Tractates on the Gospel of John 36.1–36.13

Augustine of Hippo · Tractates on the Gospel of John · ca. 406–420 · Hippo Regius · 13 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 36

36.1PL 35:1661–1663

In quatuor Evangeliis, vel potius quatuor libris unius Evangelii, sanctus Joannes apostolus, non immerito secundum intelligentiam spiritualem aquila comparatus, altius multoque sublimius aliis tribus erexit praedicationem suam; et in ejus erectione etiam corda nostra erigi voluit. Nam cæteri tres evangelistae, tanquam cum homine Domino in terra ambulabant, de divinitate ejus pauca dixerunt: istum autem quasi piguerit in terra ambulare, sicut ipso exordio sui ser monis intonuit, erexit se, non solum super terram et super omnem ambitum aeris et caeli, sed super omnem etiam exercitum Angelorum, omnemque constitutio nem invisibilium potestatum, et pervenit ad eum per quem facta sunt omnia, dicendo, In principio erat Verb um, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum: hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil. Huic tantae sublimitati principii etiam cætera congrua præ dicavit, et de Domini divinitate, quomodo nullus alius, est locutus. Hoc ructabat quod biberat. Non enim sine causa de illo in isto ipso Evangelio narratur, quia et in convivio super pectus Domini discumbebat. De illo ergo pectore in secreto bibebat: sed quod in secreto bibit, in manifesto eructavit, ut per veniat ad omnes gentes non solum incarnatio Filii Dei, et passio, et resurrectio; sed etiam quid erat ante incarnationem Unicus Patri, Verbum Patris, coæternus generanti, æqualis ei a quo missus est; sed in ipsa missione minor factus, quo major esset Pater.

In the four Gospels, or rather four books of the one Gospel, the holy apostle John, not undeservedly compared to an eagle according to spiritual understanding, raised his preaching higher and much more loftily than the other three, and in raising it he willed that our hearts too be raised. For the other three evangelists, walking as it were with the Lord as man on earth, said little about his divinity; but this one, as though it irked him to walk on earth, as he thundered at the very opening of his discourse, raised himself not only above the earth and above the whole compass of air and sky, but above the whole army of angels too and the whole order of invisible powers, and came to him through whom all things were made, saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.” To this great loftiness of the beginning he matched the rest of what he preached, and he spoke of the Lord's divinity as no one else did. He was belching forth what he had drunk. For not without cause is it told of him in this very Gospel that at the supper he reclined on the Lord's breast. From that breast, then, he drank in secret; but what he drank in secret he belched forth openly, so that there might come to all nations not only the incarnation of the Son of God, and his passion and resurrection, but also what he was before the incarnation: the only Son of the Father, the Word of the Father, coeternal with the one who begets, equal to him by whom he was sent, but in that sending itself made less, so that the Father was greater.

John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:23 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:28 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: John, compared to the eagle, soared above the other evangelists to speak of Christ's divinity, which he had drunk from the Lord's breast.

John 1:1–3 is quoted; John 13:23 is alluded to. The digital text's stray marks (“t”, “I”, a final “//”) are removed. The comparison of John to an eagle draws on Ezek 1:10 and Rev 4:7 (see 36.5).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Domiai → Domini); OCR slip in the digital text (anie → ante); OCR slip in the digital text (cam homine → cum homine); OCR slip in the digital text (comparatos → comparatus); OCR slip in the digital text (csetera congrua pra dicavit → cætera congrua præ dicavit); OCR slip in the digital text (csset Pater. // → esset Pater.); OCR slip in the digital text (ct rcsurreclio → et resurrectio); OCR slip in the digital text (libris. unius → libris unius); OCR slip in the digital text (nou immerito → non immerito); OCR slip in the digital text (oonstitutio → constitutio); OCR slip in the digital text (sant → sunt); OCR slip in the digital text (suam; t in ejus erectione etiam I corda → suam; et in ejus erectione etiam corda); OCR slip in the digital text (suntomnia → sunt omnia); OCR slip in the digital text (terram et I super → terram et super); OCR slip in the digital text (tribua → tribus); OCR slip in the digital text (uon solum → non solum)): libris. unius → libris unius; nou immerito → non immerito; comparatos → comparatus; tribua → tribus; suam; t in ejus erectione etiam I corda → suam; et in ejus erectione etiam corda; cam homine → cum homine; terram et I super → terram et super; oonstitutio → constitutio; suntomnia → sunt omnia; sant → sunt; csetera congrua pra dicavit → cætera congrua præ dicavit; Domiai → Domini; uon solum → non solum; ct rcsurreclio → et resurrectio; anie → ante; csset Pater. // → esset Pater..

Topics: Christology, Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.1 (PL 35:1661–1663; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-1). (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.

36.2PL 35:1663

Quidquid ergo humiliter positum audistis de Domino Jesu Christo, susceptæ carnis dispensationem, cogitate; qualis factus est propter nos, non qualis erat ut faceret nos: quidquid autem sublime et supra omnes creaturas excelsum atque divinum, et Patri æquale atque coæternum de illo audieritis in Evan gelio poni, vel legeritis, scitote vos hoc legere quod ad formam Dei pertinet, non quod ad formam servi. Quia si istam regulam tenueritis qui capere potestis; non autem omnes capere potestis, sed omnes credere debetis: si ergo hanc regulam tenueritis, adversus calumnias tenebrarum hæreticarum, tanquam in lumine ambulantes, securi pugnabitis. Non enim defuerunt qui sola evangelica testimonia legendo sectarentur, quæ de humilitate Christi posita sunt, qui adversus ea testimonia quae divinitatem ejus locuta sunt, surdi fuerunt: ideo surdi, ut male verbosi. Item quidam illa sola attendentes quæ de Domini sublimitate dicta sunt, etiam ipsi misericordiam ejus, qua homo factus est propter nos, et si legerunt, non crediderunt, et ab hominibus inducta, atque falsa esse putaverunt; con tendentes Deum tantummodo fuisse Dominum nostrum Christum, non etiam hominem. Alii sic, alii sic; utri que in errore. Catholica autem fides ex utroque verum tenens quod tenet, et praedicans quod credit, et Deum Christum intellexit, et hominem credidit: utrumque enim scriptum est, et utrumque verum est. Si Deum tantum dixeris Christum, medicinam negas qua sana tus es: si hominem tantum dixeris Christum, poten tiam negas qua creatus es. Utrumque igitur tene, anima fidelis et cor catholicum, utrumque tene, utrumque crede, utrumque fideliter confitere. Et Deus Chri stus est, et homo Christus. Qualis Deus Christus? Æqualis Patri, unum cum Patre. Qualis homo Chri stus? De virgine natus, trahens de homine mortali tatem, non trahens iniquitatem.

Whatever you have heard said humbly of the Lord Jesus Christ, think of it as the dispensation of the flesh he took up: what he became for us, not what he was so as to make us. But whatever you hear or read in the Gospel said of him that is lofty and exalted above all creatures, and divine, and equal and coeternal with the Father, know that you are reading what belongs to the form of God, not to the form of a servant. For if you hold to this rule, you who can grasp it (not all of you can grasp it, but all of you ought to believe it), if, then, you hold to this rule, you will fight securely, as walking in the light, against the slanders of heretical darkness. For there have not been lacking those who, in reading, followed only the Gospel testimonies that were set down about Christ's humility, and were deaf to the testimonies that spoke of his divinity: deaf so as to be evilly wordy. Again, some, attending only to what was said about the Lord's loftiness, even if they read of his mercy by which he was made man for us, did not believe it, and thought it had been brought in by men and was false, contending that our Lord Christ was God only, not man as well. Some one way, some another; both in error. But the Catholic faith, holding the truth from both, holding what it holds and preaching what it believes, has both understood Christ as God and believed him as man: for both are written, and both are true. If you call Christ God only, you deny the medicine by which you have been healed; if you call Christ man only, you deny the power by which you were created. So hold both, faithful soul and Catholic heart; hold both, believe both, faithfully confess both. Christ is both God and man. What kind of God is Christ? Equal to the Father, one with the Father. What kind of man is Christ? Born of a virgin, taking mortality from man, not taking iniquity.

