Tractates on the Gospel of John 37.1–37.10

Augustine of Hippo · Tractates on the Gospel of John · ca. 406–420 · Hippo Regius · 10 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 37

37.1PL 35:1669

Quod in sancto Evangelio breviter dicitur, non breviter oportet exponi, ut quod auditur, intelligatur. Verba enim Domini pauca, sed magna sunt; non nu mero æstimanda, sed pondere: nec ideo contemnenda, quia pauca; sed ideo quærenda, quia magna. Qui ad fuistis hesterno die, audistis, ut potuimus disputavi mus ex eo quod ait Dominus, Vos secundum carnem judicatis; ego non judico quemquam. Sed et si judico ego, judicium meum verum est; quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater. In lege vestra scriptum est quod duorum hominum testimonium verum est. Ego sum qui testimonium perhibeo de me, et testimonium perhibet de me qui misit me Pater. Ex his verbis hesterno, ut dixi, die redditus est sermo auri bus et mentibus vestris. Hæc cum Dominus dixisset; illi qui audierunt, Vos secundum carnem judicatis, ma nifestaverunt quod audierunt. Responderunt enim Do mino loquenti de Deo Patre suo, et dixerunt, Ubi est pater tuus? Patrem Christi carnaliter acceperunt, quia verba Christi secundum carnem judicaverunt. Erat autem qui loquebatur in aperto caro, in occulto Verbum: homo manifestus, Deus occultus. Videbant indumentum, et contemnebant indutum: contemne bant, quia nesciebant; nesciebant, quia non videbant; non videbant, quia cæci erant; cæci erant, quia non credebant.

What is said briefly in the holy Gospel ought not to be expounded briefly, so that what is heard may be understood. For the Lord's words are few but great; not to be valued by number but by weight; not to be despised because they are few, but to be searched because they are great. Those of you who were present yesterday heard us discuss, as we could, the Lord's saying: “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. But even if I judge, my judgment is true; because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law 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.” On these words, as I said, a sermon was delivered yesterday to your ears and minds. When the Lord had said these things, those who heard “You judge according to the flesh” showed that they had heard it truly. For they answered the Lord as he spoke of God his Father, and said, “Where is your father?” They took the Father of Christ carnally, because they judged the words of Christ according to the flesh. Now he who was speaking was flesh in the open, the Word in secret: man manifest, God hidden. They saw the garment and despised the one clothed in it: they despised him because they did not know him; they did not know him because they did not see; they did not see because they were blind; they were blind because they did not believe.

John 8:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:19 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews, judging by the flesh, asked where Christ's father was; they saw the garment of flesh and despised the hidden God within it.

John 8:15–19 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Do raino → Do mino); OCR slip in the digital text (Respondeant → Responderunt); OCR slip in the digital text (aura bes Qt → auri bus et); OCR slip in the digital text (bestemo → hesterno); OCR slip in the digital text (deme, → de me,); OCR slip in the digital text (egot → ego,); OCR slip in the digital text (magua → magna); OCR slip in the digital text (noM → non); OCR slip in the digital text (nri'sit → misit); OCR slip in the digital text (qni → qui); OCR slip in the digital text (quad ait → quod ait); OCR slip in the digital text (talus noa → solus non); OCR slip in the digital text (videbaut → videbant)): dicitur, noM breviter → dicitur, non breviter; magua → magna; quad ait → quod ait; ego noM judico → ego non judico; egot → ego,; talus noa → solus non; deme, → de me,; nri'sit → misit; bestemo → hesterno; aura bes Qt → auri bus et; illi qni audierunt, → illi qui audierunt,; Respondeant → Responderunt; Do raino → Do mino; videbaut → videbant.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.1 (PL 35:1669; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-1) · 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.

37.2PL 35:1669–1671

Videamus ergo et ad hæc Dominus quid respon deat. Ubi est, inquiunt, pater tuus? Audivimus enim te dicere, Solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater: nos solum te videmus, patrem tuum tecum non vide mus; quomodo te dicis solum non esse, sed cum pa tre tuo esse? an ostende nobis tecum esse patrem tuum. Et Dominus: Numquid me videtis, ut Patrem ostendam vobis? Hoc enim sequitur, hoc suis verbis ipse respondit, quorum verborum expositionem nos ante præmisimus. Videte enim quid dixerit, Neque me scitis, neque Patrem meum. Si me sciretis, forsitan et Patrem meum sciretis. Dicitis ergo, Ubi est Pater tuus? quasi jam me sciatis; quasi totum hoc sim quod vide tis. Ergo quia me non nostis, ideo vobis Patrem meum non ostendo. Me quippe hominem putatis, ideo Pa trem meum hominem quæritis, quia secundum car nem judicatis. Quia vero secundum quod videtis aliud sum, et aliud secundum quod non videtis; Patrem autem meum loquor occultus occultum: prius est ut me noveritis; tunc et Patrem meum scie tis.

Let us see, then, what the Lord answers to this too. “Where,” they say, “is your father?” For we have heard you say, “I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me.” We see you alone; we do not see your father with you; how do you say that you are not alone but with your father? Or else show us that your father is with you. And the Lord: Do you see me, that I should show you the Father? For this follows; with these words he himself answered, words whose explanation we have given beforehand. For see what he said: “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, perhaps you would know my Father too.” You say, then, “Where is your father?” as though you already knew me, as though I were all that you see. So because you do not know me, I do not show you my Father. For you think me a man; therefore you seek my Father as a man, because you judge according to the flesh. But since I am one thing according to what you see and another according to what you do not see, and I, hidden, speak of my Father, who is hidden, you must first know me; then you will know my Father too.

John 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ will not show the Father to those who think him only a man; they must first know who he is.

