touch Me not; for I am not yet
ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say
Supra unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and
xxvT 3 l^ ^^y ^^^h ^^'-'^ your God. There is in these words that
p. 401. which v»e must, though briefly indeed, yet attentively con-
sider. Jesus, namely, in making this answer to this woman
who kneW' Him for her Master, and called Him so, was
Serm. teaching her the faith : and that Gardener, in her heart as in
246, 3. jj.g ^^^^ garden, was sowing the grain of mustard-seed.
Then what means this, Touch Me not? And indeed, as if
one had asked the reason of the prohibition. He hath added.
For I am not yet ascended unto My Father. What is this ?
If standing on earth He is not to be touched, how when
sitting in heaven should He be touched by men } And cer-
tainly before He ascended, He offered Himself to be touched
Faith must not terminate in His Manhood, 105.)
by His disciples, as Luke the Evangelist witnesseth, Handle^ John
and see, that a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see 3Ie ^17.*
have: or when He said to the disciple Thomas: Put hither ^^^^^^:
39.
thy finger, and see My hands ; and reach hither thine hand, -^^j-^^
and thrust it into My side. Now who can be so absurd as ^'- ^7.
to say, that He was willing to be touched by the disciples
indeed before He ascended unto the Father, but not willing
to be touched by the women except when He should have
ascended unto the Father ? Nay, even if one were so minded,
he would not be suffered to hold this foolish opinion. For
we read it of females also, that after His Resurrection,
before He ascended to the Father, they touched Jesus :
among them too, this same Mary Magdalene : as Matthew
relates that Jesus met them, saying, All hail : and they drewMatt.
near, and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him. This '
is omitted by John, but what Matthew tells is true. It
remains therefore, that there is a spiritual meaning latent
here : which whether we may find, or whether we be by no
means able to find, yet that it is there we must by no means
doubt. Either therefore this is so spoken, Touch Me not,
for I am not yet ascended unto My Father, that in that
woman there is a figure of the Church of the Gentiles, which
did not believe on Christ until He was ascended unto the
Father; or, Jesus would have men so to believe in Him, i. e.
so to touch Him spiritually, as that Himself and the Father
are One. For to that person's innermost perceptions He is,
in some sort, ascended unto the Father, who is become so
■ far forth proficient in Him as to recognise in Him the Equal
with the Father: otherwise, men do not rightly touch, i. e.
otherwise not rightly believe on Him. Now Mary might in
such sort believe, as that she thought Him unequal to the
Father, which thought is forbidden when it is said to her,
Touch Me not: i. e. Do not thou believe in Me in such wise
as thou art yet minded in thy thoughts of Me : let not thy
perception reach but to the thing I was made for thee
without passing beyond to That by Which thou wast made.
For how can it be said that she did not as yet carnally
believe on Him, for Whom she was weeping as for a man?
For I am not yet ascended, saith He, unto My Father.
There shalt thou touch Me, when thou believest Me to be
1 056 Poiver of binding andloosing imparted with the Holy Ghost.
HoMiL. God not unequal unto the Father. But go unto 3Iy brethren,
^^^^' and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father.
He saith not. Unto our Father : consequently, in one sort
Mine, in another yours: by nature Mine, by grace yours.
And unto My God and your God. Neither said He here,
our God : consequently here also, in one sense Mine, in
another yours ; My God,un^tv Whom am I also a Man ; your
God^ between whom and Him I am Mediator.
V. 18-20. 4 Mary Magdalene came ami told the disciples, I have
seen the Lord, and these things said He to me''. Then the
same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when.
the doors ivere shut where the disciples were assembled for
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and
saith unto them. Peace be unto you. And wlien He had so
said, Jle shewed unto them His hands and His side. For
the nails had transfixed His hands, the lance had opened
His side: where, to heal the hearts of the doubting, the
prints of the wounds were preserved. But to the substance
of a Body in which was Godhead, closed doors were no
obstacle. For truly He had power to enter in by doors not
open, in Whose birth His mother's virginity remained
inviolate''. Then u-ere the disciples glad when they saw the
Lord. He said then unto them again. Peace be unto you.
^ Quia vidi Dotnhmm, et hcec dixit the same that hung upon the tree, how
mihi. Vulg. Copt. Sahid, — Cod. Vat. could it enter through closed doors?
has e'JopuKa and avrr] (to her), with ]f it could not, the thing did not take
which agrees Cod. Vercell. Lat. — Cod. place. If it could, how could it?' If
Veron. Lat. omits the pronoun. Cod. thou comprehendest the 'how,' it ceases
Cantab. Gr. avT^ with the addition to be a tniracle: and if thou think it
i/xTjuvcrev auroTs. Colbert, gi/ia h(BC not a miracle, thou art near to denying
dixit ., et manifest avit eis. None of the that He rose from the sepulchre. Look
Greek authorities has ixoi. back to thy Lord's miracles from the
b So the Ancients generally. The beginning, and render me a reason of
Greeks, as represented by Euthymius, them one by one." He proceeds to
that the Lord, the doors remaining compare it with the miraculous con-
closed, suddenly appeared in the midst ception and perpetual virginity of the
of the disciples, ws Q^os koX ws K^tttov Blessed Virgin : the walking upon the
Kol Kov(j)ov Koi oLKTipdrov ysuofi^uov Tov sea, Sec. ** If then thou once begin to
(Tujxaros avTov, " as God, and while discuss according to man's sense the
His Body was now become subtle and rationale of miracles, I fear lest thon
light and unalloyed." St. Augustine, lose the faith. Knowest thou not that
Serm. 247. §• 2. " Some are so stag- nothing is impossible to God? If any
gered by this circumstance, that they therefore shall say to thee, If He
are almost in peril of unbelief while entered through closed doors, it was not
alleging against Divine miracles the a body, answer thou. Nay, if He was
prejudices of their own reasonings. * If touched, it was body ; if He ate, it was
it was body, if flesh and bones, if that body: and He did that by a miracle,
whic!) rose from the sepulchre was not by nature."
The unbelief of Thomas reproved : 1 057
The iteration is confirmation: it is in fact He that giveth John
XX
the peace upon peace promised by the Propliet. As My 22l_28.
Father sent Me, saith He, / also send you. We know the Isai. 26,
Son Equal with the Father, but here we recognise the words *
of the Mediator. For He shews Himself the medium or
means, in saying. He Me, and I you. And when He liad^-^'^-
said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive
ye the Holy Ghost. By breathing on them He signified that
the Holy Ghost is not the Father's only, but His. Whose v. 23.
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and tchose
soever sins ye retain, they are retained. The charity of the
Church, which by the Holy Ghost is shed abroad in our
hearts, remitteth the sins of them that have part in her : but
the sins of those who have not part in her she retains.
Therefore, it was immediately after He had said. Receive ye
the Holy Ghost, that He straightway subjoined this con-
cerning remission and retention of sins.
5. But Thomas, one of the ttvelve, called Didymus, was v.24-28.
not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples there-
fore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. Bui he said
unto them. Except I shall see in His hands the print of the
nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and
thrust my hand into His side, I will 7iot believe. And after
eiglit days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with
them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in
the midst, and said. Peace be unto you. Then saith He to
Thomas, Put forth hither thy finger, and belt old My hands ;
and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side : and
he not faitliless, hut believing. And Thomas answered
and said unto Him, 3Iy Lord and my God. He saw and
touched the Man, and confessed the God Whom He saw
not, neither touched: yea, but by the means of this that
he saw and touched, he believed That, with all doubt now
removed. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen
3Ie, thou hast believed. He saith not, Hast touched Me,
but, Hast seen Me : for seeing is a sort of general sense.
Thus it is wont to receive the names of the other four senses,
as when we say, ' Hear, and see how well it sounds :' or,
* Smell, and see how sweet it smells :' ' Taste, and see how
good it tastes :' ' Touch, and see how pleasantly warm it is.'
105S The faith of the Gentiles commended.
HoMiL.In each the word was, See, though there be no denying that
'- sight in strictness of speech belongs to the eyes. Whence
here also the Lord saith, Put forth hither thy Jing errand see
My hands: what saith He otlier than, Touch and see?
And yet his eyes were not in his finger. Well, whether by
beholding, whether also by touching. Because thou hast seen
Me, saith He, tJiou hast believed. Though it may be said,
that the disciple did not dare to touch, when the Lord offered
Himself to be touched : for it is not written. And Thomas
touched. Ilowbeit, whether it were by looking, or whether
also by touching, that he saw and believed, that which follows
doth more extol and enhance the faith of the Gentiles, Blessed
are they that have not seen, yet have believed. He used
words of past time, as He Who looking upon the thing that
should come to pass knew it in His predestination already
come to pass. But the present discourse must now be
checked from prolixity : the Lord will give that we may at
another time discourse concerning the matters which remain.
HOMILY CXXfl.
John xx. 30, 31.— xxi. 1—1 1.
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His
disciples^ which, are not written in this hook : hut these
are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life
through His name. After these things Jesus shewed
Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias ; and
on this wise shewed He Himself There were together
Simon Peter , and Tliomas called Didymus, and Natha-
vael of C ana in Galilee^ and the sons of Zebedee^ and two
other of His disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go
a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee.
They went forth ^ and entered into a ship iijimediately ;
and that night they caught nothing. But when the
morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the
disciples knew not that it was Jesus. TJien Jesus saith
unto tliem, Children, have ye any meat ? They answered
Him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the
right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast there-
fore, and now they were not able to draw it for the muUitude
of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith
unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter
heard that it ivas the Lord, he girt his coat unto him,
(for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
And the other disciples came in a little ship ; [fur they
ivere not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,)
dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come
to land, they saw afire of coals there, and fish laid thereon,
1060 Great importoMce of the concluding narrative.
HoMiL. and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which
55^ ye have now caught. Simon Peter ivent up, a?id drew
the net to land fid I of great fishes, an hundred and fifty
and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not
the net broken.
1. After narrating the history how the disciple Thomas,
when the marks of the wounds were offered to him to touch,
saw what he had refused to believe, and believed, John the
V. 30.31. Evangelist interposes these w^ords, and says: And many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples,
which are not zcriiten in this book : hut these are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and thai believing ye might have life through His name.
This passage seems as if it were meant to mark the end of
the book : but yet it is related here, after this, how the Lord
manifested Himself at the sea of Tiberias, and in the draught
» sacra- of fishes gave a sacred emblem of the Church^ as it is to be
mentum^^ the last in the resurrection of the dead. I think then,
that it is for the purpose of emphatically marking this, that
an end as it were of the book is interposed, to serve withal
as a kind of opening to the following narrative, making
it more eminently conspicuous ; which narrative begins thus:
ch. xxi. Afler these things Jesus shewed Hitnself again to the disciples
^' ^~^' at the sea of Tiberias ; and on this wise shewed He Himself.
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Di-
dymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of
Zebedee, and two other of His disciples. Simo7i Peter saith
unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him^ We also go
with thee.
2. It is wont to be enquired concerning the disciples going
to fish, why Peter and the sons of Zebedee returned to what
they were before they were called by the Lord : namely, they
Matt. 4, were fishermen when He said to them, Follow Me, and 1 will
make you fishers of men. For truly at that time they did follow
Him, so that leaving all they cleaved to Him as their Master:
insomuch that when that rich man went away from Him sor-
Mat. i9,rowful, to whom He had said, Go, sell what thou hast, and give
21. 22. ^Q ^j^Q poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come,
jb. 27. follow Me, Peter said to Him, Lo, we have left all, and have
Why the Apostles had recourse to their former calling. 1061
followed Thee. How is it then that now as it were forsaking J^>hn
their Apostleship, they become the thing tliey were before, and 'i_3*.
return to the thing they had left; as though they had forgotten
that which had been said to them, No man puiti?ig AtsLukeO,
hand to the ploiigli and looking hack is Jit for the kingdom of
heaven ? If they had done this when Jesus was deceased,
before He rose from the dead : — which indeed they could not,
because the day on which He was crucified had their whole
attention, until His burial, which took place before evening:
and the following day was the Sabbath, when it was not
lawful for them, as observing the custom of their fathers, to
do any work ; but on the third day the Lord rose again, and
brought them back to the hope which already they had begun
to have no more concerning Him : — still if they had done it
at that time, we might suppose them to have done it in the
feeling of despair which had taken possession of their minds.
But now after He was restored to them alive from the
sepulchre, after presenting to their eyes and hands, not
only to see but also to touch and handle, the most evident
verity of His flesh restored to life again ; after inspecting
the marks of the wounds, even unto confession of the
Apostle Thomas, who had before said that he would not
otherwise believe; after receiving, by His breathing upon
them, the Holy Ghost: after the words uttered by His mouth
in their ears. As the Father sent Me, I also send you : whose
sins ye remit they are remitted unto them, and whose ye
retain they are retained: on the sudden they come to be as
they had been, fishers not of men but offish.
3. To such then as this staggers, we must answer, that
they were not forbidden to seek their necessary subsistence
by the exercise of their craft, a lawful and permitted one,
saving always the integrity of their Apostleship, if at any s. Aug.
time they had no other means of subsistence. Unless per- ^^ ^P-
•^ , ' Monach.
chance some man shall dare to think or say that the Apostle 4 ff.
Paul had not reached the perfection of them who left all to^^^^J^^
follow Christ, because, that he might not burden any of them Short
to whom he preached the Gospel, he earned his living by histises "
own hands: therein all the more making good that which heP't'^.)
saith, / laboured more than they all ; and then adding, yet 3, 8.
not I, hut the grace of God which was ivith me : thus making j^o^.is,
] 06*2 They which preach the Gospel should live hy the Gospel»
HoMiL.it clear that this also was to be set down to the grace of God,
^^-^ — ^that both in mind and body he was able to labour more than
they all, even to that degree that he both ceased not from
preaching the Gospel, and yet did not sustain this present
life hy the Gospel, as they did; albeit he was sowing it much
Ilom.i5,more widely and productively through so many nations
^^* among whom Christ's name had not been prophesied ; wherein
he shews that to live, i. e. to have a livelihood by the Gospel,
was not a matter of necessity imposed upon the Apostles, but
a power or right given them. Which power the same Apostle
1 Cor. 9, mentions, saying, [f ue have soiv/i unto you spiritual things,
^^"~'^- is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? If
others he partakers of this power over you, are not we rather'?
Nevertheless, saith he, we have not used this power. And a
little afterwards; They which wait at the altar are partakers
with the altar; even so hath the Lord ordained that they
which, preach the Gospel should live of the Oospel. But J have
used no?ie of these things. It is therefore sufficiently plain,
that the Apostles were not commanded, but empowered, to
live only of the Gospel, and to reap carnal things from them
to whom by preaching the Gospel they sowed spiritual things;
that is to say, to receive sustenance of their flesh, and as
soldiers of Christ to take their due wages as from Christ's
^apro- subjects ^ Whence this same illustrious soldier had said a
vmcia 1- j^^^lg above concerning this matter, Who goeth a warfare at
V. Horn. any time at his oivn charges/ Which thing nevertheless he
1 Cor. ' was himself doing, in that he laboured more than they all. If
^y '^' then the blessed Paul, that he might not use in common with
the other preachers of the Gospel the power which undoubt-
edly he had in common with them, but might go a warfare
at his own charges, lest the Gentile nations, utterly alien from
the name of Christ, should be offended by that which might
seem to be a venal teaching ; if he, otherwise educated as he
was, learned a craft which he did not know, in order that
while the teacher is maintained by his own hands, no hearer
might be burdened ; how much more might blessed Peter,
who was already a fisherman, do a work which he knew how
to do, if at that present time he found no other means of
living ?
4. But some man will answer, And why found he no other
Bui ihey may forego this rights as St. Paid. 1063
means, seeing the Lord ])romised, saying, Seek ye first the John
kingdom of Cod and His righteousness, and all these things s—\\.
shall be ^ added unto you ? Why, even so, the Lord did make Watt. 6,
■good that which He promised. For who but He '^ added imtof ^'
him the fishes, by causing them to come to be taken? asnentur.
indeed He must be believed to have for none other endgiii^f^'
brought upon His disciples the penury by which they were
compelled to go a- fishing, but because He would exhibit the
foreordained miracle: so would He at once feed the preachers
of His Gospel, and enrich that same Gospel by that sign^ of 3 sacra-
an inward and spiritual truth, which He would give them to™^"^"™'
lay to heart in the number of the fishes. Of which matter,
that which He shall add to our store, must we also now
speak.
5. Saith, then, Simo7i Peter, I go a fishing. They say y-3-i\.
unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered '^q^.^^'
into a ship immediately ; and that night they caught nothing. 248-252.
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore : 83. n. k
hut the disciples knev) not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith 5''f7'*^*
^ . Collat.
unto them. Children, have ye any meat ? They answered cum
Him, No. And He said unto them. Cast the net on the ^^ight ^^^^[q
side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and
now they ivere not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Tlierefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter,
It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was
the Lord, be girt bis coaf^ unto him, {for he was 7iaked,) 4 tunica
and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples
came in a Utile ship ; (for they were not far from land, hut
as it we7'e two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of
coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith
unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great
fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: aud for all there were
so many, yet was 7iot the net broken.
6. A great mystery^ this, in the great Gospel of John : and, ^ sacra-
the more emphatically to bespeak our regard thereunto, it is "^®"*"^"-
written last. Well then : that there were seven disciples
occupied in this fishing, Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael,
and the two sons of Zebedee, and two other, w^hose names
1064 The second draught of fishes compared with the first.
HoMiL.are not given, these by making the number seven, signify the
CXXII. ^^^ of time. For all time revolves in a period of seven days.
^^ 4^ To this it looks, that i)i the moiiilng Jesus stood upon the
shore ; because the shore is also the end of the sea, and so •
signifies the end of the world. It betokens also the same end
V 11, of the world, that Peter drew the net to land, i. e. to shore.
Which thing the Lord Himself hath opened, where, in another
place He hath given a similitude taken from the casting of a
Mat.13, draw-net into the sea: And they draw it, saith He, to the
^^*^^' shore : and expounding the shore, what it meant. He saith,
So shall it be in the end of the world.
7. That, however, is a parable by word, not by action :
but in action, as in this place the Lord hath betokened the
Church how it shall be in the end of the world, so in another
fishing He hath betokened the Church how it should be in
this present time. Now, in that He did that in the beginning
of His preaching, but this after His resurrection, He shews
that the former draught of fishes signifies the good and the
bad which the Church now hath in it: but the latter only the
good, which the Church shall have for ever, when the resur-
rection of the dead is completed in the end of the world. Ac-
cordingly, Jesus there did not, as here, stand upon the shore,
Lute 5, when He commanded them to take the fish: but. He entered
^~~^' into one of ike ships, which teas Simon's, and prayed him
that he woidd thrust out a little from the land. And He sat
down therein, and taught the people. Now when He had left
speaking, he said unto Simony Launch out into the deep, and
let down your nets for a draught. And there the fishes which
they caught were in the ships: they did not as here draw the
nets to land. By these signs, and whatever other may be
found, there, the Church in this world, but here, in the end
of the world, is figured : therefore the first took place before,
the last after, the Lord's resurrection; because there the Lord
represented us as called, here as brought to life again. There,
the nets are not thrown on the right side, lest they should
denote only the good, nor on the left, lest only the bad : but
generally, Let down your nets, saith He, for a draught, that
we may understand good and bad to be meant: whereas here
He saith. Cast to the right side of the ship, to denote those
that shall stand on the right hand, the good only. There,
The Church of the called, and the Church of the chosen. 1065
the net, for signification of schisms, was breaking: but here, John
because in that consummate peace of the saints there shall ^^^'
be no schisms, it concerned the Evangelist to say, And for all
they were "tanti" i. e. so large^^ yet was not the net broken ; '- to(to6'
as though he looked back to that other occasion where Ihe"^""'
net was broken, and by contrast of that evil would set off this
good. There, the multitude of fishes taken was so great,
that the two ships were filled and began to sink, inergerentur,
i. e. were loaded even to the point of sinking: for they did
not sink, only were in danger. For whence arise in the
Church the great evils under which we groan, but because
there is no bearing up against so great a multitude which,
welnigh unto the submersion of discipline, enters in with its
manners utterly alien from the path of the saints ? But here
they cast the net to the right side, and now they were not
able to draio it for the multitude of fishes. What meaneth,
now were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes, but
as those who on the right hand, i. e. within the nets of the
Christian name, depart this life, shall come to light only on
the shore, i. e. in the end of the world, when they rise again ?
Therefore they were not able so to draw the net as to
discharge into the ship the fishes they had taken, as was
done in that former case with all those by which the net was
burst and the ships overloaded. Moreover, these of the right
side, after their departure out of this life, the Church hath
still, but hidden from sight, in the sleep of peace, as in the
deep, until the net come unto the shore to which they are
drawing it, as it were two hundred cubits off. Now that
which in the former miracle was figured by the two ships, in
regard of the circumcision and the uncircumcision, the same
I take to be figured in this place by the two hundred cubits,
in regard of the elect of either kind, the circumcision and the
uncircumcision ; being as much as to say, hundred and
hundred ; because in the sum of number hundred the figure
passes to the right''. Lastly, in the former fishing, the number
of the fishes is not expressed, as though in that were fulfilled
that which was foretold by the prophet: / have preached P^a.io,
and spoken: they are miUtiplied above number: but here^'
they are not a sort above number, but there is of them the
*» In the Roman numeral notation, as xc. c. ci. cc.
1066 The numerical sijmhol of Grace added to the Lair :
HoMiL. particular number, a hundred and fifty and three; of which
'number we are with the Lord's assistance to render the
reason.
8. Now if we would fix upon tlie number that shall denote
Deut.9, the Law, what should it be but ten? For we know of course
that the Decalogue, i.e. those ten well-known command-
ments, were first written by the finger of God on the two
tables of stone. But the Law, while grace aidelh not,
maketli transgressors, and is only in the letter: for because
2Cor. 3, of this especially the Apostle saith, The letter killeth, but
^' the Spirit giveth life. Then let Spirit be added to letter,
that the letter kill not whom the Spirit quickeneth not,
but that we may do the commandments of the Law, not by
our own strength, but by gift of the Saviour. But when
grace is added to the Law, i. e. the Spirit to the letter, then
it may be said that number seven is added to number ten.
For that by this number, i. e. seven, is signified the Holy
Ghost, is attested by proofs of Holy Writ, to which we must
give heed. Namely, holiness or sanctification specially
pertaineth to the Holy Spirit: accordingly, albeit the Father
ch.4,24.is Spirit, and the Son Spirit, because God is Spirit; and the
Father is Holy, the Son Holy: yet by a name proper to
Himself the Spirit of Them Both is called the Holy Spirit.
Where then for the first time was the word, sanctification,
heard in the Law, but on the seventh day? For God did
not hallow or sanctify the first day, on which He made light;
or the second, on which the firmament; or the third, on
which He parted the sea from the land, and the earth brought
forth herb and tree : or the fourth, on which the heavenly
bodies were created : or the fifth, on which the living
creatures that live in the waters or fly in the air: or the sixth,
on which the living soul that is on the dry land, and man
Gen. 2, himself: but, He sanctified the seventh day, on whicJi He
rested from. His works. Meetly therefore by the number
seven is the Holy Spirit betokened. Esaias also the Prophet
Is. II saith, The Spirit of God shall rest upon Him; and then
^- 3. enlarging thereupon in regard of His sevenfold work or
office, he saith, The Spirit of uisdotn and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge
and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of God, shall fill Him.
how this forms the sacred number of the fishes. 1067
And what in the Apocalypse ? Speaks it not of the seven John
Spirits of God, albeit He is 09ie and the same Spirit dividing j"^^*
His own to every man as He will ? But the sevenfold work- Rev. 3,
ing of One Spirit is so named by the same Spirit Who was K^
with the writer, that he should speak of seven Spirits. When 12, 11.
therefore to the number ten of the Law the Holy Spirit is
added in the form of number seven, it becomes seventeen ;
which number, growing by the sum of all the numbers from
one up to itself, reaches to the sum of a hundred and fifty-
three. Thus if to one thou add two, of course thou hast
three; to those add three and four, and together Ihey make
ten; and then if thou add all the numbers up to seventeen,
the sum reaches to the number aforesaid: i. e. if to ten, the
amount had by adding from one to four, thou add five, it
becomes fifteen; to these add six, and we get twenty-one ;
to these add seven, and it becomes twenty-eight; to these
add eight and nine and ten, and we get fifty -five ; to these
add eleven and twelve and thirteen, and it becomes ninety-
one ; to these again fourteen and fifteen and sixteen, and
we get an hundred and thirty-six ; to this number add the
remaining number of which we speak, i.e. seventeen, and
the number of the fishes will be complete. Therefore the
thing signified is not just an hundred and fifty-three saints
only to rise unto eternal life, but thousands of saints pertain-
ing unto the grace of the Spirit: by which grace we agree
with our adversary, the Law of God; so that while theMatt.5,
Spirit giveth life, the letter killeth not, but that which ^^'
by the letter is commanded, while the Spirit aideth, is ful- Hom.
filled, or, if aught be not fulfilled, it is remitted. All there- p gjQ *
fore who pertain unto that grace are by this number figured, °ote.
i. e. figuratively signified. Which number containeth also
thrice the number fifty, and the number three over and
above, in regard to the mystery of the Trinity: moreover,
the number fifty is made up of seven multiplied by seven,
and one added ; for seven times seven make forty-nine.
That the one is added, is to signify that He is One, Who is
denoted by the number seven because of His sevenfold
operation : and we know that the Holy Ghost was sent, after
the Lord's Ascension, on the fiftieth day, and the disciples
were bidden to wait for that promised sending.
4 A
1068 77^6 net contained only great fishes,
HoMiL. 9. Not without a meaning, therefore, are these fishes said
^to be both so many, and so great: i. e. an hundred and
V. 11. fifty-three, and great. For so it is written: And drew the
net to land, full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and
Msitt. 5, three. For, when the Lord had said, I am not come to
' ' destroy the Law, hut to fulfil, namely, as He was about to
give the Spirit through Which men should have pov^^er to
fulfil the Law, thereby adding the seven to the ten ; after a very
few words interposed Hesaith, Whosoever therefore shallhreak
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven : but he that
shall do and teach them, shall be called great in the kingdom of
Heaven. This man therefore shall be able to belong to the
number of the great fishes. But the other, the least, who
undoes in his deeds what he teaches in words, may indeed
have place in the Church such as it is denoted by the first
draught of fishes, having in it good and bad, seeing this too
is called the kingdom of Pleaven : in regard of which He
Mat.is, saith, The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net cast into the
^'^' sea, and gathering of every kind'". Where He means also
good and bad: which. He saith, shall be separated on the
shore, i. e. at the end of the world. And indeed, to shew
that these least, who teach good things by speaking which
they undo by evil living, are reprobates, and shall not as the
least have place in eternal life, but shall have no place there
at all ; when He had said. Shall be called least in the kingdom
of Heaven, He straightway subjoins. For I say unto you,
that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of
the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of Heaven. Those, surely, are the Scribes and Pharisees, who
Mat. 23,5^7 in Moses* seat, and of whom He saith, What they say do
ye: but what they do, that do ye not: for they say, and do not :
they teach by their discourses that which they undo by their
lives. It follows therefore, that he who is least in the kingdom
of heaven, such as the Church now is, shall not enter into the
kingdom of Heaven, such as the Church shall then be ; since,
as teaching that which he undoes, he shall not pertain unto the
society of them who do that which they teach, and therefore
* Ex omni genere pisctum. Vercell. edited Vu]g. All the Greek copies,
Veron. Colb, S. Hilar, p. 'J5. and the ^k irauThs y4i/ovs.
for all are great in the Church of the Elect. 1 069
shall not be in the number of the great fishes : since he that John
shall do and teach, the same shallhe called great in ihekiiigdom ^ j *
of Heaven. And because he shall be great here; therefore
shall he be there, where that least shall not be. For to that
degree shall they be great there, that he who is least there Matt.
is greater than he, than whom here is none greater. But '
yet those who are great here, i. e. who in the kingdom of
Heaven, where the net gathers good and bad, do the good
things they teach, the same shall be greater in that eternity
of the Kingdom of Heaven, they who are denoted by the
fishes which belong to the right side, and to the resurrection
of life. — It comes next that we should discourse, what God
shall give, concerning the Lord's repast with these seven
disciples, and what He spake after the same, as also concerning
the conclusion of the Gospel : but this must not be pent up
into the present sermon.
4 A Q
HOMILY CXXIII.
John xxi. 12 — 19.
Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the dis-
ciples durst ash Him, Who art Thou ? knowing that it was
the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth
them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that
Jesus shewed Himself to His disciples, after that He was
risen from the dead. So ivhen they had dined, Jesus saith
1 supra to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Joannes^, lovest thou Me more
note. ' ^^^^ these ? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord ; Thou knowest
that I love lliee. He saith unto him. Feed My lambs. He
saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Joannes,
lovest thou Me ? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord ; TJiou
knowest that I love TJiee. He saith unto him, Feed my
lambs. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of
Joannes, lovest thou Me ? Peter was grieved because He said
unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me ? And he said unto
Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that I
love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Wheri thou wast young, thou girdedst
thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest : but when thou
shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
This spake He signifying by what death he should glorify
God.
S.Aug. 1. The Gospel of blessed John the Apostle comes to a
I4^gj47 close with the Lord's manifesting Himself for the third time
253. to His disciples: in which Gospel we have already handled,
as we were able, the former pari, down to the place where is
related the taking of the hundred and fifty-three fishes by
the disciples to whom He shewed Himself, and how, though
The seven disciples dining with Christ 1071
they were great, yet were not the nets broken. What follows ^"hn
is next to be considered, and in so far as the Lord aids, toi2— 19.
be discoursed upon, as the matter shall seem to require.
Namely, when the fishing was done, Jesus saith unto thetn^ v. 12.
Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask Him,
Who art Thou ? knowing that it was the Lord. Then if
they knew, what need was there to ask ? and if there was no
need, why is it said. They durst not, as if there were need, S.Chrys.
but they did not dare to do so ? Well then, the meaning is Ev. Jo-
this: so mighty was the evidence of truth in the appearing ^°°* ^7.
of Jesus to those disciples, that none of them durst, not only
deny, but even doubt; since if any doubted, he would be
bound to ask. Therefore the saying. None of them durst
ask Him, Who art Thou ? is as much as to say, None of them
durst doubt that it was He.
2. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, ▼. 13.
and fish likewise. Behold also, we are told what they dined
upon : concerning which repast we also will say somewhat
sweet and wholesome, if He will feed us also. Above it is
told that these disciples, when they came to land, saw afire
of coals there, and fish laid thereon^ and bread. Where the
meaning is not that there was bread also laid upon the coals,
but we are to understand, They saw. Which word if we repeat
in the place where it is to be understood, the whole may be
said in this way : They saiv a fire of coals there, and fish
laid thereon, and they saw bread. Or thus rather : they saw
a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, they saw also
bread. At the Lord's bidding they brought also of the fish
which themselves had caught ; and though it is not expressed
by the narrator that they did this, yet it is not left
unmentioned that the Lord ordered it : for He saith, Bring
of the fish which ye have nolo caught. And who can suppose
that they did not do as He ordained ? Of these then the
Lord made a dinner for those His seven disciples, to wit, of
the fish which they saw laid upon the coals, adding to this
some of those which they had caught ; and of the bread,
which it is no less mentioned that they saw. " Piscis assus, ch.6,4l,
Christus est passus :" the roasted fish, is Christ in His
Passion. He also is the Bread which descended from heaven.
With this is the Church incorporated unto the participating
1072 denote the final blessedness of all Saints.
HoMiL. of eternal bliss. In which regard it is said, Bring of the
'fish which ye have now caught; that all we who have this
hope in us might know, that in those seven disciples, by
which number seven in this place we may understand our
universality to be figured, we communicate in that so great
mystery, and are associated in that same bliss. This is the
dinner of the Lord with His disciples : at which John, albeit
he had many other things to say of Christ, brings his Gospel
to a close, with a great contemplation, and that, a contempla-
tion of great things. For here the Church, such as it is to be
in the good only, is signified by the draught of the hundred and
fifty-three fishes; and to them who believe, hope, love these
things, the participation of so great bliss is by this dinner be-
tokened.
T. ]4. 3. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed Himself
to His disciples, after that He was risen from the dead.
Which we must not refer to the manifestations themselves,
but to the days (that is, on the first day when He rose again;
and eight days after, when the disciple Thomas saw and
believed; and on this day when He did this of the fishes,
though after how many days He did this is not said :) for on
the first day itself He was seen more than once, as the com-
parison of the testimony of all the Evangelists demonstrates;
but, as 1 said. His manifestations are to be numbered by
days, so that this is the third; namely, the first manifest-
ation, also to be reckoned as one because of the one day,
no matter how often or to whom He shewed Himself, was
on that day on which He rose; the second manifestation,
after eight days; and this the third : and after this, as oft as
He would, until the fortieth day, on which He ascended into
Heaven, although not all are written.
T.15-19. 4. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
1 diiigis Simon, so)i of Joannes, lovest^ thou Me more than these ? He
3amo saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thouknowest that Ilove^ Thee.
He saith unto him. Feed My lambs. He saith to him again
the second time, Simon, son of Joannes, lovest^ thou Me? He
saith unto Rim, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that Llove^ Thee.
He saith unto him. Feed My sheep. He saith unto him the
3 amas third time, Simon, son of Joannes, loves t^ thou Me ? Peter was
grieved because He said unto him the third time. Loves t
St. Peter'' s /all, recovery, and end. 1073
thou Me ? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all John
things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto {^_i^
him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When
thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither
thou wouldest; but when thou shall be old, thou shall stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee
whither thou wouldest not. This spake He, signifying by
what death he should glorify God, To this came he in the end,
the denier and the lover: by presuming, elated; by denying,
prostrated; by weeping, cleansed; by confessing, proved;
by suffering, crowned: to this end came he, that he should of
perfect love die for His name with Whom of perverse eager-
ness he had promised to die. Let him do, being made strong
by His resurrection, that which he unripely engaged to do,
being weak. For this must needs be, that first Christ should
die for the salvation of Peter, then Peter die for the preach-
ing of Christ. That which his human temerity had begun
to dare, was a putting that first which should come last,
whereas the Truth had settled this order. Peter thought to
lay down his life for Christ, he that was to be delivered, for
Him that was to deliver; albeit Christ was come to lay down
His life for all His, among whom was Peter himself; which
thing, behold, is now done. Now henceforth may we have
firmness of heart to undergo death for Christ, by His own
gift taking unto us the true courage, not by our error pre-
sumptuously taking upon us a false courage. Now may w^e
not dread the end of this life ; because in the Lord's rising
again the pattern of another life is gone before. Now
mayest thou, Peter, not fear death; because He liveth Whom
thou didst mourn as dead, and Whom thou wouldest of
carnal love have forbidden to die for us. Thou didst dare Mat.ie,
to put thyself in the way before thy Leader, thou didst dread ^^'^^*
the persecutor who came after Him : henceforth, the price
being poured out for thee, mayest thou follow Him that
bought thee, yea, follow Him altogether, even unto the
death of the cross. Thou hast heard the words of One
Whom now thou hast proved true ; the Same hath foretold
thy passion, Who foretold thy denial.
5. Howbeit, first the Lord asks, that which He knew, and
not once only, but a second and a third time; whether Peter
1074 His love of Christ to be proved by feeding Christ s flock,
^^^j^j^- loveth Him: and just that number of times receiveth none
Comp. Other answer of Peter, than that He is loved ; just that
Hom^ number of times giveth none other charge to Peter, than that
p. 1081. His sheep be fed. For the thrice denying there is rendered
286™3. ^ thrice confessing, that the tongue be not less servant unto
Enarr. love than it had been servant unto fear, nor death immi-
inPg.37. . .
^, J3. *nent seem to have then elicited more of speech, than Life
90 (2), present shall elicit now. Be it the office of love to feed the
Q. 12.
Lord's flock", if it was the token of fear to deny the Shepherd.
They who with this mind feed the sheep of Christ, that they
will needs have them to be theirs, not Christ's, are con-
victed of loving themselves, not Christ : through lust, of
getting either glory, or dominion, or gain; not through
charity, of obeying, and succouring, and pleasing God.
These then are the men against whom this so oft repeated
word of Christ sounds the alarm : the men of whom the
Phil. 2, Apostle groans, that they seek their own, not the things that
are Jesus Christ's. For what meaneth this, Lovest thou Me?
feed 3Iy sheep, but all one as if it were said, If thou love Me,
think not that thou feedest ; but My sheep feed thou as Mine,
not as thine; seek thou in them My glory, not thine; My
dominion, not thine ; My gain, not thine : be not of the
fellowship of those who belong to the perilous times, lovers
of themselves, and the rest that is linked to this beginning of
2 Tim. evils. For, the Apostle having said. For men shall be lovers of
' themselves, goes on to say, lovers of money, overbearing,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
wicked, irreligious, without affection, false accusers, incon-
tinent, flerce, without kindiiess, traitors, shameless, blinded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of Ood; having a show
of godliness, but denying the power thereof. All these evils
flow from that, as from a spring-head, which he puts first,
lovers of themselves. With good reason, therefore, is it said
to Peter, Lovest thou Me? and he answers, / love Thee; and
this is the rejoinder. Feed My sheep: and this a second, this
S. Aug. a third time. (Where also it is shewn that that which we ex-
de Civ.
JJ.X1V.7. a So St Augustine constantly inter- St. Peter having by his trine confession
prets, that Peter is required to prove effaced his trine denial is by these
his love by feeding the flock of Christ : w^ords, Feed My sheep, reinstated in
but the Greek expositors, as S. Cyril his Apostolic office.
Al., S. Chrysost., Euthymiup, that
Self-love the source of all evils in the Church. 1075
press by the two words amor and dilectio is one and the same John
XXI
thing. For the Lord also the last time saith not, Diligis iq^iq^
Me, but, Amas Me ?) Not ourselves then, but Him let us
love ; and in feeding His sheep, seek the things that are His,
not that are our own. For in some inexplicable manner, I
know not how, it comes to pass, that whoso loveth himself,
not God, loveth not himself; and whoso loveth God, not
himself, loveth his own self. For he who hath not power
of himself to live, dies by loving himself: therefore he loves
not himself, who loves so that he does not live. But when
a man loves Him by Whom man lives, by not loving him-
self he does more love himself, while the reason why he
loves not himself is, that he may love Him by Whom he
lives. Therefore, let them which feed the sheep of Christ,
not be level's of themselves, that they feed them not as
their own, but as His, and wish of them to get gain unto
themselves, as lovers of money ; or to be lords over them,
as overbearing; or to glory in the honours they receive
from them, as proud; or to go even to the length of
making heresies, as blasphemers ; and not yield to the holy
fathers, as disobedient to parents ; and as unthankful, render
evil for good to those who correct them because they are loath
that they should perish ; as wicked, murder souls, both their
own and others; as irreligious, rend the motherly bowels of
the Church ; as without affection, have no compassion for
the weak ; as detractors, essay to blemish the fair fame of the
saints; as incontinent, not curb the worst of lusts; dj^fierce^
be ever wrangling and going to law : as without kindness,
know not to help the distressed ; as traitors, betray to the
enemies of the godly the things which they have discovered
that they are obliged to conceal ; as shameless, drive before
them all human sense of shame by unblushing effrontery ; as
blinded, understand neither what they say nor whereof they \ Tim.
affirm ; set carnal pleasures above spiritual joys, as lovers of^^ '^'
pleasures more than lovers of God. For these and such like
wickednesses, whether they all meet in one man, or have
dominion some over some men, others over others, all spring,
so to say, from this as their root, that men are lovers of them-
selves. Against which vice must those be above all on their
guard, who feed the sheep of Christ, lest they seek their own,
1076 Repugnance against death, natural to all,
HoMiL.wo^ the things which are Jesus Christ'' s, and put to the
^^£111: uses of their lusts them for whom was shed the blood of
Christ. The love of Whom ought in him that feeds His
sheep to grow unto a spiritual ardour so great that it shall
even overcome the natural fear of death, by which we would
fain not die even when we would fain be with Christ. For
Phil. 1, thus even the Apostle Paul saith that he hath a desire to he
dissolved and to he with Christ: and yet doth he groan being
2 Cor. 5, hiirthened, and would fain not he stripped, hut clothed upon,
that mortality may he swallowed up of life. And here the
V. 18. 19. Lord saith to this His lover; When thou shall he old, thou
shall stretch forth thine hands, and another shall gird thee,
and lead thee whither thou wouldest not. For this He said
to him, signifying hy ivhat death he should glorify God.
Shalt stretch forth, saith He, thine hands, that is, shalt be
crucified. But that thou mayest come to this, another shall
gird thee, and shall lead thee, not whither thou wouldest,
but, whither thou wouldest not. First He told him what
should be, then how it should be. For not when crucified,
but of course when about to be crucified, was he led whither
he would not: for being crucified, he went, not whither he
would not, but indeed whither he was fain to go. Because
he would fain be loosed from the body, to be with Christ, but
then, if that might be, he desired eternal life without the
irksomeness of death : to which irksomeness he was led
unwilling, but from it was led out willing: unwilling he came
to it, but willing he overcame it ; and left behind him this
affection of infirmity, by reason of which no man likes to die ;
an affection so natural, that not even old age had power to
remove it from blessed Peter, to whom it was said. When thou
art old thou shalt be led whither thou wouldest not. For our
consolation even the Saviour took this affection also upon
Mat.26, Himself, saying, Father, if it he possible, let this cup pass
from Me : Who yet, we know, was come to die, and had no
ch. 10, necessity of death, but the will to die, by power about to lay
^^' down His life, and by power to take it again. But however
great the repugnance against death, the strength of love
ought to overcome it; that love, wherewith we love Him
Who, while He is our Life, was willing to endure even death
for us. For were there nothing, or little, of irksomeness in
hut to be overcome by the love of Christ. 1077
death, the glory of the martyrs would not be so great as it is. John
Howbeit, if the good Shepherd, Who laid down His life for ig. 19.
His sheep, hath even of those sheep made for Himself so 26. 11.
many martyrs ; how much more ought those to strive even
unto death for the truth, and even unto blood against sin, toHeb.12,
whom He committeth the sheep themselves, to feed, i. e. to
teach and rule ! And consequently, with the example of the
Shepherd going before, who does not see that the shepherds
are more bounden to keep close to the pattern of the Shepherd,
if many even sheep have copied His pattern, under Whom, the
One Shepherd in the one flock, the shepherds too are themselves
sheep ? For He hath made all those His sheep, for whom all
He suffered ; seeing He also, that He might suffer for all,
Himself became a sheep.
HOMILY CXXIV.
John xxi. 19 — 25.
And when He had spoken this. He saith unto him, Follow
Me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom
Jesus loved following ; which also leaned on His breast
at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betray eth Thee ?
Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this
man do ? Jesus saith unto him. Thus will I that he tarry
till I come, what is that to thee ? follow thou Me. Then
went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that
disciple shoidd not die: yet Jesus said not unto him. He
shall not die; but, ThuswillL that he tarry till Lcome, what
is that to thee ? This is the disciple which testifieth of
these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his
testimony is trite. And there are also many other things
which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every
one, L suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that shoidd be written. Amen.
cf. Ser. 1. It is no small question, why, when the Lord manifested
253*, * Himself the third time to the disciples, He said to the Apostle
Peter, Follow Me; but of the Apostle John, Thus" will L that
he tarry until L come ; what is that to thee? Upon this
question, to be, so far as the Lord shall grant, whether
fully treated of, or resolved, we bestow the last discourse
of the present work. The Lord, then, having foretold
* Sic eum volo manere: so Codd. ment with Cod. Cantab. Gr. eoi/ aurbi/
Veron. Colbert. Victor.: others, S« «c UKta iih^iv ovtws. Lachmann, Si
eum, or si eum— sie manere, in agree- sic.
The Lord's reply to SL Peter, concerning St. John. 1079
to Peter bj/ ivhat death he should glorify God, saith to John
him, Follow Me. Then Peter^ turning about, seeth the i9_25.
disciple whom Jesus loved following ; which also leaned on
His breast at supper^ and said, Lord, which is he that be-
trayeth Thee ? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and
what shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto him. Thus will I
that he tarry till I come ; what is that to thee ? follow thou
Me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren,
that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto
him. He shall not die; but. Thus will I that he tarry till I
come; what is that to thee ? Thus far reaches in this Gospel
a question, which by its profundity in no slight degree
exercises the mind of him that would search it out. Namely,
why is it said to Peter, Follow Me, and not said to the rest
who were there with him ? And yet unquestionably they
did follow Him, as disciples their Master. But if it means
following unto the suffering of death, did Peter alone
suffer for the Christian truth ? Was there not there among
those seven the other son of Zebedee, John's brother,
who after the Lord's x^scension is manifestly shewn to have Acts 12,
been put to death by Herod ? But some man will say,
that because James was not crucified, it might well be said
to Peter, Follow Me ; seeing he experienced not only death,
but also the death of the Cross. Be it so, if nothing else can be
found that shall be more suitable. Then why is it said of John,
Thus will I that he tarry till I come ; what is that to thee ?
and then it is repeated. Follow thou Me ; as though the reason
why John should not follow were this, that the Lord willed
him to tarry until He come ? Who can easily believe that
the thing meant was other than what the brethren believed,
to wit, that that disciple should not die, but tarry in this
present life until Jesus should come ? But then John has put
this sense away from us, by declaring in open contradiction
thereto that the Lord did not say this thing. For why
should he subjoin, Jesus said not. He shall not die, but lest
what had proved false should be left fixed in men's minds ?
2. But, if so please any man, let him yet stand out ; and
say that that is true indeed, which John saith, namely, that
the Lord did not say that that disciple should not die, but
nevertheless this is signified by such words as he relates Him
1080 Some erroneously suppose that John did not die.
HoMiL. to have spoken : and let him assert that the Apostle John
CXXIV
is yet alive, and as for that sepulchre of his at Ephesus,
maintain that he sleeps there, not lies dead^. Let him take
unto him for argument, that they say the earth in that spot
perceptibly swells and bubbles like boiling water ; and that
this is caused by his breathing, let him uphold, be it with
consistent or be it with pertinacious asseveration. For there
cannot lack that shall believe this, if there lack not that affirm
Deut. Moses also to be alive; because it is written, that his sepulchre
is not found, and because he appeared with the Lord on the
Mat.l7, Mount, where was Elias also, of whom we read that he did
2*Kings^ot die, but was caught up. As if the body of Moses could
2> 11- not be somewhere so hidden out of sight, that it should be
altogether unknown to men where it was, and thence be for
a season divinely raised up, when Elias and he appeared
together with Christ: just as for a season many bodies of
Mat. 27, Saints arose when Christ suffered, and after His resurrection
• ' appeared, as it is vtTitten, to many in the holy city. But
yet, as I was saying, if some deny Moses to be dead, whom
the very Scripture in which we read that his sepulchre is no
where found, doth nevertheless without any ambiguity wit-
ness to be dead ; how much rather shall John by occasion
of the present words, where the Lord saith, Thus will I that he
tarry till I come, be believed to be alive, sleeping under the
earth ? Of whom also they have a tradition, (which is found
•» It seems to have been thought by St.Martinof Tours.— Of earlierwriters,
some, that St. John was caught up into compare Tertull. de Anima, c. 50. Obiit
heaven like Enoch and Elijah : see the et Joannes, quern in adventum Domini
work, falsely ascribed to St. Hippolytus remansurumfrustrafueratspes. " John
Portuensis, de Consummatione Sseculi, also died, of whom it was vainly ex-
p. 14. in the Appendix to Fabrieius's pected that he would remain until
Edition of that writer. Photius Bi- the Lord's coming." S. Hil. de Trin.
blioth. 229, quotes EphraimTheopolit.of vi. 39. seems to speak doubtfully:
Antioch, a writer of the sixth century, Joannes sic usque ad adventum Domini
for the same opinion. The Apocryphal manens,etsubsacramentodivin8evolun-
writings to which St. Augustine alludes tatis lelictus et deputatus, dum non
are not known to be in existence, but a neque non mori dicitur et manere.
similar story is related in Niceph. Hist. "John so remaining until the Lord's
Ecd. ii. 42. comp. Photius u, s. Isidor. coming, and left under the mystery of
Hispalensis de Vita et obitu Prophet, the Divine will in our account of him,
et Sanct. (Orthodoxogr. i. p. 598.) Are- while it is not said that he should not
tas in Apocalyps. p. 741. Fabric, die, and is said that he should remain."
Cod. Apocr. N. T. p. 533. Not many S. Ambros. Expos, in Psa. 118. Serm.
years before these Homilies were 20. §. 12. de morte ejus aliqui dubita-
preached, an impostor had appeared, verunt. " Of his death some have
pretending himself to be the Apostle St. doubted."
John ; see Severus Sulpitius in his Life of
A common report concerning his sepulchre. 1081
in some though apocryphal writings,) how he ordered a John
sepulchre to be made for him, being at the time in perfect i9_l25.
health ; and how, when this had been dug and most carefully
prepared, he laid himself therein as in a bed, and straightway
gave up the ghost ; howbeit, as those suppose, who take
these words of the Lord in this meaning, he did not actually
die, but lay like one deceased ; and being thought to be
dead, was buried asleep ; and so remains until Christ come,
giving tokens the while of his being alive, by the heaving
of the dust; which dust is supposed to be stirred by the
breathing of the sleeper, so as to rise from beneath to
the surface of the grave. I think it superfluous to combat
this opinion. Be it for them who know the spot, to
see whether the earth in that place does this, or is thus
affected as they say; as in fact we have been told this by
men of no slight authority.
3. In the mean while, let us yield to an opinion which we
are not able to refute by sure proofs ; lest again there arise
another question to be asked of us. Why over the buried
dead the very soil seems in a manner to liv^e and breathe.
But put the case, that by a great miracle, such as the
Almighty hath power to do, a living body is all the w^hile in
deep sleep beneath the earth, until the end of the world
come, is the present so great question hereby solved? Nay
rather, it becomes a greater and a more difficult question, why
Jesus, loving this disciple as He did above the rest, insomuch
that it was granted to him to lie in His bosom, should as a
great boon bestow upon him a long sleep in the body;
whereas He released the blessed Peter, by the great glory of
martyrdom, from the burden of the body, and granted to
him that which the Apostle Paul hath said and written that
he desired, to he dissolved and to he with Christ. But if, Phil, i,
which is rather believed to be the case, the reason why Saint *
John tells that the Lord said not, He shall not die, was, that
He might not be thought to have meant this in those words
which He did say, and his body in his sepulchre lies lifeless
as the bodies of other dead ; it remains only, that if the
thing really does take place there which common fame reports,
namely, that the earth as fast as it is heaved off" grows
up from beneath, it is, either to commend his precious death,
1082 Peter loved more, yet John teas more beloved.
HoMiL. seeing it hath not martyrdom to commend it% (for he was not
^put to death by the persecutor for the faith of Christ,) or for
some other reason hidden from om' knowledge. Still the
question remains, Why the Lord should say concerning a
man that should die, Thus will I that he tarry till 1 come ?
4. And then that circumstance in these tvvo Apostles Peter
and John, who but must be struck by it, and put upon
enquiry, Why the Lord loved John more, when Peter loved
the Lord Himself more ? For wherever John makes mention
of himself, in order that without expressing his name it may
be understood that none other than he is meant, he adds
this, that the Lord loved him : as if He loved him alone, to
distinguish him by this mark from the rest; though assuredly
He loved them all: then what would he have to be under-
stood in saying this, but that he was loved with a more
ample love ? which God forbid we should think him to say
falsely. Moreover, what greater token could Jesus give of
His own greater love towards him, than that a man, partaker
of so great salvation with the rest, his fellow- disciples, should
yet alone recline upon the bosom of the Saviour Himself?
Further, that the Apostle Peter loved Christ more than others,
many proofs indeed may be brought forward : but not to go
a long way off for others, in what we read a liitle above in
the lesson before the present, about this same third manifest-
ation of the Lord, it appears plainly enough : where, inter-
supra rogating him, He saith, Lovest thou 3Ie more than these ?
^' ' Which thing assuredly He knew, and yet put the question,
that we also who read the Gospel, might by means both of
His question and the other's answer, know the love of Peter
towards the Lord. As for this, that Peter in his answer, /
Serm. love Thee, did not add, more than these; he answered iust
147, 2. "^
^ Polycrates Ep. ad Victor, ap. Eus. ancient expositors. Some thought that
H. E. V. 24. calls St. John fidpTvs Koi Folloiv Me meant, ' Go thou into all
8tScfcr«;a\os, " Martyr and Doctor," add- the world, preach the Gospel, feed the
ing that " he lies buried at Ephesus." universal flock:' while St. John was
S. Chrysost. Horn. 65 in Matt, inclines, to tarry in Galilee, tmtil I co?)ie, i.e.
byreasonofthatsayingofourLord,Matt. 'until the destruction of Jerusalem;'
20, 22 23, to hold that he was a martyr or else, ' until it please Me to call him
in the stricter sense of the word : simi- to preach the Gospel out of the holy
larly Theophylactinl. — Onthe meaning Land.' Others expounded that our
of the saying, Follow thou Me, and If Lord by these sayings denoted the
1 will that he tarry &c. Theophylact different time and manner of the death
recorfis two different opinions of the ot the two Apostles.
This life, even to the Saints, a life of suffering, 1083
what he knew. For he could not know how much the Lord John
was loved by any other, because he could not see the heart 19^2*5.
of another. But yet in the former words, in saying, Yea,^^^.
Lord, Thou knowest, he hath himself sufficiently declared ^^^' ^*
that the Lord w^th knowledge asked the thing he asked.
Consequently, the Lord knew not only that he, Peter, loved,
but also that he loved Him more than those. And yet if we
propound the question. Whether of twain is the better man ;
whether he that loves Christ more, or he that loves Him less;
who will stand in doubt to answer, that the better man is he
that loves more ? Again, if we propound, whether of twain is
the better man, whether he whom Christ loves less, or he
whom He loves more; that he is the better man who is more
loved by Christ, will without doubt be our answer. So then,
in the comparison which I put first, Peter is prefeiTed to
John ; in the other, John to Peter. Well then, we propound
a third thus: Which of two disciples is the better; he who
less than his fellow-disciple loves Christ, and is more loved
by Christ than his fellow-disciple : or he whom Christ loves
less than hisfellow-disciple, albeit himself more than hisfellow-
disciple loves Christ ? Here, plainly, the rejDly lingers, and the
question becomes greater. For my part, as far as my under-
standing goes, I might easily answer, that he is the better
man who more loves Christ, the happier man he whom Christ
loves more; if only I saw clearly how to defend the justice of
our Deliverer in loving that man less by whom He is loved
more, and that man more by whom He is loved less.
5. I will essay therefore, in the manifest mercy of Him
Whose justice is hidden, according to the strength which
Himself shall give, to shew you the solution of this so
great question : for thus far it has been propounded, not ex-
pounded. But for the expounding thereof, let us set out
w'ith this: that we must remember, that our life in this cor- Wisd. 9,
ruptihle body which jpresselh down the soul is a wretched life. '
Howbeit, we that are already redeemed through the Mediator,
and have received for earnest the Holy Ghost, have a blessed
life in hope, though in the reality we do not yet possess it.
But hope that is seen is not hope: for what a manseeth, why Rom 8,
doth he hope for? But if what we see not we hope for, hy'^^''^^'
patience we wait for it. Now it is in the ills each suffers,
4 B
1084 The punishment of sin outlasts the guilt.
HoMiL. not in the good things he enjoys, that there is need of patience.
CXXIV
J , y ' This life therefore, of which it is written. Is not the life of
mail upon earth temptation ? in which we daily cry unto
Matt. 6, the Lord, Deliver us from evil, man is constrained to tolerate,
even after remission of sins: albeit that he came into this misery,
De pec- the first sin was the cause. For the punishment is lengthened
cat. me-
ntis et
^ ' ™^" out more than the fault ; lest the fault should be thought
remiss, small, if with the fault the punishment also should come to
ii. 64-56.
' an end. And therefore, either for the shewing forth of the
misery we have deserved, or for the amendment of this
unstable life, or for the exercise of needful patience, the
punishment does in temporal wise hold the man. even when
the fault does not hold him down unto eternal damnation.
Such is the condition of these present days, the evil days
Ps. 34, which we pass in this mortal state, albeit therein we love to
see good days ; a condition to be lamented indeed, but not to
be found fault with. For it comes of God's just anger,
Job 14, speaking of which the Scripture saith, Blan that is horn of
woman is of short life, and full of anger : seeing God's anger
is not as man's, i. e. a perturbation of an excited mind, but
a calm settling of just punishment. In this His anger, God,
Psa. 77, as it is written, not shutting up His tender mercies, besides
other consolations of the wretched which He ceaseth not to
Gal. 4, afford to mankind, in the fulness of time at which He knew
this behoved to be done, sent forth His Son, the Only-Begotten,
by Whom He created all things, that He, still continuing
2 Tim. to be God, should be made Man, and be the Mediator between
' ' God and men, the Man Christ Jesus : on Whom believing,
being by the laver of regeneration loosed from the guilt of all
sins, both original, (to wit, contracted by the natural generation
or birth, which, most of all, the new birth or regeneration was
ordained to counteract,) and of the rest which are contracted
by evil living, they should be set free from lasting damnation,
and live in faith, hope, and charity, sojourning as strangers in
this world and in its laborious and perilous temptations, but
should walk in the consolations of God, both bodily and
spiritual, unto the beholding of Him, keeping the way, which
same Christ was made unto them. And because even walking
in Him they are not without sins, which, by reason of the weak-
ness of this life overtake them unawares, He hath given them
Peter, by primacy of Apostleship, represents the Church : 1085
alms-deeds for salutary remedies, by which their prayer John
should be aided, wherein He hath taught them to say, Forgive i9_25
ics our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Thus fares the Matt. 6,
Church by blessed hope in this troublesome life : of which ^^*
Church the Apostle Peter, by reason of the primacy of his
Apostleship, is by figurative generality the representative.
For, as it regards himself in his proper person, by nature he
was one man, by grace one Christian, by more abundant grace
one and withal the chief Apostle : but when it was said to
him, To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven : Mat. 16,
and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in ~~
heaven : and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven, he denoted the universal Church, which in
this world by divers temptations, like as by rains, floods,
tempests, is shaken, and falleth not, because it is founded Matt. 7 ,
upon the rock, " super petram,'' from which Peter had his ^^*
name. For it is not " a Petro petra," but " Petrus a petra,"
not from Peter hath the Rock its name, but Peter his from
the Rock, just as " Christ" is not so called from " Christian,"
but " Christian" from " Christ." Since, that the Lord said,
" Super hanc petram cedifioabo Ecclesiam meam^^ Upon this
Rock will I build My Church, was because Peter had said.
Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God. Upon this, then,
saith He, upon this Rock, Which thou hast confessed, will I
build My Church. For the Rock was Christ : upon which i Cor.
foundation Peter himself also was built. For other foundation . ,' '
can no man lay save that which is laid, which is, Christ
Jesus'". The Church therefore, which is founded in Christ, did
a S. Aug. Retract, i. 21.'' In a certain sent the Church which is built upon
place of the book which I wrote while this rock, and which hath received the
a presbyter Contra Epistolam Do?iati, keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. For
I said concerning the Apostle Peter, it is not said to him, Tu es petra, but,
tbat on him as the rock the Church is Tues Petrus. Now Petra eratChrisfus,
founded; which sense is also sung by The Rock was Christ; Whom having
the moutb of many in the verses of the confessed, as the whole Church confess-
most blessed Ambrose, where speaking eth Him, he was called Peter. Which
of the cock, he saith. Hoc, ipsa petra of these two senses is the more probable,
ecclesice Canente, culpam diluit. But let the reader choose." In his extant
I know that I have since very often works, St. Augustine is constant to the
expounded that saying of the Lord, Tu latter interpretation. Comp. supra Hom.
es Petrus, et super hanc petram cedi- 118,4. Serm. 270, 2. Non supra Petrum
ficaho Ecclesiam meam, to mean, Upon quod tu es, sed supra petram quam con-
Him Whom Peter confessed, saying, fessus es. Mdijicabo autem Ecclesiam
Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living nieam : sedificabo te, qui in hac respon-
God: and so that Peter, named from sione figuram gessisti Ecclesiee. Serm.
this Rock, should figuratively repre- 149, 7: 296, 1. 2. Lib. de Agone
4 B 2
1086 i. e. the Church militant, foUowin^ Christ through suffering.
HoMiL.in Peter receive from Him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven:
-^ ^"that is, the power of binding and loosing sins. For that
which in strictness of speech the Church is in Christ, the
same, bj significance, is Peter in the Rock: in which
significance the Rock means Christ, Peter the Church.
This Church then, which Peter represented, so long as it
exists in the midst of evils, by loving and following Christ is
delivered from evils. Now it doth more follow Him in them
who strive for the Truth even unto death. Howbeit, it is said
to the whole universally. Follow Me: to that whole, for which
universally Christ suffered : of Whom the same Peter saith,
1 Pet. 2, Christ suffered for us, leaving us an ensample, that we should
follow His steps. Behold here in what regard it is said, Follow
Me. But there is another life, immortal, which is not amid
1 Cor. evils: there we shall see face to face, that which here, by
' * much proficiency in attaining unto the sight of the truth, is
seen through a glass, darkly. Two lives, therefore, preached
and commended unto her of God, the Church knoweth : of
which, one is in faith, the other in sight; one in time
of sojourning, the other in eternity of abiding ; one in
labour, the other in rest ; one in the way, the other in its
home ; one in the work of action, the other in the wages of
contemplation ; one declines from evil and does good, the
other hath no evil to decline from, and hath great good to
enjoy ; one fights with the enemy, the other reigns without
an enemy ; one is courageous in things adverse, the other
hath no sense of ought adverse ; one curbs carnal lusts, the
other is wholly given up to spiritual delights ; one is anxious
with care of getting the victory, the other in the peace of
victory is without a care ; one in temptations is helped, the
other without any temptation rejoices in the Helper Himself;
one succours the needy, the other is there where it finds none
needy; one forgives others' sins that its own maybe forgiven,
the other neither hath ought done to it that it need forgive,
nor does ought that it need ask to be forgiven ; one is scourged
by evils that it be not lifted up in its good things, the other
with such fulness of grace is free from all evil, that
Chrijitiano §.32. Enarr. in Psa. 108, agnoscitur in figura gestasse personam,
1. Qusedamdicuntur quae ad apostolum propter primatum quern in discipulis
Petrum proprie pertinere videantur,nec habuit; sicuti esc, Tibi dabo claves
tamen habentillustrem intelleetum, nisi regni ccelorum : &c,
urn referuntur ad Ecdesiam enjus ille
Peter and John : the Life of faith and the Life of sight. 1087
without any temptation to pride it cleaves to the Supreme John
Good; one discerns between good and evil, the other beholds 2o_2 3
the things that alone are good : therefore, the one is good
but as yet wretched ; the other better, and blessed. The
first is signified by the Apostle Peter ; the last by John. The
first is wholly spent here even unto the end of this world,
and there finds an end; the last is deferred, to be completed
after the end of this world, but in the world to come hath no
end. Therefore to this it is said. Follow Me ; but of that other,
Tims will I that he tarry till I come; ivhat is that to thee?
Follow thou Me. For what is this ? So far as I understand,
so far as I take it in, what is this but. Follow thou Me, by
copying the pattern of enduring temporal evils; let the other
tarry until I come to render the good things that are for ever
and ever } Which may be more openly expressed in this wise :
Let perfected Kc^\ox\ follow Me, informed by the ensample of
My Passion : but let begun Contemplation tarry until I come,
to be perfected when I am come. For that which follows Christ
is the pious fulness of patience reaching even unto death :
but that which tarries until Christ come, the fulness of
knowledge to be then made manifest. Here, truly, we are
enduring the evils of this world in the land of the dying,
there we shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of
the living. For this that He saith, " volo eum manere,''' I
will that he tarry till I come, is not to be understood as if it
had been said, remanere ox permanere, to remain or continue;
but in the sense, " to wait :" since the thing signified by his
person is not now, but when Christ comes, to be fulfilled.
But the thing signified in his persan to whom it is said.
Follow Me, must be done now, else shall there be no coming
unto that v/hich is looked for. Now in this active life, the
more we love Christ, the more easily we are delivered from
evil. But then He loves us less, such as we now are ; and
indeed delivers us hence, that we may not be always such.
There, however. He loves us more : because there will be in us
nothing to displease Him, or that He should take away from
us : nor doth He love us here for any other purpose but to
heal us and translate us froui the things He loveth not. Here
then less, where it is not His will that we remain: there more,
whither it is His will that we pass, and whence He willeth not
1088 The love of Christ seen waits until He come.
HoMiL.thatwe pass away and perish. Then let Peter love Him,
'- that from this mortality we may be delivered : let John be
loved of Him, that in that immortality we may be preserved.
6. But in this way it is shewn why Christ loved John more
than Peter, not why Peter more than John loved Christ.
For it cannot be that if Christ love us more in the world
to come, where we shall live with Him without end, than in
this from which He is rescuing us, that we may be in that for
ever, therefore we shall love Him less when we shall be better:
since better we can in no wise be, except by more loving
Him. Why then did John love Him less than Peter did,
if John denoted that life in which the Lord shall be loved
much more, except as this saying, / will that he tarry ^ i. e.
wait, till I come, hath this meaning, that this same love
which shall then be greater, we have not yet, but wait for
it as future, that when He shall come we may have it ? For,
1 John as the same Apostle saith in his Epistle, It hath not yet
' * appeared what we shall he ; we know that when He shall
appear, we shall he like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Then, consequently, what we shall see, we shall love more.
But the Lord Himself, in the foresight of that life of ours
which is to be, knowing what manner of life it shall be in us,
doth by predestination love more, so by loving to bring us
Ps. 25, safe thereunto. Wherefore, since all the ways of the Lord
are mercy and truth, our present misery we know, because
we feel ; and therefore the mercy of the Lord which we wish
to be exhibited to us in delivering us from our misery, we love
more, and every day, especially for remission of sins, crave and
have the same : this was signified by Peter, loving more and less
beloved ; because Christ loves us less being wretched than
being blessed. But the contemplation of the Truth, such as
it shall then be, we love less, because we do not yet know
nor have it: this is signified by John, loving less and there-
fore waiting until the Lord come, both for the fulfilling of
the contemplation itself, and of the love thereof in us, such
as is due to it ; but more beloved, because the thing which
in him is figured is that which makes us blessed.
7. Let no man part these marked Apostles. Both in
that which Peter served to mark, they both were; and
in that which John served to mark, they both were to
The whole Churchy as St. Peter, follows Christ, 1089
be. In regard of the sign, the one followed, the other John
tarried : but in believing, they both endured the present 2o_l23.
evil things of this life's wretchedness, both looked for
the future good things of that life's blessedness. And
not they alone, but the whole holy Church doeth this, the
spouse of Christ, to be from these temptations delivered, in
that felicity preserved. Of which two lives Peter and John
were figures, each severally : but yet both in this, temporally,
they both walked by faith, and that, to eternity, they both
will enjoy by sight. For all saints, therefore, inseparably
pertaining to the body of Christ, in regard to their pilotage
through this most stormy life, the chief of the Apostles,
Peter, received the keys of the kingdom of Heaven for the
binding and loosing of sins : and for all saints too, in regard
to their most quiet harbourage in that life of perfect shelter,
John the Evangelist lay in the bosom of the Lord. Since
both as touching the binding and loosing sins, not Peter alone,
but the whole Church doth this : and as touching those sub-
lime verities, the Word in the beginning, God with God, and
the rest concerning Christ's Godhead and the Trinity and
Unity of the Godhead Itself, which in that kingdom are to be
contemplated face to face, but now, until the Lord come, to
be luv^ked at through a glass darkly, not John alone, by
preaching to 4ndite thereof, drank from the fountain of ' ructa-
the Lord's bosom: but the Lord Himself hath shed abroad^®*
over the whole earth the Gospel itself, that all His, each
according to his capacity, may drink thereof. There are
who have thought, and those no mean expositors of the S. Hie-
sacred Word, that the reason why John the Apostle was^^YJ^^^
loved more than others by Christ, was, that he never married, nian.
and from his earliest childhood lived in perfect chastity.^*
This indeed doth not evidently appear in the canonical
Scriptures : but yet it does also much help the agreeableness
of this opinion, that by him is signified that life in which
there shall be no marriages. This is that disciple which v.2i.25,
testifieth of these things, and wrote these things : and we know
that his testimony is true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contairi
the hooks that should he zvritten. It is not to be believed that
1 090 and, as St. John, waits until He come.
HoMiL.in respect of space, locally, the world could not contain
them ; for how could that be written in the world which
being written it could not hold ? but by the capacity of the
readers, it may be, the things could not be comprehended :
though indeed it very often happens, that, without detriment
to one's belief of the things told, the words seem to be beyond
belief. Which is not the case when some matter that was
obscure or doubtful is explained by giving the cause and
reason of the thing : but when a matter which is plain is
either made more or made less than it is, yet without swerving
from the straight path of denoting the truth ; since although
the words exceed the thing spoken of, the meaning of the
speaker, as having no intention to deceive, is apparent, and
he knows how far the thing is believed, while yet in speaking
it the thing is often diminished from or added to, beyond
what he would have to be believed. This manner of speech
by a Greek term, used by the masters not only of the Greek
but also of Latin composition, is called "hyperbole."
Which mode is found as in this place, so in some other
Ps.73,9. Divine Scriptures: such as, Tlietj have set their mouth unto
Ps. 68, the heaven ; and, Of them that walk upon the tip of the
hair in their wickednesses"^; and many other suchlike
sayings, which the holy Scriptures lack not, as also other
tropes, i. e. modes of speech. Of which 1 would discourse
with more pains, but that, the Evangelist here closing his
Gospel, I also am compelled to bring my discourse to a
close.
^ S. Aug. Epist. 149, 10. For your ing pride, bearing themselves haughtily
question concerning that in the sixty- in their wickednesses. By an hyperbole,
seventh Psalm, Veruntamen Deus con- it represents pride so overvreening and
quassabit capita inimicorwn suoriim, pacing with such haughty self-elation,
verticem capilli perambulantmyn in as if in walking it set its foot upon the
delictis snis, it seems to me to mean, tip of the hair : " quasi capilli verti-
that God will break in pieces the cem perambulando calcaret."
heads of His enemies, in their exceed-
END OF THE HOMILIES ON THE
GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN.
21.
ON THE EPISTLE
JOHN TO THE PARTHIANS%
TEN HOMILIES
BY
S. AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,
BISHOP OF HIPPO.
THE PROLOGUE.
Ye remember, holy brethren, that the Gospel according
to John, read in orderly course of Lessons, is the subject on
which we usually discourse : but because of the now inter-
* In this designation of St. John's
first Epistle the manuscript copies of
St. Augustine all agree, both here and
in the incidental mention, Qusest.
Evang. ii. 39. of St. John's Epistola
ad Parthos; and that there is no error
of transcription is further proved by the
fact, that the present work appears in
the Indiculus of Possidius under the
title, In Epistolam Joannis ad Parthos
Tractatus decern. And yet S. Augus-
tine neither in these Tractates nor in
any other of his extant works explains
or comments upon this peculiar address.