Phil 2:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Lowly sayings of Christ refer to the form of a servant, lofty ones to the form of God; against heretics who deny either, the Catholic faith confesses him both God and man.

Phil 2:6–7 (the form of God and the form of a servant) is alluded to. Augustine's characterization of the heresies he opposes is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Dcum → Deum); OCR slip in the digital text (aulcm → autem); OCR slip in the digital text (bane → hanc); OCR slip in the digital text (cham ipsi → etiam ipsi); OCR slip in the digital text (credere I debetis → credere debetis); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct Patri, → et Patri); OCR slip in the digital text (defucrunt → defuerunt); OCR slip in the digital text (fidcliler → fideliter); OCR slip in the digital text (homincm → hominem); OCR slip in the digital text (scitotc vos boc → scitote vos hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (tcnens → tenens); OCR slip in the digital text (tenc, → tene,); OCR slip in the digital text (utrum. que → utrumque)): aulcm → autem; ct Patri, → et Patri; scitotc vos boc → scitote vos hoc; credere I debetis → credere debetis; bane → hanc; defucrunt → defuerunt; cham ipsi → etiam ipsi; tcnens → tenens; Dcum → Deum; homincm → hominem; scriptum cst, → scriptum est,; tenc, → tene,; utrum. que → utrumque; fidcliler → fideliter.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.2 (PL 35:1663; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.3PL 35:1663

Isti ergo Judæi videbant hominem, nec intelli gebant nec credebant Deum: atque inter caetera audistis jam quemadmodum ei dixerint, Tu de te testi monium dicis; testimonium tuum non est verum. Audistis etiam quid ille responderit; cum hesterno die lectum esset, et pro nostris viribus disputatum. Hodie verba ejus hæc lecta sunt, Vos secundum carnem judicatis. Ideo, inquit, mihi dicitis, Tu de te testimonium dicis; testimonium tuum non est verum, quia secundum carnem judicatis; quia Deum non intelligitis, et hominem videtis, et hominem persequendo, Deum latentem offenditis. Ergo secun dum carnem judicatis. Ideo vobis arrogans videor, quia ego de me testimonium perhibeo. Omnis enim homo, quando de se vult perhibere testimonium laudabile, arrogans et superbus videtur. Ideo scriptum est, Non te laudet os tuum, sed laudet te os proximi tui. Sed hoc homini dictum est. Infirmi enim sumus, et apud infirmos loquimur. Verum dicere et mentiri possumus: etsi verum dicere debemus, et mentiri tamen possumus cum volumus. Lux mentiri non potest: absit ut in lucis divinæ splendore tene bræ mendacii reperiantur. Loquebatur ille tanquam lux, loquebatur tanquam veritas; sed lux in tenebris lucebat, et tenebræ eam non comprehenderunt: ideo secundum carnem judicabant. Vos, inquit, secundum carnem judicatis.

These Jews, then, saw a man, and neither understood nor believed him to be God; and among other things you have already heard how they said to him, “You bear witness of yourself; your witness is not true.” You have heard too what he answered, when it was read yesterday and discussed according to our powers. Today these words of his were read: “You judge according to the flesh.” That is why, he says, you say to me, “You bear witness of yourself; your witness is not true”: because you judge according to the flesh; because you do not understand God, and you see a man, and by persecuting the man you offend the hidden God. So “you judge according to the flesh.” That is why I seem arrogant to you, because I bear witness of myself. For every man, when he wants to bear praiseworthy witness of himself, seems arrogant and proud. That is why it is written, “Let not your own mouth praise you, but let your neighbor's mouth praise you.” But this was said to man. For we are weak, and we speak among the weak. We can speak the truth and lie: even though we ought to speak the truth, yet we can lie when we wish. The light cannot lie: far be it that the darkness of a lie should be found in the splendor of the divine light. He was speaking as light, speaking as truth; but the light shone in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it; therefore they judged according to the flesh. “You,” he says, “judge according to the flesh.”

John 8:13 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 27:2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:5 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews judged by the flesh, seeing only a man; self-praise is arrogant in weak men who can lie, but not in Christ, the light who cannot lie.

John 8:13, 8:15, Prov 27:2, and John 1:5 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Judici → Judæi); OCR slip in the digital text (Non tc laudet → Non te laudet); OCR slip in the digital text (cam nov → eam non); OCR slip in the digital text (cjus → ejus); OCR slip in the digital text (cnim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (ct hominem → et hominem); OCR slip in the digital text (de sc vult → de se vult); OCR slip in the digital text (dicerc → dicere); OCR slip in the digital text (eat verum → est verum); OCR slip in the digital text (nee credebant → nec credebant); OCR slip in the digital text (rerum, quia → verum, quia); OCR slip in the digital text (t ene bræ → tene bræ); OCR slip in the digital text (vidcor → videor); OCR slip in the digital text (vidctur → videtur)): Judici → Judæi; nee credebant → nec credebant; eat verum → est verum; cjus → ejus; rerum, quia → verum, quia; ct hominem → et hominem; vidcor → videor; de sc vult → de se vult; vidctur → videtur; Non tc laudet → Non te laudet; cnim → enim; dicerc → dicere; t ene bræ → tene bræ; cam nov → eam non.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.3 (PL 35:1663; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.4PL 35:1663–1665

Ego non judico quemquam. Non ergo judicat quemquam Dominus Jesus Christus? Nonne ipse est quem confitemur resurrexisse tertia die, ascendisse in cœlum, ibi sedere ad dexteram Patris, inde esse venturum ad judicandos vivos et mortuos? Nonne ipsa est fides nostra, de qua dicit Apostolus, Corde cre ditur ad justitiam, ore autem confessio fit ad salutem? Ergo quando ista confitemur, con tra Dominum loquimur? Nos dicimus venturum judi cem vivorum et mortuorum; ipse autem dicit, Ego non judico quemquam. Quæstio ista duobus modis solvi potest; ut aut hoc intelligamus, non judico quemquam, id est, modo: sicut dicit alio loco, Ego non veni ut judicem mundum, sed ut salvum faciam mundum; non judicium suum negando, sed differendo. Aut certe quia dixerat, Vos secundum carnem judicatis; ita subjunxit, Ego non judico quem quam, ut subaudias, secundum carnem. Nullus ergo nobis contra fidem quam tenemus et annuntiamus de judice Christo, scrupulus dubitationis in corde rema neat Venit Christus, sed primo salvare, postea judi care: eos judicando in poenam, qui salvari noluerunt; eos perducendo ad vitam, qui credendo salutem non respuerunt. Prima ergo dispensatio Domini nostri Jesu Christi medicinalis est, non judicialis: nam si primo venisset judicaturus, neminem invenisset cui præmia justitiae redderet. Quia ergo vidit omnes peccatores, et omnino neminem esse immunem a morte peccati; prius erat ejus misericordia præroganda, et post exserendum judicium: quia de illo cantaverat Psalmus, Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Do mine. Non enim judicium ait et miseri cordiam; nam si primo esset judicium, nulla esset mi sericordia: sed primo misericordia, postea judicium. Quæ est primo misericordia? Creator hominis, homo esse dignatus est: factus est quod fecerat, ne periret quem fecerat. Quid huic misericordiæ addi potest? Et tamen addidit. Parum fuit ei hominem fieri; sed etiam ab hominibus reprobari: parum erat repro bari; et exhonorari: parum erat exhonorari; et occidi: sed et hoc parum est; morte crucis. Nam et cum ejus obedientiam usque ad mortem factam com mendaret Apostolus, parum illi fuit dicere, Factus obediens usque ad mortem: non enim qualemcumque mortem, sed addidit, mortem autem crucis. Illa morte pejus nihil fuit inter omnia genera mor tium. Denique ubi dolores acerrimi exagitant, crucia tus vocatur, a cruce nominatus. Pendentes enim in ligno crucifixi, clavis ad lignum pedibus manibusque confixi, producta morte necabantur. Non enim cruci figi hoc erat occidi: sed diu vivebatur in cruce; non quia longior vita eligebatur, sed quia mors ipsa protendebatur, ne dolor citius finiretur. Mori voluit pro nobis: parum dicimus, crucifigi dignatus est, usque ad mortem crucis obediens factus. Elegit ex tremum et pessimum genus mortis, qui omnem fuerat ablaturus mortem: de morte pessima occidit omnem mortem. Pessima enim erat non intelligentibus Ju dæis; nam a Domino electa erat. Ipsam enim crucem suam signum habiturus erat, ipsam crucem de dia bolo superato tanquam tropæum in frontibus fidelium positurus, ut diceret Apostolus: Mihi autem absit glo riari nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi, per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo. Nihil erat tunc in carne intolerabilius, nihil est nunc in fronte gloriosius. Quid servat fideli suo, qui talem honorem dedit supplicio suo? Denique modo in poenis reorum non est apud Romanos: ubi enim Do mini crux honorata est, putatum est quod et reus ho noraretur, si crucifigeretur. Qui ergo ideo venit, ne minem judicavit: et malos passus est. Pertulit inju stum judicium, ut ageret justum. Sed in eo quod pertulit injustum, misericordiæ fuit. Denique ita hu milis factus ut veniret ad crucem, distulit quidem po tentiam, sed publicavit misericordiam. Unde distulit potentiam? Quia de cruce noluit descendere, qui po tuit de sepulcro resurgere. Unde publicavit misericor diam? Quia pendens in cruce dixit: Pater, ignosce il lis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt. Sive ergo propter hoc, quia non venerat judicare mun dum, sed salvare mundum, dixit, Ego non judico quem quam: sive quemadmodum commemoravi, quoniam dixerat, Vos secundum carnem judicatis, addidit, Ego non judico quemquam, ut intelligamus Christum non secundum carnem judicare, sicut ab hominibus judi catus est.

