You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.

“(tom. xx.) And this seems to be the same mistake, as if one said, that an eye which saw right was different in kind from an eye which saw wrong. For just as in these there is no difference of kind, only one of them for some reason sees wrong; so, in the other case, whether a man receives a doctrine, or whether he does not, he is of the same nature.”

“(Tr. xlii. 10) Here we must guard against the heresy of the Manichæans, who hold a certain original nature of evil, and a nation of darkness with princes at their head, whence the devil derives his existence. And thence they say our flesh is produced; and in this way interpret our Lord’s speech, Ye are of your father the devil: viz. to mean that they were by nature evil, drawing their origin from the opposite seed of darkness.”

“After the Lord showed that the Jews have a certain spiritual origin, and excluded from them the origin they presumed to have, here he asserts the true origin, ascribing to them the fatherhood of the Devil. First he sets forth his intention; second he assigns them the reason, at the words and the desires of your father you will do; third he makes manifest the reason he had set forth, at the words he was a murderer from the beginning. He says, then: you do the works of the Devil, therefore you are of your father the Devil, namely by imitation; Ezekiel 16:3: "your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite." Here the heresy of the Manichees is to be guarded against, who say that there is a certain nature of evil, and a certain race of darkness with its own princes, from which all corruptible things draw their origin; and that according to this, all men have proceeded from the Devil according to the flesh. They held moreover that certain souls belong to the good creation, and certain to the evil; hence they said that this saying of the Lord's, you are of your father the Devil, was uttered because you have proceeded from him according to the flesh, and your souls are of the evil creation. But, as Origen says, to introduce two natures on account of the difference between good and evil seems similar to one who would say that the substance of a seeing eye is one thing, and that of a dim or averted eye another. For just as a healthy eye and a bleary one do not differ in substance, but rather a certain deficient cause occurs, namely one that makes it grow dim, so the substance and nature of a thing is the same, whether it is good or has in itself a defect, which is the sin of the will. The Jews, therefore, insofar as they are evil, are not said to be sons of the Devil by nature, but by imitation. Consequently, when he says and you wish to do the desires of your father, he explains the reason he had assigned; as if to say: you are not sons of the Devil as though created by him and brought into being by him, but because, imitating him, you wish to do the desires of your father, which indeed are evil. For just as he envied man, and killed him — Wisdom 2:24: "through the envy of the Devil death entered into the world" — so also you, envying me, seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you. Consequently, when he says he was a murderer from the beginning, he makes manifest the reason he had set forth, and first he sets down the condition of the Devil which they imitate; second he shows that they are imitators of that condition, at the words but I, if I tell the truth, you do not believe me. It must be known, concerning the first point, that a twofold sin holds chief sway in the Devil: namely the sin of pride toward God, and the sin of envy toward man, whom he killed. But it is from the sin of envy toward man, by which he inflicts harms upon men, that the sin of pride is known by us; and therefore he first sets down the Demon's sin against man, second his sin against God, at the words and he did not stand in the truth. Now the sin of envy against man is that he killed him; hence he says: he, namely the Devil, was a murderer from the beginning. Here it must be known that the Devil did not kill man girded with a sword, but by evil persuasion; Wisdom 2:24: "through the envy of the Devil death entered into the world." And first indeed the death of sin entered, Psalm 33:22 (34:21): "the death of sinners is the worst"; and afterward bodily death, Romans 5:12: "through one man sin entered, and through sin, death." And, as Augustine says, do not think that you are not a murderer when you persuade your brother to evil. It must be noted, however, according to Origen, that he is called a murderer not on account of some one person only, but for the whole race, which he destroyed in Adam, in whom all die, as is said in 1 Corinthians 15:22. Hence he is called murderer by antonomasia; and this from the beginning, namely from the time there was man, who could be killed, from which time murder could take place: for man could not be killed unless man had first come to be. Consequently, when he says and he did not stand in the truth, he sets down the Demon's sin against God, which consists in this: that he turned himself away from the truth, which is God. And first he shows him turned away from the truth; second he shows him contrary to the truth, at the words when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own. Concerning the first he does two things: first he shows him turned away from the truth; second he