John 8:44 (WEB)
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
Catechism · 4
The Eighth Commandment
“When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."” — Catechism footnote: Jn 8:44.
The Fall
“Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil".” — Catechism footnote: Cf Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9.
“The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies".” — Catechism footnote: I Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44.
“Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father.” — Catechism footnote: Jn 8:44; cf. Mt 4:1-11.
Fathers and councils · 59
Gregory of Nyssa
“…utterance by dishonest quibbling, the same “is of his father the devil,” who leaves the words of truth and “speaks of his own,” becoming the father of a lie.” — editor's note: Cf. S. John viii. 44.
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Irenaeus of Lyons
“Besides, the Lord declares that “the devil is a liar from the beginning, and the truth is not in him.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“For they died who tasted of the tree; and the serpent is proved a liar and a murderer, as the Lord said of him: “For he is a murderer from the beginning, and the truth is not in him.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Jerome
“Hence it is that the Saviour says to the Jews:“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do.”” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment““Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do.”” — editor's note: Joh. viii. 44, R.V.
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Tertullian
“However, he is himself a liar from the beginning, and whatever man he instigates in his own way; as, for instance, Praxeas.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Athanasius of Alexandria
- Athanasius of Alexandria, Against the Arians III.3Discourse III
“And now again hearing from the Saviour, ‘that they may be one as We are,’ they deceive themselves, and are arrogant enough to think that they may be such as the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son; not considering the fall of their ‘father the devil,’ which happened upon such an imagination.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment “…leader the devil, and are wishful for evil and ready to injure; and, as the Saviour said, “From the beginning the devil is a manslayer and a father of vice;” while we, though this is so, are alive, and spend our lives all the more in opposing him; it is plain they are powerless.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“The devil then is the first author of sin, and the father of the wicked: and this is the Lord’s saying, not mine, that the devil sinneth from the beginning: none sinned before him.” — editor's note: 1 John iii. 8; John viii. 44.
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John Cassian
- John Cassian, Conferences I–X III.7Conference III
“And of this father Scripture says to Jerusalem which had despised God the true Father, “Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite;” and in the gospel we read “Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye love to do.”” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment - John Cassian, Conferences I–X VIII.16Conference VIII
“When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and its father,” he made his way to Pelusium, where he knew that the man lived, whom the evil spirit declared to be destroyed: for the brother was very well known to him, and…” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment - John Cassian, Conferences I–X VIII.20Conference VIII
“And also with regard to this passage of the gospel which you quoted of the devil a little while back, “for he is a liar and his father,” we should like in the same way to hear who is to be understood by “his father.”” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44. We find from Augustin (Tract. xxiv. in Johan.) that the Manichees interpreted this text as implying that the devil had a father, translating…
Read the whole comment - John Cassian, Conferences I–X VIII.25Conference VIII
“But as for this which disturbed you about the devil, that “he is a liar and his father,” as if it seemed that he and his father were pronounced by the Lord to be liars, it is sufficiently ridiculous to imagine this even cursorily.” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44.
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Augustine of Hippo
“For he that “speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“And therefore he that “speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own;” therefore that I may speak the truth, I will speak of Thine.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“And as his whelp, the people to whom it was said, “Ye are of your father the devil:” meditating on the snares, whereby they might circumvent and destroy the just One.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“Children, not to be called Mine, but rather strange children, to whom it is rightly said, “Ye are of your father the devil,” have lied unto Me.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“For it is he that “speaketh a lie,” that “speaketh of his own.”…When therefore I had “put a bridle,” as it were, “on my lips;” and constrained myself to silence, because I saw that everywhere speech was dangerous, then,…” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“For he heareth Him, lest by speaking a lie, of his own he should speak: lest thou shouldest say, Who art thou that sayest this thing to me? whence dost thou say this to me?” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“He who speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment““He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“Is not even he “that old serpent,” who, through the woman pledged the first man in the drink of poison?” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“For the devil hath not flesh, and yet, because he would live after himself, “he abode not in the truth.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44
Read the whole comment““For he that speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“…the others; unless, possibly, some one may say that the words of the Lord about the devil “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,” are to be understood as if he was not only a murderer from the beginning of the human race, when man, whom he could kill by his deceit, was made, but also that…” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“Thus he did not abide in the truth, but could not escape the judgment of the Truth; he did not abide in the tranquillity of order, but did not therefore escape the power of the Ordainer.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“Because he abode not in the truth.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“For then those things which we say, if they are useful to us and to you, are from Him; but those things which proceed from man are false, as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself has said, “He that speaketh a lie speaketh of his own.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“And Christ is the truth in such wise that thou shouldst receive the whole to be true in Him.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“Therefore, if he falls, he heareth Him not: for of a certain one who fell it is said, “And he stood not in the truth;” this is said of the devil.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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John Chrysostom
“Ver.” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“For that killing is a work of him whom I just now mentioned, hear what Christ saith; “Ye will do the works of your Father; he was a manslayer from the beginning.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Leo the Great
“When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father thereof.”” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44.
Read the whole comment“For the instigator and author of sin in order first to fall through pride and then to injure us through envy, because “he stood not in the Truth” put all his strength in lying and produced every kind of deceit from this poisoned source of his cunning, that he might cut off man’s devout hopes from that…” — editor's note: S. John viii. 44.