John 8:19 is quoted; John 8:16 is recalled.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (ago et qui → ego et qui); OCR slip in the digital text (mc non → me non); OCR slip in the digital text (me,citis → me scitis); OCR slip in the digital text (quemodo le dicis solum non eise → quomodo te dicis solum non esse); OCR slip in the digital text (qunritis → quæritis); OCR slip in the digital text (respon dent → respon deat); OCR slip in the digital text (solam te → solum te); OCR slip in the digital text (verhis → verbis); OCR slip in the digital text (vidclis → videtis)): respon dent → respon deat; ago et qui → ego et qui; solam te → solum te; quemodo le dicis solum non eise → quomodo te dicis solum non esse; verhis → verbis; me,citis → me scitis; mc non → me non; qunritis → quæritis; vidclis → videtis.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.2 (PL 35:1669–1671; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-2) · Report an error

37.3PL 35:1671

Si enim me sciretis, et Patrem meum forsitan sciretis. Ille qui omnia scit, quando dicit forsitan, non dubitat, sed increpat. Attende enim quomodo incre pative dicatur ipsum forsitan, quod videtur esse ver bum dubitationis. Sed dubitationis verbum est quando dicitur ab homine, ideo dubitante quia nesciente: cum vero dicitur a Deo verbum dubitationis, cum Deum nihil utique lateat, illa dubitatione arguitur infidelitas, non opinatur divinitas. Homines enim de his rebus quas certas habent, aliquando increpative dubitant, id est, verbum dubitationis ponunt, cum corde non dubitent: velut si indigneris servo tuo et dicas, Con temnis me; considera, forsitan dominus tuus sum. Hinc et Apostolus ad quosdam contemptores suos lo quens ait: Puto autem, et ego Spiritum Dei habeo. Qui dicit, puto, dubitare videtur: sed ille increpabat, non dubitabat. Et ipse Dominus Chri stus alio loco increpans infidelitatem futuram generis humani: Cum venerit, inquit, Filius hominis, putas, in veniet fidem in terra?

“For if you knew me, perhaps you would know my Father too.” He who knows all things, when he says “perhaps,” is not doubting but rebuking. For notice how this very “perhaps,” which seems to be a word of doubt, is said by way of rebuke. It is a word of doubt when said by a man, who doubts because he does not know; but when a word of doubt is said by God, since surely nothing is hidden from God, unbelief is reproved by that doubting; divinity is not expressing an opinion. For men sometimes doubt by way of rebuke about things they hold for certain; that is, they use a word of doubt although in their heart they do not doubt: as if you were indignant with your servant and said, “You despise me; consider: perhaps I am your master.” Hence the apostle too, speaking to some who despised him, says, “But I think that I too have the Spirit of God.” He who says “I think” seems to doubt; but he was rebuking, not doubting. And the Lord Christ himself, in another place, rebuking the future unbelief of the human race, says, “When the Son of man comes, do you think he will find faith on the earth?”

John 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 7:40 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 18:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's “perhaps” is not doubt but rebuke of unbelief, as men too use words of doubt to reprove.

John 8:19, 1 Cor 7:40, and Luke 18:8 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Scd → Sed); OCR slip in the digital text (cam corde → cum corde); OCR slip in the digital text (sci- I retis → sciretis)): sci- I retis → sciretis; dubitationis. Scd dubitationis → dubitationis. Sed dubitationis; cam corde → cum corde.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.3 (PL 35:1671; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-3) · Report an error

37.4PL 35:1671

Jam, quantum existimo, intellexistis quomodo sit positum forsitan: ne quis verborum appensor et syllabarum examinator, veluti latine loqui sciens, re prehendat verbum quod dixit Dei Verbum; et repre hendendo Dei Verbum, non eloquens, sed mutus re maneat. Quis enim loquitur sic, quomodo loquitur Verbum quod erat in principio apud Deum? Noli ver ba ista considerare, et ex his verbis assuetis illud Verbum metiri velle quod Deus est. Audis enim Ver bum et contemnis; audi Deum et time: In principio erat Verbum. Tu revocas ad usum sermocinationis tuæ, et dicis apud te, Quid est verbum? quid magnum est verbum? sonat et transit; verberato aere aurem percutit, postea non erit. Audi adhuc, Verbum erat apud Deum: manebat, non sonando transibat. Adhuc forte contemnis: Deus erat Verbum. Apud teipsum, o homo, cum est in corde tuo verbum, aliud est quam sonus: sed verbum quod est apud te, ut transeat ad me, sonum quasi vehiculum quærit. Assumit ergo sonum, imponit se quodammodo in ve hiculum, transcurrit aerem, venit ad me, nec recedit a te: Sonus autem ut veniret ad me, recessit a te, nec perstitit apud me. Verbum ergo quod erat in corde tuo, numquid sono prætereunte præteriit? Quod cogitabas dixisti; et ut ad me perveniret quod apud te latebat, syllabas sonuisti: sonus syllabarum per duxit ad aurem meam cogitationem tuam; per aurem meam descendit in cor meum cogitatio tua, sonus me dius transvolavit: verbum vero illud quod assumpsit sonum, antequam sonares, erat apud te; quia sonuisti, est apud me, et non recessit a te. Hoc attende, quis quis es examinator sonorum. Verbum Dei contemnis, qui verbum hominis non comprehendis!

Now, as far as I think, you have understood how “perhaps” was used, so that no weigher of words and examiner of syllables, as one who knows how to speak Latin, may find fault with the word that the Word of God spoke, and by finding fault with the Word of God remain not eloquent but dumb. For who speaks as the Word speaks which was in the beginning with God? Do not consider these words, and do not try to measure by these accustomed words that Word which is God. For you hear “Word” and despise it: hear “God” and fear. “In the beginning was the Word.” You bring it back to the usage of your own talk and say to yourself, “What is a word? What great thing is a word? It sounds and passes; the air is struck, it strikes the ear; afterward it will not be.” Hear further: “The Word was with God”: it remained; it did not pass by sounding. Further, perhaps you despise it still: “The Word was God.” Within yourself, O man, when there is a word in your heart, it is something other than a sound; but the word that is with you, in order to pass over to me, seeks sound as a vehicle. So it takes up sound, puts itself in a way into a vehicle, runs through the air, comes to me, and does not withdraw from you. But the sound, in order to come to me, withdrew from you and did not stay with me. Did the word, then, which was in your heart, pass away as the sound passed? You said what you were thinking; and so that what lay hidden with you might reach me, you sounded syllables: the sound of the syllables carried your thought to my ear; through my ear your thought came down into my heart; the intermediate sound flew past. But that word which took up sound was with you before you sounded it; because you sounded it, it is with me, and it has not withdrawn from you. Attend to this, whoever you are, examiner of sounds. Do you despise the Word of God, you who do not comprehend the word of man?