makes manifest what he said, at the words because the truth is not in him. He says, then, and he did not stand in the truth. Here it must be known that truth is twofold: of speech and of deed. The truth of speech is that by which someone utters with the mouth what he bears in the heart, and it is found in the nature of things; Ephesians 4:25: "putting away lying, speak the truth each one with his neighbor"; Psalm 14:3 (15:2): "who speaks the truth with his neighbor, who has not done deceit with his tongue." The truth of justice is when someone does what is fitting for him according to the order of his own nature; of which he says above, John 3:21: "he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God." Speaking, therefore, of this truth, the Lord says and in the truth — namely of justice — he did not stand, because he abandoned the order of his own nature, which was that he should be subject to God, and through this same subjection attain his own beatitude and the fulfillment of his natural desire. Hence, when he wished to attain this of himself, he fell from the truth. Now this saying, he did not stand in the truth, can be understood in two ways: either that he never stood in the truth, or that he stood in it at some time but did not remain in it. But that he never was in the truth of justice can itself have a twofold sense. One indeed is according to the Manichees, who say that the Devil is naturally evil, from which it follows that he was always evil, for what is present naturally is always present. But this is heretical, because in Psalm 145:6 (146:6) it is said that God made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. Therefore every being is from God; and everything that is from God, insofar as it is, is good. And therefore others said that the Demon, by his own nature, was created good by God, but in the first instant was made evil through free will. And these differ from the Manichees, because the latter say the demons were always evil, and naturally so, whereas these say they were always evil, but through free will. But it might seem to someone that, since an Angel is not evil by nature but through the sin of his own will, and sin is a certain act, it could have come about that the Angel was good at the beginning of the act but, at the end of the evil act, was made evil. It is manifest, however, that the act of sin in the Demon is subsequent to creation, and the terminus of creation is the very being of the Angel, whereas the terminus of the operation of sin is that they are evil. And thus, on this reasoning, they hold that it is impossible that in the first instant in which the Angel began to be, he was evil. But this reasoning does not seem sufficient, for it holds only in temporal motions, which are carried out successively, and not in instantaneous motions. For in successive motions, the instant in which the action begins is one thing, and that in which it is terminated another: just as, if local motion follows upon an alteration, local motion and alteration cannot be terminated in the same instant. But in instantaneous changes, the terminus of the first and of the second change can occur at once and in the same instant, just as in the same instant in which the moon is illumined by the sun, the air is illumined by the moon. It is manifest, however, that creation is instantaneous, and likewise the movement of free will in the Angels, since they had no need of the comparison and discourse of reason; hence nothing prevents there being, at once and in the same instant, both the terminus of creation, in which he was good, and again the terminus of free will, in which he was evil. And some grant this, but say that it was not so, although it could have been — and this on account of the authority of Scripture. For it is said of the Devil, under the figure of the king of Babylon, Isaiah 14:12: "how have you fallen, Lucifer, who rose in the morning?" And Ezekiel 28:13 says, under the person of the king of Tyre: "you were in the delights of the paradise of God." And therefore they say that he was not evil at the beginning of his creation, but was good for a time, and fell through free will. But it must be said that in the first instant of his creation he could not have been evil. The reason for this is that no act has the character of sin except insofar as it is beyond the order proper to the nature of the voluntary agent. Now in any order of acts, the natural act is prior; just as in understanding, the first principles are understood first, and through them other things are understood; and likewise in willing, we first will the ultimate perfection and the ultimate end, the appetite for which is naturally present in us, and on account of which we desire other things. But what happens according to nature is not sin. It is impossible, therefore, that the Devil's first act was evil. The Devil, therefore, was good in some instant, but he did not stand in the truth — that is, he did not remain in it. As to what is said in 1 John 3:8, "the Devil has sinned from the beginning," it must be said that he did indeed sin from the beginning, because from the time he began to sin, he never ceased. Consequently, when he says because the truth is not in him, he makes manifest what he had said. This manifestation, indeed, is understood in two ways. In one way, according to Origen, it is a manifestation of the general by the specific, just as if I wished to manifest that Socrates is an animal by the fact that he is a man; as if he were to say: he did not stand in the truth, but fell — and this because the truth is not in him. Now there is a twofold degree of those not standing in the truth. For some do not stand in the truth because they are not made firm in it, but waver — Psalm 72:2 (73:2): "but my feet were almost moved, my steps had almost slipped." Others, however, recoil totally from the truth. And thus the Devil did not stand in the truth, but withdrew from it through aversion. But is there, then, no truth at all in him? Indeed, if there were no truth at all in him, he would understand neither himself nor anything else, since understanding is only of true things — which is unfitting. It must be said, therefore, that in the demons there is some truth, as there is something true in them. For no evil totally corrupts the good, since at the very least the subject in which the evil is, is itself good. Therefore Dionysius says that in the demons the natural goods remain intact. Thus, then, there is some truth in them, but not the perfective truth from which they have turned away, namely from God, who is the perfective truth and wisdom. In the second way, however, this manifestation is by a sign, as Augustine says. For it seems that rather the contrary ought to have been said — namely, that the truth is not in him because he did not stand in the truth. But just as a cause is sometimes made manifest through its effect, so the Lord wished to show that he did not stand in the truth through the fact that the truth is not in him: for it would be in him, had he stood in the truth. A similar manner of speaking is found in Psalm 16:6 (17:6): "I have cried out because you have heard me," as if from this it appears that he cried out, because he was heard. Consequently, when he says when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own, he shows that the Devil is contrary to the truth. First he sets forth his intention; second he makes manifest his proposition, at the words because he is a liar, and the father thereof. Now contrary to truth is the false and the lie; and the Devil is contrary to the truth because he speaks a lie: and therefore he says when he speaks, he speaks a lie. Here it must be known that whoever, besides God, speaks from his own, speaks a lie — although not everyone who speaks a lie speaks from his own. Only God, however, in speaking from his own, speaks the truth. For truth is the illumination of the intellect; but God is the light itself, and by him all are illumined — above, John 1:9: "it was the true light, which illumines every man coming into this world" — hence he is truth itself, and others do not speak the truth except insofar as they are illumined by him. Hence, as Ambrose says, every truth, by whomever it is spoken, is from the Holy Spirit. Thus, then, when the Devil speaks from his own, he speaks a lie; man too, when he speaks from his own, speaks a lie; but when he speaks from God, then he speaks the truth; Romans 3:4: "but God is true, and every man a liar," as far as it depends on himself. But not every man who speaks a lie speaks from his own, because sometimes he receives this from another — not indeed from God, who is truthful, but from him who did not stand in the truth and first devised the lie. And therefore he alone, singularly, when he speaks a lie, speaks from his own; 1 Kings 22 (final chapter): "I will go out, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets"; Isaiah 19:14: "the Lord has mingled" — that is, has permitted to be mingled — "in the midst thereof a spirit of error." He makes manifest, however, his proposition when he says because he is a liar, and the father thereof. This indeed the Manichees, understanding it badly, took as positing generations of demons, thinking that the Devil has a father. Hence they said that the Devil is a liar, and the father thereof — that is, the Devil is the father of himself. This indeed is not to be understood in this way. For the Lord said that the Devil is a liar, and the father thereof — that is, the father of the lie: for not everyone who lies is the father of his own lie. For, as Augustine says, if you received a lie from another and told it, you indeed have lied, but you are not the father of the lie. The Devil, however, because he did not receive the lie from elsewhere — the lie by which he killed man as if by poison — is the father of the lie, just as God is the Father of truth. For the Devil first devised the lie, when he lied to the woman: "you shall not die at all," Genesis 3:4. How this was true, the outcome of the matter afterward proved. It must be known, however, that these words, from that passage you are of your father the Devil onward, are expounded in the book On the Questions of the New and Old Testament as referring to Cain, in this way: he is called a devil who does the works of the Devil, and you imitate him. Cain was a murderer from the beginning — namely from the time he killed Abel his brother — and he did not stand in the truth, because the truth is not in him. And this appears because, when the Lord asked him (Genesis 4:9): "where is Abel your brother?" he answered, saying: "I know not, Lord; am I my brother's keeper?" Hence he himself is a liar, and the father thereof — namely the Devil, who is his father by impression. The first exposition, however, is better.”

