6c-conce saved not always saved, Salutary works
Once Saved NOT Always Saved!
"And pray ye without ceasingin behalf of other men; for there is hope of the repentance, that they may attain to God. For ’cannot he that falls arise again, and he may attain to God.’ " Ignatius of Antioch,To the Ephesians,10(A.D. 110),in ANF,I:53-54
"Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profityou, if ye benot madeperfectin the last time. "Didache,16(A.D. 140),in ANF,VII:382
"And as many of them, he added, as have repented, shall have their dwelling in the tower. And those of them who have been slower in repenting shall dwell within the walls. And as many as do not repent at all, but abide in their deeds, shall utterly perish...Yet they also, being naturally good, on hearing my commandments, purified themselves, and soon repented. Their dwelling, accordingly, was in the tower.But if any one relapseinto strife, he will be east out of the tower, and will lose his life." Hermas,The Shephard,3:8:7(A.D. 155),in ANF,II:41-42
"[T]hat eternal fire has been prepared forhim as he apostatized from Godof his own free-will, and likewise for all who unrepentant continue in the apostasy, he now blasphemes, by means of such men, the Lord who brings judgment [upon him] as being already condemned, and imputes the guilt of his apostasy to his Maker, not to his own voluntary disposition." Justin Martyr,fragment in Irenaeus’ Against Heresies,5:26:1(A.D. 156),in ANF,I:555
"Now, in the beginning the spirit was a constant companion of the soul, but the spirit forsook it because it was not willing to follow. Yet, retaining as it were a spark of its power, though unable by reason of the separation to discern the perfect, while seeking for God it fashioned to itself in its wandering many gods, following the sophistries of the demons. But the Spirit of God is not with all, but, taking up its abode with those who live justly, and intimately combining with the soul, by prophecies it announced hidden things to other souls." Tatian the Syrian,To the Greeks,13(A.D. 175),in ANF,II:71 "Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him; but the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the money which He had entrusted to them, with usury; and from those to whom He had given most shall He demand most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God,we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, ’For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also spare not thee, who, when thou wert a wild olive tree, wert grafted into the fatness of the olive tree, and wert made a partaker of its fatness.’ " Irenaeus,Against Heresies,4:27:2(A.D. 180),in ANF,I:499
"But some think as if God were under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy, what He has engaged (to give); and they turn His liberality into slavery. But if it is of necessity that God grants us the symbol of death, then He does so unwilling. But who permits a gift to be permanently retained which he has granted unwillingly? For do not many afterward fall out of (grace)? is not this gift taken away from many?"
Tertullian,On Repentance,6(A.D. 204),in ANF,III:661
"Confession is the beginning of glory, not the full desert of the crown; nor does it perfect our praise, but it initiates our dignity; and since it is written, ’He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved,’ whatever has been before the end is a step by which we ascend to the summit of salvation,not a terminus wherein the full result of the ascent is already gained. " Cyprian,Unity of the Church,21(A.D. 251),in ANF,V:428 "Therefore, my beloved, we also have received of the Spirit of Christ, and Christ dwelleth in us, as it is written that the Spirit said this through the month of the Prophet: --I will dwell in them and will walk in them.Therefore let us prepare our temples for the Spirit of Christ, and let us notgrieve itthat itmay not depart from us. Remember the warning that the Apostle gives us:--Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of redemption. Forfrom baptismdo wereceive the Spiritof Christ ... And whatever man there is that receives the Spirit from the water (of baptism) and grieves it, it departs from him until he dies, and returns according to its nature to Christ, and accuses that man of having grieved it."
