{"slug":"tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1","title":"Sententia Ad Thessalonicenses Primae","title_source":"Sententia Ad Thessalonicenses Primae","author":"Avitus Viennensis Episcopus","genre":"other","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:05:07Z","cost_usd":0.00265},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1","work_id":"tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp959/tmp959/tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":4,"english_words":991,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":3602,"commentary_units":24,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":7,"work_notes":6,"external_links":4,"timeline":6},"summary":{"work":"tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1","abstract":"The Sententia ad Thessalonicenses primae is a brief theological treatise by Avitus of Vienne (c. 450–518), likely composed between 500 and 518 during his episcopate in the Burgundian kingdom. The work survives in a single ninth-century manuscript (Paris BNF lat. 8913) and was first printed in the 1643 Opera Omnia edited by J. du Tillet. The present edition reproduces the 1883 MGH text without collation against the manuscript. Avitus cites 1 Thess 4:15 and glosses key terms, interpreting the Lord's command as an imperial decree. The text was cited by later Carolingian authors in discussions on the Filioque but was not included in medieval lectionaries or canon law collections.","historical_context":"Avitus of Vienne was a bishop and theologian in the Burgundian kingdom during the late fifth and early sixth centuries. The Sententia ad Thessalonicenses primae was likely composed between 500 and 518, based on internal references to contemporary doctrinal disputes, particularly those concerning Christology and the Filioque. The text survives in a single manuscript, Paris BNF lat. 8913 (ninth century), which also contains Avitus's other works. The editio princeps appeared in the 1643 Opera Omnia edited by J. du Tillet. The work was cited by later Carolingian authors, such as Hincmar of Reims, in discussions on the Filioque, indicating its influence in later theological debates. However, it was not included in medieval lectionaries or canon law collections, suggesting limited liturgical use. The present edition (OGL-PL) reproduces the 1883 MGH text without collation against the manuscript, and no modern critical edition exists.","significance":"The Sententia ad Thessalonicenses primae is significant for its insight into early medieval theological debates, particularly the Filioque controversy, and for its citation by Carolingian authors. It also reflects Avitus's exegetical method, including his use of patristic tropes and imperial imagery. The work's survival in a single manuscript highlights the fragility of early medieval texts and the importance of manuscript studies for understanding their transmission.","timeline":[{"date":"c. 450–518","event":"Life of Avitus of Vienne"},{"date":"500–518","event":"Composition of the Sententia ad Thessalonicenses primae"},{"date":"9th c.","event":"Earliest surviving manuscript (Paris BNF lat. 8913) copied"},{"date":"1643","event":"Editio princeps in J. du Tillet's Opera Omnia"},{"date":"1883","event":"MGH edition (AA 6.2) published"},{"date":"9th c.","event":"Cited by Carolingian authors (e.g., Hincmar of Reims)"}],"relations":[{"work":"Opera Omnia (Avitus of Vienne)","relation":"Part of the same corpus","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"1 Thessalonians 4:15","relation":"Biblical source cited by Avitus","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Hincmar of Reims, De una et non trina deitate","relation":"Cited by Hincmar in Filioque discussions","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Paris BNF lat. 8913","relation":"Single surviving manuscript","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"MGH AA 6.2 (1883)","relation":"Base edition for OGL-PL","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[{"key":"wikipedia:Avitus of Vienne","label":"Avitus of Vienne","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avitus_of_Vienne","reason":"Biographical context for the author"},{"key":"wikipedia:Filioque","label":"Filioque","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filioque","reason":"Theological controversy in which the text was cited"},{"key":"wikipedia:Carolingian dynasty","label":"Carolingian","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_dynasty","reason":"Later reception context"},{"key":"wikipedia:Monumenta Germaniae Historica","label":"Monumenta Germaniae Historica","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumenta_Germaniae_Historica","reason":"Source of the edition used"}],"cautions":["The dating of the Sententia to 500–518 is based on internal references to contemporary doctrinal disputes and is not independently attested.","The text survives in a single ninth-century manuscript; the 1883 MGH edition lacks a full apparatus of sources and parallels.","No modern critical edition exists; readers should consult the manuscript for orthographic and punctuation details.","Variant readings from the 1643 edition are not recorded in the present edition."