Table of Contents

1. Evangelical Counsels
2. Evangelical Precepts
3. Commandments
4. Precepts and Counsels
5. Evangelical Promises
6. Evangelical Threats
7. The Miracles of Christ
8. Christ’s Oracles and Prophecies
9. The Seven Sacraments
10. Gospel Paradoxes
11. Gospel Parables
12. Gospel Maxims
13. Gospel Enigmas

Canon 1. The aim and purpose of the Evangelists was not to narrate all that Christ said and did (for that would be too extensive and almost impossible), but rather to narrate a few things from among many, and to select the more important from the common things, so as to present to us thereby a picture and an idea of Christ’s teaching and life, as S. John clearly states at the end of his gospel. Indeed, they mean to show that Jesus, the Son of Blessed Mary, is the Christ or the Messias promised of old in the law and the prophets, and now sent to save men from sin, death and hell; that He is not a mere man, but true God and true man subsisting in the one Person of the Son of God, and, consequently, that in Christ the things attributed to God should likewise be attributed to man, and the things belonging to man should also be given to God by the communicatio idiomatum [a technical term in theology, meaning “sharing of properties”], so that God is said to be born, crucified, and to have died, since this man, Jesus, who was at the same time God, was born, crucified and died for the salvation of mankind.

Canon 2. For this reason they [the Evangelists] often do not preserve chronological order in relating Christ’s words and deeds; one is silent about many things that the others mention, and nevertheless continues his narrative as though nothing had been omitted, as is evident in Christ’s appearance to the women after the resurrection, which they relate in quite different ways. Because of this they not infrequently join sayings, parables and sermons which have no intrinsic connection or order, but were spoken by Christ at different times, on different occasions, and about different subjects.

Canon 3. The Evangelists, so as not to seem to be saying altogether the same thing, disagree in their words, but agree in their meaning [verbis discordant, sed sensu concordant]. We should therefore compare with each other those Evangelists who narrate the same deed or word of Christ (this is usually noted then in Bibles in the margin), so that the full story in the matter can be gathered from a comparison of them all. If they appear to say contrary things anywhere, they should be reconciled, in that one may consider this or that circumstance of time, place, persons, etc., which is omitted by the others, according to the maxim: “Distinguish the times, and we shall reconcile the laws.” S. Augustine gives an excellent explanation of this principle (lib. 2 de Consensu Evang. cap. 28): “It is therefore a useful principle, and one particularly worthy of being borne in mind, when we are speaking of the concord of the Evangelists, that there is no divergence [to be supposed] from truth, even when they introduce some saying different from what was actually uttered by the person concerning whom the narrative is given, provided that, notwithstanding this, they set forth as his mind precisely what is also so conveyed by that one among them who reproduces the words as they were literally spoken. For thus we learn the salutary lesson, that our aim should be nothing else than to ascertain what is the mind and intention of the person who speaks.”

Canon 4. Christ, following the ancient wise men from various nations, especially the Hebrews, customarily handed on His evangelical teaching by means of short maxims and various sayings, as did Solomon in the Proverbs and Sirach in Ecclesiasticus. Therefore in vain does one seek a connection among them, as is clear in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (Matth. 5 et seq.).

Canon 5. Christ applies the same saying, especially if it is a proverb, repeatedly, to several different subjects. An example is Matthew 5:15, where by the proverb: Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house, Christ teaches that the Apostles must give publicly to all an example of virtue; He makes this application when He immediately adds, So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. But at Luke 8:17 and Mark 4:21 Christ, by this same proverb, teaches that the Apostles must not hide the gospel, but rather preach it publicly to all; hence He adds, For there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden that shall not be known. In general, therefore, this proverb, A light is to be set upon a candlestick, signifies that those who are learned must be a shining light to everyone else, both by word and by their example of a holy life. Another instance: In Matthew 10:24, Christ cites the proverb, The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his lord, in order to prove that the Apostles ought not to be better situated than He Himself is, nor to expect honor and praise from the world, from which He has received blame; hence He adds: If they call the good man [i.e., head] of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household! But at John 13:16, by this same saying He proves that the Apostles must serve one another and wash each other’s feet, as He has washed theirs. For I have given you an example, He says, that as I have done to you, so you do also. But at Luke 16:40 He shows by this same proverb that the disciple is not more learned and better than his master; thus if the master is blind, ignorant and given to vice, one must not hope that his disciple will be sighted, learned and endowed with virtue. Hence this proverb, The disciple is not above his master, is to be understood generally to mean that the disciple is not superior to his master in honor, or complaisance, or glory, or teaching, or virtue, etc.

Canon 6. Christ, because He knows and searches the hearts of men, adapts and accommodates His teaching more to the mind and intentions of those who dealt with Him than to their questions and external words, says S. Chrysostom, commenting on Matthew 9:3, which presents a clear example: And behold, says S. Matthew, some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their thoughts said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Then, too, in ch. 12, v. 24, when the Pharisees think within themselves, This man casteth not out devils but by Beelzebub, Matthew adds, Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, etc.

Canon 7. One God is proclaimed in the law by Moses; a duality of persons by the prophets; the Trinity by Christ in the gospel. For Moses said: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord (Deuter. 6:4). The prophets predict and preach that the Father is to send His Son into the world for the salvation of mankind. But Christ says: Teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matth. 28). Not that the Holy Trinity is denied in the law and the prophets, nor is it in any way set forth; rather, this mystery is infrequently, tenuously and obscurely proclaimed, whereas in the gospel it is preached often, expressly and clearly. Thus S. Epiphanius says (haeresi 74, midway), “The one Deity is declared most of all in Moses; His duality is forcefully proclaimed by the prophets; whereas the Trinity is made manifest in the gospels, more fully according to the occasions of the times and the generations, suited to the knowledge and faith of the just man.” As God revealed many things by the prophets and the Apostles, faith grew gradually in the world, together with the knowledge of God and of the Holy Trinity, just as the sun increases from the gloominess of dawn to the bright light of midday (2 Peter 1:19).

Canon 8. In Christ, says S. Gregory Nazianzen (ad Cledonium), there is one thing and another, that is, His divine nature is different from His human nature. In the Holy Trinity, however, there is one Person and Another, because in It there are three hypostases, or Persons, namely, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, who nevertheless are One in essence, being one Godhead.

Canon 9. It is often said of God the Father that He is the one and only God, as in John 17:3, Now this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent; we might add and repeat: “Jesus Christ, the only true God.” For the word only here excludes, not the Son and the Holy Ghost, but rather the idols and false gods of the gentiles, who are by nature different from God the Father. The Son and the Holy Ghost, however, are of the same divine nature as the Father, and therefore they are one God with Him, who is only One and not many. Thus S. Chrysostom (hom. 72 in Matth.) says, “When in the scripture, whether from the Old or the New Testament, it is said that God is one, and that there is none besides Him, this is said not to the exclusion of the Son, but to the exclusion of idols.” So too S. Jerome (in Isaiae cap. 43, ante medium), Nazianzen (orat. 4 de Theolog.), S. Augustine (lib. de Spiritu et littera, cap. 33) and theologians, passim.

Canon 10. Christ has a sure recognition and foreknowledge of all future things whatsoever; nevertheless He often adds the adverb of doubt, “perhaps,” not to signify that the matter is doubtful or uncertain in itself or to Him, but rather to show that the future thing is contingent, not necessary, and that it is subject to the free will of men, so that men who are doubtful and uncertain of their perseverance and salvation will be more careful and attend to it more diligently. The “perhaps,” then, does not abolish God’s foreknowledge, but indicates the contingency of the matter and the freedom of human will; nevertheless God has a determinate and certain foreknowledge of the future election [i.e., of who will be saved], and by the immense scope of His keen mind, He foresees it. Therefore freedom does not contradict God’s foreknowledge, nor does His prescience abolish man’s freedom, because it [God’s prescience] is by nature subsequent to the thing that is foreseen [by God] and freely chosen by man. Therefore, as Damascene rightly points out, God foreknows that Peter, for instance, will sin, because Peter shall sin of his own free will; the reason that he will sin, however, is not because God foresees that he will sin. Similarly, because I walk, therefore God sees me walking; the contrary, however, is not true: “Because God sees me walking, therefore I walk.” “Perhaps”, then, signifies something that will come about, not by necessity, but by accident and so to speak by chance, if you regard secondary causes and man’s liberty; for to God nothing is fortuitous, but all things are foreseen with certainty and provided for. That this is so is evident from the Greek text, where for “perhaps” [Latin: forte] it has ἂν, which is an expletive particle which does not doubt but confirms what is said, meaning, indeed, to be sure. Thus Christ says about Capharnaum, For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps (Greek ἂν i.e., certainly) it had [= would have] remained unto this day (Matth. 11:23). The meaning is: If the miracles that I have worked in Capharnaum had been worked in Sodom, the Sodomites, too, would have repented, and in pleasing God by their penitence, they would have escaped the destruction by fire.

