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| date | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:16:17 +0000 |
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| 1 <html> | |
| 2 <head> | |
| 3 <title>Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on the Gospel of John</title> | |
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| 10 | |
| 11 var WPFootnote1 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p> For a fuller documentation of these facts, see James A. Weisheipl, <i>Friar Thomas d’Aquino: His Life, Thought and\ | |
| 12 Works </i>(Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1974), pp. 246-47, 372, and so forth. See also J. A. Weisheipl. “The\ | |
| 13 Johannine Commentary of Friar Thomas,” <i>Church History, </i>45 (1976), 185-195.</p>\ | |
| 14 </span>' | |
| 15 | |
| 16 var WPFootnote2 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p><i>Ibid., </i>pp. 145-46.</p>\ | |
| 17 </span>' | |
| 18 | |
| 19 var WPFootnote3 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>The full text of this allocution is given in <i>AAS</i> 50 (1958), 150-53.</p>\ | |
| 20 </span>' | |
| 21 | |
| 22 var WPFootnote4 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>St. Thomas, <i>Summa theologiae</i>, I, q.1, a.8, ad 2.</p>\ | |
| 23 </span>' | |
| 24 | |
| 25 var WPFootnote5 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p><i>AAS</i> 35 (1943), 297-325; trans. in <i>The Catholic Mind </i>42<i> </i>(1944), 257-83.</p>\ | |
| 26 </span>' | |
| 27 | |
| 28 var WPFootnote6 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>St. Thomas, <i>Super epistolam ad Hebraeos lectura</i>, cap.1, lect. 4, n. 64. <i>Super Epistolas S. Pauli Lectura</i>, ed. R.\ | |
| 29 Cai (Turin: Marietti, 1953), I, 350a.</p>\ | |
| 30 </span>' | |
| 31 | |
| 32 var WPFootnote7 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p><i>Divino afflante Spiritu, </i>n.63; trans. loc. <i>cit., </i>p. 280.</p>\ | |
| 33 </span>' | |
| 34 | |
| 35 var WPFootnote8 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>St. Thomas, <i>Sum. theol., </i>I, q. 1, a. 10.</p>\ | |
| 36 </span>' | |
| 37 | |
| 38 var WPFootnote9 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p><i>Ibid.</i></p>\ | |
| 39 </span>' | |
| 40 | |
| 41 var WPFootnote10 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>See J. A. Weisheipl, “The Meaning of <i>Sacra Doctrina </i>in <i>Summa theologiae </i>I, q. 1,” <i>The Thomist, </i>38 (1974), 49-80.</p>\ | |
| 42 </span>' | |
| 43 | |
| 44 var WPFootnote11 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>Aristotle, <i>Metaphysics </i>I, 2, 982a, l8-19.</p>\ | |
| 45 </span>' | |
| 46 | |
| 47 var WPFootnote12 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>See <i>Friar Thomas dAquino</i>, pp, 392-93.</p>\ | |
| 48 </span>' | |
| 49 | |
| 50 var WPFootnote13 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>Only the second part of this work has been translated into English—J. B. Collins, <i>Catechetical Instructions of St.\ | |
| 51 Thomas </i>(New York: Wagner 1939; repr. 1953).</p>\ | |
| 52 </span>' | |
| 53 | |
| 54 var WPFootnote14 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>St. Thomas, <i>Catena Aurea,</i>Epistola dedicatoria (Turin:<i> </i>Marietti, 1925) I, 468.</p>\ | |
| 55 </span>' | |
| 56 | |
| 57 var WPFootnote15 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>St. Thomas, <i>Sum. theol., </i>I, q.1, a.3; see note 10 above.</p>\ | |
| 58 </span>' | |
| 59 | |
| 60 var WPFootnote16 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>See Leo XIII, <i>Providentissimu</i> <i>s Deus </i>(18 Nov 1893) in <i>Acta Leonis XIII</i>, vol. 13, p. 345-46.</p>\ | |
| 61 </span>' | |
| 62 | |
| 63 var WPFootnote17 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>See <i>Friar Thomas d’Aquino</i>, pp. 164-68.</p>\ | |
| 64 </span>' | |
| 65 | |
| 66 var WPFootnote18 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>St. Thomas, <i>Super Evangelium S. Joannis Lectura</i>,<i> </i>cap.21, lect.6, n.2656, ed. R. Cai (Turin: Marietti 1952), p. 488.</p>\ | |
| 67 </span>' | |
| 68 | |
| 69 var WPFootnote19 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>Trent. sess. 4, in Denziger-Schbnmetzer, <i>Enchiridion</i> <i>Symbolorum </i>(1967), n.1501. See the important study of this\ | |
| 70 question in J. R. Geiselmann, <i>Die Heilige Schrift und die Tradition </i>(Freiburg i. Br.: Herder 1962), pp. 108-160.</p>\ | |
| 71 </span>' | |
| 72 | |
| 73 var WPFootnote20 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>Sess. VIII, <i>Constitutio Dogmatica de divina Revelatione, Dei verbum </i>(18 Nov . 1965), in <i>Constitutiones, Decreta,\ | |
| 74 Declarationes </i>(Vatican 1966), p. 429; see whole of cap. 2.</p>\ | |
| 75 </span>' | |
| 76 | |
| 77 var WPFootnote21 = '<span class="WPNormal"><p>This was the invocation, for example, in the old Dominican rite of the Mass.</p>\ | |
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| 128 </head> | |
| 129 <body><blockquote> | |
| 130 <CENTER><h2>COMMENTARY ON<BR>THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN</span></h2> | |
| 131 <p>St. Thomas Aquinas</p> | |
| 132 <p><span style="font-weight: bold">Part I: Chapters 1-7</span> | |
| 133 <br>translated by<BR>James A. Weisheipl, O.P. | |
| 134 <br>Magi Books, Inc., Albany, N.Y. | |
| 135 <table cellpadding=10 border=4><tr><td><A HREF="#01">INTRODUCTION</A> | |
| 136 <td align=center><A HREF="#02"><b>PROLOGUE</A><td><a href="JohnApp.htm">APPENDICES</A></table>Chapters: | |
| 137 <table cellpadding=10 border=4><tr><td><A HREF="John1.htm">*1*</A><td><A HREF="John2.htm">*2*</A><td><A HREF="John3.htm">*3*</A><td><A HREF="John4.htm">*4*</A><td><A HREF="John5.htm">*5*</A><td><A HREF="John6.htm">*6*</A><td><A HREF="John7.htm">*7*</A> | |
| 138 </table> | |
| 139 <p><b>Part II: Chapters 8-21</b> | |
| 140 <br>translated by<BR>Fabian R. Larcher, O.P. | |
| 141 <br>Magi Books, Inc., Albany, N.Y., 1998 | |
| 142 <br>(notes to these chapters provisional) | |
| 143 <table cellpadding=10 border=4><tr><td><A HREF="John8.htm">*8*</A><td><A HREF="John9.htm">*9*</A><td><A HREF="John10.htm">*10*</A><td><A HREF="John11.htm">*11*</A><td><A HREF="John12.htm">*12*</A><td><A HREF="John13.htm">*13*</A><td><A HREF="John14.htm">*14*</A> | |
| 144 <tr><td><A HREF="John15.htm">*15*</A><td><A HREF="John16.htm">*16*</A><td><A HREF="John17.htm">*17*</A><td><A HREF="John18.htm">*18*</A><td><A HREF="John19.htm">*19*</A><td><A HREF="John20.htm">*20*</A><td><A HREF="John21.htm">*21*</A> | |
| 145 </table> | |
| 146 <BR> | |
| 147 <hr width=50%> | |
| 148 <A NAME="01"><p><b>INTRODUCTION</b></CENTER> | |
| 149 <br> | |
| 150 <div style=text-align:justify> | |
| 151 <p>St. Thomas’ commentary on the Gospel of St. John is unique among his many writings on Sacred | |
| 152 Scripture. It is the work of a master theologian, delivered at the University of Paris, then the | |
| 153 intellectual center in Christendom, when Thomas was at the height of his fame and apostolic zeal | |
| 154 for souls. A fourteenth-century list of Thomas’ writings notes that this commentary is a | |
| 155 <i>reportatio</i> by Reginald of Piperno and adds “better than which none can be found.” | |
| 156 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote1', WPFootnote1 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 166 A <i>reportatio</i> | |
| 167 is a verbal report of an actual lecture taken down by a scribe or student in the course of actual | |
| 168 delivery. In this case the scribe was the faithful Friar Reginald of Piperno, who had been the | |
| 169 “constant companion,” or socius, for the last fifteen years of Thomas’ short but busy life. The | |
| 170 Italian Province of Dominicans wisely provided Thomas with this kind of personal secretary and | |
| 171 general factotum after he returned from Paris as a Master in Sacred Theology in 1260. | |
| 172 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote2', WPFootnote2 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 181 </script> | |
| 182 </p> | |
| 183 <p>A <i>reportatio</i> is not exactly a dictation in our sense of the term; it is more like a student’s | |
| 184 notebook in shorthand containing basically the gist of what is being said, but usually with varying | |
| 185 numbers of verbal omissions and inaccuracies. But this commentary is more than a mere scribal | |
| 186 report. It was in fact “corrected” by Thomas himself—if we are to believe Tolomeo of Lucca, one | |
| 187 of Thomas’ early biographers and confreres—before the commentary went into circulation | |
| 188 through copies made by hand, the customary mode of publication before the era of the printing | |
| 189 press. More than that: according to Bernard Gui, another confrere and early biographer, Thomas | |
| 190 himself wrote out in full the commentary on the first five chapters of John (and hence this section | |
| 191 ought to be considered an authentic <i>expositio</i>, or authoritative version), while the rest of it | |
| 192 survived in the hand of Reginald, corrected by Thomas.</p> | |
| 193 <p>This commentary was very popular in the Middle Ages, and it ranks among the best of Thomas’ | |
| 194 work as a master theologian and saintly man of faith. It was read not only by theologians | |
| 195 searching for the truth, but also by preachers and pious men and women desiring solid food for | |
| 196 meditation and fervent prayer. Scattered throughout the world there still exist thirty-three | |
| 197 complete and thirteen incomplete manuscript copies of this work, attesting to its considerable | |
| 198 popularity before the age of printing. Innumerable copies of this work have no doubt been lost | |
