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Annotation XXXIX, On the Trinity (Matthew 7:16)

“Do they gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

Annotation XXXIX

”Do they gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” — Matthew 7:16

On the Trinity.

The author of the Opus imperfectum, homily 19, judges those to be heretics who confess the most holy Trinity. For thus he expounds this passage: “And it is true indeed that he called all wicked heretics ‘thorns’ and ‘thistles’; yet perhaps the Lord — knowing that this heresy would prevail above all — called them ‘thistles,’ as it were professors of the Trinity, bearing a ‘triangular’ wisdom in their perfidy.” (a sneer of the Arian-leaning author: he puns on tribulus, the three-pointed thistle/caltrop, to brand the Trinitarians.)

To cite this page

Sixtus of Siena, O.P., “Annotation XXXIX, On the Trinity (Matthew 7:16),” in Annotations on the New Testament, English translation, Mind of the Church, https://mindofthechurch.com/works/bibliotheca-sancta-nt/040-annotation-xxxix-on-the-trinity-matthew-7-16/.

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