Tractates on the Gospel of John 3.2–3.20

Augustine of Hippo · Tractates on the Gospel of John · ca. 406–420 · Hippo Regius · 19 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).

BothSource textEnglish

Show only the passage I followed

Chapter 3

3.2PL 35:1395–1397

Homines sumus, quod puto non diu esse suaden dum Charitati vestrae, christiani; et si christiani, utique ipso nomine ad Christum pertinentes. Hujus signum in fronte gestamus: de quo non erubesci mus, si et in corde gestemus. Signum ejus est humilitas ejus. Per stellam eum Magi cognoverunt; et erat hoc signum de Domino datum, coeleste atque præclarum: noluit stellam esse in fronte fidelium si gnum suum, sed crucem suam. Unde humiliatus, inde glorificatus: inde erexit humiles, quo humiliatus ipse descendit. Pertinemus ergo ad Evangelium, pertinemus ad Novum Testamentum. Lex per Moysen data est, Gratia autem et veritas per Jesum Christum facta est. Interrogamus Apostolum, et dicit nobis quoniam non sumus sub Lege, sed sub Gratia. Misit ergo Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege, ut eos qui sub Lege erant, redimeret, ut adoptio nem filiorum reciperemus. Ecce ad hoc venit Christus, ut eos qui sub Lege erant redi meret: ut jam non simus sub Lege, sed sub Gratia. Quis ergo dedit Legem? Ille dedit Legem, qui dedit et Gratiam: sed Legem per servum misit, cum Gratia ipse descendit. Et unde facti erant homines sub Lege? Non implendo Legem. Qui enim legem implet, non est sub lege, sed cum lege: qui autem sub lege est, non sublevatur, sed premitur lege. Omnes itaque homines sub Lege constitutos, reos facit Lex; et ad hoc illis super caput est, ut ostendat peccata, non tollat. Lex ergo jubet, dator legis miseretur in eo quod jubet lex. Conantes homines implere viribus suis quod a lege praeceptum est, ipsa sua temeraria et præ cipiti praesumptione ceciderunt; et non sunt cum lege, sed sub lege facti sunt rei: et quoniam suis viri bus implere non poterant legem, facti rei sub lege, imploraverunt liberatoris auxilium; et reatus legis fecit ægritudinem superbis. Ægritudo superborum, facta est confessio humilium: jam confitentur ægroti quia ægrotant; veniat medicus, et sanet aegrotos.

We are men, and, as I think I need not spend long persuading your Charity, Christians; and if Christians, then by that very name belonging to Christ. We bear his sign on our forehead; and we are not ashamed of it, provided we bear it also in the heart. His sign is his humility. The Magi knew him by a star, and that was a sign given of the Lord, heavenly and splendid; yet he did not want a star to be his sign on the foreheads of the faithful, but his cross. There where he was humbled, there he was glorified: he raised up the humble from the point to which he himself descended in humility. We belong, then, to the Gospel; we belong to the New Testament. "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." We question the apostle, and he tells us that we are not under the law but under grace. "So God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the adoption of sons." See, this is why Christ came: to redeem those who were under the law, so that we are no longer under the law but under grace. Who, then, gave the law? He who gave the law gave grace as well; but the law he sent through a servant, while with grace he came down himself. And how had men come to be under the law? By not fulfilling the law. For he who fulfills the law is not under the law but with the law; but he who is under the law is not lifted up by the law but weighed down by it. So the law makes guilty all men placed under the law; and it hangs over their heads for this purpose, to show sins, not to take them away. So the law commands; the giver of the law has mercy in what the law commands. Men, trying to fulfill by their own strength what is commanded by the law, fell through their own rash and headlong presumption; and they are not with the law, but have become guilty under the law. And since they could not fulfill the law by their own strength, having become guilty under the law, they implored the help of the deliverer; and the guilt brought by the law made the proud sick. The sickness of the proud became the confession of the humble: now the sick confess that they are sick; let the physician come and heal the sick.

John 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 2:2 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians bear the cross, the sign of Christ's humility; the law given through Moses showed sin and made the proud sick, so that they might confess their sickness and seek the physician, Christ.

Quotations: John 1:17; Rom 6:14; Gal 4:4-5; allusion to Matt 2:2 (the Magi's star). The sign on the forehead is the sign of the cross made on Christians. Augustine's teaching on law and grace is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Perstellam → Per stellam); OCR slip in the digital text (anxilium → auxilium); OCR slip in the digital text (boc → hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (corile → corde); OCR slip in the digital text (eoa → eos); OCR slip in the digital text (faeti → facti); OCR slip in the digital text (humi litasejus → humilitas ejus); OCR slip in the digital text (in eo i quod → in eo quod); OCR slip in the digital text (itaqae → itaque); OCR slip in the digital text (iude → inde); OCR slip in the digital text (nAn Molat → non tollat); OCR slip in the digital text (per tinelnus → pertinemus); OCR slip in the digital text (poteraat → poterant); OCR slip in the digital text (praeceptam → praeceptum); OCR slip in the digital text (pub → sub); OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui); OCR slip in the digital text (ueritas → veritas); OCR slip in the digital text (£t unde → Et unde)): corile → corde; humi litasejus → humilitas ejus; Perstellam → Per stellam; erat boc signum → erat hoc signum; iude → inde; per tinelnus → pertinemus; ueritas → veritas; ut eoa qui → ut eos qui; ad boc venit → ad hoc venit; sed pub Gratia. → sed sub Gratia.; Legem, qni dedit → Legem, qui dedit; £t unde → Et unde; itaqae → itaque; nAn Molat → non tollat; in eo i quod → in eo quod; praeceptam → praeceptum; faeti → facti; poteraat → poterant; anxilium → auxilium.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.2 (PL 35:1395–1397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-2) · Report an error

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.

3.3PL 35:1397

Medicus quis? Dominus noster Jesus Christus. Quis Dominus noster Jesus Christus? Ille qui visus est et ab eis a quibus crucifixus est. Ille qui apprehensus, colaphizatus, flagellatus, sputis illitus, spinis coronatus, in cruce suspensus, mortuus, lancea vulneratus, de cruce depositus, in sepulcro positus. Ille ipse Do minus noster Jesus Christus; ille ipse plane, et ipse est totus medicus vulnerum nostrorum, crucifixus ille cui insultatum est, quo pendente persecutores caput agitabant, et dicebant, Si filius Dei est, descendat de cruce: ipse est totus medicus noster, ipse plane. Quare ergo non ostendit insultan tibus, quia ipse erat Filius Dei: ut si se permisit in crucem levari, saltem cum illi dicerent, Si filius Dei est, descendat de cruce; tunc descenderet, et ostende ret eis verum se esse Filium Dei, quem illi ausi fuerant irridere? Noluit. Quare noluit? numquid quia non po tuit? Potuit plane. Quid est enim amplius, de cruce descendere, an de sepulcro resurgere? Sed pertulit insultantes: nam crux non ad potentiae documentum, sed ad exemplum patientiae suscepta est. Ibi vulnera tua curavit, ubi sua diu pertulit: ibi te a morte sem piterna sanavit, ubi temporaliter mori dignatus est. Et mortuus est, an in illo mors mortua est? Qualis mors, quae mortem occidit?

Who is the physician? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is our Lord Jesus Christ? He who was seen even by those who crucified him. He who was seized, struck with fists, scourged, smeared with spittle, crowned with thorns, hung on the cross, who died, was wounded by the lance, taken down from the cross, laid in the tomb. That same one is our Lord Jesus Christ; that very one, plainly; and he is wholly the physician of our wounds, that crucified one who was insulted, at whom, as he hung, the persecutors wagged their heads and said, "If he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross." He is wholly our physician, that very one. Why then did he not show those who insulted him that he was the Son of God, so that, if he had allowed himself to be raised on the cross, at least when they said, "If he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross," he might then come down and show them that he was truly the Son of God, whom they had dared to mock? He would not. Why would he not? Was it because he could not? He certainly could. For which is greater, to come down from the cross or to rise from the tomb? But he bore those who insulted him: for the cross was taken up not as a proof of power but as an example of patience. There he cured your wounds where he long endured his own; there he healed you from everlasting death where he deigned to die in time. And did he die, or did death die in him? What sort of death is this that killed death?

Matt 27:39 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:40 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 26:67 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 19:34 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The physician is the crucified Christ, who did not come down from the cross though he could, because the cross was an example of patience, and by his death he killed death.