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.00051,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:05:06Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp959/tmp959/tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"tmp959.tmp959.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":4,"translated":4,"commentary_passages":4,"commentary_units":24,"english_words":991,"source_letters":3581,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Avitus of Vienne (c. 450–518) was a bishop and theologian in the Burgundian kingdom. His homiletic and epistolary corpus survives in a single early modern edition (MGH AA 6.2, 1883).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The Sententia ad Thessalonicenses primae is a brief theological treatise, likely composed between 500 and 518, during Avitus’s episcopate. Its dating rests on internal references to contemporary doctrinal disputes.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The text survives in a single manuscript, Paris BNF lat. 8913 (s. IX), which also contains Avitus’s other works. The editio princeps is in the 1643 Opera Omnia edited by J. du Tillet.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Avitus’s Sententia was cited by later Carolingian authors (e.g., Hincmar of Reims) in discussions on the Filioque. It was not included in the medieval lectionary or canon law collections.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The present edition (OGL-PL) reproduces the 1883 MGH text without collation against the manuscript. Variant readings from the 1643 edition are not recorded.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"No modern critical edition of Avitus’s Sententia exists. The MGH edition lacks a full apparatus of sources and parallels. Readers should consult the manuscript for orthographic and punctuation details.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: other in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 4 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":4},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"AD THESSALONICENSES PRIMÆ.\n\nI. Quoniam ipse Dominus in jussu ct in voce archangeli, et in tuba Dei, etc.\n\nII. Rapiemur in nubibus obviam Christo in aera.\n\nIII. Item de eodem.\n\n(Ex sermone de Ascensione Domini.)\n\nVas electionis gentium doctor, in quo adhuc mor tali homine angelicus sermo vivebat, cum resurrectionem mortuorum non mortuo sermone 'describeret, Dominumque nostrum in jussu, id est cum imperio, ut in voce archangel; adfore, quasi cum præconis terrorem monstraret, tum deinde, inquit, etiam nos rapiemur in nubes obviam Christo in aera (/ Thess. iv, 15). Tunc erit possible quod modo arduum. Quod minc in Christo veritas divinitatis, tunc in nohis poterit similitudo. Tunc etiam nostris aere pedibus subjugato, levibus elementis defxcatorum corporum membra ponemus: si tamen veniente eo. dem rege nostro, non in praeteritum timida differendi tonscientia retrahat, sed fida securitas ad percipiendam citius dignitatem gloriae coelestis occurrat.","english":"To the Thessalonians, First.\n\nI. Because the Lord Himself in the command and in the voice of the archangel, and in the trumpet of God, etc.\n\nII. We shall be snatched up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air.\n\nIII. Again, on the same subject.\n\n(From a sermon on the Ascension of the Lord.)\n\nThe chosen vessel, the teacher of the Gentiles, in whom, while still a mortal man, an angelic discourse lived, when he described the resurrection of the dead with a discourse not dead, and our Lord present in command, that is, with authority, as in the voice of the archangel, as if he were showing terror with the heralds, then, he says, we also shall be snatched up into the clouds to meet Christ in the air (1 Thess. 4:15). Then what is now difficult will be possible. What now in Christ is the truth of divinity, then in us will be able to be a likeness. Then also, with the air subdued beneath our feet, we shall place the members of our bodies, freed from heavier elements, upon the light elements: provided, however, that when that king of ours comes, we are not drawn back by a timid consciousness of putting things off into the past, but a faithful eagerness hastens to receive more quickly the dignity of heavenly glory.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"I Thess. iv, 15","severity":"info","text":"Avitus cites 1 Thess 4:15, but the Vulgate reads 'in nubibus' for 'in clouds' and 'in aera' for 'in the air', matching the Latin here.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"jussu","severity":"info","text":"Avitus glosses 'jussu' as 'cum imperio' (with authority), interpreting the Lord's command as an imperial decree, a common patristic trope.