Catholic Epistle of 1 John

which said: "I am the life." ^A This can also be said in this way of the Word which was in the beginning: that we heard through the Law and the Prophets that He would come. This Word, therefore, when He had come with a body, we clearly saw and handled. "For no one has ever seen God 41" in His nakedness. Nor did we rashly give assent to Him when He appeared, but after long handling—that is, an investigation of the legal and prophetic testimonies concerning Him—we believed in the Word appearing in the flesh. As for the phrase, "which we beheld," it stands for "which we saw with our eyes and were amazed at." For to "behold" is to look with wonder and awe. We did not, therefore, behold or handle what He was in His essence—for "who shall declare His generation?"—but what He became: either by intelligible contacts, as has already been said, or by sensible ones, as Thomas did after the Resurrection 42. For He was one and indivisible; the same being both visible and invisible, both apprehended and incomprehensible, both handled and untouchable, both speaking in a human manner and working miracles as God. We say this because of the supreme union of the Word with the flesh. The order of the text is this: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard and have seen, and have beheld with our eyes, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life; and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and announce to you,"—I mean the eternal life which is with the Father and was manifested to us. "That which we have seen, this also we announce to you." ^B Here, then, is the resolution of the passage: "That which we have seen." Yet he did not report the message just as we have done; first, because of his use of concise language, and then because he despises the trifles of the Greeks, showing that our salvation is not in words, but in deeds, and by these he makes us more attentive, lest by finding the subject proposed too readily we become negligent. Furthermore, in treating divine matters, he wished to conceal in obscurity things which were too sublime for profane ears, and which were not safely to be promulgated to them. For to cast holy things to the dogs, and to cast pearls before swine 43, is not the action of a prudent man or of one of sensible consideration. ^C

1, 2-7. And we announce to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and have heard, we announce to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you, that your joy may be full. And this is the promise which we have heard from him, and we announce to you, that God is light, and in him there is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not make the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship among ourselves

and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

^A “And we declare unto you the life.” What we have therefore seen and heard, we declare unto you, he says. What is this? That he who is eternal life has been manifested to us, and we have become witnesses of him, both before the cross and after the resurrection. For the same one was nailed to the cross in the flesh, and in the same flesh he rose again. And what profit, he says, do we bring you from this declaration? Namely this, that just as we take you as partners through the word of the things which we have seen and heard, so likewise [we take you as] partners of the Father and of his Son Jesus Christ. And having attained this, we might be filled with joy, as being united to God; or because, while you are participants with us, we have our most full joy, which the sower, rejoicing, will bestow upon the reapers in the receiving of the recompense, they also rejoicing that they enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Having said these things, he resumes the discourse again, explaining what the declaration is which he has heard. And he says that this is it: “God is light, and in him there is no darkness.” And where did he hear this? From Christ himself, who said: “I am the light of the world,” and, “I have come as a light into the world.” He is light, then, and there is no darkness in him. And it is a spiritual light, which stirs the eyes of our soul toward its own reception, and turns them away from all these material things, and urges them with amorous affection toward the desire of itself alone.

By darkness, however, he means either ignorance or sin. For in God neither is ignorance seen nor sin. For these things are found in connection with matter and our human constitution. But if it is said somewhere, “He made darkness his hiding place,” he said, “He made,” but he did not say, “It is darkness,” just as he said, “It is light.” For that which is put [in place] by him who puts it is one thing, and the essence of the one who is light is another. The darkness, therefore, in this place denotes the ignorance of God which signifies that he cannot be comprehended; but this [darkness] belongs to us, not to God. For something is placed [there] not because it exists within him, nor for his own sake, but for the sake of something that concerns him.

That he also calls sin darkness is evident from the things said by the same [John] in the Gospel. For what does he say there? “And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it,” calling our sinful substance darkness. In which, having been made or having assumed it, he did not contract from it any defilements; for he committed no sin, and so forth. Since, therefore, he says, we take you to be partners of God, who is light; and in such light darkness cannot subsist, as has been shown, let us who are partners in the light no longer receive darkness within ourselves, lest we suffer the penalties of falsehood, and together with the falsehood be torn away from the fellowship of the light. So that, holding to the fellowship among ourselves (and it is evident that this means [the fellowship] of us and the light), we may render ourselves unassailable.

^A But how shall this be, he says, for us who were previously entangled in many sins? For no one who is truthful and accustomed to speaking the truth would dare to say that he is without sin. If anyone, therefore, is encompassed by this fear, let him be of good courage, he says. For by the blood of his Son Jesus Christ, which was poured out for us, he who has embraced fellowship with him has been cleansed. Observe, moreover, how, because of the extreme union, he calls the nature assumed from us the Son of the Father, whose blood—without any doubt—is the blood of the assumed nature, and not of the Godhead. How then is Nestorius not delirious and impious, dividing the flesh of the Son and not enduring to call his mother Theotokos, that is, God-bearer? "But if we walk in the light as he is in the light." You must know that the entire sense of the passage is a refutation of the blasphemy of the Jews. For they themselves said concerning Christ: "We know that this man is a sinner." He says, therefore, that if we do the works of light, we are his fellows; but if we do not do them, we become estranged from him. How, therefore, is it not true, he says, that "he committed no sin," even if he was reckoned among the wicked by us? If then, he says, we who said, "His blood be upon us and upon our children," ^B should say shamefully that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves—that is, we beguile ourselves—as if it were not a sin to have crucified Christ. For it is indeed a sin, and a great one; therefore, he did not say, "We lie," but, "We deceive ourselves," because error is outside of the truth. But if we acknowledge and confess the sin, he will forgive us. And by joining his speech with others, he greatly mitigated the severity of the rebuke, saying, "If we say."

If we say, "We have no sin," we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all iniquity. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

"If we confess our sins." He repeats the discourse, using it more abundantly, so that by the frequency of the extended rebuke he might both restrain them by the magnitude of the sin and invite them to confession. Moreover, he indicated what great good arises from confession by saying: ^C "State your sins first, that you may be justified." This was also the custom of the teacher of this beloved disciple, to repeat the same things frequently—first more moderately, then more perfectly—wishing to make the knowledge of the things said more effective, and being eager to implant the habit of them in his hearers. "And he called God faithful," that is, he said truthful. For "faithful" is spoken not only of him to whom something has been entrusted, but also of him who is confirmed in truth, who, from his own truthful character, has the power to make others also participants in this. Faithful, therefore, ^D

is God in this way; ^A just, too, inasmuch as He does not repel those who approach Him, whatever may be the faults in their past. Therefore, He remits sins without doubt to those who, through repentance, hasten toward holy baptism, whether they have sinned against Him or against another. If, then, we confess, he says, we shall obtain also the forgiveness of one another. But if, behaving shamelessly, we say we have not sinned, we perform a double evil: we show ourselves to be liars, and we slander God, who surpasses all truth, with falsehood. For He Himself says through the Prophet: “They rendered me evil for good.” And again by Himself: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness to the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?” If, things being so, we say we have not sinned, we deny His word, which is spirit and life. ^B For He says: “The words that I speak, they are spirit and life.” And we no longer have His word abiding in us. And what could be more grievous than this?

II, 1-6. “My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just. And He is the propitiation for our sins: not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and in him the truth is not. But he who keeps His word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.”

