He declares what he has seen and heard of Christ who is the life eternal, to the end that we may have fellowship with God and all good through him. Yet so if we confess our sins.
Good cause there is to beleeue the Apostles preaching. 5 And this is one point of their preaching, that to haue participation vvith God, vve must not onely beleeue, but also abstaine from al mortal sinne, 8 though vve al sinne venially.
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, of the word of life.Quello, che fu da principio, quello, che udimmo, quello, che vedemmo cogli occhi nostri, e contemplammo, e colle nostre mani palpammo di quel Verbo di vita:THAT vvhich vvas from the beginning, vvhich vve haue heard, vvhich vve haue seen vvith our eies, vvhich vve haue looked vpon, and our handes haue handled of the vvord of life: (Quod fuit ab initio, quod audivimus, quod vidimus oculis nostris, quod perspeximus, et manus nostræ contrectaverunt de verbo vitæ: 2For the life was manifested: and we have seen and do bear witness and declare unto you the life eternal, which was with the Father and hath appeared to us.E la vita si è manifestala, e vedemmo, e attestiamo, annunziamo a voi la vita eterna, la quale era appresso al Padre, e apparve a noi:and the life vvas manifested: and vve haue seen, and do testifie, and declare vnto you the life eternal vvhich vvas vvith the Father, and hath appeared to vs)et vita manifestata est, et vidimus, et testamur, et annuntiamus vobis vitam æternam, quæ erat apud Patrem, et apparuit nobis: 3That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you: that you also may have fellowship with us and our fellowship may be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.Quello, che vedemmo, e udimmo. Io annunziamo a voi, affinchè voi pure abbiate società con noi, e la nostra società sia col Padre, e col Figliuolo di lui Gesù Cristo.that vvhich vve haue seen and haue heard, vve declare vnto you, that • you also may haue societie vvith vs, and our societie may be vvith the Father and vvith his Sonne IESVS Christ.quod vidimus et audivimus, annuntiamus vobis, ut et vos societatem habeatis nobiscum, et societas nostra sit cum Patre, et cum Filio ejus Jesu Christo. 4And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice and your joy may be full.E queste cose scriviamo a voi, affinchè ne godiate, e il gaudio vostro sia compiuto.And these things vve vvrite to you, that you may reioyce, and your ioy may be ful.Et hæc scribimus vobis ut gaudeatis, et gaudium vestrum sit plenum. 5And this is the declaration which we have heard from him and declare unto you: That God is light and in him there is no darkness.Questo è adunque l'annunzio, che abbiamo udito da lui, e lo facciam sapere a voi che Dio è luce, né vi son tenebre in lui.And this is the annuntiation vvhich vve haue heard of him, and declare vnto you, That God is light, and in him there is no darkenesse.Et hæc est annuntiatio, quam audivimus ab eo, et annuntiamus vobis: quoniam Deus lux est, et tenebræ in eo non sunt ullæ.
6If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.Se diremo d'aver società con lui, e camminerem nelle tenebre, diciamo bugia, e non siamo veraci.If vve shal say that we haue societie vvith him, and vvalke in darkenesse: vve lie, and do not the truth.Si dixerimus quoniam societatem habemus cum eo, et in tenebris ambulamus, mentimur, et veritatem non facimus. 7But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another: And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.Che se camminiam nella luce, com' anch'egli sta nella luce, abbiam società scambievole con esso, e il sangue di Gesù Cristo suo Figliuolo ci purga da ogni peccato.But if we vvalke in the light, as he also is in the light: vve haue societie one tovvard an other, and • the bloud of IESVS Christ his sonne cleanseth vs • from al sinne.Si autem in luce ambulamus sicut et ipse est in luce, societatem habemus ad invicem, et sanguis Jesu Christi, Filii ejus, emundat nos ab omni peccato. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.Se diremo, che non abbiam colpa, noi inganniamo noi stessi, e non è in noi verità.If vve shal say • that vve haue no sinne, vve seduce our selues, and the truth is not in vs.Si dixerimus quoniam peccatum non habemus, ipsi nos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.Se confessiamo i nostri peccati: egli è fedele, e giusto per rimetterci i nostri peccati, e mondarci da ogni iniquità.If vve confesse our sinnes: he is faithful & iust, for to forgiue vs our sinnes, and to cleanse vs from al iniquitie.Si confiteamur peccata nostra: fidelis est, et justus, ut remittat nobis peccata nostra, et emundet nos ab omni iniquitate. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar: and his word is not in us.Se diremo, che non abbiamo peccato: facciamo bugiardo lui, e la sua parola non è in noi.If vve shal say that vve haue not sinned: vve make him a lier, and his vvord is not in vs.Si dixerimus quoniam non peccavimus, mendacem facimus eum, et verbum ejus non est in nobis.
1:1
Witham
The first two verses and part of the third have a great conformity with the beginning of St. John's gospel. The construction is somewhat obscure, unless we observe that the second verse is to be taken by way of a parenthesis, and the sense is not complete till these words, we declare to you, etc. The whole may be expressed in this literal paraphrase: We declare and preach to you the eternal and always living word, which was from the[Ver. 1. Quod fuit ab initio; in Greek, quod erat, o en ap arches. This answers to, in principio erat verbum[in the beginning was the Word, John 1:1].] beginning, (for this word which was with the Father from eternity, hath appeared,[Ver. 1. Et vita manifesta est. This corresponds to, in ipso vita erat[in him was life, John 1:4], and apparuit nobis to Verbum Caro Factum est[the Word was made flesh, John 1:14]. And it was true to say that they had seen the eternal word, not as God, but under the veil of human nature.] and manifested himself to us, when he took upon him our human nature, and was made flesh). This word I say, incarnate, we have seen with our eyes, we have heard him preach his gospel, we have touched his true body with our hands, as we witness and declare to you, that you may have fellowship with us, and be made partakers of the graces which God came from heaven to bestow upon mankind, to make us his adoptive sons and heirs of heaven. (Witham)
1:5
Witham
God is light,[Ver. 5. Deus lux est; (John i.) erat lux vera[that was the true light, John 1:9].] etc. We cannot have this fellowship with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, if we walk in the darkness of sin: we must walk as the children of light. (Witham)
1:8
Witham
Not that we say or pretend we have no sin;[Ver. 8. Quoniam peccatum non habemus, etc. By which are confuted the errors of the Pelagian heretics, who denied original sin, and pretended that men by their natural strength could and did live free from all sins.] thus truth would not be in us, and we should even make God a liar, who has declared all mankind guilty of sin. We were all born guilty of original sin; we have fallen, and still frequently fall into lesser sins and failings. We can only except from this number our Saviour Christ, who, even as man, never sinned, and his blessed Virgin Mother, by a special privilege, preserved from all kind of sin: and of whom St. Augustine[Ver. 8. St. Augustine, lib. de Nat. et Gra. ch. XXXVII. Excepta S. V. Maria, de qua propter honorem Domini, nullam prorsus, cum de peccato agitur, haberi volo mentionem.] says, "that for the honour of our Lord, when we speak of the holy Virgin Mary, he will have no mention at all made of any sin." (Witham)
1:3
3. You may haue societie.] S. Iohn shevveth manifestly, that vvhosoeuer desire to be partakers vvith God, No saluatiō but in the Societie of the Church. must first be vnited to the Churches societie, learne that faith, and receiue those Sacraments, vvhich the Disciples receiued of the Truth it self, conuersant vvith them in flesh. So saith Venerable Bede vpon this place. Vvhereby vve see there is no societie vvith God in sectes or schismes, nor any vvhere but in the vnitie, fellovvship, and communion of that Church vvhich can proue it self to descend from the Apostles.
1:5
Concordance Io. 8, 12.
1:6
Concordance Heb. 9.
1:7
7. The bloud of Iesus.] Vvhether sinnes he remitted by praiers, by fasting, by almes, by faith, by charitie, Many meanes & instruments of remitting sinne, but al by the force & merite of Christs bloud applied by them. by sacrifice, by Sacraments, & by the Priests, (as the holy Scriptures do plainely attribute remissiō to euery of these) yet none of al these do othervvise remit, but in the force, by the merite & vertue of Christs bloud: these being but the appointed meanes & instruments by vvhich Christ vvil haue his holy bloud to vvorke effectually in vs. vvhich meanes vvhosoeuer contemneth, depriueth him self of the cōmoditie of Christs ovvne bloud, & continueth still in sinne and vncleannesse, vaunt he him self neuer so much of Christs death. Vvhich point let the Protestants marke vvel, and cease to beguile their poore deceiued folovvers, persuading them, that the Catholikes derogate from Christs bloud, or seeke remission othervvise then by it, for that they vse humbly the meanes appointed by Christ to apply the benefite of his holy bloud vnto them.
7. From al sinne.] Al remission of sinnes is by the Passiō of Christ though by secū darie meanes also. From original and actual, venial and mortal, a culpa & poena, that is, from the fault and the paine due for the same. V. Bede saith, that Christs Passion doth not onely remit in Baptisme the sinnes before committed. but al other aftervvard also done by frailtie: yet so, if vve vse for the remission of them, such meanes as be requisite and as Christ hath appointed, vvhereof he reckeneth some. Bede vpon this place. See S. Augustine also vpon this place to. 9. and S. Hierome li. 2 con.. Pelag. c. 3.
Concordance 1 Pet. 1.
Concordance Apo. 1.
1:8
8. That vve haue no sinne.] Vve gather by these vvordes and the former, that there be tvvo sortes of sinnes: Some sinnes venial. one mortal, excluding vs from light and the societie of God: an other venial, vvhich is found euen in those that vvalke in the light, and are in the societie of God. Also vve note against the Pelagians, A man may be truely iust, notvvithstanding venial sinnes. that vve be truely called the sonnes of God, and so iust in deede, though vve be not vvithout al sinnes, euery one of vs, as vvel iust as vniust, being taught and bound to confesse our offenses, and to aske pardon daily of God, by this petition of the Pater noster, Forgiue vs our debtes. Therfore S. Augustine li. de natura & grat. c. 36. reckeneth vp al the holy Patriarches, Prophets, and renovvmed iust persons, to haue been sinners, euen vvhen they vvere in grace and Iustice: excepting alvvaies our B. Ladie, de qua propter honorem Domini, nullam prorsus, cùm de peccatis agitur, S. Augustine excepteth our B. Ladie from sinners. habere volo quaestionem. of vvhom, saith he, for the honour of our Lord. vvhen vve talke of sinnes, I vvil haue no question. And Pelagius asking vvhat sinnes Abel & such iust men did commit, c. 3•. S. Augustine āsvvereth, that they might laugh sometime immoderately, or iest to much, or couet somevvhat intēperatly, or plucke fruite ouer greedily, or in eating take somevvhat more then aftervvard vvas vvel digested, Examples of venial sinnes. or haue their intention in time of praier somevvhat distracted, and such like. thus in sense S. Augustine. Vvhereby vve may learne vvhich be venial sinnes, that consist vvith true iustice & de 〈◊〉 perseuerās. c. 2. can not alvvaies be auoided euen of holy men in this life. In the booke de fide ad Petrum c. 41. are excepted from this common rule of sinners, the children vvhich be nevvely baptized and haue not yet vse of reason to sinne either mortally or venially.
Concordance 3 Reg. 8, 46.
Concordance 2 Par. 6, 36.
1:1
Caius † fl. AD 200 Fragments of Caius 3
… What marvel is it, then, that John brings forward these several things so constantly in his epistles also, saying in his own person, “What we have seen with our eyes, and heard with our ears, and our hands have handled, that have we written.”
Clement of Alexandria † AD 215 The Stromata, or Miscellanies fragments-of-clemens-alexandri
Chap. i. 1 . “That which was from the beginning; which we have seen with our eyes; which we have heard.”
Tertullian † AD 220 A Treatise on the Soul 17
… He was truly both seen and heard upon the mount; true and real was the draught of that wine at the marriage of (Cana in) Galilee; true and real also was the touch of the then believing Thomas. Read the testimony of John: “That which we have seen, which we have heard, which we have looked upon with our eyes, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 15
… But he has indeed taken away all question of time, by saying that God had never been seen. The apostle confirms this statement; for, speaking of God, he says, “Whom no man hath seen, nor can see;” because the man indeed would die who should see Him. But the very same apostles testify that they had both seen and “handled” Christ.
Tertullian † AD 220 On Patience 3
And this species of the divine patience indeed being, as it were, at a distance, may perhaps be esteemed as among “things too high for us;” but what is that which, in a certain way, has been grasped by hand
Tertullian † AD 220 To His Wife i.4
… They prefer to be wedded to God. To God their beauty, to God their youth (is dedicated). With Him they live; with Him they converse; Him they “handle”
Tertullian † AD 220 Five Books in Reply to Marcion 3
From death recovered body, and partook
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus i.48
… and a sense of taste which can make use of living bread that has come down from heaven, and that giveth life unto the world; and so also a sense of smelling, which scents such things as leads Paul to say that he is a sweet savour of Christ unto God; and a sense of touch, by which John says that he “handled with his hands of the Word of life;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 7.34
… or when the expression is used, “the law by the hand of Moses,” or, “I sought the Lord with my hands, and was not deceived,” —no one is so foolish as not to see that the word “hands” is taken figuratively, as when John says, “Our hands have handled the Word of life.”
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Containing Various Sections of the Works 1.4
… but without any circumlocution, he has commenced at once with the mystery of the divine revelation itself in these terms: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes.”
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Containing Various Sections of the Works 1.6
… “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father.” The other says the same things, with a slight alteration: “That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life: and the life was manifested.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 5.20.6
… And as he remembered their words, and what he heard from them concerning the Lord, and concerning his miracles and his teaching, having received them from eyewitnesses of the ‘Word of life,’
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 7.25
… ‘John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be with you, and peace.’ But the evangelist did not prefix his name even to the Catholic Epistle; but without introduction he begins with the mystery of the divine revelation itself: ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes.’
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 4.26
… ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of Life; and the Life was manifested, and we have seen it; and we bear witness and declare unto you that Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.15
… For John said: “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, and which we have seen, and have beheld with our eyes, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of Life; and the Life appeared, and we saw and testify, and declare to you of that Life which was with the Father.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.8
56. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” “Was,” mark you, “with God.” “Was”—see, we have “was” four times over. Where did the blasphemer find it written that He “was not.” Again, John, in another passage—in his Epistle—speaketh of “That which was in the beginning.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.19
… For behold God (as it were) saying, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven.” There came suddenly a sound from heaven, as it had been the rushing of a mighty wind, and there appeared cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And there were made lights in the firmament of heaven, having the word of life.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 5.6
“ That ,” says the Apostle John, “which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of the life: for the life was manifested: and we have seen, and do bear witness, and declare unto you the life eternal which was with the Father, and hath appeared unto us.”
1:2
Clement of Alexandria † AD 215 The Stromata, or Miscellanies fragments-of-clemens-alexandri
Ver. 2 . “The life was manifested.” For in the Gospel he thus speaks: “And what was made, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Flesh of Christ 12
… It was not its own form that it learnt of Christ, but its salvation. For this cause did the Son of God descend and take on Him a soul, not that the soul might discover itself in Christ, but Christ in itself. For its salvation is endangered, not by its being ignorant of itself, but of the word of God. “The life,” says He, “was manifested,”
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Containing Various Sections of the Works 1.6
… For which reason he has also been careful to add these words: “And that which we have seen we testify, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us: that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 7.25
… Wherefore also he carefully adds, ‘And we have seen and bear witness, and declare unto you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also.’
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.4
… But if the contrast is one with the Only-begotten God , let our sages learn that truth has its opposite only in falsehood, and God in one who is not God. But inasmuch as the Lord Who is the Truth is God, and is in the Father and is one relatively to the Father
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.2
… because “not two, but one flesh:” because “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us.” To that flesh the Church is joined, and so there is made the whole Christ, Head and body.
1:3
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 28
… moreover, brands that man as “a liar” who “denieth that Jesus is the Christ;” whilst on the other hand he declares that “every one is born of God who believeth that Jesus is the Christ.” Wherefore he also exhorts us to believe in the name of His ( the Father’s ,) Son Jesus Christ, that “our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.12
131. And that there is communion between the Father and the Son is plain, for it is written: “And our communion is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.11
152. See, then, how there is fellowship both through the Father and of the Son, and yet not a different fellowship, but one and the same. “And that our fellowship be with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.3
3. “And we are witnesses, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us:” i.e. , manifested among us: which might be more plainly expressed, manifested to us. “The things,” therefore, “which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you.”
1:4
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.3
… because those tell us who have seen. “That ye also,” saith he, “may have fellowship with us.” And what great matter is it to have fellowship with men? Do not despise it; see what he adds: “and our fellowship may be with God the Father, and Jesus Christ His Son. And these things,” saith he, “we write unto you, that your joy may be full.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Repentance 6
… but God takes foresight for His own treasure, and suffers not the unworthy to steal a march upon it. What, in fact, does He say? “Nothing hid which shall not be revealed.” Draw whatever (veil of) darkness you please over your deeds, “God is light.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 7
… albeit it had been “lost” in a house, as it were in the church; albeit “found” by aid of a “lamp,” as it were by aid of God’s word. Nay, but this whole world is the one house of all; in which world it is more the heathen, who is found in darkness, whom the grace of God enlightens, than the Christian, who is already in God’s light.
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 19
… or else, if not always , not again after believing; and if not from sin, not again from fornication. But what is the point whence (John) has started? He had predicated “God” to be “Light,” and that “darkness is not in Him,” and that “we lie if we say that we have communion with Him, and walk in darkness.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 1.1.1
… Now, I should like to ask these persons what they have to say respecting that passage where it is declared that God is light; as John writes in his Epistle, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.section24
… Nor, seeing He is called the Son of (His) love, will it appear absurd if in this way He be called the Son of (His) will. Nay, John also indicates that “God is Light,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 2.71
… and we, discovering traces of such teaching in the Scripture narratives, take occasion from such to aid our theological conceptions, hearing it declared in one passage, that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 5.11
But even this rational light itself ought not to be worshipped by him who beholds and understands the true light, by sharing in which these also are enlightened; nor by him who beholds God, the Father of the true light,—of whom it has been said, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.20
… But he also who is ignorant of divine things walks in darkness, just because of that ignorance; as David says, “They knew not, they understood not, they walk in darkness.” Consider, however, this passage,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 21.1
… For this reason, God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, since He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living. Again, in praising virtue, I shall be praising God, who gives virtue to men and lifts them up, or lifts them up again, to Himself by the enlightenment which is akin to Himself.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… I also acknowledge another Light, by which the primeval darkness was driven away or pierced. It was the first of all the visible creation to be called into existence; and it irradiates the whole universe, the circling orbit of the stars, and all the heavenly beacon fires.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.14
160. But why should I argue that as the Father is light, so, too, the Son is light, and the Holy Spirit is light? Which certainly pertains to the power of God. For God is Light, as John said: “For God is Light, and in Him is no darkness.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.3
22. And how is it that the Son dwelleth not in light unapproachable, if He is in the bosom of the Father, if the Father is Light, and the Son also is Light, because God is Light?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 5
… 26 ); now as you would not on account of this expression say that the Father is compounded, so neither can you say so of the Son. Thus in another place he says, that “God is Light” (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
In 1 John i. 5, John i. 7, 8, Matt. v. 14 , Christ and the Apostles are called the Light of the world. The world therefore is darkness.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 7.10
16. And being thence warned to return to myself, I entered into my inward self, Thou leading me on; and I was able to do it, for Thou wert become my helper. And I entered, and with the eye of my soul (such as it was) saw above the same eye of my soul, above my mind, the Unchangeable Light.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 92.2
… What tongue can describe the nature and the greatness of that light by which all those things which are now in the hearts of men concealed shall be made manifest? who can with our weak faculties even approach it? Truly that Light is God Himself, for “God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 7.3
… of life, and in Thy light shall we see light.” Because, “as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself:” and, “He was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world:” and this light, “the Word,” was “with God;” but “the Word also was God;” and “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 8.2
… Neither if you were to think of the same spirits as without bodies—a thing indeed most difficult for carnal thought to do. Behold and see, if thou canst, O soul pressed down by the corruptible body, and weighed down by earthly thoughts, many and various; behold and see, if thou canst, that God is truth. For it is written that “God is light;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 8.8
… because the reason that he does not see God is, that he does not love his brother. For he who does not love his brother, abideth not in love; and he who abideth not in love, abideth not in God, because God is love. Further, he who abideth not in God, abideth not in light; for “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.8
… For we read, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all;"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.4
4. “And this is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you.”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.12
… And when He was received again into Heaven He was borne towards the East, and thus His apostles worship Him, and thus He will come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven ; as the Lord Himself said, As the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be .
