Tractates on the Gospel of John 29.1–30.8

Augustine of Hippo · Tractates on the Gospel of John · ca. 406–420 · Hippo Regius · 16 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).

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Chapter 29

29.1PL 35:1627

Quod sequitur de Evangelio et hodie lectum est, consequenter et nos videamus; et quod Dominus do naverit, hinc dicamus. Hesterno die huc usque le ctum erat, quia licet non vidissent Dominum Jesum in templo per diem festum, loquebantur tamen de illo: Et alii dicebant, Bonus est; alii autem, Non, sed seducit turbas. Dictum enim hoc est ad eorum solatium, qui postea prædicantes verbum Dei, futuri erant ut seductores et veraces. Si enim seducere decipere est; nec Christus seductor, nec Apostoli ejus; nec quisquam seductor debet esse christianus: si autem seducere, aliunde aliquem ad aliud persuadendo ducere est, quaeren dum est unde et quo: si a malo ad bonum, bonus seductor est; si a bono ad malum, malus seductor est. In hanc ergo partem qua seducuntur homines de malo ad bonum, utinam omnes seductores et vocemur et simus

Let us too look in order at what follows in the Gospel and was read today, and speak on it as the Lord grants. Yesterday the reading went as far as this: that although they had not seen the Lord Jesus in the temple during the feast, they were nevertheless talking about him; “and some said, He is good; but others, No, but he leads the crowds astray.” For this was said for the comfort of those who afterward, preaching the word of God, were to be “as deceivers and yet true.” For if to lead astray is to deceive, then neither Christ nor his apostles is a deceiver, nor ought any Christian to be a deceiver. But if to lead astray is to lead someone from one thing to another by persuading, we must ask from what and to what: if from evil to good, he is a good leader-astray; if from good to evil, a bad one. In this sense, then, in which men are led away from evil to good, would that we all were both called and were leaders-astray!

John 7:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: To “lead astray” is good or bad according to whether one draws people from evil to good or from good to evil.

John 7:12 and 2 Cor 6:8 are quoted. Latin seducere means both “deceive” and, literally, “lead aside”; Augustine plays on the second sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Cbrisius → Christus); OCR slip in the digital text (aliqucm → aliquem); OCR slip in the digital text (alit → alii); OCR slip in the digital text (boc → hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (buc → huc); OCR slip in the digital text (chiristianus → christianus); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (nee → nec); OCR slip in the digital text (scductor → seductor); OCR slip in the digital text (unde ei quo → unde et quo); OCR slip in the digital text (ver- ' bum → verbum)): die buc usque → die huc usque; alit → alii; enim boc est → enim hoc est; ver- ' bum → verbum; Cbrisius → Christus; ejus; nee quisquam → ejus; nec quisquam; chiristianus → christianus; aliqucm → aliquem; unde ei quo → unde et quo; scductor → seductor; vocemur ct simus → vocemur et simus.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.1 (PL 35:1627; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-1). (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.

29.2PL 35:1627–1629

Ascendit ergo postea Dominus ad diem festum, me diante die festo, et docebat. Et mirabantur Judœi di centes: Quomodo hic litteras scit, cum non didicerit? Ille qui latebat, docebat; et palam loquebatur, et non tenebatur. Illud enim ut lateret, erat causa exempli, hoc potestatis. Sed cum doceret, miraban tur Judæi. Omnes quidem, quantum arbitror, mira bantur; sed non omnes convertebantur. Et unde admiratio? Quia multi noverant ubi natus, quemad modum fuerit educatus; nunquam eum viderant lit teras discentem. audiebant autem de Lege disputan tem, Legis testimonia proferentem, quae nemo posset proferre nisi legisset, nemo legere nisi litteras didi cisset: et ideo mirabantur. Eorum autem admiratio Magistro facta est insinuandæ altius veritatis occasio. Ex eorum quippe admiratione et verbis, dixit Domi nus profundum aliquid, et diligentius inspici et dis cuti dignum. Propter quod intentam facio Charitatem vestram, non solum ad audiendum pro vobis, sed etiam ad orandum pro nobis.

So afterward the Lord went up to the feast, in the middle of the feast, and taught. “And the Jews marveled, saying, How does this man know letters, when he has not learned?” He who had been hiding was teaching; he was speaking openly and was not seized. For the one, his hiding, was for the sake of example; the other was of power. But when he taught, the Jews marveled. All, I think, marveled; but not all were converted. And why the wonder? Because many knew where he was born and how he had been brought up; they had never seen him learning letters. But they heard him arguing about the Law, bringing forward testimonies of the Law, which no one could bring forward unless he had read them, and no one could read unless he had learned letters; and therefore they marveled. But their wonder became for the Teacher an occasion of conveying the truth more deeply. For from their wonder and their words the Lord said something deep, worthy to be examined and discussed more carefully. For this reason I make your Charity attentive, not only to hear for yourselves but also to pray for us.

John 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews marveled that Jesus knew letters without having studied, and their wonder became an occasion for deeper teaching.

John 7:14–15 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (CHaritatem → Charitatem); OCR slip in the digital text (Judcei → Judæi); OCR slip in the digital text (aliqnid → aliquid); OCR slip in the digital text (boc → hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (eornm → eorum); OCR slip in the digital text (euti → cuti); OCR slip in the digital text (nns → nus); OCR slip in the digital text (nun tenebatur → non tenebatur); OCR slip in the digital text (toras → teras); OCR slip in the digital text (vobts → vobis)): nun tenebatur → non tenebatur; exempli, boc potestatis. → exempli, hoc potestatis.; Judcei → Judæi; toras → teras; eornm → eorum; Domi nns profundum → Domi nus profundum; aliqnid → aliquid; euti → cuti; CHaritatem → Charitatem; vobts → vobis.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.2 (PL 35:1627–1629; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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29.3PL 35:1629

Quid ergo Dominus respondit eis admirantibus quomodo sciret litteras quas non didicerat? Mea, - inquit, doctrina non est mea, sed ejus qui misit me. Hæc est profunditas prima: videtur enim paucis verbis quasi contraria locutus. Non enim ait, Ista doctrina non est mea; sed, Mea doctrina non est mea. Si non tua, quomodo tua? Si tua, quomodo non tua? Tu enim dicis utrumque: et, mea doctrina; et, non mea. Nam si dixisset, Ista doctrina non est mea, nulla esset quæstio. Nunc vero, fratres, primitus intendite quoe stionem, et sic ordine exspectate solutionem. Nam qui non videt quæstionem quae proponitur, quomodo intelligit Quod exponitur? Hoc est ergo in quaestione, quod ait, mea non mea: hoc videtur esse contrarium, quomodo mea, quomodo non mea. Si ergo intueamur diligenter quod ipse in exordio dicit sanctus Evange lista, In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat verbum; inde pendet hujus solutio quaestionis. Quæ est ergo doctrina Pa tris, nisi Verbum Patris? Ipse ergo Christus doctrina Patris, si Verbum Patris. Sed quia Verbum non po test esse nullius, sed alicujus: et suam doctrinam dixit, seipsum; et non suam, quia Patris est Verbum. Quid enim tam tuum quam tu? et quid tam non tuum quam tu, si alicujus est quod es?

What, then, did the Lord answer them as they wondered how he knew letters that he had not learned? “My teaching,” he says, “is not mine, but his who sent me.” This is the first depth: for in a few words he seems to have said things that are, as it were, contrary. For he does not say, “This teaching is not mine,” but, “My teaching is not mine.” If not yours, how is it yours? If yours, how is it not yours? For you say both: “my teaching,” and “not mine.” For if he had said, “This teaching is not mine,” there would be no question. But now, brothers, first attend to the question, and then await the solution in order. For one who does not see the question that is put, how does he understand what is explained? This, then, is the question: that he says, “mine, not mine.” This seems contradictory: how mine, how not mine? If, then, we look carefully at what the holy evangelist himself says at the opening, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” on this hangs the solution of this question. For what is the Father's teaching, if not the Father's Word? So Christ himself is the Father's teaching, if he is the Father's Word. But because a word cannot be no one's, but must be someone's, he called himself his own teaching, and not his own, because he is the Father's Word. For what is so much yours as you? And what so much not yours as you, if what you are is someone else's?

