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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
And to show this, he has added, "If we believe not, He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself": that is, if we believe not that He rose again, He is not injured by it. He is faithful and unshaken, whether we say so or not. If then He is not at all injured by our denying Him, it is for nothing else than for our benefit that He desires our confession. For He abideth the same, whether we deny Him or not. He cannot deny Himself, that is, His own Being. We may say that He is not; though such is not the fact. …
Athanasius of Alexandria
Now the so-called gods of the Greeks, unworthy of the name, are faithful neither in their essence nor in their promises. They do not abide everywhere. The local deities come to nought in the course of time and undergo a natural dissolution.… But the God of all, being one really and indeed and true, is faithful, who is ever the same.… He is ever the same and unchanging, deceiving neither in his essence nor in his promise. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
If we do not believe, He suffers no harm from this; He is true. He is unchangeable, whether we deny Him or do not deny Him. That is, He cannot not exist. His nature is not such that He could turn into non-existence. He exists always, even if we do not confess Him. Therefore, the benefit or harm from whether we acknowledge Him or deny Him, in either case, is not for Him, but for us.
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
God is all-powerful, and, since he is all-powerful, he cannot die, he cannot be deceived, he cannot lie, and, as the apostle says, "he cannot disown himself." Very much he cannot do, yet he is all-powerful. It is because he cannot do these things for the very reason that he is all-powerful. If he could die, he would not be all-powerful. If he could lie, if he could be deceived, if he could deceive, if it were possible for him to do an injustice, he would not be omnipotent. …
Thomas Aquinas
If we believe not, if we expel faith from our hearts, he continues faithful, i.e., he keeps his own faith; hence a believer remains in his faith, because faith is nothing less than partaking of or clinging to the truth. But he is the truth which cannot deny itself. Is he then not omnipotent? I answer that he is omnipotent, precisely because he cannot deny himself. For to be able to fail pertains rather to impotence; for the fact that someone loses some being is due to the weakness of his power. …
Bonaventure
From the observance of the law a man becomes reverent, faithful, devout, pious, meek, chaste, generous, truthful, content with his own possessions — that is, liberal in heart and undefiled in mind. On the contrary, from the transgression of the law a man becomes an idolater, a blasphemer, undevout, impious, a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, covetous, and carnal. …
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