John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: No pedant should fault the Word's “perhaps”: even a human word remains in the speaker while passing by sound to the hearer, and the Word of God is God.

John 1:1 is quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Adhuc; forte → Adhuc forte); OCR slip in the digital text (Dci Verbum → Dei Verbum); OCR slip in the digital text (caim Ver bum ct → enim Ver bum et); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (cs examinator → es examinator); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (mo dius → me dius); OCR slip in the digital text (percutit. postea → percutit, postea)): Dci Verbum → Dei Verbum; crat → erat; caim Ver bum ct → enim Ver bum et; percutit. postea → percutit, postea; Adhuc; forte → Adhuc forte; cum cst in → cum est in; mo dius → me dius; cs examinator → es examinator.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.4 (PL 35:1671; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-4) · Report an error

37.5PL 35:1671

Scit ergo omnia per quem facta sunt omnia, et tamen dubitando increpat: Si me sciretis forsitan et Patrem meum sciretis. Increpat infideles. Nam talem sententiam dixit discipulis: sed ibi non est verbum dubitationis, quia non fuit causa increpandæ infideli tatis. Nam quod modo dixit Judaeis, Si me sciretis, forsitan et Patrem meum sciretis: dixit et discipulis quando eum Philippus interrogavit, imo postulavit et ait, Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis: quasi diceret, Et ipsi te jam novimus, apparuisti nobis, vidimus te, dignatus es eligere nos, secuti sumus te, mirabilia tua vidimus; verba salutis audivimus, præ cepta suscepimus, promissa speramus; multum nobis conferre praesentia tua ipse dignatus es: sed tamen cum te noverimus, quia Patrem nondum novimus, in flammamur desiderio illius videndi quem nondum no vimus: ac per hoc quia te novimus, sed non nobis sufficit, donec et Patrem noverimus; ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis. Et Dominus ut scirent non se nosse quod se putabant jam nosse: Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et me nescitis? Philippe, qui me vidit, vi dit et Patrem. Numquid habet ista sen tentia verbum dubitationis? numquid dixit, Qui me vidit, forsitan vidit et Patrem? Quare? Quia fidelis audiebat, non fidei persecutor: ideo non erat Domi nus increpator, sed doctor. Qui me vidit, vidit et Pa trem; et hic, Si me sciretis, et Patrem meum sciretis: tollamus verbum quo notata est infidelitas audientium, et ipsa sententia est.

So he through whom all things were made knows all things, and yet by doubting he rebukes: “If you knew me, perhaps you would know my Father too.” He rebukes the unbelievers. For he spoke such a sentence to the disciples, but there there is no word of doubt, because there was no cause to rebuke unbelief. For what he has just said to the Jews, “If you knew me, perhaps you would know my Father too,” he said to the disciples too, when Philip asked him, or rather demanded, and said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us”; as if he said: We already know you; you have appeared to us, we have seen you; you have deigned to choose us, we have followed you, we have seen your wonders; we have heard words of salvation, we have received commandments, we hope for the promises; you yourself have deigned to grant us much by your presence. But yet, though we have known you, because we do not yet know the Father, we are inflamed with desire to see him whom we do not yet know; and so, because we know you but it is not enough for us until we know the Father too, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. And the Lord, so that they might know that they did not know what they thought they already knew: “Have I been with you so long, and you do not know me? Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father too.” Does this sentence have a word of doubt? Did he say, “He who has seen me has perhaps seen the Father too”? Why? Because a believer was listening, not a persecutor of faith; therefore the Lord was not a rebuker but a teacher. “He who has seen me has seen the Father too”; and here, “If you knew me, you would know my Father too”: let us take away the word by which the unbelief of the hearers was marked, and it is the same sentence.

John 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:9 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: To Philip, a believer, Christ said without any “perhaps” that whoever has seen him has seen the Father; the “perhaps” to the Jews marks their unbelief.

John 8:19 and John 14:8–9 are quoted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (habel → habet); OCR slip in the digital text (infidcles → infideles); OCR slip in the digital text (multum nobis, conferre → multum nobis conferre); OCR slip in the digital text (nubis → nobis); OCR slip in the digital text (qnia → quia); OCR slip in the digital text (quando cum Philippus → quando eum Philippus)): infidcles → infideles; quando cum Philippus → quando eum Philippus; multum nobis, conferre → multum nobis conferre; qnia → quia; nubis → nobis; habel → habet.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.5 (PL 35:1671; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-5) · Report an error

37.6PL 35:1671–1673

Jam hesterno die commendavimus Charitati ve stræ, et diximus sententias Joannis evangelistæ, qui bus nobis narrat quod a Domino didicit, nec discu tiendas fuisse si fieri posset, nisi hæreticorum com menta compellerent. Breviter ergo hesterno die insinuavimus Charitati vestræ, esse hæreticos qui vocantur Patripassiani, vel a suo auctore Sabelliani: hi dicunt ipsum esse Patrem qui est Filius; nomina diversa, unam vero esse personam. Cum vult, Pater est, inquiunt; cum vult, Filius: tamen unus est. Item sunt alii hæretici qui vocantur Ariani. Confiten tur quidem unicum Patris Filium Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, illum Patrem Filii, istum Filium Patris; eum qui Pater est non esse Filium, eum qui Fi lius est non esse Patrem: confitentur generationem, sed negant æqualitatem. Nos, id est, catholica fides veniens de doctrina Apostolorum, plantata in nobis, per seriem successionis accepta, sana ad posteros transmittenda, inter utrosque, id est, inter utrumque errorem tenuit veritatem. In errore Sabellianorum unus est solus, ipse est Pater qui Filius: in errore Arianorum, alius est quidem Pater, alius Filius; sed ipse Filius non solum alius, sed etiam aliud est: tu in medio quid? Exclusisti sabellianum, exclude et arianum. Pater, Pater est; Filius, Filius est: alius, non aliud; quia ego et Pater, inquit, unum sumus, sicut etiam hesterno die, quantum po tui, commendavi. Cum audit, sumus, abscedat confu sus sabellianus; cum audit, unum, abscedat confusus arianus: gubernet catholicus inter utrumque fidei suæ navigium, quoniam cavendum est in utroque naufra gium. Dic ergo tu, quod dicit Evangelium, Ego et Pater unum sumus. Non ergo diversum, quia unum; non unus, quia sumus.