Quotations: Matt 27:39-40 (cf. Matt 27:42); allusions to the passion narratives (Matt 26:67; 27:26-30; John 19:34).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (DomiBus → Dominus); OCR slip in the digital text (cis verum → eis verum); OCR slip in the digital text (corona. tus → coronatus); OCR slip in the digital text (iJli → illi); OCR slip in the digital text (iUi → illi); OCR slip in the digital text (potentia → potentiae); OCR slip in the digital text (sUscepta → suscepta)): DomiBus → Dominus; corona. tus → coronatus; cum iUi dicerent, → cum illi dicerent,; cis verum → eis verum; iJli → illi; potentia → potentiae; sUscepta → suscepta.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.3 (PL 35:1397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-3) · Report an error

3.4PL 35:1397

Ipse est tamen Dominus noster Jesus Christus totus, qui videbatur, et tenebatur, et crucifigebatur? Num totus hoc ipse est? Ipse est quidem, sed non totus illud quod viderunt Judæi; non hoc est totus Christus. Et quid est? In principio erat Verbum. In quo principio? Et Verbum erat apud Deum. Et quale Verbum? Et Deus erat Verbum. Numquid forte a Deo factum est hoc Verbum? Non. Hoc enim erat in prin cipio apud Deum. Quid ergo? Alia quae fecit Deus non similia sunt Verbo? Non: quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil. Quomodo per ipsum omnia sunt facta? Quia quod factum est, in ipso vita erat: et antequam fieret, vita erat. Quod factum est, non est vita: sed in arte, hoc est, in Sapientia Dei, antequam fieret, vita erat. Quod fa ctum est, transiit: quod est in Sapientia, transire non potest. Vita ergo in illo erat, quod factum est. Et qualis vita? Quia et anima corporis vita est: corpus nostrum habet vitam suam; quam cum ami serit, mors est corporis: talis ergo erat illa vita? Non: sed vita erat lux hominum. Numquid lux pecorum? Nam ista lux et hominum et pecorum est. Est quaedam lux hominum: unde distant homines a pe coribus videamus, et tunc intelligemus quid sit lux hominum. Non distas a pecore, nisi intellectu: noli aliunde gloriari. De viribus praesumis? a bestiis vin ceris: de velocitate praesumis? a muscis vinceris: de pulchritudine præsumis? quanta pulchritudo est in pennis pavonis? Unde ergo melior es? Ex imagine Dei. Ubi imago Dei? in mente, in intellectu. Si ergo ideo melior pecore, quia habes mentem qua intelli gas quod non potest pecus intelligere; inde autem homo, quia melior pecore; lux hominum est lux mentium. Lux mentium supra mentes est, et excedit omnes mentes. Hoc erat vita illa per quam facta sunt omnia.

Yet is this the whole of our Lord Jesus Christ, he who was seen and held and crucified? Is this the whole of him? It is he indeed, but what the Jews saw is not the whole; this is not the whole Christ. And what is? "In the beginning was the Word." In what beginning? "And the Word was with God." And what sort of Word? "And the Word was God." Was this Word perhaps made by God? No. For "he was in the beginning with God." What then? Are the other things that God made not like the Word? No; for "all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made." How were all things made through him? Because what was made was life in him, and before it was made it was life. What was made is not life; but in the art, that is, in the Wisdom of God, before it was made, it was life. What was made has passed away; what is in Wisdom cannot pass away. So what was made was life in him. And what sort of life? For the soul too is the life of the body: our body has its life, and when it loses it, that is the death of the body. Was that life of such a kind? No: "but the life was the light of men." Is it the light of cattle? For this light is the light both of men and of cattle. There is a certain light of men; let us see how men differ from cattle, and then we will understand what the light of men is. You differ from a beast only by understanding: do not boast of anything else. Do you rely on your strength? You are outdone by wild beasts. Do you rely on your speed? You are outdone by flies. Do you rely on your beauty? How much beauty there is in the feathers of the peacock! In what, then, are you better? In the image of God. Where is the image of God? In the mind, in the understanding. If, then, you are better than a beast because you have a mind by which to understand what a beast cannot understand, and you are a man precisely because you are better than a beast, the light of men is the light of minds. The light of minds is above minds and surpasses all minds. This was that life through which all things were made.

John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The crucified Christ seen by the Jews is not the whole Christ, who is also the eternal Word; the life in him is the light of men, the light of the mind that bears God's image.

Quotations: John 1:1-4; allusion to Gen 1:26-27. 'The Jews' here are those who saw Jesus crucified; translated as written. The digital text's 'talis cliO' is read 'talis ergo', and 'non tuus illud' as 'non totus illud'.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Intellectu → intellectu); OCR slip in the digital text (Jux → lux); OCR slip in the digital text (Noa → Non); OCR slip in the digital text (Num totus I hoe → Num totus hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (boc → hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (bominum → hominum); OCR slip in the digital text (cliO → ergo); OCR slip in the digital text (erut → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (iD illo → in illo); OCR slip in the digital text (ill Sapientia → in Sapientia); OCR slip in the digital text (iti ipso → in ipso); OCR slip in the digital text (lotus → totus); OCR slip in the digital text (mclior → melior); OCR slip in the digital text (neptem → mentem); OCR slip in the digital text (non tuus illud → non totus illud); OCR slip in the digital text (pcco rum → pecorum); OCR slip in the digital text (teoebatar → tenebatur); OCR slip in the digital text (teret → fieret); OCR slip in the digital text (tuclior → melior); OCR slip in the digital text (viia → vita)): lotus → totus; teoebatar → tenebatur; Num totus I hoe → Num totus hoc; non tuus illud → non totus illud; erut → erat; est boc Verbum? → est hoc Verbum?; iti ipso → in ipso; teret → fieret; ill Sapientia → in Sapientia; iD illo → in illo; viia → vita; cliO → ergo; pcco rum → pecorum; bominum → hominum; hominum. Noa distas → hominum. Non distas; tuclior → melior; Intellectu → intellectu; mclior → melior; neptem → mentem; pecore; Jux hominum → pecore; lux hominum.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.4 (PL 35:1397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-4) · Report an error

3.5PL 35:1397–1399

Ubi erat? hic erat; an apud Patrem erat, et hic non erat? an quod verius est, et apud Patrem erat, et hic erat? Si ergo hic erat, quare non videbatur? Quia lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebræ eam non compre henderunt. O homines, nolite esse tenebrae, nolite esse infideles, injusti, iniqui, rapaces, avari, amatores saeculi: haec sunt enim tenebrae. Lux non est absens, sed vos absentes estis a luce. Cæcus in sole præsen tem habet solem, sed absens est ipse soli. Nolite ergo esse tenebræ. Hæc est enim forte gratia, de qua di cturus sum, ut jam non simus tenebræ, et dicat nobis Apostolus: Fuistis enim aliquando tenebræ; nunc au tem lux in Domino. Quia ergo non vi debatur lux hominum, id est lux mentium, opus erat ut homo diceret de luce testimonium, non quidem tenebrosus, sed jam illuminatus. Nec tamen quia illuminatus, ideo ipsa lux; sed ut testimonium perhi beret de lumine. Nam non erat ille lux. Et quae erat lux? Erat lux vera, quæ illuminat omnem hominem ve nientem in hunc mundum. Et ubi erat ista? In hoc mundo erat. Et quomodo in hoc mundo erat? numquid sicut ista lux solis, lunae, lucernarum, sic et ista lux in mundo est? Non. Quia mundus per eum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit: hoc est, lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Mundus enim tenebræ; quia dilectores mundi, mundus. Num enim creatura non agnovit Creatorem suum? Testimonium dedit caelum de stella; testimonium dedit mare, portavit ambulantem Dominum; testimonium dederunt venti, ad ejus jussum quieverunt; testimonium dedit terra, illo crucifixo contre muit: si omnia ista testimonium dederunt, quomodo mundus eum non cognovit, nisi quia mundus dilectores mundi, corde habitantes mundum? Et malus mundus, quia mali habitatores mundi: sicut mala domus, non parietes, sed inha bitantes.

