Sophia Scriptura

Tractates on the Gospel of John 26.4–26.20

Augustine of Hippo · Tractates on the Gospel of John · ca. 406–420 · Hippo Regius · 17 passages

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 26

26.4PL 35:1607

Inde et hic si advertis, Nemo venit ad me, nisi quem Pater attraxerit. Noli te cogitare invitum trahi: trahitur animus et amore. Nec timere debemus ne ab hominibus qui verba perpendunt, et a rebus maxime divinis intelligendis longe remoti sunt, in hoc Scri­ pturarum sanctarum evangelico verbo forsitan repre­ hendamur, et dicatur nobis, Quomodo voluntate cre­ do, si trahor? Ego dico: parum est voluntate, etiam voluptate traheris. Quid est trahi voluptate? Delectare in Domino, et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui. Est quaedam voluptas cordis, cui panis dulcis est ille coelestis. Porro si poetae dicere licuit, « Trahit sua < quemque voluptas >; non necessi­ tas, sed voluptas; non obligatio, sed delectatio: quanto fortius nos dicere debemus trahi hominem ad Christum, qui delectatur veritate, delectatur beatitu­ dine, delectatur justitia, delectatur sempiterna vita, quod totum Christus est? An vero habent corporis sensus voluptates suas, et animus deseritur a volupta­ tibus suis? Si animus non habet voluptates suas, unde dicitur, Filii autem hominum sub tegmine alarum tua­ rum sperabunt: inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuæ, et torrente voluptatis tuæ potabis eos; quoniam apud te est fons vitæ, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen? Da amantem, et sentit quod dico. Da deside­ rantem, da esurientem, da in ista solitudine peregri­ nantem atque sitientem, et fontem æternæ patriæ su­ spirantem: da talem, et scit quid dicam. Si autem frigido loquor, nescit quid loquor. Tales erant isti qui invicem murmurabant. Pater, inquit, quem traxerit, venit ad me.

Hence here too, if you notice: “No one comes to me unless the Father draws him.” Do not think that you are drawn unwillingly: the mind is drawn by love too. Nor should we fear that we may perhaps be reproached on account of this gospel word of the holy Scriptures by men who weigh words and are far removed from understanding divine things, and that it may be said to us, “How do I believe by will if I am drawn?” I say: it is too little to say by will; you are drawn even by delight. What is it to be drawn by delight? “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” There is a certain delight of the heart, to which that heavenly bread is sweet. Moreover, if the poet could say, “Each is drawn by his own delight”—not necessity but delight, not obligation but pleasure—how much more strongly ought we to say that a man is drawn to Christ who delights in truth, delights in blessedness, delights in righteousness, delights in eternal life, all of which Christ is? Or do the senses of the body have their delights, and is the mind left without delights of its own? If the mind has no delights of its own, why is it said, “But the sons of men will hope under the covering of your wings; they will be drunk with the abundance of your house, and you will give them drink from the torrent of your delight; for with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light”? Give me one who loves, and he feels what I am saying. Give me one who longs, give me one who hungers, give me one who is a pilgrim in this wilderness and thirsts and sighs for the fountain of the eternal homeland: give me such a one, and he knows what I am saying. But if I speak to a cold man, he does not know what I am saying. Such were these who murmured among themselves. “Whom the Father draws,” he says, “comes to me.”

John 6:44 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:4 (36:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 36:7 (35:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 36:8 (35:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Father draws not by force but by delight: as the poet says each is drawn by his own pleasure, so the lover of truth and righteousness is drawn to Christ.

  • John 6:44, Ps 37:4 (36:4 LXX), and Ps 36:7–9 (35:8–10 LXX) are quoted; “the poet” is Virgil, Eclogue 2.65.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): Inde ct hie si → Inde et hic si; boC Scri­ ptorarum → hoc Scri­ pturarum; cre.. do, si trahor → cre­ do, si trahor; Delectare in Domino, et dabit tabi → Delectare in Domino, et dabit tibi; voliiptates → voluptates; tua­ tum sperabunt → tua­ rum sperabunt; apud te eat fons vitæ, et in lumine → apud te est fons vitæ, et in lumine; esurientems → esurientem.

Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Ecl. 2.65 (Virgil; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.4 (PL 35:1607; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-4). (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.

26.5PL 35:1607–1609

Quid est autem, Pater quem traxerit, cum ipse Christus trahat? Quare voluit dicere, Pater quem tra­ xerit? Si trahendi sumus, ab illo trahamur cui dicit quædam quæ diligit, Post odorem unguentorum tuorum curremus. Sed quid intelligi voluit, adver­ tamus, fratres, et quantum possumus capiamus. Tra­ hit Pater ad Filium eos qui propterea credunt in Filium, quia eum cogitant Patrem habere Deum: Deus enim Pater æqualem sibi genuit Filium: ut qui cogitat, at­ que in fide sua sentit et ruminat æqualem esse Patri eum in quem credidit, ipsum trahit Pater ad Filium. Arius credidit creaturam, non eum traxit Pater; quia non considerat Patrem, qui Filium non credit æqua­ lem. Quid dicis, o Ari? quid, hæretice, loqueris? quid est Christus? Non, inquit, Deus verus; sed quem fecit Deus verus. Non te traxit Pater; non enim intellexi­ sti Patrem, cujus Filium negas: aliud cogitas, non est ipse Filius; nec a Patre traheris, nec ad Filium trahe­ ris: aliud est enim Filius, aliud quod tu dicis. Photi­ nus dixit: Homo solum est Christus, non est et Deus. Qui sic credit, non Pater eum traxit. Quem Pater traxit, Tu es, inquit, Christus Filius Dei vivi. Non sic­ ut propheta, non sicut Joannes, non sicut aliquis ma­ gnus justus; sed sicut unicus, sicut æqualis, tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Vide quia tractus est, et a Pa­ tre tractus est. Beatus es Simon Bar-Jona, quia non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui in cælis est. Ista revelatio, ipsa est attra­ ctio. Ramum viridem ostendis ovi, et trahis illam. Nuces puero demonstrantur, et trahitur: et quo cur­ rit trahitur, amando trahitur, sine læsione corporis trahitur, cordis vinculo trahitur. Si ergo ista quae in­ ter delicias et voluptates terrenas revelantur amanti­ bus, trahunt; quoniam verum est, « Trahit sua quem­ que voluptas; » non trahit revelatus Christus a Patre? Quid enim fortius desiderat anima quam veritatem? Quo avidas fauces habere debet, unde optare ut sa­ num sit intus palatum vera judicandi, nisi ut mandu­ cet et bibat sapientiam, justitiam, veritatem, aeterni­ tatem?

