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| author | Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk> |
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| date | Sat, 03 May 2025 22:47:32 +0100 |
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| 35 | 9 <body style="text-align:justify"> |
| 10 <blockquote> | |
| 11 <p style="text-align: center"><span style= | |
| 12 "font-size: 60pt">15</span></p> | |
| 13 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE I</b></p> | |
| 14 <blockquote> | |
| 15 <p><b>1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 | |
| 16 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every | |
| 17 branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. | |
| 18 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to | |
| 19 you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit | |
| 20 by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless | |
| 21 you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who | |
| 22 abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for | |
| 23 apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, | |
| 24 he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are [and | |
| 25 he is] gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in | |
| 26 me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall | |
| 27 be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear | |
| 28 much fruit, and so [become] prove to be my disciples.<a href= | |
| 29 "#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" id="_ftnref1">[1]</a></b></p> | |
| 30 </blockquote> | |
| 31 <p>1978 In this talk our Lord especially wants to comfort his | |
| 32 disciples about two things: one was near, in the present, and this | |
| 33 was his passion; the other was what they feared in the future, and | |
| 34 this was the troubles which would come upon them. He had said to | |
| 35 them about these two things: <b>Let not your hearts be | |
| 36 troubled,</b> referring to the first, and neither let them be | |
| 37 afraid (14:27), referring to the second.</p> | |
| 38 <p>So now, after comforting them over his leaving (14:1), he | |
| 39 strengthens them for the troubles which will come upon them. First, | |
| 40 he presents a certain picture; secondly, he moves from this to his | |
| 41 intention (15:3). The picture he presents is of a vine and a | |
| 42 vinedresser. First, he mentions the vine; secondly, the | |
| 43 vinedresser; and thirdly, he approves of the vinedresser's concern | |
| 44 for the branches of the vine.</p> | |
| 45 <p>1979 He himself is the vine. So he says, making a comparison, | |
| 46 <b>I am the vine</b>; for just like a vine, although it seems to be | |
| 47 of small account, nevertheless surpasses all trees in the sweetness | |
| 48 of its fruit, so Christ, although he seemed to be despised by the | |
| 49 world because he was poor, and seemed of small account and was | |
| 50 publicly disgraced, nevertheless produced the sweetest fruit: "His | |
| 51 fruit was sweet to my taste" (Song 2:3). And so Christ is a vine | |
| 52 producing a wine which interiorly intoxicates us: a wine of sorrow | |
| 53 for sin: "You have given us to drink the wine of sorrow" [Ps 60:3]; | |
| 54 and a wine which strengthens us, that is, which restores us: "My | |
| 55 blood is drink indeed" (6:55). In the same way he compared himself, | |
| 56 above, to wheat, for his flesh is truly food.</p> | |
| 57 <p>This is the vine mentioned in Genesis (40:9‑10): "There | |
| 58 was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches," | |
| 59 that is Christ, in whom there are three substances: his body, soul | |
| 60 and divinity. This is also the vine about which Jacob says: "My | |
| 61 son, tie your she‑ass," that is, the Church, "to the vine" | |
| 62 [Gen 49:11].</p> | |
| 63 <p>1980 This vine is true. Sometimes what is true is distinguished | |
| 64 from its likeness, as a man is distinguished from his picture. And | |
| 65 sometimes what is true is distinguished from what is deformed or | |
| 66 spoiled, as true wine is distinguished from vinegar, which is | |
| 67 spoiled wine. When Christ says here, <b>I am the true vine,</b> he | |
| 68 is using true in the second sense to distinguish himself from the | |
| 69 deformed or spoiled vine, which is the Jewish people. We read about | |
| 70 them: "How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine" | |
| 71 (Jer 2:21). This was because this vine brought forth wild grapes | |
| 72 instead of grapes: "When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did | |
| 73 it yield wild grapes?" (Is 5:4).</p> | |
| 74 <p>1981 There are two natures in Christ, the divine and the human. | |
| 75 Because of his human nature he is like us and is less than the | |
| 76 Father. Because of his divine nature he is like God and above us. | |
| 77 Thus he is the true vine insofar as he is the head of the Church, | |
| 78 the man Christ Jesus. He implies this when he mentions the | |
| 79 vinedresser, who is the Father. He says, <b>and my Father is the | |
| 80 vinedresser.</b> If Christ is the vine because of his divine | |
| 81 nature, the Father would also be the vine like the Son. But because | |
| 82 Christ is the vine by reason of his human nature, the Father is | |
| 83 related to him as vinedresser to vine. Indeed, even Christ himself, | |
| 84 as God, is a vinedresser.</p> | |
| 85 <p>1982 [The vinedresser cultivates the vine.] Now to cultivate | |
| 86 something is to devote one's interest to it. And we can cultivate | |
| 87 something in two ways: either to make what is cultivated better, as | |
| 88 we cultivate a field or something of that sort, or to make | |
| 89 ourselves better by the cultivating, and in this way we cultivate | |
| 90 wisdom. God cultivates us to make us better by his work, since he | |
| 91 roots out the evil seeds in our hearts. As Augustine says, he opens | |
| 92 our hearts with the plow of his words, plants the seeds of the | |
| 93 commandments, and harvests the fruit of devotion.<a href="#_ftn2" | |
| 94 name="_ftnref2" id="_ftnref2">[2]</a></p> | |
| 95 <p>But we cultivate God, not by plowing but by adoring, in order | |
| 96 that we may be made better by him: "If any one is a worshiper," | |
| 97 that is, a cultivator, "of God and does his will, God listens to | |
| 98 him" (9:31). And so the Father is the vinedresser of this vine for | |
| 99 the good of others. For he plants: "I planted you a choice vine, | |
| 100 wholly of pure seed" (Jer 2:21), and makes its grow: I planted, | |
| 101 Apollos can make one grow from within and produce fruit, no matter | |
| 102 how much others cooperate on the exterior. And God guards and | |
| 103 preserves, for we read that he built a watchtower in the vineyard, | |
| 104 and put a hedge around it (Mt 21:33; Is 5:2).</p> | |
| 105 <p>1983 The vinedresser is concerned about two things: the vine and | |
| 106 its branches. Now the vine considered here was perfect, and did not | |
| 107 need care by the vinedresser. And so the entire care of the | |
| 108 vinedresser will be directed to the branches. He says, <b>every | |
| 109 branch of mine</b> and so forth. The branches of a vine, however, | |
| 110 have the nature of the vine; and so those united to Christ are | |
| 111 branches of this vine: "The vine brought forth branches" [Ez 17:6]. | |
| 112 He mentions two things about the branches: first, the attitude of | |
| 113 the vinedresser to the bad branches; his interest in the good | |
| 114 branches.</p> | |
| 115 <p>1984 The vinedresser's interest in the bad branches is to cut | |
| 116 them off the vine. Thus he says, <b>every branch</b>, that is, | |
| 117 every believer, <b>of mine that bears no fruit,</b> that is, bears | |
| 118 no fruit on the vine, which is me, without whom nothing can bear | |
| 119 fruit, <b>he takes away</b> from the vine. It is clear from this | |
| 120 that not only are some cut off from Christ for doing evil, but also | |
| 121 because they neglect to do good: "We entreat you not to accept the | |
| 122 grace of God in vain" (2 Cor 6:1). Thus the Apostle said about | |
| 123 himself: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward | |
| 124 me was not in vain" (1 Cor 15:10). We read in Matthew (25:28) that | |
| 125 the money was taken away from the servant who did not bear fruit | |
| 126 with it, but hid it instead; and our Lord ordered the unfruitful | |
| 127 fig tree to be cut down (Lk 13:7).</p> | |
| 128 <p>1985 His interest in the good branches is to help them so they | |
| 129 can bear more fruit. So he says, <b>and every branch that does bear | |
| 130 fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.</b> Considering the | |
| 131 literal sense, we see that a natural vine with branches that have | |
| 132 many shoots bears less fruit, because the sap is spread out through | |
| 133 all the shoots. Thus the vinedresser prunes away the extra shoots | |
| 134 so that the vine can bear more fruit. It is the same with us. For | |
| 135 if we are well‑disposed and united to God, yet scatter our | |
| 136 love over many things, our virtue becomes weak and we become less | |
| 137 able to do good. This is why God, in order that we may bear fruit, | |
| 138 will frequently remove such obstacles and prune us by sending | |
| 139 troubles and temptations, which make us stronger. Accordingly, he | |
| 140 says, he <b>prunes</b>, even though one may be clean, for in this | |
| 141 life no one is so clean that he does not need to be cleansed more | |
| 142 and more: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the | |
| 143 truth is not in us" (1 Jn 1:8). And he does this so <b>that it may | |
| 144 bear more fruit,</b> that is, grow in virtue, so that the more | |
| 145 pruned or cleansed the more fruitful one is: "Let the just still be | |
| 146 justified, and the holy still be sanctified" [Rev 22:11]; "The | |
| 147 Gospel is bearing fruit and growing" (Col 1:6); "They go from | |
| 148 strength to strength" (Ps 84:7).</p> | |
| 149 <p>1986 Now he passes from this picture to his main intention. Two | |
| 150 things were noticed in the above picture when comparing the | |
| 151 branches to the vine: the union of the branches to the vine, and | |
| 152 the pruning of the branches. First, he considers the union of the | |
| 153 branches with the vine; secondly, their pruning (v 18). As to the | |
| 154 first, he advises the disciples to cling to the vine; secondly, he | |
| 155 gives the reason for this (v 4b); thirdly, he describes this union | |
| 156 (v 9). He does two things concerning the first: he reminds them of | |
| 157 a benefit already received; secondly, he tells them to abide in him | |
| 158 (4a).</p> | |
| 159 <p>1987 The benefit they had already received was that of being | |
| 160 cleansed. He says, <b>you are already made clean.</b> It is like | |
| 161 saying: I have said certain things about branches; and you are | |
| 162 branches ready to be pruned so as to bear fruit. And you are clean | |
| 163 by the <b>word which I have spoken to you.</b></p> | |
| 164 <p>The word of Christ, in the first place, cleanses us from error | |
| 165 by teaching us: "He must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so | |
| 166 that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine" (Tit | |
| 167 1:9). This is because there is no falsity in the words of God: "All | |
| 168 my words are right" [Prv 8:8]. He says, <b>you are already made | |
| 169 clean</b> from the errors of the Jews. Secondly, the word of Christ | |
| 170 cleanses our hearts from earthly affections by inflaming them | |
| 171 toward heavenly things. For the word of God by its power moves our | |
| 172 hearts, weighed down by earthly things, and sets them on fire: "Is | |
| 173 not my word fire?" (Jer 23:29). Thirdly when God is invoked in | |
| 174 baptism, his word cleanses us from sin. For we are cleansed in | |
| 175 baptism because the word cleanses with the water. As Augustine | |
| 176 says: "Take away the word and what is the water but only water? The | |
| 177 word accompanies the element and a sacrament is formed."<a href= | |
| 178 "#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" id="_ftnref3">[3]</a> Thus it is the word | |
| 179 which makes the water touch the body and wash the heart. The word, | |
| 180 I say, not because it is spoken, but because it is believed. For | |
| 181 this word of faith is so strong in the Church that it even cleanses | |
| 182 infants, although they themselves cannot believe, when it is | |
| 183 proclaimed from the faith of those who believe, offer, bless and | |
| 184 touch the infants, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of | |
| 185 the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19). Fourthly, the word of | |
| 186 Christ cleanses by the power of faith: God "cleansed their hearts | |
| 187 by faith" (Acts 15:9).<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" id= | |
| 188 "_ftnref4">[4]</a></p> | |
| 189 <p>Thus he says to them, you already instructed, moved, baptized, | |
| 190 strengthened in faith, <b>are already made clean by the word which | |
| 191 I have spoken to you.</b> "You are clean, but not all" (13:10). | |
| 192 Since he had said above that the work of a vinedresser was to | |
| 193 prune, he clearly shows that he is a vinedresser when he says that | |
| 194 his word cleanses. And indeed, Christ, as God, is a vinedresser and | |
| 195 prunes the branches.</p> | |
| 196 <p>1988 Here he urges them to persevere. He is saying in effect: | |
| 197 Because you are now cleansed and have received such a great | |
| 198 benefit, you should remain this way. He says, <b>Abide in me,</b> | |
| 199 by charity: "He who abides in love abides in God" (1 Jn 4:16); and | |
| 200 by means of the sacraments: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my | |
| 201 blood abides in me" (6:56). He says, <b>Abide in me,</b> by | |
| 202 receiving grace, <b>and I in you,</b> by helping you.</p> | |
| 203 <p>1989 Next (v 4b), he gives four reasons for being united to | |
| 204 Christ. First, it sanctifies those who are united to him; secondly, | |
| 205 those not united are punished (v 6); thirdly, those who are united | |
| 206 to him have their desires satisfied (v 7); fourthly, it glorifies | |
| 207 God (v 8). In regard to the first, he shows that being united to | |
| 208 Christ is necessary in order to bear fruit; secondly that this is | |
| 209 efficacious (v 5).</p> | |
| 210 <p>1990 He does two things about the first: first, he presents an | |
| 211 illustration; and secondly shows that it is apt. As to the first he | |
| 212 says, I say that you should abide in me so that you can bear fruit, | |
