PL 39 · cols. 1673–1682

Augustine, Sermones 376-387 (Classis V, Sermones dubii)

Sermons CCCLXXVIII–CCCLXXX

omnipotentem, et tamen vincere morientem. Magnus ergo iste rex gloriae, etiam apud inferos. Repetitur etiam hoc coelestibus potestatibus: Tollite portas, principes, vestras; et elevamini, portae aeternae. Annon sunt portae aeternae, quarum claves accep⟨i⟩t Petrus? Sed quia secum hominem levat, ibi tanquam non agnitus dicitur: Quis est iste rex gloriae? Sed ibi quia non jam certator, sed victor est, quia non dimicat, sed triumphat; non ibi respondetur, Dominus potens in bello; sed, Dominus virtutum ipse est rex gloriae (Psal. XXIII, 7-10)?

though Almighty, and yet to conquer while dying. Great, therefore, is this King of glory, even among those below. This is repeated also to the heavenly powers: Lift up your gates, O princes; and be lifted up, O eternal gates. Are they not the eternal gates, whose keys Peter received? But because He raises man up with Himself, there, as though not recognized, it is said: Who is this King of glory? But there, because He is no longer a contender but a victor, because He does not fight but triumphs, is it not answered there, The Lord mighty in battle, but rather, The Lord of powers, He is the King of glory (Ps. 23:7–10)?

SERMO CCCLXXVIII. In die Pentecostes.

Sermon 378. On the Day of Pentecost.

Charitas effectus praesentiae Spiritus sancti. Spiritus sanctus arrha vitae aeternae. Arrham inter et pignus discrimen. Datur arrha vitae aeternae, ut eam desideremus. Grata est Deo solemnitas, ubi viget pietas, et fervet charitas. Ipse enim est effectus praesentiae Spiritus sancti: quod docet Apostolus dicens, Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis (Rom. V, 5). Adventus ergo Spiritus sancti uno in loco centum viginti homines constitutos implevit. Cum Actus Apostolorum legerentur, audivimus, Erant congregati in unum centum viginti, tenentes promissum Christi (Act. I et II). Dixerant enim ut essent in civitate, quousque induerentur virtute ex alto. Ego enim, inquit, mittam promissionem meam in vobis (Luc. XXIV, 49). Fidelis promissor, benignus dator. Quod cum in terra esset promisit, in coelum ascendit et misit. Habemus pignus futurae vitae aeternae regnique coelorum. Non nos fraudavit recenti promissione, et fraudaturus est futura exspectatione? Omnes homines quando aliquod negotium inter se contrahunt, et pecuniarii negotii sponsione relaxantur, plerumque accipiunt arrham, vel dant: et arrha data fidem facit, etiam rem illam esse secuturam, cujus arrha praecessit. Arrham nobis dedit Christus Spiritum sanctum: et qui fallere nos non possit, securos tamen fecit, quando arrham dedit, quam etsi non daret, sine dubio quod promiserat exhiberet. Quid promisit? Vitam aeternam, cujus arrham Spiritum sanctum dedit. Vita aeterna possessio habitantium: arrha consolatio est peregrinantium. Melius enim dicitur arrha quam pignus. Haec enim duo similia videntur inter se; sed tamen habent aliquam differentiam non negligendam. Et pignus quando datur, et arrha quando datur, ideo fit, ut quod promittitur impleatur: sed quando datur pignus, reddit homo quod accepit, re completa propter quam pignus accepit; arrha autem quando datur, non recipitur, sed superadditur ut impleatur. Arrham ergo habemus: ipsum fontem, unde arrha est, sitiamus. Arrham habemus

Charity the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit the earnest of eternal life. The difference between an earnest and a pledge. The earnest of eternal life is given so that we may desire it. Pleasing to God is the solemnity where piety flourishes and charity glows. For this is the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit: which the Apostle teaches, saying, The charity of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5). The coming of the Holy Spirit, therefore, filled a hundred and twenty men gathered in one place. When the Acts of the Apostles were being read, we heard, There were gathered together a hundred and twenty, holding to the promise of Christ (Acts 1 and 2). For He had told them to remain in the city until they should be clothed with power from on high. For I, He said, will send My promise upon you (Luke 24:49). A faithful Promiser, a kindly Giver. What He promised when He was on earth, He ascended into heaven and sent. We have a pledge of the future eternal life and of the kingdom of heaven. He has not cheated us of the recent promise, and is He going to cheat us of the future expectation? All men, when they contract some business between themselves, and are set at ease by the engagement of a money transaction, usually receive an earnest, or give one: and the earnest given creates confidence that the thing itself, of which the earnest went before, will also follow. Christ has given us the Holy Spirit as an earnest: and He Who could not deceive us has nevertheless made us secure, when He gave an earnest, though even if He did not give it, He would without doubt deliver what He had promised. What did He promise? Eternal life, of which He gave the Holy Spirit as the earnest. Eternal life is the possession of those who dwell [there]; the earnest is the consolation of those who are on pilgrimage. For it is better called an earnest than a pledge. For these two seem similar to each other; but yet they have a certain difference not to be neglected. Both when a pledge is given and when an earnest is given, it is done so that what is promised may be fulfilled: but when a pledge is given, a man returns what he received once the matter is completed on account of which he received the pledge; whereas when an earnest is given, it is not taken back, but is added to so that it may be completed. We have, therefore, the earnest: let us thirst for the very fountain whence the earnest comes. As an earnest we have

Editors' notes and page, col. 1673

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon heading above the crop; SERMO CCCLXXVIII)› · call in col 1673 Emendatus ad cl. r. t. vat. v. et ad Vign.

Corrected against cl. r. t. vat. v. and the Vignier edition.

(printed under page 99)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXVIII)› · call in col 1673

Alias, inter Vignerianos 24.

Elsewhere, no. 24 among Vignier's sermons.

(printed under page 99)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible (title of SERMO CCCLXXVIII)› · call in col 1673

Sermo iste aut Augustini est, aut alicujus in ipsius lectione versati. Confer sermonem 23, cap. 8, et sermonem 156, cap. 13.

This sermon is either Augustine's or the work of someone well versed in reading him. Compare Sermon 23, ch. 8, and Sermon 156, ch. 13.

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXIX)› · call in col 1674 Emendatus ad r. t. v. et ad Vign.

Corrected against r. t. v. and the Vignier edition.

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (in the text of Sermo 378 above the crop)› · call in col 1673 or 1674

Vide serm. 23, cap. 8, et serm. 156, cap. 13.

See Sermon 23, ch. 8, and Sermon 156, ch. 13.