Where was it? Was it here? Or was it with the Father and not here? Or, what is truer, was it both with the Father and here? If, then, it was here, why was it not seen? Because "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." O men, do not be darkness; do not be unbelieving, unjust, wicked, grasping, greedy, lovers of the world: for these are darkness. The light is not absent, but you are absent from the light. A blind man in the sun has the sun present, but he himself is absent from the sun. So do not be darkness. For this perhaps is the grace I am going to speak of: that we are no longer darkness, and the apostle may say to us, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." Because, then, the light of men, that is, the light of minds, was not seen, there was need for a man to bear witness to the light: not a darkened man, but one already enlightened. Yet because he was enlightened, he was not therefore the light itself, but came to bear witness to the light. "For he was not the light." And what was the light? "That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world." And where was it? "It was in this world." And how was it in this world? Is that light in the world as the light of the sun, of the moon, of lamps is? No. For "the world was made through him, and the world did not know him": that is, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." For the world is darkness, because the lovers of the world are the world. For did the creation not acknowledge its Creator? The sky bore witness by the star; the sea bore witness, it carried the Lord as he walked; the winds bore witness, they grew calm at his command; the earth bore witness, it trembled when he was crucified. If all these bore witness, how did the world not know him, unless because the world means the lovers of the world, who inhabit the world with their heart? And the world is evil because the inhabitants of the world are evil, just as a house is evil not because of its walls but because of its inhabitants.

John 1:5 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:9 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 2:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 14:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 8:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:51 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The light is always present, but sinners are absent from it; all creation bore witness to Christ, and only 'the world', those who love the world, did not know him.

Quotations: John 1:5, 8-10; Eph 5:8; allusions to Matt 2:2; Matt 14:25; Matt 8:26; Matt 27:51. Migne's inline reference '(Matth. u, i)' is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Creatorcm → Creatorem); OCR slip in the digital text (Lux noe est absens, sod vos absentes ostis a Inoe → Lux non est absens, sed vos absentes estis a luce); OCR slip in the digital text (ad.ejus → ad ejus); OCR slip in the digital text (babet solem, Aed abscas cst → habet solem, sed absens est); OCR slip in the digital text (compre. henderunt → comprehenderunt); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (hæ soni → haec sunt); OCR slip in the digital text (iii Domino → in Domino); OCR slip in the digital text (ista In hec mundo erat. Ei quomodo m hoc → ista? In hoc mundo erat. Et quomodo in hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (jani → jam); OCR slip in the digital text (mim quid sicli → numquid sicut); OCR slip in the digital text (mudus → mundus); OCR slip in the digital text (nobis. Apostolus → nobis Apostolus); OCR slip in the digital text (ost? Noa. → est? Non.); OCR slip in the digital text (qaae erat lux i Erat lux uera → quae erat lux? Erat lux vera); OCR slip in the digital text (stel la (Matth. u, i); → stella;); OCR slip in the digital text (tcstimonium do derunt → testimonium dederunt)): Ubi crat? → Ubi erat?; Patrem crat, → Patrem erat,; hic crat, → hic erat,; hæ soni → haec sunt; Lux noe est absens, sod vos absentes ostis a Inoe → Lux non est absens, sed vos absentes estis a luce; babet solem, Aed abscas cst → habet solem, sed absens est; nobis. Apostolus → nobis Apostolus; iii Domino → in Domino; jani → jam; qaae erat lux i Erat lux uera → quae erat lux? Erat lux vera; ista In hec mundo erat. Ei quomodo m hoc → ista? In hoc mundo erat. Et quomodo in hoc; mim quid sicli → numquid sicut; ost? Noa. → est? Non.; mudus → mundus; compre. henderunt → comprehenderunt; Creatorcm → Creatorem; stel la (Matth. u, i); → stella;; ad.ejus → ad ejus; tcstimonium do derunt → testimonium dederunt.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.5 (PL 35:1397–1399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-5) · Report an error

3.6PL 35:1399

In propria venit, id est, in sua venit: et sui eum non receperunt. Quae ergo spes est, nisi quia quotquot receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri? Si filii fiunt, nascuntur: si nascuntur, quomodo nascun tur? Non ex carne, non ex sanguinibus, non ex volun tate carnis, non ex voluntate viri; sed ex Deo nati sunt. Gaudeant ergo, quia ex Deo nati sunt; præsumant se pertinere ad Deum; accipiant documentum, quia ex Deo nati sunt: Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Si Verbum non erubuit nasci de homine, erubescunt homines nasci de Deo? Hoc au tem quia fecit, curavit: quia curavit, videmus. Hoc enim quod Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in no bis, medicamentum nobis factum est, ut quia terra cæcabamur, de terra sanaremur: et sanati quid vi deremus? Et vidimus, inquit, gloriam ejus, gloriam tanquam Unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratia et veritate.

"He came to his own," that is, he came to what was his; "and his own did not receive him." What hope is there, then, except that "as many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God"? If they become sons, they are born; if they are born, how are they born? Not of flesh, not of bloods, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of a man, but they were born of God. Let them rejoice, then, because they were born of God; let them be confident that they belong to God; let them receive the proof that they were born of God: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." If the Word was not ashamed to be born of a human being, are human beings ashamed to be born of God? Now because he did this, he cured; because he cured, we see. For this, that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," was made a medicine for us, so that, since we were blinded by earth, we might be healed by earth. And once healed, what were we to see? "And we saw," he says, "his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:12 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those who receive Christ are born of God, and the proof is that the Word was born of man; the incarnation is the medicine that heals our sight so that we see his glory.

Quotations: John 1:11-14.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Quoe → Quae); OCR slip in the digital text (cle Dco → de Deo); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct sanati → et sanati); OCR slip in the digital text (factum eat, et Ila bitavit → factum est, et habitavit); OCR slip in the digital text (id cat → id est); OCR slip in the digital text (perlinere → pertinere); OCR slip in the digital text (reeeperunt → receperunt)): id cat → id est; reeeperunt → receperunt; Quoe → Quae; perlinere → pertinere; factum eat, et Ila bitavit → factum est, et habitavit; cle Dco → de Deo; factum cst, → factum est,; ct sanati → et sanati.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.6 (PL 35:1399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-6) · Report an error

3.7PL 35:1399

Joannes testimonium perhibet de ipso, et clamat dicens, Hic erat quem dixi, Qui post me venit, ante me factus est. Post me venit, et præcessit me. Quid est, ante me factus est? Præcessit me: non, factus est antequam factus essem ego; sed, antepositus est mihi: hoc est, ante me factus est. Quare ante te fa ctus est, cum post te venerit? Quia prior me erat. Prior te, o Joannes? Quid magnum, si prior te? Bene, quia tu illi perhibes testimonium: audiamus ipsum dicentem, Et ante Abraham ego sum. Sed et Abraham in medio genere humano ortus est; multi ante illum, multi post illum: audi vocem Pa tris ad Filium, Ante luciferum genui te. Qui ante luciferum genitus est, omnes ipse illuminat. Dictus est enim quidam lucifer qui cecidit: erat enim angelus, et factus est diabolus; et dixit de illo Scri ptura, Lucifer qui mane oriebatur, cecidit. Unde lucifer? Quia illuminatus lucebat. Unde autem tenebrosus factus? Quia in veritate non stetit. Ergo ille ante luciferum, ante omnem illuminatum: siquidem ante omnem illuminatum sit necesse est, a quo illuminantur omnes qui illuminari possunt.

"John bears witness to him, and cries out, saying, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me was made before me." He came after me and went before me. What does "was made before me" mean? He went before me: not, he was made before I was made, but, he was placed before me: this is what "was made before me" means. Why was he made before you, when he came after you? "Because he was prior to me." Prior to you, O John? What great thing is it if he is prior to you? It is well, since you bear witness to him; but let us hear him saying, "Before Abraham was, I am." But Abraham too arose in the middle of the human race; many were before him, many after him. Hear the voice of the Father to the Son: "Before the morning star I begot you." He who was begotten before the morning star himself enlightens all. For a certain one was called the morning star (Lucifer) who fell: he was an angel and became the devil; and Scripture said of him, "Lucifer, who rose in the morning, has fallen." Why Lucifer? Because, being enlightened, he shone. But why did he become dark? Because "he did not stand in the truth." So he is before the morning star, before everyone enlightened; since he by whom all who can be enlightened are enlightened must necessarily be before everyone enlightened.

John 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:58 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 14:12 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:44 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: John says that Christ, though coming after him, ranks before him because he was prior to him; indeed he was begotten before the morning star, before Lucifer and every enlightened creature.