1:6
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.20
… For if any light that a man kindles for himself were a light of knowledge, then the added words, “Make light for yourselves, the light of knowledge,” would have no meaning. And again that darkness is brought upon men by their evil deeds, we learn from John himself, when he says in his epistle,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.5
… To this end, see what follows: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie.”
1:7
Clement of Alexandria † AD 215 The Stromata, or Miscellanies fragments-of-clemens-alexandri
Ver. 7 . “And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son,” he says, “cleanses us.” For the doctrine of the Lord, which is very powerful, is called His blood.
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 19
From the Epistle also of John they forthwith cull (a proof). It is said: “The blood of His Son purifieth us utterly from every sin.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… purchase salvation by your death; enter with Jesus into Paradise, so that you may learn from what you have fallen. Contemplate the glories that are there; let the murderer die outside with his blasphemies; and if you be a Joseph of Arimathæa, beg the Body from him that crucified Him, make thine own that which cleanses the world.
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
1 John i. 7 . The blood of Christ cleanses us.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 1.42
Moreover, from John’s Epistle I meet with the following words, which seem indispensable to the solution of this question: “But if,” says he, “we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 28
… “and the blood of Jesus the Son of God cleanseth us from all sin
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.22
The Deity is good and more than good, and so is His will. For that which God wishes is good. Moreover the precept, which teaches this, is law, that we, holding by it, may walk in light
1:8
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 19
… He had predicated “God” to be “Light,” and that “darkness is not in Him,” and that “we lie if we say that we have communion with Him, and walk in darkness.” “If, however,” he says, “we walk in the light, we shall have communion with Him, and the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord purifieth us utterly from every sin.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 22
… Thus, moreover, John also in his epistle warns us, and says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On Works and Alms 3
… since it is written, “Who shall boast that he hath a clean heart, or who shall boast that he is pure from sins?” And again, in his epistle, John lays it down, and says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.55
In Job: “For who is pure from filth? Not one; even if his life be of one day on the earth.” Also in the fiftieth Psalm: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins hath my mother conceived me.” Also in the Epistle of John: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Peter of Alexandria † AD 311 The Genuine Acts of Peter 1
… What also can be more sublime than the apostles, who have not removed themselves from our infirmity? For one of them writes, “In many things we offend all;” and another, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 23.16
16. And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors . For we have many sins. For we offend both in word and in thought, and very many things we do worthy of condemnation; and if we say that we have no sin , we lie, as John says
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.2
… be a real difficulty and one for ever incapable of solution were it not solved by the witness of John himself, who immediately goes on to say, “My little children, guard yourselves from idols.” If everyone that is born of God sinneth not, and cannot be tempted by the devil, how is it that he bids them beware of temptation? Again in the same Epistle we read:
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.13
A. I will requite like with like, and will show that, according to you, the little epistle of the Evangelist contradicts itself. For, if whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not because His seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God, how is it that the writer says in the same place:
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
… Not he who has lived but one day upon the earth.” And in the fifty-first Psalm, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” And in the Epistle of John,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 9.13
… And although she, having been “made alive” in Christ even before she was freed from the flesh had so lived as to praise Thy name both by her faith and conversation, yet dare I not say
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.37
… Why am I more irritated at that reproach which is cast upon myself, than at that which is with equal injustice cast upon another in my presence? Am I ignorant of this also? or does it remain that I deceive myself, and do not the “truth”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.10
… but where is the man who is altogether without sin? Where, therefore, is the man who is without any vice, that is, fuel or root, as it were, of sin, when he who reclined on the breast of the Lord says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.15
… Because of this vice there is “not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not;” because of this vice, “in God’s sight shall no man living be justified.” On account of this vice, “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 14.9
… They fear to sin, because they hear that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” They desire to persevere, because they hear that it is written, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” They grieve for sin, hearing that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.17
… O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin.” Obviously there shall be no sin when it can be said, “Where is”—But as for the present it is not some poor weak citizen of this city, but this same Apostle John himself who says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.25
… By the sons of Levi and Judah and Jerusalem we ought to understand the Church herself, gathered not from the Hebrews only, but from other nations as well; nor such a Church as she now is, when “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 64
… There is a difference, however. For although every crime is a sin, every sin is not a crime. And so we say that the life of holy men, as long as they remain in this mortal body, may be found without crime; but, as the Apostle John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Continence 25
… is, “Forgive us our debts:” and, that we should not think spiritual persons exempt from these, not any one soever of carnal persons, nor any one soever of spiritual persons themselves, but he, who lay on the breast of the Lord, and whom He loved before others, saith, “If we shall say that we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 49
… but if we shall have confessed our faults, He is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we shall have said that we have not sinned, we shall make Him a liar, and His word shall not be in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Against Lying 40
… “But if the truth of God hath abounded through my lie.” And therefore, when he lies as a man he sins as a man, and will be held by that sentence in which it is said, “All men are liars;” and, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.106
… Accordingly, if you had a pious people under you, you ought to have exhorted them to pray for you, that you might not give utterance as you ought not. Are you more righteous than the evangelist John, who says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Correction of the Donatists 9
… They would also have a fight to despise the warning of the Apostle John, when he cries out in his epistle, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.8
… I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart,” he yet immediately adds, “For this shall every saint pray unto Thee in an acceptable time.” Not indeed every sinner, but “every saint;” for it is the voice of saints which says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.10
… Hence it comes to pass that “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;” and as well, “if we were to say that we have no sin, we should deceive ourselves, and the truth would not be in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.12
The statement, therefore, “He that is born of God sinneth not,” is not contrary to the passage in which it is declared by those who are born of God, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.18
There are then on earth righteous men, there are great men, brave, prudent, chaste, patient, pious, merciful, who endure all kinds of temporal evil with an even mind for righteousness’ sake. If, however, there is truth—nay, because there is truth—in these words, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 3.23
… Moreover, if he supposes himself to be such a character, “he deceives himself, and the truth is not in him,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 65
… “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors?” And do they prove this to be wrong which is written, “In Thy sight shall no man living be justified?” and this: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 15
… “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; neither can he sin, for his seed remaineth in him;” while the Apostle John himself, as if he had not been born of God, or else were addressing men who had not been born of God, lays down this position: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 38
… No doubt on the side of falsehood, if you prove arrogance to exist on the side of truth.” And so he decides, and rightly decides, that humility should rather be ranged on the side of truth, not of falsehood. Whence it follows that he who said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 42
… Would it be in the language of our author, or in the words of the Apostle John? I put it to you, whether, on having such a question submitted to them, however excellent might have been their sanctity in this body, they would not have exclaimed with one voice: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 73
… it is not to the effect that no man was without sin, as if he spoke of the past; but no man is without sin; and on this point, as I have already remarked, I have no contention with him. But if one refuses to submit to the Apostle John,—who does not himself declare, “If we were to say we have had no sin,” but “If we say we have no sin,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 82
… only I solemnly assert, that wheresoever and whensoever they become perfect, it cannot be but by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. When, indeed, they have attained to the clear knowledge that they have no sin, let them not say they have sin, lest the truth be not in them;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 30
… in order that “he who glorieth may glory in the Lord.” The “faultless” ones, indeed, in the Apocalypse, are so called because “no guile was found in their mouth.” They did not say they had no sin: if they had said this, they would deceive themselves, and the truth would not be in them;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 39
“They also quote,” says he, “this passage, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness chapter44
… am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” He, moreover, who says that any man, after he has received remission of sins, has ever lived in this body, or still is living, so righteously as to have no sin at all, he contradicts the Apostle John, who declares that “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius 26
… who would deny it? But to say this is a very different thing from saying that they lived “without sin.” Because, indeed, those ancient worthies lived holy and righteous lives, they could for that very reason better confess: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius 27
… If this be their meaning, then I repeat the same words as I quoted just now; for how can they be members of the Church, of whom the voice of a truthful humility declares, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.2
… and saying to the Pelagians, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3.4
… For although the devil is the author and source of all sins, yet it is not every sin that makes children of the devil; for the children of God also sin, since if they say they have no sins they deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3.24
… Because the voice, even of those earlier ones, is, “In the Lord shall my soul be praised.” And the voice of the later ones is, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” And to all belongs, “That he that glorieth may glory in the Lord.” And it is the common confession of all, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.3
… For the word of the saints is, “If we should say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.17
… when, in opposition to them, from the rising of the sun even to its setting, in all its members it cries to God, “Forgive us our debts.” But if they are interrogated regarding themselves in this matter, they find not what to answer. For if they should say that they have no sin, John answers them, that they deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.18
… And this is opposed to the Manicheans, who blaspheme the patriarchs and prophets; but what is opposed to the Pelagians is, that all of these, when interrogated concerning themselves while they lived in the body, with one most accordant voice would answer, “If we should say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.27
… since it is written, ‘Who shall boast that he hath a clean heart, or who shall boast that he is pure from sins?’ And again, in his epistle, John lays it down and says, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.8
… and while pardon is asked for from God, the soul recalls its own consciousness. Lest any one should flatter himself that he is innocent, and by exalting himself should more deeply perish, he is instructed and taught that he sins daily, in that he is bidden daily to entreat for his sins. Thus, moreover, John also in his Epistle warns us, and says,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 6.11
… Thou art saying perchance at this moment, And you too. We answer, Yes, we too. What, ye Holy Bishops, are ye debtors? Yes, we are debtors too. What you! My Lord. Be it far from thee, do not thyself this wrong. I do myself no wrong, but I say the truth; we are debtors: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 40.3
… According to a certain respect, I repeat they were bad, who yet were good; and according to a certain respect they were good, who yet were bad. Hear John according to what respect they were bad: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 40.6
… In one and the same man there exist two things, charity and desire. Let charity be born in thee, if it be yet unborn, and if it be born, be it nourished, fostered, increased. But as to that desire, though in this life it cannot be utterly extinguished; “for if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 64.4
4. This would I say even if thou hadst no sin which thou mightest desire to be forgiven thee. But as it is, whosoever thou art, thou art a man; though thou be righteous, thou art a man; be thou layman, or monk, or clerk, or Bishop, or Apostle, thou art a man. Hear the Apostle’s voice, “If we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 85.8
… Tell us. One of them saith. And who? He whom the Lord loved the most, and who lay on the Lord’s Breast, and drank in the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven which he was to pour forth again. Him I ask; “Have ye sin or not?” He maketh answer and saith, “If we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 41.9
… Sift any one soever of the highest integrity in this life, and however worthy he may already be of the name of upright, yet is he not without sin. Listen to Saint John himself, the author of the Gospel before us, when he says in his epistle, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 56.4
… And thus our human feelings themselves, which are inseparable from our mortal life on earth, are like feet wherewith we are brought into sensible contact with human affairs; and are so in such a way, that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.6
6. For see what He saith; “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 4.12
12. The rest I commend to your thoughts, my beloved, that I may not burden you. For the question we labor to solve is even this—that we call ourselves sinners: for if any man shall say that he is without sin, he is a liar. And in the Epistle of this same John we have found it written, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 5.1
… For it is no slight question, how he saith in this Epistle, “Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not,” and how in the same Epistle he hath said above, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 6.5
… What sin? That they believed not on Him, that when he had come they despised Him. As then He there said “sin,” and it does not follow that we are to understand all sin, but a certain sin: so here also not all sin, lest it be contrary to that place where he saith, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 39.14
14. “Deliver me from all my transgressions” ( ver. 8 ). I have “over-leaped” a great deal of ground, a very great deal of ground already; but, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 89.30
… For there are certain sins and certain offences, to define and discourse of which it is either impossible for me, or if it were possible, it would be too tedious for the time we have at present. For no man can say that he is without sin; for if he says so, he will lie; “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.1.3
… 3 ). But we must endeavour, with the help of God, “in” whose “hand are both we and our words,” that what is rightly said, by not being rightly understood, may not confuse the reader or hearer. For we must beware, lest all the Saints, whose words these are, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 11.9
… “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us;” and again: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 20.12
… Since it was of these that one of the disciples, whom Jesus loved, declared and laid down absolutely saying: “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and His word is not in us.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 23.19
… Finally that chosen Apostle “whom Jesus loved,” who lay on His bosom, uttered this saying as if from the heart of the Lord: “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
1:9
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 19
… or else, if that is so, then (He “utterly purifies” us) from “idolatry” too. But there is a difference in the sense. For see yet again: “If we say,” he says, “that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril procatechesis-or-prologue-to-t.6
… When thou shalt have heard what is written concerning the mysteries, then wilt thou understand things which thou knewest not. And think not that thou receivest a small thing: though a miserable man, thou receivest one of God’s titles. Hear St. Paul saying, God is faithful . Hear another Scripture saying, God is faithful and just
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.13
… For, if whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not because His seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God, how is it that the writer says in the same place: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?” You cannot explain. You hesitate and are confused. Listen to the same Evangelist telling us that
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 40.3
… Hear John according to what respect they were bad: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Behold after what respect they were bad: because they had sin. According to what respect were they good? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 64.4
… “If we shall say.” Consider who it is that says, “If we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we shall confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 85.8
… But if we shall confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 56.4
… is ordering aright the path of our spiritual footsteps, we acknowledge even in the Lord’s prayer, when we say, “Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.” For “if,” as it is written, “we confess our sins,” then verily is He, who washed His disciples’ feet, “faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.6
… for the Truth itself is light. Thy life hath not yet shone in perfect brightness, because there are sins in thee; but yet thou hast already begun to be enlightened, because there is in thee the confession of sins. For see what follows: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to purge us from all iniquity.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.1.3
… especially because the following words throw a clearer light on the meaning, and remove all the causes of doubt. For when the blessed John had said this, he added, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1:10
Clement of Alexandria † AD 215 The Stromata, or Miscellanies fragments-of-clemens-alexandri
Ver. 10 . “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” His doctrine, that is, or word is truth.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.31
… “Since in this world there is none who is free from sin; since John himself says, ‘If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar.’
1:1
The word 'was' points, says St. Basil, 'to eternity,' "that thus we might understand," says Bede, "that the Word which was coeternal with the Father was before all time," for whatever time you may assign, or imagine beforehand, it is true to say that the Word then was; thousands, or millions of years, or ever the world was, for He was before any imaginable number of years, even from all eternity. Nor does it mean merely that He was before the beginning of the world, and of time, but that even then He was from all past eternity. And we speak of the Word in the imperfect, and not in the past time, to signify that He still exists. So St. Cyril, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others, on John i 1. And St. John wrote thus against the Arians who would afterwards arise, and say that there was a time when He 'was' not, denying that He was eternal. This also was condemned by the Nicene Council, and therefore St. John repeats the word 'was' to show that whatever time you may think of, or imagine, the Word at that very time 'was'. "Carry your thoughts back (says St. Basil, Contr. Eunom.) as far as you can, and you will not be able to rise beyond that time."
1:2
Ver. 2. But the word signifies not only His eternity, but His eternal generation, and (3.) His Godhead, for 'Being' or existence, as Elias Cretensis says, is peculiar (proprium) to God. For He is the fulness and boundlessness of being, a very boundless ocean of being. Whence Didymus (in loc.), S. Cyril (in John i.), and S. Ambrose (de.Fide i. 5) acutely observe that the several creatures are said to be this or that, but that God alone is said absolutely to be. (4.) The word 'was' signifies that the 'Word' still exists and abides. Thus St. Thomas says on John i., 'Was' signifies past, present, and future time. The Word then ever was, ever is, and ever will be. As St. Basil says (de Sp. Sancto, cap. vi.) When John said 'In the beginning was the Word' he confines our thoughts within fixed limits. For the word 'was' allows our thoughts no outlet; and the word 'beginning' keeps our thoughts also from soaring beyond it, for however thou mayest strive to see ought beyond the Son, yet wilt thou never be able to pass beyond 'the beginning.' But if we speak correctly of God, His eternity cannot be bounded by any time whatsoever. For, as St. Gregory Nazianzen says, 'God both ever was, and is, and will be.' Or, to speak more correctly, He ever is. But our expressions designate only the flow and lapse of time. As St. Augustine says, "I separate in my mind every mutable thing from eternity, and in eternity itself I discern no spaces of time, for they consist in past and future motions, but in eternity there is nothing past or future, for the past has ceased to be, and future has not come into being; while eternity only is: it has not passed away as ceasing to be, nor is it future as not yet existing." Plato says the same. Why then does the Vulgate use the perfect and not the imperfect tense? 1. Because St. John in what follows uses the perfect tense. 2. Because 'first' signifies more clearly that the Word was from the beginning. 3. Both these tenses are used indiscriminately, as St. Ambrose uses the imperfect tense; and lastly, Holy Scripture uses both past, present, and future tenses in speaking of God, for His eternity includes them all. As S. Augustine says (Tract xcix. in John), "Although the immutable and ineffable nature of God admits not of past or future time, but simply Is as incapable of change, yet because time is ever changing with us (in this our mortal and changeable state) we say not falsely, He hath been, He shall be, He is: hath been, because He has never ceased to be; shall be, because He will never cease to be; is, because He ever exists." From the beginning, referring to Gen 1:1. But here there is a distinction between 'created' and 'was.' God created the world in the beginning of time: but He begat the Son in the beginning of eternity, which is signified by 'was.' Tertullian rightly says that the Gospel was the supplement of the Old Testament. For John supplements Moses, by putting the beginning of the Word before the beginning of the world, which was created ages afterwards. But what then was this 'Beginning'? 1. S. Cyril and Origen, in John i., understand by it God the Father, for the Son was ever in the bosom of the Father. 2. S. Augustine, Bede, and S. Hilary (de Trin. lib. ii.) understand by it the beginning of the world, or of time. For even before this the Word 'was' from all eternity. See Psa 119:3 (Vulg.); Pro 8:25. As S. Hilary says: "Conceive any beginning you please, you cannot bound Him by time, for He then was;" and again, "He is out-limited by any time, as to make that to begin which existed, rather than was made, in the beginning. 3. S. Augustine, Chrysostom, Theophylact explain it that the Word was before all created beings. See. Pro 8:22. Nonnus in his Paraphrase says that it means, He was before all time, coeval with the Father, of the same nature as the Father, incomprehensible, ineffable. 'In the beginning' then, is from all eternity (Micah v. 2). For eternity is a beginning without beginning. So S. Athanasius (Contr. Ar.) and others. S. Ambrose (de Fide i. 5) says that the word 'was' reaches indefinitely. That which was in the beginning is not included in time, is not preceded by any beginning." (Pseudo)-Augustine, Serm. vi. de temp. (ccxxxiv. in App.): "He who was in the beginning includes within Himself all beginning." And Nazianzen (Orat. de Fide): "Whatever beginning you choose to assign, will be objected to, for He was in the beginning." But S. Cyril (in John i.) speaks more expressly: "Nothing is more ancient than the beginning, if the word retains its proper meaning. In the beginning of a beginning cannot be thought of. For if it be conceived, this first beginning will be done away with, and then will be really no beginning. And besides, we should then be obliged to go through an infinite series, and not be able to rest simply in any beginning whatsoever." 4. But it may be explained thus. The Word was the beginning of the breathing forth of the Holy Spirit, and thus of the creation of all things (Pro 8:22). The Word being regarded as the pattern or idea according to which God created all things. By this expression John approves the Divinity of the Son of God against Cerinthus and the heretics of the day, who said that Christ was a mere man; as Paul of Samosata, and Photinus afterwards. The Arians partly held this opinion, for though they allowed that He existed before His birth in the flesh, yet they denied His eternal generation, and regarded Him as the first of all God's creatures. This one expression 'which was from the beginning,' implicitly includes the threefold statement in the gospel: (1) In the beginning was the Word. (2) The Word was with God. (3.) The Word was God. And without quoting this passage S. John refers here to it, for that which was from all eternity must necessarily be God: for nothing is eternal but God. The first member of the sentence properly and explicitly sets forth when the Word, was: then where He was, and then what was His essence, and its identity with that of the Father. These three blessings did the Word confer on us in His Incarnation, wherein He betrothed His humanity (as it were) to the Eternal Word, and thus joined and betrothed to Itself the whole human race, that we who are temporal might become eternal, from being earthly might become heavenly, that we men might become Gods, in order that our being in time or place, our very essence, might be firmly fixed in the Divine and eternal Word. S. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxxvii. on the Nativity) beautifully says, "The Son of God, who was before all worlds, invisible, incomprehensible, incorporeal, that Beginning, coming from the Beginning, that Light of Light, that Fount of Light and immortality, that stamp of the Archetype, that firmly impressed Seal, betakes Himself to His own image, takes upon Him flesh for the sake of flesh, and is united to an intellectual soul for my soul's sake, in order that He might cleanse like by like." And again, "God united with manhood made one Person of two contrary natures, body and spirit, one of them being deified by the other." "O strange union, O wondrous interblending! He who exists is made, the uncreated is created; He who is unconfined is (by the medium of an intellectual soul) contained within the compass of a gross body of flesh; He who enriches others suffers poverty, for He takes my poor and humble flesh that I might attain to the riches of His Divinity. He who is full is made empty, emptied of His glory for a short time, that I might be made partaker of His fulness. What riches of His goodness! What a mystery encircles me: He becomes partaker of my flesh, in order to save man who is His image, and to confer immortality on our flesh."
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That which we have heard, which we have seen. Lyra refers this to the preaching of John the Baptist, and what he pronounced Christ to be. Didymus and others to the prophecies respecting Christ, and to the several appearances of God to Adam, and the Patriarchs in the Old Testament. For though the whole three Persons were manifested, yet it was specially a manifestation of the Word of God, signifying and anticipating His real appearance, at His own due time, in the flesh. (See Clement, Constit. v. 22; Justin, contr. Trypho; Origen, Hom. i. in Isa. vi., &c.) For though in all these appearances, and especially in that noblest of all, at the giving of the Law, there appeared, properly speaking, only the person of an Angel (see Gal 3:19), yet this Angel specially represented the Word or Son of God. But these instances are not to the point, for the Patriarchs and Prophets heard and saw the Word only darkly and in type, and not as the Apostles and disciples of Christ did, which is what S. John here means (see Heb 1:1; Mat 17:5). S. John puts hearing first, sight afterwards, ascending from that which is less certain to that which is more certain, for he adds lastly, and our hands have handled. As S. Augustine says (de Diversis lxi. [ al. ccclxxi.]), "A man who could be seen was not to be followed, but God was to be followed Who could be seen. In order then that He might be made manifest, and be seen of men, and followed by men, He was made man." And on Ps. 33., "That man might not disdain to follow a humble man, God humbled Himself, that the pride of man might not disdain to follow the footsteps of God." See also S. Gregory, Mor. xxix. 1; and Hugh of S. Victor (lib. Sent.) gives as one reason for the Incarnation, "that the inward eye might feast on His Godhead, the outward eye on His manhood." This is what S. Paul speaks of (Tit. iii.) when he says that the love of God towards man appeared.
Which we have seen, and admired, as a most wonderful sight. It was with the mind only that the Apostles beheld Christ's Godhead, gathering it from His doctrine, miracles, holiness, &c. The Word was both seen and heard through the flesh, as a king is seen by His people, as we look on anything through a cloud, as fire is seen through the heated metal, &c. And though the union of the Word with flesh resembled all these, yet it was more perfect than any of them, for all of them, save that of body and soul, are accidental, but the union of the Word with the manhood is substantial. It is not, however, essential, for the Divine Essence is clearly separate and distinct from the manhood. But yet the union is hypostatical or personal, the manhood and the Godhead existing in the same Person. As in the Eucharist, the Godhead and manhood are hid under the species of the Bread and Wine. As S. Chrysostom says, "Behold, thou seest Christ, thou touchest, thou eatest Him." (Hom. lx. ad pop.) And our hands have handled, just as blind men do, touching everything by the hand, as S. Thomas did (Joh 20:27), and also the other Apostles (Luk 24:39). So S. Leontius (Epist. xcvii.), S. Athanasius (Orat. contr. Arian), and many others; though Euthymius thinks that Thomas alone touched His wounds. And in their daily intercourse with Christ the Apostles must have touched Him, with love and veneration when they acknowledged Him as God. For as Oecum says, "He was both seen and not seen, tangible and intangible, speaking as man, working miracles as God." But we may fully believe that S. John did this with peculiar devotion and affection, when he rested on His breast. S. Clement Alex. seems to say that Christ's wounds miraculously yielded to the touch of the disciples, so as to make them feel as though they were open. S. Augustine, Ambrose, and others believe that the wounds remained open. (See Suarez, par. iii. Disput. xlvii. sect. 2.) S. John inculcates and enlarges upon the doctrine of the Incarnation, first against Basilides, who maintained that Christ assumed flesh in appearance only, and therefore did not really suffer and redeem us. So Epiphanius, Hær. xxiv. Secondly, to confirm the faithful in their belief of the doctrine, and to convert unbelievers by an argument derived from the evidence of our senses. He maintains then that he himself had seen, heard, and touched Christ. So also S. Peter (Act 10:40). For, as Tertullian (de Anim. ch. xvii) says, "It would indeed be false testimony, if our very senses proved false." Thirdly, to show the condescension of the Word, and the dignity of the Apostles. For the Word deigned to come down from heaven, and to join together God and man in the closest personal union, so that all the attributes of God belong to man, and vice versa, and He accordingly, through the attributes of a man, manifests the attributes of God to the Apostles. In this way the intangible became tangible (says Nazianzen, Orat. xxxviii.), for we cannot form in our minds any likeness of God, Who is a Spirit. In order then that we might conceive of Him, invoke Him, behold, address, and touch Him, He was made man. Whence Paulinus says (in his Epistle to Florentinus), "He, our Lord and God, Who appeared on earth, and held converse with men, is our Sheep and our Shepherd. He is our Emmanuel, God with us, the Lord of Majesty, and the Son of the Handmaiden, being one of these by nature, and being made the other. The same Person being the Creator and the Redeemer of man, God of God, Man for man's sake, the Son of God before all worlds, the Son of man for the sake of the world," &c. He then, Who in His Godhead was our Father, became, as it were, a mother to mankind by the manhood He assumed (see notes on Acts xvii. 24 and 29), but also because God as Bridegroom took to Himself our mother humanity as His spouse, and joined it to Himself in everlasting wedlock. (This was prefigured by the marriage of Adam and Eve.) By His humanity then He wedded ourselves and our nature, to become our Mother, as He was before that our Father, in order that we might approach Him with boldness, as children who are afraid of their father approach their mother first of all, and obtain their equest. (2.) We therefore invoke Christ's manhood, when we end all our prayers 'through Jesus Christ our Lord.' And as a mother bears a child in her womb, and then trains and fashions it, so did Christ by His continual labours for us, especially on the cross, conceive us, bring us to the birth, nourish and fashion us. Thirdly, because the Incarnation was the work of the highest intelligence and wisdom, as well as of the highest goodness. This latter is ascribed to the Holy Spirit, as the former to the Word. But all of them are subordinate to the omnipotence of the Father. He conceived all things by His Word, as if in the womb, and by His goodness He pours forth His bowels of mercy on us, and especially through the Incarnation He addresses His children (Isa 49:15) as a mother. "The Gentiles," says S. Clement (Strom. lib. v.), "used to call God μητζοπάτοζα."(See S. Augustine, de Civ. vii. 9.) In order that we may understand the boundless benefits of the Incarnation, S. John suggests four points for our consideration Who? What? For Whom? and Why? 1. Who then assumed our flesh? The eternal Word, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Emmanuel, Wonderful, Counsellor, &c. See Isa. ix. 6. This is what the Church says in the Preface for Christmas Day, "By the mystery of the Incarnate Word Thy new and bright light has shone in the eyes of our mind, so that by visibly beholding our God we may thereby be enraptured with the love of invisible things." The Divine Nature did not suffer change or loss by the Incarnation, but remained unaltered in Its own nature and impassible. S. Leontius (Serm. x. de Nativ.) says, "The same who took on Him the form of a servant, is in the form of God. The same is incorporeal, and yet assumed a body. The same Being is inviolate in His own might, and subject to suffering in our weakness. He was ever the same Being, never separated from His Father's throne, and yet was by wicked men crucified on the tree." S. Cyril (in John i. 1) compares the Word made man to a heated coal or iron. As the fire consumes not the iron, but both substances remain uninjured, in like manner the Godhead changed not the manhood, nor the manhood the Godhead: both remain unchanged. This was signified by the burning bush. See too the three Dialogues of Theodoret, where he maintains this against Eutyches. As Damascene says (Orat. i. de Nativ.), "Thy love, O Lord, towards me was so great, that Thou didst not carry out the work of my redemption by an angel or any created being, but as Thou didst create me at first, so didst Thou Thyself effect my redemption. And S. Augustine, Serm. lix. Verb. Dom. (al. lxii.), says, "The all-powerful Physician came down to heal the sufferer. He humbled Himself so far as to take mortal flesh, just as the physician comes down to the bedside of his patient." 2. What did God become in the Incarnation? He became flesh, or man: "The flesh," says S. Augustine, "had blinded, the Flesh healeth thee. For the soul became carnal by yielding to carnal affections, and the eyes of its heart were thus blinded. But the Word was made flesh. Thy Physician made thee an eye-salve, that by His Flesh He might extinguish the sins of the flesh." The flesh of man is wretched, above that of other animals, subject to countless sufferings and diseases, and corrupted by concupiscence. But yet the Word assumed it, and passing by all the orders of angels, came down into this vale of misery, and united this very flesh to Himself by the closest bond of a personal union. Supposing a sheep were led to the slaughter, and a man from love and compassion wished to die in its stead, as S. Francis used to buy and set them free for love of Christ, would not this be termed an insane and extravagant love? But the love of Christ was as much greater than this, as God surpasses man infinitely more than a man surpasses a sheep. This therefore is the great mystery of godliness (1Ti 3:18). We ought then to wonder and be astounded at this when we see the Infant lying in the manger, and say, "Can this child be my God, the King of heaven, the Creator of the universe?" S. Thomas says (Opusc. lx.), God communicates Himself to all by His presence, to the just by His grace, and above all to our flesh by His substance; naturally, supernaturally, and personally, says Cajetan. And in fact, by His manhood He has raised all men, and through them the whole universe, and united it to Himself, that God might be all in all. And again, He united Himself to man, the first to the last, for man was the last created of all things, God coming round to that point from which He started.
3. But for whom did He become flesh? For man, a sinner, and like to the vilest worm. "The child was born, the Son was given for us." Christ did not assume our nature for Himself, as though He needed or delighted in that humanity which He assumed. It was for us. We were the ultimate end of His Incarnation. For He was born in the flesh, that we might be born spiritually in our souls. "For us men," &c., in the Nicene Creed. What, says S. Anselm, "can we imagine more compassionate, than God saying to a sinner, destined to eternal punishment, and unable to redeem himself, Take My Only Begotten Son, and offer Him for thyself; or for the Son to say, 'Take me, and redeem thyself.' Codrus sacrificed himself for his country; but what comparison can this bear to Christ, who, clothing Himself with our flesh, freed us from eternal death and hell, and made us heirs of His heavenly kingdom and eternal glory?"
Ver. 3. That ye also may have fellowship with us. That is, in the same faith and Church of Christ, where all partake in the same sacraments. It means also that ye should make increase and advance in the faith. It signifies a continuous and growing act. For he speaks to the faithful who already belonged to this society, though Œcumenius thinks it refers to unbelievers, whom John wished to attract to the Church of Christ. This is what S. Paul speaks of (Heb 12:22), "Ye have come unto Mount Sion," &c. For with all these we have fellowship in the Church with Angels, with the Apostles, with the early Christians, with just men made perfect, with Christ and with God. Whence S. John adds,
And that our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Not with the god of Simon Magus, and with his mediating angels, whom he regards, as does Plato also, as demigods. For, as Bede says, "No one can have fellowship with God, unless he be first joined to the fellowship of the Church." And as S. Cyprian says (de Unit. Eccelesiæ), "Whoever is separated from the Church is joined to an adulteress. He is severed from the promises of the Church, and will not attain to the rewards which Christ offers. He who has left the Church of Christ is an alien, is profane, is an enemy. He cannot have God as his Father, who hath not the Church as his mother. If no one could escape who was without the ark, so can no one escape who is without the Church, &c." Excommunicated persons then who are separated from the Church are likewise separated from God. In the Greek this is stated more plainly and forcibly, Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. It sets forth the nobleness of the fellowship of the Church, as being our fellowship with God and Christ, for the Church is His spouse. (See 2Pe 1:4; 1Co 1:9 and 1Co 6:7.) All the faithful then have fellowship with Christ and God by faith, hope, and charity, and the more so as they advance in these graces, imitate His life, and help to propagate His truth, like the Apostles, who did and suffered so much for Christ, and devoted themselves entirely to promote His glory and the salvation of souls. This fellowship or society embraces all the qualifications of true friendship which Aristotle, Cicero, and others speak of. Accordingly S. Augustine (Tract. lxxvi. on John) says, "The Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son makes His abode with us as in a temple. The whole three Persons come to us, when we come to them: they come by succouring, we by obeying; they by enlightening, we by beholding the light; they by filling us, we by receiving so that our sight of them is not outward, but inward, and their dwelling with us is not transitory but eternal." Dionysius the Carthusian beautifully and piously explains (in loc.) how the faithful should hold converse with God. Hesselius and Lorinus describe our fellowship with Christ as that of a lord with his servant, a father with an adopted child, of the enlightener and the enlightened, the justifier and the justified, a ruler and subject, a giver and receiver, of one who invokes and one who hears, of one who bestows gifts and one who returns thanks, of Him who blesses and he who is blessed; so that, cleaving to God, we may be one with Him, and walking in the light as He is in the light, may have fellowship with Him. It is (as concerns Christ's human nature) like the relation of a master and his scholars, of a Priest and those for whom he offers sacrifice and intercedes, of one who suffers punishment which another deserved, and one who receives a favour which he did not deserve, &c. Scripture explains it under the type of a Shepherd and his sheep, the head and the members, of food and its eaters, the vine and the branches, and so on. We, in a word, who are partakers of His sufferings, are partakers of His consolations. Christ also calls us His friends, brethren, &c. He says that His God is our God, His Father and our Father. (See Eph 2:19; 1Jn 3:1; 2Co 11:2; Hos 2:19)
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4. But why was the Word made man? To deliver man from hell, death, sin, and utter misery of body and soul. For the Word gained nothing for Himself but the "emptying" of Himself, insults, poverty, death, and the cross. For our redemption "He was born in time, that we might be born for eternity, He was born in a stable, that we might be born in heaven." (S. Gregory Nazianzen). Hear S. Augustine (Serm. ix. de Nativ.): Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is from eternity, the Creator of all things, became our Saviour by being born on this day. He was born for us in this ever-changing state, in order to bring us to the eternal Father. God became man, that man might become God, and, that man might eat angels' food, the Lord of angels became man." And also S. Gregory Nazianzen (in. Distiches). S. Clemens Alex. says that by His Incarnation He changed earth into heaven, and made angels, and even gods, of men. (And so too [Pseudo]-Origen, Hom. ix. in diversis; S. Leontius, Serm. vi. de Nat.; and S. Anselm, Cur. Deus Homo.) See then the immensity of this blessing. God not only rains down manna, but rends the heavens as it were, and showers all the treasures and compassions of the Godhead upon us. (See Isa. xlv. 8.) And S. Augustine, Serm. xxvii. (nunc clxxxvii.): "My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, the Lord by whom all things were made, the Revealer of His Father, the Maker of His Mother, the Son of God of His Father without a mother; the Son of Man of His mother without a father; the Word of God before all times, made man at the fitting time.... Great in the form of God, little in the form of a servant.... And yet not so as to detract ought from His greatness, or that His littleness should be overwhelmed by His greatness," &c. And S. Gregory Nazianzen thus rejoices (Orat. xxx. 7): "Christ is born: glorify Him; Christ has come down from heaven: go forth to meet Him.... Clap your hands together, all ye people, for unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.... He who is without flesh is incarnate, the Word increases in stature, the invisible is seen, the intangible is touched, He who is without time begins to be the Son of God is made the Son of man. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." See S. Bernard (Serm. i. de Epiphany): "What could declare His mercy so much as His taking on Him our misery?... for the more He humbled Himself in His humanity, the more did He exhibit His goodness; and the viler He became for me, the dearer did He become to me." And (Serm. lxiv. in Cant.), "O the sweetness, the grace! O the power of love! The highest of all has become the lowest of all. And who effected this? Love ignoring dignity, great in condescension, mighty in its affections, powerful in persuasion. And what mighty violence! love triumphs over God, to teach us that it was of His love that His fulness was poured forth, His height brought down, and His one nature associated with another." Let us then open our heart wide to receive this manna pouring down from heaven, that so by our boundless desires we may embrace and taste all its sweetness. Let us imitate the Patriarchs, who waited four thousand years, and longed and thirsted for it, saying, "O that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down!" Let us imitate the Blessed Virgin, who after His conception longed for His birth, was torn away from the world, and wholly united to Christ. Let every one make known to Christ his necessities, and that temptation which specially weighs him down, and say confidently with S. Catherine of Sienna, "O Lord, I have Thee present: Thou art mine, I will not let Thee go till Thou removest this temptation; grant me this virtue or grace, till Thou entirely possessest my heart, and imbuest it with Thy love." For He came on earth for this very purpose. S. Jerome and S. Paula went to Bethlehem, that they might continually behold in their minds the birth of Christ. So S. Francis just before his death celebrated Christmas with an ox and ass, ever repeating, "Let us love the Babe of Bethlehem." And S. Bernard on this mystery surpasses himself, as he preached, saying, "Christ gave Himself wholly for thee: do thou give thyself wholly to Him; as He became man for thee, do thou in return be born to Christ engraft thyself with the Word, betroth and give thyself wholly to God." See also Serm. in Cœna Dom. at the end of his works. And our hands have handled of the word of life. That is, that Very Word which we have handled, seen, and heard. That which we could handle and touch, His humanity, e.g., and thus have found that He truly assumed human flesh, and was not a phantom or spectre. Happy they who were permitted thus to see, hear, and touch the Incarnate Word. See Luk 10:23. Didymus refers all this to the Resurrection, a mystery which the Apostles constantly confirm and enforce. The Gloss confines it to the Transfiguration. But it is far better to refer it to the whole economy of the Incarnation of the Word of life, that is, the eternal, uncreated, Divine Word. S. Basil thinks that the Holy Spirit may be called the Word. But, as S. Thomas says, in an improper sense. See notes on John i. 1. But it may be asked, (1.) why does S. John call the Son, the Word? 1st, Because both in his Gospel and Epistle he refers to that beginning which Moses speaks of. 2d, Because the Word Who is in the bosom of the Father has all wisdom. And this wisdom S. John sets forth, dwelling more on Christ's teaching and doctrine, while the other evangelists dwell more on what He did. He therefore calls Christ the Word, because he purposes to recount the sayings of this "Word." 3d, If he had called Him the Son, they might have imagined Him to be of a bodily and passible nature. But the "Word" signifies that His generation was not human but spiritual and divine, and consequently pure, perfect, and incorruptible, generated by the Divine mind as a word is generated in our mind. 4th, Because the "Word" signifies the mental conception of God the Father, and this is the generation of the Son, who represents and sets forth the wisdom and will of the Father, as a word would do. And this too is the very reason why the Son, and not the Father or the Holy Spirit, was incarnate, because the Incarnation took place in order to manifest God to man. But it is by a word that anything is manifested. And as the Word was begotten of the Father in the Spirit, so did it become Him to be born of His mother in the flesh. S. John therefore leads us to the Word, and through Him to God, in order to teach us ever to hold sweet converse with Him. As Seneca says, "As the rays of the sun reach the earth, but dwell in their own source, so does a noble soul, which is sent among us to bring a closer knowledge of divine things, hold converse indeed with us, but is not separated from its own source." It is wedded to the eternal word, as S. Ambrose says and S. Augustine (Serm. xxxviii. nunc Serm. cxvii.), "A man becomes happy by attaining to that which ever continues happy, and is itself perpetual happiness, and that by which man lives is perpetual life, that by which he becomes wise is perpetual wisdom, and that by which he is enlightened is perpetual light." 2d. But why is the Son called λόγος ? (1.) That word can be translated 'wisdom.' And just as wisdom is intimately connected with ourselves, so is the Son with the Father. And (2.) as reason or knowledge proceeds from the mind, so does the Word or the Son proceed from the Father. So Origen, S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius in John i., Nazianzen, Orat. iv., S. Basil, &c. And (3.) because He makes us subject to reason. See Rupertus on John i., and Eusebius, Demetrius, Evang. v. 5. "The Word has in Himself the reasons of all created things, and is accordingly termed the Wisdom and the Word of God." But this word 'reason' does not express so clearly His procession from the Father. (See S. Augustine, Quæst. lxiii. inter lxxxvii.) Besides which the word 'reason' speaks of the Essence of God and is common to the Whole Trinity, and is not merely personal as [Pseudo]-Dionysius says (De Divinis Nominibus). But lastly, 'reason' can exist in one who at the time does not understand (as when sleeping), but the 'Word' only in one who actually understands. 2d. The word λόγος may mean 'work.' For the Word is the coequal work of the Father as God. See Wisd. 7:25. 3d. It may mean 'power.' For the, Word is the arm of the Father, by which He created all things (as God), and by whom He redeemed all things. (See 1Co 1:23.) 4th. It may mean 'the form.' For the Word is the brightness of the Eternal Light. Wisd. 7:26; Heb 1:23. [Pseudo]-Dionysius speaks of the Father as the primordial Fount of Godhead, and the Son and the Holy Ghost as shoots (so to speak) of Godhead. And accordingly S. Augustine (de Trin. vi. 10) says, "A certain person (S. Hilary, de Synod) says that when he wished to express in the clearest manner the properties of the several Persons in the Trinity, he used to say that 'Eternity was in the Father, His Image in the Son, His use in the gift, i.e., the Holy Spirit the gift of the Father and the son.'" And (as above) "The Word increases not as we know Him, but ever remains one and the same, whether we adhere to or withdraw from Him, ever abiding in Himself, and renewing all things. The Form (or pattern) of all things, unfashioned Himself, independent of time and space." 5th. It can mean 'definition,' because He definitely and fully sets forth the nature of the Father, and of all things besides. As S. Gregory Nazianzen says, "The Son has the same relation to the Father as the definition to the thing defined. For he who sees the Son, sees the Father: for the Son is a brief and simple setting forth of the Father's nature." See Euthymius on John i. Again, it may mean 'a computation;' for the Word is the standard by which all things are computed. 6th. Again, it may mean the ' cause,' for the Word was both the efficient cause of all creatures, and also the idea which conceived them. 7th. Beza and others suppose it to be the promised Word, foretold by the Prophets. But Salmeron states in reply, that He was before all Prophets, and was with God. In fact, Beza denies the λόγος quite as much as do the Alogians (see Epiph. Hær. li.), as do also the Magdeburg Centuriators, and thus are semi-atheists. 8th. But the best meaning is that He is the 'Word,' not of the mouth and voice, but of the heart and mind. For as we conceive anything in our mind, so did the Eternal Father, knowing what was His own Essence and all its capacities, form and produce this Word from eternity in every respect equal and like to Himself, and consequently God, the Son of God, begotten of the Father. (See Suarez, lib. ix. de Deo Trin. cap. 4, 6, and others.) Here note that the Word of God has a twofold sense, first, essential, because He is the very essence, mind, and will of the Father which He communicates to the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Arians believed this, but added that God began to be the Father only in time. (2.) There is the personal sense of the word, viz. the Word begotten of the Father, and a Person subsisting by Himself. Of Him S. John speaks both here and in his Gospel. S. Cyril (Thesaur. vii. 1) says, "S. John chose the name of the 'Word' as most appropriate, and significative of the Godhead, and the procession of the second Person of the Trinity." But S. Augustine (de Trin. xv. 14), "the Father knoweth all things in Himself in Himself essentially, but in the Son as His Word." The word λόγος is the same as discourse, or speech. Accordingly, Tertullian, S. Cyprian, S. Ambrose, Jerome, use the word ' Sermo.' Erasmus adopted this in the passage before us. For this innovation he was sharply handled by theologians, but defended by Calvin. The term 'word' (verbum) is more appropriate (1.) as the simplest; (2.) the most general term; (3.) because it is the proper word for any mental conception, and the Son is the conception of the Father's mind; (4.) a word is uttered by the mouth, and so did the Father make known His will through the Word, as S. Epiphanius expressly says (Hær. lxxi.), and S. Augustine (de Fide et Symb. cap iii.), "He is called the Word of the Father, because the Father is made known through Him. For just as we by our words make our mind known to a hearer, so is that Wisdom, whom the Father begat, most fittingly called the Word, because it is through Him that the very secrets of the Father are made known." S. John here and elsewhere calls Christ the Word by reason of His Godhead and not His manhood. S. Basil, describing the dignity and attributes of the Word (lib. ii. contr. Eunom.), says, "In order to have a worthy understanding of His generation from God, we should consider it to be impassible, indivisible, before all time, like a ray shooting forth from a light, not carefully wrought out at some subsequent time, but as existing together with its prototype, which gave it its being, and coexisting with it, like the impression of a seal, or as when teachers impart knowledge, without losing anything themselves, and yet instructing their hearers." And Tertullian (adv. Praxeam, ch. ix.) uses the same comparisons. "God brought forth His Word, as a root produces a plant, a fountain the river, and the sun its rays. But yet we cannot separate them from each other, as the Word cannot be separated from God." This doctrine is fully set forth in the Creed which S. Gregory Thaumaturgus is said to have received from S. John himself, at the bidding of the Blessed Virgin. The Gentiles knew this truth in a shadowy way, having learned it either from the Old Testament or from the Sibylline Books, or even from the light of nature, or Divine Inspiration. Plato accordingly was called the Attic Moses, (Eusebius, de Prep. Evan. xiii.; and Theodoret, de Curando Græc. Affect. lib. ii.), Lactantius (de Sap. iv. 9) says, "Philosophers were not ignorant of this divine Word. For Zeno calls the Orderer of Nature and the Maker of the Universe the λόγος." But it will be asked, was this Divine Word like our Word, or unlike? Partly like, and partly unlike. It was like in these respects. 1. As being immaterial. 2. As being in either case the vehicle of our thoughts; and 3, of our conceptions. 4. As being within. 5. As being the idea according to which nations are moulded. Hence Tinneus calls the Word of God his pattern world, the model of all created things. 6. As the thoughts of our mind are uttered outwardly in word, so was it when the Word of God spake in the Flesh He assumed. 7. As our word is the image of our understanding, so is the Word the image of God the Father. 8. As our word or conception lasts as long as we understand any matter, so is it with the Divine Word. The Divine mind ever abides, so does His Word. And as the mind of the Father is ever active, so is it with the generation of the Word. It is ever going on. As the Ephesian fathers say, "Let the splendour of light set forth that the Son of God has ever been co-eternal with the Father, let the 'Word' declare that His generation was without suffering, and let the Name of Son reveal His consubstantiality." See, too, S. Basil (Hom. i. on S. John). 9. As the conceptions of our mind precede our action. As S. Augustine says (de Trinit. lib. xv. 11), "There are no acts of ours which are not previously suggested in the mind. There may be words of ours which are not followed by action, but the contrary cannot be: and in like manner the Word of God could be when as yet no creature existed, but no creature could exist except by Him by Whom all things were made." II. It is unlike: (1.) Because our word is merely an accident of our mind: but the Word of God exists as a Substance and a Person. See S. Athanasius, Serm. i. Contr. Arianos; and S. Chrysostom, Hom. i. on John ix. 2. (2.) Our word is a thing of time, subsequent to its conception in the mind, whereas the Word of God is from all eternity, and coeval with the Father. And again our 'word' results from our being unable otherwise to understand others. But the Word of God arises from the infinite perfection and productiveness of the Father's mind. (3.) Our speech is imperfect, ever changing, and complex. Whereas the Word of God is perfect, ever constant, unchangeable, one and the same, as S. Augustine says (on Ps. xliv.), "All things exist in One," and S. Athanasius, Serm. iii. contr. Arian. (4.) Our word or speech is d stinct from our mind, whereas the Word of God is consubstantial with the Father. (5.) Our speech (or word) is part of our nature, but the Word of God is a Person distinct from the Father. (6.) Our word is not our son whereas the Word of God is the Son of God, as S. Augustine says (de Trinit. vi. i): "The Father is Very Wisdom, but the Son is Wisdom and Power from the Wisdom and Power of the Father. The Father is not wise by engendered Wisdom, but is in Himself unbegotten Wisdom." (7.) Our words are feeble and ineffectual; the Word of God is all-powerful. (8.) Our words soon pass away and come to naught. The Word of God is eternal, for eternal is the understanding and the generation of the Father. S. Hilary says (de Trinit. ii.), "The sound of the voice ceases, and the expression of our thought. But this Word is a reality, not a mere sound." (See Suarez ut supra.) And therefore, though we may in some measure ascend from the word of our mind to (the knowledge of) the Word of God, yet this ascent by the light of nature is only to (the knowledge of) His essential Word. For this God conceives, understands, and bringeth forth all things. But that He brought forth and begat His Personal Word, that is as Son, surpasses the understanding both of angels and men. It must therefore be wondered at and adored in mute and holy silence, rather than be pried into and set forth by our too curious and yet feeble understanding, so that we may wonder and cry aloud with the Seraphim, 'Holy, Holy, Holy,' &c. This was not known to Plato, or to Demosthenes with all his eloquence. "I will bring to nought the understanding of the prudent," says S. Jerome to Paulinus. "My heart hath uttered a good word. I will speak of thy works to the King," says the Psalmist (Ps. xly. i.) "Thou seest that this Word is the Son of God, and we believe that He came forth from the Father's breast; from the womb of His heart, so to speak." (Nazianzen, Orat. de Fide.) See Ps. cx., on which S. Jerome says, "He brought Him forth from His own Nature, from His own substance, from the very inmost being (medullis) of His Godhead. Whatever the Father is Himself in His Godhead He gave wholly to His Son." Tropologically. S. Augustine (Confess. xi. 9) explains how the Word preaches to the heart of man, and S. Bernard says (Serm. xlv. in Cant.): "His beauty is His love, and it is the greater because it takes the lead. But then it is, that from the very depths of His heart, and from His inmost affections, He cries more ardently for our love in return, in proportion as He feels that He was more ready to love us than we were to be loved by Him. And hence arose His speaking to us, His pouring forth His gift, and the response of the soul, its wonder and its thankfulness. And it therefore loves the more, because it sees that it is mastered in love, and wonders the more, and feels that it was not the first to love." And S. Ambrose, (de Virg. iii.) says, "the Word of God wounds, but leaves not a sore (ulcerat)." There is a wound of gracious love, there are wounds of charity, as the Spouse says (Song ii.), "She who is perfect is wounded with charity. Good then are the wounds of the Word the wounds of Him who loveth us." The word of life. "For as the Father hath life in Himself, &c." (Joh 5:26.) Being is here attributed to the Father, life to the Word, love to the Holy Spirit. Life is threefold, divine, angelic, human. Of these the Divine is most perfect, boundless, eternal, uncreated, the origin and source of angelic and human life. Angelic life is created, but spiritual. Human life is partly spiritual, partly corporeal. It is also natural and supernatural. The natural consists in life, sense, and reason. The supernatural also is two-fold, begun by grace and consummated in glory. Further than this the Divine Life is formal and causal. Formal is that life with which God Himself exists, causal that by which He gives life (whether natural or spiritual) to others. The Word then is called the Word of Life, as having life in Himself and as being the cause of life to others. As S. John says, "in Him was life," being in Himself essential life. See S. Thomas, par. i. Quæst. 28, where he alludes to the words (Psa 36), "With Thee is the Fount of Life;" as Theodoret says, "With Thee is the Eternal Word, the Fount of Life, and in the Light of the Holy Spirit we shall see the light of the only Begotten One." But secondly, it may mean, that in the Word there exist, as in archetype, the eternal reasons of all things. "The Wisdom of God, (says S. Augustine in John i. 1) in art (or theory) contains all things. Thou beholdest the heaven, sun, moon, they exist in the theory; outwardly they are bodies, in theory they are life." And again, "All things which are made, and have not life, have life in the Word of God, though they are not life, in themselves." The same statement occurs in the Homilies ascribed to Origen. As Philo says, "When He resolved to create this world, He formed a conception of it, and from that fashioned the world we now see." See note in translation of S. Augustine (on Joh 1:3) in Library of the Fathers. But again, in Him is that which sustains and supports everything in life. See S. Chrysostom, Cyril, Theophylact, Euthymius in John i. 4, and Clement Alex. Adhort. ad gentes. Thirdly, But it is best to understand it to mean that in the Word is our true life, both of grace and glory. He became man in order to communicate this life and light to men: that, just as the world at large was created by Him, so might man (this existence of the world) be re-created, and brought back from sin to the life of grace and glory. See below, verse 2, and chapter v. ii. See S. Chrysostom, Augustine, S. Ambrose, de Fide, cap. iii. and others. See too the many passages in this Gospel where life is spoken of as coming from the Word. See also Lactantius i. 11, on the meaning of Ζευ̃ς. And the Life was manifested: By the Incarnation, by which He was beheld and even touched by men. This was prophesied by Isaiah; and see Luk 3:5. And S. Ambrose in Ps. xxxvi. (Psa 37:19) says, "Christ is in all things our life. His Godhead is our life, His eternity is our life, His flesh is our life, His Passion is our life." Whence Jeremy says, "We shall live in His shadow, the shadow of His wings. The shadow of the cross is the shadow of His Passion, His death is life, His wounds are life, His blood is life, His burial is life, His Resurrection is the life of all men. Wishest thou to know how His death is life? We are baptized into His death, that we may walk with Him in newness of life [Rom. vi. 4]. And He says Himself, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (John xii. 24). He, that grain of wheat, was separated from the body for us, and died that He might bring forth much fruit in us. His death therefore is the fruit of life." And bear witness. In our words, our life, our suffering death and martyrdom. As S. John says of himself (Rev. v. 1.). Again, it means, "We protest and denounce, by threatening unbelievers with the terrible judgment of God." As Cassian says (de Incarn. v. 6), "In faithfully discharging His Office, He leaves those who refuse to listen, to bear the peril of their own disobedience." And shew unto you that Eternal Life: Christ, who as the Word of God is eternal life: which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us being made visible by His Incarnation, miracles, especially (says Cajetan) by His Transfiguration, Resurrection, and Ascension. By which latter He shows that not only as the Word, but as man also, He will live a glorious and eternal life. With the Father. As the Gospel says, "The Word was with God." Being, as Nonnus says, "never parted from the Father: ever seated on His Throne." S. John here answers the objection, "How could He be ever with the Father, when there was no place where He could be? S. John replies that there was no need of space for Him. He was in the bosom of the Father. But the word 'with' signifies three things: (1) That He was a person distinct from the Father, (2) that He was closely connected with Him, (3) was equal to the Father. This overthrows the Eunomian heresy that the Son was not the Word, for S. John says that it was the same Word which was with the Father, and was manifested in the flesh. And to keep them from inferring that the Word was not God, S. John expressly adds, "And the Word was God." For the Divine Persons, though distinct the one from the other, have yet one and the same Essence. And that the Word was not, as Arian suggested, separable from the Father, as some article of dress (see S. Fulgent, contr. Monimum, lib. iii. cap. 2, 3), He is one with the Father as heat and brightness co-exist in the fire, or as memory and understanding co-exist in the same mind, or perhaps intellect, memory, and will are identical with the mind itself. And was manifested unto us. This was at the Incarnation (as S. Dionysius Alex. says), where the invisible became visible, and when He who far surpasses every being came from the hidden shrine of Godhead, became man, and stood forth to our view. But God in truth is hidden even after this manifestation of Himself, or indeed (to announce a higher truth) even in this very manifestation. For the Godhead of Jesus was hidden, and the mystery which then was wrought respecting Him is not revealed or brought into light by anything which can be said or thought about Him, but even when it is spoken of cannot be explained, and when it is understood is still kept secret.