^C Knowing the instability and failing of our nature, and that we always have an inclination toward the worse as a companion, and the envious demon lying in wait for our salvation, it is necessary that those who have already been made family to God through confession—should they sin through a lack of watchfulness—not fall into despair of themselves. For if we turn back, we shall obtain salvation again through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. For He, interceding for us with the Father, will propitiate Him for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for those of the whole world. He said this either because he was writing to Jews, and in order not to limit the things of repentance to them alone, but rather to extend this to the Gentiles, or because the promise was not for those of that time alone, but also for all who were to come after. ^D He calls Him an advocate, one who pleads with the Father for us—or rather, urges Him. These things were said in a more human and economical manner, like the saying: “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” For He says this so that He might not appear to be opposed to God; since, in the case of the paralytic, He showed that the Son also has the power to forgive sins. But also to those

^A to whom He gave the power to forgive sins, He showed that it is by His own authority that He grants this. But as we have said, the Apostle states this now either by way of dispensation or as portraying the coessential and coequal nature of the Son with the Father, and that whatever one of the three sanctifying hypostases does, it is common also to the others. ‹And by this we know.› Having said above that those who have believed in the Lord have communion with Him, he now provides proofs of the communion with Him, and says that ^B by this we know that we have known Him. For it is custom for this blessed man to use homonyms in the same way, just as also in the passage, ‹He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.› Thus, therefore, he uses the word ‹knew› now as well. But the phrase, ‹That we have known Him,› is in place of ‹that we have been blended with Him,› and in this we understand it by the keeping of His commandments. For the word ‹to know› signifies two things especially in Holy Scripture: ‹to know› something, as in the passage, ‹I have known that the Lord will execute ^C judgment for the poor.› And also a complete blending with someone, which is called knowledge, as in the passage, ‹The Lord knows the ways of the blameless,› and as Paul says, ‹He says that we know God, even as we have been known by Him.› Likewise, regarding its opposite, that is to say, ignorance, it must be said that it is understood in two ways (for there is one way, as it seems to those outside, or the knowledge of things that are opposed). According to this, then, the word ‹to know› has been taken in two ways here. For the one, ‹By this we know,› is according to the sense of ‹to perceive›; ^D but the other, ‹We have known Him,› is according to the sense of ‹We have been mingled with Him.› For he who has communion with someone has also been mingled with him in that which he shares. Wherefore he also adds, ‹We keep His commandments.› From this, also, would be solved the saying, ‹The Lord knows those who are His,› and the saying, ‹Him who did not know sin, He made to be sin for us,› and whatever else is treated in Holy Scripture concerning knowledge or ignorance. Then, from the contrary, he confirms the same thing, using a more abundant demonstration, and says: ‹He who says, I have known Him, meaning I have communion with Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar.› For how is it possible to be both mingled with Him and not, the same person? Since the doing of the commandments signifies the mingling, while not keeping them signifies not being familiar at all. So that he who has known God has also been known by God, that is, he has been made familiar to God and has been taken up by God. And in this the love of God is contemplated, through which love he will also possess the perfection that is in God, and he will make this the token of his familiarity toward God. For through works perfect love is demonstrated. But because it happens that some may hand over the commandments rightly and accurately, while they themselves are disposed more sluggishly, which is far from God, for this reason he says that he who is in God, having been made familiar according to Him, ought himself also to direct the courses of his own life.

ggishly, which is far from God, for this reason he says that he who is in God, having been made familiar according to Him, ought himself also to direct the courses of his own life.

CHAPTER II

11, 7-11. "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."

He turns next to the love towards one's neighbor, and says that the union with, or love for, God is known first from the love towards one’s neighbor. For it is not possible that one who has been illuminated by the knowledge of God and filled with His love should have darkness arising from hatred against his brother. For light and darkness cannot coexist in the same thing and in the same respect. Therefore, he who is illuminated by the love towards God is ignited into the love of his brother; and he who has God also has the light towards his brother. ^B But he who says he loves God and hates his brother is in continuous darkness, always blinded in his intellectual eyes, as one who has lost the light that came from the union both towards God and towards his brother; nor does he know how he should henceforth use himself.

Since, however, this Epistle was general and was directed commonly to all, both Jews and Greeks, to the Jews indeed he directs his speech when he says, "I write no new commandment unto you, but an old one," speaking of love. For indeed in the tablets of Moses it is written: "Thou shalt love, after God, also thy neighbor as thyself." But to the Greeks, one might say, what is written of an old commandment, since this is nowhere found? We say, therefore, that for these too, the law was written concerning love towards one's neighbors. ^C Where and how? Indeed, written in the tablet of the heart through natural intelligence. That the natural intelligences sown in us are called law, Paul is sufficient to confirm the statement, who thus says: "I see another law warring against the law of my mind, which is in me." The law, therefore, or the old commandment, the Greeks also received, with nature writing the law, so that they might be kind towards all their kin and loving towards themselves, inasmuch as man is a social animal; which could not be done without love. ^D But even ancient histories record that many men exposed themselves to death, one for another. Our Savior delivers the sign of a greater love, when He says:

od sine dilectione fieri non posset. Sed et multos homines morti se exposuisse unum pro alio, veteres scribunt historiæ. Majoris signum dilectionis Salvator noster tradit, cum ait: ^A « Maiorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, quam ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis. » Thus, the commandment concerning love for one’s neighbor having been established long ago for both Greeks and Jews, he says that, in addition to the old commandment which you heard concerning love for one’s neighbor, I write to you a new commandment, which has truth both in Him who has made you familiar with God through communion with Him, and in you who have communed with Him. For since He says, « I have come into the world as light, » and the true light, according to His word, is already shining—and in the light, darkness cannot exist—let the true light of love now shine in the unfeigned disposition toward one's brother, and let the darkness of hatred pass away, that is, let it depart and vanish. For this is what “passing away” means also in blessed Paul, when he says, *For the form of this world is passing away*. Another interpretation regarding this: « I write a new commandment unto you. » This commandment is new, in that the law of Moses was not universal, but limited to those who were of the same kinship or tribe, exhorting men to love only their friends, while hating their enemies, as it says: « You shall love your friend and hate your enemy. » ^B But the commandment of the Lord and of His apostles embraces a very new element, commanding: « Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you, » adhering to the natural state of existence, and not to that natural inclination which adheres to wicked men who are addicted to malice. « But he that hateth his brother. » He says something of this sort by these words: He who claims to be of Christ, and hates his brother, lies and is not of Christ. For if Christ so loved him that He even laid down His soul for him, how can he who calls himself Christ’s hate his brother for whom Christ died? Or also in this way: He who claims to be of God, and hates his brother, who is Christ (for He Himself says, *I will declare thy name unto my brethren*), is not of God, but of the devil. For if he were of God, he would surely love his brother, and through him ^C Christ as well.

II, 12-14. *I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.*

Since he said, « I write a new commandment unto you, » he indicates also the disposition of those who were to receive the letter. He indicates this through the advancement and progress according to bodily growth. For he knew that not all would receive the word with equal esteem, nor with the same zeal and attention: but some as little children, ^D more along the lines of an introduction. To whom he also recommends the forgiveness

^A of sins through faith in Christ. Others, however, as those who have advanced to the perfect man of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and in such a way that they can also make others sons; to whom he also testifies that they have the knowledge of Him who is from the beginning. And who is He who is from the beginning, if not God the Word, who was in the beginning with God? Others are as adolescents, to whom, as they behave with the vigor and strength of youth against affections and the afflictions of reproach, he testifies that they are to receive the palm of victory. ^B Then, by another approach, he repeats the same thing, adapting the discourse of the doctrine to the measure of spiritual age. Since, therefore, he says, I know that you will receive what has been written by me in various ways, it is necessary for me also to measure out the doctrine according to the disposition of your age: and to converse with these as with children who have known the Father (by whom he means God); but with those as with fathers, who have something more than children in knowledge, in that they have known Him not only as Father, but also as one who is without beginning and unsearchable. For He was in the beginning. And for these it is fitting to set forth more perfect discourses. But to those who are like adolescents, being strong and ^C apt for wrestling and contests, to be anointed. And by saying that the fame of victory belongs to them, he shows that they have need of noble and more strategic discourses. Having thus apportioned his discourse to the ages of the spirit, both to those who would be thus disposed to his words and to those who are such as are coming to the faith, and who ought to be instructed accordingly to their own quality, he adds finally the discourse of exhortation, and says: "Do not love the world." These things he says as to children. For children are always captivated by visible pleasure. Then, having stated the reason why one ought not to love the world and the things in the world, he next directs his teaching to the fathers and the adolescents. For the perception of these is of a more perfect state. And that you may not think he signifies by "world" the system ^D of heaven and earth, he adds what the world is, and what the things in the world are. And he says the world is the base crowd, which has not even the love of the Father in itself. But what are the things in the world? They are those things fulfilled according to the lust of the flesh, which stirs up lust through the senses. For through the eyes, which hold the chief place among the senses, he has included the rest also. For around lust every evil is contemplated: adulteries, drinking bouts, indecent loves, arrogances, the desire to excel all others, with lust suggesting that whatever one attempts should be accomplished by the arrogant; murders, these indeed for the sake of greed, those others for the sake of destroying adversaries; deceits, and for these reasons that we might subdue by deceit whatever is an impediment to us; and to say it in one word, whatever is opposed to God is born to be accomplished through carnal lust. ^C II, 15-17. Do not love the world, nor the things which are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For whatever is in the

