Introduction to the Gospel According to John

## John Chrysostom (c.346-407)

Homily 1 on the Gospel of John

1. They that are spectators of the heathen games, when they
have learned that a distinguished athlete and winner of crowns has come from
any quarter, run all together to view his wrestling, and all his skill and
strength; and you may see the whole theater of many ten thousands, all there
straining their eyes both of body and mind, that nothing of what is done may
escape them. So again these same persons, if any admirable musician come among
them, leave all that they had in hand, which often is necessary and pressing
business, and mount the steps, and sit listening very attentively to the words
and the accompaniments, and criticising the agreement of the two. This is what
the many do.

Again; those who are skilled in rhetoric do just the same
with respect to the sophists, for they too have their theaters, and their
audience, and clappings of hands, and noise, and closest criticism of what is
said.

And if in the case of rhetoricians, musicians, and athletes,
people sit in the one case to look on, in the other to see at once and to
listen with such earnest attention; what zeal, what earnestness ought you in
reason to display, when it is no musician or debater who now comes forward to a
trial of skill, but when a man is speaking from heaven, and utters a voice
plainer than thunder? For he has pervaded the whole earth with the sound; and
occupied and filled it, not by the loudness of the cry, but by moving his
tongue with the grace of God.

And what is wonderful, this sound, great as it is, is
neither a harsh nor an unpleasant one, but sweeter and more delightful than all
harmony of music, and with more skill to soothe; and besides all this, most
holy, and most awful, and full of mysteries so great, and bringing with it
goods so great, that if men were exactly and with ready mind to receive and
keep them, they could no longer be mere men nor remain upon the earth, but
would take their stand above all the things of this life, and having adapted
themselves to the condition of angels, would dwell on earth just as if it were
heaven.

2. For the son of thunder, the beloved of Christ, the pillar
of the Churches throughout the world, who holds the keys of heaven, who drank
the cup of Christ, and was baptized with His baptism, who lay upon his Master's
bosom with much confidence, this man comes forward to us now; not as an actor
of a play, not hiding his head with a mask, (for he has another sort of words
to speak,) nor mounting a platform, nor striking the stage with his foot, nor
dressed out with apparel of gold, but he enters wearing a robe of inconceivable
beauty. For he will appear before us having “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14;
Galatians 3:27), having his beautiful “feet shod with the preparation of the
Gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15); wearing a girdle not about his waist, but
about his loins, not made of scarlet leather nor daubed outside with gold, but
woven and composed of truth itself. Now will he appear before us, not acting a
part, (for with him there is nothing counterfeit, nor fiction, nor fable,) but
with unmasked head he proclaims to us the truth unmasked; not making the
audience believe him other than he is by carriage, by look, by voice, needing
for the delivery of his message no instruments of music, as harp, lyre, or any
other the like, for he effects all with his tongue, uttering a voice which is
sweeter and more profitable than that of any harper or any music. All heaven is
his stage; his theater, the habitable world; his audience, all angels; and of
men as many as are angels already, or desire to become so, for none but these
can hear that harmony aright, and show it forth by their works; all the rest,
like little children who hear, but what they hear understand not, from their
anxiety about sweetmeats and childish playthings; so they too, being in mirth
and luxury, and living only for wealth and power and sensuality, hear sometimes
what is said, it is true, but show forth nothing great or noble in their
actions through fastening themselves for good to the clay of the brickmaking.
By this Apostle stand the powers from above, marveling at the beauty of his
soul, and his understanding, and the bloom of that virtue by which he drew unto
him Christ Himself, and obtained the grace of the Spirit. For he has made ready
his soul, as some well-fashioned and jeweled lyre with strings of gold, and
yielded it for the utterance of something great and sublime to the Spirit.

