buried, a stone was laid over him: the voice of the Saviour burst asunder the hardness of the stone; and thy heart is so hard, that that Divine Voice does not yet break it! Rise in thy heart; go forth from thy tomb. For thou wast lying dead in thy heart as in a tomb, and pressed down by the weight of evil habit as b)' a stone. Rise, and go forth. What is Rise, and go forth? Believe and confess. For he that has believed has risen; he that confesses is gone forth. Why said we that he who confesses is gone forth? Be- cause he was hid before confessing; but when he does confess, he goes forth from darkness to light. And after he has confessed, what is said to the servants? What was said beside the corpse of Lazarus? " Loose him, and let him go." How? As it was said to His ser- vants the apostles, " What things ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." " 8. " The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." From what source shall they live? From life. From what life? From Christ. How do we prove that the source is Christ the life? " I am.," saith He, "the way, the truth, and the life." ' Dost thou wish to walk? "I am the way." Dost thou wish not to be deceived? " I am tne truth " Wouldest thou not die? " I am tiie life." This saith thy Saviour to thee: There is not whither thou mayest go but to me; there is not whereby thou mayest go but by me. Therefore this hour is going on now, this act is clearly taking place, and does not at all cease. Men who were dead, rise; they pass over to life; at the voice of the Son of God they live; from Him they live, while persevering in the faith of Him, For the Son hath life, whence He has it that they that believe shall live.
9. And how hath He? Even as the Father hath. Hear Himself saying, " For as the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." Brethren, I shall speak as I shall be able. For these are those words that perplex the puny understanding. Why has He added, "in Himself"? It would suffice to say, " For as the Father hath life, so also hath He fjlven to the Son to have life." He added, " in Himself: " for the Father " hath life in Himself," and the Son hath life in Himself. He meant us to understantl some- thing in that which He saith, " in Himself." And here a secret matter is shut up in this word; let there be knocking, that there may be an opening, O Lord, what is this tliat <> Matt, xviii. iS.
7 John xiv. 6.
148 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XXII.
Thou hast said? Wherefore hast Thou added, " in Himself" ^ Fordid not Paul the apostle, whom Thou madest to live, have life? He had, said He. As for men that were dead to be made alive, and at Thy word to pass unto life by believing; when they shall have passed, will they not have life in Thee? They shall have life; for I said also a little before, "Whoso heareth my words, and be- lieveth Him that sent me, hath eternal life." Therefore those that believe in Thee have life; and Thou hast not said, "in them- selves." But when Thou speakest of the Father, " even as the Father hath life in Himself; " again, when Thou speakest of Thyself, Thou saidst, "So also hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." Even as He hath, so gave He to have. Where hath He? "In Himself." Where gave He to have? "In Himself." Where hath Paul life? Not in himself, but in Christ. Where hast thou, believer? Not in thyself, but m Christ. Let us see whether the apostle says this: "Now I live; but not I, but Christ liveth in me."' Our life, as ours, that is, of our own personal will, will be only evil, sinful, unrighteous; but the life in us that is good is from God, not from our- selves; it is given to us by God, not by our- selves. But Christ hath life in Himself, as the Father hath, because He is the Word of God. With Him, it is not the case that He liveth now ill, now well; but as for man, he liveth now ill, now well. He who was living ill, was in his own life; he who is living well, is passed to the life of Christ. Thou art made a partaker of life; thou wast not that which thou hast received, but wast one who received: but it is not so with the Son of God, as if at first He was without life, and then re- ceived life. For if thus He received life. He would not have it in Himself. For, indeed, what is in Himself? That He should Him- self be the very life.