John 7:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “My teaching is not mine” is solved by John 1:1: Christ is himself the teaching, the Word, which is his own and yet the Father's.

John 7:16 and John 1:1 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Domiuus → Dominus); OCR slip in the digital text (aed → sed); OCR slip in the digital text (alieujus → alicujus); OCR slip in the digital text (cnim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (doctriua → doctrina); OCR slip in the digital text (euim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (noa didicerat → non didicerat); OCR slip in the digital text (nox eat → non est); OCR slip in the digital text (qnod → quod); OCR slip in the digital text (siionem → stionem); OCR slip in the digital text (snam → suam); OCR slip in the digital text (uon → non)): Domiuus → Dominus; noa didicerat → non didicerat; euim → enim; doctrina uon est → doctrina non est; mea; aed, → mea; sed,; nox eat → non est; cnim → enim; siionem → stionem; qnod → quod; doctriua → doctrina; alieujus → alicujus; snam → suam.

Topics: Christology, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.3 (PL 35:1629; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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29.4PL 35:1629

Verbum ergo et Deus est, et doctrinæ stabilis Verbum est, non sonabilis per syllabas et volatilis, sed manentis cum Patre, ad quam convertamur ma nentem, sonis transeuntibus admoniti. Non enim nos ita admonet quod transit, ut ad transitoria vocet. Ad monemur ut diligamus Deum. Totum hoc quod dixi, syllabæ fuerunt; percussum aerem verberaverunt, ut ad sensum vestrarum aurium pervenirent, sonando transierunt: non tamen illud quod vos admonui, trans ire debet; quia ille quem vos diligere admonui, non transit; et cum transeuntibus syllabis admoniti, con versi ad eum fueritis, nec vos transibitis, sed cum manente manebitis. Hoc est ergo in doctrina magnum, altum et æternum quod manet; quo vocant omnia quæ temporaliter transeunt, quando bene significant, nec mendaciter proferuntur. Omnia quippe signa quæ proferimus sonis, aliquid significant quod non est sonus. Non enim duae breves syllabae Deus est, et duas breves syllabas colimus, et duas breves syllabas adoramus, et ad duas breves syllabas pervenire desideramus: quæ pene ante desinunt sonare, quam cœperint; nec in eis secundæ locus est, nisi prima trans ierit. Manet ergo aliquid magnum quod dicitur Deus, quamvis non maneat sonus cum dicitur Deus. Sic in tendite doctrinam Christi, et pervenietis ad Verbum Dei: cum autem perveneritis ad Verbum Dei, inten dite, Deus erat Verbum; et videbitis verum dictum esse, mea doctrina: intendite etiam cujus est Verbum; et videbitis recte dictum esse, non est mea.

The Word, then, is both God, and the Word of a stable teaching: not one that sounds in syllables and flies away, but one that abides with the Father; to it, abiding, let us turn, admonished by passing sounds. For what passes does not admonish us so as to call us to passing things. We are admonished to love God. All this that I have said was syllables; they struck the air they beat on so as to reach the sense of your ears; by sounding they passed. Yet what I admonished you of ought not to pass, because he whom I admonished you to love does not pass; and when, admonished by passing syllables, you have turned to him, neither will you pass, but you will abide with him who abides. This, then, is what is great, lofty, and eternal in the teaching: what abides; to which all things that pass in time call us, when they signify well and are not uttered falsely. For all the signs that we utter by sounds signify something that is not a sound. For two short syllables are not God; and we do not worship two short syllables, nor adore two short syllables, nor desire to come to two short syllables, which almost cease to sound before they have begun; nor is there room in them for the second unless the first has passed. Something great abides, then, which is called God, although the sound does not abide when “God” is said. So attend to the teaching of Christ, and you will come to the Word of God; and when you have come to the Word of God, attend: “the Word was God,” and you will see that “my teaching” was truly said. Attend also whose Word he is, and you will see that “is not mine” was rightly said.

John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Passing sounds point to the abiding Word who is God; seeing that he is God and the Father's Word solves “mine” and “not mine.”

John 1:1 and John 7:16 are quoted. The “two short syllables” are those of Latin Deus.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Deut erat → Deus erat); OCR slip in the digital text (Verbum Ici → Verbum Dei); OCR slip in the digital text (ad cum fucritis → ad eum fueritis); OCR slip in the digital text (ad quam I convertamur → ad quam convertamur); OCR slip in the digital text (aternum → æternum); OCR slip in the digital text (benc significant, j nec → bene significant, nec); OCR slip in the digital text (broves → breves); OCR slip in the digital text (desi j deramus → desideramus); OCR slip in the digital text (ierit Manet → ierit. Manet); OCR slip in the digital text (indoctrina → in doctrina); OCR slip in the digital text (nee in eis → nec in eis); OCR slip in the digital text (nt ad → ut ad); OCR slip in the digital text (qnam → quam); OCR slip in the digital text (qnod → quod); OCR slip in the digital text (sensum' vestrarum → sensum vestrarum); OCR slip in the digital text (vocant' omnia → vocant omnia)): ad quam I convertamur → ad quam convertamur; qnod → quod; nt ad → ut ad; sensum' vestrarum → sensum vestrarum; ad cum fucritis → ad eum fueritis; indoctrina → in doctrina; aternum → æternum; vocant' omnia → vocant omnia; benc significant, j nec → bene significant, nec; broves → breves; desi j deramus → desideramus; qnam → quam; nee in eis → nec in eis; ierit Manet → ierit. Manet; Verbum Ici → Verbum Dei; Deut erat → Deus erat.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.4 (PL 35:1629; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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29.5PL 35:1629

Breviter ergo dico Charitati vestræ; hoc videtur mihi dixisse Dominus Jesus Christus, Mea doctrina non est mea, ac si diceret, Ego non sum a meipso. Quamvis enim Filium Patri dicamus et credamus æqua lem, nec ullam in eis esse naturæ substantiæque distan tiam, nec inter generantem atque generatum aliquod interfuisse temporis intervallum; tamen hoc servato et custodito ista dicimus, quod ille Pater sit, ille Filius. Pater autem non est, si non habeat Filium; et Filius non est, si non habeat Patrem: sed tamen Filius Deus de Patre; Pater autem Deus, sed non de Filio. Pater Filii, non Deus de Filio: ille autem Fi lius Patris, et Deus de Patre. Dominus enim Christus dicitur Lumen ex Lumine. Lumen ergo quod non ex lumine, et Lumen aequale quod ex Lumine, simul unum Lumen, non duo lumina.

I say it briefly, then, to your Charity: the Lord Jesus Christ seems to me to have said “My teaching is not mine” as if he were saying, “I am not from myself.” For although we say and believe that the Son is equal to the Father, and that there is no difference of nature and substance in them, and that no interval of time came between the begetter and the begotten, yet, keeping and guarding this, we say these things: that the one is Father, the other Son. But the Father is not Father if he has no Son, and the Son is not Son if he has no Father; yet the Son is God from the Father, while the Father is God, but not from the Son. Father of the Son, not God from the Son; but the other is Son of the Father, and God from the Father. For the Lord Christ is called Light from Light. So the Light that is not from light, and the equal Light that is from Light, are together one Light, not two lights.

John 7:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “My teaching is not mine” means “I am not from myself”: the Son, equal to the Father, is God from God, Light from Light, one Light with him.

John 7:16 is quoted. “Light from Light” is the creedal phrase (Nicene Creed).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Lumcn → Lumen); OCR slip in the digital text (Pater Nit → Pater sit); OCR slip in the digital text (generatam → generatum); OCR slip in the digital text (interfuinse → interfuisse); OCR slip in the digital text (videmur mihi → videtur mihi)): videmur mihi → videtur mihi; generatam → generatum; interfuinse → interfuisse; Pater Nit → Pater sit; Lumcn → Lumen.