| 199 or destroyed in the tumult of centuries following the Middle Ages.</p> | |
| 200 <p>This detailed commentary is St. Thomas’ personal response to the Word of God Incarnate as | |
| 201 described in the sublime words of John “the Divine.” For St. Thomas, the God of Abraham, | |
| 202 Isaac, and Jacob spoke to his chosen people through the mouth of prophets in the long course of | |
| 203 salvation history, “But when the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born | |
| 204 a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons” | |
| 205 (Gal 4:4-5). This Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, is the total manifestation of the Father, the Eternal | |
| 206 Word made flesh. There is nothing left unsaid in the Word; the Father’s love is complete in the | |
| 207 love the Son bears for the Father and for us. Christ’s whole life, his passion, death, and | |
| 208 resurrection, are the praise and glory of the Father “through the working of the Holy Spirit.” | |
| 209 “You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (Jn 14:11). | |
| 210 “Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn | |
| 211 14:13). Christ’s “food” was to do the will of his Father in all things, thus glorifying the Father | |
| 212 in Jesus.</p> | |
| 213 <p>One of St. Thomas’ basic theological principles is that everything Jesus Christ did and said was | |
| 214 for our instruction and imitation. Thus the sanctity of our lives is the on-going praise and glory | |
| 215 of the Father, through the Son, by the working of the Holy Spirit. The very being of the Father | |
| 216 is the unqualified affirmation of love for the Son and <i>for </i>us, in the Son. “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). | |
| 217 This love elicits from us an unreserved affirmation of love for God and neighbor, by which God | |
| 218 is glorified and resplendent in us. The whole of our happiness is this eternal “glory” in tasting | |
| 219 and seeing that the Lord is good (see Ps 34:8). This commentary is St. Thomas’ tasting and | |
| 220 seeing the goodness of Jesus, the Word Incarnate, embodied in the tender words of St. John, the | |
| 221 “beloved disciple,” who leaned on the breast of the Savior at the Last Supper.</p> | |
| 222 <p>Thomas brought to his writing of this commentary on John all the resources at his | |
| 223 disposal—which were considerable—especially the riches of the whole Patristic teaching of the | |
| 224 “Saints” (the <i>sancti Doctores</i>), the wealth of a living tradition in the Roman Church contained | |
| 225 in its teaching, laws, liturgy, and the living Spirit, as well as fidelity to the infallible norms of the | |
| 226 Holy See.</p> | |
| 227 <p>In an address to students and professors of the “Angelicum” (now the Pontifical University of | |
| 228 St. Thomas in Rome) given on January 14, 1958, Pope Pius XII extolled the virtues of its patron, | |
| 229 the Angelic Doctor, who serves as a divinely inspired guide in both philosophy and theology. | |
| 230 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote3', WPFootnote3 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 231 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 239 </script> | |
| 240 | |
| 241 Pope Pius spoke especially of St. Thomas’ own studies as a norm for every student of the | |
| 242 religious disciplines. Just as St. Thomas diligently explored and studied the Bible as the font and | |
| 243 life-spring of all theological studies, so too should the modern student find in biblical studies the | |
| 244 source of his theological development. As St. Thomas himself assures us, “[sacred doctrine] uses | |
| 245 the authority of the canonical Scriptures properly and of necessity in its investigations ... for our | |
| 246 faith is founded on the Revelation made to the Apostles and Prophets, who wrote the canonical | |
| 247 books, but not on revelation (if such there be) made to other teachers.” | |
| 248 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote4', WPFootnote4 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 249 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 257 </script> | |
| 258 In this conviction | |
| 259 Thomas developed all his own theology. That is to say, the “complement” to Thomas’ | |
| 260 speculations and synthesis are to be found in his commentaries on the books of the Old and New | |
| 261 Testaments, especially those on the Epistles of St. Paul.</p> | |
| 262 <p>In the opinion of those most expert to judge, Thomas’ commentaries on Scripture “shine with | |
| 263 such solidity, subtlety, and precision that they can be numbered among his greatest theological | |
| 264 works,” and are to be esteemed as such. “Wherefore, if anyone should neglect them, he is | |
| 265 scarcely to be said to clearly and fully enjoy a familiarity and knowledge of the holy Angelic | |
| 266 Doctor.” The significant fact is not that Pius XII emphasized the importance of studying Thomas’ | |
| 267 biblical commentaries to Dominicans, who had made their special prerogative the teaching of | |
| 268 “speculative Thomistic theology” and the pursuit of contemplative prayer. The significant fact | |
| 269 is that Pius XII expressed these sentiments shortly before his death and fifteen years after one of | |
| 270 his most important encyclicals, <i>Divino afflante spiritu </i>(30 Sept. 1943), the basic charter of all | |
| 271 Catholic biblical studies in our day, leading to the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, | |
| 272 <i>Dei verbum, </i>of the Second Vatican Council (18 Nov. 1965). In other words, the enormous | |
| 273 advances of modern biblical studies do not automatically nullify the importance of St. Thomas’ | |
| 274 commentaries on the Sacred Text.</p> | |
| 275 <p>St. Thomas’ commentaries on the Sacred Text are typically <i>medieval, </i>that is, they lack the | |
| 276 unction, colloquialism, and engaging informality of Patristic commentaries (which were largely | |
| 277 homilies), and the technical and sometimes journalistic resources of modern commentaries, | |
| 278 explanations, and paraphrases. In other words, it is easier to read St. Augustine’s commentary | |
| 279 on John than it is to read St. Thomas’ or that of any other medieval writer addressing students | |
| 280 in the “schools” of Paris and elsewhere. The big difference is between Patristic and Monastic | |
| 281 commentaries, which were largely homiletic, pastoral, personal, and mystical, on the one hand, | |
| 282 and Scholastic commentaries aimed at teaching students in the university or <i>studium </i>the literal | |
| 283 meaning of the text. The style of medieval Scholastic commentaries is rather formal, literal, | |
| 284 student-orientated and bookish. This style often makes such commentaries difficult for a modem | |
| 285 reader to follow, and to some extent hinders him from deriving the greatest benefit for his mind | |
| 286 and heart. At first glance such a “commentary”—with its definitions, divisions, arguments | |
| 287 footnotes and concern for the orthodox meaning of the sacred message—may seem like searching | |
| 288 for a needle in a haystack. But in the case of Thomas’ commentaries the reader may be confident | |
| 289 that his efforts at discovering that needle will prove to be both intellectually and spiritually | |
| 290 rewarding; once discovered, it will be valued as “the pearl of great price” (Mt 13:46).</p> | |
| 291 <p>In this introduction I hope to show the historical context of this particular commentary and to | |
| 292 indicate some aids to a fruitful study of it.</p> | |
| 293 <p>First of all, this work is a biblical commentary by a master in a medieval university. In the Middle | |
| 294 Ages, the Bible and the Bible alone was the official basis for the teaching of theology by fully | |
| 295 qualified masters in the major universities of Europe. In fact, one could say with some | |
| 296 justification that the ultimate goal of all medieval education was an understanding of the Bible | |
| 297 for those who pursued the full course in the Faculty of Theology. Such an understanding was the | |
| 298 nature of sacred theology <i>(fides quaerens intellectum, </i>“faith seeking understanding”). It was the | |
| 299 source of all preaching of the Word of God, and it was the inexhaustible font of living water for | |
| 300 the spiritual life. In order to reach such a lofty goal, much preparation was required. First, tools | |
| 301 had to be acquired as a means of such study. This was the role of a good liberal arts education | |
| 302 and the acquisition of philosophy, “the handmaid of theology.” The study of the liberal arts and | |
| 303 the acquisition of philosophy were functions of the Arts Faculty in the university or <i>studium. | |
| 304 </i>Approximately eight years were devoted by medieval students to acquiring these tools—roughly | |
| 305 equivalent to our four years of high school and four years of college. After the full course had | |
| 306 been completed in “the humanities,” the young man, generally in his mid-twenties, would begin | |
| 307 his study of the Sacred Text, having already heard many sermons in Church and having received | |
| 308 much instruction at home. His study of the Sacred Text began with <i>listening </i>and <i>reading.</i></p> | |
| 309 <p>In the Middle Ages, a personal copy of the Bible was relatively rare, certainly outside university | |
| 310 circles. Every copy of the Bible was written out by hand on parchment, a writing surface made | |
| 311 from carefully treated skins of sheep. Such a copy was extremely expensive and hard to come by. | |
| 312 Although every student of theology tried desperately to obtain a personal copy, most people had | |
