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| Diverse Things are Spoken Concerning the Same Christ, on Account of the Diverse Natures of the One Hypostasis [Theanthropic Person]. Why It is Said that the Father Will Not Judge, But Has Given Judgment to the Son.
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Chapter 13.—Diverse Things are Spoken Concerning the
Same Christ, on Account of the Diverse Natures of the One
Hypostasis [Theanthropic Person]. Why It is Said that the Father
Will Not Judge, But Has Given Judgment to the Son.
28. Yet unless the very same were
the Son of man on account of the form of a servant which He took,
who is the Son of God on account of the form of God in which He is;
Paul the apostle would not say of the princes of this world, “For
had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory.”171
For He was
crucified after the form of a servant, and yet “the Lord of
glory” was crucified. For that “taking” was such as to make
God man, and man God. Yet what is said on account of what, and what
according to what, the thoughtful, diligent, and pious reader
discerns for himself, the Lord being his helper. For instance, we
have said that He glorifies His own, as being God, and certainly
then as being the Lord of glory; and yet the Lord of glory was
crucified, because even God is rightly said to have been crucified,
not after the power of the divinity, but after the weakness of the
flesh:172
just as we
say, that He judges as God, that is, by divine power, not by human;
and yet the man Himself will judge, just as the Lord of glory was
crucified: for so He expressly says, “When the Son of man shall
come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, and before Him
shall be gathered all nations;”173
and the rest that is foretold of
the future judgment in that place even to the last sentence. And
the Jews, inasmuch as they will be punished in that judgment for
persisting in their wickedness, as it is elsewhere written,
“shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.”174
For whereas both good and bad shall
see the Judge of the quick and dead, without doubt the bad will not
be able to see Him, except after the form in which He is the Son of
man; but yet in the glory wherein He will judge, not in the
lowliness wherein He was judged. But the ungodly without doubt will
not see that form of God in which He is equal to the Father. For
they are not pure in heart; and “Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God.”175
And that sight is face to face,176
the very
sight that is promised as the highest reward to the just, and which
will then take place when He “shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father;” and in this “kingdom” He means the
sight of His own form also to be understood, the whole creature
being made subject to God, including that wherein the Son of God
was made the Son of man. Because, according to this creature,
“The Son also Himself shall be subject unto Him, that put all
things under Him, that God may be all in all.”177
Otherwise if the Son of God,
judging in the form in which He is equal to the Father, shall
appear when He judges to the ungodly also; what becomes of that
which He promises, as some great thing, to him who loves Him,
saying, “And I will love him, and will manifest myself to
him?”178
Wherefore He
will judge as the Son of man, yet not by human power, but by that
whereby He is the Son of God; and on the other hand, He will judge
as the Son of God, yet not appearing in that [unincarnate] form in
which He is God equal to the Father, but in that [incarnate form]
in which He is the Son of man.179
| 179 [Augustin in this discussion,
sometimes employs the phrase “Son of man” to denote the human
nature of Christ, in distinction from the divine. But in Scripture
and in trinitarian theology generally, this phrase properly denotes
the whole theanthropic person under a human title—just as
“man”, (1 Tim. ii. 5), “last
Adam” (1 Cor. xv. 45), and
“second man” (1 Cor. xv. 47), denote not
the human nature, but the whole divine-human person under a human
title. Strictly used, the phrase “Son of man” does not
designate the difference between the divine and human natures in
the theanthropos, but between the person of the un-incarnate
and that of the incarnate Logos. Augustin’s meaning is, that the
Son of God will judge men at the last day, not in his original
“form of God,” but as this is united with human nature—as the
Son of man.—W.G.T.S.] |
29. Therefore both ways of speaking
may be used; the Son of man will judge, and, the Son of man will
not judge: since the Son of man will judge, that the text may be
true which says, “When the Son of man shall come, then before Him
shall be gathered all nations;” and the Son of man will not
judge, that the text may be true which says, “I will not judge
him;”180
and, “I
seek not mine own glory: there is One that seeketh and
judgeth.”181
For in
respect to this, that in the judgment, not the form of God, but the
form of the Son of man will appear, the Father Himself will not
judge; for according to this it is said, “For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”
Whether this is said after that mode of speech which we have
mentioned above, where it is said, “So hath He given to the Son
to have life in Himself,”182
that it should signify that so He
begat the Son; or, whether after that of which the apostle speaks,
saying, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given
Him a name which is above every name:”—(For this is said of the
Son of man, in respect to whom the Son of God was raised from the
dead; since He, being in the form of God equal to the Father,
wherefrom He “emptied” Himself by taking the form of a servant,
both acts and suffers, and receives, in that same form of a
servant, what the apostle goes on to mention: “He humbled
Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross; wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a
name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, in the Glory of God the Father:”183
—whether
then the words, “He hath committed all judgment unto the Son,”
are said according to this or that mode of speech; it sufficiently
appears from this place, that if they were said according to that
sense in which it is said, “He hath given to the Son to have life
in Himself,” it certainly would not be said, “The Father
judgeth no man.” For in respect to this, that the Father hath
begotten the Son equal to Himself, He judges with Him. Therefore it
is in respect to this that it is said, that in the judgment, not
the form of God, but the form of the Son of man will appear. Not
that He will not judge, who hath committed all judgment unto the
Son, since the Son saith of Him, “There is One that seeketh and
judgeth:” but it is so said, “The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son;” as if it were said, No
one will see the Father in the judgment of the quick and the dead,
but all will see the Son: because He is also the Son of man, so
that He can be seen even by the ungodly, since they too shall see
Him whom they have pierced.
