1870. Si ergo quaeras, qua transeas, accipe Christum, quia ipse est via; Is. XXX, v. 21: haec est via, ambulate in ea. Et Augustinus dicit: ambula per hominem, et pervenies ad Deum. Melius est enim in via claudicare, quam praeter viam fortiter ambulare. Nam qui in via claudicat, etiam si parum proficiscatur, appropinquat ad terminum; qui vero extra viam ambulat, quanto fortius currit, tanto magis a termino elongatur.
1870. If then, you ask which way to go, accept Christ, for he is the way: this is the way, walk in it (Isa 30:21). And Augustine says: walk like this human being and you will come to God. It is better to limp along on the way than to walk briskly off the way. For one who limps on the way, even though he makes just a little progress, is approaching his destination; but if one walks off the way, the faster he goes the further he gets from his destination.
Si vero quaeras quo vadis, adhaere Christo, quia ipse est veritas, ad quam desideramus pervenire; Prov. VIII, 7: veritatem meditabitur guttur meum etc.
If you ask where to go, cling to Christ, for he is the truth which we desire to reach: my mouth will utter truth (Prov 8:7).
Si quaeris quo permaneas, adhaere Christo, quia ipse est vita. Prov. VIII, 35: qui me inveniet, inveniet vitam, et hauriet salutem a Domino.
If you ask where to remain, remain in Christ because he is the life: he who finds me finds life and will have salvation from the Lord (Prov 8:35).
Adhaere ergo Christo, si vis esse securus: non enim poteris deviare, quia ipse est via. Unde qui ei adhaerent, non ambulant in invio, sed per viam rectam; Prov. IV, v. 11: viam sapientiae monstrabo tibi. E contra dicitur de quibusdam: viam veritatis habitaculi non invenerunt. Item non potest decipi, quia ipse est veritas, et docet omnem veritatem; infra XVIII, 37: in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati. Item non potest perturbari, quia ipse est vita et vitam dans; supra X, 10: ego veni ut vitam habeant, et abundantius habeant. Nam, ut Augustinus dicit, Dominus dicit ego sum via, veritas et vita, tamquam diceret qua vis ire? Ego sum via. Quo vis ire? Ego sum veritas. Ubi vis permanere? Ego sum vita. Non enim, ut Hilarius dicit, in erratica ducit ille qui est via, nec illudit per falsa qui veritas est, neque in mortis relinquit errore qui vita est.
Therefore, cling to Christ if you wish to be secure, for you cannot get off the road because he is the way. And those who hold on to him are not walking off the road but on the right road: I have taught you the way of wisdom (Prov 4:11). But some are just the opposite: they did not find the way of truth to dwell in (Ps 107:4). Again, they cannot be deceived, because he is the truth and teaches all truth: for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth (John 18:37). Further, they cannot be troubled, because he is the life and the giver of life: I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Augustine says that when our Lord said I am the way, and the truth, and the life, he was saying in effect: how do you want to go? I am the way. Where do you want to go? I am the truth. Where do you want to remain? I am the life. As Hilary says, he who is the way does not lead us on erratic paths; he who is the truth does not deceive us with falsehoods; and he who is the life does not abandon us to death.
1871. Vel aliter. Tria sunt in homine quae ad sanctitatem pertinent, scilicet actio et contemplatio et intentio: et ista perficiuntur a Christo. Nam activam exercentibus Christus est via; in contemplativa vero perseverantibus Christus est veritas: sed activorum et contemplantium intentionem dirigit ad vitam, scilicet aeternam. Docet enim ire, et praedicare pro futuro saeculo. Sic ergo Dominus est nobis via qua imus ad ipsum, et per ipsum ad Patrem.
1871. Here is another interpretation. In human beings, holiness involves three things: action, contemplation, and one’s intention. These are brought to perfection by Christ. Christ is the way for those in the active life; he is the truth for those who stand firm in the contemplative life. And he directs the intention of both those in the active and contemplative life to life, eternal life. For he teaches us to go and preach for the sake of the age to come. So, the Lord is our way by which we go to him, and through him to the Father.
