Thursday, March 14, 2024

Jerome Understanding Luke 22:44 to Refer to Jesus Sweating Actual Blood in Dialogue Against the Pelagians (A.D. 415)

  

Atticus: The Savior is comforted in His agony by an angel, and my Critobulus, having the power of free will, does not need the help of God! The Savior prayed so earnestly that drops of blood gushed forth, which He was about to pour out completely in His passion. “Why do you sleep?” He says, “Rise up and pray that you do not enter into temptation!” According to your view He ought to have said: “Why do you sleep? Rise up and struggle, for you have free will, and once that power has been given you by the Lord, you need the help of no one else. For if you do this, you will not enter into temptation!” (Jerome, Dialogue Against the Pelagians 2.16, A.D. 415, The Faith of the Early Fathers, 3 vols. [trans. William A. Jurgens; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1979], 2:210-11)