Topics: Trinity, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.5 (PL 35:1629; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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29.6PL 35:1629–1631

Si intelleximus, Deo gratias: si quis autem pa rum intellexit, fecit homo quo usque potuit, cætera videat unde speret. Forinsecus ut operarii possumus plantare et rigare, sed Dei est incrementum dare. Mea, inquit, doctrina non est mea, sed ejus qui misit me. Audiat consilium, qui dicit, Non dum intellexi. Magna quippe res et profunda cum fuis set dicta, vidit utique ipse Dominus Christus hoc tam profundum non omnes intellecturos, et consequenti dedit consilium. Intelligere vis? crede. Deus enim per prophetam dixit: Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis. Ad hoc pertinet quod etiam hic Dominus secutus adjunxit: Si quis voluerit volun tatem ejus facere, cognoscet de doctrina, utrum ex Deo sit, an ego a meipso loquar. Quid est hoc, Si quis vo luerit voluntatem ejus facere? Sed ego dixeram, Si quis crediderit; et hoc consilium dederam. Si non intellexisti, inquam, crede. Intellectus enim merces est fidei. Ergo noli quærere intelligere ut credas, sed crede ut intelligas; quoniam nisi credideritis, non in telligetis. Cum ergo ad possibilitatem intelligendi con silium dederim obedientiam credendi, et dixerim Do minum Jesum Christum hoc ipsum adjunxisse in con sequenti sententia, invenimus eum dixisse, Si quis voluerit voluntatem ejus facere, cognoscet de doctrina, Quid est, cognoscet? Hoc est intelliget. Quod est au tem, Si quis voluerit voluntatem ejus facere, hoc est credere. Sed quia cognoscet, hoc est intelliget, omnes intelligunt: quia vero quod ait, Si quis voluerit volun tatem ejus facere, hoc pertinet ad credere, ut diligen tius intelligatur, opus est nobis ipso Domino nostro expositore, ut indicet nobis utrum revera ad credere pertineat facere voluntatem Patris ejus. Quis nesciat hoc esse facere voluntatem Dei, operari opus ejus, id est. quod illi placet? Ipse autem Dominus aperte alio loco dicit: Hoc est opus Dei, ut credatis in eum quem ille misit. Ut credatis in eum; non, ut credatis ei. Sed si creditis in eum, creditis ei: non autem continuo qui credit ei, credit in eum. Nam et dæmones credebant ei, et non credebant in eum. Rursus etiam de Apostolis ipsius possumus dicere, Credimus Paulo; sed non, Credimus in Paulum: Credimus Petro; sed non, Credimus in Petrum. Cre denti enim in eum qui justificat impium, deputatur fides ejus ad justitiam. Quid est ergo credere in eum? Credendo amare, credendo diligere, credendo in eum ire, et ejus membris incorporari. Ipsa est ergo fides quam de nobis exigit Deus: et non in venit quod exigat, nisi donaverit quod inveniat. Quæ fides, nisi quam definivit alio loco Apostolus plenis sime dicens: Neque circumcisio aliquid valet, neque prœputium, sed fides quæ per dilectionem operatur? Non qualiscumque fides, sed fides quæ per dilectionem operatur: hæc in te sit, et intelliges de doctrina. Quid enim intelliges? Quia doctrina ista non est mea, sed ejus qui misit me: id est. intelliges quia Christus Filius Dei, qui est doctrina Patris, non est ex seipso, sed Filius est Patris.

If we have understood, thanks be to God; but if anyone has understood too little, man has done what he could; for the rest let him see where he may hope from. From outside, as workers, we can plant and water, but it is God's to give the increase. “My teaching,” he says, “is not mine, but his who sent me.” Let him who says, “I have not yet understood,” hear advice. For since a great and deep thing had been said, the Lord Christ himself certainly saw that not all would understand something so deep, and in what followed he gave advice. Do you want to understand? Believe. For God said through the prophet, “Unless you believe, you will not understand.” To this belongs what the Lord too added here next: “If anyone wills to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I speak from myself.” What is this, “If anyone wills to do his will”? But I had said, “If anyone believes,” and I had given this advice: if you have not understood, I say, believe. For understanding is the reward of faith. So do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe in order to understand; since “unless you believe, you will not understand.” So since, for the possibility of understanding, I have advised the obedience of believing, and have said that the Lord Jesus Christ added this very thing in the following sentence, we find that he said, “If anyone wills to do his will, he will know about the teaching.” What is “he will know”? It is “he will understand.” But “If anyone wills to do his will” is to believe. Now that “he will know” is “he will understand,” all understand; but that “If anyone wills to do his will” belongs to believing, so that it may be understood more carefully, we need our Lord himself as expounder, to show us whether doing his Father's will really belongs to believing. Who does not know that to do the will of God is to work his work, that is, what pleases him? But the Lord himself says plainly in another place, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” “That you believe in him,” not “that you believe him.” But if you believe in him, you believe him; yet one who believes him does not straightway believe in him. For the demons too believed him, and did not believe in him. Again, of his apostles too we can say, “We believe Paul,” but not “We believe in Paul”; “We believe Peter,” but not “We believe in Peter.” For “to him who believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as justice.” What, then, is it to believe in him? By believing to love him, by believing to delight in him, by believing to go into him and be incorporated into his members. This, then, is the faith that God requires of us; and he does not find what to require unless he has given what to find. What faith, if not that which the apostle defined most fully in another place, saying, “For neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that works through love”? Not any faith whatever, but faith that works through love: let this be in you, and you will understand about the teaching. For what will you understand? That “this teaching is not mine, but his who sent me”; that is, you will understand that Christ the Son of God, who is the Father's teaching, is not from himself, but is the Son of the Father.

1 Cor 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:7 (allusion, high confidence) · John 7:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:9 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 2:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Believe in order to understand: to do God's will is to believe in Christ, which means to love him and be incorporated into his members by faith working through love.

1 Cor 3:6–7, John 7:16–17, Isa 7:9 (in the Old Latin, following the LXX: “unless you believe, you will not understand”), John 6:29, Rom 4:5, and Gal 5:6 are quoted; the demons' belief alludes to Jas 2:19. Augustine distinguishes credere ei (“to believe him”) and credere in eum (“to believe in him”). The digital text's stray reference “(Galat. v, G)” is removed as apparatus. “Believe in order to understand” is a key statement of Augustine's teaching on faith and understanding; translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text ( (Galat. v, G) → ); OCR slip in the digital text (Meat inquit → Mea, inquit); OCR slip in the digital text (Sk quis → Si quis); OCR slip in the digital text (Uoc eat → Hoc est); OCR slip in the digital text (conse quenti → consequenti); OCR slip in the digital text (credatis ci → credatis ei); OCR slip in the digital text (cre, dendo iti eum → credendo in eum); OCR slip in the digital text (crgo → ergo); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (cæntera → cætera); OCR slip in the digital text (esl → est); OCR slip in the digital text (etiarn → etiam); OCR slip in the digital text (faccre → facere); OCR slip in the digital text (in cum, creditis → in eum, creditis); OCR slip in the digital text (in eum t quem → in eum quem); OCR slip in the digital text (in... tellexisti → intellexisti); OCR slip in the digital text (indieet → indicet); OCR slip in the digital text (inlelliges → intelliges); OCR slip in the digital text (intelieximus → intelleximus); OCR slip in the digital text (inteliigunt → intelligunt); OCR slip in the digital text (intelligct → intelliget); OCR slip in the digital text (intelligetis.. → intelligetis.); OCR slip in the digital text (iutelligas → intelligas); OCR slip in the digital text (od justitiam → ad justitiam); OCR slip in the digital text (quant de nobis exigit Dens → quam de nobis exigit Deus); OCR slip in the digital text (scipso → seipso); OCR slip in the digital text (tam, profundum → tam profundum)): intelieximus → intelleximus; cæntera → cætera; Meat inquit → Mea, inquit; tam, profundum → tam profundum; conse quenti → consequenti; intelligetis.. → intelligetis.; etiarn → etiam; Sk quis → Si quis; in... tellexisti → intellexisti; merces esl fidei. → merces est fidei.; iutelligas → intelligas; crgo → ergo; intelligct → intelliget; inteliigunt → intelligunt; indieet → indicet; faccre → facere; Uoc eat → Hoc est; in eum t quem → in eum quem; credatis ci → credatis ei; in cum, creditis → in eum, creditis; od justitiam → ad justitiam; Quid cst ergo → Quid est ergo; cre, dendo iti eum → credendo in eum; quant de nobis exigit Dens → quam de nobis exigit Deus; (Galat. v, G) → ; inlelliges → intelliges; scipso → seipso; Filius cst Patris. → Filius est Patris..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.6 (PL 35:1629–1631; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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29.7PL 35:1631

Sabellianam hæresim sententia ista dissolvit. Sabelliani enim dicere ausi sunt ipsum esse Filium qui est et Pater; duo esse nomina, sed unam rem, Si duo essent nomina, et res una, non diceretur, Mea doctrina non est mea. Utique si illa doctrina non est tua, o Domine, cujus est, nisi alius sit cujus sit? Quod dixisti, Sabelliani non intelligunt: non enim Trini tatem viderunt, sed sui cordis errorem secuti sunt. Nos cultores Trinitatis et unitatis Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti, et unius Dei, intelligamus de doctrina Christi, quoniam non est ejus. Et ideo dixit non se a seipso loqui, quoniam Christus Patris est Filius, et Pater Christi est Pater, et Filius de Deo Patre Deus est: Pater autem Deus, non de Filio Deo Deus est.

