Mercurial > hg > Aquinas
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originals from http://www.josephkenny.joyeurs.com/CDtexts/SSJohn.htm
| author | ht |
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| date | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:16:17 +0000 |
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--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/john/english/John15.html Tue Nov 24 20:16:17 2009 +0000 @@ -0,0 +1,1706 @@ +<html> +<head> +</head> +<body style=text-align:justify><blockquote> +<p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 60pt">15</span> +<p align=center><B>LECTURE I +<BLOCKQUOTE><p>1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 +Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that +does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made +clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As +the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither +can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who +abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me +you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a +branch and withers; and the branches are [and he is] gathered, thrown into the +fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever +you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that +you bear much fruit, and so [become] prove to be my disciples.<a href="#_ftn1" +name="_ftnref1">[1]</b></a></BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>1978 In this +talk our Lord especially wants to comfort his disciples about two things: one +was near, in the present, and this was his passion; the other was what they +feared in the future, and this was the troubles which would come upon them. He +had said to them about these two things: <b>Let not your hearts be troubled, </b>referring +to the first, and neither let them be afraid (14:27), referring to the second. + +<p>So +now, after comforting them over his leaving (14:1), he strengthens them for the +troubles which will come upon them. First, he presents a certain picture; +secondly, he moves from this to his intention (15:3). The picture he presents +is of a vine and a vinedresser. First, he mentions the vine; secondly, the +vinedresser; and thirdly, he approves of the vinedresser's concern for the +branches of the vine. + +<p>1979 He himself +is the vine. So he says, making a comparison, <b>I am the vine</b>; for just +like a vine, although it seems to be of small account, nevertheless surpasses +all trees in the sweetness of its fruit, so Christ, although he seemed to be +despised by the world because he was poor, and seemed of small account and was +publicly disgraced, nevertheless produced the sweetest fruit: "His fruit was +sweet to my taste" (Song 2:3). And so Christ is a vine producing a wine which +interiorly intoxicates us: a wine of sorrow for sin: "You have given us to drink +the wine of sorrow" [Ps 60:3]; and a wine which strengthens us, that is, which +restores us: "My blood is drink indeed" (6:55). In the same way he compared +himself, above, to wheat, for his flesh is truly food. + +<p>This +is the vine mentioned in Genesis (40:9‑10): "There was a vine before me, +and on the vine there were three branches," that is Christ, in whom there are +three substances: his body, soul and divinity. This is also the vine about +which Jacob says: "My son, tie your she‑ass," that is, the Church, "to the +vine" [Gen 49:11]. + +<p>1980 This vine +is true. Sometimes what is true is distinguished from its likeness, as a man is +distinguished from his picture. And sometimes what is true is distinguished +from what is deformed or spoiled, as true wine is distinguished from vinegar, +which is spoiled wine. When Christ says here, <b>I am the true vine, </b>he is +using true in the second sense to distinguish himself from the deformed or +spoiled vine, which is the Jewish people. We read about them: "How then have +you turned degenerate and become a wild vine" (Jer 2:21). This was because this +vine brought forth wild grapes instead of grapes: "When I looked for it to +yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?" (Is 5:4). + +<p>1981 There are +two natures in Christ, the divine and the human. Because of his human nature he +is like us and is less than the Father. Because of his divine nature he is like +God and above us. Thus he is the true vine insofar as he is the head of the +Church, the man Christ Jesus. He implies this when he mentions the vinedresser, +who is the Father. He says, <b>and my Father is the vinedresser. </b>If Christ +is the vine because of his divine nature, the Father would also be the vine +like the Son. But because Christ is the vine by reason of his human nature, the +Father is related to him as vinedresser to vine. Indeed, even Christ himself, +as God, is a vinedresser. + +<p>1982 [The +vinedresser cultivates the vine.] Now to cultivate something is to devote one's +interest to it. And we can cultivate something in two ways: either to make what +is cultivated better, as we cultivate a field or something of that sort, or to +make ourselves better by the cultivating, and in this way we cultivate wisdom. +God cultivates us to make us better by his work, since he roots out the evil +seeds in our hearts. As Augustine says, he opens our hearts with the plow of +his words, plants the seeds of the commandments, and harvests the fruit of +devotion.<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> + +<p>But +we cultivate God, not by plowing but by adoring, in order that we may be made +better by him: "If any one is a worshiper," that is, a cultivator, "of God and +does his will, God listens to him" (9:31). And so the Father is the vinedresser +of this vine for the good of others. For he plants: "I planted you a choice +vine, wholly of pure seed" (Jer 2:21), and makes its grow: I planted, Apollos +can make one grow from within and produce fruit, no matter how much others +cooperate on the exterior. And God guards and preserves, for we read that he +built a watchtower in the vineyard, and put a hedge around it (Mt 21:33; Is +5:2). + +<p>1983 The +vinedresser is concerned about two things: the vine and its branches. Now the +vine considered here was perfect, and did not need care by the vinedresser. And +so the entire care of the vinedresser will be directed to the branches. He says, +<b>every branch of mine </b>and so forth. The branches of a vine, however, have +the nature of the vine; and so those united to Christ are branches of this +vine: "The vine brought forth branches" [Ez 17:6]. He mentions two things about +the branches: first, the attitude of the vinedresser to the bad branches; his +interest in the good branches. + +<p>1984 The +vinedresser's interest in the bad branches is to cut them off the vine. Thus he +says, <b>every branch</b>, that is, every believer, <b>of mine that bears no +fruit, </b>that is, bears no fruit on the vine, which is me, without whom +nothing can bear fruit, <b>he takes away </b>from the vine. It is clear from +this that not only are some cut off from Christ for doing evil, but also +because they neglect to do good: "We entreat you not to accept the grace of God +in vain" (2 Cor 6:1). Thus the Apostle said about himself: "By the grace of God +I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain" (1 Cor 15:10). We read +in Matthew (25:28) that the money was taken away from the servant who did not +bear fruit with it, but hid it instead; and our Lord ordered the unfruitful fig +tree to be cut down (Lk 13:7). + +<p>1985 His +interest in the good branches is to help them so they can bear more fruit. So +he says, <b>and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear +more fruit. </b>Considering the literal sense, we see that a natural vine with +branches that have many shoots bears less fruit, because the sap is spread out +through all the shoots. Thus the vinedresser prunes away the extra shoots so +that the vine can bear more fruit. It is the same with us. For if we are well‑disposed +and united to God, yet scatter our love over many things, our virtue becomes +weak and we become less able to do good. This is why God, in order that we may +bear fruit, will frequently remove such obstacles and prune us by sending +troubles and temptations, which make us stronger. Accordingly, he says, he <b>prunes</b>, +even though one may be clean, for in this life no one is so clean that he does +not need to be cleansed more and more: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive +ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 Jn 1:8). And he does this so <b>that +it may bear more fruit, </b>that is, grow in virtue, so that the more pruned or +cleansed the more fruitful one is: "Let the just still be justified, and the +holy still be sanctified" [Rev 22:11]; "The Gospel is bearing fruit and +growing" (Col 1:6); "They go from strength to strength" (Ps 84:7). + +<p>1986 Now he +passes from this picture to his main intention. Two things were noticed in the +above picture when comparing the branches to the vine: the union of the +branches to the vine, and the pruning of the branches. First, he considers the +union of the branches with the vine; secondly, their pruning (v 18). As to the +first, he advises the disciples to cling to the vine; secondly, he gives the +reason for this (v 4b); thirdly, he describes this union (v 9). He does two +things concerning the first: he reminds them of a benefit already received; +secondly, he tells them to abide in him (4a). + +<p>1987 The benefit +they had already received was that of being cleansed. He says, <b>you are +already made clean. </b>It is like saying: I have said certain things about +branches; and you are branches ready to be pruned so as to bear fruit. And you +are clean by the <b>word which I have spoken to you.</b> + +<p>The +word of Christ, in the first place, cleanses us from error by teaching us: "He +must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give +instruction in sound doctrine" (Tit 1:9). This is because there is no falsity +in the words of God: "All my words are right" [Prv 8:8]. He says, <b>you are +already made clean </b>from the errors of the Jews. Secondly, the word of +Christ cleanses our hearts from earthly affections by inflaming them toward +heavenly things. For the word of God by its power moves our hearts, weighed +down by earthly things, and sets them on fire: "Is not my word fire?" (Jer +23:29). Thirdly when God is invoked in baptism, his word cleanses us from sin. +For we are cleansed in baptism because the word cleanses with the water. As +Augustine says: "Take away the word and what is the water but only water? The +word accompanies the element and a sacrament is formed."<a href="#_ftn3" +name="_ftnref3">[3]</a> +Thus it is the word which makes the water touch the body and wash the heart. +The word, I say, not because it is spoken, but because it is believed. For this +word of faith is so strong in the Church that it even cleanses infants, +although they themselves cannot believe, when it is proclaimed from the faith +of those who believe, offer, bless and touch the infants, "baptizing them in +the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19). +Fourthly, the word of Christ cleanses by the power of faith: God "cleansed +their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9).