Augustinus, In Joannis Evangelium tractatus XIII-XIX

biting, the precepts of justice. There is something for you to see, but there is not that with which you may see. Before, you did not believe me that there is something for you to see; you were led on with a certain reasoning as your guide: you drew near, you strained your gaze, you trembled, you shrank back. You know for certain that there is something for you to see, but that you are not fit to see it. Therefore be healed. What are the eye-salves? Do not lie, do not perjure yourself, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not defraud. But you have grown used to these things, and you are called back from habit with some pain: this is what stings, but heals. For I tell you rather freely, out of fear both mine and yours: if you cease to be healed, and neglect to become fit to enjoy this light by the health of your eyes, you will love darkness; and by loving darkness you will remain in darkness; and by remaining in darkness you will be cast even into the outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:13). If the love of the light did nothing in you, let the fear of pain do something.

12. I think I have spoken sufficiently, and yet I have not finished the Gospel reading: if I say the rest I shall burden you, and I fear lest even what has been drawn in be poured out; so let these things suffice for your Charity. We are debtors, not now only, but always as long as we live; for we live for your sake. Yet console this life of ours, weak, toilsome, perilous, in this world by living well; do not sadden and wear us down by your bad conduct. For when we are offended by your bad life, if we should withdraw from you, and separate ourselves from you, and not come near you, would you not complain, and say: And if we were sick, you should have healed us; and if we were infirm, you should have visited us? Behold, we heal; behold, we visit; but let it not befall us as you have heard from the Apostle: I fear lest I have laboured among you without cause (Gal. 4:11).

Tractate 19. From that which is written, The Son cannot do anything of Himself, except what He has seen the Father doing; as far as this, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me. Chapter 5, verses 19-30.

1. In the former sermon we spoke, as far as it moved our affection and our poverty of understanding, taking occasion from the words of the Gospel where it is written, The Son cannot do anything of Himself, except what He has seen the Father doing, about what the seeing of the Son is, that is, the seeing of the Word, since the Son is the Word: and, since all things were made through the Word, how it can be understood that the Son first sees the Father doing, and only then Himself does what He has beheld done; when the Father has done nothing except through the Son. For all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. Yet we said nothing unfolded; but that is because we understood nothing unfolded either. For sometimes speech fails even where understanding makes progress; how much more does speech suffer failure when understanding does not have perfection? Now therefore, as far as the Lord grants, let us run briefly through the reading, and at least today discharge the task we owe. If perhaps anything remains either of time or of strength, we shall take up again, if we can (as far as it can be done both by us and among you), what the seeing of the Word is, what it is to be shown

to the Word. For indeed all the things said here are such that, if they are understood carnally according to human sense, a soul full of phantasms makes for us nothing else but certain images, as it were of two men, the Father and the Son, one showing, the other seeing; one speaking, the other hearing: all of which are idols of the heart; and if these have already been cast down from their temples, how much more must they be cast down from Christian breasts?

2. The Son, He says, cannot do anything of Himself, except what He has seen the Father doing. This is true, hold this fast: provided only that you do not let go of what you held at the very opening of the Gospel, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and above all that all things were made through Him (John 1:1, 3). For what you have now heard, join to that hearing, and let both agree in your hearts. So then the Son cannot do anything of Himself, except what He has seen the Father doing, in such a way that the Father nevertheless does not do the things He does except through the Son, because the Son is His Word: and "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," and "all things were made through Him. For whatever things He has done, these the Son also does in like manner:" not other things, but these; nor in unlike manner, but in like manner.

3. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does. To what He said above, except what He has seen the Father doing, there seems to belong also this, that He shows Him all things that He Himself does. But if the Father shows what He does, and the Son cannot do anything unless the Father has shown it, and the Father cannot show unless He has done it, it will follow that the Father does not do all things through the Son: but if we hold it fixed and unshaken that the Father does all things through the Son, then before He does them He shows them to the Son. For if the Father shows them to the Son when He has done them, so that the Son does the things shown, which, being shown, have already been done, then beyond doubt the Father does something without the Son. But the Father does nothing without the Son, because the Son of God is the Word of God, and all things were made through Him. It remains, therefore, perhaps, that the things the Father is about to do He shows as things to be done, so that they may be made through the Son. For if the Son does those things which the Father shows as done, then those things which the Father shows as done He certainly did not do through the Son. For they could not be shown to the Son unless done; the Son could not do them unless shown: therefore they were done without the Son. But it is true, All things were made through Him: therefore before they were done, they were shown. But this, we said, must be deferred, so that we may return to it when the reading has been gone through, if, as we said, any time or strength remains to us for going back over the things we have put off.

