Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
John 1:15
There are 14 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 424, footnote 11 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book III (HTML)
Chapter X.—Proofs of the foregoing, drawn from the Gospels of Mark and Luke. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3409 (In-Text, Margin)
... the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins.” For this is the knowledge of salvation which was wanting to them, that of the Son of God, which John made known, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was made before me; because He was prior to me: and of His fulness have all we received.”[John 1:15-16] This, therefore, was the knowledge of salvation; but [it did not consist in] another God, nor another Father, nor Bythus, nor the Pleroma of thirty Æons, nor the Mother of the (lower) Ogdoad: but the knowledge of salvation was the knowledge of the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 674, footnote 8 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Ethical. (HTML)
On Baptism. (HTML)
Of John's Baptism. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 8646 (In-Text, Margin)
... course the servant could not furnish. Accordingly, in the Acts of the Apostles, we find that men who had “John’s baptism” had not received the Holy Spirit, whom they knew not even by hearing. That, then, was no celestial thing which furnished no celestial (endowments): whereas the very thing which was celestial in John—the Spirit of prophecy—so completely failed, after the transfer of the whole Spirit to the Lord, that he presently sent to inquire whether He whom he had himself preached,[John 1:6-36] whom he had pointed out when coming to him, were “HE.” And so “the baptism of repentance” was dealt with as if it were a candidate for the remission and sanctification shortly about to follow in Christ: for in that John used to preach “baptism ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 623, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Novatian. (HTML)
A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity. (HTML)
The Author Prosecutes the Same Argument. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5110 (In-Text, Margin)
... invoked in prayers as a Mediator, when the invocation of a man to afford salvation is condemned as ineffectual? If Christ is only man, why is hope rested upon Him, when hope in man is declared to be accursed? If Christ is only man, why may not Christ be denied without destruction of the soul, when it is said that a sin committed against man may be forgiven? If Christ is only man, how comes John the Baptist to testify and say, “He who cometh after me has become before me, because He was prior to me;”[John 1:15] when, if Christ were only man, being born after John, He could not be before John, unless because He preceded him, in that He is God? If Christ is only man, how is it that “what things the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise,” when man ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 48, footnote 39 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
The Diatessaron of Tatian. (HTML)
The Diatessaron. (HTML)
Section III. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 298 (In-Text, Margin)
... made [50] by him, and the world knew [51] him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. And those who received him, to them gave he the power that they might [52] be sons of God,—those which believe in his name: which were born, not of blood, [53] nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and took up his abode among us; and we saw his glory as the glory [54] of the only Son from the Father, which is full of grace and equity.[John 1:15] John bare witness [Arabic, p. 14] of him, and cried, and said, This is he that I said cometh after me and [55] was before me, because he was before me. And of his fullness received [56] we all grace for grace. For the law was given through the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 359, footnote 6 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Book VI. (HTML)
Of the Voice John the Baptist is. (HTML)
... says it; but he might say it without crying it. But he cries and shouts it, that even those may hear who are at a distance from the speaker, and that even the deaf may understand the greatness of the tidings, since it is announced in a great voice; and he thus brings help, both to those who have departed from God and to those who have lost the acuteness of their hearing. This, too, was the reason why “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” Hence, too,[John 1:15] “John beareth witness of Him, and cried, saying,” “Hence also God commands Isaiah to cry, with the voice of one saying, Cry. And I said, What shall I cry?” The physical voice we use in prayer need not be great nor startling; even should we not lift ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 117, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Concerning the Words Ascribed to John by All the Four Evangelists Respectively. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 799 (In-Text, Margin)
... also in Luke, the words are the same, and they are given in the same order, “He shall baptize you in the Spirit and in fire,”—with this single exception, that Luke has not added the adjective “Holy,” while Matthew has given it thus: “in the Holy Spirit and in fire.” The statements made by these three are attested by the evangelist John, when he says: “John bears witness of Him, and cries, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for He was before me.”[John 1:15] For thus he indicates that the thing was spoken by John at the time at which those other evangelists record him to have uttered the words. Thus, too, he gives us to understand that John was repeating and calling into notice again something which he ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 33, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm IX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 344 (In-Text, Margin)
... back? Was it when it was said to him, “Get thee behind, Satan”? For then he who by tempting desired to put himself before, was turned behind, by failing in deceiving Him who was tempted, and by availing nothing against Him. For earthly men are behind: but the heavenly man is preferred before, although he came after. For “the first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is from heaven, heavenly.” But from this stock he came by whom it was said, “He who cometh after me is preferred before me.”[John 1:15] And the Apostle forgets “those things that are behind, and reaches forth unto those things that are before.” The enemy, therefore, was turned behind, after that he could not deceive the heavenly Man being tempted; and he turned himself to earthy ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 13, page 471, footnote 4 (Image)
Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. (HTML)
Homilies on 1 Timothy. (HTML)
1 Timothy 6:13-16 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1312 (In-Text, Margin)
“Whom no man hath seen nor can see.” As, indeed, no one hath seen the Son, nor can see Him.[John 1:14-18]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 2, page 10, footnote 5 (Image)
Socrates: Church History from A.D. 305-438; Sozomenus: Church History from A.D. 323-425
The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Of the Synod which was held at Nicæa in Bithynia, and the Creed there put forth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 172 (In-Text, Margin)
‘“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:—and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of light, Life of life, the only-begotten Son, born before all creation,[John 1:15] begotten of God the Father, before all ages, by whom also all things were made; who on account of our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men; and who suffered and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We believe also in one Holy Spirit. We believe in the existence and subsistence of each of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 279, footnote 13 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)
Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus. (HTML)
Of Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus, to Dioscorus, Archbishop of Alexandria. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1777 (In-Text, Margin)
And his namesake exclaimed, “After me cometh one who is preferred before me for He was before me.”[John 1:15] And when he had shewn one person, he expressed both the divine and the human, for the words “man” and “comes” are human, but the phrase “He was before me” expresses the divine. But nevertheless he did not recognise a distinction between Him who came after and Him who was before, but owned the same being to be eternal as God, but born man, after himself, of the Virgin.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 171, footnote 6 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Defence of the Nicene Definition. (De Decretis.) (HTML)
De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) (HTML)
On the Arian Symbol “Unoriginate.” This term afterwards adopted by them; and why; three senses of it. A fourth sense. Unoriginate denotes God in contrast to His creatures, not to His Son; Father the scriptural title instead; Conclusion. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 960 (In-Text, Margin)
... to call the Father Unoriginated. Moreover, when He teaches us to pray, He says not, ‘When ye pray, say, O God Unoriginated,’ but rather, ‘When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven.’ And it was His Will, that the Summary of our faith should have the same bearing. For He has bid us be baptized, not in the name of Unoriginate and Originate, not into the name of Uncreate and Creature, but into the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for with such an initiation we too are made sons verily[John 1:12-17], and using the name of the Father, we acknowledge from that name the Word in the Father. But if He wills that we should call His own Father our Father, we must not on that account measure ourselves with the Son according to nature, for it is because ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 382, footnote 18 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Discourse II (HTML)
Texts Explained; Sixthly, Proverbs viii. 22, Continued. Our Lord not said in Scripture to be 'created,' or the works to be 'begotten.' 'In the beginning' means in the case of the works 'from the beginning.' Scripture passages explained. We are made by God first, begotten next; creatures by nature, sons by grace. Christ begotten first, made or created afterwards. Sense of 'First-born of the dead;' of 'First-born among many brethren;' of 'First-born of all creation,' contrasted with 'Only-begotten.' Further interpretation of 'beginning of ways,' and 'for the works.' Why a creature could not redeem; why redemption was necessary at all. Texts which contrast the Word and the works. (HTML)
... God and the Word was God. But this also not understanding, these irreligious men go about saying, ‘If He is First-born of all creation, it is plain that He too is one of the creation.’ Senseless men! if He is simply ‘First-born of the whole creation,’ then He is other than the whole creation; for he says not, ‘He is First-born above the rest of the creatures,’ lest He be reckoned to be as one of the creatures, but it is written, ‘of the whole creation,’ that He may appear other than the creation[John 1:15]. Reuben, for instance, is not said to be first-born of all the children of Jacob, but of Jacob himself and his brethren; lest he should be thought to be some other beside the children of Jacob. Nay, even concerning the Lord Himself the Apostle says ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 208, footnote 16 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter VII. The likeness of Christ to the Father is asserted on the authority of St. Paul, the prophets, and the Gospel, and especially in reliance upon the creation of man in God's image. (HTML)
... Father, saying, “Philip, he that sees Me, sees the Father also. How then dost thou say, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?” Yes, he who looks upon the Son sees, in portrait, the Father. Mark what manner of portrait is spoken of. It is Truth, Righteousness, the Power of God: not dumb, for it is the Word; not insensible, for it is Wisdom; not vain and foolish, for it is Power; not soulless, for it is the Life; not dead, for it is the Resurrection.[John 1:1-18] You see, then, that whilst an image is spoken of, the meaning is that it is the Father, Whose image the Son is, seeing that no one can be his own image.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 603, footnote 5 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius. (HTML)
Book VI. (HTML)
Chapter XXIII. That the figure Synecdoche, in which the part stands for the whole, is very familiar to the Holy Scripture. (HTML)
... instances of ways of speaking: but it would take too long to relate them all. For so when the Psalm says, “What is a man that Thou art mindful of Him,” from the part we understand the whole, as while only one man is mentioned the whole human race is meant. So also where Ahab sinned we are told that the people sinned. Where—though all are mentioned, a part is to be understood from the whole. John also the Lord’s forerunner says: “After me cometh a man who is preferred before me for He was before me.”[John 1:15] How then does He mean that He would come after Him, whom He shows to be before Him? For if this is understood of a man who was afterwards born, how was he before him? But if it is taken of the Word how is it, “a man cometh after me?” Except ...