Aphrahat,Demonstrations,6:14(A.D. 345),in NPNF2,VIII:371-372
"Thou art made partaker of the Holy Vine. Well then, if thou abide in the Vine, thou growest as a fruitful branch; but if thou abide not, thou wilt be consumed by the fire. Let us therefore bear fruit worthily. God forbid that in us should be done what befell that barren fig-tree, that Jesus come not even now and curse us for our barrenness." Cyril of Jerusalem,Catechetical Lectures,I:4(A.D. 350),NPNF2,VII:7 "For what the Word has by nature, as I said, in the Father, that He wishes to be given to us through the Spirit irrevocably; which the Apostle knowing, said, ’Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?’ for ’the gifts of God’ and ’grace of His calling are without repentance.’ It is the Spirit then which is in God, and not we viewed in our own selves; and as we are sons and gods because of the Word in us, so we shall be in the Son and in the Father, and we shall be accounted to have become one in Son and in Father, because that that Spirit is in us, which is in the Word which is in the Father. When then a man falls from the Spirit for any wickedness, if he repent upon his fall, the grace remains irrevocably to such as are willing; otherwise he who has fallen is no longer in God (because that Holy Spirit and Paraclete which is in God has deserted him), but the sinner shall be in him to whom he has subjected himself, as took place in Saul’s instance; for theSpirit of God departed from him and an evil spirit was afflicting him." Athanasius,Discourse Against the Arians,3:25(A.D. 362),in NPNF2,IV:407
"Clerics who are guilty of the sin unto death are degraded from their order,but not excluded from the communion of the laity."
Basil,To Amphilochius,Letter 199:32(A.D. 375),in NPNF2,VIII:237
"This temple is holier than that; for it glistened not with gold and silver, but with the grace of the Spirit, and in place of the ark and the cherubim, it had Christ, and His Father, and the Paraclete seated within. But now all is changed, and the temple is desolate, and bare of its former beauty and comeliness, unadorned with its divine and unspeakable adornments, destitute of all security and protection; it has neither door nor bolt, and is laid open to all manner of soul-destroying and shameful thoughts; and if the thought of arrogance or fornication, or avarice, or any more accursed than these, wish to enter in there is no one to hinder them; whereas formerly, even as the Heaven is inaccessible to all these, so also was the purity of thy soul."
John Chrysostom,To the Fallen Theodore,Letter 1(A.D. 378),in NPNF1,IX:91
"But these sins were not after Baptism, you will say. Where is your proof? Either prove it--or refrain from condemning; and if there be any doubt, let charity prevail. But Novatus, you say, would not receive those who lapsed in the persecution. What do you mean by this? If they were unrepentant he was right; I too would refuse to receive those who either would not stoop at all or not sufficiently, and who would refuse to make their amendment counterbalance their sin; and when I do receive them, I will assign them their proper place; but if he refused those who wore themselves away with weeping, I will not imitate him Gregory of Nazianzen,Oration on the Holy Lights,39:19(A.D. 381),in NPNF2,VII:359
"These are capital sins, brethren,these are mortal." Pacian of Barcelona,Penance,4(A.D. 385),in JUR,II:143
"Let us admonish each other. Let us correct each other, that we may not go to the other world as debtors, and then, needing to borrow of others, suffer the fate of the foolish virgins, and fall from immortal salvation." John Chrysostom,Concerning Statues,21(A.D. 387),in NPNF1,IX:363
"Some offences are light, some heavy. It is one thing to owe ten thousand talents, another to owe a farthing. We shall have to giveaccount of the idle wordno less than of adultery; but it is not the same thing to be put to the blush, and to be put upon the rack, to grow red in the face and to ensure lasting torment. Do you think I am merely expressing my own views? Hear what the Apostle John says: ’He who knows that his brother sinneth a sin not unto death, let him ask, and he shall give him life, even to him that sinneth not unto death. But he that hath sinned unto death, who shall pray for him? ’You observe that if we entreat for smaller offences, we obtain pardon: if for greater ones, it is difficult to obtain our request: and that there is a great difference between sins.’ " Jerome,Against Jovianus,2:30(A.D. 393),in NPNF2,VI:411
"And, consequently, both those who have not heard the gospel, and those who, having heard it and been changed by it for the better, have not receivedperseverance, and those who, having heard the gospel, have refused to come to Christ, that is, to believe on Him, since He Himself says, ’No man cometh unto me, except it were given him of my Father,’ and those who by their tender age were unable to believe, but might be absolved from original sin by the sole layer of regeneration, and yet have not received this laver, and have perished in death: are not made to differ from that lump which it is plain is condemned, as all go from one into condemnation."