<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a> + +<p>Thus +he says to them, you already instructed, moved, baptized, strengthened in +faith, <b>are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. </b>"You +are clean, but not all" (13:10). Since he had said above that the work of a +vinedresser was to prune, he clearly shows that he is a vinedresser when he +says that his word cleanses. And indeed, Christ, as God, is a vinedresser and +prunes the branches. + +<p>1988 Here he +urges them to persevere. He is saying in effect: Because you are now cleansed +and have received such a great benefit, you should remain this way. He says, <b>Abide +in me, </b>by charity: "He who abides in love abides in God" (1 Jn 4:16); and +by means of the sacraments: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in +me" (6:56). He says, <b>Abide in me, </b>by receiving grace, <b>and I in you, </b>by +helping you. + +<p>1989 Next (v +4b), he gives four reasons for being united to Christ. First, it sanctifies +those who are united to him; secondly, those not united are punished (v 6); +thirdly, those who are united to him have their desires satisfied (v 7); +fourthly, it glorifies God (v 8). In regard to the first, he shows that being +united to Christ is necessary in order to bear fruit; secondly that this is +efficacious (v 5). + +<p>1990 He does two +things about the first: first, he presents an illustration; and secondly shows +that it is apt. As to the first he says, I say that you should abide in me so +that you can bear fruit, because just <b>as the branch </b>literally, a +material branch, <b>cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, </b>from +whose roots sap ascends to give life to the branches, so <b>neither can you </b>bear +fruit <b>unless you abide in me. </b>Thus, being united to Christ is the reason +why someone bears fruit. And so of those who are not united to Christ we read: +"What return [fruit] did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed?" +(Rom 6:21); "The company of the godless is barren" (Job 15:34). + +<p>His +example is apt because <b>I am the vine, you are the branches. </b>It is like +saying: The relation between you and me is like that of branches to the vine. +We read of these branches: "It sent out its branches to the sea" [Ps 80:11]. + +<p>1991 Here he +shows that being united to Christ is efficacious: first, he shows that it is +efficacious; secondly, the reason for this efficacy (v 5b). + +<p>1992 First he +says: I say that it is not only necessary for a person to abide in me in order +to bear fruit, it is also efficacious, <b>because he who abides in me</b>, by +believing, obeying and persevering, <b>and I in him, </b>by giving +enlightenment, help and perseverance, he it is and not another, <b>that bears +much fruit.</b> + +<p>Such +persons bear a threefold fruit in this life. The first is that they avoid sin. +Secondly, they are eager to accomplish works of holiness: "the return you get +is sanctification" (Rom 6:22). Thirdly, they are eager for the progress of +others: "The earth will be filled with the fruit of your works" [Ps 104:13]. +They also produce a fourth fruit, but in eternal life: "He gathers fruit for +eternal life" (4:36). Eternal life is the last and perfect fruit of our labors: +"The fruit of good works is glorious" [Wis 3:15]. + +<p>1993 The reason +for this efficacy is because <b>apart from me you can do nothing. </b>With +these words he instructs the hearts of the humble and silences the mouths of +the proud, especially of the Pelagians, who say that they can do by themselves, +without the help of God, the good works of the virtues and of the law. And +although they were trying to maintain our free will, they really undermined it. + +<pIndent>Look at what our Lord says here! He says that +without him we cannot do anything great, nor anything small, indeed, we cannot +do anything at all. This is not surprising because neither does God do anything +without him: "Without him was not anything made that was made" (1:3). For our +works are either from the power of nature or from divine grace. If they are +from the power of nature, then, since every action of nature is from the Word +of God, no nature can act to do anything without him. If our works are from the +power of grace, then, since he is the author of grace ‑ "grace and truth +came through Jesus Christ" (1:17) ‑ it is obvious that no meritorious +work can be done without him: "Not that we are capable of thinking anything of +ourselves as originating from ourselves; our capability is from God" [2 Cor +3:5]. Therefore, if we cannot even think without it coming from God, much less +can we do anything else.<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a> + +<p>1994 Here he +mentions the second reason for remaining united to Christ, which is the threat +of punishment, for unless we abide in him, we will not escape punishment. He +mentions five things which describe this punishment. Some of these belong to +the punishment of loss, that is to say, the exclusion from glory; so he says, <b>he +is cast forth. </b>Sometimes on a natural vine we see a branch which remains by +some sort of an external connection without sharing any of the sap. In this way +also some remain connected to Christ only by faith, yet they do not share the +sap of the vine because they do not have charity. Thus, such persons will be +cast out, that is, separated from fellowship with the good.<a href="#_ftn6" +name="_ftnref6">[6]</a> + +<p>The +second punishment of loss is a withering; he says, <b>and withers</b>, for if +such a person once took anything at all from the root, he will lose it when +deprived of its help and life. Even bad Christians seem to have some kind of a +freshness, but when they are separated from the saints and from Christ their +dried up condition will be apparent: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd" +(Ps 22:16). + +<p>The +third punishment is association with those who are evil; he says, <b>and he is +gathered</b>, by the reaping angels, to be with the wicked. This is a very +great punishment. For if it is a great punishment to be with the wicked for +only a little while, how much greater it is to be with the most evil men and +devils forever: "They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit" (Is +24:22); "Gather the weeds first and bind them into bundles to be burned" (Mt +13:30). + +<p>The +fourth punishment is that of sense; he says, <b>thrown into the fire, </b>which +is eternal: "What will be done with the wood of the vine?... Look, it is given +to the fire for fuel" [Ez 15:2]. If the wood of the vine does not remain united +to it, it is more worthless than other woods; but if it abides on the vine it +is more beautiful than the others. Thus Augustine says: "A branch is fit for +two things: either the vine or the fire. If it is not on the vine, it will be +in the fire."<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7">[7]</a> +"Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire" (Mt 25:41). The fifth +punishment is the unending experience of fire, he says, <b>and burned, </b>without +end: "And they will go away into eternal punishment" (Mt 25:46). + +<p>1995 Now we have +the third reason for abiding in Christ: our prayers become effective. He is +saying, in effect, <b>If you abide in me</b>, you will obtain this fruit, that +is, <b>ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.</b> + +<p>Note +that when before he urged them to remain united to him, he mentioned two +things; and he repeats them here. First, he said before, <b>Abide in me</b>, +and he repeats it here by saying, <b>If you abide in me</b>. Secondly, he said +before, <b>and I in you, </b>in place of which he now says, <b>and my words +abide in you. </b>Because Christ is the Word of the Father, all words of wisdom +are from him: "The source of wisdom is God's Word in the highest heaven" (Sir +1:5). Thus it is clear that Christ is in us when the words of his wisdom are in +us: "You do not have his word abiding in you" (5:38). + +<p>Thus +he says, <b>and my words abide in you, </b>in four ways: by your loving them, +believing them, meditating on them and accomplishing them: "My son, be +attentive to my words," by believing them; "incline your ear to my sayings," by +obeying or accomplishing them; "let them not escape from your sight," because +you meditate on them; but "keep them within your heart," by loving them (Prv +4:20). "Your words were found and I ate them" (Jer 15:16). + +<p>Therefore, +the words of Christ are in us when we do as he commands and love what he +promises. And from this it follows that they teach us what we ought to pray +for: "We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes +for us with sighs too deep for words" (Rom 8:26). For this reason Christ taught +us to pray with his own words (Mt 6:9; Lk 11:2). And so the words of God, when +believed and meditated upon, teach us to ask for the things necessary for our +salvation; and these words of God when loved and accomplished help us to merit +it. So he adds, <b>ask</b>, with sound judgment and perseverance, <b>whatever +you will, and it shall be done for you: </b>"If you ask anything of the Father +in my name he will give it to you" [16:23]. + +<p>1996 Now the +fourth reason for abiding in Christ is mentioned, and it is the glory of the +Father. All our works should be directed to the glory of God: "Not to us, O +Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory" (Ps 115:1); "So, whether you eat +or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" [1 Cor 10:31]. And so +our Lord shows that we are in Christ, because this is why we bear fruit, and +because we bear fruit the Father is glorified. He says, <b>By this my Father is +glorified</b>, that is, it reflects glory on my Father, <b>that you bear much +fruit.</b> + +<p>Here +he mentions, in reverse order, three things which follow one from the other. +One refers to abiding in Christ, <b>you become my disciples</b>, and this is +the same as "Abide in me" (v 4). The second follows from this, <b>you bear much +fruit. </b>And from this my Father is glorified. He is saying in effect: It +gives glory to the Father that you bear much fruit, and you bear much fruit +because you are my disciples. You do this, first of all, by living well: "That +they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" +(Mt 5:16); and by teaching well, which also glorifies God: "Glorify the Lord by +teaching" [Is 24:15]; "Every one who calls upon my name I have created him for +my praise and glory" (Is 43:7). And so the apostles are the soil which bears +much fruit because they have become the disciples of Christ by abiding in him +and by the fire of their charity. + +<p>For +these are the signs of a disciple of Christ: first that one abides in him, is +united to him: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples" (8:31). +And by doing this they become fit for bearing the fruit of teaching. The second +sign is charity: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you +have love for one another" (13:35). And because of this they are able to bear +the fruit of good works, because nothing has any value without charity: "If I +have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries ... but have not love, I am +nothing" (1 Cor 13:2). +<BR><BR><BR> +<p align=center><B>LECTURE 2 + +<BLOCKQUOTE><p>9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide +in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as +I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I +have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. +12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 +Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his +friends."<a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8">[8]</a></B></BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>1997 Above, our +Lord urged his disciples to remain united with him; here he shows what this +involves. He makes three points: first, to abide in him is to abide in his +love; secondly, to abide in his love is to keep his commandments (v 10); +thirdly, that his commandment is to love (v 12). He does two things about the +first: first, he recalls the benefit granted to the disciples; secondly, he +urges them to persevere, <b>abide in my love </b>(v 9). + +<p>1998 He says +that the fact that we abide in Christ is due to his grace; and this grace is +the effect of his love: "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3). +It is clear from this that all our good works are ours due to the benefit of +divine love. For they would not be ours unless faith acted through love, and we +would not love unless we were first loved. And so he reminds them of this +benefit by saying, <b>As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.</b> + +<p>1999 The word +"as" sometimes indicates an equality of nature, and at other times a similarity +in acting. The Arians, who erred about this passage, wanted the "as" to +indicate an equality, and because of this they concluded that the Son was inferior +to the Father. But this is false. We must say, then, according to Augustine, +that the word "as" indicates a likeness in grace and love; for the love with +which the Son loves his disciples is a certain likeness of that love with which +the Father loves the Son.<a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9">[9]</a> + +<p>Now +since to love someone is to will good to that person, the Father loves the Son, +with respect to the Son's divine nature, because the Father wills him his own +infinite good, which he has, by communicating to the Son the very same +numerical nature the Father himself has: "For the Father loves the Son, and +shows him all that he himself is doing" (5:20). The Father also loves the Son +with respect to his human nature: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and +out of Egypt I called my son" (Hos 11:1). And he loves him so that he would be +at once both God and man. + +<p>But +the Son did not love the disciples in either of these ways. For he did not love +them to the point of their being gods by nature, nor to the point that they +would be united to God so as to form one person with him. But he did love them +up to a similar point: he loved them to the extent that they would be gods by +their participation in grace ‑ "I say, 'You are gods'" (Ps 82:6); "He has +granted to us precious and very great promises, that through these you may +become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4) ‑ and he loved them to +the extent that they would be united to God in affection: "He who is united to +the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (1 Cor 6:17); "For those whom he foreknew +he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29). Thus +the Father communicated to the Son a greater good, with respect to each nature +of the Son, than the Son did to his disciples; yet there is a similarity, as +was said. + +<p>2000 <b>Abide in +my love. </b>This is like saying: Because you have received such a great +benefit from my love, <b>abide</b> in it so that you love me. Or it could mean, +<b>abide in my love</b> because I love you, that is, abide in my grace so you +will not be excluded from the good things I have prepared for you. This meaning +is the more apt, so that the thought is: Persevere in this state so that you +will be loved by me through the effect of grace: "Every one should remain in +the state in which he was called" (1 Cor 7:20). "He who abides in love abides +in God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16). + +<p>2001 Now he +shows what it means to abide in his love. First, he shows that it means to keep +his commandment; secondly, he illustrates it with an example, <b>as I have kept +my Father's commandments; </b>thirdly, he eliminates an assumption (v 11). + +<p>2002 He says, <b>Abide +in my love, </b>and you will do this <b>if you keep my commandments, </b>for +this is the way you will abide in my love. Keeping the commandments is an +effect of divine love, not only of the love by which we love, but also of the +love by which God loves us. For from the fact that God loves us, he influences +us and helps us to fulfill his commandments, which we cannot do without grace: +"In this is love, not that we love God but that he loved us first" [1 Jn 4:10]. + +<p>2003 He adds an +example when he says, <b>as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in +his love. </b>For just as the love which the Father has for him is the model or +standard of Christ's love for us, so Christ wants his obedience to be the model +of our obedience. By saying this Christ shows that he abided in the Father's +love because in all things he kept the Father's commandments. For he submitted +to death: "He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a +cross" (Phil 2:8); and refrained from all sin: "He committed no sin; no guile +was found on his lips" (1 Pet 2:22). These things are to be understood of +Christ in his human nature: "He has not left me alone, for I always do what is +pleasing to him" (8:29). And so he says, <b>I abide in his love, </b>because +there is nothing in me, as a human being, opposed to his love. + +<p>2004 Now so they +do not think he is urging them to keep his commandments for his own benefit and +not for their benefit, he says, <b>These things I have spoken to you, </b>that +you keep my commandments, for your own good, so <b>that my joy may be in you. </b>Now +love is the cause of joy, for everyone takes joy in what he loves. But God +loves himself and creatures, especially rational creatures, to whom he grants +an infinite good. So Christ rejoices in two things from all eternity: first, in +his own good and that of the Father: "I was delighted every day, playing before +him" [Prv 8:30]; secondly, he delights in the good of the rational creature: +"delighting in the sons of men" (Prv 8:31), that is, in the fact that I am +shared in by the children of men. He rejoices in these things from eternity: +"As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" +(Is 62:5). + +<p>Consequently, +our Lord wants us to become sharers of his joy by our observing his +commandments. He says, <b>that my joy, </b>the joy I take in my divinity and +that of my Father, <b>may be in you</b>. This is nothing else than eternal +life, which as Augustine says, is joy in the truth.<a href="#_ftn10" +name="_ftnref10">[10]</a> +<b>That my joy may be in you </b>means, in effect, that you may have eternal +life: "Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty" (Job 22:26). <b>And that +your joy</b>, which I take in my own humanity, <b>may be full</b>. The goods in +which we rejoice are either imperfect or imperfectly possessed; and so in this +life our joy cannot be full. But it will be full when perfect goods are +perfectly possessed: "Enter into the joy of your master" (Mt 25:21). + +<p>2005 Now our +Lord states what his precepts are: first, he states his commandment; secondly, +he presents an example (v 12b); thirdly, he recalls a benefit (v 14). + +<p>2006 The +commandment he gives is the commandment of charity, which he wants us to keep: <b>This +is my commandment, that you love one another. </b>Since there are many other +commandments of the Lord in the sacred writings, why does he say that his +commandment is only the practice of charity? + +<p>The +answer, according to Gregory, is that charity is the root and end of all the +virtues.<a href="#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11">[11]</a> +It is the root, because it is from charity, firmly rooted in the human heart, +that we are led to accomplish all the other commandments: "He who loves his +neighbor has fulfilled the law" (Rom 13:8). Therefore, all the commandments +are, in a way, directed to this: that we do good to our neighbor, and not harm +him; and this is done best through charity. Charity is the end because all the +commandments are directed to it and by it alone are given strength: "The aim of +our charge is love" (1 Tim 1:5). So he says, <b>This is my commandment, that +you love one another, </b>since everything comes from charity as its source, +and all things are directed to charity as their end. As Gregory puts it: just +as many branches of a tree spring from one root, so the many virtues are +produced from one root; and the branch of a good work has no life if it is not +united to the root of charity.<a href="#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12">[12]</a> + +<p>2007 Since we +read in Matthew (22:40) that the law and the prophets depend not only on love +for God, but also on love for neighbor, why does Christ mention here only love +for neighbor? The answer is that one is included in the other: for a person who +loves God must love his neighbor and things which belong to God; and the person +who loves his neighbor for the sake of God must love God. Now although the +objects of these acts are different, yet the outcomes are the same. There are +two reasons why he mentions love of neighbor rather than the love of God. By +doing this he wants to teach and lead them to help their neighbor, and to help +them to become strong enough to endure sufferings from those who will persecute +them. To do both of these, charity for our neighbor is necessary. + +<p>2008 Here he +shows by an example how we should love our neighbor, which is, as Christ loved +us. Now Christ loved us in the correct order and efficaciously. His love was +orderly because he loved nothing in us but God and in relation to God: "I am +the mother of beautiful love" (Si 24:18), and efficacious because he loved us +so much that he delivered himself for us: "Christ loved us and gave himself up +for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Eph 5:2). So we should love +our neighbor, in a holy way, for his good, and efficaciously, by showing our +love by our actions: "Let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in +truth" (1 Jn 3:18). + +<p>2009 <b>Greater +love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. </b>Here +he shows the efficacy of love, which is that one undergo death for his friends; +this is a sign of the greatest love. Yet one could object that it is considered +to be a sign of a greater love when someone lays down his life for his enemies, +as Christ did: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners +Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8). + +<pIndent>We should answer that Christ did not lay down his +life for his enemies so that they would remain his enemies, but to make them +his friends. Or, one could say, that he lay down his life for his friends, not +in the sense that they were friends who loved him, but rather were those whom +he loved. It is clear that the sign of the greatest love is to lay down one's +life for one's friends. This is so because there are four lovable things to be +put in order: God, our soul, our neighbor, and our body. We should love God +more than ourselves and our neighbor, so that for the sake of God we ought to +give ourselves, body and soul, and our neighbor. We should lay down our body, +but not give it, for the sake of our soul. For our neighbor, we should expose +our body and our physical life for his salvation. Consequently, since our +physical life is the best thing we have after our soul, it is the greatest +thing to expose it for the sake of our neighbor, and a sign of greater love: +"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son +into the world, so that we might live through him" (1 Jn 4:9). +<BR><BR><BR> +<p align=center><b>LECTURE 3 + +<BLOCKQUOTE><p>14 "You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No +longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is +doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father +I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and +appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should +abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. +17 This I command you, to love [so that you will love] one another."<a +href="#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13">[13]</b></a></BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>2010 Above, our +Lord urged us to love our neighbor, based on his example. Here, Christ shows +his disciples the benefit conferred upon them which obliges them to imitate +him, which is, that he has embraced them in his love. First, he mentions a sign +of friendship; secondly, the cause of this friendship (v 16). He gives two +signs of friendship: one is found in the disciples; the other in himself (v +15). + +<p>2011 The sign in +the disciples that they are friends of Christ is that they keep his +commandments; he says, <b>You are my friends if you do what I command you. </b>He +is saying in effect: Up to now I have urged you to love one another, but now I +am speaking and teaching you about your friendship with me. + +<p>The +statement, <b>you are my friends </b>can be understood in two ways, based on +the two ways someone is called a friend. A person is called a friend either +because he loves or because he is loved. And what follows, <b>if you do what I +command you </b>is true for both meanings of friend. Those who love God keep +his commandments, and because a friend is, as Gregory says, in a way the +guardian of the other's soul, it is appropriate that one who guards or keeps +the will of God in his commandments is called the friend of God.