In the Latin Church, since Augustine,
it frequently occurs in authors and in
Mss. of the Vulgate. According to
Venerable Bede, " Many ecclesiastical
authors, and among them St. Athana-
sius. Bishop of the Church of Alex-
andria, witness that the first Epistle of
St. John was written ad Parthos.'^
(Cave Hist. Lit. i. 614.) But there is
no indication elsewhere that St. Atha-
nasius was acquainted with this super-
scription, and with the exception of a
few very modern Mss. which have
vphs Trdpdovs in the subscription to the
second Epistle, it seems to be unknown
to the Greek Church. The tradition
according to which St. John preached
the Gospel inParthia rests (so far as ap-
pears) on no ancient authority, and per-
haps has no other foundation than the
superscription itself: which may have
originated either, as some critics have
supposed, in an abbreviated form of wphs
irapOej/ovs, To the Virgins, or, as Giese-
ler suggests, in tov TrapSeVou, as the de-
signation of St. John himself, " The
Epistle of John the Virgin ;" an epithet
which has gone with his name from
very early times. In favour of this
explanation it may he remarked, that
Griesbach's Codex 30. has for the
superscription of the Apocalypse, tov
dyiov ivSo^oTaTov aTToaT6\ov koX evay-
y€\icrrov irapOij/ov riyairr)iuLeyov im-
(TTr}6iov 'Ictidyyov deo\6yov: " The Apo-
calypse of the holy, most glorious
Apostle and Evangelist, the Virgin,
the Beloved, who lay in the bosom (of
the Lord), John the Theologus."
1092 Charity commended,
^oLOG. vening solemnity of the holy days, on which there must be
certain Lessons recited in the Church, which in such sort
come every year that they cannot be other than they are ^ :
the order which we had undertaken is of necessity for a
little while put to a stand, not put an end to. But when I
was thinking what matter of discourse upon the Scriptures,
agreeably with the cheerfulness of these days, I might
undertake with you, as the Lord shall vouchsafe to grant,
during the present week, being such an one as might
be finished in these seven or eight days; the Epistle of
blessed John occurred to me : that whereas we have for a while
intermitted the reading of his Gospel, we may in discoursing
upon his Epistle not go from his side : the rather, as in this
same Epistle, which is very sweet to all who have a healthy
palate of the heart to relish the Bread of God, and very
meet to be had in remembrance in God's Holy Church,
Charity is above all commended. He has spoken many
words, and nearly all are about Charity*'. He that hath in
himself that which he is to hear, must needs rejoice at that
which he heareth. For so shall this reading be to that man,
as oil upon flame ; if that be there which may be nourished,
it is nourished and groweth and abideth. Again, to some it
ought to be as flame to fuel; that if he burned not, by added
discourse he may be set on fire. For in some that which is
there, is nourished : in some it is kindled, if it be not there :
that we all may rejoice in one Charity. But where charity,
there peace ; and where humility, there charity. Now let
us hear himself: and at his words, what the Lord suggests,
that let us speak also to you, that ye may well understand.
b From S. Ang. Serm. 232, 1. and Mss. assigns to Easter Monday, ap-
239, 1. it appears to have been the pears from the opening of it to have
custom, that during seven or eight been preached on the day which had for
days after Easter Sunday, the histoiy its Lesson the narrative of St. Luke
of the Resurrection from all four Evan- concerning the two disciples to whom
gelists should furnish the Gospel Les- Christ appeared on the way to Emmaus.
sons: but not always in the same order, Ben.
St. Luke being sometimes read before <= Some Mss. have in the title of
St. Mark. And in fact the second of these Homilies the addition, De Cari-
tate.
HOMILY I.
1 John i. 1. — ii. 11.
That which was from the beginning^ which we have heard, and
which we have seen with our eyes, and our hands have
handled, of the Word of life : and the life was manifested,
and we have seen, and hear witness, and shew unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested
unto us : the things which we have seen and heard declare
we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us : and
that our fellowship may he with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ, And these things write we unto you, that
your joy may he full. This then is the message which we
have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light,
and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do
not the truth : if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the hlood of Jesus
Christ His Son shall cleanse us from all sin. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. Ifioe confess our sins. He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous-
ness» If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: not for
cur's only, hut also for the sins of the whole world. And
in this we do know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He that saith he knoweth Him, and keepeth not His com-
1094 Christy the Bread of Angels, manifested unto men.
HoMiL. mandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But
'- — whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected. In this we know that we are in Him, if in Him
we he perfect. He that saith he ahideth in Him ought
himself also so to walk, even as He walked. Beloved, T
write no new commandment unto you, hut an old command-
ment which ye had from the heginning. The old command-
ment is the word which ye have heard. Again, a new
commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him
and in you: hecause the darkness is past, and the true light
now shine th. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth
his hr other, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth
his hrother ahideth in the light, and there is none occasion oj
stumhling in him. For he that hateth his hrotJier is in
darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither
he goeth, hecause the darkness hath hlinded his eyes.
]. That which was from the heginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes^, and our hands
have handled, of the Word of life. Who is he that with
hands doth handle the Word, except in that The Word was
made flesh, and dwelt in us ? Now this Word Which was
made flesh that It might be handled, began to be flesh, of the
Virgin Mary: but not then began to be the Word, for the
Apostle saith, 77^«^ which was from the heginning. See
whether his Epistle does not bear witness to his Gospel,
John 1, where ye lately heard. In the heginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, Perchance, Concerning the Word
of life one may take as a sort of expression concerning
Christ, not the very body of Christ which was handled with
hands. See w hat follows : And the Life was manifested.
Christ therefore is the Word of Life. And whereby mani-
fested? For It vfSisfroiti the heginning, only not manifested
to men : but It was manifested to Angels, who saw It and
fed on It as their bread. But what saith the Scripture ?
Ps. 78, Man did eat Angels'' bread. Well then, the Life ivas mani-
fested in the flesh ; because it rested on manifestation, that
That which can be seen by the heart only, should be seen
«* *0 idcaa-dfxiOa. Which we have looked upon. Vulg. guod perspeximusp.
Aug. om.
The Saints, God's witnesses on earth. ]095
by the eyes also, that It might heal the hearts. For only by i John
the heart is the Word seen : but the flesh is seen by the '
bodily eyes also. We had wherewith to see the flesh, but
had not wherewith to see the Word ; the Word was made
fleshy which we might see, that so that in us might be healed
wherewith we might see the Word.
2. And we have seen and are witnesses. Perhaps some v. 2.
of the brethren who are not acquainted with the Greek do
not know what the word witnesses is in Greek : and yet it is
a term much used by all, and had in religious reverence;
for what in our tongue we call witnesses, in Greek are " mar-
tyrs." Now where is the man that has not heard of martyrs,
or where the Christian in whose mouth the name of martyrs
dwelleth not every day } and would that it so dwelt in the
heart also, that we should imitate the passions of the martyrs,
not persecute them with our cups ^! Well then, We have seen
and are witnesses, is as much as to say. We have seen and
are martyrs. For it was for bearing witness of that which
they had seen, and bearing witness of that which they had
heard from them which had seen, that, while their testimony
itself displeased the men against whom it was delivered, the
martyrs suffered all that they did suffer. The martyrs are
God's witnesses. It pleased God to have men for His wit-
nesses, that men also may have God to be their witness.
We have seen, saith he, and are witnesses. Where have they
seen? In the manifestation. What meaneth. In the mani-
festation ? In the sun, that is, in this light of day. And how
should He be seen in the sun Who made the sun, except as
In the sun He hath set His tabernacle ; and Himself as a P«- ^^»
4. 5
Bridegroom going forth out of His chamber, exulted as a ' '
giant to run His course? He before the sun. Who made the'^^'f
Incite*
sun, He before the day-star, before all the stars, before aWrum,
Psa.
110,3.
« Edd. Non calcibus persequamur : perseqnuntur. Atque utinam Paganos
*' not virtually trample upon, or kick at tantum doleremus ! ... Videmus etiam
them, persecuting the martyrs afresh portantes in fronte signum Ejus, simul
by turning their festivals into luxurious in ipsa fronte portare impudentiam
orgies;" or "not merely vealk after luxuriarum, diebusqueetsoleranitatibus
them." Morel. Elem.Crit. p. 208. cited martyrum non exultare, sed insuUare.
by Ed. Par. proposes, calicibus perse- On Ps. 59. (al. 60.) §. 15. he has
quamur: Complaining of these excesses. ' modo eos ebriosi calicibus persequun-
S. Aug. says, Enarr. in Psa. 69. §. 2 : tur,' and one Oxford Ms. reads so here.
Adhuc illi inimici martyrum quia voce Comp. infra Hom. iv. 4.
et ferro non possunt, eos sua luxuria
1096 Christ, Bridegroom and Bride, God espousing Humanity.
HoMiL. Angels, the true Creator, {for all things uere made by Him,
— - — and without Him was nothing made,) that He might be seen
bj eyes of flesh which see the sun, set His very tabernacle in
the sun, that is, shewed His flesh in manifestation of this light
of day : and that Bride groom's chamber was the Virgin's womb,
because in that virginal womb were joined the two, the Bride-
groom and the bride, the Bridegroom the Word, and the bride
Gen. 2, the flesh ; because it is written, And they twain shall be one
Mat 19 J^-^^ i ^^^ ^^^ L^^^ ^^^^^ ^ ^^^ Gospel, Therefore they are
6- no more twain hut one flesh. And Esaias minds right well
that they are two : for speaking in the person of Christ he
Is. 61, saith,He hath set a mitre upon Me as upon a Bridegroom, and
Enarr adorned Me with an ornament as a Bride. One seems to speak,
in Vs. yet makes Himself at once Bridegroom and Bride ; because
''^'"' not two, but one flesh : because the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt in us. To that flesh the Church is joined, and so there
is whole Christ, Head and body.
3. And we are witnesses, and shew unto you that eternal life,
which was with the Fatlter, and was manifested unto us : i. e.
manifested among us : which might be more plainly expressed,
v- 3. manifested to us. Jlie things therefore which we have seen
and heard, declare we unto you. Those saw the Lord Him-
self present in the flesh, and heard words from the mouth of
the Lord, and told them to us. Consequently we also have
heard, but have not seen. Are we then less happy than those
who saw and heard: And how does he add, Tliat ye also
may hate fellowship with usf Those saw, we have not seen,
and yet we are fellows ; because we hold the faith in com-
mon. For there was one who did not beUeve even upon
seeing, and would needs handle, and so believe, and said,
Jchn20, / ii-^iii fiQt believe except I thrust my fingers into the place of
the nails, and touch His scars. And He did give Himself
for a rime to be handled by the hands of men. Who always
giveth Himself to be seen by the sight of the Angels ; and
that disciple did handle, and exclaimed, JJy Lord, and my
God ! Because he touched the Man, he confessed the God.
And the Lord, to console us who, now that He sitteth in
Heaven, cannot touch Him with the hand, but only reach
Him with faith, said to him. Because thou hast seen, thou
hast believed : blessed are they that see not, and yet believe.
God's message through the Saints : God is light. 1097
We are here described, we designated. Then let the blessed- 1 John
ness take place in us, of which the Lord predicted that it ^' ^' ^'
should take place ; let us firmly hold that which we see not ;
because those tell us who have seen. That ye also, saith he,
may have fellowship with us. And what great matter is it to
have fellowship with men ? Do not despise it ; see what he
adds : a fid our fellowship may he^ with God the Father, andy- 4.
Jesus Christ His Sou. And these things, saith he, we write
unto you, that your joy may he full. Full joy he means in
that fellowship, in that charity, in that unity.
4. And this is the message which we have lieard of Him,y-o.
and declare unto you. What is this? Those same have
seen, have handled with their hands, the Word of Life : He
was from the heginning, and for a time was made visible and
palpable, the Only-Begotten Son of God. For what thing
did He come, or what new thing did He tell us ? What was
it His will to teach ? Wherefore did He this that He did,
that the Word should be made flesh, that God over all things^ Rom. 9,
should suffer indignities from men, that He should endure to ^'
be smitten upon the face by the hands which Himself had
made ? What would He teach ? What would He shew ?
What would He tell ? Let us hear: for without the fruit of
the precept the hearing of the story, how Christ was born,
and how Christ suffered, is a mere pastime of the mind, not
a strengthening of it. What great thing hearest thou?
\yilh what fruit thou hearest, see to that. What would He
teach? What tell? Hear. That God is Light, saith he, v. 6.
and there is no darkness in Hitn at all. Hitherto, he hath
named indeed the Light, but the words are dark : good is it
for us that the very Light which he hath named, should
enlighten our hearts, and we should see what he hath said.
This it is that we declare, that God is Light, and there is no
darkness in Him at all. Why, who would dare to say that
there is darkness in God ? Or what is the Light ? Or what
f Et societas nostra sit. So Vulg. omnes), Tertull. adv. Prax. J 3. 15.
Mill cites one Ms. p iJ.eTa tov TrarpSs. Origen (Lat.) Comm. in Ep. ad Rom.
e Dei/ s super omnia: so de Trin. ii. vii. 13. S. Cypr. adv. Jud. ii. 6.
23. c. Faust, iii. 6. 6. Propos. tx Ep. S. Hilar, de Trin. viii. 37. S. Ambros.
ad Rom. Exp. 59. super omnes Dcus. de Sp. Sa. i. 3. §. 39. in all these it
S. Aug. constantly refers this clause to is D. super omnia or super omnia
Christ. So S. Iren. iii. 18. (D. super Deus.
1098 Light has no fellowship with darkness.
HoMiL. darkness? Lest haply he speaks of such things as pertain
— i — to these eyes of ours. Ood is Light. Saith some man, ' The
sun also is light, and the moon also is light, and a candle is
light.' It ought to be something far greater then these, far
more excellent, and far more surpassing. How much God
is distant from the creature, how much the Maker from the
making, how much Wisdom from that which is made by
Wisdom, far beyond all things must this Light needs be.
And haply we shall be near to It, if we get to know what
this Light is, and apply ourselves unto It, that by It we
may be enlightened ; because in ourselves we are darkness,
and only enlightened by It can we become light, and not
be put to confusion by It, being put to confusion by our-
selves. Who is he that is put to confusion by himself? He
that knows himself to be a sinner. Who is he that by It is
not put to confusion ? He who by It is enlightened. What
is it to be enlightened by It ? He that now sees himself to be
darkened by sins, and desires to be enlightened by It, draws
Ps.34,5. near to It : whence the Psalm saith. Draw near unto Him,
and he ye enlightened ; and your faces shall not be ashamed*
But thou shalt not be shamed by It, if, when It shall shew
thee to thyself that thou art foul, thine own foulness shall
displease thee, that thou mayest perceive Its beauty. This
it is that He would teach.
5. And may it be that we say this over-hastily ? Let the
Apostle himself make this plain in what follows. Remember
what was said at the outset of our discourse, that the present
Epistle commendeth Charity: God is Light, saith he, a7id in
Him is no darkness at all. And what said he above ? That
ye may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be
with Ood the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, But
moreover, if God be Light, and in Him is no darkness at all,
and we must have fellowship with Him, then from us also
must the darkness be driven away, that there may be light
in us, for darkness cannot have fellowship with light. To
V. 6. this end, see what follows : If we say that we have fellowship
with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie. Thou hast also the
2 Cor. 6, Apostle Paul saying. Or what fellowship hath light with
^^' darkness f Thou sayest thou hast fellowship with God, and
walkest in darkness ; and God is Light, and in Him is no
AH sin blotted out. by the blood of Christ in Baptism. 1090
darkness at all: then how should there be fellowship between i John
light and darkness ? At this point therefore a man may say to — '—^—
himself, What shall I do ? how shall I be light? I live in sins
and iniquities. There steals upon him, as it were, a despera-
tion and sadness. There is no salvation save in the fellowship
of God. God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
But sins are darkness, as the Apostle saith of the devil and
his Angels, that they are riders of this darkness. He would Eph. 6,
not call them rulers of darkness, save as rulers of sins, having
lordship over the wicked. Then what do we, my brethren ?
Fellowship with God must be had, other hope of life eternal
is none ; now Qod is Light, and in Him is no darkness at
all: now iniquities are darkness; by iniquities we are pressed
down, that we cannot have fellowship with God : what hope have
we then ? Did I not promise to speak something during these
days, that shall make gladness } Which if I make not good,
why this is sadness. God is Light, and in Him is no darkness
at all ; sins are darkness : what shall become of us } Let us
hear, whether peradventure He will console, lift up, give
hope, that w^e faint not by the way. For we are running, and
running to our own country ; and if we despair of attaining,
of very despair we fail. But He Whose will it is that we attain,
that He may keep us safe in our own land, feedeth us in the
way. Hear we then : If we say that we have felloivship with
Him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. Let
us not say that we have fellowship with Him, if we walk in
darkness. If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we^' 7.
have fellowship one with another. Let us walk in the light, as
He is in the light, that we may be able to have fellowship with
Him. And what are we to do about our sins ? Hear what
follows, And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son shall purge
us from all sin\ Great assurance hath God given ! Well' delicto
may we celebrate the Passover, wherein was shed the blood
of the Lord, by which we are cleansed frotn all sin I Let us be
assured: the handwriting which was against «9, the bondofour Col. 2
slavery, the Devil held, but by the blood of Christ it is blotted ^*°
out. The blood, saith he, of His Son shall purge us from all
sin. What meaneih, from all sin ? Mark : lo even now, in the 2 jhe
name of Christ Whom these ^ here have now confessed, who "^^'7'
are called infants^, have all their sins been cleansed. They •"'nco-
4 ^ phytes.
1100 The remedy for sins committed after Baptism :
HoMiL.caine in old, they went out new. How, Came in old, went
— out new ? Old men they came in, infants they went out. For
the old life is old age with all its dotage, but the new life is the
infancy of regeneration. But what are we to do? The past sins
are pardoned, not only to these but to us ; and after the
pardon and abolition of all sins, by living in this world in
the midst of temptations, some haply have been contracted.
Therefore what he can, let man do ; let him confess himself
to be what he is, that he may be cured by Him Who always is
what He is : for He always was and is ; we were not and are.
V. 8. 6. For see what He saith ; If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Consequently,
if thou have confessed thyself a sinner, the truth is in thee:
for the Truth Itself is Light. Thy life hath not yet shone in
perfect brightness, because there are sins in thee ; but yet
thou hast already begun to be enlightened, because there is in
V.9. thee the confession of sins. For see what follows: If we con-
> delictay^^* OUT sins^ He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to purge us from all iniquity. Not only the past, but
haply if we have contracted any from this life ; because a
man, so long as he bears the flesh, cannot but have some at
any rate light sins. But these which we call light, do not
thou make light of. If thou make light of them when thou
weighest them, be afraid when thou countest them. Many
light make one huge sin : many drops fill the river ; many
grains make the lump. And what hope is there ? Before all,
confession : lest any think himself righteous, and, before the
eyes of God Who seeth that which is, man, which was not
and is, lift up the neck. Before all, then, confession ; then,
1 Pet. 4, love : for of charity what is said? Charity covereth a multi-
tude of sins. Now let us see whether he commendeth charity
in regard of the sins which subsequently overtake us : be-
cause charity alone extinguishetli sins. Pride extinguisheth
charity : therefore humility strengtheneth charity ; charity
extinguisheth sins. Humility goes along with confession,
the humility by which we confess ourselves sinners : this is
humility, not to say it with the tongue, as if only to avoid
arrogancy, lest we should displease men should we say that we
are righteous. This do the ungodly and insane : * I know in-
deed that I am righteous, but what shall 1 say before men ? If I
C/ir'ist, the Advocate of them who hate and confess their sins. 1101
shall call myself righteous, who will bear it, who tolerate ? leti John
my righteousness be known unto God : I however will say - — '■ — '-
that I am a sinner, but only that 1 be not found odious for
arrogancy.' Tell men what thou art, tell God what thou art.
Because if thou tell not God what thou art, God condemneth
what He shall find in thee. Wouldest thou not that He
condemn thee ? Condemn thou. Wouldest thou that He
forgive ? do thou acknowledge, that thou mayest be able to
say unto God, Turn Thy face from my sins. Say also tops. 51,
Him those words in the same Psalm, For I acknowledge^'^'
mine iniquity. If ive confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to purge us from all ini-
quity. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar, and His word is not in us. If thou shalt say, I have
not sinned, thou makest Him a liar, while thou wishest to
make thyself true. How is it possible that God should be a
liar, and man true, when the Scripture saith the contrary,
Every man a liar, God alone true ? Consequently, God true Rom. 3,
through Himself, thou true through God; because through "*•
thyself, a liar.
7. And lest haply he should seem to have given impunity
for sins, in that he said, He is faithful and Just to cleanse us
from all iniquity ; and men henceforth should say to them-
selves. Let us sin, let us do securely what we will, Christ
purgeth us, is faithful and just, purgelh us from all iniquity :
He taketh from thee an evil security, and putteth in an useful
fear. To thine own hurt ihou wouldest be secure ; thou must
be solicitous. For He is faithful and fust to forgive us
our faults, provided thou always displease thyself, and be
changing until thou be perfected. Accordingly, what
follows ? My little children, these things I write unto you, ch. if. 1.
that ye sin not. But perchance sin overtakes us from our
mortal life : what shall be done then .? What ? shall there
be now despair? Hear: And if any man sin, we have an ^.1.2.
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous: and
He is the Propitiator for our sins. He then is the Advocate ;
do thou thine endeavour not to sin : if from the infirmity
of this life sin shall overtake thee, see to it straightway,
straightway be displeased, straightway condemn it ; and
when thou hast condemned, thou shalt come assured unto the
4 c 2
1102 John^s humility condemns proud schismatics.
HoMiL. Judge. There hast thou the Advocate : fear not to lose thy
cause in thy confession. For if oft-times in this life a man
commits his cause to an eloquent tongue, and is not lost ;
thou committest thyself to the Word, and shalt thou be
lost? Cry, We have an Advocate tvith the Father.
8. See John himself keeping humility. Assuredly he was a
righteous and a great man, who from the Lord's bosom drank
in the secrets of His mysteries ; he, the man who by drink-
1 ructa- ing from the Lord's bosom indited^ of His Godhead, In the
^^* heginning was the Word, and the Word was with God: he,
being such a man as this, saith not, Ye have an Advocate
with the Father; but. If any man sin, an Advocate, ^diithhe,
have WE. He saith not, Ye have ; nor saith, Ye have me ;
nor saith, Ye have Christ Himself: but he both puts Christ,
not himself, and saith, We have, not, ye have. He chose
rather to put himself in the number of sinners to have Christ
for his Advocate, than to put himself in Christ's stead as
Advocate, and to be found among the proud that shall be
condemned. Brethren, Jesus Christ the Righteous, even
Him have we for our Advocate with the Father ; He, even
He, is the propitiation for our sins. This whoso hath
held fast, hath made no heresy ; this whoso hath held
fast, hath made no schism. For whence came schisms ?
When men say, We are righteous, when men say, IVe
Svpra sanctify the unclean. We justify the ungodly ; we ask, we
p. 56. obtain. But what saith John? And if any man sin, we have
an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
But some man will say : then do the saints not ask for us ?
Then do bishops and rulers not ask for the people ? Yea,
but mark the Scriptures, and see that rulers also com-
mend themselves to the prayers of the people. Thus the
Col. 4 3. Apostle saith to the congregSition, Praying withal for us also.
The Apostle prayeth for the people, the people prayeth for
the Apostle. We pray for you, brethren : but do ye also pray
for us. Let all the members pray one for another; let the
Head intercede for all. Therefore it is no marvel that he
here goes on and shuts the mouths of them that divide the
Church of God. For he that has said, We have Jesus Christ
the Righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins: having
an eye to those who would divide themselves, and would say.
Christian love desires to make brethren of enemies. 1103
Zo, here is Christ, io, there ; and would needs shew Him in J JoH^f
Tl 3-5
the part Who bought the whole and possesses the whole, he ny^^^;^
forthwith goes on to say, Not our sins only, but also the sins 23.
of the whole world. What is this, brethren ? Certainly we 35^ g
have found it in the fields of the woods, we have found the
Church in all nations. Behold, Christ is the propitiation for
our sins ; not ours only, hut also the sins of the whole world.
Behold, thou hast the Church throughout the whole world ;
do not follow false justifiers who in truth are cutters off. Be
thou in that Mountain which hath filled the whole earth : be-
cause Christ is the propitiation for our sins; not only ours,
hut also the sins of the whole worlds which He hath bought
with His blood.
9. And in this, saith he, we do know Him^, if we keep His v. 3. 4.
commandments. What commandments } He that saith, I
know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him. But still thou askest, What
commandments i But whoso, saith he, keepeth His word, v. 5.
in him verily is the love of God perfected. Let us see
whether this same commandment be not called love. For
we were asking. What commandments? and he saith, ^w^
whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected. Mark the Gospel, whether this be not the com-
mandment: A new commandment, saith the Lord, give I unto johnis,
you, that ye love one another, — In this we know that we are in ^* ^
Him, if in Him we be perfected^ Perfected in love, he calls
them : what is perfection of love ? To love even enemies,
and love them that they may be brethren. For not a carnal
love ought ours to be. To wish a man temporal weal,
is good ; but though that fail, let the soul be safe. Dost thou
wish life to any that is thy friend .? Thou doest well. Dost
thou rejoice at the death of thine enemy i Thou doest ill.
But haply both to thy friend the life thou wishest him is not
for his good, and to thine enemy the death thou rejoicest at
hath been for his good. It is uncertain whether this present
life be profitable to any man or unprofitable ; but the life
which is with God without doubt is profitable. So love thine
h In hoc cog7iosci7nus eum, si : but ' Siin ipso perfect i fvcrimus. Aug.
all the Greek copies, eV toutoj yivwaKo- and two or three Latin Mss : an addition
yuei/ '6ti iyvuKaf^ev ahrov, idv. Vulg. In unknown to the Greek and to the other
hoc scimus qxioniam cognovimus eum, si. copies of the Latin.
1104 Christ's new Commandment, enforced by His own example.
HoMiL. enemies as to wish them to become thy brethren ; so love
-r^^ thine enemies as that they may be called into thy fellowship.
34. 'For so loved He Who, hanging on the cross, said, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. He was
casting out from them the death which is for ever and ever,
by His most merciful prayer, and by His most surpassing might.
Many of them believed, and the shedding of the blood of Christ
was forgiven them. At first they shed it while they raged ;
now they drank it while they believed. In this we know
that we are in Him, if in Him we he made perfect. Touching
the very perfection of love of enemies, the Lord admonishing,
Matt. 5, saith, Be ye therefore 'perfect, as your Heavenly Father is
V 6 perfect. He, therefore, that saith he ahideth in Him, ought
himself also so to walk, even as He ivalked. How, brethren ?
what doth he advise us ? He that saith he ahideth in Him,
i. e. in Christ, ought himself also so to walk even as He
walked. Haply the advice is this, that we should walk on
the sea ? That be far ! It is this then, that we walk in the
way of righteousness. In what way ? I have already men-
tioned it. He was fixed upon the cross, and yet was He
walking in this very way: this way is the way of charity.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Thus
therefore, if thou have learned to pray for thine enemy, thou
walkest in the way of the Lord.
V. 7. 10. Dearly beloved, I write unto yon no new command-
ment, hut ths old commandment which ye had from the
beginning. What commandment calls he old? Which ye had,
saith he, from the beginning. 0/tZthen, in this regard, that ye
have already heard it: otherwise he will contradict the Lord,
Johni3, where He saith, A new commandment give I unto you, tJiat
^^* ye love one another. But why an old commandment ? Not
as pertaining to the old man. But why? Which ye had from
the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye
have heard. Old then, in this regard, that ye have already
heard it. And the selfsame he sheweth to be new, saying,
V. 8. Agaiii, a new commandment write I unto you. Not another,
but the selfsame which he hath called old, the same is also
i;ew. Why? Which thing is true in Him and in you. Why
old, ye have already heard: i.e. because ye knew it already.
But why new ? Because the darkness is past, and the true
The Churches motherly solicitude for her children. 1105
light now shineth. Lo, whence new : because the darkness i John
pertains to the old man, but the light to the new man. What ^^- ^-
saith the Apostle Paul? Put ye off the old man, and put yecoi 3,
on the neiv. And again what saith he? Ye were sometime^' ^^'
darkness, hut now light in the Lord. 8. '
11. He that saith he is in the light — now he is making y. 9.
all clear that he has been saying — he that saith he is in the
light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
What ! my brethren, how long shall we say to you. Love Matt. 6
your enemies? See whether, what is worse, ye do not***
hate your brethren. If ye loved only your brethren, ye
would be not yet perfect : but if ye hate " your brethren,
what are ye, where are ye ? Let each look to his own heart:
let him not keep hatred against his brother for any hard
word; for contention of this earth let him not become earth.
For whoso hates his brother, let him not say that he walks
in the light. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his
brother, is hi darkness even until now. Thus, some man is
of a pagan become a Christian ; mark well : behold he was
in darkness, while he was a pagan : now is he made hence-
forth a Christian; thanks be to God, say all joyfully; the
Apostle is read, where he saith joyfully, For ye 2£;ereEph. 6,
sometime darkness, but now light in the Lord. Once he '
worshipped idols, now he worships God; once he worshipped
the things he made, now he worships Him that made him. He
is changed: thanks be to God, say all Christians with joyful
greeting. Why? Because henceforth he is one that adores the
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost; one that detests devils
and idols. Yet still is John solicitous about our convert :
while many greet him with joy, by him he is still looked
upon with apprehension. Brethren, let us gladly welcome a
mother's solicitude. Not without cause is the mother soli-
citous about us when others rejoice : by the mother, I mean
Charity: for she dwelt in the heart of John, when he
spake these words. Wherefore, but because there is some-
thing he fears in us, even when men now hail us with joy ?
What is it that he fears ? He that saith he is in the light —
'' Si autem oditis. So ed. Erasm. tis. Edd. Lugd. and Ven. have si
and four Mss cited in ed. Louvain, autem auditis, '* if ye are called bre-
which however has in the text oderitis. thren." Four Oxf. Ms^. ' oditis.'
One Ms. cited ibid, has, Si autem odis-
1106 Some take offence at Christy some at the Church.
HoMiL.What is this? He that saith now he is a Christian, — and
'- — hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. Which
there is no need to expound : but to be glad of it, if it be
not so, or to bewail it, if it be.
V. 10. 12. He that loveth his brother walketh in the light, and
there is none occasion o/ stumbling in him. — I beseech you
by Christ : God is feeding us, we are about to refresh our
bodies in the name of Christ; they both are in some good
measure refreshed, and are to be refreshed : let the mind be
fed. Not that I am going to speak for a long time, do I say
this ; for behold, the Lesson is now coming to an end : but
lest haply of weariness we should hear less attentively than
we ought that which is most necessary. — He that loveth
his brother walketh in the light, and there is no scandal, or
9ione occasion of stumbling, in him. Who are they that take
scandal or make scandal ? They that are offended in Christ,
and in the Church. They that are offended in Christ, are as
burnt by the sun, those in the Church as by the moon. But
Ps. 121, the Psalm saith, The sun shall not burn thee by day, neither
^' the moon by night: i. e. if thou hold fast charity, neither in
Christ shall thou have occasion of falling, nor in the Church;
neither Christ shalt thou forsake, nor the Church. For he
that forsakes Christ, how can he be said to be in Christ,
when he is not in the body of Christ ? Those therefore take
scandal, or, occasion of falling, who forsake Christ or the
Church. Whence do we understand that the Psalm in say-
ing. By day shall the sun not burn thee, nor the moon try
night, saith it of this, that the burning means scandal, or
occasion of stumbling? In the first place mark the similitude
itself. Just as the person whom something is burning saith,
I cannot bear it, I cannot aw^ay with it, and draws back; so
those persons who cannot bear some things in the Church, and
withdraw themselves either from the name of Christ or from
the Church, are taking scandal. For see how those took
scandal as from the sun, those carnal ones to whom Christ
JohQ6, preached of His flesh, saying. He that eateth not the flesh
64—69. ^j ij^Q ^t^^^ qJ j^^j^ ^^^^ drinketh His blood, shall have no life
in him. Some seventy persons ^ said, This is an hard saying,
• So in Epist. 173. $. 30, Augustine sicut audio, quod in Evangelio scriptum
writes, Attendis enim et sgepe repetis, e&t recessisse a Domino septuaginta
Donatists offended, because they love not the brethren. 1 107
and went back from Him, and there remained the twelve, i John
All those the sun burnt, and they went back, not being able to ^^' ^^'
bear the force of the Word. There remained therefore the
twelve. And lest haply men should imagine that they confer
a benefit upon Christ by believing on Christ, and not that
the benefit is conferred by Him upon them; when the twelve
were left, the Lord said to them, Will ye also go ? That ye
may know that I am necessary to you, not ye to Me. But
those whom the sun had not burnt, answered by the voice
of Peter : Lord, Thou hast the word^ of eternal life ; whither ^ ver-
shall we go ? But who are they that the Church as the ^^
moon burneth by night? They that have made schisms.
Hear the very word used in the Apostle : Who is offended, 2 Cor.
a7id I burn not f In what sense then is it, that there is no '
scandal or occasion of falling in him that loveth his brother t
Because he that loveth his brother, beareth all things for
unity's sake ; because it is in the unity of charity that
brotherly love exists. Some one, I know not who, offendeth
thee: whether it be a bad man, or as thou supposest a bad
man, or as thou pretendest a bad man : and dost thou desert
so many good men } What sort of brotherly love is that which
hath appeared in these^ persons? While they accuse the Afri- ^ Dona-
cans, they have deserted the whole world ! What, were there *^^*^
no saints in the whole world ? Or was it possible they should
be condemned by you unheard ? But oh ! if ye loved yoiu*
brethren, there would be none occasion of stumbling in you.
Hear thou the Psalm, what it saith : Great peace have they Vs. M9,
that love Thy law, and there is to them 7ione occasion of^^^'
stumbling. Great peace it saith there is for them that love
the law of God, and that is why there is to them none occasion
of falling. Those then who take scandal, or, occasion of falling,
discipules ceeterisque duodecim authority,thatthe Evangelists Mark and
qui remanserant fuisse responsum, Luke were of the number of the Seventy,
Nicmcjuid et vos vultis abire ? The and of those who were offended ; and
notion entertained by some of the An- that they were reclaimed to the faith,
cients and, as it seems, by St. Angus- the one by St. Peter, the other by St.
tine, that the disciples who took offence Paul.) But the notion, from whatever
at our Lord's Discourse in the syna- quarter it came, seems to have no found-
gogue of Capernaum were the Seventy, ation in Scripture, since it is suffici-
may have been derived from the Hy- ently evident that the Mission of the
potyposes of St. Clem. Alex. (comp. Seventy, Luke x. 1. was subsequent to
Euseb. H. E. i. 12.) or one of the the first miracle of feeding, John vi.
Clementines. (Thus S. Epiphanius Hser. Luke ix. 12.
51. p. 186. 188. relates from some such
1 108 The darkness has so blinded them,
HoMiL. destroy peace. And of whom saith he that they take not and
'- — make not occasion of stumbling ? They that love God's law.
Consequently they are in charity. But some man will say,
'He said it of them that love God's law, not of the brethren.'
John 13, Hear thou what the Lord saith ; A new commandment give
I unto you, that ye love one another. What is the Law but
commandment ? Moreover, how is it they do not take occa-
sion of falling, but because they forbear one another ? As
Eph. 4, Paul saith, Forbearing one another in love, studying to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And to shew that
this is the law of Christ, hear the same Apostle commending
Gal.6,2.this very law. Bear ye one another's burdens, saith he, and
so shall ye fulfil the law of Christ,
V. 11. 12. For he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and
walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth.
A great thing, my brethren : mark it, we beseech you. He
that hateth his brother ivalketh i7i darkness, and knoweth 7iot
whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.
What so blind as these who hate their brethren ? For that
ye may know that they are blind, they have stumbled at a
Supra Mountain. I say the same things often, that they may not
Ev.Tv T ^^^P ^^^ ^^ your memory. The Stone which was cut out of the
Dan. 2, Mountain zvithout hands, is it not Christ, Who came of the
kingdom of the Jews, without the work of man ? Has not
that Stone broken in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth,
that is, all the dominations of idols and devils ? Has not
that Stone grown, and is become a great mountain, and has
filled the whole earth ? Do we point with the finger to this
Mountain in like manner as the moon on its third day^ is
pointed out to men ? For example, when they wish people
to see the new moon, they say, Lo, the moon ! lo, where it
is ! and if there be some there who are not sharp-sighted, and
say, Where? then the finger is put forth that they may see it.
Sometimes when they are ashamed to be thought bhnd, they say
they have seen what they have not seen. Do we in this way
point out the Church, my brethren ? Is it not open ? Is it not
1 Ltmatertia: i. e, the moon at its the Dranolog. vii. 39. B. HorapoU.
first appearance : for the first phasis in Hieroglyph, i. &Q. in Mr. Gresweli's
Africa as in Egypt usually took place Dissertations on the Harynony of the
on the third day after conjunction. See Gospels, vol. i. p. 323 note,
the passages cited from Geminus in
that they see not the Mountain which Jills the earth. 1109
manifest? Has it not possessed all nations? Is not that fulfilled i John
• TT 1 1
which so many years before was promised to Abraham, that in ' '
his seed should all nations be blessed? It was promised to one 18.
believer, and the world is filled with thousands of believers.
Behold here the Mountain filling the whole face of the earth !
Behold the city of which it is said, A city set upon a mountain Matt. 6,
cannot be hid! But those stumble at the Mountain, and when
it is said to them, Go up; " There is no mountain," say they,
and dash their heads against it sooner than seek a habitation
there. Esaias was read yesterday ; whosoever of you was
awake not with his eyes only but with his ear, and not the
ear of the body but the ear of the heart, noted this ; In Isai. 2,
the last days shall the Mountain of the house of the Lord be
manifest^ prepared upon the top of the mountains. What
so manifest as a mountain ? But there are even mountains
unknown, because they are situated in one part of the earth.
AVhicli of you knows Mount Olympus ? Just as the people
who dwell there do not know our(^iddaba. These mountains
are in parts of the earth. But not so that Mountain, for it hath
filled the whole face of the earth, and of it is said. Prepared
upon the topj of the mountains. It is a Mountain above the
tops of all mountains. And^ saith he, to it shall be gathered all
Qiations. Who can fail to be aware of this Mountain ? Who
breaks his head by stumbling against it ? Who is ignorant of
the City set upon a Mountain ? But marvel not that it is
unknown by these who hate the brethren, because they walk
in darkness and know not whither they go, because the
darkness hath blinded their eyes. They do not see the
Mountain ; 1 would not have thee marvel; they have no eyes.
How is it they have no eyes ? Because the darkness hath
blinded them. How do we prove this ? Because they hate
the brethren, in that, while they are ofi'ended at Africans, they
separate themselves from the whole earth : in that they do
not tolerate for the peace of Christ those whom they defame,
and do tolerate for the party of Donatus ^ those whom they i see on
condemn. P^- ^^*
Ser. 2.
HOMILY II.
1 John ii. 12 — 17.
1 write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven
through His name. I write unto you, fathers^ because ye
have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto
you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you, childreti, because ye have known the
Father. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known
Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young
men, because ye are strong, and the word of Qod abideth
in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, is the lust of the fleshy and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the
Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth auay^
and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever, even as Qod also abideth for ever.
1. All things that are read from the Holy Scriptures in
order to our instruction and salvation, it behoves to hear with
earnest heed. Yet most of all must those things be commended
to our memory, which are of most force against heretics ; whose
insidious designs cease not to circumvent all that are weaker
and more negligent. Remember that our Lord and Saviour
E-om. 4, Jesus Christ both died for us, and rose again ; died, to wit, for
Luke24, our offenccs, rose again for our justification. Even as ye have
^^~^^* 3*^81 heard concerning the two disciples whom He met with
Christ opening the Scriptures concerning Himself, 1111
in the way, how their eyes were holden that they should not l John
know Him: and He found them despairing of the redemption i2_i7
that was in Christ, and deeming that now He had suffered
and was dead as a man, not accounting that as Son of God
He ever liveth ; and deeming too that He was so dead in the
flesh as not to come to life again, but just as one of the Pro-
phets : as those of you who were attentive have just now heard
their own words. Then He opened to them the Scriptures,
beginning at Moses, and going through all the Prophets,
shewing them that all He had suffered had been foretold,
lest they should be more staggered if the Lord should
rise again, and rather not believe Him, if these things
had not been told before concerning Him. For the firm-
ness of faith is in this, that all things which came to
pass in Christ were foretold. The disciples, then, knew
Him not, save in the breaking of bread. And truly he
that eateth and drinketh not judgment to himself in i Cor.
the breaking of bread doth know Christ. Afterward also^^'^^*
those eleven thought they saw a spirit. He gave Himself
to be handled by them. Who also gave Himself to be
crucified; to be crucified by enemies, to be handled by
friends: yet the Physician of all, both of the ungodliness
of those, and of the unbelief of these. For ye heard when
the Acts of the Apostles were read, how many thousands of Acts 2,
Christ's slayers believed. If those believed afterwards who ^^'
had killed, should not those believe who for a little while
doubted ? And yet even in regard of them, (a thing which ye
ought especially to observe, and to commit to your memory,
because that which shall make us strong against insidious
errors, God has been pleased to put in the Scriptures,
against which no man dares to speak, who in any sort
wishes to seem a Christian,) when He had given Himself to
be handled by them, that did not suflice Him, but He would
needs confirm by means of the Scriptures the heart of them
that believe: for He looked forward to us who should be
afterwards ; seeing that in Him we have nothing that we can
handle, but have that which we may read. For if those
believed only because they held and handled, what shall we
do ? Now, Christ is ascended into heaven ; He is not to
come save at the end, to judge the quick and the dead.
11 12 His Gospel to Jill the whole earth,
HoMiL. Whereby shall we believe, but by that whereby it was His
^^' will that even those who handled Him should be confirmed ?
For He opened to them the Scriptures and shewed them
that it behoved Christ to suffer, and that all things should be
fulfilled which were written of Him in the Law of Moses,
and the Prophets, and the Psalms. He embraced in His
discourse the whole ancient text of the Scriptures. All that
there is of those former Scriptures tells of Christ ; but only
if it find ears. He also opened their under standing that
they might understand the Scriptures. Whence we also
must pray for this, that He would open our understanding.
'2. But what did the Lord shew written of Him in the
Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms ? What
did He shew ? Let Himself say. The Evangelist has put
this briefly, that we might know what in all that breadth of
the Scriptures we ought to believe and to understand. Cer-
tainly there are many pages, and many books ; the contents
of them all is this which the Lord briefly spake to His dis-
ciples. What is this ? That it behoved Christ to suffer, and
to rise again the third day. Thou hast it now concerning
the Bridegroom, that it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise
again: we have had the Bridegroom set forth to us. Con-
cerning the Bride, let us see what He saitli; that thou, when
thou knowest the Bridegroom and the Bride, mayest not
without reason come to the marriage. For every celebration
is a celebration of marriage : the Church's nuptials are
celebrated. The King's Son is about to marry a wife, and
that King's Son, Himself a King : and the guests frequenting
the marriage are themselves the Bride. Not, as in a carnal
marriage, other are they that come as guests, and other she
that is married ; in the Church they that come as guests, if
they come to good purpose, become the Bride. For all the
Church is Christ's Bride, of which the beginning and first
fruits is the flesh of Christ: there was the Bride joined to
the Bridegroom in the flesh. With good reason when He
would betoken that same flesh. He brake bread, and with
good reason in the breaking of bread, the eyes of the dis-
ciples were opened, and they knew Him. Well then, what did
the Lord say was written of Him in the Law and Prophets
and Psalms? That it behoved Christ to suffer. Had He
" beginning at Jerusalem.''' 1113
not added, and to rise again, well might those mourn whose i John
eyes were holden; but to rise again is also foretold. And loli'ir
wherefore this ? Why did it behove Christ to suffer and to ~
rise again ? Because of that Psalm which we especially
commended to your attention on the fourth day, the first Tertull.
station, of last week. Why did it behove Christ to suffer ^^'^^j'""-
§• 14.
and to rise again ? For this reason : All the ends of the -^q Orat.
eai'th shall he reminded and converted unto the Lord, and%l\c^
all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Hiin.'^'^'
For that ye may know that it behoved Christ to suffer and
to rise again ; in this place also what hath He added, that
after setting forth the Bridegroom He might also set forth
the Bride ? A7id that there be preached^ saith He, i7i His
name, repentance and remission of sins throughout all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. Ye have heard, brethren; hold it
fast. Let no man doubt concerning the Church, that it is
throughout all nations : let no man doubt that it began at
Jerusalem, and hath filled all nations. We know the field
where the Vine is planted : but when it is grown we know
it not, because it has taken up the whole. Whence did it
begin ? At Je^'usalem. Whither has it come? To all nations.
A few remain : it shall possess all. In the mean time, while
it is taking possession of all, it has seemed good to the
Husbandman to cut off some unprofitable branches, and
they have made heresies and schisms. Let not the cut off
branches induce you to be cut off: rather exhort ye them
that are cut off that they be graffed in again. It is manifest
that Christ hath suffered, is risen again, and is ascended into
heaven : made manifest also is the Church, that there is
preached in His name repentance and remission of sins
throughout alt nations. Whence did it begin } Beginning
at Jerusalem. The man hears this; foolish an vain, and
(how shall I express it T) worse than blind ! so great a
Mountain, and he does not see it; a candle set upon a
candlestick, and he shuts his eyes against it !
3. When we say to them. If ye be Catholic Christians, S. Aug.
communicate with that Church from which the Gospel isDonat.
spread abroad over the whole earth : communicate with that^f Unit.
Jerusalem : when this we say to them, they make answer to 26^
us, We do not communicate with that City where our King
1114 Donatists hate the City ichich Ch'ist loved.
HoMiL.was slain, where our Lord was slain : as though they hate the
City where our Lord was slain. The Jews slew Him Whom
*■ supra
Horn, they found on earth, these exsufflate^ Him that sitteth in
^° c ^{3 heaven ! Which are the worse; those who despised Him
p- 177 because they thought Him man, or those who exsufflate the
Sacraments of Him Whom now they confess to be God ?
But they hate, forsooth, the City in which their Lord was
slain ! Pious men, and merciful ! they much grieve that
Christ was slain, and in men they slay Christ! But He loved
that City, and pitied it : from it He bade the preaching of
Him begin, heginnwg at Jerusalem, He made there the
first beginning of the preaching of His name : and thou
shrinkest back with horror from having communion with that
City! No marvel that being cut off thou hatcst the root.
Acts], What said He to His disciples? >S'/^ ye still in the City,
15: 2, because I send My promise upon you. Behold what the
City is that they hate ! Haply they would love it, if Christ's
Enarr. murderers dwelt in it. For it is manifest that all Christ's
^^° ^|\^^- murderers, i. e. the Jews, are expelled from that City. That
64. §. 1. which had in it them that were fierce against Christ, hath
now them that adore Christ. Therefore do these men hate
it, because Christians are in it. There was it His will that
His disciples should tarry, and there that He should send to
them the Holy Ghost. Where had the Church its com-
mencement, but where the Holy Ghost came from heaven,
and filled the hundred and twenty sitting in one place ?
That number twelve was made tenfold. They sat, an
hundred and twenty persons, and the Holy Ghost came, and
Jilted the whole place, and there came a sound, as it were
the rushing of a mighty ivind, and there were cloven tongues
like as of fire. Ye have heard the Acts of the Apostles: this
was the Lesson read to-day": They began to speak ivith
tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And all who
were on the spot, Jews who were come from divers nations,
recognised each his own tongue, and marvelled that those
unlearned and ignorant men had on the sudden learned not
one or two tongues, but the tongues of all nations what-
soever. There, then, where all tongues sounded, there was
™ The Acts of the Apostles were Pentecost. Supra Hom. in Ev. V\.
read in the seven weeks from Easter to §. 18. p. 94 note.
The Church's Universality betokened by " all tongues^ 1115
it betokened that all tongues should believe. But these i John
men, who much love Christ, and therefore refuse to com- ^^' ^^'
municate with the City which killed Christ, so honour Christ
as to affirm that He is left to two tongues, the Latin and
the Punic, i. e. African. Christ possess only two tongues !
For there are but these two tongues on the side of Donatus,
more they have not. Let us awake, my brethren, let us see,
not this, but the gift of the Spirit of God, and let us believe
the things spoken before concerning Him, and let us see
fulfilled the things spoken before in the Psalm: There Ps. 19
are neither speeches nor discourses^, but their voices arefT^'
loquelcB
heard among them. And lest haply the case be so that thQnecser-
tongues themselves came to one place, and not rather ^^^*"*'
that the gift of Christ came to all tongues, hear what
follows: Into all the earth is their sound go7ie out, and unto
the ends of the world their words. Wherefore this ? Be-
cause in the sun hath He set His tabernacle, i. e. in the
open light. His Tabernacle, His flesh : His Tabernacle,
His Church : in the sun it is set ; not in the night, but in
the day. But why do those not acknowledge it } Return to
the Lesson at the place where it ended yesterday, and see
why they do not acknowledge it: He that hatelh his brotJier,
walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth,
because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. For us then,
let us see what follows, and not be in darkness. How shall
we not be in darkness.? If we love the brethren. How is
it proved that we love the brotherhood } By this, that we
do not rend unity, that we hold fast charity.
4. / write unto you, little children, because your sins are^- 12.
forgiven you through His name. Therefore, little children ^,2 fiiioH^
because in forgiveness of sins ye have your birth. But'^"^'""'
through whose name are sins forgiven.? Through Augus-
tine's ? No, therefore neither through the name of Donatus.
Be it thy concern to see who is Augustine, or who Donatus :
no, not through the name of Paul, not through the name of
Peter. For to them that divided unto themselves the Church,
and of unity essayed to make parties, the Mother Charity in
the Apostle travailing in birth with her little ones, exposeth
her own bowels, with words doth as it were rend her breasts,
bewaileth her children whom she seeth borne out dead,
4 D
1116 Little children, fattier s^ young men /
HoMiL.recalleth unto the one Name them that would needs make
- — '— them many names, repelleth them from the love of her that
1 Cor. Christ may be loved, and saith, Was Paul crucified for
^''^^' you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul f What
saith he ? ' I would not that ye be mine, that so ye may be
with me : be ye with me ; all we are His Who died for us,
Who was crucified for us' : whence here also it is said, Your
sins are forgiven you through His name, not through the
name of any man.
T. IS. 5. / ivrite unto you, fathers. Why first sons ? Be-
cause your sins are forgiven you through His name, and
ye are regenerated into a new life, therefore sons. Why
fathers? Because ye have J^tiown Him that is from the
beginning: for the beginning hath relation unto father-
hood. Christ new in flesh, but ancient in Godhead. How
ancient think we? how many years old? Think we, of
1 major greater age ^ than His mother? xA.ssuredly of greater age
John I, than His mother, for all things were made by Him. If all
things, then did the Ancient make the very mother of whom
the New should be born. Was He, think we, before His
mother only? Yea, and before His mother's ancestors is His
antiquity. The ancestor of His mother was Abraham ; and
I(^« 8, the Lord saith, Before Abraliam 1 am. Before Abraham,
say we ? The heaven and earth, ere man was, were made.
Before these was the Lord, nay rather also is. For right
well He saith, not, Before Abraham I was, but. Before
Abraham I A3L For that of which one says, Was, is not ;
and that of which one says, Will be, is not yet: He knoweth
not other than To Be. As God, He knoweth To Be : Was,
and Will be. He knoweth not. It is one day there, but a day
that is for ever and ever. That day no Yesterday and To-
morrow set in the midst between them : for when the
* yesterday' is ended, the * to-day' begins, to be finished by
the coming ' to-morrow.' That one day there is a day
without darkness, without night, without spaces, without
measure, without hours. Call it what thou wilt : if thou wilt,
it is a day; if thou wilt, a year; if thou wilt, years. For it
Ps. I02,is said of this same. And thy years shall not fail. But
when is it called a day ? When it is said to the Lord, To-day
Ps. 2, 7. have I begotten Thee. From the Eternal Father begotten,
new-hirth, knowledge, fortitude. ] 1 1 7
from Eternity begotten, in Eternity begotten : with no l J«hn
beginning, no bound, no space of breadth ; because He is — ^ — '
What Is, because Himself is He that Is. This His name
He told to Moses: Thou shalt say unto them,, He that ls^^o<^-3»
hath sent me unto you. Why speak then of before Abraham ?
why, before Noe ? why, before Adam ? Hear the Scripture :
Before the day-star have 1 begotten Thee. In fine, before Ps. lio,
heaven and earth. Wherefore? Because all things were J^^^i
made by Him^ and without Him was nothing made. By this 3.
know ye the fathers : for they become fathers by acknow-
ledging Tliat which is from the beginning.
6. I write unto you, young men. There are sons, are
fathers, are young men : sons, because begotten ; fathers,
because they acknowledge the Beginning; why young men ?
Because ye have overcome the wicked one. In the sons,
birth : in the fathers, antiquity : in the young men, fortitude.
If the wicked one is overcome by the young men, why, he
fights with us. Fights, but not conquers ^ Why ? Because ^pugnat,
we are strong, or because He is strong in us Who in the pugnat.
hands of the persecutors was found weak ? He hath made
us strong. Who resisted not His persecutors. For He was'^Cor.iZj
crucified of weakness, but He liveth by the power of God,
7. 1 write"" unto you^, children. Whence children P^P^^ri»
Because ye have known the Father. I write unto you,y, 14.*
fathers: he enforceth this, and repeateth", Because ye have
known Him that is from the beginning. Remember that
ye are fathers : if ye forget Him that is from the beginning,
ye have lost your fatherhood. / write unto you, young men.
Again and again consider that ye are young men: fight, that
ye may overcome : overcome, that ye may be crowned : be
lowly, that ye fall not in the fight. I write unto you, young
men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in
you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
■ Vulg. scriho throughout, but some This remark applies to the Complu-
copies scripsi, representing the true tensian Greek text, and the edited
reading in the Greek, ^ypatpa, in the Latin Vulgate. Of extant Gr. Mss.
last clause of v. 13, and in both only Mill's Cod. Basil. 3. (Wetstein 4.)
clauses of v. 14. of the 15th century, omits the clause :
o The Benedictine editors remark and this, as Wetstein reports, not in
that the Vulgate does not repeat this v. 14. but in the preceding verse, ypd(p(o
c\?LVi6e,Scribo vobis,paires — aprincipio v/itv, Trarepes — apxfis.
est, and that it is absent from the Greek.
4 d2
1118 Love of the world^ and love of God, exist not together,
HoMiL. 8. All these things, my brethren, — because we have known
'- — That which is from the beginning, because we are strong,
because we have known the Father, — do all these, while
' cogni- they in a manner commend ^knowleda^e, not commend
tionem. \ - s, tp
chanty r If we have known, let us love : for knowledge
1 Cor. 8, without charity saveth not. Knowledge'^ puff eth up, charity
2scien- eclifieth. If ye have a mind to «onfess and not love, ye
*** begin to be like the devils. The devils confessed the Son
Matt. 8, of God, and said, What have we to do ivith Thee ? and were
^ repulsed. Confess and embrace. For those feared for their
iniquities ; love ye Him that forgiveth your iniquities. But
how can we love God, if we love the world ? He prepareth
us therefore to be inhabited by charity p. There are two
loves : of the world, and of God : if the love of the world
inhabit, there is no way for the love of God to enter in : let
the love of the world make way, and the love of God
inhabit ; let the better have place. Thou lovedst the world :
love not the world : when thou hast exhausted thine heart of
earthly love, thou shalt drink in love Divine : and thenceforth
beginneth charity to inhabit thee, from which can nothing
of evil proceed. Hear ye therefore his words, how he goes
to work in the manner of one that makes a clearance. He
comes upon the hearts of men as a field that he would
occupy : but in what state does he find it ? If he finds a
wood, he roots it up ; if he finds the field cleared, he plants
it. He would plant a tree there. Charity. And what is the
wood he would root up ? Love of the world. Hear him, the
V. 15. rooter up of the wood ! Love not the world, (for this comes
next,) neither the things that are in the world; if any man
sdilec- love the world, the Hove of the Father is not in him.
9. Ye have heard that if any yuan love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. Let not any say in his heart
that this is false, brethren : God saith it ; by the Apostle the
Holy Ghost hath spoken ; nothing more true : If any man
P Sed quomodo poterimus amare Ed. Lugdun. si amaraus mundum ? Si
Deum, SI amamus mundum ? Parat amamus mundum, separat nos a cLari-
nos ergo inhabitari charitate, and so tate Dei. Parat nos ergo inhabitare
Bodl. 813. The ed. of Erasmus has, charitatem : "—if we love the world ?
—separat nos a charitate Dei : *'— if we If we love the world, it separates &c.
love the world ? It separates us from He prepares us therefore to inhabit
the charity of God." And 30 3 Oxf.Mss. charity." Ed. Par.
tio
Charity the root of Godliness. 1119
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Wouldest i John
thou have the Father's love, that thou mayest be joint-hen* i5_jj-/
with the Son ? Love not the world. Shut out the evil love
of the world, that thou mayest be filled with 'the love of amore
God. Thou art a vessel ; but as yet thou art full. Pour out
what thou hast, that thou mayest receive what thou hast not.
Certainly, ^our brethren are now born asraiu of water and of^^he
newly
the Spirit: we also some years ago were born again of water baptized
and of the Spirit. Good is it for us that we love not the
world, lest the Sacraments remain in us unto damnation,
not as means of strengthening^ unto salvation. That which ^firma-
strengthens unto salvation is, to have the root of charity,
to have the power of godliness, not the form only. 2 Tim.
Good is the form, holy the form : but what avails the form, '
if it hold not the root? The branch that is cut off, is it
not cast into the fire ? Have the form, but in the root.
But in what way are ye rooted so that ye be not rooted up ?
By holding charity, as saith the Apostle Paul, rooted and'^-^h.. 3,
grounded in charity. How shall charity be rooted there,
amid the overgrown wilderness of the love of the world ?
Make clear riddance of the woods. A mighty seed ye are
about to put in; let there not be that in the field which shall
choke the seed. These are the uprooting words which he
hath said : Love not the world, neither the things that are in v. 15.
the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.
10. For all that is in the world, is the lust of the flesh, and"'-^^-^'^-
the lust of the eyes, and the j?ride* of life, three things he hath "^mbitio
said, which are not of the Father, but are of the world. And the '
world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth
the ivill of God ahideihfor ever, even as He abideth for ever'^.
Why am I not to love what God made? What wilt thou?
Whether wilt thou love the things of time, and pass away
with time ; or not love the world, and live to eternity with
God? The river of temporal things hurries one a,long: but
like a tree sprung up beside the river is our Lord Jesus P^-i'^*
Christ. He assumed flesh, died, rose again, ascended into
1 The last clause, sicut et Dens manet quomodo et &c. and others in Griesbach.
in (Sternum J is peculiar to the Latin It is not received by the Vulgate,
authorities, S. Cyprian ad Quir. 3, 11.
1120 Love the world, i.e. the creatures of God,
HoMiL. heaven. It was His will to plant Himself, in a manner,
- — ^—beside the river of the things of time. Art thou rushing
down the stream to the headlong deep ? Hold fast the tree.
Is love of the world whirling thee on ? Hold fast Christ.
For thee He became temporal, that thou mightest become
eternal ; because He also in such sort became temporal, that
He remained still eternal. There came something to Him
from time, not anything went from His eternity. But thou wast
born temporal, and by sin wast made temporal : thou wast
made temporal by sin. He was made temporal by mercy of
remitting sins. How great the difference, when two are in
a prison, between the criminal and him that visits him ! For
upon a time a person comes to his friend and enters in to
visit him, and both seem to be in prison ; but they differ by
a wide distinction. The one, his cause presses down : the
other, humanity has brought thither. So in this our mortal
state, we were held fast by our guiltiness. He of mercy came
down : He entered in unto the captive, a Redeemer not an
oppressor. The Lord for us shed His blood, redeemed us,
changed our hopes. As yet we bear the mortality of the
flesh, and take the future immortality upon trust: and on the
sea we are tossed by the waves, but we have the anchor of
hope already fixed upon the land.
11. But let us not love the world, neither the things that
are in the world. For the things that are in the world, are
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life. These three are they : lest haply any man say, ' The
things that are in the world, God made : i.e. heaven and
earth, the sea : the sun, the moon, the stars, all the garniture
of the heavens. What is the garniture of the sea ? all creep-
ing things. What of the earth? animals, trees, flying
creatures. These are in the world, God made them. Why
then am I not to love what God hath made ?' Let the Spirit
of God be in thee, that thou mayest see that all these things
are good : but woe to thee if thou love the things made, and
forsake the Maker of them ! Fair are they to thee : but how
much fairer He that formed them ! Mark well, beloved. For
by similitudes ye may be instructed : lest Satan steal upon
you, saying what he is wont to say. Take your enjoyment in
the creature of God ; wherefore made He those things but
but in measure, and /or the Creator^ s sake. 1 1 '2 1
for your enjoyment ? And men drink themselves drunken, and i John
perish, and forget their own Creator: while not temperately but ^^' ^^'
lustfully they use the things created, the Creator is despised.
Of such saith the Apostle : TJiey worshipped and served fheUom.. 1,
creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed for ever. ^*
God doth not forbid thee to love^ these things, hovvbeit, not' amare
to '^ set thine affections upon them for blessedness; but to^diligere
approve and praise them, that thou mayest love thy Creator.
In the same manner, my brethren, as if a bridegroom should
make a ring for his bride, and she having received the ring,
should love it more than she loves the bridegroom who made
the ring for her: would not her soul be found guilty of adultery
in the very gift of the bridegroom, albeit she did but love what
the bridegroom gave her ? By all means let her love what the
bridegroom gave : yet should she say, ' This ring is enough
for me, I do not wish to see his face now :' what sort of
woman would she be ? Who would not detest such sense-
lessness ? who not pronounce her guilty of an adulterous
mind ? Thou lovest gold in place of the man, lovest a ring
in place of the bridegroom : if this be in thee, that thoa lovest
a ring in place of thy bridegroom, and hast no wish to see thy
bridegroom ; that he has given thee earnest, serves not to
pledge thee to him, but to turn away thy heart from him !
That the bridegroom gives earnest, it is that in his earnest he
may himself be loved. Well then, God gave thee all these
things : love Him that made them. There is more that He
would fain give thee, that is. His very Self that made these
things. But if thou love these — what though God made
them — and neglect the Creator and love the world ; shall not
thy love be accounted adulterous ^f'
12. For " the world" is the appellation given not only to
this fabric which God made, heaven and earth, the sea, things
visible and invisible: but the inhabitants of the world are
called the world, just as we call a "house" both the walls
and them that inhabit therein. And sometimes we praise
a house, and find fault with the inhabitants. For we say, A good
*■ Et amaveris mundum; nonne tuus Edd. Am. Bad. Er. et amaveris mun-
amor adulterlnus deputabitur? — Mss. dum, amittis Creatorem qui fecit raun-
et amaveris mundum, delinquis (•' and dum (" and love the world, thou lettest
love the world, thou art delinquent"), go the Creator Who made ihe world"),
(and so four in the Bodl. Library.) Ben.
1122 All temptation is in three kinds:
HoMiL. house ; because it is marbled and beautifully* ceiled : and in
1 ^aqu'e- ^^^^^^^' sense we say, A good house : no man there suffers
ata. wrong, no acts of plunder, no acts of oppression, are done there.
Now we praise not the building, but those who dwell within
the building; yet we call it "house," both this and that. For
all lovers of the world, because by love they inhabit the world,
just as those inhabit heaven, whose heart is on high while in
the flesh they walk on earth: I say then, all lovers of the world
are called the world. The same have only these three things,
lust qfthejiesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. For they lust to
eat, drink, cohabit : to use these pleasures. Not surely, that
there is no allowed measure in these things? or that when it is
said, Love not these things, it means that ye are not to eat, or
not to drink, or not to beget children ? Not this is the thing
said. Only, let there be measure, because of the Creator, that
these things may not bind you by your loving of them: lest ye
love that for enjoyment, which ye ought to have for use. But
ye are not put to the proof except when two things are pro-
pounded to you, this or that: Wilt thou righteousness or
gains? I have not wherewithal to live, have not where-
withal to eat, have not wherewithal to drink. But what if
thou canst not have these but by iniquity ? Dost thou not
better to love that which thou losestnot, than to lose thyself by
iniquity ? Thou seest the gain of gold, the loss of faith thou
seest not. This then, saith he to us, is the lust of the flesh,
i. e. the lusting after those things which pertain to the flesh,
such as food, and carnal cohabitation, and all other such
like.
13. And the lust of the eyes : by the lust of the eyes, he
means all curiosity. Now how wide is the scope of curiosity !
This it is that works in spectacles, in theatres, in sacraments
'male- of the devil, in magical arts, in dealings- with darkness: none
other than curiosity. Sometimes it tempts even the servants of
God, so that they wish as it were to work a miracle, to tempt
God whether He will hear their prayers in working of miracles;
it is curiosity : this is lust of the eyes ; it is not of the Father,
If God hath given the power, do the miracle, for He hath put
it in thy way to do it : for think not that those who have not
done miracles shall not pertain to the kingdom of God. When
the Apostles were rejoicing that the devils were subject to
So in the temptation of our Lord. 1123
Ihem, what said the Lord to them? Rejoice not in this, but i John
. . II. 17.
rejoice because your names are written in heaven. In that j^^'^^^^q
would He have the Apostles to rejoice, wherein rejoicest also 20.
thou. For woe to thee if thj name be not written in heaven !
Is it woe to thee if thou raise not the dead ? is it woe to thee
if thou walk not on the sea ? is it woe to thee if thou cast
not out devils ? If thou hast received power to do them,
use it humbly, not proudly. For even of certain false prophets
the Lord hath said that tltey shall do signs and prodigies. Mat.24,
Therefore let there be no ambition of the world: Ambit io
scsculi, this is, Pride. The man wishes to make much
of himself in his honours : bethinks himself great, whether
because of riches, or because of some power.
14. These three there are, and thou canst find nothing
whereby human cupidity can be tempted, but either by
the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eyes, or (he pride Matt. 4,
of life. By these three was the Lord tempted of the devil. ^—^®-
By the lust of the flesh He was tempted when it was said
to Him, If thou be the Son of God^ speak to these stones
that they become bread, when He hungered after His fast.
But in what way repelled He the tempter, and taught his
soldier how to fight? Mark what He said to him : Not by
bread alone doth man live, but by every word of God. He
was tempted also by the lust of the eyes concerning a
miracle, when he said to Him, Cast thyself down : for it is
written. He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:
and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time
thou dash thy foot against a stone. He resisted the tempter,
for to do the miracle, would only have been to seem
either to have yielded, or to have done it of curiosity; for He
wrought when He would, as God, howbeit as healing the
weak. For if He had done it then, He might have been
thought to wish only to do a miracle. But lest men should
think this, mark what He answered; and when the like
temptation shall happen to thee, say thou also the same :
Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shaltnot
tempt the Lord thy God : that is, if I do this I shall tempt
God. He said what He would have thee to say. When
the enemy suggests to thee, *' What sort of man, what sort of
Christian, art thou ? As yet hast thou done one miracle ? or
1124 Christ'' s answers tench us how to answer the Tempter,
HoMiL.by thy prayers have the dead been raised, or hast thou
'— healed the fevered ? if thou wert truly of any moment, thou
vvouldest do some miracle:" answer and say: " It is written.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God: therefore I will not
tempt God, as if I should belong to God if I do a miracle,
and not belong if I do none: and what becomes then of His
words. Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven^^ ?
By pride of life how was the Lord tempted ? When he
carried Him up to an high place, and said to Him, All these
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. By
the loftiness of an earthly kingdom he wished to tempt the
King of all worlds: but the Lord Who made heaven and earth
trod the devil under foot. What great matter for the devil to
be conquered by the Lord? Then what did He in the answer
He made to the devil but teach thee the answer He would
have thee to make ? // is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Holding these things
fast, ye shall not have the concupiscence of the world: not
having concupiscence of the world, neither shall the lust of the
flesh, nor the lust of the eyes, nor the pride of life, subjugate
you : and ye shall make place for Charity when she cometh,that
ye may love God. Because if love of the world be there,
love of God will not be there. Hold fast rather the love of
God, that as God is for ever and ever, so ye also may
remain for ever and ever: because such is each as is his
love. Lovest thou earth ? thou shalt be earth. Lovest thou
God ? what shall I say? thou shalt be a god? I dare not
P8.82,6.say it of myself, hear we the Scriptures : / have said. Ye are
gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. If then ye
T.15-17. would be gods and sons of the Most High, Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world, Lf any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all
the things that are in the world, is the lust of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the
Father, but is of the world: i. e. of men, lovers of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof: but he
that doeth the ivill of God abidethfor ever, even as God also
abidethfor ever*
HOMILY III.
1 John ii. 18 — 27.
Children, it is the last hour : and as ye have heard that anti-
christ shall come, even now are there many antichrists;
whereby we know that it is the last hour. Tliey went out
from us, hut they were not of us: if they had been of us,
they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went
out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all.
of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and
know all things'^. I write unto you, not because ye know^^^^h'
not the truth, hut because ye know it, and that no lie '
is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that
Jesus is the Christ? [He is antichrist, that denieth the
Father and the Son.']- Whosoever denieth the Son, the 5a?we ^omitted
hath neither the Father nor the Son: and he that acknow- ■^^^q^^,
ledgeth the Son hath both the Father and the Son. Let that *^o°'
therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the be-
ginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning
shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and
in the Father. And this is the promise that He hath
promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written
unto you concerning them that seduce you; that ye may
know that ye have an unction, and that the unction which ye
have received of him may abide in you. And ye need not
that any man teach you; because His unction teacheth you
of all things.
1. Children ^^ it is the last hour. In this Lesson he^pueri,
addresses the children that they may make haste to grow, '^"' '"*
because it is the last hour. Age or stature* of the body is^^tas
not at one's own will. A man does not grow in respect of
the flesh when he will, any more than he is born when he
will : but where the being born rests with the will, the growth
also rests with the will. No man is born of water and the John 3,
Spirit, except he be willing. Consequently if he will, he
] 126 Christ, milk for babes, meat for the strong.
HomL. grows or makes increase : if he will, he decreases. What is
it to grow ? To ^ go onward by proficiency. What is it to
decrease ? To * go backward by deficiency. Whoso knows
*deficerethat he is born, let him hear that he is an infant; let him
eagerly cling to the breasts of his mother, and he grows
apace. Now his mother is the Church ; and her breasts are
the two Testaments of the Divine Scriptures. Hence let him
suck the milk of all the things that as signs of spiritual truths
were done in time for our eternal salvation', that being
nomished and strengthened, he may attain to the eating of
John 1, solid meat, which is, 7/^ the begiiining urns the Word, and the
^' Word was with God, and the Word was God. Our milk is
Christ in His humility ; our meat, the self-same Christ Equal
with the Father. With milk He nourishelh thee, that He
may feed thee with bread : for with the heart spiritually to
touch Christ is to know that He is Equal with the Father.
Supra 2. Therefore it was that He forbade Mary to touch Him,
cxxi. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^'' Touch Me not ; for I am not yet ascended
& xxvi, ^i^iiQ iJiQ Father. What is this ? He gave Himself to be
note, handled by the disciples, and did He shun Mary's touch ?
Jolin20, jg ^^^ jjg ^Q same that said to the doubting disciple, Reach
ib. 27. hilher ihy fingers, and feel the scars ? Was He at that time
ascended to the Father ? Then why doth He forbid Mary,
and saith, Touch 3Ie not ; for I am not yet ascended to the
Father? Or are we to say, that He feared not to be touched
by men, and feared to be touched by women ? The touch of
Him cleanseth all flesh. To whom He willed first to be
manifested, by them feared He to be handled ? Was not His
Kesurreclion announced by women to the men, that so the
serpent should by a sort of counterplot be overcome } For
because he first by the woman announced death to man,
therefore to men was also life announced by a woman.
Then why was He unwilling to be touched, but because
He would have it lo be understood of that spiritual touch ?
The spiritual touch takes place from a pure heart. That person
does of a pure heart reach Christ with his touch who under-
stands Him Coequal with the Father. But whoso not yet un-
derstands Christ's Godhead, that person reaches but unto the
flesh, reaches not unto the Godhead. Now what great matter
s Omnium sacramentorum tempora- ments understood in their inward and
liter pro seterna salute nostra gestorum : spiritiaal relation to Christ.
i. e. of the historical facts of both Testa-
** // is the last hour:'' no time to be lost. 1127 -
is it, to reach only unto that which the persecutors reached i John
unto, who crucified Him ? But that is the great thing, to un- — - — -
derstand the Word God with God, in the beginning, by Whom
all things were made: in such sort as He would have Himself
to be known when He said to Philip, Am I so loitg time with Johni4,
you, and have ye not known Me, Philip '^ He that seeth Me,
seeth also the Father,
3. But lest any be sluggish to go forward, let him hear:
Children, it is the last hour. Go forward, run, grow; it is the
last hour. This same last hour is long ; yet it is the last. For Epist.
he has put hour for the last time; because it is in the last times Yin'^
that our Lord Jesus Christ is to come. But some will say. How Ssec.
the last times? how the last hour? Certainly antichrist will
first come, and then will come the day of judgment. John saw
these thoughts : lest people should in a manner become secure,
and think it was not the last hour because antichrist was to
come, he said to them, A7id as ye have heard that antichi'ist
is to come, now are there come many antichrists. Could
it have many antichrists, except it were the last hour ?
4. Whom has he called antichrists ? He goes on and
expounds. Whereby we know thai it is the last hour. By
what ? Because many antichrists are come. They went out
from us ; see the antichrists ! They went out from us :
therefore w^e bewail the loss. Hear the consolation. But
they were not of us. All heretics, all schismatics went out
from us, that is, go out from the Church ; but they would
not go out, if they were of us. Therefore, before they
went out they were not of us. If before they went out they
were not of us, many are within, are not gone out, but
yet are antichrists. We dare to say this: and why, but that
each one while he is within may not be an antichrist? For he
is about to describe and mark the antichrists, and we shall
see them now. And each person ought to question his own
conscience, whether he be an antichrist. For antichrist in
our tongue means. Contrary to Christ ^ Not, as some take it,
* So apT iKeifievos 2 Thess. 2, 3. and tainly Antichrist is the Liar opposed to
so the word seems to be interpreted by the Truth, i.e. to Christ." So fficu-
TertuU. dePrsfcscr. Haer. 4. Antichrist! menius. But by earlier authorities it
— Christi rebelles. And this is alleged is taken in the sense of False-Christ',
by Theophylact as the traditional in- or, one that gives himself out for Christ
terpretation of the Greek Church: irav- with denial of Jesus Christ. Thus in
rcos 6 i\iiv(TTf)S ivavrios &iv rfj aMiQeia. the Acta Martyrum: Dicit autem Apo-
^Toi T(f XpKTT^ avTixpiffTSs iffTi. " Cei- stolus: Si Satanas &c. Unde et Anti-
1 1*28 Many antichrists without and loithin.
HoMiL. that antichrist is to be so called because he is to come a7Ue
'- Christum, before Christ, i. e. Christ to come after him ; it
does not mean this, neither is it thus written, but Anticlrristus,
i. e. contrary to Christ. Now who is contrary to Christ ye
already perceive from the Apostle's own exposition, and
understand that none can go out but antichrists; whereas
those who are not contrary to Christ, can in no wise go out.
For he that is not contrary to Christ holds fast in His body,
and is counted therewith as a member. The members are
never contrary one to another. The entireness of the body
consists of all the members. And what saith the Apostle
iCor.i2, concerning the agreement of the members? If one member
^^' suffer, all the members suffer with it ; and if one member be
glorified^ all the members rejoice with it. If then in the
glorifying of a member the other members rejoice with it,
and in its suffering all the members suffer, the agreement of
the members hath no antichrist. And there are those who
inwardly are in such sort in the body of our Lord Jesus
Christ — seeing His body is yet under cure, and the soundness
will not be perfect save in the resurrection of the dead — are
in such wise in the body of Christ, as bad humours. When
these are vomited up, the body is relieved: so too when bad
men go not, then the Church is relieved. And one says,
when the body vomits and casts them out, These humours
went out of me, but they were not of me. How were not of
me ? Were not cut out of my flesh, but oppressed my breast
while they were in me. They went out from lis ; but be not
sad, they icere not of us. How provest thou this .? If they had
been of us, they would doubtless have continued with us. Hence
therefore ye may see, that many who are not of us, receive with
us the Sacraments, receive with us baptism, receive with us
what the faithful know they receive, Benediction, the Eucha-
rist^ and whatever there is in Holy Sacraments: the Com-
munion of the very Altar they receive with us, and are not of us.
Temptation proves that they are not of us. When temptation
christus Quasi-Christus. " The Apo- " In all things the Deceiver will needs
stle saith: If Satan be transfigured as make himseff like the Son of God."
an angel of light, it is no great matter See Mr. Greswell's Exposition of the
if his ministers betransfigiired. Whence Parables, i. p. 372 ff.
also Antichrist means seejning-Christ. " Two Mss. Benedictionem Eucha-
And S. Hippolyt. Portuensis de Anti- ristis, 'the Benediction of the Eucha-
christo 6. Kara iravTa i^ofioiova-dai rist.' Ben. (So Bodl. 242 and 455, — and
^ov\€Tai 6 irXavos tu vl^ rod Qeov. 813 by correction.)
Evil men within, but not of the Church. 1129
comes to them as, by occasion of a wind they fly abroad ; i John
because they were not grain. But all of them will fly abroad, — '- — -
as we must often tell you, when once the fanning of the
Lord's threshing-floor shall begin in the Day of Judgment.
They went out from us, but they were not of us ; if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. For
would ye know, beloved, how most certain this saying is, that
they who haply have gone out and return, are not antichrists %
are not contrary to Christ? Whoso are not antichrists, it cannot
be that they should continue without. But of his own will is
each either an antichrist or in Christ. Either we are amonsr
the members, or among the bad humours. He that changeth
himself for the better, is in the body, a member : but he that
continues in his badness, is a bad humour; and when he is
gone out, then they who were oppressed will be relieved. They
went out from us, but they ivere not of us; for if they had
been of us, they icould no doubt have continued with us : but
(they icent out), that they might be made manifest that they
were not all of us. That he has added, that they might be
made manifest, is, because even when they are within they
are not of us ; yet they are not manifest, but by going out are
made manifest. And ye have an unction from the Holy One,
that ye may be manifest to your own selves ^ The spiritual
unction ^', the Holy Spirit Himself, of which the Sacrament
is in the visible unction \ Of this unction of Christ he saith,^ ^nfra
that all who have it know the bad and the good ; and that they
need not to be taught, because the very unction teacheth them.
6. 1 write unto you not because ye know not the truth, but^- 21.
because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Behold,
we are admonished how we may know antichrist. What is
Christ? Truth. Himself hath said, / am ^Ae Tn^^A. But ;20 Johni4,
6.
* In most of the Mss. ut qui forte is, and that those who haply have gone
exierunt, non sint antichri«ti. Ee- out are not antichrists ? Let them re-
deant, et non sunt contrarii Christo : turn, and they are not contrary to Christ,
hoe sunt enim antichristi. Non potest for this is to be antichrists.'') Ed. Par.
fieii ut remaneant &c. Morel. Elem. Bod). Mss. vary, but no one reads
Crit. p. 56 — 58. contends that this is ' et.'
the genuine reading of the passage, y Ut ipsi vobis manifesti sitis. As
provided et be replaced for td, and the there is no trace of this reading in either
pointing slightly alteied. Thus: Nam the Greek or Latin authorities, it is per-
vultis Dosse, charissimi, quam certis- haps not meant to stand as part of the
tissime dicatar hoc, et qui forte ex- text, though represented as such by the
iernnt non sint antichristi ? Redeant, Benedictines. In the following clause
et non sunt contrarii Christo: hoc enim Aug. seems to recognise the reading
sunt antichristi. (" For would ye know, oifSare travTcs, dicit omnes cognoscere
beloved, how most certain this saying bonos et malos.
1130 The lie of the antichrists.
HoMiL. lie is of the Truth. Consequently, all who lie are not yet
^— of Christ. He hath not said that some lie is of the Truth,
and some lie not of the Truth. Mark the sentence. Do not
fondle yourselv^es, do not flatter yourselves, do not deceive
yourselves, do not cheat yourselves : No lie is of the Truth.
Let us see then how antichrists lie, because there is more than
one kind of lying. Who is a liar^ but he that denieth that
Jesus is the Christ? One is the meaning of the word Jesus,
other the meaning of the word Christ : though it be one
Jesus Christ our Saviour, yet Jesus is His proper name.
Just as Moses was so called by his proper name, as Elias,
as Abraham : so as His proper name our Lord hath the name
1 sacra- j^^us : but Christ is the name of His ' sacred character. As
mecti.
when we say. Prophet, as when we say, Priest ; so by the
name Christ we are given to understand the Anointed, in
whom should be the redemption of the whole people. The
coming of this Christ was hoped for by the people of the Jews :
and because He came in lowliness. He was not acknowledged;
because the stone was small, they stumbled at it and were
Dan. 2, broken. But the stone greu\ and became a great mountain;
and what saith the Scripture ? V/hosoever shall stumble at
' ^°°' this stone shall be broken ^ ; and on whomsoever this stone
quassa-
bitur. shall come, it will grind him to powder. We must mark the
difference of the words: it saith, he that stumbleth shall be
broken ; but he on whom it shall come, shall be ground to
powder. At the first, because He came small, men stumbled
at Him : because He shall come lofty to judgment, on whom-
soever He shall come, He will grind him to powder. But
not that man will He grind to powder at His future coming,
whom He broke not when He came. He that stumbled not
at the Lowly, shall not dread the Lofty. Briefly ye have
heard it, brethren : he that stumbled not at the Lowly, shall
shall not dread the Lofty. For to all bad men is Christ a
stone of stumbling ; whatever Christ saith is bitter to them.
7. For hear and see. Certainly all who go out from the
Church, and are cut off from the unity of the Church, are
antichrists; let no man doubt it: for the Apostle himself
hath marked them, TJiey went out from us, hut they were
not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt
have continued with us. Therefore, whoso continue not
with us, but go out from us, it is manifest that they are anti-
All heretics confess in words that Jesus is the Christ. 1 1 31
christs. And how are they proved to be antichrists ? By i John
lying. And who is a liar, hut he that deriieth that Jesus is — '■ — '-
the Christ? Let us ask the heretics: where do you find a
heretic that denies that Jesus is the Christ ? See now,
my beloved, a great mystery ^ Mark what the Lord God ^ mag-
may have inspired us withal, and what I would fain work sacra-
into your minds. Behold, they went out from us, and™®"*^™»
turned Donatists : we ask them whether Jesus be the Christ; note (c).
they instantly confess that Jesus is the Christ. If then that
person is an antichrist, who denies that Jesus is the Christ,
neither can they call us antichrists, nor we them ; therefore,
neither they went out from us, nor we from them. If then
we have not gone out one from another, we are in unity:
if we be in unity, what means it that there are two altars
in this city? what, that there are divided houses, divided
marriages? that there is a common bed, and a divided
Christ ? He admonishes us, he would have us confess what
is the truth : — either they went out from us, or we from
them. But let it not be imagined that we have gone out from
them. For we have the testament of the Lord's inheritance,
we recite it, and there we find, / will give Thee the nations Vs. 2, 8,
for Thine inheritance, and /or Thy possessions the ends of
the earth. We hold fast Christ's inheritance ; they hold it
not, for they do not communicate with the whole earth, do
not communicate with the ^universal body redeemed by the^"°iver-
. sitate
blood of the Lord. We have the Lord Himself rising from
the dead, Who presented Himself to be felt by the hands of
the doubting disciples : and while they yet doubted. He
said to them. It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from Luke24,
the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission
of sins should he preached in His name — Where? which
way ? to what persons ? — through all nations, heginning at
Jerusalem. Our minds are set at rest concerning the unity
of the inheritance ! Whoso does not communicate with this
inheritance, is gone out.
8. But let us not be made sad : They went out from us, v. 19.
hut they were not of us ; for if they had been of us, ihey
would no doubt have continued with us. If then they went
out from us, they are antichrists; if they are antichrists, they
are liars ; if they are liars, they deny that Jesus is the Christ,
4 E
1132 But in their deeds they deny Him.
HoMiL.Once more we come back to the difficulty of the question.
Ask them one by one; they confess that Jesus is the Christ.
The difficulty that hampers us comes of our taking what is
said in the Epistle in too narrow a sense. At any rate ye
see the question ; this question puts both us and them to a
stand, if it be not understood. Either we are antichrists, or
they are antichrists ; they call us antichrists, and say that
we went out from them ; we say the like of them. But now
this Epistle has marked out the antichrists by this cognizance:
Whosoever denies that Jesus is the Christ, that same is an
antichrist. Now therefore let us enquire who denies ; and
let us mark not the tongue, but the deeds. For if all be
asked, all with one mouth confess that Jesus is the Christ.
Let the tongue keep still for a little while, ask the life. If
we shall find this thing, if the Scripture itself shall tell us that
denial is a thing done not only with the tongue, but also with
the deeds, then assuredly we find many antichrists, who with
the mouth profess Christ, and in their manners dissent from
Christ. Where find we this in Scripture ? Hear Paul the
Tit. 1, Apostle ; speaking of such, he saith. For they confess that
they knoiv God, but in their deeds deny Him. Consequently
we find these also to be antichrists : whosoever in his deeds
denies Christ, is an antichrist. I listen not to what he says,
but I look what life he leads. Works speak, and do we
require words? For where is the bad man that does not
Mat. 12, wish to talk well ? But what saith the Lord to such? Ye
hypocrites, how can ye speak good things, while ye are evil ?
Your voices ye bring into Mine ears: I look into your
thoughts. I see an evil will there, and ye make a show of
false fruits. I know what I must gather, and whence ; I do
Id. 7,16. not gather Jigs of thistles, I do not gather grapes of thorns ;
for every tree is known by its fruit. A more lying antichrist
is he who with his mouth professes that Jesus is the Christ,
and with his deeds denies Him. A liar in this, that he
speaks one thing, does another.
9. Now therefore, brethren, if deeds are to be questioned,
not only do we find many antichrists gone out ; but many
not yet manifest, who have not gone out at all. For as
many as the Church hath within it that are perjured,
«male- defraudcrs, ^addicted to black arts, consulters of fortune-
ficos
Bad men in the Church do this, and are antichrists. 1133
tellers, adulterers, drunkards, usurers, *boy-stealers, and all i John
the other vices that we are not able to enumerate, these /^'^^'
things are contrary to the doctrine of Christ, are contrary togones
the word of God. Now the Word of God is Christ : whatever
is contrary to the Word of God is in Antichrist. For Anti-
christ means, ' contrary to Christ.' And would ye know how
openly these resist Christ? Sometimes it happens that they
do some evil, and one begins to reprove them ; because they
dare not blaspheme Christ, they blaspheme His ministers by
whom they are reproved : but if thou shew them that thou
speakest Christ's words, not thine own, they endeavour them-
selves all they can to convict thee of speaking thine own
words, not Christ's : if however it is manifest that thou
speakest Christ's words, they go even against Christ, they
begin to find fault with Christ : ^ How,' say they, ' and why
did He make ns such as we are ?' Do not persons say this
every day, when they are convicted of their deeds ? Per-
verted by a depraved will, they accuse their Maker. Their
Maker cries to them from heaven, (for the Same made us,
Who new-made us :) What made I thee ? I made man,
not avarice; I made man, not robbery; 1 made man, not
adultery. Thou hast heard that My works praise Me. Out Sor.g of
of the mouth of the Three Children, it was the very hymn jjojy'^^®
that kept them from the fires ^. The works of the Lord^^^^-
praise the Lord, the heaven, the earth, the sea, praise Him ;
praise Him all things that are in the heaven, praise Him
Angels, praise Him stars, praise Him lights; praise Him
whatever swims, whatever flies, whatever walks, whatever
creeps ; all these praise the Lord. Hast thou heard there
that avarice praises the Lord ? Hast thou heard that drunken-
ness praises the Lord .^ That luxury praises, that frivolity
praises Him ? Whatever thou hearest not in that hymn give
praise to the Lord, the Lord made not that thing. Correct
what thou hast made, that what God made in thee may be
saved. But if thou wilt not, and lovest and embracest thy
sins, thou art contrary to Christ. Be thou within, be thou
without, thou art an antichrist ; be thou within, be thou with-
out, thou art chaff. But why art thou not without.? Because
thou hast not fallen in with a wind to carry thee away.
* Ex ore trium puerorum ipse hymnus erat qui ab ignibus defendebat.
4 E 2
1134 Endure all things, in hope of the reward:
HoMiL. 10. These thinors are now manifest, mv brethren. Let no
II
'- — man say, I do not worship Christ, but I worship God His
T. 23. Father. Every one that denieth the Son^ hath neither the
Son nor the Father; and he that confesseth the Son, hath both
the Son and the Father^. He speaks to you that are grain:
and let those who were chaff, hear, and become grain. Let
each one, looking well to his own conscience, if he be a
lover of the world, be changed ; let him become a lover of
Christ, that he be not an antichrist. If one shall tell him
that he is an antichrist, he is wroth, he thinks it a wrong done
» liti- to him ; perchance, if he is told by him that strives with him*
^nscrip. ^^^^ ^® ^^ ^^ antichrist, he threatens an action at law'^ Christ
tionem saith to him. Be patient; if thou hast been falsely spoken
of, rejoice with Me, because I also am falsely spoken of by
the antichrists : but if thou art truly spoken of, come to an
understanding with thine own conscience ; and if thou fear
to be called this, fear more to be it.
T.24.25. 11. Let that there/ore abide in you, ichich ye have heard
from the beginning. If that uhich ye hare heard from the
beginning shall rein a in in you, ye also shall continue iti the
Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that He hath
promised us. For haply thou mightest ask about the wages,
and say. Behold, that uhich I have heard from the beginning
I keep safe in me, I comply therewith ; perils, labours,
temptations, for the sake of this continuance, I bear up
against them all: with what fruit } what wages.? what will He
hereafter give me, since in this world I see that I labour
among temptations } I see not here that there is any rest:
"Wisd. very mortality weigheth down the soul, and the corruptible
' ■ body presseth it down to lower things: but I bear all things,
that that ichich I have heard from the beginning mds remain
Psa. i7,iu me; and that I may say to my God, Because of the words
\J^^'ofThy lips have I kept hard icays. Uuto what wages then?
y Omnis qui negat Fi/ium, nee Ft- by munerous Mss., Vers. Svr. and
Hum nee Pafre?» habet : et qui eonfi- Aeth,, S. Cyril. Al. in Joann. ix- §. 40 :
tetur Filinm^ Filium et Patrem and the omission by some Mss. and
habet. S.Cyprian. Testiraon. adv. Jud. CEcumen. Theophyl. is sufficiently ex -
\\, 21. Qui negat Filium, neque Patre)n plained by the similar ending of this
habet : qui conjitetur Filium, et Filium and the former clause. The" addition
et Pat r €711 habet : and just so S. Hilar, et Filium in the latter clause seems
de Trin. vi. 42. For the Greek, the to be peculiar to the Latin, and nee
clause 6 o^oKoyuv rhv vlhy koI rhv Filium in the former to A ugustine's
Traripa exci is abundantly authenticated copies.
for God's promise of Eternal Life is sure. 1135
Hear, and faint not. If thou wast fainting in the labours, upon i Johx
the promised wages be strong. Where is the man that shall 05.26.
work in a vineyard, and shall let slip out of his heart the reward
lie is to receive r Suppose him to have forgotten, his hands
^1. The remembrance of the promised wages makes him
persevering in the work : and yet he that promised it is a man
who can deceive thine expectation. How much more strong
oughtest thou to be in God's field, when He that promised
is the Truth. Who can neither hare any successor, nor die,
nor deceive him to whom the promise was made! And what
is the promise : Let us see what He hath promised. Is it
gold which men here love much, or silver r Or possessions,
for which men lavish gold, however much they love gold? Or
pleasant lands, spacious houses, many slaves, numerous beasts r
Not these are the wages, so to say, for which he exhorts us
to endure in labour. What are these wages called : Eternal
life. Ye have heard, and in your joy ye have cried out :
love that which ye have heard, and ye are delivered from
your laboui^ unto the rest of eternal life. Lo, this is
what God promises; Eternal life. Lo, this what GodMar.25,
threatens: eternal fire. What to those set on the right
hand ? Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the king- it. 41.
dom prepared for you from the beginning of the trorld.
To those on the left, what r Go into eternal fire, prepared
for the devil and his angels. Thou dost not yet love that :
at least fear this.
1-2. Remember then, my brethren, that Christ hath pro-
mised us eternal life: This, sailh he, is the promise ichich x.25.26.
He hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have
I written to you concerning them which seduce you. Let
none seduce you unto death : desire ye the promise of
eternal fife. What can the world promise r Let it promise
what you wiU, it makes the promise perchance to one that
to-morrow shall die. And with what face wilt thou go hence
to Him that abideth for ever ? * But a powerful man threatens
me, that I must do some evil.' What does he threaten ?
Prisons, chains, fires, torments, wild beasts: aye, but not
eternal fire r Dread that which One Almighty threatens ;
love that which One Almighty promises ; and all the world
becomes vile in our regard, whether it promise or terrify.
1136 The Unction, which is the Holy Ghost, teacheth
HoMiL. These things have I written unto you concerning them which
^ seduce you ; that ye may know that ye have an unction, and
' the miction whiclt we have received from Him may abide in
you^. In the unction we have the sacramental sign [of a
thing unseen], the virtue itself is invisible^; the invisible
unction is the Holy Ghost; the invisible unction is that
charity, which, in whomsoever it be, shall be as a root to
him: however burning the sun, he cannot wither. All that is
rooted is nourished by the sun's warmth, not withered.
V. 27. 13. And ye have no need that any man teach you, because
His^ unction teacheth you concerning all things. Then to
what purpose is it that we, my brethren, teach you ? If His
unction teacJieth you concerning all things, it seems we
labour without a cause. And what mean w^e, to cry out
as we do } Let us leave you to His unction, and let His
unction teach you. But this is putting the question only
to myself: I put it also to that same Apostle: let him
deign to hear a babe that asks of him : to John himself I
say, Had those the unction to whom thou wast speaking?
Thou hast said. His unction teacheth you concerning all
things. To what purpose hast thou written an Epistle like
this.-* what teaching didst thou give them? what instruction?
what edification ? See here now, brethren, see a mighty
mystery ^ The sound of our words strikes the ears, the
Master is within. Do not suppose that any man learns
ought from man. We can admonish by the sound of our
voice ; if there be not One within that shall teach, vain is the
noise we make. Aye, brethren, have ye a mind to know it.^*
Have ye not all heard this present discourse ? and yet how
^ Ut sciatis quia unctionem habetisj understood.'' '' Aliudestsacramentum,
et unctio quam accepimns ab eo per- aliud virtus sacramenti," supra Horn.
maneat in nobis. This reading, which xxvi. 11.
is not found in the Greek copies, may ^ Unctio ipsiuSfY \Ag. ejus, re^^xesent-
have originated in the attempt to ex- ing the reading t6 auroD xp'o-M«: but the
plain a difficult construction. The truer reading, tI avrh xP'o-^aj seems to
Vulgate keeps close to the Greek: Et be recognised in the opening of Horn,
■vos unctionem quam accepistis ab eo iv. ipsa unctio docet vos de onmibus.
maneat in vobis. ^ Jam hie videte magnum sacra-
» Unctionis sacramentum est, virtus mentum : as above, §. 7; meaning in
ipsa invisibilis: i.e. the unction or both places, that whereas the Apostle's
chrism which we receive is a sacra- words seem at first sight ro be contra-
mentum, a thing in which, as Aug. dieted by facts, his true meaning lies
defines the term, " aliud videtur, aliud deeper, and involves a spiritual truth of
intelligitur, one thing is seen, another great importance.
all that are truly taught hy the ministry of the Word. 1 137
many will go from this place mitaught ! I, for my part, have i John
spoken to all; but they to whom that Unction within speak- 26.27.
eth not, they whom the Holy Ghost within teacheth not,
those go back untaught. The teachings of the master from
without are a sort of aids and admonitions. He that teacheth
the hearts, hath His chair in heaven. Therefore saith He
also Himself in the Gospel : Call no man your master upor), Mat.23,
earth ; One is your Master, even Christ. Let Him therefore " *
Himself speak to you within, when none of mankind is there :
for though there be some one at thy side, there is none in
thine heart. Yet let there not be none in thine heart "^: let
Christ be in thine heart : let His unction be in the heart,
lest it be a heart thirsting in the wilderness, and having no
fountains to be watered withal. There is then, I say, a
Master within that teacheth : Christ teacheih ; His inspi-
ration teacheth. Where His inspiration and His unction
is not, in vain do words make a noise from without. So
are the words, brethren, which we speak from without, as is
the husbandman to the tree: from without he worketh, ap-
plieth water and diligence of culture ; let him from without
apply what he will, does he form the apples .? does he clothe
the nakedness of the wood with a shady covering of leaves .f"
does he do any thing like this from within ? But Whose
doing is this ? Hear the husbandman, the Apostle : both see
what we are, and hear the Master within ; 1 have planted, iCor.3,
Apollos hath watered; hut God gave the increase: neither^
he that planteth is any thing, neither he that watereth, hut
He that giveth the increase, even God. This then we say
to you ; whether we plant, or v/hether we water, by speaking,
not we are any thing; but He that giveth the increase,
even God : that is, His unction which teacheth you con-
cerning all tilings.
d Et non sit nullus in corde tuo. tuo [with th» same meaning]. Ben.
Three Mss. et non sit ullus in corde Bodl. Mss. vary, no two reading alike,
tuo ["and let there not be any in thine One, ' et ne sit ullus.' The reading
heart, (only) let Christ be in thine most like St. Aug. would be, ' et ne sit
heart'']. One Ms; et nullus in corde nullus,' ' and lest there be none.'
tuo : another : et nullus sit in corde
HOMILY Ur.
] iemy
^mm^Gi
3^ 'bii ii$S
^m^>
LTx
y^one that abide in Hi^ unction are put to shamt". 1 18i>
cerHiit<^ all thiMtjs. Now this, as I am sure ye remember, 1 John
we so expounded to you, that we who t'rom without speak to ^r, is.
your ear^, are as workmen applNnng eulture tVoTii without to
a tree, but we cannot give the increase nor I'orm the traits :
but only He that created and redeemed aud called you. He,
dwelling in you by taith and the Spiiit, must speak to you
within, else vain is all our noise ot' words. Whence does
this appear ? From this : that whUe many hear, not all are
persuaded of that which is said, but only they to whom God
speaks witliin. Now they to whom He speaks within, are
those who give place to Him : and those give place to God,
who fji've not place to tlie detit. For the devil wishes to Eph. 5.
inhabit the hearts of men, and speak there the things which " '
make for seduction. But what saith the Lord Jesus? The J ohiii'2,
prince oftliis icorld is cast out. Whence cast : out of heaven "^ '
and earth .- out of the fabric of the world } Xay, but out of
the hearts of the believing. The invader being cast out, let
the Redeemer dwell within : because the Same redeemed.
Who created. And the devil now assaults from without,
not conquers Him that hath possession within. And he
assaults from without, by casting iu various temptations : but
that person consents not thereto, to whom God speaks within,
and the unction of which ye have heard.
*2. And it is true, namely, this same imction ; i. e. the
very Spirit of the Lord Which teacheth men, cannot lie :
and is not J'alse'. Even as it hath taught you, abide ye in v.27.-2S.
the same. And note, little children, abide ye in Him. that
tchen He shall be mani/estcd, tee may have boldness in His
sight, that tee be not put to shame by Him at His coming. Ye
see, brethren: we believe on Jesus Whom we have not seen:
they announced Him, that saw, that handled, that heard the
word out of His own mouth ; and that they might persuade
all mankind of the truth thereof, they were sent by Him, not
dared to go of themselves. And whither were thev sent r
Ye heard while the Gospel was read. Go, preach the Gospel ^Jark
to the tchole creation tchich is under heaven. Consequently,,^^}. ^'
the disciples were sent every ichere: with signs and wonders**'''*''^
cre-
atitrtp
• Mendajc. Gr. <^€v6o5. ^ulg. Men- iv aiTy, taken as referre<3 to xp'<^^^^
tiaeimm. In the following clatLje ei " in the unction' (Lat- two Mss. in
om. as nd in Cod. Alex. In ipsa, Gr. ipso). Valg. in eo, " in Christ."
1140 The righteousness of faith never perfect in this life.
HoMiL. to attest that what they spake, they had seen. And we
'- — believe on Him Whom we have not seen, and we look for
Him to come. Whoso look for Him by faith, shall rejoice
when He cometh : those who are without faith, when that
which now they see not is come, shall be ashamed. And
that confusion of face shall not be for a single day and so
pass away, in such sort as those are wont to be confounded,
who are found out in some fault, and are insulted over by
their fellow-men. That confusion shall carry them that are
Mat.25, confounded to the left hand, that to them it may be said, Go
^'- into everlasting Jire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
Let us abide then in His words, that we be not confounded
when He cometh. For Himself saith in the Gospel to them
John 8, which had believed on Him : If ye shall abide in My word,
^^*^^" then are ye verily my disciples. And, as if they had asked.
With what fruit ? And, saith He, ye shall know the Truth,
and the Truth shall make you free. For as yet our salvation
is in hope, not in deed : for we do not already possess that
Heb. 10, which is promised, but we hope for it to come. And faith-
ful is He that promised; He deceiveth not thine expect-
ation : only do thou not faint, but wait for the promise. For
He, the Truth, cannot deceive. Be not thou a liar, to
profess one thing and do another; keep thou the faith, and
He keeps His promise. But if thou keep not the faith, thine
own self, not He that promised, hath defrauded thee.
V. 29. 3. If ye knoio that He is righteous, know ye^ that every
one that doeth righteousness is horn of Him. The righte-
ousness which at present is ours is of faith. Perfect righte-
ousness is not, save only in the Angels: and scarce in Angels,
if they be compared with God : yet if there be any perfect
righteousness of souls and spirits which God hath created, it
is in the Angels, holy, just, good, by no lapse turned aside,
by no pride falling, but remaining ever in the contemplation
of the Word of God, and having nothing else sweet unto
them save Him by Whom they were created ; in them is
perfect righteousness : but in us it has begun to be, of faith,
^ Scitote Vulg. Gr. yivcixTKere as that <fec." probably o'ldare would have
imperative, " hence learn ye to know been repeated as in 5, 15. &*/ olfSa/xej/ —
that <fec." Were it indicative, " to o'(5afx€y.
know that He is righteous is to know
The devil a practised foe, to he overcome only in Christ. 1141
by the Spirit. Ye heard when the Psalm was read, Begin ^ ye i John
to the Lord in confession. Begin, saith it; the beginning of
Ps. 147
our righteousness is the confession of sins. Thou hast begun 7.
not to defend thy sin ; now hast thou made a beginning of
righteousness : but it shall be perfected in thee when nothing
else shall delight thee to do, when death shall he swallowed 1 Cor.
up in victory, when there shall be no itching of lust, when ^' ^'*'
there shall be no struggling with flesh and blood, when there
shall be the palm of victory, the triumph over the enemy; then
shall there be perfect righteousness. At present we are still
fighting: if we fight we are in the lists ^; we smite and areistadium
smitten; but who shall conquer, remains to be seen. And that
man conquers, who even when he smites presumes not on his
own strength, but relies upon God that cheers him on. The
devil is alone when he fights against us. If we are with God,
we overcome the devil : for if thou fight alone with the devil,
thou wilt be overcome. He is a practised enemy: how many
palms has he won ! Consider to what he has cast us down !
That we are born mortals, comes of this, that he in the first
place cast down from Paradise our very original. What then
is to be done, seeing he is so well practised ? Let the Almighty
be invoked to thine aid against the practised devil. Let Him
dwell in thee, Who cannot be overcome, and thou shalt
securely overcome him who is wont to overcome. But
to overcome whom } Those in whom God dwelleth not.
For, that ye may know it, brethren ; Adam being in Paradise
despised the commandment of God, and lifted up the neck,
as if he desired to be his own master, and were loath to be
subject to the w^ill of God : so he fell from that immortality,
from that blessedness. But there was a certain man, a man
now well practised, though a mortal born, who even as he sat
on the dunghill, putrifying with worms, overcame the devil :
yea, Adam himself then overcame ; he, in Job; because Job
was of his race. So then, Adam, overcome in Paradise,
overcame on the dunghill. Being in Paradise, he gave ear
to the persuasion of the woman which the devil had put into
her: but being on the dunghill he said to Eve, Thou hast Joh 2,
spoken as one of the foolish women. There he lent an ear, ^^'
here he gave an answer: when he was glad, he listened,
w Imipite. LXX. e'^op^oTe. y\i\Q.prcecinifc,
1142 The excellency of the sons of God hidden from the world.
HoMiL.when he was scourged, he overcame. Therefore, see what
^^' follows, my brethren, in the Epistle : because this is what
it would have us lay to heart, that we may overcome the
devil indeed, but not of ourselves. If ye know that He is
righteous, saith it, know ye that every one that doeth righte-
ousness is born of Him: of God, of Christ. And in that he
hath said. Is born of Him, he cheers us on. Already there-
fore, in that we are born of Him, we are perfect.
ch. 3, 1. 4. Hear. Behold what manner of love the Father hath
given us, that we should be called sons of God, and be (such^).
For whoso are called sons, and are not sons, what profiteth
them the name where the thing is not? How many are
called physicians, who know not how to heal ! how many
are called watchers, who sleep all night long ! So, many
are called Christians, and yet in the things themselves are
not found such ; because they are not this which they
are called, that is, in life, in manners, in faith, in hope, in
charity. But what have ye heard here, brethren ? Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called, and should be, the sons of God: therefore
the world knoweth us not, because it hath not known Him^
us also the world knoweth not'\ There is a whole world Chris-
tian, and a whole world ungodly; because throughout the
whole world there are ungodly, and throughout the whole
world there are godly : those know not these. In what
sense, think we, do they not know them } They insult over
them that live good lives. Mark well and see : for haply
there are such also among you. Each one of you who now
lives godly, who despises worldly things, who does not
choose to go to spectacles, who does not choose to make
Supra, himself drunken as it were by solemn custom, yea, what is
P- 1095, ^Qj,ge under countenance of holy days to make himself
note: ' i i i t •
add Ep. unclean; the man who does not choose to do these thmgs,
Ai'y^"^ how is he insulted over by those who do them ! Would he
pium. h Yccemur et simus. Vulg. nomine- et esse. [Which looks rather like an
mur et simus. Cod. Alex, and other expression of dissent, by Mill himself
authorities, K\7}9difjLey Koi ^aixkv (re- or some other.]
ceived by Lachmann.) Mill in 1. cites » Et nos non cognoscit mundus : a.
as from Augustine, but without speci- reading of which there are no traces in
fying the place: Qui vocantur el non the Mss; it seems to he an expository
sunt, quid prodest illis nomen? [The glo!?s: " therefore (because we are
T^ery words of this passage.] Verum sons of God) the world knoweth us
hie loquitur de nomine quod a Deo tri- not. Namely, because the world knew
buitur : hie non est discrimen inter dici not Him, it knows not us."
At His coming they shall see Him as God. 1143
be insulted over if he were known? But why is he notl John
• III 1
known ? The world knoivelh Him not. Who is the world ? — '- — '-
Those inhabiters of the world. Just as we say, " a house ;"
meaning, its inhabitants. These things have been said to
you again and again, and we forbear to repeat them to your
disgust. By this time, when ye hear the word " world," in
a bad signification, ye know that ye must understand it to
mean only lovers of the world ; because by loving they
inhabit, and by inhabiting have got to have the name. There-
fore the world hath not known us, because it hath not known
Him. He walked here Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, in
the flesh : He was God, He was latent in weakness \ And
wherefore was He not known ? Because He reproved all sins
in men. They, through loving the delights of sins, did not
acknowledge the God : through loving that which the fever
prompted, they did wrong to the Physician.
5. For us then, what are we ? Already we are begotten of
Him; but because we are such in hope, he saith. Beloved, now
are we sons of God. Now already ? Then what is it we look for,
if already we are sons of God ? And not yet, saith he, is it mani-
fested what^ we shall be. But what else shall we be than sons
of God ? Hear what follows : We know that, when He shall
appear^ we shall he like Hini, because we shall see Him as
He is. Understand, my beloved. It is a great matter : We
know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for
we shall see Him as He is. In the first place mark, w^hat
that is that is so called Is, ye know what it is that is so called.
That which is called /s, and not only is called but is so, is
unchangeable; It ever remaineth, It cannot be changed, It is
in no part corruptible : It hath neither proficiency, for It is
perfect; nor hath deficiency, for It is eternal. And what is
this? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was ^^^^"^^
with God, and the Word was God. And what is this ?
Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery ^o Phil* 2,
be equal witJi God. To see Christ in this sort, Christ in the
J Ed. Ben. places the colon before in Laud. 116.
came: " in the flesh He was God &c." ^ Quid erimus. Vulg. ri icrS/xeOa.
But ambulabat seems to require an Enarr. in Psa. 37, 2. §. 8. y?/orfer2m?/5,
object to complete the sense, and the '6 ri: so S. Jerome in Epist. Epiphan.
antithesis between erat and latebat is *' the thing which we shall be is not
more emphatic when in came is given yet made manifest."
to the former clause. So Bodl. 150.
1 144 TTie wicked will see Him as Man»
HuMiL.form of God, Word of God, Only-Begotten of the Father,
— Equal with the Father, is to the bad impossible. But in
regard that the Word was made flesh, the bad also shall have
power to see Him : because in the Day of Judgment the bad
also will see Him; for He shall so come to judge, as He
came to be judged. In the selfsame form, a Man, but yet
Jer. 17, God: for cursed is everif one that puttetlt his trust in niaii.
^' A Man, He came to be judged, a Man, He will come to
judge. And if He shall not be seen, what is this that is
John 19, written, They shall look on Him WJiom they pierced ? For
^^' of the ungodly it is said, that they shall see and be con-
founded. How shall the ungodly not see, when He shall set
some on the right hand, others on the left ? To those on the
Mat. 25, right hand He will say, Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive
'* the kingdom: to those on the left He will say. Go into ever-
lasting Jire. They will see but the form of a servant, the form
of God they will not see. Why ? because they were ungodly;
ib. 5. 8, and the Lord Himself saith, Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. Therefore, we are to see a certain
1 Cor. 2, vision, my brethren, which neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath
heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man : a certain
vision, a vision surpassing all earthly beautifulness, of gold,
of silver, of groves and fields ; the beautifulness of sea and
air, the beautifulness of sun and moon, the beautifulness of
the stars, the beautifulness of Angels : surpassing all things :
because from it are all things beautiful.
6. What then shall we be, when we shall see this? What
is promised to us .? We shall he like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is. The tongue hath done what it could, hath
sounded the words: let the rest be thought by the heart.
For what hath even John himself said in comparison of That
which Is, or what can be said by us men, so far from being
equal to his merits ? Return we therefore to that unction of
Him, return we to that unction which inwardly teacheth that
which we cannot speak : and because ye cannot at present
see, let your part and duty be in desire. The whole life of a
good Christian is an holy desire. Now what thou longest
for, thou dost not yet see : howbeit by longing, thou art made
capable, so that when that is come which thou mayest see,
'sinum thou shalt be filled. For just as, if thou wouldest fill a* bag,
The soul's capacity enlarged by holy desire. 1145
and knowest how great the thing is that shall be given, thou i John
stretchest the opening of the sack or the skin, or whatever ^ ^
else it be; thou knowest how much thou wouldest put in,"
and seest that the bag is narrow ; by stretching thou makest
it capable of holding more : so God by deferring our hope,
stretches our desire ; by the desiring, stretches the mind ; by
stretching, makes it more capacious. Let us desire therefore,
my brethren, for we shall be filled. See Paul widening, as
it were, ^ his bosom, that it may be able to receive that which ' slnum
is to come. He saith, namely, Not that I have already Phil. 3,
received^ or am already perfect : brethren, I deem not myself
to have apprehended. Then what art thou doing in this life,
if thou have not yet apprehended ? But this one thing [1 do] ;
forgetting the things that are behind, reaching forth to the
things that are before, '^ upon the strain I follow on unto /Ae^secun-
prize of the high calling. He says he reaches forth, ortenTio"'
stretches himself, and says that he follows upon the strain. °f™j
He felt himself too little to take in that which eye hath not Kara
seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of^^'^'^^^'
man. This is our life, that by longing we should be exer-iCor.2,
cised. But holy longing exercises us just so much as we
prune off our longings from the love of the world. We have
already said, 'Empty out that which is to be filled.' With
good thou art to be filled : pour out the bad. Suppose that
God would fill thee with honey : if thou art full of vinegar,
where wilt thou put the honey ? That which the vessel bore
in it must be poured out: the vessel itself must be cleansed;
must be cleansed, albeit with labour, albeit with hard rubbing,
that it may become fit for that thing, whatever it be. Let us
say honey, say gold, say wine ; whatever we say it is, being
that which cannot be said, whatever we would fain say. It is
called — God. And when we say ' God', what have we said ?
Is that one syllable the whole of That we look for .? So then,
whatever we have had power to say is beneath Him : let us
stretch ourselves unto Him, that when He shall come. He
may fill us. For we shall he like Him ; because we shall see
Him as He is.
7. And every one that hath this hope in Him, Ye see how
he hath set us our place, in hope. Ye see how the Apostle
Paul agreeth with his fellow-Apostle, By hope we are saved. Rom. 8,
1146 Grace does not set aside free-will.
lloMih. But hope that is seen, is not hope: for what a man seeth^
• why doth he hope for f For if what we see not, we hope for,
hy patience we wait for it. This very patience exerciseth
desire. Continue thou, for He continueth : and persevere
thou in walking, that thou mayest reach the goal : for That to
which thou tendest will not remove. See : And every one
1 casti- tJiat hath this hope in Him, ^purifleth himself even as He
2 castus «^ ^pure. See how he has not taken away free-will, in that
he saith, piirifieth himself Who purifieth us but God } Yea,
but God doth not purify thee if thou be unwilling. Therefore,
in that thou joinest thy will to God, in that thou purifiest
thyself. Purifiest thyself, not by thyself, but by Him Who
cometh to inhabit thee. Still, because thou doest somewhat
therein by the will, therefore is somewhat attributed to thee.
But it is attributed to thee only to the end thou shouldest
Psa. 27, say, as in the Psalm, Be Thou my helper, forsake me not.
^' If thou say est, Be Thou my helper, thou doest somewhat :
for if thou be doing nothing, how should He be said to help
thee ?
V. 4. 8. Every one that doeth sin, doeth also iniquity. Let no
man say, Sin is one thing, iniquity another: let no man say,
3iniquusl am a sinful man, but not ^a doer of iniquity. For, Every
one that doeth sin, doeth also iniquity. Sin is iniquity. Well
then, what are we to do concerning sins and iniquities ?
V. 5. Hear what He saith : And ye knovj that He was manifested
to take away sin ; and sin in Him is not. He, in Whom sin
is not, the Same is come to take away sin. For were there
sin in Him, it must be taken away from Him, not He take it
V. 6. away Himself. Whosoever ahideth in Him, siniieth not.
In so far as he abideth in Him, in so far sinneth not. Who-
soever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.
A great question this : Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him,
neither known Him. No marvel. We have not seen Him,
but are to see ; have not known Him, but are to know : we
believe on One we have not known. Or haply, by faith we
^» specie have known, and by* actual beholding have not yet known.?
But then in faith we have both seen and known. For if faith
doth not yet see, why are we said to have been enlightened ?
There is an enlightening by faith, and an enlightening by
2Cor.5, sight. At present, while we are on pilgrimage, we walk hy
How the Saints are righteous as God is righteous. 1 1 4 7
/aith, not hy sight, or, actually beholding. Therefore also oiiri John
righteousness is by faith, not by sight. Our righteousness
lasi-
shall be perfect, when we shall see by ^ actual beholding/ per spe-
Only, in the meanwhile, let us not leave that righteousness
which is of faith, since the just doth live by faith, as saith the Rom. i,
Apostle. Whosoever abidelh in Him, sinneth not. For, whoso- ^^'
ever sinneth, hath not seen Him, 7ieither known Him. That
man who sins, believes not: but if a man believes, so far as
his faith is concerned, he sinneth not.
9. Little children, let no man seduce you. He that doethv. 7.
righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. What? on
hearing that we are righteous as He is righteous, are we to
think ourselves equal with God ? Ye must know what means
that ' as:' thus he said a while ago, Purifeth himself even as
He is pure. Then is our purity like and equal to the purity
of God, and our righteousness to God's righteousness ? Who
can say this ? But the word as, is not always wont to be used
in the sense of equality. As, for example, if, having seen
this large Church^, a person should wish to build a smallershj
Church,butwith the same relative dimensions: as, for example, ^^^^
if this be one measure in width and two measures in length,
he too should build his Church one measure in width and
two measures in length : in that case one sees that he has
built it as this is built. But this Church has, say, a hundred
cubits in length, the other thirty : it is at once as this, and
yet unequal. Ye see that this as is not always referred to
parity and equality. For example, see what a difference
there is between the face of a man and its image from a mirror:
there is a face in the image, a face in the body : the image
exists in imitation, the body in reality. And what do we say .^
Why, as there are eyes here, so also there; as ears here, so
ears also there. The thing is different, but the as is said of
the resemblance. Well then, we also have in us the image
of God ; but not that which the Son Equal with the Father
hath : yet except we also, according to our measure, were
as He, we should in no respect be said to be like Him. He
purifieth us, then, evoi as He is pure : but He is pure from
eternity, we pure by faith. We are righteous even as He is
righteous ; but He is so in His very immutable perpetuity,
we righteous by believing on One we do not see, that so we
4 F
1148 Sinners, as such, are of the devil,
HoMiL.may one day see Him. Even when our righteousness shall
'— be perfect, when we shall be equal to the Angels, not even
then shall it be equalled with Him. How far then is it
from Him now, when not even then it shall be equal!
V. 8. 10. He that doetJi sin, is of the deoil, because the devil
sin neth from the beginning. Is of the devil : ye know what
he means ; by imitating the devil. For the devil made no
man, begat no man, created no man : but whoso imitates the
devil, that person, as if begotten of him, becomes a child of
the devil ; by imitating him, not literally by being begotten
of him. In what sense art thou a child of Abraham? not
that Abraham begat thee ? In the same sense as the Jews,
the children of Abraham, not imitating the faith of Abraham,
are become children of the devil : of the flesh of Abraham
they were begotten, and the faith of Abraham they have not
imitated. If then those who were thence begotten were put
out of the inheritance, because they did not imitate, thou, who
art not begotten of him, art made a child, and in this way
shalt be a child of him by imitating him. And if thou
imitate the devil, in such wise as he became proud and im-
pious against God, thou wilt be a child of the devil : by
imitating, not that he created thee or begat thee.
11. Unto this end was the Son of God manifested. Now
then, brethren, mark ! All sinners are begotten of the devil,
as sinners. Adam was made by God : but when he consented
to the devil, lie was begotten of the devil; and such begat
he all men as he was himself. With lust itself we were born ;
even before we add our sins, from that condemnation we have
our birth. For if we are born without any sin, wherefore
this running with infants to Baptism that they may be re-
1 nativi- leased ? Then mark well, brethren, the two birth-stocks^
Adam and Christ: two men they are ; but one of them, a man
that is man; the other, a Man that is God. By the man
that is man we are sinners; by the Man that is God we
are justified. That birth hath cast down unto death ; this
birth hath raised up unto life: that birth brings with it sin;
this birth setteth free from sin. For to this end came Christ as
2 soivat Man, to undo 2 the sins of men. Unto this end icas the Son
of God manifested, that He may undo the works of the devil,
12. The rest I commend to your thoughts, my beloved,
The New Birth, of Christ, destroys the work of the Devil. 1149
that I may not burclen you. For the question we labour l John
in solving is even this — that we call ourselves sinners : for '—^
if any man shall say that he is without sin, he is a liar.
And in the Epistle of this same John we have found it
written, If we smj that tve have no sin, we deceive ourselves, ^h. 1,8.
For ye should remember what went before : If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us. And yet, on the other hand, in what follows thou art
told, He that is begotten of God sinneth not : he that doeth
sin hath not seen Him, tieither known Him. — Every one that
doeth sin is of the devil: sin is not of God: this scares us
again. In what sense are we begotten of God, and yet in
what sense do we confess oui*selves sinners ? Shall we say,
because we are not begotten of God? And what do these
Sacraments in infants ? What hath John said ? He that is
hegotten of God, sinneth not. And yet again the same John
hath said, If tve say that we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in its! A great question it is,
and an embarrassing one ; and may I have made you
intent upon having it solved, my beloved. To-morrow, in
the name of the Lord, what He will give, we will discourse
thereof.
4 F 2
HOMILY V.
1 John iii. 9 — 18.
Whosoever is horn of God doth not commit sin ; for his seed
remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is horn of
God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil : whosoever is not righteous is not of
God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the
message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should
love one another. Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one,
and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him ? Because
his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel
not, my brethren, if the world hate us. We know that we
have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer : and ye know that no murderer hath
eternal life abiding in him. In this we know love, that
He laid down His life for us : and we ought to lay down our
lives /or the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and
seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how can the love of God dwell in him?
My little children, let us not love only in word and in
tongue ; but in deed and in truth.
1. Hear intently, I do beseech you, because it is no
small matter that we have to cope withal : and I doubt not,
because ye were intent upon it yesterday, that ye have with
even greater intentness of purpose come together to-day.
For it is no slight question, how he saith in this Epistle,
^- 9. Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not, and how in the same
ch. 1, 8. Epistle he hath said above, If we say that we have no sin,
Whoso is born of God doth not commit sin, 1151
we deceive ourselves^ and the truth is not in us. Wliat shall i J
. III. 9.
the man do, whom both sayings out of the same Epislle have '—^
pent up in the midst ? If he shall confess himself a sinner,
he fears lest it be said to him, Then art thou not born of
God; because it is written, Whosoever is born of God,
sinneth not. But if he shall say that he is just and that he
hath no sin, he receives on the other side a blow from the
same Epistle, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Placed then as he is
in the midst, what he can say and what confess, or what
profess, he cannot find. To profess himself to be without
sin, is full of peril; and not only full of peril, but also full
of blame : We deceive ourselves, saith he, and the truth is
not in us, if we say that we have no sin. But oh that tliou
hadst none, and so saidst this ! for then wouldest thou say
truly, and in uttering the truth wouldest have not so much
as a vestige of wrong to be afraid of. But, that thou doest
ill if thou say so, is because it is a lie that thou sayest. The
truth, saith he, is not in us, if we say that we have no sin.
He saith not, Have not had; lest haply it should seem to
be spoken of the past life. For the man here hath had sins;
but from the time that he was born of God, he has begun
not to have sins. If it were so, there would be no question
to embarrass us. For we should say. We have been
sinners, but now we are justified : we have had sin, but now
we have none. He saith not this : but what saith he ? If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not i?i us. And then after a while he says on the
other hand. Whosoever is born of God sinneth not. Was
John himself not born of God ? If John was not born of
God, John, of whom ye have heard that he lay in the Lord's
bosom; does any man dare engage for himself that in him
has taken place that regeneration which it was not granted
to that man to have, to whom it was granted to lie in the
bosom of the Lord ? The man whom the Lord loved more Johni3,
23
than the rest, him alone had He not begotten of the Spirit ?
2. Mark now these words. As yet, I am urging it upon
you, what straits we are put to, that by putting your minds
on the stretch, that is, by your praying for us and for your-
selves, God may make enlargement, and give us an outlet :
1152 i. e. the sin by which all other sins are bound,
HoMiL. lest some man find in His word an occasion of his
'■ — own perdition, that word which was preached and put in
writing only for healing and salvation. Every man, saith
he, that doeth sin, doeth also iniquity. Lest haply thou
make a distinction. Sin is iniquity. Lest thou say, A sinner
I am, but not a doer of iniquity, Sin is iniquity. And ye know
that to this end was He manifested, that He should take
away siii ; and there is no sin in Him. And what doth it
profit us, that He came without sin ? Every one that sinneth
not, abideth in Him : and every one that sinneth, hath not
seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man
seduce you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even
as He is righteous, 'I'his we have already said, that the
word as is wont to be used of a certain resemblance, not of
equality. He that doeth sin is of the devil, because the devil
sinneth from the beginning. This too we have already said,
that the devil created no man, nor begat any, but his imitators
are, as much as to say, born of him. To this end was the Son
1 solvat of God manifested, that He should undo^ the works of the devil.
Consequently, to undo (or, loose) sins, He that hath no sin.
^' 9. ^Yi(\ then follows : Every o?ie that is born of God doth not
commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God: he has drawn the cord tight ! —
Belike, it is in regard of some one sin that he hath said,
Doth not sin, not in regard of all sin : that in this that he
saith. Whoso is born of God, doth not sin, thou mayest
understand some one particular sin, which that man who is
born of God cannot commit : and such is that sin that, if
one commit it, it confirms the rest. What is this sin ? To
do contrary to the commandment. What is the command-
John 13, ment? A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love
^^' one another. Mark well ! This commandment of Christ is
called, love. By this love sins are loosed. If this love be
not kept, the not holding it is at once a grievous sin, and the
root of all sins.
3. Mark well, brethren ; we have brought forward some-
what in which, to them that have good understanding, the
question is solved. But do we only walk in the w^ay with
them that run more swiftly ? Those that walk more slowly
must not be left behind. Let us turn the matter every way.
which is, the sin against Charity, 1153
in such words as we can, in order that it may be brought within i John
reach of all. For I suppose, brethren, that every man is con-
cerned for his own soul, who does not come to Church for
nothing, who does not seek temporal things in the Church, who
does not come here to transact secular business; but comes here
in order that he may lay hold upon some eternal thing, promised
unto him, whereunto he may attain : he must needs consider
how he shall walk in the way, lest he be left behind, lest he go
back, lest he go astray, lest by halting he do not attain. Who-
ever therefore is in earnest, let him be slow, let him be swift, yet
let him not leave the way. This then I have said, that in say-
ing. Whosoever is horn of God sinnetJi not^ it is likely he meant
it of some particular sin : for else it will be contrary to that
place : If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. In this way then the question
may be solved. There is a certain sin, which he that is born of
God cannot commit ; a sin, which not being committed, other
sins are loosed, and being committed, other sins are con-
firmed. What is this sin ? To do contrary to the command-
ment of Christ, contrary to the New Testament. What is the
new commandment? A new commandment give I unto you,^^^'^^i
that ye love one another. Whoso doeth contrary to charity
and contrary to brotherly love, let him not dare to glory and
say that he is born of God : but whoso is in brotherly love,
there are certain sins which he cannot commit, and this above
all, that he should hate his brother. And how fares it with
him concerning his other sins, of which it is said. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us f Let him hear that which shall set his mind at rest from
another place of Scripture; Charity covereth a multitude of sins, i Pet. 4,
4. Charity therefore we commend; charity this Epistle com- ^*
mendeth. The Lord, after His resurrection, what question
put He to Peter, but, Lovest thou Me? And it was notjohD2i,
enough to ask it once; a second time also He put none^°~^''
other question, a third time also none other. Although when
it came to the third time, Peter, as one who knew not what
was the drift of this, was grieved because it seemed as if the
Lord did not believe him ; nevertheless both a first time and
a second, and a third He put this question. Thrice fear
denied, thrice love confessed. Behold Peter loveth the Lord.
1 154 The return to he made for the love of Christ,
HoxMiL.What is he to do for the Lord? For think not that he
y
^- in the Psalm did not feel himself at a loss what to do:
Ps. 116, lyjiat shall I render unto the Lord for all the henejits
He hath done unto me? He that said this in the Psalm,
marked what great things had been done for him by God ;
and sought what he should render to God, and could find
nothing. For whatever thou wouldest render, from Him
didst thou receive it to render. And what did he find
to offer in return ? That which, as w^e said, my brethren,
he had received from Him, that only found he to offer in
return. / will receive the cup of salvation , and will call upon
the name of the Lord, For who but He had given him the
cup of salvation, to Whom he wished to offer in return ? Now
to receive the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of
the Lord, is to be satisfied with charity ; and so satisfied,
that not only thou shalt not hate thy brother, but shalt be
prepared to die for thy brother. This is perfect charity, that
thou be prepared to die for thy brother. This the Lord
exhibited in Himself, Who died for all, praying for them by
Luke23, vvhom He was crucified, and saying, Father, forgive them,
for theij know not what they do. But if He alone hath done
Serm. this, He was not a Master, if He had no disciples. Disciples
1 8R ^ At •
' * "who came after Him have done this. Men were stoning
Acts 7, Stephen, and he knelt down and said, Lord, lay not this sin
to their charge. He loved them that were killing him ; since
for them also he was dying. Hear also the Apostle Paul :
2 Cor. j„^ / myself saith he, will he spent for your souls. For he
was among those for whom Stephen, when by their hands
he was dying, besought forgiveness. This then is perfect
charity. If any man shall have so great charity that he is
prepared even to die for his brethren, in that man is perfect
charity. But as soon as it is born, is it already quite
perfect? That it may be made perfect, it is born ; when
born, it is nourished; when nourished, it is strengthened;
when strengthened, it is perfected; when it has come to
Phil. 1, perfection, what saith it? To me to live to Christ, and to
21 24. ...
* die is gain. I wished to be dissolved, and to he with Christ;
which is far better : nevertheless to abide in the flesh is
needful for you. For their sakes he was willing to live, for
whose sakes he was prepared to die.
is to love others as He loved us. 1155
5. And that ye may know that it is this perfect charity i John
which that man violates not, and against which that man - — '—L.
sins not, who is born of God ; this is what the Lord saith to
Peter; Peter lovest thou 31e? And he answers, I love. He
saith not, If thou love Me, shew kindness to Me. For when
the Lord was in mortal flesh, He hungered. He thirsted : at
that time when He hungered and thirsted. He was taken
in as a guest ; those who had the means, ministered unto
Him of their substance, as we read in the Gospel. Zacchaeus
entertained Him as his guest: he was saved from his disease
by entertaining the Physician. From what disease ? The
disease of avarice. For he was very rich, and the chief of
the publicans. Mark the man made whole from the disease
of avarice : The half of my goods I give to the poor; and 2/"Lukel9,
J have taken any thing from any man, I will restore him
fourfold. That he kept the other half, was not to enjoy it,
but to pay his debts. Well, he at that time entertained the
Physician as his guest, because there was infirmity of the
flesh in the Lord, to which men might shew this kindness ;
and this, because it was His will to grant this very thing to
them that did Him kind service; for the benefit was to them
that did the service, not to Him. For, could He to whom
Angels ministered require these men's kindness ? Not even
His servant Elias, to whom He sent bread and flesh by the i Kings
ravens upon a certain occasion, had need of this; and yet that '
a religious widow might be blessed, the servant of God is sent,
and he whom God in secret did feed, is fed by the widow.
But still, although by the means of these servants of God,
those who consider their need get good to themselves, in
respect of that reward most manifestly set forth by the Lord
in iho Gospel: He that receive fh a righteous man in ^/^^Mat.io,
name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man^s
reward : and he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a
prophet shall receive a propheVs reward : and whosoever
shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold
water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you,
He shall in no wise lose his reward: although, then, they that
do this, do it to their own good : yet neither could this kind
oflice be done to Him when He was ascended into Heaven.
What could Peter, who loved Him, render unto Him ? Hear
1156 Without Charity nothing projlteth,
HoMiL.wliat. Feed My sheep: i.e. do for the brethren, that which 1
'— have done for thee. I redeemed all with My blood : doubt
not ye to die for confession of the truth, that the rest may
imitate you.
6. But this, as w^e have said, brethren, is perfect charity. He
that is born of God hath it. Mark, my beloved, see what I
say. Behold, a man has received the Sacrament of that
birth, being baptized ; he hath the Sacrament, and a great
Sacrament, divine, holy, ineffable. Consider what a Sacra-
ment ! To make him a new man by remission of all sins !
Nevertheless, let him look well to the heart, whether that be
thoroughly done there, which is done in the body; let him
see whether he have charity, and then say, I am born of God.
If however he have it not, he has indeed the soldier's mark
upon him, but he roams as a deserter. Let him have charity;
otherwise let him not say that he is born of God. Hear the
1 Cor. Apostle: If I know all mysteries^, and have all faith, so
1 sacra- that I Can remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
'""^^^ nothing.
7. This, if ye remember, we gave you to understand in
beginning to read this Epistle, that nothing in it is so com-
mended as charity. Even if it seems to speak of various
other things, to this it makes its way back, and whatever it
says, it will needs bring all to bear upon charity. Let us see
whether it does so here. Mark : Whosoever is horn of God
doth not commit sin. We ask, what sin ? because if thou
understand all sin, it will be contrary to that place. If we
say that we have no sin, ive deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. Then let him say what sin ; let him teach us;
lest haply I may have rashly said that the sin here is the
ch.2, 11. violation of charity, because he said above, He that hateth his
brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoiveth
not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded
his eyes. But perhaps he has said something in what comes
afterwards, and has mentioned charity by name ? See that
V. 9. this circuit of words hath this end, hath this issue. Whoso-
ever is born of God, sinneth not, because His seed remaineth
in him. The seed of God, i. e. the word of God: whence
1 Cor. 4, the Apostle saith, I have begotten you through the Gospel.
^^' And he cannot sin, because he is horn of God. Let him tell
Charity the cognizance of the children of God. 1 157
us this, let us see in what we cannot sin. In this are mani- 1 John
fested the children of God and the children of the devil. Who- iq]^{o
soever is not righteous is not of God, neither he that loveth not ^T^o —
his brother. Aye, now indeed it is manifest of what he
speaks : Neither he that loveth not his brother. Therefore, love
alone puts the difference between the children of God and
the children of the deviL Let them all sign themselves with
the sign of the cross of Christ ; let them all respond, Amen ;
let all sing Alleluia; let all be baptized, let all come to
church, let all build the walls of churches : there is no dis-
cerning of the children of God from the children of the devil,
but only by charity. They that have charity are born of
God : they that have it not, are not born of God. A mighty
token, a mighty distinction! Have what thou wilt; if this
alone thou have not, it profiteth thee nothing: other things
if thou have not, have this, and thou hast fulfilled the law.
For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law, saith the Rom. is.
Apostle: and. Charity is the fulfilling of the law. I take^'^^'
this to be the pearl which the merchant man in the Gospel
is described to have been seeking, who found one 2^ear I, andMat.is,
sold all that he had, and bought it. This is the pearl of^^*
price, Charity, without which whatever thou mayest have,
profiteth thee nothing : which if alone thou have, it sufficeth
thee. Now, with faith thou seest, then with actual beholding' ' ^um
thou shalt see. For if we love when we see not, how shair'^^^^^
we embrace it when we see ! But wherein must we exercise
ourselves ? In brotherly love. Thou mayest say to me, I
have not seen God : canst thou say to me, I have not seen
man ? Love thy brother. For if thou love thy brother whom
thou seest, at the same time thou shalt see God also; because
thou shalt see Charity itself, and within thee dwelleth God./
8. Whosoever is not righteous is not of God, neither /^^v.l0.ll.
tJtat loveth not his brother. For this is the message: mark
how he confirms it: For this is the message which we
heard from the beginning, that ice should love one another.
He has made it manifest to us that it is of this he speaks ;
whoso acts against this commandment, is in that accursed
sin, into which those fall who are not born of God. Not as"'- ^2.
Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.
And wherefore slew he him? Because his oivn works were
1158 Abel's righteous icorks ivere, Charity.
B.0M11.. evil, and his brother's righteous. Therefore, where envy is,
'— brotherly love cannot be. Mark, my beloved. He that
envieth, loveth not. The sin of the devil is in that man ;
because the devil through envy cast man down. For he fell,
and envied him that stood. He did not wish to cast man down
that he himself might stand, but only that he might not fall
alone. Hold fast in your mind from this that he has sub-
joined, that envy cannot be in charity. Thou hast it openly,
1 Cor. when charity was praised. Charity envieth not. There was
' ' no charity in Cain ; and had there been no charity in Abel,
God would not have accepted his sacrifice. For when they
had both offered, the one of the fruits of the earth, the other
of the offspring of the flock ; what think ye, brethren, that God
slighted the fruits of the earth, and loved the offspring of the
flock? God had not regard to the hands, but saw in the
heart: and whom He saw offer with charity, to his sacrifice
He had respect ; whom He saw offer with envy, from his
sacrifice He turned away His eyes. By the good works,
then, of Abel, he means only charity: by the evil works of
Cain he means but his hatred of his brother. It was not
enough that he hated his brother and envied his good
works ; because he would needs not imitate, he would needs
kill. And hence appeared it that he was a child of the
devil, and hence also that the other was God's righteous
one. Hence then are men discerned, my brethren. Let
no man stop at the tongues, but mark the deeds and the
heart. If any do not good for his brethren, he shews what
he has in him. By temptations are men proved.
V. 13. 9. 3Iarvel not, brethren, if the world hate its\ Must one
v/j^as] often be telling you what ' the world' means ? Not the heaven,
^'"'g- not the earth, nor these visible works which God made; but
vos
lovers of the world. By often saying these things, to some
I am burdensome : but I am so far from saying it without a
cause, that some may be questioned whether I said it, and
they cannot answer. Then at least by treading it into them,
let something stick fast in the hearts of them that hear.
What is ' the world' } The world, when put in a bad sense,
is, lovers of the world: the world, when the word is used in
praise, is heaven and earth, and the works of God that are
John I, in them; whence it is said, A?2d the world teas made by
10.
Charity the proof and pledge of life. 1 159
Him. Also, tlie world is the fulness of the earth, as John i John
III
himself hath said, Not only for our sins is He the propitiator, i4_i"a.
but {for the sins) of the whole world: he means, o/ the ch. 2, 2.
world of all the faithful scattered throughout the whole earth.
But the world in a bad sense, is, lovers of the world. They
that love the world, cannot love their brother.
10. If the world hale us : ice know — What do we know ? v. 14.
— that tve hare passed from death unto life — How do we
know ? Because we love the brethren. Let none ask man :
let each return to his own heart : if he find there brotherly
love, let him set his mind at rest, because he is passed from
death unto life. Already he is on the right hand : let him not
regard that at present his glory is hidden : when the Lord
shall come, then shall he appear in glory. For he has life in
him, but as yet in winter; the root is alive, but the branches,
so to say, are dry: within is the substance that has the life
in it, within are the leaves of trees, within are the fruits :
but they wait for the summer. Well then, ice know that ice
have passed from death unto life, because xoe love the brethren.
He that loveth not, abideth in death. Lest ye should think
it a light matter, brethren, to hate, or, not to love, hear what
follows : Every one that hateth his brother, is a murderer, v. 15.
How now? if any made light of hating his brother, will he
also in his heart make light of murder? He does not stir his
hands to kill a man ; yet he is already held by God a
murderer; the other lives, and yet this man is already
judged as his slayer ! Every one that hateth his brother is a
murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life
abidi7ig in him.
11. In this knoiv we love: he means, perfection of love, v. le.
that perfection which we have bidden you lay to heart : In
this knoio ice love, that He laid down His life for us: and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Lo here,
whence that came : Peter, lovesl thou Me? Feed My s/ieep. john2i
For, that ye may know that He would have His sheep to be ^^— ^^*
so fed by him, as that he should lay down his life for the
sheep, straightway said He this to him: When thou wast
yoimg, thou girdedst thyself, and iralkedst uhither thou
tcouldest: but when thou shall be old, thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee
1160 The perfection of Charity, to die for the brethren,
Uouii.. whither thou wotddest not. This spake He, saith the Evan-
'- — gelist, signifying by lohat death he should glorify God; that
to whom He said, Feed My sheep, the same He might teach
to lay down his life for His sheep.
12. Whence beginneth charity, brethren .? Attend a little :
to what it is perfected, ye have heard ; the very end of it,
and the very measme of it is what the Lord hath put before
John 15, us in the Gospel : Greater love hath no man, saith He, than
that one lay down his life for his friends. Its perfection,
therefore. He hath put before us in the Gospel, and here
also it is its perfection that is put before us: but ye ask
yourselves, and say to yourselves, When shall it be possible
for us to have tJiis charity? Do not too soon despair of
thyself. Haply, it is born and is not yet perfect ; nourish
it, that it be not choked. But thou wilt say to me. And
by what am I to know it ? For to what it is perfected, we have
heard ; whence it begins, let us hear. He goes on to say :
V. 17. But whoso hath this world's good, and seelh his brother
1 esuri- have hunger^, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
entem ^^^-^^ j^^^^ ^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^ dwell in him? Lo, what
charity begins withal ! If thou art not yet equal to the dying
for thy brother, be thou even now equal to the giving of thy
means to thy brother. Even now let charity smite thy
bowels, that not of vainglory thou shouldest do it, but of the
2 adipe innermost ^marrow of mercy; that thou consider him, how
that he is in want. For if thy superfluities thou canst not
give to thy brother, canst thou lay down thy life for thy
brother ? There lies thy money in thy bosom, which thieves
may take from thee ; and though thieves do not take it, by
dying thou wilt leave it, even if it leave not thee while
living : what wilt thou do with it ? Thy brother hungers,
he is in necessity: belike he is in suspense, is distressed by
his creditor : he is thy brother, alike ye are bought, one is
the price paid for you, ye are both redeemed by the blood
of Christ: see whether thou have mercy, if thou have this
world's means. Perchance thou sayest, ' What concerns it
me ? Am I to give my money, that he may not suffer trouble V
If this be the answer thy heart makes to thee, the love of
the Father abideth not in thee. If the love of the Father
abide not in thee, thou art not born of God. How boastest
Its beginning, to give to the brother who has need, 1161
thou to be a Christian ? Thou hast the name, and hast not^ ^51"^
the deeds. But if the work follow the name, let any call 17. 18.
thee pagan, shew thou by deeds that thou art a Christian. For
if by deeds thou dost not shew thyself a Christian, what doth
the name profit thee where the thing is not forthcoming? Bict
whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother haveneed^,^ egen-
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, hoio can
the love of God dwell in him ? And then he goes on : My v. is.
little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue ; but
in deed and in truth.
13. I suppose the thing is now made manifest to you, my
brethren : this great and most concerning secret and ^ mystery. ^ sacra-
What is the force of charity, all Scripture doth set forth ; but
I know not whether any where it be more largely set forth
than in this Epistle. We pray you and beseech you in the
Lord, that both what ye have heard ye will keep in memory,
and to that which is yet to be said, until the Epistle be
finished, will come with earnestness, and with earnestness
hear the same. But open ye your heart for the good seed :
root out the thorns, that that which we are sowing in you be
not choked, but rather that the harvest may grow, and that
the Husbandman may rejoice and make ready the barn for
you as for grain, not the fire as for the chafi*.
HOMILY VL
] John iii. 19. — iv. 3.
And herein loe know that we are of the truth, and assure our
hearts before Him, For if our heart think ill of us, God
is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved,
if our heart think not ill of us, then have we confidence toward
God. And whatsoever we ask, we shall receive of Him,
because we keep His commandments, and do in His sight
those things that please Him, And this is His commandment,
That we should believe 07i the name of His Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And
he that keepeth His commandments shall dwell in Him, and
He in him. And herein we know that He abideth in us, by
the Holy Spirit which He hath given us. Dearly beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are
of God : because many false prophets are gone out into this
world. In this is known the Spirit of God : Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of
God : and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is not of God : and this is the antichrist,
of whom ye have heard that he should come ; and even now
already is he in this world.
v.] 8 20. !• If ye remember, brethren, yesterday we closed our
sermon at this sentence, which without doubt behoved and
does behove to abide in your heart, seeing it was the last
ye heard. My little children, let us not love only in word
and in tongue ; hut in deed and in truth. Then he goes on :
And herein we know that we are of the truth, and assure our
1 male hearts before Him. For if our heart^ think ill of us, God is
senserit
Pride apes the works of Charily, 1 163
greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. He had i John
16. 17.
said, Let us tiot love only in word and in tongue, but iti work
and in truth : we are asked, In what work, or in what truth,
is he known that loveth God, or loveth his brother } Above
he had said up to what point charity is perfected : what the
Lord saith in the Gospel, Greater love than this hath no man, Jobni5,
that one lay down his life for his friends, this same had the '
Apostle here also said : As He laid down His life for us, we v. 16.
ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren. This is
the perfection of charily, and greater can none at all be found.
But because it is not perfect in all, and that man ought not
to despair in whom it is not perfect, if that be already born
which may be perfected : and of course if bom, it must be
nourished, and by certain nourishments of its own must be
brought unto its proper perfection : therefore, we have asked
concerning the commencement of charity, where it begins, and
there have straightway found: But whoso hath this worWs^. 17.
means, and seeth his brother have need, and shuiteth up his
bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of the
Father in him ? Here then hath this charity, my brethren,
its beginning : to give of one's superfluities to him that hath
need, to him that is in any distress ; of one's temporal abun-
dance to deliver his brother from temporal tribulation. Here
is the first rise of charity. This, being thus begun, if thou
shalt nourish with the word of God and hope of the life to
come, thou wilt come at last unto that perfection, that thou
shalt be ready to lay down thy life for thy brethren.
2. But, because many such things are done by men w^ho
seek other objects, and who love not the brethren ; let us
come back to the testimony of conscience. How do we
prove that many such things are done by men who love not
the brethren ? How many in heresies and schisms call them-*^^^''" P-
selves martyrs ! They seem to themselves to lay down their
lives for their brethren. If for the brethren they laid down
their lives, they would not separate themselves from the whole
brotherhood. Again, how many there are who for the sake
of vainglory bestow much, give much, and seek therein but
the praise of men and popular glory, which is full of windi-
ness, and is by no stability made solid ! Seeing, then, there are
such, where shall be the proof of brotherly charity } Seeing he
4 G
1164 Therefore let each examine his own conscience
HoMiL. wished it to be proved, and hath said by way of admonition,
^^' My little children, let us not love only in word and in tongue;
but in ivork and in truth; we ask, in what work, in what truth ?
Can there be a more manifest work than to give to the poor ?
Many do this of vainglory, not of love. Can there be a greater
work than to die for the brethren ? This also, many would fain
be thought to do, who do it of vainglory to get a name, not from
bowels of love. It remains, that that man loves his brother,
who before God, where God alone seeth, assures his own
heart, and questions his heart whether he does this indeed
for love of the brethren ; and his witness is that Eye which
penetrates the heart, where man cannot look. Therefore
Paul the Apostle, because he was ready to die for the brethren,
2 Cor. and said, I icill myself he spent for your soids, yet, because
12, 15. Qq^ Qj-j]y gg^^, j^i^jg jj^ ]jjg heart, not the mortal men to whom he
1 Cor. 4, spake, he saith to them, But to me it is a very small thing
"^' that I shoidd be judged of you or at man''s bar. And the
same Apostle shews also in a certain place, that these things
are oft done of empty vainglory, not upon the solid ground of
1 Cor. love : for speaking of the praises of charity he saith. If I
^^' ^- distribute all my goods to the poor, and if I deliver up my
body to be burned, but have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing. Is it possible for a man to do this without charity?
It is. For they that have divided unity, are persons that have not
charity. Seek there, and ye shall see many giving much to the
poor ; shall see others prepared to welcome death, insomuch
suj}ra p. that where there is no persecutor they cast themselves headlong:
2Cor.i these doubtless without charity do this. Let us come back
^2- then to conscience,of which the Apostle saith : For our glorying
is this, the testimony of our conscience. Let us come back to
Gal. 6, conscience, of which the same saith, But let each prove his
own work, and then he shall have glorying in Jiimself a7id not
in another. Therefore, let each one of us prove his own work,
whether it flow forth from the vein of charity, whether it be
from charity as the root that his good works sprout forth as
branches. But let each prove his own work, and then he
shall have glorying in himself and not in another, not when
another's tongue bears witness to him, but when his own
conscience bears it.
V. 19. .3. This it is then that he enforces here. In this we know
4.
wider the all-seeing Eye of God. 1165
that we are of the truths when in work and in truth we love, i John
not only in words and in tongue: and ^assure our heart ^]^q
before Him. What meaneth, before Him? Where He seeth. ipersua-
Whence the Lord Himself in the Gospel saith : Take heed'^^^^^ ^
that ye do not your righteousness before meji, to be seen ofi—3.
them : othenvise ye have no reward with your Father which ^^^^
is in heaven. And what meaneth, Let not thy left hand^'^'^^- 1^-
know ivhat thy right hand doeth : except that the right hand 149^*
means a pure conscience, the left hand the lust of the world''? ^o— 13.
Many through lust of the world do many wonderful things :
the left hand worketh, not the right. The right hand ought
to work, and without knowledge of the left hand, so that lust
of the world may not even mix itself therewith when by love
we work ought that is good. And where do we get to know
this ? Thou art before God : question thine heart, see what
thou hast done, and what therein was thine aim ; thy salvation,
or the windy praise of men. Look within, for man cannot
judge whom he cannot see. If we assure our hearty let
it be before Him. Because if our heart think ill of us,
i. e. accuse us within, that we do not the thing with that mind
it ought to be done withal, greater is God than our heart,
and knoweth all things. Thou hidest thine heart from man;
hide it from God if thou canst ! How shalt thou hide it from
Him, to Whom it is said by a sinner, fearing and confessing.
Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? and from Thy face 'Ps.xso,
whither shall I flee ? He sought a way to flee, to escape the *
judgment of God, and found none. For where is God not?
If I shall ascend, saith he, into heaven. Thou art there: if I
shall descend into hell, Thou art there. Whither wilt thou
go ? whither wilt thou flee ? Wilt thou hear counsel ? If
thou wouldest flee from Him, flee to Him. Flee to Him by
confessing, not from Him by hiding : hide thou canst not,
but confess thou canst. Say unto Him, Thou art my place V^. 32,
to flee unto; and let love be nourished in thee, which alone'*
bringeth unto life. Let thy conscience bear thee witness
^ Comp. de Serm. Dom. in Monte ii. and t"he praise of men: the right hand.,
Q 9. where having discussed and the singleness of heart which looks
rejected several other explanations, St. straight forward to the will and com-
Augustine rests in the interpretation, mandment of God. Serm. U9, 15.
that the left hand denotes the carnal Enarr. in Psa. Qb. $. 2.
will looking aside to earthly rewards
4 g2
1 166 " Whatsoever we ask, we shall receive .-"
HoMiL.that thy love is of God. If it be of God, do not wish
^^' to display it before men; because neither men's praises lift
tliee unto heaven, nor their censures put thee down from
thence. Let Him see, Who crowneth thee: be He thy
witness, by Whom as judge thou art crowned. Greater is
God than our heart, and knouelh all things.
V. 21. 4. Beloved, if our heart think not ill of us, we have con-
science toicards God: — What meaneth, If our heart think not
ill ? If it make true answer to us, tliat we love and that there
* ger- is * genuine love in us: not feigned but sincere; seeking a
™^°* brother's salvation, expecting no emolument from a brother,
v.21.22. but only his salvation — we have confidence toward God: and
whatsoever we ask, we shall receive of Him, because we keep
His commandments — Therefore, not in the sight of men, but
where God Himself seeth, in the heart — we have confidence,
then, towards God: and whatsoever we ask, we shall receive
of Him: howbeit, because w^e keep His commandments.
What are His commandments ? Must we be always repeating ?
joiini3, A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another,
^^' It is charity itself that he speaks of, it is this that he enforces.
Whoso then shall have brotherly charily, and have it before
God, Avhere God seeth, and his heart being interrogated under
righteous examination make him none other answer than that
the genuine root of charity is there for good fruits to come
from ; that man hath confidence with God, and whatsoever
he shall ask, he shall receive of Him, because he keepeth His
commandments.
5. Here a question meets us: for it is not this or that man,
or thou or I that come in question, — for if I have asked any
thing of God and receive it not, any person may easily say of
me, ' He hath not charity :' and of any man soever of this present
time, this may easily be said; and let any think what he will, a
man of man : — not we, but those come more in question, those
men of whom it is on all hands known that they were saints
when they wrote, and that they are now with God. Where
is the man tliat hath charity, if Paid had it not, who said,
2 Cor. 6, Our mouth is open unto you, O ye Corinthians, our heart is
1(1* /2 cularged; ye are not straitened in us: who said, I will myself
15. he spent for your souls: and so great grace was in him, that it
was manifested that he had charity ? And yet we find that he
seems to he contradicted hy experience of the Saints. 1 167
asked and did not receive. What say we, brethren ? It is a 1 John
question : be ye intent to God : it is a great question, this ^i 2*2.
also. Just as, where it was said of sin. He that is born of
God sinneth not : we found this sin to be the violating of
charity, and that this was the thing strictly intended in that
place : so too we ask now what it is that he would say. For
if thou look but to the words, it seems plain: if thou take
the examples into the account, it is obscure. Than the
words here nothing can be plainer. And whatsoever we ask,
we shall receive of Him ^ because we keep His commandments,
and do those things that are pleasing in Hi^ sight. What-
soever we ask, saith he, we shall receive of Him. He hath
put us sorely to straits. Why, in the other place also he
would put us to straits, if he meant all sin : but then we
found room to expound it in this, that he meant it of a
certain sin, not of all sin ; howbeit of a sin which whosoever
is born of God commiiteth not : and we found that this same
sin is none other than the violation of charity. We have
also a manifest example from the Gospel, when the Lord
saith. If I had not come, they had not had sin. How } Johni5
Were the Jews innocent when He came to them, because
He so speaks ? Then if He had not come, would they have
had no sin .'' Then did the Physician's presence make sick,
not take away the fever.'' What madman even would say
this ? He came not but to cure and heal the sick. Therefore
when He said, If I had not come, they had not had sin,
what would He have to be understood, but a certain sin in
particular ? For there was a sin which the Jews would
not have had. What sin } That they believed not on Him,
that being come they despised Him. As then He there said
sin, and it does not follow that we are to understand all sin,
but a certain sin : so here also not all sin, lest it be contrary
to that place where he saith, If ice say that we have no sin, ch. 1, 8
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: but a
certain sin in particular, that is, the violation of charity.
But in this place he hath bound us more tightly : ' If we
shall ask,' he hath said, * if our heart accuse us not, and tell
us in answer, in the sight of God, that true love is in us;'
Whatsoever we ask, we shall receive of Him.
6. Well now: I have already told you, my beloved
1 J 68 Paul ashed and received not.
HoMiL. brethren, let no man stop at us. For what are we? or what
^^- . are ye ? What, but the Church of God which is known to all ?
And, if it please Him, in that Church are we ; and those of us
who by love abide in it, there let us persevere, if we would
shew the love we have. But then the Apostle Paul, what
evil are we to think of him ? He not love the brethren ! He
not have within himself the testimony of his conscience in
the si"-ht of God ! Paul not have within him that root of
charily whence all good fruits proceeded 1 What madman
would say this ? Well then : where find we that the Apostle
2 Cor. asked and did not receive ? He saith himself: Lest I should
32, 7-9. j^^ exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, an
angel of Satan to buffet me. For which thing I besought
the Lord thrice, that He would take it from me. Aiid He
said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for strength
is made perfect in weakness. Lo, he was not heard in
his prayer that the angel of Satan should be taken from
him. But wherefore ? Because it w^as not good for him.
He was heard, then, for salvation, w^hen he was not heard
'sacra- for his wish. Know, my beloved, a great ^mystery: w^hich
nientiim ^^,^ ^^^^ upon your consideration on purpose that it may not
slip from you in your temptations. The saints are in all
things heard unto salvation : it is this that they desire :
because in regard of this, their prayers are always heard.
7. But let us distinguish God's different ways of hearing
prayer. For we find some not heard for their wish, heard
for salvation : and again some we find heard for their wish,
not heard for salvation. Mark this difference, hold fast this
example of a man not heard for his wish but heard for
salvation. Hear the Apostle Paul ; for what is the hearing
of prayer unto salvation, God Himself shewed him : ' Suffi-
cient for thee, saith He, is My grace ; for strength is perfected
in weakness. Thou hast besought, hast cried, hast thrice
cried: the very cry thou didst raise once for all I heard,
1 turned not away Mine ears from thee; I know what I
should do : thou wouldest have it taken away, the healing
thing by which thou art burned; I know the infirmity by
which thou art burdened.' Well then : here is a man who
was heard Ibr salvation, while for his will he was not heard.
Yet his prayer was truly heard, 1 169
Where find we persons heard for their will, not heard for 1 John
III.
21. 22.
salvation ? Do we find, think we, some wicked, some im- ^^^*
pious man, heard of God for his will, not heard for salvation ?
If I put to you the instance of some man, perchance thou
wilt say to me, * It is thou that callest him wicked, for he
was righteous ; had he not been righteous, his prayer would
not have been heard by God.' The instance I am about to
allege is of one, of whose iniquity and impiety none can
doubt. The devil himself: he asked for Job, and received.
Have ye not here also heard concerning the devil, that he Job i,
that committeth sin is of the devil? Not that the devil ^jj* g^'g
created, but that the sinner imitates. Is it not said of him,
He stood not in the truth ? Is not even he that old serpent, John 8,
who, through the woman pledged the first man in the drink Qg'jj 3
of poison ? Who even in the case of Job, kept for him his wife, 1—6«
that by her the husband might be, not comforted, but tempted?
The devil asked for a holy man, to tempt him ; and he re-
ceived : the Apostle asked that the thorn in the flesh might be
taken from him, and he received not. But the Apostle was
more heard than the devil. For the Apostle was heard for
salvation, though not for his wish: the devil was heard for his
wish, but for damnation. For that Job was yielded up to him
to be tempted, was in order that by his standing the proof the
devil should be excruciated. But this, my brethren, we find
not only in the Old Testament Books, but also in the Gospel.
The demons besought the Lord, when He expelled them
from the man, that they might be permitted to go into the
swine. Should the Lord not have povver to tell them not to
approach even those creatures } For, had it not been His
will to permit this, they were not likely to rebel against the
King of heaven and earth. But with a view to a certain Luke 8,
. 82
mystery, with a certain ^ ulterior meaning, He let the demons 1 c'erta
ero into the swine : to shew that the devil hath dominion in ^^ispen-
° , satione
them that lead the life of swine . Demons then were heard
in their request; was the Apostle not heard? Or rather (what
1 Dimisit, not misit: so, Expulsa et " That they were allowed to go into the
in porcos permissa dsemonia: "the swine feeding upon the mountains, be-
deraons cast out from the man and tokens unclean and proud men over
allowed to go into the swine." Qusest. whom through the worship of idols the
Evang. ii. 13. Quod in porcos in mon- demons have dominion."
tibus pascentes ire permissa sunt <fec.
1 170 Though the wish is not granted, the good is,
HoMiL.is truer) shall we say, The Apostle was heard, the demons
^-not heard? Their will was effected; his weal was perfected.
8. Agreeably with this, we ought to understand that God,
though He give not to our will, doth give to our weal. For
suppose the thing thou have asked be to thine hurt, and the
Physician knows that it is to thine hurt ; what then ? It is not
to be said that the physician does not give ear to thee, when,
perhaps, thou askest for cold water, and if it is good for thee,
he gives it immediately, if not good, he gives it not. Had he
no ears for thy request, or rather, did he give ear for thy
weal, even when he gainsaid thy will ? Then let there be in
you charity, my brethren; let it be in you, and then set your
minds at rest : even when the thing ye ask for is not given you,
your prayer is granted, only, ye know it not. Many have been
given into their own hands, to their own hurt : of whom the
Rom. 1, Apostle saith, God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts.
Some man hath asked for a great sum of money ; he hath
received, to his hurt. When he had it not, he had little to
fear ; no sooner did he come to have it, than he became a prey
to the more powerful. Was not that man's request granted
to his own hurt, who would needs have that for which he
should be sought after by the robber, whereas, being poor,
none sought after him ? Learn to beseech God that ye may
commit it to the Physician to do what He knows best. Do
thou confess the disease, let Him apply the means of healing.
Do thou only hold fast charity. For He will needs cut, will
in"psa. ^^^^^ burn; what if thou criest out, and art not spared for
I30,§.i.thy crying under the cutting, under the burning and the
354, 7. tribulation, yet He knows how far the rottenness reaches.
Thou wouldest have Him even now take off His hands, and
He mmds only the deepness of the sore; He knows how far
to go. He does not attend to thee for thy will, but he does
attend to thee for thy healing. Be ye sure, then, my brethren,
26!'27?' ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ Apostle saith is true : For we know not what we
should pray for as we ought : hut the Spirit Itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot he uttered: for
He maketh intercession for the saints. How is it said, The
Spirit Itself intercedeth for the Saints, but as meaning the
Charity which is wrought in thee by the Spirit? For there-
fore saith the same Apostle : The charittj of God is shed
The Holy Spirit the Author of Love, 1171
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Which is given unto us, i John
It is Chanty that groans, it is Charity that prays : against it He 23,^24.
Who gave it cannot shut His ears. Set your minds at rest : let id. 5, 5.
Charity ask, and the ears of God are there. Not that which
thou wishest is done, but that is done which is expedient.
Therefore, whatever we ask, saith he, we shall receive of Him.
I have already said, If thou understand it to mean, * for
salvation,' there is no question : if not for salvation, there is a
question, and a great one, a question that makes thee an
accuser of the Apostle Paul. Whatever we ask, we receive of
Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things
that are pleasing in His sight : within, where He seeth.
9. And what are those commandments } This, saith he, is ^- 23.
His commandment. That we should believe on the name of His
Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. Ye see that this is
the commandment : ye see that whoso doeth ought against
this commandment, doeth the sin from which every one that
is born of God is free. As He gave us commandment: that
we love one another. And he that keepeth His commandment — v. 24.
ye see that none other thing is bidden us than that we love
one another — And he that keepeth His commandment shall
dwell ' in Him, and He in him. And in this we know that He ^ mane-
abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us. Is it not
manifest that this is what the Holy Ghost works at in man,
that there should be in him love and charity ? Is it not
manifest, as the Apostle Paul saith, that the love of God is shed ^om. 5,
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Which is given us? '
For [our Apostle] was speaking of charity, and was saying
that we ought in the sight of God to interrogate our own
heart. But if our heart think not ill of us : i. e. if it confess
that of the love of our brother is done in us whatever is done
in any good work. And then besides, in speaking of the
commandment, he says this : This is His commandment. That
we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and
love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that
doeth His commandme7it dwelleth in Him, and He in him.
In this we know that He ahideth in us, by the Spirit which
He hath given us. For if thou find that thou hast charity,
thou hast the Spirit of God for understanding : for a very
necessary thing it is.
1 1 7*2 Not miracles, hut love, the proof of His presence in us,
lioMiL. 10. In the earliest times, the Holy Ghost fell upon them
^^' that believed: and they spahe with tongues, which they
4.^ ^ ' had not learned, as the Sjnrit gave them utterance. For
there behoved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit
in all tongues, to shew that the Gospel of God was to run
through all tongues over the whole earth. That thing was
done for a betokening, and it passed away. In the laying
on of hands now, that persons may receive the Holy Ghost,
do we look that they should speak with tongues ? Or when
Uhenc-we laid the hand on these infants', did each one of you
ophjtes j^^j, ^^ ggg whether they would speak with tongues, and,
when he saw that they did not speak with tongues, was any
of you so wrong-minded as to say, These have not received
the Holy Ghost; for, had they received, they would speak
with tongues as was the case in those times ? If then the
witness of the presence of the Holy Ghost be not now given
through these miracles, by what is it given, by what does
one get to know that he has received the Holy Ghost ? Let
him question his own heart. If he love his brother, the
Spirit of God dwelleth in him. Let him see, let him prove
himself before the eyes of God, let him see whether there
be in him the love of peace and unity, the love of the
Church diffused over the whole earth. Let him not rest
only in his loving the brother whom he has before his eyes,
for we have many brethren whom we do not see, and in the
unity of the Spirit we are joined to them. What marvel that
they are not with us ? We are in one body, we have one
Head, in Heaven. Brethren, our own two eyes do not see each
other ; as one may say, they do not know each other. But
in the charity of the bodily frame do they not know each
other? For, to shew you that in the charity which knits
them together they do know each other; when both eyes are
open, the right may not rest on some object, but the left
shall rest likewise. Direct the glance of the right eye
without the other, if thou canst. Together they meet in
one object, together they are directed to one object: their
ann is one, their places diverse. If then all who with thee
hne God have one aim with thee, heed not that in the
body thou are separated in place; the eye-sight of the heart
ye have alike fixed on the light of truth. Then if thou
The Spirit not in all that have Baptism, 1173
wouldest know that thou hast received the Spirit, question i John
IV.
1. ?.
thine heart: lest haply thou have the Sacrament, and have *
not the virtue of the Sacrament. Question thine heart. If
love of thy brethren be there, set thy mind at rest. There
cannot be love without the Spirit of God : since Paul cries,
The love of God is shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy 'Rom. 5,
Spirit Which is given unto us.
11. Beloved, believe not every spirit. Because he hadch.iv. i.
said, In this we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit
Which He hath given us. But how this same Spirit is
known, mark this: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
prove the spirits whether they be from God. And who is
he that proves the spirits? A hard matter has he put to us,
my brethren ! It is well for us that he should tell us himself
how we are to discern them. He is about to tell us : fear
not : but first see ; mark : see that hereby is expressed the
very thing that vain heretics^ taunt us withal. Mark, see i Uona-
what he says. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the^^^^^
spirits whether they he from God. The Holy Spirit is
spoken of in the Gospel by the name of water; where the
Lord cried and said, If any man thirst, let him come unto John 7,
Me, and drink. He that helieveth on Me, out of his belly '' '
shall flow rivers of living water. But the Evangelist has
expounded of what He said this : for he goes on to say, But
this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him.
should receive. Wherefore did not the Lord baptize many ?
But what saith he ? For the Holy Ghost was not yet given ;
because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Then seeing
those had baptism, and had not yet received the Holy
Ghost, Whom on the day of Pentecost the Lord sent from
heaven, that the Spirit might be given, the glorifying of the
Lord was first waited for. Even before He was glorified,
and before He sent the Spirit, He yet invited men to prepare
themselves for the receiving of the water of which He said,
Whoso thirsteth, let him come and drink; and. He that
helieveth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. What meaneth. Rivers of living water? What is
that water? Let no man ask me; ask the Gospel. But this,
saith it, He said of the Spirit, which they should receive that
should believe on Him. Consequently, the water of the
Sacrament is one thing : another, the water which betokens
1174 Believe not every spirit : beware offalse-projphets,
HoMiL.lhe Spirit of God. The water of the Sacrament is visible:
^^- the water of the Spirit invisible. That washes the body,
and betokens that which is done in the soul. By this Spirit
the soul itself is cleansed and fed. This is the Spirit of
God, which heretics and all that cut themselves off from the
Church, cannot have. And whosoever do not openly cut
themselves off, but by iniquity are cut off, and being within,
whirl about as chaff and are not grain ; these have not this
Spirit. This Spirit is denoted by the Lord under the name of
water: and we have heard from this Epistle, Believe not every
Vroy.9^ spirit ; and those words of Solomon bear witness. From
^^' strange ivaier keep thee far. What meaneth, water? Spirit.
Does water always signify Spirit ? Not always : but in some
places it signifies the Spirit, in some places it signifies Baptism,
Eev.i7,in some places signifies peoples, in some places signifies
Pro^ counsel; thus thou findest it said in a certain place, Counsel
16, 22. ig fi fountain of life to them that possess it. So then, in
divers places of the Scriptures, the term water signifies divers
things. Now however by the term water ye have heard
the Holy Spirit spoken of, not by an interpretation of ours,
but by witness of the Gospel, where it saith. But this said
He of the Spirit, which they should receive that should believe
on Him. If then by the name of water is signified the Holy
Spirit, and this Epistle saith to us. Believe not every spirit,
but prove the spirits, whether they be of God ; let us under-
Prov. 9, stand that of this it is said. From strange water keep thee far,
ifxx and from a strange fountain drink thou not. What meaneth.
From a strange fountain drink thou not? A strange spirit
believe thou not.
12. There remains then the test by which it is to be
proved to be the Spirit of God. He has indeed set down a
sign, and this, belike, difficult: let us see, however. We are
to recur to that Charity ; the same it is that teacheth us,
because the same is the unction. However, what saith he
here? Prove the spirits, whether they be from God: because
many false prophets have gone out into this world. Now
there have we all heretics and all schismatics. How then
am I to prove the spirit? He goes on: In thisis known"^ the
Spirit of God. Wake up the ears of your heart. We were
™ Co^MWCiYur, so Vulg. representing But the best authorities have yiydcff-
the reading of some Mss. yivwa-K^Tai. K€T€.
All heretics vainly profess to believe Christ Incarnate ; 1 175
at a loss ; we were saying, Who knows ? who discerns ? Be- i John
hold, he is about to tell the sign. Hereby is known ike — '—^^
Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus CIiristv.2. 3.
is come in the Jlesh is of God: and every spirit that con-
fesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God: and this is the antichrist, of whom ye have heard that he
should come; and even noiv already is he in this world. Our
ears, so to say, are on the alert for discerning of the spirits;
and we have been told something, such that thereby we
discern not a whit the more. For what saith he ? Every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, is
of God. Then is the spirit that is among the heretics, of
God, seeing they confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh?
Aye, here perchance they lift themselves up against us, and
say: Ye have not the Spirit from God ; but we confess that
Jesus Christ came in the flesh : but the Apostle here hath
said that those have not the Spirit of God, who confess not
that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Ask the Arians : they
confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh: ask the Euno-
mians ; they confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh :
ask the Macedonians ; they confess that Jesus Christ came
in the flesh: put tlie question to the Cataphryges ; they con-
fess that Jesus Chrii^t came in the flesh: put it to the
Novatians; they confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
Then have all these heresies the Spirit of God? Are they
then no false prophets ? Is there then no deception there, no
seduction there ? At any rate they are antichrists ; for they
went out from us, but were not of us.
13. What are we to do then ? By what to discern them?
Be very attentive ; let us go together in heart, and knock.
Charity herself keeps watch ; for it is none other than she
that shall knock, she also that shall open: anon ye shall
understand in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Already
ye have heard that it was said above, Whoso denieth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, the same is an antichrist.
There also we asked. Who denies ? because neither do we
deny, nor do those deny. And we found that some do in Supra
their deeds deny; and we brought testimony from ihe^--^i^g
Apostle, who saith, i^or they confess that they know Qod,^'^^-^)
but in their deeds deny Him. Thus then let us now also
1176 for they violate the Charity which brought Him here;
HoMiT.make the enquiry in the deeds not in the tongue. What is
^^J- the spirit that is not from God ? That which denieth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. And what is the spirit
that is not from God? That which confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh. Who is he that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh ? Now, brethren, to the
mark ! let us look to the works, not stop at the noise of the
tongue. Let us ask why Christ came in the flesh ; so we
get at the persons who deny that He is come in the flesh.
If thou stop at tongues, why, thou shalt hear many a heresy
confessing that Christ is come in the flesh : but the truth
convicteth those men. Wherefore came Christ in the flesh ?
John 1, Was He not God ? Is it not written of Him, In the begin-
'• 7}ing icas the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God? Was it not He that did feed Angels, is it
not He that doth feed Angels? Did He not in such sort
come hither, that He departed not tlience ? Did He not
in such sort ascend, that He forsook not us ? Wherefore
then came He in the flesh ? Because it behoved us to have
the hope of resurrection shewn unto us. God He was,
and in flesh He came ; for God could not die, flesh could
die ; He came then in the flesh, that He might die for
Johnlo, us. But how died He for us? Greater charity than this
hath no man,) that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Charity therefore brought Him to the flesh, therefore not to
have charity is to deny that Christ is come in the flesh.
Here then do thou now question all heretics. Did Christ
come in the flesh ? * He did come ; this I believe, this I con-
fess.' Nay, this thou deniest. ' How do I deny ? Thou hearest
that I say it !' Nay, I convict thee of denying it. Thou
saycst with the voice, deniest with the heart ; sayest in words,
deniest in deeds. ' How,' sayest thou, ' do I deny in deeds ?'
Because the end for which Christ came in the flesh, was, that
He might die for us. Therefore died He for us, because
therein He taught much charity. Greater charity than this
hath no man, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Thou hast not charity, seeing thou for thine own honour
dividcst unity. Therefore by this understand ye the spirit that
is fnjm (iod. Give the earthen vessels a tap, put them to the
l)roof, whether haply they be cracked and give a dull sound:
and hy breaking His Law of Charity,
nil
see whether they ring full and clear, see whether charity be • John
there. Thou takest thyself away from the unity of the whole ^ '^'^'
earth, thou dividest the Church by schisms, thou rendest the
Body of Christ. He came in the flesh, to gather in one, thou
makest an outcry only to scatter abroad. This then is the Spirit
of God, which saith that Jesus is come in the flesh, which saith,
not in tongue but in deeds, which saith, not by making a noise
but by loving. And that spirit is not of God, which denies
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh ; denies, here also, not in
tongue but in life ; not in words but in deeds. It is manifest
therefore by what we may know the brethren. Many within are
in a sort within ; but none without except he be indeed without.
14. Nay, and that ye may know that he has referred the
matter to deeds, he saith. And every spirit, '^ qui solvit CJiris-
tumy'' ivhich does away with Christ that He came in theflesh^<i
is not of God. A doing away in deeds is meant. What has he
shewn thee } That denieth : in that he saith, doeth away (or, im-
maketh). He came to gather in one, thou comest to unmake.
Thou wouldest pull Christ's members asunder. How can it be
" Qui solvit Christum in came ve-
nisse. Edd. Erasm. LuE!;d. and Ven.
omit in came venisse^ but the Louvain
editors attest that they are found in the
Mss. of Augustine. Ed, Par. (Bodl.
Mss. ext. Laud. 116, a late one, have
them.) Infra Horn. vii. 2. Omnis qui
solvit J. C, et negateuvi in came veJiisse.
The printed Vulg. has, Omnis spiritus
qui solvit Christum ex Deo non est. In
Serm. 182 and 183,preached some time
later on this text, Aug. reads it, Omnis
sp. qui non confitetur (and, qui negat)
Jesum Christum in came veuisse. S.
Cypr. Test. adv. Jud. ii. 18. qui autem
negat in came venisse, de Deo non est.
S. Iren. iii. 18. in the ancient Latin
version, Et omnis sp. qui solvit Jesum
Christum^ nonest ex Deo. Tertull. adv.
Marcion. v. i 6. praecursores antichristi
spiritus, negantes Christum in carne
venisse et solventes Jesum, sc. in Deo
creatore. Dejejun. adv. Psych. 1. non
quod alium Deum prsedicent • • . , nee
quod Jesum Christum solvant. De
carne Christi, 24. Qui negat Christum
in carne venisse, hie antichristus est :
where he says, the Apostle " by clearly
marking one Christ, shakes those who
argue for a Christ multiform, making
Christ one, Jesus another, &e." Leo
Ep. 10, 5. ad Flavian, seems to have
read in the Gr. hiaipovv. Other Latin
authorities for the reading qui solvit are
cited by Mill, in loo. Socrates H, E. vii.
32. affirms, that in the old Mss. the read-
ing was ■Ko.v TTuev/j-a h Auet rhv 'iTjaouu
airh rod 0eoD ovk ecrri: adding, that the
expression was expunged from the old
copies by those who would fain separate
the Godhead from the Man of the Incar-
nation, ol xo}piC^LV atrh rod rr}s oIkovo-
jxias auQpcaiTov fiovX6ix€Voi rrjv OeSTr/Ta.
(Valerius in loc. suggests that Socrates
may have read in his Mss. t \vei rhu
'lT](rouu airh roO 06oO, e/c rod @eov ovk
eo-Tt ; Matthai, that he wrote, h [jltj
o/xoXoye?, tovt^<ttiv, % Xvei.) But no
extant Mss. acknowledge the reading :
and the Greek Fathers headed by S.
Polycarp. ad Philipp. §. 7- (ttus hs h.v
fj.)) ofioXoyfj 'I. X. iu (TapKx iXTjXvOeuai,)
bear witness to the received text : only
Cyril, de recta Fide ad Reginas being
cited by Mill for the reading Xvei.
This reading may (as Mill has suggest-
ed, comp. Grot, in loc.) have originated
in a marginal gloss, directed against
the Gnostics. Thus in a scholion edited
by Matthai it is said : " For the pre-
cursors of Antichrist were the heresies,
whose characteristic mark it is by the
means of fa'se prophets and spirits Xveiu
rhv '\r](Tovv, to unmake Jesus, by not
confessing that He is come in the
flesh."
1178 vi/rtually deny that He came in the flesh,
HoMiL.said that thou deniest not that Christ is come in the flesh, who
^i- rendest asunder the Church of God which He hath congre-
gated ? Therefore thou goest against Christ ; thou art an
antichrist. Be thou within, or be thou without, thou art an
antichrist : only, when thou art within, thou art hidden ;
when thou art without, thou art made manifest. Thou
unmakest Jesus and deniest that He came in the flesh ; thou
Matt. 5 art not of God. Therefore He saith in the Gospel : WJioso
^^ ■ shall hreak^ one of these least commandments and shall teach
•solverit . t / • 7 /y i tttt
so shall he called least m the kingdom of heaven. VVhat is
this breaking.? What this teaching? A breaking in the deeds
Rom. 2 and a teaching as it were in words °. Thou that preachest men
^^' should not steal, dost steal ! Therefore he that steals breaks
or undoes the commandment in his deed, and as it were
teaches so : he shall he called least in the kingdom of heaven,
i. e. in the Church of this present time p. Of him it is said,
Mat.23, What they say do ye; hut what they do, that do not ye. But
^* he that shall do, and shall teach so, shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven. From this, that He has here said,
'yecerit,'" shall do, while in opposition to this He has there said
^'solver it, ^^ meaning " nonfecerit,'^ shall 7iot do, and shall teach
so — to break, then, is, not to do — what doth He leach us, but
that we should interrogate men's deeds, not take their words
upon trust } The obscurity of the things compels us to speak
much at length, chiefly that that which the Lord deigns to
reveal may be brought within reach even of the brethren of
slower understanding, because all were bought by the blood
of Christ. And I am afraid the Epistle itself will not be
finished during these days as I promised : but as the Lord
will, it is better to reserve the remainder, than to overload
your hearts with too much meat.
" S. Aug. de Serra. Dom. in shall teach men,'' solverit et secundum
Monte i. 21. Qui ergo solverit et do- suara solutionem docuerit. 'But supra
cuerit homines ... i.e. secundum id Horn, in Ev. 122, 9. be seems to make
quod solvit, non secundum id quod it parallel with Matt. 23, 3. " they say
invenit et lef,Mt . . . Q?/j ant em fee e- and do not :" qui docent io;2a loquendo
rit et docuerit sic (outws for oStos) qusesolvunt male vivendo. Comp. Serm.
h. 8. secundum id quod non solvit. 252.3. His full meaning appears to be,
Here he takes docuerit sic in the sense that together with the good teaching in
of teaching men by and agreeably with words, there goes a sort of teaching
the practice of the teacher, which is (9'wa*idocet)notinwordsbutin thedeeds.
that of breaking the commandn-ents: v So in Serm. 252, 3: de Civ. D.
" whosoever shall break one of these xx.9; but otherwise explained above,
least commandments and in that way Horn. 122, 9. p. 1068.
HOMILY VII.
I John iv. 4 — 12.
Now are ye of God, little children, and have overcome him :
because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in this
world. They are of the world : therefore speak they of
the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God :.
he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God
heareth not us. From this knoio we the spirit of truth,
and [the spirit^^ of error. Dearly beloved, let us love one
another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is
born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God ; for God is love. In this was manifested
the love of God in us, that God sent His only-begotten
Son into this world, that we may lire through Him.
Herein is love, not that we loved, but that He loved us,
and sent His Son to be the Atoner^ for our sins. Dearly ^hta.-
beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one^^^^^
another. No man hath seen God at any time.
1. So is this world to all the faithful seeking their own
country, as was the desert to the people Israel. They
wandered indeed as yet, and were seeking their own country :
but with God for their guide they could not wander astray.
Their way was God's bidding". For where they went about
during forty years, the journey itself is made up of a very few
stations, and is known to all. They were retarded because
they were in training, not because they were forsaken. That
therefore which God promiseth us is ineffable sweetness and
a good, as the Scripture saith, and as ye have often heard by
us rehearsed, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, jieitherli^ai.Gi,
4.
° Jussio Dei : so the Mss. but the so with ' jussio' over the line ; the rest
printed copies, visio Dei. Ben. (Bodl. 'jussio.')
456, and Laud. 116, 'visio;' Bodl. 813,
4 H
1180 Charity, the fountain in this ivilderness.
HoMiL. hath entered into the heart of man. But by temporal labours
-^ we are exercised, and by temptations of this present life are
9.^°'' ' trained. Howbeit, if ye would not die of thirst in this wilder-
ness, drink charity. It is the fountain which God has been
pleased to place here that we faint not in the way : and we shall
more abundantly drink thereof, when we are come to our own
land. The Gospel has just been read; now to speak of the
* very words with which the Lesson ended, what other thing
heard ye but concerning charity? For we have made an
Matt. 6, agreement with our God in prayer, that if we would that He
^^* should forgive us our sins, we also should forgive the sins
which may have been committed against us. Now that which
forgiveth is none other than charity. Take away charity
from the heart; hatred possesseth it, it knows not how to
forgive. Let charity be there, and she fearlessly forgiveth,
not being straitened. And this whole Epistle which we have
undertaken to expound to you, see whether it commendeth
aught else than this one thing, charity. Nor need we fear
lest by much speakiiig thereof it come to be hateful. For
what is there to love, if charity come to be hateful } It is by
charity that other things come to be rightly loved ; then how
must itself be loved ! Let that then which ought never to
depart from the heart not depart from the tongue,
y. 4. 2. Now^ saith he, are ye of God little children^ and have
overcome him : whom but Antichrist } For above he had
1 solvit said. Whosoever unmaketh^ Jesus Christ and denieth that
He is come in the flesh is not of God. Now we expounded,
if ye remember, that all those who violate charity deny
Jesus Christ to have come in the flesh. For Jesus had no
need to come but because of charity : as indeed the charity
we are commending, is that which the Lord Himself com-
Johni5,inendeth in the Gospel, Greater love than this can no
^^- man have, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
How was it possible for the Son of God to lay down His life
for us without putting on flesh in which He might die ?
Whosoever therefore violates charity, let him say what he
will with his tongue, his life denies that Christ is come in
the flesh; and this is an antichrist, wherever he may be,
whithersoever he have come in. But what saith the Apostle
to them who are citizens of that country for which we sigh .?
The world says J Revenge : Charity, Forgive. 1181
Ye have overcome him. And whereby have they overcome ? i John
Because greater is He that is in you, titan lie that is in this '—
world. Lest they should attribute the victory to their own
strength, and by arrogance of pride should be overcome, (for
whomsoever the devil makes proud, he overcomes,) wishing
them to keep humility, what saith he ? Ye have overcome
him. Here now, man at hearing this saying, Ye have over-
come, lifts up the head, lifts up the neck, wishes himself to
be praised. Do not extol thyself; see Who it is that in thee
hath overcome. Why hast thou overcome? Because greater
is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. Be
humble, bear thy Lord ; be thou the beast for Him to sit on.
Good is it for thee that He should rule, and He guide. For
if thou have not Him to sit on thee, thou mayest lift up the
neck, mayest strike out the heels : but woe to thee without
a Ruler, for this liberty sendeth thee among the wild beasts
to be devoured !
3. These are of the u- arid. Who? The antichrists. Ye v. 5.
have already heard who they be. And if ye be not such, ye
know them, but whosoever is such, knows not. These are
of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the ivorld
heareth them. Who are they that speak of the icorldf
Mark who are against charity. Behold, ye have heard
the Lord saying. If ye forgive men their trespasses, your Matt, q
heavenly Father ivill forgive you also your trespasses. But 14. 15.
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither ivill your
Father forgive your trespasses. It is the sentence of Truth:
or if it be not Truth that speaks, gainsay it. If thou art a
Christian and believest Christ, He hath said, I am the Truth.
This sentence is true, is finn. Now hear men that speak of
the world. ''And wilt thou not avenge thyself? And wilt
thou let him say that he has done this to thee ? Nay : let him
feel that he has to do with a man." Every day are such
things said. They that say such things, of the world speak
they, and the world heareth them. None say such things
but those that love the world, and by none are such things
heard but by those who love the world. And ye have heard
that to love the world and neglect charity is to deny that
Jesus came in the flesh. Or say if the Lord Himself in the
flesh did that? if, being buffeted. He would needs be
4 H 2
1 182 Charity is of God, and is God:
HoMiL. avenged ? if, hanging on the Cross, He did not say, Father,
j^^ forgive them, for they know not what they do? But if He
34. ' threatened not, Who had power ; why dost thou threaten, why
dost thou snort indignantly, who art under power of another ?
He died because it was His will to die, yet He threatened
not; thou knowest not when thou sh alt die, and dost thou
threaten ?
V. 6. 4. We are of God. Let us see why; see whether it be
for any other thing than charity. We are of God: he that
kuoueth God heareth us ; he that is not of God heareth not
us. Hereby know tve the spirit of truth, and of error : namely
by this, that he that heareth us hath the spirit of truth ; he
that heareth not us, hath the spirit of error. Let us see
what he adviseth, and let us choose rather to hear him
advising in the spirit of truth, and not antichrists, not lovers
of the world, not the world. If we are born of God,
V. 7. Beloved, he goes on — see above from what : We are of
God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of
God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and
of error : aye, now, this puts us upon the stretch : to be told
that he who knows God, hears; but he who knows not, hears
not ; and that this is the discerning between the spirit of truth
and the spirit of error : well then, let us see what he is about to
advise ; in what we must hear him: — Beloved, let us love one
another. Why? because a man adviseth? Because love is
of God. Much hath he commended love, in that he hath
said. Is of God: but he is going to say more; let us eagerly
V. 7. 8. hear. At present he hath said. Love is of God ; and every
one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that
loveth not knoweth not God. Why? For God is Love [Love
is God] p. What more could be said, brethren ? If nothing
were said in praise of love throughout the pages of this
Epistle, if nothing whatever throughout the other pages of the
Scriptures, and this one only thing were all we were told by
^ Dens dilectio est: Augustine here God.'^ In the theological exposition de
expounds it, Love is God; it is of God Trin. xv. 27. he takes it in the usual
and is God, (as " the Vi/ord was with sense. God is Love (a,s " God is Spirit").
Gor/ and 7/'a6- Gor/:") this is clear from In the Greek the proposition is not
§. 6. and llotn. viii. 14. and so it should convertible, aydnr} being marked as
have been rendered Av/>m p. 144. Horn, the predicate by the absence of the
ix. 8. " For he has not hesitated to article while Behs has it: 6 dehs aydn-n
«ay, Deus charitas est, Charity is iariv.
for Charity is the Essence of the Holy Ghost» 1 1 83
the voice of the Spirit of God, For Love is Ood: nothing i John
• IV 8
more ought we to require. — '—^
5. Now see that to act against love is to act against God.
Let no man say, ' I sin against man when I do not love my
brother, (mark it !) and sin against man is a thing to be taken
easily; only let me not sin against God. How sinnest thou
not against God, when thou sinnest against love ? Love is
God, Do we say this ? If we said, Love is God, haply some
one of you might be offended and say. What hath he said ?
What meant he to say, that Love is God? God gave love,
as a gift God bestowed love. Love is of God: Love IS God.
Look, here have ye, brethren, the Scriptures of God : this
Epistle is canonical ; throughout all nations it is recited, it
is held in authority by the whole earth, it hath edified the
whole earth. Thou art here told by the Spirit of God, Love
is God. Now if thou dare, go against God, and refuse to
love thy brother !
6. In what sense then was it said a while ago. Love is of
God; and now. Love IS God ? For God is Father and Son
and Holy Ghost: the Son, God of God, the Holy Ghost,
God of God ; and these three, one God, not three Gods.
If the Son be God, and the Holy Ghost God, and that
person loveth in whom dvvelleth the Holy Ghost : therefore
Love is God; but IS God, because Of God. For thou hast
both in the Epistle ; both. Love is of God, and, Love is God.
Of the Father alone the Scripture hath it not to say, that He
is of God: but when thou hearest that expression. Of God,
either the Son is meant, or the Holy Ghost. Because how-
ever the Apostle saith, The love of God is shed abroad in our ^^^^
hearts hy the Holy Spirit Which is given unto us: let us 5.
understand that He Who subsisteth in Love is the Holy
Ghost. For it is even this Holy Spirit, Whom the bad can-
not receive, even He is that Fountain of which the Scripture Prov.5,
saith. Let the fountain of thy water be thine own, and let no ^^' ^^'
stranger partake ivith thee. For all who love not God, are
strangers, are antichrists. And though they come to the
churches, they cannot be numbered among the children of
God; not to them belongeth that Fountain of Life. To have
Baptism is possible even for a bad man; to have prophecy is
possible even for a bad man. W^e find that king Saul had i Sam.
1184 God's love the source of ours.
HoMiL.])ro[)liocy : he was persecuting holy David, yet was he filled
^^^' with the spirit of prophecy, and began to prophesy. To
receive the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord is
1 Cor. possible even for a bad man : for of such it is said. He that
^^' '-^^- eateih and drinkeih umvorthily, eateth and drinketh judg-
ment to himself. To have the name of Christ is possible
even for a bad man ; i. e. even a bad man can be called a
Ezech. Christian: as thev of whom it is said, They polluted the
36 20 .
' ' name of their God. 1 say, to have all these Sacraments is
possible even for a bad man ; but to have charity, and to be
a bad man, is not possible. This then is the peculiar gift,
this the Fountain that is singly one's own. To drink of
this the Spirit of God exhorteth you, to drink of Himself the
Spirit of God exhorteth you.
V. 9. 1. In this was manifested the love of God in us. Behold,
in order that we may love God, we have exhortation. Could
we love Him, unless He first loved us } If we were slow to
love, let us not be slow to love in return. He first loved us ;
not even so do we love. He loved the unrighteous, but He did
away the unrighteousness: He loved the unrighteous, but
not unto unrighteousness did He gather them together : He
loved the sick, but to make them whole He visited them.
Love, then, is God. In this was manifested the love of
God in us, because that God sent His only-hegolten Son
into the world, that we may live through Him. As the
Johni5, Lord Himself saith : Greater love than this can no man
13
Jiave, that a man lay down his life for Ji is friends: and
there was proved the love of Christ towards us, in that He died
for us : how is the love of the Fatlier towards us proved ? In
that He sent His only Son to die for us: so also the Apostle
Rom. 8, Paul saith : He that spared not His own Son, hut delivered
Him up for us all, how hath He not with Him also freely
given us all tilings'^ Behold the Father delivered up Christ;
Judas delivered Him up ; does it not seem as if the thing done
were of the same sort ? Judas is " traditor," one that delivered
up, [or, a traitor] : isGod the Father that? God forbid! sayest
thou. I do not say it, but the Apostle saith. He that spared
not His own Son, hut " tradidit Eum'' delivered Him up for us
all. lioth the Father delivered Him up, and He delivered up
Gal. 2, Himself. The same Apostle saith : Who loved me, and delivered
Charity the criterion of right and wrong, 1 1 85
Himself up for me. If the Father delivered up the Son, and the i John
Son delivered up Himself, what has Judas done? There was — '—^
a " traditio" (delivering upj) by the Father; there was a " tra-
ditio" by the Son; there was a "traditio" by Judas : the thing
done is the same, but what is it that distinguishes the Father
delivering up the Son, the Son delivering up Himself, and
Judas the disciple delivering up his Master? This; that the
Father and the Son did it in love, but Judas did this 4n Mn pro-
treacherous betrayal. Ye see that not what the man does is ^^'°^®
the thing to be considered ; but with what mind and will he
does it. We find God the Father in the same deed in which we
find Judas ; the Father we bless, Judas we detest. Why do we
bless the Father, and detest Judas ? We bless charity, detest
iniquity. How great a good was conferred upon mankind by
the delivering up of Christ ! Had Judas this in his thoughts,
that therefore he delivered Him up ? God had in His thoughts
our salvation by which we were redeemed ; Judas had in his
thoughts the price for which he sold the Lord. The Son
Himself had in His thoughts the price He gave for us, Judas
in his the price he received to sell Him. The diverse inten-
tion therefore makes diverse the things done. Though the
thing be one, yet if we measure it by the diverse intentions,
we find the one a thing to be loved, the other to be con-
demned ; the one we find a thing to be glorified, the other to
be detested. Such is the force of charity. See that it alone
discriminates, it alone distinguishes the doings of men.
8. This we have said in the case where the things done are
similar. In the case where they are diverse, we find a man
by charity made ^ fierce; and by iniquity made winningly 2 ggevi-
gentle. A father beats a boy, and a boy-stealer caresses. ®°^^°^
If thou propose the two things, blows and caresses, who
would not choose the caresses, and decline the blows .^ If
thou mark the persons, it is charity that beats, iniquity that
caresses. See what we are insisting upon ; that the deeds of
men are only discerned by the root of charity. For many
things may be done that have a good appearance, and yet
proceed not from the root of charity. For thorns also have
flowers : but some actions seem rough, seem savage; howbeit
they are done for discipline at the bidding of charity. Once
for all then, a short precept is given thee *. Love, and do
1 1 86 The true idea of God.
HoMiL. what thou wilt : whether ihou hold thy peace, of love hold
_nii-thy peace; whether thou cry out, of love cry out; whether
thou correct, of love correct; whether thou spare, of love do
thou spare : let the root of love be within, of this root can
nothing spring but what is good.
V. 9. io. 9. In this is love — In this was manifested the love of God
toward us, because that God sent his only-hegotten Son into
this icoi'ld, that we may live through Him. — hi this is love,
not that we loved God, hut that He loved us : we did not
love Him first: for to this end loved He us, that we may
love Him : And sent His Son to be the Atonei' for our sins :
" litatorenf,*^ i. e. one that sacrifices. He sacrificed for our
sins. Where did He find the sacrifice ? Where did He find
the victim which he would offer pure ? Other He found none;
>■■ II- His own self He offered. Beloved, if God so loved us, we
ought also to love one another, " Peter,'' saith He, " lovest
thou Me f And he said, I love, " Feed My sheep:'
V. 12. 10. No man hath seen God at any time : He is a thing
invisible ; not with the eye but with the heart must He be
sought. But just as if we wished to see the sun, we should
purge the eye of the body ; wishing to see God, let us purge
the eye by which God can be seen. Where is this eye ?
Matt. 5, Hear the Gospel : Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God. But let no man imagine God to himself
according to the lust of his eyes. For so he makes unto himself
either a huge form, or a certain incalculable magnitude
which, like the light which he sees with the bodily eyes, he
makes extend through all directions ; field after field of space
he gives it all the bigness he can; or, he represents to himself
like as it were an old man of venerable form. None of these
things do thou imagine. There is something* thou mayest
imagine, if thou wouldest see God ; God is Love. What sort
of face hath love .? what form hath it ? what stature ? what
feet ? what hands hath it ? no man can say. And yet it hath
feet, for these carry men to church : it hath hands ; for these
reach forth to the poor : it hath eyes ; for thereby we consider
P.sa.4i,the needy: Blessed is the man,\i is ^^x^,who considereth
the needy and the poor. It hath ears, of which the Lord
Luke 8, saith, He that hath ears to hear let him hear. They are
«• not members distinct by place, but with the understand-
J treasure which all may possess alike. 1 187
ing he that hath chanty sees the whole at once. Inhabit, and l John
thou shall be inhabited; dwell, and thou shalt be dwelt in. For — '- — -*
how say you, my brethren? who loves what he does not see ?
Now why, when charity is praised, do ye lift up your hands,
make acclaim, praise ? What have I shewn you ? What I
produced, was it a gleam of colours ? Wliat I propounded, was
gold and silver ? Have I dug out jewels from hid treasures ?
What of this sort have I shewn to your eyes ? Is my face
changed while I speak ? I am in the flesh ; I am in the
same form in which I came forth to you; ye are in the same
form in which ye came hither : charity is praised, and ye shout
applause. Certainly ye see nothing. But as it pleases you
when ye praise, so let it please you that ye may keep it in your
heart. For mark well what I say, brethren ; I exhort you all, as
God enables me, unto a great treasure. If there were shewn you
a beautiful little vase, embossed^, inlaid with gold, curiously i ana-
wrought, and it charmed your eyes, and drew towards it the g^yp^^™
eager desire of your heart, and you were pleased with the hand
of the artificer, and the weight of the silver, and the splendour
of the metal ; would not each one of you say, ' O, if I had that
vase !' And to no purpose ye would say it, for it would not rest
with you to have it. Or if one should wish to have it, he might
think of stealing it from another's house. Charity is praised to
you; if it please you, have it, possess it: no need that ye should
rob any man, no need that ye should think of buying it;
it is to be had freely, without cost. Take it, clasp it ;
sweeter than it is nothing. If such it be when it is but spoken
of, what must it be when one has it ?
II. If any of you perchance wish to keep charity, brethren,
above all things do not imagine it to be an abject and sluggish
thing; nor that charity is to be preserved by a sort ofEp.153,
gentleness, nay not gentleness, but tameness and hstless- pettu "*.
ness. Not so is it preserved. Do not imagine that thou ^7-
then lovest thy servant when thou dost not beat him, or that in 5.
thou then lovest thy son when thou givest him not discipline,
or that thou then lovest thy neighbour when thou dost not
rebuke him : this is not charity, but mere feebleness. Let
charity be ferv^ent to correct, to amend : but if there be good
manners, let them delight thee ; if bad, let them be amended,
let them be corrected. Love not in the man his enor, but the
1188 No weak softness in Charity.
HoMiL. man : for the man God made, the error the man himself made.
^^^' Love that which God made, love not that which the man
himself made. When thou lovest that, thou takest away
this : when thou esteemest that, thou amendest this. But
' s£evis. even if thou be severe ' at any time, let it be because of love,
Horn, in for correction. For this cause was charity betokened by the
^^2 ' I^o^'G which descended upon the Lord. That likeness of a
Matt. 3, dove, the likeness in which came the Holy Ghost, by
^^' Whom charity should be shed forth into us : wherefore was
this? The dove hath no gall: yet with beak and wings she
fights for her young ; hers is a fierceness without bitterness.
And so does also a father ; wlien he chastises his son> for
discipline he chastises him. As I said, the kidnapper, in order
that he may sell, inveigles the child with bitter endearments;
a father, that he may correct, does without gall chastise. Such
be ye to all men. See here, brethren, a great lesson, a great
rule : each one of you has children, or wishes to have ; or if he
has altogether determined to have no children after the flesh,
at least spiritually he desires to have children : — what father
does not correct his son r what son does not his father
2 ssevire. discipline ? And yet he seems to be fierce^ with him. It is the
fierceness of love, the fierceness of charity: a sort of fierce-
ness without gall after the manner of the dove, not of the
raven. Whence it came into my mind, my brethren, to tell
you, that those violaters of charity are they that have made
the schism : as they hate charity itself, so they hate also the
dove. But the dove convicts them : it comes forth from
heaven, the heavens open, and it abideth on the head of the
John 1, Lord. Wherefore this.? That John may hear. This is He
thai hapiizeth. Away, ye robbers; away, ye invaders of the
possession of Christ ! On your own possessions, where ye will
needs be lords, ye have dared to fix the titles of the great
Owner. He recognises His own titles; He vindicates to
Himself His own possession. He does not cancel the titles,
but enters in and takes possession. So in one that comes
to the Catholic Church, his baptism is not cancelled, that
the title of the Emperor be not cancelled : but what is done
in tho CathoHc Church? The title is acknowledged; the
Owner enters in under His own titles, where the robber
was entering in under titles not his own.
HOMILY VIII.
1 John iv, 12—16.
I/tve love one another, God will dwell in us, and His love
will be pei^fected in us. In this know we that ive dwell
in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His
Spirit, And we have seen and are witnesses that the
Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Who-
soever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known
and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love ;
and he that divelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
dwelleth in him,
1. Love is a sweet word, but sweeter the deed. To be
always speaking of it, is not in our power : for we have many
things to do, and divers businesses draw us different ways,
so that our tongue has not leisure to be always speaking of
love : as indeed our tongue could have nothing better to do.
But though we may not always be speaking of it, we may always
keep it. Just as it is with the Alleluia which we sing at this
present time 'J, are we always doing this ? Not one hour, I do not
say for the whole space of it, do we sing Alleluia, but barely
during a few moments of one hour, and then give ourselves
to something else. Now Alleluia, as ye already know,
means. Praise ye the Lord. He that praises God with his
tongue, cannot be always doing this : he that by his life and
q In Augustine's time and later, it atque alibi : ipsis autem diebus ubique.
was the usage of the Latin Churches Comp. ibid. 28. Enarr. in Psa. 106.
(derived, as St. Gregory relates, lib. ix. §. 1. where this usage is said to rest
Ep. 12. from the Church of Jerusalem) upon an ancient tradition : in Psa. 148.
to sing the Alleluia on Easter Sunday, $. 1. and 21. §. 24. that it is observed
and during the whole Quinquagesima. throughout the whole world : Serm.210,
or seven weeks from Easter to Whit- 8: 252, 9. S. Hieronym. Preef. in Psa.
Sunday. But it was not every where 50. and c. Vigilant. 1. (exortus est
restricted to that time: Aug. Epist. subito Vigilantius qui dicat nunquam
(ad Januar.) 55, 32. Ut Alleluia per nisi in Pascha Alleluia eantandum : i.e.
solos dies quinquaginta cantetur in Vig. wished it to be sung only on Easter
Ecclesia, non usquequaque observatur: Day.)
nam et aliis diebus varie cantatur alibi
1190 Charity rules and actuates all the forces of the inner man.
HoMiL. conduct praises God, can be doing it always. Works of
-UHl mercy, affections of charity, sanctity of piety, incorruptness
of chastity, modesty of sobriety, these things are always to
be kept in practice : whether we are in public, or at home ;
whether before men, or in our chamber; whether speaking,
or holding our peace; whether occupied upon something,
or free from occupation : these are always to be kept, be-
cause all these virtues which I have named are within. But
who is sufficient to name them all? There is as it were the
army of an Emperor seated within in thy mind. For as an
Emperor by his army does what he will, so the Lord Jesus
Christ, once beginning to dwell in our inner man, uses these
virtues as His ministers. And by these virtues which cannot
be seen with eyes, and yet when they are named are praised —
and they would not be praised except they were loved, not
loved except they were seen ; and if not loved except seen,
why, they are seen with another eye, that is, with the inward
beholding of the heart — by these invisible virtues, the mem-
bers are visibly put in motion : the feet to walk, but whither ?
whither they are moved by the good will which as a soldier
serves the good Emperor : the hands to work ; but what }
that which is bidden by charity which is inspired within by
the Holy Ghost. The members then are seen when they are
put in motion ; He that orders them within is not seen : and
who He is that orders them within is known almost alone to
Him that orders, and to him who within is ordered.
2. For, brethren, ye heard just now when the Gospel was
read, at least if ye had for it the ear not only of the body but
Matt. 6, also of the heart. What said it? Take heed that ye do not
your righteousness before men, to he seen of them. Did He
mean to say this, that whatever good things we do, we should
» De hide them from the eyes of men^, and fear to be seen? If
Dom.'in^^^'^ fearest spectators thou wilt not have imitators: thou
Monte oughtest therefore to be seen. But thou must not do it to
Serm. ' ^^e end thou mayest be seen. Not there should be the
Js^De^'^"^ of thy joy, not there the goal of thy rejoicing, that
Civ. thou shouldest account thyself to have gotten the whole fruit
^^j'^ of thy good work, when thou art seen and praised. This is
Enarr. nothing. Despise thyself when thou art praised, let Him be
66. §.' praised in thee Who workcth by thee. Therefore do not for
2. thine own praise work the good thou doest : but to the praise
God's glory, not mans, the end of all good ivorks. 1191
of Him from Whom thou hast the power to do good. From i John
thyself thou hast the ill doing, from God thou hast the well j2_i'6
doing. On the other hand, see perverse men, how prepos-
terous they are. What they do well, they will needs ascribe
to themselves ; if they do ill, they will needs accuse God.
Reverse this distorted and preposterous proceeding, which
puts the thing, as one may say, head downwards, which
makes that undermost which is uppermost', and that upwards
which is downwards. Dost thou want to make God under-
most and thyself uppermost? Thou goest headlong, not
elevatest thyself; for He is always above. What then.? thou
well, and God ill? nay rather, say this, if thou wouldest speak
more truly, I ill. He well ; and what I do well from Him is
well: for from myself whatever I do is ill. This confession
strengthens the heart, and makes a firm foundation of love.
For if we ought to hide our good works lest they be seen of
men, what becomes of that sentence of the Lord in the Sermon
which He delivered on the Mount? Where He said this,
there He also said a little before, Let your good works shine Matt. 5,
he/ore men. And He did not stop there, not there made an *
end, but added, And glorify your Father which is in Heaven,
And what saith the Apostle ? And I was unknown hy face (i2\.\,
unto the Churches of Judea which were in Christ : but they 22—24.
heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past, now
preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And in me
they glorified God. See how he also, in regard that he
became so widely known, did not set the good in his own
praise, but in the praise of God. And as for him, in his
own person, that he was one who laid waste the Church, a
persecutor, envious, malignant, it is himself that confesses
this, not we that reproach him therewith. Paul loves to
have his sins spoken of by us, that He may be glorified
Who healed such a disease. For it was the hand of the
Physician that cut and healed the greatness of the sore.
That voice from Heaven prostrated the persecutor, andserm.
raised up the preacher ; killed Saul, and quickened Paul. ^^^' ^*
For Saul was the persecutor of a holy man ; thence had this , „
^ " . . 1 Sam.
man his name, when he persecuted the Christians: afterward xix.
■^ Quod susum faciens jusum; quod Several Mss. have sursum deorsum for
deorsum faciens sursum. Jusum vis susum jusum. Ben. Laud 116 and
facere Deum, et te susum? Infra x. 136, and also Bodl. 813, as first vsrritten,
8. Jusum me honoras, susum me calcas. have ' susum,' 'jusum.'
1 1 9*2 John seems to speak only of hrofherly love.
HoMiL.of Saul he became Paul. What does the name Paulus
-Xlil^-mean? Little. Therefore when he was Saul, he was proud,
lifted up ; when he was Paul, he was lowly, little. Thus we
say, I will see thee " paulo post," i. e. after a little while S
1 Cor. Hear that he was made little : For I am the least of the
If'ifg Apostles; and. To me the least of all saints^ he saith in
8. another place. So was he among the Apostles as the hem
of the garment : but the Church of the Gentiles touched it,
Matt. 9, as did the woman which had the flux, and was made whole.
20—22. g Then, brethren, this I would say, this I do say, this if
I might I would not leave unsaid : Let there be in you now
these works, now those, according to the time, according to
the hours, according to the days. Are you always to be
speaking ? always to keep silence ? always to be refreshing
the body ? always to be fasting } always to be giving bread
to the needy } always to be clothing the naked ? always to
be visiting the sick ? always to be bringing into agreement
them that disagree ? always to be burying the dead ? No :
but now this, now that. These things are taken in hand,
and they stop: but that which as Emperor commands all
the forces within neither hath beginning nor ought to stop.
Let charity within have no intermission : let the offices of
Heb.13, charity be exhibited according to the time. Let brotherly
love then, as it is written, let brotherly love continue.
4. But perchance it will have struck some of you all along,
while we have been expounding to you this Epistle of
blessed John, why it is only brotherly love that he so
cli. 2, emphatically commends. He that loveth his brother, saith
23.' ' he ; and, a commandment is given us that we love one another.
Again and again it is of brotherly love that he speaks : but the
love of God, i. e. the love with which we ought to love God, he
has not so constantly named ; howbeit, he has not altogether
left it unspoken of. But concerning love of an enemy, almost
* So Serm. 101, 1 : 168, 7 : 279, 5 : wont to assume a title from the nations
3i5, 7: Lib. fie Sp. et Litt. 7. §. 12. they have conquered, as Parthicus and
But Confess, viii. 4. §.9, it is remarked, Gothicus from Parthians and Goths,
without reference to the etymology, so the Apostle took the appellation
that the change of name from Saul to Paulus from the Paulus whom he had
Paul was designed to commemorate subjugated. Which we do not think
the conversion of Sergius Paulus, Acts is altogether to be set aside." S. Jerome
13, 7. 12. Origen PrjEf. in Ep. ad Rom. Coram, in Ep. ad Philem. '' As Scipio
Some have thought that the Apostle took the name Africanus as conqueror
took the name ol l^iulus the Proconsul of Africa, so the Apostle took the name
whom at (.yprus he had subjected to Paulus by way of trophy &c."
the faith of Christ: that as kings are
But Chris fs command is, Love your enemies. 1 1 93
throughout the Epistle, he has said nothing. Although he l John
vehemently preaches up and commends charity to us, he i2_ig,
does not tell us to love our enemies, but tells us to love our
brethren. But just now, when the Gospel was read, we heard,
For if ye love them that love you., what reward shall ye have ? Matt. 5,
Do not even the publicans this? How is it then that John^^-
the Apostle, as the thing of great concern to us in order to
a certain perfection, commends brotherly love ; whereas the
Lord saith it is not enough that we love our brethren,
but that we ought to extend that love so that we may
reach even to enemies ? He that reaches even unto enemies
does not overleap the brethren. It must needs, like fire, first
seize upon what is nearest, and so extend to what is further off.
A brother is nearer to thee than any chance person. Again,
that person has more hold upon thee whom thou knowest
not, who yet is not against thee, than an enemy who is
also against thee. Extend thy love to them that are
nearest, yet do not call this an extending : for it is almost
loving thyself, to love them that are close to thee. Extend it
to the unknown, who have done thee no ill. Pass even them :
reacfi on to love thine enemies. This at least the Lord
commands. Why has the Apostle here said nothing about
loving an enemy ?
5. All love*, whether that which is called carnal, which isidilectio
wont to be called not " dilectio" but " amor" : for the word
" dilectio" is wont to be used of better objects, and to be
understood of better objects : yet all love, dear brethren, hath
in it a wishing well to those who are loved. For we ought not
so to love, nor are we able so to love, (whether " diligere" or
" amare" : for this latter word the Lord used when He said,
" Petre, amas 3Ie V Peter, lovest thou Me f) we ought not
so to love 2 men, as we hear gluttons say, I love thrushes. 2 amare
Thou askest why he loves them ? That he may kill, that he
may consume. He says he loves, and to this end loves he
them, that they may cease to be ; to this end loves he them,
that he may make aw^ay with them. And whatever we love
in the way of food, to this end love we it, that it may be con-
sumed and w^e recruited. Are men to be so loved as to be
consumed? But there is a certain friendliness of well wishing,
by which we desire at some time or other to do good to those
1194 All Love desires the good of its object.
HoMiL. whom we love. How if there be no good that we can do ?
-ZIILXhe benevolence, the wishing well, of itself sufficeth him
that loves. For we ought not to wish men to be wretched,
that we may be enabled to exercise worlds of mercy. Thou
givest bread to the hungry : but better it were that none hun-
gered, and thou hadst none to give to. Thou clothest the
naked : oh that all were clothed, and this need existed not !
Thou biuiest the dead : oh that it were come at last, that life
where none shall die 1 Thoureconcilest the quarrelling : oh that
it were here at last, that eternal peace of Jerusalem, where none
shall disagree ! For all these are offices done to necessities.
Take away the wretched ; there will be an end to works of
mercy. The works of mercy will be at an end ; shall the
ardour of charity be quenched ? With a truer touch of love
thou lovest the happy man, to whom there is no good office
thou canst do ; purer will that love be, and far more un-
alloyed. For if thou have done a kindness to the wretched,
perchance thou desirest to lift up thyself over against him, and
wishest him to be subject to thee, who is the occasion of the
good done by thee. He was in need, thou didst bestow;
thou seemest to thyself greater because thou didst bestow,
than he upon whom it was bestowed. Wish him thine equal,
that ye both may be under the One Lord, on Whom nothing
can be bestowed.
6. For in this the proud soul has passed bounds, and, in a
1 Tim. manner, become avaricious, or grasping. For, The root of all
Eccliis. ^^*^* is avarice ; and again it is said. The beginning of all
10, 16. siji ig pride. And we ask, it may be, how these two sen-
tences agree : TJie root of all evils is avarice; and. The
beginning of all sin is pride. If pride is the beginning of all sin,
then is pride the root of all evils. Now certainly, the root of
all evils is avarice. We find that in pride there is also avarice,
or grasping ; for man has passed bounds : and what is it to be
avaricious, or grasping? to go beyond that which sufficeth.
Adam fell by pride : the begiiininx) of all sin is pride, saith
it : did he fall by grasping ? What more grasping, than he
whom God could not suffice ? In fact, my brethren, we read
how man was made after the image and likeness of God : and
Gen. 1, what said God of him? A^id let him have power over the
fishes of tJie sea, and over the fowl of the heaven, and over
Man, created in the image of God, 1 105
all cattle which move upon the earth. Said He, Have power i -John
over men ? Have power, saith He : He hath given him 12—1*6.
natural power : have power over what ? over the Jishes of the
sea, the fowl of the heaven, and all moving things which move
upon the earth. Why is this power over these things a
natural power? Because man hath the power from this;
that he was made after the image of God. And in what was
he made after God's image ? In the intellect, in the mind, in
the inner man ; in that he understands truth, distinguishes
between right and wrong, knows by Whom he was made, is
able to understand his Creator, to praise his Creator : he
hath this inteUigence, who hath prudence. Therefore when
many by evil lusts wore out in themselves the image of God,
and by perversity of their manners extinguished the very flame,
so to say, of inteUigence, the Scripture cried aloud to them,
Become not ye as ihehorse and mule which haveno understand- Ps.32,9.
ing. That is to say, I have set thee above the horse and mule ;
thee, I made after Mine image, 1 have given thee power over
these. Why? Because they have not the rational mind:
but thou by the rational mind art capable of the truth, under-
standest what is above thee: be subject to Him that is above
thee, and beneath thee shall those things be over which thou
was set. But because by sin man deserted Him Whom he
ought to be under, he is made subject to the things which
he ought to be above.
7. Mark what I say: God, man, beasts: to wit, above
thee, God ; beneath thee, the beasts. Acknowledge Him
that is above thee, that those may acknowledge thee that are Dan. 6,
beneath thee. Thus, because Daniel acknowledged God
above him, the lions acknowledged him above them. But if
thou acknowledge not Him that is above thee, thou despisest
thy Superior, thou becomest subject to thine inferior. Ac-
cordingly, how was the pride of the Egyptians quelled ? By Exod.
the means of frogs and flies. God might have sent lions :
but a great man may be scared by a lion. The prouder
they were, the more by the means of things contemptible
and feeble was their wicked neck broken. But Daniel, lions
acknowledge, because he was subject to God. What ? the
martyrs who were cast to the wild beasts to fight with them,
and were torn by the teeth of savage creatures, were they
4 I
1196 is set above the irrational creatures ;
HoMiL. not under God? or were those three men servants of God,
-^IH^and the Maccabees not servants of God ? The fire acknow-
?o!°* ^' ledged God's servants the three men, whom it burned not,
2..'^^^^- neither hurt their garments ; and did it not acknowledge the
Maccabees? It acknowledged the Maccabees; it did, my
brethren, acknowledge them also. But there was need of
Heb.i2, a scourge, by the Lord's permission. Who hath said in Scrip-
^* ture. He scour geth every son whom He receiveth. For think
1 viscera ve, my brethren, the iron would have pierced into the vitals*
of the Lord unless He had permitted it, or that He would
have hung fastened to the tree, unless it had been His will?
Did not His own creature acknowledge Him ? Or did He set
an ensample to His faithful ones? Ye see then, God delivered
some visibly, some He delivered not visibly: yet all He
spiritually delivered, spiritually deserted none. Visibly He
seemed to have deserted some, some He seemed to have
rescued. Therefore rescued He some, that thou mayest not
think that He had not power to rescue. He has given proof that
He has the power, to the end that where He doth it not, thou
mayest understand a more secret will, not surmise difficulty
of doing. But what, brethren ? When we shall have come
out of all these snares of mortality, when the times of tempt-
ation shall have passed away, when the river of this world
shall have fleeted by, and we shall have received again that
first rohe% that immortality which by sinning we have lost,
iCor.Xb^when this corruptible shall have pat on incorruption, that is,
44—49. ^j^^g ^Q^\\ shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality ; the now perfected sons of God,
where is no more need to be tempted neither to be scourged,
shall all the creature acknowledge : subjected to us shall all
things be, if we here be subjected to God.
6. So then ought the Christian to be, that he glory not
over other men. For God hath given it thee to be over the
" Luke 15, 22. stolani ■prhnam. immortality which Adam lost?" Ter-
S. Aug. de Gen. ad litt. vi. 38. "That tuUian: vestem pristinam, priorem :
first robe is either the righteousness " the former robe, which he had of old
from which man fell ; or, if it signify . . . the clothing of the Holy Spirit."
the clothing of bodily immortality, this Theophylact. ttjj/ (ttoX^v tV apxaiav
also he lost, when by reason of sin he . . . rh ^vZvfxa rrjs a(pdap(rias, " the
could not attain thereto;" and §. 81. original robe, the clothing of incorrup-
" Why is the first robe brought forth tion."
to him, but as he receives again the
hy pride, he sets himself above his fellows, 1197
beasts, i.e. to be better than the beasts. This hast thou by l John
nature ; thou shalt always be better than a beast. If thou i2_i*6.
wish to be better than another man, thou wilt begrudge him
when thou shalt see him to be thine equal. Thou oughtest
to wish all men to be thine equals ; and if by wisdom thou
surpass any, thou oughtest to wish that he also may be wise.
As long as he is slow, he learns from thee ; as long as he is
untaught, he hath need of thee ; and thou art seen to be the
teacher, he the learner ; therefore thou seemest to be the
superior, because thou art the teacher; he the inferior,
because the learner. Except thou wish him thine equal,
thou wishest to have him always a learner. But if thou
wish to have him always a learner, thou wilt be an envious
teacher. If an envious teacher, how wilt thou be a teacher ?
I pray thee, do not teach him thine enviousness. Hear the
Apostle speaking of the bowels of charity : / would that all i Cor. 7,
were even as I. In what sense did he wish all to be his
equals ? In this was he superior to all, that by charity he
wished all to be his equals. I say then, man has past bounds;
he would needs be greedy of more than his due, would be abov^e
men, he that was made above the beasts : and this is pride.
9. And see what great works pride does. Lay it up in
your hearts, how much alike, how much as it were upon a
par, are the works it doeth, and the works of charity. Charity
feeds the hungry, and so does pride : charily, that God may
be praised; pride, that itself may be praised. Charity clothes
the naked, so does pride : charity fasts, so does pride :
charity buries the dead, so does pride. All good works which
charity wishes to do, and does ; pride, on the other hand,
drives at the same, and, so to say, keeps her horses up to the
mark. But charity is between her and it, and leaves not
place for ill-driven pride; not ill-driving, but ill-driven.
Woe to the man whose charioteer is Pride, for he must needs
go headlong! But that, in the good that is done, it may not be
pride that sets us on, who knows the difference } who sees
it.? where is it? the works we see : mercy feeds, pride also
feeds; mercy takes in the stranger, pride also takes in the
stranger ; mercy intercedes for the poor, pride also intercedes.
How is this ? In the works we see no difference. I dare to
say somewhat, but not 1; Paul hath said it: charity dies,
4 I 2
1 198 Pride vies with charity in outwardly good works.
HoMiL. that is, a man having charity confesses the name of Christ,
—^^ suffers martyrdom : pride also confesses, suffers also martyr-
dom. The one hath charity, the other hath not charity.
1 Cor. But let him that hath not charity hear from the Apostle : If
' ' I disirihute all my goods to the poor, and if I give my body
to he burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
So then the Divine Scripture calls us off from the display of
the face outwardly to that which is within; from this surface
which is displayed before men, it calls us off to that which is
within. Return to thine own conscience, question it. Do not
consider what blossoms outwardly, but what root there is in
the gi-ound. Is lust rooted there ? A show there may be of
good deeds, truly good works there cannot be. Is charity
rooted there ? Have no fear : nothing evil can come of that.
»s8evit The proud caresses, love * is severe. The one clothes, the
other beats. For the one clothes in order to please men, the
other beats in order to correct by discipline. More accepted
is the blow of charity than the alms of pride. Come then
within, brethren ; and in all things, whatsoever ye do, look
unto God your Witness. See, if He seeth, with what mind
ye do it. If your heart accuse you not that ye do it for the
sake of display, it is well: fear ye not,. But when ye do
good, fear not lest another see you. Fear thou lest thou do
it to the end that thou mayest be praised : let the other see
it, that God may be praised. For if thou hidest it from the
eyes of man, thou hidest it from the imitation of man, thou
withdrawest from God His praise. Two are there to whom
thou doest the alms : two hunger ; one for bread, the other
for righteousness. Between these two famishing souls: — as it
Matt. 5, is written, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall he filled: — between these two
famishing persons thou the doer of the good work art set; if
charity does the work by occasion of the one, therein it hath
pity on both, it would succour both. For the one craves
what he may eat, the other craves what he may imitate. Thou
feedest the one, give thyself as a pattern to the other; so hast
thou given alms to both : the one thou hast caused to thank
thee for killing his hunger, the other tliou hast made to imitate
thee by setting him an example.
JO. Shew mercy then, as men of merciful hearts; because
To love our enemy is to wish his salvatioii, 1199
in loving enemies also, ye love brethren. Think not that i J^^hn
John has given no precept concerning love of our enemy, 12—16.
because he has not ceased to speak of brotherly love. Ye
love brethren. * How,' sayest thou, * do we love brethren ?'
[ ask wherefore thou lovest an enemy. Wherefore dost thou
love him ? That he may be whole in this life ? what if it be
not expedient for hiin ? That he may be rich? what if by
very riches he shall be blinded ? That he may marry a wife ?
what if he shall have a bitter life of it? That he may have
children ? what if they shall be bad ? Uncertain therefore
are these things which thou seemest to wish for thine enemy,
in that thou lovest him; they are uncertain. Wish for him
that he may have with thee eternal life; wish for him that he
may be thy brother: when thou lovest him, thou lovest a
brother. For thou lovest in him not what he is, but what
thou wish est that he may be. I once said to you, my
beloved, if I mistake not: There is a log of timber lying in
sight; a good workman has seen the log, not yet planed,
just as it was hewn from the forest, he has taken a liking to
it, he would make something out of it. In his art he has
seen what it shall be, not in his liking what it is ; and his
liking is for the thing he will make of it, not for the thing it
is. So God loved us sinners. We say that God loved
sinners: for He saith, They that are whole need not Me Matt. 9,
Physician^ but they that are sick. Did He love us sinners *
to the end we should still remain sinners ? As timber from
the wood our Carpenter saw us, and had in His thoughts
the building He would make thereof, not the unwrought
timber that it was. So too thou seest thine enemy striving
against thee, raging, biting with words, exasperating with
contumelies, harassing with hatred: thou hast regard to this
in him, that he is a man. Thou seest all these things that
are against thee, that they were done by man; and thou
seest in him that he was made by God. Now that he was
made man, was God's doing : but that he hates thee, is his
doing ; that he has ill-will at thee, is his doing. And what
sayest thou in thy mind ? Lord, be merciful to him, forgive
him his sins, strike terror into him, change him. Thou lovest
not in him what he is, but what thou wishest him to be.
Consequently, when thou lovest an enemy, thou lovest a
1-200 and therefore is to love a brother,
HoMiL. brother. Wherefore, perfect love is the loving an enemy :
^^^^: which perfect love is in brotherly love. And let no man say
that John ihe Apostle has monished us somewhat less, and
the Lord Christ somewhat more. John has monished us to
love the brethren ; Christ has admonished us to love even
enemies. Mark to what end Christ hath bidden thee to
love thine enemies. That they may remain always enemies ?
If He bade it for this end, that they should remain enemies,
»odis thou ^hatest, not lovest. Mark how He Himself loved, i.e.
because He would not that they should be still the per-
Luke secutors they were, He said, Father^ forgive them ^ for they
^^' ^^' know not what they do. Whom He willed to be forgiven,
them He willed to be changed : whom He willed to be
changed, of enemies He deigned to make brethren, and did
in truth make them so. He was killed, was buried, rose
again, ascended into heaven : sent the Holy Ghost to His
disciples: they began with boldness to preach His name,
they did miracles in the name of Him that was crucified and
slain : those slayers of the Lord saw them ; and they who in
raging had shed His blood, by believing drank it.
11. These things have I said, brethren, and somewhat at
length : yet because charity was to be more earnestly com-
mended to you, beloved, in this way was it to be commended.
For if there be no charity in you, we have said nothing. But
if it be in you, we have as it were cast oil upon the flames.
And in whom it was not, perchance by words it hath been
kindled. In one, that which was there hath grown ; in
another, that hath begun to be, which was not. To this end
therefore have we said these things, that ye be not slow to
love your enemies. Does any man rage against thee ? he
rages, pray thou ; he hates, pity thou. It is the fever of his
soul that hates thee : he will be whole, and will thank thee.
How do physicians love them that are sick ? Is it the sick that
they love ^. If they love them as sick, they wish them to be
always sick. To this end love they the sick ; not that they
should still be sick, but that of sick they should be made whole.
And how much have they very often to suffer from the frenzied !
What contumelious language! Very often they are even struck
by them. He attacks the fever, forgives the man. And what shall
I say, brethren ? does he love his enemy ? Nay, he hates his
TTie enmity comes from his sin, his disease. 1201
enemy, the disease ; for it is this that he hates, and loves the i John
man by whom he is struck: he hates the fever. For by whom 12. \3.
or by what is he struck ? by the disease, by the sickness, by the
fever. He takes away that which strives against him, that
there may remain that from which he shall have thanks. So
do thou. If thine enemy hate thee, and unjustly hate thee;
know that the lust of the world reigns in him, therefore he
hates thee. If thou also hate him, thou on the other hand
renderest evil for evil. What good does it, to render evil for
evil ? I wept for one sick man who hated thee ; now bewail
1 thee, if thou also hatest. But he attacks thy property ; he
takes from thee I know not what things which thou hast on
earth : therefore hatest thou him, because he puts thee to
straits on earth. Be not thou straitened, remove thee to
heaven above; there shalt thou have thine heart where
there is wide room, that thou mayest not be straitened in the
hope of life eternal. Consider what the things are that he
takes from thee : not even them would he take from thee, but
by permission of Him Who scourgeth every son whom ^eHeb. 12,
receiveth. He, this same enemy of thine, is in a manner the
chirurgical instrument^ in the hands of God, by which thou* f^rra-
mayest be healed. If God knows it to be good for thee that
he should spoil thee, He permits him : if He knows it to be
good for thee that thou shouldest receive blows. He permits
him, that thou mayest be beaten : by the means of him He
is giving thee cure : wish thou that he may be made whole.
12. No 7nan hath seen God at any time. See, beloved: i/'^-i^.
we love one another, God will dwell in us, and His love will
he perfected in us. Begin to love ; thou shalt be perfected.
Hast thou begun to love ? God has begun to dwell in thee :
love Him that has begun to dwell in thee, that by more
perfect indwelling He may make thee perfect. In this we^- 13.
know that we dwell in Him and He in us, because He hath
given us of His Spirit. It is well : thanks be to God ! We
come to know that He dwelleth in us. And whence come
we to know this very thing, to wit, that we do know that He
dwelleth in us } Because John himself has said this : Because
He hath given us of His Spirit. Wlience know we that He
hath given us of His Spirit ? This very thing, that He hath
given thee of His Spirit, whence comest thou to know it.?
1202 Let none despair, having such a Physician.
HoMTL. Ask thine own bowels : if they are full of charity, thou hast
J^lHIithe Spirit of God. Whence know we that by this thou
Rom. 5, knowest that the Spirit of God dwelleth in thee ? Because
^' the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts hy the Holy
Spirit which is given unto us.
V. 14. 13. And ice have seen, and are witnesses, that God hath sent
His Son to he the Saviour of the world. Set your minds at rest,
ye that are sick : such a Physician is come, and do ye despair ?
Great were the diseases, incurable were the sores, desperate
was the sickness. Dost thou note the greatness of thine ill,
and not note the omnipotence of the Physician ? Thou art
desperate, but He is omnipotent, Whose witnesses are these
that first were healed, and that announce the Physician : yet
even they, made whole in hope rather than in the- reality.
Id. 8 24. ^o^^ so saith the Apostle : For by hope we are saved. We
have begun therefore to be made whole in faith : but our
1 Coj.^ wholeness shall be perfected when this corruptible shall have
15, 53. put Qfi incorruplion, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality. This is hope, not the reality. But he that
rejoiceth in hope shall hold the reality also : whereas he that
hath not the hope, shall not be able to attain unto the
reality.
^15^ 14. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of Gody
God dwelleth in him and he in God. Now we may say it in
not many words; Whosoever shall corf ess ; not in word but
in deed, not with tongue but with the life. For many confess
^ jg in words, but in deeds deny. And we have known and
believed the love which God hath in us. And again, by
what hast thou come to know this? Love is God. He
hath already said it above, behold he saith it again. Love
could not be more exceedingly commended to thee than that
it should be called God. Haply thou wast ready to despise
a gift of God. And dost thou despise God? Love is God:
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
dwelleth in him. Each mutually inhabiteth the other; He
that holdeth, and he that is holden. Thou inhabitest God,
but that thou mayest be holden : God inhabiteth thee, but
that He may hold thee, that thou fall not. Lest haply thou
imagine that thou bccomest an house of God in such sort as
thine house supports thy flesh : if the house in which thou
God needs not us, but we need Him. 1208
art withdraw itself from under thee, thou fallest; but if thou i John
withdraw thyself, God falleth not. When thou forsakest Him, V^JlIIl
He is none the less; when thou hast returned unto Him, He is £v. ii.
none the greater. Thou art healed, on Him thou wilt bestow 5.p.i70.
nothing ; thou art made clean, thou art new-made, thou art set
right: He is a medicine to the unhealthy, is a rule for the
crooked, is light for the bedarkened, is an habitation for the
deserted. All therefore that is conferred, it is on thee: see
thou imagine not that ought is conferred upon God by thy
coming unto Him : no, not so much as a slave. Shall God,
forsooth, not have servants if thou like not, if all like not ?
God needs not the servants, but the servants need God :
therefore saith the Psalm, / have said unto the Lord, Thou art Psa. 16,
2
my God. He is the true Lord. And what saith it ? For of my
goods Thou hast no need. Thou needest the good thou hast
by thy servant. Thy servant needeth the good he hath by
thee, that thou mayest feed him ; thou also needest the good
thou hast by thy servant, that he may help thee. Thou canst
not draw water for thyself, canst not cook for thyself, canst
not run before thy horse, canst not tend thy beast. Thou
seest that thou needest the good thou hast by thy servant,
thou needest his attendance. Therefore thou art not a true
lord, while thou hast need of an inferior. He is the true
Lord, Who seeks nothing from us ; and woe to us if we seek
not Him ! He seeks nothing from us : yet He sought us,
when we sought not Him. One sheep had strayed; He
found it, He brought it back on His shoulders rejoicing. Luteis,
And was the sheep necessary for the Shepherd, and not rather ^' ^*
the Shepherd necessary for the sheep ? — The more I love to
speak of Charity, the less willing am 1 that this Epistle should
be finished. None is more ardent in the commending of
Charity. Nothing more sweet is preached to you, nothing
more wholesome drunk by you : but only if by good living ye
confirm in you the gift of God. Be not ungracious to His so
great grace. Who, though He had one Only Son, would not
that He should be alone a Son ; but, that He might have
brethren, adopted unto Him those who should with Him
possess life eternal.
HOMILY IX.
1 John iv. 17—21.
Herein is love made perfect in us, that we may have boldiiess
in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in
this world. There is no fear in love ; but perfect love
casteth out fear : because fear hath torment. He that
feareth is not made perfect in love. Let us love Him,
because He first loved us. If a man say, 1 love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his
brother whom he seeth, how can he love God Whom he
seeth not ? And this commandment have we from Him,
That he who loveth God love his brother also.
1. Ye remember, beloved, that of the Epistle of John the
Apostle the last part remains to be handled by us and ex-
pounded to you, as the Lord vouchsafes. Of this debt then
we are mindful : and ye ought to be mindful of your claim.
For indeed this same charity, which in this Epistle is chiefly
and almost alone commended, at once maketh us most faithful
in paying our debts, and you most sweet in exactingyour rights.
1 have said, most sweet in exacting, because where charity is
not, he that exacts is bitter : but where charity is, both he that
exacts is sweet, and he of whom it is exacted, although he
have to undertake some labour, yet charity makes the very
labour to be no labour, and light. Do we not see how, even in
dumb and irrational animals, where the love is not spiritual
but carnal and natural, with great affection the mother yields
herself to her yoimg ones when they will have the milk which
is their right : and however impetuously the suckling rushes at
Mutual love of teachers and taught, 1205
the teats, yet that is better for the mother than that it should i John
. IV
not suck nor exact that which of love is due ? Often we see ]g_ {>j^
great calves driving their heads at the cow's udders with a force
that almost lifts up the mother's body, yet does she not kick
them off; nay, if the young one be not there to suck, the dam
lows for it to come to the teats. If then there be in us that
spiritual charity of which the Apostle saith, I became small i Thess.
in the midst of you even as a nurse cherishing her young '
ones; we love you the more when ye shew an eagerness to
have your dues. We like not the sluggish, because for the
languid ones we are afraid. We have been obliged, however,
to intermit the continuous reading of this Epistle, because of
certain stated Lessons coming between, which must needs
be read on their holy days, and the same preached upon.
Let us now come back to the order which was broken in
upon ; and what remains, holy brethren, receive ye with all
attention. I know not whether charity could be more
magnificently commended to us, than that it should be said,
Charity is God, Brief praise, yet mighty praise: brief in v. 16.
utterance, mighty in meaning ! How soon is it said. Love is
God I This also is short: if thou count it, it is one : if thou
weigh it, how great is it ! Love is God, and he that dwelleth,
saith he, in love^ dwellelh in God, and God dwelleth in him.
Let God be thy house, and be thou an house of God; dwell
in God, and let God dwell in thee. God dwelleth in thee,
that He may hold thee : thou dwellest in God, that thou
mayest not fall; for thus saith the Apostle of this same
Charity, Charity never falleth. How should He fall whom i Cor.
Godholdeth? ^^'^*
2. Herein is our love made perfect in us, that we have^. 17.
boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are
we in this world. He tells how each may prove himself,
what progress charity has made in him ; or rather what
progress he has made in charity. For if Charity is God,
God is capable neither of proficiency nor of deficiency : that
charity is said to be making proficiency in thee, means only
that thou makest proficiency in it. Ask therefore what
proficiency thou hast made in charity, and what thine heart
will answer thee, that thou mayest know the measure of thy
profiting. For he has promised to shew us in what we may
1206 Religion begins with fear of the Day of Judgment:
HoMiL.know Him, and hath said, In this is love made perfect in
^^- 2is. Ask in what ? That we have boldness in the day of
judgment. Whoso hath boldness in the day of judgment,
in that man is chanty perfect. What is it to have boldness
in the day of judgment ? Not to fear lest the day of judg-
ment should come. There are men who do not believe a
day of judgment; these cannot have boldness in a day which
they do not believe will come. Let us pass these : may
God awaken them, that they may live ; why speak we of the
dead ? They do not believe that there will be a day of
judgment; they neither fear nor desire what they do not
believe. Some man has begun to believe a day of jndgment:
if he has begun to believe, he has also begun to fear. But
because he fears as yet, because he hath not yet boldness in
the day of judgment, not yet is charity in that man made
perfect. But for all that, is one to despair ? In whom thou
seest the beginning, why despairest thou of the end ? What
beginning do I see? (sayest thou.) That very fear. Hear
Trov. l,the Scripture: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
J 5 ^^' wisdom. Well then, he has begun to fear the day of judg-
ment: by fearing let him correct himself, let him watch
against his enemies, i.e. his sins; let him begin to come to
life again inwardly, and to mortify his members which are
Coi.3 5. upon the earth, as the Apostle saith. Mortify your members
which are upon the earth. By the members upon earth he
ispiritu-Kieans 'spiritual wickedness: for he goes on to expound it,
aliane- Covetousness. uncleanness, and the rest which he there
quitiEe.
Eph. 6, follows out. Now in proportion as this man who has begun
to fear the day of judgment, mortifies his members which
are upon the earth, in that proportion the heavenly members
rise up and are strengthened. But the heavenly members
are all good works. As the heavenly members rise up, he
begins to desire that which once he feared. Once he feared
lest Christ should come and find in him the impious whom
He must condemn ; now he longs for Him to come, because
He shall find the pious whom He may crown. Having now
begun to desire Christ's coming, the chaste soul which
desires the embrace of the Bridegroom renounces the adul-
terer, becomes a virgin within by very faith, hope, and
charity. Now hath the man boldness in the day of judg-
made perfect in Chanty ^ the saints long for that Day. 1207
ment : he fights not against himself when he prays, Thy \l^^n
kingdom come. For he that fears lest Christ should come, MattTe,
fears lest his prayer be heard. How can he be said to pray, ^^*
who fears lest his prayer be heard ? But he that prays with
boldness of charity, wishes now that He may come. Of this
same desire said one in the Psalm, And Thou, Lord, how Psa. 6,
long ? Turn, Lord, and deliver my soul. He groaned at being ^* *
so put off. For there are men who with patience submit to
die ; but there are some perfect who with patience endure to
live. What do I mean ? When a person still desires this
life, that person, when the day of death comes, patiently
endures death : he struggles against himself that he may
follow the will of God, and in his mind makes that his
business which God chooseth, not what man's will chooseth :
from desire of the life present there comes a reluctance against
death, but yet he takes to him patience and fortitude, that he
may vvith an even mind meet death. But when a man desires,
as the Apostle saith, to be dissolved and to be with Christ. PWI- 1,
. . . . . 23. 24.
that person, not patiently dies, but patiently lives, delightedly
dies. See the Apostle patiently living, i. e. how with patience
he here, not loves life, but puts up with it. To be dissolved,
saith he, and to be with Christ, is far better : but to continue
in thejlesh is necessary for your sakes. Therefore, brethren,
do your endeavour, settle it inwardly with yourselves to make
this your concern, that ye may desire the day of judgment.
No otherwise is charity proved to be perfect, but only when
one has begun to desire that day. But that man desires it,
who hath boldness in it, whose conscience feels no alarm in
perfect and sincere charity.
3. In this is His love perfected in us, that we have boldness
in the day of Judgment. Why shall we have boldness?
Because as He is are we also in this world. Thou hast heard
the ground of thy boldness : Because as He is, saith the
Apostle, are we also in this world. Does he not seem to
have said something impossible ? For is it possible for man
to be as God ? I have already expounded to you that" ««"
is not always said of equality, but is said of a certain resem-
blance. For how sayest thou. As I have ears, so has my
image? Is it quite so? and yet thou sayest "50, «*." If
then w^e were made after God's image, why are we not so as
1 208 Fear of judgment prepares a place for Love :
HoMiL.God? Not unto equality, but relatively to our measure.
^^- Whence then are we given boldness in the day of judgment?
Because as He is, are we also is this world. We must take
this in reference to this same charity, and understand what
Matt. 6, is meant. The Lord in the Gospel saith, If ye love them
^^~^^- that love you, what reward shall ye have ? do not the pub-
licans this ? Then what would He have us do ? But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that per-
secute you. If then He bids us love our enemies, whence
fetches He an example to set before us ? From God Him-
self: for He saith, That ye may he the children of your
Father which is in heaven. How doth God this ? He loveth
His enemies, Who maketh His sun to rise upon the good
and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. If
this then be perfection unto which God inviteth us, that we
love our enemies as He loved His ; this is our boldness in
the day of judgment, that as He is, so are we also in this
world: in that, as He loveth His enemies in making His
sun to rise upon good and bad, and in raining upon just and
unjust, so we, because we cannot bestow upon them sun and
rain, bestow upon them our tears when we pray for them.
4. Now therefore concerning this same boldness, let us
see what he says. Whence do we understand that charity
V. J 8. is perfect } There is no fear in charity. Then what say we
of him that has begun to fear the day of judgment? If
charity in him were perfect, he would not fear. For perfect
charity would make perfect righteousness, and he would
have nothing to fear : nay rather he would have something
to desire ; that iniquity may pass away, and God's kingdom
come. So then, there is no fear in charity. But in what
charity ? Not in begun charity : in what then? But perfect
charity, saith he, casteth out fear. Then let fear make the
beginning, because the fear of the Lord is the heginniiig of
wisdom. Fear, so to say, prepares a place for charity. But
when once charity has begun to inhabit, the fear which
prepared the place for it is cast out. For in proportion as
this increases, that decreases : and the more this comes to
be within, is the fear cast out. Greater charity, less fear;
less charity, greater fear. But if no fear, there is no way for
charity to come in. As we see in sewing, the thread is
and is cast out by perfect Love. 1209
introduced by means of the ^bristle; the bristle first enters, i John
but except it come out the thread does not come into its ^^' '~
place : so fear first occupies the mind, but the fear does not se^am
remain there, because it enters only in order to introduce
charity. When once there is the sense of security in the
mind, what joy have we both in this world and in the world
to come ! Even in this world, who shall hurt us, being full
of charity ? See how the Apostle exults concerning this very
charity: W/io shall separate us from the charity of Christ ? Rom. 8
shall tribulation, or distress^ or persecution, or famine, or ^^'
nakedness, or peril, or sword? And Peter saith : Aiid who i Pet.3,
is he that will harm you, if ye be followers- of that which is]^'
good? — There is no fear in love ; but perfect love casteth out Mores
fear: because fear hath torment. The conscience of sins^"^^'
torments the heart : justification has not yet taken place.
There is that in it which itclies, which pricks. Accordingly in
the Psalm what saith he concerning this same perfection of
righteousness? Thou hast turned for me my mourning into ps. 30
joy: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with '^- ^2.
gladness; to the end that my glory may sing to Thee, and
that I be not pricked ^ What is this, That I be not pricked? 3
That there be not that which shall goad my conscience.
Fear doth goad: but fear not thou: charity enters in, and
she heals the wound that fear inflicts. The fear of God so
wounds as doth the leech's knife or lancef*; it takes away4 ferra-
the rottenness, and seems to make the wound greater, «centum
Behold, when the rottenness was in the body, the wound
was less, but perilous: then comes the knife; the wound
smarted less than it smarts now while the leech is cutting
it. It smarts more while he is operating upon it than it
would if it were not operated upon ; it smarts more under
the healing operation, but only that it may never smart when
the healing is effected. Then let fear occupy thine heart,
that it may bring in charity; let the cicatrice succeed to
the leech's knife. He is such an Healer, that the cicatrices
do not even appear: only do thou put thyself under His
hand. For if thou be without fear, thou canst not be justi-
fied. It is a sentence pronounced by the Scriptures; i^orEcclus.
he that is without fear, cannot be justified. Needs then ''^^'
must fear first enter in, that by it charity may come. Fear
non
com-
pungar
1210 But there is another fear that remalneth for ever,
HoMiL.is the healing operation: chanty, the wholeness. But he
— ^-^— that feareth is not made perfect in love. Why? Because
fear hath torment; just as the cutting of the chirurgeon's
knife hath torment.
Supra 5. But there is another sentence, which seems contrary to
43. p] this if it have not one that can understand. Namely, it is
"c/^ q q said in a certain place of the Psalms, The fear of the Lord
is chaste, enduring for ever. He shews us an eternal fear,
but a chaste. But if he there shews us an eternal fear, does
this Epistle perchance contradict him, when it saith, There
is no fear in love, hut perfect love casteth out fear? Let us
question both utterances of God. One is the Spirit, though
the books two, though the mouths two, though the tongues
two. For this is said by the mouth of John, that by the
mouth of David : but think not that the Spirit is other. If
one breath fills two pipes [of the double- flute], cannot one
Spirit fill two hearts, move two tongues? But if two pipes
filled by one breathing sound in unison, can two tongues
filled with the Spirit or Breathing of God make a dissonance ?
There is then an unison there, there is a harmony, only it
requires one that can hear. Behold, this Spirit of God
hath breathed into and filled two hearts, hath moved two
tongues : and we have heard from the one tongue, Tliere is
no fear in love ; hat perfect love casteth out fear ; we have
heard from the other, The fear of the Lord is chaste, enduring
for ever. How is this? The notes seem to jar. Not so:
rouse thine ears : mark the melody. It is not for nothing that
in the one place there is added that word, chaste, in the other
it is not added : but because there is one fear which is called
chaste, and there is another fear which is not called chaste.
Let us mark the difference between these two fears, and
so understand the harmony of the flutes. How are we to
understand, or how to distinguish? Mark, my beloved.
There are men who fear God, lest they be cast into hell, lest
haply they burn with the devil in everlasting fire. This is
the fear which introduces charity : but it comes that it may go
out. For if thou as yet fearest God because of punishments,
not yet thou lovcst Whom thou in such sort fearest. Thou
dost not desire the good things, but art afraid of the evil
things. Yet in that thou art afraid of the evil things, thou
The two sorts of fear illustrated 1 2 1 1
correctest thyself and beginnest to desire the good things, i Jobn
When once thou hast begun to desire the good, there shall — - — -
be in thee the chaste fear. What is the chaste fear? The
fear lest thou lose the good things themselves. Mark ! It is
one thing to fear God lest He cast thee into hell with the
devil, and another thing to fear God lest He forsake thee.
The fear by which thou fearest lest thou be cast into hell
with the devil, is not yet chaste ; for it comes not from the
love of God, but from the fear of punishment : but when thou
fearest God lest His presence forsake thee, thou embracest
Him, thou longest to enjoy God Himself.
6. One cannot better explain the difference between these
two fears, the one which charity casteth out, the other
chaste, w^hich endureth for ever, than by putting the case of
two married women, one of whom, suppose, is willing to
commit adultery, delights in wickedness, only fears lest she
be condemned by her husband. She fears her husband :
but because she yet loves wickedness, that is the reason why
she fears her husband. To this woman, the presence of her
husband is not grateful but burthensome ; and if it chance
she live wickedly, she fears her husband, lest he should come.
Such are they that fear the coming of the day of judgment.
Put the case that the other loves her husband, that she feels
that she owes him chaste embraces, that she stains herself
with no uncleanness of adultery ; she wishes for the presence
of her husband. And how are these two fears distinguished ?
The one woman fears, the other also fears. Question them :
they seem to make one answer : question the one, Dost thou
fear thine husband? she answers, I do. Question the other,
whether she fears her husband ; she answers, I do fear him.
The voice is one, the mind diverse. Now then let them be
questioned. Why ? The one saith, I fear my husband, lest
he should come : the other saith, I fear my husband, lest he
depart from me. The one saith, T fear to be condemned :
the other, I fear to be forsaken. Let the like have place in
the mind of Christians, and thou findest a fear which love
casteth out, and another fear, chaste, enduring for ever.
7. Let us speak then first to these who fear God, just in
the manner of that woman who delights in wickedness ;
namely, she fears her husband lest he condemn her : to such
4 K
12 12 hy the exam-pie of a chaste luife and an unchaste.
HoMiL.lct us first speak. O soul, which fearest God lest He
^^' condemn thee, just as the woman fears who delights in
wickedness ; fears her husband, lest she be condemned by her
husband: as thou art displeased at this woman, so be dis-
pleased at thyself If perchance thou hast a wife, wouldest
thou have thy wife fear thee in this sort, only lest she be
condemned by thee? that dehghting in wickedness, she
should be repressed only by the weight of the fear of thee,
not by the condemnation of her iniquity ? Thou wouldest
have her chaste, that she may love thee, not that she may
fear thee. Shew thyself such to God, as thou wouldest have
thy wife be to thee. And if thou hast not yet a wife, and
wishest to have one, thou wouldest have her such. And yet
what are we saying, brethren? That woman, whose fear
of her husband is, to be condemned by her husband, perhaps
does not commit adultery, lest by some means or other it come
to her husband's knowledge, and he deprive her of this
temporal light of life: but now the husband can be deceived
and kept in ignorance ; for he is but human, as she is who
can deceive him. She fears him, from whose eyes she can be
hid : and dost thou not fear the face ever upon thee of thine
Ps. 34, Husband ? TJie coimtenance of the Lord is against them that
^^' do evil. She catches at her husband's absence, and haply is
incited by the delight of adultery ; and yet she saith to herself,
1 will not do it : he indeed is absent, but it is hard to keep it
from coming in some way to his knowledge. She restrains
herself, lest it come to the knowledge of a mortal man, one who,
it is also possible, may never know it, who, it is also possible,
may be deceived, so that he shall esteem a bad woman to be
good, esteem her to be chaste who is an adulteress : and dost
thou not fear the eyes of Him Whom no man can deceive ? thou
not fear the presence of Him Who cannot be turned away
from thee? Pray God to look upon thee, and to turn His
Pa. 51, face away from thy sins ; Turn away Thy face from my sins.
But whereby dost thou merit that He should turn away His
face from thy sins? Only if thou turn not away thine own
face from thy sins. P'or the same voice saith in the Psalm :
lb. 3. For 1 acknowledge mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before
tu^pHMo^^- Acknowledge thou, and He forgives'.
i{?noscit. 8. We have addressed that soul which hath as yet the fear
6vpra
p. 193.
The one fears punishment^ the other to be forsaken. 1213
which enclureth not for ever, but which love shuts out and I John
. IV 19.
casts forth : let us address that also which hath now the fear — '- — '-
which is chaste, enduring for ever. Shall we get at that soul,
think you, that we may address it? think you, is it here in this
congregation? is it, think you, here in this chancel"? think
you, is it here on earth? It cannot but be, only it is hidden.
Now is the winter: within is the greenness in the root.
Haply we may get at the ears of that soul. But wherever
that soul is, oh that I could get at it, and instead of its giving
ear to me, might myself give ear to it ! It should teach me
something, rather than learn of me ! An holy soul, a soul of
fire and longing for the kingdom of God : that soul, not I
address, but God Himself doth address, and thus consoleth
while patiently it endures to live here on earth : '' Thou
wouldest that I should even now come, and I know that thou
wishest I should even now come: I know what thou art, such
that without fear thou mayest wait for Mine advent ; I know
that is a trouble to thee: but do thou even more wait,
endure; I comt', and come quickly." But to the loving soul
the time moves slowly. Hear her sighing, like a lily as she
is from amid the thorns, and saying, / will sing, and will^s. loi,
understand in a faultless^ way: when wilt Thou come unto\\^^^.
me? But in a faultless way well may she not fear; because ^^'^*^
perfect love casteth out fear. And when He is come to her
embrace, still she fears, but^ in the manner of one that feels ^ securi-
secure. What does she fear? She will beware and take heed
to herself against her own iniquity, that she sin not again :
not lest she be cast into the fire, but lest she be forsaken by
Him. And there shall be in her — what? the chaste fear,
enduring for ever. We have heard the two flutes sounding
in unison. That speaks of fear, and this speaks of fear: butEnarr.
that, of the fear with which the soul fears lest she be con- 2^^"^ g/
demned ; this, of the fear with which the soul fears lest she 49. §.3.
be forsaken. That is the fear which charity casteth out : this,
the fear that endureth for ever.
« Exedra. In Eusebius, this term or chancel; and with this agrees the
denotes certain outer buildings of the use of the term in Vitruvius, v. For-
Church,suchasthebaptistery &c. Hist, cellini s. v. Comp. de Civ. Dei xxii. 8.
Ecc. X. 4. Vales, ad Ens. de Vit. Const, and Epist. (ad Alyp.) 29, 8. Here the
iii. 50. Bingham, Antiq. viii, 3. §. 1. meaning is. Is such a soul present in
But in St. Augustine it evidently means this church ? among the laity ? among
that part of the church in which the the clergy?
Bishop had his seat, the sanctuarium,
4 k2
1*2 14 Love makes the soul lovely.
HoMiL. 9. Let us love^, because He first loved us. For how should
■; ^g' we love, except He had first loved us? By loving v^^e became
'a7a7rw- friends; but He loved us as enemies, that we might be made
^^^' friends. He first loved us, and gave us to love Him. We
did not yet love Him : by loving we are made beautiful. If
a man deformed and ill-featured love a beautiful woman, what
shall he do ? Or what shall a woman do, if, being deformed
and ill-featured and black-complexioned, she love a beautiful
man? By loving can she become beautiful? Can he by loving
become handsome? He loves a beautiful woman, and when
he sees himself in a mirror, he is ashamed to lift up his face
to her his lovely one of whom he is enamoured. What
shall he do that he may be beautiful ? Does he wait for good
looks to come? Nay rather, by waiting old age is added to
him, and makes him uglier. There is nothing then to do,
there is no way to advise him, but only that he should
restrain himself, and not presume to love one for whom he is
no match : or if perchance he does love her, and wishes to
take her to w^ife, in her let him love chastity, not the face of
flesh. But our soul, my brethren, is unlovely by reason of
iniquity: by loving God it becomes lovely. What a love^
must that be that makes the lover lovely ! But God is alw^ays
lovely, never unlovely, never changeable. He first loved us,
Who is always lovely ; and what were we wdien He loved us
but foul and unlovely? But not to leave us foul; no, but to
change us, and of unlovely make us lovely. How shall we
become lovely ? By loving Him Who is always lovely. As the
love increases in thee, so the loveliness increases : for love is
itself the loveliness of the soul. ' Let us love, because He
Rom. 5,Jirst loved us. Hear the Apostle Paul : But God shewed His
love in us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us: the just for the unjust, the beautiful for the foul. How
Psa. 45, find we Jesus beautiful ? Thou art beauteous in loveliness
2.
surpassing the sons of men ; grace is poured upon Thy
lips. Why so? Again see why it is that He is fair;
Beauteous in loveliness surpassing the sons of men : because
John 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word ivas
with God, and the Word was God. But in that He took
flesh, He took upon Him, as it were, thy foulness, i. e. thy
mortality, that He might adapt Himself to thee, and be^
ChrUt took upon Him our uuloveliness» 1*215
come a match for thee, and stir thee up to the love of the I John
beauteousness within. Where then in Scripture do we find — '- — -
Jesus uncomely and deformed, as we have found Him comely
and beauteous in loveliness surpassing the sons of men f
where find we Him also deformed? Ask Esaias : And\^^\.f>z,
we saw Hiin^ and He had no form nor comeliness. There '
now are two flutes which seem to make discordant sounds :
howbeit one Spirit breathes into both. By this it is said,
Beauteous in loveliness surpassing the sons of men : by that
it is said in Esaias, We saw Him, and He had no form nor
comeliness. By one Spirit are both flutes filled, they make
no dissonance. Turn not away thine ears, apply the under-
standing. Let us ask the Apostle Paul, and let him expound
to us the unison of the two flutes. Let him sound to us the
note, Beauteous in loveliness surpassing the sons of men.
— Who J being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be Phil. 2,
equal with God. Let him sound to us also the note. We '
saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness. — He made
Himself of no reputation, taking upon Him the form of a
servant, made in the likeness of men, and in fashion found as
man. He had no form nor comeliness, that He might give thee
form and comeliness. What form? what comeliness? The love
which is in Charity*: that loving, thou may est run^j running, idiiecti-
mayestlove. Thou art fair now : but stay not thy regard upon °"®"?
thyself, lest thou lose what thou hast received ; let thy regards tatis.
terminate in Him by Whom thou wast made fair. Be thou fair i f °*'
only to the end He may love thee. But do thou direct thy whole
aim to Him, run thou to Him, seek His embraces, fear to
depart from Him ; that there may be in thee the chaste fear,
which endureth for ever. Let us love, because He first loved us.
10. If any 7nan say, I love God. What God'? wherefore v. 20.
love vve ? Because He first loved us, and gave us to love.
He loved us ungodly, to make us godly; loved us unrighteous,
to make us righteous ; loved us sick, to make us whole. Ask
each several man; let him tell thee if he love God. He cries
out, he confesses : / love, God knoweth. There is another
question to be asked. Jfany man say, I love God, and hateth
his brother, he is a liar. By what pro vest thou that he is a liar ?
Hear. For he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how
V QuemDeum? Ben. Ed.Loavain. preceding i)e^^y« would be better omitted,
reads it, Quem? Deum. But then the " If any man say ^ Hove — Whom? Gof/,"
1216 No love of the brotherhood without loving God :
UoMiL.can he love God Whom he seeth not? What then? does he
^^- that loves a brother, love God also ? He must of necessity love
God, must of necessity love Him that is Love Itself. Can
one love his brother, and not love Love ? Of necessity he must
love Love. What then ? because he loves Love, does it follow
that he loves God? Certainly it does follow. In loving
Love, he loves God. Or hast thou forgotten what thou
V. 8. 16. saidst a little while ago. Love is God? If Love is God,
whoso loveth Love, loveth God. Love then thy brother,
and feel thyself assured. Thou canst not say, ' I love my
brother, but I do not love God.' As thon liest, if thou sayest
-^ — L love God, when thou lovest not thy brother, so thou art
deceived when thou sayest, I love my brother, if thou think
that thou lovest not God. Of necessity must thou who lovest thy
brother, love Love itself: but Love is God: therefore of neces-
sity must he love God, whoso loveth his brother. But if thou
love not the brother whom thou seest, how canst thou love
God Whom thou seest not.? Why does he not see God?
Because he has not Love itself. That he does not see God,
is, because he has not love : that he has not love, is, because he
loves not his brother. The reason then why he does not see
God, is, that he has not Love. For if he have Love, he sees
God, for Love is God: and that eye is becoming more and more
purged by love, to see that Unchangeable Substance, in the
presence of Which he shall always rejoice. Which he shall
enjoy to everlasting, when he is joined with the Angels.
Only, let him run now, that he may at last have gladness in
his own country. Let him not love his pilgrimage, not love
the way : let all be bitter save Him that calleth us, until we
Psa. 73, hold Him fast, and say what is said in the Psalm : Thou hast
^' ' destroyed all that go a-whoring from Thee — and who are they
that go a-whoring ? they that go away and love the world :
but what shaltthou do ? he goes on and says: — hut for me it
is good to hold me fast in God. All my good is, to cling unto
God, freely. For if thou question him and say, For what
dost ihou cling to Him? and he should say, That He may
give nie — Give thee what ? It is He that made the heaven,
He that made the eardi : what shall He give thee? Already
thou boldest Him in a fast embrace : find something better,
and He shall give it thee.
v.20.21. 1], ]?oy jfc ihat loveth not his brother ivhom he seeth, hoiv
Nor love of God without loving the brotherhood. 1217
can he love God Whom he seeth not? And this commandment ^ ^^hn
have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his brother 20. 21.
also. Marvellous fine talk it was, that thou didst say, / love
God, and hatest thy brother ! O murderer, how lovest thou
God? Hast thou not heard above in this very Epistle, ^ech.3, 15.
that hateth his brother is a murderer ? Yea, but I do verily
love God, however I hate my brother. Thou dost verily not
love God, if thou hate thy brother. And now I make it good
by another proof. This same Apostle hath said, He gave
us commandment that we should love one another. How
canst thou be said to love Him Whose commandment thou
hatest } Who shall say, I love the Emperor, but I hate his
laws ? In this the Emperor understands whether thou love
him, that his laws be observed throughout the provinces.
Our Emperor's Law, what is it? A new commandment give Johnis,
I unto yon, that ye love one another. Thou sayest then,
that thou lovest Christ: keep His commandment, and love thy
brother. But if thou love not thy brother, how canst thou be
said to love Him Whose commandment thou despisest? —
Brethren, I am never satiated in speaking of charity in the
name of the Lord. In what proportion ye have an insatiable
desire of this thing, in that proportion we hope the thing itself
is growing in you, and casting out fear, that so there may
remain that chaste fear which is for ever permanent.. Let
us endure the world, endure tribulations, endure the stum-
bling-blocks of temptations. Let us not depart from the
way; let us hold the unity of the Church, hold Christ, hold
charity. Let us not be plucked away from the members of
His Spouse, not be plucked away from faith, that we may
glory in His coming: and we shall securely abide in Him,
now by faith, then by sight, of Whom we have so great
earnest, even the gift of the Holy Spirit.
HOMILY X.
1 John v. 1 — 3.
Whosoever helieveth that Jesus is the Christ is horn of Qod:
and every one that loveth Him that hegat Him, loveth Him
also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that zve love
the children of God, because we love God, and do His com-
mandments. For this is the lore of God, that we keep His
commandments.
1. I SUPPOSE ye remember, those of you who were present
yesterday, to what place in the course of this Epistle our ex-
ch. 4, position has reached : namely, He that loveth not his brother
70.. ^1. ii^fiQri^i fiQ seeth, how can he love God Whom he seeth not? And
this commandment have ive from Him, That he who loveth
God, love his brother also. Thus far was discoursed upon.
ch. 5,1. Let us see then what comes next in order. Whosoever be-
lie veth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Who is
he that believeth not that Jesus is the Christ ? He that
does not so live as Christ commanded. For many say,
*' I believe :" but faith without works saveth not. Now the
Gal.5,6. work of faith is Love, as Paul the Apostle saith, And faith
which worketh by love. Thy past works indeed, before thou
didst believe, were either none, or if they seemed good, were
nothing worth. For if they were none, thou wast as a man
without feet, or with sore feet unable to walk : but if they
seemed good, before thou didst believe, thou didst run indeed,
but by running aside from the way thou wentest astray
instead of coming to the goal. It is for us, then, both to
run, and to run in the way. He that runs aside from the
Chrhtian faith and faith of devils, differenced by love. 1219
way, runs to no purpose, or rather runs but to toil. He i John
goes the more astray, the more he runs aside from the way. — :— — ^
What is the way by which we run ? Christ hath told us, / Johnl4,
am the Way. What the home to which we run } I am the
Truth. By Him thou runnest, to Him thou runnest, in Him
thou restest. But, that we might run by Him, He extended
Himself even unto us : for we were afar off, foreigners in a
far country. Not enough that we were in a far country, we
were feeble also that we could not stir. A Physician, He
came to the sick ; a Way, He stretched Himself to them
that were in a far country. Let us be saved by Him, let us
walk in Him. This it is to believe that Jesus is the Clirist,
as Christians believe, who are not Christians only in name,
but in deeds and in life, not as the devils believe. For Me James
. 2 19
devils also believe and tremble, as the Scripture tells us. '
AVhat more could the devils believe, than that they should
say. We hnoiv Who Thou art^ the Son of God ? What Matt. 8,
the devils said, the same said Peter also. When the Lordjyi3j.ti
asked them Who He was, and Whom did men say that 24.
He was, the disciples made answer to Him, Soine 5ayMat.i6,
that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias ; and others,^^~^^^'
JeremiaSj or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But
whom say ye that I am ? And Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And this
was said to him by the Lord : Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-jona ; for Jlesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, hut My Father which is in heaven. See what praises
follow this faith. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build My Church. What meaneth. Upon this rock I ivill build
My Church f Upon this faith ; upon this that has been
said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Upon
this rocJc, saith He, / will build My Church. Mighty praise !
So then, Peter saith. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
Living God: the devils also say, We know Who Thou art,
the Son of God, the Holy One of God. This Peter said,
this also the devils : the words the same, the mind not the
same. And how is it clear that Peter said this with love ?
Because a Christian's faith is with love, but a devil's without
love. How without love? Peter said this, that he might
embrace Christ j the devils said it, that Christ might depart
] 2*20 To love the Father is necessarily to love the Son ;
HoMiL.from Ihem. For before they said, We know Who Thou art,
^- the Son of God, they said, What have we to do with Thee f
Why art Thou come to destroy us before the time? It is one
thing then to confess Christ that thou mayest hold Christ,
another thing to confess Christ that thou mayest drive Christ
from thee. So then ye see, that in the sense in which lie
here saith. Whoso believeth, it is a faith of one's own, not as
one has a faith in common with many. Therefore, brethren,
let none of the heretics say to you, " We also believe." For
to this end have I given you an instance from the case of
devils, that ye may not rejoice in the words of believing, but
search well the deeds of the life.
2. Let us see then what it is to believe in Christ ; what
to believe that Jesus, He is the Christ. He proceeds: Who-
soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is horn of God. But
what is it to believe that ? And every oyie that loveth Him
that begat Him, loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. To
faith he hath straightway joined love, because faith without
love is nothing worth. With love, the faith of a Christian ;
without love, the faith of a devil : but those who believe not,
are worse than devils, more stupid than devils. Some man
will not believe in Christ : so far, he is not even upon a par
with devils. A person does now believe in Christ, but hates
Christ : he hath the confession of faith in the fear of punish-
ment, not in the love of the crown : thus the devils also
feared to be punished. Add to this faith love, that it may
Gal. 5, become a faith such as the Apostle Paul speaks of, 3. faith
which worketh by love : thou hast found a Christian, found
a citizen of Jerusalem, found a fellow-citizen of the Angels,
found a pilgrim sighing in the way : join thyself to him, he
is thy fellow-traveller, run with him, if indeed thou also art
this. Every one that loveth Him that begat Him, loveth Him
also that is begotten of Him. Who begat ? The Father. Who
is begotten ? The Son. What saith he then ? Every one that
loveth the Father, loveth the Son.
3. In this we know that we love the sons of God. What
is this, brethren ? Just now he was speaking of the Son of
God, not of sons of God : lo, here had we one Christ set before
us to contemplate, and were told, Whosoever believeth
that JesKS is the Christ is born of God : and every one that
6.
2. e. the Only-Begotten Son^ and the adopted sons, one Christ. 1 221
loveih Him that hegat, i. e. the Father, loveth Him also that i John
is begotten of Him, i. e. the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And ^' ^'
he goes on : In this we know that we love the sons of God ; as
if he had been about to say, In this we know that we love
the Son of God, He has said, the sons of God, whereas he
was speaking just before of the Son of God — because the
sons of God are the Body of the Only Son of God, and when
He is the Head, we the members, it is one Son of God.
Therefore, he that loves the sons of God, loves the Son of
God, and he that loves the Son of God, loves the Father;
nor can any love the Father except he love the Son, and he
that loves the sons, loves also the Son of God. What sons of
God ? The members of the Son of God. And by loving he
becomes himself a member, and comes through love to be in
the frame of the body of Christ, so there shall be one Christ,
loving Himself For when the members love one another, the
body loves itself. And whether one member suffer, all the i Cor.
members suffer with it ; or one member he honoured, all the^^\ '
members rejoice with it. And then he goes on to say, Now
ye are the body of Christ, and members. John was speaking
just before of brotherly love, and said, He that loveth not A?5ch.4,20.
brother whom he seeth, how can he love God Whom he seeth
not ? But if thou lovest thy brother, haply thou lovest thy
brother and lovest not Christ ? How should that be, when
thou lovest members of Christ ? When therefore thou lovest
members of Christ, thou lovest Christ ; when thou lovest
Christ, thou lovest the Son of God ; when thou lovest the
Son of God, thou lovest also the Father. The love therefore
cannot be separated into parts. Choose thee what thou wilt
love; the rest pursue thee. Suppose thou say, I love God
alone, God the Father. Thou liest: if thou lovest, thou lovest
Him not alone ; but if thou lovest the Father, thou lovest also
the Son. Behold, sayest thou, I love the Father, and I love
the Son: but this only, the Father God and the Son God, our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who ascended into heaven, and sitteth at
the right hand of the Father, that Word by Which all things
were made, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us :
this alone I love. Thou liest; for if thou lovest the Head, thou
lovest also the members ; but if thou lovest not the members,
neither lovest thou the Head. Dost thou not quake at the voice
122*2 Love of the world a hd<nl bondage.
HoMiL. uttered by the Head from Heaven on behalf of His members,
^' Saul^ Saul, why persecutest thou 3IE ? The persecutor of His
4. ' members He called His persecutor : His lover, the lover of
His members. Now what are His members, ye know, brethren :
none other than the Church of God. In this we know that
we love the sons of God, in that we love God. And how ?
Are not the sons of God one thing, God Himself another?
But he that loves God, lov^es His precepts. And what are the
John 13, precepts of God? A new commandment give I unto you,
^^' that ye love one another. Let none excuse himself by another
love, for another love; so and so only is it with this love: as
the love itself is compacted in one, so all that hang by it doth
it make one thing, and as fire melts them down into one. It
is gold : the lump is molten and becomes some one thing.
But unless the fervour of charity be applied, of many there
can be no melting down into one. That we love God, by
this k7iow we that we love the sons of God.
4. And by \vhat do we know that we love the sons of God ?
By this, thai we love God, and do His commandments* We
sigh here, by reason of the hardness of doing the command-
ments of God. Hear wdiat follows. O man, what toilest
thou in loving ? In loving avarice. With toil is that loved
which thou lovest: there is no toil in loving God. Avarice
will enjoin thee labours, perils, sorehardships and tribulations;
and thou wilt do its bidding. To what end? That thou mayest
have that with which thou shalt fill thy chest, and lose thy
peace of mind. Thou didst feel thyself haply more secure
before thou hadst it, than since thou didst begin to have. See
what avarice has enjoined thee. Thou hast filled thine house,
and art in dread of robbers ; hast gotten gold, lost thy
sleep. See what avarice has enjoined thee. Do, and thou
didst. What does God enjoin thee ? Love Me. Thou lovest
gold, thou wilt seek gold, and perchance not find it : whoso
seeks Me, I am with him. Thou wilt love honour, and per-
chance not attain unto it : who ever loved Me, and did not
attain? Thou wouldest make thee a patron, or a powerful
friend: thou seekest a way to his favour by means of another
inferior. Love Me, saith God to thee : favour with Me is not
had by making interest with any man : thy love itself makes Me
present to thee. What swceterthan thislove, brethren ? It is not
Charity the end of all perfectness. 1'223
for nothing that ye heard just now in the Psalm, The un- 1 John
righteous told me of delights^, hut not as is Thy Law^ O ' '
Ps. 119
Lord. What is the Law of God ? The commandment of 85.
God. What is the commandment of God? That 9iew
commandment, which is called new because it maketh new :
A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another. John 13,
Hear that this is the Law of God. The Apostle saith, Bear q^], 6,
ye one another's burdens, and so shall ye fulfil the Law of^-
Christ. This, even this, is the consummation of all our
works ; Love. In it is the end : for this we run : to it we
run ; when we are come to it, we shall rest.
5. Ye have heard in the Psalm, / have seen the end of all^^- 119>
^perfection. He hath said, I have seen the end of all per- icon,
fection : what had he seen? Think we, had he ascended tosumma-
the peak of some very high and pointed mountain, and looked
out thence and seen the compass of the earth, and the circles
of the round world, and therefore said, I have seen the end
of all perfection ? If this be a thing to be praised, let us ask
of the Lord eyes of the flesh so sharp-sighted, that we shall
but require some exceeding high mountain on earth, that
from its summit we may see the end of all perfection. Go
not far: lo, I say to thee, it is here; ascend the mountain,
and see the end. Christ is the Mountain ; come to Christ :
thou seesl thence the end of all perfection. What is this
end ? Ask Paul : But the end of the commandment is i Tim.
charity, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith ^' ^*
unfeigned : and in another place, Charity is the fulness,
or fulfilment, of the Law. What so finished and terminated
as fulness? For, brethren, the Apostle here uses end in a
way of praise. Think not of consumption, but of consum-
mation. For it is in one sense that one says, I have finished
my bread, in another, I have finished my coat. I have
finished the bread, by eating it : the coat, by making it.
In both places the word is " end," " finish :" but the
bread is finished by its being consumed, the coat is finished
by being made : the bread, so as to be no more ; the coat, so
as to be complete. Therefore in this sense take ye also this
word, end, when the Psalm is read and ye hear it said, On the Enarr.
end, a Psalm of David. Ye are for ever hearing this in the \^ g^^ '
« Delectationes^ LXX aSoAeo-x'as. yulg. fabuiafiones.
1224 All temporal goods are at best means to an end :
HoMiL. Psalms, and ye should know what ye hear. What meaneth,
|:_ Qf^ the end?— For Christ is the end of the Law unto every
U^io. one that helieveth. And what meaneth, Christ is the end?
Because Christ is God, and the end of the commandment is
Charity, and Charity is God: because Father and Son and
Holy Ghost are One. There is He the End to thee ; else-
where He is the Way. Do not stick fast in the way, and
so never come to the end. Whatever else thou come to,
pass beyond it, until thou come to the end. What is the
Ps. 73, end ? It is good for me to hold me fast in God. Hast thou
^^* laid fast hold on God? thou hast finished the way: thou
shalt abide in thine own country. Mark well ! Some man
seeks money: let not it be the end to thee: pass on, as a
traveller in a strange land. But if thou love it, thou art
entangled by avarice; avarice will be shackles to thy feet:
thou canst make no more progress. Pass therefore this also :
seek the end. Thou seekest health of the body : still do
not stop there. For what is it, this health of the body, which
death makes an end of, which sickness debilitates, a feeble,
mortal, fleeting thing ? Seek that, indeed, lest haply ill-health
hinder thy good works: but for that very reason, the end is
not there, for it is sought in order to something else. What-
ever is sought in order to something else, the end is not
there : whatever is loved for its own sake, and freely, the end
is there. Thou seekest honours ; perchance seekest them
in order to do something, that thou mayest accomplish
something, and so please God : love not the honour itself,
lest thou stop there. Seekest thou praise } If thou seek
God's, thou doest well ; if thou seek thine own, thou doest
ill ; thou stoppest short in the way. But behold, thou art
loved, art praised : think it not joy when in thyself thou
art praised ; be thou praised in the Lord, that thou mayest
Ps. 34, sing, /// the Lord shall my soul he praised. Thou deliverest
some good discourse, and thy discourse is praised. Let it
not be praised as thine, the end is not there. If thou set
the end there, there is an end of thee : but an end, not that
thou be perfected, but that thou be consumed. Then let not
Ps. 56, thy discourse be praised as coming from thee, as being thine.
rE rr -^^^ ^^^^ praised ? As the Psalm saith, In God will I praise
in V. 4. the discourse, in God will I praise the word. Hereby
§. 7.)
tJie end is the everlasting bliss of Charity. 1 225
shall that which there follows come to pass in thee: 7^? Uohn
V 2
God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do unto .^ ^ '^^
me. For when all things that are thine are praised in God,
no fear lest thy praise be lost, since God faileth not. Pass
therefore this also.
6. See, brethren, what things we pass, in which is not the
end. These we use as by the way; we take as it were oux Supra
refreshment at the halting places on our journey, and pass on.
Where then is the end ? Beloved, we are sons of God, and it ct. 3, 2.
hath not yet appeared what tee shall be ; here is this said,
in this Epistle. As yet then, we are on the way ; as yet,
wherever we come, we must pass on, until we attain unto
some end. We know that when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. That is the
end ; there perpetual praising, there Alleluia * always with- ' supra
out fail. This then is the end he has spoken of in the note. '
Psalm : I have seen the end of all perfection : and as though Ps. 119,
it were said to him. What is the end thou hast seen ? Thy^^'
commandment, exceeding broad. This is the end: the
breadth of the commandment. The breadth of the com-
mandment is charity, because where charity is, there are no
straits. In this breadth, this wide room, was the Apostle
when he said, Our mouth is open to you, 0 ye Corinthians, '2. Gov. 6,
our heart is enlarged: ye are not straitened in us. In this,
then, is Thy commandment exceeding broad. What is the
broad commandment ? A new commandment give I unto you,
that ye love one another. Charity, then, is not straitened.
Wouldest thou not be straitened here on earth? Dwell in the
broad room. For whatever man may do to thee, he shall
not straiten thee; because thou lovest that which man cannot
hurt : lovest God, lovest the brotherhood, lovest the Law of
God, lovest the Church of God: it shall be for ever. Thou
labourest here on earth, but thou shalt come to the promised
enjoyment. Who can take from thee that which thou lovest?
If no man can take from thee that which thou lovest, secure
thou sleepest: or rather secure thou watchest,lestby sleeping
thou lose that which thou lovest. For not without reason is
it said. Enlighten mine eyes, lest at any time I sleep in death. Ps. 13,
They that shut their eyes against charity, fall asleep in the *
lusts of carnal delights. Be wakeful, therefore. For the
1226 Charity can do no ill.
HoMTL. delights are, to eat, to drink, to wanton in luxnry, to play, to
hunt; these vain pomps all evils follow. Are we ignorant
that they are delights? who can deny that they delight? But
more beloved is the Law of God. Cry against such per-
Ps. 119, suaders: 77?^ unrighteous have told me of delights : hut not
so as is Thy Law, O Lord. This delight remaineth. Not
only remaineth as the goal that thou come thereto, but also
calleth thee back when thou fleest.
V. 3. 7. For this is the love of God, that we keep His command-
ments. Already ye have heard, On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets, See how He would not
have thee divide thyself over a multitude of pages : On these
two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets» On
Mat.22, what two commandments ? Thou shall love the Lord thy God
'~ ' ivith all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. And, TIiou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. On
these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
See here of what commandments this w^hole Epistle talks.
Therefore hold fast love, and set your minds at rest. Why
fearest thou lest thou do evil to some man ? Who does evil to
1 dilige the man he loves? Love^ thou: it is impossible to do this
without doing good. But it may be, thou rebukest? Kind-
2 amor ^^ess^ does it, not fierceness. But it may be thou beatest ? For
3 amor discipline thou dost this ; because thy kindness of love^ will
ipsius
diiecti- not let thee leave him undisciplined. And indeed there come
°°^^ somehow these different and contrary results, that sometimes
hatred uses winning ways, and charity shews itself fierce. A
person hates his enemy, and feigns friendship for him : he
sees him doing some evil, he praises him : he wishes him to
go headlong, wishes him to go blind over the precipice of his
Psa. 10, lusts, haply never to return ; he praises him. For the sinner
is praised in the desires of his soul ; he salves him with the
unclion of adulation : behold, he hates, and praises. Another
sees his friend doing something of the same sort; he calls
him back ; if he will not hear, he uses words even of
Mitii^'at castigation, he scolds, he quarrels'*: there are times when
it comes to this, that one must even quarrel ! Behold, hatred
shows itself winningly gentle, and charity quarrels! Stay
venamnot thy regard upon the words of seeming kindness, or the
sfiprn
p. Jl-
6,. seeming cruelty of the objurgation; look into the vein^ they
The brethren^ i.e. the Members ofChriat, throughout the earth. 1 227
come from ; seek the root whence they proceed. The one is i John
gentle and bland that he may deceive, the other quarrels — -^— ^
that he may correct. Well then, it is not for us, brethren, to
enlarge your heart: obtain from God the gift to love one
• another. Love all men, even your enemies, not because they
are your brethren, but that they may be your brethren ; that
ye may be at all times on fire with brotherly love, whether
toward him that is become thy brother, or towards thine
enemy, that, by being beloved, he may become thy brother.
Wheresoever ye love a brother, ye love a friend. Now is he
with thee, now is he knit to thee in unity, yea catholic unity. If
thou art living aright, thou lovest a brother made out of an
enemy. But thou lovest some man who has not yet believed
Christ, or, if he have believed, believes as do the devils : thou
rebukest his vanity. Do thou love, and that with a brotherly
love : he is not yet a brother, but thou lovest to the end he may
be a brother. Well then, all our love is a brotherly love, to-
wards Christians, towards all His members. The discipline
of charity, my brethren, its strength, flowers, fruit, beauty,
pleasantness, food, drink, meat, embracing, hath in it no
satiety. If it so delight us while in a strange land, in our
own country how shall we rejoice!
8. Let us run then, my brethren, let us run, and love
Christ. What Christ.? Jesus Christ. Who is He .? The Word
of God. And how came He to the sick ? The Word was John i,
madejiesh, and dtvelt in us. It is complete then, which the
Scripture foretold, CJirist must suffer, and rise again the third^^^'^'^y
day from the dead. His body, where is it? His members,
where toil they ? Where must thou be, that thou mayest be
under thine Head ? And that repentance and remission ofsins'^^- 47.
be preached in His name through all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. There let thy charity be spread abroad. Christ
saith,and the Psalm, i. e. the Spirit of God, Thy commandment
is exceeding broad: and forsooth some man will have charity
to be confined to Africa ! Extend thy charity over the whole
earth if thou wilt lo' Christ, for Christ's members are over
all the earth. If thou lovest but a part, thou art divided:
if thou art divided, thou art not in the body; if thou art not
in the body, thou art not under the Head. What profiteth
it thee that thou adorest and blasphemest? Thou adorest Him
4 L
1228 What is done to them is done to the Head.
HoMiL.in the Head, blasphemest Him in the Body. He loves His
—^i— Body. If thou hast cut thyself off from His Body, the Head
hath not cut Itself off from Its Body. To no purpose dost
thou honour Me, cries thine Head to thee from on high, to
no purpose dost thou honour Me. It is all one as if a man
would kiss thine head and tread upon thy feet : perchance
with nailed boots he would crush thy feet, while he will needs
clasp thy head and kiss it : wouldest thou not cry out in the
midst of the words with which he honours thee, and say,
What art thou doing, man ? thou treadest on me. Thou
wouldest not mean. Thou treadest on my head ; for the head
he honoured; but more would the head cry out for the
members trodden upon, than for itself because it was honoured.
Does not the head itself cry out, I will none of thine honour;
do not tread on me? Now say if thou canst, How have I
trodden upon thee? say that to the head: I wanted to
kiss thee, I wanted to embrace thee. But seest thou not,
O fool, that what thou wouldest embrace does in virtue of
a certain unity, which knits the whole frame together, reach
» susumto that which thou treadest upon? ^ Above thou honourest
2jusura me, ^beneath thou treadest upon me. That on which thou
^* * treadest pains more than that which thou honourest rejoiceth.
In what sort does the tongue cry out ? ^ It hurts me.' It saith
not, ' It hurts my foot,' but, ' It hurts me,' saith it. O tongue,
who has touched thee ? who has struck ? who has goaded ?
who has pricked ? No man, but I am knit together with the
parts that are trodden upon. How wouldest thou have me
not be pained, when I am not separate ?
9. Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, ascending into heaven on
the fortieth day, did for this reason give us to understand
concerning His Body where it had to lie, because He saw
that many would honour Him for that He is ascended into
heaven : and saw that their honouring Him is useless if they
trample upon His members here on earth. And lest any
should err, and, while he adored the Head in heaven should
trample upon the feet on earth. He told us where would be His
members. For being about to ascend. He spake His last
words on earth : after those same words He spake no more
on earth. The Head about to ascend into heaven com-
mended to us His members on earth and departed. Thence-
Chrisfs parting words on behalf of His members. 1'2'29
forth thou findest not Christ speaking on earth ; thou findest i John
Him speaking, but from heaven. And even from heaven, — ^ — —
why ? Because His members on earth were trodden upon.
For to the persecutor Saul He said from on high, Saul, Acts 9,
Saul, uhy persecutest thou Me? I am ascended into heaven,
but still I lie on earth : here I sit at the right hand of the
Father, but there I yet hunger, thirst, and am a stranger.
In what manner then did He commend to us His Body,
when about to ascend into heaven ? When the disciples
asked Him, saying. Lord, wilt Thou at this time ^present A~cts\,
Thyself and when shall he the kingdom of Israel? Hei~^".
made answer, now at the point to depart, It is not for you to^^^^^-
know the tbne which the Father hath put in His own power: Supra^
but ye shall receive strength of the Holy Ghost coming upon^-'^^^*
you, and ye shall he witnesses to Me. See where His Body is
spread abroad, see where He will not be trodden upon : Ye
shall be witnesses to Me, unto Jerusalem, and unto Judcea,
and even unto all the earth. Lo, where I lie that am
ascending ! For I ascend, because I am the Head : My
Body Hes yet beneath. Where lies? Throughout the whole
earth. Beware thou strike not, beware thou hurt not, beware
thou trample not : these be the last words of Christ at the
point to go into heaven. Look at a sick man languishing on
his bed, lying in his house, and worn out with sickness, at
death's door, his soul as it were even now between his teeth:
who, anxious, it may be, about something that is dear to
him, which he greatly loves, and it comes into his mind,
calls his heirs, and says to them, I pray you, do this. He,
as it were, detains his soul by a violent effort, that it may not
depart ere those words be made sure. When he has dictated
those last words, he breathes out his soul, he is borne a
corpse to the sepulchre. His heirs, how do they remember
the last words of the dying man ? How, if one should stand
up and say to them, Do it not : what would they say .?
" What ? shall I not do that which my father, in the act of
breathing out his soul, commanded me with his last breath, the
last word of his that sounded in my ears when my father was
departing this life ? Whatever other words of his I may not
hold in the same estimation, his last have a stronger hold
upon me: since which I never saw him more, never more heard
4l2
1*230 He has shewn where to look for His Church
HoMiL. speech of his. Brethren, think with Christian hearts; if to
-2:^— the heirs of a man, his words spoken when about to go to
the tomb are so sweet, so grateful, so weighty, what must we
account of the last words of Christ, spoken not when about
to go back to the tomb, but to ascend into heaven ! As for
the man who lived and is dead, his soul is hurried off to
other places, his body is laid in the earth, and whether these
words of his be done or not, makes no difference to him : he
has now something else to do, or something else to suffer: either
in Abraham's bosom he rejoices, or in eternal fire he longs for
a drop of water, while his corpse lies there senseless in the
sepulchre; and yet the last words of the dying man are kept.
What have those to look for, who keep not the last words of
Him that sitteth in heaven. Who seeth from on high whether
they be despised or not despised ? The words of Him, Who
said, Saul, Saul, whi/ persecutest thou ME? Who keeps
account, unto the judgment, of all that He seeth His members
suffer ?
10. And what have we done, say they ? We are the per-
secuted, not the persecutors. Ye are the persecutors, O
wretched men. Jn the first place, in that ye have divided
the Church. Mightier the sword of the tongue than the
sword of steel. Agar, Sarah's maid, was proud, and she was
^^'P^i^ afflicted by her mistress for her pride. That was discipline,
not punishment. Accordingly, when she had gone away
Gen.16, from her mistress, what said the Angel to her.? Return to
thy mistress. Then, O carnal soul, like a proud bond-woman,
suppose thou have suffered any trouble for discipline' sake,
why ravest thou ? Return to thy mistress, hold fast the
I domi- peace of the Church ^ Lo, the Gospels are produced, we
pacem. read where the Church is spread abroad: men dispute
against us, and say to us, " Betrayers'-'." Betrayers of what ?
Christ commcndeth to us His Church, and thou believest
not: shall I believe thee, when thou revilest my parents?
Wouldest thou that I should believe thee about the " be-
trayers" ? Do thou first believe Christ. What is worth believ-
ing ? Christ is God, thou art man : which ought to be believed
first? Christ has spread His Church abroad over all the
earth: I say it — despise me: the Gospel vspeaks — beware.
Luke24, ^yjj^^ saith the Gospel? // behoved Christ to suffer, and to
2 tradi-
tores.
to ivhich He has given the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. 1231
rise again from the dead on tlie third day, and that repent- 1 John
ance and retnission of sins should be preached in His name. ^'^'
Where remission of sins, there the Church is. How the
Church ? Why, to her it was said, To fliee I will give the keys Mat.16,
of the kingdom oflieaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on^^'
earth shall be loosed in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Where is this
remission of sins spread abroad ? Through all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. Lo, believe Christ ! But, because
thou art well aware that if thou shalt believe Christ, thou
wilt not have any thing to say about " betrayers," thou wilt
needs have me to believe thee when thou speakest evil against
my parents, rather than thyself believe what Christ foretold !
[The remainder of the Homily is wanting in all the Manuscripts.
It seems also that St. Augustine was hindered from compleiing the
Exposition of the entire Epistle, as he had undertaken to do ; at least
Possidius specifies this work mider the title, " In Epist. Joannis ad
Parthos Tractatus decern" and it is scarcely likely that the whole of
the fifth chapter was expounded in this tenth Homily. — Of the
** Sermons," there are none upon the remaining part of this Ej^istle :
the following extracts from other works of St. Augustine will supply
what will be most desiderated : namely, his exposition of the Text on
" the Three Witnesses," of " the sin unto death," and of the twentieth
verse.]
Contra Maximinum, lib. ii. c. 22. §. 3.
1 Joann. v. 7. 8. Tres sunt testes ; spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis ; et
tres unum sunt^.
I would not have thee mistake that place in the Epistle of John the
Apostle where he saith. There are three witnesses : the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood: and the three are one. Lest haply thou say that
the Spirit and the water and the blood are diverse substances, and yet it
is said, the three are one : for this cause I have admonished thee, that
thou mistake not the matter. For these are mystical expressions ^ in ' saera-
which the point always to be considered is, not what the actual things ™^°*^a
are, but what they denote as signs : since they are signs of things,
and what they are in their essence is one thing, what they are in
their signification another. If then we imderstand the things signified,
* The clause of" the Three Heavenly asserts that copies which had the clause
Witnesses," v. 7. appears to be wholly " abounded in Africa" in the interval
unknown to S. Augustine : a circuin- between S. Cypiian and the close of
stance left unexplained by Mill, who the filth century.
1232 The Spirit and the Blood and the Water
1 John we do find these things to be of one substance. Thns, if we should say,
YiZlllThe rock and the water are one, meaning hy the Rock, Christ; by the
water, the Holy Ghost : who doubts that rock and water are two diiferent
siibstances ? yet because Christ and the Holy Spirit are of one and the
same Nature, therefore when one says, the Rock and the water are one,
this can be rightly taken in this behalf, that these two things of which the
nature is diverse, are signs of other things of which the Nature is one.
Three things then we know to have issued from the Body of the Lord
when He hung upon the tree : first, the spirit : of which it is written,
John 19, And He bowed the head and go.ve up the spirit: then, as His side was
30. 34. pigj.(.g(j |)y xhe spear, blood and water. Which three things if wt
look at as they are in themselves, they are in substance several and
distinct, and therefore they are not one. But if we will inquire
into the things signified by these, there not unreasonably comes into
our thoughts the Trinity Itself, Which is the One, Only, True,
Supreme God, Father and Son and Holy Ghost, of Whom it could
most truly be said. There are Three Witnesses, and the Three are One :
so that by the term Spirit we should understand God the Father to
be signified ; as indeed it was concerning the worshipping of Him
John 4, that the Lord was speaking, when He said, God is a Spirit : by the
Id 1 14 '^^^^^^^ blood, the Son; because the Word was made flesh : and by the
term water, the Holy Ghost; as, when Jesus spake of the w^ater
which He would give to them that thirst, the Evangelist saith. But
id. 7, 39. this said He of the Spirit Which they that believed on Him were to
receive. Moreover, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are
Witnesses, who that believes the Gospel can doubt, when the Son saith,
id 8, 18. / am one that bear witness of Myself , and the Father that sent Me,
He beareth witness of MeP W^here, though the Holy Ghost is not
mentioned, yet He is not to be thought separated from Them.
Howbeit neither concerning the Spirit hath He kept silence else-
where, and that He too is a Witness hath been suflSciently and openly
id. 15, shewn. For in promising Him He said. He shall bear ivitness of
^ • Me. These are the Three Witnesses, and the Three are One, because
of one Substance. But whereas, the signs by which They were
signified came forth from the Body of the Lord, herein they figured
the Church preaching the Trinity, that It hath one and the same
Nature : since these Three in threefold manner signified are One, and
the Church that preacheth Them is the Body of Christ. In this
manner then the three things by which They are signified came out
from the Body of the Lord : like as from the Body of the Lord
Mat. 28, sounded forth the command to baptize the nations in the Name of
^^' the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. In the name:
not, In the names: for these Three are One, and One God is these
mystically denote the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. 1233
Three. And if in any other way this depth of mystery which we 1 John
read in John's Epistle can be expounded and understood agreeably
with the Catholic Faith, which neither confounds nor divides the
Trinity, neither believes the substances diverse nor denies that the
Persons are Three, it is on no account to be rejected. For whenever
in Holy Scriptures in order to exercise the minds of the faithful any
thing is put darkly, it is to be joyfully welcomed if it can be in
many ways but not unwisely expounded.
De Sermone Domini in Monte, lib. i. 22. §. 73.
1 Joann. v. 16. Si quis scit peccare fratrem suiim peccatum nan
ad mortem, postulahit, et dahit illi Dominus vitam qui peccat non
ad mortem; est autem peccatum ad mortem; non pro illo dico ut
roget.
But what presses harder upon the present question [in the Lord's
command of praying for enemies and persecutors] is that saying of
the Apostle John, If any man knoiv that his brother sinneth a sin
not unto death, he shall ask, and the Lord ivill give life to that
man who sinneth not unto death: but there is a sin unto death:
not for that do I say that he should ask. For it manifestly shews
that there are some brethren whom we are not commanded to pray for,
whereas the Lord bids us pray even for our persecutors. Nor can
this question be solved except we acknowledge, that there are some
sins in brethren that are worse than the sin of enemies in persecuting.
That ' brethren' mean Christians, may be proved by many texts of
Holy Writ; the plainest, however, is that of the Apostle which he
puts thus: For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife,\CoT.7,
and the wibelieving ivife is sanctifed in the brother. For he has ^^* ^^*
not added our; but thought it plain enough, when by the term brother
he spake of the Christian that should have an unbelieving wife. And
accordingly he says just afterwards. But if the unbelieving depart,
let her depart: but a brother or sister is not put under servitude in
a matter of this sort. The sin, therefore, of a brother, unto death, I
suppose to be when, after the acknow^ledging of God through the
grace of om- Lord Jesus Christ, one fights against the brotherhood,
and is set on by the fire-brands of ^ hatred against the very grace ^ invi-
through which he was reconciled to God''. But a sin not unto death ®°*^^
is when a person, not having alienated his love from his brother, yet
^ In the Retractations i. 7- he re- since we have certainly no right to
marks on this passage : " 1 have not despair of any ever so wicked man so
positively affirmed it to be so, for I long as he is in this life, and it caimot
have said, ' I suppose :' still it should be unwise to pray for that man of whom
have been added, 'if in this so wicked we do not despair." Comp. Serm. 71,
perversity of mind he departs this life:' 21,
1234 The " sin unto death'' can be committed only by brethren:
1 John through some infiiTnily of mind may have failed to exhibit the due
^•^^' offices of brotherhood. Wherefore, on the one hand, the Lord on the
Luke23, Cross said. Father, for give them, for they know not what they do; since
^^* they had not yet, by being made partakers of the grace of the Holy
Spirit, entered into the fellovAship of holy brotherhood; and blessed
^cts 7, Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles prays for them who are stoning
him; because they had not yet believed Christ, and were not
ficrhtino^ against ihat srace of communion. On the other hand,
the Apostle Paul does not pray for Alexander, and the reason,
1 suppose, is, that this man was a brother, and had sinned
unto death, i. e. by opposing the brotherhood in a spirit of hatred.
Whereas for such as had not broken off the bonds of love, but had
given way through fear, he piays that they may be forgiven. For
2Tim.4,so he says: Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the
14 10. j^g^,^ reward him according to his works : of whom he thou ware
also ; for he hath greatly withstood, our words. Then he subjoins
for whom he prays, saying, At my first answer no man stood with
me, but all men forsook me : I pray God that it may not be laid to
their charge. This difference of sins it is that distinguishes Judas
with his treason from Peter with his denial. Not that to him who
repenteth there is to be no forgiveness: lest we go against that sentence
Lukel7, of the Lord, in which He commands always to forgive the brother who
^' asks his brother's forgiveness : but that the mischief of that sin is, that
the man cannot submit to the humiliaiion of begging for pardon, even
when he is forced by his evil conscience both to acknowledge and to
Mat. 27 publish his sin. For when Judas had said, / have sinned, in that I
4. 5. have betrayed the innocent blood, he went and hanged himself in
desperation, rather than pray for forgiveness in humiliation. Where-
fore it makes a great difference, w^hat sort of repentance God forgives.
For many are much quicker than others to confess that they have
sinned, and are angry with themselves in such sort that they vehe-
mently wish they had not sinned, while yet they cannot lay down
their pride, and submit to have the heart humbled and broken so as to
implore pardon : a state of mind which one may well believe to be,
for the greatness of their sin, a part of their already begun damnation.
Comp. And this, perhaps, it is to sin against the Holy Ghost ^: i. e. through
Serm.
Ixxi.
c So the traditional interpretation of saith Solomon. (Prov. 12, 28. LXX.
the Greeks in CEcumenius. "This «/o?ie So Theophylact — The Scholia ap.
is tlie sin tmto deat/i^ viz. sin which Matthiii p. 146. 230: '' The sin unto
has no thought of repentance: which death is, when a person having sinned
sin Judas heing diseased withal, was is callous in impenitence.' Comp.
brought to eternal death." Especially S. Hilar. Tr. in Ps. 140. §. 8.
(he adds) the sin oi an unforgiving <> Scholl. ap. Matthai. p. 230. "By
spirit, impenitently persisted in : For the sin unto death, he means the blas-
tfic tmys of the resentful arc nnto death, phemy against the Holy Ghost, i.e.
consists in malignity against the brotherhood. 1235
malice and envy to fight against brotherly charity after receiving i John
the grace of the Holy Spirit: that sin which the Lord saith hath _Zii^
no forgiveness, either here or in the world to come For
the Lord in saying to the Pharisees, Whosoever shall speak an Mat.l2,
evil word against the Son of Man, &c. may have meant to warn
them to come to the grace of God, and having received it, not to
sin as they have now sinned. For now they have spoken an evil
word against the Son of Man, and it may be forgiven them, if they
be convened and believe and receive the Holy Spirit : Which when
they have received, if they will then have ilLwill against the brotherhood
and oppose the grace they have received, there is no forgiveness for
them, either in this world or in the world to come.
Liber de Correptione et Gratia, §. 35.
By this grace such is the liberty they receive, that although as
long as they live here they have to fight against the lusts of sins, and
are overtaken by some sins for which they must daily pray. Forgive
us our debts, yet they no longer serve the sin which is unto death,
of which the Apostle John saith. There is a sin unto death, I do not
say that he shall ask for that. Concerning which sin (since it is
not expressed) many different opinions may be formed : but 1 affirm
that sin to be the forsaking until death ^ the faith ivhich worketh by
love.
Contra Maximinum, lib. ii. c. 14. §. 2. 3.
1 Joann. v. 20. Ut simus in vero Filio ejusJesu Christo ; ipse est
verus Deus et vita ceterna^.
against the Godhead." p. 147. " Some Vulg. et simus in vero Filio ejus. Hie
say that it is the blasphemy against the est verus Deus, et vita ceterna. In the
Holy Ghost, the sin of misbelief (/ca/co- Greek, the second ei/ tC^ is omitted by
TTio-Ttas)." S. Cyril. Alex. S. Basil, adv. Eunom.
^ So in the Retractations, supra note and others ; and this is the received
b. Si in hac tarn scelerata mentis per- reading of the Latins. — There is no
■^ersiisitejinierithancvitam: unto death certain evidence to shevr hovr the text
in the sense until death. vpas interpreted by the ante-Nicene
f S. Hilary de Trin. vi. 43. cites the Fathers. S. Athanasius Orat. c. Arian.
passage with additions, of which there iii. 24. §. 4: 25. §. 16: iv. 9. init. and
are no traces in the Mss. and other S. Basil, adv. Eunom. iv. p. 294. unhesi-
authorities : Quia scimus quod Filius tatingly refer the ovtos to the nearest
Dei venit et concarnatus est propter antecedent : And ive are in Him the
nos, et passus est, et resurgens de mor- True, (even) in His Son Jesus Christ :
tuis assumpsit nos, et dedit nobis in- this (Jesus Christ) is the True God and
tellectum optimum, ut intelligamus eternal Life : and the Latin Fathers
verum, et simus in vero filio ejus Jesic from S. Hilary and S. Ambrose down-
Christo: hie est verus [Deus om.], et vrardallegethetextasanexplicitdeclar-
vita ceterna, et resurrectio nostra : and ation of the true Godhead of the Son
it is remarkable that his contemporary S. Epiphanius Ancorat. c. 4. seems to
Faustinus (the Luciferian) in his work have read in his copy, ovros iariv 6
de Trinitate gives the passage totidem k\t]Qivhs koX ^wt? alwpLos, omitting Qehs
«eriw, except that it is doubtful whether (asHilary): forhesays: "Andthough
he read verus Deus, and that after the epithet ' Very Qod- (0ebs a\7}6iuhs)
resurrectio 7iostra he adds in ipso. — is not added," i.e. though this oItos,
1236 Jesus Christ, Very Son, Begotten, ?iot made:
1 John When ye read. That we may he in His true Son Jesus Christ,
— - — '- think of the true Son of God. But this Son ye in no wise think to
be the true Son of God, if ye deny Him to be begotten of the Sub-
stance of the Father. For was He ah-eady Son of Man and by gift of
God became Son of God, begotten indeed of God, but by grace, not
by nature ? Or, though not Son of Man, yet was He some sort of
creature which, by God's changing it, was converted into Son of God ?
If you mean nothing of this sort, then was He either begotten of nothing,
or of some substance. But thou hast relieved us from all fear of having
to suppose that you affirm the Son of God to be of nothing, for thou
hast declared that this is not your meaning. Therefore, He is of
some substance. If not of the Substance of the Father, then of what ?
Tell me. But ye cannot find any other . . . Consequently, the Father
and the Son are of one and the same Substance. This is the Homo-
usion .... In the Scriptures both yoii and we read. That ive may be
in His true Son Jesus Christ; He is the true God and Eternal
Life. Let both parties yield to such weighty evidence. Tell us then,
whether this true Son of God, discriminated as He is by the property
of this name from those who are sons by graced he of no substance or
of some substance. Thou sayest, " I do not say that He is of no
substance, lest I should say that He is of nothing." He is therefore
of some substance : I ask, of what ? If not of the Substance of the
Father, seek another. If thou findest not another, as indeed thou
canst find none at all, then acknowledge it to be the Father's, and
confess the Son Homousios, *' of one Substance with the Father."
Flesh is begotten of flesh, the Son of flesh is begotten of the substance
of the flesh. Set aside corruption, reject from the eye of the mind
Rom. 1, all carnal passions, and behold the invisible things of God understood
^^' by the means of the things that are made. Believe that the Creator
Who hath given flesh power to beget flesh. Who hath given parents
power of the substance of the flesh to generate true sons of flesh,
meaning Jesus Christ, is not expressly What meaneth, True God and Eternal
called the true God (as in v. 20. where Life ? The True Son of God is the
he seems to have had in his copy the True God and Eternal Life. Why
reading aXr)9ivhv Qe6y), "we do but has he said, On His True Son? Be-
accumulate madness if we dare to cause God hath many sons, therefore
blaspheme and to say that the Son is He was to be distinguished by adding
pot Very God. For it is enough that that He was the True Son. Not just
in the One [Who is so called] we take by saying that He is the Son, but by
in the whole Trinity, and from the adding, as I said, that He is the True
Father [as Very God] understand the Son : He was to be distinguished be-
Son also to be Very God." cause of the many sons whom God
B Serm. 140, 3. " Seek in the Epistle hath. For we are'sons by grace. He
of this same John what he hath said of by Nature. We, made such by the
Christ. Believe, (credamus) saith he, Father through Him ; He, what the
on His true Son Jesus Christ, He is Father is, Himself is also: what God
the True God and Eternal Life, is, are we also?"
of one Substance with the Father : 1*237
much more had power to beget a true Son of His own Substance, and 1 John
to have one Substance with the true Son, the spiritual incorruption
remaining and carnal corruption being altogether alien therefrom.
Collatio cum Maximino, §.14.
*' If He is begotten. He is Son : if He is Son, He is the true Son,
because Only-Begotten. For we also are called sons : He Son by
nature, we sons by grace ... To say that because He is begotten. He
is of another nature, is to deny that He is the true Son. Now we
have the Scripture : That ive may be in His true Son Jesus Christ ; c Serm.
AriSiii
He is the true God and Eternal Life. Why true God P because ^^ 1,
true Son of God. For if He has given to animals this property, that
what they beget shall be none other than what they themselves are :
man begets man, dog begets dog, and should God not beget God.? If
then He is of the same substance, why callest thou Him less ? Is it
because when a human father begets a son, though human beget
human, yet greater begets less ? If so, then let us wait for Christ to c. Max-
grow as human beings grow whom human beings beget I But if Christy ^
ever since He was begotten (and this was not in time but from
eternity), is what He is, and yet is less than the Father, at that rate
the human condition is the better of the two : for a human being at
any rate can grow, and has the property of sooner or later attaining
to the age, to the strength of the father ; but He never : then how is
He a true Son P
De Trinitate, lib. i. 6. §. 0.
And if the Son be not of the same Substance as the Father, then is
He a made substance : if a made substance, then not all things were John 1,
made by Him: but, all things ivere made by Him; therefore. He is
of one and the same Substance with the Father. And therefore, not
only God, but True (or. Very) God. Which the same John doth
most openly affirm in his Epistle : Scimus quod Filius Dei venerit
et dederit nobis intellectum ut cognoscamus verum Deum, et simus
in vero Filio ejus Jesu Christo. Hie est verus Deus et vita ceterna.
We know that the Sou of God is come; and hath given us an un-
derstanding that we may (learn to) knotu the True God^, and may
be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the True God and Eternal
Life.
10. Hence also by consequence we understand, that what the
Apostle Paul saith. Who only hath immortality, he saith not merely 1 Tim.
of the Father, but of the One and Only God, Which the Trinity ^' ^^'
h So rhp aArjdLvhv &e6p. S. Basil, the omission) and several other Mss.
S. Cyril. Al. Vers. Arab. Aeth. Cod. Beda., verum Deum. Facundus: quod
AX. (AAH0EINON0N.- which abbre- est verum {rh aK7)Qiv6v).
viated manner of writing may explain
1238 therefore Very God and Eternal Life,
1 John Itsellis. For neither is the Eternal Life itself mortal in respect of
^' ^^' any mutability: and consequently, since the Son of God is Eternal
Life, He also is to be understood together with the Father, where
it is said. Who only hath immortality.
Note A, page 639.
Tr. in Ev. Joann. xlviii. 4.
Quomodo ergo istis dixit, Non estis ex ovihus meis? Quia videbat eos
ad sempiternum interitum prsedestinatos, non ad vitam eeternam sui san-
guinis pretio comparatos. So in p. 1077. it is said with an emphatic
repetition of the word " all," that Christ has made all those His sheep,
of whom it is said that He suffered for all : where it is implied, that He
suffered only for those of whom He infallibly loses none : Oinnes quippe
fecit oves suas, pro quibus omnibus est passus, quia et ipse ut pro omnibus
pateretur ovis est factus, Tr. in Ev. cxxiii. ult.
In these and numerous other passages, St. Augustine's expressions con-
cerning Redemption seem to be at variance with that view of the subject
which by Catholic consent is expressed in the saying, that Christ died for
all, and redeemed all mankind. He rarely, if ever, says in express terms
of any but the elect, i. e. of those who being predestinated to eternal life
obtain the gift of perseverance, that they are redeemed, or that Christ
died for them : often says this of the elect as if it were distinctive of them
from the rest of mankind ; and sometimes says expressly that some are
not redeemed, and Christ did not die for all mankind. Perhaps it will
generally be found, that in speaking of Redemption, St, Augustine con-
templates it not merely as the act of Christ, objectively, consummated
once for all on the Cross, but subjectively, as an act taking place in the
persons redeemed: in other words, he speaks of it as the actual deliverance
of souls from the power of Satan. This work of grace in the. individual
man, which is begun here in the emancipation of the captive will, takes
place (as he teaches) infalUbly and indefectibly in the elect. But the re-
probate, even if for a while they live faithfully and righteously, (de Corrept.
et Grat. §. 16. 40.) not receiving the gift of perseverance, remain finally
under the power of the devil; consequently, are not redeemed: Redemption
does not take place in them as a fact. And since the Will of God is all in
all, and cannot be defeated of Its purpose, therefore God did not purpose
the redemption of such, and Christ died not for them, but only for
those whom He knew to be given Him of the Father, that He should give
unto them eternal life, and lose none of them. This mode of viewing the
subject appears in the following passages,
" The devil is cast out of the redeemed by faith through the blood of
Christ," p. 692. iox ** the bond which he held against us is blotted out by
the Blood of Christ," p. 1 099». The Redemption, as regards the laying down
» De Trin. iv, 17. Morte sua quippe lato quicquid culparum erat unde nos
uno vorissimo sacrificio i^m nobis ob- ■primi'patus el pofestales ad liienda sup-
St. Augustine's expressions concerning Redemption. 1239
of the price or ransom, was completed on the Cross, when Christ " paid Note
the death we owed," p. 824. and " the bag was rent, that the price of our ^'
redemption might run out," p. 428. But the devil is still in possession,
until the grace of God claims the individual for Christ, and by faith, which
is the gift of God, and a ' fides propria,' p. 1220. unites him to Christ, p. 420.
Thenceforth he is actually, as in predestination he was from the beginning,
one of Christ's Redeemed : by believing he drinks the Blood of Christ,
p. 459. 527. 541. and then, not before, it can be said that Christ shed
His Blood for that person, has redeemed him, changed his hopes, p. 1120.
Hence of Christ's chosen " Apostles and heralds, who are also His dis-
ciples, servants, brethren, members, yea Christ Himself," it is also said
that they are " His redeemed whom He has created," p. 461. while of
Judas it is implied, p. 721. that for him Christ did not die: " Passurus
igitur exitia prsemisit obsequia non solum eis pro quibus subiturus ernt
mortem, sed etiam illi qui eum fuerat traditurus ad mortem," Tr. in Ev.
Iv. ult.b So again it is said of the saints, p. 1083. that they are " already
redeemed through the Mediator, and have for earnest the Holy Ghost,"
while of those who are out of the unity of the Church it is implied that
they are not yet redeemed by the Blood of Christ, p. 1 56. With the same
plicia jure detinehant, purga\it, abole-
vit, extinxit ; et sua resun-ectione nos
prcedestinatos vocavit, vocatos justifica-
vit, justificatos gloriiicavit. How the
death of Christ redeems from the
power of Satan, is described in a
remarkable passage of Senn. cxxx.
2. 0 bone Mercator, erne nos.
Quid dicam, erne nos, cmn gratias
agere debeamus quia emisti nos ?
Pretium nostrum erogas nobis, san-
guinem tuum bibimus ; erogas ergo
nobis pretium nostrum. Et Evan-
gelium legimus, instrumentum nos-
trum. Ser%i tui sumus, creatm-a tua
sumus : fecisti nos, redemisti nos.
Emere potest quisque servum suum,
creare non potest: Dominus autem
sen'os suos et creavit et redemit :
crea^it ut esseut ; redemit, ne semper
capti\'i essent. Incidimus enim in
principem hujus saeculi qui seduxit
Adam et servmn fecit, et coeijit nos
tanquam vernaculos possidere. Sed
venit Redemptor, et rictus est de-
ceptor. Et quid fecit Eedemptor nos-
ter captivatori nostro ? Ad pretium
nostrum tetendit muscipidam crueem
suam : posuit ibi quasi escam sangui-
nem suum. Ille autem potuit san-
guinem istum fundere, non meruit
bibere. Et in eo quod fudit sangui-
nem non debitoris, jussus est reddere
debitores ; fudit sanguiuem innocentis,
jussus est reeedere a nocentibus. Ille
quippe sanguinem suum ad hoc fudit,
ut peccata nostra deleret. Unde ergo
ille nos tenebat, deletum est sanguine
Eedemptoris. Non enim tenebat nos
nisi rinculis peccatorum nostrorum.
Istae erant catenae captivormn. Yenit
ille, alligarit fortem rinculis passionis
suffi : intrarit in domum ejus, i. e. in
corda eoruni ubi ipse habitabat, et
vasa ejus arripuit. Nos sumus vasa.
Ista impleverat ille amaritudine sua.
Hanc amaritudinem etiam nostro Re-
demptori in felle propinarit. Imple-
verat ergo nos ille tanquam vasa sua:
Dominus autem noster arripiens vasa
ejus et sua faciens, fudit amaritudinem,
implerit dulcedine. (Comp. Serm.
cxxxiv. 6. and de Trin. xiii, 14. 15.
§. 17. 18.)
^ To this might be opposed the
statement in Enarr. in Psalm Ixviii.
§. 11 : Judas traditor punitus est, et
Chi-istus crucifixus est: sed nos re-
demit sanguine suo et punivit ilium
de pretio suo : projecit enim pretiiun
argenti quo ab illo Dominus venditus
erat, nee agnorit pretium quo ipse a
Domino redemptus erat : were it certain
that Augustine so wrote ; for some
Mss. have redimendus erat. Similar to
this is the passage Tr. in Ev. iv. ] fin.
J). 49. in which he says of the un-
beliering Jews, Populi speiiaentes per
superbiam suam humilitatem Dei,
crucitixerunt Salvatorem suum, et
fecerunt damnatorem suum.
1240 He seems to limit Redemption to the Elect,
Note limitation Augustine says, that Christ's prayer (John xvii.) was " for all
^- His redeemed, whether before or after His coming in the flesh, p. 982;
whereas He prays not for the world of the non-elect, p. 968: and com-
menting upon that saying of our Lord, /, if I he lifted up, ivill draw all
after Me, and remarking that the word is omnia not omnes, therefore not
all mankind^ he interprets it to mean " either the redeemed, even all that
they are; or, all the predestinate; or, all sorts of men," p. 695. Elsewhere
he argues, that none of the redeemed can perish : " Quando perit qui
sanguine Christi redemptus est? Potens homo nou potest perdere quod
emit aiu-o suo, et Christus perdit quod emit sanguine suo?" Serm. 274:
and Serm. 304. §. 2. he infers from the text 1 Pet. ii. 21. Christ suffered for
us, leaving us an ensample, that we should follow His steps, that Christ
suflfered only for those who walk in His steps: " In hac sententia vidisse
videtur Apostolus Petius, quod pro his tantum passus est Christus, qui
sequuntur vestigia ejus, neque prosit quidquam'^ Christi passio nisi illis qui
sequuntur vestigia ejus." He says indeed a little further on, " pro omnibus
passus est Christus," but the "all" is limited by the context to mean " all
sorts of people." " That garden of the Lord hath not only its roses the
martyrs, but also its lilies the virgins : irs ivy also the wedded, its violets
the widows. Let no sort of people despair of its vocation : Christ suffered
for all. With truth is it written of Him, Qui vult omnes homines salvos
fieri et venire ad agnitionem veritatis, 1 Tim. ii. 4." For in this and other
texts which represent " all men" or " the world" as the objects of God's
merciful good-will in Christ, Augustine constantly limits the expression of
universality. " All men," he argues, either means " men of all sorts," as
omne olus, Luke xi. 42. stands for ' omne olerum genus,' or is to be taken with
an implied limitation in justification of which he cites 1 Cor. xv. 22. Sicuf
enim in Adam omnes moriuntur, ita in Christo omnes vivificahuntur (ideo
dictum est omnes atque omnes ^ quia sicut nemo corpore animalinisi in Adam
moritur, ita nemo corpore spirituali nisi in Christo vivificatur, de Civ. D.
xiii. c. 23. §. o.^'): and Rom. v. 18, per unius justificationem in omnes
homines ad justificationem vitcB, c. Julian, iv. 42 — 44 So in the Enchi-
ridion, ad Laurent. §. 24 — 27. he discusses the text 1 Tim. ii. 4, and con-
cludes, Debemus ita intelligere quod scriptum est. Qui omnes homines vult
c The two expressions are treated quia non ea Aident, sed quia non eis
as meaning the same thing, just as in prosunt.
Enarr. in Psa. Ixxxvii. §. ] 6. he says, ^ De peccatorum meritis et remiss.
" Sed quia solis prtedestinatis ad i. 55. Tauquam si dicamus, v. g.,
aeternam salutem non autem omnibus Una est obstetiix in hac ci^itate quas
hominibus, nee ipsis inter quos facta omnes excipit ; et unus est hie litte-
sunt, ejus bona opera profuerunt ; rai'um magister qui omnes docet :
ideo consequenter adjecit: Numquid neque ibi intelligi possuut omnes nisi
mortuis facies mirabiha:" for, as he qui nascuntur ; neque hie omnes nisi
shews, great wonders were done to qui discunt: non tameu omnes qui
the dead, in the rising of some of nascuntur litteras discunt. Sed cui\ds
them, Matt, xxvii. 10. and in the claret quod et illic recte dictum est,
Lord's descent into hell, &c. " Signi- Omnes excipit, prteter cujus manus
ficat ergo homines corde ita mortuos, nemo nascitm^ ; et hie recte dictum
ut eos ad vitam fidei tanta Christi est omnes docet, prfeter cujus magis-
mirabilia non raoverent. Neque enim terium nemo discit. He uses the same
propterea dixit non cii^ fieri mu'abiha, illustration in Epist.
His peculiar interpretation of \ Tim. \\. A. and similar texts. 1241
salvos fieri, tanquam diceretur nullum hominem fieri salvum nisi quern fieri Note
ipse voluerit : non quod nuUus sit liominum nisi quern salvum fieri velit, ^'
sed quod nullus fiat nisi quem velit; et ideo sit rogandus ut velit, quia
necesse est fieri si voluerit: de orando quippe agebat Apostolus ut hoc
diceret: " that no man is saved but whom He wills to be saved: not that
there is none of mankind whom He does not will to be saved, but, that
none is saved but whom He wills; and therefore He must be asked to will
it, since it needs must be, if He will it : as in fact it is from speaking of
prayer to God, that the Apostle comes to say this." And shortly after,
Decimatis omne olus, i. e. omne olerum genus: ita omnes homines, omne
hominum genus. Also, de Corrept. et Grat. §. 44: Omnes homines.,,.
omnes prsedestinati ; quia omne genus hominum in eis est. Sicut dictum
est Pharisseis, Decimatis omne olus, i. e. omne quod habebant. In the
same Treatise, §. 47. he gives another explanation, viz. that as God com-
mands us to will the salvation of all to whom we preach, and to this end
sheds abroad Charity in our heart, hence the saying, o?7i7ies homines
Deus vult salvos fieri, may be taken in this sense, quoniam nos facit velle,
that He makes us to will their salvation. And, Serm. 292, 4. he teaches
that Christ is the Saviour of all men, 1 Tim. iv. 10. meaning, of all that
are saved, so that not John the Baptist, nor any other of mankind, is saved
but by Christ. Again, whereas it is said, 2 Cor. v. 19. God ivas in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself'', and 1 John ii. 1, 2. that Christ is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, hut for the sins of the whole
world, St. Augustine contends, that these and other texts speak of the elect
world, the Church of them that are finally saved. As in p. 855. Tr. in Ev.
Ixxxvii. 2: Plerumque etiam universam Ecclesiam mundi nomine appellat:
sicut est illud, Deus erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi: itemque
illud, Non venit Filius hominis utjudicet mnndum, sed ut salvetur mundus
per ipsum. (Job. iii. 16.) Et in Epistola sua Joannes ait, Advocatum &c.
totius mundi. Totus ergo mundus Ecclesia est. See the passages there
cited in the note, and in the Index under the word ' TForW In this sense
Augustine, when arguing against the Donatists, speaks of Christ as having
bought and paid the price for the whole world, i. e. for the elect who should
be in all the parts of the world, and are to be gathered in the last day from
the four winds of heaven: Enarr. in Psa. xcv. §.15: Judicahit orhem
terrarum in cequitate : non partem quia non partem emit. Totum judicare
habet, qui pro toto pretium dedit Congregabit electos a quatuor ventis
....ergo, de toto orbe terrarum. Also Enarr. in Psa. cxlvii. 16. Such
indeed is the efficacy of the Blood of Christ, that it can blot out all sins :
" it was so shed for remission of all sins, that it had power to blot out the
very sin of shedding it, p. 874, Tr. in Ev. xcii. 1. as was seen in those of
« There is a remarkable passage proof that there was in it something
on this reconciliation of the world in He loved, ^dz. His own work. The
p. 989, Tr. ex. 6. followed by the state- object of His hatred is the * vitium,'
ment that the saving, ' God hateth which mars His work, while yet even
nothing that He hath made,' holds in in that which is ^itiated He loves His
a sense even for all mankind. For if own work, i. e. either the good He does
He had hated. He would not have in healing, or the doom He speaks in
willed its being: its very being is condemning.
1-242 He exhorts all men to seek Redemption;
Note His murderers for whom He prayed on the Cross, and who were converted
A. on the day of Pentecost, "and received pardon themselves redeemed
by the very Blood they had shed," ibid. viz. by believing, i. e. by drinking
that Blood: (see the passages noted in the Index, * Blood of Christ:') an
instance which St. Augustine delights to allege in token that none need
despair of the remission of any how great soever sins.
At the same time, St. Augustine does not allow men to plead the
Absolute AMll of God as an excuse for their remaining in an unredeemed
condition. In one of the passages above cited, he says, that since salvation
depends on the Will of God, and is sure to be if He will it, therefore we
must ask Him to will it. The hindrance lies in the sinful unwillingness
of man: <' they do not wish to be redeemed; to be bought they have no
mind. . . .Good is it for them that they should be redeemed with the blood
of Christ, that so they may attain unto the peace of Christ," p. 156. Tr. in
Ev. X. 6: comp. p. 704, Tr. liii. 8. 9. To drink the Blood of Christ is to
become redeemed : therefore " O Thou good Merchant, buy us : Wliy
should I say. Buy us, when we ought to give thanks for that Thou hast
bought us? Our price Thou teUest down to us: Thy Blood we drink:
Thou tellest down therefore to us our price." Serm 130. 2. So it may
be said to each individual, '' The Blood of thy Lord, if thou ivilt, was
given for thee : if thou wilt not that it should be, it was not given for thee.
The Blood of Christ is to the willing, salvation ; to the unwilling, punish-
ment." Sanguis Domini tui, si vis, datus est pro te: si nolueris esse,
non datus est pro te Sanguis Christi volenti est salus, nolenti
supplicium. Serm. 344. 4 (the context strikingly exemplifies St. Augustine's
way of exhibiting Redemption on its subjective side.') Accordingly, in the
Treatise de Catechizandis Rudibus, §. 52. he prescribes this kind of instruction :
Vere, frater, ilia magna et vera beatitudo est, quae in futuro sseculo Sanctis
promittitur. Omnia vero visibilia transeunt, et omnis hujus sseculi pompa et
delicise et curiositas interibunt et secum ad interitum trahunt amatores suos.
A quo interitu, i. e. poenis sempiternis, Deus misericors volens homines
liberare, si sibiinet non sint inimici et non resistant misericordicB Creatoris
suiy misitUnigenitum filium suum, h. e. Verbum suum. Ut quemadmodum
per unum hominem . . . mors intravit in genus humanum, . . . sic per unum
hominem qui etiam Deus est. . . deletis omnibus peccatis prseteritis, cre-
dentes in eum omnes in seternam vitam ingrederentur K And in the
Retractations, lib. i. c. 10. he writes, referring to his books on Genesis
against the Manicheans, Quod vero dixi, " Illud autem lumen non irrationa-
bilium avium oculos pascit, sed pura corda eorum qui Deo credunt et ab
amore visibilium rerum et temporalium se ad ejus preecepta implenda
_ <■ De Symbolo ad Catecliumenos non fuerit inventus in nimiero re-
lib, ii. 8. §. 17. (the book is not Au- demptorum, in munero maneat per-
gustino's, but the foUo^mig passage is ditormn. Petavivis cites passages af-
concoived in liis sense) : Qui non estis firming that Christ ched for all men,
redempti ])vetio mei sanguinis, non from Sermons which have nothing of
estis niei : Discedite a me in ignem Augustine in them; de Temp. 122.
ffitemurn, &c. festinet ct unusquisque 2, 3. and 114. 1. Ord. Yet. (Append,
cum vivit, ut wat: currat ut ejus 156 and 153. Ben.)
pretioso sanguine redimatur : ne quum
all have the power, who have the will, 1243
convertunt, quod omnes hominis possunt si veiint, non existiment Note
novi hseretici Pelagiani secundum eos esse dictum : Verum est enim ^'
omnmo^ omnes homines hoc posse si veiint, sed prseparatur voluntas a
Domino, et tantum augetur munere caritatis ut possint, quod hie ideo
dictum non est, quoniam praesenti necessarium non erat quaestioni. All
men have the power y if they have the will: this he maintains is consistent
with his teaching elsewhere : as in fact this is the very ground he takes in
his treatise addressed to the monks of Adrumetum, de Correptione et
Gratia ^, in which he expounds the practical application of his teaching on
the high points of Grace and Free-will, in reference to the mischievous
consequences which some had deduced from his doctrine.
Petavius, de Incarnatione, lih. xiii. 3, 4. endeavours to reconcile the
Augustinian statement with the Catholic mode of expression, by shewing
that Augustine recognises a distinction between a general and an absolute
Will of God. It maybe doubted whether the passages alleged by Petavius
will bear the construction he puts upon them. The nearest approach to
such a recognition is that which appears in the passage cited below ^: and
as the treatise de Spiritu et Littera (A.D. 412.) is one of Augustine's
earliest pieces in the Pelagian controversy, it may be said on the other
side that he had not at that time advanced to the peremptory interpretation
of the text 1 Tim. ii. 4. which appears in all his later writings.
The Greek and Latin Fathers before St. i^ugustine unanimously teach,
that God wills the salvation of all men, and that Christ died for all without
exception». Thus S. Clemens Rom. Ep. c. 7. says, that Christ's Blood
g Expressed in 12. §. 38. Tantum cujus in donis misericordiam con-
quippe accenditur voluntas eorum ut tempsermit. Ita voluntas Dei semper
ideo possint quia sic vohmt ; ideo sic in^icta est : vinceretm- autem, si non
veiint quia Deus operatur ut veiint. inveniret quod de contemptoribus
This treatise was the last work of faceret, aut ullo modo possent evadere
Augustine before the Eetractations. quod de talibus iUe constituit. Qui
^ De Spiritu et Litt. c. 33. §. 58. enim dicit verbi gratia, Volo ut hi
Primum igitm- illud dicamus . . . quod omnes send mei operentur in vinea et
liberum arbitrium naturaUter attri- post laborem requiescentes epulentm*,
butmn a Creatore animse rationali, ita ut quisquis eorum hoc noluerit, in
iUa media vis est, quae vel intendi pistrino semper molat: videtur qui-
ad fidem vel inclinari ad infideli- dem quicumque contempserit, contra
tatem potest : et ideo nee istam volun- voluntatem Domini sui facere ; sed
tatem qua credit Deo, dici potest tunc earn vincet si et pistrinum con-
homo habere quam non acceperit; temnens effugerit: quod nullo modo
quandoquidem vocante Deo surgit fieri potest sub Dei potestate .... Ille
de libero arbitrio quod natm-aliter cum igitur reus erit ad damnationem sub
crearetm- accepit. Vult autem Deus potestate ejus qui contempserit ad cre-
omnes homines salvos fieri et in agni- dendmn misericordiam ejus. Quisquis
tionem veritatis venire ; non sic tamen autem crediderit eique se a peccatis
ut eis adimat libermn arbitrium quo omnibus absolvendum et ab omnibus
vel bene vel male utentes justissime vitiis sanandimi et calore ac limiine
judiceutm-. Quod cum fit, infideles ejus accendendum iUuminandumque
quidem contra voluntatem Dei faciunt, commiserit, habebit ex ejus gratia
cum Evangelio ejus non credunt : nee opera bona, ex quibus etiam secundum
ideo tamen eam a incunt, verum se- corpus a mortis coiTuptione redimatur,
ipsos fraudant magno et summo bono, &c.
malisque pceualibus implicant, ex- » St. Jerome (non dixit animam
pertm-i in suppliciis potestatem ejus, suam redemptionem dare pro omnibus
4 M
1244 Greek and earlier Latin Fathers teachRedemption ofallmen.
Note shed for our salvation brought to al! the world the grace of repentance,
^' 5ta tV rj/j-erepau awTr]piav eKxvdeu iravTl rc^ KSa-^ico fierauoias %"/'"' vir'f}veyK€V.
St. Justin IVFartyr Dial. c. Tryph. §. 95. p. 322. D. " The Universal Father
willed His Christ for men of every race (virhp rSiv ck iravThs yevovs avOpuiroiv^
to take upon Him the curses due to all. . . .It was the Father's work, that He
suffered for mankind {vifep irov auepuweiov jeuovs), and Apol. 1. §. 63. *' by
His Will, He became man in order to the change and recovery of man-
kind :" id. §. 23. " He endured to be born and crucified for the race of
man, (uTrep rod yeuovs rod roSu auQpdoiroov) which from Adam had fallen under
death and delusion of the serpent, each having done wickedly by his own
fiiult," &c. S. Athanasius says, Orat. c. Arian. i. §. 60. " Formerly the
world as guilty was under judgment from the Law ; but now the Word has
taken on Himself the judgment, and having suffered in the body for all,
has bestowed salvation to all;" and de Incarn. c. 9. " The Word,
seeing that corruption could in no other way be loosed from men but by
wholly dying, and it was not possible for the Word to die... therefore
assumes that which could die, a body : that this, becoming participant of
the Word which is over all, might instead of all (aj/rl irdvTwv^ become
capable of that death, and yet through the indwelling Word abide incorrupt,
and so thenceforth corruption might cease from all by the grace of the
Resurrection. For being over all, the Word of God, offering His own
temple and bodily frame as a life -ransom for all, fulfilled that which was
owing in His death. . . and clothed all with incorruption in the promise of
Resurrection." And c. 20. " On behalf of all (un-ep TrdvTwv^ He offered
the Sacrifice by delivering up for all (oj/tI -navTiav') His own temple unto
death, that He might make all free, and no longer accountable for (dvu-
irevBvvovs') the original transgression, &c so (by the assumption of
human nature into the Word) the death of all was fulfilled in the Lord's
Body." See also 21. 22. 37. S. Basil and the two Gregories hold pre-
cisely the same doctrine concerning the redemption of human nature from
corruption, by the death of the Word Incarnate for the benefit of all men.
Petavius, de Incarn. xiii. c. 1. 2. has a large collection of passages, of
which it may be sufficient to adduce the following. St. Greg. Naz. Orat.
XXV. p. 436, D. speaking of the gifts of God which are common to all
mankind, reckons among them " even the sufferings of Christ by which we
were new-formed, not one so and another not, but all we that partook of
the same Adam, and were deceived by the Serpent, and made dead by sin,
and by the Heavenly Adam recovered and raised again to the Tree of Life,
whence we had fallen by the tree of shame." (Comp.Orat.xlii.ult.) St.Chry-
sostom on Rom. Hom. xxvi. speaks expressly of our Lord dying for some whom
He knew He should not profit : Kalroiye oh ndpras e^ueWe K€p5aue7u 6 XpLarSs.
sod pro multis, i.e. pro his qui credere rhi^ vir'kp ttjs rov iravrhs kSct/j-ov tccv
voluorint, in S. Matt. xx. 28.) ranks (raCof^4u(ou (rar-npias iraeSura, " Christ,
with Augustine. An expression which Who suffered for the salvation of the
occurs m the Epistle of the Chm-ch of whole world of the saved:" Eus. H. E.
Smyrna on the mart,yrdom of St. Poly- iv. 15. (The ancient Lat. version has,
carp, is hardly to be considered as a Christum.. qui pro peccatis nostris
dogmatic stattMuent: rhv Xpiarhi^ . . . pati tanta dignatus est.)
SL Augustine's doctrine as stated by Prosper. 1245
'AAA' '6^ioiS uTrep airdvToiv atredape rh avrov ir\r}pcSp, and Hom. xliii. in Matt. NoTE
p. 282. KOI '6ti virep avTwv iretVerat StjAwj/ koI '6tl ohZev KepBauovCi : and else- ^'
where in like manner very clearly, as on Gal. ii. 20. " Truly the Sacrifice was
offered for all mankind and was sufficient to save all ; but those who enjoy the
blessing are the believing only''." S. Cyril. Al. in Epist. ad Monach.(Conc.
Ephes. Par. 1. c. 1. p. 18, F.) says emphatically, that " Christ died for all,
to redeem all under heaven, and acquire to God and the Father them that
are in all the earth:" and on St. John xvii. 12. Lib. xi. t. iv. p. 975 sqq.
speaks most clearly of our Lord as having done His part towards the
salvation of Judas; and so as to assert the general principle of a real offer
of salvation to those who reject it, through free-will, foreseen, not compelled.
S. Basil. Reg. fusius tract, qu. 2. §. 4. (t. ii. p. 339.) and S. Cyprian, de
Opere et Eleem. §. 17. speak with remarkable concurrence how Satan will
in the last day taunt and triumph against Christ, in that he is better
served, though he has not given himself to suffer for his followers : (ovre
Kxlcras rifxas, ovre a-nodavuiu virep r)jxS)v, '6fj.(i}S %(TX^v ri^as aKoKovdovuras avrcp, k.t.A,
— Comparationis examine certare, dicentem : Ego pro istis quos mecum
vides, nee alapas accepi, nee flagella sustiuui, nee crucem pertuli, nee
sanguinem fudi, nee familiam meam pretio passionis et crucis rederai, &c.)
both implying that Christ has done this even for those who shall be con-
demned. St. Hilary Tr. in Psa. cxxix. ad fin. p. 442. " He is good in
Whom is the hope, and we are to hope in Him because He is merciful,
because with Him is plenteous redemption, because He redeemed all from
all their sins, it is the eleventh hour, the times of the day are concluded :
let us all run, let us haste, lest night come, lest the hour pass by."
Petavius cites many other expressions of this Father, as also from St. Am-
brose, e, g. on Psa. cxix. 64. " That mystical Sun of Righteousness arose
for all, came to all, suffered for all, and rose again for all. Now He
suffered, that He might take away the sin of the world. But if any believe
not in Christ, he defrauds his own self of the general benefit : as, if a man
were to shut his windows and keep out the sunbeams, the sun would
nevertheless have risen for all, though he defrauded himself of it."
The doctrine of St. Augustine gave occasion to much discussion during
most part of the fifth century, especially in the Churches of Gaul. It was
vindicated, against the remonstrances of the ' Semi-pelagians' and others, by
Prosper of Aquitain : in whose writings especially, and in the treatise de
Vocatione Gentium, those expressions of the Augustinian doctrine which
had given most offence are considerably softened down. Especially the
distinction between a general and an absolute Will of God, (which Petavius
contends is recognised even by Augustine,) is now distinctly enunciated,
apparently for the first time, and the expression of universality in the text
1 Tim. ii. 4. is no longer sought to be limited. Thus, in reply to the eighth
objection of the remonstrants. Prosper says: Item qui dicit, quod non
omnes homines (Deus) velit salvos fieri, &c. " Also, to say that God
would not have all men to be saved, is to speak more harshly than one
^ An indirect inference (Forbes lix. (al.lx.) on S.John is of no weight
Inst. Hist. Theol. viii. 16.) from Hom. against such passages.
1 246 Distinction between a general and an absolute Will of God,
Note ought to speak, of the depth of the unsearchable grace of God, Who both
^- inmild have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,
AND fulfilleth the purpose of His Will in them whom being foreknown He
hath predestinated, being predestinate hath called, being called hath
justified, being justified hath glorified." And the unknown Author of the
' De Vocatione Gentium' further distinguishes (lib. ii. 26. al. 9.) between
" a general grace, or general helps of grace," and " special grace, or special
gifts, or helps," which he enumerates: so, he says, (c. 28.) " it is manifest
that in diverse and innumerable ways, God would have all men to be saved,
and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Also in reply to the ninth
objection, viz. that according to the Augustinian doctrine "the Saviour was
not crucified for the redemption of the whole world," Prosper says, Nullum
omnino esse ex omnibus hominibus cujus natura in Christo Domino nostro
suscepta non fuerit : sed non safficere hominum redemptioni crucifixum
esse Dominum Christum, nisi commoriantur ei et consepeliantur in Baptismo.
" There is no human being whose nature was not assumed in our Lord
Jesus Christ; but it is not enough for the redemption of men that the Lord
Christ was crucified, except they die and be buried with Him in baptism."
And to the same objection, put foremost by Vincentius Lirinensis, he
answers: "As regards the magnitude and power of the price paid, and as
regards the one common cause of mankind, the blood of Christ is the
redemption of the whole world : but those who pass through this world
without the faith of Christ and without the sacrament of regeneration, are
aliens from redemption. While therefore in regard that the one nature of
all, and that the one cause of all, was verily undertaken by our Lord, all
- are rightly said to be redeemed, and yet not all are rescued from captivity,
without doubt redemption is strictly the property of those from whom the
Prince of this world is cast out, and who are no longer vessels of the devil
but members of Christ, Whose death was not so paid down for mankind,
that even those who were not to be regenerated should pertain to His
redemption, but so, that what by one only example took place for all, should
by a several sacrament be celebrated in men one by one. Since the cup of
immortality which was made up of our infirmity aud the might of God
(virtute divina), hath indeed in it that it should profit all, but if it be not
drunk it healeth not."
In the middle of the ninth century there was much discussion concerning
the doctrine of St. Augustine, occasioned by the teaching of Godeschalck,
which was defended by Ratramnus, Servatus Lupus, Prudentius of Troyes,
and Remigius of Lyon, contended against by Rabanus Maurus, Joannes
Erigena, and Hincmar, and condemned in several Councils in France.
The questions raised were. Of free-will, Predestination of good and bad,
and ' Whether Christ died for all?' (de taxatione sanguinis Christi); and
the text 1 Tim. ii. 4. held a prominent place in the controversy. (Petav.
de Incarn. xiii. 8 — 12. Usser. Gotteschalci et prsedest. controv. ab eo motse
historia, 1634. Mauguin. Vindicise prsedest. et gratis, &c. Paris, 1650.
See also ihi^ < Life and Times of Hincmar,' by the late Rev. J. C.
Prichard.)
INDEX OF TEXTS.
The asterisks refer to notes in which the text is either cited, or commented upon.
GENESIS.
LEVITICUS.
ch. i. 1.
619
iv. 29. LXX.
657
3 — 5.
591
xix. 18.
761
26.
1194
xxiii. 8.
594
27.
141
xxvi. 1—13.
45
31.
310
ii. 2.
268
.310
3.
1065
NUMBERS.
7.
17.
21.
22.
23.
227
]53.
468
.346
234
1047
29
xii. 7.
8. LXX.
XX. 11.
xxiii. 33 — i3.
171
486*
409. 435
435
24.
145.
3096
iii. 5.
272
.824
DEUTEKONOIHY
7.
9.
21.
V. 31.
vi. 14.
vii. 7—9.
119
664
392*
150
95
146
xiii. 3.
5.
xviii. 18.
xix. 15.
xxxiv. 6.
578
1014
243. 377
510
1080
viii. 6.
82
6.7.
96
JOSHUA.
11.
104
V. 2.
448
xi. 4.
88
xvi. 2 — 4.
4—9.
184
1230
1 SAJVIUEL.
8.
177
xix. 1—24.
1183
xix. 24.
681
xxi. 10.
172
. 184
xxii. 18.
87
.145
1 KINGS.
xxiv. 2 — 4.
585
xvii. 4 — 9.
1155
XXV. 22—24.
174
20—22.
870
xxviii. 12—18.
121
xix. 8.
237
xUx. 10. LXX.
461
2 KINGS.
EXODUS.
iii. 6.
13—15.
14. 20
171
527
919.
.583
.542
1117
ii. 9.
11.
iv. 35.
xiii. 21.
803
1080
870
ib.
16.
171
V. 20.
43
vii. 12—22. and viii. 7.
212
JOB.
xii. 46.
1047
i. 11. 12.
1169
xiv. 29.
717*
ii. 10.
1141
XX. 12—17.
659
vii. 1.
981*
xxxi. 18.
665
ix. 24.
428
xxxii. 1. 4,
45
xiv. 1.
1084
xxxiii. 11—13.
43
4. LXX.
559
31.
706
XXV. 6.
12
4 M
1-244
INDEX OF TEXTS,
PSALMS.
xxxvi. 9. 201. 486
TTXvii. 4. 402
i. 3.
1110
xl. 15. 523.671
ii. 6. LXXi^A'ulg. 1019. 10-21.
xli. 10. 161
1033
xlii. 3. 4. LXX. 319*
7. -28.
814. 1116
4. 780
8.
87.1131 .
4. 5. 358
iii. 5.
628 1
6. 784
S.
483 i
8. 882
iv. 6. LXX and Viilg.
548
\liii. 1. 344. 5S0. 692. 810
V. 3.
486* ,
xlv. 2. 1214
vi. 4.5.
1207
3. 4. 475
0.
486
4. 1009
^ii. T.
383
7. 112.389.580
\m. 4.
836
xlvii. 2.6.7. 198
X. 3. LXXandVulg.
925. 1126 1
1. 3. 49.431.521
xi. 1.
56
li. 3.9. 1101.1212
D. LXX and Vnlg.
839. 856
5. 56
xiii. 3.
1225
5. 11. 194
xri. i.LXXandVnlcr.
170. 1203
8. 395. 529. 728
5.
28
Ivi. 10. 11. 1224. 1225
xvii. 4. LXX and Yulg.
1134
h-ii. title. 1032
16.
937
4. 571.1014
xviii. 28.
220!
7. 1010
43.44.
460 ;
lx^-iii. 5. 1054
xix. 3.
752'
6. 810
4. 5.
1095
20. 581
4r-d.
1115
21. 1090*
5.
127. 738
22. 457
9.
1210
Ixix. 4. 824
10.
578. 846
22. 1043
TfTli. 6.
12
33. 753
16. 17.
954
Ixrii. 3. 4
17—29.
208. 497
18. 872
20.
158
l^ii. i_3. 432
27.
1113
2. 46. 394
xxiv. 1.
99
27. 28. 1216. 1224
1^.
665
Ixxiv. 21. 102
XXV. 1.
358
Ixxv. 2. 430*
5.
478
Ixxrvi. 2. 997
xx^ii. 4.
45.47
Ixxviii. 25, 26. 200
11.
1146
.52. 1094
12.
26
Ixxx. 7. 706
xxs. 11. 12.
1209
Ixxxii. 6. 5. 643. 710. 762. 1124
xxxii. 6.
1]03
8. 147
7^
1165
IxTTiv. 1. 771
9.
239. ] 195
2.6. 245*
xxxiv. 2.
733. 1224
4. 953
5. LXX and Vul?.
1004
10. LXX and Vulg. 851
16.
1212
Ixxy^-. 11. 488. 552
18.
186
12. 417
XXXV. 13. LXXand Viilg.
152
IxTxri. 11. 898
15. LXX.
155*. 157
15. 478
16.
155
iTTTvii. 5. 257*
18.
961
Ixxxviii. 4, 5. 557
20. LXX and Vulg.
152
iTxxix. 15—17. 879
27.
157
xe. 4. 758
xxxvi. 6.
763
xci. 13. 152
6—9.
482—484
xciv. 11. 741
7. 888. 402. 602
14, 15. 431«
7—10.
445
ci. 1. 503. 712
7—12.
394
1. 2. 1213
INDEX OF TEXTS.
1245
eii. 14. 15.
105
ii. 6.
917
27.
1116
iv. 8.
244
28.
530
V. 2, 3.
725—730
ciii. 18.
832
vi. 8.
70,85
civ. 24.
14
vii. 6. LXX.
764
cv. 4.
753
\-iii. 5, 6.
762
cviii. 5.
683. 691. 927
cix.
972
ex. 1.
132
ISAIAH.
3.
37. 1095. 1117
cxv. 8.
149
ii. 2.
1109
cxvi. 10.
605
3. •
87
12. 13.
1154
V. 4.
825
11.
539
18. LXX.
155
15.
623
vii. 9. LXX. 244.440.603
16.
487
ix. 2.
119
cxviii. 22.
148
6. LXX.
378
cxix. 65.
878
X. 23.
265
73.
544
xi. 2, 3.
1065
85.
1223. 1226
xiv. 12.
37
96.
1223. 1225
14. 15.
271
165.
1107
xxvi. 10.
996
cxxi. 1.
6
xxviii. 16.
121
1,2.
56
22.
265
4.
577
XXXV. 4.
378
6.
1106
xl. 3.
53. 197
cxxiii. 1.
780
xlii. 14. LXX.
431*. 478
cxx^^. 8.
248
xlv. 11. LXX. 849. 894. 954
cxx^d^. 1.
577. 694
xlvi. 8.
283*
cxxx. 1.
235
xlix. 8.
948
cxxxii. 17.
26. 120
lii. 3.
555
17, 18. LXX.
74. 355. 492
Uii. 1.
641
cxxx\'iii. 6.
244
2.
1215
cxxxix. 7, 8.
508. 1165
5.
469*
cxlii. 4.
523
5—8.
496
5.
671
7. 49. 431. 521.
671. 1025
cxlvi. 7, 8.
487. 1141
8.
454. 967
cxlvii. 5.
535
12.
461. 1032
cxhiii. 5.
6
hii. 19. LXX.
814
hiii. 7,8.
266
PROVERBS. i
lix. 1,2.
556
i. 7.
26.
1206
480
Ixi. 10.
Ixiii. 16.
Ixiv. 8.
1096
271
ib.
V. 16, 17.
1183
22.
156
ix. 13—17.
902
18. LXX.
1174
JEREMIAH.
XX. 8,9.
557
xxiii. 1,2. LXX,
624
ii. 21.
825
1—5. LXX.
841—843
xvii. 5.
1144
xxvii. 2.
502. 732
9.
1043*
xxxi. 26.
109
xxiii. 24.
508. 546
ECCLESIASTES.
vii. 17.21.
890
EZEKIEL,
X. 1.
14*
XV. 5.
831
SONG OF SOLOMON.
xvi. 3.
xviii. 21, 32, 27.
670
480
i. 2.
673
xxxiv. 4.
607
3.
403. 917
xxxvi. SO.
1184
4 m2
1246
INDEX OF TEXTS.
DANIEL
ii. 34, 35. 50.148. 1] 08. 1130
2 MACCABEES.
iii.
178
1 vii.
178. 1196
15—18.
582
50.
1196
vi. 22.
1195
SONG OF THE THEEE HOLY
CHILDEEN.
HOSEA.
xiii. 14.LXX.
191*
(Dan.iu.LXX.)
734. 113a
HABAEKUK.
ST. MATTHEW.
ii. 4,
38. 346
i. 17.
141
ZECHAEIAH.
ii. 1—6.
23.
453
453
ix. 9.
682
iii. 7—9.
149. 567
xii. 10. 335.
512. 1048
14. 15.
15.
58
202
MALACHI.
16.
16. 17.
915
84
i. 6.
326
iv. 1—10.
690. 1123
10,11.
497
7.
684
iii. 1.
224
19.
V. 5.
665
161
WISDOM OF SOLOMON.
6.
2O0
. 399. 1198
8. 707.
776.
1144.1186
i. 1.
614
10.
858
11.
629
14.
1109
13, 14.
190
14—16.
711
ii 24.
ib.
16.
832. 1191
vi. 15.
860*
17—20.
1068
vii. 24.
995
19.
1178*
26.
321. 325
22.
680
viii. 1.
325
25.
610.* 1066
ix. 15.
358. 780
39.
1009*
xi. 20.
13
44—46.
1208
25.
989
45.
46.
149
1193
ECCLESIASTICUS. 1
vi. 1.
1190
1—3.
1165
i. 28.
1209
6.
643
ii. 12.
107
9—13.
799
iii. 22.
703
10.
776. 1207
V. 8,9.
480
12.
734
815. 1180
13.
314
12. 13.
694. 704
vi. 36. 37.
108
33.
1063
X. 9, 10. 14, 15.
392
34.
751
15.
1194
35.
1062
xiv. 23.
717
vii. 6. 7.
280*
29.
716
16.
617
xviii, 6.
753
23.
664
30.
662
24.
793
xxiv. 3. .
291
24. 25.
354
xxxviii. 25.
728
24—27.
25.
lie
1085
TOBIT.
viii. 5 — 12.
255
ii. 11.
8.10.
653
493
12.
666
iv.
199. 493
17.
871
INDEX OF TEXTS.
1247
Tiii. 21. 22.
661
xxii. 37—40.
264. 1226
22.
346
44. 45.
638
24—26.
663
45.
132
29.
1219
xxiii. 2. 3.
75. 617. 1068
ix. 9.
746
3.
173. 1178
11—13.
118
8.9.
1137
12.
1199
10.
814
13.
653. 665
37.
233
15.
805*
xxiv. 13.
424
20—22.
1192
14.
1123
X. 20.
920
XXV. 21.
«45
22.
552. 609
31—40.
330
23.
619
34.
776
26.
703
40.
673
27.
728
xxxi. 33. 34,
166
28.
583
33—35.
466
40.
711. 862
34.
1007
41. 42.
1155
38. 39.
690
xi» 7—9.
54
39.
993. 1076
11.
78. 1-97. 492. 1069
57.
1006
14.
62*
69—74.
875
27.
455. 625. 937
xxvii. 4. 5.
1234
28.
434
40.
34. 521
28. 29.
396. 487
52. 53.
1080
30.
187
54.
457
xii. 24—33.
1235
xxviii. 10.
1232
30.
996
19.
87. 144
46—50.
153
20. 528.672.677.758.887.933
xiii.24.
775
33.
150
38.
755
38—43.
775
ST.
MARK.
47.
1068
XV. 24.
461. 626. 668
i. 32—34.
870
xvi. 13—16.
388
v. 41.42.
651
13—18.
1219
vi. 56.
871
16.
980
X. 33. 43.
1015
16. 17.
403
xiii. 22. 23.
211
16—19.
1085
xvi. 15.
1139
16—23.
654*
17.
119
19.
666. 676. 1231
23.
980
ST.
LUKE,
xvii. 1—3.
1080
19.
547
i. 17.
52
27.
268
34. 35.
921
xviii. 4.
396
ii. 25—38.
693
10.
898
40.
803
14,
396
51.
819
16.
610
52.
835
18.
347
iii. 2.
1010
xix. 16—22.
487
iv. 18—31.
803
XX. 9.10.
263. 770
29. 30.
165
30—34.
638
vi. 19.
921
xxi. 19.
119
25.
151
23—27.
67. 74. 492
46.
845
xxii. 11—13.
147
xii. 14. 16.
651
13.
156
36—47.
118
15—21.
553
viii. 32.
1169
21.
548
43—48.
460
30.
189
44—46.
401
31. 32.
583
46.
921
1248
INDEX OF TEXTS.
X. 17—20.
212
V. 16.
334
20.
611. 1123
21.
786
30—40.
562. 577
22.
511.577.712.914
34.
307*
26.
635. 714. 784. 918
39. 40.
239
27.
914
xi. 27. 28.
154
28. 29.
580. 649
XV. 4. 5.
1203
33. 35.
645
4—10.
120
35.
492
31.
969*
43.
442. 681
32.
293
44.
879
x\i. 16.
643
46.
449
22. 23.
256
\i. 29.
441
24—28.
693*
45.
814. 898
27. 28.
718
51. 54.
168
x\-ii. 17. 18.
235
54—69.
1106
x^'iii. 8.
515
60—68.
169. 170
23. 24.
793
^ii. 28.
521
xix. 8.
1155
37—39.
1173
10.
721
39.
693
XX. 18.
61
viii. 18.
1232
xxi. 2—4.
265
28.
709
18.
695
32.
975
xxii. 3. 4. 19
21.
750
34.
310
32.
704
35.
847
33. 34.
•166
36.
975
52.
1014
44.
215
xxiii. 34.
458. 527
706. 1104.
58.
566. 1116
1154.
1182. 1200
ix. 6.
487
39—43.
461
X. 13.
166
40—43.
140
16.
461
43.
631. 677
18.
134. 461. 520. 557
xxiv. 13—21.
382
30.
144. 509. 662. 789.
13—49.
140. 1110
826. 904. 915
19.
921
34.
710
39.
335
xi. 33.
689. 743
44.
643. 758
39-44.
347
46. 47.
1131.1227
48—50.
xii. 31.
34.
42. 43.
881
1139
893
879
ST.
JOHN.
47.
503. 537
(Passages
beside the direct
xiii. 10.
26.
827
92
Exposition.)
27—29.
686
i. 1.
312. 896. 975
33.
459
3.4.
15*
34.
838. 1104. 1152. 1223
10.
546
36.
459. 759
12.
704. 709
36—38.
895
14.
975
37.
632
18.
495. 624
xiv. 1.
711*
28.
55*
6.
200. 347. 538
33.
1188
8.
225
42.
112*
8.9.
516
61.
727
9.
226. 644. 1127
ii. 19—21.
628
10.
339*
iii. 5.
1125
21.
307. 547
13.
459. 994
23.
887
J6.
855
28.
413. 826. 915
17.
892
30.
892
18.
580
30. 31.
557
29.
728
XV. 6.
705
iv. 24.
921
13.
1160. 1180
V. 4.
189
15.
894
INDEX OF TEXTS.
1249
XV. 22.
1167
viii. 9, ff.
94
26.
922
ix. I,tf.
94
zvi. 12.
703
4.
427.
i60.
/26. 1229
12—16.
923*
X. 20.
814
25.
1008
xi. 26.
903
25—28.
300*
XV. 9.
776. 827
32.
339
x\ii. 31.
981
x^'ii. 3.
45. 337. 932
xix. 3—5.
76
4.
584
5.
580
24.
459
.viii. 4—6.
6.
166. 628
457
EOMANS
40.
461
xix. 20.
1032*
i. 1—4.
959
27.
304
3.
638*
28—30.
632
17.
38
776. 891
28—33.
456
19—22.
2J6
30. 34.
1232
20.
22*
34.
146. 234
24.
1170
37.
1144.
25.
1121
XX. 17.
326.401.* 1127
ii. 4—6.
478
18.
1056*
12.
713.
862. 863*
20.
802
21.
1178
20—22.
467
24.
673
22.
921
29.
1033
25—29.
254. 1096
iii. 4.
539. 781
27. 28.
767
23.
665
29.
821
iv. 2.
833
30.
649
5. 38
.441
705
711. 794
xxi. 15.
875
25.
126
166. 751
15—17.
1153
V. 5. 120.
144.
537.
801. 1183
15-19.
624. 1159
6.
990
18. 19.
684. 691
8.
989
20.
745
8.9.
10.
12.
14.
1214
665
658*
146. 234
ACTS
19.
vi. 9.
767
470. 691
i. 3.
335
12. 13.
561
3.4.
757
14.
33
6.
382." 931
20. 22.
558
6—8.
1229
vii. 3.
803
8.
921
12.
863
9—11.
335
13.
749
11.
512. 543
15. 22. 23
560*
15.
1114
22. 23.
815
23.
423
23—25.
489*
ii.
874
viii. 3.
556
665
891.976
1—12.
1114
6.
416
3.4.
82
7.
803
27.
458
9.
143
.4.9.921
37—41.
541
10.
807
m.2— 16.
458
11.
920
iv. 4.
541
15.
846
32.
223. 537
17.
29
32—35.
1042
24.
1202
V. 15.
780. 782
24. 25.
850
vi. 1—4.
982
26. 27.
1170
vii. 51—59.
82
28.
1021
59.
1154
28—30.
958
1250
INDEX OF TEXTS.
viii. 29. 30.
640
iii.
1—3.
904
29—33.
608
4.
908*
30.
411
6,7.
75.
190. 1137
31.32.
1004. 1006 1
15.
863*
32.
948. 1184
23.
987
35.
1207
iv.
5.
815. 867
ix. 6.
1097*
7.
655
7.8.
1033
15.
1156
14.
702
V.
3.
620
28.
265
7.
718
X. 3.
881
17.
775
2.3.
706
vi
17.
223
3.
399. 704
. 830. 879
vii
7.
1197
4.
434. 718
14. 15.
1233
6—10.
886*
40.
515
8—10.
827*
viii
1.
1118
10.
400
. 503. 781
4.
12
xi. 2.
245
ix.
9.10.
157
5.6.
851. 856
11—15.
1061
7.8.
702*
X.
1.2.
168
17.
254
. 567. 881
1—4.
408. 605
20.
847
3.
866*
22.
683
4.
435
. 448. 755
25.
881
11.
171. 434
33.
692. 703
18.
866*
xii. 2.
899
17.
409
12.
992
29.
676
xiii. 1.
952. 1026
xi
3.
240
4.
71
27.
749
8. 10.
1157
29.
92.
407.1184
10.
264.
839. 1224
30—32.
345*
12. 13.
497
xii
3.
801
xiv. 20.
797
7.
469
23.
852
8.10.
224
XV. 8.9,
461
14.
25. 26.
26. 27.
29. 30.
31.
803
762
1221
224
143
I COEINTHIANS.
36.
1128
xiii
. 1—3.
2.
143. 810
1156
i. 12.
906
3.
469. 1198
12. 13.
626
4.
1158
13.
67. 1116
8.
1205
20.
741
9.
899
22.
901
10—12.
850
23, 24.
906
12.
488. 932. 987
25.
132, 234
xiv
. 34. 35.
238
26—28.
116
37. 38.
906*
30. 31.
858
XV
. 9.
1192
ii. 2.
122
10.
1060
6.
904.
908. 938*
18.
762
8.
261
21.
40
9.
486. 1144
21. 22.
767. 806
11.
466. 477
23. 24.
776
12.
802
847. 938*
24.
306*
381.1141
13, 14.
904
26.
490
14.
3.907
41.42.48.
770
16.
938*
53.
490
jii. 1.
937
63—55.
662
1.2.
122
54. 55.
191*
INDEX OF TEXTS.
1251
2 COEINTHIANS
EPHESIANS.
i. 12.
1164
i. 4.
608.837.851.958
20.
434
ii. 3.
227. 589
22.
126
4—6.
994
ii. 14—16.
673
10.
834
16.
862
14.
815
iii. 6.
665. 1065
14—20.
150
14—16.
139*
iii. 7.
1119
15.
376
8.
1192
iv. 13.
605
17.
663
16.
850
iv. 2.3.
1108
V. 1.
771
4—6.
920*
4.
1076
7.
224
6.
81.807
13. 14.
330
6.7.
486*
17—19.
899
6—8.
776
27.
108
7.
1146
v. 2.
1004. 1006
8.
437
8. 35.168.497.823.985.1105
10.
343*
14.
346
13.
122
18.
660
15.
563
25.
751.828
16.
886*. 892
26. 27.
724
19.
695. 855
. 985. 988
27.
1139
20.21.
555. 563
31. 32.
145
vi. 2.
948
vi. 12.
719. 823.
1069. 1206
11. 12.
1225
16.
694
X. 13.
150
xi. 2.3.
126. 207
29.
33.
1107
619
PHTTJPPIANS.
xii. 2.
746. 912
2—4.
6.
7—9.
8.9.
15.
dii. 3.
121
733
749. 797
IJl
1154
862. 889
i. 6.
15—18.
17. 18.
18.
21—24.
23.
23. 24.
24.
727
975
78
618*. 674
173
1154
1076
. 742. 1207
619
GALATIANS.
ii. 6.
6.7.
272
145. 1215
i. 9.
22—24.
ii. 20.
348.
912
1191
751. 1184
6—8.
7—11.
8.
8.9.
12.
19—21.
21.
iii. 13.
13. 14.
15.
15. 16.
20.
187.634.681.721.818
948
413. 503
iii. 16.
56.87
. 189. 976
794
616
156
140
1145
76
703.911
189
21. 22.
28.
29.
iv. 4.
6.
7.
9.
22—31.
56. 189.
33
172.
261. 665
984
976. 1033
. 456. 948
920
29
907
175. 1033
V. 6.
441. 834
13.
558
17.