4. Hear something further and more difficult: And greater works than these, He says, will He show Him, so that you may marvel. Greater than these: greater than which? It readily comes to mind: than those you have just heard of, the healings of bodily infirmities. For from that man who had been thirty-eight years in his infirmity and was healed by the word of Christ, the whole occasion of this discourse arose: and on this account the Lord could say: Greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel. For there are works greater than these, and the Father will show them to the Son. Not "He has shown," as of the past;

but "He will show", of the future, that is, He is going to show. Again a difficult question arises. For is there something with the Father which has not yet been shown to the Son? Is there something with the Father which was still hidden from the Son, when the Son was saying these things? For if "He will show", that is, He is going to show, He has not yet shown; and He is going to show it to the Son at the same time as to these men too, for there follows: "that you may marvel". And this too is difficult to see: how the eternal Father shows, as it were in time, certain things to the coeternal Son, who knows all things that are with the Father.

5. What, however, are those greater things? For this is perhaps easy to understand. "For as the Father," He says, "raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will." Greater works, then, are raising the dead than healing the sick. But "as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will." Does the Father, then, give life to some, the Son to others? But all things are through Him; and so the Son gives life to the very same whom the Father does too, since it is not other things, nor in another way, but "these things the Son also does likewise." So it must plainly be understood, and so it must be held; but remember that "the Son gives life to whom He will." Hold fast here, then, not only the power of the Son but also His will. Both the Son gives life to whom He will, and the Father gives life to whom He will; and the Son gives life to the very same as the Father does: and hence the power and the will of the Father and of the Son are one and the same. What is it, then, that follows? "For neither does the Father judge anyone, but He has given all judgement to the Son, that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father": which He added thus, as though giving the reason for the preceding statement. This greatly perplexes; be attentive. The Son gives life to whom He will, the Father gives life to whom He will; the Son raises the dead, as the Father raises the dead. "For neither does the Father judge anyone." If the dead are to be raised in the judgement, how does the Father raise the dead, if He judges no one? "For He has given all judgement to the Son." But in that judgement the dead are raised; and some rise again to life, others to punishment: if the Son does all this, but the Father does not do it, because "the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son," this will seem contrary to what was said: "As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will." They raise together, then. If they raise together, they give life together. They judge together, then: how then is it true, "For neither does the Father judge anyone, but He has given all judgement to the Son"? Let the questions set before you stir you meanwhile; the Lord will grant that, once solved, they may delight you. So it is, brethren: every question, unless when set forth it has made the hearer attentive, will not delight when explained. Let the Lord Himself, then, follow on, in case perhaps in what He adds He may open Himself somewhat. For He has woven His light beneath a cloud; and it is difficult, after the manner of an eagle, to fly above every mist by which all the earth is covered (Sir. 24:6), and to see in the words of the Lord the purest light. In case, then, He may perhaps dispel our darkness with the heat of His rays, and deign to open Himself somewhat in what follows, let us put these things aside and look at what follows.

6. "He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him." This is true and it is plain. "For He has given all judgement to the Son," as He said above, "that all

all may honour the Son, as they honour the Father. What if some are found who honour the Father, and do not honour the Son? It cannot be, He says: He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father Who sent Him. No one, then, can say, I used to honour the Father, because I did not know the Son. If you were not yet honouring the Son, neither were you honouring the Father. For what is it to honour the Father, except [to honour Him] in that He has a Son? For it is one thing when God is commended to you because He is God, and another thing when God is commended to you because He is Father. When He is commended to you because He is God, a creator is commended to you, an almighty one is commended to you, a certain supreme spirit, eternal, invisible, unchangeable, is commended to you: but when He is commended to you because He is Father, nothing else is commended to you than that the Son also is; for He cannot be called Father if He does not have a Son; just as neither [can He be called] Son, if He does not have a Father. But lest perhaps you honour the Father indeed as greater, but the Son as lesser, so as to say to me, I honour the Father, for I know that He has a Son; and I do not err in the name of the Father, for I do not understand the Father without the Son, yet I honour the Son too as lesser: the Son Himself corrects you, and calls you back, saying, that all may honour the Son, not lower, but as they honour the Father. He therefore who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father Who sent Him. I, you say, want to give greater honour to the Father, lesser to the Son. There you take honour away from the Father, where you give lesser to the Son. For what else does it seem to you, thinking thus, except that the Father either would not, or could not, beget a Son equal to Himself? If He would not, He begrudged; if He could not, He failed. Do you not see, then, that by thinking thus, where you wish to give greater honour to the Father, there you are insulting towards the Father? Therefore honour the Son in the same way as you honour the Father, if you wish to honour both the Father and the Son.