But what is “whom the Father draws,” when Christ himself draws? Why did he want to say, “whom the Father draws”? If we are to be drawn, let us be drawn by him to whom one who loves him says, “We will run after the fragrance of your ointments.” But let us notice, brothers, what he wanted to be understood, and grasp it as far as we can. The Father draws to the Son those who believe in the Son because they think of him as having God for his Father. For God the Father begot a Son equal to himself; so that whoever thinks, and in his faith perceives and ponders, that he in whom he has believed is equal to the Father—him the Father draws to the Son. Arius believed him a creature; the Father did not draw him, because he who does not believe the Son equal does not consider the Father. What do you say, Arius? What do you say, heretic? What is Christ? “Not true God,” he says, “but one whom the true God made.” The Father has not drawn you; for you have not understood the Father, whose Son you deny: you are thinking of something else; it is not the Son himself; you are neither drawn by the Father nor drawn to the Son: for the Son is one thing, what you speak of another. Photinus said, “Christ is only a man; he is not also God.” Him who believes thus the Father has not drawn. He whom the Father drew said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Not as a prophet, not as John, not as some great righteous man, but as the only one, as the equal: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” See that he was drawn, and drawn by the Father. “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” This revelation is itself the drawing. You show a green branch to a sheep, and you draw it. Nuts are shown to a boy, and he is drawn: and he is drawn to where he runs, drawn by loving, drawn without harm to the body, drawn by a bond of the heart. If, then, these things that are shown to their lovers among earthly delights and pleasures draw them, since it is true that “each is drawn by his own delight,” does not Christ, revealed by the Father, draw? For what does the soul desire more strongly than truth? For what should it have greedy jaws, for what should it wish to have a healthy inner palate for judging what is true, except to eat and drink wisdom, righteousness, truth, eternity?

John 6:44 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 1:3 (1:4 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:17 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Father draws to the Son those who believe him equal to the Father, unlike Arius and Photinus; Peter's confession shows that revelation is itself the drawing, as a branch draws a sheep.

  • Song 1:3 (1:4 Vulgate), Matt 16:16–17, and Virgil, Ecl. 2.65 are quoted. Arius held the Son a creature; Photinus held Christ a mere man; Augustine's characterizations are given as written. A stray “I” after cælis in the digital text is ignored.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark): cum ipsd Christus → cum ipse Christus; tra­ serit → tra­ xerit; in Filium,.,nia eum cogitant → in Filium, quia eum cogitant; ruminat:equalem → ruminat æqualem; quia uon considerat → quia non considerat; non est ipse Filias → non est ipse Filius; Photi­ pus dixit → Photi­ nus dixit; non Patcr eum → non Pater eum; ma­ guus justus → ma­ gnus justus; Christus IliUM. Dei vivi → Christus Filius Dei vivi; non libi revelavit → non tibi revelavit; in cæli. I est → in cælis est; ostendis ovi, ct tradis illam → ostendis ovi, et trahis illam; ter deiicias → ter delicias; t Trahit sua quem­ que voluptas; > → « Trahit sua quem­ que voluptas; »; quam veritatem i Quo avidas → quam veritatem? Quo avidas; sapicntiam, justitiam, vcritatem → sapientiam, justitiam, veritatem.

Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Ecl. 2.65 (Virgil; quotation)

Topics: Trinity, Heresy, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.5 (PL 35:1607–1609; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-5). (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.

26.6PL 35:1609

Ubi autem hoc? Ibi melius, verius ibi, plenius ibi. Nam hic facilius possumus esurire, et hoc si bo­ nam spem habemus, quam satiari: Beati enim, in­ quit, qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, sed hic; quoniam saturabuntur, sed ibi. Ideo cum dixisset, Nemo venit ad me, nisi Pater qui misit me, traxerit eum, quid subjecit? Et ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo die. Reddo illi quod amat, reddo quod sperat: videbit quod adhuc non videndo credidit; manducabit quod esurit, saturabitur eo quod sitit. Ubi? In resurrectione mortuorum, quia ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo die.

But where will this be? There, better; there, more truly; there, more fully. For here we can more easily hunger—and that, if we have good hope—than be filled. For “blessed,” he says, “are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”—but here; “for they shall be filled”—but there. That is why, having said, “No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” what did he add? “And I will raise him up on the last day.” I give back to him what he loves, I give back what he hopes for: he will see what he believed while not yet seeing; he will eat what he hungers for; he will be filled with what he thirsts for. Where? In the resurrection of the dead, because “I will raise him up on the last day.”

Matt 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:44 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Here we hunger for righteousness; we will be filled at the resurrection on the last day.

  • Matt 5:6 and John 6:44 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): Ubiautein hoc? Ibi melius, vcrius ibi → Ubi autem hoc? Ibi melius, verius ibi; quoniam caturabuntur → quoniam saturabuntur; qui misit me; traxerit → qui misit me, traxerit; resascitabo → resuscitabo.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.6 (PL 35:1609; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-6). (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.

26.7PL 35:1609

Scriptum est enim in Prophetis, Et erunt omnes docibiles Dei. Quare hoc dixi, o Judaei? Pater vos non docuit; quomodo potestis me agnoscere? Omnes regni illius homines docibiles Dei erunt, non ab ho­ minibus audient. Et si ab hominibus audiunt, tamen quod intelligunt, intus datur, intus coruscat, intus revelatur. Quid faciunt homines forinsecus annuntian­ tes? quid facio ego modo cum loquor? Strepitum ver­ borum ingero auribus vestris. Nisi ergo revelet ille qui intus est, quid dico, aut quid loquor? Exterior cultor arboris, interior est Creator. Qui plantat et qui rigat, extrinsecus operatur: hoc facimus nos. Sed neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat; sed qui incrementum dat Deus: hoc est, Erunt omnes docibiles Dei. Qui, omnes? Omnis qui au­ divit a Patre et didicit, venit ad me. Videte quomodo trahit Pater: docendo delectat, non necessitatem imponendo. Ecce quomodo trahit. Erunt omnes doci­ biles Dei: trahere Dei est, Omnis qui audivit a Patre et didicit, venit ad me: trahere Dei est.

“For it is written in the prophets, And they shall all be teachable by God.” Why did I say this, O Jews? The Father has not taught you; how can you recognize me? All the people of that kingdom will be teachable by God; they will not hear from men. And even if they hear from men, what they understand is given within, flashes within, is revealed within. What do men do who proclaim from outside? What am I doing now when I speak? I pour the noise of words into your ears. Unless, then, he who is within reveals it, what am I saying, or what am I speaking? The tender of the tree is outside; the Creator is within. He who plants and he who waters work from outside: this we do. “But neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the growth”: that is, “They shall all be teachable by God.” Who are “all”? “Everyone who has heard from the Father and learned comes to me.” See how the Father draws: he delights by teaching, not by imposing necessity. See how he draws. “They shall all be teachable by God”: this is God's drawing. “Everyone who has heard from the Father and learned comes to me”: this is God's drawing.

John 6:45 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 54:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Father draws by teaching within, as the prophets said all would be taught by God; preachers only plant and water from outside.

  • John 6:45 (citing Isa 54:13) and 1 Cor 3:7 are quoted. A Migne reference “(! Cor., III, 7)” in the digital text is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; Migne's Scripture reference removed): docibiles Det crunt → docibiles Dei erunt; extrinsecus opcralur → extrinsecus operatur; sEd qui incrementum dot Deus (! Cor., III, 7): → sed qui incrementum dat Deus:; omnes doct­ biles → omnes doci­ biles; trahere Dci est. → trahere Dei est..

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.7 (PL 35:1609; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-7). (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.