This sentence demolishes the Sabellian heresy. For the Sabellians dared to say that the Son is the same as the Father: that there are two names but one thing. If there were two names and one thing, it would not be said, “My teaching is not mine.” Surely, if that teaching is not yours, O Lord, whose is it, unless there is another whose it is? What you have said the Sabellians do not understand; for they have not seen the Trinity, but have followed the error of their own heart. Let us, worshipers of the Trinity and of the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and of one God, understand about the teaching of Christ that it is not his. And therefore he said that he does not speak from himself, because Christ is the Son of the Father, and the Father is Christ's Father; and the Son is God from God the Father, but the Father is God, not God from God the Son.

John 7:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:17 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “My teaching is not mine” refutes the Sabellians, who held that Father and Son are one thing with two names.

John 7:16–17 is alluded to. Sabellianism (modalism) taught that Father and Son are one person under two names; Augustine's view of it is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Alea doctrina non eat → Mea doctrina non est); OCR slip in the digital text (Dco → Deo); OCR slip in the digital text (Utiquc si Ilia → Utique si illa); OCR slip in the digital text (alkis → alius); OCR slip in the digital text (cjus Et → ejus. Et); OCR slip in the digital text (csl → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (dno essent → duo essent); OCR slip in the digital text (errorcm scculi → errorem secuti); OCR slip in the digital text (scipso → seipso); OCR slip in the digital text (talem → tatem); OCR slip in the digital text (vidcrunt → viderunt)): est ct Pater; → est et Pater;; dno essent → duo essent; Alea doctrina non eat → Mea doctrina non est; Utiquc si Ilia → Utique si illa; alkis → alius; talem → tatem; vidcrunt → viderunt; errorcm scculi → errorem secuti; cjus Et → ejus. Et; scipso → seipso; Patris csl Filius, → Patris est Filius,; de Dco Patre → de Deo Patre.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.7 (PL 35:1631; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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29.8PL 35:1631

Qui a semetipso loquitur, gloriam propriam quærit. Hoc erit ille qui vocatur Antichristus, extollens se, sic ut Apostolus ait, supra omne quod dicitur Deus, et quod colitur. Ipsum quippe annuntians Dominus gloriam suam quæsiturum, non gloriam Pa tris, ait ad Judæos: Ego veni in nomine Patris mei, et non suscepistis me: alius veniet in nomine suo, hunc suscipietis. Significavit eos Antichristum suscepturos, qui gloriam nominis sui quæsiturus est, inflatus, non solidus; et ideo non stabilis, sed utique ruinosus. Dominus autem noster Jesus Christus ma gnum exemplum nobis præbuit humilitatis: nempe æqualis est Patri, nempe in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum; nempe ipse dixit, et verissime dixit, Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et non cognovistis me? Philippe, qui vidit me, vidit et Patrem; nempe ipse dixit, et veris sime dixit, Ego et Pater unum sumus. Si ergo ille cum Patre unum, æqualis Patri, Deus de Deo, Deus apud Deum, coaeternus, immortalis, pariter incommutabilis, pariter sine tempore, pariter creator et dispositor temporum; tamen quia venit in tempore, et formam servi accepit, et habitu est in ventus ut homo, quærit gloriam Patris, non suam: quid tu, homo, facere debes, qui quando aliquid boni facis, gloriam tuam quaeris; quando au tem aliquid mali facis, Deo calumniam meditaris? In tende tibi; creatura es, agnosce Creatorem: servus es, ne contemnas Dominum: adoptatus es, sed non meritis tuis; quære ejus gloriam, a quo habes hanc gratiam, homo adoptatus, cujus gloriam quaesivit qui est ab illo unicus natus. Qui autem quærit gloriam ejus qui misit illum, hic verax est, et injustitia in illo non est. In Antichristo autem injustitia est, et verax non est; quia gloriam suam quæsiturus est, non ejus a quo missus est: non enim est missus, sed venire permis sus. Omnes ergo pertinentes ad corpus Christi, ne inducamur in laqueos Antichristi, non quæramus glo riam nostram. Sed si ille quæsivit gloriam ejus qui eum misit, quanto magis nos ejus qui nos fecit?

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.” This will be the one who is called Antichrist, “exalting himself,” as the apostle says, “above all that is called God, or that is worshiped.” For the Lord, foretelling that he would seek his own glory, not the Father's glory, says to the Jews, “I have come in my Father's name, and you have not received me; another will come in his own name, him you will receive.” He signified that they would receive Antichrist, who will seek the glory of his own name: puffed up, not solid, and therefore not stable but surely bound to fall. But our Lord Jesus Christ has offered us a great example of humility: surely he is equal to the Father; surely “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; surely he himself said, and said most truly, “Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me? Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father too”; surely he himself said, and said most truly, “I and the Father are one.” If, then, he is one with the Father, equal to the Father, God from God, God with God, coeternal, immortal, equally unchangeable, equally without time, equally creator and disposer of times; yet because he came in time, and “took the form of a servant, and was found in fashion as a man,” he seeks the Father's glory, not his own. What ought you to do, O man, who when you do something good seek your own glory, but when you do something evil devise slander against God? Look to yourself: you are a creature; acknowledge the Creator. You are a servant; do not despise the Lord. You have been adopted, but not by your own merits; seek the glory of him from whom you have this grace, you, an adopted man, whose glory he sought who is his only-begotten. “But he who seeks the glory of him who sent him, he is true, and there is no injustice in him.” But in Antichrist there is injustice, and he is not true, because he will seek his own glory, not that of him by whom he was sent; for he is not sent but permitted to come. Let all of us, then, who belong to the body of Christ, not seek our own glory, so that we may not be led into the snares of Antichrist. But if he sought the glory of him who sent him, how much more should we seek the glory of him who made us?

John 7:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:43 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:9 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Antichrist will seek his own glory; Christ, though equal to the Father, sought the Father's glory and so gives us an example of humility.

John 7:18, 2 Thess 2:4, John 5:43, John 1:1, John 14:9, John 10:30, and Phil 2:7 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Dontinus → Dominus); OCR slip in the digital text (Ina → ma); OCR slip in the digital text (afro → suo); OCR slip in the digital text (an tem → au tem); OCR slip in the digital text (cius a quo → ejus a quo); OCR slip in the digital text (crit → erit); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (euim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (eus → eos); OCR slip in the digital text (horno → homo); OCR slip in the digital text (ipsc → ipse); OCR slip in the digital text (pari. ter → pariter); OCR slip in the digital text (qnando → quando); OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui); OCR slip in the digital text (vocalur → vocatur)): crit → erit; vocalur → vocatur; Dontinus → Dominus; afro → suo; Significavit eus Antichristum → Significavit eos Antichristum; suscepturos, qni gloriam → suscepturos, qui gloriam; quæsiturus cst, → quæsiturus est,; Christus Ina → Christus ma; ipsc → ipse; vidit ct Patrem; → vidit et Patrem;; pari. ter → pariter; horno → homo; qnando → quando; an tem → au tem; ejus qni misit → ejus qui misit; cius a quo → ejus a quo; euim → enim.

