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1. Tag words of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially those recorded
by the Evangelist John, who not without cause leaned on the Lord's
bosom, that he might drink in the secrets of that higher wisdom, and
by evangelizing give forth again what by loving he had drunk in, are so
secret and profound of understanding, that they trouble all who are
perverse of heart, and exercise all who are in heart upright.
Wherefore, beloved, give heed to these few words that have been
read. Let us see if in any wise we can, by His own gift and help who
has willed His words to be recited to us, which at that time were
heard and committed to writing that they might now be read, what He
means in what ye have now heard Him say: "'Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth
the Father doing: for what things soever the Father doeth, these
same the Son also doeth in like manner."
2. Now you need to be reminded whence this discourse arose, by
reason of what precedes this passage, where the Lord had cured a
certain man among those who were lying in the five porches of that pool
of Solomon, and to whom He had said, "Take up thy bed, and go
unto thy house." But this He had done on the Sabbath; and hence
the Jews, being troubled, were falsely accusing Him as a destroyer
and transgressor of the law. He then said to them, "My Father
worketh even until now, and I work." For they, taking the
observance of the Sabbath in a carnal sense, fancied that God had,
as it were, slept after the labor of framing the world even to this
day; and that therefore He had sanctified that day, from which He
began to rest as from labor. Now, to our fathers of old there was
ordained a sacrament of the Sabbath, which we Christians observe
spiritually, in abstaining from every servile work, that is, from
every sin (for the Lord saith, "Every one that committeth sin is
the servant of sin"), and in having rest in our heart, that is,
spiritual tranquillity. And although in this life we strive after this
rests yet not until we have departed this life shall we attain to that
perfect rest. But the reason why God is said to have rested is, that
He made no creature after all was finished. Moreover, the Scripture
called it rest, to admonish us that after good works we shall rest.
For thus we have it written in Genesis, "And God made all things
very good, and God rested on the seventh day," in order that thou,
O man, considering that God Himself is said to have rested after
good works, shouldest not expect rest for thyself, until after thou
hast wrought good works; and even as God after He made man in His
own image and likeness, and in him finished all His works very good,
rested on the seventh day, so mayest thou also not expect rest to
thyself, except thou return to that likeness in which thou wast made,
which likeness thou hast lost by sinning. For, in reality, God
cannot be said to have toiled, who "said, and they were done." Who
is there that, after such facility of work, desires to rest as if
after labor? If He commanded and some one resisted Him, if He
commanded and it was not done, and labored that it might be done, then
justly He should be said to have rested after labor. But when in that
same book of Genesis we read, "God said, Let there be light, and
there was light; God said, Let there be a firmament, and the
firmament was made, and all the rest were made immediately at His
word: to which also the psalm testifies, saying, "He spoke, and
they were made; He commanded, and they were created," how could He
require rest after the world was made, as if to enjoy leisure after
toil, He who in commanding never toiled? Consequently these sayings
are mystical, and are laid down in this wise that we may be looking for
rest after this life, provided we have done good works. Accordingly,
the Lord, restraining the impudence and refuting the error of the
Jews, and showing them that they did not think rightly of God, says
to them, when they were offended at His working men's healing on the
Sabbath, "My Father worketh until now, and I work:" do not
therefore suppose that my Father so rested on the Sabbath, that
thenceforth He doth not work; but even as He now worketh, so I also
work. But as the Father without toil, so too the Son without toil.
God "said, and they were done;" Christ said to the impotent man,
"Take up thy bed, and go unto thy house," and it was done.
3. But the catholic faith has it, that the works of the Father and
of the Son are not separable. This is what I wish, if possible, to
speak to you, beloved; but, according to those words of the Lord,
"he that is able to receive it, let him receive it." But he that is
not able to receive its let him not charge it on me, but on his own
dullness; and let him turn to Him that opens the heart, that He may
pour in what He freely giveth. And, lastly, if any one may not have
understood, because I have not declared it as I ought to have
declared it, let him excuse the weakness of man, and supplicate the
divine goodness. For we have within a Master, Christ. Whatever ye
are not able to receive through your ear and my mouth, turn ye in your
heart to Him who both teacheth me what to speak, and distributeth to
you in what measure He deigns. He who knows what to give, and to
whom to give, will help him that seeketh, and open to him that
knocketh. And if so be that He give not, let no one call himself
forsaken. For it may be that He delays to give something, but He
leaves none hungry. If, indeed, He give not at the hour, He is
exercising the seeker, He is not Scorning the suitor. Look ye,
then, and give heed to what I wish to say, even if I should not be
able to say it. The catholic faith, confirmed by the Spirit of God
in His saints, has this against all heretical perverseness, that the
works of the Father and of the Son are inseparable. What is this
that I have said? As the Father and the Son are inseparable, so
also the works of the Father and of the Son are inseparable. How are
the Father and the Son inseparable, since Himself said, "I and
the Father are one?" Because the Father and the Son are not two
Gods, but one God, the Word and He whose the Word is, One and
the Only One, Father and Son bound together by charity, One
God, and the Spirit of Charity also one, so that Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit is made the Trinity. Therefore, not only of the
Father and Son, but also of the Holy Spirit; as there is equality
and inseparability of persons, so also the works are inseparable. I
will tell you yet more plainly what is meant by "the works are
inseparable." The catholic faith does not say that God the Father
made something, and the Son made some other thing; but what the
Father made, that also the Son made, that also the Holy Spirit
made. For all things were made by the Word; when "He spoke and
they were done," it is by the Word they were done, by Christ they
were done. For " in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God: all things were made by Him."