26.8PL 35:1609

Quid igitur, fratres? Si omnis qui audivit a Pa­ tre et didicit, ipse venit ad Christum, Christus nihil hic docuit? Quid quod Patrem magistrum homines non viderunt, Filium viderunt? Filius dicebat, sed Pater docebat. Ego cum homo sim, quem doceo? quem, fratres, nisi eum, qui audivit verbum meum? Si ego cum homo sim, illum doceo qui audit verbum meum; illum docet et Pater, qui audit Verbum ejus: si illum docet Pater qui audit Verbum ejus; quære quid sit Christus, et invenies Verbum ejus: In prin­ cipio erat Verbum. Non, In principio fecit Deus Ver­ bum; quomodo, In principio fecit Deus coelum et ter­ ram: ecce quia non est creatura. Disce trahi ad Filium a Patre; doceat te Pater, audi Ver­ bum ejus. Quod Verbum ejus, inquis, audio? In prin­ cipio erat Verbum; non factum est, sed erat: Et Ver­ bum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Quomodo homines in carne constituti audiant tale Verbum? Quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis.

What, then, brothers? If everyone who has heard from the Father and learned comes to Christ, did Christ teach nothing here? What of the fact that men did not see the Father as teacher, but saw the Son? The Son was speaking, but the Father was teaching. Since I am a man, whom do I teach? Whom, brothers, except the one who has heard my word? If I, since I am a man, teach him who hears my word, the Father too teaches him who hears his Word. If the Father teaches him who hears his Word, ask what Christ is, and you will find: his Word. “In the beginning was the Word.” Not, “In the beginning God made the Word,” as “In the beginning God made heaven and earth”: see, he is not a creature. Learn to be drawn to the Son by the Father: let the Father teach you; hear his Word. “What Word of his,” you say, “do I hear?” “In the beginning was the Word”—it was not made, but was—“and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” How are men placed in the flesh to hear such a Word? Because “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”

John 6:45 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Father teaches through his Word, the uncreated Son, whom men in the flesh can hear because the Word became flesh.

  • John 6:45, John 1:1, Gen 1:1, and John 1:14 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): Christos nihil hic docuit → Christus nihil hic docuit; magistrum homincs non viderunt, Filium vidcrunt? Filius dicebat, sed Pater doccbat. Ego cum homo sim, quem doceo! → magistrum homines non viderunt, Filium viderunt? Filius dicebat, sed Pater docebat. Ego cum homo sim, quem doceo?; audit verbuli mcum → audit verbum meum; audit Verbum cjus: si → audit Verbum ejus: si; invenies Verbum cjus → invenies Verbum ejus; fecit Deus Vcr­ bum → fecit Deus Ver­ bum; Disco trabi ad Filium a Patre; dnceat te Pater, audi Vcr­ bum → Disce trahi ad Filium a Patre; doceat te Pater, audi Ver­ bum; et Dens erat Verbum → et Deus erat Verbum.

Topics: Trinity, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.8 (PL 35:1609; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-8). (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.

26.9PL 35:1609

Exponit hoc et ipse, et ostendit nobis quid dixe­ rit, Qui audivit a Patre et didicit, venit ad me. Con­ tinuo subjecit quod cogitare possemus: Non quia Pa­ trem vidit quisquam, nisi is qui est a Deo, hic vidit Patrem. Quid est quod ait? Ego vidi Patrem, vos non vidistis Patrem; et tamen non venitis ad me, nisi trahamini a Patre. Quid est autem vos trahi a Patre, nisi discere a Patre? quid est discere a Patre, nisi audire a Patre? quid est audire a Patre, nisi audire Verbum Patris, id est me? Ne forte ergo cum dico vobis, Omnis qui audivit a Patre et didicit, dica­ tis apud vos, Sed nunquam vidimus Patrem; quomodo discere potuimus a Patre? a meipso audite: Non quia Patrem vidit quisquam, sed qui est a Deo, hic vidit Patrem. Ego novi Patrem, ab illo sum: sed quomodo verbum ab illo cujus est verbum; non quod sonat et transit, sed quod manet cum dicente, et trahit audientem.

He himself explains this too, and shows us what he meant by “He who has heard from the Father and learned comes to me.” He at once added what we might be thinking: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.” What does he mean? I have seen the Father; you have not seen the Father; and yet you do not come to me unless you are drawn by the Father. And what is it for you to be drawn by the Father, except to learn from the Father? What is it to learn from the Father, except to hear from the Father? What is it to hear from the Father, except to hear the Word of the Father, that is, me? So lest, when I say to you, “Everyone who has heard from the Father and learned,” you should say among yourselves, “But we have never seen the Father; how could we learn from the Father?”—hear from me: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, but he who is from God; he has seen the Father.” I know the Father; I am from him; but as a word is from him whose word it is: not a word that sounds and passes away, but one that remains with the speaker and draws the hearer.

John 6:45 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:46 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: No one has seen the Father except the Son; to be drawn and taught by the Father is to hear his Word, who remains with the speaker and draws the hearer.

  • John 6:45–46 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray marks in the digital text): non vidistis, Patrem;; → non vidistis Patrem;; nunquam vidimns Patrem → nunquam vidimus Patrem; Patrenx vidit → Patrem vidit; trahit audicntem → trahit audientem.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.9 (PL 35:1609; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-9). (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.

26.10PL 35:1609–1611

Admoneat quod sequitur: Amen, amen dico vobis, qui credit in me, habet vitam æternam. Revelare se voluit quid esset: nam compendio dicere potuit, Qui credit in me, habet me. Ipse enim Christus verus Deus est et vita aeterna. Qui ergo credit in me, in­ quit, it in me; et qui it in me, habet me. Quid est autem habere me? Habere vitam æternam. Vita æterna mortem assumpsit, vita æterna mori voluit; sed de tuo, non de suo: accepit a te, ubi moreretur pro te. Ab hominibus enim carnem assumpsit, sed non more hominum. Nam Patrem habens in cœlo, matrem elegit in terra: et illic natus sine matre, et hic sine Patre. Assumpsit ergo vita mortem, ut vita occideret mortem. Nam qui in me credit, inquit, ha­ bet vitam æternam: non quod patet, sed quod latet. Vita enim æterna Verbum: in principio erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum et vita erat lux hominum. Ipse vita aeterna, dedit et carni susceptae vitam æternam. Mori venit, sed die tertio resurrexit. Inter Verbum suscipiens, et carnem resurgentem, mors media consumpta est.

Let what follows admonish us: “Amen, amen, I say to you, he who believes in me has eternal life.” He wished to reveal what he was; for he could have said briefly, “He who believes in me has me.” For Christ himself is true God and eternal life. “He who believes in me,” then, he says, goes into me; and he who goes into me has me. And what is it to have me? To have eternal life. Eternal life took on death; eternal life willed to die; but from what is yours, not from what is his own: he received from you that in which he might die for you. For he took flesh from men, but not in the manner of men. For having a Father in heaven, he chose a mother on earth; and there he was born without a mother, and here without a father. So life took on death, that life might slay death. For “he who believes in me,” he says, “has eternal life”: not what is open to view, but what is hidden. For eternal life is the Word: “in the beginning he was with God, and the Word was God, and the life was the light of men.” He, eternal life, gave eternal life also to the flesh he took up. He came to die, but on the third day he rose again. Between the Word taking up the flesh and the flesh rising again, death in the middle was consumed.