Topics: Christology, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.8 (PL 35:1631; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-29-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Chapter 30

30.1PL 35:1631

Evangelii sancti lectionem, de qua pridem Charitati vestræ locuti sumus, ista quæ modo lecta est, hodierna consequitur. Dominum loquentem audiebant et discipuli et Judæi; veritatem loquentem audiebant, et veraces et mendaces; charitatem loquentem audie bant et amici et inimici; bonum loquentem audiebant et boni et mali. Illi audiebant, sed ille discernebat; et quibus sermo prodesset et profuturus esset, videbat et prævidebat. In illis enim qui tunc erant videbat, in nobis qui futuri eramus prævidebat. Nos itaque sic audiamus Evangelium, quasi præsentem Dominum; nec dicamus, O illi felices qui eum videre potuerunt! quia multi in eis qui viderunt, et occiderunt; multi autem in nobis qui non viderunt, et crediderunt. Quod enim pretiosum sonabat de ore Domini, et propter nos scriptum est, et nobis servatum, et propter nos recitatum, et recitabitur etiam propter posteros nostros, et donec sæculum finiatur. Sursum est Do minus: sed etiam hic est veritas Dominus. Corpus enim Domini in quo resurrexit, uno loco esse po test: veritas ejus ubique diffusa est. Dominum ergo audiamus, et quod ipse donaverit de verbis ejus, et nos dicamus.

Today's reading, which has just been read, follows the reading of the holy Gospel of which we spoke to your Charity the other day. Both disciples and Jews heard the Lord speaking; both the truthful and liars heard the Truth speaking; both friends and enemies heard Love speaking; both good and bad heard the Good speaking. They heard, but he discerned; and he saw and foresaw to whom the word would be and was to be of profit. In those who were then present he saw; in us who were to be he foresaw. Let us, then, so hear the Gospel as if the Lord were present; and let us not say, “O happy those who could see him!”, because many of those who saw him also killed him, and many among us who have not seen him have also believed. For the precious things that sounded from the Lord's mouth were both written for our sake, and kept for us, and recited for our sake, and will be recited also for the sake of those after us, until the world comes to an end. The Lord is above; but the Lord, the Truth, is also here. For the Lord's body in which he rose can be in one place; his truth is spread everywhere. Let us hear the Lord, then, and let us too speak of his words what he himself grants.

John 20:29 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: We should hear the Gospel as if the Lord were present, for many who saw him killed him and many who have not seen him believe; his body is in one place, his truth everywhere.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Cba. ritati → Charitati); OCR slip in the digital text (Domini I in → Domini in); OCR slip in the digital text (bam → bant); OCR slip in the digital text (cHam → etiam); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et; ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (ditius, est → diffusa est); OCR slip in the digital text (eniin → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (fclices → felices); OCR slip in the digital text (fuluri → futuri); OCR slip in the digital text (in cis qui → in eis qui); OCR slip in the digital text (liniatur → finiatur); OCR slip in the digital text (mendaccs → mendaces); OCR slip in the digital text (nee dicamus → nec dicamus); OCR slip in the digital text (verilalem → veritatem)): Cba. ritati → Charitati; verilalem → veritatem; mendaccs → mendaces; audie bam et → audie bant et; audiebant ct boni ct mali. → audiebant et boni et mali.; fuluri → futuri; nee dicamus → nec dicamus; fclices → felices; in cis qui → in eis qui; cHam → etiam; liniatur → finiatur; eniin → enim; Domini I in → Domini in; ditius, est → diffusa est.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.1 (PL 35:1631; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.2PL 35:1631–1633

Nonne Moyses, inquit, dedit vobis Legem, et nemo ex vobis facit Legem? Quid me quœritis interficere? Ideo enim quæritis me interficere, quia nemo ex vobis facit Legem: nam si Legem faceretis, iis ipsis litteris Christum agnosceretis, et præsentem non occideretis. Et illi responderunt: Respondit ei turba. Respondit quasi turba non pertinentia ad ordinem, sed ad per turbationem: denique turba turbata videte quid re sponderit: Dœmonium habes; quis te quærit occidere? Quasi non pejus fuerit dicere, Dæmonium habes, quam eum occidere. Ei quippe dictum est quod dæmonium haberet, qui dæmones expellebat. Quid possit aliud dicere turba turbulenta? quid possit aliud olere cœ num commotum? Turba turbata est; unde? A veritate. Turbam lippitudinis turbavit claritas lucis. Oculi enim non habentes sanitatem, non possunt ferre luminis claritatem.

“Did not Moses,” he says, “give you the Law, and none of you does the Law? Why do you seek to kill me?” For this is why you seek to kill me: because none of you does the Law; for if you did the Law, in those very writings you would recognize Christ, and you would not kill him when he is present. And they answered: “The crowd answered him.” A crowd answered, as it were, things that belonged not to order but to disorder; see, in short, what the troubled crowd answered: “You have a demon; who seeks to kill you?” As if it were not worse to say “You have a demon” than to kill him. For it was said that he had a demon who was casting out demons. What else could a turbulent crowd say? What else could stirred-up mud smell of? The crowd was troubled; by what? By the truth. The brightness of the light troubled the crowd's bleared eyes. For eyes that are not healthy cannot bear the brightness of light.

John 7:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:20 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews sought to kill Christ because they did not keep the Law, which would have led them to recognize him; the troubled crowd answered that he had a demon.

John 7:19–20 is quoted. Augustine plays on turba (“crowd”) and turbare (“to trouble”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Damonium habea → Dæmonium habes); OCR slip in the digital text (Idco coint → Ideo enim); OCR slip in the digital text (cx vobis → ex vobis); OCR slip in the digital text (dacmones → dæmones); OCR slip in the digital text (haboret → haberet); OCR slip in the digital text (inter ficere → interficere); OCR slip in the digital text (noM → non); OCR slip in the digital text (occidcre → occidere); OCR slip in the digital text (occidcretis → occideretis); OCR slip in the digital text (pcr → per); OCR slip in the digital text (qoippe dictuln → quippe dictum); OCR slip in the digital text (rc → re); OCR slip in the digital text (uude → unde); OCR slip in the digital text (vobis. tacit → vobis facit)): cx vobis → ex vobis; inter ficere → interficere; Idco coint → Ideo enim; vobis. tacit → vobis facit; occidcretis → occideretis; turba noM pertinentia → turba non pertinentia; ad pcr → ad per; quid rc → quid re; quærit occidcre? → quærit occidere?; Damonium habea → Dæmonium habes; qoippe dictuln → quippe dictum; haboret → haberet; dacmones → dæmones; uude → unde.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.2 (PL 35:1631–1633; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.3PL 35:1633

Dominus autem non plane turbatus, sed in sua veritate tranquillus, non reddidit malum pro malo, nec maledictum pro maledicto. Quibus si diceret, Dæmonium habetis vos; verum utique di ceret. Non enim talia illi veritati dicerent, nisi eos diaboli falsitas irritaret. Quid ergo respondit? Audia mus tranquille, et tranquillum bibamus: Unum opus feci, et omnes miramini. Tanquam dicens, Quid si omnia opera mea videretis? Ipsius enim opera erant quæ in mundo videbant, et ipsum qui fecit omnia non videbant: fecit unam rem, et turbati sunt, quia sal vum fecit hominem sabbato. Quasi vero si quisquam ægrotus sabbato sinceraret, alius illum sanum fecis set quam ille, qui eos scandalizavit, quia unum homi nem salvum fecit sabbato? Quis enim alius alios salvos fecit quam ipsa salus; qui illam salutem quam dedit huic homini, dat et jumentis? Salus enim corporalis erat. Salus carnis et reparatur, et moritur; et cum reparatur, mors differtur, non aufertur. Tamen, fra tres, etiam ipsa salus a Domino est, per quemlibet detur: quocumque curante et ministrante impertia tur, ab illo datur a quo est omnis salus, cui dicitur in Psalmo, Homines et jumenta salvos facies, Domine; sicut multiplicasti misericordiam tuam, Deus. Quia enim Deus es, multiplicata misericordia tua pervenit etiam ad salutem carnis humanae, pervenit etiam ad salutem mutorum animalium: sed qui das salutem carnis ho minibus jumentisque communem, numquid nulla salus est quam servas hominibus? Est certe alia quae non solum communis non est hominibus et jumentis, sed nec ipsis hominibus communis est bonis et malis. Denique cum ibi de ista salute dixisset, quam com muniter accipiunt pecora et homines; propter illam salutem quam sperare debent homines, sed boni ho mines, secutus adjunxit, Filii autem hominum sub tegmine alarum tuarum sperabunt: inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuæ, et torrente voluptatis tuœ potabis eos; quoniam apud te est fons vitæ, et in lumine tuo vi debimus lumen. Haec est salus quæ ad bonos pertinet, quos appellavit filios hominum; cum supra dixisset, Homines et jumenta salvos facies, Domine. Quid enim? illi homines non erant filii ho minum, ut cum dixisset, Homines, sequeretur et diceret, Filii autem hominum; quasi aliud erant homines, et aliud filii hominum? Non tamen arbitror sine aliqua significatione distinctionis hoc dixisse Spiritum san ctum. Homines ad primum Adam, filii hominum ad Christum. Forte enim homines pertinent ad primum hominem: filii autem hominum pertinent ad Filium hominis.