| 313 to rely on hearing the Word read to them and recollecting from memory the actual words of the | |
| 314 Bible. For that reason the beginner in theology would <i>listen </i>to older students and the master | |
| 315 (professor). One of the older students, the bachelor of theology, read aloud and paraphrased a | |
| 316 particular book of the Bible. This bachelor was called a “Cursor Biblicus,” a “runner through” | |
| 317 the actual words of the Bible, who did this to acquaint himself and his hearers with the inspired | |
| 318 words.</p> | |
| 319 <p>A splendid example of the work of such a “runner” is St. Thomas’ commentary on Isaiah; it is | |
| 320 the work of a <i>cursor </i>and not that of a master. Only a master could expound the text with | |
| 321 authority and confidence; the bachelor merely skimmed through it as a runner would skim over | |
| 322 the course in a race. A higher ranking bachelor devoted his energies mainly to explaining the | |
| 323 official theological handbook, the <i>Sentences </i>of Peter Lombard (d. 1160). These <i>Sentences </i>were | |
| 324 a systematic collection of Patristic teachings, arranged in four books following the order of the | |
| 325 Apostles’ Creed. This bachelor was called the <i>bachalarius Sententiarum, </i>a “Bachelor of the | |
| 326 <i>Sentences. </i>“After listening to others for about four years, the young student of theology would | |
| 327 himself become a bachelor and perform certain duties under a particular master, his main | |
| 328 professor of theology.</p> | |
| 329 <p>Every university in the Middle Ages had a limited number of chairs, or professorships, for the | |
| 330 masters to occupy. At the time of St. Thomas, there were twelve chairs of theology at the | |
| 331 University of Paris, the Dominicans having two of them. Before occupying one of these chairs, | |
| 332 the student had to have devoted many long years to study and actual discussions, or | |
| 333 “disputations,” in the university, He had to be at least thirty-five years old before meriting the | |
| 334 title of “Master of the Sacred Page” and the right to expound the Bible in an authoritative manner | |
| 335 as a true theologian, professionally qualified.</p> | |
| 336 <p>St. Thomas was twice professor of theology at Paris—a fact most unusual in itself. There were | |
| 337 very few such cases where a fully fledged master would return to his old chair, thus preventing | |
| 338 a new master from occupying it. But the intellectual, social, and religious climate in Paris at that | |
| 339 time demanded the return of Thomas to the center of all theological learning in Europe. The new | |
| 340 mendicant Orders (mainly Dominicans and Franciscans) were again being attacked by secular | |
| 341 (i.e., diocesan) masters of theology, and their right to teach, preach, and beg was challenged by | |
| 342 some of the most powerful voices in Europe. The center of this controversy Was the University | |
| 343 of Paris, where the very existence of Dominicans and Franciscans was under fire. At the climax | |
| 344 of this renewed attack, the second in the history of the Dominican Order, St. Thomas was | |
| 345 recalled to Paris by the Master General of the Dominican Order, Blessed John of Vercelli. | |
| 346 Thomas arrived in Paris with his companion Reginald in the cold winter of 1269 after the | |
| 347 academic term had begun. Immediately Thomas took upon himself the duties of a master in | |
| 348 theology, namely, lecturing on a carefully chosen book of the Bible, presiding at academic | |
| 349 “disputations” and resolving the question under discussion, and preaching to the university | |
| 350 crowd. At the same time, he was composing the Second Part of his <i>Summa theologiae, </i>which he | |
| 351 had begun in Rome two years earlier, and dictating a number of literal commentaries on various | |
| 352 works of Aristotle for young masters in arts, that is, teachers in the Faculty of Arts, whose duty | |
| 353 it was to expound the text of Aristotle. During the two and a half years Thomas spent at Paris the | |
| 354 second time, he successfully defended the rights of mendicants to teach, preach, and flourish. | |
| 355 During this same Parisian regency he lectured on the Gospel of St. John.</p> | |
| 356 <p>These lectures on John would have been lost to posterity had not the faithful Reginald taken | |
| 357 notes, which were later “corrected” by Thomas himself. The reason Thomas “corrected” | |
| 358 Reginald’s transcription was that a wealthy secular (i.e., diocesan) student wanted a copy for | |
| 359 himself. This student was Adenulf of Anagni, an Italian cleric, provost of Saint-Omer (since | |
| 360 1264), later master in theology (1282-85), and canon of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Adenulf, | |
| 361 a student of Thomas during the years 1269-72, offered a considerable amount of money to have | |
| 362 a professional scribe make a copy of this remarkable commentary for himself. Without Adenulf’s | |
| 363 enthusiasm and money, the “lectures” (<i>lecturae</i>)<i> </i>on John would have remained a simple report, | |
| 364 or <i>reportatio. </i>If it had not been for Reginald, apparently, these lectures would have gone | |
| 365 completely from history. But the fact is that we do have at hand the acute mind of Thomas | |
| 366 Aquinas, a master theologian and saint, on the Gospel of St. John. This commentary reflects the | |
| 367 mind of Thomas at its peak, but before he composed the Third Part of the <i>Summa </i>dealing with | |
| 368 Christ, the Sacraments, and the Church. It is a scholastic analysis of St. John’s remarkable | |
| 369 testimony of the Good News of Salvation, namely, that the Word became flesh, died for our | |
| 370 salvation, and is now risen from the dead to come again as our merciful judge.</p> | |
| 371 <p>Earlier, at the request of his intimate friend Pope Urban IV, Thomas had compiled a continuous | |
| 372 gloss on all four Gospels, which he had collated from the Latin and Greek Fathers of the Church. | |
| 373 Frequently he even instigated new translations of Greek sources, as he himself confessed in the | |
| 374 prologue. This continuous gloss, popularly called the <i>Catena Aurea, </i>or “Golden Chain,” was not | |
| 375 finished when Urban died in 1264. But Thomas continued his labors on the gloss, which he | |
| 376 completed in 1267 and dedicated to Cardinal Annibaldo d’Annibaldi, Thomas’ close friend and | |
| 377 former pupil at Paris. The intense labor on the Gospel of John for the <i>Catena </i>molded the mind | |
| 378 of Thomas in his personal understanding of the Sacred Text of John. St. John’s Gospel is very | |
| 379 difficult to understand. Unlike the Synoptic writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, St. John’s Gospel | |
| 380 is a carefully devised presentation of his personal understanding of the sacred doctrine taught by | |
| 381 Jesus, on whose breast he reclined at the Last Supper. John was always known as “the disciple | |
| 382 whom Jesus loved.” For St. Thomas, John, the Son of Zebedee, the author of this Gospel, was | |
| 383 a virgin, whose appropriate symbol is the eagle soaring in the heights of contemplation. Thomas’ | |
| 384 detailed study of the Latin and Greek Fathers, needed to complete his Gloss on John, prepared | |
| 385 him to shed his own light on the text when the opportune moment arrived. That moment arrived | |
| 386 when Thomas returned to Paris for the second time (1269-72) at the age of about forty-four, full | |
| 387 of strength and vigor.</p> | |
| 388 <p>But his is a typical medieval commentary because, unlike Patristic, monastic, and modern | |
| 389 commentaries on John, it utilizes certain techniques familiar to all in the Middle Ages, but | |
| 390 strange to us today. First of all, it is a theological commentary concerned with penetrating the | |
| 391 literal sense of the words recorded, and seeing through the literal sense to the spiritual. The | |
| 392 medieval university theologian was primarily concerned with the literal sense of scripture, that | |
| 393 is, with the sacred message intended by the human and divine author. It is therefore primarily | |
| 394 concerned with “the theological teaching” of the Bible. St. Thomas did not have at his disposal | |
| 395 the infinitely varied techniques of modern biblical scholarship. He knew almost nothing about | |
| 396 biblical and near-eastern languages, archeology, philology, comparative religion, and the | |
| 397 historical method. If he had, he would most certainly have used them. In the Encyclical <i>Divino | |
| 398 afflante Spiritu </i>(30 Sept. 1943), Pope Pius XII urged the importance of textual criticism, biblical | |
| 399 and oriental languages, archeology, profane and sacred history, as well as form criticism and the | |
| 400 demands of a sound historical method. | |
| 401 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote5', WPFootnote5 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 402 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 410 </script> | |
| 411 He noted with the Angelic Doctor that “in Scripture | |
| 412 divine things are presented to us in the manner which is in common use amongst men.” | |
| 413 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote6', WPFootnote6 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 414 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 422 </script> | |
| 423 The | |
| 424 Bible is the Word of God in the words of men, and this manner of speaking in various ages to | |
| 425 various people must be carefully studied with all the auxiliary sciences. But even after all this has | |