Canon 11. When Christ heals the sick, He often attributes the healing, or the salvation of the soul and body, to faith, saying: Thy faith hath made thee whole, whereby “faith” is to be understood not mere faith alone, as the heretics claim, but rather the faith which is clothed in charity and works through acts of hope, penitence, love, etc., as is plain in the penitence of Mary Magdalen, who by her most ardent love and contrition, washed the feet of Christ with her tears at a public banquet, wiped them with her hair and kissed them, so that she merited to hear Him say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, etc. Thy faith hath made thee safe. Go in peace (Luke 7:48–50). He mentions faith only, nevertheless, both because at the beginning of His preaching it was most necessary to have faith in Him (that He, who outwardly seemed to be poor, common, and despised, was truly the Messias, the Teacher and Redeemer of the world), and also because faith is the principle and root of hope, penitence, charity, and the other virtues. That is why Christ, and Paul following Him, understand faith to include all gifts and virtues as their principle, just as the fruit is implied by metonymy in the tree and the root. For He contrasts faith, not with charity and grace, but with the old law and the natural powers, and He does this to show the necessity of faith and of His grace, which is the beginning of justification and salvation. Thus S. Augustine (libr. de Fide et Operat. cap. 14) and the Council of Trent (sess. 6 cap. 8).

Canon 12. Verbs in Hebrew sometimes have an inchoative sense, at other times a progressive sense, or even yet a perfective sense. An example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land (Matth. 5:3–4). They are called blessed, that is, in an inchoative sense, or in hope, if not yet in fact, because they are indeed on the way which tends and leads to eternal blessedness. An example of the progressive or continuing sense: at the miracle of water changed into wine in Cana of Galilee, the disciples are said to have believed in Jesus (John 2:11). They believed, that is, they were confirmed in their belief; for even before then they had believed in Him, being His followers and disciples. An example of the perfective sense: in John 20:17 Jesus says to Mary Magdalen: Do not touch Me, that is, do not cling to and long for this touch of Mine, but go and hasten to tell My Apostles, who are greatly saddened by My death, that I am now risen. Another instance: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16), meaning, whoever shall have believed perfectly, not only in his heart and on his lips, but also in his deeds, so that the things that he believes in his heart, he also professes with his lips and puts into action, and this continuously and perseveringly, until the end of his life. For if anyone, after he believes, should apostatize from the Faith, or should live a sinful life, he certainly shall not be saved, but shall be damned.

Canon 13. Affirmative propositions, especially those that contain promises, blessings, beatitudes, rewards, etc., often must be understood not absolutely and universally, but appropriately and in a restricted sense, namely, so as to signify the power and nature of the matter in question, for its part; indeed, that the matter is such that it is naturally constituted to lead a man to so great a reward or good, unless something else hinders its action, and provided the other requirements are present. Thus the physician says to the sick man: This medicine will cure you, meaning, it is powerful, and so constituted as to treat your illness, that is, unless its action is otherwise impeded, for instance, by your intemperance or imprudence. Thus Christ again and again attributes eternal salvation to faith (John 3:15, Romans 1:17 ff.), because faith—for its part, to the extent that the outcome depends upon it—is constituted to lead a man to hope, fear of the Lord, penitence, charity, and salvation, unless he himself hinders and interrupts its action by his malice or indolence. But at other times salvation is attributed to the invocation of God, for instance in Acts 2:21: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, meaning, of course, if the other requirements are fulfilled. In still other passages, salvation is ascribed to charity, hope, fear of the Lord, penance, and good works, for instance in Luke 7:47, 1 Cor. 13:2, Isaias 40:31. Otherwise, unless one practiced moderation, one would conclude in a similar way that the sacraments were not required, and that someone who merely believed would be saved, even if he later became an unbeliever.

Negative propositions, however, are to be understood absolutely, and without any other additional restriction, for example: Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet (Romans 13:9).

Canon 14. S. Matthew dwells mostly upon the teaching and sayings of Christ, which are suitable for the correct formation of human morals, and he records them extensively and in an orderly way. Luke, however, keeps more to the deeds and actions of Christ. Mark abbreviates Matthew and often interprets him. John constructs his gospel so that the Divinity of Christ is most prominent, in order to show, through His debates with the scribes and Pharisees and His miracles, that Christ is truly God, and the Son of God; this is in opposition to Cerinthus, Ebion, and heretics of that ilk who were already springing up, who taught that Christ was a mere man and denied that He is God.

Canon 15. Christ, the Apostles, and the prophets explain spiritual and divine things in corporeal and human terms, because otherwise men could not grasp them. For whatever a man conceives in his mind, he has first perceived by one or another of the senses, according to the teaching of Aristotle: “Nothing is in the intellect which was not first in the senses.” Since, therefore, we are unable to imagine God and divine matters, as they are in themselves, hence Christ adumbrates them by means of images of corporeal things and thus depicts them for men. S. Dionysius (coelest. Hierar. cap. 1, midway) says, “The divine radiance was not permitted to shine upon our weakness in any other way, but covered by a variety of sacred garments (by which we are borne up to higher themes), and clothed in those things which are more familiar to us, God’s paternal providence accommodating itself to the nature of mortals.” For this reason, sacred scripture attributes to God a head, hands, a throne, armor; likewise it assigns to Him situations and passions, such as sitting, standing, flying, becoming angry, having pity, being sad (in Greek, ἀνθρποπαθῶς) [in an anthropomorphic way]. On this subject S. Augustine wrote a book (de Essentia divinitatis), and Eucherius of Lyons, a treatise (de Forma Verborum spiritualis intelligentiae); see also Damascene (lib. 1 de Fide, cap. 14). Thus Christ is figuratively called a Lion, a Lamb, a Gate, a Light, a Vine. Thus eternal life is called a denarius, a treasure, the wedding of the Lamb, a great banquet, Christ’s table, the kingdom of heaven, etc. Thus the angels are depicted in scripture as winged youths. S. Augustine puts it brilliantly (lib. contra Adimantum cap. 7): “Sacred scripture,” he says, “speaking in our language, also demonstrates that by these words nothing worthy of God can be said. For why should not those words be spoken, too, about that majesty, about which whatever is spoken is said unworthily, since He surpasses all the riches of all languages by His ineffable sublimity?

Canon 16. The attributes of God, such as goodness, omnipotence, foreknowledge, providence, justice, mercy, holiness, etc., are in fact identical with the utterly simple nature of God and therefore are one and the same thing, one single and undivided essence. Sacred scripture, however, sets these attributes forth in many ways as numerous things, so as to signify that the many powers and operations (effectus)—as well as affections (affectus)—which in men and angels are various and multiple, are nonetheless united in God and are one with His Divinity. Consider these examples: His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalm 144:9). Great are the works of the Lord, sought out according to all His wills (Psalm 110:2).

Canon 17. If Christ, the prophets, and the Apostles seem by their words to command or counsel a misdeed or a shameful act, that saying is not to be interpreted literally, but figuratively and mystically. The same can be said also of everything that is impossible, or which cannot pertain strictly speaking to decency of manners, or the truth of the Faith, or to the sacraments, for instance: If thy hand, or thy foot, scandalize thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. . . . If thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee (Matth. 18:8–9). Taking this literally, Origen castrated himself in order to escape the temptation of lust; but wrongly, for self-mutilation is not lawful. Hence these sayings are not to be understood literally, the way they sound, but figuratively, so that by hand, foot, eye, you understand “friend, household member, relative, etc.” who serves and assists you like a hand, an eye, or a foot. For if he scandalizes you and entices you to heresy, lust, or any other crime, he should be completely cut off and banished from all dealings with you. On the other hand, when Christ does not command a misdeed or a shameful act, then what He says it to be understood literally, the way it sounds, as for example when He says, This is My Body . . . This is My Blood (Matth 26). For we do not tear to pieces the Flesh of Christ in the Eucharist, nor do we drink His Blood flowing from wounds in plain sight, as the Capharnaites imagined and abhorred, but rather we consume both of them covered and hidden under the appearances of bread and wine, and in this there is nothing shameful and nothing abhorrent.