John 6:47 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 5:20 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:4 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: To believe in Christ is to have him, eternal life itself, who took death from us in the flesh in order to slay death and gave eternal life to his risen flesh.

  • John 6:47, 1 John 5:20, and John 1:1–4 are drawn on. A Migne reference “(Ibid. i, i)” and stray marks in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's Scripture reference leaked into the digital text; OCR slip; OCR slip and stray marks; stray mark in the digital text): diEo vobis → dico vobis; habet me '. → habet me.; Habere vitain æternam. Viia æterna → Habere vitam æternam. Vita æterna; aed de tuo → sed de tuo; Ab bominibus → Ab hominibus; Assumpsit crgo → Assumpsit ergo; (Ibid. i, i) → ; luter ' r Verbum → Inter Verbum.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.10 (PL 35:1609–1611; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-10). (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.

26.11PL 35:1611

Ego sum, inquit, panis vitæ. Et unde illi super­ biebant? Patres vestri, inquit, manducaverunt in de­ serto manna, et mortui sunt. Quid est unde superbitis? Manducaverunt manna, et mortui sunt. Quare mandu­ caverunt, et mortui sunt? Quia quod videbant, cre­ debant: quod non videbant, non intelligebant. Ideo patres vestri, quia similes estis illorum. Nam quan­ tum pertinet, fratres mei, ad mortem istam visibilem et corporalem, numquid nos non morimur qui man­ ducamus panem de cælo descendentem? Sic sunt mortui et illi, quemadmodum nos sumus morituri; quantum attinet, ut dixi, ad mortem hujus corporis visibilem atque carnalem. Quantum autem pertinet ad illam mortem, de qua terret Dominus, qua mor­ tui sunt patres istorum; manducavit manna et Moyses, manducavit manna et Aaron, manducavit manna et Phinees, manducaverunt ibi multi qui Domino pla­ cuerunt, et mortui non sunt. Quare? Quia visibilem cibum spiritualiter intellexerunt, spiritualiter esurie­ runt, spiritualiter gustaverunt, ut spiritualiter satia­ rentur. Nam et nos hodie accipimus visibilem cibum: sed aliud est Sacramentum, aliud virtus Sacramenti. Quam multi de altari accipiunt et moriuntur, et acci­ piendo moriuntur? Unde dicit Apostolus, Judicium sibi manducat et bibit. Non enim buc­ cella Dominica venenum fuit Judae. Et tamen acce­ pit, et cum accepit, in eum inimicus intravit: non quia malum accepit, sed quia bonum male malus accepit. Videte ergo, fratres, panem coelestem spiri­ tualiter manducate, innocentiam ad altare apportate. Peccata etsi sunt quotidiana, vel non sint mortifera. Antequam ad altare accedatis, attendite quid dicatis: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus de­ bitoribus nostris. Dimittis, dimittetur tibi: securus accede, panis est, non venenum. Sed vide si dimittis: nam si non dimittis, mentiris, et ei mentiris, quem non fallis. Mentiri Deo potes, Deum fallere non potes. Novit ille quid agat. Intus te vi­ det, intus te examinat, intus inspicit, intus judicat, intus aut damnat, aut coronat. Patres autem isto­ rum, id est, mali patres malorum, infideles patres infidelium, murmuratores patres murmuratorum. Nam de nulla re magis Dominum offendisse ille populus dictus est, quam contra Deum murmurando, Ideo et Dominus eos volens ostendere talium filios, hinc ad eos coepit: Quid murmuratis in invicem, murmurato­ res, filii murmuratorum? Patres vestri manna man­ ducaverunt, et mortui sunt: non quia malum erat manna, sed quia male manducaverunt.

“I am,” he says, “the bread of life.” And what were they proud of? “Your fathers,” he says, “ate manna in the desert, and died.” What is it that you are proud of? “They ate manna, and died.” Why did they eat and die? Because what they saw they believed; what they did not see they did not understand. That is why he says “your fathers”: because you are like them. For as far as this visible and bodily death is concerned, my brothers, do we not die, we who eat the bread coming down from heaven? They died just as we shall die, as far, as I said, as the visible and carnal death of this body is concerned. But as far as that death is concerned with which the Lord threatens, by which the fathers of these men died: Moses ate manna, Aaron ate manna, Phinehas ate manna; many ate there who pleased the Lord, and they did not die. Why? Because they understood the visible food spiritually, hungered spiritually, tasted spiritually, so as to be filled spiritually. For we too today receive visible food: but the sacrament is one thing, the power of the sacrament another. How many receive from the altar and die, and die by receiving? Hence the apostle says, “He eats and drinks judgment to himself.” For the Lord's morsel was not poison to Judas. And yet he received it, and when he received it, the enemy entered into him: not because he received something evil, but because, being evil, he received something good in an evil way. See, then, brothers: eat the heavenly bread spiritually; bring innocence to the altar. Though sins are daily, at least let them not be deadly. Before you approach the altar, consider what you say: “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” You forgive, it will be forgiven you: approach without fear; it is bread, not poison. But see whether you forgive; for if you do not forgive, you lie, and you lie to him whom you do not deceive. You can lie to God; you cannot deceive God. He knows what to do. He sees you within, examines you within, inspects within, judges within; within he either condemns or crowns. But the fathers of these men were evil fathers of evil sons, unbelieving fathers of unbelievers, murmuring fathers of murmurers. For that people is said to have offended the Lord in nothing more than in murmuring against God. Therefore the Lord, wishing to show that they were the sons of such men, began to them thus: Why do you murmur among yourselves, murmurers, sons of murmurers? “Your fathers ate manna, and died”: not because the manna was evil, but because they ate it in an evil way.

John 6:48 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:49 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:29 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:26 (allusion, high confidence) · John 13:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 6:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 14:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 6:43 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The fathers who ate manna without faith died, while Moses and others who understood it spiritually did not; so the sacrament differs from its power, and one should approach the altar with innocence and forgiveness.

  • John 6:48–49, 1 Cor 11:29, John 13:26–27, and Matt 6:12 are quoted; the murmuring in the desert recalls Num 14 and 1 Cor 10:10. Augustine's distinction between the sacrament and the power of the sacrament (virtus sacramenti) is given as written; his remarks on the Jews follow the Gospel's language.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; stray mark in the digital text): similes estis illorum t. Natu → similes estis illorum. Nam; mortui ct illi → mortui et illi; carnalcm → carnalem; manducavit uianna et Aaron → manducavit manna et Aaron; Phinces → Phinees; cibnm spiritualiter intellexerunt, spiritualiter esurio­ runt → cibum spiritualiter intellexerunt, spiritualiter esurie­ runt; satia­, rentur. Nam et nos bodic → satia­ rentur. Nam et nos hodie; virtus Sacramenti. I Quam → virtus Sacramenti. Quam; Apostulus → Apostolus; ad allare → ad altare; sicut et noa dimittimus → sicut et nos dimittimus; dimittetur libi → dimittetur tibi; si non dimiuis → si non dimittis; Mentiri Dco potes → Mentiri Deo potes; Intus tc vi­ del, intus te examinai → Intus te vi­ det, intus te examinat; de nulla rc magis Dominum offendisse ille popuius → de nulla re magis Dominum offendisse ille populus; l<lco et Dominus → Ideo et Dominus; binc ad eos → hinc ad eos; lilii murmuratorum → filii murmuratorum; male manducavcrunt → male manducaverunt.