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aspersionem quamdam in cordibus nostris Spiritus sancti: si quis sentit hunc rorem, desideret fontem. Utquid enim habemus arrham, nisi ne fame et siti in hac peregrinatione deficiamus? Esurimus enim et sitimus, si tamen peregrinantes nos esse cognoscimus. Qui peregrinatur, et novit se peregrinari, desiderat patriam; quam dum desiderat, molesta est peregrinatio. Si amat peregrinationem, obliviscitur patriam, et non vult redire. Non est talis patria nostra, cui aliquid praeponamus. Aliquando enim homines dum peregrinantur, divites fiunt. Qui egebant in patria sua, peregrinatione ditescunt, et redire nolunt. Nos a Domino nostro, ex quo inspiravit primo homini flatum vitae, peregrinantes omnes nati sumus. Patria nostra in coelis est, cives Angeli. De patria nostra, ut ad reditum exhortemur, litterae nobis missae sunt, quae quotidie in populis recitantur. Vilescat mundus, ametur a quo factus est mundus.

a certain sprinkling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts: if anyone feels this dew, let him long for the fountain. For why do we have an earnest, if not so that we may not faint from hunger and thirst on this sojourn abroad? For we hunger and thirst, if indeed we recognize that we are sojourners abroad. He who sojourns abroad, and knows that he is sojourning abroad, longs for his homeland; and while he longs for it, the sojourn abroad is irksome. If he loves the sojourn abroad, he forgets his homeland and does not wish to return. Our homeland is not such that we should put anything before it. For sometimes men, while they sojourn abroad, become rich. Those who were in want in their own homeland grow rich on their sojourn abroad, and do not wish to return. We, from the time when our Lord breathed the breath of life into the first man, have all been born sojourners abroad. Our homeland is in the heavens; the angels are its citizens. From our homeland, so that we may be exhorted to return, letters have been sent to us, which are read out daily among the peoples. Let the world grow cheap to us; let Him be loved by Whom the world was made.

SERMO CCCLXXIX. In Nativitate Joannis Baptistae, I.

Sermon 379. On the Nativity of John the Baptist, 1.

Joannes tam magnus homo, ut Christum Deum praedicaret. Cur prophetae tot ante per Christum praemissi. Beatus Joannes, fratres charissimi, cujus hodie nativitatem celebramus, tam magnus exstitit inter homines, ut Dominus noster Jesus Christus tale ei testimonium perhiberet, dicens: Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista (Matth. XI, 11). Audivimus, cum Evangelium legeretur, quam mirabiliter fuerit ex desperatione conceptus, et quanto Spiritus sancti testimonio procreatus. Pater ejus eo quod non credidit, obmutuit. Annuntiatus ergo per Angelum, et non creditus, patris vocem abstulit, natus linguam resolvit (Luc. I). Accipite ergo in hujus rei mysterio magnum sacramentum. Ante Dominum Jesum Christum Joannes praemissus est, missi sunt Prophetae per superiora saecula, nec defuerunt qui Christum praedicarent. Tantus enim judex venturus erat, ut multi deberent praeire praecones. Ab ipso prorsus exordio generis humani non cessavit se Christus prophetare, et venturum praenuntiare. Novissime missus est Joannes homo, sed quo homine nullus exstitit major. Venturus erat Dominus Jesus, non homo tantum, sed et Deus: utique et Deus et homo; Deus semper, ad tempus homo; Deus ante tempora, homo in fine temporum; Deus ante saecula, homo in fine saeculi. Deus qui hominem fecit, propter hominem dignatus est homo fieri, quem fecit. Venturo ergo Domino Jesu Christo, qui plus est quam homo, ne putaretur tantum esse homo, testimonium debuit illi perhibere magnus homo. Christus, inquam, Dominus, non tantum Deus, sed et Deus et homo: Deus qui nos fecit, homo qui nos refecit. Joannes autem homo tantum, sed quantus homo? Audi de eo Deum et hominem dicentem. O Domine Jesu Christe, quis

John so great a man that he should proclaim Christ as God. Why so many prophets were sent ahead beforehand by Christ. Blessed John, dearest brethren, whose nativity we celebrate today, stood out so great among men that our Lord Jesus Christ bore him such testimony, saying: Among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist (Matt. 11:11). We heard, when the Gospel was read, how wonderfully he was conceived out of hopelessness, and with how great a testimony of the Holy Spirit he was begotten. His father, because he did not believe, was struck dumb. So, announced by an angel and not believed, he took away his father's voice; once born, he loosed his tongue (Luke 1). Receive, then, in the mystery of this event a great sacrament. Before the Lord Jesus Christ John was sent ahead; prophets were sent through the ages before, and there was no lack of those who should proclaim Christ. For so great a Judge was to come that many heralds had to go before Him. From the very beginning of the human race Christ did not cease to prophesy Himself and to foretell His coming. Last of all was sent John, a man, but a man than whom none has been greater. The Lord Jesus was to come, not man only, but also God: indeed both God and man; God always, man for a time; God before the times, man at the end of the times; God before the ages, man at the end of the age. God, Who made man, deigned for man's sake to become the man whom He had made. So for the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was to come, Who is more than man, lest He should be thought to be man only, a great man had to bear testimony to Him. Christ the Lord, I say, not God only, but both God and man: God Who made us, man Who remade us. John, however, was man only, but how great a man? Hear God-and-man speaking of him. O Lord Jesus Christ, who

Editors' notes and page, col. 1674

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(b) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXIX)› · call in col 1674

Alias, inter Vignerianos 3.

Elsewhere, no. 3 among Vignier's sermons.

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Hujus sermonis stilus non multum dissidet ab Augustiniano.

The style of this sermon does not differ much from Augustine's.

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est Joannes? Et dicit Deus, In natis mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista. O Joannes magne homo, quo in natis mulierum major nemo surrexit, et tu dic mihi, o magne homo, quis est iste qui putatur solus homo? Quis est, audi: Cujus non sum dignus, inquit, calceamenta portare. Didicimus ecce per Joannem, et per hominem credendum esse in Christum, et non esse ponendam spem in homine, sed in Christo. Ecce habes magnum hominem, quo nemo major surrexit, et ipse est Joannes. Sed vide quia iste Joannes amicus est sponsi; sponso zelat, non sibi. Dicit enim ad se venientibus: Ego baptizo vos aqua; qui autem post me venit, major me est, cujus non sum dignus calceamenta solvere; ille autem baptizabit vos in Spiritu sancto (Matth. III, 11). Venite post me, sed nolite manere in me: transite ad illum qui creavit vos et me, quia ipse vivificaturus est vos et me.

is John? And God says, Among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. O John, great man, than whom no one greater has arisen among those born of women, you too tell me, O great man, who is this one who is thought to be only a man? Who He is, listen: Whose shoes, he says, I am not worthy to carry. See, we have learned through John, and through a man, that one must believe in Christ, and that hope must not be placed in man, but in Christ. See, you have a great man, than whom no one greater has arisen, and he is John. But see that this John is the friend of the bridegroom; he is zealous for the bridegroom, not for himself. For he says to those who come to him: I baptize you with water; but He who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to loose; He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11). Come after me, but do not remain in me: pass over to Him who created you and me, because He will give life to you and me.

SERMO CCCLXXX. In Nativitate Joannis Baptistae, II.

Sermon 380. On the Nativity of John the Baptist, II.

1. Christum temporaliter natum praecessit Joannes. Nativitates Christi duae. Superbia, tumor. Incarnationis causa, ut homini Deus exemplum praeberet. Quietis et parva vox sufficit. Si autem vultis, fratres, quieti audire, nolite habere cor in auribus, sed aures in corde. Hodiernum diem beati Joannis Baptistae solemnitati illuxisse tradit et credit Ecclesia. Oportet autem hoc de ipso die credere, quod sine varietate totus orbis agnoscit: sed quia Joannis esse diem nemo dubitat, non Joannis qui Evangelium scripsit, sed Joannis Baptistae praecursoris Domini, qui tanto magnus apparuit, quanto se humilem praebuit, dicens, cum ipse Christus putaretur, non se dignum corrigiam calceamenti solvere ei, quem Dominum agnoscebat (Matth. III, 11), ut amicus esse mereretur. Nonnulli autem putant passionis ejus diem hodie celebrari. Sciat prius Sanctitas vestra, nativitatis esse diem, non passionis. Ex lectione quippe evangelica invenitur ejus nativitas sex mensibus praecedere Domini nativitatem. Et quoniam diem nativitatis Domini octavo calendarum januariarum die consensus tradit Ecclesiae; restat ut hodiernus dies nativitatis Joannis intelligatur.