3. Seeing then it is no longer the fisherman the son of
Zebedee, but He who knows “the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10), the
Holy Spirit I mean, that strikes this lyre, let us hearken accordingly. For he
will say nothing to us as a man, but what he says, he will say from the depths
of the Spirit, from those secret things which before they came to pass the very
Angels knew not; since they too have learned by the voice of John with us, and
by us, the things which we know. And this has another Apostle declared, saying,
“To the intent that unto the principalities and powers might be known by the
Church the manifold wisdom of God.” (Ephesians 3:10) If then principalities,
and powers, and Cherubim, and Seraphim, learned these things by the Church, it
is very clear that they were exceedingly earnest in listening to this teaching;
and even in this we have been not a little honored, that the Angels learned
things which before they knew not with us; I do not at present speak of their
learning by us also. Let us then show much silence and orderly behavior; not
today only, nor during the day on which we are hearers, but during all our
life, since it is at all times good to hear Him. For if we long to know what is
going on in the palace, what, for instance, the king has said, what he has
done, what counsel he is taking concerning his subjects, though in truth these
things are for the most part nothing to us; much more is it desirable to hear
what God has said, especially when all concerns us. And all this will this man
tell us exactly, as being a friend of the King Himself, or rather, as having
Him speaking within himself, and from Him hearing all things which He hears
from the Father. “I have called you friends,” He says, “for all things that I
have heard of My Father, I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15)

4. As then we should all run together if we saw one from
above bend down “on a sudden” from the height of heaven, promising to describe
exactly all things there, even so let us be disposed now. It is from thence
that this Man speaks to us; He is not of this world, as Christ Himself
declares, “You are not of the world” (John 15:19), and He has speaking within
him the Comforter, the Omnipresent, who knows the things of God as exactly as
the soul of man knows what belongs to herself, the Spirit of holiness, the
righteous Spirit, the guiding Spirit, which leads men by the hand to heaven,
which gives them other eyes, fitting them to see things to come as though
present, and giving them even in the flesh to look into things heavenly. To Him
then let us yield ourselves during all our life in much tranquillity. Let none
dull, none sleepy, none sordid, enter here and tarry; but let us remove
ourselves to heaven, for there He speaks these things to those who are citizens
there. And if we tarry on earth, we shall gain nothing great from thence. For
the words of John are nothing to those who do not desire to be freed from this
swinish life, just as the things of this world to him are nothing. The thunder
amazes our souls, having sound without significance; but this man's voice
troubles none of the faithful, yea, rather releases them from trouble and
confusion; it amazes the devils only, and those who are their slaves. Therefore
that we may know how it amazes them, let us preserve deep silence, both
external and mental, but especially the latter; for what advantage is it that
the mouth be hushed, if the soul is disturbed and full of tossing? I look for
that calm which is of the mind, of the soul, since it is the hearing of the
soul which I require. Let then no desire of riches trouble us, no lust of
glory, no tyranny of anger, nor the crowd of other passions besides these; for
it is not possible for the ear, except it be cleansed, to perceive as it ought
the sublimity of the things spoken; nor rightly to understand the awful and
unutterable nature of these mysteries, and all other virtue which is in these
divine oracles. If a man cannot learn well a melody on pipe or harp, unless he
in every way strain his attention; how shall one, who sits as a listener to
sounds mystical, be able to hear with a careless soul?

5. Wherefore Christ Himself exhorted, saying, “Give not that
which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine.” (Matthew
7:6) He called these words “pearls,” though in truth they be much more precious
than they, because we have no substance more precious than that. For this
reason too He is wont often to compare their sweetness to honey, not that so
much only is the measure of their sweetness, but because among us there is
nothing sweeter. Now, to show that they very exceedingly surpass the nature of
precious stones, and the sweetness of any honey, hear the prophet speaking
concerning them, and declaring this superiority; “More to be desired are they,”
he says “than gold and much precious stone; sweeter are they also than honey
and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10) But to those (only) who are in health;
wherefore he has added, “For your servant keeps them.” And again in another
place calling them sweet he has added, “to my throat.” For he says, “How sweet
are your words unto my throat.” (Psalm 119:103) And again he insists on the
superiority, saying, “Above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth.” For he was in
very sound health. And let not us either come near to these while we are sick,
but when we have healed our soul, so receive the food that is offered us.