S. Augustine records this Canon (lib. 3 de Doctr. Christ., cap. 10): “Whatever there is in the word of God that cannot, when taken literally, be referred either to purity of life or soundness of doctrine, you may set down as figurative. Purity of life has reference to the love of God and one’s neighbor; soundness of doctrine to the knowledge of God and one’s neighbor.” And in chapter 16: “If the sentence is one of command, either forbidding a crime or vice, or enjoining an act of prudence or benevolence, it is not figurative. If, however, it seems to enjoin a crime or vice, or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence, it is figurative.”

The same author, in a catechetical work (de catechizandis rudibus, cap. 26) says, “Moreover, in this way [the catechumen] learns briefly that, whatever he may hear in the canonical books of such a kind as to make him unable to refer it to the love of eternity, and of truth, and of sanctity, and to the love of our neighbor, he should believe that to have been spoken or done with a figurative significance; and that, consequently, he should endeavor to understand it in such a manner as to refer it to that two-fold (duty of) love.” Origen records the same Canon (4 Periarchon. cap. 2).

Canon 18. It is the custom of the Hebrews to be silent about antecedent events and causes and to relate consequences and effects; or else, vice versa, to leave the effects, which they do not mention, to be understood from the causes that they relate. Thus John 1:43 says: On the following day He would go forth into Galilee, and He findeth Philip. And Jesus saith to him, Follow me, where the word findeth implies that Christ had previously sought Philip. As if to say: Jesus went into Galilee in order to seek Philip, for He had already made up His mind to call him to the apostolate; hence He found him, whom He was seeking, and called him, saying, Follow me. Thus ch. 12, v. 14 says, And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; where from the word found we can infer that He had previously looked for it. For as Matthew 21:2 says, Jesus sent two disciples ahead into the neighboring village, to look for an ass, and to bring it to Him. Therefore He did not find it by chance, but by diligent searching. In a similar fashion, from a reply they let the reader gather that there was a previous question. Thus John 1:20 says that the Jews had sent delegates to John the Baptist, asking, who art thou? The Baptist replied: I am not the Christ, from which reply it is understood that the Jews had asked him, “Art thou not the Messias, or the Christ?” So too ch. 3, v. 3 says, Jesus answered (Nicodemus) and said to him: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. From this reply we gather that Nicodemus had first asked Jesus, by what means salvation and the kingdom of God could be obtained; but John does not mention this question. Sometimes, nevertheless, “to reply” among the Hebrews means the same as, “to begin to speak,” even if there was no previous question. So, too, among the Greeks, whence the expression repeated so many times by Homer: “Τὸν δ᾿ ἀποκριβόµενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκύς Αχίλλευς,” i.e., “in reply to him, swift-footed Achilles said,” which he makes use of, even when no one asks Achilles a question.

In a similar way, they do not mention some things, which nevertheless they (or others) afterward say or insinuate were spoken. Thus in John 6:36 Jesus says: But I said unto you that you also have seen me, and you believe not. Where and when Jesus had said this, John nowhere states, as S. Chrysostom observes. But from this passage it is certain that He had said it. Thus in John 11:28 Martha says to Mary Magdalen:, The Master is come and calleth for thee, even though no mention was made previously of this call in Martha’s conversation with Jesus. John was content merely to insinuate it in this verse through Martha, as SS. Cyril, Chrysostom, and Leontius observe. In the same chapter, v. 40, Jesus says to Martha: Did I not say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?, that is, the glorious raising of Lazarus, thy brother, even though John had never stated earlier where and when Jesus had said it.

Canon 19. By a Hebraism, the verb is often given without its subject, especially in S. Mark, as though that could be understood and supplied easily from the circumstances, from what precedes and follows. Thus in ch. 4, v. 26 Mark says: So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the earth and should sleep, and rise, night and day. Should sleep refers to the man; [should] rise refers to the seed; hence by way of explanation he adds: And (“and” signifies “that is”) the seed should spring, and grow up whilst he knoweth not. As if to say: Just as the seed itself rises, while the man who sows it is sleeping, and grows day and night; so too the preaching and teaching of the gospel grows and is propagated continuously, while Christ rests in heaven, as though sleeping. Thus S. Jerome, Bede and the Gloss explain it, although a different, simpler interpretation is offered by S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius, as I will note at the proper place. Also ch. 9, v. 48: For every one (supply: “who desires to serve God and Christ and offers himself as a victim”) shall be salted with fire [the fire of tribulation]. Hence by way of explanation he adds, And every victim shall be salted with salt.

Canon 20. In the gospel and in scripture in general, quantities tend to be expressed in round [or symbolic] numbers, even if the actual amount was a little more or less; thus there are said to be seventy disciples of Christ, when there were precisely seventy-two (cf. S. Augustine, in quaest. Evangel. q. 47). Again, in the gospel a definite number is usually used to express an indefinite one. Thus Christ promises, to those who leave everything to follow Him, a hundred-fold (Matth. 19:29), which Luke: 18:30 explains saying: shall receive much more.

Canon 21. Using a Hebrew figure of speech, Christ usually expresses a comparison of two things by the affirmation of the greater and the negation of the lesser; for what is greater and more important He affirms, but what is lesser and more lowly He negates. In such instances the negation is not a denial, properly speaking, but only indicates that what is negated is less than the other thing, or at least that it is not the only thing in its category. For instance: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice (Matth. 9:13), means: I desire mercy more than sacrifice and prefer it. Otherwise it is certain that sacrifice, too, is acceptable and pleasing to Him, in its proper order and degree, that is, after mercy. Thus, in Luke 10:20, Christ says to the Apostles, Rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject unto you, but rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven. Meaning: rejoice more in the fact that you are enrolled in heaven than in the fact that demons are subject to you; for one should also rejoice in the latter, in the proper manner and degree. Thus, in John 12:44, Christ says, He that believeth in me doth not believe in me (i.e., exclusively, or principally), but in him that sent me. The sense is: Such a man does not only believe Me, as a man speaking and teaching, but believes God the Father much more, who sent Me as His Representative.

Canon 22. In explaining sacred scripture, one should beware of clever, over-subtle argumentation, as well as excessive crudity and outright lack of refinement. Hence S. Jerome says (in cap. 25 Matth.), “I always admonish the prudent reader not to be satisfied with superstitious interpretations, nor with the things said by those who imaginatively expound passages piecemeal, but to consider, rather, the beginning, the middle and the end of things, and to connect everything that is written.” Sacred scripture, therefore, the parts of which are so composed as to be interrelated, is its own best interpreter.

Canon 23. The evangelists often play on words for the sake of elegance, and constantly take the same word or name in different senses, especially when they rise from the literal meaning to the allegorical or anagogical sense. Thus Christ plays on the word the dead when He says: Follow me, and let the (spiritually) dead bury their (physically) dead (Matth. 8:22). For obviously those who are physically dead cannot bury other dead people. Thus John 2:23–24 plays on the word believe [Latin, credo = to believe or to trust], when it says: Many believed in his name, seeing the signs which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them. The first verb, believed, denotes divine faith, whereas the second, trust, denotes human faith, or confidence. The meaning is: Jesus had no confidence in them because, although He saw that they believed in Him, He knew nevertheless that they were changeable and could easily be misguided by the scribes; hence He did not stay long or rely on His dealings with them. So, too, Paul plays on the word sin in 2 Corinthians 5:21, Him, who knew no sin, He hath made sin for us; that we might be made the justice of God in Him. Here he means sin literally in the first instance, but figuratively [metonymice] in the second. The sense is: God made Christ, who was innocent and free of all sin, to be sin, that is, a victim for sin, in order to free us from sin and to justify us.