And these things write we that ye may rejoice in the fellowship of the Church of Christ, and that our joy may be full. Increase daily more and more (see Phi 2:2; Joh 17:13.) This is the result of a good conscience (2Co 1:12). As S. Bernard says to Pope Eugenius, "What is more precious, what more calm, and what freer from care than a good conscience? It fears not losses, it fears not reproaches, it fears not bodily tortures, for it is exalted rather than cast down by death itself." And so too Cicero, Horace, and other heathen writers. The Apostle therefore rightly sets forth the hope and confidence inspired by a pure and innocent conscience. For S. Augustine truly said [on Psa 31 ], "The very charity of a righteous man gives him hope of a good conscience, for a good conscience inspires hope; for just as an evil conscience leads to utter despair, so does a good conscience inspire confident hope." The joy then of believers is real and solid. Being joy in the Lord it satisfies and fills the mind, while joy in worldly delights, wealth, and honours, does but excite without gratifying. Hear S. Gregory (Hom. xi. in Evang.), "Because unending lamentations follow after present joys, avoid vain joys in this life if ye dread sorrow in the next. For no one can both rejoice with the world here, and reign with Christ hereafter. Abstain therefore from the fleeting pleasures of temporal delight, subdue the desires of the flesh. And if anything charms thy mind here, let it shrivel to nothing at the thought of the eternal fire; and whatever makes thee merry in youth, let youthful discipline check and restrain, that so ye may more easily obtain eternal joys, by fleeing of your own accord from hose which are only temporal." And S. Chrysostom (Hom. xviii. ad populum), "He that rejoices in the Lord can never by anything accidental be deprived of it. For all other things which delight us are subject to change, nor can they afford us so much pleasure, as to drive away and cast a shade over the sorrow which springs from other causes. But the fear of God is firm and immovable, and is the source of so much joy, that no sense of other evils can gain hold of us.” And S. Augustine (Confess. x. 22) distinguishes between true and false joy by saying, “There is a joy which is not vouchsafed to the wicked, but to those who freely worship Thee. For Thou Thyself art their joy. And a happy life consists in rejoicing in Thee, and for thee. There is no other joy but this, and they who think that there is another, follow after another kind of joy, and not the true one.”
1:5
And this is the announcement. That is, the message announced: As God is called our fear, our hope, that is the object of our fear and hope, by a metonymy.
That God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Referring to John i. 4. The Word then is the light of men, by which they are enlightened through faith, hope, and charity. For it is spiritual light which is here spoken of. The meaning is, that our life consists in the enlightenment of the Word, whereby men are enlightened in the knowledge of God and their own salvation. And this was the reason why the Word was made flesh, and manifested to men. The Word then is substantial and uncreated light, formally, ideally, and as the cause of all light, whether corporeal or spiritual, of grace and of glory. God, accordingly, is said to be clothed with light (Ps. civ.), to be the Father of lights (James i. 17), and to dwell in unapproachable light (i Tim. vi. i6). For light is the noblest quality of matter, setting forth the glory and gifts of God’s illumination and grace. There are indeed very many and most beautiful resemblances between God and light. For the quality of light is its great swiftness and its efficacy, its purity, which is not soiled by anything it comes into contact with, bringing with it warmth, brightness, and gladness—making everything visible, giving to all living things life and vigour. Such is the grace of God. Sin is the opposite, and is therefore symbolised by darkness. S. [Pseudo]-Dionysius (CЬlest. Hier. cap. xv.) gives thirty-one resemblances between light and the grace of God. And S. John Damascene (de Fide ii. 11) compares the Holy Trinity to a parhelion, in which there appear to be three suns, though in reality there is but one. “He says the Godhead is indivisible, just as in these three suns, inseparably connected together, there is one and the same tempering and blending of light.” And [Pseudol]-Dionysius represents the Holy Trinity by three lamps, illuminating a house as with one single indistinguishable brightness. And the light of the Deity, and the Trinity, bright as it is in itself, yet is obscure darkness to us, because the eyes of our mind are unable to gaze steadily on so brilliant and over-powering a light. This is also referred to by [Pseudo]-Dionysius. The Father then is the source of light; the Son, light proceeding directly from Him with equal and commensurate brightness; the Holy Spirit, as a reflected brightness, proceeding from the mutual and reflected love of the Father and the Son. The Gentiles had some shadowy notion of this, Parmenides defining God as a continuous circle of light, encompassing heaven, and Democritus, as mind in a fiery circle. Christ, as God and the Word, is the formal uncreated light; as man, He is the created light, because He is full of wisdom, grace, and glory. He is also the causal light, as being the cause of all grace and glory in us. As S. John says, “He is the light, because He enlightens every man that cometh into the world,” and that not as giving them the light of reason (as Origen and S. Cyril suppose), but rather as giving them the supernatural light of faith and wisdom. Malachi terms Him the Son of righteousness. Manichæus was wrong in supposing that the material sun was Christ (see S. Augustine, Tract. xxxiv. on S. John). Christ specially shone forth after His Incarnation, though He shone as a light even before that, as the dawn precedes the day. See S. Augustine (Tract. i. on S. John and Isa. xlx. 6). Christ said Himself, “I the Light of the World.” And Simeon also, Luke ii. 32. S. Augustine (Hom. xliii. inter? [nunc cxxxv]) says beautifully, “Christ came as an illuminator, because the devil had blinded men. This chiefest Physician compounded an eye-salve of infinite value to cure the blinded eyes. How healing was it, compounded of the Word and the flesh. But the eyes of man were so restored and enlightened, as to be equal to the eyes of angels, and to behold the heavenly glory of God Himself.” This light He imparted to the faithful, and especially to apostolic men, for them to become the light of the world (see Job xxxviii.; Ps. lxxxix.) And as He said to His apostles, “Ye are the light of the world.” So John, speaking of S. John the Baptist, and so S. Paul writes to the Ephesians, v. 5.
And in Him is no darkness at all, darkness being the type of ignorance and sin. So Didymus and Мcumenius, who quotes John i 5, and adds, “He calls our sinful flesh darkness, in which Christ was born, and yet was not partaker of sin.” As Moses, David, Habakkuk, and S. James (i. 17) say of God. Our actions, however they shine, are not the light. But the Divine Essence is light. It was said of the holiest of men, “He was not that Light;”but of the Word of God, it was said, “That was the true Light,” &c. And S. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xl.) says, “God is that highest and unapproachable Light, which cannot be conceived in the mind, or expressed in words, enlightening every nature which is endowed with reason, in matters intelligible to the mind, as the sun does in objects of sense, presenting itself more clearly to our comprehension, the more carefully we have cleansed our minds from sin, and as one who is the more greatly loved, the more we contemplate Him, and lastly, as one who is better known the more we love Him.” All this indicates the truth of John’s words, that God is light perfectly unblended with darkness, and that light of the understanding, which enlightens the eyes of our soul to discern it, by withdrawing it from all material objects, exciting all our affections to desire it, and it alone. This corresponds with John i. 4: “The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.” Of which S. Gregory Nyssen (Orat. de Nativ.) remarks, “His purity touched our filthiness, but was not defiled.” And S. Augustine (Epist. ad Honorat) says, “The Son of God is not absent even from the minds of the ungodly, though they see Him not, just as light is not seen when presented to the eyes of the blind. But the light of the Word shines in the darkness of ungodly men, by the light of reason, by the voices of created beings, which exclaim that there is a Creator who is to be venerated and loved, by the law of nature within in the mind, by the new law, by Scripture, by doctors and preachers, holy inspirations,” &c. And hence S. Augustine (Tract. ii. in John) says, “Sink not into sin, and that sun will not sink to thee. If thou sinkest, He will sink to thee.” The Gentiles seem to have seen this in a shadowy way. See S. Clement Alex., Strom. Lib. iv.
1:6
Ver. 6.—If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie. See 2 Cor. vi. 14. To walk in darkness, is to live in sin, to add sin to sin. He here aims at the Gnostics, who, like the Lutherans and Calvinists, think that they are predestinate, and that they will certainly be saved, however sinfully they may live. And so too the Ebionites. Here observe sins are called darkness for various reasons. (1.), Darkness is a loss of light, sin is a loss of grace. (2.) Darkness causes us to stumble, so do sins cause us to stumble in the way of holiness. (3.) Those who work in the dark (owls) hate the light, so do sinners. John iii. 20. (4.) Sins are the work of the prince of darkness. (5.) They are committed in the dark. (6.) Sins arise from blindness of heart. “This can be removed only by God, who enlightens our minds” (see S. Augustine, contr. Julian, lib. v.) This darkness is a sin and the punishment of sin. (7.) Sins darken the mind more and more; and (8.) they lead to everlasting darkness, and are called the shadow of death.
We lie, and do not the truth. The truth here meant is not mere speculative truth, but truth in act and deed. By truth we mean duty, and he who merely pretends to do it, is merely a masked hypocrite. (See Gregory Nyssen, Epist. ad Harm.) It is said of the devil that he abode not in the truth (John viii. 44), because he fell from his first estate, and was “a liar and the father of a lie.”
1:7
Ver. 7.—But if we walk in the light (of reason, virtue, grace), going on from virtue to virtue, as He is in the light. He is in truth the very substantial and divine Light, and does all things in the light of wisdom, prudence, and divine holiness.
We have fellowship one with another, and consequently with God. S. Augustine truly said (Confess. iv. 9), “Blessed is he that loveth Thee, his friend in Thee, and his enemy on account of Thee. For he loses no friend to whom all men are dear in Him, who is never lost.” See Prov. iv. 18, and Phil. ii. 15. S. Augustine says (de Verb. Apost. Serm. xv.), “Ye see that we are wayfarers. What then is walking? It is in a word to make progress, lest ye should not understand this, and walk too slowly. Be ever displeased with what thou art, if thou wishest to arrive at that which as yet thou art not. For thou remainest in the spot where thou art satisfied to be. If thou sayest it is enough, thou art lost. Ever be adding somewhat, ever be walking, ever make progress. Do not tarry in the way, do not turn back. He tarries who is not going onward, he turns back who goes back to his old starting-place—he who apostatises turns away from the path. A lame man who walks in the way, is better than a swift runner who goes astray from it.”
And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. But not so as to make us impeccable. It means that He has cleansed us from our sins by baptism, that He cleanses us (at the present time) from venial sins, and will cleanse us hereafter from the peril of mortal sins, and at last will cleanse in heaven from all concupiscence. S. John uses the present tense, as including both the past and future. (See S. Augustine and Bede in loc. and S. Jerome contra.Pelag. Lib. ii.) Here note (1.) that God does not merely erase sins, but washes them away entirely. The Council of Trent (Sess. vi.chap. 6) says, “No one can be righteous unless the merits of Christ’s Passion are imparted to him,” &c. And Clement VI. (Extrav. ‘Unigenitus’) asserts that “one drop of Christ’s blood could have redeemed the whole world, as being the blood of the Word by hypostatic union.” S. Gregory Nazianzen says, “No miracle is comparable with that of our salvation, wherein a few drops of blood restored the whole world, and (as blood curdles milk) binds us all into one;” and S. Augustine, on Ps. lxv., “Ask ye what He purchased? See what He gave, and then find out what He purchased. The blood of Christ is the price. What did it purchase, save the whole world?” “The blood of the Lord is the price of our life,” &c. And S. Ambrose (de Virg. Lib. iii.), “We have all things in Christ. Let every soul draw nigh to Him, whether suffering from bodily sins, or firmly fastened by the nails of worldly desire, or which is still imperfect, but yet is making progress in inward meditation, or being even perfect in many virtues is altogether in the power of God; and Christ is all things to us. If thou wishest to cure thy wound, He is thy Physician; if thou art burning with fever, He is a fountain of waters; if thou art burdened with guilt, He is thy righteousness; if thou needest help, He is thy strength; if thou fearest death, He is thy life; if thou longest for heaven, He is the way; if thou shrinkest from darkness, He is thy light; if thou seekest food, He is thy sustenance.” The blood of Jesus Christ is put, by a metonymy, for the pouring forth His Blood. It follows that His blood cleanses us not physically but meritoriously. But see S. Thomas (3 part 9. 48, art. 6, and 9. 50, art. 6), who says that it has physically power to sanctify as being the physical instrument which God makes use of for our sanctification. But see the whole passage.
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8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Cajetan understands this of original sin, which we all contract from Adam, the Blessed Virgin alone excepted (see authorities quoted). (2.) Lyranus understands it of mortal sin, from which no one can dare to assert that he is free. (3.) Cardinal Hugo and others generally understand it of venial sin, into which we cannot help falling. See Conc. Irid. sess. iii. can. 23, where, however, the Blessed Virgin is counted as an exception. By speaking in the first person John includes himself and the other Apostles, for though they were so strengthened by grace that they could not sin mortally, yet they did sin venially. And how much more are we guilty, and how constantly should we humble ourselves and sorrow for our sins. Others regard it as speaking of the punishment of sin, others of concupiscence which remains even in those who are regenerate and justified. See Conc. Irident. But we may include all sin under one general statement, the word ‘have’ comprehending both past and future time. We have had original sin, and we have, or shall have, some actual sin. In ver. 10 the past tense is used. S. John wishes to show that all are guilty of sin, and need redemption by Christ, for he says, “If we say that we have no sin,” &c. But though these words may be taken as referring to all sin, yet properly and directly they speak of actual sin, whether mortal or venial. For he speaks of our confessing our sins, which refers only to actual sins. The meaning then is this, that we deceive ourselves if we assert that we are free from any actual sin. It is thus understood by the Council of Millois, S. Jerome, S. Basil, S. Gregory (Mor. xviii. 4), and many others. S. James supports this view (chap, iii. 2). Both S. John and S. James refer to the heretics of their own day, who said that unbelief was the only sin, and that all things were pure to the believer, however foul his life. Luther and the Libertines taught the same, while the Beynards and Beguines considered they had attained to such perfection that they could not possibly sin, under whatever temptation. Pelagius taught that all sins could be avoided by the power of nature alone. Durandus (in Part ii. Dist. xxviii. q. 3) had much the same opinion, viz., that all deliberate venial sins could be avoided, but not all such as come upon us by surprise. See Eccles. vii. 20, and Prov. xxiv. 16. It is then our humiliation to own ourselves sinners, and to pray daily in our Lord’s words, “Forgive us our trespasses.” S. Augustine (de Nat. et Gratia, cap. xxxvi.) says, “With the exception of the Virgin Mary (respecting whom I do not wish, for the honour of the Lord, to raise any question about sin, for we know that more grace was given her to overcome sin of every kind, to whom it was vouchsafed to conceive and bear Him who, it is admitted, had no sin)—with her exception, if we were to question all those holy men and women, when they were living here, what, think you, would be their answer? that which this man, or what the apostle John, said? would they not say, ‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves’?” And so too S. Gregory (Hom. xxxix. on the Gospels): “If then thou art elated by thy learning, thy wealth, &c., knowest thou who thou art? Thou art a sinner. Knowest thou what sin is? It is the greatest vileness, the greatest misery of man, the greatest evil to the world, for it is in the highest measure opposed to the highest good. It is the greatest contempt of God, the greatest ingratitude, the greatest hatred of God, the greatest offence to Him. It is Christicide, nay Deicide. For if God could be killed, sin would be the weapon.” Cassian (Collet. xxxii. cap. 19.) gives an example from prayer, in which there is scarce any one who does not wander in thought, and thus commit a venial sin. But he seems to say that anything which withdraws us, even against our wills, from continual contemplation of God, is a sin; and therefore he must be read with caution. But he must be understood to speak of the evil of punishment, from which however there frequently arises the evil of guilt.
We deceive ourselves, and moreover are deceived in our own minds: to the ruin of our soul. For he who thinks he is free from sin, neglects to seek a remedy for that sin, for which he will be punished. And moreover, he proudly contradicts Scripture, which says that we all are sinners, and does away with the grace and passion of Christ, in saying that he does not need to be cleansed by His Blood.
And the truth is not in us. That is, we lie. S. Augustine (commenting on Eccles. vii., in Sententiis Sent. 365) says, “He who is just overmuch, becomes unjust over much. For who is he who makes himself just, but he who says that he has no sin?”
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Ver. 9.—If we confess. S. John here suggests a remedy for sin, namely, its sincere acknowledgment, and humble confession, and penance, for by this is the Blood of Christ applied to us, to cleanse us from it. But what is the kind of confession which he requires? a general confession made to God, or a special confession to a Priest? S. John seems to require both of those, a general confession for lighter sins, special confession for grave ones. Mortal sins must be confessed, not only to God, but to the Priest, who has power to forgive (John xx. 23). See Bellarmine, de Pænit. i. 13, iii. 4. As S. Cyprian says (Serm. de Lapsis). “in this way do they remove the burden of their mind, and seek for a salutary remedy for such small and slight wounds.” And Tertullian (de Pænit. ch. 3) says, “Confession removes the burden of sins, just as concealment adds to it.” He then sets forth the acts of penance; as sackcloth and ashes, simple food, frequent fasts, tears and sighs, &c. As S. Chrysostom briefly says, “Penitence is contrition of heart, confession with the lips, and humility in every act.” See here the great benefit of confession, in appeasing God’s wrath, and obtaining His grace. (See Is. xliii. 26, sec. lxx., and PS. li. 4, xxxii. 5). Origen, on Ps. xxxvii. [xxxviii.], says that it is like a vomit, which relieves the overloaded stomach. And S. Diadochus says that it is the best remedy against sin for “religious” to confess to their spiritual director; and S. Francis, quoting S. Augustine (Sentent.), says, “ If thou excusest thyself, God accuses thee; and if thou accusest thyself, He excuses thee.” Besides this, S. John teaches us that as we sin frequently, we should confess frequently, for trifling sins, if neglected, become great ones, “as many drops fill a river, and many grains make up a mass.” And what difference is it, whether a ship be sunk with one huge wave, or by the gradual oozing in of water, through a neglected leak? See Ecclus. xix. 1. And as S. Gregory says, “If we neglect to cure small faults, we are insensibly led on to boldly commit greater ones;” and again, “He who neglects to sorrow for and avoid even the least sins, does not fall suddenly from a state of grace, but, by little and little, he falls entirely away. Those then who frequently fall away in little things, should seriously consider that sometimes we sin more grievously in a little fault than in a greater one. For the greater it is, the more quickly do we discover that it is a fault, and therefore more speedily correct it, whereas a smaller fault is counted as nothing, and is therefore more fatally and more unconcernedly persevered in. And frequently a mind accustomed to lesser faults dreads not greater ones.”