7. Amen, amen I say to you, that he who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life; and he does not come into judgement, but has passed, not is now passing, but has already passed from death into life. And attend to this, He who hears My word: and He did not say, Believes Me; but, believes Him Who sent Me. Let him then hear the word of the Son, that he may believe the Father. Why does he hear your word, and believe another? Is it not the case that when we hear someone's word, we believe the same one who utters the word, we give our faith to the one speaking to us? What then did He mean to say, He who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me; except that His word is in Me? And what is, hears My word, except, hears Me? But believes Him Who sent Me: because when he believes Him, he believes His Word: and when he believes His Word, he believes Me; for I am the Word of the Father. There is peace, then, in the Scriptures, and all things are ordered, in no way quarrelling. Cast away the strife of your heart, understand the concord of the Scriptures. Would the truth say things contrary to itself?

8. He who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life; and he does not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life. You remember what we had set down above, that as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son also gives life to whom He will. He now begins to reveal

Himself, and to speak of the resurrection of the dead, and behold, the dead are already rising. For he who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life, and will not come into judgement. Prove that he has risen. But he has passed, He says, from death into life. He who has passed from death to life has certainly risen, no one doubting it. For he would not pass from death to life unless he were first in death and not in life; but when he has passed, he will be in life and will not be in death. He was dead, then, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found (Luke 15:32). So there takes place even now a certain resurrection, and men pass from a certain death to a certain life: from the death of unbelief to the life of faith; from the death of falsehood to the life of truth; from the death of iniquity to the life of righteousness. This too, then, is a certain resurrection of the dead.

9. Let Him open it more fully, and let it grow clear to us, as it has begun to. Amen, amen I say to you, that the hour is coming, and now is. We were awaiting the resurrection of the dead at the end; for so we have believed: or rather, we were not awaiting it, but we plainly ought to await it; for it is not falsely that we believe that the dead will rise at the end. Since, then, the Lord Jesus wished to make known to us a certain resurrection of the dead before the resurrection of the dead; not like that of Lazarus (John 11:43–44), or of the son of that widow (Luke 7:14–15), or of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue (Mark 5:41–42), who rose again only to die (for of these dead too a certain resurrection took place before the resurrection of the dead): but as He says here, he has, He says, eternal life; and he does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life. To what life? To eternal life. Not, then, like the body of Lazarus: for he too passed from the death of the tomb to the life of men, but not to eternal life, being destined to die again; but the dead who are to rise at the end of the world will pass into eternal life. Since, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly Teacher, the Word of the Father and the Truth, wished to show us a certain resurrection of the dead into eternal life, before the resurrection of the dead into eternal life, He says: The hour is coming. You, imbued beyond doubt with faith in the resurrection of the flesh, were awaiting that hour of the end of the world, the day of judgement; and so that you might not await it in this place, He added, and now is. When, therefore, He says, The hour is coming, He does not speak of that last hour, when at the command and at the voice of the archangel, and at the trumpet of God, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first: then we who are living, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall be with the Lord for ever (1 Thess. 4:15–16). That hour will come, but it is not now. But what this hour is, take note: The hour is coming, and now is. What happens in it? What, but the resurrection of the dead? And what kind of resurrection? That those who rise may live for ever. This will also be so in the last hour.

10. What then? How do we understand these two resurrections? Is it perhaps that those who rise now will not rise then, so that the resurrection of some takes place now, of others then? It is not so. For in this resurrection, if we have believed rightly, we have risen; and we ourselves who have already risen await another resurrection at the end.