Quotations: John 1:15; John 8:58; Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX/Vulg., 'ante luciferum genui te'); Isa 14:12; John 8:44. Lucifer means 'morning star' and is applied to the devil, following the tradition of reading Isa 14:12 of the fall of Satan.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Ilic → Hic); OCR slip in the digital text (Prinr → Prior); OCR slip in the digital text (anteme → ante me); OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est); OCR slip in the digital text (lucifcruni → luciferum); OCR slip in the digital text (nie → me); OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui); OCR slip in the digital text (siquidcm → siquidem)): Ilic → Hic; anteme → ante me; Præcessit nie: → Præcessit me:; factus eat. → factus est.; Prinr → Prior; lucifcruni → luciferum; siquidcm → siquidem; omnes qni illuminari → omnes qui illuminari.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.7 (PL 35:1399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-7) · Report an error

3.8PL 35:1399

Ideo hoc sequitur: Et de plenitudine ejus nos omnes accepimus. Quid accepistis? Et gratiam pro gratia. Sic enim habent verba evangelica, collata cum exemplaribus graecis. Non ait, Et de plenitudine ejus nos omnes accepimus, gratiam pro gratia; sed sic ait, Et de plenitudine ejus nos omnes accepimus, et gratiam pro gratia, id est, accepimus: ut nescio quid nos voluerit intelligere de plenitudine ejus accepisse; et insuper gratiam pro gratia. Accepimus enim de plenitudine ejus, primo gratiam; et rursum accepi mus gratiam, gratiam pro gratia. Quam gratiam pri mo accepimus? Fidem. In fide ambulantes, in gratia ambulamus. Unde enim hoc meruimus? quibus no stris praecedentibus meritis? Non se quisque compalpet, redeat in conscientiam suam, quærat latebras cogitationum suarum, redeat ad seriem factorum suo rum: non attendat quid sit, si jam aliquid est; sed quid fuerit, ut esset aliquid; inveniet non se dignum fuisse nisi supplicio. Si ergo supplicio dignus fuisti, et venit ille qui non peccata puniret, sed peccata donaret; gratia tibi data est, non merces reddita. Unde vocatur gratia? Quia gratis datur. Non enim præcedentibus meritis emisti quod accepisti. Hanc ergo accepit gratiam primam peccator, ut ejus peccata dimitterentur. Quid meruit? Interroget justitiam; invenit pœnam: interroget misericordiam; invenit gratiam. Sed hoc et promiserat Deus per Prophetas: itaque cum venit dare quod promiserat; non solum gratiam dedit, sed et veritatem. Quomodo exhibita est veritas? Quia factum est quod promissum est.

That is why this follows: "And of his fullness we have all received." What have you received? "And grace for grace." For this is how the words of the Gospel read when compared with the Greek copies. He does not say, "And of his fullness we have all received grace for grace," but he says, "And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace," that is, we have received; so that he wanted us to understand that we have received something of his fullness, and in addition grace for grace. For we have received of his fullness, first grace; and again we have received grace, grace for grace. What grace did we receive first? Faith. Walking in faith, we walk in grace. For how did we deserve this? By what prior merits of ours? Let no one flatter himself; let him return to his conscience, search the hiding places of his thoughts, go back over the series of his deeds; let him not consider what he is, if he is now something, but what he was, that he might become something: he will find that he was worthy of nothing but punishment. If, then, you were worthy of punishment, and he came who would not punish sins but forgive them, grace was given you, not a wage paid. Why is it called grace? Because it is given gratis. For you did not buy what you received with prior merits. So the sinner received this first grace, that his sins might be forgiven. What did he deserve? Let him question justice: he finds punishment. Let him question mercy: he finds grace. But God had also promised this through the prophets; and so, when he came to give what he had promised, he gave not only grace but also truth. How was truth shown? Because what was promised was done.

John 1:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:17 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: From Christ's fullness we receive first the grace of faith and forgiveness, given freely to sinners who deserved only punishment, and also truth, the fulfilment of God's promises.

Quotations: John 1:16-17. Augustine compares the Latin with Greek copies. Gratia ('grace') is played on with gratis ('freely'). 'Let no one flatter himself' renders the digital text's garbled 'compalpel I', read as compalpet (uncertain).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (accepislis → accepistis); OCR slip in the digital text (compal pel I, → compalpet,); OCR slip in the digital text (interrogct → interroget); OCR slip in the digital text (mcruhnus → meruimus); OCR slip in the digital text (noa omnes → nos omnes); OCR slip in the digital text (pcc cata dimitteremur → peccata dimitterentur); OCR slip in the digital text (salum → solum); OCR slip in the digital text (voJucrit → voluerit)): noa omnes → nos omnes; accepislis → accepistis; voJucrit → voluerit; mcruhnus → meruimus; compal pel I, → compalpet,; pcc cata dimitteremur → peccata dimitterentur; interrogct → interroget; salum → solum.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.8 (PL 35:1399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-8) · Report an error

3.9PL 35:1399

Quid est ergo, gratiam pro gratia? Fide prome remur Deum; et qui digni non eramus quibus peccata dimitterentur, ex eo quia tantum donum indigni accepimus, gratia vocatur. Quid est gratia? gratis data. Quid est gratis data? Donata, non reddita. Si debebatur, merces reddita est, non gratia donata; si autem vere debebatur, bonus fuisti: si autem, ut verum est, malus fuisti, credidisti autem in eum qui justificat impium (Quid est, qui justi ficat impium? Ex impio facit pium); cogita quid per legem tibi imminere debebat, et quid per gratiam consecutus sis. Consecutus autem istam gratiam fi dei, eris justus ex fide (Justus enim ex fide vivit); et promereberis Deum vivendo ex fide: cum promerueris Deum vivendo ex fide, accipies præmium immortalitatem, et vitam aeternam. Et illa gratia est. Nam pro quo merito ac cipis vitam aeternam? Pro gratia. Si enim fides gra tia est, et vita æterna quasi merces est fidei: vide tur quidem Deus vitam aeternam tanquam debitam reddere (Cui debitam? Fideli, quia promeruit illam per fidem); sed quia ipsa fides gratia est, et vita æterna gratia est pro gratia.

What, then, is "grace for grace"? By faith we win God's favor; and we who were not worthy to have our sins forgiven, because we received so great a gift unworthily, it is called grace. What is grace? Something given gratis. What is given gratis? Something bestowed, not paid. If it was owed, a wage was paid, not grace bestowed; and if it was truly owed, you were good; but if, as is true, you were evil, yet you believed in him who justifies the ungodly (what does "who justifies the ungodly" mean? He makes the ungodly godly), consider what was bound to threaten you through the law, and what you have obtained through grace. Having obtained this grace of faith, you will be righteous by faith (for "the righteous lives by faith"); and you will win God's favor by living by faith. When you have won God's favor by living by faith, you will receive as reward immortality and eternal life. And that is grace. For in return for what merit do you receive eternal life? In return for grace. For if faith is grace, and eternal life is, as it were, the wage of faith, God seems indeed to pay eternal life as a debt (owed to whom? to the believer, because he has merited it through faith); but because faith itself is grace, eternal life too is grace for grace.

Rom 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Hab 2:4 (quotation, medium confidence) · John 1:16 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Faith is a free gift to the ungodly, and eternal life, though it seems a wage owed to faith, is itself 'grace for grace' because faith is grace.

Quotations: Rom 4:5; Hab 2:4 as cited in Rom 1:17. Augustine's teaching on grace and merit is translated as written. A stray 'I' after 'si autem' in the digital text is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (aternam → aeternam); OCR slip in the digital text (ct vita → et vita); OCR slip in the digital text (cx fide → ex fide); OCR slip in the digital text (debltam? Fidcli → debitam? Fideli); OCR slip in the digital text (pec cala → peccata); OCR slip in the digital text (qnia → quia); OCR slip in the digital text (si autem I, ut → si autem, ut)): pec cala → peccata; si autem I, ut → si autem, ut; cx fide → ex fide; aternam → aeternam; debltam? Fidcli → debitam? Fideli; qnia → quia; ct vita → et vita.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.9 (PL 35:1399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-9) · Report an error

3.10PL 35:1399–1401

Audi Paulum apostolum confitentem gratiam, et postea debitum expetentem. Confessio gratiae quæ est in Paulo? Qui prius fui blasphemus, et persecutor, et injuriosus: sed misericordiam, inquit, consecutus sum. Indignum se dixit qui conseque retur: consecutum tamen non per merita sua, sed per misericordiam Dei. Audi illum jam flagitantem debitum, qui primo indebitam susceperat gratiam: Ego enim, inquit, jam immolor, et tempus resolutionis meæ instat. Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consum mavi, fidem servavi: de cætero reposita est mihi corona justitiæ. Jam debitum flagitat, jam debitum exigit. Nam vide verba sequentia: Quam mihi reddet Domi nus in illa die, justus judex. Ut ante susciperet gratiam, misericordem patrem opus habebat: ut præmium gratiæ, judicem justum. Qui non damnavit impium, damnabit fidelem? Et tamen si bene cogites, ipse dedit fidem primo, qua eum promeruisti: non enim de tuo promeruisti ut tibi aliquid deberetur. Quod ergo præmium immortali tatis postea tribuit, dona sua coronat, non merita tua. Ergo, fratres, omnes de plenitudine ejus accepi mus: de plenitudine misericordiæ ejus, de abun dantia bonitatis ejus accepimus. Quid? Remissionem peccatorum, ut justificaremur ex fide. Et insuper quid? Et gratiam pro gratia; id est, pro hac gratia in qua ex fide vivimus, recepturi sumus aliam: quid tamen nisi gratiam? Nam si dixero quia et hoc de betur, aliquid mihi assigno, quasi cui debeatur. Co ronat autem in nobis Deus dona misericordiæ suæ: sed si in ea gratia quam primam accepimus, perseve ranter ambulemus.