| 426 been tended to, there is still “the theological doctrine” contained in the Sacred Books. The | |
| 427 modem exegete should use every means available to discover and explain “the literal sense and | |
| 428 especially the theological. “ | |
| 429 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote7', WPFootnote7 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 430 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 436 document.write( '</span>' ); | |
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| 438 </script> | |
| 439 It is this “theological sense” <i>(sensus theologicus), </i>expounded by St. | |
| 440 Thomas in his commentary, that is most fruitful for our meditation, prayer, and preaching the | |
| 441 Word of God today.</p> | |
| 442 <p>The literal sense, as St. Thomas teaches, is the objective, formal, and direct meaning intended | |
| 443 by the words in the sacred and inspired text. | |
| 444 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote8', WPFootnote8 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 445 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 451 document.write( '</span>' ); | |
| 452 } | |
| 453 </script> | |
| 454 The author of these words is both God and man, | |
| 455 since the Bible is “the inspired Word of God.” Modem biblical techniques, of course, were | |
| 456 unknown to Thomas. All he had was his personal copy of the Latin Vulgate (which was not a | |
| 457 critical edition), the familiar teaching of all the Latin and Greek Fathers known to him, his own | |
| 458 prayerful reflection on the text, and his native genius attentive to the Spirit of God and to the text. | |
| 459 Among the human means Thomas had at his disposal were grammar, logic, and Aristotelian | |
| 460 philosophy. The literal (or historical) sense was in principle the only basis of theological thought | |
| 461 and discussion. The spiritual sense only enlarged, or extended, the basic literal sense. By | |
| 462 “spiritual sense” we do not mean the pious, personal, private, and subjective sense a reader might | |
| 463 derive from a prayerful reading of the text. Rather, the “spiritual sense” is the enlarged reality | |
| 464 “intended” by person, place, or thing signified in the literal, as when the brazen serpent raised | |
| 465 by Moses in the desert is taken to signify Christ’s crucifixion as the divine means of healing | |
| 466 mankind, or when the paschal lamb is taken to signify Christ who was sacrificed for our sins. The | |
| 467 “spiritual sense” is the enlarged sense “intended” by a given symbol in the plan of divine | |
| 468 providence.</p> | |
| 469 <p>Since only God as the author of all things can make one symbol significative of another reality, | |
| 470 the Bible is the only book that can contain a “spiritual sense” as it was understood by medieval | |
| 471 theologians. Consequently only the sacred author himself can inform us of the existence of such | |
| 472 a sense. We could never know that one reality is to be taken as a symbol of another reality unless | |
| 473 the Sacred Author so informs us in the literal sense. For example, the author of the Book of | |
| 474 Numbers (21:19) explains how Moses was directed to make a brazen “serpent” and set it up as | |
| 475 a sign; whoever was bitten by one of the fiery serpents and “looked at the sign” that Moses had | |
| 476 set up was saved from death. But it is John (3:14 15) who explains that “as Moses lifted up the | |
| 477 serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may not | |
| 478 perish, but may have life everlasting.” The significance of Old Testament texts is declared by the | |
| 479 sacred writer when he explains Christ’s actions as being “in fulfillment of the Scriptures.” | |
| 480 Similarly St. Paul frequently reveals the “spiritual sense” of the Law and Prophets by declaring | |
| 481 the Christian fulfillment in Jesus.</p> | |
| 482 <p>There were three kinds of spiritual sense recognized by medieval theologians: the allegorical, the | |
| 483 moral, and the anagogical. | |
| 484 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote9', WPFootnote9 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 485 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 493 </script> | |
| 494 When anything in the Old Testament was taken to signify something | |
| 495 in the New Testament, this sense was called allegorical. Under this sense would be included all | |
| 496 those figures, persons, and events as symbolic of Jesus and his life and death on earth. When | |
| 497 anything in the life of Jesus is taken as a model for our life, we call this the moral sense. Under | |
| 498 this sense would be included all those virtues presented to us for our imitation of Christ. When | |
| 499 anything in the Scriptures is taken to signify something in the eternal kingdom hereafter, for | |
| 500 example, “the new Jerusalem,” we call this the anagogical sense. Thus the “spiritual sense” of | |
| 501 a passage was taken to be an objective meaning intended by the sacred author, the Holy Spirit. | |
| 502 This, of course, presupposes that the authors of the New Testament were inspired by the Holy | |
| 503 Spirit.</p> | |
| 504 <p>Whatever personal message one may derive from reading the Bible prayerfully and thoughtfully | |
| 505 is purely personal and beyond the science of theology as the study of God’s message to mankind. | |
| 506 The personal message is most significant for the reader, but this personal significance must be | |
| 507 carefully controlled by objective theological norms such as the Christian faith, sacred doctrine, | |
| 508 the constant teaching of the Church, and a prayerful listening to the Holy Spirit.</p> | |
| 509 <p>The most difficult technique of medieval commentators for us to comprehend is the use of logic | |
| 510 and the “scholastic method.” Aristotelian logic is the most significant technique contained in the | |
| 511 scholastic method. The purpose of the scholastic method was to instill “scientific” knowledge | |
| 512 through (1) definition, (2) division, and (3) demonstration, or demonstrative proof. These | |
| 513 techniques (or <i>modi sciendi) </i>were taken for granted by every medieval theologian as the best | |
| 514 means of learning the truth about anything. It was a method of teaching, the via <i>docendi, </i>which | |
| 515 was an imitation of the “way of discovery” <i>(via inveniendi </i>or <i>inventionis). </i>The goal of all | |
| 516 education is truth. The goal of theological education is an understanding of the doctrines of | |
| 517 revelation, the <i>sacra doctrina</i>. | |
| 518 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote10', WPFootnote10 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 519 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 527 </script> | |
| 528 It is faith seeking understanding (<i>fides quaerens intellectum</i>),<i> </i>as | |
| 529 St. Anselm puts it, The scholastic method, in a sense, is artificial and humanly contrived by | |
| 530 ineans of logic. In the Middle Ages the scholastic method was thought to be the best way of | |
| 531 learning everything from A to Z. An example of this method of learning is embedded in Thomas’ | |
| 532 commentary on John’s Gospel. It cannot be eliminated. Therefore it depends on us moderns to | |
| 533 bend a little by trying to see through it, and not be put off by it. Always one will find definitions, | |
| 534 divisions, and proofs in all medieval commentaries, whether they be on Aristotle, Boethius, or | |
| 535 the Bible.</p> | |
| 536 <p>The Scholastics had a penchant for <i>order; </i>where none existed, one was imposed. Heeding the | |
| 537 words of Aristotle that “it belongs to the wise man to order,” they thought the prerogative of a | |
| 538 good teacher was to order all things well, setting out the message, or truth to be conveyed, in an | |
| 539 orderly and fitting way. | |
| 540 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote11', WPFootnote11 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 541 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 549 </script> | |
| 550 This is why the first thing one notices when reading a medieval | |
| 551 commentary is the <i>division, </i>or the ordering of the whole into parts. The least one can perceive | |
| 552 is a beginning, a middle, and an end. But more than not, one can usually perceive some orderly | |
| 553 procedure in the middle.</p> | |
| 554 <p>Modern biblical scholars usually see in, St. John’s Gospel a prologue (1:1-14), a middle (cc. 1-20), and an epilogue (c. 21). They then proceed to divide the middle into the Book of Signs (cc. | |
| 555 1-12) and the Book of Glory (cc. 13-20). St. Thomas also divides the Gospel into roughly these | |
| 556 two parts, but he considers chapter 12 as belonging to the Book of Glory, because the chapter | |
| 557 opens “six days before Passover” with the anointing of the feet of Jesus for his burial (12:1 -11), | |
| 558 continues on to the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (12:12-19), builds to the coming of the Greeks | |
| 559 (12:20-22), and the long discourse of Jesus in which he cries out, “Father, glorify your name” | |
| 560 (12:28). In any case, it is particularly in this second part that Thomas had to use his ingenuity to | |
| 561 resolve the discrepancies between John and the Synoptics. The Synoptics compress the public | |
| 562 life of Jesus into one year with the one tragic journey of Jesus up to Jerusalem, where he is | |
| 563 crucified and dies, to be raised up on the third day. John extends the public life of Jesus into three | |
| 564 years with the final year ending in his passion, death, and resurrection. St. Thomas is very much | |