It is for this reason that, after so long a preface, I have
not yet attempted to fathom these expressions (of St. John), in order that
every one having laid aside all manner of infirmity, as though he were entering
into heaven itself, so may enter here pure, and freed from wrath and
carefulness and anxiety of this life, of all other passions. For it is not
otherwise possible for a man to gain from hence anything great, except he have
first so cleansed anew his soul. And let no one say that the time to the coming
communion is short, for it is possible, not only in five days, but in one
moment, to change the whole course of life. Tell me what is worse than a robber
and a murderer, is not this the extremest kind of wickedness? Yet such an one
arrived straight at the summit of excellence, and passed into Paradise itself,
not needing days, nor half a day, but one little moment. So that a man may
change suddenly, and become gold instead of clay. For since what belongs to
virtue and to vice is not by nature, the change is easy, as being independent
of any necessity. “If you be willing and obedient,” He says, “you shall eat the
good of the land.” (Isaiah 1:19) Do you see that there needs the will only?
will— not the common wishing of the multitude— but earnest will. For I know
that all are wishing to fly up to heaven even now; but it is necessary to show
forth the wish by works. The merchant too wishes to get rich; but he does not
allow his wish to stop with the thought of it; no, he fits out a ship, and gets
together sailors, and engages a pilot, and furnishes the vessel with all other
stores, and borrows money, and crosses the sea, and goes away into a strange
land, and endures many dangers, and all the rest which they know who sail the
sea. So too must we show our will; for we also sail a voyage, not from land to
land, but from earth to heaven. Let us then so order our reason, that it be
serviceable to steer our upward course, and our sailors that they be obedient
to it, and let our vessel be stout, that it be not swamped amidst the reverses
and despondencies of this life, nor be lifted up by the blasts of vainglory,
but be a fast and easy vessel. If so we order our ship, and so our pilot and
our crew, we shall sail with a fair wind, and we shall draw down to ourselves
the Son of God, the true Pilot, who will not leave our bark to be engulfed, but,
though ten thousand winds may blow, will rebuke the winds and the sea, and
instead of raging waves, make a great calm.

6. Having therefore ordered yourselves, so come to our next
assembly, if at least it be at all an object of desire to you to hear somewhat
to your advantage, and lay up what is said in your souls. But let not one of
you be the wayside, none the “stony ground,” none the “full of thorns.” (Matthew
13:4-7) Let us make ourselves fallow lands. For so shall we (the preachers) put
in the seed with gladness, when we see the land clean, but if stony or rough,
pardon us if we like not to labor in vain. For if we shall leave off sowing and
begin to cut up thorns, surely to cast seed into ground unwrought were extreme
folly.

It is not meet that he who has the advantage of such hearing
be partaker of the table of devils. “For what fellowship has righteousness with
unrighteousness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) You stand listening to John, and
learning the things of the Spirit by him; and do you after this depart to
listen to harlots speaking vile things, and acting viler, and to effeminates
cuffing one another? How will you be able to be fairly cleansed, if you wallow
in such mire? Why need I reckon in detail all the indecency that is there? All
there is laughter, all is shame, all disgrace, revilings and mockings, all
abandonment, all destruction. See, I forewarn and charge you all. Let none of
those who enjoy the blessings of this table destroy his own soul by those
pernicious spectacles. All that is said and done there is a pageant of Satan.
But you who have been initiated know what manner of covenants you made with us,
or rather you made with Christ when He guided you into His mysteries, what you
spoke to Him, what speech you had with Him concerning Satan's pageant; how with
Satan and his angels you renounced this also, and promised that you would not
so much as cast a glance that way. There is then no slight ground for fear,
lest, by becoming careless of such promises, one should render himself unworthy
of these mysteries.

7. Do you see not how in king's palaces it is not those who
have offended, but those who have been honorably distinguished, that are called
to share special favor, and are numbered among the king's friends. A messenger
has come to us from heaven, sent by God Himself, to speak with us on certain
necessary matters, and you leave hearing His will, and the message He sends to
you, and sit listening to stage-players. What thunderings, what bolts from
heaven, does not this conduct deserve! For as it is not meet to partake of the
table of devils, so neither is it of the listening to devils; nor to be present
with filthy raiment at that glorious Table, loaded with so many good things,
which God Himself has provided. Such is its power, that it can raise us at once
to heaven, if only we approach it with a sober mind. For it is not possible
that he who is continually under the influence of the words of God, can remain
in this present low condition, but he needs must presently take wing, and fly
away to the land which is above, and light on the infinite treasures of good
things; which may it be that we all attain to, through the grace and
lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to
the Father and the All-holy Spirit, now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