| 213 because just <b>as the branch</b> literally, a material branch, | |
| 214 <b>cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine,</b> | |
| 215 from whose roots sap ascends to give life to the branches, so | |
| 216 <b>neither can you</b> bear fruit <b>unless you abide in me.</b> | |
| 217 Thus, being united to Christ is the reason why someone bears fruit. | |
| 218 And so of those who are not united to Christ we read: "What return | |
| 219 [fruit] did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed?" | |
| 220 (Rom 6:21); "The company of the godless is barren" (Job 15:34).</p> | |
| 221 <p>His example is apt because <b>I am the vine, you are the | |
| 222 branches.</b> It is like saying: The relation between you and me is | |
| 223 like that of branches to the vine. We read of these branches: "It | |
| 224 sent out its branches to the sea" [Ps 80:11].</p> | |
| 225 <p>1991 Here he shows that being united to Christ is efficacious: | |
| 226 first, he shows that it is efficacious; secondly, the reason for | |
| 227 this efficacy (v 5b).</p> | |
| 228 <p>1992 First he says: I say that it is not only necessary for a | |
| 229 person to abide in me in order to bear fruit, it is also | |
| 230 efficacious, <b>because he who abides in me</b>, by believing, | |
| 231 obeying and persevering, <b>and I in him,</b> by giving | |
| 232 enlightenment, help and perseverance, he it is and not another, | |
| 233 <b>that bears much fruit.</b></p> | |
| 234 <p>Such persons bear a threefold fruit in this life. The first is | |
| 235 that they avoid sin. Secondly, they are eager to accomplish works | |
| 236 of holiness: "the return you get is sanctification" (Rom 6:22). | |
| 237 Thirdly, they are eager for the progress of others: "The earth will | |
| 238 be filled with the fruit of your works" [Ps 104:13]. They also | |
| 239 pro­duce a fourth fruit, but in eternal life: "He gathers fruit | |
| 240 for eternal life" (4:36). Eternal life is the last and perfect | |
| 241 fruit of our labors: "The fruit of good works is glorious" [Wis | |
| 242 3:15].</p> | |
| 243 <p>1993 The reason for this efficacy is because <b>apart from me | |
| 244 you can do nothing.</b> With these words he instructs the hearts of | |
| 245 the humble and silences the mouths of the proud, especially of the | |
| 246 Pelagians, who say that they can do by themselves, without the help | |
| 247 of God, the good works of the virtues and of the law. And although | |
| 248 they were trying to maintain our free will, they really undermined | |
| 249 it.</p> | |
| 250 <p>Look at what our Lord says here! He says that without him we | |
| 251 cannot do anything great, nor anything small, indeed, we cannot do | |
| 252 anything at all. This is not surprising because neither does God do | |
| 253 anything without him: "Without him was not anything made that was | |
| 254 made" (1:3). For our works are either from the power of nature or | |
| 255 from divine grace. If they are from the power of nature, then, | |
| 256 since every action of nature is from the Word of God, no nature can | |
| 257 act to do anything without him. If our works are from the power of | |
| 258 grace, then, since he is the author of grace ‑ "grace and | |
| 259 truth came through Jesus Christ" (1:17) ‑ it is obvious that | |
| 260 no meritorious work can be done without him: "Not that we are | |
| 261 capable of thinking anything of ourselves as originating from | |
| 262 ourselves; our capability is from God" [2 Cor 3:5]. Therefore, if | |
| 263 we cannot even think without it coming from God, much less can we | |
| 264 do anything else.<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" id= | |
| 265 "_ftnref5">[5]</a></p> | |
| 266 <p>1994 Here he mentions the second reason for remaining united to | |
| 267 Christ, which is the threat of punishment, for unless we abide in | |
| 268 him, we will not escape punishment. He mentions five things which | |
| 269 describe this punishment. Some of these belong to the punishment of | |
| 270 loss, that is to say, the exclusion from glory; so he says, <b>he | |
| 271 is cast forth.</b> Sometimes on a natural vine we see a branch | |
| 272 which remains by some sort of an external connection without | |
| 273 sharing any of the sap. In this way also some remain connected to | |
| 274 Christ only by faith, yet they do not share the sap of the vine | |
| 275 because they do not have charity. Thus, such persons will be cast | |
| 276 out, that is, separated from fellowship with the good.<a href= | |
| 277 "#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" id="_ftnref6">[6]</a></p> | |
| 278 <p>The second punishment of loss is a withering; he says, <b>and | |
| 279 withers</b>, for if such a person once took anything at all from | |
| 280 the root, he will lose it when deprived of its help and life. Even | |
| 281 bad Christians seem to have some kind of a freshness, but when they | |
| 282 are separated from the saints and from Christ their dried up | |
| 283 condition will be apparent: "My strength is dried up like a | |
| 284 potsherd" (Ps 22:16).</p> | |
| 285 <p>The third punishment is association with those who are evil; he | |
| 286 says, <b>and he is gathered</b>, by the reaping angels, to be with | |
| 287 the wicked. This is a very great punishment. For if it is a great | |
| 288 punishment to be with the wicked for only a little while, how much | |
| 289 greater it is to be with the most evil men and devils forever: | |
| 290 "They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit" (Is 24:22); | |
| 291 "Gather the weeds first and bind them into bundles to be burned" | |
| 292 (Mt 13:30).</p> | |
| 293 <p>The fourth punishment is that of sense; he says, <b>thrown into | |
| 294 the fire,</b> which is eternal: "What will be done with the wood of | |
| 295 the vine?... Look, it is given to the fire for fuel" [Ez 15:2]. If | |
| 296 the wood of the vine does not remain united to it, it is more | |
| 297 worthless than other woods; but if it abides on the vine it is more | |
| 298 beautiful than the others. Thus Augustine says: "A branch is fit | |
| 299 for two things: either the vine or the fire. If it is not on the | |
| 300 vine, it will be in the fire."<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" id= | |
| 301 "_ftnref7">[7]</a> "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal | |
| 302 fire" (Mt 25:41). The fifth punishment is the unending experience | |
| 303 of fire, he says, <b>and burned,</b> without end: "And they will go | |
| 304 away into eternal punishment" (Mt 25:46).</p> | |
| 305 <p>1995 Now we have the third reason for abiding in Christ: our | |
| 306 prayers become effective. He is saying, in effect, <b>If you abide | |
| 307 in me</b>, you will obtain this fruit, that is, <b>ask whatever you | |
| 308 will, and it shall be done for you.</b></p> | |
| 309 <p>Note that when before he urged them to remain united to him, he | |
| 310 mentioned two things; and he repeats them here. First, he said | |
| 311 before, <b>Abide in me</b>, and he repeats it here by saying, <b>If | |
| 312 you abide in me</b>. Secondly, he said before, <b>and I in you,</b> | |
| 313 in place of which he now says, <b>and my words abide in you.</b> | |
| 314 Because Christ is the Word of the Father, all words of wisdom are | |
| 315 from him: "The source of wisdom is God's Word in the highest | |
| 316 heaven" (Sir 1:5). Thus it is clear that Christ is in us when the | |
| 317 words of his wisdom are in us: "You do not have his word abiding in | |
| 318 you" (5:38).</p> | |
| 319 <p>Thus he says, <b>and my words abide in you,</b> in four ways: by | |
| 320 your loving them, believing them, meditating on them and | |
| 321 accomplishing them: "My son, be attentive to my words," by | |
| 322 believing them; "incline your ear to my sayings," by obeying or | |
| 323 accomplishing them; "let them not escape from your sight," because | |
| 324 you meditate on them; but "keep them within your heart," by loving | |
| 325 them (Prv 4:20). "Your words were found and I ate them" (Jer | |
| 326 15:16).</p> | |
| 327 <p>Therefore, the words of Christ are in us when we do as he | |
| 328 commands and love what he promises. And from this it follows that | |
| 329 they teach us what we ought to pray for: "We do not know how to | |
| 330 pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with | |
| 331 sighs too deep for words" (Rom 8:26). For this reason Christ taught | |
| 332 us to pray with his own words (Mt 6:9; Lk 11:2). And so the words | |
| 333 of God, when believed and meditated upon, teach us to ask for the | |
| 334 things necessary for our salvation; and these words of God when | |
| 335 loved and accomplished help us to merit it. So he adds, <b>ask</b>, | |
| 336 with sound judgment and perseverance, <b>whatever you will, and it | |
| 337 shall be done for you:</b> "If you ask anything of the Father in my | |
| 338 name he will give it to you" [16:23].</p> | |
| 339 <p>1996 Now the fourth reason for abiding in Christ is mentioned, | |
| 340 and it is the glory of the Father. All our works should be directed | |
| 341 to the glory of God: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your | |
| 342 name give glory" (Ps 115:1); "So, whether you eat or drink, or | |
| 343 whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" [1 Cor 10:31]. And so | |
| 344 our Lord shows that we are in Christ, because this is why we bear | |
| 345 fruit, and because we bear fruit the Father is glorified. He says, | |
| 346 <b>By this my Father is glorified</b>, that is, it reflects glory | |
| 347 on my Father, <b>that you bear much fruit.</b></p> | |
| 348 <p>Here he mentions, in reverse order, three things which follow | |
| 349 one from the other. One refers to abiding in Christ, <b>you become | |
| 350 my disciples</b>, and this is the same as "Abide in me" (v 4). The | |
| 351 second follows from this, <b>you bear much fruit.</b> And from this | |
| 352 my Father is glorified. He is saying in effect: It gives glory to | |
| 353 the Father that you bear much fruit, and you bear much fruit | |
| 354 because you are my disciples. You do this, first of all, by living | |
| 355 well: "That they may see your good works and give glory to your | |
| 356 Father who is in heaven" (Mt 5:16); and by teaching well, which | |
| 357 also glorifies God: "Glorify the Lord by teaching" [Is 24:15]; | |
| 358 "Every one who calls upon my name I have created him for my praise | |
| 359 and glory" (Is 43:7). And so the apostles are the soil which bears | |
| 360 much fruit because they have become the disciples of Christ by | |
| 361 abiding in him and by the fire of their charity.</p> | |
| 362 <p>For these are the signs of a disciple of Christ: first that one | |
| 363 abides in him, is united to him: "If you continue in my word, you | |
| 364 are truly my disciples" (8:31). And by doing this they become fit | |
| 365 for bearing the fruit of teaching. The second sign is charity: "By | |
| 366 this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love | |
| 367 for one another" (13:35). And because of this they are able to bear | |
| 368 the fruit of good works, because nothing has any value without | |
| 369 charity: "If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries | |
| 370 ... but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Cor 13:2).<br /> | |
| 371 <br /> | |
| 372 <br /></p> | |
| 373 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 2</b></p> | |
| 374 <blockquote> | |
| 375 <p><b>9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in | |
| 376 my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, | |
| 377 just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. | |
| 378 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, | |
| 379 and that your joy may be full. 12 This is my commandment, that you | |
| 380 love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man | |
| 381 than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."<a href= | |
| 382 "#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" id="_ftnref8">[8]</a></b></p> | |
| 383 </blockquote> | |
| 384 <p>1997 Above, our Lord urged his disciples to remain united with | |
| 385 him; here he shows what this involves. He makes three points: | |
| 386 first, to abide in him is to abide in his love; secondly, to abide | |
| 387 in his love is to keep his commandments (v 10); thirdly, that his | |
| 388 commandment is to love (v 12). He does two things about the first: | |
| 389 first, he recalls the benefit granted to the disciples; secondly, | |
| 390 he urges them to persevere, <b>abide in my love</b> (v 9).</p> | |
| 391 <p>1998 He says that the fact that we abide in Christ is due to his | |
| 392 grace; and this grace is the effect of his love: "I have loved you | |
| 393 with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3). It is clear from this that | |
| 394 all our good works are ours due to the benefit of divine love. For | |
| 395 they would not be ours unless faith acted through love, and we | |
| 396 would not love unless we were first loved. And so he reminds them | |
| 397 of this benefit by saying, <b>As the Father has loved me, so have I | |
| 398 loved you.</b></p> | |
| 399 <p>1999 The word "as" sometimes indicates an equality of nature, | |
| 400 and at other times a similarity in acting. The Arians, who erred | |
| 401 about this passage, wanted the "as" to indicate an equality, and | |
| 402 because of this they concluded that the Son was inferior to the | |
| 403 Father. But this is false. We must say, then, according to | |
| 404 Augustine, that the word "as" indicates a likeness in grace and | |
| 405 love; for the love with which the Son loves his disciples is a | |
| 406 certain likeness of that love with which the Father loves the | |
| 407 Son.<a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" id="_ftnref9">[9]</a></p> | |
| 408 <p>Now since to love someone is to will good to that person, the | |
| 409 Father loves the Son, with respect to the Son's divine nature, | |
| 410 because the Father wills him his own infinite good, which he has, | |
| 411 by communicating to the Son the very same numerical nature the | |
| 412 Father himself has: "For the Father loves the Son, and shows him | |
| 413 all that he himself is doing" (5:20). The Father also loves the Son | |
| 414 with respect to his human nature: "When Israel was a child, I loved | |
| 415 him, and out of Egypt I called my son" (Hos 11:1). And he loves him | |
| 416 so that he would be at once both God and man.</p> | |
| 417 <p>But the Son did not love the disciples in either of these ways. | |
| 418 For he did not love them to the point of their being gods by | |