Hear the apostle Paul confessing grace and afterwards claiming what is owed. What confession of grace is there in Paul? "I who was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and insolent; but I obtained mercy," he says. He called himself unworthy to obtain it; yet he obtained it, not through his own merits, but through the mercy of God. Hear him now demanding what is owed, he who first received grace that was not owed: "For I am now being offered," he says, "and the time of my release is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; for the rest, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness." Now he demands what is owed, now he claims the debt. For see the words that follow: "which the Lord, the righteous judge, will pay me on that day." To receive grace first, he needed a merciful father; to receive the reward of grace, a righteous judge. Will he who did not condemn the ungodly condemn the faithful? And yet, if you think well, he himself first gave the faith by which you won his favor: for you did not by anything of your own win the right to have something owed to you. So when he afterwards grants the reward of immortality, he crowns his own gifts, not your merits. So, brothers, "of his fullness we have all received": of the fullness of his mercy, of the abundance of his goodness we have received. What? The forgiveness of sins, so that we might be justified by faith. And what besides? "And grace for grace"; that is, in return for this grace in which we live by faith, we are to receive another: and what is it but grace? For if I say that this too is owed, I am attributing something to myself, as one to whom it is owed. But God crowns in us the gifts of his mercy, provided we walk perseveringly in that grace which we first received.

1 Tim 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul first confessed that he received mercy undeserved and then claimed the crown as owed; yet God, in crowning merits, crowns his own gifts.

Quotations: 1 Tim 1:13; 2 Tim 4:6-8; John 1:16. 'He crowns his own gifts, not your merits' is a classic statement of Augustine's doctrine of grace; translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Qvi → Qui); OCR slip in the digital text (gratiani → gratiam); OCR slip in the digital text (mcrila → merita); OCR slip in the digital text (mibi → mihi); OCR slip in the digital text (misericordiam. inquit → misericordiam, inquit); OCR slip in the digital text (nihi → mihi); OCR slip in the digital text (pcr misericordiam → per misericordiam); OCR slip in the digital text (qua cum promeruisti → qua eum promeruisti); OCR slip in the digital text (quabi → quasi); OCR slip in the digital text (tamcn → tamen)): Paulo? Qvi prius → Paulo? Qui prius; misericordiam. inquit → misericordiam, inquit; pcr misericordiam → per misericordiam; gratiani → gratiam; nihi → mihi; qua cum promeruisti → qua eum promeruisti; mcrila → merita; tamcn → tamen; mibi → mihi; quabi → quasi.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.10 (PL 35:1399–1401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-10) · Report an error

3.11PL 35:1401

Lex enim per Moysen data est: quae reos tene bat. Quid enim ait Apostolus? Lex subintravit, ut abundaret delictum. Hoc proderat super bis, ut abundaret delictum: multum enim sibi dabant, et quasi viribus suis multum assignabant; et non po terant implere justitiam, nisi adjuvaret ille qui jus serat. Superbiam illorum volens domare Deus, dedit Legem, tanquam dicens: Ecce implete, ne putetis deesse jubentem. Non deest qui jubeat, sed deest qui impleat.

"For the law was given through Moses": the law that held men guilty. For what does the apostle say? "The law came in, so that sin might abound." This was of benefit to the proud, that sin should abound: for they credited themselves with much and attributed much, as it were, to their own strength; and they could not fulfill righteousness unless he who had commanded helped them. Wishing to tame their pride, God gave the law, as if saying, "Here, fulfill it, so that you may not think there is no one to command." There is no lack of one to command; there is a lack of one to fulfill.

John 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:20 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The law given through Moses made the proud guilty and showed them that, though commanded, they could not fulfill righteousness without God's help.

Quotations: John 1:17; Rom 5:20.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.11 (PL 35:1401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-11) · Report an error

3.12PL 35:1401

Si ergo deest qui impleat, unde non implet? Quia natus cum traduce peccati et mortis. De Adam natus, traxit secum quod ibi conceptum est. Cecidit primus homo; et omnes qui de illo nati sunt, de illo traxerunt concupiscentiam carnis. Oportebat ut na sceretur alius homo qui nullam traxit concupiscen tiam. Homo, et homo: homo ad mortem, et homo ad vitam. Sic dicit Apostolus: Quoniam quidem per ho minem mors, et per hominem resurrectio mortuorum. Per quem hominem mors, et per quem hominem re surrectio mortuorum? Noli festinare: sequitur, et di cit: Sicut enim in Adam omnes moriuntur, sic et in Christo omnes vivificabuntur. Qui pertinent ad Adam? Omnes qui nati sunt de Adam. Qui ad Christum? Omnes qui nati sunt per Christum. Quare omnes in peccato? Quia nemo natus est præter Adam. Ut autem nascerentur ex Adam, necessitatis fuit ex damnatione: nasci per Christum, voluntatis est et gratiæ. Non coguntur homines nasci per Chri stum non quia voluerunt, nati sunt ex Adam. Omnes tamen qui ex Adam, cum peccato peccatores: omnes qui per Christum, justificati et justi, non in se, sed in illo. Nam in se si interroges, Adam sunt: in illo si in terroges, Christi sunt. Quare? Quia ille caput Domi nus noster Jesus Christus, non cum traduce peccati venit: sed tamen venit cum carne mortali.

If, then, there is a lack of one to fulfill it, why does man not fulfill it? Because he is born with the inherited strain of sin and death. Born of Adam, he has drawn with him what was conceived there. The first man fell; and all who were born of him drew from him the lust of the flesh. Another man had to be born, who drew no lust. A man and a man: a man unto death, and a man unto life. So the apostle says: "For since by a man came death, by a man came also the resurrection of the dead." By what man death, and by what man the resurrection of the dead? Do not hurry: it continues and says, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." Who belong to Adam? All who were born of Adam. Who to Christ? All who were born through Christ. Why are all in sin? Because no one was born apart from Adam. That they were born of Adam was a necessity arising from condemnation; to be born through Christ is a matter of will and of grace. Men are not compelled to be born through Christ; it was not because they willed it that they were born of Adam. Yet all who are of Adam are sinners, with sin; all who are through Christ are justified and righteous, not in themselves but in him. For if you question them in themselves, they are Adam's; if you question them in him, they are Christ's. Why? Because he, the head, our Lord Jesus Christ, did not come with the inherited strain of sin; but he did come with mortal flesh.

1 Cor 15:21 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:22 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: All born of Adam inherit sin and the lust of the flesh by necessity, while those reborn through Christ, who came without inherited sin, are righteous in him by grace.

Quotations: 1 Cor 15:21-22. Tradux peccati ('the inherited strain of sin') is Augustine's term for original sin passed down from Adam; his teaching is translated as written. 'Men are not compelled to be born through Christ; it was not because they willed it that they were born of Adam' renders the digital text's run-on sentence by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Chrislum → Christum); OCR slip in the digital text (festinarc → festinare); OCR slip in the digital text (mora → mors)): mora → mors; festinarc → festinare; Chrislum → Christum.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.12 (PL 35:1401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-12) · Report an error

3.13PL 35:1401

Mors peccatorum poena erat: in Domino mu nus misericordiae erat, non poena peccati. Non enim aliquid habebat Dominus quare juste moreretur. Ipse ait, Ecce venit princeps hujus mundi, et in me nihil invenit. Quare ergo moreris? Sed ut sciant omnes quia voluntatem Patris mei facio, surgite, eamus hinc. Non habebat ille quare morere tur, et mortuus est: tu habes quare, et mori dedi gnaris? Dignare æquo animo pati per meritum tuum, quod ille pati dignatus est, ut te a sempiterna morte liberaret. Homo, et homo: sed ille, nonnisi homo; iste, Deus homo. Ille homo peccati, iste justitiae. Mortuus es in Adam, resurge in Christo: nam utrumque debe tur tibi. Jam credidisti in Christum, reddes tamen quod debes de Adam. Sed non te in æternum tenebit vinculum peccati; quia mortem tuam æternam occidit mors temporalis Domini tui. Ipsa est gratia, fratres mei, ipsa est et veritas, quia promissa et exhibita.