10. I may perhaps declare that matter more plainly still. One lights a candle: that candle, for example, so far as regards the little flame which shines there — that fire has light in itself; but thine eyes, which lay idle and saw nothing, in the absence of the can- dle, now have light also, but not in them- selves. Further, if they turn away from the candle, they are made dark; if they turn to it, they are illumined. But certainly that fire shines so long as it exists: if thou wouldst take the light from it, thou dost also at the same time extinguish it; for without the light it cannot remain. But Christ is lisrht inex- .' Gal. ii. 20.
tinguishable and co-eternal with the Father, always bright, always shining, always burn- ing: for if He were not burning, would it be said in the psalm, " Nor is there any that can hide himself from his heat?""" But thou wast cold in thy sin; thou turnest that thou mayest become warm; if thou wilt turn away, thou wilt become cold. In thy sin thou wast dark; thou turnest in order to be enlightened; if thou turnest away, thou wilt become dark. Therefore, because in thyself thou wast dark- ness, when thou shalt be enlightened, thou wilt be light, though in the light. For saith the apostle, "Ye were once darkness, but now light in the Lord." ^ When he had said, "but now light," he added, "in the Lord." Therefore in thyself darkness, "light in the Lord." In what way " light"? Because by participation of that light thou art light. But if thou wilt depart from the light by which thou art enlightened, thou returnest to thy darkness. Not so Christ, not so the Word of God. But how not? "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given also to the Son to have life in Himself;" so that He lives, not by participation, but unchangeably, and is altogether Himself life. " So hath He given also to the Son to have life," Even as He hath, so has He given. What is the difference? For the one gave, the other re- ceived. Was He already in being when He received? Are we to understand that Christ was at any time in being without light, when Himself is the wisdom of the Father, of which it is said, " It is the brightness of the eternal light?"-* Therefore what is said, " gave to the Son," is such as if it were said, "begat the Son;" for by begetting He gave. As He gave Him to be, so He gave Him to be life, so also gave Him to be life in Himself. What is that, to be life in Himself? Not to need life from elsewhere, but to be Himself the plenitude of life, out of which others be- lieving should have life while they lived. "Hath given Him," then, " to have life in Himself," Hath given as to whom' As to His own Word, as to Him who " in the be- ginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."
II. Afterwards, because He was made man, what gave He to Him? "And hath given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man." In that He is the Son of God, "As the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; " in that He is the Son of man, " He hath given Him authority of executing judgment." This is what I ex- Ps.
3 Eph.
Tractate XXIL] ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. TOHX.
149 plained to you j^esterday, my beloved, that in the judgment man will be seen, but God will not be seen; but after the judgment, God will be seen by those who have prevailed in the judgment, but by the wicked He will not be seen. Since, therefore, the man will be seen in the judgment in that form in which He will so come as He ascended, for that reason He had said above, "The Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.'' He repeats the same thing also in this place, when He says, "And hath given Him authority of executing judg- ment, because He is the Son of man." As if thou wert to say, " hath given Him author- ity of executing judgment." In what way? When He had not that authority of executing judgment? Since " in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; " since " all things were made by Him," did He not already have authority of executing judgment? Yes, but according to this, I say, " He gave Him authority of executing judgment, because He is the Son of man: " according to this. He received authority of judging " because He is the Son of man." For in that He is the Son of God, He always had this authority. He that was crucified, received; He who was in death, is in life: the Word of God never was in death, but is always in life.
12. Now, therefore, as to a resurrection, perhaps some one of us was saynig: Behold, we have risen; he who hears Christ, and be- lieves, and is passed from death to life, also will not come into judgment. The hour com- eth, and now is, that whoso heareth the voice of the Son of God shall live: he was dead, he has heard; behold, he doth rise. What is this that is said, that there is to be a resur- rection afterwards? Spare thyself, do not hasten the sentence, lest thou hurry after it. There is, indeed, this resurrection which comes to pass now; unbelievers were dead, the unrighteous were dead; the righteous live, they pass from the death of unbelief to the life of faith. But do not thence believe that there will not be a resurrection after- wards of the body; believe that there will be a resurrection of the body also. For hear what follows after the declaration of this resurrection which is by faith, lest any should think this to l)e the only resurrection, or fall into that desperation and error of men who perverted the thoughts of others, " saying that the resurrection is past already,'' of whom the apostle saith, " and they overthrow the faith of some." ' For I believe that they « 2 Tim. ii. 18.