But even now we have risen to eternal life, if we remain perseveringly in that very faith; and then we shall rise to eternal life, when we shall be made equal to the Angels (Luke 20:36). Let Him therefore distinguish, let Him open up what we have dared to speak of: how there comes to be a resurrection before the resurrection, not of some and of others, but of the same people; and not such as was that of Lazarus, but into eternal life. He will plainly open it up. Hear the Master as He dawns, and our Sun as He glides into our hearts; not the one whom the eyes of the flesh desire, but the one for whom the eyes of the heart burn to be opened. Let us therefore hear Him: Amen, amen I say to you, that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead, see how the resurrection is expressed, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live. Why did He add, Those who hear shall live? For could they hear unless they were living? It would therefore have sufficed [to say], The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. We would already understand them to be living, since unless they were living they could not hear. No, He says, it is not because they live that they hear, but by hearing they come to life again: they shall hear, and those who hear shall live. What then is, they shall hear, if not, they shall obey? For as far as the hearing of the ear is concerned, not all who hear shall live: for many hear and do not believe; by hearing and not believing they do not obey: by not obeying they do not live. And so here, those who hear is nothing other than those who obey. Those therefore who obey shall live: let them be certain, let them be secure, they shall live. Christ is preached, the Word of God, the Son of God, through Whom all things were made, certainly, for the sake of the dispensation, having taken on flesh, born of the Virgin, an infant in the flesh, a young man in the flesh, suffering in the flesh, dying in the flesh, rising in the flesh, ascending in the flesh, promising resurrection to the flesh, promising resurrection to the mind, to the mind before the flesh, to the flesh after the mind. He who hears and obeys shall live: he who hears and does not obey, that is, hears and despises, hears and does not believe, shall not live. Why shall he not live? Because he does not hear. What is, he does not hear? He does not obey. Therefore those who hear shall live.

11. Attend now to what we had said was to be deferred, so that now, if it can be done, it may be opened up. He added at once concerning this very resurrection, For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given also to the Son to have life in Himself. What is, the Father has life in Himself? He has life not elsewhere, but in Himself. For His living is in Him; it is not from elsewhere, it is not another's: He does not, as it were, borrow life, nor does He, as it were, become a partaker of life, of a life which is not what He Himself is; but He has life in Himself, so that He Himself is His very life. If I am able to say a little more on this, setting forth examples to shape your understanding, I shall be able with the Lord's help, and by the devotion of your attention. God lives, and the soul also lives: but the life of God is unchangeable, the life of the soul is changeable. God neither advances nor declines; but He is always Himself in Himself, He is just as He is: not one way now, another way afterwards, another way before. But the life of the soul is very much now one way and now another: it lived foolish, it lives wise; it lived unjust, it lives just: now it remembers, now it forgets; now it learns, now it cannot learn; now it loses what it had learned, now it grasps

what it had lost: the life of the soul is changeable. And when the soul lives in iniquity, that is its death; but when it becomes just, it becomes a partaker of another life, which is not what it itself is; for by raising itself up to God and cleaving to God, it is justified by Him. For it has been said: To him who believes in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness (Rom. 4:5). By falling away from Him it becomes unjust; by advancing towards Him it becomes just. Does it not seem to you that something cold, as it were, brought near to fire grows hot, and removed from the fire grows numb? Does it not seem to you that something dark, brought near to light, grows bright, and removed from the light grows black? Such a thing is the soul; God is not such a thing. A man too can say that he has light now in his eyes. Let your eyes, then, say, as it were with a voice of their own, if they can: We have light in ourselves. It is said in reply: You do not properly say that you have light in yourselves: you have light, but in the sky; you have light, if perhaps it is night, but in the moon, in lamps, not in yourselves; for when closed you lose what when open you perceive. You do not have light in yourselves: when the sun sets, keep hold of the light, if you can; it is night, and you enjoy the light of night; when the lamp is taken away, keep hold of the light; but when, the lamp having been withdrawn, you remain in darkness, you do not have light in yourselves. This, then, is to have light in oneself: not to need light from another. See where, if anyone understands, He shows the Son equal to the Father, where He says, As the Father has life in Himself, so He has given also to the Son to have life in Himself: so that this alone is the difference between the Father and the Son, that the Father has life in Himself which no one gave Him, whereas the Son has life in Himself which the Father gave.