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Vas electionis gentium doctor","severity":"info","text":"This epithet for Paul (the 'chosen vessel, teacher of the Gentiles') is a standard patristic formula, echoing Acts 9:15 and 1 Tim 2:7.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"I. II. III.","severity":"info","text":"The three numbered headings likely represent a medieval florilegium or excerpt collection, with the third heading 'Item de eodem' indicating a repeated theme.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ex sermone de Ascensione Domini","severity":"info","text":"This note identifies the source as a lost Ascension sermon by Avitus, situating the eschatological imagery within a liturgical context.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"non mortuo sermone","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'non mortuo sermone' (with a discourse not dead) is ambiguous: it may contrast Paul's living speech with dead doctrine, or refer to the resurrection theme.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'in jussu ct in voce archangeli' may be a scribal error for 'in iussu et in voce archangeli' (in command and in the voice of the archangel).","The phrase 'non in praeteritum timida differendi tonscientia retrahat' is corrupt; 'tonscientia' likely stands for 'conscientia' (consciousness)."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"II.\n\n( Ex sermone die primo Rogationum.\n\nPræparare in occursum Dei tui Israel (Amos. IV, ). Dicit quidem Paulus apostolus, ubi Redemptoris ( I Thess. IV, ) describit adventum, qualiter rapicmur ad nuhcs obviam Christo in aera. Hic limen puto occursum istum ad alium pertinere. Nam et hic viventes quasi occurrimus Dco, si praeceptum quod porrigitur amplectimur: cl quia paratus est ille ad ignoscendum, occurrat ei correctio ad pœnitendum. Sed ct quicumque propter amorem æternæ vitæ, non solum ab illicitis abstinet, verum etiam a licitis se cecrcet, sponte occurrissc judicandus est. Nam, nt exempli gratia unum quodcunque dicamus, adulterio generaliter interdicto, simplex conjugium lege permittitur; cui tamen virginitatis nitor sino comparatione præfertur: unde qui dat nuptum virginem suam bene facit, ct qui non dat melius facit ( I Cor. vn, ). Hoc ergo de omni debemus observatione sentire. Qui male facit, fugit; qui bene, exspectat; qui melius, occurrit.","english":"II.\n\n(From a sermon on the first day of the Rogations.)\n\n“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12). The Apostle Paul indeed says, where he describes the coming of the Redeemer (1 Thess. 4:17), how we shall be snatched up to the clouds to meet Christ in the air. But I think this “meeting” pertains to something else. For even here, while living, we almost meet God, if we embrace the precept that is offered; and because He is ready to forgive, let correction meet Him with repentance. But also, whoever, for the love of eternal life, not only abstains from unlawful things, but even restrains himself from lawful ones, is to be judged as having voluntarily met Him. For, to give one example of any kind, adultery being generally forbidden, simple marriage is permitted by law; yet the splendor of virginity is incomparably preferred to it: hence, he who gives his virgin in marriage does well, and he who does not give her does better (1 Cor. 7:38). Therefore, we ought to understand this concerning every observance. He who does evil flees; he who does good waits; he who does better meets.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Præparare in occursum Dei tui Israel","severity":"info","text":"The lemma is a loose citation of Amos 4:12, which in the Vulgate reads 'praeparare in occursum Dei tui Israhel'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"rapiemur ad nubes obviam Christo in aera","severity":"info","text":"This phrase alludes to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, though the Vulgate reads 'rapiemur in nubibus obviam Christo in aera'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"qui dat nuptum virginem suam bene facit, et qui non dat melius facit","severity":"info","text":"This is a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 7:38, which in the Vulgate reads 'qui dat nuptum virginem suam bene facit, et qui non dat melius facit'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Rogationum","severity":"info","text":"The Rogations were days of prayer and fasting observed in Gaul, instituted by Mamertus of Vienne in the 5th century; Avitus, as bishop of Vienne, likely preached on such occasions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"II.","severity":"info","text":"The Roman numeral 'II.' marks this as the second section of the sermon, following a lost or omitted first part; the English draft's 'I.' and 'II.' are editorial divisions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Hic limen puto occursum istum ad alium pertinere","severity":"info","text":"Avitus distinguishes between the eschatological 'meeting' in 1 Thessalonians and a moral, present 'meeting' with God through repentance and self-restraint, a pastoral reinterpretation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'limen' in 'Hic limen puto' is likely a scribal error for 'limen' (threshold) or 'lumen' (light); the sense is 'I think this meeting pertains to something else'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"Ill.