489. 560
COLOSSIANS.
22.
854
vi. 2.
267. 1108. 1223
i. 13.
717. 823
4.
1164
16.
952
9.
799
24.
976
14.
504. 580
. 707. 906
ii. 3.
703
1252
INDEX OF TEXTS.
5.
9.
14.
10. 17.
1. 2.
1—4.
3.
3.4.
0.
9. 10.
13.
3.
909*
803
1099
434
448. 725. 727
997
436. 762
432*
1206
1105
735
1102
1 THESSALONIANS.
ii. 7.
122. 1205
iii. 10.
909
iv. 12.
656
15. 16.
294
V. 8.
168. 694
2 THESSALONIANS.
ii. 3.
4.
iii. 2.
8.
1127
442
695
1060
TIMOTHY.
5.
13.
ii. 4.
5.
iii. 10.
16.
iv. 4.
V. 6.
8.
10.
16.
vi. 10.
16.
17—19.
20.
1223
665
38
855*
556. 767. 825. 834
559
795*
797
629
1041
734
751
1194
1238
343*
904
2 TIMOTHY.
8.9.
8.
16. 17.
17. 18.
19.
1—5.
5.
7.
8.
1021
638
903
301,351
192. 424. 602. 608. 640
1074
1119
753
830
3.4.
6—S.
14—16.
903
39
1234
TITUS.
16.
5.
559
801. 1132. iirs
850
HEBKEWS.
m. 5.
iv. 15.
V.
vi.
xi.
xii.
xiii.
12—14.
1.2.
1.
6.
1.
42
559*
908
909
822.* 891. 996
394. 1196.1201
1192
ST. JAMES.
i. 13.
19.
ii. 19.
iii. 1.2.
iv. 3.
4.
6.
578
727
1219
730
796
821
708
1 ST.
PETEK.
i. 8.9.
850*
ii. 6.
121
17.
100
21.
685.842.857
21—23.
334
iii. 13.
1209
21.
827
iv. 8.
1100. 1153
2 ST.
PETEK.
i. 17—19.
497
19.
350*
ii. 4.
893
1 ST. JOHN.
(Beside the direct Exposition.)
i. 8. 568. 1149
8. 9. 724. 827
ii. 1. 803
1.2. 694.855.1159
0. 686
15. 143.855*
16. 803
INDEX OF TEXTS.
1253
ii. 18.
347.811.933
V.
16.
1233
19.
745
20.
1235
iii. 2.
488
548.706.932
15.
78
16.
624.631.841
iv. 8.
770
EEVELATION.
10.
939
16.
144.266
iii.
1.
1066
18.
578.846.858
V.
5.
201
20.
266
xvii.
15.
260
V. 7.8.
1231
xxii.
8. 9.
198
INDEX.
A.
Abel, diflferenced from Cain by charity,
1158.
Abraham, how he saw Christ's day,
585. his sacrifice a type of Christ,
147. Abraham's Seed, Christ and
His mystical Body, 976.
Absolution. Power of binding and
loosing imparted with the Holy
Ghost when Christ breathed on the
Apostles, 1056. The Church'scharity,
shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost, remits the sins of them
that belong to her, retains the sins
of them that are not of her, ib. see
* St. Peter. ^ Ministerial, Christ's com-
mand, " Loose him, and let him go,"
666.
Acknowledgment of sin, the way to
forgiveness, 193. 1212.
Acts of the Apostles, read between
Easter and Pentecost, 94, note. 1114.
Adam, a type of Christ, 146. 234.
mystery of his name, 148. 162.
would be God by usurpation, 824.
his defeat contrasted with Job's
victory, 1141. in Job, Adam over-
came, ib. the first and the Second
Adam, 40. 161. 915. See 'Birth:
Adultery, St. Aug. teaches that the
Christian husband ought to forgive
the penitent wife, 474, n.
Advent, see ' Christ,* ' Elias.''
Adversary, the Law of God, with which
we must agree quietly, 1066.
Agar, afflicted by Sarah, as schismatics
punished by the Church : their duty is
to return to their Mistress, 177. 1230.
Ages, six, of the world, 142. 234.
All, different senses of the word, 695.
Alleluia, 1157. sung from Easter to
Pentecost, 1189, and note. 1225.
Alms-deeds. Because the regenerate are
not without sin, which overtake them
unawares, God hath given them
alms-deeds for salutary remedies, for
the aiding of their prayer, Forgive
us our trespasses, &c. 1084. are the
first rudiments of charity, 1161. an
anointing of the Lord's feet, 67^.
* Alogiemus,^ 16, note.
Altar of God: the Christian Altar, 606.
to us that is Christ which is placed
on the Altar, as to Israel in the
wilderness the rock was Christ, ib.
Ambrose, St. allusion to his exposition
concerning St. Peter, 766, and note.
Amen, Amen : left untranslated, 554.
'Aynor' and 'dilectio:' the same thing
may be expressed by both words,
1074. but ' dilectio' is Move with
esteem,' ' amor,' all ' love,' carnal
included, 1193.
Atnulets and incantations, devices of
the devil, 106. 107. 110, note.
Angels: * messengers,' 1052. perfect
righteousness only in them, and
scarce in them compared with God,
1140. their food, Christ, Eternal
Light, 200. the Eternal Word, 280,
and note, are part of the Universal
Church, 969. not to be worshipped,
198. some wrongly affirm Christ's
members to be greater than the
Angels; but the promise is, that
they shall be made like to and equal
with the Angels, 990, f. that God
bestowed no grace upon the fallen
angels, shews their sin more heinous
as their nature more sublime, 991.
Ascending and descending upon the
Son of Man, sound preachers of
Christ, 121. the Angels in the se-
pulchre, 1052.
The Angel of the Lord seen by Moses,
not Christ Himself, but a created
Angel representing Him, 43.
'Animatn ponere pro aliquo* 632,
note.
Answers to prayer^ considered, 1168 —
1170. See 'Prayer:
Antichrist, means ' contrary to Christ,'
1127, and note. 1133. foretold by
our Lord in John v. 43. and vii. 18.
442, and note. ' the Lie' opposed to
Christ ' the Truth,' 572, n. Many
Antichrists without and within the
Church, 1128. 1132, f. proved by
want of charity, 1175.
' Apocalypse of Paul,'' an apocryphal
work, full of presumptuous fables,
913, and note.
Apollinarians, denied the existence of
the rational soul in Christ, 360. as
distinguished from the irrational soul
which is common to man with the
brutes, 630.
Apostles, i. e. " sent," 976. but not so
sent as Christ, i. e. not so that we
should believe on them, 710, f. they
are the means of our faith, Christ
the end and object, 7l2. are the
twelve hours of the Day, Christ, 655.
Christ chose the unlearned to con-
found the world, 115. until Christ
1256
INDEX.
breathed on them the Holy Ghost,
were babes, and Christ taught them
as such, 942. their weakness before,
and fortitude after, His Resurrection,
945. did not expect the Lord's Re-
surrection, 1050. supposed Him to
speak figuratively, ib. why they re-
sumed their occupation of fishing
after the Lord's Resurrection, 1059,
f. it was not wrong to supply their
need by the exercise of their lawful
calling, 1060. the Church being
formed, they had a right to be main-
tained by it, but were not bound to
exercise the right, 1061.
Avians, 583. 818. this heresy still alive
in Aug.'s time, 546. brought into
Africa by foreigners, ib. A., and
Sabellians, 601. each witness to the
Truth against the other, 508. 517, ff.
789. and Eunomians, 819. A., Pho-
tinians, and Manicheans,926. blinder
than were the unbelieving Jews, 271.
642. their argument against the
Equal Godhead from John v. 19.
276. affirm that the "Word was
made, 11. affirm the Father invisible,
the Son visible: falsely, for " as He
is," He is God Invisible, 706. 707.
their dogma of gradations ; " the
Father sent the Son, the Son sent
the Apostles: how much the Apo-
stles below the Son, so much the
Son below the Father," 737. yet
they place the Holy Ghost below
the Son, ib. " To receive whomso-
ever Christ sends, is to receive Him
as Man: but to receive Christ as
God, is to receive the Father that
sent Him:" thus the text rescued
from the Arian cavil, 738. affirm the
Son less than the Father, the Holy
Ghost less than the Son, 927.
Ark of Noah, type of the Catholic
Church, 147. baptized in the flood,
95. see ' Baptism.'' door in the side
of the, a type, 1047.
"/45," 'As this, so that,' does not
always denote equality, but some-
times, ' Because this, therefore that,'
or, ' This, in order to that,' 988. or
resemblance, 114 7. 1207.
Astrologers, doctrine of sidereal neces-
sity, 131. 133. their books burned,
131. Consulters of, reproved, 156.
Avgnstine, St. his Homilies on St. John,
when preached, Introd. 1. imme-
diately after the completion of the
Exposition of the Psalms, Pref. iii.
his preaching described by himself,
iv. v. his distinguishing qualities as
an Interpreter of Scripture, vii. his
Treatise on the Agreement of the
Evangelists, 1001.
B.
Bad men, may have Baptism, and gifts,
but cannot have charity, 1183, f. put
all the good works of God to bad use :
God puts their bad works to good use,
422. see ^ Evil men,' ' Church.'
Baptism. " The prescribed Gospel
words essential to the consecration
of Baptism," 827, note. " By the
laver of regeneration and word of
sanctifieation all the ills of men re-
generate are cleansed," ibid. " The
water is consecrated by the words,
In the Name of the Father,''^ fyc.
ibid. Consecrated by the word of
faith, 827. " The cleansing would
by no means be ascribed to the fluid
unstable element, were there not
added, " by the word,'' 828. By the
ministry of the Church, believing,
offering, blessing, baptizing, this
" word of faith" cleanses the merest
babe, 828. comp. note. " In the
water also it is the word that
cleanseth. Take away the Word,
and what is the water but water ?
The word is added to the element,
and it becomes a Sacrament, itself,
as it were, a visible word," 827, and
note. The Sacrament of new-birth,
great, divine, holy, ineffable. What
a Sacrament! to make him a new
man by remission of all sins! 1156.
see ^Born of God.' Believing on the
Mediator, we are by the laver of
regeneration loosed from the guilt of
all sins, both original, (to wit, con-
tracted by the natural generation or
birth, which, most of all, the new
birth or regeneration was ordained to
counteract,) and of the rest which are
contracted by evil living, and so are
set free from lasting damnation, 1084.
All sin blotted out by Christ's blood,
in Baptism, 1099. The remedy for
sins committed after Baptism : is
Christ the Advocate of them who
confess and hate their sins, 1 100, f.
see '■Alms-deeds* The baptized are
" clean every whit," yet need to
wash their feet, by daily confession
of sins : Christ daily washes the feet
of such, 724, f. Necessity of, 590.
for all, 57. Danger lest Catechumens
of high gifts should disdain to receive
Baptism, 67. 202. High gifts and
grace may precede Baptism, but
cannot supersede, 58. Christ alone
baptizes with the Holy Ghost, 62, fi".
Unbaptized are yet in their sins, 203.
As the general's ^character' on the
soldier, 211. 1156. It is possible to
have the sacrament or outward and
INDEX.
1'257
visible sign without the virtue or
inward and spiritual grace, 1173.
see '■ Bad menJ Evil men come to
God in Baptism with a double
heart, 172. Infant-baptism, 526.
The Easter, 1099. The newly-bap-
tized, called 'infantes,' 1099. 1172.
The baptized ' infantes,' to be fed
with milk of babes, 1126. Cannot
be iterated, 182. even when ad-
ministered by the worst of men, 77, f.
!Not invalidated though administered
by a murderer, 79. The authority re-
sides with Christ, 79. 85. Its virtue
not dependent on the minister, 86.
90. this illustrated by a type from
history of Patriarchs, 171, ff. With-
out charity, profiteth not, 1156. Out
of unity valid, but unto condemnation,
92. 93. illustrated by type of Ark and
trees both baptized in the Flood, 95, ff.
Catholics allow Donatist baptism,
Donatists annul the baptism of Ca-
tholics, 89, 91. yet these allow the
baptism of wicked men of their own
sect, 90. The Catholic Church re-
cognises in schismatical baptism the
titnlus imperatoris, 1 188. the Pre-
cursor's, called John's Baptism, but
Christian Baptism is never called
the Baptism of Peter, of Paul, &c.
65. It is wholly Christ's : whoever
be the ministers, it is He that bap-
tizeth, 66,
The Baptism of John. "Why it did
not remain, 67. It served for the
declaration of Christ's humility, ibid.
Christ submitted to it, as a Pattern
of humility, and to enhance the
dignity and necessity of His own
baptism, ibid. It ceased as soon as
Christ was baptized, 58. If John
was sent specially to baptize Christ,
why were others baptized by him?
59. 65. He received his Baptism
of Christ, 65. Recipients of, still
needed Christ's Baptism, 79. Bap-
tism of Christ not as John's, 199.
See Birth, New. Born of God.
Regeneration.
Be, Being. See ' God.' ' Esse.' True
Being is only in God, 529. 539.
God's ' Esse' has no tenses, 919.
1116. All well-being ('salus) of angel,
man, and beast is of the Lord, 482, f.
To Be,' meaning ' to signify,' as
<' The Rock was Christ," " The
good seed are the children of the
kingdom," <fec. 755.
Beauty, outward and inward, 46. Of
the soul, the, is to love God, 1214.
which is caused by His first loving
us, ibid.
Beginning, see ' Princtpium.'
'' Believe," and " believe on:" different,
710, f.
Belief, object of, is that which we do
not know or understand, 507.
Benediction, the Eueharistic, 1128.
Benevolence : the living water which
flows from the heart, 465.
Bethesda, Bethsaida, Bethzeta, 258.
Pool of ; signified the people of the
Jews, 260, f.
Birth. Two Nativities or birth-stocks,
Adam and Christ : two men ; but
one of them, a man that is man ;
the other, a Man that is God. By
the man that is man we are sinners ;
by the Man that is God we are
justified. That birth cast down unto
death; this birth raised up unto life:
that birth brings with it sin; this
birth setteth free from sin, 1148.
Birth, Neiv, see ' Regeneration.' Bap-
tism is the Sacrament of the, 1156.
of the Spirit, 170. cannot be iterated,
170. 182. through Christ destroys
the work of the devil, 1 149.
Blindness, mental : cure of, slow and
painful, 284, f. Some are blinded for
a time, for their good, 706. iudicial,
702. & > J ,
Blood of Christ: was so shed for re-
demption of all sins, that it had
power to blot out the very sin by
which it was shed, 874. drunk, by
believing, 527. 541. 1104. 1200.
Christ's murderers despaired until
they drank His blood, 459.
Bodily actions expressive of inward
affections, tend to call forth and
strengthen the inward affections,
734, and note.
Bodily health, gift of Christ to man
and beast, 446, 470. why to be
sought, 1224. is of the Lord, through
whomsoever given, 446.
Body of Christ. The Church is joined
to the Flesh of Christ, that bride
which He espoused in the Virgin's
womb, and so makes one Spouse,
one Christ Mystical, 1096. 1112.
No life out of the, 419. His Body
(the Church) lives by His Spirit,
409. The Saints as His Body are
Christ, 999. The Saints Abraham's
Seed, i. e. Christ, 976. The sufferings
of the Saints are the sufferings of
Christ,976. TheSa-'nts, all believers,
morally one with God in Christ, not
coosubstantially one, 984. Christ has
told us where to look for His Body,
1230, It has its members throughout
the earth, 1227. Christ the Head is
so united to the members, that in all
their wrongs He feels Himself
wronged, 1228. His last words on
1258
INDEX.
earth, a charge concerniog His
Body : and when He spoke from
heaven (to Saul) it was on account
of a wrong done to His members on
earth and so to Himself, ibid, and
1229. Christ suffers in, learns in, is
honoured or slighted in. His mem-
bers, 330. Fulness of: Head and
members, 331. In this present life,
mixed, as grain and chaff on the
threshing-floor: therefore here we
must needs be among evil men, who
blaspheme not in word but in deed,
424.
Born of God. Let him (who has re-
ceived the Sacrament of New Birth)
look well to the heart, whether that
be thoroughly done there, which is
done in the body ; let him see
whether he have charity, and then
say, I am born of God. If he have
it not, he has indeed the soldier's
mark upon him, but he roams as a
deserter. Let him have charity;
otherwise let him not say that he is
born of God, 1156. Whoso is, doth
not commit sm : how reconciled with,
Iftve say that we have no sin, &fc.
1151. doth not commit the sin by
which all other sins are bound, i. e.
the sin against Charity, 1152, f.
Bread of Life: 391. 409. to eat is to
believe, 389. 400.
Bread, Angels', Christ, Eternal Light
200, Eternal Word, 280.
Brethren, Christ's, 152, f. not sons of
Mary, 428.
Brotherly love, \nc\vides\o\e of enemies:
for we are to love our enemies by
wishing that they may become our
brethren, 1199, ff.
C.
Ccecilianus, 73.
Cai7i and Abel, differenced by charity,
1158.
Carnal conceptions of God, when they
occur to spiritual men, are repelled
liketroublesomeflies, 939. see' God.'
Catechumens, 161. 164. 167. 183.
some highly gifted: not to despise
Baptism, 202. received a chrism be-
fore baptism, 590. and used the sign
of the cross, 677. The Sacraments of
the faithful are not divulged to them,
not because they cannot bear them,
but to make them the more ardently
desired the more reverently they are
concealed, 897. Form of doctrine
delivered to them in the Creed and
Lord's Prayer, 910, and note.
Catholics, allow the Baptism of Dona-
tists, but Donatists annul Catholic
Baptism, 89.91. 1188.
Charity, (see ^ Love,^) meaning of the
name, 143. surpassing excellency of,
470. uniting power of, 536. is the
bond of the Trinity, 537- is God,
Essence of God, 1202. is of God
and is God, being the Essence of
the Holy Ghost, God of God, 1182, f.
note : comp. de Fid. et Symb. 19.
" Seventeen Short Treatises," p. 31.
caused the Son of God to be In-
carnate, 1176. root of all godliness,
1119. ground of all virtues: first
love, then Joy, peace, long suffering ,
S)-c. 854. criterion of right and
wrong, 1185. end of all perfection,
1223. is the source of all true and
acceptable prayer, 1171. is the end
and aim of the Spirit's working
in man, ibid. Christ's neiv com-
mandment to love one another, 761.
To love as Christ loved, belongs to
the New Man, ibid. This love re-
news us, as heirs of the New Testa-
ment, 762. It renewed the saints of
old before Christ's coming, and now
renews the nations of the world, ibid,
a fountain in the wilderness, 1 180.
without Charity we cannot say. For-
give, as» we forgive, ibid, alone ex-
tinguisheth sins, 1100. The Charity
wrought in the Saints by the Holy
Ghost, ib. the Spirit making inter-
cession in them, 1170. Baptism
profiteth not without Charity, 1156*
The cognizance of the children of
God, 1157. proof and pledge of life,
1169. Charity, not miracles, the
proof of the presence of the
Holy Ghost in us, 1172. a per-
petual delight, 1225. can do no
wrong, 1226. love of man the way
to the love of God, 266. begins
in almsgiving, perfected in laying
down one's life for the brethren,
1163. nourished with word of God
and hope of eternal life, ibid, eager
to impart good, illustrated by the
love of the mother animal for her
sucking young, 1205. eager to do
good to the wretched : but would
rather there were none wretched to
need the good that man can do for
his fellow: this the difference between
the good works of Charity, and the
same works done by Pride, 1194, ff.
the perfection of, 1154. 1160. was
in St. Paul, ibid, the beginning of,
works of mercy to the poor, 1161.
In all good works, the objects of
mercy are two ; the sufferer who
needs the help, and the beholder who
needsthegood example, 1198. there-
fore good works are to be done before
INDEX.
1259
mfTi, for their good, ibid, like fire
seizes on what is nearest, as bre-
thren and friends, and thence spreads
to the more remote, as strangers and
enemies, 1193. Its several offices
have each their time; but the prin-
ciple itself is at all times to rule
and actuate the whole life, 1 190.
how to know true from false, 1 164.
no weak softness in Charitv, 82. 159.
1187, f. must sometimes be severe,
1188. severity of reproof sometimes
a duty of Charity, 1226. Whoever
has not, denies Jesus Christ, i 180.
Chenihim. The four Living Creatures
denote the Four Evangelists, 505.
Chrism,see ' Unction :' the unction with
which we are anointedfor ourwrestling
with the devil, 475. applied to Cate-
chumens before Baptism, 590.
CHRIST, Anointed, 112. Christ sig-
nifies King, Jesus Saviour, 798.
Jesiis, the proper name of our Lord ;
Christ, His ' nomen sacramenti,'
]130.
The only-begotten Son of God.
To believe in the Father is neces-
sarily to believe on the Son ; for
Father implies Son as its correlate :
i. e. Consubstantial Coequal Son,
440. 709, f. To know the Son is to
know the Father, 514. 516. 785. not
only as Christ is the Way, but be-
cause He and the Father are inse-
parably One, 786, f. Father and Son,
have One Will as One Spirit, 993.
Mutual indwelling of the Father and
the Son by Coequal Godhead, 644.
as Son of God has Life in Himself,
348. Gift of Eternal Generation,
640, 714. In the relation of Father
to Son let there be no notion of
time, 967. Whatever God the Fa-
ther gave to God the Son, He gave
by begetting, 967« Never says of
God, " Our Father," 326. With
what distinction He says " My
Father and your Father, My God
and your God," 1056. because Son,
therefore Equal, 271. Equal not by
robbery or ursurpation, 272. How the
Father " sheweth," and the Son
<' seeth," 325, f.361 . Sonship, seeing,
power,substance, indivisible, 3 1 6. The
Father's speech to, or commandment
to, the Son, is His begetting the Son
Coequal, 714. The Father's teach-
ing the Son, means, begat Him om-
niscient, 544. The Father sanctified
the Son, i. e. begat Him to be Holy,
643.
Begotten, not made : Very God
of Very God : of one substance
with THE Father. True or Very Son,
for distinction from sons by grace :
begotten not made Son: therefore
from everlasting the Begotten is
consubstantial with the Begetter,
1236, f. consequently Very God, and
Eternal Life, as a Person of the One
True God the Trinity, Who only
hath immortality, 1237, f. By Eter-
nal Generation the Father has given
to the Son all that Himself is, Pa-
ternity alone excepted, 923, note,
therefore this also, that the Holy
Spirit should proceed from Him as
It does from the Father, ibid, hence
He is, equally with the Father, the
Beginning or First Principle, 530-
534, and note. As God, by absolute
foreknowledge and predestination,
He has done the things that are
future, 775. and speaks of things
future as already come to pass, 849.
As God, always and every where
present, 495. 546. As God, let it
not be asked ivhere He is. Who is
every where, 995. His ' where' is the
Father: and the 'where' of the
Father is the Son, 997. God of
God, 709. 713. Hath life, not of
Himself but of the Father, God of
God, 296, ff. by gift of the Father,
i. e. Eternal Generation, 299. As
Word, is q/"God; as Son, of the
Father, 812. One with the Father,
God of God, God with God, Equal
in all things, 442. God of God,
Light of Light, 788. His coeternity
illustrated by light coeval with the
flame generating it, 316. Eternal
Light, Angels' food, 200, Light of
Light, and the Light Begetting and
Light Begotten, One Light, 440.
Light of the world, and in it from
beginning by His Godhead, 25. not
by local presence but as Creator, 26.
Speaks not of Himself, i. e. is not of
Himself, 713. 788. 790. His Pre-
existence, 417. and Eternity, S7.
the I AM, 586. 1116. 527, fi".
viz. of the Father, God of God,
542. Hath as God true Being, is
' that which Is,' 1143. Maker and
Disposer of times, 456, f. In Christ
as God, Attribute ("to have") and
Essence (" to be") is identical, 327.
641. ' Esse' and * Posse' in Him
identical, both by Eternal genera-
tion, 905. " As the Father is Eternal
Almighty, so the Son Coeternal
Almighty, and because Almighty,
All-possessing (omnitenens)," 905.
His Coequal ownership of all holy
creatures shews His Coequal God-
4 N
1260
INDEX.
head, 969, f. Omniscient, cognizant
of all thoughts, 943. To believe on,
is necessarily to believe Him Co-
equal God, 709. Not by usurpation
but by being begotten, 8i8. 824.
To believe the Son is to believe the
Father, and to disparage the Son
is to disparage the Father, 292, f.
The Son, the Father's other self,
" se alterum," 225. to Him the
Father hath given all things, i. e.
perfect Equality, 225. God and King
of all the earth, 198. Must be wor-
shipped if we worship the Father,
1134." God over all things," 1097,
and note. [Add : S. Athanas. Orat. c.
Arian. i. 3.§.3: ib. 4. §. 2: 7. §. 3:
iv. 1. init. in all which places the
text Rom. ix. 5. is unhesitatingly
referred to Christ. These passages
are sufficient to refute the assertion
(see Wetstein in loc.) that the or-
thodox of the Arian age scrupled to
apply this text to any other than
God the Father.] Against the im-
piety of the Arian heretics the
Fathers established that new term,
Hoinoiision, but the thing was not
new that they marked by this name ;
for what we call Homoilsion is just
this, I and the Father are One,
namely, of one and the same Sub-
stance, 904.
Eternal Word of God : does not
sound and pass away like words of
man, 8. "Word or Speech of God not
a succession of articulate sounds,
916. In the word of man, is the
sound which passes, and the thought
or idea which was in the speaker,
and is conveyed into the mind of the
hearer, 9. God speaks : a human
father speaks to his son, but the
word he speaks is neither himself
nor his son, 363. Word articulate
and immanent, 515. The inner
Word (idea or design) made known
in act : the greatness of the act
or effect, the measure of the great-
ness of the Word : how great then
the Wordby W^hich all things were
made, 10. The Word of God not
made; because It made all things,
11. "God said:" this the notion
of the Word, ib. Universality of
creation by the Word, 12, f. Life
of all created things in the Word,
14, f. is the Light of rational man,
17, n. Not a transient sound, but a
reality, 439. Spoken Coeternal with
the speaker, no interval of time, 440.
Christ, the immanent, 221. from
Eternity with the Father, Coequal,
eternally begotten, 640. " God spake"
=begat the Son, 221. God speaks as
Light emanates, 321. My doctrine
is not Mine^ &c. means, that He is
Himself the Word or Doctrine of the
Father, 438. 439. 709. Word, The,
is the life and light of all intellectual
being, 35. how It was in the world
from the beginning, 36. How being
Himself the Word, He heareth of
the Father, 220. The Word, with
God while on earth, illustrated by
word of man immanent with the
speaker, 514, f. 544. The Word,
always with God, came to us, 569.
If men are called Gods because of
the Word or Speech of God made to
them, the Word Itself must be God,
643. Eternal VVord : the spoken and
written word the medium of His
being made known in time, 717.
By Whom all things were made.
Hand of the Father, 641. Arm of
the Lord^ 699. how, 700. Creator
of all things, 124. and Upholder,
271. Author of all well-being, 446.
Acts of the Son and of the Father
inseparable, 311. 790. 986. The Son
does the same works identically with
the Father: therefore Cousubstantial,
281, f. All things made by the Son
as seeing, the Father as shewing,
289. 361. all His works existed in
Him in idea before they were made,
11.519.
Was made Man. Christ unutter-
able, 42. From above, how, 525. Christ
came: how, being omnipresent, 23.
Coming ofthe Word, His Incarnation,
569. The Father's sending of, is, the
taking of the flesh, 507. 545. the
Son not, because sent, unequal to
the Sender, 338. Equal to the Fa-
ther as God, inferior as Man, 275.
413. 818. by Incarnation, did not
lose His Coequal Godhesd, 818.
How emptied Himself by taking the
form of a servant, ibid. Two Nativi-
ties, both marvellous, 474. Incar-
nation, greatest of miracles ; nothing
wonderful after this, 259. Eternal
Generation and Nativity in time,
188. Twofold Substance of, 819.
the two is One Christ, else we make
God Quaternity, not Trinity, 418.
819. In the Trinity, the Son alone
took the form of a servant, which
form was fitted to Him unto unity of
Person, i. e. so that the One Christ
Jesus shall be both Son of God and
Son of Man; lest not Trinity but
quaternity be preached. By reason
of which One Person consisting of
INDEX.
1-261
two Substances, the Divine and the
human, sometimes He speaks as He
is God, as in that saying, T and the
Father are Otie: sometimes as He
is Maa, as in that. Because the Fa-
ther is greater than /, 915. Giant of
twofold Substance, ' geminae gigas
substantiae,' (comp. c. Serm. Arian.
§. 6.) 738. Our Maker and our
Brother, 329. As God was still in
heaven, while as Man on earth, 417.
459. 460. In the Unity of Person
both God is Man and Man is God :
therefore the Son of Man which is in
heaven^ 994. In virtue of the Unity
of Person, the Son of Man was in
heaven, even as the Son of God was
on earth: Son of God on earth, by
taking of the flesh ; Son of Man in
heaven, in the Unity of Person,
418. came from the Father, and
yet never left Him : went from
the world, yet has not left it, 939.
His coming from the Father means
that He is of the Father: His coming
to the world. His taking a visible
Body, 940. As God, Angels' Bread:
Incarnate, is Bread of Heaven to
man, 284. Incarnate, rightly be-
lieved only by those who have
Charity, 1176. Faith in Christ must
not terminate in His Manhood, but
must rest in His Godhead: this it
is, to touch Christ, 1055. To deny
Christ as Man, is to forego all the
benefits of His Salvation, 1^1 Per-
son of: the Catholic Rule of Faith,
.'50 1. "Word, soul, and flesh, one
Christ : Son of God and Son of Man,
one Christ, 418. Word, rational
soul, and flesh, 360. " As the
rational soul and flesh is one man,
so God and Man is One Christ:
and therefore Christ is God, rational
soul and flesh,'' 819. " as man
is reasonable soul having a body,
so Jesus Christ is the Word hav-
ing Man," 303. Flesh, Soul, and
Word of God, one Person, 662.
Word, Soul, and Flesh: and each of
these severally is called Christ, 632.
633. and Son of God, 819. whole
and entire man, flesh, and reason-
able soul, 629. (see * ApoUinarians.'')
As Man, empowered by the whole
Trinity, 972. The flesh as a cloud
veiling the sun, 484. God was latent
in that flesh, 1008. 1143. Christ, a
Man, yet God: for " Cursed is every
one that putteth his trust in man,"
1144. as God, Lord of Anp-els: as
a Man, who is God, He surpasses the
excellency of any Angel soever, 990.
Godhead shewn in power, Manhood
in sympathy and fellowship of in-
firmities, 135. Fairer than the chil-
dren of men, and yet having no form
nor comeliness: the first, as being the
Word ; the other, as having taken
upon Him our unloveliness, 1214, f.
Conceived without sin, 823, Alone
born without sin, 40. Alone without
sin. 162. 556. Took flesh of Adam,
not sin: He alone conceived and
born immaculate, 56. To Him alone
it was possible to have flesh of man
without sin, 843. That He was never
guilty was because He was not only
man but God, ibid. Free among the
dead, 557- Human nature even in
Christ has nothing that it did not
receive, 953. It received that it
should do nothing of evil, but all
that is good, ibid.
For us men and for our sal-
vation. The taking of the Manhood
into God, the greatest of all grace,
835. Mediator as Man, by grace,
834-836. Head of the Church as
Man, 7Q7. As Man, Mediator and
Head of the Church, sanctified by
Himself as God, 976. and in Him
His members or Mystical Body, 976.
977. Fountain of Grace, God by
Nature, Man of the Holy Ghost
and the Virgin by ineffable Grace,
998. His Bride, the Church, 126.
i. e. Human flesh, which He espoused
to Himself in the Virgin's womb,
126. At once Bridegroom and Bride:
the Word espousing humanity in the
Virgin's womb, 1096. to which Flesh
the Church is joined, and so there is
whole Christ, 1096. 1112. Boru into
the world to bear witness to the
Truth, 1021. Moral end of the In-
carnation : " What would the Word
teach ? God is Light : draw near to
Him and be enlightened. Let the
Light shew thee thy foulness, that
thou mayest perceive Its beauty,"
1007, f. By His humiliation wq are
invited to understand Him, 341, n.
Through the Manhood we come to
know the Godhead, 220. The Only
Son, would not be alone a Son, 28.
1203. The Only Son, not by adoption,
28. came to make many sons by adop-
tion, ibid. As He is equal with the
Father, He created us that we
should have our being : as He is
like unto us. He redeemed us, that
we should not lose our being, 681.
Begotten of God to create ; born of
woman to new-create, 29. Made
mortal to make immortal, 190. End
4 N 2
U62
INDEX.
of His Coming; our resurrection of
soul and body, 360. God man to
make men gods, 324. Came to loose
the sins which hindered us from being
adopted, 27. Abiding with the Fa-
ther He IS Truth and Life ; clothing
Himself with flesh, the Way, 488.
Physician, 1202. 1209. as God and
Man, 34. Flesh of, the eye-salve
for eyes of heart to see His Majesty
by means of His Humility, 30. Flesh
the remedy for the ill which flesh had
caused, ibid. 36. Second Adam, 40,
f. see 'Birth.'
In the days of His flesh. Son
of Man, how, 388. Sealed above His
fellows, 389. As Man how differ-
enced from us, 580, f. Sought not
His own will, 307. Made subject to
human infirmity, 232. The weakness
of, the taking of our flesh, 233. _ As
a hen gathering her chickens, ibid.
His marvellous gentleness, but com-
bined with Truth and Justice, 475.
Example of patient and gentle Om-
nipotence, 586. Perfect sympathy,
689. Knew what was in man, 166.
Of the seed of David through the
Virgin Mary, 638. Wrought mighty
works in His conception by the
Virgin, 691. His Mother, mysti-
cally, the Synagogue, 146. His own
country^ the Jews: His new country,
the Gentiles, 257. Why called a
Galilean, 474. As man, increased
in stature and wisdom : as God,
cannot increase : He must increase
in our sense of His Majesty, 219.
Submitted to be tempted as an ex-
ample for us, 690. Received Baptism
to put honour on His own Sacrament,
202. Tempted of the Devil : the three
assaults, 1 123. His answers teach us
how to answer the Tempter, 1124.
Baptized not with His own hands,
but by ministry of disciples : their
baptism is His, 232. Alone baptizes
with the Holy Ghost, 62, ff. His
deeds are also signs of spiritual
truths, 649. His miracles, subjects
of delight more than of wonder, 648.
"Raised three dead persons to life :
these denote three degrees of spi-
ritual death, 649 — 651. Asleep in
the ship, Christians forgetful of their
faith, 664. Transfiguration : why
between Moses and Elias, 262.
Wept, to teach us to weep : groaned
with indignation and was troubled,
to teach us to be displeased with
ourselves for our sins, 664. God
latent in flesh : not known because
He reproved sins, 1143. All crea-
tures acknowledged Him as God, 36.
Confessed by devils, 1219. Why
He chose and tolerated Judas Is-
cariot, 6/5, f.
His sufferings and death. Trou-
bled Himself, i. e. His Divine Nature
willed the emotion, 662. His soul was
troubled: not ofweakness,but of mercy ,
for a pattern to troubled souls, that
they should resigntheirwill to the will
of God, 689-69i. Loved His disciples
unto the end, i.e. unto Himself, unto
the bringing them to Himself as their
End, 718. not unto death and there
an end, but always and without end,
ibid, or, even unto death, so that He
died for them, ibid. Laying aside His
garments, &c. an acted parable,
expounded, 720, f. Humility of, in
washing the feet of His disciples,
723. daily washes our feet, 724.
troubled in spirit when Judas was
about to go out ; in this prefiguring
the Church how it would be troubled
by the going out of false brethren,
744, f. " Troubled in spirit," because
of the wickedness of Judas, 741.
With our nature took its liability
to perturbations, 743. Troubled by
near approach of death : by volun-
tary weakness, for the sake of the
weak, 743. His perfect sympathy,
741. His perturbation makes us
calm, His weakness strong, 743.
Took upon Him with our nature
our natural repugnance against
death, 1076. Left alone with the
Eleven when Judas was gone out,
a type of His glory with the Elect
in the end of the world, 755. Sub-
mitted to suffer, as an example of
Martyrdom, 1196. In His Passion,
set an example to His Martyrs, 953.
Sometimes held His peace before
His judges, sometimes made answer,
1025, f. Bearing His Cross, a ma-
jestic spectacle to piety, a sight
of scorn to impiety, 1031. His
garments, the dividing of, 1035.
Agreement of the Gospels concern-
ing, 1036. Spiritual meaning of the
four parts, 1037. And of the coat
without seam, ibid, the seamless coat :
charity and unity, 209. Acknow-
ledged His Mother when His hour
was come, 1041. From His Cross,
as the Chair of the Teacher, He
taught the lesson of filial piety, 1041.
His very Cross a throne of Judg-
ment, 461. His hour, 132. 133, note.
135. not under fate, 518. of His own
will, 520. not of fate or sidereal ne-
cessity, but fixed by Himself in the
INDEX.
1Q63
Divine counsels, 948. Bitterness of
the death of the Cross, 504. hour of
the Crucifixion, Mark and John
reconciled, 1027 — 1031, and note,
(see ' Jev.'sJ') His prayer on the
Cro?s for the elect among His mur-
derers, 458. 527- 541. and was ef-
fectual, 706. 1104. 1200. see < Blood
of Christ.' Died when He would,
457. 1044. died uncompelled, 166.
Had power to lay down and take
again His soul, 628, f. Death of,
more active than passive, 557. How
He laid down His s)ul to take it
again: the Flesh did this; the Word
once incarnate, at no instant forsook
either body or snul, 680. 631. the
Flesh laid down the soul by power of
the Word, 634.
Efficacy of His death. Paid the
death we owed, 824. Thewater and the
blood flowing from His side, are signs
of the two Sacraments, 1047. opened
side the door of life, ib. The spiritual
Eve, the Church, formed from out
of the side of the Second Adam, 234.
1047. In His death the bag was rent,
that the price of our redemption
might run out, 428, and note. For
us He shed His blood, redeemed us,
changed our hopes, 1 1 20. see ' Blood
of Christ: By death slew death, 190.
by dying has raised us above the fear
of death, 582. Bought all the earth,
not a part (as Africa), 208. Those
out of the unity of the Church,
not redeemed, 156. the redeemed are
Christ's disciples, servants, brethren,
members, yea Christ Himself, 461.
The Saints are already redeemed
through the Mediator, and have for
earnest the Holy Ghost, 1083.
Christ prayed not for the non-
elect, 968. prayed for all whom He
has redeemed, whether before or
since His coming, 982. How said
He to these. Ye are not of My sheep?
Because He saw them predestinated
to everlasting destruction, not pur-
chased (comparatos) by the price of
His blood unto eternal life, 639. (see
Note A. at the end of vol. ii.) All
for whom He suiFered, He hath made
His sheep, of whom He loses none,
1077. How He reconciled us to God,
989. see ' Reconciliation.' The
devil cast out of the redeemed by
faith, through the blood of Christ,
692. the bond which the devil held
against us blotted out by the blood
ot Chrift, 1099. (See Note A.)
Bl'eied, descended into hell.
Christ kept sabbath in the tomb, 270.
As man. His soul was that day in hell.
His flesh was in the tomb: as God
He was also in Paradise, 995.
PtOSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD.
The Father glorified in Himself
the Son of Man in His Resurrec-
tion, when the Humanity was gifted
with immortal eternity, 756. mor-
tality clothed with immortality, and
temporal weakness changed into
strength eternal, ibid. After the
Resurrection, shewed Himself only
to the faithful, 806. His manifesta-
tions of Himself after His resurrec-
tion, 1072. Why He forbade Mary
Magdalene to touch Him, 40] , note.
1 054, ff". His risen Body had power to
enter in by closed doors, 1056, and
note. Ate and drank with the disci-
ples after His Resurrection, not
because of bodily need, but to inti-
mate the verity of His flesh, 758.
Breathed on the disciples, 468.
Why He gave not the Spirit until
after His Resurrection, 470. His
Resurrection the cause and pledge
of ours, 806. The mystical mean-
ing of the Forty Days after His
Resurrection, 263. His last words
on earth, see ' Body of Christ.'
Ascended. ' The Fish which
ascended first,' 268. (Matt. 17, 27.
comp. Enarr. in Psa. 137. §. 16.)
The form of a servant which He
took of the Virgin was lifted up
to heaven, and placed at the right
hand of the Father, 994. " being
absent is also present : He is gone,
and yet is here ; is gone back, yet
quits us not : for His Body He hath
taken with Him into heaven. His
Majesty (or Godhead) He hath
not taken away from the world,''
672. Me ye tvill not always have, was
said to Judas, and in him to all re-
probate men in the visible Church,
676. Or, Me not alivays, in respect
of bodily Presence, but always in
respect of His Majesty and Divine
Providence, 677. " Ascended into
heaven, and is not here, for He
sitteth at the right hand of the Fa-
ther : and yet is here, for the presence
of the Majesty hath not quitted us,'^
678. " In respect of the presence of
the Majesty, we have Christ always ;
in respect of the presence of the
flesh, it was rightly said to the dis-
ciples. But Me ye will not always
have. For the Church had Him in
respect of the presence of the flesh,
for a few days; now, by faith it
holds, not with eyes beholds Him,"
1-264
INDEX.
ibid. His Body is locally seated in
one place, His Truth every where,
445. Goes hence by being unseen,
comes by becoming visible, abides
by ruling, 77". as Man has left us,
as God abides with as, 817. "the
going to the Father, and departing
from us, was this: to change and
mate immortal that mortal which
He to-ok of us, and to lift it up into
heaven by His having been on eanh
for us," '820. " Left the world by
corporal departure ; went His way
unto the Father by Ascension of the
Manhood ; yet by governance of His
Presence quined not the world,"
940. In bodiiy presence He teas and
u- ill be with the Saints: in spiritual
presence He is with them, 962, f.
no more in the world by bodily Pre-
sence after His Ascension, 971.
The Way. the Truth, and the Life,
779. He is the Way. for Himself
and for us. to the Truth and Life
wh'ch is Himself, 780. Goes to
Himself, i. e. through the flesh He
went back to His own Truth and
Life, 78 L His departure necessary,
in order to wean His followers from
His Bodily Presence, SS6. that they
might no more know Christ after the
flesh, but .spiritually behold Him in
the form of God, ibid. note, and that
the just mighr live by faith, 891, f.
went hence to prepare a place for
ua, i. e. to prepare us: for we are
prepared by faith in an unseen Christ,
776. His Ascension the exaltation of
man's nature, " a subject of gratu-
lation to the nature of man, that it
is so assumed by the Word Only-
Begonen, as to be placed immortal
in heaven, and that eanh should
become so sabUme, that dust incor-
ruptible should sit at the right hand
of the Father,'" 820. ' Ascends to
the Father' in the inmost perceptions
of that person who believes Him
equal onto the Father, 401, note.
1054. is spiritually touched when we
apprehend Him as ascended to the
Father, i.e. as Coequal God. 1126.
Ascended on high, He ^ee^ His
Church toiling, 383. and comes to
her, treading on the waves, 385.
abasing all the loftiness of this world,
3^6. members of shall without doubt
follow whither the Head is gone
before, 718.
Hii LvTZECESSiOK, 324. and 306,
note, must be concei ved of in the Unity
of the Godhead : not Father and Son
each occapying a distinct space in
magnitude, and words passing from
the Son to the Father, 938. Our Ad-
vocate by Whom we petition, 110.
Advocate of them who confess and
hate their sins, 1101.
The Glopjttisg of the Man Jesus
our Lord began at His Resurrection,
949. Kingdom of, here and hereafter,
5S 1 .Christ's Kingdom notofthe world,
yet in it, 1019. King of all worlds,
by condescension King of Israel,
681. To Israel He both sent and
came; to the Gentiles He sent, in
the person of His preachers. 626, f.
King of the Jews, viz. of the true
Israel, 1033. how glorified by the
Holy Spirit, 925. His true glory is
only in the Catholic Church, 927.
The Fatber has given all things
into His hands : evil things, to use
as instruments, good things, to effect
as ends. 720. The Father has given
Him power over all flesh, i. e. all
mankind as Man, 952. has received
power over all flesh to save and con-
demn whom He will, 993. Is silent
now ( Pja. 50, 3.) not in precept
but in taking vengeance, 49. prayed
to be glorified with the Father with
the glory which He had with the
Father before the world was, i. e.
with the glory of Immortality with
the Father which His Manhood was
eternally predestinate to have, 955 —
960. a' statement (disallowed by
St. Augustine) of the Glorification of
Christ, which involves the notion of
an extinction or absorption of the
Manhood, 955.
Savioue of the woeld. Propitia-
tion/or the sin-i of the whole world (of
the elect). 855. and note. Came to save
the world (of the elect), ibid. God will
have all men to be saved (men of all
sorts, throughout the world), ibid,
being lifted up draws all after Him
{omnia not omnes): not all man-
kind, but the redeemed, even all that
they are : or, all the predestinate :
or, all sorts of men, 695. prays not
for the world, i. e. the non -elect, 968.
prayed for all whom He had redeemed,
before or after His coming, 982.
hath made all those His sheep, for
all whom He suffered, 1077. knows
His own, and loses none of them,
421. Faith unites to, 420. To be
icith Him is the great good : for to
be where He is is common to all,
995. None are Christ's without His
Spirit, 419. Only they who keep His
commands come to His promises, 487.
trusts or gives Himself only to the
INDEX.
1-205
baptized, 167. 183. prays not for the
world, i. e. for those who live after
the lust of the world, and were
not eternally given to the Son
by the grace of election, 968.
The only Liberator, 555. none cast
out that come to Him, 392, Way
and End, 488. The Way, necessity
of continuing in, 1219. End, of the
Law,7l8. 1224. our End orgoal, 718.
our Home, 391. hath and is the Life:
we have life in Him, 784. Fountain of
LifeandLight,484 The Life, and out
of Him is no good life, 600. Raises
the spiritually dead, and bids His
ministers absolve, 6G6. Bread of
Life, 391. 409. to eat the Bread of
Life, is, to believe, 389. 40'». The
Light of the world, 592. Light of
the understanding 240. The Truth,
128. 552. 975. 977- therefore cannot
fail to His promises, 1140. a Prophet,
595. our Teacher, Advocate, Inter-
cessor, 324. Teacher and Pattern of
humility, 396. Lowly, to cure man's
pride. 393. our Teacher: not only in
His words to His disciples, but in
His prayer to the Father, 94S. the
end of His teaching, Peace in Him,
945. How this appeared in the
Apostles after His Ascension, ibid.
Teacher of patience, 1009. His pre-
cept of non-resistance and turning
the other cheek, explained by His
own example, 1010, and note. Mas-
ter or Teacher: He that leacheth
the hearts hath his chair in heaven,
1137. "A master within: Christ
teacheth. His inspiration teacheth :
where His inspiration and His unc-
tion teach not, vain are words from
without,'' 1137- adopts us as sons to
His Father, but Himself has a
fatherly affection towards us, 805.
Leaves a peace with His Church
now, and will give His own peace
in the end, 814, f. Himself cur
Peace, 815. we are to imitate Him,
but must not presume to compare
ourselves with Him, 844. To follow
Christ, is to imitate Him, 6S5. To
minister unto, is to do all our works
for His sake, to His glory: to walk
in His waj's, not our own, 6$5, f.
His word is the Gospel, to be heard
as we would hear Himstlf, 444.
Troubles undisciplined hearts, 445.
Forgiving sin, He does not fa-
vour sins, 478. not to be sought in
a crowd, but in holy retirement, 268.
All aftections to centre in, 163. To
leave Christ, is to follow Satan, 420, f.
RePKESEXTZD BYVAPJOrS MULTI-
TUDES, 615. 627. 826. Lamb and
Lion, 201. The Day, dividing be-
tween the light and the darkness,
597. the Day, and the Apostles its
twelve hours, 655. a Tree bes^ide
the waters, He planted Himself
beside the river of time, 1120. The
Vine, as Head of the Church, i. e. as
Incarnate, 825, f. As God, He is
also the Husbandman, 826. "would
not be the Vine except He were
man, but would not have grace to
bestow were He not God,"' 831. the
grain of wheat that must fall into
the ground and die, &c. to be mor-
tified by unbelief of the Jews, mul-
tiplied by the faith of the Gentiles,
6S3. the Shepherd so'^ght the lost
sheep, 120. the Good Samaritan, 563.
i. e. Keeper, 577. the Gardener,
sowing the grain of mustard-seed,
1054.
-iDTEXT TO .ji"DCt3iext. Judgeth not
any wotr,for Hecame tosuflFer, 503. in
what sense He judges not now, 712.
first and second Advents contrasted,
49, f. first Advent for mercy, second
for judgment. 503. executes judgment
as ]Man, 335. 350. in the judgment
will be seen as Son of Man, 511.
will judge as Son of Man, 914. will
come in glory, but still in the form
of a servant, seen by good and bad,
914. Obedient unto death and in the
judgment, ibid, will return in the
visible form of flesh, 304. 336. will
be seen as man by the wicked ; after
separation of the wicked, as God, by
the just, 336. 996. 1143. f. never
seen or to be seen by ungodly but in
the form of man, 811. and in that
form is to be seen for the last time in
the day of judgment, 812. Judge and
Witness because (Omniscient, 511.
the Word that He spake, and which
shall judge in the last day is Him-
self, 713. the form of a servant, will
pass away when the Saints are per-
fected in glory, 306. Intercession will
cease in the final glory, 306, n
PkE ACHED IN THE OlD TeSTA-
aiENT. Hismanifold witnesses, 355 —
357. Witnessed bv the Prophets,
492.496. As God, His own Witness,
495. His coming prepared by a long
train of prophecy, 456. seen by Old
Testament Saints, as Isaiah, not as He
is, tut by a visible token or represent-
ation of His presence, 706. (against
Arians who affirmed the Son to be
visible, the Father invisible, 707.)
never seen before Incarnation, 43.
44. manifestations of in Old Testa-
urn
INDEX.
ment by created Angels, 43. was
signified to tlie Old Testament
Saints as He is to us, but by dif-
ferent signs aud under different re-
lation of time, 605. 606. His Divine
Generation predicted as unsearch-
able, 455. The true Circumcision,
447. Isaac bearing the wood, type,
147. the Lamb of God, 56, f. 105.
the Paschal Lamb, 670. the true
Passover, 1022. His sign on the fore-
head drives from us the destroyer, if
He Himself dwell in our heart, 671.
The Great High Priest within the
veil, 268. 383, f. the Prophet like
unto Moses, 243. 377- Greater than
Moses, 390. typified by brazen ser-
pent, 191. the Stone cut out of the
mountain without hands, has become
a Mountain, and filled the whole
earth, 50. 148. 1108, f. 1130. His
Gospel to fill the whole earth, be-
ginning at Jerusalem, 1112, f.
Chriiitians, in virtue of name, belong
to Christ, 32, in a sense, are Christ,
330. members of the Body in unity
and charity, 212. many are so called,
who are not the thing itself, in life,
manners, faith, hope, charity, 1142.
The whole life of a Christian is in
holy desire, 1 144. by faith, not sight,
] 147. must be zealous for the House
of God, and not supinely tolerate sin
in their brethren, 159, f. must look
to be reviled, 436. how and when
they must hate their own life, 684,
note.
Church : see ' the Body of Christ?
'■Absolution.'' The Bride of Christ,
205. Cleansed by the Word of Christ:
see • Baptism.' 827. spread of the,
436. composed of the elect of Israel
and elect of the Gentiles, (the two
sons in Christ's Parable of the Pro-
digal Son,) together with the Holy
Angels, 969. of the Gentiles, pre-
figured by the woman with the
bloody flux, 460. throughout the
earth, for Christ commanded re-
mission of sins to be preached in all
nations, and where remission of sins
is, there is the Church, 1231. For
His promise, To thee will I give the
keys., S^c. was spoken to the ('hurch,
ib. Nonereceive the Holy Ghost outof
the, 468. Universal : the mountain
which fills the whole earth, 1108. be-
ginningat Jerusalem, 1113.1131. Its
universality betokened by all tongues,
1115, Its universality denoted by the
four parted garments of Christ, its
unity by the seamless coat, 1 037.1 038.
Its ujiiversality foretold by Prophecy,
87. proved by the Apostolic com-
mission to baptize all nations, ib. by
the descent of the Spirit in the cloven
tongues, ib. one dove, many tongues,
93. Universality of, betokened by
gift of tongues, 468. The whole Body
has its gifts for the good of each, and
each for the whole, 469. founded
not upon the person of St. Peter,
but on the Rock, Christ, confessed
by St. Peter, 1085, f. and note, see
' St. Peter.' ' Keys, power of the.'
Militant: prefigured in Feast of
Tabernacles, 435. in travail, and
the fruit of her travail is the vision
of Christ, 932. her voyage through
the darkness of this world, 384. How
she fears to defile her feet while on
her way from the laver of regene-
ration, through this evil world, to
Christ in Heaven, Horn. 57. 726 —
730. good and bad in the: how re-
presented in history of Patriarchs,
171, ff. Many sinners in the Church,
557. see '■Antichrists.' Evil men in
the Church: receive Baptism, the
Benediction of the Eucharist, the
very Communion of the Altar : but
temptation proves them to be not of
the Church, 1128, f. the good in the
Church, have Christ now by the
sign, (see ' Catechumens,'') by Bap-
tism, by the meat and drink of the
Altar, in this life, and will have Him
for ever: but the bad seem now to
have Him in all these regards, but
will not always have Him, Q77'
Troubled in the going out of false
brethren, 744. Some are set in the
Church for study and contemplation,
728. Some are called to active service,
729. Self-love the root of all evil in
the, 1075, f. The Church of Elect
will contain only great, 1068, 9.
Church funds, (ecclesiastica pecunia,)
the precedent given by Christ, Q7Q.
751. robbery of the Church most
heinous of robberies, 675. Churches
profaned by drunken excesses, 155.
] 59. see ' Martyrs, Commemoration
Circumcision, a seal of salvation, 447.
the true, is by the Resurrection of
Christ, 448. meaning of the knife of
stone, ib.
' Clarificare,' and ' glorificare,' both
represent the same word ^Q\a^<i:iVy
' to glorify,' 832. 925. 949. 953. 961.
Coats of skins, denote mortality of
fallen man, 392, n.
Ccena pura, so the Latin Jews call
the Parasceue, 1049, n.
Communion^ Holy : Communion of the
INDEX.
1267
Altar, 1128. to be approached with
awe, 407. the Sacrament is death to
some, the Grace or Virtue is Life,
411. To us, that is Christ which is
placed on the Altar of God, to the
Israelites the Rock was Christ, 606.
comp. 408, note. Christ eaten ly
faith, 389. 400. the grace invisible,
as the New Birth is, to believe on
Him, this it is to eat the Living
Bread: he that believeth, eateth :
invisibly fed, because invisibly born
again, and there nourished where
made new, i. e. within, 400. Eternal
Life by eating Christ, 414. His
Flesh not to be carnally understood,
416. to discern the Lord's Body, is
to see Its difference from other meats,
749. Christ eaten in the Sacrament
with the heart, not with the teeth,
409. His Body in the Eucharist not
eaten by the wicked, 412. to receive
the Sacrament is not necessarily to
receive the grace, 423. See ' Judas
IscariotJ' From " the table of the
Mighty," Prov. 23, 1. we receive the
Body and Blood of Him "Who laid down
His life for us, 841. therefore we
must consider and understand^ ib.
and prepare the like, i. e. be ready
in love to lay down our lives for the
brethren, 842. What it means to eat
the flesh of Christ, only the baptized
know, 167. 169. The Sacrament in
some places celebrated daily, 411.
Commemoration of Martyrs in the
Eucharist, 842. See ' Bread of Life:
' Blood of Christ:
Concord, 816.
Concupiscence, remains in the Saints,
but shall wax weaker and weaker,
562.
Condescension to babes, 122.
Confession of daily transgressions, ne-
cessary, 194.
Conflict between flesh and Spirit in the
Saints, 560.
Conscience, no man can see another
man's; hence mistaken judgments
even of good men, 867. Misery of
an evil conscience, 555.
Creation, God makes the world, per-
vading it every where, with no in-
terval of space between Him and it,
26, f. All existed as idea in Christ
the Word before made, 519.
Creatures, inferior, made subject to
man, 1195. the meanest made
scourges of man's pride, ibid, the
strongest acknowledge the natural
lordship in the servants of God, as
Daniel, and the Three Holy Chil-
dren, ibid, or if not, as in the Mac-
cabees and Martyrs, this is permitted
for the sake of fatherly chastisement :
Christ Himself suffering as an ex-
ample, 1196. all will acknowledge it
in the glorified saints, ibid.
' Credere alicui,'' and ' credere in ali-
quem,' different, 406. 441. 711.
Creed, delivery of, to the Catechumens,
910, note.
Cross, bitterness of the death of the,
504. Title of the, the Providence of
God shewn in the, 1032. the Cross
of Christ, the plank to bear us over
the sea of this world, 21. Sign of the
Cross, 1157. as Christ's trophy, 504.
on our foreheads, 33. as the seat of
shame, that faith may not blush for
His Name, 707. sign of His humi-
liation, as the star was sign of His
glory, 33. fixed on the brows of
kings, 1031. gloried in by the hearts
of the Saints, 1032. Use of, in
sacraments and holy ceremonies,
1039. used by Catechumens before
baptism, 167.677'
' Cruciatus,'' 504.
Crucifixion, the hour of Christ's, a
discrepancy between Mark and John
how reconciled, 1027 — 1031, and
note 1031. no longer used by Chris-
tian Rome as a punishment, 504.
Curiosity, lust of the eyes, a temptation
to sin, 1122.
Cyprian, St. a great oiator, 116. erred
in the question of Baptism, before
this was fully handled in the Catholic
Church, 76, note. Donatists obsti-
nately clung to his error, 76,
Dead. Good and bad, both under
custody until the Judgment, but it
fares very differently with them, 656.
Every unbeliever when he dies goes
into darkness, where no work can
be done, 593. It makes no difference
to the, whether their last injunctions
are observed : they are far otherwise
occupied, 1230. To bury the, is a
work of charity, 1192.
Death, is a sleep to good and bad,
because of the resurrection : but the
dreams make a difference, and the
awaking, 656. In mortal flesh it is
at no moment easier to live than to
die, 759. Natural to all to have
a repugnance to, 1076. but this af-
fection of infirmity to be overcome
by love of Christ, 1077. fear of lest
1-268
INDEX.
the weak should despair, Christ was
troubled by approach of death, this by
voluntary weakness, for encourage-
ment of the weak, 743. all ft-ar the
death of the body, but the death of
the soul, though more dreadful, few
fear, 650. this death is, sin, ibid,
three degrees of spiritual death, de-
noted in the three persons whom
Christ raised to life, 651. A death
of the elect, " ye are dead, and your
life, &c." i. e. by the departure of
the affections from the things be-
neath to the things abovre: hence
Love is strong as death^ 762. Death
of the body, and the second or
Eternal Death, 682.
Decalogue^ the same to us as to the
Jews, but with better promises, 44, f.
its distribution, 44, note.
'•Denarius' 263.
Desire, lioly? the whole life of a Chris-
tian is in, 1 144. enlarges capacity of
soul, 1145.
Despair and presumption, both perilous,
479. 652.
Devil: see ' Satan.' Serpent and Lion,
152. Begotten of the, see ' Original
Sin.' the father of sinners not phy-
sically, as Manieheans say, but be-
cause they imitate him, 569. 1148.
possessed mankind, 692. prince of
this world cast out, not from the
world, (as Manichees,) but from
hearts of believing, 1139. cast out
of the redeemed by faith through the
blood of Christ, 692. Assaults from
without by casting in various tempt-
ations, 1139. never ceases to tempt,
692. tempts only by permission, 106.
* permissus, non missus,' 1169, n.
is a practised Adversary: but to be
overcome in Christ, 1141. the first
murderer, author of man's fall, 570, f.
Some say that he has a father, mis-
understanding the words of Christ,
571. father of lying, 672, f. held the
bond which was against us, which
Christ has blotted out, 1099.
Devils, expected the coming of Christ,
105. Counterfeit divine truths among
the heathen, 106. believe and con-
fess, but without love, 1219, f,
Diapsahiia, 344, and no'e.
*■ Dilectio' love with esteem: 'amor,'
all love, carnal included, 1 193. comp.
1075.
Disciples, see ' the Seventy.*
Dispensation of God in the flesh, 296.
Divorce, is from the devil, 139. lawful
in case of fornication, ibid. comp.
* Adultery.'
Doctrine. The rudiments and the
perfection, or milk and solid meat,
909, flF. Christ as Man is the milk of
babes, as God, solid meat of Angels
also : but neither the babes aie to be
ignorant of His Godhead, nor the
perfect ever to lose sight of His
Manhood, 9 10. In progressive teach-
ing the superstructure is added, not
the foundation withdrawn, 91 1. What
are the things of which Christ said,
/ have many things to say unto you,
fyc. it is presumptuous to pretend to
define, 895, f. Heretics (as Mani-
chees) blasphemously assert that
their impious and filthy doctrines
are these truths, left unspoken by
Christ, revealed to them bv the Holy
Spirit, 899. 902, ff. they make a
mystery of their doctrines, to allure
the simple, 902. love nothing so
much as to promise science, 904,
their esoteric doctrines and mys-
teries, profane novelties, 903, f, im-
pute to Christ and the Apostles that
they accommodated themselves to
weakness, by speaking falsehoods,
911. The Church has no esoteric
doctrine, 906. See ' Catechumens.'
Babes and fuU-gi-own hear the self-
same truths: the only difference is
in the measure of spiritual insight,
906, ff. The spiritual in conference
with the carnal suppress no part of
Catholic Truth, but forbear to over-
load incapable minds, 904. 909.
Learners go on to fuller knowledge
of the same truths, not as the heretics
go oflF to esoteric knowledge subver-
sive of the first lessons, 9 10, f. Truth ,
one for all: according to the measure
of each, 913. What St. Paul means
by speaking wisdom among the per-
fect, &c. 909. Profane novelties, 903.
Preachers of a new Gospel beside
the Rule of Faith accursed, 912.
Donatists: went out from us, not we
from them, 1131. are antichrists, for
in their deeds they deny Christ, ibid,
violaters of charity, 1188. have not
the wedding garment, 147. void of
brotherly love : while; they accuse
the Airicans thev have deserted the
whole world, 1107. Set up a railing
accusation of ' Traditors, in the face
of Chr'st's plain definition of His
Church, r230,f. Their blindness such
that they cannot see the Mountain
which has filled the whole earth, 51.
1108, f. 1113. Refuse to communi-
cate with Jerusalem, the City where
our Lord was slain, 1114. Deny the
universality of Christ's inheritance,
198. of His purchase, 209. Vainly
INDEX.
1269
boast of Baptism, 1173. they have
the water, ('' strange water," Prov.
9, 18.) but not the Spirit, 1174.
Their pretension : Nos baptizamus,
Sj-c. 55. 56. Their proud preten-
sions, 1102. reproved by humility
of John the Baptist, 55. and John
the Evangelist, 1102. Call Bap-
tism their own, 1188. annul the
baptism of Catholics: but their Bap-
tism not cancelled by the Catholic
Church, 89. 91. 1188. Exsufflate
Christ from the baptized, 177, note.
The Jews killed Christ, Donatists
exsufflate His Sacraments, 1114.
Because S. Cyprian erred in the
matter of Baptism before this ques-
tion was fully handled in the Catholic
Church, Donatists obstinately cling
to his error, 76, and note. Guilty
of oppression, rapine, drunkenness,
76, and note. Tolerate many crimes
in their partizans, 89. Sell the Holy
Ghost, 156, f. Many rival sects,
bitterly hating one another, 157.
Would seduce Christ's Bride to
adultery, 205. Make it a note of
the Church, that it is persecuted
and does not persecute, 859, note.
Complained of persecution, 71. 176.
1230. themselves worse than heathen
persecutors, 71^ by dividing the
Church, 1230. they persecuted men's
bodies when they could: but their
worst persecution was of men's souls,
71, f. They robbed Christian men of
their Christianity, 72. They per-
secute, as Ishmael, by deluding, 176.
Like Agar, Sarai's maid, are afflicted
that they may return to their Mis-
tress the Church, 177- 1230. Their
boasted martyrs, 179. suffer for
Donatists not for Christ, 97. Vain-
gloriously affect martyrdom, and in-
vite persecution, 98. 1164. Suicides
98. 180, note. 684. 1164. Justly de-
prived by imperial laws of their en-
dowments, 99, note. Alleged miracles
of, 211, note. Many Donatists re-
stored to the Unity of the Church,
84, 98. Their petition to Julian the
Apostate, 211, note.
Donatus, 211. of Bagaia, 179, note.
Dove, the, abiding in Christ, denotes
charity in unity, 91. type of the
Church's unity, 84. What John
learnt by the, 62, ff. Its character
and habits described, 83. 89, note.
Its plaintive note aptly signifies the
spiritual mourning of the Saints, 81.
Fighting for her young, an example
of Charity contending againstsinners,
1188. See 'Ark.'
Draiving to Christ, not compulsion,
400, The Father draws, by reveal-
ing the Son, 403. 405.
Dualisjn, Manichean, doctrine of Two
Principles, Good and Evil, 573.
E.
Easter Baptism, 161. 164. See ' Les-
SO)lS.'
Elect, the: given to the Son as Man,
965. As God, He gave them to
Himself as Man, therefore says, I
have choseii you, S^-c. 966. 973.
Were all once under the rulers of
this darkness, 823. Lying in sins,
typified by Nathanael under the
fig-tree, 120. Objects of God's love
before they were reconciled, 989.
Christ rejoiced in them from ever-
lasting, with fulness of joy, incapable
of mcrease: it is "full" in them when
they come to eternal bliss, 837, f.
Given to Christ that He may give
them all eternal life, 993. Therefore
those were not given Him, to whom
He shall not give eternal life: yet
power over all flesh is given Him,
ibid. Christ prayed for the elect
among His murderers, 458.
Election. The ineffable grace of, 851.
The elect were chosen not because
God foreknew that they would be
good, ibid. No merits actual or fore-
known precede, ibid. Election is unto
faith and love, not because of, 852.
A ' world' chosen out of the world
which is at enmity, condemned, con-
taminated, to be reconciled by God
in Christ to Himself, and saved, and
forgiven all its sin, 855. The Saints
chosen out of the world, not by nature,
which through free will was vitiated
at the root, but by gratuitous or free
grace, 856.
Elias, the Jews expected his coming,
50. Is yet to come before Christ's
second Advent, 52. What John was
to the First, Elias will be to the
Second, ibid.
'Enc(enia,' 637. ' Encseniare,' to hand-
sel, ibid.
End, two very different meanings of,
1223 a ' finis perficiens,' and a ' finis
interficiens,' 718. and means, 1224.
the all-sufficing, the future vision
of Christ, 932. All action subservient
to this end, ibid.
Ene?nies : the evil they do to us, to be
regarded as coming from their sin,
their disease, 1201. Instruments in
God's hands for our correction and
1270
INDEX.
healing, 1201. Love of, is to love
brethren: for Charity wishes them
to become our brethren, 1199, f.
Envy^ a frightful evil, 78.
Enlightenment^ gradual, 219.
'■Esse'' and ' habere,' ' nosse,' ' posse,'
in God, identical, 313. 545. 918. See
"■Be; 'Christ:
Eternal Generation^ the Father's gift
to Christ, 640. See ' Christ:
Eternity J an everlasting ' to-day,'
456.
Eucharist, 1128. See ' Communion^
Holy:
Eutychianism^ forestalled by a caution
of St. Augustine, 957, note.
Evangelists, the Four, denoted by the
Four Living Creatures of Ezekiel
and Apocalypse, 505.
Eve, type of the Church, formed from
the opened side of the Second Adam-
146. 231.
Evil, not as a substance to be locally
separated from us, but in us to be
healed, 911. Heretics (Manicheans)
represent it as a substance : whereas
it is but the defect from the immu-
table Substance, of the mutable sub-
stances which were made out of
nothing by the immutable and su-
preme Substance, which is God, 908.
Evil men: reproved for their sins by
the word of God, attempt to lay the
blame of their wickedness upon their
Maker, 1133. in the Church, come
to God in Baptism with a double
heart and do not keep the Church's
rule of life, so that thev are there as
chaff, 1 172. See ' Bad men: ' Body
of Christ: ' Chw'ch:
Evil ministers, to be tolerated, as
Christ tolerated Judas, 676. See
' Baptis7n:
Excuse for .sin: i. e. of unbelief, those
may have who never beard of Christ :
none for those to whom Christ has
come personally, or in the Church,
862.
Exedra, 1213, note.
Exorcism before Baptism, 177, note.
' Exspirare,' extra spiritum fieri, 632.
Exsi(fflatio7i, 177, note, 1114. See
' Donatists:
^ Exnlare' extra solum fieri, 632.
F.
Faith, see '■ Credere,^ a going into
Christ, 406. precedes knowledge,
129. 421. before understanding,
440. 607. 603. to be followed by
understanding, 341. First believe
all, then seek to understand, 130. is
the way to insight, 637. 703. neces-
sarily implies an object unseen, 821.
but is helped by things seen, 822.
The cry of unbelievers, How should
we believe what we do not see? 891.
The very praise of faith is that its
object is not seen, ibid. Walk by
faith here, by sight (species) here-
after, 486, and note. 1147- Sight,
the wages of faith, 996. The eye-
salve for spiritual blindness, 487.
An enlightening by faith and an
enlightening by sight (species) of
the object believed, 1146. is by
grace, not of merit, 38. obtains more
grace, ibid, is the gift of God, 420.
441. Faith in Christ the gift of
Christ, 1021. an act of the will,
not by compulsion, 400. unites to
Christ, 420. touches Christ spi-
ritually, not by bodily contact,
401. a pas.sing from death to
life, 342. 346. is the life of the
natural life or soul, 661. the means
whereby we eat the Heavenly Bread,
389. 400. See ' Communion. Holy:
' Blood of Christ: Humility of faith,
546, f. "Faith and works, 389. is a
work, but of God, ibid, without
works saves no man, 1218. worketh
by love, ibid, without charity, the
faith of devils, 97. tlioagh the thing
believed and confessed is the same,
1219. overcomes love of human
glory, 707. A partial and imperfect,
165, f. Saving Faith is ' fides pro-
pria,' a personal conviction, not as
one has a faith in common with
many, 1220. Without love, is nought,
ibid. All Faith in Christ, is through
the word of the Apostles, i. e. through
the word of Faith by whomsoever
preached, (before or since Christ,)
called their word because specially
preached by them, 979— 982. To be-
lieve verily, is to believe unshakenly,
firmly, stedfastly, boldly, and this is
to know verily, 966, f. a knowledge
by faith and a knowledge by sight,
987. Those cannot believe, who .so
exalt free-will as to dispense with
the necessity of Divine aid, 705.
necessity of contending for the,
against heresies, 506. 517«
Fasting, in its largest import, is, keep-
ing free from sin, 262.
Fate, ' a fando,' 519. See ' Christ,
hour of.'
FATHER, The, see 'God.' Fa-
ther and Son, nan:es correlate, 536.
See 'CijRisT,' 'Trinity.' It is one
INDEX.
1271
thing when we are bidden to think
of God as God, another when as
Father ; as God, we think of the
Creator, Almighty, a Spirit supreme,
eternal, immortal, invisible ; as
Father, we must at the same time
think of a Son, 292. Not incarnate,
(' Sabellians,') 508. Greater than the
Son in the form of a servant, 818.
Eternal, begetting Son eternal, how,
316. how He speaks to the Son, 362.
644. bond of infinite love uniting the
Father and the Son, 223.
Fathers and masters of families exer-
cise an episcopal office in their fami-
lies, 687.