Already yesterday we commended to your Charity, and said, that the sentences of John the evangelist, in which he tells us what he learned from the Lord, would not need to be discussed, if that were possible, unless the inventions of heretics compelled it. Briefly, then, yesterday we pointed out to your Charity that there are heretics who are called Patripassians, or, from their founder, Sabellians. These say that he who is the Son is the very same as the Father: different names, but one person. When he wills, they say, he is the Father; when he wills, the Son; yet he is one. Again, there are other heretics who are called Arians. They confess indeed our Lord Jesus Christ as the only Son of the Father, the one the Father of the Son, the other the Son of the Father; that he who is the Father is not the Son, that he who is the Son is not the Father; they confess the generation, but deny the equality. We, that is, the Catholic faith, coming from the teaching of the apostles, planted in us, received through the series of succession, to be handed on sound to those after us, have held the truth between both, that is, between both errors. In the error of the Sabellians there is one alone: the Father is the same as the Son. In the error of the Arians, the Father is indeed one and the Son another, but the Son himself is not only another one but also another thing. What are you, in the middle? You have shut out the Sabellian; shut out the Arian too. The Father is the Father, the Son is the Son: another one, not another thing; because, “I and the Father,” he says, “are one,” as I also commended yesterday as well as I could. When he hears “are,” let the Sabellian go away confounded; when he hears “one,” let the Arian go away confounded. Let the Catholic steer the ship of his faith between both, for shipwreck is to be avoided on either side. Say, then, what the Gospel says: “I and the Father are one.” So not different, because “one”; not one person, because “are.”

John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Between the Sabellians, who make Father and Son one person, and the Arians, who make the Son different in substance, the Catholic faith holds “I and the Father are one.”

John 10:30 is quoted. The Catholic faith is described as received by apostolic succession; Augustine's account of the Sabellians and Arians is translated as written. The digital text's stray asterisks are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Confilen tur, quidcm → Confiten tur quidem); OCR slip in the digital text (Cuin audit, sumus, absredat → Cum audit, sumus, abscedat); OCR slip in the digital text (I'atr → Pater); OCR slip in the digital text (In cfrorc → In errore); OCR slip in the digital text (Paler → Pater); OCR slip in the digital text (alius, I non → alius, non); OCR slip in the digital text (catholicns → catholicus); OCR slip in the digital text (dic, insinuavimus → die insinuavimus); OCR slip in the digital text (errore * Arianorum → errore Arianorum); OCR slip in the digital text (evangeliste → evangelistæ); OCR slip in the digital text (exclude et I arianum → exclude et arianum); OCR slip in the digital text (gEnerationem → generationem); OCR slip in the digital text (isium Filium I'atris → istum Filium Patris; I'atr → Pater); OCR slip in the digital text (quidcni → quidem); OCR slip in the digital text (sahellianus → sabellianus); OCR slip in the digital text (sericm → seriem); OCR slip in the digital text (sumus *, sicnt → sumus, sicut); OCR slip in the digital text (vestre → vestræ)): evangeliste → evangelistæ; dic, insinuavimus → die insinuavimus; vestre → vestræ; Confilen tur, quidcm → Confiten tur quidem; isium Filium I'atris; → istum Filium Patris;; gEnerationem → generationem; sericm → seriem; In cfrorc → In errore; errore * Arianorum → errore Arianorum; quidcni → quidem; exclude et I arianum → exclude et arianum; alius, I non → alius, non; Paler → Pater; sumus *, sicnt → sumus, sicut; Cuin audit, sumus, absredat → Cum audit, sumus, abscedat; sahellianus → sabellianus; catholicns → catholicus; et I'atr unum → et Pater unum.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.6 (PL 35:1671–1673; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-6) · Report an error

37.7PL 35:1673

Paulo ante dixit, Judicium meum verum est; quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me Pater: tanquam diceret, Ideo judicium meum est verum, quia Filius Dei sum, quia verum loquor, quia ipsa veritas ego sum. Isti carnaliter intelligentes dixerunt, Ubi est pater tuus? Modo audi, ariane: Neque me scitis, neque Patrem meum; quia si me sciretis, et Patrem meum sciretis. Quid est, si me sciretis et Patrem meum sciretis, nisi, ego et Pater unum sumus? Quando vides aliquem alicui similem: intendat Charitas vestra, quotidiana locutio est; non sit vobis arduum quod esse advertitis usitatum: quando ergo vides aliquem alicui similem, et nosti tu cui similis sit, admirans dicis, Quomodo iste homo similis est illi homini! Hoc non diceres, nisi duo essent. Hic ille qui eum ignorat, cui tu istum similem dicis: Itane, inquit, similis est? Et tu ad eum: Quid enim, tu illum non nosti? At ille: Non novi, inquit. Jam tu, ut illum quem nescit, ei notum facias ex præsente quem cernit, respondes et dicis: Hunc vidisti, illum vidisti. Non utique quia hoc dixisti, unum esse asseverasti, et duos negasti: sed propter similitudinem tale dedisti responsum, Istum nosti et illum nosti; valde enim similis est, ut nihil distat omnino. Ita et Dominus, Si me, inquit, sciretis, et Patrem meum sciretis, non quia Pater est Filius, sed quia Patri similis Filius. Erubescat arianus. Gratias Domino quia et ipse arianus recessit ab errore sabel liano, et non est patripassianus: non dicit ipsum Pa trem indutum carne venisse ad homines, ipsum esse passum, ipsum resurrexisse, et quodammodo ad se ascendisse; hoc non dicit: agnoscit mecum Patrem, Patrem esse; et Filium, Filium esse. Sed, o frater, evasisti illud naufragium, quare tendis in alterum? Pater, Pater est; Filius, Filius est: quare dicis dissi milem? quare diversum? quare aliam substantiam? Si dissimilis esset, numquid diceret discipulis suis, Qui me vidit, vidit et Patrem? numquid diceret Judæis, Si me sciretis, et Patrem meum sciretis? Unde hoc ve rum esset, nisi et illud verum, Ego et Pater unum sumus?