1. John preceded Christ, who was born in time. The two nativities of Christ. Pride, a swelling. The cause of the Incarnation, that God might offer an example to man. For those who are quiet even a small voice suffices. But if you wish, brothers, to listen quietly, do not have your heart in your ears, but your ears in your heart. The Church hands down and believes that today's day has dawned for the solemnity of blessed John the Baptist. But one ought to believe this about this very day, which the whole world acknowledges without variation: but since no one doubts that it is John's day, not that of the John who wrote the Gospel, but of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord, who appeared as great as he showed himself humble, saying, when he himself was thought to be the Christ, that he was not worthy to loose the strap of the shoe for Him whom he acknowledged as Lord (Matt. 3:11), so that he might deserve to be His friend. Some, however, think that the day of his passion is celebrated today. Let Your Holiness know first that it is the day of his nativity, not of his passion. For from the Gospel reading his nativity is found to precede the nativity of the Lord by six months. And since the consensus of the Church hands down the day of the Lord's nativity as the eighth day before the calends of January, it remains that today be understood as the day of John's nativity.

2. Idem tractatur argumentum. Praecessit ergo Joannes Dominum, non tanquam magister discipulum, sed tanquam praecursor judicem; non ut superimponeret potestatem, sed ut praeberet officium.

2. The same argument is treated. John therefore preceded the Lord, not as a master [precedes] a disciple, but as a forerunner [precedes] a judge; not to impose authority over Him, but to render a service.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1675

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1675

Forte legendum, solum.

Perhaps read solum ("only").

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXX)› · call in col 1675 Emendatus ad cl. d. r. t. v. et ad Vign.

Corrected against cl. d. r. t. v. and the Vignier edition.

(printed under page 100)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXX)› · call in col 1675

Alias, inter Vignerianos 6.

Elsewhere, no. 6 among Vignier's sermons.

(printed under page 100)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible (title of SERMO CCCLXXX)› · call in col 1675

Hujus sermonis insignem locum de duplici Christi nativitate insertum habet sermo 371, necnon Appendicis sermo 127. Et nos quidem quin vere Augustini sit nulli dubitamus: inter dubios tamen ipsum collocare idcirco decrevimus, quia in omnibus libris, etiam manuscriptis, a medio fere interpolatus ac vitiatus est. Duo hic, praeter morem nostrum, absque manuscriptorum auctoritate, necessario praestamus: primum, centum circiter versus, qui sermonis erant centesimi vigesimi sexti, loco movemus; alterum, quadraginta plus minus alios versus extra propriam sedem repertos, ad eum ipsum locum, quem sermonis 126 pars illa occupabat, revocamus. Caetera, si quae supersunt vitia, exemplarium veriorum subsidio destitutis abstergere sive detegere non licuit.

A notable passage of this sermon on the twofold birth of Christ is inserted in Sermon 371, and also in Sermon 127 of the Appendix. For our part we do not doubt at all that it is truly Augustine's; yet we decided to place it among the doubtful ones, because in all the books, even the manuscripts, it is interpolated and corrupted from about the middle on. Here, contrary to our custom, we necessarily do two things without the authority of the manuscripts: first, we remove from their place about a hundred lines that belonged to Sermon 126; second, we restore some forty other lines, more or less, found outside their proper seat, to the very place that part of Sermon 126 had occupied. Any other faults that remain we could neither wipe away nor detect, lacking the help of truer copies.

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Ipsius autem testimonium Joannis de hac re sic se habet: Qui post me venit, ante me factus est, quia prior me erat. Post Joannem venit Dominus nascendo de virgine Maria, non de Patris substantia. Duas enim Domini nativitates accepimus, unam divinam, alteram humanam; tamen utramque mirabilem: illam sine matre, istam sine Patre: illam aeternam, ut crearet temporalem; hanc temporalem, ut praestaret aeternam. Ille enim de quo dicit Joannes, non Baptista, sed Evangelista, quia In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum, et quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil (Joan. I, 15, 1, 3): ille tantus in forma Dei aequalis Patri, ille sine tempore fabricans tempora, ille ex nullo saeculo ante omnia saecula judex saeculi, factus est tam parvus, ut de femina nasceretur; sed mansit tam magnus, ut a Patre non separaretur. Ei praebentes obsequium et testimonium, tanquam lucernae venturo diei, omnes Prophetae praenuntiantes eum ante ipsum nascendo venerunt, post ipsum credendo adhaeserunt. Oportebat enim ut praenuntiaretur venturus, miracula facturus: quibus miraculis, bene intelligentibus indicaretur Deus; humano autem aspectu videntibus appareret homo, parvus ad parvos, sed humilis ad superbos: parvitate sua docens hominem, ut se agnosceret parvum; ne, non grandescendo, sed tumescendo, se crederet magnum. Est enim superbia, non magnitudo, sed tumor. Ut ergo generis humani istum tumorem sanaret ipse medicus, ipse medicina, non solum medicamentum adhibens, sed medicamentum se faciens, apparuit inter homines homo, offerens hominem videntibus, Deum servans credentibus. Aspectus enim humanitatis ejus sanavit infirmos; contemplatio divinitatis ejus quaerit firmos. Et nondum erant homines qui Deum viderent in homine, nec poterant videre nisi hominem; nec tamen spem suam ponere debent in homine. Quid ergo fieret? Homo hominem videre potest, homo hominem sequi non debet. Deus sequendus erat, qui videri non poterat: homo sequendus non erat, qui videri poterat. Ut ergo exhiberetur homini, et qui ab homine videretur, et quem homo sequeretur, Deus factus est homo. O homo, propter quem Deus factus est homo, aliquid magnum te credere debes: sed descende, ut ascendas; quia et Deus descendendo factus est homo. Adhaeresce medicamento tuo, imitare magistrum tuum, agnosce Dominum tuum, amplectere fratrem tuum, intellige Deum tuum. Hoc ille tantus et tantillus, vermis, non homo; sed per quem factus est homo. Hoc ergo ille: quid Joannes, nisi quod de illo Dominus, nisi quod de illo verax, nisi quod de illo veritas dicit? Si enim ipsi Joanni debemus credere de veritate, veritati non credimus de Joanne?