12. But here too there arises a certain cloud that must be dispersed. Let us not grow faint, let us be attentive: these are pastures of the mind; let us not disdain them, that we may live. See, you say, you yourself admit that the Father gave life to the Son, so that He has it indeed in Himself, just as the Father has life in Himself; as the One does not need, so the other should not need either; that as the One is life, so the other is too; and both joined together are one life, not two, because there is one God, not two gods; and that this very thing is to be life. How then did the Father give life to the Son? Not as though the Son had previously existed without life, and received life from the Father in order to live: for if that were so, He would not have life in Himself. See, I was speaking about the soul. The soul exists: even if it is not wise, even if it is not just, it is a soul; even if it is not godly, it is a soul. So for it to be a soul is one thing, but to be wise, to be just, to be godly is another. There is, then, something by which it is not yet wise, not yet just, not yet godly; yet it is not nothing, yet it is not no life at all: for by certain of its works it shows itself to be life, even if it does not show itself wise, godly, just. For unless it lived, it would not move the body; it would not command walking from the feet, work from the hands, sight from the eyes, hearing from the ears; it would not open the mouth for speech, nor move the tongue to the articulation of words. By these works, therefore, it shows that it lives, and that it is something better than the body: but surely it does not by these works show itself wise, godly, just?

Do not the foolish too, and the ungodly, and the unjust, walk, work, see, hear, speak? But when it raises itself up to something which it itself is not, and which is above it, and from which it itself is, it receives wisdom, justice, godliness: and while it was without these, it was dead, and did not have a life by which it itself might live, but only one by which it might give life to the body. For that in the soul from which the body is given life is one thing, and that from which the soul itself is given life is another. For it is better than the body; but better than it is God. So the soul, even if it is foolish, unjust, ungodly, is the life of the body. But since its life is God, just as, when it is in the body, it furnishes it with vigour, comeliness, mobility, the functions of the limbs, so, when God its life is in it, He furnishes it with wisdom, godliness, justice, charity. So that which is furnished to the body from the soul is one thing; that which is furnished to the soul from God is another: it gives life, and is given life; dead, it gives life, if it is not itself given life. Therefore, when the word comes and is poured into those who hear, and they are made not only hearers but also obeyers, the soul rises again from its death to its life; that is, from iniquity, from folly, from ungodliness to its God, Who is to it wisdom, justice, brightness. Let it rise to Him, let it be enlightened by Him. Approach, he says, to Him. And what will there be for us? And be enlightened (Ps. 33:5). If, then, by approaching you are enlightened, and by withdrawing you are darkened, your light was not in you, but in your God. Approach, that you may rise again: if you withdraw, you will die. If, then, by approaching you live, by withdrawing you die, your life was not in you. For that same is your life which is your light. For with Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy light we shall see light (Ps. 35:10).

13. So it is not the case that, just as the soul is something else before it is enlightened, and becomes better when it is enlightened by participation in what is better, so too the Word of God, the Son of God, was something else before He received life, so that He might have life by participating: rather, He has life in Himself; and for this reason He Himself is Life itself. What, then, does He mean by, He gave to the Son to have life in Himself? I would say briefly: He begot the Son. For He was not without life and then received life; but by being born He is Life. The Father is Life by not being born; the Son is Life by being born. The Father is from no father, the Son from God the Father. That which the Father is, He is from no one: but that He is Father, He is on account of the Son. But the Son, both that He is Son, He is on account of the Father; and that which He is, He is from the Father. This, then, is what He said, He gave life to the Son, that He might have it in Himself; as if He were saying, The Father, Who is Life in Himself, begot the Son, Who should be Life in Himself. For in place of begot He wished gave to be understood. As if we were to say to someone, God gave you to be. To whom did He give it? If He gave being to someone already existing, He did not give him being; for there was, before it was given him, someone who could receive it. So when you hear, He gave you to be, you were not someone who might receive it, and by existing you received it, that you might be. A builder gave to this house that it should be. But what did he give it? That it should be a house. To whom did he give it? To this house. What did he give it? That it should be a house. How could he give to a house that it should be a house? For if it was a house, to what would he give that it should be a house, when it was already a house? What is