1872. Sed cum ipsemet qui via est, vadit ad Patrem, numquid ipse est sibi via?
1872. But when he, who is the way, goes to the Father, is he the way for himself?
Sed, ut Augustinus dicit, ipse est via, et qui vadit per viam, et quo vadit: unde ipse per seipsum ad seipsum vadit. Nam ipse inquantum est homo, via est: unde per carnem venit, manens ubi erat; et per carnem vadit, non relinquens quo venerat; per carnem etiam ad se redit veritatem et vitam: nam Deus venerat per carnem ad homines, veritas ad mendaces, vita ad mortales. Est enim Deus verax, omnis autem homo mendax: Rom. III, 4. Cum autem se ab hominibus abstulit, atque illuc ubi nemo mentitur, carnem suam levavit, idem ipse qui Verbum caro factum est, per carnem suam ad veritatem, quae est ipse, remeavit. Et simile est si dicerem: et mens mea, dum loquor aliquibus, ad eos exit, nec tamen me relinquit: cum autem tacuero, quodammodo ad me redeo, et cum illis quibus loquor, maneo. Sic ergo Christus, qui nobis est via, etiam sibi ipsi, idest carni, factus est via, ut ad veritatem et vitam iret.
As Augustine says, he is the way, and the one who walks on the way, and how one goes on the way; hence, he goes through himself to himself. For he, as having human nature, is the way. Thus, he came through his flesh, yet remained where he was; and he went through his flesh, without leaving where he had come from. Also, through the flesh he returned to himself, the truth and the life. For God had come, through his flesh, to us, the truth to liars, the life to mortals: God is truthful, and every human is a liar (Rom 3:4). And when he left us, and took his flesh up to that place where there are no liars, this very Word who was made flesh returned, through his flesh, to the truth, which is himself. For example: when I speak to others, my mind goes out to them, yet it does not leave me; and when I am silent, in a certain sense I return to myself, yet still remain with those to whom I spoke. And so Christ, who is our way, became the way even for himself, that, for his flesh, to go to the truth and the life.
1873. Consequenter cum dicit nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me, manifestat quod quaesitum fuerat quantum ad terminum viae. Via autem, quae est Christus, ut dictum est, ducit ad Patrem. Sed quia Pater et Filius sunt unum, ideo haec via ducit etiam ad seipsum. Et ideo dicit Christus se esse terminum viae. Nemo, inquit, venit ad Patrem nisi per me.
1873. Then when he says, no man comes to the Father, but by me, he answers what was asked about the destination of the way. The way, which is Christ, leads to the Father. Yet, because the Father and the Son are one, this way leads also to himself. And so Christ says that he is the terminus of the way: no man comes to the Father, but by me.
1874. Sed sciendum quod, sicut Apostolus dicit, nemo novit quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus eius qui in ipso est, quod intelligendum est nisi inquantum homo vult se manifestare. Secretum autem suum manifestat quis per verbum suum: et ideo nullus potest venire ad secretum hominis nisi per verbum hominis. Quia ergo et quae Dei sunt nemo novit nisi Spiritus Dei, nullus potest venire ad notitiam Patris nisi per Verbum suum, quod est Filius eius; Matth. XI, 27: neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius. Et sicut homo volens revelare se verbo cordis, quod profert ore, induit quodammodo ipsum verbum litteris vel voce, ita Deus, volens se manifestare hominibus, Verbum suum conceptum ab aeterno, carne induit in tempore. Et sic nullus ad notitiam Patris pervenire potest nisi per Filium. Unde supra X, 9, dicit: ego sum ostium. Per me si quis introierit salvabitur.
1874. Note that the Apostle says: for what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? (1 Cor 2:11), that is, provided one does not choose to reveal his own thoughts. A person reveals what is hidden within by his words, and it is only by the words of a person that we can know what is hidden within. Now no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:11), therefore, no one can acquire a knowledge of the Father except by his Word, which is his Son: no one knows the Father except the Son (Matt 11:27). And just like one of us who wants to be known by others by revealing to them the words in his heart, clothes these words with letters or sounds, so God, wanting to be known by us, takes his Word, conceived from eternity, and clothes it with flesh in time. And so no one can arrive at a knowledge of the Father except through the Son. Thus he says: I am the door. If any man enter by me, he will be saved (John 10:9).
