Chapter 12.—In What Manner the Son is Said Not to Know the Day and the Hour Which the Father Knows. Some Things Said of Christ According to the Form of God, Other Things According to the Form of a Servant. In What Way It is of Christ to Give the Kingdom, in What Not of Christ. Christ Will Both Judge and Not Judge.

Again, “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven; neither the Son, but the Father.”129    Mark xiii. 32 For He is ignorant of this, as making others ignorant; that is, in that He did not so know as at that time to show His disciples:130    [The more common explanation of this text in modern exegesis makes the ignorance to be literal, and referable solely to the human nature of our Lord, not to his person as a whole. Augustin’s explanation, which Bengel, on Mark xiii. 32, is inclined to favor, escapes the difficulty that arises from a seeming division of the one theanthopic person into two portions, one of which knows, and the other does not. Yet this same difficulty besets the fact of a growth in knowledge, which is plainly taught in Luke i. 80. In this case, the increase in wisdom must relate to the humanity alone.—W.G.T.S.] as it was said to Abraham, “Now I know that thou fearest God,”131    Gen. xxii. 12 that is, now I have caused thee to know it; because he himself, being tried in that temptation, became known to himself. For He was certainly going to tell this same thing to His disciples at the fitting time; speaking of which yet future as if past, He says, “Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you;”132    John xv. 15 which He had not yet done, but spoke as though He had already done it, because He certainly would do it. For He says to the disciples themselves, “I have yet many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now.”133    John xvi. 12 Among which is to be understood also, “Of the day and hour.” For the apostle also says, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified;”134    1 Cor. ii. 2 because he was speaking to those who were not able to receive higher things concerning the Godhead of Christ. To whom also a little while after he says, “I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.”135    1 Cor. iii. 1 He was “ignorant,” therefore, among them of that which they were not able to know from him. And that only he said that he knew, which it was fitting that they should know from him. In short, he knew among the perfect what he knew not among babes; for he there says: “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect.”136    1 Cor. ii. 6 For a man is said not to know what he hides, after that kind of speech, after which a ditch is called blind which is hidden. For the Scriptures do not use any other kind of speech than may be found in use among men, because they speak to men.

24. According to the form of God, it is said “Before all the hills He begat me,”137    Prov. viii. 25 that is, before all the loftinesses of things created and, “Before the dawn I begat Thee,”138    Ps. cx. 3. Vulgate. that is, before all times and temporal things: but according to the form of a servant, it is said, “The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways.”139    Prov. viii. 22 Because, according to the form of God, He said, “I am the truth;” and according to the form of a servant, “I am the way.”140    John xiv. 6 For, because He Himself, being the first-begotten of the dead,141    Apoc. i. 5 made a passage to the kingdom of God to life eternal for His Church, to which He is so the Head as to make the body also immortal, therefore He was “created in the beginning of the ways” of God in His work. For, according to the form of God, He is the beginning,142    John viii. 25 that also speaketh unto us, in which “beginning” God created the heaven and the earth;143    Gen. i. 1 but according to the form of a servant, “He is a bridegroom coming out of His chamber.”144    Ps. xix. 5 According to the form of God, “He is the first-born of every creature, and He is before all things and by him all things consist;” according to the form of a servant, “He is the head of the body, the Church.”145    Col. i. 15, 17, 18 According to the form of God, “He is the Lord of glory.”146    1 Cor. ii. 8 From which it is evident that He Himself glorifies His saints: for, “Whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”147    Rom. viii. 30 Of Him accordingly it is said, that He justifieth the ungodly;148    Rom. iv. 5 of Him it is said, that He is just and a justifier.149    Rom. iii. 26 If, therefore, He has also glorified those whom He has justified, He who justifies, Himself also glorifies; who is, as I have said, the Lord of glory. Yet, according to the form of a servant, He replied to His disciples, when inquiring about their own glorification: “To sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but [it shall be given to them] for whom it is prepared by my Father.”150    Matt. xx. 23