Topics: Eucharist, Prayer

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.11 (PL 35:1611; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-11). (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.

26.12PL 35:1611

Hic est panis qui de cœlo descendit. Hunc pa­ nem significavit manna, hunc panem significavit altare Dei. Sacramenta illa fuerunt: in signis di­ versa sunt; in re quae significatur paria sunt. Apo­ stolum audi: Nolo enim vos, inquit, ignorare, fratres, quia patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, et omnes in Moysen baptizati sunt in nube et in mari, et omnes eamdem escam spiritua­ lem manducaverunt. Spiritualem utique eamdem; nam corporalem alteram, quia illi manna, nos aliud: spiritualem vero, quam nos. Sed patres nostri, non patres illorum: quibus nos similes sumus, non quibus illi similes fuerunt. Et adjungit: Et omnes eumdem potum spiritualem biberunt. Aliud illi, aliud nos; sed specie visibili, quod tamen hoc idem significaret virtute spirituali. Quomodo enim eumdem potum? Bibebant, inquit, de spirituali sequente petra: petra autem erat Christus. Inde panis, inde potus. Petra Christus in signo, verus Christus in Verbo et in carne. Et quomodo biberunt? Percussa est petra de virga bis: gemina per­ cussio, duo ligna crucis significat. Hic est ergo panis de coelo descendens, ut si quis manducaverit ex ipso, non moriatur. Sed quod pertinet ad virtutem Sacra­ menti, non quod pertinet ad visibile Sacramentum: qui manducat intus, non foris; qui manducat in corde, non qui premit dente.

“This is the bread that comes down from heaven.” The manna signified this bread; the altar of God signified this bread. Those were sacraments: in the signs they are different; in the thing signified they are alike. Hear the apostle: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,” he says, “that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food.” The same spiritual food, certainly; for the bodily food was different, since they ate manna, we something else; but the spiritual food was the same as ours. But “our fathers,” not the fathers of those men: those whom we are like, not those whom they were like. And he adds, “And all drank the same spiritual drink.” They drank one thing, we another—but in visible form, which nevertheless signified the same thing in spiritual power. For how did they drink the same drink? “They drank,” he says, “from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ.” From there the bread, from there the drink. The rock was Christ in sign; the true Christ is in the Word and in the flesh. And how did they drink? The rock was struck twice with the rod: the double striking signifies the two beams of the cross. “This, then, is the bread coming down from heaven, that if anyone eats of it, he may not die.” But this belongs to the power of the sacrament, not to the visible sacrament: he who eats within, not outside; he who eats in the heart, not he who presses with the tooth.

John 6:50 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:1 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 20:11 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Manna and the altar were sacraments differing in sign but alike in what they signified; the fathers ate the same spiritual food, and life comes from eating inwardly, in the heart.

  • John 6:50 and 1 Cor 10:1–4 are quoted; the double striking of the rock is Num 20:11. Stray margin marks in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slips and stray margin marks; stray mark in the digital text; words run together in the digital text): Ilic est panis → Hic est panis; significavit [ altare Dei I. Sacramenta illa fucrunt: in signis di- 1 versa sunt; in re quae significatur paria suut. Apo- I stolum → significavit altare Dei. Sacramenta illa fuerunt: in signis di­ versa sunt; in re quae significatur paria sunt. Apo­ stolum; in Moysen a baptizati → in Moysen baptizati; quiailli manna → quia illi manna; non } patres → non patres; Et omnes cumdem potum → Et omnes eumdem potum; virtute spirituali Quomodo cuim → virtute spirituali. Quomodo enim; petra autem erut Christus. Inde panis, indc potus → petra autem erat Christus. Inde panis, inde potus; vcrus Christus → verus Christus; Hic est crgo panis → Hic est ergo panis; ad virtulem Sacra → ad virtutem Sacra; pertinct ad visibile → pertinet ad visibile; in cordo, j non → in corde, non.

Topics: Eucharist, Baptism

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.12 (PL 35:1611; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-12). (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.

26.13PL 35:1611–1613

Ego sum panis vivus, qui de cœlo descendi. Ideo vivus, quia de cœlo descendi. De cœlo descendit et manna: sed manna umbra erat, iste veritas est. Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in æternum: et panis quem ego dabo, caro mea est pro mundi vita. Hoc quando caperet caro, quod dixit panem, carnem? Vocatur caro, quod non capit caro: et ideo magis non capit caro, quia vocatur caro. Hoc enim exhor­ ruerunt, hoc ad se multum esse dixerunt, hoc non posse fieri putaverunt. Caro mea est, inquit, pro mundi vita. Norunt fideles corpus Christi, si corpus Christi esse non negligant. Fiant corpus Christi, si vo­ lunt vivere de Spiritu Christi. De spiritu Christi non vivit, nisi corpus Christi. Intelligite, fratres mei, quid dixerim. Homo es, et spiritum ha­ bes, et corpus habes. Spiritum dico quae anima vo­ catur, qua constat quod homo es: constas enim ex anima et corpore. Habes itaque spiritum invisibilem, corpus visibile. Dic mihi quid ex quo vivat: spiritus tuus vivit ex corpore tuo, an corpus tuum ex spiritu tuo? Respondet omnis qui vivit: qui autem hoc non potest respondere, nescio si vivit: quid respondet omnis qui vivit? Corpus utique meum vivit de spiritu meo. Vis ergo et tu vivere de Spiritu Christi? In cor­ pore esto Christi. Numquid enim corpus meum vivit de spiritu tuo? Meum vivit de spiritu meo, et tuum de tuo. Non potest vivere corpus Christi, nisi de Spiritu Christi. Inde est quod exponens nobis apo­ stolus Paulus hunc panem, Unus panis, inquit, unum corpus multi sumus. O Sacramentum pietatis! o signum unitatis! o vinculum charitatis! Qui vult vivere, habet ubi vivat, habet unde vivat. Accedat, credat; incorporetur, ut vivificetur. Non abhorreat a compage membrorum, non sit putre mem­ brum quod secari mereatur, non sit distortum de quo erubescatur: sit pulchrum, sit aptum, sit sanum; hæreat corpori, vivat Deo de Deo: nunc laboret in terra, ut postea regnet in coelo.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” Living, therefore, because I came down from heaven. The manna too came down from heaven; but the manna was a shadow, this is the truth. “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” When would flesh grasp this, that he called bread flesh? What flesh does not grasp is called flesh; and flesh grasps it all the less because it is called flesh. For they shuddered at this; they said it was too much for them; they thought it could not be done. “It is my flesh,” he says, “for the life of the world.” The faithful know the body of Christ, if they do not neglect to be the body of Christ. Let them become the body of Christ, if they want to live by the Spirit of Christ. Only the body of Christ lives by the Spirit of Christ. Understand, my brothers, what I have said. You are a man, and you have a spirit and you have a body. I call spirit what is called the soul, by which it is that you are a man; for you consist of soul and body. So you have an invisible spirit and a visible body. Tell me which lives from which: does your spirit live from your body, or your body from your spirit? Everyone who lives answers—and he who cannot answer this, I do not know whether he lives—what does everyone who lives answer? My body, of course, lives from my spirit. Do you, then, want to live from the Spirit of Christ? Be in the body of Christ. For does my body live from your spirit? Mine lives from my spirit, and yours from yours. The body of Christ cannot live except from the Spirit of Christ. That is why the apostle Paul, explaining this bread to us, says, “One bread, one body, we who are many.” O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of love! He who wants to live has where to live, has that from which to live. Let him approach, let him believe; let him be incorporated, that he may be given life. Let him not shrink from the joining of the members; let him not be a rotten member that deserves to be cut off; let him not be a distorted member to be ashamed of; let him be beautiful, fitting, sound; let him cleave to the body, live to God from God; let him labor now on earth, that he may reign afterward in heaven.