the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. ^A We have already said that he calls ^B the vile crowd the "world," for which reason the Lord also says to his disciples: "You are not of the world, as I also am not of the world." The father of this world is the devil—I mean, of worldly pleasure and confusion. For this reason also the Lord, speaking to the Father concerning his own disciples, says: "I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the Evil One," that is, from the world, which he elsewhere says lies in the Evil One. In another way: If the Evil One is opposed to the good Father, and he who serves the concupiscences of the world is not of the Father but of the world, it is manifest that he who is not of the Father, but of the world, is of the devil; just as also in the Gospels he says to the Jews: "You are not of the Father, but are of the devil." This is to say: from those worldly pursuits of which the devil is the sower and planter. And these, he says, worldly concupiscences do not have permanence and subsistence, but pass away; whereas those things which are done according to the will of God last perpetually. It is not, however, the part of wise men to disregard things that endure and to cling to things that are perishing; for they do something similar to one who attempts to build a house with a specter. "But he that doeth the will of God." And what is the will of the Father? That they believe in him whom he sent.

CAPUT III

"My little children, it is the last hour: and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour."

"It is the last hour." The statement can be understood more easily in this way: Since the Catholic Epistle is adapted to every man at whatever time he may live, and there is no prescribed limit of life for individuals, yet the end ^D of each is uncertain, he has deservedly applied everyone to his own end, so that, as if the last hour of life were imminent for each person, sobriety might follow, and so a life blameless and pure in action might always be practiced by Christians. Nor has any insane person a place to mock at this, saying: "If it was said so many years ago that 'It is the last hour,' why has that 'last' part not been measured or calculated up to the present?" For if you compare it to the span of time since the creation of the world, how much is that which has elapsed from that time until now?

It is nothing unreasonable to call everything after the middle "the last." ^A So if the Lord arrived at the middle of the thousand-year decade (since His presence on earth was almost in the five-thousandth year), no one would complain if everything from then on, as if from the middle, were called "the last." For of a hundred years, the first ten or twenty, and the following, might be called "the last." Thus, then, here also, since the thousand-year heap had passed by the time of the Lord's coming, everything from this point on might rightly be called "the last." This, then, is the most truthful account, and one according to the golden-tongued John.

It is also possible to understand "the last" as "the worst," as when we say, "I have arrived at the last of evils." ^B Since, therefore, the world at that time was being agitated by great evils, with the devil contriving these things after the coming of the Savior—either for the sake of testing the good, or for the confusion of those things which are better, so that one might not be able to discern what is good and what is not good—for this reason he called that time "the last hour," as the last implies the worst, as if it held the role of dregs or sediment. He confirms this "last hour," that is, this "worst" (or perhaps one referring to the substance of the time itself), by mentioning the Antichrist. For if, he says, we look for the Antichrist in the last times, and now many antichrists are prevalent in life (he refers to Cerinthus and those like him), it is clear that the time of the consummation is at hand, since the many antichrists are paving the way for the one. Then, having said this, he adds from whom these antichrists come, namely, that they are "from us." ^C

"They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but that they might be made manifest that they are not all of us. And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth."

"They went out from us." He adds this too, without having arranged anything for the clarity of the discourse. I mean, he should have asked himself, as it were, "And from where are these antichrists?" and then added, "They went out from us." Since he ought to have done so, he does not, but rather speaks confusedly—perhaps, by this confusion of speech, indicating the distress he felt concerning them. But why are antichrists said to have gone out from the Lord's disciples? So that they might be held worthy of belief among those who were being led astray, as if they were from the disciples, and as if they were performing the word of the preaching according to the mind of the Teacher, ^D and not as if they were carrying on a preaching utterly contrary to the proclamation. For this reason, then, they are from them: "They went out from us," he says. For having become disciples, they departed from the truth and invented their own blasphemy. One must, however, mentally supply the question, "And where do these antichrists come from?" so that the discourse may be clearer, for they were not from...

us. That is to say, they were not of the company of those who are saved. For if this were the case, they would have remained with their own. But now they have suffered this fate, that they might be manifested—that is, become clearly known—as being utterly alienated from us and having attached themselves to those who were not ours. For there are some among them who were never of us, to whom those who went out from us have clearly joined themselves. It is because of these, he says, that I have also said, "They are not all of us." For having broken away from us, their own kin, they attached themselves to others, strangers to us, choosing rather to live pagan and intemperately than to live temperately and honestly with us.

Having said these things, lest he appear to attribute the knowledge of these matters to himself alone, and thereby to become arrogant against the faithful as if he alone knew these things, he adds: ^B "But you have an anointing." As if he were saying: But why do I tell you these things as if you were ignorant? There is no ignorance of these matters among you. For you received through holy baptism the sacred anointing, and through this, the divine Spirit who leads you into all truth. Since this is so, you know that I am not writing these things to you as to the ignorant, but as to those who know. What are these things? The last time, the arrival of the Antichrists, that all things are full of falsehood. Therefore, because falsehood abounds, he says: I say also that many antichrists have arisen. For if Christ is the truth, whom you also have known, and you have the truth within yourselves—certainly the liar, being contrary to the truth, that is, to Christ, is an Antichrist.

II, 22-27. "Who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son, neither has the Father." Let that which you have heard from the beginning, therefore, remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, you yourselves will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which he himself promised to us, eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who deceive ^C you. And the anointing which you have received from him remains in you. And you have no need that anyone should teach you, but as the anointing itself teaches you about all things, and is true and is no lie. And just as it has taught you, abide in it.

Here too it is necessary to mentally supply the conjunction "kai" (and) for the sake of clarity, so that the sense may be: "And who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?" This the impious Simon was babbling about, claiming that Jesus was one person and Christ another. Jesus, indeed, was he who was born of holy Mary; but Christ was he who had descended from heaven at the Jordan. He, therefore, who applauds this lie, he says, is the Antichrist. And the phrase, "This is the Antichrist," is to be understood in two ways: both regarding him who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and regarding him who denies the Father and the Son. For he who denies the Father and the Son, he says, is also a liar ^D and an Antichrist.

^A For other heretics arose again, from whom the impure Valentinus was born, who said there was another, unnamed Father besides Him who is called the Father of Christ. And they also deny the Son, because they say He is a mere man and not God by nature, as being from God. Hence he adds: "Everyone who denies the Son, does not have the Father," just as the Jews, while denying the Son, pretended to know the Father and claimed this for themselves. But let them know that they do not even know the Father; for if they had known Him, they would surely have known that He is also the Father of the Only-Begotten Son. The followers of Simon used to babble the same thing. ^B Therefore, he says, "As for you, what you have heard from the beginning," that is, the divine doctrine concerning Christ, "keep it among yourselves." For this is what "Let it abide in you" means. "For if," he says, "what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, you too will abide in the Son and in the Father." That is, you will be partakers of Him. "For this is the promise." The conjunction "and" here must be taken causally, as "for." But what is the promise? It is that which the Lord says to the Father: "As I am in You, Father, and You in Me, that they also may be one in Us." And again: "That they may have eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Having concluded the discourse concerning these matters, he adds: "These things I have written to you concerning those who seduce you," that is, because of the heresies that have gone forth. Then he again adds, what we also said before, ^C securing for them the advantage of the fact that "You also have received the anointing." (But what this is has already been said, namely, that he means the Holy Spirit.) Therefore, since you have the Holy Spirit whom you received firm among yourselves, you have no need that anyone teach you. But as the same anointing, that is, the Spirit, teaches you concerning all things, just as He taught you, abide in Him. For it is true, and it is no lie—namely, that which He taught you: "And you, the anointing which you received." The sequence of the text is as follows: And you, since the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, you have no need that anyone should teach you.