“I judge no one.” Does the Lord Jesus Christ, then, judge no one? Is he not the one whom we confess to have risen on the third day, ascended into heaven, to sit there at the right hand of the Father, and to be coming from there to judge the living and the dead? Is this not our faith, of which the apostle says, “With the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”? So when we confess these things, do we speak against the Lord? We say he will come as judge of the living and the dead; but he himself says, “I judge no one.” This question can be solved in two ways: either we understand “I judge no one” as “now,” as he says in another place, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world,” not denying his judgment but deferring it; or certainly, because he had said, “You judge according to the flesh,” he added, “I judge no one,” so that you understand “according to the flesh.” So let no scruple of doubt remain in our heart against the faith we hold and proclaim about Christ the judge. Christ came, but first to save, afterward to judge: judging to punishment those who would not be saved, bringing to life those who by believing did not reject salvation. So the first dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ is medicinal, not judicial; for if he had come first to judge, he would have found no one to whom to render the rewards of justice. Since, then, he saw that all were sinners, and that absolutely no one was free from the death of sin, his mercy had to be bestowed first, and judgment exercised afterward; for the Psalm had sung of him, “Mercy and judgment I will sing to you, O Lord.” For it does not say “judgment and mercy”; for if judgment came first, there would be no mercy; but first mercy, afterward judgment. What is the mercy first? The Creator of man deigned to be man: he was made what he had made, so that what he had made might not perish. What can be added to this mercy? And yet he added. It was too little for him to become man; he was also rejected by men. It was too little to be rejected; he was also dishonored. It was too little to be dishonored; he was also killed. But even this is too little: by the death of the cross. For when the apostle commended his obedience carried as far as death, it was too little for him to say, “Made obedient unto death”: for not any death whatever, but he added, “even the death of the cross.” Among all kinds of death there was nothing worse than that death. In short, where the sharpest pains torment, it is called torture (cruciatus), named from the cross (crux). For those crucified, hanging on the wood, fastened by nails to the wood through feet and hands, were killed by a drawn-out death. For to be crucified was not to be killed outright; but one lived long on the cross, not because longer life was chosen, but because death itself was drawn out, so that the pain would not end sooner. He willed to die for us: we say too little; he deigned to be crucified, becoming obedient unto the death of the cross. He who was going to take away all death chose the extreme and worst kind of death: by the worst death he killed all death. For it was the worst to the Jews who did not understand; for it was chosen by the Lord. For he was going to have that very cross as his sign; that very cross, as a trophy over the conquered devil, he was going to set on the foreheads of the faithful, so that the apostle could say, “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Nothing then was more unbearable in the flesh; nothing now is more glorious on the forehead. What does he keep for his faithful one, who has given such honor to his own punishment? In short, it is now no longer among the punishments of criminals among the Romans; for where the cross of the Lord was honored, it was thought that even a criminal would be honored if he were crucified. He who came for this, then, judged no one, and suffered the wicked. He endured unjust judgment so as to execute just judgment. But in enduring the unjust, it was of mercy. In short, he was made so humble as to come to the cross; he deferred his power indeed, but he published his mercy. How did he defer his power? Because he would not come down from the cross, who could rise from the tomb. How did he publish his mercy? Because hanging on the cross he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” So whether it was because he had not come to judge the world but to save the world that he said, “I judge no one”; or, as I mentioned, because he had said, “You judge according to the flesh,” he added, “I judge no one,” so that we may understand that Christ does not judge according to the flesh, as he was judged by men.

John 8:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:10 (quotation, high confidence) · John 12:47 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 101:1 (100:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 27:40 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 23:34 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “I judge no one” means either not yet, since Christ came first in mercy, even to the death of the cross, or not according to the flesh.

John 8:15, Rom 10:10, John 12:47, Ps 101:1 (100:1 LXX), Phil 2:8, Gal 6:14, and Luke 23:34 are quoted. The confession of Christ's resurrection, ascension, and coming judgment echoes the creed. The remark that crucifixion was no longer used as a punishment by the Romans reflects its abolition under Constantine. The digital text's stray digit is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Ejo → Ego); OCR slip in the digital text (Fuctus obediens utque → Factus obediens usque); OCR slip in the digital text (Uude → Unde); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (crucc → cruce); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (dolorcs acerrimi cxagilant → dolores acerrimi exagitant); OCR slip in the digital text (es!, → est,); OCR slip in the digital text (fccerat → fecerat); OCR slip in the digital text (glo riuri II;:;; in → glo riari nisi in); OCR slip in the digital text (houorala → honorata); OCR slip in the digital text (inlelligamus → intelligamus); OCR slip in the digital text (judi carc → judi care); OCR slip in the digital text (ligao → ligno); OCR slip in the digital text (mendarct → mendaret); OCR slip in the digital text (modis, solvi → modis solvi); OCR slip in the digital text (morlc → morte); OCR slip in the digital text (mor lium → mor tium); OCR slip in the digital text (ne mincm → ne minem); OCR slip in the digital text (ocx cidi → occidi); OCR slip in the digital text (omr.cm → omnem); OCR slip in the digital text (pcdibns → pedibus); OCR slip in the digital text (pec- 1 catores → peccatores); OCR slip in the digital text (pramia → præmia); OCR slip in the digital text (quem quum → quem quam); OCR slip in the digital text (qui; talem bonorem → qui talem honorem); OCR slip in the digital text (rOnlixi → confixi); OCR slip in the digital text (rema ncaL → rema neat); OCR slip in the digital text (s cundum → secundum); OCR slip in the digital text (sepulero → sepulcro); OCR slip in the digital text (suani → suam); OCR slip in the digital text (supcrato → superato); OCR slip in the digital text (vcnerat → venerat); OCR slip in the digital text (vcniret → veniret); OCR slip in the digital text (vivus → vivos)): vivus → vivos; vivorum ct mortuorum; → vivorum et mortuorum;; dicit, Ejo non → dicit, Ego non; modis, solvi → modis solvi; inlelligamus → intelligamus; id cst, → id est,; rema ncaL → rema neat; judi carc → judi care; es!, → est,; pramia → præmia; pec- 1 catores → peccatores; fccerat → fecerat; ocx cidi → occidi; mendarct → mendaret; Fuctus obediens utque → Factus obediens usque; morlc → morte; mor lium → mor tium; dolorcs acerrimi cxagilant → dolores acerrimi exagitant; ligao → ligno; pcdibns → pedibus; rOnlixi → confixi; crucc → cruce; dignatus cst, → dignatus est,; omr.cm → omnem; enim crat non → enim erat non; electa crat. → electa erat.; suani → suam; supcrato → superato; glo riuri II;:;; in → glo riari nisi in; qui; talem bonorem → qui talem honorem; houorala → honorata; ne mincm → ne minem; vcniret → veniret; Uude → Unde; sepulero → sepulcro; vcnerat → venerat; quem quum → quem quam; s cundum → secundum.

