Sign in
JOHN 8:46 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 8:45John 8:47
“Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?”
Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? — Jesus challenges them: 'Which of you convinceth me of sin?' (Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?). The question is rhetorical—they cannot. If Jesus speaks truth and is guiltless, why do they not believe? The logic is compelling: either Jesus is the liar and sinner he claims not to be (in which case, prove it), or he is truthful and they should believe. Their refusal to believe despite the absence of any proven sin points to willful rejection grounded in the world's opposition to truth.

Church Fathers on John 8:46

Our Lord, having already cut off the Jews from relationship to Abraham, overthrows now this far greater claim, to call God their Father, You are of your father the devil.

Chrysostom · 4th century

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

Augustine · 4th century

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

Origen · 3rd century
Read all 21 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
John 8:46 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy