Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
John 15:5
There are 39 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 146, footnote 10 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
Appendix (HTML)
Five Books in Reply to Marcion. (HTML)
Of the Harmony of the Old and New Laws. (HTML)
Off-broken boughs![John 15:4-6] should into parts divide
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 327, footnote 6 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity. (HTML)
Thallousa. (HTML)
The Vow of Chastity, and Its Rites in the Law; Vines, Christ, and the Devil. (HTML)
... the plant of evil, because of its natural tendency to produce intoxication and distraction of mind. For we perceive from the Scriptures two kinds of vines which were separate from each other, and were unlike. For the one is productive of immortality and righteousness; but the other of madness and insanity. The sober and joy-producing vine, from whose instructions, as from branches, there joyfully hang down clusters of graces, distilling love, is our Lord Jesus, who says expressly to the apostles,[John 15:5] “I am the true vine, ye are the branches; and my Father is the husbandman.” But the wild and death-bearing vine is the devil, who drops down fury and poison and wrath, as Moses relates, writing concerning him, “For their vine is of the vine of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 114, footnote 29 (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 XLVI. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3190 (In-Text, Margin)
[17] And he said unto them, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. [18] Every branch that produceth not fruit in me, he taketh it: and that which giveth fruit, [19] he cleanseth it, that it may give much fruit. Ye are already clean because of the word [20] that I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. And as the branch of the [Arabic, p. 175] vine cannot produce fruit of itself, if it be not abiding in the vine; so too ye [21] also, if ye abide not in me.[John 15:5] I am the vine, and ye are the branches: He then that abideth in me, and I in him, he giveth much fruit: for without me ye cannot [22] do anything. And if a man abide not in me, he is cast without, like a withered [23] branch; and it is gathered, and cast ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 309, footnote 5 (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 I. (HTML)
The Title “Word” Is to Be Interpreted by the Same Method as the Other Titles of Christ. The Word of God is Not a Mere Attribute of God, But a Separate Person. What is Meant When He is Called the Word. (HTML)
... to Him do you say, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?” and “Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son also may glorify Thee.” We also find Him declaring Himself to be a king, as when He answers Pilate’s question, “Art Thou the King of the Jews?” by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is My kingdom not from hence.” We have also read the words,[John 15:5] “I am the true vine and My Father is the husbandman,” and again, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” Add to these testimonies also the saying, “I am the bread of life, that came down from heaven and giveth life to the world.” These texts will ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 196, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
He speaks of the true wisdom of man, viz. that by which he remembers, understands, and loves God; and shows that it is in this very thing that the mind of man is the image of God, although his mind, which is here renewed in the knowledge of God, will only then be made the perfect likeness of God in that image when there shall be a perfect sight of God. (HTML)
How the Image of God in the Mind is Renewed Until the Likeness of God is Perfected in It in Blessedness. (HTML)
... is day by day renewed by making progress in the knowledge of God, and in righteousness and true holiness, transfers his love from things temporal to things eternal, from things visible to things intelligible, from things carnal to things spiritual; and diligently perseveres in bridling and lessening his desire for the former, and in binding himself by love to the latter. And he does this in proportion as he is helped by God. For it is the sentence of God Himself, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] And when the last day of life shall have found any one holding fast faith in the Mediator in such progress and growth as this, he will be welcomed by the holy angels, to be led to God, whom he has worshipped, and to be made perfect by Him; and so ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 445, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
On Baptism, Against the Donatists. (HTML)
Augustin undertakes the refutation of the arguments which might be derived from the epistle of Cyprian to Jubaianus, to give color to the view that the baptism of Christ could not be conferred by heretics. (HTML)
Chapter 19 (HTML)
... to those who learn His words through the gospel, when He is sitting on His throne in heaven? For He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill. But the fulfilling of the law is love. And in this Cyprian abounded greatly, insomuch that though he held a different view concerning baptism, he yet did not forsake the unity of the Church, and was in the Lord’s vine a branch firmly rooted, bearing fruit, which the heavenly Husbandman purged with the knife of suffering, that it should bear more fruit.[John 15:1-5] But the enemies of this brotherly love, whether they are openly without, or appear to be within, are false Christians, and antichrists. For when they have found an opportunity, they go out, as it is written: "A man wishing to separate himself from ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 521, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)
Written in the form of a letter addressed to the Catholics, in which the first portion of the letter which Petilian had written to his adherents is examined and refuted. (HTML)
Chapter 5 (HTML)
... But unless we admit this, either the Apostle Paul was the head and origin of those whom he had planted, or Apollos the root of those whom he had watered, rather than He who had given them faith in believing; whereas the same Paul says, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase: so then neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." Nor was the apostle himself their root, but rather He who says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches."[John 15:5] How, too, could he be their head, when he says, that "we, being many, are one body in Christ," and expressly declares in many passages that Christ Himself is the head of the whole body?