Augustine,On Rebuke and Grace,12(A.D. 427),in NPNF2,V:476
"The faith of these, which worketh by love, either actually does not fail at all, or, if there are any whose faith fails, it is restored before their life is ended, and the iniquity which had intervened is done away, and perseverance even to the end is allotted to them. But they who arenot to persevere,and who shall so fall away from Christian faith and conduct that the end of this life shall find them in that case, beyond all doubt are not to be reckoned in the number of these, even in that season wherein they are living well and piously. For they are not made to differ from that mass of perdition by the foreknowledge and predestination of God, and therefore are not called according to God’s purpose, and thus are not elected"
Augustine,On Rebuke and Grace,16(A.D. 427),in NPNF2,V:478
"It is, indeed, to be wondered at, and greatly to be wondered at, that to some of His own children--whom He has regenerated in Christ--to whom He has given faith, hope, and love, Goddoes not give perseverancealso." Augustine,On Rebuke and Grace,18(A.D. 427),in NPNF2,V:478
"Let the inquirer still go on, and say, ’Why is it that to some who have in good faith worshipped Him He has notgiven to persevere to the end?’ Why except because he does not speak falsely who says, ’They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, doubtless they would have continued with us.’ Are there, then, two natures of men? By no means. If there were two natures there would not be anygrace, for there would be given a gratuitous deliverance to none if it were paid as a debt to nature. But it seems to men that all who appear good believers ought to receive perseverance to the end. But God has judged it to be better to mingle some who wouldnot persevere with a certain numberof His saints, so that thosefor whom security from temptation in this life is not desirablemay not be secure." Augustine,On the Gift of Perseverance,19(A.D. 429),in NPNF2,V:531-532
“The manifold mercy of God so assists menwhen they fall, that not only by the grace of baptism but also by the remedy of penitence is the hope of eternal life revived, in order that they who have violated the gifts of the second birth, condemning themselves by their own judgment,may attain to remission of their crimes, the provisions of the Divine Goodness having so ordained that GOD’S indulgencecannot be obtained without the supplicationsofpriests. For the Mediator between GOD and men, the Man Christ Jesus, has transmitted this power to those that are set over the Church that they should both grant a course of penitence to those who confess, and, when they are cleansed by wholesome correction admit them through the door of reconciliation to communion in the sacraments." Pope Leo the Great[regn A.D. 440-461],To Theodore,Epistle 108:2(A.D. 452),NPNF2,XII:80
"The branches of the vine. Thus there are branches in the vine, not that they may bestow anything upon the vine, but that they may receive from it the means by which they maylive...And by this it is an advantage to the disciples,not to Christ,that each have Christ abiding in him, and that each abide in Christ. For if the branch is cut off, another can sprout forth from the living root; but that which has been cut off, cannot live without the root." Council of Orange,Canon 24(A.D. 529),in DEN,79-80
"And they who mourn their transgressions certainly cast forth by confession the wickedness with which they have been evilly satiated, and which oppressed the inmost parts of their soul; and yet, in recurring to it after confession, they take it in again. But the sow, by wallowing in the mire when washed, is made more filthy. I And one who mourns past transgressions, yet forsakes them not, subjects himself to the penalty of more grievous sin, since he both despises the very pardon which he might have won by his weeping, and as it were rolls himself in miry water; because in withholding purity of life from his weeping he makes even his very tears filthy before the eyes of God."
Pope Gregory the Great[regn A.D. 590-604],Pastoral Rule,30(A.D. 591),in NPNF2,XII:62
"The remission of sins, therefore, is granted alike to all through baptism: but the grace of the Spirit is proportional to the faith and previous purification. Now, indeed, we receive the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit through baptism, and the second birth is for us the beginning and seal and security and illumination s of another life. It behoves as, then, withall our strength to steadfastly keep ourselves pure from filthy works, that we may not, like the dog returning to his vomit,make ourselves againthe slaves of sin. For faith apart from works is dead, and so likewise are works apart from faith. For the true faith is attested by works." John of Damascus,On the Orthodox Faith,4:9(A.D. 743),in NPNF2,IX:78 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1999 All Rights Reserved.