« 2 Tim. ii. 18.
were saying to them such words as these: " Behold, when the Lord saith, 'And he that believeth in me is passed from death unto life;" the resurrection has already taken place in believing men, who were before un- believers: how can a second resurrection be meant?" Thanks to our Lord God, He supports the wavering, directs the perplexed, confirms the doubting. Hear what follows, now that thou hast not whereof to make to thyself the darkness of death. If thou hast believed, believe the whole. What whole, sayest thou, am I to believe? Hear what He saith: " Marvel not at this," namely, that He gave to the Son authority of making judgment. I say, in the end of the world, saith He. How in the end? " Do not mar- vel at this; for the hour cometh." Here He has not said, "and now is." In refer- ence to that resurrection of faith, what did He say? "The hour cometh, and now is." In reference to that resurrection which He intimates there will be of dead bodies, He said, " The hour cometh; " He has not said, " and now is,'' because it is to come in the end of the world.
13. An^ whence, sayest thou, dost thou prove to me that He spoke about the resur- rection itself? If thou hear patiently, thou wilt presently prove it to thyself. Let us go on then: "Marvel not at this; for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the graves." What more evident than this resurrection? A while ago. He had not said, " they that are in the graves,'' but, "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." He has not said, some shall live, others shall be damned; because all who believe shall live. But what does He say concerning the graves? "All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.'' He said not, " shall hear and live." For if they have lived wickedly, and lay in the graves, they shall rise to death, not to life. Let us see, then, who shall come forth. Although, a little before, the dead by hearing and believing did live, there was no distinction there made: it was not said, The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and when they shall have heard, some shall live, and some shall be damned; but, "all that hear shall live: " because they that be- lieve shall live, they that have charity shall live, and none of them shall die. But concerning the graves, " They shall hear His voice, and come forth: they that have done well, to the resurrection of life; they that have (lone ill, to the resurrection of judg- ment.'' This is the jmlgment, that jiunish- ment of which He had said a while before.
I50 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XXIII.
" Whoso believeth in me is passed from deatli to life," and shall not come into judg- ment.
14. " I cannot of myself do anything; as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just." If as Thou hearest Thou judgest, of whom dost Thou hear? If of the Father, yet surely "the Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.' When dost Thou, being in a manner the Father's herald, declare what Thou hearest? I speak what I hear, because what the Father is, that I am: for, indeed, speaking is my function; because I am the Father's Word. For this Christ says to thee. Thereupon, of thine. What is "As I hear I judge," but "As I am "? For in what manner does Christ hear? Let us inquire, brethren, I beg of you. Does Christ hear of the Father? How doth the Father speak to Him? Undoubtedly, if He speaks to Him, He uses words to Him; for every one who says something to any one, says it by a word. How doth the Father speak to the Son, seeing that the Son is the Father's Word? Whatever the Father says to us, He says it by His Word: the Word of the Father is the Son; by what other word, tfien, doth He speak to the Word Himself? God is one, has one Word, contains all things in one Word. What does that mean, then, "As I hear, I judge? " Just as I am of the Father, so I judge. Therefore "my judgment is just." If Thou doest nothmg of Thyself, O Lord Jesus, as carnal men think; if Thou doest nothing of Thyself, how didst Thou say a while before, " So also the Son quicken- eth whom He will "? Just now Thou sayest. Of myself I do nothing. But what does the Son declare, but that He is of the Father? He that is of the Father is not of Himself. If the Son were of Flimself, He would not be the Son: He is of the Father. That the Father is, is not of the Son; that the Son is, is of the Father. Equal to the Father; but yet the Son of the Father, not the Father of the Son.
