Gerhoh of Reichersburg

Steven Avery

Administrator
Gerhoh of Reichersberg (1093-1169 AD)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhoh_of_Reichersberg
Gerhohus Reicherspergensis (1093-1169 AD)
Epistolae Gerhohi. PL 193, col 0580C
Nam tres sunt, ait Ioannes, qui testimonium dant in coelo, Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus sanctus (I Ioan. V) . Primo quaeritur, cur non dixerit Pater et Filius, sed Pater, ait, Verbum, et Spiritus sanctus.
https://books.google.com/books?id=9_ASEMQra-kC&pg=PA579

Gerhoh of Reichersberg (AD 1093-1169)
But you yourselves, cardinals of the Lord, know that "if we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, that He hath testified of his Son." (1 John 5:9) For "there are three" says John, "who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit" First it is asked, why does he not say "the Father and the Son", but "Father," he says, "and Word, and Holy Spirit"? "These give the testimony of the three witnesses in heaven, ...and the three agree in one." He does not say "these three are one" in the masculine (unus, which would mean one person) but "these three are one" in the neuter (unum, which means one "thing", one entity or essence). They are three in persons, one in essence; and the three give one testimony that the man Jesus, who was thought to be the son of Joseph, is the Son of God, just as omnipotent as his Father. For the omnipotence of these witnesses should be believed, "that is for him to bear witness in earth, namely, the spirit, the water, and the blood.” For the spirit—that is, the rational soul that he laid down on the cross and took up again when he chose to—never could have plundered hell or opened heaven to the thief if he had not been omnipotent. The water, too, and the blood flowing from his side would not—could not—have drowned the invisible Pharaoh and his army if the Son had lacked the omnipotence of divine power. These heavenly and earthly testimonies, or rather this one testimony of three in heaven and three on earth

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Steven Avery

Administrator
Gerhoh of Reichersberg (1093-1169)
Gerhoh of Reichersberg (Latin: Gerhohus Reicherspergensis. b. at Polling 1093; d. at Reichersberg, 27 June 1169) was
one of the most distinguished theologians of Germany in the twelfth century. He was provost of Reichersberg Abbey and
a Canon Regular. He studied at Freising, Mosburg, and Hildesheim. In 1119, Bishop Hermann of Augsburg called him
as”scholasticus”to the cathedral school of that city; shortly afterwards, though still a deacon, he made him a canon of the
cathedral. Gradually Gerhoh adopted a stricter ecclesiastical attitude, and eventually withdrew (1121) from the simoniacal
Bishop Hermann, and took refuge in the monastery of Raitenbuch in the Diocese of Freising. After the Concordat of
Worms (1122) Bishop Hermann was reconciled with the legitimate pope, Callistus II, whereupon Gerhoh accompanied the
bishop to the Lateran Council of 1123. On his return from Rome Gerhoh resigned his canonicate, and with his father and
two half-brothers joined the Austin canons at Raitenbuch (1124). Bishop Kuno of Ratisbon ordained him a priest in 1126,
and gave him the parish of Cham, which he later resigned under threats from Hohenstaufen followers whom he had
offended at the Synod of Würzburg in 1127. He returned to Ratisbon, and in 1132 Conrad I of Abensberg, Archbishop of
Salzburg, appointed him provost of Reichersberg, to the spiritual and material advantage of that monastery. Archbishop
Conrad sent him several times on special missions to Rome; in 1143 he also accompanied, together with Arnold of
Brescia, Cardinal Guido di Castello of Santa Maria in Portico on his embassy to Bohemia and Moravia. Eugene III (1145–
53) held Gerhoh in high esteem; his relations with the successors of that pope were less pleasant. On the occasion of the
disputed papal election in 1159 (Alexander III and Victor IV) Gerhoh sided with Alexander III, but only after long hesitation;
for this action the imperial party looked on him with hatred. For refusing to support the antipope, Archbishop Conrad was
condemned to banishment in 1166, and the monastery of Reichersberg was repeatedly attacked; Gerhoh himself was
forced to take refuge in flight, and died soon after his return to Reichersberg. Gerhoh was a reformer in the spirit of the
Gregorian ideas. He aimed particularly and zealously at the reform of the clergy; it seemed to him that this object could
not be attained unless the community life were generally adopted. (Gerhoh of Reichersberg. Wikipedia.
<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhoh_of_Reichersberg>)

HITS:

● [Letter 21] But you yourselves, cardinals of the Lord, know that”if we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, that He hath testified of his Son.”(1 John 5:9) For”there are three”says John,”who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit” First it is asked, why does he not say”the Father and the Son", but”Father,”he says,”and Word, and Holy Spirit"? To which we must say, that not only to us do these three give testimony, that they might be born from God, since he has proposed saying, ”Everyone born out of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4) And just at the end of the chapter,”he that believeth in the Son of God, has the testimony in himself” (1 John 5:10).
(Gerhoh Reichersbert, Letter 21 to cardinals; Translated by Jeroen Beekhuizen, correspondence, August 2020)