Salutary works require grace
"Wherefore also the Lord promised to send the Comforter, who should join us to God. For as a compacted lump of dough cannot be formed of dry wheat without fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess unity, so, in like manner, neither could we, being many, be made onein Christ Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth does not bring forth unless it receive moisture, in like manner we also, being originally a dry tree, could never have brought forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain from above. For our bodies have received unity among themselves by means of that layer which leads to incorruption; but our souls, by means of the Spirit. Wherefore both are necessary, since both contribute towards the life of God"
Irenaeus,Against Heresies,3:17(A.D. 180),in ANF,I:444-445 "A corrupt tree will never yield good fruit, unless the better nature be grafted into it; nor will a good tree produce evil fruit, except by the same process of cultivation.Stones also will become children of Abraham, if educated in Abraham’s faith; and a generation of vipers will bring forth the fruits of penitence, if theyreject the poison of their malignant nature. This will be the power of the grace of God, more potent indeed than nature, exercising its sway over the faculty that underlies itself within us--even the freedom of our will."
Tertullian,A Treatise on the Soul, 21(A.D. 208),in ANF,III:202
"We add, also, and say, ’Thy will be done, as in heaven so in earth;’ not that God should do what He wills, but that we may be able to do what God wills. For who resists God, that l He may not do what He wills? But since we are hindered by the devil from obeying with our thought and deed God’s will in all things, we prayand ask that God’swill may be done in us; and that it may be done in us we have need of God’s good will, that is, of His help and protection, since no one is strong in his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God." Cyprian,On the Lord’s Prayer,14(A.D. 252),in ANF,V:451
"He from the essence of the Father, nor is the Son again Son according to essence, but in consequence of virtue, as we who are called sonsby grace."Athanasius,Defense of the Nicene Creed,22(A.D.351),in NPNF2,IV:165
"For when you hear, Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shewethmercy, I counsel you to think the same. For since there are some who are so proud of their successes thatthey attribute all to themselvesand nothing toHimthat made them and gave them wisdom and supplied them with good; such are taught by this word that even to wish well needs help from God; or rather that even to choose what is right is divine and a gift of the mercy of God. For it is necessary both that we should be our own masters and also that our salvation should be of God. This is why He saith not of him that willeth; that is, not of him that willeth only, nor of him that runneth only, but also of God. That sheweth mercy. Next; since to will also is from God, he has attributed the whole to God with reason. However much you may run, however much you may wrestle, yet you need one to give the crown." Gregory of Nazianzen, Oration 37:13(A.D. 383),inNPNF2,in VII:342
"You see indeed,then,how thestrength of the Lordis cooperative in human endeavors, so thatno one can buildwithout the Lord,no one canpreserve withoutthe Lord,no one can build without the Lord, no one can preserve without the Lord, no one can undertake anything without the Lord."