Canon 24. Palestinians and Syrians (and Christ was one of them) are well acquainted with how speakers reach the souls of their listeners more pleasingly by means of parables, proverbs, and well-known paradoxes; this is why Christ uses parables so often and so plentifully, as is evident in Matthew 13. Thus even in Rome we have heard Maronites, who are Syrians, inhabitants of Mount Libanus, immediately embellish the things that they say with additional similes and parables. Listen to S. Jerome, commenting on Matthew 18:23, “It is a common practice among the Syrians, and especially among the Palestinians, to join parables to everything that they say, so that what cannot be grasped by the listeners through a simple declaration, may be grasped through the likeness of examples.”

Canon 25. In the presence of satirical critics, such as the scribes and Pharisees were, Christ uses ambiguous, obscure parables, both because they were unworthy to understand them, and also because they sought to catch Jesus in His speech, so as to accuse and kill Him. Separately, to His disciples and friends, however, He used to interpret them, as is plainly evident from Matthew 13:11 and 7:6: Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you. Aristotle used to do this, when he wrote his books in such an arcane and convoluted style, that they could not be attacked and refuted by his opponents. Hence he himself writes to Alexander that his books On the Nature of Hearing had been composed and yet were not composed, in that they consist of the greatest possible ambiguities and obscurities, with which he wrapped and covered himself as though with sepia.

Canon 26. The literal sense of a parable is not that which the words ostensibly record, but rather the sense which is expressed through the things signified by the words. The former is the grammatical sense of the words, which explains the bark or rind, that is, the surface of the words; the latter is the parabolic sense, and so in a parable it is the proper, literal, and authentic meaning. For example, in Matthew 22:2 and Luke 14:16, in the parable of the king who invites the feeble and the lame to the wedding, because the more respectable guests had excused themselves, the literal sense is not that which the “γράµµατα”, i.e., written letters and words themselves set forth, namely that a certain king truly had done this, since this does not pertain to Christ’s purpose, and perhaps it never occurred; rather, the “literal” or parabolic meaning is that Christ shall call the idolatrous gentiles, thus the mean and the despised, to His Church, to grace and glory, because the Jews, trusting more in the law of Moses, shall have rejected Christ.

Canon 27. There are three parts of a parable, a story or a fable, namely the “προµύθιον,” “µύθος,” “ἐπιµῦθιον” [“promythion,” “mythos” and “epimythion”], that is, the pre-fable, the fable itself, and the post-fable, or the pro-parable, parable and epi-parable. The pre-fable is the introduction to the parable or fable, a sort of prologue or a foretaste of a particular parable, which precedes it in order to indicate to what end, and against whom the parable will be told. After this follows the parable itself, or the fable; and finally comes the post-fable, as the conclusion and application of the fable or parable, which explains the parable or fable and applies it to what it signifies, and states what is to be corrected or done morally. A clear example is Luke 18:9, in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, which the evangelist prefaces with the promythion or the pre-fable, when he says, And to some who trusted in themselves as just and despised others, He spoke also this parable. Then he narrates the parable itself. Finally, in v. 14, he adds the epimythion or the post-fable, whereby he shows the meaning and application of the parable, saying, I say to you, this man went down into his house justified rather than the other, because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. This is plain to see as well in the fables of Aesop, in the narratives of Phaedrus, and in the moral tales of Alciatus.

Canon 28. Often in parables the comparison is not between persons nor between the parts of the parable and [specific] parts of the thing signified, but rather between the entire parable and the entire subject or theme. An example is Matthew 11:16: [This generation] is like to children sitting in the market place, who crying to their companions say: We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have lamented and you have not mourned. He then applies it to the preaching of Christ and John the Baptist, not part by part, since Christ and John cannot be compared to these children; rather, he likens the entire parable to the entire thing signified. The meaning is as though he had said: One can see in this generation something similar to that which occurs in the parable and the children’s game. Just as peevish men were not moved by the singing and the weeping of the children to dance or mourn, so too the scribes and Pharisees could not be incited to penance, conversion and salvation—neither by the less strict example of Christ’s life nor by the more severe example of John the Baptist. A similar passage is Matthew 13:24: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field, etc. The sower does not precisely resemble the kingdom; in a part-by-part interpretation he would correspond, rather, to the king. Therefore the sense is: What happens in the kingdom of heaven can be compared to someone sowing good seed in his field, among which an enemy then sows weeds.

Canon 29. In parables, just as in comparisons, the resemblance does not extend to all the particulars, nor can they all be applied to the thing signified. For many of the details in parables are mentioned for the sake of embellishment or elegance; in order to distinguish these from the other details, which are to be applied to the thing signified, follow this rule, or canon. In parables one should look to the purpose and aim of the parable; now those things that pertain to this aim are parts of the parable which must necessarily be applied to the things signified by the parable; but the things which do not pertain to this end are decorative, ornamental details of the parable. So say Origen and S. Chrysostom (in Matth. c. 13) and S. Augustine (lib. 16 de Civit. 2). Thus, in Matthew 25:15, a king is said to have distributed talents to his servants: to every one according to his proper ability, because this is what a prudent king is accustomed to do. But Christ does not act thus, for He does not grant grace according to the powers and endowments of nature and of free will, as the Pelagians claimed, as though He would give more to the intelligent, the rich and the ruling class and less to the uneducated, the poor and the common folk. Thus in Luke 14:26, the parable of the man who reckons the expense of going to war and of building a tower, many details are decorative, as will be clear in the commentary on that passage. Finally, the genuine meaning of a parable should be discovered from the parable itself and from the pre-parable, or the prologue, as well as from the parable’s conclusion. Hear S. Basil (Shorter Rules, q. 55): “Indeed, when a comparison is drawn, by no means all the particular parts of the things narrated correspond to the things to which they are likened; some details, rather, serve to direct the mind to the actual subject matter.” The dictum of S. Augustine (lib. 18 de Civit. c. 2) is well known: “Yet we are not to suppose that all that is recorded has some signification; but those things which have no signification of their own are interwoven for the sake of the things which are significant. It is only the plowshare that cleaves the soil; but to effect this, other parts of the plow are requisite. . . . So in this prophetic history some things are narrated which have no significance, but are, as it were, the framework to which the significant things are attached.”

Canon 30. In many parables, besides the object to which they are primarily and principally directed, Christ wished secondarily to insinuate certain mysteries, as a sort of tropological or allegorical sense. This is evident in Luke 10:30, where Christ, in relating the parable of the Good Samaritan, not only wanted to show who is our neighbor, whom we must love (which was the lawyer’s question), but at the same time wished to indicate allegorically that He Himself is the Samaritan who would heal and save Adam and his posterity, wounded by Original Sin, by pouring on the oil of His grace and the wine of His Blood.

Canon 31. There are two sorts of parables, some based on similarity, others upon dissimilarity. In the former, the force of the argument is derived from something equal or similar; in the latter, the argument is from the lesser to the greater.

Canon 32. Some things mentioned in the gospel and in scripture express, not the truth of the matter, but the common opinion at the time of the events being related. Thus Joseph is called the father of Christ, even by the Blessed Virgin, because the men of that age thought that he was the father, when in fact he was not His father (Luke 2:48). Thus Hananias, in Jeremias 28:10, is called a prophet, because he was considered to be such by the common people, when in reality he was a false prophet. Thus says S. Jerome (in Jerem. 28).

Canon 33. Sacred scripture, even though things have changed, nevertheless retains the names that they had formerly and assigns those names to those things. Thus in John 6 the Flesh of Christ in the Eucharist is called “bread”; it was bread, but by transubstantiation, which occurs at the consecration, the bread is changed into the Body of Christ. Thus Dina, though violated by Sichem, is called a virgin, since shortly before she had been a virgin (Genesis 34:2). Thus the rod of Aaron, transformed into a serpent, is called a rod, because previously it was a rod (Exodus 7:12). But Aaron’s rod devoured their rods, that is, the serpent into which Aaron’s rod was transformed by Moses, devoured the serpents into which Pharaoh’s magicians had likewise changed their rods in order to produce a miracle. Thus states S. Jerome on chapter 26 of Matthew.

Canon 34. The evangelists and Apostles, when citing the sacred scriptures of the Old Testament, often do not quote it word-for-word, but according to the sense. (An example: He shall be called a Nazarene, Matthew 2:23, about which see commentary at that verse.) Thus, what Osee says in ch. 2, v. 1, Say ye to your brethren: You are my people, and to your sister: Thou hast obtained mercy, Paul quotes in Romans 9:25 as follows: As in Osee he saith: I will call that which was not my people, my people . . . and her that had not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy.

