Chapter X.

The Arians openly take sides with the heathen in attacking the words: “He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me,” etc. The true meaning of the passage is unfolded; and to prevent us from believing that the Lord forbade us to have faith in Him, it is shown how He spoke at one time as God, at another as Man. After bringing forward examples of various results of that faith, he shows that certain other passages also must be taken in the same way.

118. Last of all, to show that they are not Christians, they deny that we are to believe on Christ, saying that it is written: “He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.”1013    S. John xii. 44. I was awaiting this confession; why did you delude me with your quibbles? I knew I had to contend with heathens. Nay, they indeed are converted, but ye are not. If they believe, that the sacrament [of Baptism] is safe; ye have received it, and destroyed it, or perchance it has never been received, but was unreal1014    It would seem that the form of words was sometimes changed by Arians, in which case there would be of course no valid baptism. from the first.

119. It is written, they say: “He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.” But see what follows, and see how the Son of God wishes to be seen; for it continues: “And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me,”1015    S. John xii. 45. for the Father is seen in the Son. Thus, He has explained what He had spoken earlier, that he who confesses the Father believes on the Son. For he who knows not the Son, neither knows the Father. For every one that denies the Son has not the Father, but he that confesses the Son has both the Father and the Son.1016    1 John ii. 23.

120. What, then, is the meaning of “Believeth not on Me”? That is, not on that which you can perceive in bodily form, nor merely on the man whom you see. For He has stated that we are to believe not merely on a man, but that thou mayest believe that Jesus Christ Himself is both God and Man. Wherefore, for both reasons He says: “I came not from Myself;”1017    S. John vii. 28. and again: “I am the beginning, of which also I speak to you.”1018    S. John viii. 25. As Man He came not from Himself; as Son of God He takes not His beginning from men; but “I am,” He says, “Myself ‘the beginning of which also I speak to you.’ Neither are the words which I speak human, but divine.”

121. Nor is it right to believe that He denied we were to believe on Him, since He Himself said: “That whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness;”1019    S. John xii. 46. and in another place again: “For this is the will of My Father that sent Me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have eternal life;”1020    S. John vi. 40. and again: “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”1021    S. John xiv. 1.

122. Let no one, therefore, receive the Son without the Father, because we read of the Son. The Son hath the Father, but not in a temporal sense, nor by reason of His passion, nor owing to His conception, nor by grace. I have read of His Generation, I have not read of His Conception. And the Father says: “I have begotten;”1022    Ps. ii. 7. He does not say: “I have created.” And the Son calls not God His Creator in the eternity of His divine Generation, but Father.

123. He represents Himself also now in the character of man, now in the majesty of God; now claiming for Himself oneness of Godhead with the Father, now taking upon Him all the frailty of human flesh; now saying that He has not His own doctrine, and now that He seeks not His own will; now pointing out that His testimony is not true, and now that it is true. For He Himself has said: “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.”1023    S. John v. 31. Later on He says: “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true.”1024    S. John vii. 14.

124. And how is Thy testimony, Lord Jesus, not true? Did not he who believed it, though he hung upon the cross, and paid the penalty for the crime he owned to, cast aside the deserts of the robber and gain the reward of the innocent?1025    S. Luke xxiii. 41.

125. Was Paul deceived, who received his sight, because he believed;1026    Acts ix. 12. which sight he had lost, before he believed?

126. And did Joshua, the son of Nun, err in recognizing the leader of the heavenly host?1027    Josh. v. 13. But after he believed, he forthwith conquered, being found worthy to triumph in the battle of faith. Again, he did not lead forth his armed ranks into the fight, nor did he overthrow the ramparts of the enemy’s walls, with battering rams or other engines of war, but with the sound of the seven trumpets of the priests. Thus the blare of the trumpet and the badge of the priest brought a cruel war to an end.