| 419 nature, nor to the point that they would be united to God so as to | |
| 420 form one person with him. But he did love them up to a similar | |
| 421 point: he loved them to the extent that they would be gods by their | |
| 422 participation in grace ‑ "I say, 'You are gods'" (Ps 82:6); | |
| 423 "He has granted to us precious and very great promises, that | |
| 424 through these you may become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet | |
| 425 1:4) ‑ and he loved them to the extent that they would be | |
| 426 united to God in affection: "He who is united to the Lord becomes | |
| 427 one spirit with him" (1 Cor 6:17); "For those whom he foreknew he | |
| 428 also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom | |
| 429 8:29). Thus the Father communicated to the Son a greater good, with | |
| 430 respect to each nature of the Son, than the Son did to his | |
| 431 disciples; yet there is a similarity, as was said.</p> | |
| 432 <p>2000 <b>Abide in my love.</b> This is like saying: Because you | |
| 433 have received such a great benefit from my love, <b>abide</b> in it | |
| 434 so that you love me. Or it could mean, <b>abide in my love</b> | |
| 435 because I love you, that is, abide in my grace so you will not be | |
| 436 excluded from the good things I have prepared for you. This meaning | |
| 437 is the more apt, so that the thought is: Persevere in this state so | |
| 438 that you will be loved by me through the effect of grace: "Every | |
| 439 one should remain in the state in which he was called" (1 Cor | |
| 440 7:20). "He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" | |
| 441 (1 Jn 4:16).</p> | |
| 442 <p>2001 Now he shows what it means to abide in his love. First, he | |
| 443 shows that it means to keep his commandment; secondly, he | |
| 444 illustrates it with an example, <b>as I have kept my Father's | |
| 445 commandments;</b> thirdly, he eliminates an assumption (v 11).</p> | |
| 446 <p>2002 He says, <b>Abide in my love,</b> and you will do this | |
| 447 <b>if you keep my commandments,</b> for this is the way you will | |
| 448 abide in my love. Keeping the commandments is an effect of divine | |
| 449 love, not only of the love by which we love, but also of the love | |
| 450 by which God loves us. For from the fact that God loves us, he | |
| 451 influences us and helps us to fulfill his commandments, which we | |
| 452 cannot do without grace: "In this is love, not that we love God but | |
| 453 that he loved us first" [1 Jn 4:10].</p> | |
| 454 <p>2003 He adds an example when he says, <b>as I have kept my | |
| 455 Father's commandments and abide in his love.</b> For just as the | |
| 456 love which the Father has for him is the model or standard of | |
| 457 Christ's love for us, so Christ wants his obedience to be the model | |
| 458 of our obedience. By saying this Christ shows that he abided in the | |
| 459 Father's love because in all things he kept the Father's | |
| 460 commandments. For he submitted to death: "He humbled himself and | |
| 461 became obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8); and | |
| 462 refrained from all sin: "He committed no sin; no guile was found on | |
| 463 his lips" (1 Pet 2:22). These things are to be understood of Christ | |
| 464 in his human nature: "He has not left me alone, for I always do | |
| 465 what is pleasing to him" (8:29). And so he says, <b>I abide in his | |
| 466 love,</b> because there is nothing in me, as a human being, opposed | |
| 467 to his love.</p> | |
| 468 <p>2004 Now so they do not think he is urging them to keep his | |
| 469 commandments for his own benefit and not for their benefit, he | |
| 470 says, <b>These things I have spoken to you,</b> that you keep my | |
| 471 commandments, for your own good, so <b>that my joy may be in | |
| 472 you.</b> Now love is the cause of joy, for everyone takes joy in | |
| 473 what he loves. But God loves himself and creatures, especially | |
| 474 rational creatures, to whom he grants an infinite good. So Christ | |
| 475 rejoices in two things from all eternity: first, in his own good | |
| 476 and that of the Father: "I was delighted every day, playing before | |
| 477 him" [Prv 8:30]; secondly, he delights in the good of the rational | |
| 478 creature: "delighting in the sons of men" (Prv 8:31), that is, in | |
| 479 the fact that I am shared in by the children of men. He rejoices in | |
| 480 these things from eternity: "As the bridegroom rejoices over the | |
| 481 bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Is 62:5).</p> | |
| 482 <p>Consequently, our Lord wants us to become sharers of his joy by | |
| 483 our observing his commandments. He says, <b>that my joy,</b> the | |
| 484 joy I take in my divinity and that of my Father, <b>may be in | |
| 485 you</b>. This is nothing else than eternal life, which as Augustine | |
| 486 says, is joy in the truth.<a href="#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" id= | |
| 487 "_ftnref10">[10]</a> <b>That my joy may be in you</b> means, in | |
| 488 effect, that you may have eternal life: "Then you will delight | |
| 489 yourself in the Almighty" (Job 22:26). <b>And that your joy</b>, | |
| 490 which I take in my own humanity, <b>may be full</b>. The goods in | |
| 491 which we rejoice are either imperfect or imperfectly possessed; and | |
| 492 so in this life our joy cannot be full. But it will be full when | |
| 493 perfect goods are perfectly possessed: "Enter into the joy of your | |
| 494 master" (Mt 25:21).</p> | |
| 495 <p>2005 Now our Lord states what his precepts are: first, he states | |
| 496 his commandment; secondly, he presents an example (v 12b); thirdly, | |
| 497 he recalls a benefit (v 14).</p> | |
| 498 <p>2006 The commandment he gives is the commandment of charity, | |
| 499 which he wants us to keep: <b>This is my commandment, that you love | |
| 500 one another.</b> Since there are many other commandments of the | |
| 501 Lord in the sacred writings, why does he say that his commandment | |
| 502 is only the practice of charity?</p> | |
| 503 <p>The answer, according to Gregory, is that charity is the root | |
| 504 and end of all the virtues.<a href="#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" id= | |
| 505 "_ftnref11">[11]</a> It is the root, because it is from charity, | |
| 506 firmly rooted in the human heart, that we are led to accomplish all | |
| 507 the other commandments: "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled | |
| 508 the law" (Rom 13:8). Therefore, all the commandments are, in a way, | |
| 509 directed to this: that we do good to our neighbor, and not harm | |
| 510 him; and this is done best through charity. Charity is the end | |
| 511 because all the commandments are directed to it and by it alone are | |
| 512 given strength: "The aim of our charge is love" (1 Tim 1:5). So he | |
| 513 says, <b>This is my commandment, that you love one another,</b> | |
| 514 since everything comes from charity as its source, and all things | |
| 515 are directed to charity as their end. As Gregory puts it: just as | |
| 516 many branches of a tree spring from one root, so the many virtues | |
| 517 are produced from one root; and the branch of a good work has no | |
| 518 life if it is not united to the root of charity.<a href="#_ftn12" | |
| 519 name="_ftnref12" id="_ftnref12">[12]</a></p> | |
| 520 <p>2007 Since we read in Matthew (22:40) that the law and the | |
| 521 prophets depend not only on love for God, but also on love for | |
| 522 neighbor, why does Christ mention here only love for neighbor? The | |
| 523 answer is that one is included in the other: for a person who loves | |
| 524 God must love his neighbor and things which belong to God; and the | |
| 525 person who loves his neighbor for the sake of God must love God. | |
| 526 Now although the objects of these acts are different, yet the | |
| 527 outcomes are the same. There are two reasons why he mentions love | |
| 528 of neighbor rather than the love of God. By doing this he wants to | |
| 529 teach and lead them to help their neighbor, and to help them to | |
| 530 become strong enough to endure sufferings from those who will | |
| 531 persecute them. To do both of these, charity for our neighbor is | |
| 532 necessary.</p> | |
| 533 <p>2008 Here he shows by an example how we should love our | |
| 534 neighbor, which is, as Christ loved us. Now Christ loved us in the | |
| 535 correct order and efficaciously. His love was orderly because he | |
| 536 loved nothing in us but God and in relation to God: "I am the | |
| 537 mother of beautiful love" (Si 24:18), and efficacious because he | |
| 538 loved us so much that he delivered himself for us: "Christ loved us | |
| 539 and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to | |
| 540 God" (Eph 5:2). So we should love our neighbor, in a holy way, for | |
| 541 his good, and efficaciously, by showing our love by our actions: | |
| 542 "Let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth" (1 Jn | |
| 543 3:18).</p> | |
| 544 <p>2009 <b>Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down | |
| 545 his life for his friends.</b> Here he shows the efficacy of love, | |
| 546 which is that one undergo death for his friends; this is a sign of | |
| 547 the greatest love. Yet one could object that it is considered to be | |
| 548 a sign of a greater love when someone lays down his life for his | |
| 549 enemies, as Christ did: "But God shows his love for us in that | |
| 550 while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8).</p> | |
| 551 <p>We should answer that Christ did not lay down his life for his | |
| 552 enemies so that they would remain his enemies, but to make them his | |
| 553 friends. Or, one could say, that he lay down his life for his | |
| 554 friends, not in the sense that they were friends who loved him, but | |
| 555 rather were those whom he loved. It is clear that the sign of the | |
| 556 greatest love is to lay down one's life for one's friends. This is | |
| 557 so because there are four lovable things to be put in order: God, | |
| 558 our soul, our neighbor, and our body. We should love God more than | |
| 559 ourselves and our neighbor, so that for the sake of God we ought to | |
| 560 give ourselves, body and soul, and our neighbor. We should lay down | |
| 561 our body, but not give it, for the sake of our soul. For our | |
| 562 neighbor, we should expose our body and our physical life for his | |
| 563 salvation. Consequently, since our physical life is the best thing | |
| 564 we have after our soul, it is the greatest thing to expose it for | |
| 565 the sake of our neighbor, and a sign of greater love: "In this the | |
| 566 love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son | |
| 567 into the world, so that we might live through him" (1 Jn | |
| 568 4:9).<br /> | |
| 569 <br /> | |
| 570 <br /></p> | |
| 571 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 3</b></p> | |
| 572 <blockquote> | |
| 573 <p><b>14 "You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No | |
| 574 longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what | |
| 575 his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I | |
| 576 have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not | |
| 577 choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and | |
| 578 bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you | |
| 579 ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command | |
| 580 you, to love [so that you will love] one another."<a href="#_ftn13" | |
| 581 name="_ftnref13" id="_ftnref13">[13]</a></b></p> | |
| 582 </blockquote> | |
| 583 <p>2010 Above, our Lord urged us to love our neighbor, based on his | |
| 584 example. Here, Christ shows his disciples the benefit conferred | |
| 585 upon them which obliges them to imitate him, which is, that he has | |
| 586 embraced them in his love. First, he mentions a sign of friendship; | |
| 587 secondly, the cause of this friendship (v 16). He gives two signs | |
| 588 of friendship: one is found in the disciples; the other in himself | |
| 589 (v 15).</p> | |
| 590 <p>2011 The sign in the disciples that they are friends of Christ | |
| 591 is that they keep his commandments; he says, <b>You are my friends | |
| 592 if you do what I command you.</b> He is saying in effect: Up to now | |
| 593 I have urged you to love one another, but now I am speaking and | |
| 594 teaching you about your friendship with me.</p> | |
| 595 <p>The statement, <b>you are my friends</b> can be understood in | |
| 596 two ways, based on the two ways someone is called a friend. A | |
| 597 person is called a friend either because he loves or because he is | |
| 598 loved. And what follows, <b>if you do what I command you</b> is | |
| 599 true for both meanings of friend. Those who love God keep his | |
| 600 commandments, and because a friend is, as Gregory says, in a way | |
| 601 the guardian of the other's soul, it is appropriate that one who | |
| 602 guards or keeps the will of God in his commandments is called the | |
| 603 friend of God.<a href="#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" id= | |
| 604 "_ftnref14">[14]</a> Again, those whom God loves keep his | |
| 605 commandments, because by conferring his grace on them he helps them | |
| 606 to keep them: for by loving us, God makes us love him: "I love | |
| 607 those who love me" (Prv 8:17). It is not they who first loved God, | |
| 608 but God makes them lovers by loving them.</p> | |
| 609 <p>2012 Note that keeping the commandments is not the cause of | |
| 610 divine friendship but the sign, the sign that both God loves us and | |
| 611 that we love God: "Love of her [Wisdom] is the keeping of her laws" | |
| 612 (Wis 6:19); "He who says he loves him and does not keep his | |
| 613 commandments is a liar" [1 Jn 2:4].</p> | |
| 614 <p>2013 The sign of Christ's friendship for them is mentioned when | |
| 615 he says, <b>No longer do I call you servants</b>. First, he | |
| 616 excludes what seems opposed to friendship; secondly, he mentions | |
| 617 the sign of true friendship (v 15b).</p> | |
| 618 <p>2014 Servitude is opposed to friendship; and he rejects this by | |
| 619 saying, <b>No longer do I call you servants.</b> It is like saying: | |
| 620 although you were formerly servants under the law, now you are free | |
| 621 under grace: "You have received the spirit of adoption" [Rom | |
| 622 8:15].</p> | |
| 623 <p>Secondly, he adds the reason for this when he says, <b>for the | |
| 624 servant does not know what his master is doing:</b> for a servant | |
| 625 is like a stranger to his master, "The slave does not continue in | |
