ACC ~ John 1 v18c

THE SON PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER’S BOSOM AS FROM THE WOMB

AMBROSE: “The bosom of the Father,” then, is to be understood in a spiritual sense, as a kind of innermost dwelling of the Father’s love and of his nature in which the Son always dwells. Even so, the Father’s womb is the spiritual womb of an inner sanctuary from which the Son has proceeded just as from a generative womb. To be sure, we read in different versions, now that it was the Father’s womb, again that it was his heart with which he uttered the Word, and again that it was his mouth from which justice proceeded and from which wisdom came forth, as Wisdom says, “From the mouth of the Most High I came forth.” [1] Thus, since the One is not limited and all things declare the One, the blessing refers rather to the spiritual mystery of generation from the Father than to some part of the body. But just as we interpret it to mean that generation from the Father, likewise let us interpret it to mean the generation from Mary unto the completion of faith, when the mother’s womb is blessed, that virginal womb of Mary that brought forth for us the Lord Jesus…. Here was a twofold nature in Christ, the divine and the fleshly, the former from the Father, the latter from a virgin. ON THE PATRIARCHS 11.51. [2]

[1] Sir 24:3.

[2] FC 65:269. See also his On the Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord 2.13; 5.42.

BORN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY

AUGUSTINE: We believe in him that he was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Each birth of his, you see, must be considered wonderful, both that of his divinity and that of his humanity. The first is from the Father without mother, the second from mother without father; the first apart from all time, the second at “the acceptable time”; [1] the first eternal, the second at the right moment; the first without a body “in the bosom of the Father,” the second with a body, which did not violate the virginity of his mother; the first without either sex, the second without a man’s embrace. SERMON 214.6. [2]

[1] 2 Cor 6:2.

[2] WSA 3 6:153.

THE ESSENCE IN WHICH ONLY CHRIST RESIDES

CHRYSOSTOM: Observe, therefore, with what fullness the Evangelist speaks. Having said that “no man has seen God at any time,” he does not go on to say “that the Son who has seen has declared him,” but adds something beyond “seeing” by the words “who is in the bosom of the Father.” “To dwell in the bosom” is far more than “to see.” For he who merely “sees” does not have an exact knowledge of the object in every way. He who “dwells in the bosom,” however, can be ignorant of nothing…. The Evangelist mentions “the bosom” in order to show to us by that one word that the affinity and nearness of the essence is great, that the knowledge is in no way different and that the power is equal. The Father would not have in his bosom one of another essence, nor would he have dared, had he been one among many servants, to live in the bosom of his Lord. For this belongs only to a true Son, to one who has much confidence toward his Father and who is in nothing inferior to him. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:52-53*. See also Cyril Commentary on the Gospel of John 1.9, who focuses on the sameness of essence.

THE FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM AT THE HEART OF THE FATHER

AMBROSE: The Word of God is in the bosom of his Father, that is, in the hidden and secret places of God. The fountain of wisdom is there, and from it one may drink the everlasting drink of eternal life in place of death. FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 2.10. [1]

[1] FC 65:287. See also Augustine Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.17.