Topics: Christology, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.4 (PL 35:1663–1665; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.5PL 35:1665

Nam ut agnoscatis jam et judicem Christum, audite quod sequitur: Et si judico ego, judicium meum verum est. Ecce habes et judicem, sed agnosce salva torem, ne sentias judicem. Quare autem dixit judi cium suum verum esse? Quia solus, inquit, non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. Dixi vobis, fratres, quia Joannes iste evangelista sanctus multum alte volat: vix est eum mente comprehendere. Mysterium au tem altius volantis opus est ut commemorem Charita tem vestram. Et apud Ezechielem prophetam, et in Apocalypsi ipsius Joannis, cujus est hoc Evangelium, commemoratur animal quadruplex, habens quatuor personas; hominis, vituli, leonis, aquilae. Qui ante nos Scripturarum sanctarum mysteria tractaverunt, plerique in hoc ani mali, vel potius in his animalibus quatuor Evangeli stas intellexerunt. Leonem pro rege positum, quo niam videtur leo rex esse quodammodo bestiarum, propter potentiam et terribilem fortitudinem. Hæc persona tributa est Matthæo, quia in generationibus Domini regiam seriem prosecutus est, quemadmo dum esset Dominus per stirpem regiam de semine David regis. Lucas autem quoniam coepit a sacerdo tio Zachariæ sacerdotis, faciens mentionem patris Joannis Baptistae, vitulo deputatus est; quia magna victima vitulus erat in sacrificio sacerdotum. Marco homo Christus merito assignatus est, quia neque de regia potestate aliquid dixit, neque de sacerdotali cœpit, sed tantum ab homine Christo exorsus est. Hi omnes prope de terrenis, id est de iis quæ in terra gessit Dominus noster Jesus Christus, non recesse runt: de divinitate ejus perpauca locuti sunt, tan quam in terra cum illo ambulantes. Restat aquila: ipse est Joannes, sublimium praedicator, et lucis in ternæ atque æternæ fixis oculis contemplator. Di cuntur enim et pulli aquilarum a parentibus sic pro bari, patris scilicet ungue suspendi, et radiis solis opponi: qui firme contemplatus fuerit, filius agnosci tur; si acie palpitaverit, tanquam adulterinus ab un gue dimittitur. Jam ergo videte quam sublimia loqui debuit, qui est aquilæ comparatus: et tamen etiam nos humi repentes, infirmi et vix ullius momenti in ter homines, audemus tractare ista, et ista exponere; et putamus nos aut capere posse cum cogitamus, aut capi dum dicimus.

For that you may now recognize Christ as judge too, hear what follows: “And if I do judge, my judgment is true.” See, you have the judge as well; but recognize the Savior, so that you may not feel the judge. But why did he say that his judgment is true? “Because I am not alone,” he says, “but I and the Father who sent me.” I told you, brothers, that this holy evangelist John flies very high: it is hard to grasp him with the mind. But I must remind your Charity of the mystery of his higher flight. Both in the prophet Ezekiel and in the Apocalypse of John himself, whose Gospel this is, a fourfold living creature is mentioned, having four faces: of a man, a calf, a lion, an eagle. Most of those who before us treated the mysteries of the holy Scriptures understood the four evangelists in this living creature, or rather in these four living creatures. The lion is set for the king, since the lion seems in a way to be king of the beasts, because of its power and terrible strength. This face was assigned to Matthew, because in the generations of the Lord he followed the royal line, showing how the Lord was of the seed of King David through the royal stock. But Luke, since he began from the priesthood of the priest Zechariah, making mention of the father of John the Baptist, was assigned the calf, because the calf was a great victim in the sacrifice of the priests. To Mark, Christ the man was fittingly assigned, because he neither said anything of royal power nor began from the priestly, but started simply from Christ the man. All these hardly departed from earthly things, that is, from the things our Lord Jesus Christ did on earth; they said very little of his divinity, as if walking with him on earth. The eagle remains: that is John, the preacher of lofty things and the contemplator, with fixed eyes, of the inner and eternal light. For it is said that eaglets too are tested by their parents thus: hung from the father's claw and held up to the rays of the sun; the one that gazes steadily is acknowledged as a son; if its gaze flickers, it is dropped from the claw as a bastard. See now, then, what lofty things he had to say who is compared to an eagle; and yet we too, creeping on the ground, weak and of hardly any account among men, dare to treat these things and expound them, and we think we can either grasp them when we think or be grasped when we speak.

John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 1:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 4:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's judgment is true because the Father is with him; John is the eagle among the four living creatures, which figure the four evangelists, soaring to Christ's divinity.

John 8:16 is quoted; Ezek 1:10 and Rev 4:7 are alluded to, with Matt 1:1–17 and Luke 1:5. Augustine's assignment of the four faces (lion to Matthew, calf to Luke, man to Mark, eagle to John) differs from that of other writers. The testing of eaglets by the sun is a traditional natural-history story; its source is not identified here.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Et ti judico → Et si judico); OCR slip in the digital text (Marre bomo → Marco homo); OCR slip in the digital text (act capi → aut capi); OCR slip in the digital text (aquila: I ł ipse cst → aquila: ipse est); OCR slip in the digital text (au tcm → au tem); OCR slip in the digital text (cnim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (ct radiis → et radiis); OCR slip in the digital text (ct terribilem → et terribilem); OCR slip in the digital text (qu;e → quæ); OCR slip in the digital text (quatuor,, personas → quatuor personas); OCR slip in the digital text (rcgiam → regiam); OCR slip in the digital text (rcgis → regis); OCR slip in the digital text (tribula → tributa); OCR slip in the digital text (videtc → videte)): Et ti judico → Et si judico; au tcm → au tem; quatuor,, personas → quatuor personas; ct terribilem → et terribilem; tribula → tributa; rcgiam → regiam; rcgis → regis; Marre bomo → Marco homo; qu;e → quæ; aquila: I ł ipse cst → aquila: ipse est; cnim → enim; ct radiis → et radiis; videtc → videte; act capi → aut capi.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.5 (PL 35:1665; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.6PL 35:1665–1667

Quare ista dixi? Forte cnim post haec verba quisquam mihi juste dicat: Pone ergo codicem. Quod excedit mensuram tuam, quid sumis in manum tuam? quid ei committis linguam tuam? Ad hoc respondeo: Multi hæretici abundant, et ad hoc eos Deus abundare permisit, ne semper lacte nutriamur, et in bruta infantia remaneamus. Quia enim non intellexerunt quomodo commendaretur divinitas Christi, sapuerunt sicut voluerunt: non autem recte sapiendo, fidelibus catholicis quæstiones molestissimas intulerunt; cœperunt exagitari et fluctuare corda fidelium. Jam tunc necessitas facta est spiritualibus viris, qui aliquid se cundum divinitatem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, non solum legerant in Evangelio, sed etiam intellexerant, ut contra arma diaboli Christi arma proferrent: et de Christi divinitate adversus falsos fallacesque docto res, quantis possent viribus, apertissima conflictatione pugnarent; ne cum ipsi tacerent, alii perirent. Quicumque enim senserunt Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, aut diversae substantiæ esse quam Pater est, aut tantum esse Christum solum, ut ipse sit Pater, ipse sit Filius, ipse sit Spiritus sanctus: quicumque etiam sentire voluerunt hominem fuisse solum, non Deum factum hominem, aut ita Deum ut in sua divi nitate mutabilem, aut ita Deum ut non et hominem; a fide naufragaverunt, et de portu Ecclesiæ projecti sunt, ne inquietudine sua naves secum positas frange rent. Quæ res coegit ut etiam nos minimi, et quan tum ad nos pertinet prorsus indigni, quantum autem ad illius misericordiam in aliquo dispensatorum ejus nu mero constituti, non vobis taceamus quod aut intelli gatis, mecumque gaudeatis; aut si intelligere nondum valetis, credendo securi in portu maneatis.

