Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
All Commentaries on 1 John 4:1 Go To 1 John 4
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
There remains then the test by which it is to be proved to be the Spirit of God. He has indeed set down a sign, and this, belike, difficult: let us see, however. We are to recur to that charity; it is that which teaches us, because it is the unction. However, what says he here? Prove the spirits, whether they be from God: because many false prophets have gone out into this world. Now there are all heretics and all schismatics. How then am I to prove the spirit?