Canon 35. The scriptures of the New Testament often allude to the Old Testament, because the matter of the New had been foreshadowed in the Old. For the end of the law is Christ (Romans 10:4). Moses and the prophets, therefore, were πρόδροµοι and precursors of Christ. Marvelous, therefore, and wondrously consonant is the harmony of the New Testament with the Old, the maker and author of which is the Holy Ghost. Hence, in order to explain a scripture passage of the New Testament from its roots and foundations, examine and trace the figure, the prophecy or the thought of the Old Testament to which it alludes. For the old law was the prelude to the new; and the new is the completion of the old, as S. Augustine teaches at length in the many books which he wrote against Faustus the Manichee (cf. Tertullian’s four books written against Marcion).

Canon 36. The Latin translator renders the same Greek word in different ways, especially when one Latin word does not express adequately the force of the Greek word, for example “ἐπιτιµάω” is translated in Mark almost always as “comminari” [to threaten], in Luke as “increpare” [to rebuke, reproach], in Matthew “imperare” or “praecipere” [to command, order], as in Mark 4:39: And rising up, he rebuked [“threatened”] the wind. But Luke 8:25 says: But he arising, rebuked the wind; whereas Matthew 8:26 says, Then rising up, he commanded the winds and the sea. This is because “ἐπιτιµάω” means not simply to “command” or to “order”, but to do so with a rebuke, a reproof, a reproach, and with additional threats to reprove, to forbid and to command.

Finally, pertinent to this are the sixty-four Canons with which I have prefaced the Epistles of S. Paul. For these epistles explain the gospel, because Paul is the interpreter of Christ.

Canon 37. For brevity’s sake, the evangelists often imply and condense events, which is why they sometimes seem to say contradictory things; hence the interpreter must expound the event at greater length and explain it more clearly in detail, so that the agreement appears. Thus Luke 7:3 says about the centurion sending emissaries to Christ to ask Him to heal his servant: And when he had heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the ancients of the Jews, desiring him to come and heal his servant; when, nevertheless, Luke adds a little later that he said: For which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come to Thee, since I am a gentile and therefore unworthy to meet and converse with Thee; therefore in my stead I sent to Thee the Jewish elders. How then could he have thought previously that he was worthy of such an interview, indeed, to call Christ to come to him? I answer, the word “desiring” [“rogans”], to the extent that it refers to the phrase, to heal his servant, pertains to the centurion himself; to the extent that it refers to the phrase, to come, however, it pertains to the Jewish elders, who added this on their own, thinking that it was fitting, and that the centurion tacitly wished this. Luke, nevertheless, attributes this also to the centurion, because the things that an emissary says and requests in the name of the one sending him are considered to be things said and requested by the one who sent the emissary. (More on this at Matth. 8:6). Thus Luke 19:9 records that Christ said to Zachaeus, when He entered his house: This day is salvation come to this house, which implies that after Zachaeus believed in Christ and converted, his entire household followed the example of their Master and believed in Christ and were sanctified, even though previously only Zachaeus was mentioned as a believer. Thus the eight beatitudes listed in Matthew 5:1 ff. are condensed by Luke (6:20 ff.) into four.

Canon 38. When He is about to cure the sick, Christ usually requires faith of them first, namely, that they believe that Christ can do it, and hope that He will. Therefore this faith is not mere “historic” faith, and it is not yet justifying faith formed by charity, but rather it is the faith of miracles, which includes a certain hope and confidence in a miracle, specifically that Christ will heal them by His omnipotent hand. Such was the faith of S. Gregory, who was nicknamed “Thaumaturgus”, that is, “Wonder-worker.” Christ requires this faith beforehand as a disposition suited to the miracle, hence He says about this disposition: Amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible to you (Matth. 17:19).

Last of all, we should carefully weigh and discern, whether what Christ says is a counsel, a precept, a promise, or only a permission (such as the one He gave to Judas the traitor: What thou dost, do quickly, John 13:27); or a parable, an adage, a motto, etc. And so, for the reader’s convenience, I have gathered from the four gospels (since no one thus far has performed this task), all the evangelical counsels, precepts, promises, threats, miracles, oracles, sacraments, paradoxes, parables, adages, mottoes and enigmas, and I append them here, arranged in order.

The reader, therefore, will find below, first, all the counsels scattered throughout the gospel, gathered here in one place, then the precepts which are proper to the gospel, and finally those commands which are mixed, that is, partly of counsel, and partly of precept. I call those commands “counsels” or “precepts” which are such in most cases; for even counsels become precepts when necessity requires it, and precepts sometimes become counsels when there is no necessity, as is evident in the precept concerning almsgiving.

Evangelical Counsels Top ↑

All of which pertain to heroic acts of Christian, indeed apostolic, virtues

1.Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice
(Matth. 3:15).

2.Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matth. 5:3).

3.Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.

4.Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5.Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.

6.Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

7.Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God.

8.Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

9.Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

10.Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:

Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven (Matth. 5:4-12).

11.If one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other (Matth. 5:39).

12.And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him (Ibid. v. 40).

13.And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him another two (Ibid. v. 41).

14.Give to every one that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again (Luke 6:30, cf. Matth. 5:42).

15.Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect (Matth. 5:48).

16.Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead (Matth. 8:22).

17.But be not you called Rabbi. For one is your master: and all you are brethren (Matth. 23:8).

18.And call none your father upon earth: for one is your father, who is in heaven (Ibid. v. 9).

Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, Christ (Ibid. v. 10).

19.He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant (Ibid. v. 11).

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Ibid. v. 12).

20.We ought always to pray and not to faint (Luke 18:1).

21.There are eunuchswho have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it (Matth. 19:12).

22.Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give counsel, as having obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful.

I think therefore that this is good for the present necessity: that it is good for a man so to be (1 Cor. 7:25–26).

23.If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me (Matth. 12:21).

24.Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:42).

25.Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

26.Lend, hoping for nothing thereby (Luke 6:35).

27.Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you (Matth. 5:44).

28.And a certain scribe came and said to him: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shall go.

And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head (Matth. 8:19–20).

29.Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have? (Matth. 19:27).

30.Finally, it is an evangelical counsel to evangelize free of charge, without accepting any stipend or pay for preaching, as S. Paul did, when he supported himself by the work of his own hands. Thus he says: What is my reward then? That preaching the gospel, I may deliver the gospel without charge (1 Cor. 9:18). According to the natural and divine law, an apostle can make a living from the gospel; for the laborer is worth his wage; hence if he evangelizes for free, he does a generous work of supererogation, which is of counsel, not of precept.

From what has been said above it is clear that there are many evangelical counsels, but principally three, namely: voluntary poverty, chastity and religious obedience, as all orthodox teachers maintain unanimously against the innovators.

Evangelical Precepts Top ↑

Proper to the gospel, not stated in the old law

1.Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matth. 4:17).

2.So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matth. 5:16).

3.If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift (Matth. 5:23–24).

4.Be at agreement with thy adversary (and accuser at law, whom thou hast harmed by word or deed) betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison (Matth. 5:25).

5.Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matth. 5:28).

6.And if thy right eye (or hand) scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee (Matth. 5:29).

7.Whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting the cause (= case) of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery
(Matth. 5:32).

8.Love your enemies . . . That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust
(Matth. 5:44–45).

9.Whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, ‘Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire (Matth. 5:22).

10.Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven (Matth. 6:1).

11.But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee (Ibid. v. 6).

12.And when you are praying, speak not much (with your lips, but rather with your heart), as the heathens (Ibid. v. 7).

13.Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, etc. (Ibid. v. 9-10).

14.Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth . . . but . . . in heaven (Matth. 6:19).

15.You cannot serve God and mammon (Matth. 6:24).

16.Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on (Matth. 6:25).

17.Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow (Matth. 6:33).

18.Judge not, that you may not be judged (Matth. 7:1).

19.Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine. That is, do not impart sacred doctrines to unbelievers and the obstinate, who would ridicule and mock them (Matth. 7:6).

20.All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them (Matth. 7:12).

21.Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction (Matth. 7:13).

22.He that shall speak (a word) against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor in the world to come (Matth. 12:32).

23.Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (Matth. 12:36–37).

24.Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matth. 18:3).

25.But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother (Ibid. v. 15).

26.And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand (Ibid. v. 16).