Now the testimony of John himself on this matter runs thus: He who comes after me was made before me, because He was before me. The Lord came after John by being born of the Virgin Mary, not of the Father's substance. For we have received two nativities of the Lord, one divine, the other human; yet both wonderful: the former without a mother, the latter without a father; the former eternal, that He might create what is temporal; the latter temporal, that He might bestow what is eternal. For He of whom John speaks, not the Baptist but the Evangelist, saying that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and that all things were made through Him, and without Him was nothing made (John 1:15, 1, 3): He who is so great, equal to the Father in the form of God, He who without time fashions times, He who from no age, before all ages, is judge of the age, was made so small as to be born of a woman; but He remained so great as not to be separated from the Father. Offering Him homage and testimony, like lamps to the coming day, all the Prophets, foretelling Him, came before Him by being born, and after Him clung to Him by believing. For it was fitting that He should be foretold as about to come, about to work miracles: by which miracles God would be shown to those who understood rightly; but to those who saw with human sight He would appear as a man, small to the small, but humble to the proud: teaching man by His smallness to recognize himself as small; lest, not by growing great but by swelling up, he should believe himself great. For pride is not greatness but a swelling. So then, in order to heal this swelling of the human race, He Himself the physician, He Himself the medicine, not only applying a remedy but making Himself the remedy, appeared among men as a man, offering the man to those who saw, keeping God for those who believe. For the sight of His humanity healed the weak; the contemplation of His divinity seeks the strong. And as yet there were no men who could see God in a man, nor could they see anything but the man; and yet they ought not to place their hope in a man. What, then, was to be done? Man can see man, man ought not to follow man. God was to be followed, Who could not be seen: man was not to be followed, who could be seen. So then, that there might be shown to man one who could both be seen by man and be followed by man, God was made man. O man, for whose sake God was made man, you ought to believe yourself something great: but descend, that you may ascend; for God too was made man by descending. Cling to your remedy, imitate your master, acknowledge your Lord, embrace your brother, understand your God. This is He, so great and so very small, a worm and no man; but He through whom man was made. This, then, is He: what is John, except what the Lord, except what the truthful One, except what the Truth says of him? For if we ought to believe John himself concerning the Truth, do we not believe the Truth concerning John?

3. Ex verbis Joannis Arianorum calumniae. Verbum siquidem erat in principio, factum non erat. Dicat testimonium primo veritati ipsius particeps veritatis; et dicat testimonium homini Conditor hominis. Primo

3. From the words of John, the calumnies of the Arians [refuted]. For the Word was in the beginning; it was not made. Let him who partakes of the Truth first bear testimony to the Truth itself; and let the Maker of man bear testimony to the man. First

Editors' notes and page, col. 1676

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Mss., ut crearet temporales; hanc temporalem, ut praestaret aeternos.

The manuscripts read ut crearet temporales; hanc temporalem, ut praestaret aeternos ("that he might create temporal beings; this temporal [birth], that he might make them eternal").

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audiamus quid Joannes de Christo, et deinde quid Christus de Joanne; priorem audiamus, sed posteriorem intelligamus: prior loquatur qui prius natus est, sed confirmetur per eum a quo factus est. Post me, inquit, venit, et ante me factus est. Hic jam, qui credunt factum ante caetera per quem facta sunt omnia, calumniantur his verbis vel per haec verba nobis, et dicunt, Ecce quia factus est: Joannes dicit, Post me venit, et ante me factus est. Expone mihi quid sit, ante me factus est. Verba illorum dico, et ea discutienda propono. Soletis, inquiunt, dicere, quando aliquid tàle de Christo dicitur, ut eum Patre minorem ostendat, quod ad hominem sit referenda sententia; ut quod in forma Dei est, aequalis sit Patri, quod autem semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens, in similitudinem hominum factus, et habitu inventus ut homo, major sit Pater. Quid ergo dicetis ad hoc quod Joannes ait, ante me factus est? Audi quid dicamus: sed prius illud vide, quod Apostolus utrumque distinguens, et unum tamen in utroque eumdemque commendans, non dixit, Formam Dei accipiens. De forma vero Dei quid dixit? Cum in forma Dei esset: respiciens ad illum qui vocatus erat ante illum, in cujus Evangelio est, In principio erat Verbum; imo respiciens ad illud lumen, unde et ille hoc dixit. Neque enim dixit Joannes, In principio fecit Deus Verbum: qui posset dicere ita, ut dixit Moyses, quia de creatura facta a Domino Deo loquebatur, In principio fecit Deus caelum et terram. Cum ergo ille, si hoc sentiret quod Ariani sentiunt, posset dicere, In principio fecit Deus Verbum; non hoc ait: sed ait, In principio erat Verbum. Quod in principio erat, factum non erat. Neque enim praecessit aliquid de facto Verbo. Omnia enim quae Deus fecit, Verbo fecit: Dixit, et facta sunt; mandavit, et creata sunt (Psal. CXLVIII, 5). Inter dicentem ut fiat, et quod factum est a dicente, plurimum distat: sed si dicens est, Verbum habet; si Verbum habet, per Verbum fecit; si per Verbum fecit, Verbum non fecit.

let us hear what John [says] of Christ, and then what Christ [says] of John; let us hear the earlier, but understand the later: let him speak first who was born first, but let him be confirmed by Him by whom he was made. He comes after me, he says, and was made before me. Here now those who believe that He through whom all things were made was made before the rest cavil at us with these words, or through these words, and say: See, He was made: John says, He comes after me, and was made before me. Explain to me what "was made before me" means. I am stating their words, and I put them forward to be examined. You are accustomed, they say, when anything of this kind is said about Christ that shows Him to be less than the Father, to say that the statement is to be referred to the man; so that in that He is in the form of God He is equal to the Father, but in that He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man, the Father is greater. What then will you say to this, that John says, "was made before me"? Hear what we say: but first see this, that the Apostle, distinguishing the two, and yet commending one and the same [Person] in both, did not say, Taking the form of God. But what did he say of the form of God? Being in the form of God: looking to him who had been called before him, in whose Gospel is, In the beginning was the Word; rather, looking to that light from which he too said this. For John did not say, In the beginning God made the Word: he who could have spoken thus, as Moses spoke, since he was speaking of the creature made by the Lord God, In the beginning God made heaven and earth. Since, then, he, if he held what the Arians hold, could have said, In the beginning God made the Word, he does not say this, but he says, In the beginning was the Word. What was in the beginning had not been made. For nothing went before about the Word having been made. For all things that God made, He made by the Word: He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created (Ps. 148:5). Between the one who speaks that a thing may be, and what has been made by the one speaking, there is a very great difference: but if He is one who speaks, He has a Word; if He has a Word, He made through the Word; if He made through the Word, He did not make the Word.

4. Arianorum cavillatio: similiter dictum esse in Genesi, Terra erat. Quare, inquiunt? Annon audisti et de terra, Terra erat invisibilis et incomposita (Gen. I, 1, 2)? Si propterea, inquiunt, dicis Verbum factum non esse, quia dictum est, Verbum erat; nec terra facta est, quia dictum est, Terra erat. O caeca et haeretica insania! Attende, si est unde attendas; audi, si est unde audias: ne sonus inaniter aurem percutiat, cujus cor veritas non illustrat. Verba ejusdem Scripturae dicturus sum, quae ibi invenisti cum legeres, et praetermisisti cum litigares. Nempe propterea putas tale aliquid dictum de Verbo Dei, cum dictum est, In principio erat Verbum; quale dictum est de terra, quia dictum est, Terra erat invisibilis et incomposita. Ego tibi in hoc libro Geneseos superiora verba recitabo, quod antequam diceret scriptor Dei famulus, Terra erat; ut appareret quia facta erat, prius dixit, In principio fecit Deus caelum et terram. Ecce ego prius tibi edidi terram factam; et factam utique

4. The cavil of the Arians: that it is said in like manner in Genesis, The earth was. Why so, they say? Have you not heard also of the earth, The earth was invisible and unformed (Gen. 1:1–2)? If, they say, you say that the Word was not made because it is said, The Word was, then neither was the earth made, because it is said, The earth was. O blind and heretical madness! Attend, if you have the means to attend; hear, if you have the means to hear: lest the sound strike in vain the ear of one whose heart the truth does not enlighten. I am going to speak words of the same Scripture, which you found there when you were reading, and passed over when you were disputing. You think, of course, that something of this kind was said of the Word of God, when it was said, In the beginning was the Word, as was said of the earth, since it is said, The earth was invisible and unformed. I will recite to you in this book of Genesis the preceding words, namely that before the writer, the servant of God, said, The earth was, he first said, so that it might be plain that it had been made, In the beginning God made heaven and earth. See, I have first set forth to you the earth as made; and made indeed

Editors' notes and page, col. 1677

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: Ecce ego prius tibi edidi› · call in col 1677

Forte, ostendi.