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 617, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)
In this book Augustin refutes the second letter which Petilianus wrote to him after having seen the first of Augustin’s earlier books. This letter had been full of violent language; and Augustin rather shows that the arguments of Petilianus had been deficient and irrelevant, than brings forward arguments in support of his own statements. (HTML)
Chapter 42 (HTML)
... unless we admit this, either the Apostle Paul was the head and origin of those whom he had planted, or Apollos the root of those whom he had watered, rather than He who had given them faith in briefing; whereas the same Paul says, ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So that neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.’ Nor was the apostle himself their root, but rather He who says, ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches.’[John 15:5] How, too, could he be their head, when he says that ‘we, being many, are one body in Christ,’ and expressly declares in many passages that Christ Himself is the Head of the whole body? Wherefore, whether a man receives the sacrament of baptism from ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 100, footnote 18 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter. (HTML)
Difference Between the Old and the New Testaments. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 914 (In-Text, Margin)
... fast,” in order that God’s good that they love, may be the God Himself whom they love, between whom and men nothing but sin produces separation; and this is remitted only by grace. Accordingly, after saying, “For all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them,” He instantly added, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” By the law of works, then, the Lord says, “Thou shalt not covet:” but by the law of faith He says, “Without me ye can do nothing;”[John 15:5] for He was treating of good works, even the fruit of the vine-branches. It is therefore apparent what dif ference there is between the old covenant and the new,—that in the former the law is written on tables, while in the latter on hearts; so that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 105, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter. (HTML)
Righteousness is the Gift of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 989 (In-Text, Margin)
... “Thou shalt not covet,” and God’s other good and holy commandments, they attributed to themselves; whereas, that man may keep them, God must work in him through faith in Jesus Christ, who is “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” That is to say, every one who is incorporated into Him and made a member of His body, is able, by His giving the increase within, to work righteousness. It is of such a man’s works that Christ Himself has said, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 106, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter. (HTML)
Grace Establishes Free Will. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1003 (In-Text, Margin)
... they pronounce the name of liberty. But “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” If, therefore, they are the slaves of sin, why do they boast of free will? For by what a man is overcome, to the same is he delivered as a slave. But if they have been freed, why do they vaunt themselves as if it were by their own doing, and boast, as if they had not received? Or are they free in such sort that they do not choose to have Him for their Lord who says to them: “Without me ye can do nothing;”[John 15:5] and “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 133, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Nature and Grace. (HTML)
Why God Does Not Immediately Cure Pride Itself. The Secret and Insidious Growth of Pride. Preventing and Subsequent Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1216 (In-Text, Margin)
... In this matter, no doubt, we do ourselves, too, work; but we are fellow-workers with Him who does the work, because His mercy anticipates us. He anticipates us, however, that we may be healed; but then He will also follow us, that being healed we may grow healthy and strong. He anticipates us that we may be called; He will follow us that we may be glorified. He anticipates us that we may lead godly lives; He will follow us that we may always live with Him, because without Him we can do nothing.[John 15:5] Now the Scriptures refer to both these operations of grace. There is both this: “The God of my mercy shall anticipate me,” and again this: “Thy mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Let us therefore unveil to Him our life by confession, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 147, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Nature and Grace. (HTML)
He Meets Pelagius with Another Passage from Hilary. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1319 (In-Text, Margin)
... But if one refuses to submit to the Apostle John,—who does not himself declare, “If we were to say we have had no sin,” but “If we say we have no sin,” —how is he likely to show deference to Bishop Hilary? It is in defence of the grace of Christ that I lift up my voice, without which grace no man is justified,—just as if natural free will were sufficient. Nay, He Himself lifts up His own voice in defence of the same. Let us submit to Him when He says: “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 227, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin. (HTML)
On the Grace of Christ. (HTML)
What Pelagius Thinks is Needful for Ease of Performance is Really Necessary for the Performance. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1864 (In-Text, Margin)