25. But that which is prepared by His Father is prepared also by the Son Himself, because He and the Father are one.151    John x. 30 For we have already shown, by many modes of speech in the divine Scriptures, that, in this Trinity, what is said of each is also said of all, on account of the indivisible working of the one and same substance. As He also says of the Holy Spirit, “If I depart, I will send Him unto you.”152    John xvi. 7 He did not say, We will send; but in such way as if the Son only should send Him, and not the Father; while yet He says in another place, “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you; but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things.”153    John xiv. 25, 26 Here again it is so said as if the Son also would not send Him, but the Father only. As therefore in these texts, so also where He says, “But for them for whom it is prepared by my Father,” He meant it to be understood that He Himself, with the Father, prepares seats of glory for those for whom He will. But some one may say: There, when He spoke of the Holy Spirit, He so says that He Himself will send Him, as not to deny that the Father will send Him; and in the other place, He so says that the Father will send Him, as not to deny that He will do so Himself; but here He expressly says, “It is not mine to give,” and so goes on to say that these things are prepared by the Father. But this is the very thing which we have already laid down to be said according to the form of a servant: viz., that we are so to understand “It is not mine to give,” as if it were said, This is not in the power of man to give; that so He may be understood to give it through that wherein He is God equal to the Father. “It is not mine,” He says, “to give;” that is, I do not give these things by human power, but “to those for whom it is prepared by my Father;” but then take care you understand also, that if “all things which the Father hath are mine,”154    John xvi. 15 then this certainly is mine also, and I with the Father have prepared these things.

26. For I ask again, in what manner this is said, “If any man hear not my words, I will not judge him?”155    John xii. 47–50 For perhaps He has said here, “I will not judge him,” in the same sense as there, “It is not mine to give.” But what follows here? “I came not,” He says, “to judge the world, but to save the world;” and then He adds, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him.” Now here we should understand the Father, unless He had added, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” Well, then, will neither the Son judge, because He says, “I will not judge him,” nor the Father, but the word which the Son hath spoken? Nay, but hear what yet follows: “For I,” He says, “have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak; and I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” If therefore the Son judges not, but “the word which the Son hath spoken;” and the word which the Son hath spoken therefore judges, because the Son “hath not spoken of Himself, but the Father who sent Him gave Him a commandment what He should say, and what He should speak:” then the Father assuredly judges, whose word it is which the Son hath spoken; and the same Son Himself is the very Word of the Father. For the commandment of the Father is not one thing, and the word of the Father another; for He hath called it both a word and a commandment. Let us see, therefore, whether perchance, when He says, “I have not spoken of myself,” He meant to be understood thus,—I am not born of myself. For if He speaks the word of the Father, then He speaks Himself,156    Seipsum loquitur because He is Himself the Word of the Father. For ordinarily He says, “The Father gave to me;” by which He means it to be understood that the Father begat Him: not that He gave anything to Him, already existing and not possessing it; but that the very meaning of, To have given that He might have, is, To have begotten that He might be. For it is not, as with the creature so with the Son of God before the incarnation and before He took upon Him our flesh, the Only-begotten by whom all things were made; that He is one thing, and has another: but He is in such way as to be what He has. And this is said more plainly, if any one is fit to receive it, in that place where He says: “For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.”157    John v. 26 For He did not give to Him, already existing and not having life, that He should have life in Himself; inasmuch as, in that He is, He is life. Therefore “He gave to the Son to have life in Himself” means, He begat the Son to be unchangeable life, which is life eternal. Since, therefore, the Word of God is the Son of God, and the Son of God is “the true God and eternal life,”158    1 John v. 20 as John says in his Epistle; so here, what else are we to acknowledge when the Lord says, “The word which I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day,”159    John xii. 48 and calls that very word the word of the Father and the commandment of the Father, and that very commandment everlasting life?” “And I know,” He says, “that His commandment is life everlasting.”