Perhaps ostendi ("I have shown").

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a Deo, sonante Scriptura et in aures recusantis irrumpente, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram. Facta erant haec; sed nondum ornata, nondum declarata: terra nondum distincta, sed tamen jam facta. Ne autem putares continuo terram factam sic fuisse, ut non in ea esset quod ornaretur, subsecutus ait: Facta erat quidem, quia in principio fecit Deus coelum et terram; terra autem, quam fecit Deus, adhuc invisibilis erat et incomposita. Ostendit tibi qualis erat, quae facta erat; non quia erat, quae facta non erat. Poterat ergo dicere Joannes, In principio fecit Deus Verbum, Verbum autem erat; quomodo, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram; terra autem erat: ut iste esset ordo verborum, In principio fecit Deus Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum; ut intelligeremus quia hoc Verbum erat apud Deum, quod Verbum fecerat Deus. Nunc vero audis, In principio erat Verbum. Quid quaeris anteriora factus extremior? Extremior enim tu in errore tuo factus es: de imo loqueris, et ad ima respicis. Vellem, si de imo loquereris, ut sursum cor tenderes, et clamares de profundo ad Dominum: rumperet nubes caliginis carnis tuae, aperiret oculos humilitati lux quae venit in humilitate; videres, In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum; hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Dicat et Paulus, Qui cum in forma Dei esset. Quid de humana nativitate dicit Joannes? Et Verbum curo factum est (Joan. I, 1, 2, 3, 14). Dicat et Paulus, Semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens (Philipp. II, 6, 7). Quid ergo dicebas de verbis Joannis Baptistae? Eadem mihi nunc ea repete, nunc ea loquere. Quid ait Joannes Baptista? Post me venit. Agnosco nativitatem. Ille de sterili, ille de virgine. Sterilitas conversa est in fecunditatem: virginitas mansit post fecunditatem.

by God, as Scripture sounds and bursts into the ears of the one who refuses it, In the beginning God made heaven and earth. These things had been made; but not yet adorned, not yet made manifest: the earth not yet distinguished, but nevertheless already made. But lest you should think that the earth had been made straightaway in such a way that there was nothing in it to be adorned, he went on to say: It had indeed been made, since in the beginning God made heaven and earth; but the earth, which God made, was still invisible and unformed. He shows you what sort of thing it was that had been made; not that what had not been made existed. John could therefore have said, In the beginning God made the Word, and the Word was; just as, In the beginning God made heaven and earth; and the earth was: so that this would be the order of the words, In the beginning God made the Word, and the Word was with God; so that we should understand that this Word was with God, which Word God had made. But now you hear, In the beginning was the Word. Why do you seek what is earlier, you who have become further out? For you have become further out in your error: you speak from the lowest place, and you look towards the lowest things. I should wish, if you speak from the lowest place, that you would stretch your heart upwards and cry out from the depth to the Lord: the Light which came in humility would break through the clouds of the darkness of your flesh, would open eyes to humility; you would see, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this was in the beginning with God. Let Paul too say, Who, though He was in the form of God. What does John say about the human birth? And the Word was made flesh (John 1:1, 2, 3, 14). Let Paul too say, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6–7). What then were you saying about the words of John the Baptist? Repeat those same things to me now, say them now. What does John the Baptist say? He comes after me. I recognize the birth. The one from a barren woman, the other from a virgin. Barrenness was turned into fruitfulness: virginity remained after fruitfulness.

5. Objectio: Christum dici factum, in quantum Verbum est. Christus ante Joannem factus, id est ante positus ipsi et praelatus. Sed Joannes, inquit, si secundum hoc dixisset factum, secundum quod ex virgine natus est, non diceret, ante me factus est; quia ex virgine post illum factus erat. Ergo, ante me factus est, quid est, nisi quia in principio Verbum factum erat? Sic enim ante Joannem erat; nam ex virgine post Joannem erat. Accipe, et si non rixaris, adverte. Aliquantum enim forte subobscurum est quod vis intelligere, ut rixando tibi augeas fumum, quo impediaris ab intellectu. Scripturam illam primo intuere, quae te docet ut docilis fias. Esto mansuetus ad audiendum verbum, ut intelligas (Eccli. V, 13). Patere ergo paulisper: forte inveniemus quomodo dictum sit, ante me factus est; dum tamen non intelligamus factum Verbum per quod facta sunt omnia. Quomodo, inquit? Si potero, dicam: si dicere non potero, non tamen non est quod dicat qui dicere potuerit. Credo autem et spero, quod illius majestas Unigeniti, qui cum esset Verbum, infans factus est, aperiet infantiam linguae meae, et faciet in ore partum, qui fecit in corde conceptum. Ecce dicam ut p⟨o⟩tero: intellige ut potes; et quod non poteris intelligere, noli reprehendere, quasi jam magnus

5. Objection: that Christ is said to have been made inasmuch as He is the Word. Christ was made before John, that is, set before him and preferred to him. But John, he says, if he had said "made" in the sense in which He was born of the virgin, would not say, He was made before me; since from the virgin He had been made after him. Therefore, He was made before me: what does it mean, except that in the beginning the Word had been made? For thus He was before John; for from the virgin He was after John. Take this, and if you are not quarrelling, pay attention. For what you wish to understand is perhaps somewhat obscure, so that by quarrelling you increase for yourself the smoke by which you are hindered from understanding. First look at that Scripture which teaches you to become teachable. Be gentle in hearing the word, that you may understand (Ecclus. 5:13). Bear with it, then, for a little while: perhaps we shall find how it was said, He was made before me; provided only that we do not understand as made the Word through Whom all things were made. How, he says? If I can, I shall say: if I cannot say it, yet it is not that there is nothing for one who can say it to say. But I believe and hope that the majesty of that Only-begotten, Who, though He was the Word, was made an infant, will open the infancy of my tongue, and He Who made the conception in the heart will make the birth in the mouth. See, I shall speak as I can: understand as you can; and what you will not be able to understand, do not find fault with, as if already great

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sis; sed differ, ut crescere merearis. Certe hoc te movet, quomodo dictum sit, Qui post me venit, ante me factus est. Moveat plane ut quaerentem, non ut rixantem. Certe et ego quaero tecum: simul inveniemus, si simul quaeramus; ambo accipiemus, si ambo petamus; utrique nostrum aperietur, si ambo pulsemus. Post me venit, inquit: agnosce nativitatem ex virgine Maria. Ante me factus est: quid est, ante me factus est? Intellige, antepositus est mihi. Ille qui post me venit, factus est ante me. Quomodo si duo ambulent in itinere, et unus sit tardior, alter velocior, et praecedat tardior aliquantum, post paululum autem sequatur velocior; respicit tardior praecedens velociorem sequentem, et dicit, Post me venit. Et ecce accelerante illo, et propinquante, et adhaerente, et transeunte, videt ille anteriorem, quem respiciebat posteriorem: certe si celeritatem ejus expavescat quodam modo et admiretur, nonne poterunt esse ista verba ejus: Ecce homo post me erat, et ante me factus est? Quid est hoc, qui post me erat, ante me factus est? Qui ambulabat post me, celeritate ejus factum est ut esset ante me. Nam si ubicumque legeris, factus est, non intelligis nisi formatum esse qui non erat; et Dominum Deum dicturus es factum, de quo dictum est, Factus est mihi Dominus in refugium (Psal. XCIII, 22). Factus est Dominus adjutor (Psal. XXIX, 11); et, Factus est mihi in salutem (Psal. CXVII, 14). Quoties factus? Et ipse fecit omnia. Ergo intellige mecum verba. Neque enim tacuit idem Joannes et illud quod Verbum erat; ne ibi putares significasse Verbum, quando dixit, ante me factus est: ut noveris ad hoc pertinere ante me factus est, quia praecessit me, quia glorificatus est amplius me, quia cum me intenderent homines praecursorem, agnoverunt Dominum, quem nascendo praecesseram, quem obsequendo nuntiaveram; spesque eorum, concursus eorum in Dominum factus est; glorificatus est ille tanquam Filius Dei, ante me factus, secundum id quod Apostolus ait, Propterea Deus exaltavit eum, et donavit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen, ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur, coelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum (Philipp. II, 9 et 10). Gloria ergo ejus non esse coepit, sed innotuit. Factus est ante Joannem, quia praecessit honore Joannem.