... that which they are commanded to do by free will.” Now, expunge the phrase “ more easily, ” and you leave not only a full, but also a sound sense, if it be regarded as meaning simply this: “That men may accomplish through grace what they are commanded to do by free will.” The addition of the words “more easily,” however, tacitly suggests the possibility of accomplishing good works even without the grace of God. But such a meaning is disallowed by Him who says, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 399, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
The Desire of Good is God’s Gift. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2655 (In-Text, Margin)
... ecclesiastical meeting in the East, condemned, in the fear of being condemned. For if without God’s grace the desire of good begins with ourselves, merit itself will have begun—to which, as if of debt, comes the assistance of grace; and thus God’s grace will not be bestowed freely, but will be given according to our merit. But that he might furnish a reply to the future Pelagius, the Lord does not say, “Without me it is with difficulty that you can do anything,” but He says, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] And, that He might also furnish an answer to these future heretics, in that very same evangelical saying He does not say, “Without me you can perfect nothing,” but “ do ” nothing. For if He had said “perfect,” they might say that God’s ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 400, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
He Interprets the Scriptures Which the Pelagians Make Ill Use of. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2659 (In-Text, Margin)
But assuredly, as to what is written, “The preparation of the heart is man’s part, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord,” they are misled by an imperfect understanding, so as to think that to prepare the heart—that is, to begin good—pertains to man without the aid of God’s grace. Be it far from the children of promise thus to understand it! As if, when they heard the Lord saying, “Without me ye can do nothing,”[John 15:5] they would convict Him by saying, “Behold without Thee we can prepare the heart;” or when they heard from Paul the apostle, “Not that we are sufficient to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God,” as if they would also convict him, saying, “Behold, we are ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 422, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
The Testimonies of Scripture in Favour of Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2814 (In-Text, Margin)
For that very pride has so stopped the ears of their heart that they do not hear, “For what hast thou that thou hast not received?” They do not hear, “Without me ye can do nothing;”[John 15:5] they do not hear, “Love is of God;” they do not hear, “God hath dealt the measure of faith;” they do not hear, “The Spirit breatheth where it will,” and, “They who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;” they do not hear, “No one can come unto me, unless it were given him of my Father;” they do not hear what Esdras writes, “Blessed is the Lord of our fathers, who hath put into the heart ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 437, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Two Letters Written by Augustin to Valentinus and the Monks of Adrumetum. (HTML)
Letter I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2921 (In-Text, Margin)
... epistle, which the above-mentioned brethren have brought with them to you, I wish you to understand in accordance with this faith, so that you may neither deny God’s grace, nor uphold free will in such wise as to separate the latter from the grace of God, as if without this we could by any means either think or do anything according to God,—which is quite beyond our power. On this account, indeed, it is, that the Lord when speaking of the fruits of righteousness said, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 449, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
The Grace of God is Not Given According to Merit, But Itself Makes All Good Desert. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3032 (In-Text, Margin)
... by herself alone could not be white. And by whom has she been made white except by Him who says by the prophet, “Though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow”? At the time, then, that she was made white, she deserved nothing good; but now that she is made white, she walketh well;—but it is only by her continuing ever to lean upon Him by whom she was made white. Wherefore, Jesus Himself, on whom she leans that was made white, said to His disciples, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 451, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
The Question Answered. Justification is Grace Simply and Entirely, Eternal Life is Reward and Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3059 (In-Text, Margin)
This question, then, seems to me to be by no means capable of solution, unless we understand that even those good works of ours, which are recompensed with eternal life, belong to the grace of God, because of what is said by the Lord Jesus: “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] And the apostle himself, after saying, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast;” saw, of course, the possibility that men would think from this statement that good works are not necessary to those who believe, but that faith alone suffices for them; and again, the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 472, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace. (HTML)
The Catholic Faith Concerning Law, Grace, and Free Will. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3244 (In-Text, Margin)