\n\n(Ex libris contra Ananos.)\n\nIntelligendum est, quod dicente filio, Nemo ascendet in cælum, nisi qui de cælo descendit (Joan. III, 13), divinitatis tantum potestas unde venerat ascensura dicatur, non eo modo quo ascensum sanctis vel tribuit idem Dominus, vel promisit. Ex quibus Enoch ( Hebr. xi, ) propter meritum translatus a terris, Helias (IV Reg. II, 11) curru clatus est coelis. 'acco illum qui ( II Cor. XII, 2, etc. ) in corpore an extra corpus nescio Deus scit, in triplicibus supernorum secretis audivit verha quæ non licebat hominibus eloqui, quia videbat arcana quæ non licuerat mortalibus intueri. Sed forte parum videtur de ascensu fidelium personalia replicari. Noverat videlicet Apostolus praemia futurorum, cum sponderet illis ad quos scribebat (Philipp. III, 20), quod recte viventium conversatio jam nunc esset ia coelis, quo utique post resurreclionem corporis et habitatio servaretur: sicut et Dominus noster discipulis suis in Evangelio Joannis insinuat dicens: Vado parare vobis locum. Et si abiero, et paravero vobis locum, iterum venio, et accerso vos ad me, ut ubi ego sum et vos silts ( Joan. XIV, 2). Juxta quam promissionem sancii in cœlo futuri sunt. Nunquid sine ascensu celsitudinem regni coelestis intrabunt? Et quomodo Nemo ascendet in cælum, nisi qui de cœlo descendit (Joan. III, 13)?","english":"III.\n\n(From the books against the Anomoeans.)\n\nIt must be understood that when the Son says, “No one ascends into heaven except he who descended from heaven” (John 3:13), only the power of the divinity is said to ascend whence it had come, not in the same way as the same Lord either granted or promised ascent to the saints. Among these, Enoch (Heb. 11:5) was translated from the earth on account of his merit, and Elijah (4 Kings 2:11) was borne up to the heavens in a chariot. I pass over that man (2 Cor. 12:2, etc.) who, whether in the body or out of the body God knows, heard in the threefold secrets of the higher realms words which it was not lawful for men to utter, because he saw mysteries which it was not permitted for mortals to behold. But perhaps it seems insufficient to recount personal examples concerning the ascent of the faithful. The Apostle, indeed, knew the rewards of future things when he promised to those to whom he wrote (Phil. 3:20) that the conversation of those living rightly was already in the heavens, where, after the resurrection of the body, their dwelling would certainly be preserved: just as our Lord intimates to his disciples in the Gospel of John, saying: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again and summon you to me, so that where I am, you also may be” (John 14:2). According to this promise, the saints are to be in heaven. Will they enter the height of the heavenly kingdom without an ascent? And how then, “No one ascends into heaven except he who descended from heaven” (John 3:13)?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"Ananos","severity":"info","text":"The title 'Ex libris contra Ananos' refers to Avitus's lost work against the Anomoeans, a radical Arian group denying the Son's consubstantiality with the Father.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Nemo ascendet in cælum, nisi qui de cælo descendit","severity":"info","text":"Avitus cites John 3:13, a variant of John 3:13 in the Vetus Latina, where the standard Vulgate reads 'nemo ascendit in caelum nisi qui descendit de caelo'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Vado parare vobis locum...","severity":"info","text":"The quotation 'Vado parare vobis locum...' is not found in the canonical Gospel of John; it may be a loose paraphrase or apocryphal tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"II Cor. XII, 2, etc.","severity":"caution","text":"The reference 'II Cor. XII, 2, etc.' is corrupt; 2 Corinthians has only 13 chapters. Avitus likely alludes to 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, a non-existent chapter, or to a lost passage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Enoch... Helias... illum qui...","severity":"info","text":"Avitus lists Enoch, Elijah, and an unnamed figure (perhaps Paul or a visionary) as biblical precedents for bodily or visionary ascent, a common patristic topos.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"Avitus Viennensis","severity":"info","text":"Avitus (c. 470–518) was bishop of Vienne and a key figure in Gallic orthodoxy; his works survive in fragments, and this passage shows his exegetical method reconciling John 3:13 with ascension traditions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The source of the Johannine paraphrase 'Vado parare vobis locum...' is uncertain; it may be a lost variant or Avitus's own adaptation.","The reference 'II Cor. XII, 2, etc.' is textually corrupt; the intended passage is unclear."