Death was the punishment of sinners; in the Lord it was a gift of mercy, not the punishment of sin. For the Lord had nothing for which he should justly die. He himself says, "See, the ruler of this world is coming, and he finds nothing in me." Why then do you die? "But so that all may know that I do the will of my Father, rise, let us go from here." He had no reason to die, and he died; you have reason, and you disdain to die? Deign to suffer with an even mind, as you deserve, what he deigned to suffer in order to free you from everlasting death. A man and a man: but the one only a man, the other God and man. The one a man of sin, the other of righteousness. You died in Adam; rise again in Christ: for both are owed to you. You have already believed in Christ; yet you will pay what you owe from Adam. But the chain of sin will not hold you for ever, because the temporal death of your Lord killed your eternal death. This is grace, my brothers; this is also truth, because it was promised and shown.

John 14:30 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:31 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, who had no sin, died as a gift of mercy; believers still pay the debt of death from Adam, but Christ's death has destroyed their eternal death.

Quotation: John 14:30-31 (combined). A stray apostrophe after 'Deus homo' in the digital text is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Paris → Patris); OCR slip in the digital text (ct mortuus → et mortuus); OCR slip in the digital text (dcbes → debes); OCR slip in the digital text (ei in me → et in me); OCR slip in the digital text (homo'. → homo.; lUe → Ille)): ei in me → et in me; Paris → Patris; ct mortuus → et mortuus; homo'. lUe homo → homo. Ille homo; dcbes → debes.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.13 (PL 35:1401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-13) · Report an error

3.14PL 35:1401

Non erat ista in Veteri Testamento, quia Lex minabatur, non opitulabatur; jubebat, non sanabat; languorem ostendebat, non auferebat: sed illi prae parabat medico venturo cum gratia et veritate; tan quam ad aliquem quem curare vult medicus, mittat primo servum suum, ut ligatum illum inveniat. Sanus non erat, sanari nolebat, et ne sanaretur, sanum se esse jactabat: missa Lex est, ligavit eum; invenit se reum, jam clamat de ligatura. Venit Dominus, curat amaris aliquantum et acribus medicamentis: dicit enim aegroto, Ferto; dicit, Tolera; dicit, Noli diligere mundum, habeto patientiam, curet te ignis continen tias, ferrum persecutionum tolerent vulnera tua. Ex pavescebas quamvis ligatus: liber ille et non ligatus bibit quod tibi dabat; prior passus est ut te consola retur, tanquam dicens, Quod times pati pro te, prior patior pro te. Hæc est gratia, et magna gratia. Quis illam digne collaudat?

This was not in the Old Testament, because the law threatened, it did not help; it commanded, it did not heal; it showed the sickness, it did not take it away; but it prepared for the physician who was to come with grace and truth. It is as if a physician, wishing to cure someone, first sends his servant to find him bound. He was not healthy, he did not want to be healed, and so as not to be healed he boasted that he was healthy. The law was sent; it bound him; he finds himself guilty, and now he cries out against the binding. The Lord comes, he cures with somewhat bitter and sharp medicines; for he says to the sick man, "Bear it"; he says, "Endure"; he says, "Do not love the world; have patience; let the fire of self-restraint cure you; let your wounds endure the knife of persecution." You were terrified, though bound; he, free and unbound, drank what he was giving you; he suffered first in order to console you, as if saying, "What you fear to suffer for yourself, I suffer first for you." This is grace, and great grace. Who can praise it worthily?

1 John 2:15 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The law of the Old Testament exposed sickness without healing it, binding the patient for the physician; Christ heals with bitter medicines, having first drunk them himself.

Allusion: 1 John 2:15 ('Do not love the world').

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Lcx est, ligavit cum → Lex est, ligavit eum); OCR slip in the digital text (argroto → aegroto); OCR slip in the digital text (habclo → habeto); OCR slip in the digital text (jubcbat → jubebat)): jubcbat → jubebat; Lcx est, ligavit cum → Lex est, ligavit eum; argroto → aegroto; habclo → habeto.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.14 (PL 35:1401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-14) · Report an error

3.15PL 35:1401

De humilitate Christi loquor, fratres mei. Ma jestatem Christi et divinitatem Christi quis loquitur? In explicando et dicendo ut quoquomodo humilitatem Christi loqueremur, non sufficimus, imo deficimus: totum cogitantibus committimus, non audientibus ad implemus. Cogitate humilitatem Christi. Sed quis no bis, inquis, eam explicat, nisi tu dicas? Ille intus di cat. Melius illud dicit qui intus habitat, quam qui fo ris clamat. Ipse vobis ostendat gratiam humilitatis suae, qui coepit habitare in cordibus vestris. Jamvero si in ejus humilitate explicanda et eroganda deficimus, majestatem ejus quis loquatur? Si Verbum caro factum conturbat nos, In principio erat Verbum quis explica bit? Tenete ergo, fratres, soliditatem istam.

I am speaking of the humility of Christ, my brothers. The majesty of Christ, the divinity of Christ: who can speak of it? In explaining and speaking so as to speak in any way at all of the humility of Christ, we are not adequate, indeed we fail: we commit the whole to those who think, we do not complete it for those who hear. Think about the humility of Christ. "But who," you say, "will explain it to us, unless you speak?" Let him speak within. He who dwells within speaks it better than he who shouts outside. Let him show you the grace of his humility, he who has begun to dwell in your hearts. Now if we fail in explaining and dispensing his humility, who can speak of his majesty? If "the Word became flesh" bewilders us, who will explain "In the beginning was the Word"? Hold fast, then, brothers, to this firm ground.

John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 3:17 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine confesses that he cannot adequately explain even Christ's humility, let alone his divinity, and leaves his hearers to the inner teacher who dwells in their hearts.

Quotations: John 1:14; John 1:1; allusion to Eph 3:17.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.15 (PL 35:1401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-15) · Report an error

3.16PL 35:1401–1403

Lex per Moysen data est, gratia et veritas per Jesum Christum facta est. Per servum Lex data est, reos fecit: per Imperatorem indulgentia data est; reos liberavit. Lex per Moysen data est. Non sibi ali quid amplius servus assignet, quam quod per illum factum est. Electus ad magnum ministerium tanquam fidelis in domo, sed tamen servus, agere secundum Le gem potest, solvere a reatu Legis non potest. Lex ergo per Moysen data est, Gratia et veritas per Jesum Chri stum facta est.

"The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Through a servant the law was given; it made men guilty. Through the Emperor pardon was given; it set the guilty free. "The law was given through Moses." Let the servant claim nothing more for himself than what was done through him. Chosen for a great ministry, as faithful in the house, yet still a servant, he can act according to the law; he cannot release from the guilt of the law. So "the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

John 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 12:7 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The law came through Moses, a faithful servant who could not release from guilt; grace and truth came through Christ, the Emperor who grants pardon.

Quotation: John 1:17; allusion to Num 12:7 and Heb 3:5 (Moses faithful in God's house as a servant).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est)): data eat, → data est,.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.16 (PL 35:1401–1403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-16) · Report an error

3.17PL 35:1403

Et ne forte aliquis dicat, Et Gratia et veritas non est facta per Moysen, qui vidit Deum? statim subjecit, Deum nemo vidit unquam. Et unde innotuit Moysi Deus? Quia revelavit servo suo Dominus. Quis Dominus? Ipse Christus, qui præmisit Legem per servum, ut veniret ipse cum Gratia et veritate. Deum enim nemo vidit unquam. Et unde illi servo quantum capere pos set apparuit? Sed unigenitus, inquit, Filius qui est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit. Quid est, in sinu Patris? In secreto Patris. Non enim Deus habet sinum, sicut nos habemus in vestibus, aut cogitandus est sic sedere quomodo nos, aut forte cinctus est ut sinum haberet: sed quia sinus noster intus est, secretum Patris sinus Patris vocatur. In secreto Patris, qui Patrem novit, ipse enarravit. Nam Deum nemo vidit unquam. Ipse ergo venit, et narravit quidquid vidit. Quid vidit Moy ses? Moyses vidit nubem, vidit angelum, vidit ignem; omnis illa creatura est; typum Domini sui gerebat, non ipsius Domini præsentiam exhibebat. Namque aperte habes in Lege, Et loquebatur Moyses cum Do mino, contra in contra sicut amicus cum amico suo. Se queris ipsam Scripturam, et invenis Moysen dicen tem, Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, ostende mihi teipsum manifeste, ut videam te. Et parum est quia dixit: responsum accepit, Non potes videre faciem meam. Loquebatur ergo, fratres mei, cum Moyse angelus, portans typum Do mini: et illa omnia quae ibi per angelum facta sunt, futuram istam gratiam et veritatem promittebant. Qui bene scrutantur Legem, noverunt: et cum op portunum est, ut et nos aliquid inde dicamus, quan tum Dominus revelat, non tacemus Charitati vestrae.