Is faithful. Because He who told us to pray for forgiveness of our sins promised that His fatherly forgiveness and pardon would follow. (S. Cyprian, de Orat. Dom.)
And just. How is this? He is not bound as an act of justice to forgive sins even to him who is penitent. It is of His mere mercy and clemency. But it is fitting and an act worthy of God to forgive the sin of a penitent, both because He promised to do so, as the reward of penitence (see John xx. 23, Ezek. xviii. 32, and elsewhere)—His promise is a debt which ought to be paid—as well as being in accordance with Divine goodness. “It is just for Thee, O God, to spare the wicked: it is also just to punish them,” says S. Anselm (in Prosolog. cap. ix. and x.). Some accordingly explain ‘just’ as compassionate, compassion being most accordant with God’s nature, and penitence in its very nature is a disposition towards reconciliation and grace. 2. He is just. Because Christ has by this death merited pardon for us, and God has promised it Him. The remission of our sins is due to Christ and not to ourselves. And Christ communicates His merits to the sinner, and makes them his, so that he can offer them as his own to God. And God is just in accepting this ransom. This rule of justice, properly speaking, is with reference to Christ, not to ourselves. For otherwise we (and not Christ) should be our own redeemers, which is impious and a wrong to Christ. 3. Suarez says, rather too subtilly (3 p. disp. xi. sect. 1, conc, 3), “He is faithful, whence He forgives penitents their more mortal sins, but just when He condones the venial sins of the righteous, because they deserve this by their deserts” (de condigno). (See S. Augustine, de Corrupt. and Grat. cap. xiii.) 4. God is in a certain way ‘just’ when He forgives one who is penitent and confesses his mortal sins, because this is a kind of satisfaction. Just as an offender who vilifies his neighbour, by humbling himself and asking pardon, and the offended person is bound in justice to accept this satisfaction, so does the penitent make some kind of satisfaction to God when he humbly confesses his faults, and especially if he does so from true and perfect contrition. For contrition, proceeding as it does from the love of God above all things, is a kind of compensation for the wrong and slight he has done to God by preferring the creature to Him. For the love which loves God above all things compensates for the hatred felt towards Him, as the honour paid Him makes up for the former contempt and slight, though not to an equal extent. And therefore it is just in a certain measure that God should pardon the sinner for some such acts as these. And for this reason penitence is counted by theologians as closely allied to justice, and as its effective part. Nay, Durandus (in 4 Dist. 14 q.) thinks that penitence is reciprocal justice, inasmuch as the theological virtues enjoin it to make due satisfaction (as far as it can) for its offence. But others on every side more truly suppose that penitence is a special virtue distinct from strict justice, and all other moral virtues. Richard (in 4 Dist. art. i. q. 2) adds, that the merits of Christ being granted, penitence can in strictness, as an act of justice, make satisfaction for sin. And (on Dist. xvii. art. 2, Quæst. 7) he asserts that contrition, if it precedes remission of sins, merits it by desert (ex condigno). And so also others teach that contrition stands on the same level as mortal sin, and can by itself make satisfaction for it. And they derive that from S. Thomas’ own principles; for he teaches (1, 2 q. 113, art. 8) that in the justification of a sinner, sanctifying grace is infused prior to contrition and remission of sin. In this he is followed by many of his disciples. But the general opinion is otherwise, namely, that contrition does not result from sanctifying, but from prescient grace. For since contrition disposes us for receiving sanctifying grace, it cannot result from it, but necessarily precedes it (see Conc. Iriden. sess. vi. chap. 6, 7, and 8), and consequently teaches that we are justified freely, and do not merit that justification which includes remission of sins. (See authorities quoted.)
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Sin and unrighteousness are here used synonymously.
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Ver. 10.—If we say that we have not sinned, &c. 1. By original sin, and (2) by actual sin. This no one questions. S. John probably refers to venial sins. He uses the past tense, as speaking to those who had been converted from heathenism, and who in that state had committed many grievous sins. Again, among those who had been brought to Christ many deferred their baptism till the last, and were consequently termed ‘clinics.’ The Fathers severely condemn them. But those who were baptized as children, had committed (as adults) many venial sins, at least. The Apostle therefore speaks to all in the past tense, as wishing to warn them for the future, that (as having been regenerate) they should carefully abstain from sin, as he says in the next chapter.
We make Him a liar. Because God says in Scripture that all men are sinners and do not live without sin. See Eccles. vii. 20; Prov. xxiv. 16; Ps. cxlii. 2; James iii. 2, and elsewhere, and in the Lord’s Prayer.
And His word abideth not in us. We do not understand, or embrace, or retain its true doctrine, or anyhow we forget it. We do not believe Scripture, which says that we are all liable to sin. So S. Clement, Didymus, Cajetan, and others. But the Gloss understands by ‘His Word’ His Son Jesus Christ; and says that He abides not in us, because from our unbelief and pride we overthrow the mystery of redemption, and say that we do not need, nor ever needed, a Redeemer. Or it may mean the word which God has said (“the greater thou art, humble thyself the more,” Ecclus. iii. 20) abideth not in us. For we do the exact contrary, and being of no account, and sinners, we wish to be great, and incapable of sin.
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Quod audivimus. Hoc in persona sua et caeterorum Apostolorum dicit, quemadmodum et sequentia numero plurali. Sic enim et in Evangelio: Vidimus gloriam ejus. Nec dubium, quin haec, quae de audito, viso et contrectato Verbo vitae dicit, ad naturam ejus humanam pertineant. Quoniam vero idem est, quod fuit ab initio, et quod audisse, vidisse et contrectasse se testatur: hinc jam statuitur unitas personae in Verbo incarnato, id est, utramque naturam habente, divinam et humanam. Dicit ergo: Quod audivimuSy id est, quem Dei Filium ore suo benedicto loquentem ac docentem auscultavimus; cujus loquentis ac docentisverba auribus nostris hausimus.
Quod vidimus oculis nostris, quod perspeximus. Gradum facit ad sensum certiorem, id est visum. Addit autem: oculis nostriSy scilicet corporeis, majoris expressionis causa; ac ne, alienis tantum oculis eos credidisse, quis putaret: Vidimus, inquit, hominem in humana carne conversantem cum hominibus, edentem, bibentem, ac caetera, quae humana sunt, agentem ac patientem; vidimus in monte transfiguratum ac splendentem; vidimus cruci affixum ac morientem; denique vidimus a morte redivivum et in coelos aacendentem. Haec contra illos dicuntur, qui negabant, Jesum in carne venisse. Simul ostenditur Joannes ex eorum fuisse numero, quibus dictum est a Domino Matth. 13.: Vestri beati oculi, quia vident; et aures vestrae, quia audiunt. Additautem: quod perspeximus, Graece: o l^saoa/xs^a^ quod intuiti sumus, seu potius, quod contemplati sumus, ad significandam visionem non quamlibet, sed intentam, et, ut ita loquar, curiosam; quae fit oculis propius admotis, etiam adhibita, si opus videatur, contrectatione manuum. Unde sequitur:
Et manus nostrae contrectaverunt. Id est: palpaverunt. Est enim idem in Graeco vocabulum, quod apud Lucam cap. 24., dicente Domino: Palpate et videte. Palpaverunt autem seu contrectaverunt Verbum carnem factum, sive ante resurrectionem ejus, ut ipse Joannes, recumbens in sinu Jesu, Joan. 13., et Petrus, quem Jesus extensa manu apprehendit, Matth. 14., et omnes discipuli, quando manibus suis lavit eorum pedes, Joan. 13.; sive post resurrectionem, ut Thomas, cui dictum fuit a Domino: 7nfer digitum tuum huc, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus meum, Joan. 20., et alii discipuli, quibus dixit: Palpate et videte. Nam quin palpaverint, ambigi non potest, praesertim de Thoma; quum ea ree tota divinitus ordinata fuerit ad comprobandamresurrectionis veritatem. Contrectarunt eum etiam manus impiorum, a quibus captus, colaphizatus, flagellatus et crucifixus fuit; sed ab illis testimonium non erat petendum. Quidam in hac parte hyperbolen faciunt, quasi tantum hocvelit Joannes, dicens: Et manus nostrae contrectaverunt, hoc, inquam, quod dixit in Evangelio: Et habitavit in nobis, id est, inter nos; ut significetur familiaris Verbi cum hominibus conversatio. Verum ex dictis satis apparet, proprie fuisse locutum. Ac sane testem (qualem Joannes hic se profitetur) hyperbolice testificantem loqui non convenit. Quo etiam argumento refelli potest eorum commentarius, qui auditum et visum hujus loci ad mentem seu partem intellectivam referunt; ut audivisse dicantur Apostoli, praenuntiantibus Prophetis vidisse fide, perspexisse inteJligentia. Non enim animadvertunt, hanc a Joanne scribi tamquam teste eorum, quae cum sociis Apostolis audivit et vidit. Hoc enim mox addit: Et testamur. Unde et ajunt ad principes Judaeorum Petrus et Joannes, Act. 4.: Non enim possumus, quae vidimus et audivimus, non loqui.
De verbo vitae. Verbum vitae nonnulli interpretantur Evangelium, sive evangelicam doctrinam vivificam et salutarem. Sed hic sensus non congruit cum praecedentibus. Igitur verbum vitae intelligamus, ut alii fere omnes, Dei Filium, Verbum Patris, de quo praeclare Joannes initio sui Evangelii, et rursus in hac Epist. 5, 7. Unde est et illud Apoc. 19. de Filio Dei: Vocatur nomen ejus Verbum Dei. Vocatur autem Verbum, Graece: Aoyoc, appellatione sumpta a verbo humano, ex cujus cognitione veluti manu ducendi sumus ad notitiam Verbi divini, nobis alioqui per naturam incogniti. Nam sicuti verbum nostrum procedit a mente, ita Filio Dei ex ratione Verbi competit a Patre procedere, velut a mente aeterna; et sicuti verbum nostrum internum, etsi a mente procedens, intime tamen in ipsa permanet, nec ab ea separari potest, ita Filius Dei, procedens ex Patre, intimus in ipso permanet, nec ab eo separabilis est. Rursum sicut mentis nostrae verbum, quo se ipsam intelligit, est ipsius mentis imago perfecta, sic Dei Filius est perfecta imago Patris. Et ut, aliis comparationibus omissis, unam adhuc adjiciam, quae praesenti loco serviat, quomodo verbum internum apud homines manifestatur per verbum externum, ita aeternum Dsi Ver))um, Patri intimum, innotuit homiiiibns in tempore, non solum per voces Prophetarum, qui venturum in carne praenuntiaruut, verum etiam, et maxime, postea per assumptam ab ipso naturam humanam, in qua Verbum Patris olim invisibile factum est visibile, conversans et colloquens cum hominibus. Sed de hac re plura et ex professo ad dist. 27. lib. 1. sent. Ubi etiam ostendimus, etsi tam hic, quam in Evangelio et alibi, pro Verbo possit etiam verti: sermo, quod Erasmus et alii quidam faciunt, imo et vulgatus interpres nonnumquam, melius tamen convenire^ Verbi vocabulum illi simplicissimo et immutabili Dei Verbo. Quamquam fatendum est, significationem Graecae vocis Aoyoc, prout tribuitur Dei Filio, Latina aliqua dictione nec satis proprie exprimi, nec plene reddi posse. Porro Verbum vitae vocatar duplici ratione: et quia Verbum vivens est, imo ipsa vita; et quia Verbum vivificum, id est, vitam ac salutem adferens hominibus. Priori modo vita est essentialiter, posteriori causaliter. Videtur autem prior modus hic significatus, ut sequentia declarant; cum respectu tamen ad modum posteriorem. Nam et Evangelii locus: In. ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum, eodem modo rectissime intelligitur. Quod ad constructionem attinet, quidam hanc partem praecedentibus ita annectunt: Quidquid de Verbo vitae vobis annuntiamus (nam illud: annuntiamus vobis, paulo post sequitur), ab initio erat, et nobis palam ostensum est. Sed haec constructio sinceritatem sententiae cori-umpit, quia, quod Verbum caro factum est, et ab Apostolis auditum, visum et contrectatum, non fuit ab milio, sed factum est in tempore. Proinde dicendum, in eo, quod ait: De verbo vitae, locutionem esse transitivam, hoc recto modo exponendum: Ipsum verbum vitae, quod fuit a principio, guodque carne indutum audivimuSf et vidimus, et contrectavimus, annuntiamus vobis. Ita respondet optime exordium hujus Epistolae cum exordio Evangelii: In principio erat Verbum. Haec syntaxis est apud Augustinum in exposit. hujus Epist. et apud alios. Eandem Syrus interpres clare expressit. Annotat autem Lorinus, esse Hebraismum, qualis Act. 2.: Effundam de Spiritu meo, pro eo, quod apud Joelem cap. 3. legitur: Effundam Spiritum meum. Cujus locutionis etiam alia profert exempla.
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2. Et vita manifestata est. Orationem adhuc pendentem intercidit parenthesi, qua hanc solam partem includi quidam putant, ut id, quod sequitur: Et vidimus, et testamur etc, referatur ad illud praecedens: de verbo vitae. Alii parenthesim longius protrahunt, idque probabilius; ut infra declarabimus. Vitam appellat ipsum Verbum vitae, Jesum Christum, Dei Filium, quem in Evangelio vitam appellat, ut cap. 1.: Vita erat lux hominum; et cap. 11. ipse Dominus testatur: Ego sum resurrectio et vita, et cap. 14.: Ego sum via, veritas et vita. Appellatur autem vita, quemadmodum dictum est, primum quidem essentialiter, deinde etiam causaliter; et hoc bifariam, siquidem, ut Deus, vitae nostrae primarius auctor est, una cum Patre et Spiritu sancto, sive vitam nostram intelligas temporalem, sive (quod Apostolus spectavit) aeternam atque beatam. Caeterum, ut homo, per suam passionem et mortem vitam nobis aeternam promeruit. Manifestata est autem vita, Dei Filius, per incarnationem et cum hominibus conversationem, perque doctrinam et miracula. Cohaerebit haec parenthesis cum praecedentibus, si et, per voculam causalem exponas: Etenim vita manifestata est; ut significetur ratio quaedam ejus, quod proxime praecedit: de verbo vitae.
Et vidimus, et testamur, et annuntiamus vobis vitam aeternam. Planior fiet contextus, si suppleatur hoc modo: Quam et vidimus, de qua proinde et testificamur, quamque vobis annuntiamus; vitam, inquam, aeternam. Quomodo vidisse se dicat, explicatum est supra. Et quia tot modis viderant Joannes ac caeteri Apostoli vitam Christum, idcirco testes erant quam maxime idonei, qui vitam illam hominibus annuntiarent. Quam nunc vitam aeternam vocat, respiciens ad efiectum, quemnobis tribuit. Qui enim per essentiam est vita immortalis et aeterna, idem nobis electis suis aeternae vitae participationem, et meruit ut homo, et praestat ut Deus. Alioqui Verbum ipsum significari, id est, Vitam essentialem, declarat, quod sequitur:
Quae erat apud Patrem, et apparuit nobis. Apparuit, Graece: lcpavspto^Tj, quod modo verterat: manifestata est. Rursus autem, quae hic dicuntur, conveniunt cum iis, quae habentur in Evangelio. Quod enim illic ait: Et Verbum erat apud Deum, hoc de Vita nunc dicit: Quae erat apud Patrem. Et quod illic: Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in vobis, hic de Vita dicit: Et apparuit nobis. Erat igitur haec vita aeterna, et fons vitae, apud Patrem; non demum a mundo condito, sed in principio et a tota aeternitate; licet actu vitam de se fundere non coeperit, nisi postquam per ipsam ea creata sunt, quae vitae perennis essent capacia. Erat, inquam, vita apud Patrem, tamquam persona ab eo distincta, sed unum cum eo in essentia; quippe particula: apud, et propinqaitatem, et difierentlam denotat Et quia dicitur: apud Patrem, ostenditur, hanc vitam ipsora esse Filium. Apparuit autem hominibus eadem vita, sicoti dictum est, quando Verbum caro factum habitare coepit et conversari cum hominibus. Hoc loco finitur parenthesis.
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3. Quod vidimus et audivimus, annuntiamus vobis. Repetit ex superioribus: Quod vidimus et audivimus, ut orationem, quam reliquit imperfectam et suspensam, absolvat addendo: annuntiamus vobis; ac si dicat: Quod, inquam, vidimus et audivimus, id ipsum nos Apostoli, tam(\ua.m. certissimi testes, vobis annuntiamus. Nam probatissimi testes sunt, qoi hominem, de quo testantur, et viderunt, et loquentem audierunt; quod utrumque pertinet ad testem oculatum. Nam auritum testem vocamus, qui refert ea tantum, quae ex aliis audivit. Jam quo magis perspicuus fiat totius orationis contextus, ab initio Epistolae huc usqu^ protous?.e, breviter eum repetimus et explicamus hac paraphrasi: Quod fuit a principio, quod audivimus, quod vidimus oculis nostris ac perspeximuSj quodque manus nostrae contrectaverunt, nempe verbum vitae (vita namque manifestata est: quam et vidimus; de qua proinde etiam testamur, et quam annuntiamus vobis; vitam, dico, aeternam, quae etat apud Patrem et apparuit nobis); quod, inquam, vidimus et audivimus, annuntiamus vobis. Praeter hanc contextus distinctionem, quam ut probabiliorem adduximus et sequimur, adfertErasmus in annotationibus adhuc unam et alteram, quas apud ipsum videre est.
Ut et vos societatem habeatis nobiscum. Addit causam finalem seu fructum annuntiati per Apostolos Evacgejii de Verbo incarnato. Fructus ille est societas cum Apostolis, hujus Evangelii nuntiis; quasi dicat: Nos, qui vidimus et audivimus id, quod vobisannuntiamus, societate quadam inter nos conjuncti sumus, participantes ac participaturi bona, ab eo, quem praedicamus, promissa. Volumus autem, et vos adjungi nobis socios; non quaestus aut commodi nostri causa, sed impellente nos caritate et officii nostri ratione; scilicet ut eorundem nobiscum bonorum efficiamini participes; id quod sequentia declarant. Pro societate Graece est: xoivcovta, communio seo communicatio; quomodo noster interpres interdum alibi vertit. Significat autem socialem aliquorum inter se conjunctionem.