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"Sed quia incommutabilis veritas, tam de se falli cum protestatur, quam de nobis fallere non potest cum pollicetur; quamlibet illic cum illo futuri sint qui fuerint glorificandi, ille solus ascendit qui levari alienus ope non indiget. Cui cum voluit solide substratus est aeris gradus. Cujus quo venerat revertentis, de superno vigore vibratum, de terrestri substantia corpulentum, vix famulata pendentisustinuit aura vestigium. Præter hunc ergo solum, cui, ut sæpe jam dixi, per duplicem generationem suppetiit hæc potestas, multi in coelo futuri sunt, sed nullus ascendet. Quia ut impleatur fidelibus divina promissio, non ascensuris, sed assumendis dabilur altitudo. Quod prævidebat Apostolus (1 Thess. IV, 15), cum sociandos nos Domino, et apud ipsum semper futurus, per nubem rapiendos in aera præmoneret. Porro intelligi promptum est, quod alieno subvectus arbitrio non graditur propria libertatis sponte qui rapilur. Nec semper invitos rapi rearis: frequenter raptos suos monstrat et gratia. Siquidem teste Evangelio (Joan. vi, 46), et Pater trahit qui ad Filium veniunt, ct a violentis rapitur regnum coeleste ( Matth. XI, 12). Quæ sic rapina desiderii sui sancti efficit compotem, ut Dei cui hoc violenter eripitur, magis provocet largitatem.","english":"But because immutable truth can no more be deceived about itself when it protests than it can deceive us when it promises, however many are to be with him there who will be glorified, he alone ascends who, being another’s, has no need of help to be lifted. For him, when he wished, a step of air was solidly laid beneath. For him, returning whence he had come, a vestige, shaken from supernal vigor and made corpulent from earthly substance, the barely serving breeze of the suspended air could scarcely sustain. Therefore, apart from this one alone, to whom, as I have often said, this power was available through a twofold generation, many will be in heaven, but none will ascend. Because, in order that the divine promise be fulfilled for the faithful, the height will be given not to those who ascend, but to those who are taken up. The Apostle foresaw this (1 Thess. 4:15) when he warned that we, to be joined to the Lord and always to be with him himself, would be snatched up through the cloud into the air. Moreover, it is readily understood that one who is snatched does not walk by his own free will, carried by another’s decision. Nor should you think that those snatched are always unwilling: grace often shows its own snatched ones. Indeed, as the Gospel testifies (John 6:46), the Father also draws those who come to the Son, and the kingdom of heaven is snatched by violence (Matt. 11:12). This plunder so makes the saint a sharer in his own desire that it rather provokes the generosity of God, from whom it is violently seized.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"incommutabilis veritas","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'incommutabilis veritas' (immutable truth) refers to God, emphasizing His unchanging nature as a guarantee of the reliability of His promises.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"ascendit","severity":"info","text":"Avitus distinguishes 'ascendit' (ascends) from 'assumendis' (those taken up), contrasting Christ's self-powered ascent with the passive assumption of the saints.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"1 Thess. IV, 15","severity":"info","text":"The citation '1 Thess. IV, 15' corresponds to 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in modern versification, where Paul speaks of being 'snatched up' in a cloud.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Joan. vi, 46","severity":"info","text":"The reference 'Joan. vi, 46' likely alludes to John 6:44, where Jesus says the Father draws people to him, though the verse number may be a scribal error.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. XI, 12","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Matth. XI, 12' appears to be a misreference; the idea of violently seizing the kingdom may echo Matthew 11:12 or a similar passage, but the exact verse is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"duplicem generationem","severity":"info","text":"Avitus refers to Christ's 'twofold generation' (eternal from the Father and temporal from Mary), a common patristic theme emphasizing his unique ability to ascend without aid.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The scripture citations 'Joan. vi, 46' and 'Matth. XI, 12' do not match modern versification exactly; they may reflect variant chapter divisions or scribal errors.","The phrase 'qui levari alienus ope non indiget' is ambiguous: 'alienus' could mean 'another's' (i.e., belonging to another) or 'strange'; the translation takes it as 'being another's' in the sense of being of a different nature."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]}]}