And lest anyone perhaps say, "Did not grace and truth come through Moses, who saw God?" he at once added, "No one has ever seen God." And how did God make himself known to Moses? Because the Lord revealed himself to his servant. Which Lord? Christ himself, who sent the law ahead through a servant so that he himself might come with grace and truth. "For no one has ever seen God." And how did he appear to that servant, as much as he could grasp? "But the only-begotten Son," he says, "who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." What does "in the bosom of the Father" mean? In the secret of the Father. For God does not have a bosom as we have in our garments, nor is he to be thought of as sitting as we do, or perhaps as girded so as to have a fold; but because our bosom is within, the secret of the Father is called the bosom of the Father. He who in the secret of the Father knew the Father, he has declared him. "For no one has ever seen God." So he came and declared whatever he saw. What did Moses see? Moses saw a cloud, he saw an angel, he saw fire: all that is creature. It bore a figure of its Lord; it did not show the presence of the Lord himself. For you have it plainly in the law: "And Moses spoke with the Lord face to face, as a friend with his friend." Follow the same Scripture, and you find Moses saying, "If I have found favor in your sight, show me yourself openly, that I may see you." And it is not enough that he said this: he received the answer, "You cannot see my face." So, my brothers, an angel spoke with Moses, bearing a figure of the Lord; and all those things that were done there through an angel promised this grace and truth that was to come. Those who search the law well know this; and when it is opportune for us too to say something on it, as far as the Lord reveals, we will not keep silent before your Charity.

John 1:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 19:9 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Moses did not see God himself but created figures of him, a cloud, fire, an angel; only the Son, who is in the Father's 'bosom', that is, his secret, has declared the Father.

Quotations: John 1:18; Exod 33:11, 13, 20; allusions to Exod 3:2; 19:9. Augustine holds that the theophanies to Moses were mediated by an angel bearing a figure of the Lord. 'Face to face' renders the Old Latin contra in contra.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Domitii → Domini); OCR slip in the digital text (Loquebalur → Loquebatur); OCR slip in the digital text (Patria? → Patris?); OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ei illa → et illa); OCR slip in the digital text (exbibcbat → exhibebat); OCR slip in the digital text (nc forte → ne forte); OCR slip in the digital text (pOla videre fatiem → potes videre faciem); OCR slip in the digital text (promittebant, Qul → promittebant. Qui); OCR slip in the digital text (suoi → suo.); OCR slip in the digital text (uude innotuitMoysi → unde innotuit Moysi); OCR slip in the digital text (vcritafe → veritate); OCR slip in the digital text (ve- Diret → veniret); OCR slip in the digital text (viait unquum → vidit unquam)): nc forte → ne forte; uude innotuitMoysi → unde innotuit Moysi; ve- Diret → veniret; vcritafe → veritate; qui eat in → qui est in; Patria? → Patris?; viait unquum → vidit unquam; Domitii → Domini; exbibcbat → exhibebat; suoi → suo.; pOla videre fatiem → potes videre faciem; Loquebalur → Loquebatur; ei illa → et illa; promittebant, Qul → promittebant. Qui.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.17 (PL 35:1403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-17) · Report an error

3.18PL 35:1403

Illud autem sciatis, quia omnia quae corporali ter visa sunt, non erant illa substantia Dei. Illa enim oculis carnis videmus: Dei substantia unde videtur? Evangelium interroga: Beati mundo corde; quia ipsi Deum videbunt. Fuerunt homines qui dicerent vanitate sui cordis decepti, Pater invisibilis est, Filius autem visibilis est. Unde visibilis? Si pro pter carnem, quia suscepit carnem; manifestum est. Illi enim qui carnem Christi viderunt, aliqui credide runt, aliqui crucifixerunt: et qui crediderunt, illo crucifixo nutaverunt; et nisi ipsam post resurrectio nem palparent, fides ad eos non revocaretur. Si ergo propter carnem visibilis Filius; et nos concedimus, et est catholica fides: si autem ante carnem sicut ipsi dicunt, id est, antequam incarnaretur; multum deli rant, et multum errant. Facta enim sunt illa visibilia corporaliter per creaturam, in quibus typus ostenderetur: non utique substantia ipsa demonstrabatur et manifestabatur. Et hoc attendat Charitas vestra lene documentum. Sapientia Dei videri oculis non potest. Fratres, si Christus Sapientia Dei, et Virtus Dei; si Christus Verbum Dei; verbum ho minis oculis non videtur, Verbum Dei videri sic po test?

But know this: all the things that were seen bodily were not the substance of God. For those we see with the eyes of the flesh; how is the substance of God seen? Question the Gospel: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." There have been men, deceived by the vanity of their heart, who said, "The Father is invisible, but the Son is visible." Visible how? If because of the flesh, because he took flesh, it is obvious. For of those who saw the flesh of Christ, some believed and some crucified him; and those who believed wavered when he was crucified, and had they not touched that very flesh after the resurrection, faith would not have been recalled to them. If, then, the Son is visible because of the flesh, we also grant it, and it is the Catholic faith; but if before the flesh, as they say, that is, before he became incarnate, they are very much deranged and very much in error. For those visible things were made bodily through the creation, in which a figure might be shown; certainly the substance itself was not displayed and manifested. And let your Charity attend to this simple proof. The Wisdom of God cannot be seen with the eyes. Brothers, if Christ is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God; if Christ is the Word of God; since the word of a man is not seen with the eyes, can the Word of God be seen so?

Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 24:39 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 20:27 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Against those who said the Son was visible before the incarnation, Augustine holds that the Old Testament appearances were created figures, since the Word and Wisdom of God cannot be seen with bodily eyes.

Quotations: Matt 5:8; 1 Cor 1:24; allusion to Luke 24:39 and John 20:27. The view that the Son was visible by nature before the incarnation was held by some Arians; Augustine's rejection is translated as written. 'Simple proof' renders lene (leve?) documentum, uncertain; a stray apostrophe after 'Virtus Dei' is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Ulla enim cculis → Illa enim oculis); OCR slip in the digital text (Uude → Unde); OCR slip in the digital text (Virtus Dei ' → Virtus Dei); OCR slip in the digital text (ad cos → ad eos); OCR slip in the digital text (anie → ante); OCR slip in the digital text (ci nisi → et nisi); OCR slip in the digital text (illud autem → Illud autem); OCR slip in the digital text (lili enim qui carnem Christi vidoruol → Illi enim qui carnem Christi viderunt); OCR slip in the digital text (osieode retur → ostenderetur); OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui)): illud autem → Illud autem; Ulla enim cculis → Illa enim oculis; homines qni dicerent → homines qui dicerent; Uude → Unde; lili enim qui carnem Christi vidoruol → Illi enim qui carnem Christi viderunt; ci nisi → et nisi; ad cos → ad eos; anie → ante; osieode retur → ostenderetur; Virtus Dei ' → Virtus Dei.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.18 (PL 35:1403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-18) · Report an error

3.19PL 35:1403

Expellite ergo de cordibus vestris carnales co gitationes, ut vere sitis sub gratia, ut ad Novum Tes tamentum pertineatis. Ideo vita æterna promittitur in Novo Testamento. Legite Vetus Testamentum, et videte quia carnali adhuc populo ea quidem praecipie bantur quæ nobis. Nam unum Deum colere, et nobis præcipitur. Non accipies in vanum nomen Domini Dei tui, et nobis praecipitur: quod est secundum praeceptum. Observa diem sabbati, magis nobis præcipitur: quia spiritualiter observandum praecipitur. Judaei enim serviliter observant diem sabbati, ad luxuriam, ad ebrietatem. Quanto melius feminae eorum lanam fa cerent, quam illo die in mænianis saltarent? Absit, fratres, ut illos dicamus observare sabbatum. Spiri tualiter observat sabbatum christianus, abstinens se ab opere servili. Quid est enim ab opere servili? A peccato. Et unde probamus? Dominum interroga: Omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Ergo et nobis praecipitur spiritualiter observatio sabbati. Jam illa omnia prœcepta nobis magis præci piuntur, et observanda sunt: Non occides, Non mœ chaberis, Non furaberis, Non falsum testimonium dices, Honora patrem et matrem, Non concupisces rem proxi mi tui, Non concupisces uxorem proximi tui. Nonne ista omnia et nobis praecipiuntur? Sed quaere mercedem, et invenies ibi dici: Ut expellantur hostes a facie tua, et accipiatis terram quam promisit Deus patribus vestris. Quia non poterant capere invisibilia, per visibilia tenebantur. Quare tenebantur? Ne penitus interirent, et ad idola laberentur. Nam fecerunt hoc, fratres mei, sicut legi tur, obliti tanta miracula quæ fecit Deus coram oculis eorum. Mare discissum est; via facta est in mediis fluctibus; sequentes hostes eorum eisdem aquis operti sunt, per quas illi transierunt: et cum Moyses homo Dei recessisset ab oculis eorum, idolum petierunt, et dixerunt: Fac nobis deos qui nos praeeant, quia ille homo dimisit nos. Tota spes eorum in homine posita erat, non in Deo. Ecce mortuus est homo: numquid mortuus est Deus qui eruerat eos de terra Aegypti? Et cum fecissent sibi imaginem vituli, adoraverunt, et dixerunt, Hi sunt dii tui, Israel, qui te liberaverunt de terra Ægypti. Quam cito obliti tam manifestam gratiam! Quibus ergo modis teneretur populus talis, nisi promissis carna libus?