127. A harlot saw this; and she who in the destruction of the city lost all hope of any means of safety, because her faith had conquered, bound a scarlet thread in her window, and thus uplifted a sign of her faith and the banner of the Lord’s Passion;1028    Josh. ii. 18. so that the semblance of the mystic blood, which should redeem the world, might be in memory. So, without, the name of Joshua was a sign of victory to those who fought; within, the semblance of the Lord’s Passion was a sign of salvation to those in danger. Wherefore, because Rahab understood the heavenly mystery, the Lord says in the Psalm: “I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon that know Me.”1029    Ps. lxxxvii. 4.

128. How, then, is Thy testimony not true, O Lord, except it be given in accordance with the frailty of man? For “every man is a liar.”1030    Ps. cxvi. 11.

129. Lastly, to prove that He spoke as man, He says: “The Father that sent Me, He beareth witness of Me.”1031    S. John viii. 18. But His testimony as God is true, as He Himself says: “My record is true: for I know whence I come, and whither I go, but ye know not whence I come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh.”1032    S. John viii. 14, 15. They judge then not after the Godhead but after the manhood, who think that Christ had not the power of bearing witness.

130. Therefore, when thou hearest: “He that believeth, believeth not on Me;” or: “The Father that sent Me, He gave Me a commandment;”1033    S. John xii. 49. thou hast now learnt whither thou oughtest to refer those words. Lastly, He shows what the commandment is, saying: “I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.”1034    S. John x. 17. Thou seest, then, what is said so as to show He had full power to lay down or to take up His life; as He also said: “I have power to lay it down, and I have power again to take it up. This commandment have I received of My Father.”1035    S. John x. 18.

131. Whether, then, a command, or, as some Latin manuscripts have it, a direction was given, it was certainly not given to Him as God, but as incarnate man, with reference to the victory He should gain in undergoing His Passion.

CAPUT X.

Arianos ad gentiles palam transire, dum objiciunt illa verba: Qui in me credit, non in me credit, etc. Verus loci sensus explicatur, et ne credatur Dominus nostram in ipsum fidem prohibuisse, alias ut Deus, alias ut homo locutus ostenditur. Mox variis ejusdem fidei effectibus prolatis in medium, alios quoque nonnullos locos eodem modo sumendos probat.

0673C 119. Ad extremum ut christianos se non esse manifestent, negant in Christum esse credendum, dicentes scriptum esse: Qui in me credit, non credit in me, sed in eum qui me misit (Joan. XII, 44). Hanc ego exspectabam confessionem, quid me quibusdam ambagibus ludebatis? Sciebam mihi adversum gentiles esse contentionem: 573 sed illi convertuntur, vos non convertimini. Illi si credant, salvum est sacramentum: vos perdidistis acceptum; et nec coeptum fortasse, sed fictum.

120. Scriptum est, inquiunt: Qui in me credit, non in me credit, sed in eum qui me misit. Sed videte quid sequatur, et videte sic quemadmodum se Dei Filius vult videri; sequitur enim: Et qui videt me, videt eum qui me misit (Joan. XII, 45), hoc est, 0673D quia Pater videtur in Filio. Exposuit igitur id quod ante praemisit, quia ille credit in Filium, qui confitetur et Patrem. Nam qui Filium nescit, nec Patrem novit; omnis enim qui negat Filium, nec Patrem habet: qui confitetur Filium, et Filium, et Patrem habet.

121. Quid est ergo: Non credit in me? Non in id quod corporaliter cernitis, non in hominem tantummodo, quem videtis: non enim in hominem tantummodo credendum asseruit, sed ut credas quia Jesus Christus ipse est Dei Filius et homo. Propter quod et utrumque ait: A meipso non veni (Joan. VII, 0674A 28); et alibi: Ego sum principium quod et loquor vobis (Joan. VIII, 25). Quasi homo, a se non venit: quasi Dei Filius non ex homine principium habet: sed sum, inquit, ipse principium quod et loquor vobis (Joan. XII, 46): neque humana, sed divina sunt, quae locutus sum.

122. Neque enim fas est credere quod negaverit in se esse credundum, cum ipse dixerit: Ut omnis qui credit in me, in tenebris non maneat (Joan. III, 16); et alibi: Haec est enim voluntas Patris mei qui me misit, ut omnis qui videt Filium et credit in eum, habeat vitam aeternam (Joan VI, 40); et alibi: Creditis in Deum, et in me credite (Joan. XIV, 1).