○ Latin: Scitis autem, vos domini cardinales, quod, si testimonium hominum accipimus, testimonium Dei
maius est, quia testificatus est de Filio suo. (0580C) Nam tres sunt, ait Ioannes, qui testimonium dant
in coelo, Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus sanctus (I Ioan. V). Primo quaeritur, cur non dixerit Pater et Filius,
sed Pater, ait, Verbum, et Spiritus sanctus. Ad quod dicendum, quia non solum nobis tres illi testes
testimonium dant, quod simus nati ex Deo, sicut proposuerat dicens: Omne quod natum est ex Deo, vincit
mundum (I Ioan. V). Et sicut in fine capituli: Qui credit, inquit, in Filium Dei, habet testimonium Dei in se
(ibid.). (Gerhoh Reichersbert, Epistola XXI ad collegium cardinalium; Migne Latina, PL 193.580)

 [Letter 21] The Holy Spirit, too, gives testimony for this man that he is Christ or that he is the Son of
God, the power of God, because, just as he said: ”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”(John 15:25-26) It was, and is, and will continue to the end.”These give
the testimony of the three witnesses in heaven, ...and the three agree in one.”He does not
say”these three are one”in the masculine (unus, which would mean one person) but”these three are
one”in the neuter (unum, which means one”thing", one entity or essence). (1 John 5) They are three in
persons, one in essence; and the three give one testimony that the man Jesus, who was thought to be
the son of Joseph, is the Son of God, just as omnipotent as his Father.
For the omnipotence of these
witnesses should be believed,”that is for him to bear witness in earth, namely, the spirit, the water,
and the blood.”For the spirit—that is, the rational soul that he laid down on the cross and took up
again when he chose to—never could have plundered hell or opened heaven to the thief if he had not
been omnipotent. The water, too, and the blood flowing from his side would not—could not—have
drowned the invisible Pharaoh and his army if the Son had lacked the omnipotence of divine power.
These heavenly and earthly testimonies, or rather this one testimony of three in heaven and
three on earth was ignored by Photinus, who denied that the man born of the Virgin was God. Paul of
Samosata as well, blinded by the same error, taught that Godhead was alien to man and humanity was
alien to God, so that the statement that God was a man or that a man was God could not be true, even
though God dwelled more fully in that man whom the Virgin gave birth to than in any other saint.
Nestorius, too, following Photinus, separated the man from God, denying that the Virgin had given birth
to God. (Gerhoh of Reichersberg : Epistle 21)

o Latin: Nihilominus etiam Spiritus sanctus testimonium dat huic homini, quod sit Christus, vel
quod sit Dei Filius, Dei virtus, quia videlicet, quemadmodum dixit: Cum venerit Paracletus, quem
ego mittam vobis a Patre Spiritum veritatis, qui a Patre procedit, ille testimonium perhibet de
me, et vos testimonium perhibebitis (ibid., XVI), sic factum est, et fit, et fiet usque in finem
saeculi. Hi tres testes in coelo testimonium dant, et hi tres unum sunt. Non hi tres unus,
sed hi tres unum sunt (I Ioan. V), inquit, tres in personis, unum in substantia, et unum est
illorum trium testimonium, quia homo Iesus, qui putabatur filius Ioseph, sit Filius Dei aeque
omnipotens ut Pater eius. (0583C) Nam de omnipotentia eius etiam illis testibus est credendum,
qui ei testimonium dant in terra, scilicet spiritus, aqua, et sanguis (ibid., V) . Etenim spiritus,
videlicet anima rationalis, quam in cruce posuit, quamque, cum voluit, iterum sumpsit,
nullatenus infernum spoliare, seu paradisum latroni aperire potuisset, nisi omnipotens fuisset.
Aqua etiam et sanguis de latere ipsius profluens invisibilem Pharaonem cum suo exercitu non
suffocasset, aut suffocare potuisset, si divinae virtutis omnipotentia caruisset. Haec coelestia et
terrestria testimonia, imo unum testimonium trium in coelo, et trium in terra testificantium
Photinus minime attendit, qui hominem de virgine genitum negavit Deum. Paulus quoque
Samosatenus eodem errore caecatus et ipse docuit ab homine Divinitatem, et a Deo alienam
esse humanitatem, ita ut nec Deus homo, nec homo Deus vere diceretur, quanquam Deus in
homine illo plenius habitaverit, quem virgo genuit, quam in caeteris sanctis. (0583D) Nestorius
quoque secutus Photinum, hominem dividit a Deo, negans virginem genuisse Deum. (Gerhohus
Reicherspergensis,Epistle XXI; Migne Latina, PL 93.583)
 
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