## Rev. George Haydock (1774-1849)

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

S. John, the
evangelist, a native of Bathsaida, in Galilee, was the son of Zebedee and
Salome.  He was by profession a
fisherman.  Our Lord gave to John, and to
James, his brother, the surname of *Boanerges,* or, sons of thunder; most
probably for their great zeal, and for their soliciting permission to call fire
from heaven to destroy the city of the Samaritans, who refused to receive their
Master.  S. John is supposed to have been
called to the apostleship younger than any of the other apostles, not being
more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
The Fathers teach that he never married.
Our Lord had for him a particular regard, of which he gave the most
marked proofs at the moment of his expiring on the cross, by intrusting to his
care his virgin Mother.  He is the only
one of the apostles that did not leave his divine Master in his passion and
death.  In the reign of Domitian, he was
conveyed to Rome, and thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, from which he came
out unhurt.  He was afterwards banished
to the island of Patmos, where he wrote his book of Revelations; and, according
to some, his Gospel.  *Tota antiquitas*
in eo abundè consentit, quod Domitianus exilii Joannis auctor fuerit.  *Lampe. Proleg. l. i. cap. 4. — In his*
gospel, S. John omits very many leading facts and circumstances mentioned by
the other three evangelists, supposing his readers sufficiently instructed in
points which his silence approved.  It is
universally agreed, that S. John had seen and approved of the other three
gospels.  S. Hier. de vir. illust. Euseb.
l. iii, c. 24. — S. Luke, says a learned author, seems to have had more
learning than any other of the evangelists, and his language is more varied,
copious, and pure.  This superiority in
style may perhaps be owing to his longer residence in Greece, and greater
acquaintance with Gentiles of good education. — S. Denis, of Alexandria, found
in the gospel of S. John, elegance and precision of language, not only in the
choice and arrangement of expressions, but also in his mode of reasoning and
construction.  We find here, says this
saint, nothing barbarous and improper, nothing even low and vulgar; insomuch,
that God not only seems to have given him light and knowledge, but also the
means of well clothing his conceptions.
Dion. Alex. apud Euseb. l. vii, c. 25. — Our critics do not join with S.
Denis.  They generally conceive S. John,
with respect to language, as the least correct of the writers of the New
Testament.  His style argues a great want
of those advantages which result from a learned education: but this defect is
amply compensated by the unexampled simplicity with which he expresses the
sublimest truths, by the supernatural lights, by the depth of the mysteries, by
the superexcellency of the matter, by the solidity of his thoughts, and
importance of his instructions.  The Holy
Ghost, who made choice of him, and filled him with infused wisdom, is much
above human philosophy and the art of rhetoric.
He possesses, in a most sovereign degree, the talent of carrying light
and conviction to the mind, and warmth to the heart.  He instructs, convinces, and persuades,
without the aid of art or eloquence. — S. John is properly compared to the
eagle, because in his first flight he ascends above all sublunary objects, and
does not stop till he meets the throne of the Almighty.  He is so sententious, says S. Ambrose, that
he gives us as many mysteries as words.
De Sacram. l. iii, c. 2. — From Patmos our saint returned to Ephesus,
where he died.  Euseb. l. iii. hist.
eccles. — It is said that the original gospel was preserved in the church of
Ephesus till the seventh age, at least till the fourth; for S. Peter, of
Alexandria, cites it.  See Chron. Alex.
and MS. fragment. de paschate apud Petav. et Usher. — Besides the gospel, we
have of S. John three epistles and the Book of Revelations; and though other
productions have been palmed on the world under the name of our evangelist, the
Catholic Church only approves of those above specified.  Ancient Fathers have given him the name of
the *Theologian:* a title his gospel, and particularly the first chapter,
deserves.  Polycratus, bishop of Ephesus,
tells us that S. John carried on his forehead a plate of gold, as priest of
Jesus Christ, to honour the priesthood of the new law, in imitation of the high
priests of the Jews.  Polycr. apud Euseb.
l. v, c. 24. — This gospel was written in Greek, about the end of the first
hundred years from Christ's nativity, at the request of the bishops of the
Lesser Asia, against the *Cerinthians* and the *Ebionites,* and those
heretics, or *Antichrists,* as S. John calls them, (1 Ep. iv. 3.) who
pretended that Jesus was a mere man, who had no being or *existence*
before he was born of Joseph and Mary.
The blasphemies of these heretics had divers abettors in the first three
ages, as *Carpocrates, Artemon,* the two *Theodotus, Paul of Samosata,*
