15. Wherefore, keep not silent, O Lord, concerning the resurrection of the flesh; lest men believe it not, and we continue reasoners, not preachers. But " as the Father hath life in Himself, even so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." Let them that hear, understand; let them believe that they may understand; let them obey that they may live. And that they may not suppose that the resurrection is finished here, let them hear this further: "and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also." Who hath given? The Father. To whom hath He given? To the Son; namely, to whom He gave to have life in Himself, to the same hath He given authority to execute judgment. " Because He is the Son of man." For this is the Christ, both Son of God and Son of man. " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God." Behold, how He hath given Him to have life in Himself! But because "the Word, was made flesh, and dwelt among us," was made man of the Virgin Mary, He is the Son of man. What, therefore, hath He received as Son of man? Authority to execute judgment. What judgment? That in the end of the world. Then also there will be a resurrection, but a resurrection of bodies. So, then, God raiseth up souls by Christ, the Son of God; bodies He raiseth up by the same Christ, the Son of man. " Hath given Him authority." He should not have this authority did He not receive it; and He should be a man without authority. But the same who is Son of God is also Son of man. For by adhering to the unity of person, the Son of man with the Son of God is made one person, and the Son of God is the same person which the Son of man is. But what characteristic it has, and wherefore, must be distinguished. The Son of man has soul and body. The Son of God, which is the Word of (lod, has man, as the soul has body. And just as soul having body does not make two persons, but one man; so the Word, having man, maketh not two persons, but one Christ. What is man? A rational soul, having a body. What is Christ? The Word of God, having man. I see of what things I speak, who I the speaker am, and to whom I am speaking.
16. Now hear concerning the resurrection of bodies, not me, but the Lord about to speak, on account of those who have risen again by a resurrection from death, by cleaving to life. To what life? To a life which knows not death. Why knows not death? Because it knows not mutability. Why knows not mutability? Because it is life in itself. "And hath given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man." What judgment, what kind of judgment? "Marvel not at this" which I have said, — gave Him authority to execute judgment, — " for the hour is coming." He does not add, " and now is: " therefore He means to make known to us a certain hour in the end of the world. The hour is now that the dead rise, the hour will be in the end of the world that the dead rise: but that they rise now in the mind, then in the flesh; that they rise now in the mind by the Word of God, the Son of God; then in the flesh by the Word of God made flesh, the Son of man. For it will not be the Father Himself that will come to judgment, notwithstanding the Father doth not withdraw Himself from the Son. Flow, then, is it that the Father Himself will not come? In that He will not be seen in the judgment. "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." ' That form which stood before the judge, will be Judge: that form will judge which was judged; for it was judged unjustly, it will judge justly. There will come the form of a servant, and that same will be apparent.
For how could the form of God be made apparent to the just and to the unjust? If the judgment were to be only among the just, then the form of God might appear as to the just. But because the judgment is to be of the just and of the unjust, and that it is not permitted to the wicked to see God, — for " blessed are the pure in heart, for they siiall see God," = — such a Judge will appear as may be seen by those whom He is about to crown, and by those whom He is about to condemn. Hence the form of a servant will be seen, the form of God will be hid. The Son of God will be hid in the servant, and the Son of man will be manifest, because to Him " hath He given authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man." And because He alone will appear in the form of a servant, but the Father not, since He has not taken upon Him the form of a servant; for that reason He saith above: " The Father jiulgcth not any man, but hath given all judgment to ' John xix. 37.
- Matt. V. 8.
[Tractate XIX.
the Son." Rightly then had it been deferred, that the propounder might Himself be the interpreter. For before it was hidden; now, as I think, it is already manifest, that " He gave Him authority to execute judgment," that "the Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son: " because the judgment is to be by that form which the Father hath not. And what kind of judgment? " Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming: " not that which now is, for the souls to rise; but that which is to be, for the bodies to rise.
17. Let Him declare this more distinctly, that the heretical denier of the resurrection of the body may not find a pretext for sophistical cavil, although the meaning already shines out clearly. When it was said above, "The hour is coming," He added, " and now is; " but just now, " The hour is coming," He has not added, "and now is." Let Him, however, by the open truth, burst asunder all handles, all loops and pegs of sophistical attack, all the nooses of ensnaring objections. " Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves. " What more evident? what more distinct? Bodies are in the graves; souls are not in the graves, either of just or of unjust. The soul of the just man was in the bosom of Abraham; the unjust man's soul was in hell, tormented: neither the one nor the other was in the grave. Above, when He saith, "The hour is coming, and now is," I beseech you give earnest heed. Ye know, brethren, that we get the bread of the belly with toil; with how much greater toil the bread of the mind! With labor you stand and hear, but with greater we stand and speak. If we labor for your sake, you ought to labor with us for your own sake. Above, then, when He said, "The hour is coming," and added, "and now is," what did He subjoin? " When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." He did not say, "All the dead shall hear, and they that hear shall live;" for He meant the unrighteous to be understood. And is it so, that all the unrighteous obey the gospel? The apostle says openly, " But not all obey the gospel." ' But they that hear shall live, because all that obey the gospel shall pass to eternal life by faith: yet all do not obey; and this is now. But certainly, in the end, "All that are in the graves," both the just and the unjust, " shall hear His voice, and come forth." How is it He would not say, "and shall live"? All, indeed, will come forth, but all will not live.