27. I ask, therefore, how we are to understand, “I will not judge him; but the Word which I have spoken shall judge him:” which appears from what follows to be so said, as if He would say, I will not judge; but the Word of the Father will judge. But the Word of the Father is the Son of God Himself. Is it to be so understood: I will not judge, but I will judge? How can this be true, unless in this way: viz., I will not judge by human power, because I am the Son of man; but I will judge by the power of the Word, because I am the Son of God? Or if it still seems contradictory and inconsistent to say, I will not judge, but I will judge; what shall we say of that place where He says, “My doctrine is not mine?” How “mine,” when “not mine?” For He did not say, This doctrine is not mine, but “My doctrine is not mine:” that which He called His own, the same He called not His own. How can this be true, unless He has called it His own in one relation; not His own, in another? According to the form of God, His own; according to the form of a servant, not His own. For when He says, “It is not mine, but His that sent me,”160    John vii. 16 He makes us recur to the Word itself. For the doctrine of the Father is the Word of the Father, which is the Only Son. And what, too, does that mean, “He that believeth on me, believeth not on me?”161    John xii. 44 How believe on Him, yet not believe on Him? How can so opposite and inconsistent a thing be understood—“Whoso believeth on me,” He says, “believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me;”—unless you so understand it, Whoso believeth on me believeth not on that which he sees, lest our hope should be in the creature; but on Him who took the creature, whereby He might appear to human eyes, and so might cleanse our hearts by faith, to contemplate Himself as equal to the Father? So that in turning the attention of believers to the Father, and saying, “Believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me,” He certainly did not mean Himself to be separated from the Father, that is, from Him that sent Him; but that men might so believe on Himself, as they believe on the Father, to whom He is equal. And this He says in express terms in another place, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me:”162    John xiv. 1 that is, in the same way as you believe in God, so also believe in me; because I and the Father are One God. As therefore, here, He has as it were withdrawn the faith of men from Himself, and transferred it to the Father, by saying, “Believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me,” from whom nevertheless He certainly did not separate Himself; so also, when He says, “It is not mine to give, but [it shall be given to them] for whom it is prepared by my Father,” it is I think plain in what relation both are to be taken. For that other also is of the same kind, “I will not judge;” whereas He Himself shall judge the quick and dead.163    2 Tim. iv. 1 But because He will not do so by human power, therefore, reverting to the Godhead, He raises the hearts of men upwards; which to lift up, He Himself came down.

CAPUT XII.

Qua ratione Filius dicatur nescire diem et horam quam scit Pater. Dicta de Christo alia secundum formam Dei, alia secundum formam servi. Dare regnum quomodo et Christi est, et Christi non est. Quomodo Christus et non judicabit, et judicabit. Et, de die et hora nemo scit, neque Angeli in coelo, neque Filius, 0837 nisi Pater (Marc. XIII, 32). Hoc enim nescit, quod nescientes facit, id est, quod non ita sciebat ut tunc discipulis indicaret: sicut dictum est ad Abraham, Nunc cognovi quod timeas Deum (Gen. XXII, 12), id est, nunc feci ut cognosceres; quia et ipse sibi in illa tentatione probatus innotuit. Nam et illud utique dicturus erat discipulis tempore opportuno, de quo futuro tanquam praeterito loquens, ait, Jam non dicam vos servos, sed amicos. Servus enim nescit voluntatem domini sui: vos autem dixi amicos, quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota vobis feci (Joan. XV, 15): quod nondum fecerat, sed quia certo facturus erat, quasi jam fecisset locutus est. Ipsis enim ait: Multa vobis habeo dicere; sed non potestis illa portare modo (Id. XVI, 12). Inter quae intelligitur et, De die et hora. Nam et Apostolus: Neque enim judicavi me, inquit, scire aliquid in vobis, nisi Christum Jesum, et hunc crucifixum (I Cor. II, 2). Eis enim loquebatur, qui capere altiora de Christi deitate non poterant. Quibus etiam paulo post dicit: Non potui vobis loqui quasi spiritualibus, sed quasi carnalibus (Id. III, 1). Hoc ergo inter illos nesciebat, quod per illum scire non poterant. Et hoc solum se scire dicebat, quod eos per illum scire oportebat. Denique sciebat inter perfectos, quod inter parvulos nesciebat: ibi quippe ait, Sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos (Id. II, 6). Eo namque genere locutionis nescire quisque dicitur quod occultat, quo dicitur fossa caeca quae occulta est. Neque enim aliquo genere loquuntur Scripturae, quod in consuetudine humana non inveniatur; quia utique hominibus loquuntur.