you were; but put it off, so that you may deserve to grow. Surely this troubles you, how it was said, He who comes after me was made before me. Let it trouble you indeed as one who seeks, not as one who quarrels. Surely I too seek with you: we shall find together, if we seek together; we shall both receive, if we both ask; it will be opened to each of us, if we both knock. He comes after me, he says: recognize the birth from the Virgin Mary. He was made before me: what is "He was made before me"? Understand: He was set before me. He who comes after me has been made before me. Just as if two men are walking on a journey, and one is slower, the other quicker, and the slower goes ahead somewhat, but after a little the quicker follows; the slower, going ahead, looks back at the quicker following, and says, He comes after me. And behold, as that one speeds up, and draws near, and comes alongside, and passes by, the other sees ahead of him the one whom he was looking back on behind him: surely, if he were in some way alarmed at his speed and marvelled at it, could not these be his words: Behold, the man was after me, and he has been made before me? What is this, he who was after me has been made before me? He who was walking after me, by his speed it came about that he was before me. For if, wherever you read "was made", you understand nothing but that one was formed who did not exist, then you will also have to say that the Lord God was made, of whom it was said, The Lord was made a refuge to me (Ps. 93:22). The Lord was made a helper (Ps. 29:11); and, He was made my salvation (Ps. 117:14). How many times was He made? And yet He Himself made all things. Therefore understand the words with me. For the same John did not keep silent about this either, that He was the Word; lest you should think he had meant the Word there, when he said, He was made before me: so that you may know that "He was made before me" refers to this, that He went ahead of me, that He was glorified more than I, that when men were giving heed to me as the forerunner, they recognized the Lord, whom I had preceded by being born, whom I had announced by serving; and their hope, their thronging, was turned towards the Lord; He was glorified as the Son of God, made before me, according to what the Apostle says, Therefore God exalted Him, and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of things in heaven, on earth, and below the earth (Phil. 2:9–10). His glory, then, did not begin to be, but became known. He was made before John, because He went ahead of John in honour.

6. Datae interpretationi consonare verba Joannis subsequentia. Sed vide utrum merito. Interroga ipsum Joannem: Ille qui post te venit, quare ante te factus est? Qui te sequebatur, quare tibi praelatus est? Sequitur, Quia prior me erat. Hoc est, In principio erat Verbum. Ergo merito ante me factus est, quia prior me erat. Prior Joanne, prior Abraham, prior quam Adam, prior quam coelum et terra, prior quam Angeli, Sedes, Dominationes, Principatus et Potestates. Quare prior? Quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Agnoscat servus humilitatem suam: ostendat Dominus majestatem suam. Dicat idem Joannes, Non sum dignus corrigiam calceamenti ejus solvere. Multum se humiliaret, si diceret, Dignus sum. Quid enim si diceret dignum? numquid sedere in judicio ad dexteram

6. The words of John that follow agree with the interpretation given. But see whether rightly so. Ask John himself: He who comes after you, why was He made before you? He who was following you, why was He preferred to you? There follows, Because He was before me. That is, In the beginning was the Word. Therefore rightly was He made before me, because He was before me. Before John, before Abraham, before Adam, before heaven and earth, before the Angels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers. Why before? Because all things were made through Him. Let the servant recognize his lowliness: let the Lord show His majesty. Let the same John say, I am not worthy to loose the strap of His sandal. He would have humbled himself greatly if he had said, I am worthy. For what if he had said "worthy"? Surely not worthy to sit in judgement at the right hand

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Patris? numquid venire ad judicandos vivos et mortuos? Quid si diceret dignum solvere corrigiam calceamenti? Magna humilitas, si hoc est dignus amicus sponsi. Dicturus enim erat amicum se esse sponsi: et ne in illa amicitia aequalitas forte ab aliquo imprudente intelligeretur; dicit se amicum propter amorem, dejicit se ad vestigia propter timorem. Et parum est quod se ad vestigia deponit; nec dignum se dicit solvere corrigiam calceamenti. Humilis profecto, si dignum solvere; sed quia nec dignum se dicit solvere, dignus qui exaltaretur ab humilitate. Dicat etiam apertius, dicat distinctius, quid est, Post me venit, ante me factus est. Dixit enim et causam, quia prior me erat. Quoniam, In principio erat Verbum; et, Cum in forma Dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus est esse aequalis Deo. Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Joan. III, 30). Oportebat ut cresceret qui posterior venit, et minueretur qui anterior venit. Si crevit qui posterior venit, ante ipsum factus est crescendo. Illum, inquit, oportet crescere, me autem minui. Hoc est, ante me factus est. Et quomodo crevit Christus, minutus est Joannes? Praecessit aetate Joannes Dominum in nativitate humana; creverunt ambo annis accedentibus, statura carnis, et pervenerunt ad certum modum sicut homines. Sed Joannes homo, Christus Deus et homo. In divinitate si intelligamus quia crevit Christus, absurdi sumus, et nimis erramus. Crescit enim aliquid, ut proficiat. Deus quo crescat non habet: si enim habet quo crescat, minor erat antequam cresceret. Redeamus ad formam carnis. Ipsa cum Joanne crevit, non illo minuto crevit. Referamus ergo fortassis ad gloriam; et intelligamus, Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui, secundum hoc dictum, quod post me venit, et ante me factus est. Joannes enim personam sustinebat hominis, et loquebatur ex typo generis humani, ad quod salvandum venerat Christus. Dixeramus autem, fratres, humilis Deus venit ad superbum hominem. Agnoscat homo se hominem, appareat Deus homini. Etenim si ideo venit Christus, ut humiliaretur homo, et ex humilitate cresceret homo; oportebat ut gloria jam cessaret hominis, et commendaretur gloria Dei: ut spes hominis esset in gloria Dei, non in gloria sua, dicente Apostolo, Qui gloriatur, in Domino glor⟨i⟩etur (I Cor. I, 31). Recte ergo dicitur homini, Quid habes quod non accepisti? Si autem accepisti, quid gloriaris, quasi non acceperis (Id. IV, 7)? Hunc typum humilitatis humanae Joannes ostendens, quia quantum proficiebat opinio et fama Christi, non statura Christi, non majestas Christi, non sapientia, non Verbum Dei; sed fama illa, quae coepit a minimo, et jam tenet orbem terrarum: gloria Christi, non gloria hominis, ut agnoscat homo humilitatem suam, impertiat Deus divinitatem suam. Etenim gloria Dei, fratres, gloria nostra est. Quantum dulcius glorificatur Deus, tantum nobis