A little before he said, “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 for this reason, because I am the Son of God, because I speak the truth, because I am the truth itself. They, understanding carnally, said, “Where is your father?” Now hear, Arian: “You know neither me nor my Father; for if you knew me, you would know my Father too.” What is “If you knew me, you would know my Father too,” if not “I and the Father are one”? When you see someone like someone else (let your Charity attend; it is everyday speech; let it not be difficult for you, since you notice it is customary), when, then, you see someone like someone else, and you know whom he is like, you say in wonder, “How like this man is to that man!” You would not say this unless there were two. Here someone who does not know the man you say this one is like says, “Is he so like him?” And you say to him, “What, do you not know him?” And he: “I do not know him,” he says. Now you, to make the one he does not know known to him from the one present whom he sees, answer and say, “You have seen this one, you have seen that one.” Surely by saying this you have not asserted that they are one and denied that they are two; but because of the likeness you gave such an answer: you know this one, you know that one, for he is very like him, so that there is no difference at all. So too the Lord: “If you knew me,” he says, “you would know my Father too”; not because the Father is the Son, but because the Son is like the Father. Let the Arian blush. Thanks be to the Lord that the Arian too has withdrawn from the Sabellian error and is not a Patripassian: he does not say that the Father himself, clothed in flesh, came to men, that he himself suffered, that he himself rose and in a way ascended to himself; he does not say this; he acknowledges with me that the Father is the Father and the Son is the Son. But, O brother, you have escaped that shipwreck: why do you head for the other? The Father is the Father, the Son is the Son: why do you call him unlike? Why different? Why another substance? If he were unlike, would he say to his disciples, “He who has seen me has seen the Father too”? Would he say to the Jews, “If you knew me, you would know my Father too”? How would this be true, unless this too were true: “I and the Father are one”?

John 8:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:9 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:6 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “If you knew me, you would know my Father” shows the Son's likeness to the Father, as one recognizes a man from someone very like him; against the Arians, Father and Son are one.

John 8:16, 8:19, John 10:30, and John 14:9 are quoted; John 14:6 is echoed. Augustine's statements on the Arians and Patripassians are translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Itine et Deminus → Ita et Dominus); OCR slip in the digital text (Putrem → Patrem); OCR slip in the digital text (Putrem → Patrem; Putrem meum sCiretis → Patrem meum sciretis); OCR slip in the digital text (aniane → ariane); OCR slip in the digital text (ardaum qnod → arduum quod); OCR slip in the digital text (csse assevcrasti → esse asseverasti); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct nosti → et nosti); OCR slip in the digital text (diss! milem → dissi milem); OCR slip in the digital text (eat pater → est pater); OCR slip in the digital text (ei nolum → ei notum); OCR slip in the digital text (illud,naufragium → illud naufragium); OCR slip in the digital text (intelligentes; dixerunt → intelligentes dixerunt); OCR slip in the digital text (meuin → meum); OCR slip in the digital text (non sunt, sed → non sum, sed); OCR slip in the digital text (nost.? → nosti?); OCR slip in the digital text (nou dicit → non dicit); OCR slip in the digital text (pnpter → propter); OCR slip in the digital text (re. ponsum, Isium → responsum, Istum); OCR slip in the digital text (sci/is → scitis); OCR slip in the digital text (siim → sum); OCR slip in the digital text (valdc → valde); OCR slip in the digital text (veritis → veritas)): non sunt, sed → non sum, sed; siim → sum; veritis → veritas; intelligentes; dixerunt → intelligentes dixerunt; eat pater → est pater; aniane → ariane; sci/is → scitis; meuin → meum; sciretis et Putrem meum sCiretis, → sciretis et Patrem meum sciretis,; ardaum qnod → arduum quod; ct nosti → et nosti; similis cst? → similis est?; nost.? → nosti?; ei nolum → ei notum; csse assevcrasti → esse asseverasti; pnpter → propter; re. ponsum, Isium → responsum, Istum; valdc → valde; Itine et Deminus → Ita et Dominus; nou dicit → non dicit; illud,naufragium → illud naufragium; Pater cst; → Pater est;; diss! milem → dissi milem; sciretis, et Putrem meum sciretis? → sciretis, et Patrem meum sciretis?.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.7 (PL 35:1673; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-7) · Report an error

37.8PL 35:1673

Hæc verba locutus est Jesus in gazophylacio do cens in templo: magna fiducia, sine timore. Non enim pateretur quod nollet, qui nec nasceretur si nollet. Denique quid sequitur? Et nemo apprehendit eum, quia nondum venerat hora ejus. Hoc item nonnulli cum au diunt, sub fato fuisse Dominum Christum credunt, et dicunt: Ecce Christus habebat fatum. O si cor tuum non esset fatuum, non crederes fatum! Si fatum, sicut nonnulli intellexerunt, a fando dictum est, id est a loquendo; Verbum Dei quomodo habet fatum, quando in ipso Verbo omnia sunt quæ condita sunt? Non enim aliquid Deus constituit quod ante nescivit; in Verbo ipsius erat quod factum est. Mundus factus est; et factus est, et ibi erat. Quomodo et factus est, et ibi erat? Quia domus quam ædificat structor, prius in arte erat; et ibi melius erat, sine vetustate, sine ruina: tamen ut ostendat artem, fabricat domum; et processit quodammodo domus ex domo; et si domus ruat, ars manet. Ita apud Dei Verbum erant omnia quæ condita sunt; quia omnia in sapientia fecit Deus, et cuncta nota fecit: non enim quia fecit didicit, sed quia noverat fecit. Nobis quia facta sunt, nota sunt; illi nisi nota essent, facta non essent. Præcessit ergo Verbum. Et quid ante Verbum Dei? Nihil omnino. Nam si esset aliquid ante, non dictum esset, In principio erat Verbum; sed, In principio fa ctum est Verbum. Denique de mundo quid ait Moyses? In principio fecit Deus cælum et terram. Fe cit quod non erat: si ergo fecit quod non erat, ante quid erat? In principio erat Verbum. Et unde cœlum et terra? Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Tu ergo ponis Christum sub fato? Ubi sunt fata? In cœlo, inquis, in ordine et conversionibus siderum. Quomodo ergo fatum habet per quem factum est cœlum et sidera; cum tua voluntas, si recte sapias, transcendat et sidera? An quia nosti Christi carnem fuisse sub coelo, ideo putas et potestatem Christi sub ditam cœlo?