| 626 the house for ever" (8:35). Now secrets should not be told to | |
| 627 strangers, "Do not tell a secret to a stranger" [Prv 25:9]. And so | |
| 628 secrets should not be given to those who are now servants. This | |
| 629 verse shows the servant does not act for the sake of himself, | |
| 630 because charity does not seek its own, but the interests of Jesus | |
| 631 and the salvation of one's neighbor. Those who act entirely by | |
| 632 reason of another are bad servants. Thus it is clear that the | |
| 633 disciples were servants, but it was a good servitude springing from | |
| 634 love.</p> | |
| 635 <p>As for the second difficulty, we should say that the servant who | |
| 636 is moved only by another and not by himself, is related to the one | |
| 637 who moves him as a tool to the worker. Now a tool shares with the | |
| 638 worker in the work, but not in the reason for the work. So such | |
| 639 servants share only in the work. But when a servant acts by his own | |
| 640 will, it is necessary for him to know the reason for the work and | |
| 641 have secrets revealed to him so he can know what he is doing. "If | |
| 642 you have a servant, regard him as your own soul" [Sir 33:31]. Now | |
| 643 the apostles, as was said, were moved by themselves to accomplish | |
| 644 good works, that is, they were moved by their own will, inclined by | |
| 645 love. And so our Lord revealed his secrets to them. But bad | |
| 646 servants do not know what their master is doing. What things don't | |
| 647 they know? Strictly speaking, they do not know what God does in us. | |
| 648 For God acts in us in all the good we do: "O Lord ... you have | |
| 649 wrought for us all our works (Is 26:12). So the bad servant, | |
| 650 darkened by the pride in his own heart, <b>does not know what his | |
| 651 master is doing</b> when this servant attributes to himself what he | |
| 652 does.</p> | |
| 653 <p>2016 Now he sets down the true sign of friendship on his own | |
| 654 part, which is that <b>all that I have heard from my Father I have | |
| 655 made know to you.</b> For the true sign of friendship is that a | |
| 656 friend reveals the secrets of his heart to his friend. Since | |
| 657 friends have one mind and heart, it does not seem that what one | |
| 658 friend reveals to another is placed outside his own heart: "Argue | |
| 659 your case with your neighbor" (Prv 25:9). Now God reveals his | |
| 660 secrets to us by letting us share in his wisdom: "In every | |
| 661 generation she [Wisdom] passes into holy souls and makes them | |
| 662 friends of God and prophets" (Wis 7:27).</p> | |
| 663 <p>2017 There is a question here as to what and in what way the Son | |
| 664 hears from the Father. The answer has already been indicated in | |
| 665 many ways. Since to hear is to receive knowledge from another, for | |
| 666 the Son to hear from the Father is nothing other than for the Son | |
| 667 to receive knowledge from the Father. Now the knowledge of the Son | |
| 668 is his own essence. Thus, for the Son to hear from the Father is | |
| 669 for the Son to receive his essence from the Father.</p> | |
| 670 <p>2018 Another question concerns the statement, <b>all that I have | |
| 671 heard from my Father I have made known to you.</b> If he did make | |
| 672 all things known to them it would follow that the disciples knew as | |
| 673 much as the Son. The answer, according to Chrysostom, is that | |
| 674 <b>all that I have heard</b> means all that I have heard which you | |
| 675 ought to hear, but not absolutely all things, <b>I have made known | |
| 676 to you:</b> "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot | |
| 677 bear them now" (16:12).<a href="#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" id= | |
| 678 "_ftnref15">[15]</a></p> | |
| 679 <p>Or, one could say, according to Augustine, that what he would | |
| 680 say to them was so certain that he used the past tense instead of | |
| 681 the future.<a href="#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" id= | |
| 682 "_ftnref16">[16]</a> So the meaning becomes, <b>all that I have | |
| 683 heard from my Father I have made known to you,</b> that is, I will | |
| 684 make known with that fullness of which the Apostle says: "Then I | |
| 685 shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood" (1 | |
| 686 Cor 13:12). And below we read, "The hour is coming when I shall | |
| 687 tell you plainly of the Father" (16:25), that is, when I lead you | |
| 688 to the vision of the Father. For all things the Son knows the | |
| 689 Father knows. So when he revels the Father to us, the Son will | |
| 690 reveal all that the Son himself knows and which we know.</p> | |
| 691 <p>Again, one could say with Gregory, and this is better, that the | |
| 692 same thing can be known perfectly or imperfectly. For example, in | |
| 693 the sciences it is obvious that a person who knows all the | |
| 694 principles of a science is said to know that science, although | |
| 695 imperfectly. And so a person who teaches some principles of a | |
| 696 science can say that he teaches that science, because everything | |
| 697 that belongs to that science is virtually contained in its | |
| 698 principles. But one will know that same science more perfectly when | |
| 699 he knows the individual conclusions which are virtually in the | |
| 700 principles. In the same way we can have a twofold knowledge of | |
| 701 divine matters. One is imperfect, and is gained by faith, which is | |
| 702 a foretaste of that future happiness and knowledge which we will | |
| 703 have in heaven: "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for" | |
| 704 [Heb 11:2]. He says of this knowledge, <b>all ... I have made known | |
| 705 to you,</b> that is, in faith, by a kind of foretaste, like | |
| 706 conclusions are virtually contained in their principles. So Gregory | |
| 707 says: "All the things he has made known to his servants are the | |
| 708 joys of interior love and the feasts of our heavenly fatherland, | |
| 709 which he excites in our minds every day by the breath of his love. | |
| 710 For as long as we love the sublime heavenly things we have heard, | |
| 711 we already know what we love, because the love itself is | |
| 712 knowledge."<a href="#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title="" id= | |
| 713 "_ftnref17">[17]</a></p> | |
| 714 <p>2019 Now he mentions the cause of this friendship. It is the | |
| 715 usual practice for each one of us to say that he or she is the | |
| 716 cause of friendship: "Every friend will say, 'I started the | |
| 717 friendship'" [Sir 37:1]. And so many people attribute to themselves | |
| 718 the cause of God's friendship when they attribute to themselves, | |
| 719 and not to God, the source of their good actions. Our Lord rejects | |
| 720 this by saying, <b>you did not choose me.</b> He is saying in | |
| 721 effect: Whoever has been called to this sublime friendship should | |
| 722 not attribute the cause of this friendship to himself, but to me, | |
| 723 who chose him or her as a friend. First, he mentions the gratuitous | |
| 724 choice of God; secondly, he sets forth for what they have been | |
| 725 chosen, <b>that you should go and bear fruit.</b></p> | |
| 726 <p>2020 He says, you did not choose me to be your friend, <b>but I | |
| 727 chose you</b> to make you my friends: "Not that we loved God, but | |
| 728 that he loved us first" [1 Jn 4:10].</p> | |
| 729 <p>Now God's love is twofold. One is eternal, by which we are | |
| 730 predestined: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the | |
| 731 world" (Eph 1:4). The other is temporal, by which we are called by | |
| 732 him, and this is simply the carrying out of eternal predestination. | |
| 733 And this is because those he chose by predestining them he also | |
| 734 chose by calling them: "Those whom he predestined he also called" | |
| 735 (Rom 8:30); "He chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles" (Lk | |
| 736 6:13).<a href="#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" id= | |
| 737 "_ftnref18">[18]</a></p> | |
| 738 <p>2021 Some say that God's temporal choice is caused by the merits | |
| 739 of those who are chosen. This conflicts with what it says here. For | |
| 740 if God chose you because you were good, you were still not able to | |
| 741 be good unless you chose the good, and this good is especially God. | |
| 742 Therefore, it was you who first chose the good which is God, before | |
| 743 you were chosen. But our Lord says the contrary: <b>you did not | |
| 744 choose me, but I chose you.</b> Thus we should not say that our own | |
| 745 goodness entirely precedes God's choice. I say "entirely" because | |
| 746 we might have some particular good which could be the cause of | |
| 747 another good being given to us; and this good could be the cause of | |
| 748 being given still another good, since there is a certain order in | |
| 749 God's gifts. But in general, nothing can be the cause of and | |
| 750 precede the divine choice, because all our goods are from God.</p> | |
| 751 <p>2022 It would be an even greater error to say that our eternal | |
| 752 election was preceded by our own choice. Yet there are some who | |
| 753 said that our preceding merits are the cause of that election. This | |
| 754 was Origen's error. He said that human souls were created equal at | |
| 755 the same time and that while some stood firm, others sinned, more | |
| 756 and less seriously. Thus, some merited to receive grace, and others | |
| 757 did not.<a href="#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" id="_ftnref19">[19]</a> | |
| 758 Our Lord's saying is opposed to this, <b>you did not choose | |
| 759 me.</b></p> | |
| 760 <p>2023 Others say that it is true that our actually existing | |
| 761 merits are not the cause of our predestination, but those merits | |
| 762 preexisting in the foreknowledge of God are. Thus they say that | |
| 763 because God knew that certain persons would be good and make good | |
| 764 use of grace, he decided to give them grace. But if this were so, | |
| 765 it would follow that the reason he chose us was because he foreknew | |
| 766 we would choose him. And so our choice would be prior to the divine | |
| 767 choice; which is contrary to our Lord's statement.</p> | |
| 768 <p>2024 Perhaps someone might say: What choice could there be since | |
| 769 we were nothing and there was no rank among us? But one who says | |
| 770 this is mislead by thinking that the divine choice is like human | |
| 771 choice. They are not the same. Our choice is caused by some already | |
| 772 existing good; while God's choice is the cause of an influx of | |
| 773 good, greater in one than in another. Since choice is an act of the | |
| 774 will, then according as the will of God and the human will are | |
| 775 differently related to the good, so the character of their choice | |
| 776 will be different. Now God's will is related to a created good as | |
| 777 its cause: "How would anything have endured if thou hadst not | |
| 778 willed it?" (Wis 11:25). And so goodness is dispensed to created | |
| 779 things from the will of God. Accordingly, God prefers one person to | |
| 780 another insofar as he confers more good on that one than on | |
| 781 another. But the human will is moved to something by a preexisting | |
| 782 good which has become known. Therefore, in our choices it is | |
| 783 necessary that one good exist before another. The reason why God | |
| 784 confers more good on one than on another is so that there might be | |
| 785 a splendor of order in things. This is clear in material things | |
| 786 where prime matter of itself is uniformly disposed to all forms. | |
| 787 Also, before things themselves exist, they are not disposed to this | |
| 788 or that existence; rather, they receive different forms and | |
| 789 existences from God so that an order can be established among them. | |
| 790 It is like this among rational creatures, where some are chosen for | |
| 791 glory and some are rejected for punishment: "The Lord knows who are | |
| 792 his ... In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and | |
| 793 silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, | |
| 794 some for ignoble" (2 Tim 2:19). And so we see a diversified order: | |
| 795 the mercy of God shines forth in those whom, without any previous | |
| 796 merits, he prepares for grace; in others we see the justice of God | |
| 797 when, because of their own guilt, he allots them punishment, yet | |
| 798 less than is deserved. So, I have chosen you by predestining you | |
| 799 from all eternity, and by calling you to the faith during your | |
| 800 lifetime.</p> | |
| 801 <p>2025 Then he points out for what he has chosen them when he | |
| 802 says, <b>I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.</b> | |
| 803 First, he states for what he chose them; secondly, he gives a | |
| 804 reason for the above (v 17). In regard to the first he does two | |
| 805 things: first, he shows that he chose them to do something; | |
| 806 secondly, that he <b>chose them to receive something, whatever you | |
| 807 ask the Father.</b></p> | |
| 808 <p>2026 He says, <b>I appointed you,</b> that is, I gave you a | |
| 809 definite rank in my Church: "And God has appointed in the church, | |
| 810 first apostles, second prophets" (1 Cor 12:28). Again, <b>I | |
| 811 appointed you,</b> that is, firmly set you: "And God made the two | |
| 812 great lights ... and God set them in the firmament of the heavens | |
| 813 to give light upon the earth" (Gen 1:16).</p> | |
| 814 <p>2027 <b>I appointed you,</b> I say, to three things. First to | |
| 815 go; and so he says, <b>that you should go,</b> traveling over the | |
| 816 whole world to convert the whole world to the faith: "Go into all | |
| 817 the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15). | |
| 818 Or, <b>that you should go,</b> that is, progress from virtue to | |
| 819 virtue: "They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be | |
| 820 seen in Zion" (Ps 84:7); "His shoots shall spread out" (Hos | |
| 821 14:6).</p> | |
| 822 <p>Secondly, he appointed them to bear fruit; so he says, <b>and | |
| 823 bear fruit.</b> This fruit is the fruit of conversion to the faith, | |
| 824 as in Paul's first journey, "In order that I may reap some harvest | |
| 825 among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles" (Rom 1:13); or | |
| 826 an interior and spiritual fruit, as in his second journey, "The | |
| 827 fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace" (Gal 5:22); "My blossoms | |
