Greek lab

But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth." Then the Lord says in explanation, "I am the door of the sheep."[162]

hes of poverty, whoever he may be, that, forsaking the Church of Christ, with his darkened reason does not shrink from being turned to those rash leaders of schisms and authors of dissension, whom John calls antichrists, whom the Evangelist likens to chaff, whom the Lord Christ characterizes as thieves and robbers, as He Himself declares in the Gospel, saying that "he who entereth not by the door into the sheep-fold, but goeth down by some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."[3]

And applying yourself thus to the study of the things of God, with faithful prejudgments such as are well pleasing to God, knock at its locked door, and it will be opened to you by the porter, of whom Jesus says, "To him the porter opens."[4]

For we require to study the divine writings deeply, lest we should speak of them faster than we think; and while you study these divine works with a believing and God-pleasing intention, knock at that which is closed in them, and it shall be opened to thee by the porter, of whom Jesus says,[5]

For as he brought down from above the paternal marks, so again he carries up from thence those marks roused from a dormant condition and rendered paternal characteristics, substantial ones from the unsubstantial Being, transferring them hither from thence. This, he says, is what is spoken: "I am the door."[192]

Chapter XVII.-On the Saying of the Saviour, "All that Came Before Me Were Thieves and Robbers."[189]

To explain this fully, and to justify the conduct of the Christians in refusing homage to any object except the Most High God, and the First-born of all creation, who is His Word and God, we must quote this from Scripture, "All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them; "and again, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; "[156]

On account of this, he says, the Saviour observes: "All that came before me are thieves and robbers."[94]

Moreover, in the same He also says, "All who have come are thieves and robbers."[4]

The words, therefore, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin," are to be understood in the former sense; but the words,[188]

And so neither can thieves in regard to whom the Saviour said, "All that came before Me are thieves and robbers,"[79]

the Sacrifice, the Door[82]

with wool and purple; but wreathing thy brows with righteousness, and encircling them with the leaves of temperance, set thyself earnestly to find Christ. "For I am," He says, "the door,"[19]

On account of this, he says, Jesus uses the words, "I am the true gate."[88]

Also in the same place: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."[544]

The Almighty Master of the world has determined that this should be the way of salvation,-this the door, so to say, of life; by Him[465]

Wherefore He, being the true Prophet, said, `I am the gate of life;[45]

" But the door also is a good, through which one enters into the highest blessedness. Now Christ says:[49]

Notwithstanding, these gates have a certain power by which they gain the mastery over some who do not resist and strive against them; but they are overcome by others who, because they do not turn aside from Him who said, "I am the door,"[90]

and, "I am come that they might have life; "[18]

the Key, the Shepherd,[81]

-and with benevolence, for He alone gave Himself a sacrifice for us: "For the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep; "[262]

then, perceiving the cruel device of the tribunes, who, in order to bring about his death, were willing to put to the sword the whole Christian multitude that was present, was unwilling that they should together with him taste the bitterness of death, but as a faithful servant imitating his Lord and Saviour, whose acts were even as his words, "The good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep,"[20]

For "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; but he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, that is, the devil, and he leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf seizes upon them."[109]

But Christ, confirming these foreshadowings Himself, adds: "The bad shepherd is he who, on seeing the wolf, flees, and leaves the sheep to be torn in pieces."[44]

workmen who shall be such as the apostles; workmen who imitate the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; who are concerned for the salvation of men; not "hireling"[134]

In a later passage He declares that He is known by the Father, and the Father by Him;[295]

Now concerning their blasphemous assertion who say that the Son does not perfectly know the Father, we need not wonder: for having once purposed in their mind to wage war against Christ, they impugn also these words of His, "As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father."[59]

For the babes are simple, being figuratively described as sheep. "And they shall all," it is said, "be one flock, and one shepherd."[109]

"And other sheep there are also," saith the Lord, "which are not of this fold "[200]

and one shepherd."[14]

Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be divided, or should dare to rend it-the garment of the Lord-the Church of Christ? He Himself in His Gospel warns us, and teaches, saying, "And there shall be one flock and one shepherd."[26]

remember in Thy good mercy the Holy and only Catholic and Apostolic Church throughout the whole world, and all Thy people, and all the sheep of this fold.[39]

As I said before, And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, that is, men who have been made like the angels through their excellent course of life; them also must I bring, and they will hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, one shepherd.[53]

an incarnation. And he is disposed (to maintain), that He who was seen in the flesh and was crucified[24]

How could one say that Christ assumed the man only in part, when the Lord Himself says, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again, for the sheep; "[27]

from Me, but I lay it down of Myself."[156]

is most clearly shown by the Saviour in the Gospels, when He said, "No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again."[35]

oured to calumniate them by comparing them to acts of sorcery, should have manifested also in His death some greater display of divine power, so that His soul, if it pleased, might leave its body, and having performed certain offices out of it, might return again at pleasure? And such a declaration is Jesus said to have made in the Gospel of John, when He said: "No man taketh My life from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."[58]