... confessed, therefore, that we have free choice to do both evil and good; but in doing evil every one is free from righteousness and a servant of sin, while in doing good no one can be free, unless he have been made free by Him who said, “If the Son shall make you free, then you shall be free indeed.” Neither is it thus, that when any one has been made free from the dominion of sin, he no longer needs the help of his Deliverer; but rather thus, that hearing from Him, “Without me ye can do nothing,”[John 15:5] he himself also says to Him, “Be thou my helper! Forsake me not.” I rejoice that I have found in our brother Florus also this faith, which without doubt is the true and prophetical and apostolical and catholic faith; whence those are the rather to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 485, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace. (HTML)
The Aid Without Which a Thing Does Not Come to Pass, and the Aid with Which a Thing Comes to Pass. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3356 (In-Text, Margin)
... which it should be brought about that he should persevere, but that without which he could not of free will persevere. But now to the saints predestinated to the kingdom of God by God’s grace, the aid of perseverance that is given is not such as the former, but such that to them perseverance itself is bestowed; not only so that without that gift they cannot persevere, but, moreover, so that by means of this gift they cannot help persevering. For not only did He say, “Without me ye can do nothing,”[John 15:5] but He also said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” By which words He showed that He had given them not only righteousness, but perseverance ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 373, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
Delivered on the Lord’s Day, on that which is written in the Gospel, Matt. xx. 1, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.’ (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2845 (In-Text, Margin)
... cultivate God. We ought therefore to prove to you, that God also doth cultivate men; lest perchance we be thought to have spoken a word contrary to sound doctrine, and men dispute in their heart against us, and as not knowing our meaning, find fault with us. I have determined therefore to show you, that God doth also cultivate us; but as I have said already, as a field, that He may make us better. Thus the Lord saith in the Gospel, “I am the Vine, ye are the branches, My Father is the Husbandman.”[John 15:5] What doth the Husbandman do? I ask you who are husbandmen. I suppose he cultivates his field. If then God the Father be a Husbandman, He hath a field; and His field He cultivateth, and from it He expecteth fruit.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 389, footnote 5 (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. xxi. 19, where Jesus dried up the fig-tree; and on the words, Luke xxiv. 28, where He made a pretence as though He would go further. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2959 (In-Text, Margin)
... all things ye have trust in God; and do not say, “God can do this, this He cannot do;” but rely on the omnipotence of the Almighty; “ye shall not only do this, but also if ye shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Now we read that miracles were wrought by the disciples, yea rather by the Lord through the disciples; for, “without Me,” He says, “ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] The Lord could do many things without the disciples, but the disciples nothing without the Lord. He who could make even the disciples themselves, was not certainly assisted by them to make them. We read then of the Apostles’ miracles, but we nowhere ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 423, footnote 5 (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, Luke x. 2, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous,’ etc. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3276 (In-Text, Margin)
... Scriptures, that he was sent to preach the Gospel where Christ had not been named. But because that first harvest was past already, and all the Jews who remained are no harvest, let us consider that harvest which we ourselves are. For it has been sown by Apostles and Prophets. The Lord Himself sowed it. For He was in the Apostles, seeing that Christ also Himself reaped it. For they are nothing without Him; He is perfect without them. For He saith Himself to them, “For without Me, ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] What then doth Christ from henceforth sowing among the Gentiles say? “A sower went out to sow.” “There” are reapers “sent out” to reap, “here” an unwearied sower “went out” to sow. For what fear did it cause him, that “some seed fell on the way ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 424, footnote 2 (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, Luke x. 2, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous,’ etc. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3283 (In-Text, Margin)
6. Let us give heed to our Lord, our True Example and Succour. Let us prove that He is our Succour; “Without Me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] Let us prove that He is our Example; “Christ,” says Peter, “suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps.” Our Lord Himself had bags in the way, and these bags He entrusted to Judas. It is true He suffered from the thief; but I as desiring to learn of my Lord say, “O Lord, Thou didst suffer from the thief, whence hadst Thou that of which he could take away? Me, a wretched and infirm man Thou hast ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 539, footnote 7 (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 same words of the Gospel, John xvi. 8, ‘He will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.’ (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4272 (In-Text, Margin)