"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, ^D and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is just, know that everyone who does justice has been born of Him."

"See what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. But we know that if He shall appear, we shall be like Him, that we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him, purifies himself just as He is pure."

Having spoken of the host of the Antichrists, and of all their perverse doctrine, from which, as if...

^A by a certain seal, He rendered them manifest, and having sufficiently strengthened them to remain immovable concerning those things in which they were instructed, He further adds the reward reserved for these things, as if making them stronger through the brilliance of the rewards; and He says: "Abide in Him." Why? That we may have confidence (parrhesia) in Him when He appears. For what is more manifest or more desirable than confidence, when we are about to display our toils in this life, and we do this with confidence and without being ashamed at His coming? And since it was likely that some would ask by what works they might become pleasing to Him, He teaches this also, and says: If you know that He is just, you certainly also know this, that he who does justice is born of Him. For the just man begets the just. As for how much this contributes to our boasting and confidence, no one is ignorant; just as no one is unaware of how great and of what kind is the love and kindness which He has shown ^B toward you. See, for He has granted to us to be and to be called His children. But if the Apostle says that this is unknown to those in the world—that is, [that we are] the children of God—do not marvel at this. For it is because of this that the world does not know you, because it did not even know Him who adopted you as children. That by "the world" He means the vile and abject crowd, we have shown in many places. Then, since He has established the adoption, He speaks after this more clearly concerning the glory and the confidence—or freedom of speech—that is reserved for those who have been adopted, and says: "Beloved, now we are children of God." As if He were saying: "By all means, beloved, you know from what has preceded that we have been brought into [the status of] children of God. And if this has not yet been ^C made manifest, do not be troubled. For that which is now hidden will become manifest when He is revealed. For having appeared like Him, we shall display the splendor of the adoption. For children are entirely like their father. But also, having confidence as children toward Him, we shall see Him as He is—not, clearly, according to His nature (for that is impossible for a created nature), but what? The just shall see the Just, the pure the Pure. For like will cling to like. For precisely because of this, I said a little earlier that we shall be 'like Him,' not according to nature. For otherwise He would not have said 'like,' but 'the same.' Now, however, since that will not happen, He said 'like,' according to the quality of glory, clearly. It must be noted that He did not say above, 'Everyone who has done' or 'who will do justice,' but 'He who does.' For virtues are practical, and have their being in the doing. For when they cease or [are merely] future, they do not even have being." ^D

III, 4-8. "Everyone who commits sin, also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He appeared that He might take away our sins. And sin is not in Him. Everyone who abides in Him does not sin. Everyone who sins has not seen Him, nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does justice is just, just as He is just. He who does sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. To this end the Son of God appeared, that He might destroy the works of the devil."

^A Having confirmed the discourse concerning justice by means of the goods of justice mentioned above, he now takes up a demonstration from the opposite side and from the things pertaining to it, and says: "Everyone who does sin." He says something of this sort: You who have been adopted, work justice, and do not show yourselves to be idle in it. For just as in the matter of sin, it is not he who has committed it or will commit it who is called the lawless man or the sinner, but he who clings to evil and is active in it, so also the just man is not he who does nothing, but he who is active. One must know that sin is a falling away from what is good, while iniquity is a transgression against the law set down. And both of these have their beginning in this: the former in the falling away from what is good, the latter in the transgression against the set law. They coincide ^B further even in the same point. For he who sins has missed the mark that is according to nature and in nature itself. For the mark for human nature is to live in accordance with reason, being removed far from irrationality. Likewise, he also who acts lawlessly transgresses against the law given in nature, being intemperately affected. Rightly, therefore, the disciple of the Lord established both as being the same, "And you know that He was manifested." By no means, he says, do you have room anymore to commit sin. For since Christ arrived for the removal of sin, ^C as He was partaker of no sin, it is not left for you any longer to sin, you who have come to Him and have been confirmed in the faith in Him. For this is what he wishes to signify through, "Everyone who abides in Him." And this is he who unyieldingly pursues the virtues and never ceases from the operation of them. "And sin is not in Him." The conjunction "And" is taken for "Because." "Everyone who sins," and so on. Having said that He was manifested, and the cause for which He was manifested—namely, that He might take away, that is, efface our sins, as one who did not commit sin—he adds that, "Everyone who sins has not seen Him." For if you, he says, who saw Him when He was manifested, also received a sign that you had seen Him—namely, that you are not easily mastered by sin, as having been perfectly established in Him—then surely those who sin have not seen Him. Wherefore they did not even know Him; for he does not mean by "to have seen and to have known" the contact according to a mere glance of the eyes, nor to have been active ^D toward the object of knowledge according to a ready imagination, but to have made an approach to Him with a certain judgment and science, as we said above. Having said these things, he proceeds more firmly, saying: "Let no one deceive you." For it is not otherwise than thus: He who does justice is acquainted with the Just One, and is just as He is, that is, God. And just as this is so, so again conversely: He who does sin is of the sinner. And this person is the devil, who sins from the beginning. Wherefore, God also, providing for His own creation, existing as justice and sanctification, was manifested, that is, He appeared in the world, that He might destroy the works of the devil, which is sin.

those which are sin. ^A "He who commits sin is of the devil." Since the devil, by sinning, became changed, everyone who acts in a sinful manner operates from his prompting: for he first enters into the one sinning through the suggestion of evil thoughts, just as in the case of Judas. But someone will say: How does the devil enter into those who sin, since they have already sinned by giving place to him? To this it must be said that doing sin is the same as sinning by giving place to the devil. For he who sins, being subject to concupiscence, gives him place; after he has received him, he effectively carries out the sin: for this is what "doing" it signifies. He did well, however, to say here "He who commits [present participle]," and not "He who has committed [past participle]," since he who repents is no longer of the devil, but only he who still commits sin. For thus, someone is a slave of sin who commits it, but not who has committed it. Therefore, he says: "Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin."

CAPUT IV

Regarding charity toward one’s neighbor and the disposition to give alms: in which he also deals with the good conscience which comes through faith in Jesus Christ; and regarding the discernment of spirits through the confession of the Lord's incarnation.

III, 9-18. "Everyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Everyone who does not practice justice is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother; for this is the announcement that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain was of the evil one and slaughtered his brother. And for what reason did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, but those of his brother were righteous. Do not marvel, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love his brother remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we have known charity, that He laid down His soul for us, and we ought to lay down our souls for the brothers. But whoever possesses the substance of the world, and sees his brother in need, and closes ^D his bowels from him, how does the charity of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

"Everyone who has been born of God." Since everyone who commits sin is of the devil in proportion to that very act of sinning, he is also called a son of the devil, just as the blessed Paul says to Elymas: "O full of all deceit and all craftiness, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness," it is manifest that he who has been born of God, as a son of God, does not sin. And the reason is that His seed—God's, clearly—is in him, that is to say the Spirit which we have received through the gift. Which, remaining in us, that is to say

makes our mind steadfast and incapable of sin. ^A And Christ Himself, as He dwells in the faithful, makes them sons of God. Just as also in the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, all nations are blessed. He proceeds now in this way with His discourse, confirming what he had said above—I mean that the faithful are children of God—and making it irrefutable, both from the thing itself, I mean from not sinning, and from its contrary, as we said a little before. For if, by the contrary, the contrary, and the contrary by the contrary, according to dialectical arguments.

Consider, however, the precision of the statement. For he did not say that one is born of God or of the devil before the works have preceded, namely either of righteousness or of lawlessness. For from these comes adoption—whether of God or ^B of the devil. For although we have been saved by grace, yet because of the exceeding kindness of God it is said that, even though we had offended incurably, He did not remember our evils for the sake of our salvation; since He does not bestow the salvation that is with Him upon the idle, as Paul confirms by crying out: "To those who are called according to His purpose."