then, Did he give it to be a house? He made it to be a house. What then did He give to the Son? He gave Him to be the Son, He begot Him to be life: that is, He gave Him to have life in Himself, so that He should be life not needing life, lest He be understood to have life by participating. For if He had life by participating, He could also, by losing it, be without life: do not take this of the Son, do not think it, do not believe it. The Father therefore remains life, and the Son also remains life: the Father life in Himself, not from the Son; the Son life in Himself, but from the Father. Begotten of the Father so as to be life in Himself; but the Father, not begotten, is life in Himself. Nor did He beget a lesser Son, who by growing should become equal. For He was not helped towards His own perfection by time, He through Whom, being perfect, times were created. Before all times He is coeternal with the Father. For the Father was never without the Son; but the Father is eternal; therefore the Son is coeternal too. What of you, soul? You were dead, you had lost life; hear the Father through the Son. Rise, receive life again, so that in Him Who has life in Himself you may receive the life which you do not have in yourself. The Father therefore quickens you, and the Son; and the first resurrection takes place when you rise to participate in life, which you are not, and by participating are made living. Rise from your death into your life, Who is your God; and pass from death into eternal life. For the Father has eternal life in Himself; and unless He had begotten such a Son, Who had life in Himself, the Son would not quicken whom He would, as the Father raises the dead and quickens them.

14. What then of that resurrection of the body? For these who hear and live, whence do they live, if not by hearing? For the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears him, and rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice (John 3:29), not because of his own voice; that is, they hear and live by participating, not by being [life of themselves]: and all who hear, live; because all who obey, live. Say something, Lord, also about the resurrection of the flesh. For there were those who denied it, and said that this alone is the resurrection which comes about through faith. Of which resurrection the Lord just now made mention, and inflamed us, because certain dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall live. It is not that of those who have heard some shall die and others shall live; but all who have heard shall live, because all who have obeyed shall live. Behold, we see the resurrection of the mind: let us not therefore lose faith concerning the resurrection of the flesh. And unless Thou, Lord Jesus, speak of it, whom shall we set against those who contradict? For all the sects which have presumed to implant some religion in men have not denied this resurrection of minds: lest it be said to them, If the soul does not rise, why do you speak to me? what do you want to do in me? if you do not make the worse better, why do you speak? if you do not make the unjust just, why do you speak? but if you make the unjust just, the impious pious, the foolish wise, you admit that my soul rises again, if I obey you, if I believe you. Wishing

therefore to be believed, all who have founded the sect of any religion, even a false one, have been unable to deny this resurrection of minds; all have agreed about it: but many have denied the resurrection of the flesh; they have said that the resurrection has already taken place in faith. Such men the Apostle resists, saying: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they overturn the faith of some (2 Tim. 2:17–18). They said that the resurrection had already taken place, but in such a way that no other was to be hoped for: and they rebuked men who hoped for the resurrection of the flesh, as though the resurrection which had been promised were already fulfilled in the mind by believing. The Apostle rebukes them. Why does he rebuke them? Were they not saying what the Lord was just now saying, The hour comes, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live? But I am still speaking of the life of minds, Jesus says to you: I am not yet speaking of the life of bodies; but I am speaking of the life of the life of bodies, that is, of souls, in which is the life of bodies: for I know that there are bodies lying in tombs, I know that your bodies too will be in tombs; I am not yet speaking of that resurrection: I am speaking of this one; in this one rise again, lest you rise again to punishment in that one. But that you may know that I am speaking of that one, what do I add? For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given also to the Son to have life in Himself. This life which the Father is, which the Son is, to what does it pertain? to the soul, or to the body? For the body does not perceive that life of wisdom, but the rational mind. For not every soul can perceive wisdom. For a beast too has a soul; but the soul of a beast cannot perceive wisdom. Therefore the human soul can perceive this life which the Father has in Himself, and He has given to the Son to have life in Himself; because that is the true light which enlightens, not every soul, but every man coming into this world. When therefore I speak to the mind itself, let it hear, that is, let it obey, and live.