27.And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican
(Ibid. v. 17).

Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven (Matth. 18:18).

A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34).

To these precepts add those concerning the sacraments, which are listed further on.

Commandments Top ↑

Which are mixed, that is, partly of counsel, partly of precept

1.But I say to you not to swear at all (Matth. 5:34).

2.But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil (Matth. 5:37).

3.When thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret. Meaning: When you fast, do not make a show of it, but conceal and disguise it by your cheerful conduct and good spirits (Matth. 6:17). He said the same about almsgiving (v. 3) and about prayer (v. 6).

4.Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you (Matth. 7:7).

5.He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man (Matth. 10:41).

6.And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you he shall not lose his reward (Ibid. v. 42).

7.Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls (Matth. 11:28–29).

8.Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matth. 12:50).

9.If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matth. 16:24).

10.Sell what you possess and give alms (Luke 12:33).

11.Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come and to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:36).

12.Search the scriptures (John 5:39).

13.Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God the Father sealed (John 6:27).

14.By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another (John 13:35).

Precepts and Counsels Top ↑

Given by Christ to the Apostles in particular

1.Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men (Matth. 4:19).

2.Go ye not into the way of the gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matth. 10:5–6).

3.And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand (Ibid. v. 7).

4.Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils (Ibid. v. 8).

5.Freely have you received, freely give (Ibid.).

6.Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses
(Ibid. v. 9).

7.Nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff; for the workman is worthy of his meat (Ibid. v. 10).

8.And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence (Ibid. v. 11).

9.And when you come into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house (Ibid. v. 12).

10.And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet (Ibid. v. 14).

Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city
(Ibid. v. 15).

11.Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves (Ibid. v. 16).

12.But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues (Ibid. v. 17).

And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the gentiles (Ibid. v. 18).

13.But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak.

For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. (Ibid. v. 19).

14.And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man come (Ibid. v. 23).

15.Therefore fear them not. For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known (Ibid. v. 26).

16.That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light: and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops (Ibid. v. 27).

17.And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell (Ibid. v. 28).

18.Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household (Ibid. v. 34–36).

19.He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me (Ibid. v. 37).

20.And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me (Ibid. v. 38).

21.He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it (Ibid. v. 39).

22.He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me (Ibid. v. 40).

23.Tell the vision (of the Transfiguration) to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead (Matth. 17:9).

24.But that we may not scandalize them (those who collected the didrachmas as tribute), go (O Peter), to the sea, and cast in a hook: and that fish which shall first come up, take: and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater: take that, and give it to them for me and thee (Matth. 17:26).

25.Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven (Matth. 18:18).

26.Whosoever is the greater among you, let him be your minister.

And he that will be first among you shall be your servant
(Matth. 20:26–27).

Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life as redemption for many (Ibid. v. 28).

27.My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Stay you here and watch with me. Watch ye: and pray that ye enter not into temptation
(Matth. 26:38, 41).

28.I have prayed for thee (O Peter), that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren (Luke 22:32).

29.Then he said to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither and see my hands. And bring hither thy hand and put it into my side. And be not faithless, but believing (John 20:27).

30.Cast the net on the right side of the ship; and you shall find. . . . Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught. . . . Come and dine (John 21:6–12).

31.Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs (John 21:15–16).

32.Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you
(Matth. 28:19).

And I send the promise of My Father upon you: but stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

Evangelical Promises Top ↑

1.Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. And thou shalt call his name John.

And thou shalt have joy and gladness: and many shall rejoice in his nativity (Luke 1:13–14).

2.For he shall be great before the Lord and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb (Ibid. v. 15).

3.And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God (Ibid. v. 16).

4.And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias: that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people (Ibid. v. 17).

5.Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end (Ibid. vv. 30–33).

6.Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matth. 5:3). In the following verses the same kingdom, under different names and titles, is promised in the other seven Beatitudes.

7.He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me (Matth. 10:40).

8.He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man
(Ibid. v. 41).

9.And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you he shall not lose his reward (Ibid. v. 42).

10.Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father (Matth. 13:43).

11.Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven (Matth. 16:17).

12.And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Ibid. v. 18).

13.And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven (Matth. 16:19).

14.If two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven (Matth. 18:19).

For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Ibid. v. 20).

15.Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times (Ibid. v. 21-22).

16.There are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven (Matth. 19:12).

17.For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, They that shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold fast my covenant:

I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name which shall never perish (Isaias 56:4–5).

18.Go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven (Matth. 19:21).

19. Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel
(Ibid. v. 28).

20.And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall possess life everlasting (Ibid. v. 29).

21.For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married, but shall be as the angels of God in heaven (Matth. 22:30).

22.Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord (Matth. 25:23).

23.Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matth. 28:20).

24.And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues
(Mark 16:17).

25.They shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay their hand, upon the sick: and they shall recover (Ibid. v. 18).

26.Have the Faith of God (Mark 11:22).

27.Amen I say to you that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not stagger in his heart, but believe that whatsoever he saith shall be done; it shall be done unto him (Ibid. v. 23).

28.Therefore I say unto you, all things, whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive: and they shall come unto you (Mark 11:24).

29.Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace (Luke 1:29).

30.The spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart,

31.To preach deliverance to the captives and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of reward (Luke 4:19).

32. Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall hurt you (Luke 10:19).

33.But yet rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject unto you: but rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven (Ibid. v. 20).

34.Martha, Martha, thou art careful and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41–42).

35.Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God (Luke 12:8,
Matth. 10:32).

36.Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matth. 6:33).

37.I am come to cast fire on the earth. And what will I, but that it be kindled? (Luke 12:49).

38.They will lay their hands on you. . . . Lay it up therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before how you shall answer:

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay (Luke 21:12–15).

39.And you are they who have continued with me in my temptations:

And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom;

That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel
(Luke 22:28–30).

40.Peace be to you. It is I: Fear not (Luke 24:36).

41.And I send the promise of my Father upon you: but stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high (Ibid. v. 49).

42.And he led them out as far as Bethania: and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

And it came to pass, whilst he blessed them, he departed from them and was carried up to heaven (Ibid. v. 50-51).

43.And they adoring went back into Jerusalem with great joy. And they were always in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen
(Ibid. v. 52-53).

44.My sheep hear my voice. And I know them: and they follow Me.

And I give them life everlasting: and they shall not perish forever. And no man shall pluck them out of my hand (John 10:27–28).

45.I go to prepare a place for you. And if I shall go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself: that where I am, you also may be (John 14:2).

46.Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do: and greater than these shall he do, because I go to the Father (John 14:12–13).

47.And whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son (Ibid.).

48.And I will ask the Father: and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever:

The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him. But you shall know him; because he shall abide with you and shall be in you (Ibid. v. 16-17).

49.I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you (John 14:16).

50.He that hath my commandments and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21).

51.If any one love me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him and we will come to him and will make our abode with him (John 14:23).

52.I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends, because all things, whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you (John 15:15).

53.You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you (John 15:16).

54.But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me.

And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning (John 15:26–27).

55.But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak. And the things that are to come, he shall show you (John 16:13).

56.Sanctify them in truth. . . . And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth (John 17:17–19).

57.And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me (Ibid. v. 20).

58.That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one (Ibid. vv. 21-22).

59.Father, I will that where I am, they also whom thou hast given me may be with me: that they may see my glory which thou hast given me, because thou hast loved me before the creation of the world (John 17:24).

60.Woman, behold thy son. After that, He saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own (John 19:26–27).

Evangelical Threats Top ↑

1. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet (Matth. 10:14).

2.Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city
(Ibid. v. 15).

3.Woe thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes
(Matth. 11:21).

4.But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you (Ibid. v. 22).

5.And thou, Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? thou shalt go down even unto hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day (Ibid. v. 23).

6.But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee (Ibid. v. 24).

7.The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And behold a greater than Jonas here (Matth. 12:41).

8.The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here (Ibid. v. 42).

9.So shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity (Matth. 13:40–41).

10.And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Ibid. v. 42).

11.Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh (Matth. 18:7).

12.And if thy hand, or thy foot, scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire (Matth. 18:8).

13.But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, etc. (Matth. 23:13).

14.Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows, etc. (Matth. 23:13 ff., continuing to the end of the chapter. Christ thunders against the scribes, threatening them with eternal damnation because of their pride, avarice, cruelty, and impiousness.)