... Alone because Christ with all His members is One, as the Head with His Body? Now what is His Body, but the Church? As the same teacher says, “Now ye are the Body of Christ, and members in particular.” Forasmuch then as we have fallen, and He descended for our sakes, what is, “No man hath ascended, but He That descended;” but that no man hath ascended, except as made one with Him, and as a member fastened into His Body who descended? And thus He saith to His disciples, “Without Me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] For in one way is He One with the Father, and in another one with us. He is One with the Father, in that the Substance of the Father and the Son is One; He is One with the Father, in that, “Being in the Form of God, He thought it not robbery to be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 191, footnote 4 (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 VII. 25–36. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 601 (In-Text, Margin)
... me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.” Here He has already foretold His resurrection; for they would not acknowledge Him when present, and afterwards they sought Him when they saw the multitude already believing on Him. For great signs were wrought, even when the Lord was risen again and ascended into heaven. Then mighty deeds were done by His disciples, but He wrought by them as He wrought by Himself: since, indeed, He had said to them, “Without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] When that lame man who sat at the gate rose up at Peter’s voice, and walked on his feet, so that men marvelled, Peter spoke to them to this effect, that it was not by his own power that he did this, but in the virtue of Him whom they slew. Many ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 293, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2793 (In-Text, Margin)
... Solomon, but “bodily,” that is, solidly and truly.…“For there is One God, and One Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” Mountain of mountains, as Saint of saints. Whence He saith, “I in them and Thou in Me.” “Why then do ye imagine mountains full of curds, the mountain wherein it hath pleased God to dwell in Him?” For those mountains full of curds that Mountain the Lord shall inhabit even unto the end, that something they may be to whom He saith, “for without Me nothing ye are able to do.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 514, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4735 (In-Text, Margin)
... point, that it is also spiritual: “and bread,” he saith, “strengtheneth man’s heart.” So understand it therefore of the bread as thou dost understand it of the wine; hunger inwardly, thirst inwardly: “Blessed are they,” saith our Lord, “who hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” That bread is righteousness, that wine is righteousness: it is truth, Christ is truth. “I am,” He said, “the living bread, who came down from heaven;” and, “I am the Vine, and ye are the branches.”[John 15:5]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 166, footnote 5 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Instructions to Catechumens. (HTML)
Second Instruction. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 528 (In-Text, Margin)
... 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;” and that He is stem He says again, “I am the vine, ye the branches,”[John 15:5] 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 you as a pure virgin to Christ;” and again, “That he might be the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 259, footnote 3 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Two Homilies on Eutropius. (HTML)
Homily II. After Eutropius having been found outside the Church had been taken captive. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 853 (In-Text, Margin)
... garden and he cast thee out: behold I plant thee in myself, I uphold thee. How? The devil dares not approach me. Neither do I take thee up into Heaven; but something greater than Heaven is here: I carry thee in myself who am the Lord of Heaven. The shepherd carries thee and the wolf no longer comes: or rather I permit him to approach. And so the Lord carrieth our nature: and the devil approaches and is worsted. “I have planted thee in myself:” therefore He saith “I am the root, ye are the branches:”[John 15:5] so He planted her in Himself. “But,” she saith, “I am a sinner and unclean.” “Let not this trouble thee, I am a physician. I know my vessel, I know how it was perverted. It was formerly a vessel of clay, and it was perverted. I remodel it by means ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 178, footnote 3 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)
Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)
The Immutable. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1130 (In-Text, Margin)
“‘I am the vine, ye are the branches. My Father is the husbandman.’[John 15:5] For we according to the body are of kin to the Lord, and for this reason He himself said ‘I will declare thy name unto my brethren.’ And just as the branches are of one substance with the vine, and of it, so too we, since we have bodies akin to the body of the Lord, receive them of His fulness, and have it as a root for our resurrection and salvation. And the Father is called a husbandman, for He Himself through the Word tilled the vine which is the Lord’s ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 477, footnote 2 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5320 (In-Text, Margin)