30. Lest, however, we may seem to
conjecture this rather than to prove it clearly, let us produce a
certain and plain sentence of the Lord Himself, by which we may
show that this was the cause why He said, “The Father judgeth no
man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son,” viz.
because He will appear as Judge in the form of the Son of man,
which is not the form of the Father, but of the Son; nor yet that
form of the Son in which He is equal to the Father, but that in
which He is less than the Father; in order that, in the judgment,
He may be visible both to the good and to the bad. For a little
while after He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but shall
pass184
| 184 Transiit in Vulg.; and so
in the Greek. | from death
unto life.” Now this life eternal is that sight which does not
belong to the bad. Then follows, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.”185
And this is
proper to the godly, who so hear of His incarnation, as to believe
that He is the Son of God, that is, who so receive Him, as made for
their sakes less than the Father, in the form of a servant, that
they believe Him equal to the Father, in the form of God. And
thereupon He continues, enforcing this very point, “For as the
Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have
life in Himself.” And then He comes to the sight of His own
glory, in which He shall come to judgment; which sight will be
common to the ungodly and to the just. For He goes on to say,
“And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of man.”186
I think nothing can be more clear.
For inasmuch as the Son of God is equal to the Father, He does not
receive this power of executing judgment, but He has it with the
Father in secret; but He receives it, so that the good and the bad
may see Him judging, inasmuch as He is the Son of man. Since the
sight of the Son of man will be shown to the bad also: for the
sight of the form of God will not be shown except to the pure in
heart, for they shall see God; that is, to the godly only, to whose
love He promises this very thing, that He will show Himself to
them. And see, accordingly, what follows: “Marvel not at this,”
He says. Why does He forbid us to marvel, unless it be that, in
truth, every one marvels who does not understand, that therefore He
said the Father gave Him power also to execute judgment, because He
is the Son of man; whereas, it might rather have been anticipated
that He would say, since He is the Son of God? But because the
wicked are not able to see the Son of God as He is in the form of
God equal to the Father, but yet it is necessary that
both the just and the wicked should see the Judge of the quick and
dead, when they will be judged in His presence; “Marvel not at
this,” He says, “for the hour is coming, in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”187
For this
purpose, then, it was necessary that He should therefore receive
that power, because He is the Son of man, in order that all in
rising again might see Him in the form in which He can be seen by
all, but by some to damnation, by others to life eternal. And what
is life eternal, unless that sight which is not granted to the
ungodly? “That they might know Thee,” He says, “the One true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”188
And how are they to know Jesus
Christ Himself also, unless as the One true God, who will show
Himself to them; not as He will show Himself, in the form of the
Son of man, to those also that shall be punished?189
| 189 [Augustin here seems to teach that
the phenomenal appearance of Christ to the redeemed in heaven will
be different from that to all men in the day of judgment. He says
that he will show himself to the former “in the form of God;”
to the latter, “in the form of the Son of man.” But, surely, it
is one and the same God-man who sits on the judgment throne, and
the heavenly throne. His appearance must be the same in both
instances: namely, that of God incarnate. The effect of his
phenomenal appearance upon the believer will, indeed, be very
different from that upon the unbeliever. For the wicked, this
vision of God incarnate will be one of terror; for the redeemed one
of joy.—W.G.T.S.] |
31. He is “good,” according to
that sight, according to which God appears to the pure in heart;
for “truly God is good unto Israel even to such as are of a clean
heart.”190
But when the
wicked shall see the Judge, He will not seem good to them; because
they will not rejoice in their heart to see Him, but all
“kindreds of the earth shall then wail because of Him,”191
namely, as
being reckoned in the number of all the wicked and unbelievers. On
this account also He replied to him, who had called Him Good
Master, when seeking advice of Him how he might attain eternal
life, “Why askest thou me about good?192
| 192 [Augustin’s reading of this text
is that of the uncials; and in that form which omits the article
with ἀγαθοῦ.—W.G.T.S.] | there is none good but One, that
is, God.”193
And yet the
Lord Himself, in another place, calls man good: “A good man,”
He says, “out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth
good things: and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his
heart, bringeth forth evil things.”194
But because that man was seeking
eternal life, and eternal life consists in that contemplation in
which God is seen, not for punishment, but for everlasting joy; and
because he did not understand with whom he was speaking, and
thought Him to be only the Son of man:195
| 195 [That is, a mere man. Augustin
here, as in some other places, employs the phrase “Son of man”
to denote the human nature by itself—not the divine and human
natures united in one person, and designated by this human title.