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Theodoret of Cyrus
“Of them that utter a lie about the Father the Lord has said “When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own,” for what is said of the teacher is appropriate to the disciples.” — editor's note: John viii. 44
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Cyprian of Carthage
“For he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“When, however, (Jesus) remarks, “Your father is a murderer from the beginning,” he alludes to the Ruler and Demiurge of matter, who, appropriating the marks delivered from the Son, generated him here who from the beginning was a murderer, for his work causes corruption and death.” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Clement of Alexandria
“When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.”” — editor's note: John viii. 44.
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Catena Aurea on John
- John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Our Lord, having already cut off the Jews from relationship to Abraham, overthrows now this far greater claim, to call God their Father, Ye are of your father the devil.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Here we must guard against the heresy of the Manichæans, who hold a certain original nature of evil, and a nation of darkness with princes at their head, whence the devil derives his existence. And thence they say…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
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…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
The Jews then were children of the devil by imitation, not by birth: And the lusts of your father ye will do, our Lord says. Ye are his children then, because ye have such lusts, not because ye are born of him: for…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
Consider too; it was not one man only that he killed, but the whole human race, inasmuch as in Adam all die; so that he is truly called a murderer from the beginning.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
He does not say, his works, but his lusts ye will do, meaning that both the devil and the Jews were bent on murder, to satisfy their envy. And stood not in the truth. He shews whence sprang their continual objection…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
But it will be objected perhaps, that if from the beginning of his existence, the devil stood not in the truth, he was never in a state of blessedness with the holy angels, refusing, as he did, to be subject to his…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
There is only one way of standing in the truth; many and various of not standing in it. Some try to stand in the truth, but their feet tremble and shake so, they cannot. Others are not come to that pass, but are in…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Or when our Lord says, The truth is not in him, He intends it as an index: as if we had asked Him, how it appeared that the devil stood not in the truth; and He said, Because the truth is not in him. For it would be…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Some have thought from these words that the devil had a father, and asked who was the father of the devil. This is the error of the Manichæans. But our Lord calls the devil the father of a lie for this reason: Every…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on John
For he accused God to man, saying to Eve, But of envy He hath forbidden you the tree: and to God he accused man, as in Job, Doth Job serve God for nought? (Job 1:9)
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
Note however; this word, liar, is applied to man, as well as to the devil, who begat a lie, as we read in the Psalm, All men are liars. (Ps. 111) If a man is not a liar, he is not an ordinary man, but one of those,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Or thus: The devil is not a singular, but a common name. In whomsoever the works of the devil are found, he is to be called the devil. It is the name of a work, not of a nature. Here then our Lord means by the father…
Read the whole comment - Alcuin of YorkCatena Aurea on John
Our Lord being the truth, and the Son of the true God, spoke the truth; but the Jews, being the sons of the devil, were averse to the truth; and this is why our Lord says, Because I tell you the truth, ye believe not.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
But how is this said to the Jews who believed on Him? Consider: a man may believe in one sense, not believe in another; e. g. that our Lord was crucified by Pontius Pilate, but not that He was born of the Virgin…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on John
Ye wish to kill Me then, because ye are enemies of the truth, not that ye have any fault to find in Me: for, which of you convinceth Me of sin?
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on John
As if to say: If ye are the sons of God, ye ought to hold sinners in hatred. If ye hate Me, when ye cannot convince Me of sin, it is evident that ye hate Me because of the truth: i. e. because I said I was the Son of…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on John
A bold speech this; which none could have had the confidence to utter, but he Who did no sin; even our Lord.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on John
Observe here the condescension of God. He who by virtue of His Divinity could justify sinners, deigns to shew from reason, that He is not a sinner. It follows: He that is of God heareth God’s words; ye therefore hear…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
Apply this not to their nature, but to their faults. They both are from God, and are not from God at the same time; their nature is from God, their fault is not from God. This was spoken too to those, who were not…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on John
Let him then, who would understand God’s words, ask himself whether he hears them with the ears of his heart. For there are some who do not deign to hear God’s commands even with their bodily ears; and there are…
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Cross-references · 68
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies V.12.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.17.
Cited together in On Continence Chapter 11.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.22.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.22.
Cited together in On Continence Chapter 11.
Cited together in Confessions XII.25.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in Letters Letter 115.
Cited together in On Continence Chapter 11.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.17.
Cited together in Confessions XII.25.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.17.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in Conferences I–X VIII.25.
Cited together in Catechism §392.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.23.
Cited together in Catechism §392 and 2 other places.
Cited together in Letters Letter 115.
Cited together in Catechism §391.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.23.
Cited together in Catechism §391 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §391 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §391 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §391 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §391 and 2 other places.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies V.12.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies V.12.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.22.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.22.
Cited together in Theophylact of Ohrid on John 8:44–47 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Conferences I–X VIII.25.
Cited together in Conferences I–X VIII.25.
Cited together in Sermons Sermon 9.
Cited together in On Continence Chapter 11.
Cited together in Against Praxeas Chapter 1.
Cited together in Confessions XIII.25.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.17.
Cited together in Conferences I–X VIII.25.
Cited together in Conferences I–X VIII.25.
Cited together in Catechism §391.
Cited together in Against Eunomius II.1.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on John 8:44–47 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §394 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in Catechism §394.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies V.12.
Cited together in The City of God XI.13.
Cited together in Confessions XII.25.
Cited together in Confessions XII.25.
Cited together in Letters Letter 115.
Cited together in Conferences I–X VIII.16.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.17.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies I.17.