15.That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar (Matth. 23:35).

Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation (Ibid. v. 36).

16.Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not? Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate (Ibid. vv. 37–38).

17.But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:

And shall begin to strike his fellow servants and shall eat and drink with drunkards:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not and at an hour that he knoweth not:

And shall separate him and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There, shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matth. 24:48–51).

18.And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just, into life everlasting (Matth. 25:46).

19.Woe to that man (Judas) by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him if that man had not been born
(Matth. 26:24).

20.But woe to you that are rich: for you have your consolation
(Luke 6:24).

21.Woe to you that are filled: for you shall hunger. Woe to you that now laugh: for you shall mourn and weep (Ibid. v. 25).

22.Woe to you when men shall bless you: for according to these things did their fathers to the false prophets (Ibid. v. 26).

23.And that servant, who knew the will of his lord and prepared not himself and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47).

24.But he that knew not and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes (Ibid. v. 48).

25.And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more (Ibid.).

26.Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish
(Luke 13:3).

The Miracles of Christ Top ↑

Summarily arranged in the order in which they were worked

1.And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost (Luke 1:41).

2.And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Ibid. v. 42).

3.And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Ibid. v. 43).

4.The newborn Christ Child sent an angel to announce His birth to the shepherds, and a star to call the Magi to visit and adore Him (Luke 2:9, Matth. 2:3).

5.During His presentation in the temple, He made Simeon and Anna recognize Him as the Messias and prophesy about Him (Luke 2:25).

6.When Christ was being baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father declared: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matth. 3:17).

7.Immediately after His baptism, Christ withdrew to the desert and fasted there for forty days, miraculously abstaining from all food and drink (Matth. 4).

8.At the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, Christ changes water into wine (John 22:11).

9.During Passover He vanquishes all who are selling and buying by the majesty of His countenance and drives them from the temple with a whip (John 2:15).

10.He heals the sick son of a ruler in Capharnaum (John 4:50).

11.In the Synagogue there He delivers a man possessed by a demon
(Mark 1:23).

12.He heals Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever and many other sick people (Matth. 8:15).

13.While sleeping in the boat, He is awakened by His disciples and calms the storm at sea, and commands the winds and the waves
(Matth. 8:26).

14.He heals two possessed men in the country of the Gerasenes, and permits the demons to enter the swine, who then cast them into the sea
(Matth. 8:28).

15.He heals the paralytic lowered down to Him through the tiles on the roof (Matth. 9:2).

16.He calls Matthew from his customhouse and so changes his mind that he immediately left everything and followed Him
(Matth. 9:9).

17.He brings the daughter of the synagogue leader back from the dead and heals the woman who had an issue of blood (Matth. 9:18).

18.He gives sight to two blind men and cures a man with a mute spirit (Matth. 9:27).

19.At the pool of Probatica [Bethsaida] He heals on the Sabbath a man who was sick for thirty-eight years (John 5:2).

20.He restores the withered hand of a cripple (Matth. 12:13).

21.He cleanses a leper of leprosy (Matth. 8:2).

22.He heals the centurion’s servant, who was paralyzed (Matth. 8:5).

23.He raises from the dead the son of the widow of Naim (Luke 7:11).

24.He delivers Mary Magdalen from spiritual death and from demons (Luke 7).

25.He cures a man with a blind and mute spirit (Matth. 12:22).

26.With five loaves He feeds five thousand men (John 8:11).

27.Jesus walks upon the sea and makes Peter walk on water
(Matth. 14:25).

28.He heals the daughter of the Canaanite woman who was troubled by a demon (Matth. 15:28).

29.He heals a deaf mute by placing His fingers in his ears, spitting, and touching his tongue, saying “Ephpheta,” that is, be opened
(Mark 7:34).

30.With seven loaves He feeds five thousand men (Matth. 15:36).

31.He gives sight to a blind man in Bethsaida, who says: I see men, as it were trees, walking (Mark 8:24).

32.Christ is transfigured on Mount Tabor. And His face did shine as the sun. . . . And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him (Matth. 17:2).

33. He drives out a demon which His disciples could not drive out, because this kind, He said, is not cast out but by prayer and fasting (Matth. 7:14 ff.).

34.He causes Peter to find in the mouth of a fish a didrachma with which to pay tribute (Matth. 17:26).

35.He cleanses ten lepers (Luke 17:12).

36.He gives sight to a man born blind (John 9:1).

37.He heals a crippled woman (Luke 13:11).

38.He heals a man with dropsy on the Sabbath while dining with a Pharisee (Luke 14:2).

39.On the Feast of the Dedication, He escapes from the hands of those who would stone Him (John 10:31, 39).

40.He calls forth and revives Lazarus after four days in the tomb (John 11:1).

41.He gives sight to two blind men near Jericho, one of whom, Bartimaeus by name, was more famous (Matth. 20:29, Mark 10:46,
Luke 18:35).

42.Seated upon an ass, He enters Jerusalem in glory as the Messias, while the crowds acclaim Him with palm branches, and even the children cry out, Hosanna to the Son of David (Matth. 21:9).

43.Thereupon He heals the blind and the lame in the temple.
(Matth. 21:14)

44.He dries up a fig tree with a curse (Ibid. v. 19).

45.He again drives the vendors and buyers from the temple. (Luke 19:45, Matth. 21:12).

46.There appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground (Luke 22:43–44).

47.As soon therefore as He had said to them: I am He; they went backward and fell to the ground (John 18:6).

48.Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour (Matth. 27:45).

49.In His passion and cross Christ was the miracle of miracles; He was a portent, indeed an abyss of humility, patience, obedience, charity, fortitude, martyrdom and of all virtues (Matth. 27).

50.Crying out, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, He expired. This was a miracle, for a dying man’s voice, life and spirit are weakened (Luke 23:46).

51.And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom: and the earth quaked and the rocks were rent. And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God
(Matth. 27:51 ff.).

52.But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water (John 19:34).

53.On the third day after His death, Christ arises and adorns His Body with glory and other preternatural gifts which will belong to the bodies of the blessed in heaven (Matth. 28, Mark 16, Luke 24:30-32).

54.And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread and blessed and brake and gave to them. And their eyes were opened: and they knew him. And he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in the way and opened to us the Scriptures? (Luke 24:32).

55.On the fortieth day after His resurrection, Christ, in the presence of His Apostles, ascends gloriously from Mount Olivet into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father (Luke 24:51, Mark 16:19).

Christ’s Oracles and Prophecies Top ↑

Arranged in the order in which they were uttered by him or by his followers

1.For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed (Luke 1:48).

2.And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:

3.To give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins (Luke 1:76–77).

4.Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted.

5.And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed (Luke 2:34–35).

6.Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee (John 1:48).

7.You shall see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (Ibid. v. 51).

8.Christ drives from the temple those who were buying and selling; when the Jews ask for a sign, He declares to them His death and resurrection. He predicted both, first, at John 2:19; a second time just before and after His transfiguration, Matth. 17:21; a third time shortly before His death as He proceeded to Jerusalem, Matth. 20:19; a fourth time at the Last Supper a few hours before He was arrested, Matth. 26:2.

9.Christ tells the Samaritan woman the things that she has done in secret throughout her life, and so He converts her and the Samaritans (John 4:18).

10.But the hour cometh and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

11.Lift up your eyes, and see the countries. For they are white already to harvest (John 4:35).

12.I am come in the name of My Father, and you receive me not; if another (the Antichrist) shall come in his own name, him you will receive (John 5:43).

13.Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil (namely Judas, who will betray Me)? (John 6:71).

14.Many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness (Matth. 8:11).

15.For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues (Matth. 10:17).

16.And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the gentiles (Ibid. v. 18).

17.The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death (Matth. 10:21).

18.And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved (Ibid. v. 22).

19.Amen I say to you: there are some of them that stand here, that shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom (Matth. 16:28).

20.Elias indeed shall come, and restore all things (Matth. 17:11).

21.Go (O Peter) to the sea, and cast in a hook: and that fish which shall first come up, take: and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater: take that, and give it to them for me and thee (Matth. 17:26).

22.My chalice indeed you shall drink, but to sit on my right or left hand is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father (Matth. 20:23).

