In Chapter 4 of the First Letter of St. John, the sacred writer explained the two things which sum up God’s commandments (3:23): believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ (4:1-6) and love one another (4:7-21).
There are many false prophets in the world (4:1) and hence we must not believe in every spirit but must test the spirits to see whether they are from God. The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture states: “What tools does John point to that can help us in this very difficult and demanding task? First, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, teaching us the truth and leading us into all truth (see 2:20, 27). Second, we have the faith itself and especially the fundamental truth that the Son of God – the Word of life – has become incarnate for our salvation (see 4:2). Any teaching that denies or ignores this truth cannot be from God. Finally, we have the apostolic witness (now enshrined in the Scriptures) and the ongoing teaching authority in the Church (see 4:6). It is no easy task to test the spirits of our age and to discern what is of God and what is not, but as children of God we have been equipped with what we need to do this.”
Obedience to the magisterium of the Church is the rule for distinguishing the spirit of truth from the spirit of error. Michael Lofton, founder of the Reason & Theology podcast, wrote, “Catholics today seem to think it is perfectly normal to second guess or even attempt to correct everything the Catholic magisterium says these days. We seem to think we know better than the Pope and ecumenical councils are we even feel entitled to criticize anything and everything it says if we don’t agree with it. But this is not the traditional approach to the teaching authority of the Church. In my own research of the question of dissent, I’ve noticed that it was never permitted for a Catholic to publicly resist or dissent against what the Church teaches – even when it teaches non-infallibly. Sure, it was allowed to publicly resist a private opinion of a Pope – but never his official teachings!”
In 1 John 4:7-8 we read, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” These verses were among St. Augustine’s favourite texts of Scripture. Augustine said, “Scripture enjoins nothing but love. Anyone who thinks that he had understood the divine Scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by his understanding build up this double love of God and neighbour, has not yet succeeded in understanding them.”
St. Jerome said that in his old age, St. John constantly repeated these words to the faithful: “My children, love one another.” After a time, he was asked why he always gave the same instruction. St. John replied: “Because it is the Lord’s commandment, and if you keep just this commandment, it will suffice.”
St. John Chrysostom said, “What kind of love are we talking about here? It is the true love and not simply what people use this word to mean.” Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture states: “We should be careful not to reverse the terms of John’s famous saying, ‘God is love.’ Yes, God is love, but not all that passes for love is therefore ‘God.’ We cannot begin with our own safe and secure notions of love and then apply them to what God is like. No, ‘in this is love,’ John insists, that God sent his Son to atone for our sins. This is costly love that has led us out of darkness and into God’s light. This love is ready to die for one’s friends. Shockingly, this love is even ready to die for one’s enemies.”
St. Bede exclaimed: “What more need be said? God is love, and therefore to go against love is to go against God.”
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基督信徒辨別真理和愛
在聖若望一書的第4章中，這位神聖的作者解釋了兩件事，總結了天主的誡命（3：23）— 相信祂的聖子耶穌基督的之名（4：1-6）和彼此相愛（4：7-21）。
世界上有許多假先知（4：1），因此我們不能相信每一個神，而必須試探這些神，看看這些神是否來自天主。《天主教聖經註釋》書中寫道：「若望指出哪些工具可以幫助我們完成這項非常困難和艱巨的任務？首先，我們有聖神住在我們內，教導我們真理，帶領我們進入一切的真理（見2：20,27）。第二，我們本身有信仰，尤其是天主的兒子 — 生命的聖言 — 已經成肉身，成為我們的救贖（見4：2）。任何否認或忽視這真理的教導都不可能來自天主。最後，我們有宗徒的見證（現在已載入聖經）和教會中持續的教導權柄（見4：6）。要考驗我們這個時代的神，辨別什麼是屬於天主的，什麼是不屬於天主的，這絕非易事，但作為天主的子女，我們已經具備了這樣做所需的條件。」
服從教會的訓導是區分真理之神和錯誤之神的法則。Reason & Theology的創始人邁克爾·洛夫頓（Michael Lofton）寫道：「今天的天主教徒似乎認為，作第二次猜測甚至試圖糾正天主教會訓導權所說的一切會是完全正常的。我們似乎認為我們比教宗和大公會議更清楚，如果我們不同意教會訓導權，我們甚至覺得有權批評訓導權所說的任何事情。但這不是對於教會教導權威的傳統方法。在我自己對異議問題的研究中，我注意到天主教徒從未被允許公開反對或否認教會的教導 — 即使這訓導並未運用不能錯的權威。當然，公開反對教宗的私人意見是允許的 — 但絕不能反對他的官方教導！」
「可愛的諸位，我們應該彼此相愛，因為愛是出於天主；凡有愛的，都是生於天主，也認識天主； 那不愛的，也不認識天主，因為天主是愛。」(若一4:7-8) 這些章節是聖奧斯定最喜歡的聖經文本之一。奧斯定說：「聖經只囑咐愛。任何人認為他已經理解了聖經或其中任何部分的人，但如果不能通過他所理解的去愛天主和愛鄰人的人，還沒有成功地理解聖經。」
聖熱羅尼莫說，在他晚年時，聖若望不斷地向信徒們重複這些話：「我的孩子們，你們要彼此相愛。」過了一段時間，有人問他為什麼總是給出同樣的指示。聖若望回答說：『因為這是主的誡命，如果你只遵守這條誡命，就足夠了。』」
金口聖若望說：「我們在這裡談論的是什麼樣的愛？這是真愛，而不僅僅是人們用這個詞來表達的意思。」《天主教聖經註釋》書中寫道：「我們應該小心，不要顛倒若望的名言：『天主是愛』。是的，天主就是愛，但並不是所有被認為是愛的都是『天主』。我們不能從我們自己安全可靠的愛的概念開始，然後當作天主就是這樣。不，若望堅持說：『愛就在於此』，天主差遣祂的兒子來救贖我們的罪過。這是代價高昂的愛，帶領我們走出黑暗，進入天主的光明。這種愛已經準備好為朋友而死。令人震驚的是，這種愛甚至準備為自己的敵人而死。」
聖伯達呼道：「還有什麼需要說的？天主是愛，因此違背愛就是違背天主。」
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