15. " Because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him that sent me." The Only Son saith, " I seek not my own will," and yet men desire to do their own will! To such a degree does He who is equal to the Father humble Himself; and to such a degree does He extol Himself, who lies in the lowest depth, and cannot rise except a hand is reached to Him! Let us then do the will of the Father, the will of the Son, the will of the Holy Ghost; because of this Trinity there is one will, one power, one majesty. Yet for that reason saith the Son, " I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me;" because Christ is not of Himself, but of the Father. But what He had that He might appear as a man. He assumed of the creature which He himself formed.
TRACTATE XXIII.
Chapter V. 19-40.
I. In a certain place in the Gospel, the Lord says that the prudent hearer of His word ought to be like a man who, wishing to build a house, digs deeply until he comes to the foundation of stability on the rock, and there establishes in security what he builds against the violence of the flood; so that, when the flood comes, it may be rather beaten back by the strength of the building, than bring ruin on that house by the force of its pressure.' Let us regard the Scripture of God to be, as it were, the field where we wish to build something. Let us not be slothful, nor be content with the surface; let us dig deeply until we come to the rock: "And that rock was Christ. " - 1 Cor. x. 4.
2. The passage read to-day has spoken to us of the witness of the Lord, that He does not hold the witness of men necessary, but has a greater witness than men; and He has told us what this witness is: "The works," saith He, " which I do bear witness of me." Then He added, "And the Father that sent me beareth witness of me." The very works also which He doeth, He says that He has received from the Father. The works, there- fore, bear witness, the Father bears witness. Has John borne no witness? He did clearly bear witness, but as a lamp; not to satisfy friends, but to confound enemies: for it had been predicted \on^ before by the person of the Father, " I have prepared a lamp tor mine Anointed: I will clothe His enemies with confusion; but upon Him shall flourish Tractatf XXIII.]
ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN.
151 my sanctification." ' Be it that thou wert left in the dark in the night-time, thou didst direct thy attention to the lamp, thou didst admire the lamp, and didst exult at its light. But that lamp says that there is a sun, in which thou oughtest to exult; and though it burns. in the night, it bids thee to be looking out for the day. Therefore it is not the case that there was no need of that man's testi- mony. For wherefore was he sent, if there was no need of him? But, on the contrary, lest man should stay at the lamp, and think the light of the lamp to be sufificient for him, therefore the Lord neither says that this lamp had been superfluous, nor yet doth He say that thou oughtest to stay at the lamp. The Scripture of God utters another testimony: there undoubtedly God hath borne witness to His Son, and in that Scripture the Jews had placed their hope, — namely, in the law of God, given by Moses His servant. " Search the Scripture," saith He, " in which ye think ye have eternal life: the same bears witness of me; and ye will not come to me that ye may have life." Why do ye think that in the Scripture ye have eternal life? Ask itself to whom does it bear witness, and understand what is eternal life. And because for the sake of Moses they were willing to reject Christ, as an adversary to the ordinances and precepts of Moses, He convicts those same men as by another lamp.
3. For, indeed, all men are lamps, since they can be both lighted and extinguished. Moreover, when the lamps are wise, they shine and glow with the Spirit; yet also, if they did burn and are put out, they even stink. The servants of God remain good lamps by the oil of His mercy, not by their own strength. The free grace of God, truly, is the oil of the lamps. " For I have labored more than they all," saith a certain lamp; and lest he should seem to burn by his own strengtn, he added, " But not I, but the grace of God that was with me."= All prophecy, therefore, before the coming of the Lord, is a lamp. Of this lamp the Apostle Peter says: "We have a more sure word of prophecy, to which ye do well giving heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts. "3 Accordingly the prophets are lamps, and all prophecy one great lamp. What of the apostles? Are not they, too, lamps? They are, clearly. He alone is not a lamp. For He is not lighted and put out; because "even as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to ' Ps. cxxxli. 17.
^or. XV. 10.
