ACC ~ John 8 v38

THE TRUTH OF THE FATHER

CHRYSOSTOM: He does not say, “You do not take in my words” but “My word has no place in you,” thus declaring the depths of his doctrines. And yet, this is not a reason to kill him. In fact, they should have honored him and waited on him in order to learn. But they might say, Why should we pay attention to you if you are speaking about yourself? And so he adds, “I speak what I have seen with my Father…. As both by my words and by the truth I declare the Father, so also do you by your actions [declare your father].” For I have not only the same substance but also the same truth with the Father. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 54.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:195**.

THE LORD SAW HIMSELF IN THE FATHER

AUGUSTINE: But the Lord wishes God the Father to be understood when he says, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father.” I have seen the truth; I speak the truth because I am the truth. For if the Lord speaks the truth that he has seen with the Father, he has seen himself—he speaks himself because he himself is the truth of the Father, which he saw with the Father. For he is the Word—the Word that was with God. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:235*.

THE SON IS AN EYEWITNESS TO THE FATHER

ORIGEN: The Savior is an eyewitness to what was done with the Father…. “No one has known the Father except the Son,” [1] since they are no longer eyewitnesses to whom the Son has revealed him. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.46. [2]

[1] Mt 11:27; Lk 10:22.

[2] FC 89:215; SC 290:178.

THEIR FATHER IS THE DEVIL

AUGUSTINE: As of this moment, he has not yet named their father. A little above he referred to Abraham, but this referred to their lineage, not to their similarity of life. He is about to speak of that other father of theirs who neither begat them nor created them to be people. But they were still that father’s children in as far as they were evil, not in as far as they were people. In other words, they were his children because of how they imitated him, not because they were created by him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:235-36**.