ACC ~ John 15 v23

THE SON IS FROM THE FATHER BY HIS BIRTH

HILARY OF POITIERS: “Hates my Father also.” This my is the assertion of a relation to the Father that is shared by no one else. … He condemns the man who claims God as his Father and does not love the Son as using a wrongful liberty with the Father’s name, since he who hates him, that is, the Son, must hate the Father also. And none can be devoted to the Father except those who love the Son. For the one and only reason that he gives for loving the Son is his origin from the Father. The Son, therefore, is from the Father, not by his advent but by his birth. And love for the Father is only possible to those who believe that the Son is from him. ON THE TRINITY 6.30. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 9:109*; CCL 62:233.

THOSE WHO HATE THE SON

AUGUSTINE: He had just said a little before, “They will do these things to you because they do not know him who sent me.” [1] A question arises here that cannot be overlooked: How can they hate someone they do not know? If they hated God, believing him to be something else instead of God, this was not hatred of God. … If the Jews were asked whether they loved God, they would have replied that of course they loved him, not intentionally lying but only erroneously thinking they did. For how could those who hated the Truth love the Father of the Truth? They had no desire to have their conduct condemned, and yet it is the task of truth to condemn such conduct. And so, they hated the Truth even though at the time, they did not know he was the truth who came to condemn them. Therefore, they hate what they do not know. And hating it, they certainly cannot do anything else but hate him from whom he was born. Because they do not know the truth who is condemning them as the one who is born of God the Father, it is certain that they not only do not know the Father but also hate the Father himself. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 90.1, 3. [2]

[1] Jn 15:21.

[2] NPNF 1 7:359-60**.

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