1875. Sed notandum, secundum Chrysostomum, quod supra VI, 44, Dominus dicit: nemo potest venire ad me, nisi Pater meus traxerit eum, hic autem dicit nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me. In quo ostenditur aequalitas Filii ad Patrem.
1875. Note, with Chrysostom, that our Lord had said: no man can come to me, unless the Father, who has sent me, draws him (John 6:44). But here he says: no one comes to the Father, but by me. This indicates that the Son is equal to the Father.
Patet ergo quae sit via, quia Christus; quis terminus, quia Pater.
It is now clear what the way is, namely, Christ, what the destination is, namely, the Father.
1876. Consequenter cum dicit si cognovissetis me, et Patrem meum utique cognovissetis, ostendit quod discipuli utrumque cognoscunt, scilicet quo vadit, et viam, et
1876. Then when he says, if you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also, he shows that the disciples knew both where he was going and the way.
primo proponit manifestationem;
First, he shows this;
secundo excludit emergentem dubitationem, ibi dicit ei Philippus: Domine, ostende nobis Patrem.
second he resolves a coming difficulty: Philip said to him: Lord, show us the Father (John 14:8).
Circa primum duo facit.
He does two things about the first:
Primo ostendit concomitantiam notitiae habitae de Filio ad notitiam habitam de Patre;
first, he shows that knowledge of the Son is also knowledge of the Father;
secundo manifestat quomodo discipuli se habeant ad notitiam Patris, ibi et amodo cognoscetis eum.
second, he states the disciples’ knowledge of the Father: and from henceforth you will know him.
1877. Dicit ergo primo: dixi quod sum via, et quod scitis viam, scilicet me: ergo et quo vado scitis, quia notitia de me non potest haberi sine notitia Patris. Et hoc est quod dicit si cognovissetis me, et Patrem meum utique cognovissetis.
1877. He had said: I have said that I am the way, and that you know the way, that is, me. Therefore, you also know where I am going, because you cannot know me without knowing the Father. This is what he says: if you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also.
1878. Supra VIII, 19, Iudaeis dicit: si me sciretis, et Patrem meum forsitan sciretis. Quid est ergo quod dicit si cognovissetis me, et Patrem meum utique cognovissetis: ibi autem dicit forsitan? Videtur quod ibi dubitaverit de eo quod hic asserit.
1878. Yet he had said to the Jews before: if you did know me, perhaps you would also know my Father (John 8:19). Why does he say here, without doubt, while before he said perhaps? It seems that before he had some doubts about what he says here.
Sed dicendum, quod ibi loquebatur Iudaeis quos increpabat; et ideo addit forsitan, non dubitans, sed increpans eos. Hic autem loquitur discipulis quos instruit; et ideo veritatem eis cum assertione proponit, dicens si cognovissetis me, et Patrem meum utique cognovissetis; quasi dicat: si sciretis meam gratiam et dignitatem, et eam utique quae Patris est sciretis. Per nihil enim aliud res melius scitur quam per verbum et imaginem suam; Filius autem est Verbum Patris; supra I, 1: in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum; ibid. 14: Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis; et vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre. Filius etiam est Imago Patris; Col. I, 15: qui est Imago invisibilis Dei; Hebr. I, 3: qui cum sit splendor gloriae et figura substantiae eius. In Filio ergo cognoscitur Pater, ut in Verbo et Imagine propria.
We should answer that in the first instance he was speaking to the Jews, whom he was reprimanding. And so he added perhaps not doubting, but as a rebuke to them. But here he is speaking to his disciples, whom he is teaching. Thus, he simply states the truth to them: if you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also. This is like saying: if you knew my grace and dignity, you would without doubt also know that of the Father. For there is no better way to know something than through its word or image, and the Son is the Word of the Father: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (John 1:1); and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The Son is also the Image of the Father: he is the Image of the invisible God (Col 1:15); he reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature (Heb 1:3). Therefore, the Father is known in the Son as in his Word and proper Image.