Likewise also those who are adopted by the devil as sons, even if they were alienated from the womb and have not yet performed the sin according to purpose, yet because of their extreme propensity for wickedness this is said. For it is not the case that one is not active in evil by being brought into the devil's household. But he who commits sin, that one is also taken up by the devil, either as a son, in that he works evil more and by his own choice, or as a slave, in that he has been wrestled down by the evil one and overcome by him, and condemned to the service ^C of him.

Observe also this, that he did not say that he who is born of God does not sin, so that he might not include the infants who from their age have the property of not sinning, but he said that he "does not commit sin." For the phrase "he does not sin" seems like a simple negation; but "he does not commit" signifies that it does not happen due to a disposition. Wherefore he also adds that "he cannot sin," not saying this according to a natural impossibility, as we say regarding irrational creatures that they cannot receive knowledge, but discussing this according to a voluntary cessation or abstinence from sinning, and saying that not sinning is the mark of the sons of God, just as, conversely, sinning is the mark of the children of the devil.

Having gone through these things, and having declared that the mark of the children of God is not committing sin, just as conversely the mark of the children of the devil is sinning—having gone through these things, then, he resumes again after many things that were in between, the love towards one's neighbor, as though for the sake of that one he had dealt with all the things in between, since indeed love is the fulfillment of all things, and says: "He who does not love his brother, is not of God."

And against this clause, indeed, is set: "He is not of God," saying this: Since he who does righteousness has been born of God, it follows for him who is thus born that he loves his brothers. But he who does not do righteousness, by not doing it, hates his brothers, and is not of God—not in any other way than by not having been born of Him. And how he is not of God he shows, saying that ^D "This is the message,"

^A which you have heard from the beginning." What, then, is this message? As we have already said, it is both natural and learned; but it is also in accordance with the legal commandment concerning the love of one's neighbor, and that of the Lord, who says: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another." Furthermore, there is also the natural commandment toward those who are of the same lot and condition, which compels us to do this. Since, therefore, there are so many and such commandments in conformity with the Lord’s assertion, he who keeps His word and performs it has eternal life and has passed from death into life.

^B Therefore, let us love our brothers, taking no harm so as to be moved toward emulation; for instance, if we are hated by the world, let us not also hate our brothers, but let the word of the Lord be more effective in us. For he who hates his brothers, besides being excluded from eternal life, is also a murderer. For it follows necessarily that if one is a murderer, he does not have eternal life. For see, he says, Cain, who, because he had hatred against his brother, killed him, even though he was his brother. But because he had evil works, he was a son of the devil, whereas Abel, doing works of righteousness, was called a son of God. Furthermore, the devil is opposed to God, ^C and evil works are opposed to good ones; for this reason, Cain also, being opposed to his brother, killed him. Thus, indeed, was the logical progression of the discourse; but the blessed John reversed the order, always serving the thing that was more pressing. For it pressed upon him, since he had mentioned the devil and those who, because of their wicked actions, were adopted by him, to propose him as an example, who from the beginning of the world became a son of the evil one through evil works. But having finished with Cain and those who, imitating him, receive the same inheritance, he turns back again to love, showing what great goods come from it, and he says that love persuaded the Lord to lay down His soul for us, ^D and that according to this example, we also ought to lay down our souls for the brothers. And because this is rare and among the few, as if to exhort them, he begins the admonition of brotherly love from lesser things, thus in a way arranging his discourse: What do I say, "to lay down our souls for the brothers?" when we see some not even providing for the necessary needs of the brothers; and I do not mean those who themselves are in need of the necessities of life, but those who are abundant in wealth throughout almost the whole world. For this reason, let them be ashamed, since if they have closed their bowels in these smallest of matters, and have shown themselves by this to be unworthy and empty of the love of God, what would they have shown in the greater matter of dying for the brothers? Then he also adds another thing to urge them on, concerning those who accept love in word and show it by the tongue only, and he says: "Let us not love in word and tongue, but in deed and in truth."

^A And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall persuade our hearts before him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God, and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. ^B *1 John 3:19-23.* "By this we know." By what? By the fact that we do not love in word, but in deed and in truth. And what do we know? That we are of the truth. How? For he who says one thing and does another, not having his action in harmony with his speech, is a liar and not truthful. "And before him we shall persuade our hearts." He says this, that by this—namely, by being truthful (and we shall be truthful when our actions proceed according to our words)—we shall persuade our conscience; for he wishes "hearts" to signify this. And how shall we persuade it? By positing this within ourselves, that we bring forth our words as if before God as witness. For this is what "before him" ^C signifies. For, he says, if we do not act thus, but our conscience—that is, our heart—condemns us, we do not escape notice when we sin. For if we cannot escape the notice of our conscience, which is small, being as it is from a small creature, while we are sinning, how much more shall we not escape the notice of the infinite and omnipresent God? The whole argument, therefore, is such: "My little children, let us not lie to one another by loving only with the tongue, but let us also show love by deed." For by this we shall be known to be of the truth, that is, of God; and what we say, let us say as if God is watching. ^D For no one, even if he were more shameless than the demons, could bear to lie with God present and bearing witness. For if we do not act in this way, but, while saying that we love, our heart condemns us of a lie, we err. How? By thinking that we escape the notice of God, who is present everywhere, and not even understanding this: that if it is impossible for us to escape the notice of our own heart, since it is small, how shall we escape the notice of him who is never absent? Since, therefore, we have prepared ourselves, beloved, so as not to be condemned by ourselves—in the fact, clearly, of being truthful toward one another—we will have confidence toward God; from which confidence, whatever we ask, we will certainly receive from him. For what reason? "Because we keep his commandments." For it is of the greatest importance for someone who is asking to be called to obedience, that there be readiness on the part of those who are asking, when the petition is made without contradiction toward the one to whom the request is directed. Since, therefore, we also keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him, we are confident that we will not suffer a rebuff in our petitions; [D continued] since the affection that exists in both parties strongly desires to reciprocate the needs that arise for the other. And what commandment of his have we kept? That which says: "Have love among yourselves." Since, therefore, we have the commandment that we should, by the faith which is in the name of his Son...

Jesus Christ, love one another, we have done this, and by this we know that the grace which he gave us through his Spirit has been confirmed within us. It should be noted that it is frequently stated in the New Testament: "To believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." But what does this mean? It means nothing other than his glory, his will, or his renown. His glory and renown, as when it says: "How excellent is thy name in all the earth!" But his will, as in this passage, and when it says: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus." That is to say, "In his will." For what is the will of the Lord Jesus? To baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. ^B

And let us love one another, as he commanded. And he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us. "This is," he says, "that we should love one another with a true affection." And where did he command this? In those words when he said: "As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them." If, therefore, we desire that our neighbors should be truly and sincerely affected toward us, we must in every way be likewise affected toward them. But if this is the Lord’s commandment, with much more reason, if we abide in him—that is, if we are established in him—he will also show himself to us. For he cannot deny himself; this means he cannot be taken in vain, ^C while he provides us with his commandments, but he first establishes them in himself. If this is the case, and if we do what he commands, we shall have him obedient to us in all things that we ask of him, and his gift will be firm within us. The whole sentiment of this arrangement is of this kind: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another truly, as is his commandment. For he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit or gift which he has given us. For as long as this asylum remains, we undoubtedly have an inalienable gift of his. But how will it remain an asylum? If we neglect nothing of those things which he commanded us concerning love. ^D

IV. 1-6. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already it is in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them.

For greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us: he that is not of God, heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. ^B Having finished the discourse concerning love towards one’s neighbor, and having declared this to be the mark of the indwelling of the Spirit which we have received, he now adds a judgment also of those who are truly brothers and neighbors, so that, having this, we may not fall—on the occasion of the commandment concerning love—into false brothers and false apostles and false prophets, thereby procuring the greatest harm for ourselves. For by welcoming them as if they were of like character, we shall first harm ourselves, having shared in the faith with the impious, and having cast what is holy to the dogs; and then, we shall also harm those who adhere to us. For our love towards them will persuade many to accept them as teachers, and to believe what is said by them unguardedly, as they are stolen away by their association with us. ^C And what is the mark of these, if not what he says: “Every spirit that confesseth.” Every spirit—that is, every gift of prophecy or dignity of apostleship—which confesses that Jesus the Lord has come in the flesh, is of God. But that which does not confess this is not of God, but this dignity is of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard. When? From those words which he said a little before, that many Antichrists are in the world; that is, the precursors of the Antichrist. Furthermore, he says that the confession of the Lord’s coming in the flesh is not brought to pass by the tongue, but by works. How? As the blessed Paul says: “Always bearing about in the [our] body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” Therefore, he who has Jesus working [in him], and who is dead to the world, and no longer lives for the world but for Christ, and bears Him about—not only in the flesh of Christ, but also in his own—is of God. But whoever lives not for Christ, but for the world—that is, for the pleasures of the world—such a one is not of God. Therefore, Paul also says: “Where there are among you envying and strife, are you not carnal, and walk according to man?” And he who walks according to man has not the Spirit of Christ. But he who has not the Spirit of Christ—that is, he who does not live according to Christ, having obviously deadened himself to the world—is not of Christ. “And now it is already in the world,” he says of the Antichrist, not corporeally, but through those who prepare the way for his presence: the false prophets, the false apostles, and the heretics. ^D Now this Antichrist will be a man who will bear about Satan, lifted up against everything that is called God or an object of worship. Therefore, he will also reject the worship of idols, which he signaled out as those called gods. And by the term "every object of worship"

at is called God or an object of worship. Therefore, he will also reject the worship of idols, which he signaled out as those called gods. And by the term "every object of worship," he signifies even Christianity; and he will attempt to show himself to be the only God. Having indicated that the prophets of the Lord and the apostles are to be known by these things, he adds: "But you, children, who are from God, have overcome them," that is, the false prophets. How? "Because the God who is in you is greater than he who is in the world," according to whom the false prophets chose to live. ^B Then, to these he adds another mark of the false prophets, which especially troubled even the simpler believers. For it was likely that some of them would bear it ill while they saw those men being held in high esteem by many, while they themselves were despised. And he says: "Do not be affected with sorrow if you are despised by the many, while those men are accepted by them." For like runs to like. "They are from the world, and therefore they speak from the world"—that is, because they teach according to carnal desires, they have them as their listeners, the perverse having the perverse. But we, since we are from God and are alienated from carnal desires, cannot be received by them. But he who lives temperately, and thereby knows God, is ready to afford us a hearing. Therefore Christ also says: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," testifying that only he who is prepared for obedience has ears. Having distinguished these things, he subsequently adds, as a seal to the things already said by him, that through this (namely, what has already been said) we know those who have the spirit of truth, or the true prophetic dignity, and those who have the spirit of error, or of false prophecy.

CAPUT V. On fraternal charity regarding divine worship.

IV, 7, 11. Beloved, let us love one another, because charity is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is charity. In this the charity of God was manifested in us, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. In this is charity, not that we have loved God, but that he himself loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

^D Again, after the aforementioned, he resumes the discourse on love. For when he had shown whom one ought to love—namely, those who are conformable in their ways—he adheres to the things said at the beginning, saying that both love and he who loves are from God, and that only he who loves is born of God and knows God; but that he who does not have charity also does not know God, confirming contraries with contraries. And how he who does not love does not know God, he proves in this way: "God is charity." And whence will this be made manifest? From the fact that he sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that he might bestow true life

non noverit is qui non diligit, hoc modo probat: "Deus charitas est." Unde hoc manifestum fiet? Ex eo quod miserit Filium suum unigenitum in mundum, ut vitam vere vivendam præberet ^A per ipsum. Just as goodness is said to exist because, out of goodness, He brought the intelligible and sensible world into being, so that He who truly is might have some participants in Himself, so too, by the love with which He gave His only-begotten Son into the world for our sake, He demonstrated through this very fact that He is love. Thus, He Himself adds: "In this is love," that is, "In this it is shown that God is love." Then, extolling the goodness of the love of God, he says: It is not that we loved Him that God did this, giving His Son for us, as if He were in debt to those who love Him to render an equal affection in return; but rather, initiating the benefit toward us through love, He sent His Son. And He not only sent Him, but also, through His own blood, He was appeased for our sins. If, therefore, God has so loved us, he says, although we had nothing in nature in common with Him, how much more are we also bound to love those who are of the same nature as ourselves, and, having recognized the good which proceeds from love, to minister it to one another? For just as there is blame for him who does not choose what is to be chosen, and does not love what is lovable, so too praise is attributed to those who love those worthy of love, because they are lovable. And being thus disposed, we possess both: "beloved," because we have been loved by God and taken up by Him; and "loving," ^B through our love for our neighbors—that is, love that is sincere and pure, not that which is passionate and sordid, which might belong even to assassins and other criminals.

"No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. In this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world."

We have said even before this that it is the custom of this blessed man to repeat the same things about the same subjects, wishing to impress the habit of what is being said upon those who are being taught, and to lead the discourse to what is clearer and more perfect. For by approaching in one way and then another from those things which are to be observed in reality, and as if filling in what is lacking in the discourse, he makes the most perfect demonstration of the things that are being said. According to this manner of instruction, he uses this discourse ^C and says: "No one has ever seen God." For since he brought forward God as an example while making his remarks concerning love for the brothers, for He gave His own only-begotten Son unto death because of the love He had for us, it was logical that some should say, "And whence or how do you say this about invisible and incomprehensible things, and confirm to us things that no one has ever known?" Therefore, meeting those who would say such things, he himself says that as for God, indeed, no one has ever seen Him. "I myself agree," he says. "But from our mutual love for one another," he says, "we know that God is in us." And he says this well, ^D that we are beloved and loving.

^A For we understand many things that are invisible to us from their operations. Indeed, just as no one has seen a soul, yet one apprehends that it exists in us from its actions and motions, so we also know God’s love for us as if through a certain motion and operation. And if this is not absurd, then this divine man also does not show it unbecomingly, that God is in us through that operation. And what is this operation? A pure and sincere love toward our neighbor.

591 For this is effective and has no defect, when, of course, it is pure. This is the indicator that both we remain in Him and He in us, in that He has given to us of His Spirit. For He who is pure bestows pure and spotless things, free from all filth. Since, therefore, we commune with Him through pure love, from this we also, he says, who have seen Him according to the flesh, have known Him and bear witness that the Father has sent Him as the Savior of the world. But besides our own knowledge, He Himself also instructed us, leading us more perfectly into this knowledge when He said: "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world." This, insofar as it pertains to the fact that He sent His Only-Begotten Son into the world for the sake of our love. Again, it is more manifest from other words: "For God so loved the world," he says, "that He gave His Only-Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish." And: "I did not come to judge the world, but that I might save the world." We have, therefore, ^B from our own sight, he says, and from the teaching of the Only-Begotten who is in the bosom of the Father, as it is written in the Gospels, and from the operation through mutual love, that God is in us, and that He has given us of His Spirit, and we participate with Him.

IV, 15-17. Whoever shall have confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the charity which God has in us. God is charity, and he who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him. In this is charity perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world.

