Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
John 6:56
There are 14 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 52, footnote 3 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Gregory Thaumaturgus. (HTML)
Dubious or Spurious Writings. (HTML)
Twelve Topics on the Faith. (HTML)
Topic X. (HTML)
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;” and, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed;” and, “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life?”[John 6:56]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 74, footnote 16 (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 XIX. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1397 (In-Text, Margin)
[46] The Jews therefore quarrelled one with another, and said, How can he give us [47] [Arabic, p. 77] his body that we may eat it? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye do not eat the body of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye shall [48] not have life in yourselves. Whosoever eateth of my body and drinketh of my blood [49] hath eternal life; and I will raise him up in the last day. My body truly is meat, and [50] my blood truly is drink.[John 6:56] Whosoever eateth my body and drinketh my blood abideth [51] in me, and I in him— as the living Father sent me, and I am alive because of the [52] Father; and whosoever eateth me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven: and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 473, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Of the eternal punishment of the wicked in hell, and of the various objections urged against it. (HTML)
Whether Those Who Received Heretical Baptism, and Have Afterwards Fallen Away to Wickedness of Life; Or Those Who Have Received Catholic Baptism, But Have Afterwards Passed Over to Heresy and Schism; Or Those Who Have Remained in the Catholic Church in Which They Were Baptized, But Have Continued to Live Immorally,—May Hope Through the Virtue of the Sacraments for the Remission of Eternal Punishment. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1570 (In-Text, Margin)
... to abide in the faith of Christ. And this faith, according to the apostle’s definition of it, “worketh by love.” And “love,” as he elsewhere says, “worketh no evil.” Neither can these persons be said to eat the body of Christ, for they cannot even be reckoned among His members. For, not to mention other reasons, they cannot be at once the members of Christ and the members of a harlot. In fine, He Himself, when He says, “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him,”[John 6:56] shows what it is in reality, and not sacramentally, to eat His body and drink His blood; for this is to dwell in Christ, that He also may dwell in us. So that it is as if He said, He that dwelleth not in me, and in whom I do not dwell, let him not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 151, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Of the Absence of Any Discrepancy Between Matthew and Mark on the One Hand, and John on the Other, in the Accounts Which the Three Give Together of What Took Place After the Other Side of the Lake Was Reached. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1072 (In-Text, Margin)
... from identity in sense. John, on the other hand, fixing his attention, as his wont is, upon the Lord’s discourses, passes on from the notice of the ship, which the Lord reached by walking upon the waters, to what took place after they disembarked upon the land, and mentions that He took occasion from the eating of the bread to deliver many lessons, dealing pre-eminently with divine things. After this address, too, his narrative is again borne on to one subject after another, in a sublime strain.[John 6:22-72] At the same time, this transition which he thus makes to different themes does not involve any real want of harmony, although he exhibits certain divergencies from these others, with the order of events presented by the rest of the evangelists. For ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 176, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Of the Method in Which the Four Evangelists are Shown to Be at One in the Accounts Given of the Lord’s Supper and the Indication of His Betrayer. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1234 (In-Text, Margin)
... is stated in that earlier connection has been introduced, according to this writer’s habit, by anticipation, while the words which he has inserted here in their proper order are left unrecorded in those previous verses, and the two passages when put together make up exactly what stands expressed by those other evangelists. John, on the other hand, has said nothing about the body and blood of the Lord in this context; but he plainly certifies that the Lord spake to that effect on another occasion,[John 6:32-64] with much greater fulness than here. At present, however, after recording how the Lord rose from supper and washed the disciples’ feet, and after telling us also the reason why the Lord dealt thus with them, in expressing which He had intimated, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 323, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xii. 32, ‘Whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.’ Or, ‘on the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.’ (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2376 (In-Text, Margin)
17. That expression also of His, “He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him,”[John 6:56] how must we understand? Can we include in these words those even of whom the Apostle says, “that they eat and drink judgment to themselves;” when they eat this flesh and drink this blood? What! did Judas the impious seller and betrayer of his Master (though, as Luke the Evangelist declares more plainly, he ate and drank with the rest of His disciples this first Sacrament of His body and blood, consecrated by the Lord’s hands), did he “dwell ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 504, footnote 13 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, John vi. 55,’For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh,’ etc. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3953 (In-Text, Margin)
... Catechumen, art called a Hearer, and art deaf. For the ears of the booty thou hast open, seeing that thou hearest the words which were spoken; but the ears of the heart thou hast still closed, seeing thou understandest not what was spoken. I plead, I do not discuss it. Lo, Easter is at hand, give in thy name for baptism. If the festivity arouse thee not, let the very curiosity induce thee: that thou mayest know the meaning of, Whoso eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him.”[John 6:56] That thou mayest know with me what is meant, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto thee:” and as I say to thee, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto thee,” so do I too knock, open thou to me. When I speak aloud to the ears, I knock at the breast.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 76, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter II. 23–25; III. 1–5. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 270 (In-Text, Margin)