“Ye are of your father the devil. “Not by descent but by imitation,” says S. Augustine, quoting Ezek. xvi 4 ; and adding, “The Jews, by imitating their impieties, found for themselves parents, not of whom to be born, but with whom they would be lost, by following their evil ways.” S. Epiphanius {Her. 38, 40) by the devil in this place understands Judas Iscariot, whom our Lord also calls a devil But the author of u Questions on the Old and New Testament ” {apud S. Augustine) understands Cain. But it is certain that it must be taken literally to mean Lucifer. For the Jews in persecuting Jesus followed him VOL. iv. x Digitized by V^rOOQie 322 as their father ; “ not by succession in the flesh, but in sin,* says & Ambrose (Lib. iv. in loc .) Ye are of, &c. “ In order to kill Me.” He explains that they are of the devil, by following his suggestion. & Chrysostom says he speaks not of “ works,” but of desires (or lusts), showing that both he and they greatly delighted in murders. For the devil has an ardent desire to destroy all men, both because he grudges them the glory from which he himself fell, but also to injure God, whom he hates as his torturer, and wishes to tear away men from Him whom He created in His own image, and called and predestinated to His own eternal grace and glory. He was a murderer , &c. For as soon as Adam was created, Lucifer, the very same day through envy destroyed both him and all his posterity, by persuading him to eat of the forbidden fruit And in like manner does he endeavour through you, O Jews, to kill Me, by Whom all men are to be redeemed from dearth. For he ever persists in his eager desire to destroy men, as the leopard and wolf, which feed on human flesh. He urged on Cain to kill Abel, and Joseph’s brethren to destine him to death. And even now instigates all murderers to commit their murders. And much more does he thirst for the death and destruction of souls, though bodily death is here more properly meant, for this it was they plotted against Christ Euthymius and S. Augustine (Contra Petib. il 13). And abode not in the truth , *>., in the integrity and perfection, the grace, righteousness, and sanctity in which he was created. True means pure and unadulterated. As Nathaniel is called “a true Israelite, in whom is no guile.” Again “ in truth ” means in that which was his duty. In S. John, David, and Solomon “the truth” commonly means this (see John iiL 21). There is a threefold truth, in heart, word, and deed. The truth of the heart is opposed to error ; the truth of word is opposed to a lie, the truth of deed is when a man acts in accordance with what is practically right, and this is opposed to iniquity and sin. Now the devil did not stand in the truth because he did not persevere in what he ought to have done. THE FATHER OF LIES. 323 He refused to be under God. He claimed to be His equal, a kind of second god, and rose up against Him through pride. Hence he fell from his state of grace, and was cast down to hell (see Is. xiv. 12). And so S. Chrysostom (Horn. liv. ; S. Leo, Ser. de Quadr ., and others). Hence (1.) S. Augustine (contr. Adimantum iv. 4), understands by the “ truth,” the law, meaning that the devil did not abide in the Law of God. Others by u truth ” understand fidelity, or the obedience due to God as the Creator. (2.) S. Irenseus (v. 22, 23) understands it to mean " veracity,” as our Lord says below he is “ a liar, and the father of it” Christ seems to charge the Jews with two faults, which they had learned from the devil, murder, and mendacity, and calumny. (3.) Origen (Tom. xxiv.) understands it to mean “ truth in practical matters,” which Lucifer abandoned when he sinned by pride, which practically was a false step. This resulted from his not abiding in truth of act, and thus he departed from truth in heart and word, and thus by his lies deceived mankind. Hence S. Augustine (de Civ. xi. 13) rightly infers that he was created in grace and righteousness, and that the Manichees were wrong in asserting that he was naturally wicked or created by an evil god. They inferred this wrongly from 1 John iii, “The devil sinnethfrom the beginning.” The true meaning of this passage is explained in loco. Because