ACC ~ 1 John 4 v1

MANY FALSE PROPHETS. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Just as in ancient Israel there were some prophets who spoke the word of God and others who did not, so also, as soon as the apostles appeared, speaking in Christ and having the Holy Spirit whom the Lord had given to them, many false apostles were sent by the devil to counterfeit the teaching of the gospel. It is essential to have that gift of the Holy Spirit which is called the discernment of spirits in order to have the ability to test the spirits, to see which ones are to be believed and which ones are to be rejected. CATENA.

DO NOT BELIEVE EVERY SPIRIT. JOHN CASSIAN: First we must scrutinize thoroughly anything that appears in our hearts, as well as anything that is said to us. Has it come purified by the divine and heavenly fire of the Holy Spirit? Or does it lean toward Jewish superstition? Is its surface piety something which has come down from bloated worldly philosophy? We must examine all this most carefully, doing as the apostle bids us. CONFERENCE 1.20.

DISCERN FALSE PROPHETS. BEDE: Who is it who tests the spirits, and how they can be tested? Our Lord shows this in the Gospels, where he predicted that evil spirits of the kind of which John had experienced would come. Jesus said: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?” These therefore are the fruits by which the evil spirits who speak by false prophets can be discerned: the thorns of schisms and the terrible thistles of heresy which sting all those who go anywhere near them. ON 1 JOHN.

1 Jn