“These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple”: with great confidence, without fear. For he would not suffer what he did not will, who would not have been born if he had not willed. Finally, what follows? “And no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.” Some, hearing this, believe that the Lord Christ was under fate, and say, “See, Christ had a fate.” O, if your heart were not fatuous, you would not believe in fate! If fate, as some have understood, is named from fari, that is, from speaking, how does the Word of God have a fate, when in that Word are all things that have been founded? For God established nothing that he did not know beforehand; in his Word was what was made. The world was made; it was both made and was there. How was it both made and there? Because a house which a builder builds was first in his art; and there it was better, without age, without ruin; yet to show his art he builds the house; and the house came forth, in a way, from a house; and if the house falls, the art remains. So with the Word of God were all the things that have been founded; for God made all things in wisdom, and made all things known to him: for he did not learn because he made, but made because he knew. To us they are known because they have been made; to him, unless they had been known, they would not have been made. So the Word went before. And what was before the Word of God? Nothing at all. For if there were anything before, it would not have been said, “In the beginning was the Word,” but “In the beginning the Word was made.” Finally, what does Moses say of the world? “In the beginning God made heaven and earth.” He made what was not: if, then, he made what was not, what was before? “In the beginning was the Word.” And whence heaven and earth? “All things were made through him.” Do you, then, put Christ under fate? Where are the fates? In the sky, you say, in the order and revolutions of the stars. How, then, does he have a fate through whom heaven and the stars were made, when your own will, if you are wise rightly, transcends even the stars? Or because you know that Christ's flesh was under the sky, do you therefore think that Christ's power too was subject to the sky?

John 8:20 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ was not under fate: he is the Word in whom all things existed before they were made, and the maker of the stars to which fate is ascribed.

John 8:20, John 1:1, Gen 1:1, John 1:3, and Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX) are quoted. Fatum (“fate”) is derived from fari (“to speak”); Augustine plays on this and on fatuus (“fatuous”). The digital text's leaked running head “PATROL. XXXV.” and stray reference “(i'sul. CIII, 24)” are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text ( ( i'sul. CIII, 24) → ); OCR slip in the digital text (Christum credunt, PATROL. XXXV. et dicunt → Christum credunt, et dicunt); OCR slip in the digital text (Qnia → Quia); OCR slip in the digital text (Uhi sunt fala? la cœlo → Ubi sunt fata? In cœlo); OCR slip in the digital text (Verbum Dci → Verbum Dei); OCR slip in the digital text (ame quid → ante quid); OCR slip in the digital text (antc → ante); OCR slip in the digital text (coctuM → cœlum); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est; crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est; ihi → ibi); OCR slip in the digital text (ct ibi → et ibi); OCR slip in the digital text (curti an diunt → cum au diunt); OCR slip in the digital text (cæ/um → cælum); OCR slip in the digital text (eraut → erant); OCR slip in the digital text (esse.. fatuum, non credercs → esset fatuum, non crederes); OCR slip in the digital text (facia non → facta non); OCR slip in the digital text (fatuln → fatum); OCR slip in the digital text (fatum! Si fatum, V sicut → fatum! Si fatum, sicut); OCR slip in the digital text (fccit → fecit); OCR slip in the digital text (fidum → fatum); OCR slip in the digital text (habet. per → habet per); OCR slip in the digital text (idco → ideo); OCR slip in the digital text (loqucndo → loquendo); OCR slip in the digital text (nola fecit → nota fecit); OCR slip in the digital text (olnnino → omnino); OCR slip in the digital text (ordinc → ordine); OCR slip in the digital text (qui nem nasceretur → qui nec nasceretur); OCR slip in the digital text (sinc timore → sine timore); OCR slip in the digital text (sino ruina → sine ruina); OCR slip in the digital text (suut → sunt)): sinc timore → sine timore; qui nem nasceretur → qui nec nasceretur; curti an diunt → cum au diunt; Christum credunt, PATROL. XXXV. et dicunt → Christum credunt, et dicunt; fidum → fatum; esse.. fatuum, non credercs → esset fatuum, non crederes; fatum! Si fatum, V sicut → fatum! Si fatum, sicut; loqucndo → loquendo; Verbum Dci → Verbum Dei; fatuln → fatum; omnia suut quæ → omnia sunt quæ; condita suut? → condita sunt?; ipsius crat quod → ipsius erat quod; est; et factus cst, et ibi crat. → est; et factus est, et ibi erat.; Quomodo et factus cst, et ihi erat? → Quomodo et factus est, et ibi erat?; Qnia → Quia; ct ibi → et ibi; melius crat, → melius erat,; sino ruina → sine ruina; eraut → erant; ( i'sul. CIII, 24) → ; nola fecit → nota fecit; fccit → fecit; facia non → facta non; olnnino → omnino; antc → ante; ctum cst Verbum. → ctum est Verbum.; cæ/um → cælum; non crat: → non erat:; ame quid → ante quid; Uhi sunt fala? la cœlo → Ubi sunt fata? In cœlo; ordinc → ordine; habet. per → habet per; coctuM → cœlum; idco → ideo.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.8 (PL 35:1673; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-8) · Report an error