| 828 became glorious and abundant fruit" (Sir 24:17).</p> | |
| 829 <p>Thirdly, they were appointed to bear fruit that would not be | |
| 830 destroyed by death or sin; so he says, <b>and that your fruit | |
| 831 should abide,</b> that is, that the society of the faithful would | |
| 832 be led into eternal life and their spiritual fruit flourish: "He | |
| 833 gathers fruit for eternal life" (4:36).</p> | |
| 834 <p>2028 <b>So that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may | |
| 835 give it to you.</b> Here he shows that he chose them to receive | |
| 836 something, namely, all that they ask for. He is saying: I have | |
| 837 appointed you to be worthy to receive from the Father in my name: | |
| 838 "If our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God; and | |
| 839 we receive from him whatever we ask" (1 Jn 3:22).</p> | |
| 840 <p>2029 <b>These things I command you so that you will love one | |
| 841 another.</b> Here he is giving the reason for what he has said. | |
| 842 Someone might ask: Why did Christ tell them all these things? So | |
| 843 our Lord answers, <b>These things I command you so that you will | |
| 844 love one another.</b> He is saying in effect: Everything I said to | |
| 845 you was to lead you to love your neighbor: "The aim of our charge | |
| 846 is love" (1 Tim 1:5). One could also say, with Chrysostom, that the | |
| 847 apostles could have said: Lord, why are you reminding us so much | |
| 848 about your love? Are you reprimanding us? But our Lord says: Not at | |
| 849 all. I am doing this to encourage you to love your neighbor: "And | |
| 850 this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should | |
| 851 love his brother also" (1 Jn 4:21).<br /> | |
| 852 <br /> | |
| 853 <br /></p> | |
| 854 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 4</b></p> | |
| 855 <blockquote> | |
| 856 <p><b>18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before | |
| 857 it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its | |
| 858 own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of | |
| 859 the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that | |
| 860 I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they | |
| 861 persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they | |
| 862 will keep yours also. 21 But all this they will do to you on my | |
| 863 account, because they do not know him who sent me."</b></p> | |
| 864 </blockquote> | |
| 865 <p>2030 After presenting the picture of the vine and the branches | |
| 866 and explaining the part about the branches being united to the | |
| 867 vine, he now explains it in regard to the pruning or cleansing they | |
| 868 will receive from their trials. So our Lord now consoles them | |
| 869 against the tribulations they were going to endure. First, he | |
| 870 mentions a few considerations which will console them; secondly, he | |
| 871 explains these (v 20); thirdly, he rejects the excuses of those who | |
| 872 will persecute them (v 22). He mentions two reasons why they should | |
| 873 be consoled: the first uses himself as an example; the second is | |
| 874 based on the reason for their being hated, <b>because you are not | |
| 875 of the world.</b></p> | |
| 876 <p>2031 Our Lord consoles them by using himself as an example of | |
| 877 one who has suffered the persecution of oppressors, saying, <b>If | |
| 878 the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated | |
| 879 you.</b> Note that just as the source of all benefits is love, so | |
| 880 the source of all persecutions is hatred. And so our Lord foretells | |
| 881 that they will be hated: "You will be hated by all nations" (Mt | |
| 882 24:9); "Blessed are you when men hate you" (Lk 6:22).</p> | |
| 883 <p>He says, <b>If the world hates you</b>, that is, it will come to | |
| 884 pass that the world will hate you, and show its hatred by | |
| 885 persecuting you, <b>know that it has hated me before it hated | |
| 886 you:</b> "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me" (7:7). This | |
| 887 thought is a great consolation for the just so that they can | |
| 888 courageously endure persecutions: "Consider him who endured from | |
| 889 sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow | |
| 890 weary or fainthearted" (Heb 12:3); "Christ also suffered for you, | |
| 891 leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 Pet | |
| 892 2:21). According to Augustine, the members should not consider | |
| 893 themselves greater than the Head, nor refuse to be part of his body | |
| 894 by being unwilling to endure with their Head the hatred of the | |
| 895 world.<a href="#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" id= | |
| 896 "_ftnref20">[20]</a></p> | |
| 897 <p>2032 The world can have two meanings. First a good meaning, for | |
| 898 those who lead a good life in the world: "God was in Christ | |
| 899 reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor 5:19). Secondly, it can | |
| 900 have an evil sense, meaning those who love the world: "The whole | |
| 901 world is in the power of the evil one" (1 Jn 5:19). And so the | |
| 902 whole world hates the whole world, because those who love the | |
| 903 world, and they are spread throughout the whole world, hate the | |
| 904 whole world, that is, the Church of the good, which has been | |
| 905 established throughout the whole world.</p> | |
| 906 <p>2033 Now he mentions a second point for their consolation, and | |
| 907 this is based on the reason for their being hated. When a person | |
| 908 endures another's hatred because of his own sins, there is reason | |
| 909 for regret and sorrow; but when he is hated because of his virtue | |
| 910 he should rejoice. First, our Lord gives the reason why some are | |
| 911 loved by the world; secondly, why the apostles are hated by the | |
| 912 world (v 19).</p> | |
| 913 <p>2034 The reason why some are loved by the world is that they are | |
| 914 like the world; <b>If you were of the world, the world would love | |
| 915 its own.</b> Like loves like: "Every creature loves its like" (Sir | |
| 916 13:15). And thus the world, that is, those who love the world, love | |
| 917 those who love the world. Accordingly, our Lord says, <b>If you | |
| 918 were of the world</b>, that is, followers of the world, <b>the | |
| 919 world would love its own,</b> because you would be its own and like | |
| 920 to it: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me" (7:7). "They | |
| 921 are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the | |
| 922 world listens to them" (I Jn 4:5).</p> | |
| 923 <p>2035 One might object that our Lord meant by the world the | |
| 924 authorities of the world, who would persecute the apostles. Yet | |
| 925 these very same authorities persecute other worldly people, like | |
| 926 murderers and thieves. Therefore, the world does not love its own | |
| 927 any more than it loves the apostles.</p> | |
| 928 <p>I reply that it is possible to find something purely good, but | |
| 929 not something purely evil, since the subject of evil is something | |
| 930 good. Consequently, the evil of guilt is located in some good of | |
| 931 nature. Therefore, no person can be a sinner and evil without | |
| 932 having some good. So it is because of the evil of these | |
| 933 authorities, the evil of their unbelief, that they belong to the | |
| 934 world and hate the apostles and those who are not of the world. But | |
| 935 because of the good they possess they are not of the world and hate | |
| 936 those who are of the world, as thieves and robbers, and such. | |
| 937 Still, there were some who were living well in the world yet loved | |
| 938 the apostles and approved of their actions.</p> | |
| 939 <p>2036 But now there seems to be a greater difficulty. For every | |
| 940 sin pertains to the world, and so a person is of the world by | |
| 941 reason of any sin. Yet we observe that people who commit the same | |
| 942 sin hate each other, for, example, the proud: "Among the proud | |
| 943 there is always strife" [Prv 13:10]. And one greedy person hates | |
| 944 another who is also greedy. As the Philosopher says, potters | |
| 945 quarrel with one another.<a href="#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" id= | |
| 946 "_ftnref21">[21]</a> Thus, the world is hating the world, and what | |
| 947 our Lord says here does not seem to be true, that is, <b>the world | |
| 948 would love its own.</b></p> | |
| 949 <p>I reply that there are two kinds of love: the love of friendship | |
| 950 and the love of concupiscence. These are quite different. With the | |
| 951 love of concupiscence we draw external things or persons to | |
| 952 ourselves, and we love these others insofar as they are useful to | |
| 953 us or give us pleasure. But in the love of friendship we have the | |
| 954 opposite, for we draw ourselves to what is external to us, because | |
| 955 those we love in this way we treat the same as ourselves, sharing | |
| 956 ourselves with them in some way. Thus, likeness is a cause of love, | |
| 957 when we are speaking of the love of friendship, for we do not love | |
| 958 a person in this way unless we are one with that person: and | |
| 959 likeness is a certain way of being one. But with the love of | |
| 960 concupiscence, whether it is for what is useful or gives pleasure, | |
| 961 likeness is a cause of division and hated. For since with this love | |
| 962 I love some person or thing insofar as it is useful to me or gives | |
| 963 me pleasure, I hate as opposed to me whatever hinders this | |
| 964 usefulness or pleasure. So it is that the proud feud among | |
| 965 themselves, for one takes for himself the glory that another loves | |
| 966 and in which he takes pleasure. As for the potters, they quarrel | |
| 967 because one takes for himself some profit which another wants for | |
| 968 himself.</p> | |
| 969 <p>Notice that the love of concupiscence is not a love for the | |
| 970 thing desired but a love for the person desiring: for in this kind | |
| 971 of love, one loves another because the other is useful, as was | |
| 972 said. Therefore, in this kind of love, one is rather loving himself | |
| 973 than the other. For example, a person who loves wine because it | |
| 974 gives him pleasure loves himself rather than the wine. But the love | |
| 975 of friendship is concerned rather with the thing loved than with | |
| 976 the one loving, because here one loves another for the sake of the | |
| 977 one loved, and not for the sake of the one loving. And so because | |
| 978 in the love of friendship likeness is a cause of love, and | |
| 979 unlikeness a cause of hatred, the world hates what is not its own | |
| 980 and is unlike it; but it loves, with the love of friendship, what | |
| 981 is its own. It is the reverse with the love of concupiscence. Thus | |
| 982 he says, <b>If you were of the world, the world would love its | |
| 983 own,</b> with the love of friendship.</p> | |
| 984 <p>2037 Now he gives the reason why the world hates the apostles, | |
| 985 which is because they are unlike the world. He says, <b>but because | |
| 986 you are not of the world,</b> because your spirit has been lifted | |
| 987 above it ‑ although you are of the world by your origin: "You | |
| 988 are from below, I am from above" (8:23) ‑ lifted above it not | |
| 989 by yourselves but by my grace, because <b>I chose you out of the | |
| 990 world,</b> therefore, because you are not of the world, <b>the | |
| 991 world hates you,</b> that is, those who love the world and who are | |
| 992 unlike you, hate you: "An unjust man is an abomination to the | |
| 993 righteous, but he whose way is straight is an abomination to the | |
| 994 wicked" (Prv 29:27); and in the same chapter "Bloodthirsty men hate | |
| 995 one who is blameless" (v 10).</p> | |
| 996 <p>2038 Three reasons can be given why the world hates those who | |
| 997 are holy. First, there is a difference of condition: the world is | |
| 998 in a state of death, but those who are holy are in a state of life: | |
| 999 "Do not wonder, brethren, that the world hates you. We know that we | |
| 1000 have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren" | |
| 1001 (1 Jn 3:13). And so we read: "The very sight of him is a burden to | |
| 1002 us" (Wis 2:15). The second reason is that the world does not like | |
| 1003 to be corrected: for those who are holy are, by their words and | |
| 1004 actions, a rebuke to the conduct of the world. Consequently the | |
| 1005 world hates them: "They hate him who reproves in the gate" (Amos | |
| 1006 5:10); "But it," the world, "hates me because I testify of it that | |
| 1007 its works are evil" (7:7). The third reason is because of evil | |
| 1008 envy, for those who are evil envy the good when they see them grow | |
| 1009 and increase in goodness and holiness, just like the Egyptians | |
| 1010 hated and persecuted the children of Israel when they saw them | |
| 1011 increasing (Ex 1:9). And we also see that Joseph's brothers hated | |
| 1012 him when they saw that he was loved more than they (Gen 37:4).</p> | |
| 1013 <p>2039 Now he amplifies on the reasons just given for their | |
| 1014 consolation: first, the one using himself as an example; secondly, | |
| 1015 the one relating to the reason why they are hated (v 21). He does | |
| 1016 two things with the first: first, he reminds them that he and they | |
| 1017 are different in condition; secondly, he shows they are alike in | |
| 1018 what will be done to them, <b>If they persecuted me, they will | |
| 1019 persecute you</b>.</p> | |
| 1020 <p>2040 Their different conditions were that Christ was the Lord | |
| 1021 and the apostles were servants: "A servant is not greater than his | |
| 1022 master" (13:16). He reminds them of this difference when he says, | |
| 1023 <b>Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater | |
| 1024 than his master.</b> Therefore, it is not unfitting for you to | |
| 1025 undergo the same sufferings as your Lord; rather, you should regard | |
| 1026 this as a great glory. Thus Christ said to the disciples who were | |
| 1027 asking to sit on his right and left, "Are you able to drink the cup | |
| 1028 that I am to drink?" (Mt 20:22). "It is a great honor to follow | |
| 1029 God" (Sir 23:28); "It is enough for the disciple to be like his | |
| 1030 teacher" (Mt 10:25).</p> | |
| 1031 <p>2041 On the contrary. He said above, "No longer do I call you | |
| 1032 servants" (15:15), while he says here, <b>A servant is not greater | |
| 1033 than his master.</b> I answer that there are two kinds of | |
| 1034 servitude. One comes from a slave‑like fear, that is, from a | |