Sabellius, *and some others; on whom, see S. Irenæus, S. Epiphanius, S.*
Augustine, &c.  To these succeeded,
in the beginning of the fourth century, *Arius,* of Alexandria, and the
different branches of the blasphemous Arian sect.  They allowed that Jesus Christ had a being
before he was born of Mary; that he was made and created before all other
creatures, and was more perfect than any of them; but still that he was no more
than a creature: that he had a beginning, and that there was a time *when he*
was not: *that he was not* properly God, *or* the God, *not the same*
God, nor had the same *substance* and *nature,* with the eternal
Father and Creator of all things.  This
heresy was condemned by the Church in the first General Council, at Nice, ann.
325. — After the Arians rose up the *Macedonians,* who denied the divinity
of the Holy Ghost; and afterwards the Nestorians, Eutychians, &c.  In every age pride and ignorance have
produced some heresies; for, as the Apostle says, (1 Cor. xi. 19.) *there*
must be heresies.*Towards the*
beginning of the sixteenth age Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, &c. set
themselves up for *reformers,* even of that general and Catholic *faith*
which they found every where taught, and believed in all Christian
Churches.  Luther owns that he was then *alone,*
the only one of his communion, (if so it may be called); yet none of these
called in question the mysteries of the *Trinity,* or of the *Incarnation.*
— But not many years after, came the blasphemous sect of the *Socinians,*
so called from *Lælius* and *Faustus Socini.*  These, and their followers, renewed the
condemned errors of the Arians.  We
scarce find any thing new in the systems of these men, who would pass for *somebody,*
like Theodas, Acts v. 36.; or who, like *Simon,* the *magician,* and
first heretic, would be looked upon as *great men,* and great wits, by
daring to be *free-thinkers,* and thereby *bold blasphemers.* — To do
justice to Calvin, he did not think these Socinians fit to live in any
Christian society: and therefore he got *Michael Servetus* burnt alive at
Geneva, ann. 1553; and *Valentinus Gentilis,* one of the same sect, was
beheaded at Berne, ann. 1565.  I must
needs say, it seems an easier matter to excuse the *warm sharp* zeal of
Calvin, and his Swiss brethren, in persecuting to death these Socinians with *sword*
and *faggot,* than to shew with what justice and equity these men could be
put to death, who followed the very same principle, and the *only rule of*
faith; *i.e. Scriptures expounded by every man's private reason, or private*
spirit; which the pretended Reformers, all of them, maintain with as much
warmth as ever, to this very day. — Heretics in all ages have wrested the sense
of the Scriptures, to make them seem to favour their errors: and by what we see
so frequently happen, it is no hard matter for men who have but a moderate
share of wit and sophistry, by their licentious fancies and arbitrary
expositions, to turn, change, and pervert Scripture texts, and to *transform*
almost any thing into any thing, *says Dr. Hammond, on the second chapter of*
S. John's Revelation.  But I need not
fear to say, this never appeared so visibly as in these last two hundred years;
the truth of which no one can doubt, who reads the *History of the*
Variations, *written by the learned bishop of Meaux. — These late Reformers*
seem to make a great part of their religion consist in reading, or having at
least the Bible in their mother-tongue.
The number of translations into vulgar languages, with many considerable
differences, is strangely multiplied.
Every one rashly claims a right to expound them according to his private
judgment, or his private spirit.  And
what is the consequence of this; but that as men's judgments and their private
interpretations are different, so in a great measure are the articles of their
creed and belief? — The Scriptures, in which are contained the revealed mysteries
of divine faith, are, without all doubt, the most excellent of all writings:
these divers volumes, written by men inspired from God, contained not the *words*
of men, *but the* word of God, *which* can save our souls: *(1*
Thess. ii. 13. and James i. 21.) but then they ought to be read, even by the
learned, with the spirit of humility; with a fear of mistaking the true sense,
as so many have done; with a due submission to the Catholic Church, which
Christ himself commanded us *to hear* and obey.  This we might learn from the Scripture
itself.  The apostle told the
Corinthians, that even in those days there were *many* who *corrupted*
and *adulterated the word of God.* 2
Cor. ii. 17.  S. Peter gives us this
admonition: that in the Epistles of S. Paul, *are some things hard to be*
understood, which the unlearned and the unstable wrest, as they do also the
other Scriptures, to their own destruction. *— It was merely to prevent and*
remedy this abuse of the best of books, that it was judged necessary to forbid