If all things were made by Him, "God said, Let there be light,
and there was light; in the Word He made, by the Word He made.
4. Behold, then, we have now heard the Gospel, where He answered
the Jews who were indignant "that He not only broke the Sabbath,
but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with
God. For so it is written in the foregoing paragraph. When,
therefore, the Son of God, the Truth, made answer to their erring
indignation, saith He, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth the Father
doing;" as if He said, " Why are ye offended because I have said
that God is my Father, and that I make myself equal with God? I
am equal in that wise that He begat me; I am equal in that wise that
He is not from me, but I from Him." For this is implied in these
words: "The Son cannot do anything of Himself, but what He seeth
the Father doing." That is, whatever the Son hath to do, the
doing it He hath of the Father. Why of the Father hath He the
doing it? Because of the Father He hath it that He is Son. Why
hath He it of the Father to be Son? Because of the Father He hath
it that He is able, of the Father that He is. For, to the Son,
both to be able and to be is the self-same thing. It is not so with
man. Raise your hearts by all means from a comparison of human
weakness, that lies far beneath; and should any of us perhaps reach to
the secret, and, while awe-struck by the brilliance as it were of a
great light, should discern somewhat, and not remain wholly ignorant;
yet let him not imagine that he understands the whole, lest he should
become proud, and lose what knowledge he has gotten. With man, to be
and to be able are different things. For sometimes the man is, and
yet cannot what he wills; sometimes, again, the man is in such wise,
that he can what he wills; therefore his bring and his being able are
different things. For if man's esse and posse were the same thing,
then he could when he would. But with God it is not so, that His
substance to be is one thing, and His power to be able another thing;
but whatever is His, and whatever He is, is consubstantial with
Him, because He is God: it is not so that in one way He is, in
another way is able; He has the esse and the posse together, because
He has to will and to do together. Since, then, the power of the
Son is of the Father, therefore also the substance of the Son is of
the Father; and since the substance of the Son is of the Father,
therefore the power of the Son is of the Father. In the Son, power
and substance are not different: the power is the self-same that the
substance is; the substance to be, the power to be able.
Accordingly, because the Son is of the Father, He said, "The
Son cannot of Himself do anything." Because He is not Son from
Himself, therefore He is not able from Himself.
5. He appears to have made Himself as it were less, when He said,
"The Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth the
Father doing." Hereupon heretical vanity lifts the neck; theirs,
indeed, who say that the Son is less than the Father, of less
authority, of less majesty, of less possibility, not understanding
the mystery of Christ's words. But attend, beloved, and see how
they are confounded in their carnal intellect by the words of Christ.
And this is what I said a little before, that the word of God
troubles all perverse hearts, just as it exercises pious hearts,
especially that spoken by the Evangelist John. For they are deep
words that are spoken by him, not random words, nor such as may be
easily understood. So, a heretic, if he happen to hear these words,
immediately rises and says to us, "Lo, the Son is less than the
Father; hear the words of the Son, who says, 'The Son cannot do
anything of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing.' "
Wait; as it is written, "Be meek to hear the word, that thou
mayest understand." Well, suppose that because I assert the power
and majesty of the Father and of the Son to be equal, I was
disconcerted at hearing these words, "The Son cannot do anything of
Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing." Well, I, being
disconcerted at these words, will ask thee, who seemest to thyself to
have instantly understood them, a question. We know in the Gospel
that the Son walked upon the sea; when saw He the Father walk upon
the sea? Here now he is disconcerted. Lay aside, then, thy
understanding of the words, and let us examine them together. What do
we then? We have heard the words of the Lord: "The Son cannot of
Himself do anything, but what He seeth the Father doing." The
Son walked upon the sea, the Father never walked upon the sea. Yet
certainly "the Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth
the Father doing."