Fear two kinds of, 847. of punishment,
and of losing God, 579. Religion
begins with the former, viz. the fear
of punishment : but in proportion as
the inner man grows by good works,
this fear gives way, and the Saint
begins to desire the day of Judg-
ment, 1206, fif. still fearing, not lest
he be punished, but lest God forsake
him. ib. the fear which has torment,
is in order to the healing of the soul,
like the surgeon's knife, 1209 : and
makes way for the perfect love which
casts it out, ibid. Two kinds of fear
illustrated by the case of an unchaste
wife and a chaste, 1211, f.
Fig-tree, its leavts typify sins, 119.
Nathanael under the, the Elect lying
in sins, ibid.
Filial piety, Christ on the Cross, an
example of, 1041.
Flesh, the law of sin in the members,
489. " All flesh," like " every soul,''^
by synecdoche means " every man,"
952. put for ''woman," as some-
times " spirit" for ^' husband," 29,
Flesh of Christ, the healing of sinful
flesh, 36. eating the, of the Son of
Man, only the "baptized knew what
it means, 167. 169. not to be carnally
understood, 416. protiteth only by
the Spirit, 418.
Foreknowledge, Divine; of elect and
reprobate, 222. not the cause of the
foreknown sins, 701 . see ' Pelagians:
Forgiveness, for them who accuse and
condemn themselves, 194. See ' Ac-
knowledgment: Where remission of
sins, there the Church, 1231. see
' Church: None to despair of, con-
sidering Christ's effectual prayer for
His murderers, 459. Mutual, a wash-
ing of one another's feet, 735. without
charity we cannot forgive, 1180.
Fornication, spiritual, 568.
' Forsitan,' 514, and ?wte.
Freedom from sin, none enjoy perfect
in this life, 559. freedom from crime
the beginning of, ibid.
Free-will and grace, 704. freedom of
the will not to be maintained as suf-
ficient, nor to be denied so as to
excuse sin, ibid, is not set aside by
grace, 1146.
Friend ot the Bridegroom, jealous for
Christ, 206.
Friendship in, vfQ love the soul, not the
body, 464.
G.
145, fi". Church of the,
united
Gentiles, their interest in Prophecy
from the first,
how Christ went to, 460. 461,
in Christ the Corner Stone, 150. see
' Church: Elect of, denoted by the
ass's colt, 682. their faith propheti-
cally commended, 1057. 1096. more
blessed than the faith of the Jews
who saw Christ, 255.
' Gloria, frequens fama de aliquo cum
laude,'925, 953. Three kinds of false
glory, 925, f. True glory (from men)
does not constitute the blessedness of
the good who are praised, much less
does it benefit Christ, 926.
GOD, unutterable, 1145. It is no
small attainment to know what God
is not, in order to know what He
is, 363. no form or bodily parts in,
699. His Incorporeal Nature incon-
ceivable by the natural man, 938.
all carnal conceptions must be re-
moved from the notion of, 995.
efforts of the spiritual mind to attain
to the true conception of, 997- is to
be sought evermore, as He is hidden :
but even being found He must still
be sought, as He is immense and im-
searchable, 753. carnal represent-
ations, as of a boundless expanse, or
as a venerable old man, 1186. to be
cast out from the mind as idols, 288.
Whole everywhere, 485." Substance
or Nature of God, not corporeal, nor
enclosed in any place, nor extended,
as it were by magnitude, through all
directions of infinite space, but every
where whole and perfect, and in-
finite," 898. not to be imagined with
bodily form, but the Son as Incarnate
may and ought to be so conceived,
542, f. Something may be conceived
of, from the image of God in the
mind, 365. Divine Relations how to be
conceived, 319. 363, ff. not to be
estimated by human relations, 338.
362, ff. When Scripture uses sensible
1272
INDEX.
images to express Divine Relations,
these must not be estimated by the
senses, 278, ff. Alone truly IS, 20.
In his " To Be," are no tenses, 919.
1116. (see ' To Be.') Alone has
True Being, unchangeable, 629.
639. an everlasting Now, without
past or future, 530. In the Divine
Nature knowledge is not by percep-
tions, though desf-ribed by terms
derived from bodily senses, 917.
but uniform, identical with the Es-
sence, and eternal, i. e. without
time, 918, f. What It has. It is, 918.
Essence and Attribute identical, 545.
Perception and Being in God are
one, 284. "With Him, ' Cannot,' is
< Will not,' 704. Omnipresent, 469.
Essential Goodness, 539, Is trtie,
not as man, by participation of the
Truth, but by begetting the Truth,
ibid. How He creates, see ' Creation.^
The Trinity, Father Son and Holy
Ghost, how They come to us, 811.
Dwells in the Saints as in a Temple,
813. the Sender, and the Sent, 223.
manifested by Christ by the Name of
Father, 964. universally acknow-
ledged as Author of the world, ex-
cept by a few in whom nature is
excessively depraved, 964. Image of
in man, 283. The Father glorified by
the preaching of Christ Risen, for so
He was made known for endless
praise to His Elect, 952, f. Made
man, not man's wickedness, 1133.
All God's works praise Him, ibid.
How He has made the things that
are future, 774. The Trinity in us
as God inHis Temple ; we in Them
as the creature in its Creator, 984.
Saviour of angel and man and beast,
482, f. but men are the objects of a
peculiar mercy, ibid, needs not us,
but we need Him, 170. 1203. God,
the beauty of themind, 464. first lovfd
us, ungodly, unlovely, to make us
godly and lovely, 1214, f. loved us
before we loved Him, but not that
we should continue sinners, 1184.
speaks within, to those who give
place to Him not to the devil, 1139.
An inner manifestation of, which the
ungodly know not, 810. Is said to
see^ when He pities, 664. always
fulfils the prayers of the righteous,
even when He refuses the thing they
ask for, 1 1 70. often grants the requests
of the wicked, to their punishment,
ibid, see ' Prayer.^ ' AnsiuersJ Why
He was pleased to be called the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 172.
183. delivers some of His servants,
as Daniel and the Three Holy
Children, to shew His power : others
He lets suflFer, as Maccabees and
Martyrs, for fatherly chastisement,
1196. If thou fall not off from Him,
He never falleth away from thee, 485.
to be loved freely, 1216. Love of,
proved by love of our brother : as
the subject's love of the Sovereign
proved by obeying his laws, 1217.
no toil in loving God, 1222. To love
the Father is necessarily to love the
Son : i. e. the Only Begotten and
His Members, who together make
one Christ, r220, f. possible to hate
Him unknown, 864. To hate Christ
is to hate the Father, 865, ff. God, no
escape from : if you would flee from,
flee to Him, 1 165. tempts, in order to
know, i. e. to make to know, 578.
in no wise the Author of sin, 574, f.
hardens the reprobate by forsaking,
by not helping, 702. by leaving the
evil will to itself, 703. if He hard-
eneth, why doth He yet find fault?
answered, 702. makes wicked men
as Judas His instruments for good,
422. God's anger not as man's, the
perturbation of an excited mind, but
a calm setting of just punishment,
1084.
Good. All that is severally and partially
good in the creature, is whole and
entire in God, 201. None good but
they who have chosen Him that is
Good : and they chose Him because
He first chose them, 851. To evil
men good becomes evil, as the sop to
Judas, and to good men, good comes
out of evil, 747 — 749.
Goodnesi, none out of Christ, 601.
Good works^ none without the grace of
Christ, 830. their source, faith which
worketh by love, 834.
Gospels, the perfect harmony of : shewn
by Aug. in a laborious work (de Con-
sensu Evangelistarum), 1001. The
first three, chiefly conversant with
Christ's Manhood : the fourth, with
His Godhead, 505.
Grace, Christ God Incarnate the very
Fountain of, 998. free, to be answered
by free love, 47. Grace for grace, 37.
Grace crowned with life eternal, 39.
does not set aside free-will, 1146. see
' Salvation,' ' Pelagians.'
H.
Harvest, the, of the Election of Israel,
and the general harvest in the end of
the world, 248.
INDEX.
1273
Health, to be sought, but as a means to
a religious end, 1224. see ^Bodily
Henlth:
Heart, the, to be questioned under the
eve of God, 1165.
Heathen, how they fell from God, 217.
a heathen festival at Hippo, 122.
Heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ,
28. do not make Christ's inheritance
less, ibid. The Saints are His in-
heritance, as He is Lord: He theirs
as salvation, as light, ibid.
Hen gathering her chickens, aptness
of the similitude, 233.
Heresies, obliged spiritual men to
search, define, and contend, 506.
concerning the Person of Christ :
some deny the Godhead, others the
Manhood, 501. 506.
Heretics, see ' Doctrine.'' all confess in
words that Jesus is the Christ ; but
in deeds deny this, 1131, f. some
say that Christ is not true man:
bodies of men and animals not created
by the true God: Old Testament not
given by the true God, 911. handle
the Word of God with partiality,
129.
High'priest. The office not held ac-
cording to the original institution in
the Roman times, 667. Annas and
Caiaphas, 1010.
Hilary, St. his doctrine relative to the
Glorification of Christ, tacitly dis-
allowed by St. Augustine, note
955—958 The sum of his doctrine
relative to the glory of Christ and of
men : shewn to be orthodox, ibid.
Homoilsion, 1236. see ' Cheist.'
* Hosanna,^ an interjection, denoting
an affection, not a notional word, 680.
Hour, Christ's, 455, f. see ' Cheist.'
the lasc, 1127. the last : from
Christ's first coming to end of world,
347.
House of the Father : the many man-
sions in certainty of predestination
exist already ; but in fact Christ is
preparing them, i. e. preparing the
Saints for eternal bliss, 77o, f. To
dwell in the House of God, is to be
in the people of God, 778.
House of God not to be profaned, 155.
Humility, the way to the New Birth,
186.
Husbandry, spiritual, 32.
' Hyperbole,' nature of; instances in
the Scriptures, 1090.
Hyssop, emblem of humility, 1043.
T.
Ideas, Plato's doctrine, 16, note.
Ignorance, voluntary and involuntary,
603.
Image of God, in the mind, in the in-
tellect, 35. in the mind, a hint of
the Trinity, 365.
Imposition of hands on Ihe newly-
baptized, 1172.
Incarnation: see ' Christ.' that men
might be born of God, God was born
of men, 29. our assurance of God's
merciful intentions, 30.
'■ IndicativKs modus,' a singular use of
the term, 880, note.
Infant -hnptism, 526. Infants presented
for baptism not so much by the
bringers as by the whole Church,
828.
Infants dying un baptized ; some ac-
knowledging that they cannot enter
into the kingdom of heaven assign
ihem one of the mansions of bliss in
the Father's House : this notion re-
proved, 770 — 773. (This notion held
by Pelagians, afterwards maintained
by Vincentius Victor, refuted by St.
Augustine, ibid, note.)
Infants, i. e. neophytes : the newly-
baptized, 1172.
Infidels : more stupid than the devils,
for these believe, 1220.
Inner Man, more proved than the
outer, 464.
Insulation, 177, note.
Intercession. Apostles and Bishops
need and crave the people's prayers
for them, 1102.
Intermediate state : see Death, Dead.
Isaac bearing the wood, a type of
Christ, 147.
Ishmael, how his playing with Isaac
was a persecution, 175, fif. 184.
Israel: type of the Church, 171. a
perpetual type of good things to come,
433. passing through Red Sea and
wilderness a type, 169. in the wilder-
ness a type of the faithful on the way
to their heavenly country, 1179.
Israelite without guile, not without sin,
but without the duplicity which cloaks
sin, 117.
Jacob's vision of the ladder, 121.
January, Calends of, heathenish ob-
servance of, 77.
Jealousy, godly, for Christ, 207.
Jerusalem, a type of the heavenly,
172. see * Donatists.'
Jews, preeminently Christ's "own,"
27. keepers of the prophecies against
themselves, 497. understood the
promises carnally, 450. ignorant of
1274
INDEX.
the Prophecies relatingto Christ,453.
through pride, despising the humility
of God, they crucified their Saviour,
and made of Him their condemning
Judge, 49. thought Christ would be
merely man,638. hated Christ because
they hated that which condemned
them, 868. notknowingHim tobethe
Truth they hated "Whom they knew
not, ibid, thought they loved God,
but loved only their own erroneous
notion of God, ibid. Christ's true
crucifiers : vainly seek to exonerate
themselves, 1028.1034. pretend that
they did not put Christ to death,
]014. more guilty of His death than
the Gentiles to whom they delivered
Him, 1015, f. in giving Christ
vinegar to drink are an acted parable
of the wickedness of their nation,
1043. by the very act of putting
Christ to death, made Him a stone
of stumbling for their overthrow,
69G f. rejecting their eternal good
lost their temporal good, 667. how
they sought Christ after His resur
rection, 458. cut off, Gentiles graffed
in, 256. 567. Often in bondage, 653.
Require a sign, yet are slow to
believe when it is given : Gentiles
require no sign, 253, fF. boasted of
descent from Abraham, 565, S. Chil-
dren of the devil, by imitation, 569, f.
Ignorant and self-righteous zeal made
them persecute Christ's followers,
879. To know that the Jews would
" even kill them," &c. was a comfort
to the disciples, as a proof of the
wonderful success of their mission,
880^882. Their dispersion a testi-
mony to the truth of the prophecies
concerning Jesus Christ, 709. Are
looking for Antichrist that they may
go backward and fall to the ground,
because, forsaking heavenly things,
they desire earthly, 1003. Impious
blindnessof Christ's persecutors ,1013.
Job, 559. his victory over the devil
compared with Adam's defeat, 1141.
John the Baptist, how more honoured
than all the Prophets, 49. Friend of
the Bridegroom, 205. A Lamp pre-
pared for Christ, 74. His greatness
betokens Christ's surpassing Majesty,
197. His greatness, 23. a light, to
witness of the Light, 24. His testi-
mony to Christ, 492, f. The Elias
of the First Advent, 52. Not Elias
himself, but in the spirit of, 53. He
is ipsa Prophetia, 54. His humility,
65. 203- Wrought no miracles, 645.
Knew Christ before the heavenly
sign, 59. An apparent discrepancy
between Matthew and John, how
reconciled, 59, fF, note, and Preface
vii. note the knowledge imparted to
John by the heavenly sign, not,
' This is the Christ,' but, ' This is
He which baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost,' 62, ff.
John the Evangelist: the Eagle, 230.
600. 606. sublimity of his Gospel,
321. 500. 641. lay in the Lord's
bosom to drink in deeper truths,
7. 273. 309. a token of the divine
excellency of his teaching, 1041.
His modesty in mentioning himself,
746. His humility, 1102. How
he received the Blessed Virgin
"unto his own," 1042. Tt is said
that he never married, and from
his earliest childhood lived in per-
fect chastity, 10H9. Hence called,
' The Virgin," 1091. Some have er-
roneously supposed that he did not
die, 1079, ff, and note. His grave at
Ephesus: a report that the earth
heaves over his body, caused by his
breathing, 1080, ff. ' Did not suffer
martyrdom, 1082, and note. He is
the type of the life which is by vision
of Christ, as St. Peter of the life by
faith, 1086.
Jovrney, this life a, 1225.
Judas Jscariot, son of perdition, pre-
destinated to perdition, 972. fol-
lowed the Lord only in body, not
with the heart: did not fall suddenly,
675. chosen an Apostle, to teach us
to tolerate the ministry of evil men,
ibid, was " chosen" unto something
for which he was necessary, but not
unto the fellowship of the blessedness
of the Saints, 737. the representative
of evil men in the Church as Peter of
good, 676. mistook Christ and thought
himself undiscovered ; Christ know-
ingly used him as the unconscious in-
strument of His purposes, 720. par-
took of the Holy Communion with the
Eleven, 675. unto death, 676. " they
ate the Bread" (which is) the Lord,
he the bread of the Lord, against the
Lord : they Life, he punishment, 737.
was made over to the devil by the
bread of Christ, 749. The sop given
to him was meant to shew what
grace he had treated with ingra-
titude, ibid. After the sop, Satan
entered into him by a fuller posses-
sion, ibid. Had partaken of the
Sacrament before he received the
sop, 750. "What was meant by the
dipping of the sop, 750. An example
of the sin unto death, 1234. His
remorse coupled with pride and des-
INDEX.
li»75
peratioD, a part of his damnation
already begun, ibid, baptism admin-
istered by, would he valid, and
Christ's baptism, 77.
Judgment^ Two senses of the word
"judge:" viz. to doom to punish-
ment, and to discriminate good and
bad, 345. 580. 692. how true be-
lievers come nut into judgment, 345.
how the Father judgeth not any, 291.
333, tf. in the, good and bad will see
Christ as Man; the good, as God,
304, ff.
Judgment^ day of: some fear not be-
cause they do not believe : some
believe and fear, because charity is
not perfect in them: 1206. but the
saints, the more they grow in charity,
long for that day, 1207.
Judgwenf of this world, expulsion of
Satan from Christ's redeemed, 692.
Judging: our proneness to judge men
according to their persons,^ 450,
how to be avoided, 451.
Judgments^ erroneous, of persons:
under what circumstances venial :
867. one sad consequence of, ib.
Justijiinfion : to create righteous beings
and to justify the ungodly are works
equal in power, but the latter is
greater in mercy, 794. Accuse thy-
self, and thou art joint d unto God,
193. The beginning of our righteous-
ness is ihe confession of sins, 1141.
KeifSf power of the. To thee will I give,
&fc, wai" spoken to the Church, 1231.
see ' St. Peter J
Kingdom of God, already is, but does
not yet reign, 776.
Kingdom of Christ, here in preparing,
to be manifested hereafter, 381, ff.
Knowledge, grows by love, 324. grow
in holiness to gr(>w in knowledge,
280. see ' Faith.'
L.
^ Leetitia' and ' gaudium,' mean the
same thing, 742, and note.
Latirentir/s S. 415, n. His martyrdom,
424, f. and note.
Latv of Moses : prepared the sick for
the Physician, 33. Christ gave the
Law by a servant : grace, by Him-
self, 33. Men came to be " under
the Law," by not fulfilling it: he
who fulfils it, is with the Law, ibid.
Law shews sin, not takes away, ib.
Men attempting to fulrtl the Law by
their own strength became guilty
under the Law, ib. why given, 33.
40, f. '' under the Law," and, " with
the Law," ibid, a perpetual type of
Gospel truths, 434. The doom of
those who shall perish without LaWj
not necessarily more severe than
theirs who shall he judged by the
Law, 863. The former expression
denotes the doom of the heathen, the
latter that of Jewish sinners, ib.
and note. Without Christ all perish,
whether Jews or heathen, ib. But
there are degrees of perdition, as de-
grees of sin, 864.
La^v in the vienthers, 569.
Lazarus of Bethany : his resurrection
a type, 347-
Lazarus in the parable : type of
believing Gentiles, 256.
Learning : in this life we are to be ever
learning, because we have never
obtained, 753.
Lejt hand, how not to know what the
right hand doeth, 686. 1165, and note.
Lessons, Scripture not fixed in the
Churches of Africain St. Augustine's
time, except for the more solemn
seasons. Introd. 2. St. Matthew's
narrative of the Passion, for Good
Friday : the four narratives of the
Resurrection, Easter "Week,ib. and
1092, note. Acts of Apostles, from
Easter to Pentecost : also in Church
of Antioch in St. Chrysostom's time,
2. Lessons for certain holy-days, to
be also preached upon, 1205.
' Lilierare,' 549.
Lie, or Falsehood, the devil's progeny,
672.
I^ife, animal, human and angelic, 280.
Life, this. The promise of its needs
to be supplied to all that seek first
the kingdom of God, &c. 1062. full
of strife without and within, 489.
a life of suffering, even in the Saints,
1083. a pilgrimage, 649. all the
good things of, if sought, aie to be
sought only as means to an end,
1 224. the winter season of the Saints,
the spiritual trees, 1159.
Life, how and when Christians must
hate their own life, 684. " He that
loveth his life shall lose it, &c." two
ways of understanding this text, ib.
and note. Gives no encouragement
to Donatist suicides, ibid.
Life, Christian, a perpetual Lent, 262.
Two lives, preached unto her of God,
the Church knoweth ; one in faith,
the other in vision, &c. 1086, f. repre-
sented by St, Peter and St. John,ib.
4 o
1-276
INDEX.
L{fe Eternal, the promised reward for
them that endure to the end, 1134, f.
Christ's promise, and to be the su-
preme object of desire, 471. the only
true life is Eternal, 343. the future,
perfection of knowledge in, 754.
Life Everlasting: the vision of Christ
as God, 337. " Life Eternal common
to all the saved, (" every man a
penny,") but in it are different de-
grees of glory and bliss (" many
mansions''), 770,
* Ligatur<^,^ 106.
Light, universal, uneonsurned by eyes
which take it in: so Christ, 200.
* Litator,' one that sacrifices, 1186.
Livor, 469, note.
Lord. God alone true Lord, for He
has no need of service: man not true
iordship, for he needs the help of his
servants, 1^03.
A6yos, expressed in some copies by
' Sermo,' in others by ' Verbum,' in
John i. I. and elsewhere, 975, f.
Love, the Essence of God, 1216. see
'Charity.' God loved the elect, yet un-
reconciled, 989. even when (as workers
of iniquity) He hated them : loved His
own work which our iniquity had not
utterly consumed, and hated our
work, ib. And indeed in all His
creatures He loves His own work,
990. The Father loves the Son as
Equal God begotten: as Man, for
the Word's sake the flesh of the
Word is dear to Him; loves us, as
members of the Incarnate Son, 939.
Of God, our, comes from God's
first loving us, 939. Love of God
and love of the world cannot exist
together, 1118. gift of God, 810.
Christ's peculiar gift to the Saints,
763. and distinguishing badge of the
Church, 763, f. distinguishes Saints
from the world, 810. Love of God,
not for selfish ends, 47. Love
precedes obedience as its cause,
834. is proved by obedience as its
effect, ib. Christ's love of us, the
source of both, 835. Love of Christ :
the return to be made for Christ's
love of us, is to love others as He
loved us, 1154, f. To love God is
necessarily to love the brotherhood,
1216. The two precepts of, are inse-
parable, 763. In loving our neigh-
bour we love God, for the desire of
love on their behalf is that God may
be all in all in them, ibid. The new
commandment, 838. is Christ's com-
mandment, as if no other were so :
for it includes all, 839. Distinguished
from all other love by its pattern,
"As I have loved you:" it is for
God's sake, that He may be all in
all in those whom we love, 839. 840.
perfect, in the resurrection : therefore
Christ gave the Spirit, the Author of
Love, after His Resurrection, 470.
All love (both ' dilectio' and * amor')
wishes well to its object : true love
wishes to do good to its object, but
would rather there were no suffer-
ing or sin to need the good work :
this the difference between the good
works of Charity, and the same
works done by Pride, 1194, ff. Love
of enemies, that they may become
brethren, 1103. Such is each as his
love, 1124. To love is to dwell in
heart, 27. makes the soul lovely,
1214.
Lucifer, the fallen angel, 37.
Luke., St. Evang., his emblem the ox.
505.
' Lumina,' eyes, 215. 493.
' Ltma tertia,' 1108, note.
M.
Magical arts, 1122.
Malchus, "one that shall reign:"
mysterv of the wounding and healing
of, 1004.
Man. Human life intermediate between
the animal and the angelic, 280. is
' of God' by creation : by fallen na-
ture, ' not of God ;' by regeneration^
' of God,' 575. made in the image of
God, affords a hint by which Divine
relations may be apprehended, 78 L
inferior in other things to irrational
creatures : superior in the Image of
God, 35. worn coin of God's mint.
548. God seeks His image on, 553»
made in the image of God, in the
reason and conscience and capacity
of knowing God, 1195. has natural
dominion over the brute creatures,
ibid. His pride punished by means
even of the meanest creatures, as
the Egyptians by frogs and flies,
ibid, while the most powerful, as
lions and fire, acknowledge this lord-
ship in man the servant of God, 1196.
which lordship is suspended only for
the sake of fatherly chastisement, as
in the sufferings of the Maccabees
and martyrs, ibid, will be fully mani-
fest in the future life, ibid, dis-
tinguished from irrational creature as
object of a peculiar mercy, 48S»
INDEX.
1277
Proud man had been for ever lost
had not a lowly God found him, 721.
good only by participation of God
Who is Essential Goodness, 539.
Human nature hath nothing that it
did not receive even in the Only
Begotten Son, 953. has nothing of
his own but sin, 655. and false-
hood, 62. All men by nature chil-
dren of wrath, 689. In mortal flesh,
it is at no time easier to live than
to die, 759. born with death, for
he contracts sin from Adam, 658.
the natural or ' animal man,' i. e.
carnal, 907. The natural, i. e. animal
or carnal, cannot conceive of God hut
as of a body, 938. Men and Sons of
men : how they dififer, 447, n. The
inner man more proved than the
outer, 464.
Manicheans. see ' Devil,' ' Doctrine ,
' Evil,'' ' Nature.' Their doctrine
of two Principles, 573. give evil a
substantive essence, 569. affirm a
life and soul in things inanimate, 15.
an ensnaring argument from noxious
creatures, 13. deny (with Marcion-
ites) the God of the Old Testament,
684. say that the devil has a father,
572. affirm Christ to be only God
without man (antithesis to Pho-
tinians), 630. deny His birth of the
Virgin Mary, 127. say that the Sun
is Christ, 481, f. comp. note.
Manna, type of, 169.
Marcionites and Manicheans agree in
denying the God of the Old Testa-
ment, 584.
Marcuhis Donat. 179, note.
Mark, St. Evangelist ; his emblem,
the Man, 505.
Marriage, mystery of, 126. Christ's
institution, 145. Honoured by Christ's
presence and iirst miracle, 138.
Martyrs, 424. witnesses, 1095. innu-
merable, of all ages, ranks, con-
ditions, 687. 895. 1007. they lay
down their lives for the brethren as
Christ His, but not for remission of
sins, 842. commemoration of, 46.
At the Table of the Lord we com-
memorate them, not, like others who
rest in peace, by praying for them,
but so that they pray for us, 842,
and note. Feasts of the, desecrated
by drunkenness, 1095, note. 1142.
Heretics and schismatics boast to
have their martyrs, 1 163.
Martyrdom, to lay down one's life for
the brethren is to lay it down for
Christ, 686. without Charity un-
profitable, 98.
Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre,
1052. why forbidden to touch Christ,
401, note. 1054, flf. 1126.
Mary, Ever-Virgin, 153. why Blessed,
154. conceived and bore Christ by
faith, 56. reproved at Cana, acknow-
ledged on the Cross, 132.
Matthew, St. Evangelist : his emblem,
the Lion, 505.
Maximiaii, 157, note.
' Memoria,' 1052, note.
Mercy, works of, the beginning of
Charity, 1161.
Merits, none before the gift of Christ,
1021.
Messias, in Punic ^Messe,' Anoint, 246.
Mind, see ' Image of God.' Energy of
the, 320. 359, the eye of the soul,
493. all that relates to, is more
valued than body, 464.
Ministers. What it is to minister
unto Christ, 685, f. All Christians
are, and not Bishops and Clerks only,
687. have a right to be maintained
by the Church, but (as St. Paul)
may forego that right, 1061. Evil
ministers, convey grace by Christ's
authority, themselves not benefitted,
75. the voice of Christ speaks by
such, 617. preaching Christ of envy
and strife, 78. ministering and preach-
ing with selfish ends, 1074. they
may nevertheless do good, 78. shew
themselves hirelings when afraid to
rebuke and punish sin, 621. see
* Baptism,' ' Donatists.'
Ministry of the Word: efi"ectual to
teach by the Unction which is the
Holy Ghost, 1136.
Ministry : fear of undertaking the,
because of the greater temptations
attending, 727. some are called
to study and contemplation, some
to active service, 728, f. this is
more beset with danger of defile-
ment, but Christ is ready to cleanse,
730.
Miracles. Not more wonderful than
the order of nature, 123. Intended
to rouse men from their forgetfulness
of God, 123. 138. The miracle of
Incarnation takes away all wonder
from the works of Christ : the wonder
is, that God was made man, not that
a Man being God did the works of
God, 259. the design of Christ's
miracles, ib. they do not terminate
in the temporal benefit, 260. are
signs of redemption, ib. of creative
power, 373. acts of teaching, 374.
acted parables, as the miracle of the
five loaves, 375, fF. their prophetical
import, 253. should raise delight
rather than wonder, 648. The mi-
4 o2
1278
INDEX.
raculous draught of fishes after the
Resurrection, compared with the
like miracle in the commencement
of the Lord's Ministry, 1062, flf.
The first miracle denotes the Church
of the called, in its mixed state : the
second, the Church of the chosen
after the separation of good and bad,
in the end of the world, ibid. How
Christ's disciples do greater works
than He did in the Flesh, 790—795.
What they did, He did in them, 792.
All believers do those greater works,
i. e. He in them, for the working
out of salvation and justification is
greater than all visible things, 794.
To create righteous beings and to
justify the ungodly are works equal
in power, but the latter is greater in
mercy, ib. None greater than raising
of the dead, 869. this was wrought
by Elijah and Elisha, even by the
dead body of the latter, 870. Yet it
is true that Christ did works " which
none other did :" e. g. miraculous
feeding of multitudes, walking on
the sea, giving sight to one born
blind, &c. ibid. Others indeed did
works which Christ did not: Moses,
Joshua, &e. ibid, yet " none other"
than Christ ''did" whatever miracles
were wrought by the Saints at any
time, 872. and whatever the Father
or the Holy Ghost may have wrought,
Christ did also, in virtue of the Con-
substantial Unity of the Trinity, ib.
But Christ speaks of His miracles of
healing, done " in them," i. e. not
merely among them, but in their
persons, 870, 1. miracles of mercy,
which aggravate the wickedness of
the Jews who hated Him, 871.
Miracle of Christ's conception and
birth of a Virgin, ib. of Resurrection
and Ascension, surpasses all others,
ib. Not necessarily notes of the
Church, 211, note, may be wrought
by reprobates, 212. The servants of
God sometimes tempted by the lust
of the eyes, or curiosity, to wish to
work a miracle, 1122. Not proofs
of holiness, ibid. 468.
Modesty of Sacred "Writers in men-
tioning themselves ; Moses, John,
Matthew, Paul, 746.
' Monerej and ' admonere,' 450, note,
comp. 1200. 1. 3.
Money, love of, a cleaving sin, 549.
how to be used, ib.
Moses, some mistakenlv infer that he
did not die, 1080.
' Mulier,^ use of this word in Scripture,
153, note.
' Mundus mtelligibUis,^ 16, note.
Mysteries : to be approached with awe,
not with eagerness to understand all
at once, 274. trouble the bad, exer-
cise the good, 309.
N.
* Naxdutn pisticum:* St. Aug. thinks
so called from the place it came
from, 672, and note.
Nathanael, singular commendation of,
114. was learned in the Law, there-
fore not chosen to be an Apostle,
115, and note.
Nature, all, is originally good (against
Manicheans) : man's nature vitiated
by an evil will, 569.
Nicodemus. 167, IF. sincere in his de-
sire to know the truth, but fearful at
first, 474. His progress of faith, 1048.
discovery of his reliques, ibid, and
note.
Noah, a type of Christ, 146.
' Nosse,' and ' scire,' 521.
Noxious creatures and vermin, ordained
for punishment of man's pride, 15.
Numbers: Two, generally has refer-
ence to the twofold precept of love,
265. Ten, the number of the Law,
109. 1065. Seven, of the Spirit, grace,
sanctification, 1065. Seventeen, of
Grace supervening upon the Law, ib.
A?i hundred and fifty-three, (in the
second miraculous draught of fishes,)
how formed, and its symbolical mean-
ing, 1066. Fifty, ibid. Twelve, 423.
Twenty-five, 39>Q. Thirty, Wi. Thirty-
eight, man under the Law: short of
perfection (forty), 262. Forty: con-
nected with fasting, ib. denotes per-
fection, 264. Forty-six, 161, f.
O.
Odour, the good, of Christ, is the holy
living of Saints, 673. is life to the
good, death to the wicked by exciting
their hatred, 674.
Offence, some take at Christ, some at
the Church, 1106.
Old Testament Scriptures, consist of
Law, Prophets, and Psalms, but
sometimes the whole is called the
Law, 643.
Old Testament, the sanctifications of,
shadows of the sanctifications in the
rNDEX.
1279
Truth which belong to the heirs of
the New Testament, 975. Old and
New, lovers of the world, and of eter-
nal life, l72. Saints of, examples of
holy longing, 46. none saved, except
as by revelation of the Spirit they
believed in the Mediator between
God and man about to come in the
flesh, 980. believed on Christ to
come, just as we believe on Christ
come : the objects of faith the same,
the times different, 604. 605. the
signs diverse, thing signified the
same : thus to the Israelites the
Rock was Christ, to us that is Christ
which is placed on the Altar of God,
606. The Holy Ghost was in them,
but not in the same measure as
in the Saints of the Gospel, 467.
693. They heard Christ's voice in
His preachers, ib. by revelation of
the Spirit undoubtingly believed that
Christ would rise again; their faith
stronger than that of the Apostles
before Christ's resurrection, 980.
Olivet, Mount : mystical interpretation,
474.
Optatiis, don. Bishop of Thamugada,
known as Gildo's satellite, 76, note.
* OptmieSj' 656, note.
Origen: has been mistakenly accused
of teaching the abolition of Christ's
Human Nature after His Resur-
rection, 958, note.
Origmal Sin, 40. 526. 589. 658. or, the
fault and corruption of man's nature
came by persuasion of the devil, 574.
" All sinners are begotten of the
devil, as sinners. Adam was made
by God ; but when he consented to
the devil, he was begotten of the
devil; and such begat he all men as
he was himself. With lust itself we
were born ; even before we add our
sins, from that condemnation we
have our birth. For if we are born
without any sin, wherefore this run-
ning with infants to Baptism that
they may be released ? 1 148.
Ojeen, Prophets and Apostles, 157.
P.
Pagans: conversion of, 1105. to be re-
joiced in, but with fear, lest they
come short, 1105, f. some extol
Christ, but as a Magician, 927.
Pagan festivities, 102. 103. Festival
in celebration of the blood of a certain
woman, 105. 113.
Palm-bra7iches, praises, signifying vic-
tory, 680.
UayroKpdTup, literally * omnitenens,'
all-possessing, ' omnipotens' involves
the same notion, 965.
^Paraclete,' both Comforter and Ad-
vocate, 884.
Paradise, distinguished from the ' hell'
to which Christ's soul descended,
995.
Parasceue, 1030. see ^ Coena pura.'
Pascha, a Hebrew word meaning ' trans-
itus,' not as some suppose derived
from Greek ' paschein,' 716, and
note.
Passover, so named from Israel's pass-
ing over the Red Sea, 716. Mys-
tically denotes Christ's ' transitus'
through the death of the Cross, and
His people's from the house of bond-
age and sword of the destroying
Angel, ibid, and note, a Prophecy
of Christ, 670. 1022. 1047. passing
away of shadow and sign, 670.
Patripassians, 508. See Sahellia?is.
Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
mystery of, in reference to Baptism,
171.
Paul, St. his conversion the fruit
of St. Stephen's prayer, 1154. as
the hem of Christ's garment, by
touching which that woman (type
of the Gentile Church) was made
whole, 1192. an example of seeking
the glory of God, not the praise of
men : wishes his former sins to be
known by all, that God may be
glorified, 1191, f. Meaning of the
change of name from Saul to Paul,
1192, and note. An example of
Charity, free from all love of pre-
eminence, 1197. His prayer for re-
moval of the thorn in the flesh, how
truly granted, 1168. Why he chose
rather to labour for his own sub-
sistence than to claim his right of
maintenance, 1061. laboured more
than all the Apostles, both in mind
and in body, ibid, desired to depart
hence, but endured to live, 1207.
buried at Rome, 633.
Peace in Christ, the end of His teach-
ing and of our whole Christianity,
947.
Peculation, 675.
Pelagia?is, not mentioned by name,
but their doctrines often tacitly re-
proved, see ' Original Sin,' ' Free-
will,' ' Grace,' ' Hozise of God,'
' Righteous,' ' Victor,' and 704. 830.
1148. their notion that Christ's
teaching and example were suffi-
cient in themselves tacitly refuted
by case of St. Peter, 878. their
notion that it is possible to be in
1280
INDEX.
the flesh without sin, tacitly re-
proved, 843. that their good works
are their own, 847. their setting
God's foreknowledge against His
grace, 851.
Pelagianistn, measures against in A.D.
416, 181.
Penitent: their groans of indignation
because of their sins are the voice of
Christ within them, 663.
Perish to, from God, is to be penally
separated from the blessedness which
God gives to the Saints, 864.
Perdition, degrees of, according to
diversities of sin, 864.
Persons. Personal knowledge, not
merely by sight, may be also by
history or common report, 865. But
these sources of information are fal-
lible, 866. We must take care to have
a right judgment of things, and
forbear from peremptory judgments
of persons, ibid. Respect of in judg-
ment, 449. 45].
Persecution, raised by the devil, God
permitting for proof of constancy of
the Saints, 424. The world persecutes
the Saints for righteousness' sake,
i. e. because they are Christ's, 85S.
The bad persecute for Christ's name's
sake, or, for righteousness' sake, i. e.
for the hatred's sake which they bear
to Christ's name, or righteousness,
859. Just and unjust persecution,
ib. note. Allowable lo flee from, 619.
Christ's example, 231. Donatists'
complaint of, against the Catholic
Church, 71. Heretics and schisma-
tics the worst of persecutors, who
slay the souls, 7 1 , f. See ' Donatists.'
Perseverance the mark of the pre-
destinate, 609.
Pertnrbations of mind, true Wisdom
not exempt from, as the philosophers
pretend, 742. the four; fear and sor-
row, love and gladness, ibid. Chris-
tians are and ought to be aSected for
others and for themselves, 741, f.
Peter, St. the chief of the Apostles,
723. Compared with St. John, he is
the type of the life which is by faith,
as John of the life which is by vision.
1086. " Blessed art thou," and " Get
thee behind Me, Satan," 654, f. His
sin in denying Christ not to be ex-
tenuated, 766, f. (allusion to St.
Ambrose, ibid, note.) by his tears he
refutes his defenders, 768. A warning
against self-confidence, ibid. His
denial of Christ contrasted with the
constancy of the Martyrs, 1007.
He denied Christ: not to be ex-
plained away, ibid. Denying and
confessing, 875. Strengthened by
the Holy Ghost to bear witness of
Christ, ibid, shews that Christ's
teaching and example sufficed not
without the Spirit's aid, 878. His
fall, recovery, and end, 1073. Re-
quired to prove his love by feeding
Christ's flock, 1074, and note. The
trine denial eff'aced by trine con-
fession, 624. 1074. 1153. His testi-
mony concerning Christ on day of
Pentecost, 874. Peter so called from
petra, represents the Church, 113.
grounded on the rock of faith, 119.
His confession, " Thou art the
Christ," &c. the Rock on which
Christ will build His Church, 1219.
By reason of his primacy of Apostle-
ship, he is by figurative generality
the representative of the Church,
which is founded super petram, from
which Peter had his name, 1085.
Not a Petro petra, but Petriis a
petra, ibid. Since, that the Lord
said, " Super hanc petram cedificabo
Ecclesiam meam^'' was because Peter
had said, Thou art Christ, the Son
of the Living God. Upon this, then,
saith He, upon this Rock, Which
thou hast confessed, will I build My
Church. For the Rock was Christ :
upon which foundation Peter himself
also was built, ibid. St, Aug. when
a presbyter wrote that the Church
is founded upon St. Peter, but in
later writings, " Upon Him Whom
Peter confessed," ibid. note. Christ
said, " I will give thee the keys,"
&c. to him as spiritually denoting
the Church, 676. as representative
of unity made confession for all, and
received the promise of the keys for
all, 1037. The Church founded on
Christ did in the person of St. Peter
receive the keys, i. e. power of bind-
ing and loosing sin, 1085, f. For
that which in strictness of speech
the Church is in Christ, the same,
by significance, is Peter in the
Rock : in which significance the
Pv ock means Christ, Peterthe Church,
1086. Received for all saints: for
not Peter alone, but the whole
Church doeth this, (i. e. binding and
loosing of sins,) 1088. Christ's pro-
mise, To thee will I give, S^-c. was
spoken to the Church, 1231. If " I
will give thee the keys,'' &c. was
meant for Peter personally, the
Church does not bind and loose :
but if the Church does bind and
loose, then this was said to Peter
as representing the Church, 677,
INDEX.
1281
Philosophy, heathen : had distant
glimpses of divine truths, 22.
Philosophers deny that the wise man
is liable to perturbations of the mind,
741. mistaking vanity for truth, and
stupor for health, 742.
Photinians affirm Christ to be only
man without God, the antithesis to
Manicheans, 630.
Physician, similitude of, 393. not al-
lowing his patients their will, in
order to their good, 1170. loves the
sick, hates the sickness, 1201.
Pilate anxiously sought to release
Jesus, 1024. With what intention
he permitted or ordered the soldiers
to treat Him with contumely, ibid.
1025. sinned, but less heinously than
the Jews, 1026, f. feared when he
heard of the Son of God, but feared
Csesar more, in27.
Pilleatiis, an unknown object of wor-
ship, 106.
Poor, the Church never without such,
676.
Pontius, donat. 211, note.
Praise, see ' Self-praised
Prayer, (see '■ Anstvers to prayer,^ 152.
The boon withheld often better than
granted. 111. The promise is, not
whatsoever we ask, indiscriminately,
but whatsoever in His Name, i. e. as
He is Saviour and Teacher, 796-799.
God's mercy withholds what would
be to our hurt, 796. When we igno-
rantly ask for hurtful things, we do
not ask in the name of the Saviour,
798. What is deferred is not denied,
799. thus the coming of God's king-
dom is deferred, ibid. We shall re-
ceive in due season, if we persevere,
ibid. In asking aright, we ask that
He will not grant what we ask not
aright : this is implied in ' Lead us
not into temptation,-' 799. Two sorts
of wishing meet in our prayers :
the one as we are in the world, the
other as we are in Christ. If we
ask any thing and it be not done, the
request came from the flesh, 831.
The words and spirit of the Lord's
Prayer should be our rule, and then
we shall obtain our requests, ibid,
that thing is not asked in the name of
the Saviour, which does not consist
with our salvation, 935. he that truly
asks in Christ's name, receives at
Christ's time, 936. saints so praying
are heard for themselves but not for
all, whether friends or enemies, or
any others, for the promise is, He
shall give it you, ibid. To ask any
thing but the true blessedness, or
fulness of joy, is to ask nothing^ ibid.
The disciples would truly ask in
Christ's name, when, being taught
no more in proverbs but openly, they
would spiritually apprehend His In-
tercession in the Unity of the God-
head, 936 — 939. assurance that our
requests shall be granted : not how-
ever in the very thing we wish, but
in that which is for our good, 1166-—
1170. St. Paul's prayer for removal
of them in the flesh, 1168. to receive
the very thing asked is no proof of
God's love, but often the contrary,
1169. 1170. all true and acceptable
prayer is the prayer of Charity, 1171.
Prayer, for the dead, 842, and note.
'' It might be answered that it was
not meet [for Christ] to pray for
such, being dead, as with great
merits had departed hence and were
resting in peace," 980. Prayer,
heathenish customs of, 152.
Preaching, a perilous offtce: scarcely
possible but there shall be some con-
ceit, 727. let the discourse be praised
but in the Lord, as from the Lord,
ibid. St. Aug. describes his own,
Pref. iv. V. the hearers stood, 342.
exclamations of assent, applause, &c.
by the hearers, 46. 610. 898. 1135.
1187.
Predestinate, Christ's sheep, 607.
many predestinate do not yet hear
Christ's voice, and many not pre-
destinate do hear it; but only the
predestinate so hear as to persevere
unto the end, ibid, given to Christ,
purchased by Him, known by Him,
infallibly saved by Him, 640.
Predestination, calling, justification,
glorification, 411. makes the future
as certain as the past, 953. and elec-
tion of the Saints coincident, i. e.
coeternal, with the predestined glori-
fication of the Man Christ Jesus
then Head, 958, f.
Pre5?«tt7;^«o;ianddespair,bothfatal,479.
Pride, source of all sin, 393. " the
beginning of all sin," therefore
identical with " avarice the root of
all evil :" for Pride grasps at more
than is due: man made above the
beasts ; Pride makes man affect to
be above man, 1194, ff. wishes other
men to be and to remain inferior :
and in its outward works of mercy
wishes the misery which is the ob-
ject of mercy to remain, 1197, f.
apes all the works of Charity, 1163.
but for the sake of preeminence,
1197, f. of man, punished by noxiou*
creatures, 14,
J 282
INDEX.
Prhnianus, 157, note.
*■ Prmc/pinm,* Beginning or First Prin-
ciple. Greek Theology limits this to
the Father : I^atin, affirms the Co-
equal Son by gift of the Father to be
also Priucipium, 534. note.
Prodigal So?i, the Parable of the, St.
Aug.'s interpretation of, 969, note.
' Prodigiion,' porrodirium, quod porro
dicat, porro sigoificet, 253.
Pro/<?M/ow of Christianity, an insincere,
from motives of worldly interest ;
complaint of the frequency of, 387.
[where ' impletur quotidie talibus
Ecclesia' should have been rendered,
' Every day the Church is filled with
such (converts):' comp. de Catech.
Rudibus, 5. §. 9 and 25. §. 48.]
Promises of Christ, are for those who
keep His commands, 487. Promise,
the, of Christ, cannot fail. He, the
Truth, cannot deceive. Be not thou
a liar, to profess one thing and do
another ; keep thou the faith, and
He keeps His promise. But if thou
keep not the faith, thine own self,
not He that promised, hath de-
frauded thee, 1140.
Property is held by human right, 100.
Prophecy : see Foreknowledge: from the
earliest times, 140. Six ages or dis-
pensations of, 142. from the first,
though delivered to the Jews, looked
to all nations, 145. A Lamp bearing
witness to the Light, 492. serves for
conviction of Pagan infidels, 496.
Jews keepers of the prophecies
against themselves, 497. Refutes the
calumny of Christ's miracles wrought
by magic, 498.
Prophets, tlie : sowed the field where
the Apostles reaped, 248.
' Propolarii,' 157.
Prosperity of the wicked, a temptation
to unbelief, 394.
Psahns, title, Injinem, 1224.
Punic tongue, cognate with Syriac and
Hebrew, 246. Punic pronunciation
of Latin, 256, note.
Piaiis h?ucnt, future : varies in degree
as the sin punished, 864. Punishment
of sin not at once remitted when the
guilt is taken away, 1084.
Q.
'' Quadragesima,' Lent, 262.
R.
^ Rncha,' said to be an interjection,
denoting indignation, 680.
Raimi (Noah), type of the worldling,
81. of schismatics, 83.
Heconciliatioii. The intent of the Son's
reconciling us to God, not that God
should thenceforth begin to love
where He had hated : we were re-
conciled to One that loved us already,
but we by reason of sin were at en-
mity with Him, 989.
Redemption^ see ' Christ,' ' Blood of
Christy* and Note A at the end of
vol. ii.
Reed, emblem of the Scriptures, 1043.
Regeneration^ see ' Born of God.' or
' Neiv Birth,' 29. that men might
be born of God, God was first
born of men, ib. that the Saints are
not of the world, is conferred on
them by regeneration, 974. No man
is born of water and the Spirit ex-
cept he be willing, 1125.
Regenerate, whoso is born of God hath
not sin : i. e. the sin of violating
Charity, 1167.
Relations, Divine, expressed in terms
of human, not to be carnally under-
stood, 642. see ' God.'
Repentance, folly of delay, 479. Re-
pentance with humiliation, and re-
pentance with pride and desperation,
1234.
Reprobate, will see Christ (in form of
Man) for the last time in the Day of
Judgment, 812. Receive not Christ's
testimony, 222. " cannot" believe,
i. e. " will not," 704, f.
Restoration of converts from heresy
and schism, 177, note.
Resurrections^ two : distinguished by
Christ, 305. 351. a moral Resur-
rection, taught by all religions, 301.
of the Body : denied by some here-
tics, ibid, the spiritual, wrought by
Christ as Son of God, 302, f. of the
soul is by Christ as God to enjoy the
Godhead, 368, ff. typified by resur-
rection of Lazarus, 346, f. from in-
fidelity to faith, 293. 300. effected
by hearing the Son of God, 294.
i. e. such are quickened by the
Father and the Son, 300. of the
body, by the Son of Man, 302, f.
Christ as Incarnate, 371. of soul
and body, the end of the whole
Gospel, 360. Bodies of the Saints
which arose after Christ's resur-
rection: a temporary and transient
return to the body, 1080.
jR2^A^eo?/5.( Pelagians tacitly reproved.)
" That person is righteous overmuch
and by that very excess unrighteous,
who saith that he has no sin, or
thinks he is made righteous, not by
INDEX.
1-283
the grace of God, but by his own
will sufficing thereto," 890.
Righteousness which God giveth, 399.
of faith, never perfect in this life,
1140.
Robbery of the Church, the most
heinous of robberies : Judas the pat-
tern of this sacrilege, 675.
Rock, see ' St. Peter .^
* Rogare :' ' petere' and ' interrogare,'
931.
Rogattis, 157, note.
Rulers, Christian : their duty to repress
heresy and schism, 178.
S.
Sabbath. What it is, 44. how God
rested on the, 310. fulfilled in Christ,
268, f. a sacrament fulfilled in us,
310. the spiritual, is to be free from
sin, 594. not for cessation from work
of salvation, 447. how obscured by
the Jews in Augustine's time, 44.
Sal>ellia}is, 506. 542. few in Augustine's
time, 442, note. 546. affirm " that
one and the same Person, according
to the diversity of exigencies, is
called Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,"
700, and note, that the Son is per-
sonally identical with the Father :
the names two, the thing one, 442.
and Arians, 601. each witness to the
Truth against the other, 508. 517, ff.
789. err on opposite sides, wider
apart from each other than from the
Truth, 789. Rule against: " Intel-
ligatur non bis unus, sed duo unum,"
790.
Sabellius : his doctrine of the self-
extensions and self-contractions of
the one Divine Substance and Person,
and illustration by the arm extended
and drawn back, 699, note.
Sacraynentum, meaning of the word,
1126, and note. 1136. In sacramenta
or mystical expressions we are to
consider not the actual things as
Rock, Water, &c. but what they
signify, 1231. ' Sacramenta,' inward
and spiritual meanings of Holy Scrip-
ture, 1126. designed for refreshment
of our minds in our labour, 263.
Sacraments flowed from Christ's pierced
side, 146. " The Word (of Christ) is
added to the Element, and it becomes
a Sacrament, itself as it were a visible
word," 827. without Charity profit
nothing, 1184. out of unity are held
unto condemnation, 22. Jewish, sig-
nified the same thing which is signi-
fied by the Sacraments of the Gospel,
408, note.
Sacrilege, 675.
Saints : see * Salvation,'' ' Election.'' pre •
destinated, called, justified, and (in
hope) glorified, 411. are called Sons
of God and are, 1142. are angels, 5.
called to be Gods, ib. are in God,
and God in them by grace : the Son
in the Father and the Father in
Him by coequal Godhead, 644. the
Temple, House, and Kingdom of
God, 775. Temple of the Holy
Trinity, 813. their free-will co-
operates with God in His work
within them, 1146. working out
their salvation, do therein the great-
est of miracles, 794. are Christ's
friends and servants, 845. true serv-
ants, therefore not servants (or
slaves) but friends, serving in the
Spirit of adoption, 846, f. by re-
generation are not of the world, 974.
but still need sanctification, 975.
already redeemed through the Me-
diator, and having for earnest the
Holy Ghost, they have a blessed
life in hope, but in the body a life
of sufiering, 1083. for the punish-
ment of sin is not taken away at
once when the guilt is abolished,
1084. their excellency hidden from
the world, 1142. insulted over by
the worldly within and without the
Church, ibid, their righteousness
here never perfect, 1 146. yet they
are righteous as God is righteous,
not by equality, but according to
their measure, in respect of the
image of God, 1147. are as God
is in this world, viz. in Charity;
i. e. in doing or wishing good to the
evil and the good, the just and un-
just, 1208. have peace here in the
midst of conflict, hereafter Christ's
own peace, unalloyed, 815, f. in the
Night of this world wait for the
Day, 486. in this life, as trees in
winter, 1159. Communion of, 410.
1172. Christ's, One Head, One Body,
by One Spirit, 410. are taught in
the Holy Communion to be ready to
die for the brethren as Christ for
them, 841, f. wash one another's
feet, sometimes in the act itself;
mystically, by mutual intercession
and forgiveness, 734, f the higher
enlightened for the benefit of the
lower, 4. desire the day of Judg-
ment, 1207. shall be with Christ
where He is, i. e. in heaven with
the glorified Humanity: or with
Him as God, by Vision of the
1284
INDEX.
Blessed Trinity, 994—997. glorify
God by their constancy unto death,
424. the blood of, precious in the
sight of the Lord, 623.
Salvation, from first to last is by free
Grace, 39. the saints are already
saved ' by the laver of regeneration,'
and ' by hope,' viz. in virtue of the
earnest already received, but look
for complete salvation of soul and
redemption of body, 850, f. in what
sense Scripture speaks it of the
tvorld, of all men, 855, note, and
Note A at the end of vol. ii.
Samaritan, i.e.' Keeper," 577. Sama-
ritans, aliens, 235. Samaritan w^oman
type of Gentiles, ibid.
Sanctification : in the Truth is for the
heirs of the New Testament, of
which sanctification, the sanctifica-
tionsof Old Testament were shadows,
975.
Sanctity, beauty of, 46.
Sanguina, 29.
Satan: see ' Devil:' why he tempted
man, 271. ' prince of this world,' not
of the creation but of the wicked,
823. 892. a request of, granted to
his own greater damnation, 1169.
see ' Prai/er.' raises persecution
against the Saints, 423. his doom
declared by the Church, and so the
Spirit ' reproves the world of judg-
ment,' 892, f. that proud men may
not think to escape, when Angels
were not spared, 893.
Schism: its origin in pride and self-
righteousness, 1102. makes Baptism
unprofitable, 210.
Schismatics, baptized: deserters, 211.
are Antichrists, so long as they do
not return, 1129. and heretic? pro-
fess to believe that Christ came in
the flesh but virtually deny it, 1175.
1178. usurp the love due to Christ,
208.
'■ Scire' and ' nosse,' 454, note. 521.
Scripture, Holy, lifts us up by coming
down to us, 972. Lamps in the dark-
ness no longer needed when the Day
is come, 499. is meant to be both
believed rnd understood, 341. diffi-
culties, their use, 291. Dark sayings
in, for exercise of the minds of the
faithful : if they admit of more than
one wholesome interpretation, it is
matter of congratulation, 1233. see
* Sacramenta.' Inspired by One
Spirit, therefore perfect consonance,
1210. Texts which seem contrary
may often be reconciled by dis-
tinguishing two different senses of
the same word, 578, f.
Seal, -to, 389.
Seducers to evil, murderers as the
devil, 571.
Self-examination under the Eye of
God, 1165.
Self-love, root of all evils in the Church,
1075.
Self-praise, odious in man, but if God
is to be made known, it must be by
Himself, for our good not for His,
and in the Most High there can be
no over- weening, 732, f.
' Sempervivum,'' aei^wov, 639, note.
Separation, comes of envy, 469.
Serpent, the Brazen : type of Christ,
191.
Seventy Disciples : their mission has
reference to the Gentile nations,
212, note. (comp. S. Aug. Serm.
101. 1.) St. Augustine thinks they
were among the persons offended by
Christ's saying in John vi., 1107,
note.
Sheep of Christ, described, 639.
Sight. Inner and spiritual vision is
better for us than bodily sight; the
inward presence of the Spirit than
the outward beholding of Christ,
885.
Sigyis. "Works and doings of evil men
may yet be prophetically significant
of good things, 1038.
Simon Magus, 94, 156.
Simplicity, musthe coupled with fervent
zeal, 84.
Sin, the death of the soul, 650. and
irJquity the same thing. 1146.
slavery of, the worst of bondage,
354. None in the flesh without sin,
843. Christ only excepted, 556. 559.
though some may be blameless before
men, 559. see ' Christ,' * Pelagians.'
Original sift, 40. see s. v. Sin, four
stages of: original, against natural
Law, against revealed Law, against
the Gospel, 657. Sin, spiritual death,
three degrees of : sin latent in
thought : sin overt in action : sin
habitual, 651. Sin added to sin, 155.
Sins, accumulation of little, fatal,
194. light sins not to be made light
of: number as dangerous as great-
ness, 1100. The displeasure thou
hast at sin is of God shining into
thee, 193. see ' Penitent.^ Sin,
all, blotted out in Baptism by the
blood of Christ, 1099. Sins after
Baptism, the remedy for, 1084.
1100, f. the punishment of, out-
lasts the guilt, 1084. Why the
punishment is not at once taken
away when the sin is forgiven, ibid,
/icknowledgment of, the way to for-
INDEX.
1285
giveness, 1212. They to whom
Christ, personally or by His Church,
has come, are without excuse for
their sin, i. e. of unbelief, 862.
Those to whom He never came, have
some excuse : but it does not avail
to save them from piinishment, 863.
Degrees of perdition measured by
diversity of sin, 864. the sin unto
death spoken of by St. John, can be
committed only by persons who have
received the grace of God, 1234.
consists in malignity against the
brotherhood, ibid, persisted in to the
end of life (from ' Retractations'),
ibid. note, would not be unto death
if the sinner would repent, but the
evil of it is, that the sinner cannot
get himself to submit to the humili-
ation of asking pardon, ibid. Judas
an example, ibid, this proud despera-
tion a part of the sinner's damnation
already begun, ibid, is perhaps the
sin against the Holy Ghost, 1235.
Many different opinions may be
formed concerning, ibid, is the for-
saking until death the faith which
worketh by love, ibid. How under-
stood by Greek interpreters, 1234, f.
notes.
8'm against the Holy Ghost, 1235.
" Sm,'' i. e. sacrifice for sin, 557.
Sinners, see ' Devil,'' prepare their own
punishmentj 156. praise themselves,
accuse God, 431.
* Solvere Jesum,^ 1180.
Soti, see ' Christ,' implies Father as its
necessary correlate, 293. the Only-
Begotten and the sons by adoption,
together make one Christ, 1221.
Soul, the life of the body, 298. and im-
mortal, 629. God the life of the soul,
298. 629. its true life from God,
358. 359. see ' Resurrection.' the
greatness of its effects even in cor-
ruptible flesh, 125. mutable, for
better or worse, 539. good only by
participation of God, 539. The
understanding is as its husband :
in its nonage 'it is ruled by the five
senses, 241. if not enlightened, Error
is its paramour, 242.
Spectacles, reproved, 1142. see ' Curi-
osity.'
Spirit, the Holy : of the Father and
of the Son, 143. inseparable from
Them, 144. is Charity, 143. or mutual
love of Father and Son, 144. 223. Con-
substantial and Coeternal with the
Father and the Son, 801. inseparable
from the Father and the Son, as being
the essential and co-essential Love
of Them Both, 952. Is of tlie Father
and of the Son, 1056. Holiness, i. e.
sanctification, His special attribute,
1065. '« Where the Father and Son,
there the Holy Ghost, alike Eternal,
alike God, One Spirit of Them Twain,
and the Substance of the Will of
Them Both," 993. Speaks not of
Himself, i. e. is not of Himself, but
God of God, 918. but Co-equal as
Consubstantial, ibid. To Him, to
' hear' is to know, but to know is to
Be (see ' God'), 919. and His 'to
Be' is by proceeding, 920. "Which
procession is from the Son as well as
from the Father ; for He is the
Spirit of the Father and of the Son,
ibid. Therefore called distinctively
' Spirit,' whereas " God is Spirit,"
i. e. both Father and Son is Spirit
(not Body), because in Him appears
the community of both Father and
Son, 921. Why should we not believe
that the Holy Ghost proceeds also
from the Son, seeing the Same is
Spirit of the Son also ? For did He
not proceed from Him, He would
not have breathed upon the disciples,
saying, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
For what other did that insufflation
signify, but that the Holy Ghost
proceedethfrom Himalso? ibid. "Why
Christ says, Proceedeth from the
Father, 922. The Son, God of God,
has it from the Father that the Holy
Ghost should proceed from Him as
from the Father: and the Holy Ghost,
God of God, has it from the Father
that He should proceed from the Son
as from the Father, ibid. That the
Holy Ghost is from Both explains in
some sort why His Being is said to
be by Procession not by Generation :
for this would be to make Him Son of
Two Fathers, ibid. The Holy Ghost
does not proceed from the Father
into the Son, and from the Son pro-
ceed to the creature to sanctify the
same ; but proceeds at once from
Both : albeit it is by the Father's
gift to the Son, that He should pro-
ceed as from the Father Himself, so
from the Son also, ibid. The Filioque
taught in substance by the earlier
Greeks : why not expressed in the Con-
stantinopolitan Creed : theological
ground of the doctrine, 923,T3ote."The
Holy Ghost assumed no created Na-
ture, 915. represented in bodily signs
of transient nature, 916. why mani-
fested in the form of a dove, 80, ff.
why descended in fiery tongues, 1172.
denoting simplicity with fervour, 82.
see 'Christ.' His aid necessary after
1286
INDEX.
Christ's teaching and example —
shewn by the case of St. Peter, 878.
Taught the Saints after Christ's
Ascension to apprehend His God-
head, 886, and note. The Para-
clete bore such mighty witness to
Christ, that many who had hated
were converted, 874. glorified Christ
after His Ascension, both by in-
spiring the true Faith of His God-
head, and by emboldening the dis-
ciples to spread His fame abroad,
924. Reproves the world, by the
ministr)' of the disciples in whose
hearts He shed abroad love, 889. of
the sin of unbelief, ibid, of the righte-
ousness of faith, 890. of judgment,
by apprising it of the doom of its
prince, the devil, 892, f. betokened
by the number seven, 1065. His
sevenfold operation, ibid. Described
in the Apocalypse as " the Seven
Spirits of God,''' 1066. what the soul
to the body, the Holy Spirit is to the
soul, 144. Author of life and unity,
419. None receive the Holy Ghost
out of the Church, 468. Is in the
Saints not instead of Christ but with
Him ; a presence of the whole
Trinity, 887. Source of all love and
obedience, 801. The more He is had,
and proved by love, the more He is
given, 802, the earnest of, 466. by
this we know God now, in part, 467.
was given to the old Saints, but in
far other manner after Christ's resur-
rection, 467. 693. If thou find that
thou hast charity, thou hast the
Spirit of God for understanding,
for this necessarily goes with that,
1171. His presence proved not
by miracles, but by charity, 1172.
how known, 1174. Gift of tongues
not now the sign of His presence,
468. Yet this is in respect of
Church's Universality a permanent
gift, ibid. Is given by measure to the
Saints, without measure to the Son
as Man, 225. 803. Unknown by
the world dwelling in the faith-
ful, 804. as God in His Temple,
811. and known by them, as we
know our own conscience, 804. By
Him, the Saints know what God
has given them, 847. teaches by in-
fusing love, 897. the promised lead-
ing into all truth never complete
here, but will be hereafter, 898, f.
the spiritual Unction, 1129. which
teaches all that are truly taught by the
Ministryof the Word, 1136, f. inter-
ceding for the Saints, is the Charity
wrought in them by Him, 11 70.
Spirit, sometimes put for "husband,"
flesh, for "wife," 29. in the well-
ordered man, the spirit is master, the
flesh servant, ib.
Sj)i)'its, spiritual suggestions act di-
rectly upon the thoughts, not by
words spoken through the ear, 719.
blend with our thoughts and seem to
be our own, 720. rule for discerning
of, 1175, f.
Spiritiiai, not always taken in a good
sense, 719.
' Spiridis,^ twofold meaning, 188.
Stephen, St. a pattern of simplicity
coupled with fervent zeal, 82. his
prayer for his murderers : conversion
of Saul, the fruit of it, 1154. recent
discovery of his reliques, 1048.
Suggestions, diabolical, see ' Spirits.''
Suicide, not to be justified by Christ's
saying, He that hateth his life, ^-c.
524, note. 684. see ' Donatists.'
Sun, said by the Manichees to be
Christ, 481 , f. and note.
* Susum jusmn,' upside down, 1191.
1228.
Sympathy, perfect of the members of
Christ's Body one with another, 1221 .
and of the Head in heaven with
the members on earth, 1222.
T.
Tabernacles, Feast of: prophetical of
Christ's members sojourning in the
wilderness, 435.
Temptation, two different sorts of
tempting, one for deception, one for
probation, 678, ff. reducible to three
kinds, lust of the flesh, lust of the
eyes, and pride of life : so in the
Lord's temptation, 1122—1124.
Temptation common to man, a : that we
are liable to err in our judgment of
persons, 866.
Thief, the penitent, 140. 461, 527. his
faith, 981. how with Christ in Para-
dise, 995.
Thomas, St. His unbe-ief reproved, and
prophetically contrasted with the
faith of the Gentiles, 1057.
Thought, marvellous swiftness of, 320.
Tiine, what seems long to the world is
short to God: the "little while,"
and " last hour," all the ages from
first to second Advent, 811. The
whole age of the world is a " little
while:" " the last hour," 933.
Tongues, divided through sin, united
in the Dove, 88. man's pride divided,
Christ's humility united, 88. gift of,
meaning of, 1172. betokened the
INDEX,
1287
Universality of the Church, 468. not
novs^ the sign of the gift of Holy
Ghost, but in respect of the Univer-
sality of the Church, each member
ma)^ be said to speak with tongues
of all nations, 469.
^ Traditio^' and ' redditio symboli,'
910, note, delivering up, predicated
the Father, of Christ Himself, and
of Judas, 1185.
Tribulation, the portion of Christ's
members on earth, 151.
Trinity, the Holy, 534, ff. 952.
" God thrice, not Gods three," 81.
Three Persons, One God in Infinite
Charity, 537. in Unity, is by Infinite
Charity, i. e. the Holy Ghost, 223.
224. Inseparable in Substance and
vrorks, 321. One Substance, one
Will, 353. the Substance indivisible,
the Works inseparable, the Attri-
butes one with the Substance, 312, ff.
the Acts of, are inseparable, but
certain terms are used for distinction
of the Persons, 814. the Substance
inseparable, but by several mention
we are apprised of the distinction
of Persons, 887. (thus the Holy
Ghost is said to be in us : but where
He is, there is the Father and the
Son, ibid.) and to reprove the world,
though Christ also reproves, 889.
The Catholic Faith neither confounds
nor divides : neither makes the Sub-
stances diverse, nor denies the Per-
sons to be Three, 1233. Manifested
in the Lord's Baptism, 84. The Unity
shewn by command to baptize in the
Name (not names) of the Father,
&c. 87, 1232. Mystically denoted
by the Spirit (the Father), the Blood
(the Son), and the Water (the Holy
Ghost), in the text of the Three
Witnesses, 1232. these issued from
the Lord's Body in His death, in
token that the Church which preaches
the Trinity is the Body of Christ,
ibid. A kind of type of the, in the
human mind or Image of God, 365,
note.
Truths Divine : in what temper to be
approached, 274. The Apostles, and
all who are in the body, not able to
bear all Truth, 898.
' Turha^' 445. 457.
U.
Unbeliefs all other sins bound by, 862.
870. 889. is the condemnation, 192.
every unbeliever when he dies goes
into darkness, where no work can be
done, 593. children of wrath, 227.
JJndion^ the teaching of Christ by the
Holy Ghost: preservative against
temptation, 1 139. visible is the " sa-
cramentum" of the spiritual unction,
1. e. of the Holy Spirit, 1129. 1136,
and note.
Understanding, The husband of the
soul, 239.
Unity of the Church, subsists by the
One Baptism which is Christ's, 85.
is to be held fast that we may have
boldness in the Day of Judgment,
1217. the, of all Saints, 410.
Upright in heart, who, 394. 43L
V.
Yincentius Victory his doctrine on the
state of infants dying unbaptize<l,
771, ff. note.
Virgins, 139. among the heretics, 208.
Virginal purity, rare, 207.
Virtues, Christian, are Christ's min-
isters in the inner man, 1190.
Vision, the ineffable, and so to say
invisible, of God, 707- [' invisibilem
Deum invisibiliter videri,' taught by
SS. Ambrose, Athanasius, Greg.
Naz., as cited by Aug. Epist.
148. §. 6 sqq.] the beatific, 307.
of Christ, 1144. of Christ as He
is, is not for this life ; not temporal
but eternal, 932. this the fruit of the
Church's travail, ibid.
W.
Water, different meanings : Baptism,
the Spirit, peoples, 260. counsel,
1 174. Water mixed with wine in the
Cup of the Eucharist, 1047.
Wicked, the, God's instruments for
good, 422. prosperity of the, 46.
Winter, of this world, 436.
Witness, false, 422.
Witnesses, Text of the Three Heavenly
Witnesses unknown to St. Augustine,
1231, and note.
Word, the Eternal: see ' Christ.'
Word of God, as a hook to a fish,
takes being taken, 565.
Word, the, of consecration in Baptism,
827. 828. and notes.
Works, Good : the beginning of, is in
self-condemnation, 193. not to be
hidden, else God defrauded of His
glory, and men of the good example,
1190, ff. All to be done with a single
1288
INDEX.
eye to the glory of God, this the
meaning of the Lord's precept, Let
not thy left handy ^'C. 1191, ff.
World, not [as the Donatists said]
always to be taken in a bad sense,
but means sometimes the creation,
sometimes evil men, lovers of the
world, sometimes the world of the
redeemed, i. e. the whole company
of the elect, 694, f. World, unbe-
lieving men of whom the world is
full, 892. Elect world, faithful chosen
out of the world, ibid. Both are
called ' world,' because the world is
full of both, ibid. ' World' often de-
notes the Church, the elect world,
or Body of Christ throughout the
world, (against the Donatists, who
contended that ' world' in Scripture
is always to be understood in a bad
sense,) 855, note. A world of the
elect, and a world of the reprobate,
855. The former is the ivorld which
God in Christ reconciled to Himself,
and for the sins of which whole world,
Christ is the Propitiator, ib. and note.
A ' whole world' Christian, and a
' whole world' ungodly, 1142. A
reprobate world, for which Christ
prays not, 985. an elect, believing
world, for which He prays, ib. this
world saved by Him: reconciled to
God by Him, 985. 988. 998. to this
He gives the glory of immortality,
986. a world delivered out of the
world, 993. World has two mean-
ings: the creature universally, and
lovers of the world, who by loving
inhabit the world, and are called
'' world," in the same way as we
use the term " house" to denote the
persons inhabiting it, 27. 36. 803.
1121. 1143. 1158. these are Christ's
enemies, 930. all begotten of fallen
Adam are of the world in this sense,
1020. the elect, being sanctified,
cease to be of the world, 525. The
world, as meaning sinners or lovers
of the world, is subject to the devil
and his angels : as meaning the
creature, it is subject only to God,
823. and this world is to be loved,
but in moderation, and for God's
sake, 1120. to love it instead of God,
is adultery, 1121. Such love, and
love of God, cannot exist together,
1118, We are both forbidden, and
commanded, to love it: forbidden
to love in it that which mars
it, bidden to love in it what it
was meant to be, 856. Saints use
the good things of it as an inn by the
way, 649. 1225. knowledge of God is
by just judgment withheld from the
reprobate world, by mercy through
Christ given to the elect world, 998.
how the world loves its oiv7i^ even in
punishing malefactors, 860. World, a
headlong river, 156. Night of this,
486. in its calamities, Christ is seen
abasing all loftiness, 385. spirit of
the, teaches to revenge wrongs, 1181.
Love of the world a hard bondage,
1222. The six Ages of the, 142. 234.
' World , ititelligible,' KScTfios vorirSs,
16, note.
Worship, as the object of, so the wor-
shipper, 149.
Worship, sacraments, preaching, reli-
gious end of, 548.
X.
Xt/stus, St. his martyrdom, 424.
Zabulus, i. e. Diabolus, 75, note.
Zaccheetis, 1155.
Zacharias, father of John the Baptist,
supposed by S. Aug. to have been
high priest, 668.
Zeal, holy, 159, f.
THE END.
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