... power may be of God, and not from ourselves.” Therefore, also, in another place, checking the impudence of the heretics, he says, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.” And again, “In nothing was I behind the very chiefest Apostles, though I be nothing.” Peter, disturbed by the greatness of the miracles he witnessed, said to the Lord, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” And the Lord said to His disciples,[John 15:5] “I am the vine and ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit, for apart from Me ye can do nothing.” Just as the vine branches and shoots immediately decay when they are severed from the parent stem, so all ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 7, footnote 5 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
To those who are to be Enlightened, delivered extempore at Jerusalem, as an Introductory Lecture to those who had come forward for Baptism. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 479 (In-Text, Margin)
4. Thou art receiving not a perishable but a spiritual shield. Henceforth thou art planted in the invisible Paradise. Thou receivest a new name, which thou hadst not before. Heretofore thou wast a Catechumen, but now thou wilt be called a Believer. Thou art transplanted henceforth among the spiritual olive-trees, being grafted from the wild into the good olive-tree, from sins into righteousness, from pollutions into purity. Thou art made partaker of the Holy Vine[John 15:4-5]. Well then, if thou abide in the Vine, thou growest as a fruitful branch; but if thou abide not, thou wilt be consumed by the fire. Let us therefore bear fruit worthily. God forbid that in us should be done what befell that barren fig-tree, that Jesus come not even ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 129, footnote 1 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
Continuation of the Discourse on the Holy Ghost. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2173 (In-Text, Margin)
... shall be drunken with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrents of thy pleasure. They are drunken, with a sober drunkenness, deadly to sin and life-giving to the heart, a drunkenness contrary to that of the body; for this last causes forgetfulness even of what was known, but that bestows the knowledge even of what was not known. They are drunken, for they have drunk the wine of the spiritual vine, which says, I am the vine and ye are the branches[John 15:5]. But if ye are not persuaded by me, understand what I tell you from the very time of the day; for it is the third hour of the day. For He who, as Mark relates, was crucified at the third hour, now at the third hour sent down His grace. For ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 79, footnote 1 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Hexæmeron. (HTML)
The Germination of the Earth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1553 (In-Text, Margin)
... flexible branches, which spread themselves far over the earth, buds, tendrils, bunches of sour grapes and ripe grapes. The sight of a vine, when observed by an intelligent eye, serves to remind you of your nature. Without doubt you remember the parable where the Lord calls Himself a vine and His Father the husbandman, and every one of us who are grafted by faith into the Church the branches. He invites us to produce fruits in abundance, for fear lest our sterility should condemn us to the fire.[John 15:1-6] He constantly compares our souls to vines. “My well beloved,” says He, “hath a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill,” and elsewhere, I have “planted a vineyard and hedged it round about.” Evidently He calls human souls His vine, those souls whom He has ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 283, footnote 4 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)
Book IV. (HTML)
Chapter XII. The comparison, found in the Gospel of St. John, of the Son to a Vine and the Father to a husbandman, must be understood with reference to the Incarnation. To understand it with reference to the Divine Generation is to doubly insult the Son, making Him inferior to St. Paul, and bringing Him down to the level of the rest of mankind, as well as in like manner the Father also, by making Him not merely to be on one footing with the same Apostle, but even of no account at all. The Son, indeed, in so far as being God, is also the husbandman, and, as regards His Manhood, a grape-cluster. True statement of the Father's pre-eminence. (HTML)
161. Thus far the one insult. As for the other, it lies herein, that if the Son is the Vine in respect of His eternally-begotten Person, then, He having said: “I am the Vine, ye are the branches,”[John 15:5] that divinely-begotten One appears to be of one substance with us. But “who is like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord?” as it is written; and again, in the Psalms: “For who is there among the clouds that shall be equal to the Lord? Or who among the sons of God shall be like unto God.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 282, footnote 17 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)
Book XII. Of the Spirit of Pride. (HTML)
Chapter IX. How we too may overcome pride. (HTML)
And so we can escape the snare of this most evil spirit, if in the case of every virtue in which we feel that we make progress, we say these words of the Apostle: “Not I, but the grace of God with me,” and “by the grace of God I am what I am;” and “it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” As the author of our salvation Himself also says: “If a man abide in me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.”[John 15:5] And “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” And “Vain is it for you to rise up before light.” For “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, ...