123. Nemo ergo Filium sine Patre accipiat, quia Filium legimus. Habet Patrem Filius, sed non temporalem, 0674B non ex passione, non ex conceptione, non ex gratia. Generationem legi, non legi conceptionem. Et Pater dicit, genui (Psal. II, 7); non dicit, creavi: et Filius non creatorem suum Deum secundum aeternitatem divinae generationis, sed Patrem nominat.

124. Se quoque nunc ex persona hominis, nunc in Dei majestate significat: nunc unitatem sibi divinitatis cum Deo Patre vindicans, nunc fragilitatem humanae carnis assumens: nunc doctrinam suam se non habere, nunc voluntatem suam se non quaerere: nunc testimonium suum verum non esse, nunc verum esse significans. Nam ipse dixit: Si ego testimonium perhibeo de me ipso, testimonium meum non est verum (Joan. V, 31). Et ipse in posterioribus ait: 0674C Et si ego testimonium perhibeo de me, verum est testimonium meum (Joan. VIII, 14).

125. Quomodo igitur non est verum testimonium tuum, Domine Jesu, cui qui credidit, in cruce licet positus, et inter confessi sceleris supplicia constitutus, merita latronis exuit, praemia innocentis emeruit (Luc. XXIII, 41 et seq.)?

126. Deceptus est ergo Paulus, qui ideo recepit oculos, quia credidit, quos amiserat, antequam crederet (Act. IX, 18)?

127. Erravitne etiam Jesus Nave, qui ducem militiae coelestis agnovit? Sed posteaquam credidit, 574 statim vicit, dignus qui fidei praelio triumpharet. Denique non aeratas acies in bella produxit, nec ariete, caeterisque tormentorum machinis, sed 0674D tubarum septem sacerdotalium sono, murorum hostilium septa deposuit. Ita bellum immane confecit tubae clangor, et infula sacerdotis (Josue VI).

128. Vidit hoc meretrix, et quae in excidio civitatis remedia desperaret salutis, quia fides vicerat, signa fidei atque vexilla Dominicae passionis attollens, coccum in fenestra ligavit; ut species cruoris mystici quae foret mundum redemptura, vernaret (Josue II). Ita foris Jesu nomen fuit praeliantibus ad victoriam, intus species Dominicae passionis periclitantibus ad salutem. Unde quia intellexit Rahab coeleste mysterium, dicit Dominus in psalmo. Memor 0675A ero Rahab et Babylonis, scientium me (Psal. LXXXVI, 4).

129. Quomodo ergo non est verum testimonium tuum, Domine, nisi secundum fragilitatem hominum? Omnis enim homo mendax (Psal. CXV, 2).

130. Denique ut secundum hominem dixisse se demonstraret, ait: Qui misit me Pater, ipse testimonium perhibet de me (Joan. VIII, 18). Verum autem est testimonium secundum divinitatem, sicut ipse ait: Et verum est testimonium meum; quia scio unde veni, et quo vado: vos autem nescitis unde veni, et quo vado. Vos secundum carnem judicatis (Ibid., XIV, 15). Non ergo secundum divinitatem, sed secundum hominem judicant, qui putant Christo testificandi scientiam defuisse.

131. Ergo cum audis: Qui credit in me, non credit 0675B in me; et: Qui misit me Pater, ipse mihi mandatum dedit (Joan. XII, 49); didicisti quo id putes esse referendum. Denique mandatum quod esset, ostendit dicens: Pono animam meam, ut iterum sumam illam. Nemo tollit eam a me, sed ego pono eam a me ipso (Joan. VI, 17 et seq.). Vides ideo dictum, ut ostenderet liberam sibi ponendae ac resumendae animae potestatem, sicut ipse dixit: Potestatem habeo ponendi eam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam. Hoc mandatum accepi a Patre meo (Ibid.).

132. Sive igitur mandatum, sive, ut aliqui Latini codices habent, praeceptum, non utique secundum divinitatem, sed secundum incarnationem datur, ad subeundae victoriam passionis.