of the Father? Or to come to judge the living and the dead? What if he had said he was worthy to loosen the strap of the sandal? Great humility, if the friend of the bridegroom is worthy of this. For he was going to say that he was the friend of the bridegroom: and lest in that friendship an equality should perhaps be understood by some imprudent person, he calls himself a friend on account of love, he casts himself down at the footprints on account of fear. And it is a small thing that he lays himself down at the footprints; he does not even call himself worthy to loosen the strap of the sandal. Humble indeed, if [he had called himself] worthy to loosen it; but since he does not even call himself worthy to loosen it, he was worthy to be exalted on account of his humility. Let him say also more openly, let him say more distinctly, what this is: He comes after me, He was made before me. For he gave the reason too: because He was before me. Because, In the beginning was the Word; and, Though He was in the form of God, He did not think it robbery to be equal to God. He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). It was fitting that He Who came later should increase, and that he who came earlier should decrease. If He Who came later has increased, He was made before him by increasing. He must, he says, increase, but I must decrease. That is, He was made before me. And how did Christ increase, and John decrease? John preceded the Lord in age in human birth; both grew as the years came on, in stature of flesh, and arrived at a certain measure as men do. But John was man, Christ God and man. If we understand that Christ increased in divinity, we are absurd, and we err greatly. For a thing increases in order that it may advance. God has nothing by which to increase: for if He has something by which to increase, He was less before He increased. Let us return to the form of flesh. It increased together with John; it did not increase by his decreasing. Let us therefore refer it perhaps to glory; and let us understand, He must increase, but I must decrease, according to this saying, that He comes after me, and was made before me. For John bore the person of man, and spoke as a type of the human race, for the saving of which Christ had come. Now we had said, brethren, that the humble God came to proud man. Let man acknowledge himself to be man, let God appear to man. For if Christ came for this reason, that man might be humbled, and that from humility man might increase, it was fitting that the glory of man should now cease, and the glory of God be commended: that the hope of man might be in the glory of God, not in his own glory, as the Apostle says, Let him who glories, glory in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31). Rightly therefore is it said to man, What do you have that you have not received? But if you have received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it (ibid. 4:7)? John, showing this type of human humility, because as much as the opinion and fame of Christ advanced, not the stature of Christ, not the majesty of Christ, not the wisdom, not the Word of God; but that fame which began from the smallest, and now holds the whole world: the glory of Christ, not the glory of man, so that man may acknowledge his humility, and God may impart His divinity. For the glory of God, brethren, is our glory. The more sweetly God is glorified, the more to us

Editors' notes and page, col. 1680

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: Deus et homo› · call in col 1680

Sermonis series interrupta erat transpositis hunc in locum quadraginta fere versibus, quos in propria sede reperies infra, n. 7, proxime ad illud, « Fuimus et nos aliquando, » etc.

The sermon's sequence had been broken by some forty lines transposed to this place; you will find them in their proper seat below, n. 7, immediately after the words "We too were once," etc.

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prodest. Non enim altior erit Deus, quia honoramus illum: humiliemus nos, et exaltamus illum. Scriptum est enim, Exaltabo te, Domine (Psal. XXIX, 2). Quid est, Exaltabo te? In terra erat, et cum in coelo posuisti? Et homo exaltat Deum? Quid est, Exaltabo te? Altum te confitebor. Confiteatur ergo se homo hominem; decrescat prius, ut crescat. Dicat Joannes decrescendo ad humilitatem, non se esse dignum, qui solvat corrigiam calceamenti, et intelligat se participando illuminatum fieri.

is it of profit. For God will not be higher because we honour Him: let us humble ourselves, and we exalt Him. For it is written, I will exalt Thee, O Lord (Ps. 29:2). What is, I will exalt Thee? He was on earth, and when did you place [Him] in heaven? And does man exalt God? What is, I will exalt Thee? I will confess Thee to be high. Let man therefore confess himself to be man; let him first decrease, that he may increase. Let John, decreasing unto humility, say that he is not worthy to loose the strap of the shoe, and let him understand that he becomes illuminated by participating.

7. Joannes Baptista non erat lumen, comparatione Christi veri luminis. Lumen tamen Joannes participatione sapientiae. Hoc enim Joannes evangelista dixit de illo: Non erat ille lumen. Injuriam forte fecit Joanni, quia ait, Non erat ille lumen; cum Apostolis dictum sit a Domino, Vos estis lumen mundi? Praetulerunt se Apostoli Joanni? Non faciunt, ne mendacem ipsum Dominum judicent, qui dixit, In natis mulierum nemo exsurrexit major Joanne Baptista (Matth. XI, 11). Non utique major statura corporis, sed gratia participatae sapientiae, gratia participatae salutis. Quid sibi ergo vult, Non erat ille lumen, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine? Quare hoc dixit? Novi, inquit, quid dicam, testimonium perhibere de lumine. Erat enim lumen verum distinctum a Joanne, ne prorsus non lumen Joannes, sed ut in comparatione hujus luminis dictum intelligatur, Non erat ille lumen; secundum quod dixit, quia Erat lumen verum. Quomodo discernis hoc verum? Quod illuminat, inquit, omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Si omnem hominem, ergo et Joannem. Sed ut non videamur nos colligere ex verbis quod non est dictum, quamvis consequenter intelligendum, ipse Joannes dicat: Nos omnes de plenitudine ejus accepimus (Joan. I, 8, 9, 16). Erat ergo lumen verum. Joannes lumen illuminatum, Christus lumen illuminans. Nam ut noveris quia lumen erat Joannes, jam perhibeat et illi Dominus testimonium. Perhibuit ipse testimonium Domino suo, testimonium veritatis de Domino suo, quod habebat a Domino suo. Acceperat enim a Domino suo, ut diceret de Domino suo: ut autem ille diceret de servo suo, non acceperat a servo suo: et in se Christus de Joanne, et in Joanne Christus de se. Ipsa ergo veritas perhibeat testimonium, audiamus quia lumen est Joannes. Judaeis dicitur de Joanne, Ille erat lucerna ardens et lucens (Id. V, 35). Et utique lucerna lumen est, non sicut dies, sed tamen lumen est. Ergo lucerna accenditur ut luceat, et Joannes illuminatus est ut loqueretur. Si ergo Joannes illuminatus est ut loqueretur, agnoscat se lucerna, ne superbiae vento exstinguatur. Sed forte lumen discipuli, et lucerna Joannes? Dominus enim de Joanne ait, Ille erat lucerna ardens, et lucens: de discipulis autem, Vos estis lumen mundi. Discipulos suos praetulit Joanni? Numquid et fideles illi quos alloquitur Paulus, praeponendi sunt Joanni, quibus ait, Fuistis enim aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino (Ephes. V, 8)? Lux ergo Apostoli, et lux fideles ex peccatoribus justificati, ex infidelibus fideles facti: tamen lucerna non sunt dicti discipuli.