| 1035 fear of punishment; and the Apostles were not servants in this way. | |
| 1036 The other comes from a "chaste fear," [the respect of a spouse], | |
| 1037 and such servitude was in the apostles: "Blessed are those servants | |
| 1038 whom the master finds awake when he comes" (Lk 12:37).</p> | |
| 1039 <p>2042 If then you are my servants and I am your Lord, you should | |
| 1040 be content to have happen to you what happens to me. Now some have | |
| 1041 despised me, while others have accepted me: "He came to his own | |
| 1042 home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received | |
| 1043 him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of | |
| 1044 God" (1:11). You will be treated the same way: if some despise you, | |
| 1045 yet others will honor you.</p> | |
| 1046 <p>For this reason he says, <b>If they persecuted me, they will | |
| 1047 persecute you.</b> Here we see how the saints are like Christ: for | |
| 1048 the disciples were persecuted for the same reason that Christ was, | |
| 1049 because Christ was being persecuted in the disciples. In fact in | |
| 1050 Acts (9:4) Christ said that he was being persecuted in the | |
| 1051 persecution of his disciples: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute | |
| 1052 me?"</p> | |
| 1053 <p>And so because their reason for acting is the same in the two | |
| 1054 cases, the consequence follows: <b>If they persecuted me, they will | |
| 1055 persecute you:</b> "If they have called the master of the house | |
| 1056 Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household" | |
| 1057 (Mt 10:25). Matthew (23:34) says of this persecution: "Therefore I | |
| 1058 send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will | |
| 1059 kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and | |
| 1060 persecute from to town to town." Similarly, they will be honored | |
| 1061 for the same reason that Christ was: if they kept my word, they | |
| 1062 will keep yours also, because your words are my words: "You desire | |
| 1063 proof that Christ is speaking in me" (2 Cor 13:3); "For it is not | |
| 1064 you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" | |
| 1065 (Mt 10:20). And so Christ says, "He who hears you hears me" (Lk | |
| 1066 10:16). The apostles were in truth accepted and honored by some of | |
| 1067 the people, as is clear from "When you received the word of God | |
| 1068 which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but | |
| 1069 as what it really is, the word of God" (1 Thess 2: 13).</p> | |
| 1070 <p>2043 Now he amplifies on the second consideration that would | |
| 1071 console them, which is based on the reason for their being hated. | |
| 1072 The apostles were chosen and raised above the world insofar as they | |
| 1073 had been made sharers of divinity and joined to God. This is why | |
| 1074 the world hated them. From this it follows that the world rather | |
| 1075 hated God in them than hated them. The reason for this hatred was | |
| 1076 that the world lacked the true knowledge of God which comes from | |
| 1077 the true faith and devoted love. If they did have this knowledge | |
| 1078 and recognized that the apostles were friends of God, they would | |
| 1079 not have persecuted them. Thus he says, <b>all this they will do to | |
| 1080 you,</b> that is, hate and persecute you, <b>on my account</b>. And | |
| 1081 so this should be your glory: "Let none of you suffer as a | |
| 1082 murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief‑maker; | |
| 1083 yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but | |
| 1084 under that name let him glorify God" (1 Pet 4:14). On my account, | |
| 1085 not because they love me, but because they hate me; just as, on the | |
| 1086 contrary, you will suffer on my account because you love me.</p> | |
| 1087 <p>They will do these things to you <b>because they do not know him | |
| 1088 who sent me</b>: "If you knew me, you would perhaps know my Father | |
| 1089 also" [8:19]. For they did not know that God would be pleased by | |
| 1090 their accepting Christ. Note that he is speaking here of a perfect | |
| 1091 knowledge, which consists in a faith which perfects the intellect | |
| 1092 and joins the affections to God. We read of this kind of knowledge: | |
| 1093 "Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows | |
| 1094 me" (Jer 9:24); "To know you is complete righteousness" (Wis | |
| 1095 15:3).<br /> | |
| 1096 <br /> | |
| 1097 <br /></p> | |
| 1098 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 5</b></p> | |
| 1099 <blockquote> | |
| 1100 <p><b>22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have | |
| 1101 sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me | |
| 1102 hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works | |
| 1103 which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have | |
| 1104 seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 It is to fulfill the word | |
| 1105 that is written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.' 26 | |
| 1106 But when the Counselor [Paraclete] comes, whom I shall send to you | |
| 1107 from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the | |
| 1108 Father, he will bear witness to me. 27 And you also are witnesses, | |
| 1109 because you have been with me from the beginning."<a href="#_ftn22" | |
| 1110 name="_ftnref22" title="" id="_ftnref22">[22]</a></b></p> | |
| 1111 </blockquote> | |
| 1112 <p>2044 Before, when our Lord said that the Jews would persecute | |
| 1113 his disciples, he give as the reason that the Jews did not know the | |
| 1114 one who sent him. Now, since ignorance usually excuses one, he here | |
| 1115 shows that they are inexcusable. He does this in two ways: first, | |
| 1116 because of the things he personally did and taught them; secondly, | |
| 1117 because of what will occur when he is no longer present (v 26). In | |
| 1118 regard to the first he does two things: first, he shows that they | |
| 1119 were without excuse because of the truth he taught; secondly, | |
| 1120 because of the witness of the works he performed (v 24). He does | |
| 1121 three things about the first: first, he shows what could have | |
| 1122 excused them; secondly, that they did not have this excuse (v 22); | |
| 1123 thirdly, he shows the real source of their persecution (v 23).</p> | |
| 1124 <p>2045 He had said: "But all this they will do to you on my | |
| 1125 account." Yet they might have had an excuse. <b>If I had not come | |
| 1126 and spoken to them,</b> that is, if I had not shown myself | |
| 1127 personally and taught them personally, <b>they would not have | |
| 1128 sin.</b></p> | |
| 1129 <p>2046 How does this reconcile with Romans (3:23) which states | |
| 1130 that "All have sinned"? We should say that our Lord is not speaking | |
| 1131 here of just any sin, but of the sin of disbelief, that is, they do | |
| 1132 not believe in Christ. This is called here simply "sin" because it | |
| 1133 is a prime example of sin, because as long as this sin lasts, no | |
| 1134 other sin can be remitted; for no sin is remitted except by faith | |
| 1135 in Jesus Christ through whom we are justified, as we read in Romans | |
| 1136 (5:1). Consequently, <b>they would not have sin</b> means that they | |
| 1137 would not be charged with not believing in him. This is primarily | |
| 1138 because "faith comes from what is heard" (Rom 10:17). So, if Christ | |
| 1139 had not come and had not spoken to them, they could not have | |
| 1140 believed. And no one is charged with a sin for not doing what he | |
| 1141 can't do at all.</p> | |
| 1142 <p>2047 Yet some could say that they were bound to believe and | |
| 1143 could have believed even if Christ had not come, since he had been | |
| 1144 foretold to them by the prophets: "which he promised beforehand | |
| 1145 through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning | |
| 1146 his Son" (Rom 1:2). I answer that of themselves the Jews could not | |
| 1147 believe and understand the words of the prophets unless they were | |
| 1148 shown by divine help: "The words are shut up and sealed until the | |
| 1149 appointed time" [Dan 12:9]. Thus the eunuch said: "How can I | |
| 1150 understand, unless some one guides me?" (Acts 8:31).</p> | |
| 1151 <p>Therefore, if Christ had not come, they would not have this sin, | |
| 1152 the sin of disbelief, although they would have had other actual | |
| 1153 sins for which they would have been punished. And a similar | |
| 1154 reasoning holds for all those whom the preaching of God's word | |
| 1155 could not reach. For this reason they cannot be charged with the | |
| 1156 sin of disbelief for their condemnation; but they will be | |
| 1157 condemned, because deprived of God's favors because of their other | |
| 1158 actual sins and original sin.</p> | |
| 1159 <p>2048 Note that Christ's coming and teaching resulted in good for | |
| 1160 many, that is, for those who accepted him and kept his word. And | |
| 1161 for many it turned out bad, that is, for those who decided neither | |
| 1162 to listen to him nor believe him. "He will become ... a stone of | |
| 1163 offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap | |
| 1164 and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Is 8:14); "This child | |
| 1165 is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel" (Lk 2:34).</p> | |
| 1166 <p>2049 He has just stated what could have excused them from | |
| 1167 unbelief. But they don't have this excuse because Christ showed | |
| 1168 himself to them in person and taught them. Thus he says, <b>but | |
| 1169 now,</b> since I have come and spoken to them, <b>they have no | |
| 1170 excuse</b>, that of ignorance, <b>for their sin.</b> "So they are | |
| 1171 without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him | |
| 1172 as God" (Rom 1:20). But they did know Christ, as is clear from | |
| 1173 Matthew (21:38): "This is the heir; come, let us kill him." | |
| 1174 However, they knew that he was the Christ promised in the law, but | |
| 1175 they did not know that he was God, because "If they had, they would | |
| 1176 not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor 2:8). And so their | |
| 1177 ignorance is no excuse, because they did not do this from ignorance | |
| 1178 but from another root, that is, from hatred and a certain | |
| 1179 malice.</p> | |
| 1180 <p>2050 This is why he adds, <b>He who hates me hates my Father | |
| 1181 also.</b> This is like saying: Their sin is not ignorance of me, | |
| 1182 but hatred for me, and this involves hatred for the Father. Since | |
| 1183 the Son and the Father are one in essence, truth and goodness, and | |
| 1184 since all knowledge of anyone is through the truth which is in him, | |
| 1185 whoever loves the Son loves the Father also; and whoever knows the | |
| 1186 one knows the other also; and whoever hates the Son hates the | |
| 1187 Father also.</p> | |
| 1188 <p>2051 Two problems arise here. First, whether anyone can hate | |
| 1189 God? We should say that no one can hate God as God. Since God is | |
| 1190 the pure essence of goodness, and since this is lovable in itself, | |
| 1191 it is impossible that God be hated in himself. This is the reason | |
| 1192 why it is impossible for an evil person to see God. For it is | |
| 1193 impossible for God to be seen without being loved; and one who | |
| 1194 loves God is good. So these two things are incompatible, namely, to | |
| 1195 see God and be evil.</p> | |
| 1196 <p>Yet one can hate God from a particular point of view. For | |
| 1197 example, one who loves lustful pleasures hates God as forbidding | |
| 1198 the enjoyment of lust, and one who wants to be free from all | |
| 1199 punishment hates the justice of God when it punishes.<a href= | |
| 1200 "#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" id="_ftnref23">[23]</a></p> | |
| 1201 <p>2052 The second problem arises because no once can hate what he | |
| 1202 does not know. But the Jews did not know the Father: "They do not | |
| 1203 know him who sent me" (15:21). Therefore, what he says here does | |
| 1204 not seem to be true, that they <b>hate my Father also.</b> We can | |
| 1205 say, according to Augustine, that a person can love or hate | |
| 1206 something that was never seen nor truly known.<a href="#_ftn24" | |
| 1207 name="_ftnref24" id="_ftnref24">[24]</a> This can happen in two | |
| 1208 ways. In one way, I can hate or love a person according as I know | |
| 1209 him; or, according to what I am told about him. For example, if I | |
| 1210 hear that someone is a thief I hate him, not because I know or hate | |
| 1211 this very person, but because in general I hate all thieves. So, if | |
| 1212 he were a thief and I did not know it, I would hate him without | |
| 1213 knowing that I hated him. Now the Jews hated Christ and the truth | |
| 1214 that he preached. Since the very truth that Christ preached and the | |
| 1215 works he performed were in the will of God the Father, then just as | |
| 1216 they hated Christ, so also they hated the Father, even though they | |
| 1217 did not know that these things were in the will of the Father.</p> | |
| 1218 <p>2053 Now he shows they are without excuse because of the witness | |
| 1219 of his signs. They could say that they were not convinced by the | |
| 1220 words he spoke in opposition to them. So he corroborates his words | |
| 1221 with marvelous actions, saying, <b>If I had not done among them the | |
| 1222 works which no one else did, they would not have sin.</b> First, he | |
| 1223 shows that they could be somewhat excused; secondly, he reveals the | |
| 1224 root of their sin (v 24b); thirdly, he cites an authority (v | |
| 1225 25).</p> | |
| 1226 <p>2054 There are two questions about the first point. One is about | |
| 1227 the truth of the antecedent statement, <b>If I had not done among | |
| 1228 them the works which no one else did.</b> Did Christ perform | |
| 1229 certain good works among them that no one else had done? It seems | |
| 1230 not. If we say that Christ raised the dead, Elijah and Elisha also | |
| 1231 did this. If Christ walked on the water, Moses parted the waters. | |
| 1232 Again, Joshua did something greater [than Christ] for he made the | |
| 1233 sun stand still. So it seems that Christ should not use this as an | |
| 1234 argument, and thus the conclusion is not true.</p> | |
| 1235 <p>I answer that we can say, according to Augustine, that our Lord | |
| 1236 is not speaking of the miracles he worked among them, that is, | |
| 1237 merely in their sight, but of those he worked "among" them, that | |