3 2 Pet. i. 10.
have life in Himself." The apostles also, I say, are lamps; and they give thanks be- cause they were both lighted by the light of truth, and are burning with the spirit of charity, and supplied witli the oil of God's grace. If they were not lamps, the Lord would not say to them, "Ye are the light of the world." For after He said, " Ye are the light of the world," He shows that they should not think themselves such a light as that of which it is said, " That was the true light, that enlighteneth every man coming into this world." But this was said of the Lord at that time when He was distinguished from John (the Baptist). Of John the Baptist, indeed, it had been said, " He was not the light, but that he might bear witness of the light.'*''' And lest thou shouldst say. How was he not the light, of whom Christ says that " he was a lamp"? — I answer, Li com- parison of the other light, he was not light. For "that was the true light that enlighten- eth every man coming into this world." Ac- cordingly, when He said also to the disciples, "Ye are the light of the world," lest they should imagine that anything was attributed to them which was to be understood of Christ alone, and thus the lamps should be extinguished by the wind of pride, when He had said, "Ye are the light of the world," He immediately subjoined, "A cit}^ that is set on a hill cannot be hid; neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may shine on all that are in the house." But what if He did not call the apostles the candle, but the lighters of the candle, which they were to put on a candle- stick? Hear that He called themselves the candle. " So let your light shine," saith He, "before men, that the}', seeing your good works, may glorify," not you, but "your Father who is in heaven." ^ 4. Wherefore both Moses bore witness to Christ, and John bore witness to Christ, and all the other prophets and apostles bore wit- ness to Christ. Before all these testimonies He places the testimony of His own works. Because through those men too, it was God and none other that bore witness to His Son. But yet in another way God bears testimony to His Son. God reveals His Son through the Son Himself, He reveals Himself through the Son. To Him, if a man shall have been able to reach, he shall need no lamps; and by truly digging deep, he will carry down his building to the rock.
5. The lesson of to-day, brethren, is easy; but on account of what was due yestertlay . * John i. 0.
5 Malt. V. i^-i6 152 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XXIII.
(for I know what I have delayed, not with- drawn, and the Lord has deigned to allow me even to-day to speak to you), recall to mind what you ought to demand, if perhaps, while preserving piety and wholesome humility, we may in some measure stretch out ourselves, not against God, but towards Him, and lift up our soul, pouring it out above us, like the Psalmist, to whom it was said, " Where is thy God?" "On these things," saith he, " I meditated, and poured out my soul above me."' Therefore let us lift up our soul to God, not against God; for this also is said, "To Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul."- And let us lift it up with His own assistance, for it is heavy. And from what cause is it heavy? Because the body which is corrupt weighs down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle depresses the mind while meditating on many things. ^ Let us try, then, whether we may not be able to with- draw our mind from many things in order to concentrate it on one, and to raise it to one (which indeed we cannot do, as I have said, unless He assist us who wills our souls to be raised to Himself). And so we may appre- hend in some measure how the Word of God, the only begotten of the Father, the co-eternal and equal with the Father, doeth not anything except what He seeth the Father doing, whilst yet the Father Himself doeth not any- thing but through the Son, who seeth Him doing. Since the Lord Jesus, as it seems to me, — willing here to make known some great matter to those that give attention to it, and to pour into those that are capable of re- ceiving, and to rouse, on the other hand, the incapable to assiduity, in order that, while not yet understanding, they may by right liv- ing be made capable, — has intimated to us that the human soul and rational mind which is in man, not in the beast, is invigorated, en- lightened, and made happy in no other way than by the very substance of God: that the soul itself gets somewhat by and of the body, and yet holds the body subject to it, while the senses of the body can be soothed and delight- ed by thmgs bodily, and that because of this kind of fellowship of soul and body in this life, and in this mutual embrace of theirs, the soul is delighted when the bodily senses are soothed, and saddened when they are offended; while yet the happiness by which the soul itself is made happy cannot be realized but by a participation of that ever-living, un- changeable life, of that eternal substance, which is God: that as the soul, which is infe- rior to God, causes the body, which is inferior