1879. Sed notandum, quod inquantum aliquid accidit ad similitudinem Paterni Verbi, intantum in ipso cognoscitur Pater, et similiter inquantum habet de imagine Patris. Cum autem omne verbum creatum sit aliqua similitudo illius Verbi, et in qualibet re inveniatur similitudo divinitatis, vel imaginis vel vestigii, sed imperfecta: inde est quod per nullam creaturam et a nulla intelligentia et conceptione intellectus creati potest cognosci perfecte idipsum quod Deus est; sed solum Verbum unigenitum quod est perfectum et perfecta Imago Patris, ipsum quod quid est Patris cognoscit et comprehendit.
1879. Note that to the extent that something approaches to a likeness of the Word of the Father, to that extent the Father is known in it, and to that extent it is in the image of the Father. Now since every created word is some likeness of that Word, and some likeness, though imperfect, of the divinity is found in every thing, either as an image or a trace, it follows that what God is cannot be known perfectly through any creature or by any thought or concept of a created intellect. It is the Word alone, the only-begotten Word, which is a perfect word and the perfect Image of the Father, that knows and comprehends the Father.
Unde, secundum Hilarium, possunt haec verba aliter continuari. Nam cum Dominus dicit nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me, interrogatus Arius, quomodo itur ad Patrem per Filium, respondet, quod per doctrinae admonitionem, inquantum scilicet Filius sua doctrina instruit homines de Patre, secundum illud infra XVII, 6: Pater, manifestavi nomen tuum hominibus. Sed Dominus hoc excludens dicit si cognovissetis me, et Patrem meum utique cognovissetis; quasi dicat: Arius vel alius quicumque homo annuntiare quidem potest de Patre, sed nullus est tantus quod eo cognito, cognoscatur Pater, nisi solus Filius, qui est eiusdem naturae cum ipso.
Therefore, according to Hilary, this statement can be put in another context. Our Lord said: no man comes to the Father, but by me. If you ask Arius how one goes to the Father through the Son, he answers that it is by recalling what the Son taught, because the Son taught us about the Father: I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me (John 17:6). But our Lord rejected this by saying: if you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also. This is like saying: Arius, or anyone else can indeed speak about the Father, but no human being is such that by knowing him the Father is known. This is true of the Son alone, who has the same nature as the Father.
1880. Consequenter cum dicit et amodo cognoscetis eum, ostendit quomodo discipuli se habeant ad cognitionem Patris. Dixerat autem Dominus supra discipulis, quod Patrem cognoscunt, quo, inquiens, vado scitis. Et hoc Thomas negavit, dicens: Domine, nescimus quo vadis. Et ideo hic Dominus ostendit quod aliquo modo cognoscunt Patrem, ut ostendat verbum suum verum esse, et aliquo modo non cognoscunt, ut verbum Thomae sit verum. Et ponit ad hoc duplicem Patris cognitionem: unam quae erit in futuro; aliam quae fuit in praeterito.
1880. Next, and from henceforth you will know him, our Lord shows the knowledge the disciples had of the Father. Our Lord had already told the disciples that they knew the Father when he said, where I go you know. Yet Thomas denied this: we do not know where you go. Thus our Lord shows here that in a certain way they did know the Father, so that his statement was true; and in another sense they did not know the Father, so that what Thomas said was true. To do this, he mentions a twofold knowledge of the Father: one which will be in the future, and the other which was in the past.