The latter is the Scripture usage. As “Immanuel” does not
properly denote the divine nature, but the union of divinity and
humanity, so “Son of man” does not properly denote the human
nature, but the union of divinity and
humanity.—W.G.T.S.] | Why, He says, askest thou me about
good? that is, with respect to that form which thou seest, why
askest thou about good, and callest me, according to what thou
seest, Good Master? This is the form of the Son of man, the form
which has been taken, the form that will appear in judgment, not
only to the righteous, but also to the ungodly; and the sight of
this form will not be for good to those who are wicked. But there
is a sight of that form of mine, in which when I was, I thought it
not robbery to be equal with God: but in order to take this form I
emptied myself.196
That one
God, therefore, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who
will not appear, except for joy which cannot be taken away from the
just; for which future joy he sighs, who says, “One thing have I
desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord:”197
that one
God, therefore, Himself, I say, is alone good, for this reason,
that no one sees Him for sorrow and wailing, but only for salvation
and true joy. If you understand me after this latter form, then I
am good; but if according to that former only, then why askest thou
me about good? If thou art among those who “shall look upon Him
whom they have pierced,”198
that very sight itself will be evil
to them, because it will be penal. That after this meaning, then,
the Lord said, “Why askest thou me about good? there is none good
but One, that is, God,” is probable upon those proofs which I
have alleged, because that sight of God, whereby we shall
contemplate the substance of God unchangeable and invisible to
human eyes (which is promised to the saints alone; which the
Apostle Paul speaks of, as “face to face;”199
and of which the Apostle John says,
“We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is;”200
and of which
it is said, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I may
behold the beauty of the Lord,” and of which the Lord Himself
says, “I will both love him, and will manifest myself to
him;”201
and on
account of which alone we cleanse our hearts by faith, that we may
be those “pure in heart who are blessed for they shall see
God:”202
and
whatever else is spoken of that sight: which whosoever turns
the eye of love to seek it, may find most copiously scattered
through all the Scriptures),—that sight alone, I say, is our
chief good, for the attaining of which we are directed to do
whatever we do aright. But that sight of the Son of man which is
foretold, when all nations shall be gathered before Him, and shall
say to Him, “Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or thirsty,
etc.?” will neither be a good to the ungodly, who shall be sent
into everlasting fire, nor the chief good to the righteous. For He
still goes on to call these to the kingdom which has been prepared
for them from the foundation of the world. For, as He will say to
those, “Depart into everlasting fire;” so to these, “Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” And
as those will go into everlasting burning; so the righteous will go
into life eternal. But what is life eternal, except “that they
may know Thee,” He says, “the One true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent?”203
| 203 Matt. xxv. 37, 41,
34 | but know Him now in that glory of
which He says to the Father, “Which I had with Thee before the
world was.”204
For then He
will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father,205
that the
good servant may enter into the joy of his Lord,206
and that He may hide those whom God
keeps in the hiding of His countenance from the confusion of men,
namely, of those men who shall then be confounded by hearing this
sentence; of which evil hearing “the righteous man shall not be
afraid”207
if only he
be kept in “the tabernacle,” that is, in the true faith of the
Catholic Church, from “the strife of tongues,”208
that is,
from the sophistries of heretics. But if there is any other
explanation of the words of the Lord, where He says, “Why asketh
thou me about good? there is none good, but One, that is, God;”
provided only that the substance of the Father be not therefore
believed to be of greater goodness than that of the Son, according
to which He is the Word by whom all things were made; and if there
is nothing in it abhorrent from sound doctrine; let us securely use
it, and not one explanation only, but as many as we are able to
find. For so much the more powerfully are the heretics proved
wrong, the more outlets are open for avoiding their snares. But let
us now start afresh, and address ourselves to the consideration of
that which still remains.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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