Why have I said these things? For perhaps after these words someone may justly say to me: Put down the book, then. Why do you take in your hand what exceeds your measure? Why do you commit your tongue to it? To this I answer: many heretics abound, and God has permitted them to abound for this purpose, so that we may not always be nourished on milk and remain in brute infancy. For because they did not understand how the divinity of Christ is set forth, they thought as they willed; and by not thinking rightly they brought very troublesome questions upon faithful Catholics; the hearts of the faithful began to be disturbed and to waver. Then already it became necessary for spiritual men, who had not only read in the Gospel something about the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ but had also understood it, to bring forth the weapons of Christ against the weapons of the devil, and to fight with all the strength they could, in the most open conflict, for the divinity of Christ against false and deceitful teachers, lest while they kept silent others should perish. For whoever have thought that our Lord Jesus Christ is either of a different substance from what the Father is, or that Christ alone is such that he himself is the Father, he himself the Son, he himself the Holy Spirit; whoever also have chosen to think that he was only a man, not God made man, or God in such a way as to be changeable in his divinity, or God in such a way as not to be man as well, have suffered shipwreck from the faith and been cast out of the harbor of the Church, lest by their restlessness they should break the ships moored with them. This has compelled even us, the least, and as far as we ourselves are concerned altogether unworthy, but by his mercy set in some way in the number of his stewards, not to keep silent to you what you may either understand and rejoice in with me, or, if you are not yet able to understand, may remain secure in the harbor by believing.

1 Cor 3:2 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 1:19 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 11:19 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Heretics who erred about Christ's divinity forced spiritual men, and Augustine himself, to expound these lofty matters for the protection of the faithful.

1 Cor 3:2, Heb 5:12, and 1 Tim 1:19 are echoed; 1 Cor 11:19 (heresies permitted for testing) may be in view. Augustine's account of the heresies (Arian, Sabellian, those who held Christ a mere man, and others) is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (aban. dare → abundare); OCR slip in the digital text (autcm → autem); OCR slip in the digital text (bruia → bruta); OCR slip in the digital text (cjus → ejus); OCR slip in the digital text (conflicta tione → conflictatione); OCR slip in the digital text (cœ perunt → cœperunt); OCR slip in the digital text (intelli gutis, Mecumque gaudeatis.; → intelli gatis, mecumque gaudeatis;); OCR slip in the digital text (naufragiverunt → naufragaverunt); OCR slip in the digital text (nospertinct → nos pertinet); OCR slip in the digital text (nun Deum → non Deum); OCR slip in the digital text (projecli → projecti); OCR slip in the digital text (soluin legcrant → solum legerant)): aban. dare → abundare; bruia → bruta; cœ perunt → cœperunt; soluin legcrant → solum legerant; conflicta tione → conflictatione; nun Deum → non Deum; naufragiverunt → naufragaverunt; projecli → projecti; nospertinct → nos pertinet; autcm → autem; cjus → ejus; intelli gutis, Mecumque gaudeatis.; → intelli gatis, mecumque gaudeatis;.

Topics: Heresy, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.6 (PL 35:1665–1667; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.7PL 35:1667

Dicam ergo; capiat qui potest, credat qui non potest: tamen dicam quod ait Dominus, Vos secun dum carnem judicatis; ego non judico quemquam, aut modo, aut secundum carnem. Sed et si ego judico, ju dicium meum verum est. Quare judicium tuum verum est? Quia solus non sum, inquit, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. Quid ergo, Domine Jesu? Si solus esses, falsum esset judicium tuum; et ideo verum judicas, quia solus non es, sed tu et qui te misit Pater? Quid responsurus sum? Ipse respondeat; Verum est, in quit, judicium meum. Quare? Quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. Si tecum est, quomodo te misit? Et te misit, et tecum est? Itane et missus non recessisti? itane et ad nos venisti, et ibi mansisti? Quomodo istud creditur? quomodo capitur? Ad hæc duo respondeo: Quomodo capitur, recte dicis; quo modo creditur, non recte dicis. Imo ideo bene credi tur, quia non cito capitur: nam si cito caperetur, non opus erat ut crederetur; quia videretur. Ideo credis, quia non capis; sed credendo fis idoneus ut ca pias. Nam si non credis, nunquam capies; quia mi nus idoneus remanebis. Fides ergo mundet te, ut in tellectus impleat te. Verum est, inquit, judicium meum; quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pa ter. Ergo, Domine Deus noster Jesu Christe, missio tua incarnatio tua est. Sic video, sic intelligo; postremo sic credo, ne arrogantiæ sit dicere, Sic intelligo. Pror sus et hic est Dominus noster Jesus Christus; imo hic erat secundum carnem, modo hic est secundum divi nitatem: et cum Patre erat, et a Patre non recesse rat. Quod ergo dicitur missus venisse ad nos, incarna tio ipsius commendatur, quia Pater non est incarnatus.

I will speak, then; let him grasp who can, let him believe who cannot. Yet I will speak of what the Lord says: “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one,” either now, or according to the flesh. “But even if I judge, my judgment is true.” Why is your judgment true? “Because I am not alone,” he says, “but I and the Father who sent me.” What then, Lord Jesus? If you were alone, would your judgment be false? And do you judge truly because you are not alone, but you and the Father who sent you? What shall I answer? Let him answer himself. “My judgment,” he says, “is true.” Why? “Because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me.” If he is with you, how did he send you? Did he both send you and is he with you? So, though sent, you did not withdraw? So you both came to us and remained there? How is this believed? How is it grasped? To these two I answer: “How is it grasped?” you say rightly; “how is it believed?” you do not say rightly. Rather, it is well believed for this very reason, that it is not quickly grasped; for if it were quickly grasped, there would be no need for it to be believed, because it would be seen. You believe because you do not grasp; but by believing you become fit to grasp. For if you do not believe, you will never grasp, because you will remain less fit. Let faith, then, cleanse you, so that understanding may fill you. “My judgment,” he says, “is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me.” So, O Lord our God, Jesus Christ, your sending is your incarnation. So I see it, so I understand it; or rather, so I believe it, lest it be arrogance to say, “So I understand.” Our Lord Jesus Christ is certainly here too; rather, he was here according to the flesh, now he is here according to his divinity; and he was with the Father and had not withdrawn from the Father. When, then, it is said that he was sent and came to us, his incarnation is set forth, because the Father was not incarnate.

John 8:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's judgment is true because the Father, who sent him, is with him; his being sent is his incarnation, which is believed before it is understood.

John 8:15–16 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Pa ier → Pa ter); OCR slip in the digital text (arroganitiæ → arrogantiæ); OCR slip in the digital text (at in tellectus → ut in tellectus); OCR slip in the digital text (carneM → carnem); OCR slip in the digital text (cre. dis → credis); OCR slip in the digital text (eat, in quit → est, in quit); OCR slip in the digital text (ega non → ego non); OCR slip in the digital text (et M est → et tecum est); OCR slip in the digital text (et lic est → et hic est); OCR slip in the digital text (inquit,, → inquit,); OCR slip in the digital text (noa credis, nunquam oapies → non credis, nunquam capies); OCR slip in the digital text (noa venisti → nos venisti); OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui); OCR slip in the digital text (qwia → quia); OCR slip in the digital text (taMen → tamen); OCR slip in the digital text (uon opus → non opus); OCR slip in the digital text (vemm → verum)): capiat qni potest, → capiat qui potest,; taMen → tamen; ega non → ego non; carneM → carnem; vemm → verum; inquit,, → inquit,; eat, in quit → est, in quit; et M est → et tecum est; noa venisti → nos venisti; uon opus → non opus; qwia → quia; cre. dis → credis; noa credis, nunquam oapies → non credis, nunquam capies; at in tellectus → ut in tellectus; Pa ier → Pa ter; arroganitiæ → arrogantiæ; et lic est → et hic est.