John 6:51 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:17 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The bread is Christ's flesh for the life of the world; the faithful live by the Spirit of Christ only as members of his body, and the sacrament is a sign of unity and a bond of love.

  • John 6:51 and 1 Cor 10:17 are quoted. Augustine's statements on the Eucharist and the body of Christ (the church) are translated exactly; the passage joins the sacramental body and the ecclesial body.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (digit for letter); OCR slip and stray mark; stray mark in the digital text): Idco vivus → Ideo vivus; umbra orat, isto veritas → umbra erat, iste veritas; caro mea cst pro mundi vita. Iloc quando caperet caro, quod dixit panem, earnem? Vocatur caro, quod non capit caro: et ideo magis non capit caro, quia vocalur caro. Hoc cnim exhor­ ruerunt, hoc ad se Inultum → caro mea est pro mundi vita. Hoc quando caperet caro, quod dixit panem, carnem? Vocatur caro, quod non capit caro: et ideo magis non capit caro, quia vocatur caro. Hoc enim exhor­ ruerunt, hoc ad se multum; Norunt fidelcs corpus Christi, si corpus lhrisli → Norunt fideles corpus Christi, si corpus Christi; Dc spiritu Christi non vivii → De spiritu Christi non vivit; Intelligilc → Intelligite; ha­ bes, ei corpus habes → ha­ bes, et corpus habes; vo­ cator → vo­ catur; ex spiritu, tuo → ex spiritu tuo; In cor­ pore esto Chri. → In cor­ pore esto Christi.; 0 Sacramentum → O Sacramentum; credat I; incorporctur → credat; incorporetur; abhoreat → abhorreat; quod n secari → quod secari.

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.13 (PL 35:1611–1613; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-13). (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.

26.14PL 35:1613

Litigabant ergo Judæi ad invicem, dicentes: Quomodo potest hic carnem suam nobis dare ad mandu­ candum? Litigabant utique ad invicem, quoniam pa­ nem concordiae non intelligebant, nec sumere vole­ bant: nam qui manducant talem panem, non litigant ad invicem; quoniam unus panis, unum corpus multi sumus. Et per hunc facit Deus unius modi habitare in domo.

“So the Jews disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They disputed among themselves, certainly, because they did not understand the bread of concord, nor did they want to take it; for those who eat such bread do not dispute among themselves, because “one bread, one body, we who are many.” And through this God makes those of one way of life dwell in a house.

John 6:52 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 68:6 (67:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews quarreled because they did not understand the bread of concord, which makes many one body.

  • John 6:52, 1 Cor 10:17, and Ps 68:6 (67:7 LXX, Old Latin) are quoted.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): nee sumere → nec sumere; ad inviccm → ad invicem.

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.14 (PL 35:1613; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-14). (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.

26.15PL 35:1613

Quod autem ad invicem litigantes quærunt, quomodo possit Dominus carnem suam dare ad man­ ducandum, non statim audiunt: sed adhuc eis dici­ tur, Amen, amen dico vobis, nisi manducaveritis carnem Filii hominis, et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebi­ tis vitam in vobis. Quomodo quidem edatur, et quis­ nam modus sit manducandi istum panem, ignoratis; verumtamen nisi manducaveritis carnem Filii homi­ nis, et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebitis vitam in vobis. Hæc non utique cadaveribus, sed viventi­ bus loquebatur. Unde, ne istam vitam intelligentes et de hac re litigarent, secutus adjunxit, Qui man­ ducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, habet vitam æternam. Hanc ergo non habet, qui istum panem non manducat, nec istum sanguinem bibit: nam tempo­ ralem vitam sine illo habere homines possunt, æternam vero omnino non possunt. Qui ergo non manducat ejus carnem, nec bibit ejus sanguinem, non habet in se vitam: et qui manducat ejus carnem, et bibit ejus sanguinem, habet vitam. Ad utrumque autem re­ spondet quod dixit, æternam. Non ita est in hac esca, quam sustentandæ hujus temporalis vitæ causa sumi­ mus. Nam qui eam non sumpserit, non vivet: nec ta­ men qui eam sumpserit, vivet. Fieri enim potest ut se­ nio, vel morbo, vel aliquo casu, plurimi et qui eam sumpserint moriantur. In hoc vero cibo et potu, id est corpore et sanguine Domini, non ita est. Nam et qui eam non sumit, non habet vitam: et qui eam sumit, habet vitam, et hanc utique aeternam. Hunc itaque cibum et potum societatem vult intelligi corporis et membrorum suorum, quod est sancta Ecclesia in prædestinatis et vocatis, et justificatis, et glorificatis sanctis, et fidelibus ejus. Quorum primum jam factum est, id est, prædestinatio: secundum et tertium fa­ ctum est, et fit, et fiet, id est, vocatio et justificatio: quartum vero nunc in spe est, in re autem futurum est, id est, glorificatio. Hujus rei Sacramentum, id est, unitatis corporis et sanguinis Christi alicubi quo­ tidie, alicubi certis intervallis dierum in dominica mensa præparatur, et de mensa dominica sumitur; quibusdam ad vitam, quibusdam ad exitium: res vero ipsa cujus sacramentum est, omni homini ad vitam, nulli ad exitium, quicumque ejus particeps fuerit.