Drive carnal thoughts out of your hearts, then, so that you may truly be under grace, so that you may belong to the New Testament. That is why eternal life is promised in the New Testament. Read the Old Testament, and see that to a people still carnal the same things were commanded as to us. For to worship one God is commanded us too. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" is commanded us too: that is the second commandment. "Observe the Sabbath day" is commanded us still more, because it is commanded to be observed spiritually. For the Jews observe the Sabbath day in a servile way, for self-indulgence and drunkenness. How much better would their women spin wool than dance on the balconies on that day! Far be it from us, brothers, to say that they observe the Sabbath. The Christian observes the Sabbath spiritually, abstaining from servile work. For what does "from servile work" mean? From sin. And how do we prove it? Ask the Lord: "Everyone who commits sin is the servant of sin." So the spiritual observance of the Sabbath is commanded us too. Now all those commandments are commanded us still more, and are to be kept: "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, You shall not covet your neighbor's goods, You shall not covet your neighbor's wife." Are not all these commanded us too? But look for the reward, and you will find it said there: "That your enemies may be driven out before you, and you may receive the land which God promised to your fathers." Because they could not grasp invisible things, they were held by visible ones. Why were they held? So that they might not perish utterly and slip away to idols. For they did this, my brothers, as we read, forgetting the great miracles God had done before their eyes. The sea was divided; a way was made in the midst of the waves; their enemies who followed were covered by the same waters through which they had passed. And when Moses, the man of God, had withdrawn from their sight, they asked for an idol and said, "Make us gods to go before us, for that man has abandoned us." Their whole hope was placed in a man, not in God. See, the man has died: has God died, who had rescued them from the land of Egypt? And when they had made themselves the image of a calf, they worshiped it and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who freed you from the land of Egypt." How quickly they forgot so manifest a grace! By what means, then, could such a people be held, except by carnal promises?

Exod 20:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 5:12 (quotation, medium confidence) · John 8:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 23:31 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 14:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 32:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 32:4 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The same commandments are given to Christians as to Israel, the Sabbath to be kept spiritually by abstaining from sin, but the old promises were earthly because a carnal people, quick to turn to idols, could grasp only visible things.

Augustine's polemic against the Jewish observance of the Sabbath in his own day is translated as written. Quotations: Exod 20:7; Exod 20:8 / Deut 5:12; John 8:34; Exod 20:12-17 (Deut 5:16-21); Exod 32:1, 4; allusions to Exod 23:27-31; Exod 14:21-28; Lev 23:7 ('servile work'). Augustine counts the commandment against taking God's name in vain as the second.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (IIi sunt → Hi sunt); OCR slip in the digital text (IIonora → Honora); OCR slip in the digital text (Idco → Ideo); OCR slip in the digital text (cnim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est); OCR slip in the digital text (lauta → tanta); OCR slip in the digital text (manifestam I gratiam → manifestam gratiam); OCR slip in the digital text (mortuus. est → mortuus est); OCR slip in the digital text (noa prœeant → nos praeeant); OCR slip in the digital text (nohis præcipitnr → nobis praecipitur); OCR slip in the digital text (oorum → eorum); OCR slip in the digital text (poteraut → poterant); OCR slip in the digital text (prrece ptum → praeceptum); OCR slip in the digital text (præcipiuntur Ą → praecipiuntur?); OCR slip in the digital text (scquentes → sequentes); OCR slip in the digital text (servilitcr → serviliter); OCR slip in the digital text (spirilualiler → spiritualiter); OCR slip in the digital text (terra,Egypti → terra Aegypti)): Idco → Ideo; nohis præcipitnr → nobis praecipitur; prrece ptum → praeceptum; servilitcr → serviliter; cnim → enim; servus eat peccati. → servus est peccati.; spirilualiler → spiritualiter; IIonora → Honora; præcipiuntur Ą → praecipiuntur?; poteraut → poterant; lauta → tanta; oorum → eorum; scquentes → sequentes; noa prœeant → nos praeeant; mortuus. est → mortuus est; terra,Egypti → terra Aegypti; IIi sunt → Hi sunt; manifestam I gratiam → manifestam gratiam.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.19 (PL 35:1403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-19) · Report an error

3.20PL 35:1403–1405

Ea ibi jubentur in decalogo Legis quæ et nobis; sed non ea promittuntur quae nobis. Nobis quid pro mittitur? Vita aeterna. Hæc est autem vita æterna, ut cognoscant te unum verum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum. Cognitio Dei promittitur: ipsa est gratia pro gratia. Fratres, modo credimus, non videmus: pro ista fide praemium erit, videre quod credimus. Noverant hoc Prophetæ, sed occultum erat antequam veniret. Nam quidam suspirans amator in Psalmis ait: Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram. Et quæris quid petat? Forte enim terram petit fluentem lacte et melle carnaliter, quamvis spiritualiter ista quaerenda sit et petenda: aut forte subjectionem hostium suorum, aut mortem inimicorum, aut impe ria et facultates hujus saeculi. Ardet enim amore, et multum suspirat, et aestuat, et anhelat. Videamus quid petat, Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram. Quid est hoc quod requirit? Ut inhabitem, inquit, in domo Domini per omnes dies vitae meae. Et puta quia habitas in domo Domini, unde ibi erit gaudium tuum? Ut contempler, inquit, delectationem Domini.

The same things are commanded there in the decalogue of the law as to us; but the same things are not promised as to us. What is promised to us? Eternal life. "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." The knowledge of God is promised: that is grace for grace. Brothers, now we believe, we do not see; the reward for this faith will be to see what we believe. The prophets knew this, but it was hidden before he came. For a certain sighing lover says in the Psalms: "One thing I have asked of the Lord; this I will seek." And do you ask what he asks for? Perhaps he asks for a land flowing with milk and honey in a carnal sense, though it is to be sought and asked for spiritually; or perhaps for the subjection of his enemies, or the death of his foes, or the empires and riches of this world. For he burns with love, and sighs much, and is fevered, and pants. Let us see what he asks for: "One thing I have asked of the Lord; this I will seek." What is it he seeks? "That I may dwell," he says, "in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." And suppose you dwell in the house of the Lord: what will your joy be there? "That I may contemplate," he says, "the delight of the Lord."

John 17:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 27:4 (26:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 5:7 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The law commands the same as the Gospel but promised earthly rewards; to Christians is promised eternal life, the vision of God that the psalmist longed for.

Quotations: John 17:3; Ps 27:4 (26:4 LXX/Vulg.); allusion to Exod 3:8 (a land flowing with milk and honey); 2 Cor 5:7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Don.;,,;, → Domini); OCR slip in the digital text (Ouen tem → fluentem); OCR slip in the digital text (Ul inhabitem → Ut inhabitem); OCR slip in the digital text (credimus. non → credimus, non); OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est); OCR slip in the digital text (habitas. in → habitas in); OCR slip in the digital text (quoe → quae); OCR slip in the digital text (sarculi → saeculi); OCR slip in the digital text (vitas meœ → vitae meae)): quoe → quae; Hæc eat autem → Hæc est autem; credimus. non → credimus, non; Ouen tem → fluentem; sarculi → saeculi; Ul inhabitem → Ut inhabitem; Don.;,,;, → Domini; vitas meœ → vitae meae; habitas. in → habitas in.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 3.20 (PL 35:1403–1405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/3-2/#p-3-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-3-20) · Report an error