the ignorant to read the Scriptures in vulgar languages, without the advice and
permission of their pastors and spiritual guides, whom Christ appointed to *govern*
his Church.  *Acts xx. 28.  The learned University of Paris, 1525, at*
that time, and in those circumstances, judged the said prohibition necessary:
and whosoever hath had any discourses with persons of different religions and
persuasions in our kingdom, especially with Anabaptists, Quakers, and such as
pretend to expound the Scriptures, either by their private reason or by the
private spirit, will, I am confident, be fully convinced that the just motives
of the said prohibition subsist to this very day.  Ignorant men and women turn Scripture texts
to the errors of their private sects, and wrest them to their own perdition; as
the very best of remedies prove pernicious and fatal to those who know not
their virtues, nor how to use them, and apply them. — They might learn from the
Acts of the Apostles, (C. xv.) that as soon as a doubt and dispute was raised,
whether the Gentiles converted by the apostles, were obliged to observe any of
the ceremonies of the law of Moses, this first controversy about religion was
not decided by the private judgment, or private spirit, even of those
apostolical preachers, but by an assembly or council of the apostles and
bishops, held at Jerusalem; as appears by the letter of the council sent to the
Christians at Antioch.  *It hath seemed*
good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, *&c. to us, whom Christ promised to*
direct by the *Spirit of truth;* with whom, he assured us, he would *remain*
to the end of the world. *— The very same method, as it is evident by the*
annals of Church history, hath been practised to the very time, and will be to
the end of the world.  It is the rule
grounded on the command and promises of Christ, when he founded and established
the Christian Church.  All disputes about
the sense of the Scriptures, and about points of the Christian belief, have
been always decided by the successors of S. Peter, and the other apostles; even
by general councils, when judged necessary: and they who, like Arius,
obstinately refused to submit their private judgment to that of the Catholic
Church, were always condemned, excommunicated, and cut off from the communion
of the Church of Christ. — Nor is this rule and this submission to be
understood of the ignorant and unlearned only, but also of men accomplished in
all kind of learning.  The ignorant fall
into errors for want of knowledge, and the learned are many times blinded by
their pride and self-conceit.  The
sublime and profound mysteries, such as the Trinity, the Incarnation of the
eternal Son of God, the manner of Christ's presence in the holy sacrament, are
certainly above the reach of man's weak reason and capacity; much less are they
the object of our senses, which are so often deceived.  Let every reader of the sacred volumes, who
pretends to be a competent judge of the sense, and of the truths revealed in
them, reflect on the words which he finds in Isaias: (C. lv. 8, 9) *For my*
thoughts are not your thoughts; nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are exalted above the
earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your
thoughts.*How then shall any one, by*
his private reason, pretend to *judge,* to *know,* to *demonstrate,*
what is possible or impossible to the incomprehensible power of God? — A
self-conceited Socinian, big with the opinion he has of his own wit and
knowledge, will boldly tell us, that to say or believe that three distinct
persons are one and the same God, is a manifest contradiction.  Must we believe him?  Or can he himself reasonably trust his own
natural reason in such a mystery, against the clear testimonies of the
Scripture, and the received belief of the Christian Catholic Church, in all ages?  That is, against the greatest authority upon
earth: whether we consider the Church as the most illustrious society and body
of men; or whether we consider the same Church as under the protection of
Christ and his divine promises, to teach them all truth to the end of the
world.  Besides this, experience itself
should make the said Socinian distrust his own judgment as to such a pretended
contradiction, when he finds that the brightest wits, and most subtle philosophers,
after all their study and search of natural causes and effects, for so many
hundred years, by the light of their reason could never yet account for the
most common and obvious things in nature, such as are the *parts of matter,*
and *extension, local motion,* and the *production* of numberless *vegetables*
*and* animals, *which we see happen, but know not how.  See the author of a short answer to the late*
Dr. Clark and Mr. Whiston, concerning the divinity of the Son of God, and of
the Holy Ghost.  An. 1729. — The latest
writers among the pretended Reformers hesitate not to tell us, that what the
Church and its councils have declared, as to Christ's real presence in the holy
sacrament, is *contradicted by all our senses;* as if our senses, which