But what they ask, disputing among themselves—how the Lord can give his flesh to be eaten—they do not hear at once; but it is further said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.” How indeed it is eaten, and what the manner of eating this bread is, you do not know; nevertheless, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.” He was certainly saying this not to corpses but to the living. So, lest, understanding this life, they should dispute about this too, he went on to add, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” So he who does not eat this bread nor drink this blood does not have this life; for people can have temporal life without it, but eternal life they cannot have at all. So he who does not eat his flesh nor drink his blood does not have life in himself; and he who eats his flesh and drinks his blood has life. And what he said, “eternal,” applies to both. It is not so with this food that we take for the sake of sustaining this temporal life. For he who does not take it will not live; yet he who takes it will not live. For it may be that through old age, or disease, or some accident, very many even who have taken it die. But in this food and drink, that is, the body and blood of the Lord, it is not so. For both he who does not take it does not have life, and he who takes it has life, and this indeed eternal. So he wishes this food and drink to be understood as the fellowship of his body and his members, which is the holy church in his predestined and called and justified and glorified saints and faithful. Of these, the first has already taken place, namely predestination; the second and third have taken place, are taking place, and will take place, namely calling and justification; but the fourth is now in hope and is future in reality, namely glorification. The sacrament of this reality, that is, of the unity of the body and blood of Christ, is prepared on the Lord's table in some places daily, in some places at fixed intervals of days, and is taken from the Lord's table, by some to life, by some to destruction; but the reality itself, of which it is the sacrament, is to life for every person, to destruction for none, whoever has partaken of it.

John 6:53 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:54 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:30 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Unless one eats Christ's flesh and drinks his blood one has no eternal life; this food signifies the fellowship of his body, the church of the predestined, and its sacrament, received daily or at intervals, brings life to some and destruction to others, while the reality brings life to all who share it.

  • John 6:53–54 and Rom 8:30 are drawn on. Augustine's distinction between the sacrament and the reality it signifies (res sacramenti), and his reference to predestination, are translated exactly. The varying frequency of communion reflects practice in his day. A stray “I” before sanctis in the digital text is ignored.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark in the digital text): Quod au:em → Quod autem; Quomodo quidcm → Quomodo quidem; carnem, el bibit meum → carnem, et bibit meum; tempo­ ralem vitam sinc illo → tempo­ ralem vitam sine illo; æternam vcro → æternam vero; quod dixit,.ternam → quod dixit, æternam; Nam ct qui eam non sumit, non babet vitam: et qui cam sumit, habet vitam, ei hanc → Nam et qui eam non sumit, non habet vitam: et qui eam sumit, habet vitam, et hanc; glorificatis I sanctis → glorificatis sanctis; jam faclum est → jam factum est; et lit, et fiet → et fit, et fiet; nwnc in spe → nunc in spe; ad vitam,, nulli → ad vitam, nulli.

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.15 (PL 35:1613; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-15). (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.

26.16PL 35:1613

Ne autem putarent sic in isto cibo et potu pro­ mitti vitam æternam, ut qui eam sumerent, jam nec corpore morerentur; huic cogitationi dignatus est occurrere. Nam cum dixisset, Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, habet vitam æter­ nam; continuo subjecit, Et ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo die. Ut habeat interim secundum spiritum vitam æternam in requie, quæ sanctorum spiritus sus­ cipit: quod autem ad corpus attinet, nec ejus vita aeterna fraudetur, sed in resurrectione mortuorum novissimo die.

But lest they think that eternal life was promised in this food and drink in such a way that those who took it would not now die even in the body, he deigned to meet this thought. For having said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,” he at once added, “And I will raise him up on the last day”: so that meanwhile he may have eternal life according to the spirit, in the rest that receives the spirits of the saints; and as for the body, it will not be cheated of its eternal life either, but will have it in the resurrection of the dead on the last day.

John 6:54 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those who eat Christ's flesh still die in the body; they have eternal life now in the spirit and will receive it in the body at the resurrection.

  • John 6:54 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): vitam alternam, ut qui eam sumerent, jam nrc corpore → vitam æternam, ut qui eam sumerent, jam nec corpore; carnem, el bibit meum sanguinem, habet vilam → carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, habet vitam; sUbjecit → subjecit; vitam sternam in requie, quoe → vitam æternam in requie, quæ; in resurrectionc mortuorum novissimo dic → in resurrectione mortuorum novissimo die.

Topics: Eucharist, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.16 (PL 35:1613; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-16). (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.

26.17PL 35:1613

Caro enim mea, inquit, vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Cum enim cibo et potu id appe­ tant homines, ut non esuriant, neque sitiant; hoc veraciter non præstat nisi iste cibus et potus, qui eos a quibus sumitur, immortales et incorruptibiles facit, id est societas ipsa sanctorum, ubi pax erit et unitas plena atque perfecta. Propterea quippe, sicut etiam ante nos hoc intellexerunt homines Dei, Dominus noster Jesus Christus corpus et sanguinem suum in eis rebus commendavit, quae ad unum aliquid rediguntur ex multis. Namque aliud in unum ex multis granis confit: aliud in unum ex multis acinis confluit.

“For my flesh,” he says, “is truly food, and my blood is truly drink.” For since by food and drink people seek this, that they may not hunger or thirst, nothing truly supplies this except this food and drink, which makes those by whom it is taken immortal and incorruptible: that is, the very fellowship of the saints, where there will be peace and unity, full and perfect. For this reason, indeed, as men of God understood this before us too, our Lord Jesus Christ commended his body and blood in those things which are brought to some one thing out of many. For the one is made into one out of many grains; the other flows together into one out of many grapes.

John 6:55 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's flesh and blood are true food and drink because they make the saints one; he commended them in bread and wine, each made one out of many grains or grapes.

  • John 6:55 is quoted. The image of many grains and grapes made one is older than Augustine (e.g. Did. 9.4; Cyprian, Ep. 63.13), as he himself indicates. Stray margin marks in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray margin marks in the digital text): vere eat potus → vere est potus; hoc vcraciter non præstat nisi iste cibus et potns, qui ens → hoc veraciter non præstat nisi iste cibus et potus, qui eos; incorruptibiles facit id est → incorruptibiles facit, id est; sanguincm suum in eis rebus commendavit, quae ad unum aliquid redigua-; tur → sanguinem suum in eis rebus commendavit, quae ad unum aliquid rediguntur; ex multis granis I confit: aliud in unum ex multis acinis confluit. I → ex multis granis confit: aliud in unum ex multis acinis confluit..

Extrabiblical texts: Did. 9.4 (Didache; echo)

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.17 (PL 35:1613; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-17). (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.

26.18PL 35:1613–1615

Denique jam exponit quomodo id fiat quod lo­ quitur, et quid sit manducare corpus ejus, et sangui­ nem bibere. Qui manducat carnem meam, et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in illo. Hoc est ergo manducare illam escam, et illum bibere potum, in Christo manere, et illum manentem in se habere. Ac per hoc qui non manet in Christo, et in quo non manet Christus, procul dubio nec manducat [spiritua­ liter] carnem ejus, nec bibit ejus sanguinem, [licet carnaliter et visibiliter premat dentibus Sacramentum corporis et sanguinis Christi: ] sed magis tantœ rei Sacramentum ad judicium sibi manducat et bibit, quia immundus praesumpsit ad Christi accedere Sa­ cramenta, quæ aliquis non digne sumit, nisi qui mundus est; de quibus dicitur, Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.