<a +href="#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14">[14]</a> +Again, those whom God loves keep his commandments, because by conferring his +grace on them he helps them to keep them: for by loving us, God makes us love +him: "I love those who love me" (Prv 8:17). It is not they who first loved God, +but God makes them lovers by loving them. + +<p>2012 Note that +keeping the commandments is not the cause of divine friendship but the sign, +the sign that both God loves us and that we love God: "Love of her [Wisdom] is +the keeping of her laws" (Wis 6:19); "He who says he loves him and does not +keep his commandments is a liar" [1 Jn 2:4]. + +<p>2013 The sign of +Christ's friendship for them is mentioned when he says, <b>No longer do I call +you servants</b>. First, he excludes what seems opposed to friendship; +secondly, he mentions the sign of true friendship (v 15b). + +<p>2014 Servitude +is opposed to friendship; and he rejects this by saying, <b>No longer do I call +you servants. </b>It is like saying: although you were formerly servants under +the law, now you are free under grace: "You have received the spirit of +adoption" [Rom 8:15]. + +<p>Secondly, +he adds the reason for this when he says, <b>for the servant does not know what +his master is doing: </b>for a servant is like a stranger to his master, "The +slave does not continue in the house for ever" (8:35). Now secrets should not +be told to strangers, "Do not tell a secret to a stranger" [Prv 25:9]. And so +secrets should not be given to those who are now servants. This verse shows the +servant does not act for the sake of himself, because charity does not seek its +own, but the interests of Jesus and the salvation of one's neighbor. Those who +act entirely by reason of another are bad servants. Thus it is clear that the +disciples were servants, but it was a good servitude springing from love. + +<p>As +for the second difficulty, we should say that the servant who is moved only by +another and not by himself, is related to the one who moves him as a tool to +the worker. Now a tool shares with the worker in the work, but not in the +reason for the work. So such servants share only in the work. But when a +servant acts by his own will, it is necessary for him to know the reason for +the work and have secrets revealed to him so he can know what he is doing. "If +you have a servant, regard him as your own soul" [Sir 33:31]. Now the apostles, +as was said, were moved by themselves to accomplish good works, that is, they +were moved by their own will, inclined by love. And so our Lord revealed his +secrets to them. But bad servants do not know what their master is doing. What +things don't they know? Strictly speaking, they do not know what God does in +us. For God acts in us in all the good we do: "O Lord ... you have wrought for +us all our works (Is 26:12). So the bad servant, darkened by the pride in his +own heart, <b>does not know what his master is doing </b>when this servant +attributes to himself what he does. + +<p>2016 Now he sets +down the true sign of friendship on his own part, which is that <b>all that I +have heard from my Father I have made know to you. </b>For the true sign of +friendship is that a friend reveals the secrets of his heart to his friend. +Since friends have one mind and heart, it does not seem that what one friend +reveals to another is placed outside his own heart: "Argue your case with your +neighbor" (Prv 25:9). Now God reveals his secrets to us by letting us share in +his wisdom: "In every generation she [Wisdom] passes into holy souls and makes +them friends of God and prophets" (Wis 7:27). + +<p>2017 There is a +question here as to what and in what way the Son hears from the Father. The +answer has already been indicated in many ways. Since to hear is to receive +knowledge from another, for the Son to hear from the Father is nothing other +than for the Son to receive knowledge from the Father. Now the knowledge of the +Son is his own essence. Thus, for the Son to hear from the Father is for the +Son to receive his essence from the Father. + +<p>2018 Another +question concerns the statement, <b>all that I have heard from my Father I have +made known to you. </b>If he did make all things known to them it would follow +that the disciples knew as much as the Son. The answer, according to +Chrysostom, is that <b>all that I have heard </b>means all that I have heard +which you ought to hear, but not absolutely all things, <b>I have made known to +you: </b>"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" +(16:12).<a href="#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15">[15]</a> + +<p>Or, +one could say, according to Augustine, that what he would say to them was so +certain that he used the past tense instead of the future.<a href="#_ftn16" +name="_ftnref16">[16]</a> +So the meaning becomes, <b>all that I have heard from my Father I have made +known to you, </b>that is, I will make known with that fullness of which the +Apostle says: "Then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully +understood" (1 Cor 13:12). And below we read, "The hour is coming when I shall +tell you plainly of the Father" (16:25), that is, when I lead you to the vision +of the Father. For all things the Son knows the Father knows. So when he revels +the Father to us, the Son will reveal all that the Son himself knows and which +we know. + +<p> Again, +one could say with Gregory, and this is better, that the same thing can be +known perfectly or imperfectly. For example, in the sciences it is obvious that +a person who knows all the principles of a science is said to know that +science, although imperfectly. And so a person who teaches some principles of a +science can say that he teaches that science, because everything that belongs +to that science is virtually contained in its principles. But one will know +that same science more perfectly when he knows the individual conclusions which +are virtually in the principles. In the same way we can have a twofold +knowledge of divine matters. One is imperfect, and is gained by faith, which is +a foretaste of that future happiness and knowledge which we will have in +heaven: "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for" [Heb 11:2]. He says +of this knowledge, <b>all ... I have made known to you, </b>that is, in faith, +by a kind of foretaste, like conclusions are virtually contained in their +principles. So Gregory says: "All the things he has made known to his servants +are the joys of interior love and the feasts of our heavenly fatherland, which +he excites in our minds every day by the breath of his love. For as long as we +love the sublime heavenly things we have heard, we already know what we love, +because the love itself is knowledge."<a href="#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" +title="">[17]</a> + +<p>2019 Now he +mentions the cause of this friendship. It is the usual practice for each one of +us to say that he or she is the cause of friendship: "Every friend will say, 'I +started the friendship'" [Sir 37:1]. And so many people attribute to themselves +the cause of God's friendship when they attribute to themselves, and not to +God, the source of their good actions. Our Lord rejects this by saying, <b>you +did not choose me. </b>He is saying in effect: Whoever has been called to this +sublime friendship should not attribute the cause of this friendship to +himself, but to me, who chose him or her as a friend. First, he mentions the +gratuitous choice of God; secondly, he sets forth for what they have been +chosen, <b>that you should go and bear fruit.</b> + +<p>2020 He says, +you did not choose me to be your friend, <b>but I chose you </b>to make you my +friends: "Not that we loved God, but that he loved us first" [1 Jn 4:10]. + +<p>Now +God's love is twofold. One is eternal, by which we are predestined: "He chose +us in him before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4). The other is temporal, +by which we are called by him, and this is simply the carrying out of eternal +predestination. And this is because those he chose by predestining them he also +chose by calling them: "Those whom he predestined he also called" (Rom 8:30); +"He chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles" (Lk 6:13).<a href="#_ftn18" +name="_ftnref18">[18]</a> + +<p>2021 Some say +that God's temporal choice is caused by the merits of those who are chosen. +This conflicts with what it says here. For if God chose you because you were +good, you were still not able to be good unless you chose the good, and this +good is especially God. Therefore, it was you who first chose the good which is +God, before you were chosen. But our Lord says the contrary: <b>you did not +choose me, but I chose you. </b>Thus we should not say that our own goodness +entirely precedes God's choice. I say "entirely" because we might have some +particular good which could be the cause of another good being given to us; and +this good could be the cause of being given still another good, since there is +a certain order in God's gifts. But in general, nothing can be the cause of and +precede the divine choice, because all our goods are from God. + +<p>2022 It would be +an even greater error to say that our eternal election was preceded by our own +choice. Yet there are some who said that our preceding merits are the cause of +that election. This was Origen's error. He said that human souls were created +equal at the same time and that while some stood firm, others sinned, more and +less seriously. Thus, some merited to receive grace, and others did not.<a +href="#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19">[19]</a> +Our Lord's saying is opposed to this, <b>you did not choose me.</b> + +<p>2023 Others say +that it is true that our actually existing merits are not the cause of our +predestination, but those merits preexisting in the foreknowledge of God are. +Thus they say that because God knew that certain persons would be good and make +good use of grace, he decided to give them grace. But if this were so, it would +follow that the reason he chose us was because he foreknew we would choose him. +And so our choice would be prior to the divine choice; which is contrary to our +Lord's statement. + +<p>2024 Perhaps +someone might say: What choice could there be since we were nothing and there +was no rank among us? But one who says this is mislead by thinking that the +divine choice is like human choice. They are not the same. Our choice is caused +by some already existing good; while God's choice is the cause of an influx of +good, greater in one than in another. Since choice is an act of the will, then +according as the will of God and the human will are differently related to the +good, so the character of their choice will be different. Now God's will is +related to a created good as its cause: "How would anything have endured if +thou hadst not willed it?" (Wis 11:25). And so goodness is dispensed to created +things from the will of God. Accordingly, God prefers one person to another +insofar as he confers more good on that one than on another. But the human will +is moved to something by a preexisting good which has become known. Therefore, +in our choices it is necessary that one good exist before another. The reason +why God confers more good on one than on another is so that there might be a +splendor of order in things. This is clear in material things where prime +matter of itself is uniformly disposed to all forms. Also, before things +themselves exist, they are not disposed to this or that existence; rather, they +receive different forms and existences from God so that an order can be +established among them. It is like this among rational creatures, where some +are chosen for glory and some are rejected for punishment: "The Lord knows who +are his ... In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but +also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble" (2 Tim +2:19). And so we see a diversified order: the mercy of God shines forth in +those whom, without any previous merits, he prepares for grace; in others we +see the justice of God when, because of their own guilt, he allots them +punishment, yet less than is deserved. So, I have chosen you by predestining +you from all eternity, and by calling you to the faith during your lifetime. + +<p>2025 Then he +points out for what he has chosen them when he says, <b>I appointed you that +you should go and bear fruit. </b>First, he states for what he chose them; +secondly, he gives a reason for the above (v 17). In regard to the first he +does two things: first, he shows that he chose them to do something; secondly, +that he <b>chose them to receive something, whatever you ask the Father.