there is no truth in him. Neither in thought, word, or deed, for those three kinds of truth have a sisterly relation to each other. But here “ truth ” rather signifies veracity. When he speaketh a lie> &c. When he fell from his original beauty as an angel and became a hideous demon, it was innate in him to deceive ; his special and proper business was to lie, and to this he entirely devotes himself. (2.) “ Of his own,” means of his own special invention. But men lie from imitating him, and by his suggestion. (3.) “ Of his own,” from his own inward delight in it He delights in it, as a thief in his thefts. For he is a liar. From his constant habit of lying, he is altogether Digitized by V^OOQle 324 made up of lies. And if he ever speaks truth, it is by compulsion, or else by means of truth to persuade men to what is false. And the father of it. “His father,” says Nonnus. The Caiman heretics understood the devil to mean Cain. But the Manicheans on S. Augustine’s authority (in loco) said that the devil had a father, even the evil god, and that both he and his son were liars. But I maintain that “ of it ” refers to the word “ lie,” which is understood in the term liar which occurs just before. And he is the father of a lie. (i.) Because he first invented the act of lying. (2.) Because he fashions and forms lies, as the potter moulds the clay. So S. Augustine and others. It is a Hebraism. Origen says, “The devil begot a lie. He was seduced by himself, and in this respect was worse, because others are deceived by him, whereas he is the author of his own deception.” And S. Augustine, “ Not every one that lies is a father of a lie, but he only who, like the devil, received it not from, any other quarter.” And hence the devil is the father and author of heresies, and therefore heresiarchs have had a devil at their side who suggested their heresies, as well as arguments to uphold them. So Luther confessed of himself. Such a suggester had Arius, Eunomius, Calvin, &c. The Apostle (1 Tim. iv. 1) speaks of heresies as “doctrines of devils ” (see notes in loco). 45. But if I speak the truths ye believe Me not. His argument stands thus, “ Whosoever believeth a lie is a son of the devil. And ye believe a lie, and are therefore sons of the devil” But “ if” may mean “because,” as some Greek and I^atin copies read. And so it would mean, “ Because I speak the truth in truly reproving your sins, and truly asserting myself to be the Messiah, and prove this by miracles, yet ye will not believe Me because ye will not give up your sins, and will not believe what I say and teach, but rather believe the devil who persuades you that I am a false prophet, and my miracles are mere sleight of hand”

“He that is of God,.... Who is born, not of blood, by carnal descent from any person, or of the carnal will, or by the power of freewill, or of the will of the best man in the world; but of God, according to his abundant mercy, of his own will, by the power of his grace; and so has God to be his Father: such an one heareth God's words; the doctrines of the Gospel, which have God for their author, being of his ordaining, sending, and publishing; and his grace for the matter of them, displayed in election, redemption, justification, pardon, adoption, and eternal salvation, and his glory for the end: now a regenerate man has eyes to see into the glory, loveliness, excellency, suitableness, and usefulness of these things; and he has ears to hear, and a heart to understand them, which others have not; and therefore hears them with pleasure, receives them in the love of them, cordially embraces them by faith, and distinguishes them from the words of man; and puts such of them in practice, as requires it: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God; because God was not their Father, or they were not born of him, as they boasted; therefore they had not eyes to see, nor ears to hear, nor hearts to understand: and it may as fairly be inferred, that because they did not hear the words of God, therefore they were not of God; for these two necessarily imply each other; it looks very dark on such persons, who neither hear the doctrines of the Gospel externally nor internally.”