37.9PL 35:1673–1675

Audi, stulte: Nondum venerat hora ejus, non qua cogeretur mori, sed qua dignaretur occidi. Noverat enim ipse quando deberet mori: intendit omnia quæ prædicta sunt de illo, et exspectabat finiri omnia quæ prædicta sunt ante ejus passionem futura; ut cum im pleta essent, tunc veniret et passio, dispositionis or dine, non fatali necessitate. Denique audite, ut probetis: inter caetera quæ de illo prophetata sunt, scriptum est etiam, Dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti mea po taverunt me aceto. Quomodo facta sint, in Evangelio novimus. Prius dederunt fel; acce pit, gustavit, et despuit: postea in cruce pendens, ut omnia prædicta complerentur, ait, Sitio: acceperunt spongiam aceto plenam, in arundine ligaverunt, et admoverunt pendenti; accepit ille et ait, Perfectum est. Quid est, Perfectum est? Impleta sunt omnia quæ ante passionem meam fuerant prophetata: ergo adhuc quid hic facio? Denique posteaquam dixit, Perfectum est, inclinato capite tradidit spiritum. Numquid illi latrones juxta confixi, quando voluerunt, exspiraverunt? Tenebantur vinculis carnis; quia non erant creatores carnis: clavis confixi diu cruciaban tur, quia infirmitati non dominabantur. Dominus au tem quando voluit, carnem in utero virginali accepit; quando voluit, ad homines processit; quamdiu voluit, inter homines vixit; quando voluit a carne discessit: hoc est potestatis, non necessitatis. Hanc ergo horam ille exspectabat, non fatalem, sed opportunam et vo luntariam: ut prius omnia complerentur, quæ ante passionem ipsius compleri oportebat. Nam quomodo sub fati necessitate positus erat, qui alio loco dixit: Potestatem habeo ponendi animam meam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam: nemo tollit eam a me, sed ego ipse pono eam a me, et iterum sumo eam? Ostendit hanc potestatem, quando eum Judæi quærebant. Quem quæritis, inquit? Et illi: Jesum. Et ille: Ego sum. Qua voce audita, redierunt retro et ceci derunt.

Hear, foolish man: “His hour had not yet come”—not an hour at which he would be compelled to die, but one at which he would deign to be killed. For he himself knew when he ought to die: he was attending to all that had been foretold of him, and waiting for all to be completed that had been foretold as to come before his passion, so that when they had been fulfilled, then the passion too would come, in the order of his arrangement, not by the necessity of fate. In short, hear, so that you may test it: among the other things prophesied of him, it is written also, “They gave gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” How these things were done we know from the Gospel. First they gave gall: he took it, tasted it, and spat it out. Afterward, hanging on the cross, so that all things foretold might be fulfilled, he said, “I thirst.” They took a sponge full of vinegar, tied it on a reed, and brought it to him as he hung; he took it and said, “It is finished.” What is “It is finished”? All things that had been prophesied before my passion have been fulfilled: why then do I still stay here? Finally, after he had said, “It is finished,” bowing his head he gave up his spirit. Did those robbers fastened beside him breathe their last when they wished? They were held by the bonds of the flesh, because they were not creators of the flesh; fastened with nails they were tortured long, because they were not masters of their weakness. But the Lord, when he willed, took flesh in the virgin's womb; when he willed, came forth to men; as long as he willed, lived among men; when he willed, departed from the flesh: this belongs to power, not necessity. This hour, then, he was waiting for, not a fated hour but a fitting and voluntary one: that first all things might be fulfilled which had to be fulfilled before his passion. For how was he placed under the necessity of fate, who said in another place, “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again; no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself, and I take it up again”? He showed this power when the Jews were seeking him. “Whom do you seek?” he says. And they: “Jesus.” And he: “I am he.” At the sound of that voice they went backward and fell.

John 8:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 69:21 (68:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 27:34 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:28 (quotation, high confidence) · John 19:29 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:30 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 18:4 (quotation, high confidence) · John 18:5 (quotation, high confidence) · John 18:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's hour was not fated but chosen: he waited until all the prophecies were fulfilled and then gave up his spirit by his own power.

John 8:20, Ps 69:21 (68:22 LXX), John 19:28–30, John 10:18, and John 18:4–6 are quoted; Matt 27:34 is alluded to. The digital text's stray “y” before the second “It is finished” is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Perfectum eat. y Quid est, Perfectum eat? Impleta sunt omnia quæ ante; → Perfectum est. Quid est, Perfectum est? Impleta sunt omnia quæ ante); OCR slip in the digital text (accepit; -quando → accepit; quando); OCR slip in the digital text (au. tem → au tem); OCR slip in the digital text (boc est → hoc est); OCR slip in the digital text (crgo → ergo); OCR slip in the digital text (dederunt lel → dederunt fel); OCR slip in the digital text (ille ct ait → ille et ait); OCR slip in the digital text (in quit → inquit); OCR slip in the digital text (ipsc → ipse); OCR slip in the digital text (nou dominabantur → non dominabantur); OCR slip in the digital text (oiunia qu;u → omnia quæ); OCR slip in the digital text (opportunam it vo luatariam → opportunam et vo luntariam); OCR slip in the digital text (polestatem nubeo iterum sumendi cam → potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam); OCR slip in the digital text (proplictata → prophetata); OCR slip in the digital text (qai alio loco divit → qui alio loco dixit); OCR slip in the digital text (qua prædicta → quæ prædicta); OCR slip in the digital text (quando cum Judæi → quando eum Judæi); OCR slip in the digital text (quomode → quomodo); OCR slip in the digital text (redicrunt → redierunt); OCR slip in the digital text (scriptum ast → scriptum est); OCR slip in the digital text (utprobctis → ut probetis); OCR slip in the digital text (venirct → veniret); OCR slip in the digital text (voluit. a carne → voluit a carne)): qua prædicta → quæ prædicta; oiunia qu;u → omnia quæ; venirct → veniret; utprobctis → ut probetis; proplictata → prophetata; scriptum ast → scriptum est; dederunt lel → dederunt fel; ille ct ait → ille et ait; Perfectum eat. y Quid est, Perfectum eat? Impleta sunt omnia quæ ante; → Perfectum est. Quid est, Perfectum est? Impleta sunt omnia quæ ante; nou dominabantur → non dominabantur; au. tem → au tem; accepit; -quando → accepit; quando; voluit. a carne → voluit a carne; boc est → hoc est; crgo → ergo; opportunam it vo luatariam → opportunam et vo luntariam; quomode → quomodo; qai alio loco divit → qui alio loco dixit; polestatem nubeo iterum sumendi cam → potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam; ipsc → ipse; quando cum Judæi → quando eum Judæi; in quit → inquit; redicrunt → redierunt.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.9 (PL 35:1673–1675; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-9) · Report an error