But the Lord, not at all troubled but calm in his truth, did not return evil for evil, nor reviling for reviling. Had he said to them, “You have a demon,” he would certainly have spoken truly. For they would not have said such things to the Truth unless the devil's falsehood had incited them. What, then, did he answer? Let us hear calmly and drink in the calm one: “I have done one work, and you all marvel.” As if saying, What if you saw all my works? For the works that they saw in the world were his, and they did not see him who made all things: he did one thing, and they were troubled because he made a man whole on the sabbath. As if, should any sick man be made whole on the sabbath, someone else would have healed him than he who scandalized them because he made one man whole on the sabbath! For who else has made others whole than Health itself, who gives to cattle too that health which he gave to this man? For it was bodily health. The health of the flesh is both restored and dies; and when it is restored, death is put off, not taken away. Yet, brothers, even that health is from the Lord, by whomever it is given: through whoever's care and ministry it is imparted, it is given by him from whom is all health, to whom it is said in the Psalm, “Men and beasts you will save, O Lord, as you have multiplied your mercy, O God.” For because you are God, your multiplied mercy reaches even to the health of human flesh, reaches even to the health of dumb animals. But you who give health of the flesh common to men and beasts, is there no health that you keep for men? There certainly is another, which not only is not common to men and beasts but is not common even among men to good and bad. Accordingly, when he had spoken there of this health which cattle and men receive in common, on account of that health which men, but good men, ought to hope for, he went on to add, “But the sons of men will hope under the shelter 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.” This is the health that belongs to the good, whom he called “sons of men,” when above he had said, “Men and beasts you will save, O Lord.” Why? Were those men not sons of men, that when he had said “men” he should go on to say “but the sons of men,” as though men were one thing and sons of men another? Yet I do not think the Holy Spirit said this without some meaning in the distinction. “Men” refers to the first Adam, “sons of men” to Christ. For perhaps “men” belong to the first man, but “sons of men” belong to the Son of man.

1 Pet 3:9 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 36:6 (35:7 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: Christ, who as Health itself gives bodily health to men and beasts alike, also keeps for good men a health of eternal life; “men” belong to Adam, “sons of men” to the Son of man.

1 Pet 3:9 (compare Rom 12:17), John 7:21, and Ps 36:6–9 (35:7–10 LXX) are quoted. Salus means both “health” and “salvation”; salvum facere is rendered “make whole” or “save” by context. In the clause “should any sick man be made whole,” the digital text has sinceraret followed by a stray digit; the digit is removed and the verb translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Qnibus → Quibus); OCR slip in the digital text (bominibus → hominibus); OCR slip in the digital text (bominum → hominum); OCR slip in the digital text (boni nem → homi nem); OCR slip in the digital text (buic → huic); OCR slip in the digital text (cos diaboli → eos diaboli); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et; jpsum → ipsum); OCR slip in the digital text (dicerei → diceret); OCR slip in the digital text (ei omnes → et omnes); OCR slip in the digital text (eniin → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (fons vite → fons vitæ); OCR slip in the digital text (homincm → hominem); OCR slip in the digital text (lecit → fecit); OCR slip in the digital text (licuique → Denique); OCR slip in the digital text (neC → nec); OCR slip in the digital text (nialcdicto → maledicto); OCR slip in the digital text (nppellavit → appellavit); OCR slip in the digital text (quas ad bonos → quæ ad bonos); OCR slip in the digital text (sabbato Quis → sabbato? Quis); OCR slip in the digital text (sinceraret 2, → sinceraret,); OCR slip in the digital text (tum, el torrente → tuæ, et torrente); OCR slip in the digital text (vcritale → veritate)): vcritale → veritate; nialcdicto → maledicto; Qnibus → Quibus; cos diaboli → eos diaboli; tranquille, ct tranquillum → tranquille, et tranquillum; ei omnes → et omnes; videbant, ct jpsum → videbant, et ipsum; homincm → hominem; sinceraret 2, → sinceraret,; boni nem → homi nem; sabbato Quis → sabbato? Quis; lecit → fecit; buic → huic; eniin → enim; sed neC ipsis → sed nec ipsis; bominibus → hominibus; licuique → Denique; tum, el torrente → tuæ, et torrente; fons vite → fons vitæ; quas ad bonos → quæ ad bonos; nppellavit → appellavit; bominum → hominum; dicerei → diceret.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.3 (PL 35:1633; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.4PL 35:1633

Unum opus feci, et omnes miramini. Et continuo subjungit: Propterea Moyses dedit vobis circumcisio nem. Bene factum est ut acciperetis circumcisionem a Moyse. Non quia ex Moyse est, sed ex Patribus. Abra ham quippe primus accepit circumcisionem a Domino. Et in sabbato circumciditis. Convicit vos Moyses, In Lege accepistis ut circumcidatis octavo die; accepistis in Lege ut vacetis septi mo die: si octavus dies illius qui natus est occurret ad diem septimum sabbati, quid facietis? Vacabitis, ut servetis sabbatum; an circumcidetis, ut impleatis sacramentum diei octavi? Sed novi, inquit, quid faciatis. Circumciditis hominem. Quare? Quia cir cumcisio pertinet ad aliquod signaculum salutis, et non debent homines sabbato vacare a salute. Ergo nec mihi irascamini, quia salvum feci totum hominem sabbato: si circumcisionem, inquit, accipit homo in sabbato, ut non solvatur lex Moysi (aliquid enim per Moysen in illa constitutione circumcisionis salubriter institutum est), mihi operanti salutem in sabbato quare indignamini?

“I have done one work, and you all marvel.” And straightway he adds: “For this reason Moses gave you circumcision.” It was well done that you received circumcision from Moses. “Not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers.” For Abraham first received circumcision from the Lord. “And on the sabbath you circumcise.” Moses has convicted you. In the Law you received that you should circumcise on the eighth day; you received in the Law that you should rest on the seventh day: if the eighth day of one who is born falls on the seventh day, the sabbath, what will you do? Will you rest, so as to keep the sabbath, or will you circumcise, so as to fulfill the sacrament of the eighth day? But I know, he says, what you do: “You circumcise a man.” Why? Because circumcision belongs to a certain seal of salvation, and men ought not to rest from salvation on the sabbath. “So do not be angry with me, because I made a whole man well on the sabbath.” “If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath,” he says, “so that the law of Moses may not be broken” (for something was instituted for salvation through Moses in that ordinance of circumcision), why are you indignant with me for working salvation on the sabbath?

John 7:21 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:22 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 17:10 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: If the Jews circumcise on the sabbath for the sake of a sign of salvation, they should not be angry that Christ made a whole man well on the sabbath.