This refers to what was said a little before, namely that every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. For since he sufficiently demonstrated that they are children of God and that God abides in them—and he demonstrated this through mutual charity, which confirms that the Holy Spirit, or spiritual gifts, has been given to them—he refers the discourse back to those things again, and says: "Whoever shall have confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him," saying something of this kind: I said in the preceding, "Every one who confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." ^D

Furthermore, my discourse proceeds and reveals something else. I therefore put this forward: that those who confess these things, and have the Spirit, or God and his spiritual gifts, remaining in themselves, they themselves also abide in God. And we do not say this by chance, but with firm knowledge and faith through mutual love. ^A Having made mention of love, he also brings in everything he has said concerning love, granting great credibility to the discourse on love. "In this is love perfected." He intends, he says, for us to be perfected in love, so that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, toward Him who became man, clearly, because He Himself is the one who judges according to His own decree, where He says: "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son." ^B And that we shall have boldness toward Him who became man, he has made clear through what follows, saying: "As He is, so are we in this world." By saying this, since it has been shown beforehand that God is in us and we in Him, he says that we bear witness to the perfection of love within ourselves. Just as He was in the world blameless and pure, wherefore He also said, "The ruler of this world is coming, and in Me he finds nothing," so too shall we be in the world. For the words "is" and "are" are placed for a change of tense, as is the custom of Scripture, or it signifies something deeper through this. For he has often said that we are in God, and God in us. If, therefore, this is so, and He is holy in us—that is, the guide and prince of holiness—then let us also bear Him in this world holily and purely, being dead to the world, ^C always bearing about in our body His mortification. Living in this way, he says, we shall have boldness toward Him, and we shall then be free from all fear. For being perfected in love through good works, we shall be far removed from fear. And he adds as confirmation of this that "perfect love casts out fear." But what fear does he say? The fear of punishment. For it happens that someone might love because of fear, lest he be punished. But this fear is not perfect; that is, it is not the fear of perfect love. Having said these things about perfect love, he proves entirely that we ought to love God, because He Himself first loved us. But we ^D ought, since He was the first beginner of good for us, to strive the more zealously toward a recompense for this, just as has been discussed by us more extensively above. Now some have inquired how, when David says, "Fear the Lord, all His saints, because there is no lack for those who fear Him," this man now says, "Perfect love casts out fear." For surely the saints of God are not perfected in love, to whom is commanded to fear? We say, therefore, that there is a twofold fear. The one is initial, which also brings with it torment as a companion because of the evils one has committed, by him who approaches God, and for fear that he not be punished as he approaches—and this is indeed initial. Furthermore, perfect, such...

fear is released from such torment. Therefore, it is also called holy, and remaining unto the age of ages; for, he says, "The fear of the Lord is holy, remaining unto the age of ages" [Ps. CXVIII, 20]: not the initial fear, which is neither holy nor permanent but vanishes in perfect love. What, then, is perfect fear, and why is it so? It is that which, having been perfectly assumed into love, takes pains that nothing should be lacking to it, as is fitting for one who loves intensely to perform for the one beloved. ^B

IV, 18-21. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears is not perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar. For how can he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also."

He who loves God genuinely does not perform what is pleasing to Him because of the threat of punishments, but because of an ardent affection for virtue and love toward God; yet he does not think himself secure through this noble fear, which is love for the honorable. Or again, he who does something out of fear of falling into punishment is the same as the former; therefore he adds, "Fear has torment." ^C — "If someone says, 'I love God,'" where he shows by cogent arguments that love passes from God to us, and from us to God; and having further added that if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another, he now brings the discourse back to this, saying that since it is a debt laid upon us to love our brother—based on the example of God’s love toward us, which, by returning and paying back to God, we shall fulfill our obligation—he says it is necessary to love our brother above all, as the most perfect sign of love toward God. For if this is not the case, our love toward God could not be preserved, since the duty which is toward one another, which we have contracted from the love toward God, would fail. "For he who does not love his brother." He adds to this also a most effective argument to convict those who try to corrupt divine love, saying something like this: Love or charity comes together and is formed entirely ^D from mutual conversation; but conversation has as its companion the sight of the brother, and from this it is bound most especially to the love of him. If this is true, then he who does nothing for that which more strongly draws one to love, and who does not love his brother whom he has seen—if he says he loves God whom he has not seen, who is neither conversant with him nor can be grasped by any sense—how can he be found to be truthful? If, therefore, anyone shamelessly says this, he says...

loving God, while hating his brother, is he not found to be a transgressor of His commandment besides, in addition to corrupting divine love? Of which commandment? The one that says: "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." He, therefore, who loves God, and asserts himself to be His disciple, loves also his brother according to His commandment.

CAPUT VI

V, 1-5. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves Him who begot, loves also him who is born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not grievous. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Having said these things, he again confirms the discourse with other points, strengthening it in a certain way thus: If we have received a commandment from the Master to love one another, undoubtedly if we believe that our master and teacher Jesus is the Christ—who is Christ ^B in that He is God and man—we shall also keep His commandments as those of a Master and as those of God. And believing Him to be God, we are named His children, just as it is also said in the Gospels: "But as many as received Him," that is, as many as believed in Him, "He gave them the authority to become children of God." If we are born of Him, then we shall certainly also perform what is due to Him who generated us. What is this? To love Him who generated us, since this naturally follows in children in their affection for their fathers. ^C Since, he says, this is so, all of us who have believed are born of Him (and if we are born of Him, we are debtors to love one another for this reason, both as brothers and as those born of Him), he brings in also the proof of this, that he who loves the One who generated him, loves also the one who is generated from Him. Then he uses the discourse conversely, and says that the love toward the brothers, that is, the children of God, confirms the love toward the One who gave birth to them. For earlier ^D he said, "He who loves God, loves also his brother," but now, having reversed it, he says that he who loves the children of God, loves God also. And he sets as a sign of love toward God the love toward the brother. Then he says that love toward God also renders one a doer of His commandments, saying this rightly. "For he who loves me," the Savior Himself says, "keeps my commandments." "For this is the love of God." The matter proposed is to be understood by hyperbaton in this way: For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, for everything born of

^A God conquers the world. The phrase, "And His commandments are not heavy," is inserted. He did not say, as Christ did, that "My yoke is light," nor did he say that the commandments are light, but rather that "they are not heavy." For to him who is being led forward toward virtue, even things that are very heavy are considered light, just as to someone who has lost that vigor which performs all good things, even things that are very light seem heavy. Since it seemed to some that the commandments of God were heavy, being as they were from God, on that account he says that His commandments are not heavy. For what is heavy about loving one's brother? And further, what is heavy about visiting one who is in prison? He does not command that we free the one in prison, which would be difficult, but only that we visit him; nor that we cure the sick one of his ailment, but only that we visit; nor that we set a sumptuous table before the hungry, nor that we give the naked man a garment prepared with superfluous complexity, but rather those things which provide the necessary use which the hungry or naked person requires. ^B After having ordered these things in this way, he adds to what has already been said another point which leads toward the display of charity. What is that? Victory. For he says that through love for one's brother, by establishing yourselves as children of God, you also have this follow-up to this good work, namely, that you overcome the world. For "everything born of God conquers the world." Then he sets forth both the victory and the cause of the victory, saying that both belong to faith—that is to say, faith toward God, which, having been born of God, has conquered all unbelief and banished it, such that neither Jew, nor Greek, nor heretic can stand against it. And since faith does not conquer by itself, but along with the one who possesses it, for this reason he adds: "And who is it that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" And who is this Jesus? He who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ. ^C

V, 6-12. This is He who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that testifies, for the Spirit is truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are one. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater: for this is the testimony of God, which He has testified concerning His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God has testified concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life: and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life: he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Since he had mentioned the procreation of children ^D of God and birth, if