are so often mistaken, were the supreme and only judges of such hidden
mysteries.  Another tells us, that for
Christ to be truly and really present in many places, in *ten thousand places*
at once, *is a thing* impossible in nature and reason; *and his*
demonstrative proof is, that *he knows* it to be impossible.  With this vain presumption, he runs on to
this length of extravagant rashness, and boldly pronounces, that should *he*
find such a proposition in the Bible, *nay, though with his eyes* he
should see a man raise the dead, *and* declare that proposition true, *he*
*could not believe it:* and merely because *he knows it*
impossible: *which is no more than to say, that it does not seem possible to*
his weak reason.  I do not find that he
offers to bring any other proof, but that it *is contrary to his senses,*
and that *God cannot assert a contradiction.*  And why must we take it for a contradiction,
only because he tells us, *he''* knows it *to be*
so?  It was certainly the safest way for
him, to bring no reasons to shew it impossible to the infinite and
incomprehensible power of the Almighty: this vain attempt would only have given
new occasions to his learned antagonist, the author of the *Single Combat,*
to expose his weakness even more than he has done. — May not every *Unitarian,*
every *Arian,* every *Socinian,* every *Latitudinarian,* every *Free-thinker,*
tell us the same?  And if this be a
sufficient plea, none of them can be condemned of heresy or error.  Calvin could never silence Servetus, (unless
it were by lighting faggots round him) if he did but say, *I know* that
three distinct persons cannot be one and the same God.  It is a *contradiction,* and God *cannot*
assert a contradiction.  I know *that*
the Son cannot be the same God with the Father.
It is a contradiction, and therefore impossible.  So that though I find clear texts in the
Scriptures, that *three give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and*
the Holy Ghost: and these three are one: *though Christ, the Son of God,*
tells us, that *he and the Father are one,* or *one thing; nay,* though
I should with my own eyes, see men *raise the dead* to confirm these
mysteries, (as many are recorded to have done) and *declare* them to be
revealed divine *truths, I cannot believe them,* because *I know them*
to be false, to be *nonsense,* to be *contradictions in reason and*
nature.*The like the Free-thinker*
may tell us, with the *Pelagians,* as to the existence of original sin,
that all men should become liable to eternal death for Adam's sinning; with the
*Manicheans,* that men cannot have free will to do, or abstain from,
sinful actions, and yet God know infallibly from eternity what they will do;
with the *Origenists,* that God, who is infinite goodness itself, will not
punish sinners eternally, for yielding to what the inclinations of their
corrupt nature prompt them.  They have
the same right to tell all Christendom, that they *know* these pretended
revealed mysteries to be *nonsense, impossibilities,* and *contradictions.*  And every man's private judgment, when, with
an air of confidence, he says, *I know it,* must pass for infallible;
though he will not hear of the Catholic Church being infallible, under the
promises of our Saviour, Christ. — But to conclude this preface, already much
longer than I designed, *reason* itself, as well as the *experience*
we have of our own weak understanding, from the little we know even of natural
things, might preserve every sober thinking man from such extravagant
presumption, pride and self-conceited rashness, as to pretend to measure God's
almighty and incomprehensible power by the narrow and shallow capacity of human
understanding, or to know what is possible or impossible to Him that made all
things out of nothing.  In fine, let not
human understanding *exalt itself against the knowledge of God,* but bring
into a rational captivity and submission *every thought to the obedience of*
Christ.*Let every one humbly*
acknowledge with the great S. Augustine, whose learning and capacity, modestly
speaking, were not inferior to those of any of those bold and rash pretenders
to knowledge, *that God can certainly do more than we can understand.*  Let us reflect with S. Greg. Nazian. (Orat.
xxxvii. p. 597.  C.) that if we know not
the *things under our feet,* we must not pretend to *fathom the profound*
mysteries of God. *— And, in the mean time, let us pray for those who are*
thus *tossed to and fro* with every *wind* and *blast* of
different *doctrines,* (Ephes. iv. 14.) that God, of his infinite mercy,
would enlighten their weak and blinded understanding with the light of the *one*
true *faith,* and bring them to the *one fold* of his Catholic
Church. Witham.

1. ↑ Translated by Charles Marriott. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/240101.htm>.
2. ↑ Haydock, George. "ST. JOHN - Introduction." *Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary*. 1859 ed. <http://haydock1859.tripod.com/id91.html>