24. Secundum formam Dei dictum est, Ante omnes colles genuit me (Prov. VIII, 25), id est, ante omnes altitudines creaturarum; et, Ante luciferum genui te (Psal. CIX, 3), id est, ante omnia tempora et temporalia: secundum formam autem servi dictum est, Dominus creavit me in principio viarum suarum (Prov. VIII, 22). Quia secundum formam Dei dixit, Ego sum veritas; et secundum formam servi, Ego sum via (Joan. XIV, 6). Quia enim ipse primogenitus a mortuis (Apoc. I, 5) iter fecit Ecclesiae suae ad regnum Dei ad vitam aeternam, cui caput est ad immortalitatem etiam corporis, ideo creatus est in principio viarum Dei in opera ejus. Secundum formam enim Dei, principium est quod et loquitur nobis (Joan. VIII, 25); in quo principio fecit Deus coelum et terram (Gen. I, 1): secundum autem formam servi, Sponsus procedens de thalamo suo (Psal. XVIII, 6). Secundum formam Dei, Primogenitus omnis creaturae, et ipse ante omnes est, et omnia in illo constant: secundum formam servi, Ipse est caput corporis Ecclesiae (Coloss. I, 15, 17, 18). Secundum formam Dei, Dominus est gloriae (I Cor. II, 8). Unde manifestum est, quod ipse glorificet sanctos suos. Quos enim praedestinavit, ipsos et vocavit; et quos vocavit, ipsos et justificavit; quos autem justificavit, ipsos et glorificavit (Rom. VIII, 30). De illo quippe dictum est quod justificet impium (Id. IV, 5); de illo dictum est quod sit justus et justificans (Id. III, 26). Si ergo quos justificavit, ipsos et glorificavit, 0838 qui justificat ipse et glorificat, qui est, ut dixi, Dominus gloriae. Secundum formam tamen servi satagentibus discipulis de glorificatione sua, respondit: Sedere ad dexteram vel ad sinistram meam non est meum dare vobis, sed quibus paratum est a Patre meo (Matth. XX, 23).

25. Quod autem paratum est a Patre ejus, et ab ipso Filio paratum est: quia ipse et Pater unum sunt (Joan. X, 30). Jam enim ostendimus in hac Trinitate per multos divinarum locutionum modos etiam de singulis dici quod omnium est, propter inseparabilem operationem unius cujusdemque substantiae. Sicut et de Spiritu sancto dicit, Cum ego iero, mittam illum ad vos (Id. XVI, 7). Non dixit, Mittemus; sed ita quasi tantum Filius eum missurus esset, et non Pater; cum alio loco dicat, Haec locutus sum vobis apud vos manens; advocatus autem Spiritus sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nomine meo, ille vobis declarabit omnia (Id. XIV, 25 26). Hic rursus ita dictum est, quasi non eum missurus esset et Filius, sed tantum Pater. Sicut ergo ista, ita et illud quod ait, sed quibus paratum est a Patre meo: cum Patre se intelligi voluit parare sedes gloriae quibus vellet. Sed dicit aliquis: Illic cum de Spiritu sancto loqueretur, ita se missurum ait, ut non negaret Patrem missurum; et alio loco ita Patrem, ut non negaret se missurum: hic vero aperte ait, Non est meum dare; atque ita secutus, a Patre dixit ista praeparata. Sed hoc est quod praestruximus secundum formam servi dictum: ut ita intelligeremus, Non est meum dare, ac si diceretur, Non est humanae potestatis hoc dare: ut per illud intelligatur hoc dare, per quod Deus aequalis est Patri. Non est meum, inquit, dare, id est, non humana potestate ista do, sed quibus paratum est a Patre meo: sed jam tu intellige, quia si omnia quae habet Pater, mea sunt (Id. XVI, 15), et hoc utique meum est, et cum Patre, ista paravi.