“Ye are of your father the devil - Ye are the seed of the old serpent. See on Joh 8:37 (note). The lusts of your father - Like father like son. What Satan desires, ye desire; because ye are filled with his nature. Awful state of unregenerate men! They have the nearest alliance to Satan; they partake of his nature and have in them the same principles and propensities which characterize the very nature and essence of the devil! Reader, canst thou rest in this state? Apply to God, through Christ, that thou mayest be born again. He was a murderer from the beginning - It was through him that Adam transgressed; in consequence of which death entered into the world, and slew him and all his posterity. This was the sentiment of the Jews themselves. In Sohar Kadash, the wicked are called, "The children of the old serpent, who slew Adam and all his descendants." See Schoettgen. Abode not in the truth - He stood not in the truth - was once in a state of glorious felicity, but fell from it; and, being deprived of all good himself, he could not endure that others should enjoy any; therefore by his lies he deceived Eve, and brought her, her husband, and, through them, their posterity, into his own condemnation. He speaketh of his own - Εκ των ιδιων λαλει, He speaketh of his own offspring, or, from his own disposition, for he is the father and fountain of all error and falsity; and all who are deceived by him, and partake of his disposition, falsity and cruelty, are his offspring, for he is a liar, and the father of it - και ὁ πατηρ αυτου - literally, his father also. There is considerable difficulty in this verse. The Cainites, and the Archontites, mentioned by Epiphanius, read it thus: "Ye are the children of your father the devil, because he is a liar, and his father was a liar. He was a man-slayer, and he did not remain in the truth. When he speaketh, he speaketh a lie of his own, (progenitors understood), because his father also was a liar." The consequences which the above heretics drew from this verse were the following. They said that the father of the Jews was a demon; that he also had a demon for his father; and that he had a demon for his father, etc. The Archontites maintained that Cain had a demon for his father, the spirit which our Lord speaks of here; and that the Jews proceeded from the race of Cain. Grotius, supposing that the devil who tempted Eve was not the prince of devils, but rather a subordinate one, seems to think he may be understood here, he is a liar, and his father also, which is the literal translation of the latter clause of the text, ὡς και ὁ πατηρ αυτου, as it has been read by many of the primitive fathers. Mr. Wakefield, by changing το, before ψευδος, into τις, gives the text the following translation: - "The devil is your father, and ye willingly perform the lusts of your father. He was a man-slayer from the first, and continued not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When Any One speaketh a lie, he speaketh according to his own kindred: for his father also is a liar." Our own translation, that refers πατηρ αυτου to ψευδος, a lie, and not to ψευϚης, a liar, is probably the most correct.”

“You are of your father, the devil, and have made yourselves his slaves. — He was a murderer from the beginning of the world, having brought both a corporal and a spiritual death by sin, upon all mankind. — He abode not in the truth, in the ways of truth and obedience to God. — He is a liar, and the father thereof: that is, the father of lies. I speak truth, being truth itself. (Witham) — St. Augustine compares heretics, who drive Christians out of the Church, to the devil, who was the cause of our first parents’ banishment from paradise. (Cont. lit. Petil. lib. ii. chap. 13.)”

“Ye are of your father the devil--"This is one of the most decisive testimonies to the objective (outward) personality of the devil. It is quite impossible to suppose an accommodation to Jewish views, or a metaphorical form of speech, in so solemn an assertion as this" [ALFORD]. the lusts of your father--his impure, malignant, ungodly propensities, inclinations, desires. ye will do--are willing to do; not of any blind necessity of nature, but of pure natural inclination. He was a murderer from the beginning--The reference is not to Cain (as LOCKE, DE WETTE, ALFORD, &c.), but to Adam [GROTIUS, CALVIN, MEYER, LUTHARDT, &c.]. The death of the human race, in its widest sense, is ascribed to the murderous seducer of our race. and abode not in the truth--As, strictly speaking, the word means "abideth," it has been denied that the fall of Satan from a former holy state is here expressed [LOCKE, &c.], and some superior interpreters think it only implied [OLSHAUSEN, &c.]. But though the form of the thought is present--not past--this is to express the important idea, that his whole character and activity are just a continual aberration from his own original truth or rectitude; and thus his fall is not only the implied basis of the thought, but part of the statement itself, properly interpreted and brought out. no truth in him--void of all that holy, transparent rectitude which, as His creature, he originally possessed. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own--perhaps his own resources, treasures (Mat 12:35) [ALFORD]. (The word is plural). It means that he has no temptation to it from without; it is purely self-begotten, springing from a nature which is nothing but obliquity. the father of it--that is, of lying: all the falsehood in the world owes its existence to him. What a verse is this! It holds up the devil (1) as the murderer of the human race; but as this is meant here in the more profound sense of spiritual death, it holds him up, (2) as the spiritual parent of this fallen human family, communicating to his offspring his own evil passions and universal obliquity, and stimulating these into active exercise. But as there is "a stronger than he," who comes upon him and overcomes him (Luk 11:21-22), it is only such as "love the darkness," who are addressed as children of the devil (Mat 13:38; Jo1 3:8-10).”