Dicit ergo, quod amodo cognoscetis eum. Dicit autem amodo, quia duplex cognitio habetur de Patre. Una perfecta, quae est per immediatam eius visionem, quae erit in Patria; I Io. III, 2: cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus; alia est imperfecta, quae est per speculum et in aenigmate, quam habemus per fidem; I Cor. XIII, 12: videmus nunc per speculum et in aenigmate. Potest ergo hic intelligi de utraque; ut sit sensus: amodo cognoscetis eum, cognitione perfecta in Patria, infra XVI, 25: palam de Patre meo annuntiabo vobis, quasi dicat: verum est, quod non cognoscitis eum perfecta cognitione, sed amodo cognoscetis eum, peracto mysterio passionis meae. Vel amodo, idest post resurrectionem meam et ascensionem et missionem Spiritus Sancti, cognoscetis eum, cognitione fidei perfecta, quia, cum venerit spiritus Paraclitus, ille vos docebit omnia, et suggeret vobis omnia quaecumque dixero vobis: infra XIV, 26. Sic ergo verum dicis, quod nescis eum cognitione perfecta; sed ego verum dico, quia vidistis eum; Baruch III, v. 38: post haec in terris visus est, et cum hominibus conversatus est. Viderunt enim Christum, secundum carnem assumptam, in qua erat Verbum, et in Verbo Pater: unde in ipso viderunt Patrem; supra VII, 29: qui me misit, mecum est.
He says, henceforth you will know him. And he says, henceforth, because knowledge of the Father is of two kinds. One is perfect, and is by an immediate vision of him, and this will be in our homeland: when he appears we will be like him (1 John 3:2). The other is imperfect, and is by reflections and is obscure; and we have this by faith: for now we see in a mirror dimly (1 Cor 13:12). Thus, this phrase can be understood of each kind of knowledge. Henceforth you will know him, with perfect knowledge in your homeland: will show you plainly of the Father (John 16:25). This is like saying: it is true that you do not know him with perfect knowledge, but from henceforth you will know him, after the mystery of my passion has been accomplished. Or, in the other way, henceforth, after my resurrection and ascension and after I have sent the Holy Spirit, you will know him, with the perfect knowledge of faith, for when the Spirit, the Paraclete, comes, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I will have said to you (John 14:26). Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men. (Bar 3:38). For they saw Christ, according to his assumed flesh, in whom there was the Word, and in the Word, the Father, whence in him they saw the Father, because I am from him and he hath sent me (John 7:29).
1881. Sed attende, quod Pater non erat in carne per unitatem personae, sed erat in Verbo Incarnato per unitatem naturae, et in Christo incarnato videbatur Pater; supra I, v. 14: vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre.
1881. Note that the Father was not in the flesh in such a way that it was joined to him to constitute one person, but he was in the Incarnate Word because they had one and the same nature, and the Father was seen in the incarnate Christ: we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14).
Lectio 3
Lecture 3
Unitas Patris et Filii
Unity of the Father and the Son
14:8 Dicit ei Philippus: Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis. [n. 1883]
14:8 Philip said to him: Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. [n. 1883]
14:9 Dicit ei Iesus: tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et non cognovistis me? Philippe, qui videt me, videt et Patrem. Quomodo tu dicis: ostende nobis Patrem? [n. 1885]
14:9 Jesus said to him: have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he who sees me sees the Father also. How can you say, show us the Father? [n. 1885]
14:10 Non credis quia ego in Patre, et Pater in me est? Verba quae ego loquor vobis, a me ipso non loquor. Pater autem in me manens ipse facit opera. [n. 1890]
14:10 Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. But the Father who abides in me, he does the works. [n. 1890]
14:11 Non creditis quia ego in Patre, et Pater in me est? Alioquin propter opera ipsa credite. [n. 1896]
14:11 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Otherwise believe for the very works’ sake. [n. 1896]
14:12 Amen, amen dico vobis: qui credit in me, opera quae ego facio, et ipse faciet: quia ego ad Patrem vado. [n. 1898]
14:12 Amen, amen I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he also will do; and greater than these will he do, because I go to the Father. [n. 1898]
14:13 Et quodcumque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, hoc faciam: ut glorificetur Pater in Filio. [n. 1904]
14:13 And whatsoever you will ask the Father in my name, that I will do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [n. 1904]
14:14 Si quid petieritis me in nomine meo, hoc faciam. [n. 1906]
14:14 If you will ask me any thing in my name, that I will do. [n. 1906]
1882. Hic Dominus solvit emergentem dubitationem discipuli, et
1882. Here our Lord clears up a confusion in one of the disciples:
primo ponitur ipsius dubitantis positio;
first, we see what the confusion was;