23.Writing with His finger on the ground, He reveals the secret sins of the Pharisees who are accusing the adulteress, and confounds them
(John 8:8).

24.Go into the town which is over against you, at your entering into which you shall find the colt of an ass tied, on which no man ever hath sitten: loose him and bring him hither.

And if any man shall ask you: Why do you loose him? you shall say thus unto him: Because the Lord hath need of his service.

And they that were sent, went their way, and found the colt standing, as he had said unto them (Luke 19:30–32).

25.For the days shall come upon thee (O Jerusalem): and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and straiten thee on every side,

And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation (Luke 19:43–44).

26.Behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city (Matth. 23:34).

27.That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar (Ibid. v. 35).

28.Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate (Ibid. v. 38).

29.For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (Ibid. v. 39).

30.For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many (Matth. 24:5).

31.And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass: but the end is not yet (Ibid. v. 6).

32.For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And there shall be pestilences and famines and earthquakes
in places.

Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows (Ibid. vv. 7–8).

33.Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name’s sake (Ibid. v. 9).

34.And then shall many be scandalized and shall betray one another and shall hate one another (Ibid. v. 10).

35.And many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many
(Ibid. v. 11).

36.And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold (Ibid. v. 12).

37.But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved (Ibid. v. 13).

38.And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations: and then shall the consummation come (Ibid. v. 14).

39.The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved (Ibid. v. 29).

40.And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty (Ibid. v. 30).

41.And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them
(Ibid. v. 31).

42.For, as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark:

And they knew not till the flood came and took them all away: so also shall the coming of the Son of man be (Ibid. vv. 38–39).

43.Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken: and one shall be left.

Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken and one shall be left.

Watch ye therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come (Ibid. vv. 40–42).

44.And when the Son of man shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty (Matth. 25:31).

45.And all nations shall be gathered together before him: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats (Ibid. v. 32).

46.And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left (Ibid. v. 33).

47.Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Ibid., v. 34).

48.Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the gentiles till the times of the nations be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

49.Behold, as you go into the city, there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water: follow him into the house where he entereth in (Luke 22:10).

50.And you shall say to the goodman of the house: The master saith to thee: Where is the guest chamber, where I may eat the pasch with my disciples? (Ibid. v. 11).

51.And he will show you a large dining room, furnished. And there prepare.

And they going, found as he had said to them and made ready the pasch (Ibid. v. 12–13).

52.Amen I say to you that one of you is about to betray me. (Matth. 26:21)

53.He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, he shall betray me (Ibid. v. 23).

54.He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon
(John 13:26).

55.And after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly (Ibid. v. 27).

56.And Judas that betrayed him answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He saith to him: Thou hast said it (Matth. 26:25).

All you shall be scandalized in me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd: and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed (Ibid. v. 31).

But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee (
Ibid. v. 32).

And Peter answering, said to Him: Although all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized (Ibid. v. 33).

Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, that in this night before the cock crow thou wilt deny me thrice (Ibid. v. 34).

57.Both before and after His death, Christ predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, Luke 24:49).

58.I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father (Matth. 26:29).

59.Behold the hour is at hand: and the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go: behold he is at hand that will betray me (Matth. 26:45–46).

60.Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 23:28).

For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not born, and the paps that have not given suck (Ibid. v. 29).

61.Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us, and to the hills: Cover us (Ibid. v. 30).

62.For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry? (Ibid. v. 31).

63.Amen I say to thee, This day thou shalt be with me in paradise
(Luke 23:43).

64.Then Jesus said to them (the women who came to Christ’s tomb): Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me (Matth. 28:10).

To these prophesies we add several from the gospel of John, out of sequence.

65.And other sheep I have that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd (John 10:16).

66.Thy brother shall rise again (said Christ to Martha about Lazarus, who had died) (John 11:23).

67.It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not (John 11:50).

68.Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial, Mary Magdalen, that is, who anointed him
(John 12:7).

69.Jesus, knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in this world, he loved them unto the end (John 13:1).

70.They will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you; because they have not known the Father nor me (John 16:2–3).

71.Behold, the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own and shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me (John 16:32).

72.These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence. I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

The Seven Sacraments Top ↑

Instituted by Christ

1.BAPTISM

Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).

All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matth. 28:18–20).

2.CONFIRMATION

Having heard these things, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:5–6).

They sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For He was not as yet come upon any of them, but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:14–17).

3.HOLY EUCHARIST

And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread and blessed and broke and gave to his disciples and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins (Matth. 26:26–28).

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world (John 6:51–52).

The Sacrifice of the Eucharist

Do this for a commemoration of me (Luke 22:19).

This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you. The word “which” refers to the chalice (as is clear from the Greek), so that the sentence means, “the chalice which shall be offered for you (for liquids are customarily offered to God as a libation by being poured out) presently in this Last Supper, when you and I shall drink it, and in drinking, shall offer a libation to God.”
(Luke 22:20).

4.PENANCE

Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained (John 20:22).

Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven (Matth. 18:18).

5.EXTREME UNCTION

[They] anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them (Mark 6:13).

Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him (James 5:14–15).

6.HOLY ORDERS

As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed upon them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, etc. (John 20:21–23).

I admonish thee, that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands (2 Tim. 1:6).

Then they, fasting and praying, and imposing their hands upon them, sent them away (Acts 13:3).

[That thou] shouldest ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee (Titus 1:5).

7.MATRIMONY

For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (Matth. 19:5–6).

This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the church (Eph. 5:32).

Gospel Paradoxes Top ↑

1.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14).

2.In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4).

3.He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not (John 1:10–11).

4.But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name (Ibid. v. 12).

5.Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (Ibid. v. 13).

6.He that shall come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me. (Ibid. v. 15).

7.And of his fullness we all have received, and grace for grace
(Ibid. v. 16).

8.For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (Ibid. v. 17).

9.No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the Bosom of the Father, he hath declared him (Ibid. v. 18).

10.Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee (Mark 1:2).

11.A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths (Mark 1:3).

12.Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

13.The Spirit breatheth where he will; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8).

14.And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven (John 3:13).

15.And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him may not perish; but may have life everlasting (Ibid. vv. 14–15).

16.For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting (John 3:16).

17.He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

18.He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true (John 3:33).

19.For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God doth not give the Spirit by measure (Ibid. v. 34).

20.The Father loveth the Son: and he hath given all things into his hand (Ibid. v. 35).

21.Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever (John 4:13).

22.But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting (Ibid. v. 14).

23.My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work (John 4:34).

24.The Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner (John 5:19).

25.For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will (John 5:21).

26.For neither does the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son (Ibid. v. 22).

27.The hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God (John 5:28).

28.And they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment (Ibid. v. 29).

29.I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst (John 6:35).

30.No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day
(John 6:44).

31.It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me (Ibid. v. 45).

32.It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life (John 6:64).

33.You shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither you cannnot come (John 7:34).

34.If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37–38).

35.Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, he saw it, and was glad (John 8:56).

36.For judgment I am come into this world, that they who see not may see; and they who see, may become blind (John 9:39).

37.I am the resurrection and the life: he who believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: and every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever (John 11:25-26).

38.He that loveth (Matth. 10:39, “that findeth”) his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal (John 12:25).

39.Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn, etc. (Matth. 5:1 ff.).

40.Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things
to myself.

(Now this he said, signifying what death he should die.) (John 12:31–33).

41.I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also: and from henceforth you shall know him, and you have seen him (John 14:6–7).

42.Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? (John 14:10).

43.I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. . . . I am the vine, you the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing (John 15:1, 5).

44.If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth (Ibid. v. 6).

45.If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you (Ibid. v. 7).

46.Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:3).

47.I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do (Ibid. v. 4).

48.And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee (Ibid. v. 5).

49.I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world (Ibid. v. 6).

50.It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matth. 19:24).

51.Every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted (Luke 18:14).

52.Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father
(John 20:17).

Gospel Parables Top ↑

Arranged in historical order

1.The parable of the children singing and lamenting (Matth. 11:16).

2.The parable of the sower, in which some seed falls along the road, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good ground, which brings forth fruit a hundred-, sixty- or thirty-fold (Matth. 13:4).

3.The parable of the weeds, which an enemy sowed among the crops
(Ibid. v. 24).

4.The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed (Ibid. v. 31).

5.The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven . . . in thr