John 7:21–23 is quoted; Abraham's circumcision alludes to Gen 17:10–12. Sacramentum is rendered “sacrament” (here the sign of the eighth day).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Quare! → Quare?); OCR slip in the digital text (circumicisionem → circumcisionem); OCR slip in the digital text (debont → debent); OCR slip in the digital text (dici octavi → diei octavi); OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est); OCR slip in the digital text (iabbalo → sabbato)): Moyse eat, → Moyse est,; circumicisionem → circumcisionem; dici octavi → diei octavi; Quare! → Quare?; debont → debent; iabbalo → sabbato.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.4 (PL 35:1633; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.5PL 35:1633–1635

Forte enim illa circumcisio ipsum Dominum si gnificabat, cui isti curanti et sananti indignabantur. Jussa est enim adhiberi octavo die circumcisio: et quid est circumcisio, nisi carnis exspoliatio? Significat ergo ista circumcisio exspoliationem a corde cupidita tum carnalium. Non ergo sine causa data est, et in eo membro jussa fieri; quoniam per illud membrum procreatur creatura mortalium. Et per unum hominem mors, sicut per unum hominem resurrectio mortuo rum: et per unum hominem peccatum intravit in mundum, et per peccatum mors. Ideo quisque cum praeputio nascitur, quia omnis homo cum vitio propaginis nascitur: et non mundat Deus sive a vitio cum quo nascimur, sive a vitiis quae male vivendo addimus, nisi per cultellum petrinum, Dominum Christum. Petra enim erat Christus. Cultellis enim petrinis circumcidebant, et petræ nomine Christum figurabant: et præsentem non agno scebant, sed insuper eum occidere cupiebant. Quare autem octavo die, nisi quia post septimum sabbati Dominus die dominico resurrexit? Ergo resurrectio Christi, quae facta est tertio quidem die passionis, sed octavo die in diebus hebdomadis, ipsa nos circumci dit. Audi circumcisos vera petra, Apostolo admonente: Si ergo resurrexistis cum Christo; quœ sursum, sunt quœrite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens; quæ sursum sunt sapite, non quœ super terram. Circumcisis loquitur: Resurrexit Christus, abstulit vobis desideria carnalia, abstulit concupiscen tias malas, abstulit superfluum cum quo nati eratis, et multo pejus quod male vivendo addideratis; cir cumcisi per petram quare adhuc sapitis terram? Et ad extremum quia Legem dedit Moyses, et circumci ditis hominem sabbato, intelligite hoc significari opus bonum, quod ego feci totum hominem salvum sab bato; quia et curatus est, ut sanus esset in corpore, et credidit ut sanus esset in anima.

For perhaps that circumcision signified the Lord himself, at whose curing and healing these men were indignant. For circumcision was ordered to be applied on the eighth day; and what is circumcision but a stripping off of the flesh? So this circumcision signifies the stripping off of carnal desires from the heart. Not without cause, then, was it given, and ordered to be done in that member, since through that member the creature of mortals is procreated. “And through one man came death, as through one man the resurrection of the dead”; and “through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death.” That is why everyone is born with a foreskin, because every man is born with the fault of his descent; and God does not cleanse us either from the fault with which we are born or from the faults that we add by living badly, except through the knife of stone, the Lord Christ. “For the rock was Christ.” For they circumcised with knives of stone, and by the name of rock they prefigured Christ; and when he was present they did not recognize him, but beyond that desired to kill him. And why on the eighth day, if not because after the seventh day, the sabbath, the Lord rose on the Lord's day? So the resurrection of Christ, which happened on the third day after the passion but on the eighth day in the days of the week, is what circumcises us. Hear men circumcised by the true rock, as the apostle admonishes: “If, then, you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; set your minds on the things that are above, not on things on the earth.” He is speaking to the circumcised: Christ has risen; he has taken away from you carnal desires, he has taken away evil lusts, he has taken away the superfluous thing with which you were born, and the much worse that you had added by living badly; circumcised by the rock, why do you still set your mind on earth? And finally, because Moses gave the Law, and you circumcise a man on the sabbath, understand that this signifies the good work that I have done in making a whole man well on the sabbath: for he was both cured, so as to be healthy in body, and he believed, so as to be healthy in soul.

1 Cor 15:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Josh 5:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Circumcision on the eighth day signified Christ, the stone knife, whose resurrection on the eighth day strips us of the fault of birth and of our sins.

1 Cor 15:21, Rom 5:12, 1 Cor 10:4, and Col 3:1–2 are quoted; the stone knives allude to Josh 5:2 (compare Exod 4:25). The digital text's stray reference “(Coloss. III, i, i)” is removed as apparatus. The teaching that every man is born with an inherited fault (original sin) is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text ( ( Coloss. III, i, i) → ); OCR slip in the digital text (Christos → Christus); OCR slip in the digital text (aba tulit → abstulit); OCR slip in the digital text (bouum → bonum); OCR slip in the digital text (cratis → eratis); OCR slip in the digital text (creatnra → creatura); OCR slip in the digital text (eat in dextera → est in dextera); OCR slip in the digital text (indignabantur., → indignabantur.); OCR slip in the digital text (mcnabrum → membrum); OCR slip in the digital text (niors → mors); OCR slip in the digital text (pellam → petram); OCR slip in the digital text (resurrectio ' Christi → resurrectio Christi); OCR slip in the digital text (septiinum → septimum); OCR slip in the digital text (£t → Et)): indignabantur., → indignabantur.; mcnabrum → membrum; creatnra → creatura; mortalium. £t per → mortalium. Et per; niors → mors; septiinum → septimum; resurrectio ' Christi → resurrectio Christi; eat in dextera → est in dextera; ( Coloss. III, i, i) → ; Christos → Christus; aba tulit → abstulit; cratis → eratis; pellam → petram; bouum → bonum.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.5 (PL 35:1633–1635; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.6PL 35:1635

Nolite judicare personaliter, sed rectum Judicium judicate. Quid est hoc? Modo qui per legem Moysi cir cumciditis sabbato, non irascimini Moysi; et quia ego die sabbati salvum feci hominem, irascimini mihi. Personaliter judicatis, veritatem attendite. Ego non me præfero Moysi, ait Dominus, qui erat et ipsius Moysi Dominus. Sic attendite quomodo homines nos duos, tanquam ambos homines: judicate inter nos, sed verum judicium judicate; nolite me honorato illum damnare, sed illo intellecto me honorate. Hoc enim eis alio loco dixit: Si crederetis Moysi, crederetis utique et mihi; de me enim ille scripsit. Sed hoc loco noluit hoc dicere, tanquam se et Moyse ante illos constitutis. Propter legem Moysi circumci ditis, quando etiam sabbatum occurrerit; et ego sani tatum faciendarum beneficentiam non vultis ut exhi beam per sabbatum? Quia Dominus circumcisionis et Dominus sabbati, salutis est auctor: et servilia opera prohibiti estis facere sabbato; si vere intelligatis ser vilia opera, non peccatis. Qui enim facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Numquid servile opus est, hominem sanare per sabbatum? Manducatis et bibitis (ut aliquid dicam ex admonitione Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et ex verbis ejus); utique quare mandu catis et bibitis in sabbato, nisi quia pertinet ad salu tem quod facitis? Per hoc ostenditis opera salutis non esse ullo modo die sabbati omittenda. Ergo nolite per sonaliter judicare, sed rectum judicium judicate. Atten dite me quomodo hominem, attendite Moysen quo modo hominem: si secundum veritatem judicetis, neque Moysen, neque me condemnabitis; et veritate cognita me cognoscetis, quia ego sum veritas.

“Do not judge by persons, but judge just judgment.” What is this? Now you, who by the law of Moses circumcise on the sabbath, are not angry with Moses; and because I made a man well on the sabbath day, you are angry with me. You judge by persons; attend to the truth. I do not put myself before Moses, says the Lord, who was the Lord of Moses himself too. Consider us two as men, as though both were men: judge between us, but judge true judgment; do not condemn him by honoring me, but honor me by understanding him. For he said this to them in another place: “If you believed Moses, you would surely believe me too; for he wrote of me.” But in this place he did not wish to say this, as though he and Moses were set before them. Because of the law of Moses you circumcise even when the sabbath falls; and you do not want me to show the kindness of works of healing on the sabbath? For the Lord of circumcision and the Lord of the sabbath is the author of salvation: and you were forbidden to do servile works on the sabbath; if you rightly understood servile works, you would not sin. “For whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.” Is it a servile work to heal a man on the sabbath? You eat and drink (to say something from the admonition of our Lord Jesus Christ and from his words); why do you eat and drink on the sabbath, unless because what you do belongs to health? By this you show that works of health are by no means to be left undone on the sabbath day. So “do not judge by persons, but judge just judgment.” Regard me as a man, regard Moses as a man: if you judge according to the truth, you will condemn neither Moses nor me; and when the truth is known you will know me, because I am the truth.

John 7:24 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:46 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:34 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:6 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ asks them to judge between him and Moses by the truth, not by persons: healing on the sabbath is no servile work.