| 1238 is, on their very persons.<a href="#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" id= | |
| 1239 "_ftnref25">[25]</a> In curing the sick, although others did it, no | |
| 1240 one did it so much as Christ, because no other was made God and no | |
| 1241 one was born of a virgin but Christ. So in healing the sick he | |
| 1242 performed among them works which no one else performed; and this in | |
| 1243 three ways. First, because his works were so great: for he raised a | |
| 1244 person who had been dead for four days; he gave sight to a man who | |
| 1245 was born blind, which had never been heard of before, as we read | |
| 1246 above (9:32). Secondly, because of the great number of his works, | |
| 1247 for he healed all who were sick (Mt 14:35), and no one else did | |
| 1248 this. Thirdly, because of the way he did these works: others did | |
| 1249 these things by praying for help, which showed that they were not | |
| 1250 doing this by their own power; but Christ did it by command, for he | |
| 1251 did it by his own power: "What is this? A new teaching! With | |
| 1252 authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" | |
| 1253 (Mk 1:27).</p> | |
| 1254 <p>Therefore, although others have raised the dead and have | |
| 1255 accomplished other miracles which Christ did, they did not do it in | |
| 1256 the same manner as Christ, nor by their own power, as Christ did. | |
| 1257 Further, making the sun stand still is less than what the dying | |
| 1258 Christ did, when he made the moon move backwards and changed the | |
| 1259 whole course of the heavens, as Dionysius says.<a href="#_ftn26" | |
| 1260 name="_ftnref26" title="" id="_ftnref26">[26]</a></p> | |
| 1261 <p>2055 The second question is about the truth of the conditional | |
| 1262 statement, that if Christ had not done among them works which no | |
| 1263 one else did, the Jews would not have the sin of disbelief. My | |
| 1264 reply is that if we speak of any of the miracles indiscriminately, | |
| 1265 the Jews would have been excusable if they had not been done among | |
| 1266 them by Christ. For no one can come to Christ by faith unless he is | |
| 1267 drawn: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws | |
| 1268 him" (6:44). So the spouse says in the Song (1:4): "Draw me after | |
| 1269 you." Therefore, if there were no one who had drawn them to the | |
| 1270 faith, they would have an excuse for their disbelief. Note that | |
| 1271 Christ drew by words and by signs, both visible and invisible, that | |
| 1272 is, by inciting and stirring hearts from within: "The king's heart | |
| 1273 is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord" (Prv 21:1). And so an | |
| 1274 inner impulse to act well is the work of God, and those who resist | |
| 1275 it sin. If not, Stephen would have no reason to say: "You always | |
| 1276 resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51). And Isaiah (50:5) says: "The | |
| 1277 Lord has opened my ear," that is, the ear of my heart, "and I was | |
| 1278 not rebellious." When our Lord said, <b>If I had not done among | |
| 1279 them the works which no one else did,</b> we have to understand | |
| 1280 this as referring not only to visible works but also to the | |
| 1281 interior impulses and attractions to his teaching. If these had not | |
| 1282 been done among them, they would not have sin. It is now clear how | |
| 1283 they could have been excused, that is, if he had not accomplished | |
| 1284 miraculous works among them.</p> | |
| 1285 <p>2056 Now he shows the root of their sin of disbelief, namely, | |
| 1286 their hatred, because of which they did not believe the works they | |
| 1287 saw. He says, <b>but now they have seen,</b> the works he did among | |
| 1288 them, <b>and hated both me and my Father:</b> "Because they hated | |
| 1289 knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord" (Prv 1:29). As | |
| 1290 Gregory says, there are some in the Church who not only do not do | |
| 1291 good works, but they even persecute those who do, so that what they | |
| 1292 fail to do they detest in others.<a href="#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" | |
| 1293 id="_ftnref27">[27]</a> Thus their sin is not one of weakness or | |
| 1294 ignorance, but is committed of set purpose.</p> | |
| 1295 <p>2057 Yet some could say: If it is true that the Jews hated you | |
| 1296 and your Father, why did you perform miracles among them? He | |
| 1297 answers and says <b>It is to fulfill the word that is written in | |
| 1298 their law.</b> Here we could ask why he says that this was written | |
| 1299 in their law when it was written in the Psalms? We can say to this | |
| 1300 that the "law" is understood in three ways in scripture. Sometimes | |
| 1301 it is taken for the entire Old Testament; and this is the way it is | |
| 1302 understood here, because the entire teaching of the Old Testament | |
| 1303 is directed to the observance of the law: "Jesus, remember me when | |
| 1304 you come in your kingdom" (Lk 23:42). Sometimes it is taken as | |
| 1305 distinguished from the histories and the prophets: "that everything | |
| 1306 written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the | |
| 1307 psalms" (in which the histories are sometimes included) "must be | |
| 1308 fulfilled" (Lk 24:44). And sometimes the law is taken as distinct | |
| 1309 only from the prophets, and then the histories are included in the | |
| 1310 prophets. He says, <b>It is to fulfill what is written in their | |
| 1311 law,</b> that is, in the Psalms (35:19) <b>'They hated me without a | |
| 1312 cause,'</b> and not to gain some benefit or avoid some trouble (for | |
| 1313 this is why people hate). Indeed, Christ gave them opportunities to | |
| 1314 love him when he healed and taught them: "He went about doing good" | |
| 1315 (Acts 10:38); "Is evil a recompense for good? They have dug a pit | |
| 1316 for my life" (Jer 18:20); "What wrong did your fathers find in me | |
| 1317 that they went far from me" (Jer 2:5).</p> | |
| 1318 <p>2058 Now he shows that they are inexcusable because of what will | |
| 1319 come to pass after him: because they would have other testimonies, | |
| 1320 namely, those of the Holy Spirit and of the apostles. First, he | |
| 1321 states what was to come from the Holy Spirit; secondly, from the | |
| 1322 apostles (v 27). He indicates four things about the Spirit: his | |
| 1323 freedom, tenderness, procession and activity.</p> | |
| 1324 <p>2059 He indicates his freedom, or power, when he says, <b>But | |
| 1325 when the Paraclete comes.</b> Strictly speaking that person is said | |
| 1326 to come who comes willingly and on his own authority; and this is | |
| 1327 true of the Holy Spirit, because "the Spirit blows where it wills" | |
| 1328 [3:8]; "I called upon God, and the Spirit of wisdom came to me" | |
| 1329 (Wis 7:7). Therefore, in saying, <b>whom I shall send,</b> he does | |
| 1330 not suggest force but origin.</p> | |
| 1331 <p>2060 He touches on his tenderness when he says, <b>the | |
| 1332 Paraclete</b>, that is the Consoler. Since the Paraclete is the | |
| 1333 Love of God he makes us scorn earthly things and cling to God; and | |
| 1334 thus he takes away our pain and sadness and gives us joy in divine | |
| 1335 things: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace" (Gal 5:22); | |
| 1336 and in Acts (9:31) we read that the Church was walking "in the | |
| 1337 comfort of the Holy Spirit."</p> | |
| 1338 <p>2061 Thirdly, he touches on the twofold procession of the Holy | |
| 1339 Spirit. First, he mentions the temporal procession when he says, | |
| 1340 <b>whom I shall send to you from the Father.</b> Note that the Holy | |
| 1341 Spirit is said to be sent not because the Spirit is changing place, | |
| 1342 since the Spirit fills the entire universe, as we read in Wisdom | |
| 1343 (1:7), but because, by grace, the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in a | |
| 1344 new way in those he makes a temple of God: "Do you not know that | |
| 1345 you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor | |
| 1346 3:16). There is no disagreement in saying that the Holy Spirit is | |
| 1347 sent and that he comes. In saying that the Spirit comes the | |
| 1348 grandeur of his divinity is indicated: the "Spirit, who apportions | |
| 1349 to each one individually as he wills" (1 Cor 12:11). And he is said | |
| 1350 to be sent to indicate his procession from another, for the fact | |
| 1351 that he sanctifies the rational creature by indwelling he has from | |
| 1352 that other, from whom he has it that he is, just as it is from | |
| 1353 another that the Son has whatever he does.</p> | |
| 1354 <p>The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son together; and | |
| 1355 this is indicated in "He showed me the river of the water of life," | |
| 1356 that is, the Holy Spirit, "flowing from the throne of God and of | |
| 1357 the Lamb," that is, of Christ (Rev 22:1). Therefore, when speaking | |
| 1358 of the sending of the Holy Spirit he mentions the Father and the | |
| 1359 Son, who send the Spirit by the same and equal power. Thus | |
| 1360 sometimes he mentions the Father as sending the Spirit, but not | |
| 1361 without the Son, as above (14:26): "The Holy Spirit, whom the | |
| 1362 Father will send in my name"; at other times he says that he | |
| 1363 himself sends the Holy Spirit, but not without the Father: as here, | |
| 1364 <b>whom I shall send to you from the Father,</b> because whatever | |
| 1365 the Son does he has from the Father: "The Son cannot do anything of | |
| 1366 himself" [5:19].<a href="#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" id= | |
| 1367 "_ftnref28">[28]</a></p> | |
| 1368 <p>2062 He mentions the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit when | |
| 1369 he shows in a similar way that the Spirit is related both to the | |
| 1370 Father and the Son. He shows the Spirit as related to the Son when | |
| 1371 he says, <b>the Spirit of truth,</b> for the Son is the Truth: "I | |
| 1372 am the way, and the truth, and the life" (14:6). He shows the | |
| 1373 Spirit as related to the Father when he says, <b>who proceeds from | |
| 1374 the Father.</b> So to say that the Holy Spirit is <b>the Spirit of | |
| 1375 truth,</b> is the same as saying the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of | |
| 1376 the Son: "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts" (Gal | |
| 1377 4:6). And because the word "spirit" (<i>spiritus</i>) suggests a | |
| 1378 kind of impulse and every motion produces an effect in harmony with | |
| 1379 its source (as heating makes something hot), it follows that the | |
| 1380 Holy Spirit makes those to whom he is sent like the one whose | |
| 1381 Spirit he is. And since he is the Spirit of Truth "He will teach | |
| 1382 you all truth" [16:13]; "The inspiration of the Almighty gives | |
| 1383 understanding" [Job 32:8]. In the same way, because he is the | |
| 1384 Spirit of the Son, he produces sons: "You have received the spirit | |
| 1385 of sonship" (Rom 8:15). He says the <b>Spirit of truth</b> as | |
| 1386 contrasted with the spirit of lying: "The Lord has mingled within | |
| 1387 her the spirit of error" [Is 19:14]; "I will go forth, and will be | |
| 1388 a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets" (1 Kgs 22:22).</p> | |
| 1389 <p>2063 Because he says <b>who proceeds from the Father</b> and | |
| 1390 does not add "and from the Son," the Greeks say that the Holy | |
| 1391 Spirit does not proceed from the Son but only from the Father. But | |
| 1392 this absolutely cannot be. For the Holy Spirit could not be | |
| 1393 distinguished from the Son unless he either proceeds from the Son, | |
| 1394 or on the other hand, the Son proceeds from him (and no one claims | |
| 1395 this). For one cannot say that among the divine persons, who are | |
| 1396 entirely immaterial and simple, there is a material distinction | |
| 1397 based on a division of quantity, which matter underlies. Thus it is | |
| 1398 necessary that the distinction of the divine persons be by way of a | |
| 1399 formal distinction, which has to involve some kind of opposition. | |
| 1400 For if forms are not opposed they are compatible with one another | |
| 1401 in the same subject and do not diversify a supposit; for example, | |
| 1402 to be white and large. So among the divine persons, since "not | |
| 1403 subject to birth" and "fatherhood" are not opposed, they belong to | |
| 1404 one person. If, then, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct | |
| 1405 persons proceeding from the Father, they have to be distinguished | |
| 1406 by some properties that are opposed. These properties cannot be | |
| 1407 opposed like affirmation and negation or privation and possessing | |
| 1408 are opposed, because then the Son and the Holy Spirit would be | |
| 1409 related to one another like being and non‑being and as the | |
| 1410 complete to the deprived, and this is repugnant to their equality. | |
| 1411 Nor can these properties be opposed like contraries are opposed, | |
| 1412 one of which is more perfect than the other. What remains is that | |
| 1413 the Holy Spirit is distinguished from the Son only by a relative | |
| 1414 opposition.</p> | |
| 1415 <p>This kind of opposition rests solely on the fact that one of | |
| 1416 them is referred to the other. For the different relations of two | |
| 1417 things to some third thing are not directly opposed except | |
| 1418 accidentally, that is by some incidental consequence. So in order | |
| 1419 for the Holy Spirit to be distinguished from the Son, they must | |
| 1420 have relations that are opposed, by which they will be opposed to | |
| 1421 each other. No such relations can be found except relations of | |
| 1422 origin, insofar as one person is from the other. Thus it is | |
| 1423 impossible, granting the Trinity of persons, that the Holy Spirit | |
| 1424 not be from the Son.</p> | |
| 1425 <p>2064 Some say that the Holy Spirit and the Son are distinguished | |
| 1426 by the different ways they proceed, insofar as the Son is from the | |
| 1427 Father by being born and the Holy Spirit by proceeding. But the | |
| 1428 same problem still returns which arose from the previous opinion, | |
| 1429 as to how these two processions differ. One cannot say that they | |
| 1430 are distinguished because of the diverse things received by their | |
| 1431 respective generations, like the generation of a human being and a | |
| 1432 horse differ because of the diverse natures that are communicated. | |
| 1433 For the very same nature is received by the Son by being born from | |