Topics: Trinity, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.7 (PL 35:1667; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.8PL 35:1667

Nam Sabelliani dicti sunt quidam hæretici qui vocantur et Patripassiani, qui dicunt ipsum Patrem passum fuisse. Noli tu, catholice: si enim fueris pa tripassianus, non eris sanus. Ergo intellige missionem Filii nominatam incarnationem Filii: Patrem autem incarnatum esse non credas, sed a Filio incarnato Patrem recessisse non credas. Ille carnem portabat, ille cum Filio erat. Si in cœlo Pater, in terra Filius; quomodo Pater cum Filio erat? Quia et Pater et Filius ubique erant: non enim in cœlo sic est Deus, ut non sit in terra. Audi illum qui volebat fugere judicium Dei, et non inveniebat qua: Quo abibo, inquit, a spiritu tuo, et a facie tua quo fugiam? Si ascendero in cœlum, tu ibi es. De terra erat quæstio; audi quid sequi tur: Si descendero ad infernum, ades. Si ergo et in inferno dicitur quod adsit, quid re rum remanet ubi non sit? Vox enim Dei est apud pro phetam, Cœlum et terram ego impleo. Ubique ergo est, qui nullo clauditur loco. Noli ab illo averti, et tecum est. Si vis ad eum pervenire, noli piger esse amare: non enim pedibus, sed affectibus curris. Uno loco manens venis, si credis et diligis. Ergo ubique est: si ubique est, quomodo cum Filio non est? Itane cum Filio non est, qui, si credis, et tecum est?

For certain heretics were called Sabellians, who are also called Patripassians, who say that the Father himself suffered. Not you, Catholic: for if you are a Patripassian, you will not be sound. So understand that the sending of the Son is the name for the incarnation of the Son; but do not believe that the Father became incarnate, nor yet believe that the Father withdrew from the incarnate Son. The one bore flesh; the other was with the Son. If the Father was in heaven and the Son on earth, how was the Father with the Son? Because both Father and Son were everywhere; for God is not in heaven in such a way as not to be on earth. Hear the man who wanted to flee God's judgment and found no way: “Whither shall I go,” he says, “from your spirit, and whither shall I flee from your face? If I ascend into heaven, you are there.” The question was about earth; hear what follows: “If I descend into hell, you are present.” If, then, he is said to be present even in hell, what of all things remains where he is not? For the voice of God is in the prophet: “I fill heaven and earth.” He is everywhere, then, who is enclosed by no place. Do not turn away from him, and he is with you. If you wish to come to him, do not be slow to love: for you run not with feet but with affections. Remaining in one place, you come, if you believe and love. So he is everywhere: if he is everywhere, how is he not with the Son? Is he not with the Son, who, if you believe, is with you too?

Ps 139:7 (138:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 139:8 (138:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 23:24 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Against the Patripassians, the Father did not become incarnate, yet he did not withdraw from the incarnate Son, for God is everywhere.

Ps 139:7–8 (138:7–8 LXX) and Jer 23:24 are quoted. Augustine's account of the Sabellians and Patripassians is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (ale carnem → Ille carnem); OCR slip in the digital text (aon credas → non credas); OCR slip in the digital text (dauditur → clauditur); OCR slip in the digital text (dickur → dicitur); OCR slip in the digital text (dicuot → dicunt); OCR slip in the digital text (ea. non inveniebat qua: → et non inveniebat qua:); OCR slip in the digital text (egoimpleo → ego impleo); OCR slip in the digital text (incamato → incarnato); OCR slip in the digital text (spi. ritu → spiritu); OCR slip in the digital text (tecum et. → tecum est.)): dicuot → dicunt; aon credas → non credas; incamato → incarnato; ale carnem → Ille carnem; ea. non inveniebat qua: → et non inveniebat qua:; spi. ritu → spiritu; dickur → dicitur; egoimpleo → ego impleo; dauditur → clauditur; tecum et. → tecum est..

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.8 (PL 35:1667; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.9PL 35:1667–1669

Unde ergo verum est judicium ejus, nisi quia ve rus est Filius? Hoc enim dixit, Et si judico, verum est judicium meum; quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. Tanquam diceret, Verum est judicium meum, quia Filius Dei sum. Unde probas quia Filius Dei es? Quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. Erubesce, Sabelliane, audis Filium, audis Patrem. Pater, Pater est; Filius, Filius est. Non dixit, Ego sum Pater, et ego ipse sum Filius; sed, solus non sum, inquit. Quare solus non es? Quia mecum est Pater. Ego sum, et qui misit me Pater: audis, Ego sum, et qui me misit. Ne perdas personam, distingue personas. Distingue intelligentia, noli separare perfi dia; ne iterum quasi fugiens Charybdim, in Scyllam incurras. Vorabat enim te gurges impietatis Sabellia norum, ut diceres ipsum esse Patrem qui est Filius: modo didicisti, Solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. Agnoscis quia Pater, Pater est; et Filius, Fi lius est. Bene agnoscis: sed noli dicere, Pater major est, Filius minor est; noli dicere, Pater aurum est, Filius argentum est. Una substantia est, una divinitas, una coaeternitas, perfecta æqualitas, dissimilitudo nulla. Nam si tantummodo alterum credideris esse Christum, non eum qui Pater est, in aliquo tamen di stantem secundum naturam esse putaveris; a Cha rybdi quidem evasisti, sed in Scyllaeis scopulis nau fragasti. In medio naviga, utrumque periculosum la tus evita. Pater, Pater est; Filius, Filius est. Jam dicis, Pater, Pater est; Filius, Filius est: bene periculum absorbentis gurgitis evasisti; quid vis ire in alteram partem, ut dicas, Aliud est Pater, Filius aliud? Alius est, recte dicis; aliud, non recte. Alius enim est Filius, quia non est ipse qui Pater; et alius Pater, quia non ipse qui Filius: non tamen aliud, sed hoc ipsum est et Pater et Filius. Quid est, hoc ipsum est? Unus Deus est. Audisti, Quia non sum solus, sed ego et qui misit me Pater; audi quo modo credas Patrem et Filium, audi ipsum Fi lium; Ego et Pater unum sumus. Non dixit, Pater ego sum; aut, Ego et Pater unus est: sed cum dicit, Ego et Pater unum sumus; utrumque audi, et unum, et sumus, et a Charybdi et a Scylla liberaberis. In duobus istis verbis quod dixit, unum, liberat te ab Ario: quod dixit, sumus, liberat te a Sabellio. Si unum, non ergo diversum; si sumus, ergo et Pater et Filius. Sumus enim, non diceret de uno; sed et unum non diceret de diverso. Ergo ideo verum est, inquit, judicium meum, breviter ut audias, quia Filius Dei sum. Sed sic tibi persuadeo, inquit, quia Filius Dei sum, ut intelligas quia mecum est Pa ter: non sic sum Filius ut ipsum deseruerim; non ita hic sum, ut cum ipso non sim; non ita ibi ille est, ut mecum non sit: formam servi accepi sed formam Dei non amisi; Solus ergo, inquit, non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater.