| 565 concerned with the literal, or historical, sense of the narrative, especially as concerns the passion, | |
| 566 death, and resurrection of the Lord. Throughout the whole exposition of the narrative, Thomas | |
| 567 relied heavily on the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church, both Latin and Greek. He quotes | |
| 568 the authority of St. Augustine 373 times, St. John Chrysostom 217 times, and Origen 95 times. | |
| 569 It is an exposition that relies heavily on the tradition of the Church and on his own prayerful | |
| 570 theological reflections.</p> | |
| 571 <p>In the commentary on St. John’s Gospel, Thomas is concerned not only with the literal sense, | |
| 572 which for him is of Prime importance and concern, but also with the spiritual sense, as explained | |
| 573 above. More than the other Evangelists, John reveals the “fulfillment of the Scriptures,” that is, | |
| 574 concern with the prophecies and symbols of the Old Law. Christ’s own prophetic words and | |
| 575 actions are seen by John to be a foreshadowing of the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord | |
| 576 by which we are all saved. Above all, for St. Thomas, John is the Evangelist of the divinity of | |
| 577 Jesus, “the Word made flesh.” He says, “While the other Evangelists treat principally of the | |
| 578 mysteries of the humanity of Christ, John, especially and above all, makes known the divinity | |
| 579 of Christ in his Gospel” (Prologue). Thomas, following the lead of St. Jerome, thought that John | |
| 580 wrote his Gospel after the other three Gospels had been written, in order to refute new heresies | |
| 581 that had arisen concerning the divinity of Christ. Following Jerome, Thomas singled out the | |
| 582 Ebionites (whose founder Thomas erroneously thought to have been “Ebion”)—and Cerinthus, | |
| 583 a Gnostic heretic who flourished around 100 A.D., as among those who denied the divinity of | |
| 584 Christ. Even St. Irenaeus <i>(Adv. haer.</i>, III,<i> </i>11) asserts that St. John wrote his Gospel to refute | |
| 585 Cerinthus. Thus, St. Thomas observes in his Prologue, while John did not pass over the mysteries | |
| 586 of Christ’s humanity, he especially conveys the divinity of Christ in his Gospel. In this | |
| 587 commentary, therefore, Thomas repeatedly refutes the heresies of Apollinaris, Arius, the Arians, | |
| 588 Ebionites, Eutyches, the Manichees, Nestorius, Pelagius, the Pelagians, and Sabellius - all of | |
| 589 which plagued the Church in the first five centuries of its existence. For Thomas these heresies | |
| 590 were not merely false doctrines irrelevant to the modem Christian, but vital guidelines to the | |
| 591 purity of the Christian faith, the orthodox teaching of the living Church.</p> | |
| 592 <p>Earlier in his career, Thomas had been asked by the archbishop of Palermo to write a short work | |
| 593 that could be memorized, dealing with the articles of faith “from the Creed of the Fathers” (i.e., | |
| 594 the Apostles’ Creed) and also the basic errors concerning them; the archbishop apparently asked | |
| 595 also for the same presentation for all the sacraments of the Church. | |
| 596 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote12', WPFootnote12 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 597 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 605 </script> | |
| 606 Thomas complied with this | |
| 607 request in a most remarkable treatise in two parts: <i>De articulis fidei </i>and <i>De ecclesiae | |
| 608 sacramentis</i>. | |
| 609 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote13', WPFootnote13 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 610 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 617 } | |
| 618 </script> | |
| 619 <i> </i>The wide popularity of this treatise is attested to by the 277 extant manuscripts | |
| 620 of this work. The six articles pertaining to the divinity of Christ and the six pertaining to his | |
| 621 humanity are set forth, and all the errors concerning the twelve articles of the Creed are briefly | |
| 622 named and refuted. Although the sacraments of the Church are implicit in the fourth article of | |
| 623 the Creed, they are discussed separately in the second part of the treatise, because the archbishop | |
| 624 explicitly asked for a special discussion of the sacraments and the heresies concerning them. | |
| 625 Thomas’ knowledge of the various heresies in the history of the Church is most remarkable. All | |
| 626 of these same heresies are again discussed in his commentary on John’s Gospel. That is why St. | |
| 627 Thomas says in the Prologue, “[This Gospel] refutes all heresies.” The numerous heresies of the | |
| 628 past ought to be of great concern to the modern Christian so that he may avoid all taint of them | |
| 629 in his own, personal belief. A conscious affirmation of belief in the truth of revealed teaching that | |
| 630 developed in the living Church guided by the Spirit of Christ can bring us into a deeper and more | |
| 631 meaningful awareness of being united with the Eternal Truth. In this commentary, Thomas is | |
| 632 concerned above all with bolstering the faith of the hearer or reader, or, as he put it, “to confirm | |
| 633 the Catholic Truth.”</p> | |
| 634 <p style="text-align: justify">In other words, there are four goals Thomas aimed to achieve in his commentary on St. John:</p> | |
| 635 <ol> | |
| 636 <li>determination of the literal, or historical, sense of the narrative; | |
| 637 <li>explanation of the spiritual sense as found in the Old Testament (allegorical sense), the goals | |
| 638 of our own life in imitating Jesus (moral sense), and life of the “kingdom” here and hereafter (anagogical sense); | |
| 639 <li>refutation of all error through the testimony of the inspired Word of God; | |
| 640 <li>confirmation of the true Catholic Faith given to us by God through his Church, the Body of Christ. | |
| 641 </ol> | |
| 642 <p>These are the same goals Thomas had set for himself in composing the <i>Catena Aurea, | |
| 643 </i>particularly in the <i>Catena </i>on John’s Gospel, which was composed only four or five years | |
| 644 earlier. | |
| 645 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote14', WPFootnote14 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 646 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 654 </script> | |
| 655 </p> | |
| 656 <p>There are four outstanding features that will be noticed as one studies the commentary of Thomas | |
| 657 on the Gospel of John. First, Thomas had an extraordinary knowledge of the whole Bible. It has | |
| 658 been said, not without likelihood, that Thomas memorized the entire Bible during the year he was | |
| 659 confined to his family castle at Roccasecca, 1244-45. This is not at all difficult to believe. His | |
| 660 memory was far superior to any man-made concordance of the Bible. Thomas always saw the | |
| 661 <i>unity </i>of divine revelation. It was the unity of <i>sacra doctrina </i>as a single “science.” | |
| 662 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote15', WPFootnote15 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 663 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 672 The | |
| 673 “orthodox” teaching of Christ, Son of the Living God, cannot be anything but <i>one. </i>Because of | |
| 674 this unity, Thomas could use any one part of Sacred Scripture to explain and illumine any other | |
| 675 part. Thus Thomas could use the teaching of St. Paul and the Psalms to explain the text of John. | |
| 676 This use of one part of revelation to illumine another has been aptly called “the analogy of faith” | |
| 677 (<i>secundum rationern fidei, </i>as St. Paul says in Romans 12:6). | |
| 678 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote16', WPFootnote16 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 688 </p> | |
| 689 <p>Second, Thomas had an unusual knowledge of the Latin and Greek Fathers of the Church. This | |
| 690 knowledge, no doubt aided by his work on the <i>Catena Aurea, is </i>brought to bear on every difficult | |
| 691 question or obscure passage in John, even when it is a question of chronology, geography, Jewish | |
| 692 customs, or language. The medieval mind associated words, quotations and parallels with | |
| 693 uncanny facility, always trying to find the best pertinent quotation from the proper authorities | |
| 694 (<i>auctoritates</i>)<i>. </i>Great weight, sometimes of probative value, was always given to the recognized | |
| 695 <i>auctoritates, </i>which, in theology were always the Bible and the <i>sancti, </i>meaning recognized or | |
| 696 canonized Doctors of the Church, who were the <i>regula fidei </i>(“the rule of faith”), the “norms” of | |
| 697 Christian belief. Thomas’ knowledge of these Doctors was prodigious. The contemporaries of | |
| 698 Thomas relied heavily on all available works of the Latin Fathers, especially those of St. | |
| 699 Augustine. But, as has been pointed out earlier, Thomas not only accepted the eminent authority | |
| 700 of St. Augustine, but also had a wealth of Greek sources from which to draw, including the early | |
| 701 Ecumenical Councils of the Church, whose <i>Acts </i>were largely neglected or forgotten in the Latin | |
| 702 Middle Ages. | |
| 703 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote17', WPFootnote17 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
| 704 <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> | |
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| 712 </script> | |
| 713 </p> | |
| 714 <p>Third, Thomas was, after all, an outstanding theologian for any season. His theology was not only | |