6. Return then with me to what I was saying, in case it is so to be
understood that we may both escape from the question. For I see how
I, according to the catholic faith, may escape without tripping or
stumbling; whilst thou, on the other hand, shut in on every side,
art seeking a way of escape. See by what way thou hast entered.
Perhaps thou hast not understood this that I said, See by what way
thou hast entered: hear Himself saying, "I am the door." Not
without cause, then, art thou seeking how thou mayest get out; and
this only thou findest, that thou hast not entered by the door, but
fell in over the wall. Therefore raise thyself up from thy fall how
thou canst, and enter by the door, that thou mayest go in without
stumbling, and go out without straying. Come by Christ, not
bringing forward of thy own heart what thou mayest say; but what He
shows, that speak. Behold how the catholic faith gets clear of this
question. The Son walked upon the sea, planted the feet of flesh on
the waves: the flesh walked, and the divinity directed. But when the
flesh was walking and the divinity directing, was the Father absent?
If absent, how doth the Son Himself say, "but the Father abiding
in me, Himself doeth the works?" If the Father, abiding in the
Son, Himself doeth His works, then that walking upon the sea was
made by the Father, and through the Son. Accordingly, that walking
is an inseparable work of Father and Son. I see both acting in it.
Neither the Father forsook the Son, nor the Son left the Father.
Thus, whatever the Son doeth, He doeth not without the Father;
because whatever the Father doeth, He doeth not without the Son.
7. We have got clear of this question. Mark ye that rightly we say
the works of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit are
inseparable. But as thou understandest it, lo, God made the light,
and the Son saw the Father making light, according to thy carnal
understanding, who wilt have it that He is less, because He said,
"The Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth the
Father doing." God the Father made light; what other light did the
Son make? God the Father made the firmament, the heaven between
waters and waters; and the Son saw Him, according to thy dull and
sluggish understanding.
Well, since the Son saw the Father making the firmament, and also
said, "The Son cannot of Himself do anything, but what He seeth
the Father doing," then show me the other firmament made by the
Son. Hast thou lost the foundation?
But they that are "built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone," are
brought into a state of peace in Christ; nor do they strive and wander
in heresy. Therefore we understand that the light was made by God the
Father, but through the Son; that the firmament was made by God the
Father, but through the Son. For "all things were made through
Him, and without Him was nothing made." Cast out thine
understanding, which ought not to be called understanding, but
evidently foolishness. God the Father made the world; what other
world did the Son make?
Show me the Son's world. Whose is this world in which we are?
Tell us, by whom made? If thou sayest, "By the Son, not by the
Father," then thou hast erred from the Father; if thou sayest,
"By the Father, not by the Son," the Gospel answers thee thus,
"And the world was made by (through) Him, and the world knew Him
not." Acknowledge Him, then, by whom the world was made, and be
not among those who knew not Him that made the world.
8. Wherefore the works of the Father and of the Son are
inseparable. Moreover, this, "The Son cannot do anything of
Himself," would mean the same thing as if He were to say, "The
Son is not from Himself." For if He is a Son, He was begotten;
if begotten, He is from Him of whom He is begotten. Nevertheless,
the Father begat Him equal to Himself. Nor was aught wanting to
Him that begat; He who begat a co-eternal required not time to
beget: who produced the Word of Himself, required not a mother to
beget by; the Father begetting did not precede the Son in age, so
that He should beget a Son younger than Himself. But perhaps some
one may say, that after many ages God begat a Son in His old age.
Even as the Father is without age, so the Son is without growth;
neither has the one grown old nor the other increased, but equal begat
equal, eternal begat eternal. How, says some one, has eternal begat
eternal? As a temporary flame generates a temporary light. The
generating flame is coeval with the light which it generates: the
generating flame does not precede in time the generated light; but from
the moment the flame begins, from that moment the light begins. Show
me flame without light, and I show thee God the Father without
Son. Accordingly, "the Son cannot do anything of Himself, but
what He seeth the Father doing," implies, that for the Son to see
and to be begotten of the Father, is the same thing. His seeing and
His substance are not different; nor are His power and substance
different. All that He is, He is of the Father; all that He can
is of the Father; because what He can and what He is is one thing,
and all of the Father.