Why, then, is his judgment true, if not because he is the true Son? For this is what he said: “And if I judge, my judgment is true; because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me.” As if he said: My judgment is true because I am the Son of God. How do you prove that you are the Son of God? “Because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me.” Blush, Sabellian: you hear the Son, you hear the Father. The Father is the Father; the Son is the Son. He did not say, “I am the Father, and I myself am the Son,” but “I am not alone,” he says. Why are you not alone? Because the Father is with me. “I am, and the Father who sent me”: you hear “I am, and he who sent me.” So that you do not lose the person, distinguish the persons. Distinguish by understanding; do not separate by faithlessness, lest, as though fleeing Charybdis, you run into Scylla. The whirlpool of the Sabellians' impiety was swallowing you, so that you said that he who is the Son is the very same as the Father; now you have learned, “I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me.” You acknowledge that the Father is the Father and the Son is the Son. You acknowledge it well; but do not say, “The Father is greater, the Son is less”; do not say, “The Father is gold, the Son is silver.” There is one substance, one Godhead, one coeternity, perfect equality, no unlikeness. For if you have only believed that Christ is another, not he who is the Father, yet have thought him different in some respect according to nature, you have indeed escaped Charybdis, but you have been shipwrecked on the rocks of Scylla. Sail in the middle; avoid the danger on either side. The Father is the Father; the Son is the Son. Now you say, “The Father is the Father, the Son is the Son”: you have well escaped the danger of the swallowing whirlpool; why do you want to go to the other side, so as to say, “The Father is one thing, the Son another thing”? He is another one, you say rightly; another thing, you say wrongly. For the Son is another one, because he is not the same as the Father; and the Father is another one, because he is not the same as the Son; yet not another thing, but the Father and the Son are the very same thing. What is “the very same thing”? One God. You have heard, “Because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me”; hear how you should believe the Father and the Son; hear the Son himself: “I and the Father are one.” He did not say, “I am the Father,” or “I and the Father is one”; but when he says, “I and the Father are one,” hear both, both “one” and “are,” and you will be freed both from Charybdis and from Scylla. In these two words that he spoke, “one” frees you from Arius, “are” frees you from Sabellius. If “one,” then not different; if “are,” then both Father and Son. For he would not say “are” of one person; but neither would he say “one” of what is different. So my judgment is true, he says (to put it briefly for you to hear), because I am the Son of God. But I persuade you that I am the Son of God, he says, in such a way that you understand that the Father is with me: I am not the Son in such a way as to have deserted him; I am not here in such a way as not to be with him; he is not there in such a way as not to be with me. I took the form of a servant, but I did not lose the form of God. “So I am not alone,” he says, “but I and the Father who sent me.”

John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's words both distinguish the persons of Father and Son against the Sabellians and, with “I and the Father are one,” affirm one substance against the Arians.

John 8:16, John 10:30, and Phil 2:6–7 are quoted or alluded to. Charybdis and Scylla are the proverbial twin dangers of Homer's Odyssey (Od. 12). Augustine's distinction alius (“another one,” of persons) and aliud (“another thing,” of substance) is kept. His statements against Arius and Sabellius are translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Cba rybdi → Cha rybdi); OCR slip in the digital text (Doli separare → noli separare); OCR slip in the digital text (Filius T Hoc → Filius? Hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (Patrem ei Filium → Patrem et Filium); OCR slip in the digital text (aed ego → sed ego); OCR slip in the digital text (audit Par trem → audis Patrem); OCR slip in the digital text (di stautem → di stantem); OCR slip in the digital text (eat judicium → est judicium); OCR slip in the digital text (ergp → ergo); OCR slip in the digital text (incurras, Vorabat → incurras. Vorabat); OCR slip in the digital text (inqutt → inquit); OCR slip in the digital text (ipquit → inquit); OCR slip in the digital text (nou ita → non ita); OCR slip in the digital text (per riculum → periculum); OCR slip in the digital text (sumus,: → sumus,); OCR slip in the digital text (uon ipse → non ipse)): Filius T Hoc → Filius? Hoc; aed ego → sed ego; eat judicium → est judicium; audit Par trem → audis Patrem; inqutt → inquit; Doli separare → noli separare; incurras, Vorabat → incurras. Vorabat; di stautem → di stantem; Cba rybdi → Cha rybdi; per riculum → periculum; uon ipse → non ipse; Patrem ei Filium → Patrem et Filium; ergp → ergo; sumus,: → sumus,; ipquit → inquit; nou ita → non ita.

Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Od. 12.73 (Homer, Odyssey; allusion)

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.9 (PL 35:1667–1669; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.10PL 35:1669

Dixerat de judicio; de testimonio vult dicere. In Lege, inquit, vestra scriptum est quia duorum homi num testimonium verum est. Ego sum qui de me testi monium perhibeo, et testimonium perhibet de me qui mi sit me Pater. Exposuit illis et Legem, si ingrati non essent. Magna enim quaestio est, fratres mei, et valde mihi videtur in mysterio res esse constituta, ubi Deus dixit, In ore duorum vel trium testium stabit omne ver bum. Veritas quæri tur per duos testes? Ita plane, sic se habet humani generis consuetudo: sed tamen fieri potest ut et duo mentiantur. Susanna casta duobus falsis testibus ur gebatur: numquid quia duo erant, ideo falsi testes, non erant? De duobus dicimus aut de tribus? univer sus populus mentitus est contra Christum. Si ergo populus constans ex magna hominum multitudine, falsus testis inventus est; quomodo accipiendum est, In ore duorum vel trium testium stabit omne verbum: nisi quia hoc modo per mysterium Trinitas commendata est, in qua est perpetua stabilitas veritatis? Vis habere bonam causam? Habeto duos vel tres testes, Patrem et Filium et Spiritum san ctum. Denique quando Susanna casta femina fidelis que conjux duobus falsis testibus urgebatur, Trinitas illi in conscientia atque in occulto suffragabatur: illa Trinitas de occulto unum testem Danielem excitavit, et duos convicit. Ergo quia in Lege vestra scriptum est, duorum hominum testimonium verum esse, accipite nostrum testimonium, ne sen tiatis judicium. Ego enim, inquit, non judico quem quam, sed testimonium perhibeo de me: differo judi cium, non differo testimonium.

He had spoken of judgment; he wants to speak of witness. “In your Law,” he says, “it is written that the witness of two men is true. I am the one who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me.” He explained the Law to them too, if they were not ungrateful. For it is a great question, my brothers, and the matter seems to me to be set very much in a mystery, where God said, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.” Is truth sought through two witnesses? Just so; such is the custom of the human race; yet it can happen that even two lie. Chaste Susanna was pressed by two false witnesses: because they were two, were they therefore not false witnesses? We speak of two or three: the whole people lied against Christ. If, then, a people consisting of a great multitude of men was found a false witness, how is “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand” to be taken, unless the Trinity is set forth in this way by a mystery, in which is the perpetual stability of truth? Do you want to have a good cause? Have two or three witnesses: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In short, when Susanna, a chaste woman and faithful wife, was pressed by two false witnesses, the Trinity supported her in her conscience and in secret: that Trinity raised up from secret one witness, Daniel, and convicted the two. So, since it is written in your Law that the witness of two men is true, accept our witness, so that you may not feel our judgment. “For I,” he says, “judge no one, but I bear witness of myself”: I defer judgment, I do not defer witness.

John 8:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 19:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 18:16 (quotation, medium confidence) · John 8:15 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The law of two or three witnesses is a mystery of the Trinity, the true and stable witness, as Susanna's case shows.

John 8:17–18 and Deut 19:15 (Matt 18:16) are quoted; John 8:15 is echoed. The story of Susanna (Dan 13 in the Greek and Latin Bibles) is outside the 66 books and is tagged as extrabiblical. The digital text's stray digit is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (DeM dixit, ln ore → Deus dixit, In ore); OCR slip in the digital text (FHium → Filium); OCR slip in the digital text (acci. piendum → accipiendum); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (dno erant → duo erant); OCR slip in the digital text (due mentiantur → duo mentiantur); OCR slip in the digital text (hemi- 1 num → homi num); OCR slip in the digital text (nen essent → non essent); OCR slip in the digital text (qui,Mi sit → qui mi sit); OCR slip in the digital text (san Ctum. Demque → san ctum. Denique); OCR slip in the digital text (tribus i unrver sus → tribus? univer sus)): hemi- 1 num → homi num; qui,Mi sit → qui mi sit; nen essent → non essent; DeM dixit, ln ore → Deus dixit, In ore; due mentiantur → duo mentiantur; dno erant → duo erant; tribus i unrver sus → tribus? univer sus; acci. piendum → accipiendum; FHium → Filium; san Ctum. Demque → san ctum. Denique; scriptum cst, → scriptum est,.