Et societas nostra sit cum Patre, et cum Filio ejus, Jesu Christo. Verbum: sit, additum est ab interprete, quod et Erasmus supplet. Graeca vero sic habent: Et societas autem nostra cum Patre etc., ot supplendum videator verbum: est. Nam et Syriaci textos interpretes ita vertont: Est autem societas nostra cum Patre etc. Juxta versionem vulgatam sensus est: Utque societas nostra, id est, vestra nobiscum adunata, sit cum Deo Patre et Filio. Qood si vero: est, suppleatur, oti postulare videtur particula: dk, autem (nam et Erasmus id magis probat in annotatione), erit assumptio ad id, quod praecedit, ut sensus sit: Nostra autem societas, id est, ea, quam nos Apostoli inter nos habemus (ne rem non admodum expetendam promittere vobis videar), nobis communis est com Patre et Filio ejus, Jesu Christo. Quae profecto societas est omnibus votis exoptanda. Quare, si nobiscum inieritis societatem, consequenter eritis una nobiscum socii Patris et FiUi. Quae quanta sit, et quam optabilis societas, ut omnes intelligant, exprimitur nomine amicitiae, sicut eam alibi Scripturae exprimunt. Ut Sap. 7.: Amicos Dei Sapientia constituit; Luc. 12.: Dico vobis, amicis meis; Joan. 11.: Lazarus amicus noster dormit, et 15.: Vos amici mei estis, sifeceritis etc., et iterum: Vos autem dixi amicos, quia omnia, quae audivi etc. Hoc autem nomen tantum ac tale est, ut pro magno scribat de Abraham Patriarcha Jacobus Apostolus, cap..3., quod amicus Dei appellatus est. Unde et de hoc nomine sibi gratulatur Joannes Baptista, de se ipso loquens in hunc modum: Amicus autem sponsi, qui stat et audit eum f gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. PoiTo consistit haec societas et amicitia in participatione bonorum ad salutem nostram pertinentium, quae Deus nobis, ut sociis suis et amicis, communicat; quae cum multa sint, omnium consummatio est in intima contemplatione beatissimae Trinitatis, Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti. Nam Patre et Filio nominato, Spiritus sanctus, qui Patris et Filii amor est, statim intelligitur. Praeclare meminit hujus nostrae cum Deo societatis Apostolus Paulus 1 Cor. 1. dicens: Fidelis Deus, per quem vocati estis in societatem Filii ejus Jesu Christi, Domini nostri. Vide, quae ad eum locum de hoc vocabulo et re significata annotavimus. Ex his praeterea coUige contra schismaticos, neminem posse cum Deo societatem habere, qui societatem non habeat cum Ecclesia Catholica et Apostolica, sponsa utique Christi. Qua de re praeclare Cyprianus: Non potest habere Deum Patrem, qui Ecclesiam noluerit habere matrem. Hoc ille in libro de unitate Eccles. Eadem sententia est apud S. Augustinum enarrat. Psalm. 88. in fine.
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4. Et haec scribimus vobis, ut gaudeatis, et gaudium vestrum sit plenum. Plenum, Graece: impletum. Absunt autem duae voces: gaudeatis et, non solum in Graecis et Syris codicibus, verum etiam in manuscriptis quibusdam Latinis, et in antiquis concordantiis, nec non apud Augustinum et Bedam. Et quidem apud Bedam et Oecumenium, quemadmodum eorum commentarii declarant, prima persona legitur: Ut gaudium nostrum sit plenum. Cujus lectionis etiam glossa interlinealis meminit; tametsi pro secunda persona facere videntur loca prima fronte similia, Joan. 15.: Haec locutus sum, ut gaudium vestrum impleatur, et cap. 16.: Petite et accipietis. ut gaudium vestrum sit plenum. Legitur et in secimda Epistola: Ut gaudium vestrum plenum sitj sed in Latinis duntaxat; nam Graeca eo loco habent: nostrum, ut habent hoc loco permulta. Syrus interpres utramque personam complexus est, dum ita vertit: Vt gaudium nostrum, quod est in vobis, sit completum. Sic enim et Dominus in Evangelio: Ut gaudium meum in vobis, Joan. 15. Nostrae lectionis hunc sensum reddere licet: Haec, quae dixi de Verbo Dei aeterno et incarnato, et per nos vobis annuntiato, ut una nobiscum societatem habeatis cum Patre et Filio, scribimus vobis in eum finem, ut gaudeatis gaudio vero ac spirituali nimirum de bonis in illa societate acceptis et accipiendis, utque gaudium illud vestrum perseveret ac perficiatur. Si primam personam legas, sensus erit: Ut nos de vobis, tamquam sociis ac consortibus ejusdem gratiae, plenum et perfectum capiamus gaudium. Quo fere modo Beda et Oecumenius hunc locum exponunt. Simili sensu dixit Paulus: Implete gaudium meum y ut idem sapiatiSj Phil. 2. Dicit autem Joannes plurali numero: scribimus, quia, quod scribebat, ex communi scribebat Apostolorum sententia atque doctrina.
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5. Et haec est annuntiatio, quam audivimus ab eo, et annuntiamus vobis. Hactenus prooemium Epistolae, quod erat salutationis loco. Nunc ingressum facit ad exhortationem, qua doceat, in genere fugienda esse peccata, si velint habere cum Deo societatem, de qua supra locutus est. Annuntiatio, Graece: Inoi.y- YsXia, quae vox etiam promissionem significat. Unde vertunt Erasmus etHentenius: Et haec est promissio. Nam et noster interpres capite sequenti, vers. 25., repromissionem transtulit. Verum hoc loco magis quadrat annuntiatio, quum in verbis sequentibus non indicetur res aliqua promissa, sed doctrina contineatur, ad exhortationem applicanda: Quod Deus lux est etc. Est autem Hebraismus: annuntiatio, pro re annuntiata, sicut alibi spes pro re sperata, timor pro re timenda; actus nimirum pro objecto. Hoc, inquit, est, quod audivimus ex eo, nempe Christo, Dei Filio, quodque ille nos docuit, et quod nos ab eo docti vobis annuntiamus; videlicet id, quod sequitur:
Quoniam Deus lux est, et tenebrae in eo non sunt ullae. Deum lucem vocat eodem tropo, quo tenebras ab eo removet; utroque scilicet vocabulo metaphorice sumpto; ne quis hic lucem et tenebras corporeas imaginetur, more Manichaeorum, qui Deum esse dicebant lucem oculis corporeis aspectabilem, etChristum solem hunc visibilem. Igitur Deus lux ab Apostolo vocatur, primum quoad intellectum, quia plenus est intelligentia, clarissime se ipsum (qui est prima veritas), et in se ipso omnia alia cognoscens. Deinde quoad voluntatem, quia summa bonitas est, summa justitia et rectitudo. Deus, inquit Moses, fidelis est et ahsque ulla iniquitate, justus et rectus, Deut. 32. Tertio (quod Joannes potissimum spectasse videtur) propter effectura divinae lucis in nobis, quia nimirum ita Deus in se ipso lux est purissima, nullisque permixta tenebris, nt etiam fons sit omnis lucis, id est veritatis, bonitatis ac justitiae, quae in nobis est; nec solum nos ilhiminet, docendo, quid agere debeamus, quod fit illustratione mentis; verum etiam efficaciter operetur in nobis, ut agamus: quod fit excitatione vohintatis. Unde et consequitur effeetns ille, quem alii hic considerant, ut radiis iHius hicis perfusa mens nostra, ab ignorantiae tenebris liberetur, et voluntas a pravitate purgetur. Hoc enim est, quod addit Apostolus: Et tenebrae in eo non sunt ullae. Nam sensus est: Ita tenebras omnis erroris, et ignorantiae, et peccati ab illa luce aeterna, quae Deus est, alienas esse, ut etiam a nobis errorum et peccatorum tenebras expellat. Et hic sensus satis colligitur ex sequentibus, estque consentaneus iis, quaescribit idem Apostolus cap. 1. sui Evdngelii de Verbo Dei: Vita erat lux hominum; et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Ubi tenebras vocat homines erroribus et peccatis obtenebratos, Et cap. 12.: Ego lux in mundum veni, ut om~ nis, qui credit in me, in tenebris non maneat. Ubi tenebras utique peccata et errores intelligit, quibus dissipandis Christus lux vera venit in mundum. Nota, quod dicitur: in eo, id est, in Deo, posse etiam ad lucem referri, juxta Graecam lectionem, quia ^dig neutrius generis est, ut lumen Latinis; quemadmodum retulit Hieronymus, ita scribens lib. 2. dialogi contra Pelagianos, cap. 3.: Quando dicit Joannes, nullas tenebras in Dei lumine reperiri, ostendit omnia aliorum lumina aliqua sorde maculari. Quamquam hoc sensum non variat.
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6. Si dixerimus: Quoniam societatem habemus cum eo, et in tenebris ambulamus; mentimur, et veritatem non facimus. Declarat, quorsum huc adduxerit mentionem lucis ac tenebrarum. Si, inquit, dixerimus verbo aut animo, nos habere societatem cum Deo, et in tenebris peccatorum conversamur ac vivimus; mentimur, id est, falsum dicimus, et veritatem non facimus, hoc est, facto non probamus, verum esse, quod verbo aut cogitatione loquimur. Aut: Non fa^ cimus, id est, non loquimur veritatem; quemadmodum sequenti capite: Mendax est, et in eo veritas non est. Ratio, cur falsum dicere convincatur: qma. Deuslux est; scriptum est autem: Quae societas luci ad tenebras? 2 Cor. 6. Quare et illatio hic intelligi potest ex parte praecedenti: Si Deus lux est, nullas admittens tenebras, igitur homo in tenebris ambulans societatem habere cum Deo non potest. Quam proinde si habere se dicat, mentitur. Dicet ahqnis: Si is, qui in tenebris, id est, in peccatis ambulat, non habet societatem cum Deo; igitur neo Joannes ipse, caeterique Apostoli societatem cum Deo habebant. Non enim vivebant sine peccatis; id quod Joannes })a]am profitetur paulo post, dicens: Si dixerimus: Quia peccatum non habemils; ipsi nos seducimus. Unde et David orabat Dominum, dicens: Deus meus, ilhimina tenebras meas. Respondeo, non omnem eum, in quo aliquae sunt peccatorum tenebrae, secundum Apostolum in tenebris ambulare, aut, ut sequenti capite vers. 9. loquitur, in tenebris esse j sed eos solos, quibus tenebrae dominantur, id est, in 14., quique servi sunt peccati, ibidem vers. 17. et 20. Nam tenebras aliquas patiuntur et habent etiam illi, qui in luce ambulant, imo qui et lux sunt in Do~ mino. Qui vero peccatis serviunt et cupiditatibus suis obsequuntur, in tenebris ambulare dicuntur, ipsique tenebrae vocantur. Sic enim Paulus ad Ephosios cap. 5.: EratiSy inquit, aliquando tenebrae; nunc autem lux in Domino. Jam nec ilhid ex hoc Joco consequens est, Christianos malos et in tenebris ambulantes non esse in Ecclesia, quae societas est fidelium. Non enim illa societas hic intelligitur, quae cura recta fide sohim consistat in externa fidei professione et sacramentorum communione sub uno capite visibili; cujusmodi societas Ecclesiam constituit; sed ea, quae vera est cum Deo amicitia, quam caritas conciliat, in cordibus nostris diffusa per Spiritum sanctum, Rom. 5.
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7. Si autem in luce ambulamus, sicut et ipse est in luce, societatem habemus ad invicem. Dixit, eos mentiri, qui, cum in tenebris ambulent, habere se dicunt societatem cum Deo. Nunc docet, quinam veraciter hoc dicere possint; nempe qui in luce ambulant, sicut Deus in luce est. Non tamen, eo posito, aperte dicit, societatem nos habere cum Deo; verum id consequitur ex eo, quod dicit: Societatem habemus ad invicem, Graece:,U£T aXXriX(tiv, inter nos mutuam, id est, vos nobiscum, qui surans Apostoli, et contra. Sic enim ait supra, vers. 3.: Ut et vos societatem habeatis nobiscum, et societas nostra sit cum Patre etc. Significat ergo Joannes, inter ipsos, quibus scribit, et Apostolos Christi societatem constare non posse; proinde nec cum Deo, nisi in luce ambulent; ne vane de societate et amicitia Dei sibi plaudant. In luce ambulare dicuntur, qui exercent opera lucis, id est veritatis, bonitatis et justitiae. Beda et alii quidam in metaphora ambulandi urgent profectum; quasi moraliter ambulare, secundum Scripturas, non dicatur, nisi qui proficit, sive in bono, sive in malo. Et propterea Joannem de Deo non dicere: sicut ipse ambulat in luce, cum proficere non possit; sed: sicut est in luce, nimirum immutabiliter; utpote cui dicitur: Tu autem idem ipse es, Psalm. 101. Verum eam annotationem parum solidam esse, probat locus capitis sequentis, ubi ait: Qui dicit, se in ipso (Christo) manere, debet, sicut ille ambulavit, et ipse ambulare. Neque enim Christus profecit in virtutibus exercendo virtutes. Tantum ergo significat ea phrasis progressum, quo quis alia post alia, cum sui mutatione, exercet opera. Quod quidem etiam in Christum competebat, in Deum autem, ut Deus est, nullo modo. Vide, quae diximus ad illud Rom 6.: In novitate vitae ambulemus. Porro comparationis adverbium in hac sententia aliisque similibus non aequalitatem indicat, ut per se manifestum est; sed similitudinem quandam, seu potius imitationem alienae perfectionis, in nobis aliqu.atenus exprimendae. Nam id vohmt praecepta Dominica: Estote perfecti, sicut et Pater vester coelestis perfectus est, Matth. 5.; Estote misericordes, sicut et Pater vester misericors est, Luc. 6.
Et sanguis Jesu Christi, Filii ejus, emundat nos ab omni peccato. Ostendit, non ita nos in luce ambulare, ut tenebris omnino careamus; sed opus esse nobis continua tenebrarum discussione, id est, peccatorum purgatione, quae fiat per sanguinem Jesu Christi, Filii Dei, hoc est, per meritum passionis et mortis ejus, in qua sanguinem suum pro nobis effudit. Nec improbabile est, Joannem hoc dicere propter Ebionitas haereticos, qui, cum in tenebris ambularent, crebris lotionibus se a peccatis suis emundari credebant, mysterium redemptionis Christi non agnoscentes, quemadmodum et caeteri Judaizantes. Adversus quos agit Paulus Col. 2. et alibi. Quaeret aliquis: Si ab omni peccato nos emundat sanguis Christi; quomodo statim negat idem Apostolus, dicere nos posse: Quia peccatum non habemus? Ratio est, quia non emundat nos sanguis Christi simul et semel ab omni peccato, ut dicere quis possit; Peccatum non habeo, et, quod negat Sapions: Mundum est cor meum, punis sum a peccato, ProY. 20.; sed mundati sumus, et mundamur in dies, nunc ab his, nunc ab illis peccatis, itatamen, ut numquam, dam hic vivimus, simus ab omni peccato prorsus emundati. Igitur ista mundatio ab omni peccato consistit, ut Scholastici loquuntur, in p.eri, non in factum esse; fitque actu iucompleto, non autem completo, nisi in fine. Ex quo etiam intelligitur, in electorum persona Joannem loqui. Nam ii soli perfectam omnium peccatorum emundaticnem tandem consequuntur. Dicit autem: ah omni peccato, volens utique comprehendere omne peccatum, originale, mortale, veniale; quemadmodum bene declarant in suis commentariis Augustinus et Beda; nec non Hieronymus lib. 2. dialogi contra Pelag. Originale ouidem simul cum actualibus ante baptismum commissis abluitur sanguine Christi in baptismo; actualia vero postea commissa, praesertim mortalia, remittuntur per sacramentum poenitentiae. Nam venialia etiam aliis modis, absque sacramento, remitti possunt; ita tamen, ut sine virtuto sanguinis in cruce pro nobis efinsi nuUa fiat peccatorum remiesio, nec ulla remissionem praecedens purgatio, sive, ut interpres loquitur, emundatio. Non enim solum hoc sensu sanguis Christi nos emundat a peccatis, quod reatum tollit praecedentium peccatorum; verum etiam, quia voluntatem purgat ab afi^ectu peccandi, praestans veram cordis conversionem et amorem justitiae, virtutumque operationem. Ad haec enim omnia patet meritum Christi; quemadmodum id singillatim docte explicat et ex Scripturis probat Joannes Hesselius in comcientario. Denique notantum, his paucissimis verbis: Satiguis Filii Dei, tres haereses destrui: Manichaeorum, qui veritatem humanae naturae Christo ademerunt; Ebionitarum, qui Christum Deum negarunt, et Nestorianorum, qui personam in Christo diviserunt.