| 715 biblical and patristic, but also logical and philosophical. While he absorbed and refined the | |
| 716 philosophy of Aristotle, newly translated from the Greek, he never put this philosophy ahead of | |
| 717 his Catholic faith. Rather he used that philosophy <i>in obsequium fidei </i>(Phil 2:17), as a “handmaid | |
| 718 of theology.” His comprehension of Aristotle and his use of the scholastic method are among the | |
| 719 glories of the Middle Ages. In St. Thomas we find an exceptionally gifted mind carefully honed | |
| 720 to human perfection by self-discipline, long study, and clear thinking. This was natural talent, | |
| 721 ranked by many as a true genius, brought to the highest human perfection by the grace of God.</p> | |
| 722 <p>Finally, Friar Thomas d’Aquino was a saint, one of the great saints in the Latin Church. A basic | |
| 723 principle of Thomas’ theology is that “grace perfects nature”; that is, the grace of God never | |
| 724 destroys or replaces nature, but builds upon it. For St. Thomas, there is in divine providence a | |
| 725 certain kind of proportion between God’s gifts of nature and his gifts of grace. Even when we | |
| 726 accept this principle with all the necessary qualifications needed, we can readily see that in the | |
| 727 mind and heart of St. Thomas, God’s grace abundantly perfected an already great man. Not only | |
| 728 did Thomas meditate prayerfully on the Sacred Scriptures, but lie drew from them substantial | |
| 729 nourishment for his soul. This process of enrichment can be seen conspicuously in the | |
| 730 commentary on John, particularly the section dealing with the “Last Discourse” of Jesus to his | |
| 731 disciples at the Last Supper, collected in “the sayings of Jesus” in chapters 14 to 17. Here | |
| 732 Thomas’ discussion of the Son’s procession from the Father while being consubstantially one | |
| 733 with the Father, is precise, illuminating, and brilliant; the mission of the Holy Spirit from the | |
| 734 Father <i>and </i>from the Son (<i>Filioque</i>) is clearly demonstrated against the Greek Orthodox who used | |
| 735 this question as one of the many issues that separated them from Rome, initially in the ninth, and | |
| 736 decisively in the eleventh century. But above all, the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in the hearts | |
| 737 of the faithful is alive and vital; the extraordinary love Jesus had for his faithful disciples is | |
| 738 movingly real and dynamic. In this commentary on John we have all the elements of a real | |
| 739 masterpiece of its kind in medieval literature.</p> | |
| 740 <p>St. Thomas was very much impressed by the force and absolute veracity of the Gospel | |
| 741 proclaimed by John: “This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them | |
| 742 down, and we know that his testimony is true” (Jn 21:24). St. Thomas comments that the | |
| 743 Evangelist makes this statement “in the person of the whole Church (<i>in persona totius Ecclesiae</i>)<i> | |
| 744 </i>from whom this Gospel is received [by us].” The Evangelist himself knows the veracity of his | |
| 745 narrative, and even St. Paul condemns those who would preach a gospel other than the one he | |
| 746 had received (see Gal 1:9). The firmness and stability of our Christian faith is the authority of | |
| 747 God speaking through Evangelists, Apostles and other authors of the canonical Books of | |
| 748 Scripture. Their testimony leaves us without any doubt as to our faith, because “the Canonical | |
| 749 Scriptures alone are the rule of faith.” | |
| 750 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote18', WPFootnote18 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 759 </script> | |
| 760 This <i>sola scriptura </i>of which St. Thomas speaks is far | |
| 761 different from the <i>sola scriptura </i>(“only the Bible”) of the Reformers. This battle cry was made | |
| 762 famous by Luther, who insisted that what is not contained in the Bible is not “of faith.” But | |
| 763 Luther and Thomas (or any other medieval theologian) meant two different things by the word | |
| 764 <i>Bible, </i>or <i>Sacred Scriptures. </i>For Luther and the Reformers the Bible was thought of as a finished, | |
| 765 edited, and (by then) printed collection, while Thomas and the medieval theologians meant the | |
| 766 Sacred Word <i>together with </i>the gloss of the Fathers, liturgy, and the living Church. The | |
| 767 Reformers thought of “The Bible” completely devoid of a history and a historical context, devoid | |
| 768 of transmission and development; in short, they thought of “The Bible” distinct from the Church. | |
| 769 Thus in the face of this misunderstanding, the Council of Trent spoke as <i>though </i>there were two | |
| 770 sources of our faith: “the written books and the unwritten traditions.” | |
| 771 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote19', WPFootnote19 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 781 But even this manner of | |
| 782 speaking was a concession to a false dichotomy that was historically conditioned. The Second | |
| 783 Vatican Council, however, described these two sources” more traditionally as a single mirror | |
| 784 (<i>veluti speculum sunt</i>)<i> </i>reflecting both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. | |
| 785 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote20', WPFootnote20 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 794 </script> | |
| 795 </p> | |
| 796 <p>Historically speaking, the revelation given by God and received by the chosen people was prior | |
| 797 to any scriptural document. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were given the message of salvation long | |
| 798 before there was any question of a written Torah. Christ’s message of salvation was accepted by | |
| 799 the Apostles, disciples, and early Christians for a quarter of a century before the first fraction of | |
| 800 the New Testament was written—and this by St. Paul (1 Thessalonians, probably at the beginning | |
| 801 of 52 A.D.). We must always remember that the Canon of the New Testament was not | |
| 802 established as an inspired unit until 382 A.D., at the earliest. That is, the living Church existed | |
| 803 long before the New Testament was “written,” and it existed for 350 years before the present | |
| 804 books were collected into an exclusive and canonical unity. For this reason, St. Thomas could | |
| 805 speak of the “whole Church from whom this Gospel is received.”</p> | |
| 806 <p>Finally, a word should be said in aid of a fruitful reading of St. Thomas’ commentary on John. | |
| 807 Although the pericope or section commented upon in every “Lecture” is printed in full at the | |
| 808 head of the commentary, it would be best to procure a second copy of the whole text and read the | |
| 809 particular chapter in full before proceeding to the comment. It is of utmost importance to follow | |
| 810 the <i>divisions </i>of the text made by St. Thomas and always keep the context well in view. The | |
| 811 lemmata, or phrases commented upon, are clearly set off from the comment by the printer. Unless | |
| 812 the particular lemma is constantly related to the context as a whole, one can easily get lost in the | |
| 813 forest of words, cross references, and quotations. Since <i>order </i>and <i>division </i>are such important | |
| 814 elements in the scholastic method, these must be continuously related to the <i>whole, </i>whether it | |
| 815 be a collection of chapters, an individual chapter, part of a chapter, a parable, narrative, pericope, | |
| 816 or sentence. Those who wish to obtain the greatest understanding of the Sacred Text might well | |
| 817 augment the study of St. Thomas’ “theological sense” of John with a modern commentary, such | |
| 818 as the outstanding commentary by Father Raymond Brown in the Anchor Bible (2 vols.).</p> | |
| 819 <p>For the fruitful reading of St. Thomas’ commentary on John, we should further note that | |
| 820 throughout the long history of the Church, listeners and readers of tile Sacred Text have always | |
| 821 been encouraged to prepare their minds and souls for a fruitful reception of the Word. The Word | |
| 822 of God, like the seed in the parable (Lk 8:15), needs to be received in “good ground” in order to | |
| 823 yield fruit a hundredfold. The reception of anything, according to the ancient philosophers, | |
| 824 depends on the condition of the receiver. The Word of God is Spirit (Jn 6:63), and only the Holy | |
| 825 Spirit cdn prepare the soul for fruitful reception of the Word. In the solemn proclamation of the | |
| 826 Gospel in the Liturgy of the Word, the Church prays for the Deacon that the Lord be in his heart | |
| 827 and on his lips in order to announce the Holy Gospel of Peace. | |
| 828 <a href="javascript:WPShow('WPFootnote21', WPFootnote21 )"><img src="footnoteicon.gif" alt="Footnote" width="16" height="14" border="0"></a> | |
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| 837 </script> | |
| 838 Preparing one’s mind and heart | |
| 839 by prayer and recollection is of greatest importance for the reception of God’s message for us. | |
| 840 This message is directed primarily to us as God’s chosen people, the pilgrim Church on earth, | |
| 841 and through the Church to us as individuals beloved by God and “purchased at a great price” (1 | |
| 842 Cor 6:20). The message of salvation is addressed to us individually and collectively, and we both | |
| 843 individually and collectively must attune our minds and hearts to the Spirit. “The Advocate, the | |