... with the voice of all, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Pleasantly savored the Lord’s flesh in his mouth. The Lord, however, expounded to them, and said, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” After He had said, “Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he shall not have life in him,” lest they should understand it carnally, He said, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh profiteth nothing: the words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and life.”[John 6:54-59]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 468, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John. (HTML)
1 John I. 1–II. 11. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2053 (In-Text, Margin)
... mark the similitude itself. Just as the person whom something is burning saith, I cannot bear it, I cannot away with it, and draws back; so those persons who cannot bear some things in the Church, and withdraw themselves either from the name of Christ or from the Church, are taking scandal. For see how those took scandal as from the sun, those carnal ones to whom Christ preached of His flesh, saying, “He that eateth not the flesh of the Son of Man and drinketh His blood, shall have no life in him.”[John 6:54-69] Some seventy persons said, “This is an hard saying,” and went back from Him, and there remained the twelve. All those the sun burnt, and they went back, not being able to bear the force of the Word. There remained therefore the twelve. And lest ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 166, footnote 4 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Instructions to Catechumens. (HTML)
Second Instruction. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 527 (In-Text, Margin)
... spiritual table thou hast the glory from on high, and Christ is become to thee all things, thy table, thy raiment, thy home, thy head, thy stem. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, did put on Christ.” See how he has become raiment for thee. Dost thou wish to learn how he becomes a table for thee? “He who eateth me,” says He, “as I live because of the Father, he also shall live because of me;” and that he becometh a home for thee, “he that eateth my flesh abideth in me, and I in him;”[John 6:56] and that He is stem He says again, “I am the vine, ye the branches,” and that he is brother, and friend, and bride-groom, “I no longer call you servants: for ye are my friends;” and Paul again, “I espoused you to one husband, that I might present ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 403, footnote 2 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4839 (In-Text, Margin)
... but Jovinianus makes only two classes, the good soil and the bad. And as in one Gospel our Lord promises the Apostles a hundred fold, in another seven fold, for leaving children and wives, and in the world to come life eternal; and the seven and the hundred mean the same thing: so, too, in the passage before us, the numbers describing the fertility of the soil need not create any difficulty, particularly when the Evangelist Mark gives the inverse order, thirty, sixty, and a hundred. The Lord says,[John 6:56] “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.” As, then, there are not varying degrees of Christ’s presence in us, so neither are there degrees of our abiding in Christ. “Every one that loveth me will keep my word: and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 141, footnote 4 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
Title Page (HTML)
De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book VIII (HTML)
... be extorted from the soundness of heavenly words by any violent and headstrong preaching. Let us read what is written, let us understand what we read, and then fulfil the demands of a perfect faith. For as to what we say concerning the reality of Christ’s nature within us, unless we have been taught by Him, our words are foolish and impious. For He says Himself, My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him[John 6:55-56]. As to the verity of the flesh and blood there is no room left for doubt. For now both from the declaration of the Lord Himself and our own faith, it is verily flesh and verily blood. And these when eaten and drunk, bring it to pass that both we are ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 142, footnote 1 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
Title Page (HTML)
De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book VIII (HTML)
16. Again, how natural this unity is in us He has Himself testified on this wise,— He who eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him[John 6:56]. For no man shall dwell in Him, save him in whom He dwells Himself, for the only flesh which He has taken to Himself is the flesh of those who have taken His. Now He had already taught before the sacrament of this perfect unity, saying, As the living Father sent Me, and I live through the Father, so he that eateth My flesh shall himself also live through Me. So then He lives through the Father, and as He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 278, footnote 6 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)
Book IV. (HTML)
Chapter X. The objection that Christ, on the showing of St. John, lives because of the Father, and therefore is not to be regarded as equal with the Father, is met by the reply that for the Life of the Son, in respect of His Godhead, there has never been a time when it began; and that it is dependent upon none, whilst the passage in question must be understood as referring to His human life, as is shown by His speaking there of His body and blood. Two expositions of the passage are given, the one of which is shown to refer to Christ's Manhood, whilst the second teaches His equality with the Father, as also His likeness with men. Rebuke is administered to the Arians for the insult which they are seeking to inflict upon the Son, and the sense (HTML)
125. Then He added: “For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink [indeed].”[John 6:56] Thou hearest Him speak of His Flesh and of His Blood, thou perceivest the sacred pledges, [conveying to us the merits and power] of the Lord’s death, and thou dishonourest His Godhead. Hear His own words: “A spirit hath not flesh and bones.” Now we, as often as we receive the Sacramental Elements, which by the mysterious efficacy of holy prayer are transformed into the Flesh and the Blood, “do show the Lord’s Death.”