15. Do not therefore, Lord, keep silent about the resurrection of the flesh; lest men not believe it, and we remain arguers, not preachers. Therefore, as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given also to the Son to have life in Himself. Let those who hear understand, let them believe that they may understand, let them obey that they may live. Let them hear something further still, lest they think that the resurrection is finished here. And He has given Him power also to do judgement. Who? The Father. To whom has He given it? To the Son. For to Him to whom He gave to have life in Himself, He gave power also to do judgement. Because He is the son of man. For this Christ is both the Son of God and the son of man. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this was in the beginning with God. Behold how He gave Him to have life in Himself. But because the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:9, 1, 2, 14), made man of the Virgin Mary, He is the son of man. Accordingly, because He is the son of man, what did He receive? Power also to do judgement. What judgement? At the end of the world: and there will be the resurrection of the dead, but of bodies. Souls therefore God raises up through Christ the Son of God: bodies God raises

through the same Christ, the Son of man. He gave Him authority. This authority He would not have unless He had received it, and He would be a man without authority. But He Himself is the Son of man Who is also the Son of God. For by the Son of man's cleaving to the Son of God into unity of person, one person was made, and the same is Son of God Who is also Son of man. But what He has on account of what, must be discerned. The Son of man has a soul, has a body. The Son of God, which is the Word of God, has a man, as the soul has a body. Just as the soul having a body does not make two persons but one man, so the Word having a man does not make two persons but one Christ. What is man? A rational soul having a body. What is Christ? The Word of God having a man. I see about what matters I am speaking, and who I am that speak, and to whom I speak.

16. Now hear about the resurrection of bodies, not from me but from the Lord, Who is about to speak, for the sake of those who have risen again by rising from death, by cleaving to life. To what life? To the life that has not known death. Why has it not known death? Because it knows no mutability. Why does it know no mutability? Because it is life in itself. And He has given Him authority also to execute judgement, because He is the Son of man. What judgement, what sort of judgement? Do not marvel at this, that I said, He has given Him authority also to execute judgement. For the hour is coming. He did not add, and now is: therefore He means to intimate a certain hour at the end of the world. The hour is now that the dead should rise; the hour will be at the end of the world that the dead should rise: but let them rise now in mind, then in flesh; let them rise now in mind through the Word of God, the Son of God; let them rise then in flesh through the Word of God made flesh, the Son of man. For the Father Himself is not going to come to the judgement of the living and the dead; and yet the Father does not withdraw from the Son. How then is He Himself not going to come? Because He Himself will not be seen in the judgement. They shall look on Him Whom they pierced (John 19:37). That form will be judge which stood under a judge; that form will judge which was judged: for it was judged unjustly, it will judge justly. The form of a servant, therefore, will come, and it will appear. For how could the form of God appear to the just and the unjust? For if the judgement were held only among the just, the form of God would appear as to the just: but since the judgement to come is of the just and the unjust, and it is not permitted that the unjust should see God, for Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8), the judge will appear such as can be seen both by those whom He is going to crown and by those whom He is going to condemn. The form of a servant, therefore, will be seen; the form of God will be hidden. The Son of God will be hidden in the servant, and the Son of man will appear; for He has given Him authority also to execute judgement, because He is the Son of man. And because He alone will appear in the form of a servant, but the Father will not appear, since He has not put on the form of a servant, therefore He said above, The Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son. It was well, then, that it was deferred, so that He Who propounded it might Himself be its expounder. For above it was hidden; now already, as I think, it is manifest that He has given Him authority also to execute judgement, because the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son: because the judgement to come will be through that form which

the Father does not have. And what sort of judgement? Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming: not that which is now, that souls may rise again; but that which is to come, that bodies may rise again.

17. Let Him say this more explicitly, so that the heretic who denies the resurrection of the body may find no ground for cavil: although the meaning is already becoming clear. When it had been said above, The hour is coming, He added, and now is: but now, The hour is coming, He did not add, and now is. Yet let Him burst all the handles, all the little hooks of cavils, all the knots of snares, by open truth. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs. What is more evident? What more explicit? Bodies are in the tombs: souls are not in the tombs, neither those of the just nor those of the wicked. The soul of the just man was in Abraham's bosom, the soul of the wicked man was being tormented in the underworld (Luke 16:22–25): in the tomb was neither the one nor the other. When He says above, The hour is coming, and now is, I beseech you, give heed. You know, brothers, that bread for the belly is reached with labour; how much more bread for the mind? You stand and listen with labour; but we stand and speak with greater labour. If we labour for your sake, ought you not to labour with us for the sake of your own selves? So above, when He said, The hour is coming, and added, and now is, what did He append? When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live. He did not say, All the dead shall hear, and those who hear shall live: for He wished the wicked to be understood as the dead. And do all the wicked obey the Gospel? The Apostle says openly, But not all obey the Gospel (Rom. 10:16). Yet those who hear shall live; because all who obey the Gospel will pass over to eternal life through faith: yet not all obey, and this is now. But at the end, all who are in the tombs, that is, the just and the unjust, shall hear His voice, and shall come forth. Why did He not wish to say, and shall live? For all shall come forth, but not all shall live. For in what He said above, And those who hear shall live, He wished eternal and blessed life to be understood in that very obedience, which not all who come forth from the tombs will have. So now, both by the mention of the tombs and by the expression of the coming forth from the tombs, we clearly understand the resurrection of bodies.

18. All shall hear His voice, and shall come forth. And where is the judgement, if all shall hear and all shall come forth? It is as though the whole were confused; I see nothing distinguished. Surely Thou hast received the power of judging, because Thou art the Son of Man; behold, Thou wilt be present at the judgement, bodies will rise again: say something about the judgement itself, that is, about the separation of the evil and the good. And hear this: Those who have done good things, unto the resurrection of life; those who have done evil things, unto the resurrection of judgement. Above, when He was speaking of the resurrection of minds and souls, did He make a distinction? No, all who hear shall live; because by obeying they shall live. But in rising again and coming forth from the tombs, not all will go to eternal life, but those who have done well: those, however, who have done evil, to judgement. For here He has put judgement for punishment. And there will be a separation, and not such as there is now. For even now we are separated, not by places, but by morals, affections, desires, faith, hope,

charity. For we live together with the wicked; but the life of all is not one: in secret we are parted, in secret we are separated; as grains are on the threshing floor, not as grains are in the granary. And the grains are both separated on the threshing floor and mixed: they are separated when they are stripped of the chaff; they are mixed because they are not yet winnowed. Then the separation will be open, of life as of morals; of bodies as of wisdom. Those who have done well will go to live with the angels of God; those who have done evil, to be tormented with the devil and his angels. And the form of the servant will pass away. For to this end He had presented Himself, that He might execute judgement: after the judgement He will go on from here, will lead with Him the body of which He is the head, and will offer the kingdom to God (1 Cor. 15:24). Then will plainly be seen that form of God which could not be seen by the wicked, to whose sight the form of the servant had to be displayed. He also says elsewhere thus: These shall go into everlasting burning (of certain ones on the left); but the just into life everlasting (Matt. 25:46): of which He says in another place, And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent (John 17:3). Then there will appear He Who, when He was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God (Phil. 2:6): then He will show Himself as He promised that He would show Himself to those who love Him. For he who loves Me, He says, keeps My commandments; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will show Myself to him. Those to whom He was speaking had Him present with them: but they saw the form of the servant; the form of God, however, they did not see. On the beast of burden they were being led to the inn to be cured, but once healed they will see; for, I will show, He says, Myself to him. How is He shown equal to the Father? When He says to Philip, He who sees Me sees My Father also (John 14:21, 9).

19. I cannot of Myself do anything: as I hear, I judge, and My judgement is just. Because we were going to say to Him, Thou wilt judge, and the Father will not judge, since He has given all judgement to the Son; therefore Thou wilt not judge according to the Father: He added, I cannot of Myself do anything: as I hear, I judge, and My judgement is just; because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me. Certainly the Son gives life to whom He wills. He seeks not His own will, but the will of Him Who sent Him. Not Mine, not My own; not Mine, not the son of man's; not Mine, such as would resist God. For men do their own will, not God's, when they do what they want, not what God commands: but when they do what they want in such a way that they nevertheless follow the will of God, they do not do their own will, although they do what they want. Willingly do what you are commanded; and so you will both do this which you want, and you will do not your own will, but that of the one who commands.

20. What then? As I hear, so I judge. The Son hears, and the Father shows Him, and the Son sees the Father doing. And these things we had put off, to treat them somewhat more thoroughly according to our strength, if time and strength had remained to us once the reading was finished. If I should say that I can still speak, perhaps you can no longer listen. Again, perhaps out of eagerness to hear, you say, We can. It is better therefore that I confess my weakness, that being now tired I cannot speak, than that to you, already well satisfied, still

pour in what you might not digest well. Accordingly, hold me, with the Lord's help, as your debtor until tomorrow for this promise, which I had put off until today in case any time was left over.