37.10PL 35:1675

Dicit aliquis, Si hæc in illo potestas erat, quare, cum Judæi insultarent pendenti et dicerent, Si Filius Dei est, descendat de cruce, non de scendit, ut eis suam potestatem descendendo mon straret? Quia patientiam docebat, ideo potentiam differebat. Si enim quasi commotus ad eorum verba descenderet, victus conviciorum dolore putaretur. Prorsus non descendit, fixus permansit, quando vellet abscessurus. Nam quid ei magnum fuit de cruce de scendere, qui potuit de sepulcro resurgere? Intelliga mus ergo nos quibus hoc ministratum est, potentiam Domini nostri Jesu Christi occultam tunc, manifestam futuram in judicio: de quo dictum est, Deus manife stus veniet, Deus noster et non silebit. Quid est, manifestus veniet? Quia venit occultus, veniet manifestus Deus noster, hoc est Christus. Et non sile bit: quid est, non silebit? Quia primo siluit. Ubi si luit? Quando judicatus est; ut etiam hoc impleretur, quod et propheta prædixerat, Sicut ovis ad immolan dum ductus est, et sicut agnus coram tondente se sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum. Si ergo pati nollet, non pateretur; si non pateretur, sanguis ille non funderetur; si sanguis ille non funderetur, mundus non redimeretur. Agamus itaque gratias et potestati divinitatis, et miserationi infirmitatis ejus: et de occulta potentia quam Judæi non noverant, unde illis modo dictum est, Neque me nostis, neque Patrem meum; et de carne suscepta quam Judæi noverant, et cujus patriam sciebant; unde illis alio loco dixit, Et me nostis, et unde sim nostis. Utrumque noverimus in Christo; et unde æqualis est Patri, et unde illo major est Pater. Illud Verbum est, illud caro; illud Deus est, illud homo: sed unus est Chri stus Deus et homo.

Someone says: If this power was in him, why, when the Jews mocked him as he hung and said, “If he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross,” did he not come down, so as to show them his power by coming down? Because he was teaching patience, he deferred his power. For if he had come down as though moved by their words, he would have been thought overcome by the pain of their insults. He did not come down at all; he remained fixed, to depart when he willed. For what great thing was it for him to come down from the cross, who could rise from the tomb? Let us understand, then, we to whom this has been ministered, that the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, hidden then, will be manifest in the judgment, of which it was said, “God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence.” What is “will come openly”? Because he came hidden, our God, that is, Christ, will come openly. “And will not keep silence”: what is “will not keep silence”? Because first he was silent. When was he silent? When he was judged, so that this too might be fulfilled which the prophet had foretold: “As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer without voice, so he did not open his mouth.” If, then, he had not willed to suffer, he would not have suffered; if he had not suffered, that blood would not have been shed; if that blood had not been shed, the world would not have been redeemed. Let us give thanks, then, both to the power of his divinity and to the compassion of his weakness: both for the hidden power which the Jews did not know, which is why it was just said to them, “You know neither me nor my Father”; and for the flesh he took, which the Jews knew and whose homeland they knew, which is why he said to them in another place, “You both know me and know where I am from.” Let us know both in Christ: both whereby he is equal to the Father, and whereby the Father is greater than he. The one is the Word, the other flesh; the one God, the other man; but Christ, God and man, is one.

Matt 27:40 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 50:3 (49:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:7 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 7:28 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:28 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ did not come down from the cross, deferring his power to teach patience; that hidden power will be manifest at the judgment, for he is one Christ, God and man.

Matt 27:40, Ps 50:3 (49:3 LXX), Isa 53:7, John 8:19, and John 7:28 are quoted; John 14:28 is echoed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (El non → Et non); OCR slip in the digital text (Judi-i → Judæi); OCR slip in the digital text (N am quid ci → Nam quid ei); OCR slip in the digital text (carn; → caro;); OCR slip in the digital text (cis suam potestalem → eis suam potestatem); OCR slip in the digital text (cjus → ejus; ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (corum tondente → coram tondente); OCR slip in the digital text (corum verba → eorum verba); OCR slip in the digital text (crat, qu are, cnm Juda'i → erat, quare, cum Judæi); OCR slip in the digital text (crgo → ergo); OCR slip in the digital text (crucc → cruce); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est; 1'alcr. lllud → Pater. Illud); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est; Chri s:us → Chri stus); OCR slip in the digital text (ct → et); OCR slip in the digital text (de cendit → descendit); OCR slip in the digital text (ilaquc → itaque); OCR slip in the digital text (illc → ille); OCR slip in the digital text (miscrationi → miserationi); OCR slip in the digital text (nou redimeretur → non redimeretur); OCR slip in the digital text (polentiam → potentiam); OCR slip in the digital text (qnam → quam); OCR slip in the digital text (quod cl propheta → quod et propheta); OCR slip in the digital text (rcsurgerc → resurgere); OCR slip in the digital text (seicbant → sciebant)): crat, qu are, cnm Juda'i → erat, quare, cum Judæi; pendenti ct dicerent, → pendenti et dicerent,; crucc → cruce; cis suam potestalem → eis suam potestatem; corum verba → eorum verba; de cendit → descendit; N am quid ci → Nam quid ei; rcsurgerc → resurgere; mus crgo nos → mus ergo nos; ministratum cst, → ministratum est,; polentiam → potentiam; dictum cst, → dictum est,; hoc cst Christus. → hoc est Christus.; El non → Et non; quid cst, → quid est,; quod cl propheta → quod et propheta; corum tondente → coram tondente; Si crgo pati → Si ergo pati; illc → ille; nou redimeretur → non redimeretur; ilaquc → itaque; miscrationi → miserationi; cjus: ct de → ejus: et de; qnam → quam; meum; ct de → meum; et de; Judi-i → Judæi; noverant, ct cujus → noverant, et cujus; seicbant → sciebant; major cst 1'alcr. lllud → major est Pater. Illud; carn; → caro;; Deus cst, → Deus est,; unus cst Chri s:us → unus est Chri stus; Deus ct homo. → Deus et homo..

Topics: Christology, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 37.10 (PL 35:1675; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/37-1/#p-37-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-tractatus-ioannem-37-10) · Report an error