ACC ~ John 1 v4a

HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIFE

HILARY OF POITIERS: Since then, all things were made through him, come to our help and tell us what it was that was made not without him. [1] “That which was made in him is life.” That which was in him was certainly not made without him, for that which was made in him was also made through him. All things were created in him and through him. They were created in him, [2] for he was born as God the Creator. Again, nothing that was made in him was made without him, for the reason that God the begotten was life and was born as life, not made life after his birth; for there are not two elements in him, one inborn and one afterwards conferred. There is no interval in his case between birth and maturity. None of the things that were created in him was made without him, for he is the life that made their creation possible. Moreover God, the Son of God, became God by virtue of his birth, not after he was born. Being born the Living from the Living, the True from the True, the Perfect from the Perfect, he was born in full possession of his powers. He did not need to learn in the time that followed what his birth was, but was conscious of his Godhead by the very fact that he was born as God of God. ON THE TRINITY 2.20. [3]

[1] See Hilary’s argument above in Jn 1:3b.

[2] Potentially.

[3] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

THE SPIRIT IS NOT INCLUDED IN WHAT WAS CREATED

CHRYSOSTOM: We will not put the break at “without him was not any thing made,” as the heretics do. For they are trying to prove the Holy Spirit is a creature and so read, “That which was made in him was life.” But this cannot be so understood. For first of all, this was not the place for mentioning the Holy Spirit…. But let us suppose it was; let us take the passage for the present according to their reading, and we shall see that it leads to a difficulty. For when it is said, “That which was made in him was life,” they say the life spoken of is the Spirit. But this life is also light, for the Evangelist proceeds, “The life was the light of men [humankind].” And so, according to them, “light of men” here means the Spirit…. But the Word mentioned above is what he here calls consecutively God and life and light. If now this Word was life and if this Word and the life became flesh… it follows that the Spirit is incarnate, not the Son….

Dismissing then this reading, we adopt a more suitable one, with the following meaning: “All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” There we make a break and begin a fresh sentence: “In him was life. Without him was not any thing made which was as made,” that is, that could be made. You see how by this short addition he removes any difficulty that might follow. For by introducing “without him was not any thing made” and adding “which was made,” he includes all things invisible but excludes the Spirit…. For the Spirit is uncreated. Do you see the precision of his teaching? HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.1-2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:21-22**.

THE TRINITY INVOLVED IN CREATION

JEROME: Many read this inaccurately because they add without any punctuation, “that which has been made in him was life.” The correct statement is “All things were made through him, and without him was made nothing that has been made,” meaning that that which has been made without him has not been made. [1] … Now, if all things were made through him, is the Father, on that account, excluded from creation, or Holy Spirit, and has the Son alone worked? Because the Evangelist had said, “All things were made through him,” lest he take away creation from the Holy Spirit and the Father, he added, “And without him was made nothing that has been made.” When he says, “without him was made nothing,” he reveals that another has made but has made nothing without him. HOMILY 87, ON JOHN 1:1-14. [2]

[1] Jerome goes on to conclude that the Holy Spirit was also not among those things created, as did many other patristic authors.

[2] FC 57:214*.

THERE IS LIFE ONLY IN CHRIST

ORIGEN: Our Savior is said to be some things not for himself but for others; others again, both for himself and others…. When it is said then, “That which was made in him was life”… we must inquire whether the life is for himself and others or for others only; and if for others, for whom? Now the Life and the Light are both the same person: he is “the light of men [humanity]”; he is therefore their life. The Savior is called Life here, not to himself but to others whose Light he also is….

This life is inseparable from the Word, from the time it is added on to it. For Reason or the Word must exist before in the soul, cleansing it from sin, till it is pure enough to receive the life, which is thus engrafted or inborn in everyone who renders himself fit to receive the Word of God. And so, observe… that though the Word itself in the beginning was not made—the beginning never having been without the Word—yet the life of people was not always in the Word. This life of people was made in the sense that it was the light of people. And this light of people could not be before humankind was; the light of people being understood relatively to people….

