John 3:4 (WEB)
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Catechism · 1
- §782Paragraph 2 · The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy SpiritRead at vatican.va
“But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." - One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a birth "of water and the Spirit,"” — Catechism footnote: Jn 3:3-5.
Fathers and councils · 21
Gregory of Nyssa
“We do not assert that this can be so in the sense in which Nicodemus put his offensive question, wherein he thought it impossible that one who was in existence could come to a second birth: but we assert that, having His existence attached to an Existence…” — editor's note: John iii. 4.
Read the whole comment“What happens then is on a par with the surmises of Nicodemus; he, when instructed by our Lord as to the necessity of being born from above, because he could not yet comprehend the meaning of the mystery, had his thoughts drawn back to his mother’s womb.” — editor's note: S. John iii. 4
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John Chrysostom
“Ver.” — the author cites it
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“There is a somewhat similar meaning in the expressions which imply that a thing impossible by nature is possible to God if He so wills; as that a man cannot be born a second time, or that a needle will not let a camel through it.” — editor's note: John iii. 4.
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Catena Aurea on John
- John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Nicodemus coming to Jesus, as to a man, is startled on learning greater things than man could utter, things too lofty for him. His mind is darkened, and he does not stand firm, but reels like one on the point of…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
The question put thus sounds as if a boy might enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born. But Nicodemus, we must remember, was an old man, and took his instance from himself; as if he said, I am an old…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Thou callest Him Rabbi, and sayest that He comes from God, and yet receivest not His sayings, but usest to thy master a word which brings in endless confusion; for that how, is the enquiry of a man who has no strong…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
It is the Spirit that speaketh, whereas he understandeth carnally; he knew of no birth save one, that from Adam and Eve; from God and the Church he knows of none. But do thou so understand the birth of the Spirit, as…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
While Nicodemus stumbles, dwelling upon our birth here, Christ reveals more clearly the manner of our spiritual birth; Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
As if He said, Thou understandest me to speak of a carnal birth; but a man must be born of water and of the Spirit, if he is to enter into the kingdom of God. If to obtain the temporal inheritance of his human…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
If any one asks how a man is born of water, I ask in return, how Adam was born from the ground. For as in the beginning though the element of earth was the subject-matter, the man was the work of the fashioner; so…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Because He does not say, Except a man be born again1 of water and of the Spirit, he shall not have salvation, or eternal life; but, he shall not enter into the kingdom of God; from this, some infer that children are…
Read the whole comment - Haymo of HalberstadtCatena Aurea on John
But Nicodemus being unable to take in so great and deep mysteries, our Lord helps him by the analogy of our carnal birth, saying, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Do not look then for any material production, or think that the Spirit generates flesh; for even the Lord’s flesh is generated not by the Spirit only, but also by the flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
But who of us does not see, for example, that the south wind blows from south to north, another wind from the east, another from the west? And how then do we not know whence the wind cometh, and whither it goeth?
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on John
It is the Holy Spirit therefore, Who bloweth where He listeth. It is in His own power to choose, whose heart to visit with His enlightening grace. And thou hearest the sound thereof. When one filled with the Holy…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
The Psalm soundeth, the Gospel soundeth, the Divine Word soundeth; it is the sound of the Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit is invisibly present in the Word and Sacrament, to accomplish our birth.
Read the whole comment - Alcuin of YorkCatena Aurea on John
Therefore, Thou knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; for, although the Spirit should possess a person in thy presence at a particular time, it could not be seen how He entered into him, or how He went…
Read the whole comment - Haymo of HalberstadtCatena Aurea on John
Or, Thou canst not tell whence it cometh; i. e. thou knowest not how He brings believers to the faith; or whither it goeth, i. e. how He directs the faithful to their hope. And so is every one that is born of the…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Or thus: If thou art born of the Spirit, thou wilt be such, that he, who is not yet born of the Spirit, will not know whence thou comest, or whither thou goest. For it follows, So is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on John
This completely refutes Macedonius the impugner of the Spirit, who asserted that the Holy Ghost was a servant. The Holy Ghost, we find, works by His own power, where He will, and what He will.
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Cross-references · 12
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Against Eunomius I.38.
Cited together in Against Eunomius I.38.
Cited together in Against Eunomius I.38.
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Against Eunomius I.38.
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Catechism §782.
Cited together in Against Eunomius I.38.