7. John the Baptist was not the light, in comparison with Christ the true light. Yet John [was] a light by participation in wisdom. For John the evangelist said this of him: He was not the light. Did he perhaps do John an injury, because he says, He was not the light, when it was said to the Apostles by the Lord, You are the light of the world? Did the Apostles prefer themselves to John? They do not, lest they judge the Lord Himself a liar, Who said, Among those born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist (Matt. 11:11). Not greater, certainly, in stature of body, but by the grace of wisdom participated, by the grace of salvation participated. What then does it mean, He was not the light, but that he might bear witness of the light? Why did he say this? I know, he says, what I am saying: to bear witness of the light. For there was a true light distinct from John, not so that John should be no light at all, but so that He was not the light should be understood as said in comparison with this light; according to what he said, that That was the true light. How do you discern this true [light]? Which enlightens, he says, every man coming into this world. If every man, then John too. But lest we should seem to gather from the words what is not said, although it is to be understood as following from them, let John himself say: We have all received of His fullness (John 1:8, 9, 16). That therefore was the true light. John a light enlightened, Christ the light enlightening. For that you may know that John was a light, let the Lord now also bear witness to him. He himself bore witness to his Lord, the witness of truth concerning his Lord, which he had from his Lord. For he had received from his Lord that he should speak of his Lord: but that He should speak of His servant, He had not received from His servant: both in himself Christ [spoke] of John, and in John Christ [spoke] of Himself. Let the Truth itself therefore bear witness; let us hear that John is a light. It is said to the Jews concerning John, He was a burning and shining lamp (John 5:35). And certainly a lamp is a light, not as the day is, but nevertheless it is a light. Therefore a lamp is lit that it may shine, and John was enlightened that he might speak. If therefore John was enlightened that he might speak, let him acknowledge himself a lamp, lest he be extinguished by the wind of pride. But perhaps the disciples are a light, and John a lamp? For the Lord says of John, He was a burning and shining lamp: but of the disciples, You are the light of the world. Did He prefer His disciples to John? Are those faithful too whom Paul addresses to be set before John, to whom he says, For you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8)? The Apostles then are light, and the faithful are light, justified out of sinners, made faithful out of unbelievers: yet the disciples were not called a lamp.

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Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 1681 or 1682

Deest nonnihil, quo superiora nectebantur cum subsequentibus verbis, quae antehac locum superius designatum occupaverant, atque eorum loco in aliis editis et manuscriptis libris inserta hic erat prima pars sermonis 126.

Something is missing by which the preceding matter was joined to the words that follow, which previously occupied the place indicated above; and in their place, in the other printed and manuscript books, the first part of Sermon 126 had been inserted here.

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Attende, forte dicti, et non alio loco, sed ibi: ut ostenderet quemadmodum eos dixerit lumen; quia non lumen verum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum; sequere verba Evangelii: Vos estis lumen mundi. Non potest civitas abscondi supra montem constituta. Sed de civitate dixit, non de lumine? Sequere adhuc: Neque accendunt lucernam, et ponunt eam sub modio. Tale lumen estis, quale Joannes: lucerna illuminata. Tanquam cujus vox, vel quorum vox praecesserat, Tu illuminabis lucernam meam, Domine; Deus meus, illumina tenebras meas (Psal. XVII, 29). Quas tenebras in Apostolis? Fuimus et nos aliquando, etc., quomodo illius reprobi et blasphemi, Qui prius fui blasphemus, et persecutor, et injuriosus. Ecce tenebrae, accendatur lucerna: Sed misericordiam consecutus sum (I Tim. I, 13). Et ut noveris de ipsis dictum, Neque accendunt lucernam, et ponunt eam sub modio, sed super candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus, qui in domo sunt; statim sequitur, Sic luceat lumen vestrum coram hominibus, ut videant bona opera vestra: sed in humilitate, quia hominem oportet minui. Quomodo autem Deum crescere? Et glorificent Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est (Matth. V, 14-16). Glorificatur Pater, glorificatur Filius: quia Pater glorificat Filium, et Filius glorificat Patrem. Agnoscat se ergo homo humilem, agnoscat excelsum Deum propter se humiliatum, ut homo, qui humiliatus erat in confessione peccati, exaltetur in adeptione justitiae. Haec duo; Dominus et Joannes, humilitas et claritas: Deus humilis in claritate, homo humilis in infirmitate; Deus humilis propter hominem, homo humilis propter hominem. Deus enim humilis ut prodesset homini, homo humilis ut non obsit sibi.

Pay attention: perhaps they were called [so], and not in another place but there: so that He might show in what manner He had called them light; because [they are] not the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world; follow the words of the Gospel: You are the light of the world. A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden. But did He speak of a city, not of light? Follow further: Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel. You are such a light as John was: a lamp that has been lit. As if of him whose voice, or of those whose voice, had gone before: Thou wilt light my lamp, O Lord; my God, enlighten my darkness (Ps. 17:29). What darkness in the apostles? We too were once, etc., as in the case of that reprobate and blasphemer: I who was formerly a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and insolent. Behold the darkness; let the lamp be lit: But I obtained mercy (1 Tim. 1:13). And that you may know that it was said of them, Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, that it may give light to all who are in the house; there immediately follows, So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works: but in humility, because man must decrease. But how must God increase? And may they glorify your Father, Who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14–16). The Father is glorified, the Son is glorified: because the Father glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. Let man therefore acknowledge himself to be lowly, let him acknowledge the most high God humbled for his sake, so that man, who had been humbled in the confession of sin, may be exalted in the attainment of righteousness. These two: the Lord and John, humility and splendour: God humble in splendour, man humble in weakness; God humble for man's sake, man humble for man's sake. For God was humble that He might benefit man, man humble that he might not harm himself.

8. Passionis et nativitatis differentia. Christus crescit, Joannes minuitur. Agnoscamus ergo haec duo et in ipsa differentia passionum. Legimus Joannem passum martyrium pro veritate: numquid pro Christo? Non pro Christo, si non veritas Christus. Non omnino pro ipsius nomine, sed tamen pro ipsa veritate. Neque enim ideo decollatus est Joannes, quia confessus est Christum. Sed monebat temperantiam, monebat justitiam: dicebat, Non tibi licet habere uxorem fratris tui (Marc. VI, 18). Lex enim quae hoc jusserat, de illis jusserat qui morerentur sine liberis, ut acciperent fratres uxores fratrum suorum, et resuscitarent semen fratribus suis. Ubi ista causa non erat, nihil nisi libido erat. Hanc libidinem Joannes arguebat, castus incestum: quia et illud quod figurabat, tale est, Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Joan. III, 30). Praeceptum jam fuerat, ut si quis sine semine moreretur, qui magis propinquus esset, acciperet uxorem ejus, et suscitaret semen fratri suo. Utquid enim hoc Deus praeceperat, nisi ut eo modo significaretur semen suscitandum fratris ad fratris nomen? Hoc enim praeceptum erat, ut qui inde nasceretur, nomen haberet

8. The difference between the passion and the nativity. Christ increases, John decreases. Let us therefore recognize these two things also in the very difference of their passions. We read that John suffered martyrdom for the truth: was it for Christ? Not for Christ, if Christ is not the truth. Not at all for His name, but nevertheless for the truth itself. For John was not beheaded because he had confessed Christ. But he was urging temperance, he was urging justice: he was saying, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife (Mark 6:18). For the law which had commanded this had commanded it concerning those who died without children, that brothers should take the wives of their brothers and raise up seed for their brothers. Where that reason did not exist, it was nothing but lust. This lust John was reproving, the chaste man the incestuous one: because that also which he prefigured is of this kind: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). It had already been commanded that if anyone died without seed, he who was the nearer kinsman should take his wife and raise up seed for his brother. For why had God commanded this, unless that in this way it might be signified that seed was to be raised up for the brother in the brother's name? For this was the command, that he who was born from it should have the name

Editors' notes and page, col. 1682