9. Moreover, He goes on in His own words, and troubles those that
understand the matter amiss, in order to recall the erring to a right
apprehension of it. After He had said, "The Son cannot of
Himself do anything, but what He seeth the Father doing;" test a
carnal understanding of the matter should by chance creep in and turn
the mind aside, and a man should imagine as it were two mechanics, one
a master, the other a learner, attentively observing the master while
making, say a chest, so that, as the master made the chest, the
learner should make another chest according to the appearance which he
looked upon while the master wrought; lest, I say, the carnal mind
should frame to itself any such twofold notion in the case of the divine
unity, going on, He saith, "For what things soever the Father
doeth, these same also the Son doeth in like manner." It is not,
the Father doeth some, the Son others like them, but the same in
like manner. For He saith not, What things soever the Father
doeth, the Son also doeth others the like; but saith He, "What
things soever the Father doeth, these same also the Son doeth in like
manner." What things the Father doeth, these also the Son doeth:
the Father made the world, the Son made the world, the Holy Ghost
made the world. If three Gods, then three worlds; if one God, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, then one world was made by
the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Ghost. Consequently the
Son doeth those things which also the Father doeth, and doeth not in
a different manner; He both doeth these, and doeth them in like
manner.
10. After He had said, "these doeth," why did He add, "in
like manner doeth"? Lest another distorted understanding or error
should spring up in the mind. Thou seest, for instance, a man's
work: in man there is mind and body; the mind rules the body, but
there is a great difference between body and mind: the body is
visible, the mind is invisible: there is a great difference between
the power and virtue of the mind and that of any kind of body whatever,
be it even a heavenly body. Still the mind rules its own body, and
the body doeth; and what the mind appears to do, this the body doeth
also. Thus the body appears to do this same thing that the mind
doeth, but not "in like manner." How doeth this same, but not in
like manner? The mind frames a word in itself; it commands the
tongue, and the tongue produces the word which the mind framed: the
mind made, and the tongue made; the lord of the body made, and the
servant made; but that the servant might make, it received of its lord
what to make, and made while the lord commanded. The same thing was
made by both, but was it in like manner? How not in like manner?
says some one. See, the word that my mind formed, remains in me;
that which my tongue made, passed through the smitten air, and is
not. When thou hast said a word in thy mind, and uttered it by thy
tongue, return to thy mind, and see that the word which thou hast made
is there still. Has it remained on thy tongue, just as it has in thy
mind? What was uttered by the tongue, the tongue made by sounding,
the mind made by thinking; but what the tongue uttered has passed
away, what the mind thought remains. Therefore the body made that
which the mind made, but not in like manner. For the mind, indeed,
made that which the mind may hold, but the tongue made what sounds and
strikes the ear through the air. Dost thou chase the syllables, and
cause them to remain? Well, not in such manner the Father and the
Son; but "these same doeth," and "in like manner doeth." If
God made heaven that remains, this heaven that remains the Son made.
If God the Father made man that is mortal, the same man that is
mortal the Son made. What things soever the Father made that
endure, these things that endure made also the Son, because in like
manner He made; and what things soever the Father made that are
temporal, these same things that are temporal made also the Son,
because He made not only the same, but also in like manner made. For
the Father made by the Son, since by the Word the Father made all
things.
11. Seek in the Father and Son a separation, thou findest none;
no, not if thou hast mounted high; no, not even if thou hast reached
something above thy mind. For if thou turnest about among the things
which thy wandering mind makes for itself, thou talkest with thine own
imaginations, not with the Word of God; thine own imaginations
deceive thee. Mount also beyond the body, and understand the mind;
mount also beyond the mind, and understand God. Thou reachest not
unto God, unless thou hast passed beyond the mind; how much less thou
reachest unto God, if thou hast tarried in the flesh! They who think
of the flesh, how far are they from understanding what God is! since
they would not be there even if they knew the mind. Man recedes far
from God when his thoughts are of the flesh; and there is a great
difference between flesh and mind, yet a greater between mind and
God. If thou art occupied with the mind, thou art in the midway: if
thou directest thy attention beneath, there is the body; if above,
there is God. Lift thyself up from the body, pass beyond even
thyself. For observe what said the psalm, and thou art admonished how
God must be thought of: "My tears," it saith, "were made to me
my bread day and night, when it was said to me daily, Where is thy
God?" As the pagans may say, "Behold our gods, where is your
God?" They indeed show us what is seen; we worship what is not
seen. And to whom can we show? To a man who has not sight with which
to see? For anyhow, if they see their gods with their eyes, we too
have other eyes with which to see our God: for "blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God." Therefore, when he had said
that he was troubled, when it was daily said to him, "Where is thy
God?" "these things I remembered," saith he, "because it is
daily said to me, Where is thy God?" And as if wishing to lay hold
of his God, "These things," saith he, "I remembered, and
poured out my soul above me." Therefore, that I might reach unto my
God, of whom it was said to me, "Where is thy God? I poured out
my soul," not over my flesh, but "above me;" I transcended
myself, that I might reach unto Him: for He is above me who made
me; none reaches to Him but he that passes beyond himself.