John 7:24, John 5:46, and John 8:34 are quoted; “I am the truth” echoes John 14:6. “Judge by persons” (personaliter judicare) means judging with partiality; the Gospel's Latin has “according to appearance.”

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Personalitcr → Personaliter); OCR slip in the digital text (circumei → circumci); OCR slip in the digital text (cis alio → eis alio); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (hoe loco → hoc loco); OCR slip in the digital text (ii lum → illum); OCR slip in the digital text (nerNe Inc → neque me); OCR slip in the digital text (salutas → salutis); OCR slip in the digital text (sccundum → secundum); OCR slip in the digital text (utiqnc → utique); OCR slip in the digital text (vcre → vere)): Personalitcr → Personaliter; ii lum → illum; cis alio → eis alio; hoe loco → hoc loco; circumei → circumci; salutas → salutis; vcre → vere; servus cst peccati. → servus est peccati.; utiqnc → utique; sccundum → secundum; nerNe Inc → neque me.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.6 (PL 35:1635; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.7PL 35:1635

Hoc vitium, fratres, quod Dominus notavit hoc loco, evadere in hoc sæculo magni laboris et, non personaliter judicare, sed rectum judicium retinere, Admonuit quidem Dominus Judæos, sed monuit et nos: illos convicit, nos instruxit; illos redarguit, nos exacuit. Non putemus hoc nobis non ideo dictum, quia tunc ibi non fuimus. Scriptum est, legitur, cum reci taretur audivimus; sed tanquam Judæis dictum audi vimus: non nos ponamus post nos, et quasi intueamur inimicos reprehendere, et ipsi nos faciamus quod in nobis veritas ipsa reprehendat. Judæi quidem perso naliter judicabant, sed ideo non pertinent ad Novum Testamentum, ideo non habent in Christo regnum coelorum, ideo non junguntur sanctorum societati Angelorum: terrena quærebant a Domino; terra enim promissionis, victoria ab inimicis, fecunditas pariendi, multiplicatio filiorum, abundantia fructuum, quæ illis omnia a Deo quidem vero et bono, tamen ut carnalibus promissa sunt, omnia hæc fecerunt illis Vetus Testamentum. Quid est Vetus Testamentum? Quasi haereditas pertinens ad hominem veterem. Nos innovati sumus, homo novus facti sumus; quia et ille homo novus venit. Quid tam novum quam nasci de virgine? Quia ergo non erat quod in illo innovaret præceptum, quia nullum habebat peccatum; novus partus est datus. In illo partus novus, in nobis homo novus. Quid est homo novus? A vetustate innovatus. Ad quam rem innovatus? Ad desideranda celestia, ad concupiscenda sempiterna, ad patriam quae sursum est et hostem non timet, desiderandam, ubi non per dimus amicum, non timemus inimicum; ubi vivimus cum bono affectu, sine ullo defectu; ubi nemo nasci tur, quia nemo moritur; ubi nemo jam proficit, et nemo deficit; ubi non esuritur, et non sititur, sed sa tietas est immortalitas, et cibus veritas. Haec haben tes promissa, et ad Novum Testamentum pertinentes, et novae hæreditatis facti haeredes, et ipsius Domini cohæredes, aliam spem valde habemus: non persona liter judicemus, sed rectum judicium teneamus.

This fault, brothers, which the Lord marked in this place, it is a matter of great labor to escape in this world: not to judge by persons, but to keep just judgment. The Lord admonished the Jews indeed, but he admonished us too; he convicted them, he instructed us; he reproved them, he sharpened us. Let us not think that this was not said to us because we were not there then. It is written, it is read; when it was recited we heard it; but we heard it as said to the Jews. Let us not put ourselves behind our backs, and as it were look on at enemies being reproved, while we ourselves do what the Truth itself would reprove in us. The Jews indeed judged by persons, but that is why they do not belong to the New Testament, why they do not have the kingdom of heaven in Christ, why they are not joined to the fellowship of the holy angels: they sought earthly things from the Lord. For the land of promise, victory over enemies, fruitfulness in childbearing, multiplication of children, abundance of crops, all of which were promised them by God indeed, true and good, but promised as to carnal men, all these made for them the Old Testament. What is the Old Testament? As it were an inheritance belonging to the old man. We have been renewed, we have been made a new man, because that new man too has come. What so new as to be born of a virgin? Since, then, there was nothing in him for a commandment to renew, because he had no sin, a new birth was given. In him a new birth, in us a new man. What is a new man? One renewed from oldness. Renewed for what? For desiring heavenly things, for longing for everlasting things, for desiring the homeland that is above and fears no enemy, where we do not lose a friend nor fear an enemy; where we live with good affection, without any failing; where no one is born, because no one dies; where no one any longer advances and no one declines; where there is no hunger and no thirst, but immortality is our fullness and truth our food. Having these promises, and belonging to the New Testament, and made heirs of a new inheritance, and fellow heirs with the Lord himself, we have a very different hope: let us not judge by persons, but hold to just judgment.

John 7:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:17 (echo, medium confidence) · Eph 4:24 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: We too are warned not to judge by persons; the Jews sought earthly promises of the Old Testament, while we, made new, hope for an eternal homeland.

John 7:24 is alluded to; “fellow heirs” echoes Rom 8:17; the new man echoes Eph 4:24 and Col 3:10. Augustine's statements about the Jews and the Old Testament are translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Dommo → Domino); OCR slip in the digital text (Judacis → Judæis); OCR slip in the digital text (Judxos → Judæos); OCR slip in the digital text (amienm → amicum); OCR slip in the digital text (auid I in illo → quod in illo); OCR slip in the digital text (cohseredes → cohæredes); OCR slip in the digital text (evadcre → evadere); OCR slip in the digital text (fatti → facti); OCR slip in the digital text (fra!res → fratres); OCR slip in the digital text (hxreditatis → hæreditatis); OCR slip in the digital text (lam novum → tam novum); OCR slip in the digital text (nobJs home → nobis homo); OCR slip in the digital text (novas → novus); OCR slip in the digital text (qnidem → quidem); OCR slip in the digital text (quidcm → quidem); OCR slip in the digital text (sitimr → sititur); OCR slip in the digital text (tegitur → legitur); OCR slip in the digital text (vetusiate → vetustate)): fra!res → fratres; evadcre → evadere; qnidem → quidem; Judxos → Judæos; tegitur → legitur; Judacis → Judæis; quidcm → quidem; Dommo → Domino; fatti → facti; lam novum → tam novum; auid I in illo → quod in illo; nobJs home → nobis homo; novas → novus; vetusiate → vetustate; amienm → amicum; sitimr → sititur; hxreditatis → hæreditatis; cohseredes → cohæredes.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.7 (PL 35:1635; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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30.8PL 35:1635

Quis est qui non judicat personaliter? Qui diligit æqualiter. Dilectio aequalis facit non acceptari perso nas. Non cum homines diverso modo pro suis gradi bus honoramus, tunc timendum est ne personas acci piamus. Sed quando inter duos judicamus, et ali quando inter necessarios, fit nonnunquam judicium inter patrem et filium; queritur pater de malo filio, aut queritur filius de duro patre: servamus honori ficentiam patri, quae debetur a filio; non æquamus filium patri in honore; sed præponimus, si bonam causam habet: filium æquemus patri in veritate; et sic tribuemus honorem debitum, ut non perdat æqui tas meritum. Ita verbis Domini proficimus, et ut pro flciamus gratia illius adjuvamur.

Who is it that does not judge by persons? He who loves equally. Equal love brings it about that persons are not respected. It is not when we honor men in different ways according to their ranks that we must fear to respect persons. But when we judge between two, and sometimes between relatives, a judgment sometimes takes place between a father and a son: the father complains of a bad son, or the son complains of a harsh father. We keep for the father the respect that is owed by the son; we do not make the son equal to the father in honor; but we put him first if he has a good cause. Let us make the son equal to the father in truth; and so we shall give due honor in such a way that equity does not lose its desert. So we profit by the words of the Lord, and are helped by his grace to profit.

Notes and citation

Summary: One avoids judging by persons by loving equally: in a dispute between father and son, honor goes to the father but the judgment to the truth.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui); OCR slip in the digital text (timendam → timendum)): est qni non → est qui non; timendam → timendum.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 30.8 (PL 35:1635; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/29-1/#p-30-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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