26. Nam et illud quaero, quomodo dictum sit, Si quis non audit verba mea, ego non judicabo illum. Fortassis enim ita hic dixit, Ego non judicabo illum, quemadmodum ibi, Non est meum dare. Sed quid hic sequitur? Non enim veni, inquit, ut judicem mundum, sed ut salvum faciam mundum: deinde adjungit et dicit, Qui me spernit et non accipit verba mea, habet qui se judicet. Hic jam intelligeremus Patrem, nisi adjungeret et diceret: Verbum quod locutus sum, ipsum judicabit illum in novissimo die. Quid igitur, jam nec Filius judicabit, quia dixit, Ego non judicabo illum? nec Pater, sed verbum quod locutus est Filius? Imo audi adhuc quod sequitur: Quia ego, inquit, non ex me locutus sum, sed qui me misit Pater, ille mandatum mihi dedit quid dicam, et quid loquar; et scio quia mandatum ejus vita aeterna est. Quae ergo ego loquor, ita ut dixit mihi Pater, sic loquor (Id. XII, 47, 50). Si ergo non judicat Filius, sed verbum quod locutus est Filius; ideo autem judicat verbum quod locutus est Filius, quia non ex se locutus est Filius, sed qui misit eum Pater mandatum dedit ei quid dicat, et quid loquatur: 0839 Pater utique judicat, cujus verbum est quod locutus est Filius, atque ipsum Verbum Patris idem ipse est Filius. Non enim aliud est mandatum Patris, aliud Verbum Patris: nam et verbum hoc appellavit, et mandatum. Videamus ergo ne forte quod ait, Ego non ex me locutus sum, hoc intelligi voluerit, Ego non ex me natus sum. Si enim Verbum Patris loquitur, se ipsum loquitur, quia ipse est Verbum Patris. Plerumque enim dicit, Dedit mihi Pater: in quo vult intelligi quod eum genuerit Pater: non ut tanquam jam existenti et non habenti dederit aliquid; sed ipsum dedisse ut haberet, genuisse est ut esset. Non enim sicut creatura, ita Dei Filius ante incarnationem et ante assumptam creaturam, unigenitus per quem facta sunt omnia, aliud est, et aliud habet: sed hoc ipsum est, quod est id quod habet. Quod illo loco manifestius dicitur, si quis ad capiendum sit idoneus, ubi ait: Sicut habet Pater vitam in semetipso ita dedit Filio vitam habere in semetipso (Joan. V, 26). Neque enim jam existenti et vitam non habenti dedit ut haberet vitam in semetipso, cum eo ipso quod est, vita sit . Hoc est ergo, dedit Filio vitam habere in semetipso, genuit Filium esse incommutabilem vitam, quod est vita aeterna. Cum ergo Verbum Dei sit Filius Dei, et Filius Dei sit verus Deus et vita aeterna, sicut in Epistola sua dicit Joannes (I Joan. V, 20); etiam hic quid aliud agnoscimus, cum dicit Dominus, Verbum quod locutus sum, ipsum judicabit eum in novissimo die; et ipsum verbum, Patris verbum esse dicit et mandatum Patris, ipsumque mandatum vitam aeternam? Et scio, inquit, quia mandatum ejus vita aeterna est.

27. Quaero itaque quomodo intelligamus, Ego non judicabo; sed verbum quod locutus sum judicabit: quod ex consequentibus apparet ita dictum, ac si diceret, Ego non judicabo; sed verbum Patris judicabit. Verbum autem Patris est ipse Filius Dei. Siccine intelligendum est, Ego non judicabo, sed ego judicabo? Quomodo potest istud esse verum, nisi ita: Ego scilicet non judicabo ex potestate humana, quia Filius hominis sum; sed ego judicabo ex potestate Verbi, quoniam Filius Dei sum. Aut si contraria et repugnantia videntur, Ego non judicabo, sed ego judicabo: quid illic dicemus, ubi ait, Mea doctrina non est Mea? Quomodo mea, quomodo non mea? Non enim dixit, Ista doctrina non est mea; sed, Mea doctrina non est mea: quam dixit suam, eamdem dixit non suam. Quomodo istud verum est, nisi secundum aliud suam dixerit; secundum aliud, non suam: secundum formam Dei, suam; secundum formam servi, non suam? Cum enim dicit, non est mea, sed ejus qui me misit (Joan. VII, 16), ad ipsum Verbum nos facit recurrere. Doctrina enim Patris est Verbum Patris, qui est unicus Filius. Quid sibi et illud vult, Qui in me credit, non in me credit (Id. XII, 44)? Quomodo in ipsum, quomodo non in ipsum? Quomodo 0840 contrarium sibique adversum potest intelligi, Qui in me credit, inquit, non in me credit, sed in eum qui me misit: nisi ita intelligas, Qui in me credit, non in hoc quod videt credit, ne sit spes nostra in creatura; sed in illo qui suscepit creaturam, in qua humanis oculis appareret, ac sic ad se aequalem Patri contemplandum per fidem corda mundaret? Ideoque ad Patrem referens intentionem credentium, et dicens, Non in me credit, sed in eum qui me misit, non utique se a Patre, id est ab illo qui eum misit, voluit separari: sed ut sic in eum crederetur, quomodo in Patrem cui est aequalis. Quod aperte alio loco dicit, Credite in Deum, et in me credite (Joan. XIV, 1): id est, Sicut creditis in Deum, sic et in me; quia ego et Pater unus Deus. Sicuti ergo hic, tanquam abstulit a se fidem hominum, et in Patrem transtulit, dicendo, Non in me credit, sed in eum qui me misit, a quo tamen se utique non separavit: sic etiam quod ait, Non est meum dare, sed quibus paratum est a Patre meo, puto clarere secundum quid utrumque acipiendum sit. Tale est enim et illud, Ego non judicabo; cum ipse judicaturus sit vivos et mortuos (II Tim. IV, 1): sed quia non ex potestate humana, propterea recurrens ad deitatem, sursum erigit corda hominum, propter quae sublevanda descendit.