</b> + +<p>2026 He says, <b>I +appointed you, </b>that is, I gave you a definite rank in my Church: "And God +has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets" (1 Cor 12:28). +Again, <b>I appointed you, </b>that is, firmly set you: "And God made the two +great lights ... and God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light +upon the earth" (Gen 1:16). + +<p>2027 <b>I +appointed you, </b>I say, to three things. First to go; and so he says, <b>that +you should go, </b>traveling over the whole world to convert the whole world to +the faith: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" +(Mk 16:15). Or, <b>that you should go, </b>that is, progress from virtue to +virtue: "They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in +Zion" (Ps 84:7); "His shoots shall spread out" (Hos 14:6). + +<p>Secondly, +he appointed them to bear fruit; so he says, <b>and bear fruit. </b>This fruit +is the fruit of conversion to the faith, as in Paul's first journey, "In order +that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the +Gentiles" (Rom 1:13); or an interior and spiritual fruit, as in his second +journey, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace" (Gal 5:22); "My blossoms +became glorious and abundant fruit" (Sir 24:17). + +<p>Thirdly, +they were appointed to bear fruit that would not be destroyed by death or sin; +so he says, <b>and that your fruit should abide, </b>that is, that the society +of the faithful would be led into eternal life and their spiritual fruit +flourish: "He gathers fruit for eternal life" (4:36). + +<p>2028 <b>So that +whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. </b>Here he +shows that he chose them to receive something, namely, all that they ask for. +He is saying: I have appointed you to be worthy to receive from the Father in +my name: "If our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God; and we +receive from him whatever we ask" (1 Jn 3:22). + +<p>2029 <b>These +things I command you so that you will love one another. </b>Here he is giving +the reason for what he has said. Someone might ask: Why did Christ tell them +all these things? So our Lord answers, <b>These things I command you so that +you will love one another. </b>He is saying in effect: Everything I said to you +was to lead you to love your neighbor: "The aim of our charge is love" (1 Tim +1:5). One could also say, with Chrysostom, that the apostles could have said: +Lord, why are you reminding us so much about your love? Are you reprimanding +us? But our Lord says: Not at all. I am doing this to encourage you to love +your neighbor: "And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God +should love his brother also" (1 Jn 4:21). +<BR><BR><BR> +<p align=center><B>LECTURE 4 + +<BLOCKQUOTE><p>18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me +before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; +but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, +therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A +servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will +persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all this +they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me."</B></BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>2030 After +presenting the picture of the vine and the branches and explaining the part +about the branches being united to the vine, he now explains it in regard to +the pruning or cleansing they will receive from their trials. So our Lord now +consoles them against the tribulations they were going to endure. First, he +mentions a few considerations which will console them; secondly, he explains +these (v 20); thirdly, he rejects the excuses of those who will persecute them +(v 22). He mentions two reasons why they should be consoled: the first uses +himself as an example; the second is based on the reason for their being hated, +<b>because you are not of the world.</b> + +<p>2031 Our Lord +consoles them by using himself as an example of one who has suffered the +persecution of oppressors, saying, <b>If the world hates you, know that it has +hated me before it hated you. </b>Note that just as the source of all benefits +is love, so the source of all persecutions is hatred. And so our Lord foretells +that they will be hated: "You will be hated by all nations" (Mt 24:9); "Blessed +are you when men hate you" (Lk 6:22). + +<p>He +says, <b>If the world hates you</b>, that is, it will come to pass that the +world will hate you, and show its hatred by persecuting you, <b>know that it +has hated me before it hated you: </b>"The world cannot hate you, but it hates +me" (7:7). This thought is a great consolation for the just so that they can +courageously endure persecutions: "Consider him who endured from sinners such +hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted" (Heb +12:3); "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should +follow in his steps" (1 Pet 2:21). According to Augustine, the members should +not consider themselves greater than the Head, nor refuse to be part of his +body by being unwilling to endure with their Head the hatred of the world.<a +href="#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20">[20]</a> + +<p>2032 The world +can have two meanings. First a good meaning, for those who lead a good life in +the world: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor 5:19). +Secondly, it can have an evil sense, meaning those who love the world: "The +whole world is in the power of the evil one" (1 Jn 5:19). And so the whole +world hates the whole world, because those who love the world, and they are +spread throughout the whole world, hate the whole world, that is, the Church of +the good, which has been established throughout the whole world. + +<p>2033 Now he +mentions a second point for their consolation, and this is based on the reason +for their being hated. When a person endures another's hatred because of his +own sins, there is reason for regret and sorrow; but when he is hated because +of his virtue he should rejoice. First, our Lord gives the reason why some are +loved by the world; secondly, why the apostles are hated by the world (v 19). + +<p>2034 The reason +why some are loved by the world is that they are like the world; <b>If you were +of the world, the world would love its own. </b>Like loves like: "Every +creature loves its like" (Sir 13:15). And thus the world, that is, those who +love the world, love those who love the world. Accordingly, our Lord says, <b>If +you were of the world</b>, that is, followers of the world, <b>the world would +love its own, </b>because you would be its own and like to it: "The world +cannot hate you, but it hates me" (7:7). "They are of the world, therefore what +they say is of the world, and the world listens to them" (I Jn 4:5). + +<p>2035 One might +object that our Lord meant by the world the authorities of the world, who would +persecute the apostles. Yet these very same authorities persecute other worldly +people, like murderers and thieves. Therefore, the world does not love its own +any more than it loves the apostles. + +<p>I +reply that it is possible to find something purely good, but not something +purely evil, since the subject of evil is something good. Consequently, the +evil of guilt is located in some good of nature. Therefore, no person can be a +sinner and evil without having some good. So it is because of the evil of these +authorities, the evil of their unbelief, that they belong to the world and hate +the apostles and those who are not of the world. But because of the good they +possess they are not of the world and hate those who are of the world, as +thieves and robbers, and such. Still, there were some who were living well in +the world yet loved the apostles and approved of their actions. + +<p>2036 But now +there seems to be a greater difficulty. For every sin pertains to the world, +and so a person is of the world by reason of any sin. Yet we observe that +people who commit the same sin hate each other, for, example, the proud: "Among +the proud there is always strife" [Prv 13:10]. And one greedy person hates +another who is also greedy. As the Philosopher says, potters quarrel with one +another.<a href="#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21">[21]</a> +Thus, the world is hating the world, and what our Lord says here does not seem +to be true, that is, <b>the world would love its own.</b> + +<p>I +reply that there are two kinds of love: the love of friendship and the love of +concupiscence. These are quite different. With the love of concupiscence we +draw external things or persons to ourselves, and we love these others insofar +as they are useful to us or give us pleasure. But in the love of friendship we +have the opposite, for we draw ourselves to what is external to us, because +those we love in this way we treat the same as ourselves, sharing ourselves +with them in some way. Thus, likeness is a cause of love, when we are speaking +of the love of friendship, for we do not love a person in this way unless we +are one with that person: and likeness is a certain way of being one. But with +the love of concupiscence, whether it is for what is useful or gives pleasure, +likeness is a cause of division and hated. For since with this love I love some +person or thing insofar as it is useful to me or gives me pleasure, I hate as +opposed to me whatever hinders this usefulness or pleasure. So it is that the +proud feud among themselves, for one takes for himself the glory that another +loves and in which he takes pleasure. As for the potters, they quarrel because +one takes for himself some profit which another wants for himself. + +<p>Notice +that the love of concupiscence is not a love for the thing desired but a love +for the person desiring: for in this kind of love, one loves another because +the other is useful, as was said. Therefore, in this kind of love, one is +rather loving himself than the other. For example, a person who loves wine +because it gives him pleasure loves himself rather than the wine. But the love +of friendship is concerned rather with the thing loved than with the one +loving, because here one loves another for the sake of the one loved, and not +for the sake of the one loving. And so because in the love of friendship +likeness is a cause of love, and unlikeness a cause of hatred, the world hates +what is not its own and is unlike it; but it loves, with the love of +friendship, what is its own. It is the reverse with the love of concupiscence. +Thus he says, <b>If you were of the world, the world would love its own, </b>with +the love of friendship. + +<p>2037 Now he +gives the reason why the world hates the apostles, which is because they are +unlike the world. He says, <b>but because you are not of the world, </b>because +your spirit has been lifted above it ‑ although you are of the world by +your origin: "You are from below, I am from above" (8:23) ‑ lifted above +it not by yourselves but by my grace, because <b>I chose you out of the world, </b>therefore, +because you are not of the world, <b>the world hates you, </b>that is, those +who love the world and who are unlike you, hate you: "An unjust man is an +abomination to the righteous, but he whose way is straight is an abomination to +the wicked" (Prv 29:27); and in the same chapter "Bloodthirsty men hate one who +is blameless" (v 10). + +<p>2038 Three +reasons can be given why the world hates those who are holy. First, there is a +difference of condition: the world is in a state of death, but those who are +holy are in a state of life: "Do not wonder, brethren, that the world hates +you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the +brethren" (1 Jn 3:13). And so we read: "The very sight of him is a burden to +us" (Wis 2:15). The second reason is that the world does not like to be +corrected: for those who are holy are, by their words and actions, a rebuke to +the conduct of the world. Consequently the world hates them: "They hate him who +reproves in the gate" (Amos 5:10); "But it," the world, "hates me because I +testify of it that its works are evil" (7:7). The third reason is because of +evil envy, for those who are evil envy the good when they see them grow and +increase in goodness and holiness, just like the Egyptians hated and persecuted +the children of Israel when they saw them increasing (Ex 1:9). And we also see +that Joseph's brothers hated him when they saw that he was loved more than they +(Gen 37:4). + +<p>2039 Now he +amplifies on the reasons just given for their consolation: first, the one using +himself as an example; secondly, the one relating to the reason why they are +hated (v 21). He does two things with the first: first, he reminds them that he +and they are different in condition; secondly, he shows they are alike in what +will be done to them, <b>If they persecuted me, they will persecute you</b>. + +<p>2040 Their +different conditions were that Christ was the Lord and the apostles were +servants: "A servant is not greater than his master" (13:16). He reminds them +of this difference when he says, <b>Remember the word that I said to you, A +servant is not greater than his master. </b>Therefore, it is not unfitting for +you to undergo the same sufferings as your Lord; rather, you should regard this +as a great glory. Thus Christ said to the disciples who were asking to sit on +his right and left, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" (Mt +20:22). "It is a great honor to follow God" (Sir 23:28); "It is enough for the +disciple to be like his teacher" (Mt 10:25). + +<p>2041 On the +contrary. He said above, "No longer do I call you servants" (15:15), while he +says here, <b>A servant is not greater than his master. </b>I answer that there +are two kinds of servitude. One comes from a slave‑like fear, that is, +from a fear of punishment; and the Apostles were not servants in this way. The +other comes from a "chaste fear," [the respect of a spouse], and such servitude +was in the apostles: "Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake +when he comes" (Lk 12:37). + +<p>2042 If then you +are my servants and I am your Lord, you should be content to have happen to you +what happens to me. Now some have despised me, while others have accepted me: "He +came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who +received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of +God" (1:11). You will be treated the same way: if some despise you, yet others +will honor you. + +<p>For +this reason he says, <b>If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. </b>Here +we see how the saints are like Christ: for the disciples were persecuted for +the same reason that Christ was, because Christ was being persecuted in the +disciples. In fact in Acts (9:4) Christ said that he was being persecuted in +the persecution of his disciples: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" + +<p>And +so because their reason for acting is the same in the two cases, the +consequence follows: <b>If they persecuted me, they will persecute you: </b>"If +they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they +malign those of his household" (Mt 10:25). Matthew (23:34) says of this +persecution: "Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of +whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues +and persecute from to town to town." Similarly, they will be honored for the +same reason that Christ was: if they kept my word, they will keep yours also, +because your words are my words: "You desire proof that Christ is speaking in +me" (2 Cor 13:3); "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father +speaking through you" (Mt 10:20). And so Christ says, "He who hears you hears +me" (Lk 10:16). The apostles were in truth accepted and honored by some of the +people, as is clear from "When you received the word of God which you heard +from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the +word of God" (1 Thess 2: 13). + +<p>2043 Now he +amplifies on the second consideration that would console them, which is based +on the reason for their being hated. The apostles were chosen and raised above +the world insofar as they had been made sharers of divinity and joined to God. +This is why the world hated them. From this it follows that the world rather +hated God in them than hated them. The reason for this hatred was that the +world lacked the true knowledge of God which comes from the true faith and +devoted love. If they did have this knowledge and recognized that the apostles +were friends of God, they would not have persecuted them. Thus he says, <b>all +this they will do to you, </b>that is, hate and persecute you, <b>on my account</b>. +And so this should be your glory: "Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a +thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief‑maker; yet if one suffers as a +Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God" (1 +Pet 4:14). On my account, not because they love me, but because they hate me; +just as, on the contrary, you will suffer on my account because you love me. + +<p>They +will do these things to you <b>because they do not know him who sent me</b>: +"If you knew me, you would perhaps know my Father also" [8:19]. For they did +not know that God would be pleased by their accepting Christ. Note that he is +speaking here of a perfect knowledge, which consists in a faith which perfects +the intellect and joins the affections to God. We read of this kind of +knowledge: "Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows +me" (Jer 9:24); "To know you is complete righteousness" (Wis 15:3). +<BR><BR><BR> +<p align=center><B>LECTURE 5 + +<BLOCKQUOTE><p>22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not +have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates +my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else +did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my +Father. 25 It is to fulfill the word that is written in their law, 'They hated +me without a cause.' 26 But when the Counselor [Paraclete] comes, whom I shall +send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the +Father, he will bear witness to me. 27 And you also are witnesses, because you +have been with me from the beginning."<a href="#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" +title="">[22]</a></B></BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>2044 Before, +when our Lord said that the Jews would persecute his disciples, he give as the +reason that the Jews did not know the one who sent him. Now, since ignorance +usually excuses one, he here shows that they are inexcusable. He does this in +two ways: first, because of the things he personally did and taught them; +secondly, because of what will occur when he is no longer present (v 26). In +regard to the first he does two things: first, he shows that they were without +excuse because of the truth he taught; secondly, because of the witness of the +works he performed (v 24). He does three things about the first: first, he +shows what could have excused them; secondly, that they did not have this +excuse (v 22); thirdly, he shows the real source of their persecution (v 23). + +<p>2045 He had +said: "But all this they will do to you on my account." Yet they might have had +an excuse. <b>If I had not come and spoken to them, </b>that is, if I had not +shown myself personally and taught them personally, <b>they would not have sin.</b> + +<p>2046 How does +this reconcile with Romans (3:23) which states that "All have sinned"? We +should say that our Lord is not speaking here of just any sin, but of the sin +of disbelief, that is, they do not believe in Christ. This is called here +simply "sin" because it is a prime example of sin, because as long as this sin +lasts, no other sin can be remitted; for no sin is remitted except by faith in +Jesus Christ through whom we are justified, as we read in Romans (5:1). +Consequently, <b>they would not have sin </b>means that they would not be +charged with not believing in him. This is primarily because "faith comes from +what is heard" (Rom 10:17). So, if Christ had not come and had not spoken to +them, they could not have believed. And no one is charged with a sin for not +doing what he can't do at all. + +<p>2047 Yet some +could say that they were bound to believe and could have believed even if +Christ had not come, since he had been foretold to them by the prophets: "which +he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel +concerning his Son" (Rom 1:2). I answer that of themselves the Jews could not +believe and understand the words of the prophets unless they were shown by +divine help: "The words are shut up and sealed until the appointed time" [Dan +12:9]. Thus the eunuch said: "How can I understand, unless some one guides me?" +(Acts 8:31). + +<pIndent>Therefore, if Christ had not come, they would not +have this sin, the sin of disbelief, although they would have had other actual +sins for which they would have been punished. And a similar reasoning holds for +all those whom the preaching of God's word could not reach. For this reason +they cannot be charged with the sin of disbelief for their condemnation; but +they will be condemned, because deprived of God's favors because of their other +actual sins and original sin. + +<p>2048 Note that +Christ's coming and teaching resulted in good for many, that is, for those who +accepted him and kept his word. And for many it turned out bad, that is, for +those who decided neither to listen to him nor believe him. "He will become ... +a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and +a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Is 8:14); "This child is set for the +fall and rising of many in Israel" (Lk 2:34). + +<p>2049 He has just +stated what could have excused them from unbelief. But they don't have this +excuse because Christ showed himself to them in person and taught them. Thus he +says, <b>but now, </b>since I have come and spoken to them, <b>they have no +excuse</b>, that of ignorance, <b>for their sin. </b>"So they are without +excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God" (Rom 1:20). +But they did know Christ, as is clear from Matthew (21:38): "This is the heir; +come, let us kill him." However, they knew that he was the Christ promised in +the law, but they did not know that he was God, because "If they had, they +would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor 2:8). And so their ignorance +is no excuse, because they did not do this from ignorance but from another +root, that is, from hatred and a certain malice. + +<p>2050 This is why +he adds, <b>He who hates me hates my Father also. </b>This is like saying: +Their sin is not ignorance of me, but hatred for me, and this involves hatred +for the Father. Since the Son and the Father are one in essence, truth and +goodness, and since all knowledge of anyone is through the truth which is in +him, whoever loves the Son loves the Father also; and whoever knows the one +knows the other also; and whoever hates the Son hates the Father also. + +<p>2051 Two +problems arise here. First, whether anyone can hate God? We should say that no +one can hate God as God. Since God is the pure essence of goodness, and since +this is lovable in itself, it is impossible that God be hated in himself. This +is the reason why it is impossible for an evil person to see God. For it is +impossible for God to be seen without being loved; and one who loves God is +good. So these two things are incompatible, namely, to see God and be evil. + +<p>Yet +one can hate God from a particular point of view. For example, one who loves +lustful pleasures hates God as forbidding the enjoyment of lust, and one who +wants to be free from all punishment hates the justice of God when it punishes.<a +href="#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23">[23]</a> + +<p>2052 The second +problem arises because no once can hate what he does not know. But the Jews did +not know the Father: "They do not know him who sent me" (15:21). Therefore, +what he says here does not seem to be true, that they <b>hate my Father also. </b>We +can say, according to Augustine, that a person can love or hate something that +was never seen nor truly known.