12. Consider the body: it is mortal, earthy, weak, corruptible;
away with it. Yes, perhaps thou sayest, but the body is temporal.
Think then of other bodies, the heavenly; they are greater, better,
more magnificent. Look at them, moreover, attentively. They roll
from east to west, they stand not; they are seen with the eyes, not
only by man, but even by the beast of the field. Pass beyond them
too. And how, sayest thou, pass beyond the heavenly bodies, seeing
that I walk on the earth? Not in the flesh dost thou pass beyond
them, but in the mind. Away with them too: though they shine ever so
much, they are bodies; though they glitter from heaven, they are
bodies. Come, now that perhaps thou thinkest thou hast not whither to
go, after considering all these. And whither am I to go, sayest
thou, beyond the heavenly bodies; and what am I to pass beyond with
the mind? Hast thou considered all these? I have, sayest thou. By
what means hast thou considered them? Let the being that considers
appear in person. The being that considers all these, that
discriminates, distinguishes, and in a manner weighs them in the
balance of wisdom, is really the mind. Doubtless, then, better is
the mind with which thou hast contemplated all these things, than these
things which thou hast contemplated. This mind, then, is a spirit,
not a body. Pass beyond it too. And that thou mayest see whither
thou art to pass beyond, compare that mind itself, in the first
place, with the flesh. Heaven forbid that thou shouldest deign so to
compare it! Compare it with the brightness of the sun, of the moon,
and of the stars; the brightness of the mind is greater. Observe,
first, the swiftness of the mind; see whether the scintillation of the
thinking mind be not more impetuous than the brilliance of the shining
sun. With the mind thou seest the sun rising. How slow is its motion
compared with thy mind! What the sun is about to do, thou canst think
in a trice. It is about to come from the east to the west; tomorrow
rises from another quarter. Where thy thought has done this, the sun
still lags behind, and thou hast traversed the whole journey. A great
thing, therefore, is the mind. But how do I say is? Pass beyond
it also. For the mind, notwithstanding it be better than every kind
of body, is itself changeable. Now it knows, now knows not; now
forgets, now remembers; now wills, now wills not; now errs, now is
right. Pass therefore beyond all changeableness; not only beyond all
that is seen, but also beyond all that changes. For thou hast passed
beyond the flesh which is seen; beyond heaven, the sun, moon, and
stars, which are seen. Pass, too, beyond all that changes. For
when thou hadst done with those things that are seen, and hadst come to
thy mind, there thou didst find the changeableness of thy mind. Is
God at all changeable? Pass then, beyond even thy mind. Pour out
thy soul "above thee," that thou mayest reach unto God, of whom it
is said to thee, "Where is thy God?"
13. Do not imagine that thou art to do something beyond a man's
ability. The Evangelist John himself did this. He soared beyond
the flesh, beyond the earth which he trod, beyond the seas which he
looked upon, beyond the air in which the fowls fly, beyond the sun,
the moon, the stars, beyond all the spirits unseen, beyond his own
mind, by the very reason of his rational soul. Soaring beyond all
these, pouring out his soul above him, whither did he arrive? What
did he see? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God." If, therefore, thou seest no separation in the light, why
seekest thou a separation in the work? See God, see His Word
inhering to the Word speaking, that the speaker speaks not by
syllables, but this his speaking is a shining out in the brightness of
wisdom. What is said of the Wisdom itself? "It is the radiance of
eternal light. " Observe the radiance of the sun. The sun is in the
heaven, and spreads out its brightness over all lands and over all
seas, and it is simply a corporal light.
If, indeed, thou canst separate the brightness from the sun, then
separate the Word from the Father. I am speaking of the sun. One
small, slender flame of a lamp, which can be extinguished by one
breath, spreads its light over all that lies near it: thou seest the
light generated by the flame spread out; thou seest its emission, but
not a separation. Understand, then, beloved brethren, that the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are inseparably united in
themselves; that this Trinity is one God; that all the works of the
one God are the works of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. All the rest which follows, and which refers to the discourse
of our Lord Jesus Christ, now that a discourse is due to you
tomorrow also, be present that ye may hear.
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