Ambrose,Commentary on Luke,2:84(A.D.389),in JUR,II:162
"All indeeddependson God, but not so that our free-will is hindered. ’If then it depend on God,’ (one says), ’why does He blame us?’ On this account I said, ’so that our free-will is no hindered.’ It depends then on us, and on Him For we must first choose the good; and then He leads us to His own. He does not anticipate our choice, lest our free-will should be outraged. But when we have chosen, thengreat is the assistancehe brings to us...For it is ours to choose and to wish; but God’s to complete and to bring to an end. Since therefore the greater part is of Him, he says all is of Him, speaking according to the custom of men. For so we ourselves also do. I mean for instance: we see a house well built, and we say the whole is the Architect’s [doing], and yet certainly it is not all his, but the workmen’s also, and the owner’s, who supplies the materials, and many others’, but nevertheless since he contributed the greatest share, we call the whole his. So then [it is] in this case also. Again, with respect to a number of people, where the many are, we say All are: where few, nobody. So also Paul says, ’not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.’And herein he establishes two great truths: one, that we should not be lifted up: even shouldst thou run (he would say), even shouldst thou be very earnest, do not consider that the well doing is thine own. For if thou obtain not the impulse that is from above, all is to no purpose. Nevertheless that thou wilt attain that which thou earnestly strivest after is very evident; so long as thou runnest, so long as thou willest." John Chrysostom,Homily on Hebrews,12:3(A.D. 403),in NPNF1,XIV:425
"Now for the commission of sin we get no help from God; but we are not able to do justly, and to fulfil the law of righteousness in every part thereof, except we are helped by God. For as the bodily eye is not helped by the light to turn away therefrom shut or averted, but is helped by it to see, and cannot see at all unless it help it; so God, who is the light of the inner man, helps our mental sight, in order that we may do some good, not according to our own, but according to His righteousness." Augustine, On Forgiveness of Sins and Baptism,II:5(A.D. 411), in NPNF1,V:45
" ’No man can come to me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him’! For He does not say, ’except He lead him,’ so that we can thus in any way understand that his will precedes. For who is ’drawn,’ if he was already willing? And yet no man comes unless he is willing. Therefore he is drawn in wondrous ways to will, by Him who knows how to work within the very hearts of men. Not that men who are unwilling should believe, which cannot be, but that they should be made willing from being unwilling." Augustine,Against Two Letters of the Pelagians,I:19(A.D. 420),in NPNF1,V:389
"As strong as we could,we urged on them, as on your and our brothers, to preservein the Catholic faith, which neither denies free will whether for a bad life or a good one, nor allows it so much effect that it can do anything withoutthe graceof God, whether to convert the soul from evil to good,or to preserve and advance in good, or to attain eternal good, where there is no more fear of falling away." Augustine, Epistle 215:4(A.D. 423),in FC32,64-65
"[L]est the will itself should be deemed capable of doing any good thing without the grace of God, after saying, ’His grace within me was not in vain, but I have laboured more abundantly than they all,’ he immediately added the qualifying clause, ’Yet not I,but thegrace of God which was with me.’ In other words, Not I alone, but the grace of God with me. And thus, neither was it the grace of God alone, nor was it he himself alone, but it was the grace Of God with him. For his call, however, from heavenand his conversion by that great and most effectual call, God’s grace was alone, because his merits, though great, were yet evil." Augustine,On Grace and Free Will,5:12(A.D. 427),in NPNF1,V:448-9
" ’There is henceforth laid up for me,’ he says, ’a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.’ Now, to whom should the righteous Judge award the crown, except to him on whom the merciful Father hadbestowed grace? And how could the crown be one ’of righteousness,’ unless the grace had preceded which ’justifieth the ungodly’?" Augustine,On Grace and Free Will,6:14(A.D. 427),in NPNF1,V:449
" ’I have fought,’ says he, "the good fight; I have finishedmy course; I have kept the faith.’ Now, in the first place, these good works were nothing, unless they had been preceded by good thoughts. Observe, therefore, what he says concerning these very thoughts. His words, when writing to the Corinthians, are: ’Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.’ "
Augustine,On Grace and Free Will,7:16(A.D. 427),in NPNF1,V:450
" The first man had not that grace by which he should never will to be evil; but assuredly he had that in which if he willed to abide he would never be evil, and without which, moreover, he could not by free will be good, but which, nevertheless, by free will he could forsake. God, therefore, did not will even him to be without His grace, which He left in his free will; because free will is sufficient for evil, but is too little s for good, unless it is aided by Omnipotent Good. And if that man had not forsaken that assistance of his free will, he would always have been good; but he forsook it, and he was forsaken. Because such was the nature of the aid, that he could forsake it when he would, and that he could continue in it if he would; but not such that it could be brought about that he would."