And therefore he says, “that which was made in the Word was life,” and not “that which was in the Word was life.” Some copies read, and perhaps not without credibility, “that which was made, in him is life.” If we understand the life in the Word, to be he who says below, “I am the life,” we shall confess that none who believe not in Christ live, and that all who live not in God, are dead. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.128-32. [1]

[1] FC 80:128-29**; SC 120:292-94.

ALL LIVING THINGS SUBSIST IN CHRIST

AUGUSTINE: But how were all things made by him? “That, which was made, in him is life.” It can also be read, “That, which was made in him, is life,” and if we read it this way, everything is life. For what is there that was not made in him? For he is the wisdom of God, and it is said in the psalm, “In Wisdom you have made all things.” [1] If then Christ is the wisdom of God, and the psalm says, “In wisdom you have made all things,” since all things were made by him all things were also made in him. If, then, all things were made in him, dearly beloved brothers, and that, which was made in him, is life, both the earth is life and wood is life. We do indeed say wood is life, but in the sense of the wood of the cross from which we have received life. A stone, then, is life. But this is an unseemly way to read this passage…. Rather, read it this way: “That which was made;” here make a short pause and then go on, “in him is life.” What is the meaning of this? The earth was made, but the very earth that was made is not life; but there exists spiritually in the wisdom itself a certain reason by which the earth was made: this [reason] is life.

As far as I can, I shall explain my meaning to you, beloved. A carpenter makes a box. First he has the box in design; for if he had it not in design, how could he produce it by workmanship? But the box in theory is not the very box as it appears to the eyes. It exists invisibly in design; it will be visible in the work. Behold, it is made in the work; has it ceased to exist in design? The one is made in the work, and the other remains that exists in design; for that box may rot and another be fashioned according to that which exists in design. Listen, then, to the box as it is in design and the box as it is in fact; the actual box is not life, the box in design is life; because the soul of the artificer, where all these things are before they are brought forth, is living. So, dearly beloved brothers, because the wisdom of God, by which all things have been made, contains everything according to design before it is made, therefore those things that are made through this design itself are not immediately life, but whatever has been made is life in him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.16-17. [2]

[1] Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX, Vg).

[2] NPNF 1 7:12**.

THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE

CHRYSOSTOM: John spoke of the work of creation, that “all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” And so now he goes on to speak concerning his providence, where he says, “In him was life.” That no one may doubt how so many and so great things were “made by him,” he adds, “In him was life.” For as [it is] with the fountain, which is the mother of the great deeps—however much you take away, you do not lessen the fountain—so [it is] with the energy of the Only Begotten. However much you believe has been produced and made by it, it has not diminished. Or, to use a more familiar example, I will use the instance of light, which the apostle himself added immediately, saying, “And the life was the light.” Light, however many millions of times it may enlighten, suffers no diminution of its own brightness. In the same way also God, before commencing his work and after completing it, remains alike indefectible, undiminished, unwearied by the greatness of the creation. No, if it were necessary that ten thousand or even an infinite number of such worlds were created, he still remains the same, sufficient for them all not merely to produce but also to control them after their creation. For the word life here refers not merely to the act of creation but also to the providence engaged in maintaining the things created. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:23*.

INKLINGS OF THE RESURRECTION

CHRYSOSTOM: It also lays down beforehand the doctrine of the resurrection and is the beginning of these marvelous good tidings, since when “life” has come to be with us, the power of death is dissolved; and when “light” has shone upon us, there is no longer darkness, but life always remains within us, and death cannot overcome it. So that what is asserted of the Father might be asserted absolutely of [Christ] also, that “in him we live and move and have our being.” [1] As Paul has shown when he says, “By him were all things created” and “by him all things consist.” Thus, [Christ] has been called also “root” and “foundation.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.3. [2]

[1] See Col 1:16-17.

[2] NPNF 1 14:23*.

Jn