Finally, he now explains how what he says comes about, and what it is to eat his body and drink his blood. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” This, then, is to eat that food and drink that drink: to abide in Christ and to have him abiding in oneself. And so he who does not abide in Christ, and in whom Christ does not abide, without doubt neither eats his flesh [spiritually] nor drinks his blood [although he presses with his teeth, carnally and visibly, the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ]; but rather he eats and drinks the sacrament of so great a reality to his own judgment, because, being unclean, he has presumed to approach the sacraments of Christ, which no one receives worthily except one who is clean; of whom it is said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

John 6:56 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: To eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood is to abide in him and he in us; one who does not abide in Christ, even if he receives the sacrament, eats and drinks it to his judgment.

  • John 6:56, 1 Cor 11:29, and Matt 5:8 are quoted. The words in square brackets are printed in brackets in the Migne text (from the Maurist edition), marking them as uncertain; they are translated and kept in brackets. A stray asterisk and a stray “I” in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; stray mark in the digital text): Qni manducat → Qui manducat; potum,* in Christo → potum, in Christo; Ac per boc → Ac per hoc; Sacramentum eorporis → Sacramentum corporis; accedcre → accedere; Beati mundo eorde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt I. → Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt..

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.18 (PL 35:1613–1615; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-18). (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.

26.19PL 35:1615

Sicut, inquit, misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem; et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet pro­ pter me. Non ait: Sicut manduco Patrem, et ego vivo propter Patrem; et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me. Non enim Filius participatione Patris fit melior, qui est natus æqualis; sicut participatione Fi­ lii per unitatem corporis ejus et sanguinis, quod illa manducatio potatioque significat, nos efficimur meliores. Vivimus ergo nos propter ipsum, manducan­ tes eum; id est, ipsum accipientes æternam vitam, quam non habebamus ex nobis: vivit autem ipse pro­ pter Patrem, missus ab eo; quia semetipsum exina­ nivit, factus obediens usque ad mortem crucis. Si enim secundum id accipimus, Vivo propter Patrem, quod alibi ait, Pater major me est; sicut et nos vivimus propter ipsum, qui major est nobis: hoc ex eo quod missus est, fa­ ctum est. Missio quippe ejus exinanitio suimetipsius est, et formæ servilis acceptio: quod recte intelligi­ tur, servata etiam Filii cum Patre æqualitate naturæ. Major enim est Pater homine filio, sed æqualem ha­ bet Deum Filium: cum idem ipse sit et Deus et homo, Dei Filius et hominis filius, unus Christus Jesus. In quam sententiam si recte accipiuntur hæc verba, ita dixit, Sicut me misit vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem; et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me: ac si diceret, Ut ego vivam propter Patrem, id est, ad illum tanquam majorem referam vitam meam, exi­ nanitio mea fecit, in qua me misit; ut autem quisque vivat propter me, participatio facit qua manducat me. Ego itaque humiliatus vivo propter Patrem, ille ere­ ctus vivit propter me. Si autem ita dictum est, Vivo propter Patrem, quia ipse de illo, non ille de ipso est; sine detrimento æqualitatis dictum est. Nec ta­ men dicendo, et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet pro­ pter me, eamdem suam et nostram æqualitatem signi­ ficavit; sed gratiam mediatoris ostendit.

“As the living Father sent me,” he says, “and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will himself live because of me.” He does not say, “As I eat the Father and live because of the Father, so he who eats me will himself live because of me.” For the Son, who was born equal, does not become better by participation in the Father, as we are made better by participation in the Son through the unity of his body and blood, which that eating and drinking signifies. So we live because of him, eating him, that is, receiving him as the eternal life that we did not have from ourselves; but he lives because of the Father, sent by him; because “he emptied himself, becoming obedient to the death of the cross.” For if we take “I live because of the Father” in line with what he says elsewhere, “The Father is greater than I,” just as we too live because of him who is greater than we are, this came about from his having been sent. For his sending is his emptying of himself and his taking of the form of a servant; and this is rightly understood while the Son's equality of nature with the Father is also preserved. For the Father is greater than the man, the Son; but he has the Son as God equal to himself, since one and the same is both God and man, Son of God and son of man, one Christ Jesus. If these words are rightly taken in this sense, he said, “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will himself live because of me,” as if he said: That I live because of the Father, that is, refer my life to him as the greater, is the work of my emptying of myself, in which he sent me; but that anyone lives because of me is the work of the participation by which he eats me. So I, humbled, live because of the Father; he, raised up, lives because of me. But if “I live because of the Father” was said because he is from the Father, not the Father from him, it was said without loss of equality. Nor yet, by saying “and he who eats me will himself live because of me,” did he signify that his equality and ours are the same; but he showed the grace of the mediator.

John 6:57 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:28 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:5 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Son lives because of the Father, as one sent and emptied in the form of a servant, while we live because of the Son by participation in his body and blood; this shows the grace of the mediator, not equality between us and him.

  • John 6:57, Phil 2:7–8, and John 14:28 are quoted. A Migne reference “(Philipp. n, 8)” and stray marks in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray marks; OCR slip; Migne's Scripture reference removed; stray mark in the digital text): pro­ pter tne. Nun ait → pro­ pter me. Non ait; ipse vivct → ipse vivet; Fi­ iii per unitatem corporis cjus ct sanguinis → Fi­ lii per unitatem corporis ejus et sanguinis; efficimur I me- Ii ores → efficimur meliores; manducan­ tes cum → manducan­ tes eum; exina­ uivit, factus obcdicns usque ad mortem crucis (Phi­ lipp. n, 8). → exina­ nivit, factus obediens usque ad mortem crucis.; sicut ct nos → sicut et nos; cxinauhio suimetipsius → exinanitio suimetipsius; sit cl Deus → sit et Deus; i:a dixit → ita dixit; ct qui manducat rne → et qui manducat me; ac si, diceret → ac si diceret; exi­ uaniLio → exi­ nanitio; cre­ ctusvivit → ere­ ctus vivit; Si autcm ita → Si autem ita; ipsc de illo, non ille de ipso cst → ipse de illo, non ille de ipso est; gratiam mcdiatoris → gratiam mediatoris.

Topics: Eucharist, Christology, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.19 (PL 35:1615; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-19). (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.

26.20PL 35:1615

Hic est panis qui de cœlo descendit: ut illum manducando vivamus, quia æternam vitam ex nobis habere non possumus. Non sicut, inquit, manducave­ runt patres vestri manna, et mortui sunt: qui mandu­ cat hunc panem, vivet in æternum. Quod ergo illi mor­ tui sunt, ita vult intelligi, ut non vivant in æternum. Nam temporaliter et hi profecto morientur, qui Chri­ stum manducant: sed vivunt in æternum, quia Christus est vita aeterna.

“This is the bread that came down from heaven,” that by eating it we may live, because we cannot have eternal life from ourselves. “Not as your fathers,” he says, “ate manna and died: he who eats this bread will live for ever.” That they died, then, he wishes to be understood thus: that they do not live for ever. For those too who eat Christ will certainly die in time; but they live for ever, because Christ is eternal life.

John 6:58 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Unlike those who ate manna and died, those who eat Christ, though they die in time, live for ever, because he is eternal life.

  • John 6:58 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): Hic eat panis → Hic est panis; quia Chri stus est → quia Christus est.

Topics: Eucharist, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 26.20 (PL 35:1615; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/26-4/#p-26-20). (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.