Homilies on the First Epistle of John 9.11
Latin text: Migne, PL 35 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888).
Chapter 9
9.11PL 35:2053
Qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem videt, Deum quem non videt, quomodo potest diligere? Et hoc mandatum habemus ab ipso, ut qui diligit Deum, dili gat et fratrem suum. Magnifice dicebas, Diligo Deum; et odis fratrem! O homicida, quomodo diligis Deum? Non audisti superius in ipsa Epistola, Qui odit fra trem suum, homicida est? Sed prorsus diligo Deum, quamvis oderim fratrem meum. Prorsus non diligis Deum, si odis fratrem. Et modo probo alio docu mento. Ipse dixit, Dedit nobis prœceptum, ut diligamus invicem: quomodo diligis eum, cujus odisti præceptum? Quis est qui dicat, Diligo imperatorem, sed odi leges ejus? In hoc intelligit imperator si diligis eum, si observentur leges ejus per provincias. Lex imperatoris quæ est? Mandatum novum do vobis, ut vos invicem diligatis. Dicis ergo te diligere Christum; serva manda tum ejus, et fratrem dilige. Si autem fratrem non diligis; quomodo eum diligis, cujus mandatum con temnis? Fratres, ego non satior loquendo de chari tate in nomine Christi. Quantum et vos habetis hujus rei avaritiam, tantum speramus quia crescit in vobis ipsa, et foras mittit timorem, ut remaneat ille timor castus permanens in sæculum sæculi. Toleremus mundum, toleremus tribulationes, toleremus scan dala tentationum. Non recedamus a via; teneamus unitatem Ecclesiæ, teneamus Christum, teneamus charitatem. Non divellamur a membris sponsæ ipsius, non divellamur a fide, ut gloriemur in præsentia ipsius: et securi manebimus in eo, modo per fidem, tunc per speciem, cujus tantas arrhas habemus do num Spiritus sancti.
"For whoever does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? And this commandment we have from him, that whoever loves God should love his brother too." You were saying grandly, "I love God", and you hate your brother! O murderer, how do you love God? Did you not hear earlier in this very Epistle, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer"? "But I really do love God, though I hate my brother." You really do not love God if you hate your brother. And now I prove it by another proof. He himself said, "He has given us a command, that we love one another": how do you love him whose command you hate? Who would say, "I love the emperor, but I hate his laws"? The emperor understands from this whether you love him, whether his laws are kept in the provinces. What is the emperor's law? "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." You say, then, that you love Christ: keep his commandment and love your brother. But if you do not love your brother, how do you love him whose commandment you despise? Brothers, I am not sated with speaking of love in the name of Christ. As much as you too have a greed for this thing, so much we hope that it grows in you and casts out fear, so that there may remain that chaste fear enduring for ever and ever. Let us endure the world, endure tribulations, endure the stumbling blocks of temptations. Let us not leave the way; let us hold the unity of the Church, hold Christ, hold love. Let us not be torn from the members of his bride, not be torn from faith, so that we may glory in his presence; and we shall abide securely in him, now by faith, then by sight, of which we have so great a pledge, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
1 John 4:20–21 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 3:15 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 3:23 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:34 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 4:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 5:7 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:22 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No one can love God and hate his brother, any more than one can love the emperor and hate his laws; we must hold the unity of the Church and love, with the Spirit as pledge.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): quomodo diligis Deurn → quomodo diligis Deum; sed odi leges cjus → sed odi leges ejus; serva manda lum ejus, ct fratrem → serva manda tum ejus, et fratrem; permanens in sacculum sacculi → permanens in sæculum sæculi; teneamus Cbristum → teneamus Christum; a memhris sponsx ipsius → a membris sponsæ ipsius; in praescniia ipsius → in præsentia ipsius.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ep. Jo. 9.11 (PL 35:2053; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-epistulam-ioannis/9-11/#p-9-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne PL 35 (digital text, Open Greek and Latin), then compared batch by batch with the public-domain English of NPNF¹ 7 (Gibb and Innes, 1888); differences checked against the Latin.