| 1434 the Father and by the Holy Spirit by proceeding. So we are left | |
| 1435 with the conclusion that they are distinguished only by the order | |
| 1436 of origin, that is to say, insofar as the birth of the Son is a | |
| 1437 principle of the procession of the Holy Spirit. And so, if the Holy | |
| 1438 Spirit were not from the Son, the Spirit would not be distinguished | |
| 1439 from the Son and procession would not be distinguished from | |
| 1440 birth.</p> | |
| 1441 <p>Thus even the Greeks admit some order between the Son and the | |
| 1442 Holy Spirit. For they say that the Holy Spirit is of the Son, and | |
| 1443 that the Son acts through the Holy Spirit, but not conversely. And | |
| 1444 some even admit that the Holy Spirit is from the Son, but they will | |
| 1445 not concede that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son. Yet in this | |
| 1446 they are obviously imprudent. For we use the word "procession" in | |
| 1447 all cases in which one thing is from another in any way. And so | |
| 1448 this word, because it is so general, has been adapted to indicate | |
| 1449 the existence of the Holy Spirit as from the Son. We don't have any | |
| 1450 examples of this in creatures which would lead us to give it a | |
| 1451 specific name; while we do have examples which give us the special | |
| 1452 term of "generation" which is applied to the Son. The reason for | |
| 1453 this is that in creatures we do not find a person proceeding from | |
| 1454 will, as love, while we do find a person proceeding from nature, as | |
| 1455 son. Thus, however the Holy Spirit is ordered to the Son, it can be | |
| 1456 concluded that the Spirit proceeds from the Son.</p> | |
| 1457 <p>2065 Nevertheless some of the Greeks assert that one should not | |
| 1458 say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son because for them the | |
| 1459 preposition "from" indicates a principle which is not from a | |
| 1460 principle, and this is so only of the Father. This is not | |
| 1461 compelling because the Son with the Father is one principle of the | |
| 1462 Holy Spirit, as also of creatures. And although the Son has it from | |
| 1463 the Father that the Son is a principle of creatures, still | |
| 1464 creatures are said to be from the Son; and for the same reason it | |
| 1465 can be said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son.</p> | |
| 1466 <p>Nor does it make any difference that we read here, <b>who | |
| 1467 proceeds from the Father,</b> instead of "from the Father and the | |
| 1468 Son," because in a similar way it is said, <b>whom I shall | |
| 1469 send</b>, and yet the Father is also understood to send, since | |
| 1470 there is added, <b>from the Father.</b> In a similar way because it | |
| 1471 says, <b>the Spirit of truth,</b> that is, the Spirit of the Son, | |
| 1472 we understand that the Spirit proceeds from the Son. For, as has | |
| 1473 been said, when the procession of the Holy Spirit is mentioned, the | |
| 1474 Son is always joined to the Father, and the Father to the Son; and | |
| 1475 so these different ways of expression indicate a distinction of | |
| 1476 persons.</p> | |
| 1477 <p>2066 Fourthly, he mentions the activity of the Holy Spirit when | |
| 1478 he says, <b>he will bear witness to me;</b> and this in three ways. | |
| 1479 First, the Spirit will teach the disciples and give them the | |
| 1480 confidence to bear witness: "For it is not you who speak, but the | |
| 1481 Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Mt 10:20). Secondly, | |
| 1482 the Spirit will communicate his teaching to those who believe in | |
| 1483 Christ: "God also bore witness by signs and miracles and by gifts | |
| 1484 of the Holy Spirit" wonders and various miracles and by gifts of | |
| 1485 the Holy Spirit" (Heb 2:4). Thirdly, the Spirit will soften the | |
| 1486 hearts of their hearers: "When you send forth your Spirit, they are | |
| 1487 created" (Ps 104:30).</p> | |
| 1488 <p>2067 Finally, he mentions what lies ahead for the disciples when | |
| 1489 he says, <b>and you also are witnesses,</b> inspired by the Holy | |
| 1490 Spirit: "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea | |
| 1491 and Samaria and to the end of this earth" (Acts 1:8). We read of | |
| 1492 this twofold testimony in Acts (5:32): "We are witnesses to these | |
| 1493 things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who | |
| 1494 obey him."</p> | |
| 1495 <p>He adds why this testimony is appropriate when he says, | |
| 1496 <b>because you have been with me from the beginning,</b> that is, | |
| 1497 the beginning of my preaching and working of miracles, and so you | |
| 1498 can testify to what you have seen and heard: "That which we have | |
| 1499 seen and heard we proclaim also to you" (1 Jn 1:3). We can see from | |
| 1500 this that Christ did not perform miracles in his youth, as some | |
| 1501 apocryphal gospels relate but only from the time he called his | |
| 1502 disciples.</p> | |
| 1503 <div><br clear="all" /> | |
| 1504 <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> | |
| 1505 <div id="ftn1"> | |
| 1506 <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" id="_ftn1">Arial'>[1]</a> | |
| 1507 "Times New Roman";color:blue'>St. Thomas refers to Jn 15:1 in | |
| 1508 the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> III, q. 74, a. 5, s. c.; Jn 15:3: | |
| 1509 <i>ST</i> III, q. 74, a. 5, s. c.; Jn 15:5: <i>ST</i> I-II, q. 6, | |
| 1510 a. 1, obj. 3; q. 109, a. 6, ad 2; II-II, q. 156, a. 2, ad 1.</p> | |
|
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1511 </div> |
| 35 | 1512 <div id="ftn2"> |
| 1513 <p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" id="_ftn2">[2]</a> <i>Sermones | |
| 1514 de Verbis Domini</i> 61; PL 38, col. 1859;"Times New | |
| 1515 Roman";color:black'> "Times New Roman";color:green'>cf. | |
| 1516 <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:1-3.</p> | |
|
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1517 </div> |
| 35 | 1518 <div id="ftn3"> |
| 1519 <p><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" id="_ftn3">[3]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1520 Io</i>., 80, ch. 3, col. 1839; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, 15:1-3.</p> | |
| 1521 </div> | |
| 1522 <div id="ftn4"> | |
| 1523 <p><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" id="_ftn4">[4]</a> Summa-Word | |
| 1524 of Christ cleanses both in faith and baptism.</p> | |
|
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1525 </div> |
| 35 | 1526 <div id="ftn5"> |
| 1527 <p><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" id="_ftn5">[5]</a> Summa-it it | |
| 1528 impossible to do any work except by Christ.</p> | |
|
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1529 </div> |
| 35 | 1530 <div id="ftn6"> |
| 1531 <p><a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" id="_ftn6">[6]</a> Summa-that | |
| 1532 it is possible to be united to the Church in faith, but not by | |
| 1533 charity.</p> | |
|
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1534 </div> |
| 35 | 1535 <div id="ftn7"> |
| 1536 <p><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" id="_ftn7">[7]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1537 Io</i>., 81 ch. 3, col. 1841-2; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1538 15:4-7.</p> | |
|
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1539 </div> |
| 35 | 1540 <div id="ftn8"> |
| 1541 <p><a href="#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" id="_ftn8">[8]</a> St. Thomas | |
| 1542 refers to Jn 15:11 in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> II-II, q. 28, a. | |
| 1543 3 s. c.; Jn 15:12: <i>ST</i> I-II, q. 68, a. 1; II-II, q. 22, a. 1. | |
| 1544 s. c.; Jn 15:13: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 26, a. 5, obj. 3; q. 124, a. | |
| 1545 2, obj. 2; q. 124, a. 3, q. 184, a. 5, obj. 3; q. 184, a. 2, ad 3; | |
| 1546 III, q. 66, a. 12.</p> | |
|
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1547 </div> |
| 35 | 1548 <div id="ftn9"> |
| 1549 <p><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" id="_ftn9">[9]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1550 Io</i>., 82, ch. 4, col. 1844; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1551 15:8-11.</p> | |
|
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1552 </div> |
| 35 | 1553 <div id="ftn10"> |
| 1554 <p><a href="#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" id="_ftn10">[10]</a> | |
| 1555 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 83, ch. 1, col. 1844-5; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1556 Aurea</i>, 15:8-11.</p> | |
|
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1557 </div> |
| 35 | 1558 <div id="ftn11"> |
| 1559 <p><a href="#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" id="_ftn11">[11]</a> | |
| 1560 <i>Homiliae in Evangelista</i>, XXVII; 1; PL 76, col. 1205B; cf. | |
| 1561 <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:12-16.</p> | |
| 1562 </div> | |
| 1563 <div id="ftn12"> | |
| 1564 <p><a href="#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" id="_ftn12">[12]</a> Ibid.; | |
| 1565 cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1566 </div> |
| 35 | 1567 <div id="ftn13"> |
| 1568 <p><a href="#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" id="_ftn13">[13]</a> St. | |
| 1569 Thomas refers to Jn 15:14 in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> II-II, q. | |
| 1570 23, a. 1, s. c.; Jn 15:15: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 172, a. 4, obj. 2; | |
| 1571 Jn 15:17: <i>ST</i> I, q. 73, a. 2, arg. 1.</p> | |
|
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1572 </div> |
| 35 | 1573 <div id="ftn14"> |
| 1574 <p><a href="#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" id="_ftn14">[14]</a> | |
| 1575 <i>Moralia XVII</i>, ch. 15, no. 28; PL 76, col. 415B"Times New | |
| 1576 Roman";color:green'>; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1577 </div> |
| 35 | 1578 <div id="ftn15"> |
| 1579 <p><a href="#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" id="_ftn15">[15]</a> <i>In | |
| 1580 Ioannem hom</i>., 77, ch. 1; PG 59, col. 415; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1581 Aurea</i>, 15:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1582 </div> |
| 35 | 1583 <div id="ftn16"> |
| 1584 <p><a href="#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" id="_ftn16">[16]</a> | |
| 1585 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 86, ch. 1, col. 1850; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1586 Aurea</i>, 15:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1587 </div> |
| 35 | 1588 <div id="ftn17"> |
| 1589 <p><a href="#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" id="_ftn17">[17]</a> | |
| 1590 <i>Homiliae in Evangelista XXVII</i>; PL 76; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1591 Aurea,</i> 15:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1592 </div> |
| 35 | 1593 <div id="ftn18"> |
| 1594 <p><a href="#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" id="_ftn18">[18]</a> | |
| 1595 Summa-God predestines and calls men not based on their merit.</p> | |
|
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1596 </div> |
| 35 | 1597 <div id="ftn19"> |
| 1598 <p><a href="#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" id="_ftn19">[19]</a> | |
| 1599 Origen.</p> | |
|
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1600 </div> |
| 35 | 1601 <div id="ftn20"> |
| 1602 <p><a href="#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" id="_ftn20">[20]</a> | |
| 1603 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 87, ch. 2, col. 1853; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1604 Aurea</i>, 15:17-21.</p> | |
|
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1605 </div> |
| 35 | 1606 <div id="ftn21"> |
| 1607 <p><a href="#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" id="_ftn21">[21]</a> | |
| 1608 Aristotle.</p> | |
|
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1609 </div> |
| 35 | 1610 <div id="ftn22"> |
| 1611 <p><a href="#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" id="_ftn22">[22]</a> St. | |
| 1612 Thomas refers to Jn 15:22 in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> II-II, q. | |
| 1613 5, a. 2, obj. 3; q. 10, a. 1; q. 10, a. 3, s. c.; III, q. 47, a. 5; | |
| 1614 q. 80, a. 5, s. c.; q. 86, a. 3, ad 2; Jn 15:24: <i>ST</i> II-II, | |
| 1615 q. 34, a. 1 s. c.; III, q. 43, a. 4, ad 1; q. 47, a. 5, obj. 2; Jn | |
| 1616 15:25: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 16, a. 1, obj. 5: Jn 15:26: <i>ST</i> I, | |
| 1617 q. 27, a. 3, s. c.; q. 36, a. 2, obj 1.</p> | |
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1618 </div> |
| 35 | 1619 <div id="ftn23"> |
| 1620 <p><a href="#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" id="_ftn23">[23]</a> | |
| 1621 Summa-man can hate God under a certain aspect.</p> | |
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1622 </div> |
| 35 | 1623 <div id="ftn24"> |
| 1624 <p><a href="#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" id="_ftn24">[24]</a> | |
| 1625 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 90, ch. 1, col. 1858-9; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1626 Aurea</i>, 15:22-25.</p> | |
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1627 </div> |
| 35 | 1628 <div id="ftn25"> |
| 1629 <p><a href="#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" id="_ftn25">[25]</a> Ibid., | |
| 1630 cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, 15:22-25.</p> | |
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1631 </div> |
| 35 | 1632 <div id="ftn26"> |
| 1633 <p><a href="#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" id="_ftn26">[26]</a> | |
| 1634 Dionysius.</p> | |
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1635 </div> |
| 35 | 1636 <div id="ftn27"> |
| 1637 <p><a href="#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" id="_ftn27">[27]</a> | |
| 1638 <i>Moralia</i>, XXV, ch. 11, no. 28; PL 76, col. 339B; "Times New | |
| 1639 Roman";color:green'>cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:22-25.</p> | |
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1640 </div> |
| 35 | 1641 <div id="ftn28"> |
| 1642 <p><a href="#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" id="_ftn28">[28]</a> | |
| 1643 Summa-procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. | |
| 1644 2061-2065.</p> | |
|
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1645 </div> |
| 35 | 1646 </div> |
| 1647 </blockquote> | |
| 1648 </body> | |
| 1649 </html> |