' Rom. X. 16.
For in that which He said above, "And they that hear shall live," He meant it to be understood that there is in that very hearing and obeying an eternal and blessed life, which not all that shall come forth from the graves will have. Here, then, both in the mention of graves, and by the expression of a "coming forth" from the graves, we openly understand a resurrection of bodies.
18. "All shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." And where is judgment, if all shall hear and all shall come forth? It is as if all were confusion; I see no distinguishing. Certainly Thou hast received authority to judge, because Thou art the Son of man: behold, Thou wilt be present in the judgment; the bodies will rise again; but tell us something of the judgment itself, that is, of the separation of the evil and the good. Hear this further, then: "They that have done good into the resurrection of life; they that have done evil into the resurrection of judgment." When above He spoke of a resurrection of minds and souls, did He make any distinction? No, for all "that hear shall live;" because by hearing, viz. by obeying, shall they live.
But certainly not all will go to eternal life by rising and coming forth from the graves, — only they that have done well; and they that have done ill, to judgment. For here He has put judgment for punishment. There will also be a separation, not such as there is now. For now we are separated, not by place, but by character, affections, desires, faith, hope, charity. Now we live together with the unjust, though the life of all is not the same: in secret we are distinguished, in secret we are separated; as grain on the floor, not as grain in the granary. On the floor, grain is both separated and mixed: separated, because severed from the chaff; mixed, because not yet winnowed. Then there will be an open separation; a distinguishing of life just as of the character, a reparation as there is m wisdom, so also will there be in bodies. They that have done well will go to live with the angels of God; they that have done evil, to be tormented with the devil and his angels. And the form of a servant will pass away. For to this end He had manifested Himself, that He might execute judgment. After the judgment, He shall go hence, will lead with Him the body of which He is the head, and deliver up the kingdom of God.= Then will openly be seen that form of God which could not be seen by the wicked, to whose vision the form of a servant must be shown. He says also in another place on this wise: 2 I Cor XV. 24.
Tractate XX.]
" These shall go away into everlasthig burning " (speaking of certain on the left), "but the just into life eternal;'" of which life He says in another place: "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."- Then will He be there manifested, "who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." ^ Then He will manifest Himself, as He has promised to manifest Himself to them that love Him. For " he that loveth me," saith He, " keepeth my commandments; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father; and 1 will love him, and will manifest myself to him."-* He was present in person with those to whom He was speaking: but they saw the form of a servant, they did not see the form of God. They were being led on His own beast to His dwelling to be healed; but now being healed, they will see, because, saith He, " I will manifest myself to him." How is He shown equal to the Father? When He says to Philip, " He that seeth me seeth my Father also. "5 19. "I cannot of myself do anything: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just." Else we might have said to Him, " Thou wilt judge, and the Father will not judge, for ' all judgment hath He given to the Son;' it is not. therefore, according to the Father that Thou wilt judge." Hence He added, "I cannot of myself do anything: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I I Matt. XXV. 46. 4 John xiv. 21.
= John xvii. 3. S John xiv. 19.
3 Phil. ii. 6.
seek not my own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Undoubtedly the Son quickeneth whom He will. He seeketh not His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. Not my own, my proper will; not mine, not the Son of man's; not mine to resist God. For men do their own will, not God's, when they do what they list, not what God commands; but when they do what they list, so as yet to follow God's will, they do not their own will, notwithstanding they do what they list to do. Do what thou art bidden willingly, and thus shalt thou both do what thou wiliest, and also not do thine own will, but His that biddeth.
20. AMiat then? "As I hear, I judge." The Son " heareth," and the Father " showeth " to Him, and the Son seeth the Father doing. But we had deferred these matters, in order to handle them, so far as might lie in our abilities, with somewhat greater plainness and fullness, should time and strength remain to us after finishing the perusal of the passage. If I say that I am able to speak yet further, you perhaps are not able to go on hearing. Again, perhaps, in your eagerness to hear, you say, "We are able." Better, then, that I should confess my weakness, that, being already fatigued, I am not able to speak longer, than that, when you are I already satiated, I should continue to pour into you what you cannot well digest. Then, as to this promise, which I deferred until today, should there be an opportunity, hold me, with the Lord's help, your debtor until i to-morrow.
TRACTATE XX.
Chaptkk Y. 19.
I. Thp: 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. Wlierefore, 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, whicli 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 wluit 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 anu)ng those wlio were lying in the five porches of that pool of Solomon, and to whom He had said, " I'ake up thy bed, and go unto thy house." But this He had done [Tractate XX, 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 rest, 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 spake, 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 2 Ex. XX. 8. 4 Ps. xxxiii. 9.
may be looking for rest aftor 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." s But he that is not able to receive it, 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 Matt.
^ John X. 30.
Tractate XX.]
T --> '^ ^03 bound together -by charit}', 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 spake 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 3'e 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 fo be able and io 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 wiiole, lest he should be- • Juhn V. i3.
come proud, and lose what knowledge he has gotten. With man, to be and to be able are different things. For soriietimes 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 being 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 an3'thing. " 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 dee[) 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 => Ecclus. V. 13.
[Tractate XX.
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 v/aves: 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 tlie works?" ^ jf t^g 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 ' Matt, xiv - John X. 7.
John XIV. 10.
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 sa37est, " 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.