Augustine,On Grace and Free Will,11:31(A.D. 427),in NPNF1,V:484
"And besides, this is the apostolic declaration, "No one saith, Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit: and who is it that calleth Him Lord Jesus but he that loveth Him, if he so call Him in the way the apostle intended to be understood? For many call Him so with their lips, but deny Him in their hearts and works; just as He saith of such, ’For they profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him.’ If it is by works He is denied, it is doubtless also by works that His name is truly invoked. ’No one,’ therefore, ’saith, Lord Jesus,’ in mind, in word, in deed, with the heart, the lips, the labor of the bands,--no one saith, Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit." Augustine,On the Gospel of John,74:1(A.D. 430),in NPNF1,VII:333-4
"For just to keep any from supposing that the branch can bear at least some little fruit of itself, after saying, ’the same bringeth forth much fruit,’ His next words are not, Without me ye can do but little, but ’ye can do nothing.’ Whether then it be little or much, without Him it is impracticable; for without Him nothing can be done." Augustine,On the Gospel of John,81:3(A.D. 430),in NPNF1,VII:345-6
"Most bitter enemies of grace, you offer us examples of ungodly men who,you say, ’through without faith, abound in virtues where there is,without the aid of grace,only the good of nature even though shackled by superstitions.’ Such men, by the mere powers of their inborn liberty, often merciful, and modest, and chaste, and sober. When you say this you have already removed what you thought to attibute to the grace of God: namely, effectiveness of will ... If it pleases you so much to praise the ungodly that you say they abound in true virtues - as though you did not hear the Scripture saying: ’They that say to the wicked man: You are just, shall be accursed by the people by the people, and the tribes shall abhor them’ - it were much better for you, who say they abound in virtues,to confess that these are gifts of God in them." Augustine, Against Julian,4:3:16(A.D.421),in FC35,179
"But God forbid there be true virtues in anyone unless he is just, and God forbid he be truly unless he lives by faith, for ’He who is just lives by faith.’ Who of those wishing to be considered Christians.except the Pelagians alone, or perhaps, you alone among the Pelagians, will call an unbeliever just, and an ungodly man just, and say a man is in bondage to the Devil?" Augustine, Against Julian,4:3:17(A.D.421),in FC35,181
"Surely, if no Christian will dare to say this, ’It is not of God that showeth mercy, but of man that willeth,’ lest he should openly contradict the apostle, it follows that the true interpretation of the saying, ’It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,’ is that the whole work belongs to God, who both makes the will of man righteous, and thus prepares it for assistance, and assists it when it is prepared. For the man’s righteousness of will precedesmany of God’s gifts, but not all; and it must itself be included among those which it does not precede. We read in Holy Scripture, both that God’s mercy ’shall meet me,’ and that His mercy ’shall follow me.’ It goes before the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing to make his will effectual." Augustine, Enchiridion,32(A.D.422),in NPNF1,III:248
"Without God there is no virtue, nor does a man obtain what is proper to divinity unless he be enlivened by them Spirit of his Author. Since the Lord said to His disciples, ’Without Me you are able to do nothing,’ there is no doubt that when a man does good workshe has from God both the carrying out the work and the beginning of his will to do so." Gregory the Great,Sermons,38:3(ante A.D. 461),in JUR,III:277
"We ought to understand that while God knows all things beforehand, yet He does not predetermine all things. For He knows beforehand those things that are in our power, but He does not predetermine them. For it is not His will that there should be wickedness nor does He choose to compel virtue. So that predetermination is the work of the divine command based on fore-knowledge. But on the other hand God predetermines those things which are not within our power in accordance with His prescience. For already God in His prescience has prejudged all things in accordance with His goodness and justice. Bear in mind, too, that virtue is a gift from God implanted in our nature, and that He Himself is the source and cause of all good, and without His co-operation and help we cannot will or do any good thing, But we have it in our power either to abide in virtue and follow God, Who calls us into ways of virtue, or to stray from paths of virtue, which is to dwell in wickedness, and to follow the devil who summons but cannot compel us. For wickedness is nothing else than the withdrawal of goodness, just as darkness is nothing else than the withdrawal of light While then we abide in the natural state we abide in virtue, but when we deviate from the natural state, that is from virtue, " John Damascene,Orthodox Faith,2:30(A.D. 743),in NPNF2,IX:240 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1997-2003 All Rights Reserved.