But my Jesus said regarding His own soul (which was separated from the body, not by virtue of any human necessity, but by the miraculous power which was given Him also for this purpose): "No one taketh my life from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."[103]

and because He was not overmastered by death, as being Himself Life, He said this: "I lay it down of myself."[291]

Therefore the course of events fulfilled the promise. For when crucified, the office of the executioner being forestalled,[19]

I have the power of laying it down, and I have the power of taking it again. For this commandment I have received from my Father."[281]

Or when, in another passage, and on another subject, He declares, "I have power to lay down my life, and again to take it up; for this commandment I have received of my Father."[167]

And accordingly, as by the intensity of the supplication and the severe agony, so also by the dense and excessive sweat, he made the facts patent, that the Saviour was man by nature and in reality, and not in mere semblance and appearance, and that He was subject to all the innocent sensibilities natural to men. Nevertheless the words, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again,"[17]

And in order that He might most fully explain that He willingly underwent the passion, He said to us,[5]

And He who led this lamb to the slaughter was God in man, the great High-Priest, as he shows by the words:[157]

And it came to pass that the festival of the dedication[1]

And since He avoided unnecessary talk about Himself, and preferred to show by acts rather than words that He was the Christ, the Jews for that reason said to Him, "If Thou art the Christ, tell us plainly."[91]

-deemed worthy of another fold and mansion, in proportion to their faith. "But My sheep hear My voice,"[201]

If Christ was only man, how does He say, "And I know them, and my sheep follow me; and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish? "[111]

I know who are ours; for "my sheep," He says, "hear my voice."[205]

which Thou hast redeemed with the precious blood of Thy Christ; be Thou their protector, aider, provider, and guardian, their strong wall of defence, their bulwark and security. For "none can snatch out of Thy hand: "[80]

and "I and my Father are one."[186]

as it is said, "I and my Father are One,"[350]

" That appellation is one both of filial duty and of power. Again, in the Father the Son is invoked; "for I," saith He, "and the Father are One."[12]

But they pay excessive reverence to one who has but lately appeared among men, and they think it no offence against God if they worship also His servant." To this we reply, that if Celsus had known that saying," I and My Father are one,"[20]

And therefore the Lord, suggesting to us a unity that comes from divine authority, lays it down, saying, "I and my Father are one."[12]

He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathereth elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. The Lord says, "I and the Father are one; "[21]

But since they frequently urge upon us the passage where it is said, "I and the Father are one,"[214]

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him. If He shall say, I and my Father are one,[23]

and, "I and My Father are one; "[55]

Wherefore, since the mind and will of the one is in the other, or rather, since there is one in both, both are justly called one God; for whatever is in the Father[403]

the name of creation, but we must believe on God the Father Omnipotent, and on Christ Jesus His Son, and on the Holy Spirit. Moreover, that the Word is united to the God of all, because He says, "I and the Father are one; "[10]

He therefore adds to this very statement, that He "had showed them many works from the Father," for none of which did He deserve to be stoned.[302]

And Trypho answered, "We shall remember this your exposition, if you strengthen [your solution of] this difficulty by other arguments: but now resume the discourse, and show us that the Spirit of prophecy admits another God besides the Maker of all things, taking care not to speak of the sun and moon, which, it is written,[172]

Besides, when at these words of the Lord the Jewish ignorance had been aroused, so that hastily they ran to take up stones, and said, "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God,"[218]

and how dost Thou, being a man, make Thyself God?[53]

,"[375]

This, he asserts, is that which has been written: "I said, Ye are gods, and all children of the highest; "[64]

, these God has promised to bestow upon thee, because thou hast been deified, and begotten unto immortality.[71]

says in the Gospel according to John: "Is it not written in the law, that I said, Ye are gods? If He called them gods to whom the word of God was given, and the Scripture cannot be relaxed, do ye say to Him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, that thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? But if I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, and ye will not believe me, believe the works, and know that the Father is in me, and I in Him."[171]

"If," said He, "He called them gods to whom the words of God were given, and the Scriptures cannot be broken, ye say of Him whom the Father sanctified, and sent into this world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God."[113]

that they have reached the light they knew not of, thanks to lewdness? For we, lest any one should chance to think that we are ignorant of, do not know, what befits the majesty of that name, assuredly[103]

the Lord established the distinction, in giving them the principle on which He had either said that He was God, or wished it to be understood, and says, "Say ye of Him, whom the Father sanctified, and sent into this world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am. the Son of God? "[219]

to be their Master and Lord: "You call Me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am." He also distinctly announces Himself as the Son of God, when He says,[93]

glory ye shall see,"-that is, Christ, doing deeds of power in the glory of God the Father;[260]

the spirit in Elijah and the power in him having gone over to John-so Herod thought that the powers in John wrought in his case works of baptism and teaching,-for John did not one miracle,[145]