<a href="#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24">[24]</a> +This can happen in two ways. In one way, I can hate or love a person according +as I know him; or, according to what I am told about him. For example, if I +hear that someone is a thief I hate him, not because I know or hate this very +person, but because in general I hate all thieves. So, if he were a thief and I +did not know it, I would hate him without knowing that I hated him. Now the +Jews hated Christ and the truth that he preached. Since the very truth that +Christ preached and the works he performed were in the will of God the Father, +then just as they hated Christ, so also they hated the Father, even though they +did not know that these things were in the will of the Father. + +<p>2053 Now he +shows they are without excuse because of the witness of his signs. They could +say that they were not convinced by the words he spoke in opposition to them. +So he corroborates his words with marvelous actions, saying, <b>If I had not +done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin. </b>First, +he shows that they could be somewhat excused; secondly, he reveals the root of +their sin (v 24b); thirdly, he cites an authority (v 25). + +<p>2054 There are +two questions about the first point. One is about the truth of the antecedent +statement, <b>If I had not done among them the works which no one else did. </b>Did +Christ perform certain good works among them that no one else had done? It +seems not. If we say that Christ raised the dead, Elijah and Elisha also did +this. If Christ walked on the water, Moses parted the waters. Again, Joshua did +something greater [than Christ] for he made the sun stand still. So it seems +that Christ should not use this as an argument, and thus the conclusion is not +true. + +<p>I +answer that we can say, according to Augustine, that our Lord is not speaking +of the miracles he worked among them, that is, merely in their sight, but of +those he worked "among" them, that is, on their very persons.<a href="#_ftn25" +name="_ftnref25">[25]</a> +In curing the sick, although others did it, no one did it so much as Christ, +because no other was made God and no one was born of a virgin but Christ. So in +healing the sick he performed among them works which no one else performed; and +this in three ways. First, because his works were so great: for he raised a +person who had been dead for four days; he gave sight to a man who was born +blind, which had never been heard of before, as we read above (9:32). Secondly, +because of the great number of his works, for he healed all who were sick (Mt +14:35), and no one else did this. Thirdly, because of the way he did these +works: others did these things by praying for help, which showed that they were +not doing this by their own power; but Christ did it by command, for he did it +by his own power: "What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands +even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" (Mk 1:27). + +<p>Therefore, +although others have raised the dead and have accomplished other miracles which +Christ did, they did not do it in the same manner as Christ, nor by their own +power, as Christ did. Further, making the sun stand still is less than what the +dying Christ did, when he made the moon move backwards and changed the whole +course of the heavens, as Dionysius says.<a href="#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" +title="">[26]</a> + +<p>2055 The second +question is about the truth of the conditional statement, that if Christ had +not done among them works which no one else did, the Jews would not have the +sin of disbelief. My reply is that if we speak of any of the miracles +indiscriminately, the Jews would have been excusable if they had not been done +among them by Christ. For no one can come to Christ by faith unless he is +drawn: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (6:44). +So the spouse says in the Song (1:4): "Draw me after you." Therefore, if there +were no one who had drawn them to the faith, they would have an excuse for +their disbelief. Note that Christ drew by words and by signs, both visible and +invisible, that is, by inciting and stirring hearts from within: "The king's +heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord" (Prv 21:1). And so an inner +impulse to act well is the work of God, and those who resist it sin. If not, +Stephen would have no reason to say: "You always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts +7:51). And Isaiah (50:5) says: "The Lord has opened my ear," that is, the ear +of my heart, "and I was not rebellious." When our Lord said, <b>If I had not +done among them the works which no one else did, </b>we have to understand this +as referring not only to visible works but also to the interior impulses and +attractions to his teaching. If these had not been done among them, they would +not have sin. It is now clear how they could have been excused, that is, if he +had not accomplished miraculous works among them. + +<p>2056 Now he +shows the root of their sin of disbelief, namely, their hatred, because of +which they did not believe the works they saw. He says, <b>but now they have seen, +</b>the works he did among them, <b>and hated both me and my Father: </b>"Because +they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord" (Prv 1:29). As +Gregory says, there are some in the Church who not only do not do good works, +but they even persecute those who do, so that what they fail to do they detest +in others.<a href="#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27">[27]</a> +Thus their sin is not one of weakness or ignorance, but is committed of set +purpose. + +<p>2057 Yet some +could say: If it is true that the Jews hated you and your Father, why did you +perform miracles among them? He answers and says <b>It is to fulfill the word +that is written in their law. </b>Here we could ask why he says that this was +written in their law when it was written in the Psalms? We can say to this that +the "law" is understood in three ways in scripture. Sometimes it is taken for +the entire Old Testament; and this is the way it is understood here, because +the entire teaching of the Old Testament is directed to the observance of the +law: "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom" (Lk 23:42). Sometimes +it is taken as distinguished from the histories and the prophets: "that +everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the +psalms" (in which the histories are sometimes included) "must be fulfilled" (Lk +24:44). And sometimes the law is taken as distinct only from the prophets, and +then the histories are included in the prophets. He says, <b>It is to fulfill +what is written in their law, </b>that is, in the Psalms (35:19) <b>'They hated +me without a cause,'</b> and not to gain some benefit or avoid some trouble +(for this is why people hate). Indeed, Christ gave them opportunities to love +him when he healed and taught them: "He went about doing good" (Acts 10:38); +"Is evil a recompense for good? They have dug a pit for my life" (Jer 18:20); +"What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me" (Jer 2:5). + +<p>2058 Now he +shows that they are inexcusable because of what will come to pass after him: +because they would have other testimonies, namely, those of the Holy Spirit and +of the apostles. First, he states what was to come from the Holy Spirit; +secondly, from the apostles (v 27). He indicates four things about the Spirit: +his freedom, tenderness, procession and activity. + +<p>2059 He +indicates his freedom, or power, when he says, <b>But when the Paraclete comes. +</b>Strictly speaking that person is said to come who comes willingly and on +his own authority; and this is true of the Holy Spirit, because "the Spirit +blows where it wills" [3:8]; "I called upon God, and the Spirit of wisdom came +to me" (Wis 7:7). Therefore, in saying, <b>whom I shall send, </b>he does not +suggest force but origin. + +<p>2060 He touches +on his tenderness when he says, <b>the Paraclete</b>, that is the Consoler. +Since the Paraclete is the Love of God he makes us scorn earthly things and +cling to God; and thus he takes away our pain and sadness and gives us joy in +divine things: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace" (Gal 5:22); and in +Acts (9:31) we read that the Church was walking "in the comfort of the Holy +Spirit." + +<p>2061 Thirdly, he +touches on the twofold procession of the Holy Spirit. First, he mentions the +temporal procession when he says, <b>whom I shall send to you from the Father. </b>Note +that the Holy Spirit is said to be sent not because the Spirit is changing +place, since the Spirit fills the entire universe, as we read in Wisdom (1:7), +but because, by grace, the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in a new way in those he +makes a temple of God: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that +God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16). There is no disagreement in saying +that the Holy Spirit is sent and that he comes. In saying that the Spirit comes +the grandeur of his divinity is indicated: the "Spirit, who apportions to each +one individually as he wills" (1 Cor 12:11). And he is said to be sent to +indicate his procession from another, for the fact that he sanctifies the +rational creature by indwelling he has from that other, from whom he has it +that he is, just as it is from another that the Son has whatever he does. + +<p>The +Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son together; and this is indicated +in "He showed me the river of the water of life," that is, the Holy Spirit, +"flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb," that is, of Christ (Rev +22:1). Therefore, when speaking of the sending of the Holy Spirit he mentions +the Father and the Son, who send the Spirit by the same and equal power. Thus +sometimes he mentions the Father as sending the Spirit, but not without the +Son, as above (14:26): "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name"; +at other times he says that he himself sends the Holy Spirit, but not without +the Father: as here, <b>whom I shall send to you from the Father, </b>because +whatever the Son does he has from the Father: "The Son cannot do anything of +himself" [5:19].<a href="#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28">[28]</a> + +<p>2062 He mentions +the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit when he shows in a similar way that +the Spirit is related both to the Father and the Son. He shows the Spirit as +related to the Son when he says, <b>the Spirit of truth, </b>for the Son is the +Truth: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (14:6). He shows the Spirit +as related to the Father when he says, <b>who proceeds from the Father. </b>So +to say that the Holy Spirit is <b>the Spirit of truth, </b>is the same as +saying the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son: "God has sent the Spirit of +his Son into our hearts" (Gal 4:6). And because the word "spirit" (<i>spiritus</i>) +suggests a kind of impulse and every motion produces an effect in harmony with +its source (as heating makes something hot), it follows that the Holy Spirit +makes those to whom he is sent like the one whose Spirit he is. And since he is +the Spirit of Truth "He will teach you all truth" [16:13]; "The inspiration of +the Almighty gives understanding" [Job 32:8]. In the same way, because he is +the Spirit of the Son, he produces sons: "You have received the spirit of +sonship" (Rom 8:15). He says the <b>Spirit of truth </b>as contrasted with the +spirit of lying: "The Lord has mingled within her the spirit of error" [Is +19:14]; "I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his +prophets" (1 Kgs 22:22). + +<p>2063 Because he +says <b>who proceeds from the Father </b>and does not add "and from the Son," +the Greeks say that the Holy Spirit does not proceed from the Son but only from +the Father. But this absolutely cannot be. For the Holy Spirit could not be +distinguished from the Son unless he either proceeds from the Son, or on the +other hand, the Son proceeds from him (and no one claims this). For one cannot +say that among the divine persons, who are entirely immaterial and simple, +there is a material distinction based on a division of quantity, which matter +underlies. Thus it is necessary that the distinction of the divine persons be +by way of a formal distinction, which has to involve some kind of opposition. +For if forms are not opposed they are compatible with one another in the same +subject and do not diversify a supposit; for example, to be white and large. So +among the divine persons, since "not subject to birth" and "fatherhood" are not +opposed, they belong to one person. If, then, the Son and the Holy Spirit are +distinct persons proceeding from the Father, they have to be distinguished by +some properties that are opposed. These properties cannot be opposed like +affirmation and negation or privation and possessing are opposed, because then +the Son and the Holy Spirit would be related to one another like being and non‑being +and as the complete to the deprived, and this is repugnant to their equality. +Nor can these properties be opposed like contraries