| 844 Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you | |
| 845 of all I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). The Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts through the Scriptures, | |
| 846 inspired and animated by him. The Scriptures as a spiritual resource cannot be dissociated from | |
| 847 personal prayer and cultivation of our sacramental life in the Church. Being receptive is the | |
| 848 important thing as we begin our study.</p> | |
| 849 <p>Finally, the power of reading or hearing the Sacred Scriptures is so great that it actually forgives | |
| 850 sins. Apart from “the Sacraments of the faith” (<i>sacramenta fidei</i>),<i> </i>it is one of the many ways by | |
| 851 which our many sins are forgiven. The Fathers of the Church have always listed—along with | |
| 852 almsgiving, contrition, and good works—the special efficacy of reading the Scriptures for the | |
| 853 forgiveness of sins. The new liturgy of the Mass prompted by the Second Vatican Council still | |
| 854 retains the ancient prayer: “May the words of the Gospel wipe away our sins.” The humble and | |
| 855 contrite reading of any part of the Scriptures wipes away sin because the power of the Word is | |
| 856 the power of God, who alone can forgive sins. Thus we should always approach the Scriptures | |
| 857 with a “humble and contrite heart.” The Psalmist declares, “A contrite and humbled heart, 0 God, | |
| 858 you will not despise” (Ps 50:19). God always answers a humble and contrite heart in order to | |
| 859 glorify himself in us, just as the Father is always glorified in the Son. “Whatever you ask for in | |
| 860 my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” Qn 14:13). This “glory” of the | |
| 861 Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the indwelling of the Trinity within | |
| 862 our souls. It is the “conformity” of our whole being to the Father through the Word animated by | |
| 863 the Spirit. In this conformity of our innermost being with the splendor of God lies the whole | |
| 864 perfection of the Christian life. In this perfection consists the glory and splendor of God himself. | |
| 865 This union of one’s deepest self and the innermost being of God is the answer to the prayer of | |
| 866 Jesus to the Father: “That they may be one, as we also are one” (Jn 17:11).</p> | |
| 867 <p>From this it follows that the study of St. Thomas’ commentary on St. John’s Gospel is richly | |
| 868 rewarding in healing our wounds and leading us to greater union with the Father of our Lord | |
| 869 Jesus Christ, whose message of salvation is here proclaimed by “the disciple whom Jesus loved” | |
| 870 (Jn 20:2). For our guide we can have none better than the Angelic Doctor, whom Jesus loved.</p> | |
| 871 <p style="text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0.125in">James A. Weisheipl, O.P. | |
| 872 <br>Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies | |
| 873 <br>Toronto, Canada</p> | |
| 874 <br> | |
| 875 <hr> | |
| 876 <A NAME="02"><p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">PROLOGUE</span></p> | |
| 877 <p style="text-align: justify; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><i>I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the whole house was full | |
| 878 of his majesty, and the things that were under him filled the temple.</i> (Is 6:1)</p> | |
| 879 <p>1 These are the words of a contemplative, and if we regard them as spoken by John the | |
| 880 Evangelist they apply quite well to showing the nature of this Gospel. For as Augustine says in | |
| 881 his work, <i>On the Agreement of the Evangelists: </i>“The other Evangelists instruct us in their | |
| 882 Gospels on the active life; but John in his Gospel instructs us also on the contemplative life.”</p> | |
| 883 <p>The contemplation of John is described above in three ways, in keeping with the threefold | |
| 884 manner in which he contemplated the Lord Jesus. It is described as high, full, and perfect. It is | |
| 885 high: <span style="font-weight: bold">I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; </span>it is full: <span style="font-weight: bold">and the whole house was | |
| 886 full of his majesty; </span>and it was perfect: <span style="font-weight: bold">and the things that were under him filled the temple.</span></p> | |
| 887 <p>2 As to the first, we must understand that the Height and sublimity of contemplation consists | |
| 888 most of all in the contemplation and knowledge of God. “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who | |
| 889 has created these things” (Is 40:26). A man lifts up his eyes on high when he sees and | |
| 890 contemplates the Creator of all things. Now since John rose above whatever had been | |
| 891 created—mountains, heavens, angels—and reached the Creator of all, as Augustine says, it is | |
| 892 clear that his contemplation was most high. Thus, <span style="font-weight: bold">I saw the Lord. </span>And because, as John himself | |
| 893 says below (12:41), “Isaiah said this because he had seen his glory,” that is, the glory of Christ, | |
| 894 “and spoke of him,” the Lord <span style="font-weight: bold">seated on a high and lofty throne </span>is Christ.</p> | |
| 895 <p>Now a fourfold height is indicated in this contemplation of John. A height of authority; hence | |
| 896 he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">I saw the Lord. </span>A height of eternity; when he says, seated. One of dignity, or nobility | |
| 897 of nature; so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">on a high throne. </span>And a height of incomprehensible truth; when he says, | |
| 898 lofty. It is in these four ways that the early philosophers arrived at the knowledge of God.</p> | |
| 899 <p>3 Some attained to a knowledge of God through his authority, and this is the most efficacious | |
| 900 way. For we see the things in nature acting for an end, and attaining to ends which are both useful | |
| 901 and certain. And since they lack intelligence, they are unable to direct themselves, but must be | |
| 902 directed and moved by one directing them, and who possesses an intellect. Thus it is that the | |
| 903 movement of the things of nature toward a certain end indicates the existence of something | |
| 904 higher by which the things of nature are directed to an end and governed. And so, since the whole | |
| 905 course of nature advances to an end in an orderly way and is directed, we have to posit something | |
| 906 higher w1iich directs and governs them as Lord; and this is God. This authority in governing is | |
| 907 shown to be in the Word of God when he says, Lord. Thus the Psalm (88:10) says: “You rule the | |
| 908 power of the sea, and you still the swelling of its waves,” as though saying: You are the Lord and | |
| 909 govern all things. John shows that he knows this about the Word when he says below (1:11), “He | |
| 910 came unto his own,” i.e., to the world, since the whole universe is his own.</p> | |
| 911 <p>4 Others came to a knowledge of God from his eternity. They saw that whatever was in things | |
| 912 was changeable, and that the more noble something is in the grades of being, so much the less | |
| 913 it has of mutability. For example, the lower bodies are mutable both as to their substance and to | |
| 914 place, while the heavenly bodies, which are more noble, are immutable in substance and change | |
| 915 only with respect to place. We can clearly conclude from this that the first principle of all things, | |
| 916 which is supreme and more noble, is changeless and eternal. The prophet suggests this eternity | |
| 917 of the Word when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">seated, </span>i.e., presiding without any change and eternally. “Your throne, | |
| 918 O God, is forever and ever” (Ps 44:7); “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” | |
| 919 (Heb 13:8). John points to this eternity when he says below (1:1), “In the beginning was the | |
| 920 Word.”</p> | |
| 921 <p>5 Still others came to a knowledge of God from the dignity of God; and these were the Platonists. | |
| 922 They noted that everything which is something by participation is reduced to what is the same | |
| 923 thing by essence, as to the first and highest. Thus, all things which are fiery by participation are | |
| 924 reduced to fire, which is such by its essence. And so since all things which exist participate in | |
| 925 existence (<i>esse</i>)<i> </i>and are beings by participation, there must necessarily be at the summit of all | |
| 926 things something which is existence (<i>esse</i>)<i> </i>by its essence, i.e., whose essence is its existence. | |
| 927 And this is God, who is the most sufficient, the most eminent, and the most perfect cause of the | |
| 928 whole of existence, from, whom all things that are participate existence (<i>esse</i>)<i>. </i>This dignity is | |
| 929 shown in the words, <span style="font-weight: bold">on a high throne, </span>which, according to Denis, refer to the divine nature. | |
| 930 “The Lord is high above all nations” (Ps 112:4). John shows us this dignity when he says below | |
| 931 (1:1), “the Word was God,” with “Word” as subject and “God” as the predicate.</p> | |
| 932 <p>6 Yet others arrived at a knowledge of God from the incomprehensibility of truth. All the truth | |
| 933 which our intellect is able to grasp is finite, since according to Augustine, “everything that is | |
| 934 known is bounded by the comprehension of the one knowing”; and if it is bounded, it is | |
| 935 determined and particularized. Therefore, the first and supreme Truth, which surpasses every | |