Extrabiblical texts: Sus (Susanna [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.10 (PL 35:1669; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.11PL 35:1669

Eligamus nobis, fratres, contra linguas homi num, contra infirmas suspiciones generis humani Deum judicem, Deum testem. Non enim dedignatur testis esse qui judex est, aut promovetur cum fit judex; quoniam qui testis est, ipse judex erit. Quare ipse testis? Quia non quærit alium unde cognoscat qui sis. Quare ipse judex? Quia ipse habet potestatem mortificandi et vivificandi, damnandi et absolvendi, in gehennas præcipitandi et in coelos levandi, diabolo conjungendi et cum Angelis coronandi. Cum ergo ipse habeat hanc potestatem, judex est. Quia vero ut te cognoscat non quærit alium testem; qui tunc judica bit te, modo videt te: non est unde illum raNas, cum coeperit judicare. Non enim adhibes tibi aliquos falsos testes, qui judicem illum possint circumvenire, quando te cœperit judicare. Deus hoc tibi dicit: Quando contemnebas, ego videbam; et quando non credebas, sententiam meam non frustrabam: differe bam, non auferebam. Noluisti audire quod præcepi, senties quod prædixi. Si autem audias quæ praecepi, non mala senties quae praedixi, sed bona percipies quæ promisi.

Let us choose for ourselves, brothers, against the tongues of men, against the weak suspicions of the human race, God as judge, God as witness. For he does not disdain to be a witness who is judge, nor is he promoted when he becomes judge, since he who is witness will himself be judge. Why is he himself witness? Because he does not seek another from whom to learn who you are. Why is he himself judge? Because he himself has the power of killing and making alive, of condemning and acquitting, of casting headlong into Gehenna and raising into heaven, of joining to the devil and crowning with the angels. Since, then, he has this power, he is judge. But because he seeks no other witness to know you, he who will then judge you sees you now: there is no way you can deceive him when he begins to judge. For you will not bring in any false witnesses who could get round that judge when he begins to judge you. God says this to you: When you despised, I saw; and when you did not believe, I did not make my sentence void: I was deferring it, not taking it away. You would not hear what I commanded; you will feel what I foretold. But if you hear what I commanded, you will not feel the evil I foretold, but will receive the good I promised.

Deut 32:39 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Sam 2:6 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God is both witness and judge: he sees us now and cannot be deceived when he judges; those who obey will receive what he promised.

Deut 32:39 and 1 Sam 2:6 (killing and making alive) are echoed. The word rendered “deceive” is garbled in the digital text (raNas, probably fallas) and is translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (atium → alium); OCR slip in the digital text (caeperit → cœperit); OCR slip in the digital text (dedignatwr → dedignatur); OCR slip in the digital text (ju. dex → judex); OCR slip in the digital text (praeccpi, seraties → præcepi, senties); OCR slip in the digital text (prajcipitandi → præcipitandi); OCR slip in the digital text (predixi → prædixi)): dedignatwr → dedignatur; ju. dex → judex; atium → alium; prajcipitandi → præcipitandi; caeperit → cœperit; praeccpi, seraties → præcepi, senties; predixi → prædixi.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.11 (PL 35:1669; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.12PL 35:1669

Ne aliquem sane moveat quod ait, Verum est judicium meum; quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui mi sit me Pater; cum alibi dixerit, Pater non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit Filio. Jam in eisdem verbis Evangelii disputavimus, et nunc admonemus, non hoc ideo dictum, quia Pater non erit cum Filio judicante; sed quoniam bonis et malis in judicio solus Filius apparebit, in ea forma in qua passus est, et resurrexit, et ascendit in coelum. Discipulis quippe tunc conspicientibus ascendentem, vox angelica sonuit, Sic veniet, quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in cœlum: id est, in forma hominis in qua judicatus est judicabit, ut etiam illud propheticum impleatur, Videbunt in quem pupugerunt. Cum vero euntibus justis in vitam aeternam, videbimus eum sicuti est; non erit illud judicium vivorum et mortuorum, sed præmium tantummodo vivorum.

Let no one be troubled that he says, “My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me,” when elsewhere he has said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” We have already discussed these same words of the Gospel, and now we remind you that this was not said because the Father will not be with the Son when he judges, but because in the judgment the Son alone will appear to the good and the bad, in the form in which he suffered and rose and ascended into heaven. For when the disciples were then watching him ascend, the angelic voice sounded: “He will come in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven”; that is, he will judge in the form of man in which he was judged, so that the prophetic word too may be fulfilled: “They will look on him whom they pierced.” But when, as the just go into eternal life, we shall see him as he is, that will not be the judgment of the living and the dead, but only the reward of the living.

John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Zech 12:10 (quotation, high confidence) · John 19:37 (quotation, medium confidence) · 1 John 3:2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Son alone will appear in the judgment, in the human form in which he suffered, though the Father is with him; the vision of God himself is the reward of the just.

John 8:16, John 5:22, Acts 1:11, Zech 12:10 (John 19:37), and 1 John 3:2 are quoted. The digital text's stray reference “(Joan. v, lit.” is removed as apparatus.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text ( (Joan. v, lit. → .); OCR slip in the digital text (Corna → forma); OCR slip in the digital text (Evaagelii → Evangelii); OCR slip in the digital text (Sie veniet → Sic veniet); OCR slip in the digital text (coelum, Discipulis → coelum. Discipulis); OCR slip in the digital text (conspicentibus → conspicientibus); OCR slip in the digital text (judita, → judicat); OCR slip in the digital text (mortuorum♦ sed → mortuorum, sed); OCR slip in the digital text (noA erit → non erit); OCR slip in the digital text (nune admenemus, non hoe → nunc admonemus, non hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (videbimuseum → videbimus eum)): judita, → judicat; (Joan. v, lit. → .; Evaagelii → Evangelii; nune admenemus, non hoe → nunc admonemus, non hoc; Corna → forma; coelum, Discipulis → coelum. Discipulis; conspicentibus → conspicientibus; Sie veniet → Sic veniet; videbimuseum → videbimus eum; noA erit → non erit; mortuorum♦ sed → mortuorum, sed.

Topics: Eschatology, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.12 (PL 35:1669; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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36.13PL 35:1669

Item ne moveat quod ait, In Lege vestra scriptum est quia duorum hominum testimonium verum est, et ideo quisquam existimet non fuisse illam legem Dei, quia non dictum est, In Lege Dei: sciat ita dictum esse, In Lege vestra, tanquam diceret, in Lege quæ vobis est data; a quo, nisi a Deo? Sicut dicimus, Panem nostrum quotidianum: et tamen dicimus, Da nobis ho die.

Again, let no one be troubled that he says, “In your Law it is written that the witness of two men is true,” and so think that it was not the law of God, because it does not say “in the Law of God.” Let him know that it was said “in your Law” as though he said “in the Law that was given to you”: by whom, if not by God? As we say “our daily bread,” and yet we say, “Give us this day.”

John 8:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “Your Law” means the Law given to them by God, as “our daily bread” is still asked of God.

John 8:17 and Matt 6:11 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (In loge Dei → In Lege Dei); OCR slip in the digital text (ait,In → ait, In); OCR slip in the digital text (eat quia → est quia); OCR slip in the digital text (esso → esse); OCR slip in the digital text (hommum → hominum); OCR slip in the digital text (ianqunm → tanquam); OCR slip in the digital text (iilam → illam); OCR slip in the digital text (quotidianum: H tamen → quotidianum: et tamen)): ait,In → ait, In; eat quia → est quia; hommum → hominum; iilam → illam; In loge Dei → In Lege Dei; esso → esse; ianqunm → tanquam; quotidianum: H tamen → quotidianum: et tamen.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 36.13 (PL 35:1669; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/36-1/#p-36-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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