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8. Si dixerimus: Quoniam peccatum non habemus; ipsi nos seducitnus, et veritas in nobis non est. Seducimus, Graece: 7iAavd)|ui£V^ fallimus, decipimus. Pendet intellectus hujus sententiae ex vero sensu ejus, quod est peccatum habere. Multis enim modis peccatum habere quis dicitur. Primo propter aff^ectum peccati. Quo quidem modo veiitatem habet haec Apostoli sententia, quatenus in hoc saeculo nemo rsperitur, qui plene purgatus sit ab omni inordinato et vitioso affectu. Unde Augustinus in enarrat. Psalmi 118. conc. 10.: Intelligere debemus, inquit, quantumlibet quisque proficiat in justificationibus Domini, habere eum mortalis carnis affectum circa ista terrena, et in quibus vita humana tentatio est super terram. Sic et Leo magnus serm. 7. de Epiph. Domini: Quis invenietur ita immunis a culpa, ut in eo non habeat justitia, quod arguat? Et sermone 6. Quadragesimae: Talis est conditio etiam eorum, qui concupiscentiis renituntur, ut numquam possint in cordibus siiis non invenire, quod reprobent. Et generalis est sententia Job 14.: Nemo mundus a sorde. Secundo modo propter reatum peccati, ut habere peccatum, sit reum esse propter primum opus commissum, ita defiuiente B. Augustno lib. 1. de nuptiis et concupisc. cap. 28. Atque hoc etiam modo intellecta, vera est B. Joannis sententia. Nam durante hac vita, numquam sumus ab omni reatu liberi. Sercper enim est, unde dicere Deo debeamus: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Quod etiam ad recens baptizatos extendit Hieronymus lib. 3. dial. contra Pelag. sub finem. Et veritatem habet respectu poenalitatum hujus saeculi, quibus adhuc sunt obnoxii. Item qui adulti sunt baptizati, ii recens etiam post baptismum peccata aliqua committunt, quae poenam merentur. Sequitur enim hic modus ex priori. Nam si numquam plene sit expurgatus in hac vita noster affectus, semper igitur remanet aliquis reatus, etiam in homine recens baptizato. Non enim per baptismum tollitur reatus, nisi peccatorum, quorum depositus est affectus. Hunc sensum passim attendunt Patres, et probant ex dictis verbis orationis Dominicae: Per quam, nt ait Augustinus lib. 21. de civitate Dei, cap. 27., nobis voluit Salvator ostendere^ qiiantumlihet juste in hujus vitae caligine atque infirmitate vivamus, non nobis deesse peccata, pro quibus dimittendis debeamus orare. Sed et Leo sermone jam citato de Epiphania Domini docet, neminem inveniri ita immunem a cidpOy ut in eo non habeat Dei misericordia, quod remittat. Aperta quoque sententia est Innocenti III. libro 5. mysteriorum missae, cap. 28.: Hominem, dum in hac vita consistit, semper esse in aliquo peccato. Quod et probat ex hoc loco Joannis. Tertio modo propter actum peccati, non quidem praesentem, sed frequentem et quotidianum, et quodammodo continuum. Quem modum attenderunt Hieronymus, Augustinus et alii Patres, qui contra Pelagium scripserunt, cujus erat doctrina, justum hominem vivere posse sine peccato; ac multos fuisse, qui sine peccato vixissent. Quarto modo propter peccatum, in quo nati sumus, vel quod aut quae deinde actu commisimus, pro])ter quae opus sit nobis Christo propitiatore et advocato. Juxta quem modum sententia Joannis refertur ad peccata praeterita, quamvis remissa ac deleta; ut sit sensus: Si quis dixerit, se non peccasse, nec in peccato umquam fuisse, ideoque Christo patrono opus non habere, etc. Sensus hic probabilis cuipiam videri posset ex loci circumslantiis. Praecessit enim proxime: Et sangids Jesu Christi emundat nos ab omjii peccato, et sequitur: Si dixerimus: Quoniam non peccavimus etc, et initio capitis sequentis: Haec scribo vobis, ut non peccetis. Sed et si quis peccaverit, advocatum habemus, etc. At vero sensus iste praesenti loco minime sufficit. Nam Apostolus adhuc exigit confessionem peccatorum, ac proponit spem veniae ex promissione Dei, dicens: Si confiteamur peccata nostra, fidelis est et justus, ut remittat nobis peccata nostra. Loquitur ergo de peccatis adhuc remittendis. Et utique scribit ad fidelea, quibus originale peccatum et gravia actualia baptismo fuerant dimissa. Vult igitur, ut adhuc confiteantur offensas suas quotidianas; quemadmodum et Jacobus Apostolus, qui, cura dixisset cap. 3.: In multis offendimus omnes, postea cap. 5. ad offensarum confessionem hortatur, dicens: Confitemini alterutrum peccata vestra. Jam vero ex eodem Jacobi testimonio, quo dicit, nos omnes in multis offendere, satis apparet, quem modum ex tribus prioribus supradictis Joannes potissimum spectaverit; illum nempe, secundum quem nemo est, qui peccatum non habeat, quia non vivit sine quotidianis ac frequentibus peccatis. Atque hunc sensum explicant, aliisque Scripturae testimoniis declarant Patres Milevitani concilii, tribus canonibus super hac re editis, sexto, septimo et octavo. Pertinent huc sanctorum confeseiones, quibus hanc peccandi frequentiam humiliter in se ipsis agnoscunt; ut Hieronymus ad Pammachium adversus errores Joannis Hierosolymitani: Quotidie peccamus omnes, et in aliquo labimur -, Ambrosius libro 4. de sacramentis cap. 6.: Qui semper pecco, debeo semper habere medicinam, et in apologia David: Unusquisque nostrum per singulas horas quam multa delinquit! Augustinus in enarratione Psalmi 128.: Si veraciter sibi tundunt homines pectora, peccatores sunt. Et quis nostrum non sibi tundit pectus? Gregorius lib. 4. epistola 31. ad Mauritium imperatorem: Et quia omnipotenti Deo incessanter quotidie delinquo, incessantibus quotidie plagis ferior; Bernardus epistola 24. in fine: Orari pro me instanter postulo, quia incessanter pecco; Joannes Gerson in tractatu de statuto Carthnsiensium: Vix facimus aliquid, ubi yion possimus rationabiliter formidare de peccato veniali, Haec ex multis pauca. Porro doctrina haec adeo constans est apud Patres, ut passim affirment, hominem non posse vivere sine peccatis; nimirum ob fragilitatem humanae naturae originaliter corruptae. Ex bis autem ulterius consequens est, Apostoli sententiam veram esse etiam de reatu peccati intellectam, jiixtasecundum modum superius expositum. Dum enim freq uentissime peccamus, numquam deest, unde dicamus in oratione: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Quamquam etiam ad primum modum, qui est de affectibus vitiosis haerentibus in animo, Patres interdum respiciunt in alleganda hac Joannis sententia. Ex qua denique manifeste refellitur illud Pelagii cavillum, quo dicebat, sanctos humilitatis causa confiteri se peccatores, quamvis revera peccatum non haberent. Non enim dicit Joannes: Si dixerimus: Quia peccatum no?i habemus, ipsi nos extollimus, et humilitas in nobis non est: sed dicit: Ipsi nos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est. Unde sensum illum Pelagii Milevitana Synodus merito damnavit anathemate can. 6. Praeterea refellitur opinio quorundam, inter quos est Clemens Alexandrinus lib. 6. Stromatum, qui putant, Apostolos post Domini resurrectionem, accepto Spiritu sancto, ita fuisse confirmatos in gratia Dei, ut deinceps nullis essent peccatis ac passionibus obnoxii. Refellitur, inquam, quia Apostolus est, qui dicit: Si dixerimus, etc., utiq\:c semet ipsum comprehendens, quemadmodum et in praecedentibus ac sequentibus. Sic etiam Jacobus Apostolus: In muJtis offendimus omnes. Sic Paulus de Petro, Apostolorum principe, Gal. 2.: Quia reprehensibilis erat. Exstant hac de re apud Hieronymum, Augustinum, Prosperum et alios Patres aperta testimonia, quae brevitatis studio omittimus. Postremo liquet ex dictis, haec multum esse diversa, peccatum habere, et actu praesenti peccare, ideoque nequaquam esse consequens, si semper habemus peccatum, semper et in omni opere nos peccare; quemadmodum docent haeretici nostri temporis. Quem errorem condemnat Synodus Tridentina sess. 6. can. 25.
1:9
9. Si confiteamur peccata nostra, fidelis est et justus^ ut remittat nobis peccata noslra, et emundet nos ab omni iniquitate. Postquam docuit, neminem carere peccato, nunc commonstrat generale remedium obtinendae remissionis peccatorum, quaecumque coramiserimus, seu magna, seu parva. Hoc remedium est peccatorum confessio, nimirum ea, quae passim in Scripturis veteris et novi testamenti describitur et commendatur, id est, quae ex dolore et erubescentia super peccatis proficiscitur, et invocationem divinae misericordiae conjunctam habet, simul et voluntatem ea faciendi, quae Deus a poenitentibus exigit; sive ea confessio coram soloDeo fiat, sive coram sacerdote Dei vicario, juxta temporum et peccatorum differentiam. Nominat autem Joannes solum confessionem, quia primum omnium in spirituali sanatione hominis est agnitio peccati, teste Augustino in commentario; vel quia poenitentia per confessionem maxime se ^Drodit; ut proinde nomine confessionis tota poenitentia subintelligi possit. Fidelis est et justus, supple vel: Deus, vel: Jesus Christus, Dei Filius. Utrumque enim praecessit. Fidelis quidem, id est, stans promissis et fidem servans. Promisit enim Deus peccatoribus poenitentibus et peccata sua confitentibus veniam peccatorum per Christum. Justus autem, non quod poenitenti lege justitiae debeatur venia peccati, quomodo bene operanti debetur merces vitae aeternae; sed vel hac ratione, quia servare fidem promissorum pars quaedam est justitiae, ut hoc vocabulum sit explicatio prioris; vel quia condecet hoc divinam bonitatem, humiliter sua peccata confitentibus ea condonare. Quo sensu, justum Deo dicitur, ut misericordibus misereatur, et dimittentibus dimittat, testante Domino Matth. 5.: Beati misericordes, quoniam ipsi misericordiam consequentur, et Luc. 6.: Dimittitey et dimittetur vobis. Caeterum dicta promissio non ad primam bomiuis institutionem pertinet, sicut promissio vitae aeternae pro bonis operibus, ut quidam opinati sunt; sed ad gratiam Christi Salvatoris. Certum est enim, peccata non aliter remitti, quantacumque etiam poenitentia, quam per sanguinem Christi; tametsi et illud verum est, posteaquam de statu primae integritatis homo decidit, ad gratiam Christi referendum esse non solum, quod reparetur ad justitiam, quodque opera justitiae exerceat; verum etiam, quod pro illis mercedem recipiat aeternae vitae, cessante nimirum et abolito, propter hominis transgressionem, pacto primae conditionis. Porro ne quis suspicetur, remissionem peccatorum fieri sola imputatione justi tiae, ut novi haeretici volunt, addidit Apostolus: Et emundet nos ah omni iniquitate. Sic igitur remittit nobis peccata Deus, ut ab iis nos emundet; quod non fit soia peccatorum non imputatione, sed vera renovatione vitae. Quamquam, quod dicit: ab omni inquitate, si collective sumatur hoc sensu, ut nihil restet iniquitatis, non perficitur ea mundatio, nisi in saeculo futuro. Sed potest accipi distributive, ut sensus sit, nullam esse iniquitatem tantam vel numero, vel magnitudine, a qua sanguis Cbvisli nos non emundet, si eam confessi fuerimus. Ita conveniet haec pars ciim illa superiore: Sanguis Jesu Christi, Filii ejus, emundat nos ah omni peccato, secundum expositionem illic datam. Obiter admoneo, peccatum et iniquitatem pro eodem ac cipi, hoc quidem loco.
1:10
10. Si dixerimus: Quoniam non peccavimus; mendacem facimus Eum. Haec pars dupliciter exponi potest. Uno modo, ut sitinculcatio quaedam ejus, quod dictum est: 8i dixerimus: Quoniam peccatum non habemus etc.; idque cum auxesi, qua pro eo, quod ibi dicebatur: Ipsi nos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est, hic dicitur: Mendacem facimus eum; quod est multo deterius. Juxta quem sensum idem est Joanni, non peccasse, et peccatum non habere. Nam ex eo peccatum habemus, quia peccavimus. Nec (juxta hunc quidem sensum) erat dicendum: Si dixerimus: Quoniam non peccamus; quia multi sunt, qui in praesenti non peccant, nec tamen dicere possunt: Peccatum non habemus. Peccaverunt enim, et ita quidem, ut peccatum habeant, sitque eis necesse in oratione dicere: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Qui igitur, hoc sensu, dicit, se non peccasse, Christum facit mendacem, qui nobis omnibus illam oratiouam praescripsit. Alter sensus, quo nimirum aliquid diversum a sententia superiore dicitur, est hujusmodi: Si quis vero nostrum eo temeritatis processerit, ut non modo dicat, se peccatum non habere, sed insuper audeat dicere, se numquam pecasse: is non solum mendax est, seducens se ipsum; sed et Deum facit mendacem, qui passim in Scripturis totum genus humanum condemnat peccati. Quod pulchre docet Apostolus Paulus Rom. 3., collectis e Scriptura testimoniis, ex quibus concludit, quod omnes peccaverunt etegent gloria Dei. Si quis haec B. Joannis verba dicat verificari posse de peccato originali de quo Rom. 5.: Tn quo omnes peccaverunt, etiamsi quis actuale peccatum nullum commiserit, uti constat de infantibus ante rationis usum exstinctis: respondeo, Joannem manifeste loqui de adultis ac ratione utentibus, qui, si numquam actu peccaverunt, ergo nec in peccato nati sunt. Nam ex eo fit, ut sine peccatis actualibus esse non possimus, quia in peccato nati sumus, quo etiam remisso, concupiscentia seu fomes remanet, assidue nos ad peccatum incitans. Quae doctrina est Augustini lib. 6. contra Julianum, cap. 15. Hic posterior sensus probabilior nobis est. Videtur enim Joannes hoc dicere propter Judaizantes, qui corruptae naturae pravitatem non agnoscebant. Quamquam et prior sensus est adversus istos naturae jara corruptae impevitos laudatores.
Et verbum Ejus non est in nobis. Verbum, Graece: Xo^^oc,, quod etiam sermo verti potuit. Quidam sic exponunt: Christus, qui est Verbum Dei Patris, non est in nobis, scilicet habitans per gratiam. Verum simplicior hic sensus est: Verbum sive sermo, quem nos a Deo missi vobis annuntiamus de Christo redemptore, cujus sanguine omnes a peccatis mundandi sumus, non est in vobis per fidem; id est, Evangelio Dei per nos annnntiato non creditis, quod est, Deum facere mendacem.
1:1
… The doctrine of both issues into a transcendent eschatology, is hinged on the basic ideas of (eternal) life, light, the Lamb and the Shepherd, the Word of God (only Jn. 1:1-14 and 1 Jn. 1:1 and Rev. 19:13), divine judgment, two opposing kingdoms (God and Satan, heaven and world). …
… concrete revelation that J. made of his nature before them for about two and a half years: what they call contemplating his glory (Jn. 1:14), the manifestation of the life that was with the Father and that has now appeared to them and that they proclaim (1 Jn. 1:1-3).
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… 1 = Jn. 7:17; 8:47); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου εἶναι (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:23); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου λαλεῖν (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:31); τῆς γῆς, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατεῖν (I Jn. 2:11 = Jn. 8:12; 12:35). Likewise "life" (α) is Christ (Jn. 1:4; [6:48]; 11:25; 14:6 = I Jn. 1:1 f.; 5:11, 20); the "light" φῶς is God and Christ (Jn. 1:4, 5, 7; 3:19 = I Jn. 1:5, 7; 2:8).
The Evangelist John handed down to us the evocative title of the Savior, which he learned "from the beginning" at the moment of his vocation (Jn. 1:36; cf. 1 Jn. 1:1; 2:24), and made it the scenic pivot of the Apocalypse, where the living symbol of the Lamb (= Jesus) occurs 28 times (always τὸ ἀρνίον). …
… In the New Testament it occurs both in the meanings of secular Greek and in the Christian ones of "word of God," "divine commandment," "biblical saying," "Revelation," "evangelical preaching," and in St. John with the meaning of "divine Word" 6 times (Jn. 1:1 [three times]; 1:14; 1 Jn. 1:1; Rev. 19:13; 1 Jn. 5:7 is not to be considered: v. COMMA GIOVANNEO).
… 1:8), they present themselves as the "witnesses" of facts that did not occur in angulo, in secret (Acts 26:26; 1:21-22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:19-20; 5:32; 10:39), not as purveyors of ingeniously invented fables, doctas fabulas secuti (II Pt. 1:16; I Pt. 5:1-4; I Io. 1:1-3, etc.). …
1:3
… In fact the phrase "kingdom of God" or "kingdom of heaven," which sounds like the dominant motif of the Synoptic Gospels, means not only the next life, but also the Church, that society of men among themselves that springs from their society with God the Father and with the Son made man (1 Jn. 1:3). It is true that in its direct meaning "Church" here means the sacramental and hierarchical society in which the sanctification and eternal salvation of the faithful is brought about; …
1:4
… To the risen and glorious Christ alludes also 1 John 1:1: "What was in the beginning, what we contemplated; and our hands touched concerning the Word (λόγος) of life" (ibid. 1:4).
Religions, Comparative Study of
… The same holds for religions: history proves it: they are far from possessing the same capacity to pacify human restlessness, and even less from procuring already on earth the fullness of joy which Christ promised, at the price of full submission to his laws (Io. 15, 11; I Io. 1, 4).
1:5
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… λαλεῖν (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:31); τῆς γῆς, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατεῖν (I Jn. 2:11 = Jn. 8:12; 12:35). Likewise "life" (α) is Christ (Jn. 1:4; [6:48]; 11:25; 14:6 = I Jn. 1:1 f.; 5:11, 20); the "light" φῶς is God and Christ (Jn. 1:4, 5, 7; 3:19 = I Jn. 1:5, 7; 2:8).
… "extreme poverty overflowed in the riches of their simplicity" on behalf of the poor (2 Cor. 8:1-4); simplicity explains that luminous abundance of good works (Matt. 5:16; Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 9:11), which resembles the "shadowless" light of God (James 1:17; 1 John 1:5), who "gives to all simply" (Matt. 5:43-48; James 1:5). Its symbol is the earth without thorns, which represents the soul not obscured by temporal solicitudes (Luke 8:14).
1:6
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… ἀνθρωποκτόνος, γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν ἐκ θεοῦ, εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, περιπατεῖν ἐν σκοτίᾳ (νυκτί), παράκλητος, ἁμαρτία, τεκνίον (and Gal. 4:19), τιθέναι ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ (I Jn. 3:16; Jn. 10:11, 17 f., 15:13). Other terms and phrases occur commonly: ποιεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν (I Jn. 1:6 = Jn. 8:44); οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐν τινι (I Jn. 1:8; 2:4 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας εἶναι (I Jn. 2:21 = Jn. 18:37); ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι (I Jn. 3:8 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ θεοῦ εἶναι (I …
… supernatural life for men is clearly taught in the Fourth Gospel (ibid. 3:15; 5:24, 26, 40; 6:27-51; 8:12; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6; 17:2-3; 20:31). Jesus is light and the source of light (ibid. 3:19-21; 12; 9:5; 12:35-46) and of truth (ibid. 5:33; 14:6; cf. I John 1:6-8; III John 3). The Incarnation is attested in Jesus' discourse to Nicodemus (John 3:13-21), where the characteristic titles of Only-Begotten (Μονογενής; ibid. 3:16, 18), of light of …
1:7
… Jesus heals "the whole man" (Is. 7:23); he heals the soul before the body (Lk. 5:20; 7:48; Jn. 5:14); his blood cleanses the leprosy of sin (I Jn. 1:7, 9); he is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29), so that nothing condemnable remains in those who have been incorporated into him through the grace of justification …
… expressions, even taken separately (for the traditio corporis cf. Is. 53:12; Mt. 20:28; Rom. 8:32; Gal. 1:4; 2:20; Eph. 5:25; I Tim. 2:6; Tit. 2:14; Hebr. 10:10; for the effusio sanguinis cf. Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; I Cor. 14:20; Hebr. 9:7; I Pt. 1:19; I Io. 1:7) always indicate a sacrificial immolation. …
1:8
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… κόσμου, περιπατεῖν ἐν σκοτίᾳ (νυκτί), παράκλητος, ἁμαρτία, τεκνίον (and Gal. 4:19), τιθέναι ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ (I Jn. 3:16; Jn. 10:11, 17 f., 15:13). Other terms and phrases occur commonly: ποιεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν (I Jn. 1:6 = Jn. 8:44); οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐν τινι (I Jn. 1:8; 2:4 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας εἶναι (I Jn. 2:21 = Jn. 18:37); ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι (I Jn. 3:8 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ θεοῦ εἶναι (I Jn. 3:4, 1 = Jn. 7:17; 8:47); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου εἶναι (I …
… Yet it too knew within its own bosom even the most grievous falls (I Cor. 5, 1 ff.; 6, 8; II Cor. 12, 20 ff.; I Io. 1, 8; Apos. 2, 15; 2, 21; 3, 2; St. Ignatius, Eph., 10, 3; Philad., 7, 2; 8, 1; Trall., 8, 2). For all these sins the possibility of penance and salvation is affirmed (I Clem. …
1:9
… This conclusion extends also to the texts Acts 19:18 and 1 Jn. 1:9, which, especially in the polemic against the Protestants, were also brought forward by Catholic authors.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.