multitudes when He was seated in the boat. There may also seem to be a discrepancy in this
respect, that Luke records the saying, “From henceforth thou shalt catch men,”828 as if it
had been addressed by the Lord to Peter alone, while the others have exhibited it as spoken
to both the brothers.829 But it may very well be the case that these words were spoken first
to Peter himself, when he was seized with amazement at the immense multitude of fishes
which were caught, and this will then be the incident introduced by Luke; and that they
were addressed to the two together somewhat later, which [second utterance] will be the
one noticed by the other two evangelists. Therefore the circumstance which we have men-
tioned with regard to John’s narrative deserves to be carefully considered; for it may indeed
be supposed to bring before us a contradiction of no slight importance. For if it be the case
that in the vicinity of the Jordan, and before Jesus went into Galilee, two men, on hearing
the testimony of John the Baptist, followed Jesus; that of these two disciples the one was
Andrew, who at once went and brought his own brother Simon to Jesus; and that on this
occasion that brother received the name Peter, by which he was thereafter to be called,—how
can it be said by the other evangelists that He found them engaged in fishing in Galilee, and
called them there to be His disciples?830 How can these diverse accounts be reconciled,
unless it be that we are to understand that those men did not gain such a view of Jesus on
the occasion connected with the vicinity of the Jordan as would lead them to attach them-
selves to Him for ever, but that they simply came to know who He was, and, after their first
wonder at His Person, returned to their former engagements?
38. For [it is noticeable that] again in Cana of Galilee, after He had turned the water
into wine, this same John tells us how His disciples believed on Him. The narrative of that
miracle proceeds thus: “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the
mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and His disciples to the marriage.”831
Now, surely, if it was on this occasion that they believed on Him, as the evangelist tells us
a little further on, they were not yet His disciples at the time when they were called to the
marriage. This, however, is a mode of speech of the same kind with what is intended when
we say that the Apostle Paul was born in Tarsus of Cilicia;832 for certainly he was not an
apostle at that period. In like manner are we told here that the disciples of Christ were invited
to the marriage, by which we are to understand, not that they were already disciples, but
only that they were to be His disciples. For, at the time when this narrative was prepared
828 Luke v. 10.
829 Matt. iv. 10; Mark i. 17.
830 Matt. iv. 13–23; Mark i. 16–20; Luke v. 1–11; John i. 35–44.
831 John ii. 1, 2.
832 Acts xxii. 3.
267
Of the Calling of the Apostles as They Were Fishing.