Going Out

Ex nobis exierunt, sed non erant ex nobis.  Plangendum videbatur ut damnum, cum audiremus: Ex nobis exierunt; sed mox consolatio subinfertur, cum subditur: Sed non erant ex nobis. Constant enim non posse exire foras nisi Antichristos, eos autem qui non sunt Christo contrarii, foras exire nullo modo posse; qui enim non est Christo contrarius, in corpore ipsius haeret. Sed sunt qui intus sic sunt in corpore Domini, quandoquidem adhuc curatur corpus ipsius, et sanitas perfecta non erit nisi in resurrectione morturorum. Sic sunt in corpore Christi, quomodo humores mali; quando evomuntur, tunc revelatur corpus. Sic et mali quando exeunt, tunc Ecclesia relevatur. Ex nobis exierunt, inquit, sed, nolite tristes esse, non erant ex nobis. Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis Source: Migne PL 93.94b-c

They have gone out from us, but they were not of us. 1 It seems that we should weep as if at a loss, when we hear, 'They have gone out from us,' but soon comfort is brought, when he adds, 'But they were not of us.' For it is certain they would not have been able to go out unless they were Antichrists, since they who are not oppossed to Christ are not able to go out in any way, he who is not opposed to Christ being part of His body. But here are those who were yet within the body of the Lord, for though He has care for His body, there is no perfect health until the resurrecton of the dead. And so they are in the body of Christ as bad humours, and when they are vomitted out, then the body is relieved. So indeed when the wicked go out, then the Church is relieved. 'They have gone out from us,' he says, but do not sorrow, 'They were not of us.' Saint Bede, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John 1 1 Jn 2.18