^A all that is born of God is brought about for us through holy baptism; for this reason he says, "This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ." And for whose sake did He come? To regenerate us and make us children of God. For this, too, is heard as following upon the logic, so that it might be thus: And all that is born of God conquers the world. And how was it born? "By water," he says, "and blood." For Jesus, who is Christ, who came, regenerates through water and blood. But he adds, repeating the discourse again, saying not by water only—that is, regenerating—but by water and blood. For he desires first to show the demonstration of Christ who adopts us: because the man who was in Him, being the first adopted by God, also bestowed upon us through His own adoption such a dignity, ^B which was also demonstrated at three times: namely, in the baptism in the Jordan, when the Father from above testified to the One being baptized as His beloved Son. But who is the one entering the water, if not the man joined to the Word of God? He who was appearing in the hidden. For to this one also the testimony needed to be made. By water, therefore—that is, in the baptism that comes by water—Jesus the Son of God was manifested through the testimony of the Father. But by blood: when, about to be crucified, He said, "Father, glorify Me," and a voice was borne [saying], "I have both glorified and will glorify again," which even those who heard thought was thunder. But by the Spirit, when as God He arose from the dead. For to God alone belongs this result, to raise Himself. But by the expression of the Spirit, God is signified; since ^C God is also Spirit. Therefore, with three testifying—the baptism, the crucifixion, the resurrection—to the adoption of Jesus, the Lord's adoption is indisputable, through which adoption, as He was the first-fruits of the whole human mass, He granted to us also to be sons of God. And [all] three of these are in the one Christ. For this is what he signifies by saying, "The three are for the one," that is, for the testimony regarding Christ. But it must be known that certain of the Fathers said that the Spirit [is] not because of the resurrection, but the Father, when He cried out in the Jordan, "This is My beloved Son," inasmuch as God is also called Spirit, as we have said before. Having said these things, he adds credibility to the things being said from the lesser, saying thus: If we receive the testimony of men regarding any ^D thing whatsoever, ought we not much more justly receive the testimony from God, who is greater? For is not this very testimony regarding His Son, that is, of Christ, from God? Therefore, he who believes in the Son of God, that He is God as the Son of God, has the testimony in Him—that is, in himself, believing that he also is adopted by God through the Jesus who was adopted by God. But he who does not believe is liable to two evils: [the evil] of unbelief, making God a liar, but also [the evil of] depriving himself of adoption, and through this also of the eternal life which He promised to those being adopted by Him.

which He also has in Himself, as it is written in the Gospel: “In Him was life.” ^A Therefore, he who has the Son through holy baptism, has also life. For as many of us as have been baptized into Christ, that is, according to His commandment, have put on Christ. But he who does not have the Son of God through baptism, neither has he life, and he is dead. For He rouses us who are dead in sins through holy baptism. How? As it has been frequently said, that he who is buried with Christ through the immersion which happens in baptism, this man is dead to the world, that is, to worldly desires, and no longer lives for himself, but for Christ, walking according to His commandments in newness of life, and giving no further ^B secret entrance to sin.

Verses 13-15. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”

As in an epilogue, he sums up what was said before, and says: “I have written these things to you as to heirs of eternal life.” For these things would by no means be written to those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life: since neither to give what is holy to the dogs, nor to cast pearls before ^C swine, would merit praise. Writing these things, therefore, as to heirs of eternal life, he repeats them briefly, as we have said, reminding them of the things already stated: first, that it is necessary to believe without hesitation in the name of the Son of God, that is, in the divine worship handed down to us by Him. For this is what he wishes the name of the Son of God to signify, as we have previously stated, for which the grace of holy baptism itself prepares the way. Then, that of this indubitable faith there is no other sign than confidence, which we find in Him through blameless faith, as we also said above. And again, he has placed as a sign of this confidence the not being frustrated in all things which are requested by us. But ^D because not all attain all that is requested, nor are they always heard in what they ask, he adds: “According to His will,” manifesting clearly that he who asks contrary to the will of the Master is not to be heard, in conformity with the blessed James: for he also says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,” that is, in a way that is not expedient for you. Turning this kind of sign into a more manifest indication, he says: “And if we know that He hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of Him,” saying something such as this: If we ask according to His will, He hears us; and if He hears us in whatsoever we ask, we know that we ask according to His will, [and He hears us...]

that we do the will of Him, we do our petitions, and we have within ourselves the petitions which we have asked. And these are His kingdom and His justice, which He Himself commanded us to seek. ^A Having said these things, he also clearly proposes something of those things which He wishes us to seek according to the will of God. For since he is almost throughout the whole Epistle very abundant in extolling charity toward one's brother, and in asserting that this is His will, that we should keep charity toward one's brother uncorrupted: he now says that this is one of His wills, that if anyone sees his brother sinning not unto death, he should ask, and He will give to him. And what will He give? Eternal life. To whom? To those who do not sin unto death.

CHAPTER VII.

"If anyone sees his brother sinning." This is one of the wills. For it is of justice to suffer with a brother who has sinned, and to be of assistance to him for salvation. "There is a sin unto death." Let the order be this: There is a sin unto death, and there is a sin not unto death. I do not say that one should pray for that which is unto death, but for that which is not unto death. Then he explains his statement, making a distinction of the sin which is unto death and of that which is not unto death. For simply, as from the genus of sin, he makes the division, and says: All iniquity is sin: whether it be unto death, or not unto death. But for that which is unto death, ^D let him not pray or ask, for he will not be heard, because he asks wrongly in praying for one who shows no conversion. For that sin alone is unto death which does not look toward repentance: with which Judas, having been struck, was led away into everlasting death. But those also who bear grudges sin unto death. For the ways of those who remember injuries tend unto death, says Solomon. For neither do these, by repenting, turn about, holding fast to the remembrance of an injury, and keeping wrath against a neighbor, but they sin without repentance. Having declared these things, he consequently also signifies whose it is to sin with a sin unto death: and he says that he who has been adopted by God, he never

does not falter, nor does it suffer from sin unto death. For when one has once ^A consigned himself to Christ, who dwells in him through adoption, he remains inaccessible to sin. Yet, lest anyone think that he has entirely changed his nature in such a way that he can no longer be caught by sin henceforth, he adds: "He keeps himself"; as if to say: unless he were to keep and guard himself from the evil one, he would certainly sin. Therefore, he does not advance to sinlessness by nature, he says, but by the great gift of God, who, in that He adopted us, deemed us worthy of such grace, so that by guarding and keeping what has been given to us by Him, we might also have the ability not to sin. Since, if it were not so—seeing that the world lies in the evil one (by "world" he means those who have not given themselves over to the adoption of God through good works)—nothing would prevent us from being examined along with those who are perishing, ^B inasmuch as the mind of man is set diligently upon evil from his youth, as God declared at the time of the flood. But since, he says, the Son of God has come and given us a mind, that is, discernment, so that by inward knowledge we may recognize Him as the true God, and be in His true Son Jesus Christ, we have known through this great gift that this is the true God and life eternal. And having known this, we remain safe from the assault of the evil one and his stumbling blocks. "This is the true God." Here also, the demonstrative is used. Here, the relative is put for the article. "Keep yourselves from idols." Some have asked: If he is writing to perfect believers, for what reason does he now command them to keep themselves from idols? We say, therefore, that because he wrote to the whole Church, which did not consist ^C of a chosen people alone, but there were also some in it who were more sluggishly disposed, he commands these things to them, having an eye to their instability.

The end, by divine favor, of the First Catholic Epistle of John.

ARGUMENT OF THE SECOND CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF JOHN

^D He writes this as an elder to a lady and her children. The occasion of the Epistle was this: When he saw her children conducting themselves rightly in the faith, and many

in the faith, and because many deceivers were going about saying that the advent of Christ in the flesh did not happen, he writes this Epistle. First, he commends her children because they walk rightly. Then, teaching us that the mystery concerning us is not something new, he exhorts them again concerning love, and that they should remain in the teaching delivered to them. Consequently, he teaches that he is the Antichrist who says that Christ has not come in the flesh. He instructs that no one should receive such persons into their house, nor even say "Ave" to them; and thus he concludes the Epistle. ^A

CAPITA OF THE SECOND CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF JOHN

THE SECOND CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF JOHN THE APOSTLE

PROEMIUM

Some have thought that this Epistle and the one that follows it are not by John the Beloved, but by another person who shared this same name, inasmuch as he writes of himself as "the elder" in these, and writes to a woman and another man, Gaius, and writes to individuals, as if to a single woman or a single man, which is not the case for a catholic Epistle. Furthermore, they note that the address is not made in accordance with the first Epistle, for in that one he did not begin in this way. But we respond that he did not write in that manner in the first one because he was not writing to a defined person, ^D nor to a Church in specific places, as the blessed Peter did, signifying definitely that he was writing to the Jews who were in the dispersion; and before him, divine James, defining himself as