| 936 intellect, must necessarily be incomprehensible and infinite; and this is God. [fence the Psalm | |
| 937 (8:2) says, “Your greatness is above the heavens,” i.e., above every created intellect, angelic and | |
| 938 human. The Apostle says this in the words, “He dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16). | |
| 939 This incomprehensibility of Truth is shown to us in the word, <span style="font-weight: bold">lofty, </span>that is, above all the | |
| 940 knowledge of the created intellect. John implies this incomprehensibility to us when he says | |
| 941 below (1:18), “No one has ever seen God.”</p> | |
| 942 <p>Thus, the contemplation of John was high as regards authority, eternity, dignity, and the | |
| 943 incomprehensibility of the Word. And John has passed on this contemplation to us in his Gospel.</p> | |
| 944 <p>7 John’s contemplation was also full. Now contemplation is full when someone is able to | |
| 945 consider all the effects of a cause in the cause itself, that is, when he knows not only the essence | |
| 946 of the cause, but also its power, according as it can extend out to many things. Of this flowing | |
| 947 outward we read, “It overflows with wisdom, like the Pishon, and like the Tigris in the days of | |
| 948 the new fruits” (Sir 25:35); “The river of God is full with water,” since the divine wisdom has | |
| 949 depth in relation to its knowledge of all things (Ps 65:9). “With you from the beginning is | |
| 950 wisdom, who knows your works” (Wis 9:9).</p> | |
| 951 <p>Since John the Evangelist was raised up to the contemplation of the nature of the divine Word | |
| 952 and of his essence when he said, “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God,” | |
| 953 he immediately tells us of the power of the Word as it extends to all things, saying, “Through him | |
| 954 all things came into being.” Thus his contemplation was full. And so after the prophet had <span style="font-weight: bold">said, | |
| 955 I saw the Lord seated, </span>he added something about his power, <span style="font-weight: bold">and the whole house was full of | |
| 956 his majesty, </span>that is, the whole fullness of things and of the universe is from the majesty and | |
| 957 power of God, through whom all things were made, and by whose light all the men coming into | |
| 958 this world are enlightened. “The earth and its fullness are the Lord’s” (Ps 23:1).</p> | |
| 959 <p>8 The contemplation of John was also perfect. For contemplation is perfect when the one | |
| 960 contemplating is led and raised to the height of the thing contemplated. Should he remain at a | |
| 961 lower level, then no matter how high the things which he might contemplate, the contemplation | |
| 962 would not be perfect. So in order that it be perfect it is necessary that it rise and attain the end of | |
| 963 the thing contemplated, adhering and assenting by affection and understanding to the truth | |
| 964 contemplated. Job (37:16) says, “Do you not know the path of the clouds,” that is, the | |
| 965 contemplation of those preaching, “how perfect they are?” inasmuch as they adhere firmly by | |
| 966 affection and understanding to contemplating the highest truth.</p> | |
| 967 <p>Since John not only taught how Christ Jesus, the Word of God, is God, raised above all things, | |
| 968 and how all things were made through him, but also that we are sanctified by him and adhere to | |
| 969 him by the grace which he pours into us, he says below (1:16), “Of his fullness we have all | |
| 970 received - indeed, grace in return for grace.” It is therefore apparent that his contemplation is | |
| 971 perfect. This perfection is shown in the addition, <span style="font-weight: bold">and the things that were under him filled the | |
| 972 temple. </span>For “the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11:3). The things that are under Christ are the | |
| 973 sacraments of his humanity, through which the faithful are filled with the fullness of grace. In this | |
| 974 way, then, <span style="font-weight: bold">the things that were under him filled the temple, </span>i.e., the faithful, who are the holy | |
| 975 temple of God (1 Cor 3:17) insofar as through the sacraments of his humanity all the faithful of | |
| 976 Christ receive from the fullness of his grace.</p> | |
| 977 <p>The contemplation of John was thus full, high, and perfect.</p> | |
| 978 <p>9 We should note, however, that these three characteristics of contemplation belong to the | |
| 979 different sciences in different ways. The perfection of contemplation is found in Moral Science, | |
| 980 which is concerned with the ultimate end. The fullness of contemplation is possessed by Natural | |
| 981 Science, which considers things as proceeding from God. Among the physical [natural] sciences, | |
| 982 the height of contemplation is found in Metaphysics. But the Gospel of John contains all together | |
| 983 what the above sciences have in a divided way, and so it is most perfect.</p> | |
| 984 <p>10 In this way then, from what has been said, we can understand the matter of this Gospel. For | |
| 985 while the other Evangelists treat principally of the mysteries of the humanity of Christ, John, | |
| 986 especially and above all, makes known the divinity of Christ in his Gospel, as we saw above. | |
| 987 Still, he does not ignore the mysteries of his humanity. He did this because, after the other | |
| 988 Evangelists had written their Gospels, heresies had arisen concerning the divinity of Christ, to | |
| 989 the effect that Christ was purely and simply a man, as Ebion and Cerinthus falsely thought. And | |
| 990 so John the Evangelist, who had drawn the truth about the divinity of the Word from the very | |
| 991 fountain-head of the divine breast, wrote this Gospel at the request of the faithful. And in it he | |
| 992 gives us the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and refutes all heresies.</p> | |
| 993 <p>The order of this Gospel is clear from the above. For John first shows us <span style="font-weight: bold">the Lord seated on a | |
| 994 high and lofty throne, </span>when he says below (1:1), “In the beginning was the Word.” He shows | |
| 995 secondly how <span style="font-weight: bold">the house was full of his majesty, </span>when he says, “through him all things came | |
| 996 into being” (1:3). Thirdly, he shows how the <span style="font-weight: bold">things that were under him filled the temple, | |
| 997 </span>when he says, “the Word was made flesh” (1:14). The end of this Gospel is also clear, and it is | |
| 998 that the faithful become the temple of God, and become filled with the majesty of God; and so | |
| 999 John says below (20:31), “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the | |
| 1000 Christ, the Son of God.”</p> | |
| 1001 <p>The matter of this Gospel, the knowledge of the divinity of the Word, is clear, as well as its order | |
| 1002 and end.</p> | |
| 1003 <p>11 Then follows the condition of the author, who is described above in four ways: as to his name, | |
| 1004 his virtue, his symbol, and his privilege. He is described as to name as John, the author of this | |
| 1005 Gospel. “John” is interpreted as “in whom is grace,” since the secrets of the divinity cannot be | |
| 1006 seen except by those who have the grace of God within themselves. “No one knows the deep | |
| 1007 things of God but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11).</p> | |
| 1008 <p>As concerns his virtue, John <span style="font-weight: bold">saw the Lord seated, </span>because he was a virgin; for it is fitting that | |
| 1009 such persons see the Lord: “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Mt 5:8).</p> | |
| 1010 <p>He is described as to his symbol, for John is symbolized by an eagle. The other three Evangelists, | |
| 1011 concerned with those things which Christ did in his flesh, are symbolized by animals which walk | |
| 1012 on the earth, namely, by a man, a bull calf, and a lion. But John flies like an eagle above the | |
| 1013 cloud of human weakness and looks upon the light of unchanging truth with the most lofty and | |
| 1014 firm eyes of the heart. And gazing on the very deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which he is | |
| 1015 equal to the Father, he has striven in this Gospel to confide this above all, to the extent that he | |
| 1016 believed was sufficient for all. Concerning this flight of John it says in Job (39:27): “Will the | |
| 1017 eagle,” that is, John, “fly up at your command?” And further on it says, “His eyes look far away,” | |
| 1018 because the Word of God is seen in the bosom of the Father by the eye of the mind.</p> | |
| 1019 <p>John is described as to privilege since, among the other disciples of the Lord, John was more | |
| 1020 loved by Christ. Without mentioning his own name John refers to himself below (21:20) as “the | |
| 1021 disciple whom Jesus loved.” And because secrets are revealed to friends, “I have called you | |
| 1022 friends because everything I have heard from my father I have made known to you” (below | |
| 1023 15:15), Jesus confided his secrets in a special way to that disciple who was specially loved. Thus | |
| 1024 it says in Job (36:32): “From the savage,” that is, the proud, “he hides his light,” that is, Christ | |
| 1025 hides the truth of his divinity, “and shows his friend,” that is, John, “that it belongs to him,” since | |
| 1026 it is John who sees the light of the Incarnate Word more excellently and expresses it to us, saying | |
| 1027 “He was the true light” (below 1:19).</p> | |
| 1028 <p>Now the matter, order, end and author of this Gospel of the blessed John are clear.</p> | |
| 1029 </body> | |
| 1030 </html> |