are opposed, one of which +is more perfect than the other. What remains is that the Holy Spirit is +distinguished from the Son only by a relative opposition. + +<p>This +kind of opposition rests solely on the fact that one of them is referred to the +other. For the different relations of two things to some third thing are not +directly opposed except accidentally, that is by some incidental consequence. +So in order for the Holy Spirit to be distinguished from the Son, they must +have relations that are opposed, by which they will be opposed to each other. +No such relations can be found except relations of origin, insofar as one +person is from the other. Thus it is impossible, granting the Trinity of +persons, that the Holy Spirit not be from the Son. + +<p>2064 Some say +that the Holy Spirit and the Son are distinguished by the different ways they +proceed, insofar as the Son is from the Father by being born and the Holy +Spirit by proceeding. But the same problem still returns which arose from the +previous opinion, as to how these two processions differ. One cannot say that +they are distinguished because of the diverse things received by their +respective generations, like the generation of a human being and a horse differ +because of the diverse natures that are communicated. For the very same nature +is received by the Son by being born from the Father and by the Holy Spirit by +proceeding. So we are left with the conclusion that they are distinguished only +by the order of origin, that is to say, insofar as the birth of the Son is a principle +of the procession of the Holy Spirit. And so, if the Holy Spirit were not from +the Son, the Spirit would not be distinguished from the Son and procession +would not be distinguished from birth. + +<p>Thus +even the Greeks admit some order between the Son and the Holy Spirit. For they +say that the Holy Spirit is of the Son, and that the Son acts through the Holy +Spirit, but not conversely. And some even admit that the Holy Spirit is from +the Son, but they will not concede that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son. +Yet in this they are obviously imprudent. For we use the word "procession" in +all cases in which one thing is from another in any way. And so this word, +because it is so general, has been adapted to indicate the existence of the +Holy Spirit as from the Son. We don't have any examples of this in creatures +which would lead us to give it a specific name; while we do have examples which +give us the special term of "generation" which is applied to the Son. The +reason for this is that in creatures we do not find a person proceeding from +will, as love, while we do find a person proceeding from nature, as son. Thus, +however the Holy Spirit is ordered to the Son, it can be concluded that the +Spirit proceeds from the Son. + +<p>2065 +Nevertheless some of the Greeks assert that one should not say that the Holy +Spirit proceeds from the Son because for them the preposition "from" indicates +a principle which is not from a principle, and this is so only of the Father. +This is not compelling because the Son with the Father is one principle of the +Holy Spirit, as also of creatures. And although the Son has it from the Father +that the Son is a principle of creatures, still creatures are said to be from +the Son; and for the same reason it can be said that the Holy Spirit proceeds +from the Son. + +<p>Nor +does it make any difference that we read here,<b> who proceeds from the Father, +</b>instead of "from the Father and the Son," because in a similar way it is +said, <b>whom I shall send</b>, and yet the Father is also understood to send, +since there is added, <b>from the Father. </b>In a similar way because it says, +<b>the Spirit of truth, </b>that is, the Spirit of the Son, we understand that +the Spirit proceeds from the Son. For, as has been said, when the procession of +the Holy Spirit is mentioned, the Son is always joined to the Father, and the +Father to the Son; and so these different ways of expression indicate a +distinction of persons. + +<p>2066 Fourthly, +he mentions the activity of the Holy Spirit when he says, <b>he will bear +witness to me; </b>and this in three ways. First, the Spirit will teach the +disciples and give them the confidence to bear witness: "For it is not you who +speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Mt 10:20). +Secondly, the Spirit will communicate his teaching to those who believe in +Christ: "God also bore witness by signs and miracles and by gifts of the Holy +Spirit" wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Heb +2:4). Thirdly, the Spirit will soften the hearts of their hearers: "When you +send forth your Spirit, they are created" (Ps 104:30). + +<p>2067 Finally, he +mentions what lies ahead for the disciples when he says, <b>and you also are +witnesses, </b>inspired by the Holy Spirit: "You shall be my witnesses in +Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of this earth" (Acts +1:8). We read of this twofold testimony in Acts (5:32): "We are witnesses to +these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey +him." + +<p>He +adds why this testimony is appropriate when he says, <b>because you have been +with me from the beginning, </b>that is, the beginning of my preaching and +working of miracles, and so you can testify to what you have seen and heard: +"That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you" (1 Jn 1:3). We can +see from this that Christ did not perform miracles in his youth, as some +apocryphal gospels relate but only from the time he called his disciples. + +</div> + +<div><br clear=all> + +<hr align=left size=1 width="33%"> + +<div id=ftn1> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">Arial'>[1]</a> "Times New Roman";color:blue'>St. Thomas refers to Jn 15:1 +in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> III, q. 74, a. 5, s. c.; Jn 15:3: <i>ST </i>III, +q. 74, a. 5, s. c.; Jn 15:5: <i>ST</i> I-II, q. 6, a. 1, obj. 3; q. 109, a. 6, +ad 2; II-II, q. 156, a. 2, ad 1.<i> </i> + +</div> + +<div id=ftn2> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> <i>Sermones +de Verbis Domini</i> 61; PL 38, col. 1859;"Times New Roman";color:black'> "Times New Roman";color:green'>cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:1-3. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn3> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 80, ch. 3, col. 1839; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:1-3. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn4> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> Summa-Word of Christ cleanses +both in faith and baptism. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn5> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> Summa-it it impossible to do +any work except by Christ. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn6> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6">[6]</a> Summa-that it is +possible to be united to the Church in faith, but not by charity. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn7> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7">[7]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 81 ch. +3, col. 1841-2; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:4-7. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn8> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8">[8]</a> St. Thomas +refers to Jn 15:11 in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> II-II, q. 28, a. 3 s. c.; Jn +15:12: <i>ST</i> I-II, q. 68, a. 1; II-II, q. 22, a. 1. s. c.; Jn 15:13: <i>ST</i> +II-II, q. 26, a. 5, obj. 3; q. 124, a. 2, obj. 2; q. 124, a. 3, q. 184, a. 5, +obj. 3; q. 184, a. 2, ad 3; III, q. 66, a. 12. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn9> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9">[9]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 82, ch. +4, col. 1844; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:8-11. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn10> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10">[10]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 83, ch. +1, col. 1844-5; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:8-11. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn11> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11">[11]</a> <i>Homiliae in Evangelista</i>, +XXVII; 1; PL 76, col. 1205B; +cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:12-16. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn12> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12">[12]</a> Ibid.; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:12-16. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn13> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13">[13]</a> St. Thomas refers +to Jn 15:14 in the <i>Summa Theologiae: </i>II-II, q. 23, a. 1, s. c.; Jn +15:15: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 172, a. 4, obj. 2; Jn 15:17: <i>ST</i> I, q. 73, a. +2, arg. 1. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn14> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14">[14]</a> <i>Moralia +XVII</i>, ch. 15, no. 28; PL 76, col. 415B"Times New Roman";color:green'>; cf. <i>Catena Aurea, </i>15:12-16. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn15> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15">[15]</a> <i>In Ioannem hom</i>., 77, ch. 1; +PG 59, col. 415; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, 15:12-16. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn16> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16">[16]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 86, ch. +1, col. 1850; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:12-16. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn17> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17">[17]</a> <i>Homiliae in Evangelista +XXVII</i>; PL 76; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 15:12-16. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn18> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18">[18]</a> Summa-God predestines and +calls men not based on their merit. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn19> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19">[19]</a> +Origen. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn20> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20">[20]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 87, ch. +2, col. 1853; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:17-21. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn21> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21">[21]</a> Aristotle. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn22> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22">[22]</a> St. Thomas +refers to Jn 15:22 in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> II-II, q. 5, a. 2, obj. 3; +q. 10, a. 1; q. 10, a. 3, s. c.; III, q. 47, a. 5; q. 80, a. 5, s. c.; q. 86, +a. 3, ad 2; Jn 15:24: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 34, a. 1 s. c.; III, q. 43, a. 4, ad +1; q. 47, a. 5, obj. 2; Jn 15:25: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 16, a. 1, obj. 5:<i> </i>Jn +15:26: <i>ST</i> I, q. 27, a. 3, s. c.; q. 36, a. 2, obj 1. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn23> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23">[23]</a> Summa-man can hate God under a +certain aspect. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn24> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24">[24]</a> <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 90, ch. 1, +col. 1858-9; cf. +<i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:22-25. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn25> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25">[25]</a> Ibid., cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>,<i> </i>15:22-25. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn26> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26">[26]</a> Dionysius. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn27> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27">[27]</a> <i>Moralia</i>, +XXV, ch. 11, no. 28; PL 76, col. 339B; "Times New Roman";color:green'>cf. <i>Catena Aurea, </i>15:22-25. + +</div> + +<div id=ftn28> + +<p><a href="#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28">[28]</a> Summa-procession of the Holy +Spirit from the Father and the Son. 2061-2065. +</body></html>
